Socks problems!

Looking at this photo don't my socks look impressive?

Well so I thought too but all is not well with them.

Here I could just do a blog post and not tell anyone what I have done, but whats the point of that? Its not about bragging about "Oh look at this, I made this etc etc" Its about sharing the truth with all the ups and downs that come along with like minded people who understand the frustrations as well as the joys of crafting, even when some do not do the same crafts, most people get this kind of problem.

I lost my 2.5mm needles when I started to knit these. Well no, I began with a straight cast on on 3mm then did the ribbing (mostly) using a Addi Sock Wonder circular. I do not get on with these really. Maybe because my hands always cramp and hurt because I have chronic arthritis but I thought I would try them out, hence paying out loads for both a 3mm and a 2.5mm. Anyway I own them so decided to attempt to knit with them. They are very good if you want to carry knitting around with you - much better than double points for that, but I am slow knitting with them and prefer the double pointed needles, despite every now and then I end up dropping my knitting off one end or the other. 

 

Part way down the ribbing I swapped to 2.5mm double pointed needles. All was well. Then one evening I miss-placed two of my needles. Still have not found the things. So I looked through my stash of needles, many of which belonged to my Great Great Aunts, so very old imperial things. I do not use them usually just keep them because they are "heirlooms" from my familly/ancesters. I used my needle gauge to check the size etc (- its obviously wrong!)

 

And then I got along with knitting my sock on what are very old, going rusty, needles. The rusty bit is why I decided stuff it and bought two new sets from Love Knitting because it turns out Drops Budget range sell for £1.70 so two sets is sensible bearing in mind I cannot find two of the damned things anywhere. So now I have 10 double points in 2.5mm so that should sort me out for a while.

 

I carry on knitting with my ancient needles whilst waiting for the new ones to arrive - the last generation to use these died in the early 60s! 

 

Try on sock. Its a bit tight but I assumed I had pulled the fairisle a bit too much and it does fit so carry on. New needles arrive and I swap over to them. Lovely by the way. Drops budget range, I definitely recommend. Nicest needles I have had in yonks. Aluminium so will only suit you if you prefer metal needles. I do.

 

As I knit I realise the foot part of my sock is much more stretchy than the top. I come to the conclusion my needle gauge I used to check the needles is out and I actually must have knitted with what equates to 2.25mm. According to Love Knitting thats an old size 13 and there is not actually an imperial equivalent to a 2.5mm. See here if you need the chart. I never realised there was no imperial needle to match a 2.5mm till now so this is all a learning curve.

Well I reckon I can live with a slightly tighter sock top so continue anyway. I can get it on and even wear a thinner pair underneath which is important to me because I have Raynauds Syndrome so will need two pairs a lot in the UK. 

 

I start sock two.

Disaster!

 

If you look at the photo here you can see my problem:

 I have 8 rows of diamond patterns ( or 4 if you count actual repeats rather than patterns etc)  to get to the heel, but on sock two to get the same size I only need 6 rows of diamonds (or 3 total repeats). You can also see relatively clearly the tension is totally different on the two socks. The right sock is much much tighter knit with far smaller stitches. I realised for sure what was wrong about 10pm (22:00) last night. 

 

Though the above really demonstrates how changing a needle size changes stitch size and shows very well how to alter your tension to fit a pattern should you want to. I unfortunately checked the tension at the start before I lost my needles!

 

So all is not well here. I am not going to knit sock two with my imperial 2.25mm ( 13s) but instead opt for a more comfy sock and undo and reknit sock one. 

On the upside I should finish sock two faster than sock one - unless I make it a bit longer, which I might do actually, but thats not following the pattern. But then the KAL finished weeks ago now so it really does not matter because I am far behind everyone else anyway. I love this pattern though, must admit. Its a bit tricky but thats a good thing. 

 

And in the end its not about being in a race to make socks as fast as other people do. I know one person doing the Kal completed 3 pairs in the time it took most people to complete just one pair. Well me - I will be taking considerably longer! 

 

But the aim is to complete a nice wearable comfy pair of socks and make them well so thats what I intend to do so yes sock one has to be undone. And knitted again on the right sized needles. 

Once you accept a problem it actually becomes easy to rectify it. 

