Wrap Up Winter! It is now Spring 2018 Part 3

Wrap Up Winter! It is now Spring 2018 Part 3

First on all I apologise for cutting the last blog short. It is the first time I have had to do that. In the last blog I had just reached talking about the Brooches.

Aran Beret and Brooch

After knitting the Aran Brooch it was time to add a bit of bling. All the Brooches I have made are slightly different. However this one is unusual because as well as the normal beads I add I found a sparkle and I couldn’t resist putting it in the centre.

Black Beret and Brooch

In order to cut down on endless photographs I haven’t taken a picture with the measurements but I can state that the Black Beret is the same height and width as the Aran.

As to the Brooch I am not sure what planet I was on whilst knitting it but as well as the mistake regarding the missing stitches I made another blunder. This time I got the correct amount of stitches but I did a purl row instead of a knit and I didn’t realise until I was about to cast off. Therefore I had to undo the whole lot and start again.

Scarf Mistake

I am not sure if it was the colour that was throwing me out but I also messed up knitting the Scarf. Somehow I managed to gain another stitch. Normally this doesn’t matter in stocking stitch and I can usually quickly adjust it.

However since I was knitting Rib it caused the pattern to go out of line. It was lucky that I spotted it before I did too many rows.

Black Glove

After all the problems I had it was nice that the Gloves went according to plan and though the numbers aren’t showing up very well in the photograph the sizing is correct.

Beret Collection

So to wrap up this blog (yes the pun was intended) I thought I would show you my entire winter collection. Of course the Brown Beret decided to disappear but you get the general idea.

Therefore apart from a couple of tweaks (I am still looking for some dark green wool to extend the Green Scarf).that is the end of knitting Wool Berets for now. I do have some other colours in mind but I want to concentrate on different projects.

Besides people keep asking me about my long term project and I really need to keep working on that in addition to my Summer Projects.

Wrap Up Winter! It is now Spring 2018 Part 2

Wrap Up Winter! It is now Spring 2018 Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 - The comparison

Merino Black

This time I am knitting the Hat, Gloves and Scarf set in King Cole Merino Blend DK Superwash Shade 48 Black on the same 4mm needles.

Aran Beret 6 Inches

When measuring the Aran I forgot to do the height as well as the width. It is 6 inches.

Black Beret

I need to measure this but the tape has gone walkies.

Scarf Width

The Scarf width is exactly the same at 3 Inches wide.

Scarf Length

The length is roughly 18 Inches long. I cannot be anymore exact due to the kinks in the tape measure. By my reckoning it is half to one inch shorter. I believe that this is due to my tension rather than anything else.

Brooches

I made these Brooches at the same time. Somehow or other when knitting the Black one I made a huge mistake. On the last increase row I entirely forgot to put the yarn forward so I was about 30 stitches short

I’m cutting this blog short due to illness I will conclude next week.

Wrap Up Winter! It is now Spring 2018 Part 1

Wrap Up Winter! It is now Spring 2018 Part 1

We changed the clocks at the weekend and it is Good Friday tomorrow. Therefore I thought I would write a blog wrapping up a few winter projects.

Two Tone Scarf Extension

http://lady-jane-quirky.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/autumn-cape-long-term-project-inside.html

In the link above I was discussing my attempt at making a Two Tone Set. As you may recall I ran out of wool knitting the Scarf. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the Kingfisher Blue as it was discontinued so here is the finished item extended with the Petrol Blue Wool.

Merino Wool

I realised whilst finishing the Blue Scarf that I have difficulty remembering how much wool to buy. One of the reasons is because I have never really sat down and worked it out. Yes I am using a pattern but I am not using the yarn stated plus I have also adjusted it.

Therefore I thought I would measure and note as I go. The yarn I am using is King Cole Merino Blend DK super-wash wool. It is Shade 46 Aran 50g and approximately 115 yards in length.

Aran Beret

I am using 4mm needles and when finished the Rib measures approximately 7 inches wide when flat.  The height from Rib to apex is 6 Inches. This is when following the pattern correctly and using my usual tension.

Aran Gloves

The Gloves are made with the correct cast on and needles. However I tend to adjust the pattern by eye towards the finger tips. I usually deduct approximately 2 rows stocking stitch per finger depending on my tension. The end result is 9 inches from Rib to end of Little Finger. The Cuff is approximately 2.5-3 Inches across.

Aran Scarf Width

It is always when it comes to the Scarf that I get really lost trying to work out how much yarn is required. This is due to the fact that although I use the correct size needles (4mm) I don’t cast on the same amount of stitches each time.

