Autumn Sorbetto

I finally made a sorbetto top! Sorbetto is a free pattern available for download from my favorite pattern company Colette Patterns. I made mine out of a liberty print from B&J fabric. The pattern calls for a yard and a half of fabric but I only used a yard. Still have plenty of this liberty print to make something else. I like that the bias tape is exposed on this top, to give it a little more interest.

It was really simple to make, and took me only a little over an hour. Colette patterns are always simple to follow along. This is a great top to wear under cardigans, which is one of my wardrobe staples!

Layer Cake Crinoline

After being in my to do pile for over a year, I finally made the layer cake crinoline. I followed the multimedia tutorial from Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing. I used half a yard of bemberg rayon, and  half a yard of cotton organdy, both in hot pink! It was super easy to put together, the hardest part was trying to iron these fabrics. The rayon does not want to be ironed. I had a bit of a mishap with my serger and caught more organdy than needed to be serged. Oops.

So I took a break halfway through gathering the organdy, and went shopping with the friends. Guess what I saw, the crinoline hanging in the Kate Spade store. This is made from tulle, but the same exact color, with the same effect. It also cost $195, and made entirely out of polyester.  I think mine may have cost $16 including the elastic. I will definitely be making more of these. Thanks Gertie!

Simmer Dim Wrap

I've been knitting for a million years and this is my first shawl. This is the Simmer Dim wrap

by Gudrun Johnston. I love her patterns, I also made her pattern Audrey in unst, which was so well written. This shawl knits up very quickly. The center triangle is knit using the Shetland construction method, which makes loops in the beginning of every row, making it very easy to pick up all and knit the rest of the shawl.  

 

I used one skein of madelinetosh eyre light, that I bought on the madelinetosh etsy page. The yarn is super soft, and a gorgeous color. The last two things I have made with madelinetosh have been impossible to wind and knit from the skein. It is constantly getting caught on itself, it really slows down the progress when you have to stop all the time and untangle. Anyway, this is a simple and fast pattern that would be great for anyone.

Valentine Cardigan

I've been knitting this little cardigan since March and I finally made myself finish it. This is the Valentine Cardi from Spud and Chloe and designed by Laura Chau. The stitch is a lacy rib, that was very easy to knit, I just didn't work on it very much, so it took so long to finish. This is a botton up cardigan knit in one piece until the armholes. I used two skeins of Madelinetosh tosh merino light in tangerine. I just love this color, but it was very hard to find buttons that were the right shade.  I originally bought some orange mirrored buttons from M&J trimming, but they were just not right, I found the perfect shade of orange at the local fabric store.

I made some minor changes to this pattern. I made sort little cap sleeves, instead of the elbow length in the picture. I also made it a little bit shorter. This sweater is not blocked. The stitch will stretch out a lot when wet, so leaving it unblocked gives it a cropped look. I learned a new technique from this pattern, the stich in 1 row button hole, which sounds hard but is actually easy and gives the buttonhole a very finished, professional look. This video here, helped me a lot. 

I'm so glad I finally finished this sweater, even though it can probably only be worn a few times before it gets too cold out.  I can see myself wearing this over and over again in the spring and summer.