Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 Filling Time

 Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 Filling Time

Would you credit it? I have had the Leaves I Knitted under my nose for months and now when I want to use them they have gone walkabout.

Gap Fox Side

Since I cannot do what I planned until I find the Leaves or make some more I am reduced to doing a spot of Maintenance.

As you can see in the above photograph there is a Gap at the Top where I have added extra Rows.

Fox Side Sewn

 

I proceeded to Blanket Stitch the Two Parts Together.

Gap Badger Side

I have the same problem on the Badger Side.

Badger Side Sewn

 

This was easier to Sew as I had left a long Tail when I Knitted whereas on the Fox I had to find the Wool to Match.

Top Rim Tidied.

Finally I Sewed the Top Rim to make it Tidy.

 

Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 Toggle & Loops

Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2021 Toggle & Loops

The year 2020 was for me the year of the Face Mask! I have finally managed to put away my Sewing and get my Knitting back out.

Matching Fox Overlap

 

Frankly it was so long since I have worked on this project I had to go back and read my blog - Autumn Cape – A Long Term Project 2019 Toggle & Loops to remember where I left off.

After I sorted out my Needle and I-Cords I got my Cape and opened it fully. I then Folded over the Fox Side so the Loops Matched where the Toggles were on the Badger Side Interior.

Sewing Fox Overlap

 

With the Tail of the I-Cord I Sewed it Opposite the Adjoining Loop. I Sewed it through itself as well as the Wool.

Fox Overlap Tied

 

I then double checked that the Tie would hold. There was plenty of Cord left to make a Double Tie if I wished.

I decided that for now at least I was only going to Sew in One Tie on that Side and see how it held when I was wearing it. This is because with the extra Rows on the Top of the Overlap I didn’t want to throttle myself with it being too high.

Badger Overlap

 

I repeated the process with the Opposite Side. You may notice in the above photograph that the Wool used is a slightly different colour. Therefore I had to be extremely careful not to go completely through the other Side.

Autumn Cape 2017 A Long Term Project Daytime Side Panel Embellishments

Autumn Cape 2017 A Long Term Project Daytime Side Panel Embellishments

Since we are two thirds through February I thought I better change 2016 to 2017. I am currently in the process of designing the next Front Piece - the night time scene. However in the meantime I thought I would do a quick blog on embellishments. I know I have mentioned this previously so won't go into lots of details.

It is quite a while since I posted about the sides but I am going to hark back to that part of the project.

Daytime Side Panel Minor Embellishments

For some reason I have been unable to find a photograph of the entire side panel. Therefore I have had to take a picture after I had done some minor embellishments. The lower side panel had been more or less a rectangular block of light green. If you look at the left edge of the right hand picture you can just see a straight line where the two pieces have been sewn together.

As you can see on the left hand picture I had started to soften the rectangular outline with foliage on the Side Panel and on to the Front. 

Top of Side Panel Elongated Branches

The above photograph shows elongate the 

branches across the Side Panel and on to the Front. 

Pinning Position

I put a few pins in to mark roughly where I wanted to add the next part of the sewn embellishments. Due to the fact that I have been having to estimate areas of the design occasionally I do make quite large mistakes. I could have claimed to have done it on deliberately but I feel that would be defeating the purpose of my blog. Therefore I have to hold my hand up to this one and say I definitely dropped a clanger.

Side Panel Post Embellishment

With such a large area to cover up I decided I needed a bit of magical help so as well as a hanging leaf I have added a Fairy Ring. More embellishments will be added as and when I have a moment.

Autumn Cape 2016 A long Term Project - Front Daytime Pocket Part 1

Autumn Cape 2016 A long Term Project - Front Daytime

Pocket Part 1

Prior to adding any pockets I need to double check measurements.

Full Background Pre Pocket

  

This is how the knitted Daytime looks at present.

Full Fox Pictorial Chart

This shows the third Written Chart and one complete Pictorial Chart.

Needle Standing in for Mobile 6cm High

What I intend to put into the pocket I am adding is my mobile phone. However since I use the mobile for taking these photographs I cannot have it in the picture. Therefore I am using a needle to stand in for the mobile.

Needle Standing in for Mobile 13cm Across

 

The measurements high and across might seem a little strange. There is a reason for this. I have decided to store my phone lengthwise to distribute the weight. This should hopefully stop the pocket sagging.

Needle Standing in for Mobile on Background

This shows the rough size of the pocket width on the knitted piece indicated on the chart in the photograph below.

Pocket Dimensions Chart vs Picture

So before starting to knit I have to get my Charts ready. The Written Chart and the Pictorial Chart

Hedgehog Pictorial Chart

This time I would be knitting upwards. I spent quite a great deal of time trying to work out where to start and pick up the stitches for the pocket.

To make sure I had plenty of space I decided that I would knit the pattern (which was about 30 stitches) over 40 stitches. I also picked up the 40 stitches slightly further down the Front Piece so I could adjust as necessary.