I have been considering un-doing these from the top, but I know thats difficult. For some reason the stitches twist on the ribbing so unless I cut off the ribbing and just undo the body of the top of the sock, it will not work and I might just as well just undo the entire sock and start it again I think. And make it right - I have yet to decide which way I am going here I must admit but experience tells me you have problems if you undo it from the cast on edge.

 

And of course here I also learn a very valuable lesson. Besides having the patience to wait just 2 days to get some more needles its really not a good idea even if you have a modern needle gauge to check by, to use unmarked, very old needles. Its just a waste of time and effort. I should have waited for the post to arrive with my lovely new needles. 

 

On the upside I now know not all imperial needles have a metric equivalent and I never realised that until now. It might come in useful with some of the very old imperial patterns I own should I decide to knit them.

Well have a great week and if nothing else I hope you might take this blog post and see how other people ( in this case me!) have such silly disasters and maybe it might make someone smile knowing they are not alone in stupid behaviour and should carry on knitting/ crochetting or whatever else because you can get there in the end and its all about learning. That has to be good, to keep on learning. And I will finish these socks I promise.

Take care and thanks for reading about my problems with knitting socks,

Have a great week

Bracken

Book Review: Sew Lingerie by Maddie Kulig

 

At last the book I have been waiting for arrived!

I paid for a pre-publication order for this last year. I read about it on the website Madalynne.  

I used to follow Madalynne's blog for years and years when I first began sewing and even before I ever sewed a single stitch myself. At least this time round in my sewing journey anyway. I had a previous incarnation back in the 80s when I sewed everything but I stopped abruptly one day when first my sewing machine broke and then I was illegally evicted by my landlord. Becoming a homeless person precludes things like sewing because its hard enough just surviving let alone having any hobbies. It was nearly 3 years before I got a flat and then a long time after that to afford a new machine. If you become homeless you pretty much lose all your possessions. 

In fact I suspect thats why I am such a terrible hoarder - in particular of stashed fabrics!

In effect it means beggining all over again. Well I did begin again.

Now back to this book:

About a year ago in fact I bought the pre-release edition of this. It was due last October but never came out. No explanation from Amazon but I carried on waiting. 

And yes I can say it was worth waiting for this book.

So the book :

There are sections for panty projects and bra projects and sections on swim projects and body suits.. 

There is a small section on maternity/ nursing and mastectomy bras which personally I think should perhaps have been a little larger. There is not much there and I remember searching for maternity stuff and finding very little so this I think is a bit lacking but then if you were needing nursing bras this would help you make them and you could of course make loads similar but in different fabrics so it would work. Nursing is also for most women only a small section of life. Mastectomy though would mean a greater need for patterns but there is again information on adapting patterns and I suppose that would allow for experimentation here as well. At least both are included!

Its quite infomative on for example types of bras and types of knickers:

I personally want the swim section so will be using that at some point.

 

 Sorry all the photos I took of these pages came out rubbish! I need a new camera or better phone!

Well I have yet to make anything from the book because it only arrived a few days ago, but I have previously made several of Maddie Kulig's free patterns. If you know them, these new patterns are very similar, and yes maybe if I was good at pattern cutting ( and had the hours to spend!!!) then I could take her freebies and make something similar to these but its not just about the 11 patterns included with the book. Notably the Noelle pattern has two variants here so if you are a fan ( I am) then you would probably like the Ryanne which is on the cover and the Kennedy sports bra both of which are similar to the Noelle. I intend to make both. I love the Noelle!

The Ryane is a segmented version of the Noelle hence if you are ok with pattern cutting you could make it from that pattern. The Kennedy is also very similar. Both could be nice as cropped tops as well if thats what you like. Its the way I like my undies - more like cropped tops than bras. We all have preferences and generally mine are for comfy tops rather than underwired corset types of "bra's" as such. And I have been this way since the day I left home and no longer had my Mother controlling what I wear. Mind you I still intend at some point to get round to making a corset. A proper old fashioned "nasty" heavy corset.

Anyway this book is crammed with info on things like different fabrics and notions and I have already learned things I never knew just from flipping through it. Its going to be a valuable resource for me I think. 

One thing I think is particularly important its very inclusive and has all sizes. Nowadays thats becoming more common but for me personally I used to find it quite upsetting when the likes of companies like Unilever went on about "Real Women" and yes they showed photos of lots of average women but they missed out people like me. I feel the larger world is now very included but what about those of us that are very skinny as am I?

