A Little Cowl/Big Swatch - Using the Black Evening Blouse Stitch Patterns

I will be the first to admit that this little cowl is far from my finest knitting. But I was impatient to start the sweater....

I made this cowl using the stitch patterns from the Black Evening Blouse pattern. I cast on about 147 stitches. I used the gauge measurement of 7 stitches per inch to determine the number of stitches needed to pull the cowl over my head or about 21 inches. I didn't want to mess up my hair when I put on the cowl. Vain, I know.

The pattern calls for a 2 inch section of stockinette stitches before starting the Hive pattern. You can see from the pics that I wasn't completely successful in maintaining the pattern throughout the Hive stitch section. I thought about ripping it out, but then I decided that the cowl wouldn't show the stitch problems because it will probably be scrunched down around my neck or under a jacket. It most likely will not be visible all at one time unless it's laying on a table and I'm showing it to someone.

The middle section is the Lace pattern, which is used for the ruffles around the sleeves and neck. I wanted to see what that section would look like as well. I didn't worry too much about the holes in the lace work. The cowl will be scrunched down when I wear it.

I knitted in eyelets to weave I-cord through. I thought it would be nice to be able to pull the cowl close to my neck and keep the wind from blowing down my coat. And, if necessary, I can cinch up the I-cord and wear the cowl as a hat.  A lesson learned after I had finished the hat and was threading the I-cord through the eyelets was how to determine the correct number of eyelets. I had an odd number of eyelets so I have one eyelet that isn't threaded. An even number of eyelets would have allowed both ends of the I-cord  to pop out the front of the cowl. 

The cowl is finished. I learned that the acrylic/nylon yarn was a little too soft, stretchy, and fuzzy for the sweater. While I still love the feel of the yarn, it just wasn't going to work for this blouse. That meant I had to buy some new wool yarn. I had to buy a pair of size 1(US) circular metal needles, too. The new yarn is a beautiful juciy wine color, but the color is too dark for me to easily see the individual stitches on dark wood needles. My eyesight is not great right now, working on the sweater would blind me. The metal needles will provide a nice contrast to the yarn color and allow the wool to glide freely across the needles.

I will be posting updates on my progress for the Black Evening Blouse as I go along. Stay tuned.

Happy knitting!

And the Swatch Continues - Black Evening Blouse

We are continuing on with the growing swatch for the Black Evening Blouse. The original post can be found here. I should have included a pic of the blouse in the original post, but it didn't even occur to me until after the post  went live on the blog.

This is what the sweater looks like:

I am finding that making the swatch is helping with my tension. My tension was all over the place when I made the first, little swatch. I am used to working on heavier weight yarn.. I usually work with worsted weight yarn, so everything knits up fast. My first original swatches were small - I cast on 30 stitches on size 3US needles. The swatch was about 2.5 to 3 inches wide. 

The info that we could find on the Botany Saxatones yarn is for the 1 ounce size skeins. The 1-ounce skeins contained about 170 yards. The yarn is 100% wool. The pattern calls for 4 or 5 of the 2 ounce skeins of yarn.

The pattern can be found here.

Happy knitting!

"Hairpin Lace Creations" Patterns For Sale

Alison found a few great books from the 1930s and 1940s for hairpin lace. I have a hairpin lace tool/loom, so it looks like work is piling up for me.... The original name of our store was "My Sister's Sweatshop" because Alison was always (ALWAYS) finding patterns that she wanted me to make - either for her or just because.

This is one of the cool new books...

Vintage hairpin pattern booklet taken from a 1936 booklet, called "Hair Pin Lace Creations Made in a Jiffy with Bear Brand and Bucilla Yarns, Volume 89" 11 Designs are in the book.

Includes Ladies Dresses, Blouses, Cuffs and Collars, Purse, and, Girl's Dresses.

Hairpin Lace work is an old art revived but there is a new twist to it now for fashion tells us to use it for making smart wearing apparel and accessories--grandmother used it for making edges and insertion.

Materials required: 

Yarns - Glossilla Bouclette, Bear Brand or Bucilla French Zephyr, Glossilla Petite Bouclette, Bear Brand or Bucilla Twinkle Crepe, Adjustable Hairpin Lace Loom Bone or Bucilla crochet hook

  

To see the individual patterns, just click on the links: 

• Girl's Dress
• Girl's Cape Collar Dress 
• Frill Blouse
• Back Button Blouse 
• Purse  
• Cuffs and Collar  
• Shirtwaist Blouse
• Cape or Bed Jacket  
• Puff Sleeve Dress  
• Cover Dress

I guess this means I have to try one of these patterns, unless I can sweet talk one of my friends into learning a new craft. 

Happy hairpinning!

Free Pattern Download for May 2014

Alison has a pattern booklet featuring super cool patterns using Nomotta Ruban D'Art yarns....This is one of the patterns from the booklet. Click on our Free Monthly Pattern Downloads page to download this sweater.

This month's pattern download is a blouse pattern with a full scoop neckline and rosette detailing. The pattern download features pages from the booklet showing how to work with ribbon yarn.

While the yarn is no longer available, it can be occasionally found on Etsy or eBay. In fact, Alison just purchased 9 balls of black Ruban d'Art ribbon yarn from eBay. We have info on the yarn specs available on our yarn wiki page. Click here to visit the Vintage Yarn Wiki page.

Happy knitting!

February Free Pattern Posted

Click on over to the Free Monthly Pattern Downloads page to download this little cutie. We have a Shell Stitch Vest/Blouse pattern for you to crochet. This is a great beginner pattern.

Try one of our patterns for free!

Happy Crocheting!