why buy when you can make? shapely boyfriend cardigan

Done, my first knitted cardigan is officially finished!


Can you tell I’m excited? I absolutely loved knitting this, it was a great evening project to have on hand while watching a series (soo hooked on Game of Thrones).
Started in late December it took just two months to complete. I’d been meaning to knit a cardigan for years but considered it beyond my skills. Why do we always let fear keep us from just jumping in? The Shapely Boyfriend cardigan turned out to be a very easy, straighforward pattern and an enjoyable knit. Not to mention I love the result!
My Ravelry Project page.


I knit the size 34 on Drops Nepal yarn in this lovely butterscotch yellow colorway. My knitting got looser after starting on the body and I worried the cardigan would turn out to be too big. My stokinette back and forth knitting is also much more uneven than when I knit on DPNs. Thankfully both issues were improved by washing and blocking and while it is a tiny bit big I’m completely in love with it!

I’m now a sweater knitting convert, I had so much fun making this that I can’t wait to start my next cardigan or sweater. I’ve been browsing patterns on Ravelry for days, trying to decide on my next project.
Buying natural clothing has been my goal for years. Cotton, silk or viscose shirts are not hard to find, but real wool sweaters is another matter. Wool is not only a natural fiber it also keeps warmer than synthetic fibers, important for me as I get cold so easily in winter. Finding that I can just knit my own is such a revelation!

The only changes I made to the pattern was to shorten it by about 10 rounds and to space the buttonholes more evenly between the ribbing (as a result it has only 6 buttons instead of 7)

Worn with my handmade half-circle skirt. The necklace is by Native Clutter on Etsy.

Advertisement

documenting handmade

One of the things I love about having an Etsy shop is connecting with other artists and makers. The sense of community at Etsy is wonderful!
Having an online shop and working away for it at home can be a bit isolated and I find some of the teams incredibly helpful.
Up to now I’ve only been part in online teams and respective Facebook pages, but recently a team has formed in my hometown. It’s so nice to be able to meet in person and connect to people who know the unique challenges of selling in Germany.
Last december I had a photoshoot with two of the team members in a lovely studio space.

Manja from kandatsu sells beautiful handmade baby clothing. See her full photoshoot *here*.

Christiane from Nanoe’s Welt makes personalized stationary and candle covers. See her full photoshoot *here*.

I buy handmade whenever possible and documenting the process of things made by hand has been a real joy. Seeing and capturing all the little steps until a product is complete has really made me realize their value once again.

half circle skirt for fall

Skirts are such a wonderful wardrobe addition, they immediately dress up an outfit. I’d been thinking about adding a half circle skirt to my fall wardrobe for a while and when I found this navy blue fabric I knew it would work great. Everyone knows full circle skirts but for a similar look with less fullness, half and quarter circle skirts are just as easy to make and more suited for everday wear (in my opinion at least).

I hadn’t sewn without a pattern for a while and shied away from the required maths, but after searching for tutorials online I settled on these instructions (One | Two ) and in the end it was way easier than it seemed at first.
The fabric is a lovely cotton that is at the same time heavy weight (drapes beautifully) and almost see-through light. Odd, but perfect for this skirt.

The zipper at the back is handpicked and the waistband closes with snaps. The waistband itself is blindstitched to the inside by hand.

I had originally planned to finish the hem with hem tape, which I didn’t have so I tried bias tape. Bad idea. Had to rip all that out again and settled for a very simple double folded hem in the end which works much better.

All in all a quick project for a versatile wardrobe item that can be dressed up or down easily. It actually came out fuller than I had imagined so next time I’ll try a quarter circle skirt!

new blue skirt

I am discovering all sorts of smallish fabric shops in the area and most have a pile of clearance fabrics marked down to 1€/m. Clearance fabrics are my favourite to sew with since I hate to make muslins and I don’t feel guilty not making one when I got the fabric for next to nothing 🙂
This heavier weight light blue cotton (mix?) fabric has been sitting in my pile for quite a while and a few days ago I decided to make a skirt with it.
No pattern, just trying out different pleating methods until, almost by accident, I ended up with this:

I’m loving it, it fits me perfectly and the stitching looks really good…my treadle and I are getting along very well lately!
I did the button holes by hand (downside of sewing on a treadle: no buttonhole feature) but I am very pleased with how they came out. It’s actually nice work to do while watching a DVD in the evening, so I don’t mind sewing them by hand at all.