The cast on amount is always divisible by 4. In this case 44 stitches and it has in this case resulted in a 3 Inch Rib.

Aran Scarf Length

Once I change the number of stitches it will affect the width. The pattern states that I should cast on 60 stitches. I found that far too wide when knitted so I reduced it. The length when knitting up one ball works out at 18.5 Inches *

So by removing 16 stitches I automatically increase the length. This means I need to buy fewer balls of wool. Increasing the cast on results on requires more balls.

Aran Brooch

The Brooch was knitted using 4mm needles. It measures approximately 2 Inches in diameter. I made a bit of a mess when sewing this up and it didn’t sit right. Therefore I had to unpick the fastening stitches, readjust the position and resew.

Aran Brooch Finished

After resewing I found a nice sparkly gem for the centre and proceeded to add Black Beads around it. Then all it needed was the safety pin added.

Comparison Results In Part 2

*

REMEMBER THESE NUMBERS ONLY WORK WHEN USING THE SAME TYPE OF WOOL AND YARDAGE!

Button Evolution 2018 Part 2

Button Evolution 2018 Part 2

In the last blog I showed how I had altered the Green Winter Cape’s Hood fastenings over time. Now the Body of the Cape needed altering.

Cape Body - Pale Toggles

This is how the Cape is as present. I had previously removed the Buttons and changed to Pale Wooden Toggles.

Toggle by Toggle

 

There was wasn’t much space between the Button Holes. This coupled with the fact that the new Toggles were slightly larger made this change difficult. Therefore instead of removing all the Pale Toggles in one go I tried a different approach.

This time I altered the Toggles one by one. This meant lining up the New Toggles was easier with the previous ones still fastened. I had to sew the Dark Toggles slightly further to the Hemline to adjust for length

In addition to this I had to very carefully cut the Button Holes to make them longer. Rather than using scissors I used a stitch un-picker so I could gently tease the fabric. I also kept stretching the Button Hole to increase the width.

Cape Body - Outer Finished

The outer fastenings were now complete. I now needed to turn my attention to the interior. The inside of the Cape had never originally had any fastenings. However I had to add some as the wind blew through.

Old Interior Fastenings

I have already removed the old Toggles. Next I had to remove the Loops. Previously I had sewn on Loops that were elastic. I realised afterwards that this was a mistake as strong winds had stretched them.

I-Cord

I had to really search through my sewing box until I found a Green that would blend in. I made an I-cord roughly 7 cm long knitted in Green Wool

Loop

Once I had the cord sewed together both ends to make a Loop. I used the excess tail of the wool to do this.

Interior Toggle Finished?

I then had to sew both Loop and Toggle in place. This is a test fastening. I may have to alter it but I won’t be able to tell until I have worn it. Then if it is satisfactory I will add additional Toggles.

Button Evolution 2018 Part 1

Button Evolution 2018 Part 1

For many years I have had a Winter Cape in Green Cloth. I did not make this myself it was made by a friend Sascha Semmler. He asked what kind of Cape I wanted and I said one suitable for the British Winter.

Winter Cape 2011

Copyright Unknown Tourist 2011

This photograph was taken at Stonehenge Winter Solstice 2011. We had met a couple of reporters who I vaguely seem to remember were European possibly French. They were very interested in all our outfits. This is a cropped group photograph so you can see the Cape better.

This Cape was made in two parts - the main Cape Body and a separate Hood. This gave me the option of using the Cape without the Hood when it wasn’t quite so cold.

Evolution of Buttons

In the Solstice photograph you can see that it is fitted with medieval type buttons. After wearing it in cold weather I found although the buttons were beautiful I had real trouble trying to do them up and undo them whilst wearing gloves.

Green Winter Cape Hood

I needed to replace the buttons with something I could use easier. As I was at the time doing re-enactment shows I need something suitable both practical and historical. I hit upon the idea of using Wooden Toggles. This shows the Hood as present.

Although the Toggles were practical I was never entirely happy with them. I found some made of wood but they were far too Pale for my liking. Unfortunately I had to use what I could find due to time restraints.

Pale Toggles Removed

Now all these years later I have finally decided to change them once again. First of all I removed all the old Toggles from the Hood.

After taking the Toggles off I had quite a great deal of thread left on the material as you can see in the photograph above. I removed this very carefully as I did not want to damage the cloth. There were the tiniest of raised marks left afterwards. I used these as markers as where to place the new Dark Wooden Toggles

Green Winter Cape Hood Finished

This is how the Hood looks now I have completely replaced the Pale Toggles. Next I will tackle the Body of the Cape