Machine Knit Monday 10/28/2013

I know the machine knit jacket is supposed to be finished but I didn't do any sewing last week. I did make a feeble effort to clean off my sewing table and although it is cleaner...it's still a mess. So what have I been doing you might ask? For the most part I've just been reading. While I've always been an avid reader, in the last couple of years most of my reading has been sewing related. Recently I've gotten back to my favorite kind of reading--fiction. I've watched almost no television in the last month but instead have chosen to read. I've read The Help, The Rackateer, I Alex Cross, Notorious Nineteen, and am currently reading 7th Heaven. So there you have it. I haven't lost my sewing mojo it's just that reading is taking up all my time. Before the week is out I do plan to "knock-off" a dress I saw online at the Avenue. Stay tuned.

Wide-eyed Wednesday 10/23/2013

No sewing going on here at all and here's why...

My cutting table is a mess. Hey where did that alcoholic beverage come from? I'm working on cleaning it up. Don't judge me!

Machine Knitting Monday - Boiled Wool

Here I am back with another machine knitting post. Today's project is another cut-n-sew garment. Cut-n-Sew has been coined in the machine knitting world to mean "machine knitted piece, cut with scissors and sewn together on the sewing machine." CNS is a longstanding taboo to most knitters, but not to me! The jacket below started out as coned yarn. I knitted a swatch which I shrank in hot water in the washing machine and dryer and obtained the gauge. I then knit the pieces according to my swatch. After shrinking all the knit fabric, I cut the pieces. After I'd cut and sew the jacket together, I realized I didn't like it and decided to refashion it.

 I started with 100% Aran wool yarn.

Knit the pieces on the knitting machine. Wash in hot water to "boil."

Cut, interfaced and sewed.

 Refashioned

Using Simplicity 2284. See you back next week for the final reveal!

Mixed Messages

I decided to dip my toe into the "mixed prints" pond. The husband totally didn't get it. When I threw on the fuschia-colored jacket he was at even more of a loss. I actually liked this look. Go big or go home!

Vogue 1257

This is Vogue 1257 which I made in February of 2012. It's a sweater knit from JoAnn's. I scored the cute faux suede booties recently at Payless. I've never really like the "dress-booties" look but thought it could possibly work for me with an opaque textured stocking. Love the look!

Before I get caught up in a particular trend (remember my aversion to trying maxi dresses) I like to make sure that it's still age appropriate for me. At nearly 60 years old, I don't want to be that "old lady" that is trying to hard to hold onto her youth and is only making a spectacle of herself. The hair, jewelry, and shoes could be on the verge of looking ridiculous on me. It wasn't until recently that I found out people found my style "flashy." I'd never even thought of my style that way. Edgy maybe but never flashy. Now that I do know I'm still doing me. I figure as long as I'm doing that I'm still safe! Please stop me if I get "out there" too far.

Machine Knit Monday

I just came back from teaching a machine knitting technique in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I had a WONDERFUL time. Several things didn't work out as I planned but I powered through them a delivered, in my opinion, an amazing program. My theme was "Refashion, refashion, refashion." I could just look on some of the attendees faces and see them having their "aha" moment. When I conduct a seminar, I don't think I'm there to teach. I'm there to get them to "think" about the possibilities

Knitting machine can cost thousands of dollars. Why should machine knitters limit themselves to knitting "Walmart" pullovers when we can produce "St. John" quality knits! The main problem is that most machine knitters cannot fathom putting scissors to knits. WTH? Back in the day, many knitting machine dealers preached against it and thus turned machine owners against the practice. As a matter of fact, when I cut the sleeves out of a knit jacket to refashion it, I heard a very loud gasp from several knitters! Below are just a few photos of knit garments I've made. No, I don't knit yardage. I have a tried and true technique whereby I waste very little yarn and produce a boutique quality garment that would garner a boutique quality price!

This jacket below is knit single bed fairisle knit on a Brother 950i electronic machine. The the sleeves and back are a solid color single bed tuck knit on a Passap DM80 machine. It's only partially lined to keep it's knit quality. The pattern is of zebras and I added red rhinestones for the eyes. The yarn is Tamm Diamante and is 75% acrylic. The pattern is out of print but is McCalls 9523 from 2000. This was a refashion before anybody was calling it refashion. Before the zebras this jacket featured a multicolor vertical stripe fairisle pattern.

This jacket was made using the same pattern but the entire this is single bed fairisle knit on the Passap E6000. The trim on both sweaters was knit on the Brother 970 electronic machine. The rhinestone zipper is what makes this jacket super special.

Stay tuned for more "Machine Knit Monday."