Two Vintage Jumpers

Readers, for months I have been slogging through obligation knitting. I am glad to be at the end of it, and am so ready to knit some projects just for me.

Here, however, are the finished objects:

Marion Foale's Classic Jumper in 4 ply Australian Merino (Empire from Morris and Sons):

And Marion Foale's Croquet in 4 ply Pima cotton from Morris and Sons:

I am thrilled with both, and they will be packaged up to make their journey to London on Monday.

Completing these feels great, and has given me great knitting mojo. We are about to be descended upon by overseas guests and they will be sleeping in my knitting room, so today I will be extracting three projects to sustain me over the coming weeks:

My current WIP, London Shadows, by Cindy Garland - part of a Mystery Shawl KAL so I can't post any pics. I am just about to start Clue 3, and am using stashed Katia Darling pure merino sock weight in colour  205 (purples, pinks, slate greys). The London theme sucked me in, as did the release date of the first clue being my birthday. The Katia's gothic colours are perfect. The shawl calls for optional beads but I didn't have any that worked in my bead stash, so might sew them along the edging as an afterthought (and hopefully that's not too much information!)

So that is the shawl on the needles, and I need, cast on so I can pick up and put down easily over the coming weeks, a shawl, a pair of socks, and a sweater.

For socks, I will just pull out some sock yarn from my stash and cast on my usual vanilla pattern, and they will work for commuting, travelling in the car and evenings in front of the TV.

For a sweater, I have my eye on the One Night Coat by Anna and Heidi Pickles. It is now a little unseasonal, but I need some instant gratification after two fine gauge sweaters, and it will be useful next winter. I'll be mixing two stash yarns, a heavy wool and a mohair, in yellow.

And I do have a bit more obligation knitting to do in due course - 3 Aran weight wedding wraps for a winter wedding early next year. 

Knitting, and a bit of sewing

So I have been working on the Classic Jumper by Marion Foale (a vintage knit) for JF in London. After we had an email conversation about it, she ordered some lovely 4 ply merino from Morris and Sons Sydney in the colourway Glass and had it posted out to me here on the NSW south coast.  Picking it up from the post office was a challenge, but eventually I managed it and am nearly done on the back and front, above.

It has lovely design features, like fully fashioned increases and decreases, a three needle bind off at the shoulder seams and the inset sleeves worked down from the armhole. These make it a pleasure to knit although there is a LOT of stocking stitch!  Luckily this suits my current lifestyle and knitting time (evenings, after work, commutes).

Knitting for someone else has got me sewing - today I pinned and basted the 30 Minute Coat (free online instructions from Threads magazine) and plan to complete it tomorrow.  I used a large rectangle of woven wool fabric in stash I had always planned as a jacket.

I have just planned what to do with the rest of the fabric stash I brought from the UK - more PJ pants, another A-line skirt, and the Schoolhouse Tunic.  

Knitting in Oz

Dear readers, I have spent a few of the last weeks in my own home country Australia, where I saw family, friends, and did a little knitting and purchasing of yarn and yarn-related things.

My WIP for this trip was Elizabeth's toe-up, afterthought heel socks, done using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (Robot Overlord).  Other than the method of contruction, which I had not really done before, they are plain vanilla which made them perfect for long haul flights (I like to do things when flying but find my concentration levels are poor, so no complex lace etc!), sitting around with my folks and chatting, 4am wake ups with jet lag, etc.  I completed them just after returning and here they are:

I did the bullet heel option, but they are a bit too pointy, so am just doing a little surgery on them this morning, unravelling the point and ripping back a few rows - I will probably kitchener after all (was trying to avoid this as I always have to look up kitchener stitch and wanted to find a totally portable method of doing socks without reference to anything).

My home town is the stately and lovely Adelaide, but we also took a side trip to the big smoke of Sydney, where Australia's largest (and I think best) yarn store is located - Morris and Sons on York St, just a short walk from Circular Quay, the bridge and Opera House:

Sydney was well into storm season, but it was warm despite the heavy skies which threatened a tropical downpour!

I had hoped to pick up some Jo Sharp or Pear Tree at Morris and Sons, but there was none in stock - in fact doing some online research I think both have either ceased or really reduced production.  Such a shame.  Instead, Morris and Sons have started their own line of high grade 100% Australian merion in a variety of weights and dyes, and I couldn't resist this DK - Empire, in the colourway Plumage:

I picked up enough to do a little lacy vest I found in Knitscene Spring 2012, so bought the Knitscene as well.

Back in South Australia, I rummaged through a few second hand stores to find a few vintage leaflets and patterns - more on those when I do something from them!

I gifted the completed Honey Cowl above to Charmayne although it went straight into storage as it is pure alpaca and the day I saw her was 41 degrees!  This will, hopefully, be warm and stylish when winter does hit.  My sister received the anthracite grey Apple Strudel for her new home in a cool, woodland area, and I will do another version for myself at some point - in a bright red, navy, or jewel tone perhaps.

My work is at the moment taking me to Glasgow during the week, where I have joined a new knitting group and plan some sewing classes, so more blogging to come.

And on the sewing front?  Well, I had hoped to do one of the Ravelry sewing group's challenges for 2013, and still plan to as I can.  I am almost all the way through a skirt for January (ermm, although it's March!), and will dip in and out as I can:

Jan- Simple skirt


Feb - fitted trousers / jeans

March - Jacket of any sort

April - pjs / nightdress

May - knit top or dress

June - blouse / shirt

July - tote/ bag

August - dress

Sept - skirt with details/pleats/ pockets

Oct - underwear ( pants, camisole, bra or slip)

Nov - a dress for the holidays

Dec - an item for charity

Let's see how it goes!