The Moonstruck Cardigan
(sorry about the blurriness – but it gives you an idea of the size of the collar)
I’ve never been too much of a sweater knitter (my thing was mostly lace shawls that I don’t wear). Prior to the self-made wardrobe project, I had finished:
1. a sweater for myself that I accidentally felted
2. a super straightforward & easy sweater that I knit during Hurricane Sandy
3. and this sweater, which I knit in the fall of 2010.
The pattern is “Moonstruck” by A. Karen Alfke, from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and the yarn is Dream in Color “Classy.”
I knit the sweater on a US 7, and reworked the pattern to match my gauge. If I remember correctly, I did a bunch of math, and then just ended up knitting a size or two larger.
Amazingly enough, I’m not sure there’s anything I would change about this sweater. All-over ribbing. Asymmetrical front. Beautiful buttons. Set-in sleeves that are long enough(!) And a dramatic collar. Total win!
I keep meaning to add a hook & eye to keep the bottom from gaping – after almost 4 years, I’ve accepted that’s never going to happen, so I usually just let the bottom gape, and if it’s a problem, I close it with a safety pin.
I think my favorite thing about this sweater is the color. I love that’s it’s almost-but-not-really a black. It’s kind of a “bad black.”
The yarn is “Classy” from Dream in Color, and the colorway is either “Black Pearl” or “Cocoa Kiss.” I think. I originally wanted to use “Black Pearl” but the shop didn’t have enough skeins, so I ended up with “Cocoa Kiss.” (This is what I get for not taking proper notes…) And either way I love how it turned out.
(This sweater could definitely use a date with a sweater Gleener.)
The Perfect Transitional Sweater
This is not my typical type of sweater.
I’m not usually into short-sleeved sporty-looking hand-knit wool sweaters. But that’s what this sweater wanted to be, so that’s what this sweater is.
I tried to take down the sporty feel – that just looked half-assed.
I tried adding sleeves – they threw off the proportions – plus I ran out of yarn.
I tried doing turned hems – they were bulky.
I thought about doing buttons instead of a zipper – that felt wrong on every level – plus I love zippers on knits.
Once the body was done, instead of working a hem, I went back and added ribbing. I unpicked the bind off, dropped each stitch that I wanted to change from a knit to a purl, and picked them back up with a crochet hook.
This was definitely the right idea – even though it took forever and a half.
The turned hems were bulky, and sloppy, and felt heavy, whereas the ribbing is sleek and wonderful, and keeps the bottom hem from curling up beautifully.
My favorite part of this sweater is, by far, the zipper. I adore zippers in knits.
I’d never sewing a zipper into a hand-knit before, and am quite proud of how it came out. (Now I want to add zippers to all my sweaters.)
I put the zipper in by hand. First basting it in (to hold it in place, and help line up the stripes), and then using a back-stitch to sew it in properly.
Even with basting, the stripes are the teeniest smidge off (about half a row, most obviously on the first white stripe), which I’m a bit annoyed about.
Though not annoyed enough to take out and reattach the zipper.
And despite my face in this photo, I really do like this sweater.
It isn’t something I’d ever pick up in a store (theme!), but I’m really glad it’s part of my wardrobe. There’s something to be said for expanding your comfort zone.
And it really is kind of the perfect sweater for weird transitional weather.
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt – when what I love to sew meets what I love to wear
This is one of my absolute favorite pieces in my self-made wardrobe. It’s a very versatile piece, without being a true “basic.”
I made it one morning way back in June (during the first try at this project) when I was absolutely sick of everything in my closet.
It’s a two layer, square shaped circle skirt, with an elastic waist, and handkerchief hem, made out of a 100% silk printed fabric.
Meaning:
It has two layers of fabric, one on top of the other. (That I then rotated so they’re offset from one another – more of an explanation.)
A circle skirt is made by laying your fabric flat and cutting two circle, one within the other, the outer circle becomes to the hem of your skirt, while the inner circle becomes your waist. For this skirt, instead of shaping the hem as a circle, I shaped it as a square.
It has an elastic waist, so it’s wonderfully comfortable.
A handkerchief hem is a hem with points which, in this skirt, are created by shaping the hem like a square.
The fabric is a lightweight 100% silk with a really beautiful graphic print.
I picked up this fabric on a whim, mostly because of the print.
I love black & white prints, and it’s one of the places where what I love sewing and what I love wearing meet.
More often than not, what I love making isn’t what I love wearing (lace shawls for example), and what I love wearing isn’t what I love making (mostly because it’s boring).
Black & white graphic prints being one of the exceptions. They’re prints, which make them interesting to sew, and they’re black & white which makes them easy to wear. Love.
This is definitely and absolutely one of my favorite pieces.