Hedgehog Pocket Written Chart

I kept a record as usual of the stitches and colours though you can see they are far less complex than previous charts. What you might not be able to see in the photograph is I am recording both Knit and Purl rows in case I need to make changes on the Purl.

Unusually I started knitting on a Purl row. This is because the picked up stitches count as the Knit. This did not really matter on the trial pocket as it was knitted in just one colour and no pattern.

However so not to muck up my Pictorial Chart I designated this initial row as Purl Row 0. So the proper pattern does actually start on the first Knit Row. I hope you can understand that. It is a lot easier to do than explain.

Start of Hedgehog Pattern

After doing several rows of stocking stitch using the Orange Yarn on 5 mm needles I began to start inputting the Pattern. This was the placement of the two Hedgehog legs. – Yes I know Hedgehogs have 4 legs but bear with me.

Tweaking the Hedgehog

As I was knitting and could see the shape taking place I began tweaking the Pattern I made it shorter on the face section as I felt that it was too long. I also altered the shape of the spines slightly to compensate.

Hedgehog Pattern Continued.

After tweaking, this was the Hedgehog Image prior to embellishments. Next I had to add the embroidery.

Hedgehog Pocket Post Embellishments

I think you can see that is quite a difference. I have also added the two missing legs. I wasn’t quite sure on the dimensions so that is why they were not incorporated in the original designs.

The pocket is not sewn at this point and I shall leave that to another blog.

Happy Solstice 2016

Autumn Cape 2016 A long Term Project - Front Daytime Part 4

Autumn Cape 2016 A long Term Project - Front Daytime

Part 4

I have definitely decided to add a pocket to the Cape. This will be depicting a Hedgehog. I have had some problems drawing the Hedgehog. I tried having one face forwards. This turned out alright on the first attempt.

Rough Free Drawn Hedgehog

As you can see it is a cartoony type of Hedgehog. However to make it suitable for knitting I have to put it on Chart Paper. Unfortunately when I tried I found I couldn’t work out how to do the spikes.

So I had to start again. The next one didn’t turn out too brilliantly either. This time I was using some images for inspiration.

Angry Hamster

I think that it more resembles an Angry Hamster though somebody thought it was like a Chinchilla. However this drawing will not go to waste as I am filing it for later use. Perhaps I will use it as a Cross-stitch Pattern.

So since I was having problems drawing it face on I thought I would try a different tack. This time I did a rough drawing in profile.

Rough Profile Hedgehog

Then I tried it on Chart Paper

Rough Hedgehog on Chart Paper

As you can see I have made the Hedgehog smaller. The first one on Chart Paper was far too big and therefore was disproportionate in regards to the Fox. So happy with the size and image it was time to put it into the Real Profile Chart

Initial Input of Hedgehog

This photograph is a bit blurry but you can see where I have placed the Hedgehog Image.

Initial Hedgehog Part Coloured

Now the above picture of the Hedgehog might look a bit peculiar but there is a good reason for why it is orange and yellow.

The area I am knitting is where the pocket will be placed not the pocket itself. Since I have more yellow and orange than other coloured wool I am using that for the background.

Knitted Hedgehog Background

I need to make the background longer before I can add the pocket.

Autumn Cape 2016 A long Term Project - Front Daytime

Part 3

Last time I left talking about the adjusting the Fox’s spindly legs. Did you spot the - ahem ‘deliberate mistake’?

Fox Spindly Legs Mistake

When altering the chart I accidentally put one of the lines on the far hind leg the wrong way around so the shape was far too full. Compare that leg shape with the other hind leg and you should spot the difference.

Fortunately this was spotted and corrected before the knitting was done.

Fox Pre-tidying Spindly Leg

 

The legs are now fuller and more proportional the body. I only now need to do some tweaking to redefine some of the shaping. I will say one thing my Fox is certainly well fed by the looks of it.

I have come to a little bit of an impasse. I have been toying with whether to add a pocket or not to the cape. I would like to but I have had a word of caution about dragging the rest of the work down.

Since I have never tried to put a pocket on anything my first reaction was to do a test piece. I decided to do this on my old summer cape to see what it would look like.

Summer Cape Pre-Pocket

 

I intend to kill two birds with one stone here. There is a slight fault in the knitting so if I place the pocket here it should disguise it.

  

Summer Cape Pre Pocket Marker

 

I have placed a marker just under the spot I want to cover up. This will be where the bottom of the pocket will be. I am going to attempt to do a pocket using the cast on method.

Summer Cape Pocket

 

As you can see I have added the pocket. It is slightly wonky due to the fact that I forgot which row I was picking up on. The pocket itself looks a bit untidy but that is purely because I had to add more yarn and pulled it a bit. However it is a pocket and it works as I have carrying my mobile phone in it.

In an unrelated item I have finally managed to ply some wool. I have had it absolutely ages but never seemed to have the time to do it. Let’s face it trying to spin yarn with a cat around it just asking for trouble. There are so many knots in it bumpy isn’t the word.  See what you think

First Ever Balls Of Hand Spun and Plied Wool