Its not that I diet. I have never ever controlled what I eat. I am just skinny and thats the way I am. I use to find it impossible to buy clothes that fit because I needed childrens clothing but most kids are not 5 feet 7 inches tall ( about 170cm). I often ended up buying boys aged 14 jeans which were too big round the waist but they were long enough and smaller than a size 10 uk womens. Nowadays size 8 is easy to buy and even many shops stock smaller than that so I am no longer considered too small and basically excluded from the RTW sizing ranges. Sad all of my younth was spent in too big RTW clothing really. But thats why I like sewing. Its also easy when you make your own to make things that not only fit but make you look proportionally ok. Everyone wants to look good after all. But I did find Unilever's Real women campaigns very upsetting.

So anyway, I reckon this book is well worth reading/ buying if you want to make undies. It has loads and I mean loads of info on fabrics, construction, techniques etc etc. Far more than you would get in a paper pattern or even on most websites. I am really happy with my purchase. 

Though I will read this, from cover to cover, before I even attempt making any of these patterns. Its taken me a few days just to download them, though its really easy to do. Its just my life is very busy and I could not find free time to do this. Today I am at home and have finally got my patterns. I will probably go ahead and print them because I do not trust digitals much having had lots recently get corrupted. I usually though have multiple hard drives with them saved so not totally bad news but it was a pain trying to locate things - my rubbish filing system!

Anyway have a great week and see you next week, Thanks for popping by my blog

Bracken

Red flares

  

This is another pair of flares made, in this case, in a  very warm almost coating fabric which was sold as faux angora. The fabric has amazing drape and I think is going to be very enjoyable to wear as an outfit.

Shame the top came out a little large but I can wear something under it so its not the end of the world. And I am more sure than ever it never needed that neck zip - see previous post for details on that one. Its definitely a size too big. Mind you I do like the extra length on my sleeves. When its really cold outside this is a comfort to wear.

This pair, unlike the grey pair, have a proper waistband. I actually toyed with adding a yoke here and maybe I should have because this pattern is low waisted, but in the end I went with a basic waistband with elastic in a casing - sewn down so it will not twist. The fact these are low waisted would make it very easy to add a yoke. I do like low waisted but sometimes its just nice having a change.

T

These days I sew one side of the waistband to the top of the trousers - sew elastic into a circle then to the outer edge of the now sewn on waistband, fold over twice, so its completely encased, and you cannot then feel any elastic when wearing because I hate having elastic next to my skin. I never used to, but making my own clothes has made me more aware of this kind of thing. Then I sew that folded over waistband down with a twin needle which means the elastic is completely encased and stays put and never twists. I will try and get photos of this for the next time I do it because its far better than adding the waistband and then threading the elastic trough. That works, but I always seem to end up with my wide elastic twisting or folding over and by sewing into the waistband itself the elastic just stays where you put it.

 

The side seams are also straight on this pair which is reasuring after the last pair had twists.

Anyway I diverge from what I am meant to be saying- here are the rest of the photos:

 

The jacket defo looks a bit too big. I will cut the smaller size next time I make it for definite.  

But this is going to be a nice warm outfit for this winter and into Spring, so I am still happy enough with this. I suspect I will never be perfectly happy with any of my makes. There will always be something I could have done better! 

Ah and I made a matching hair band too:

Have a great week

Bracken

Soft cozy warm flares

 

As I had planned, at New Year when I made my 2024 list of sewing aims, I decided to cut out some nice cozy warm and soft flares from the fabrics I have recently used to make my Grey Jumper and my Red over top/Jacket.

I have not yet sewn the red trousers but I did finish the grey ones. Thats partly because I (stupidly!) decided to again try to get along with a comfy yoga band. 

 

Well of course they now fall down all the time so I will have to alter that soon. The red ones will be having a normal elastic waistband instead.

I wore these when I went swimming with my son. Well my son did not find it cold, but I was freezing. I do not think the swimming pool was actually that cold, it was just me.

When we got out I was so happy to have worn my grey suit because I felt cozy immediately I had these clothes on. I was not a particularly cold day but after swimming I always feel the cold. Its January but I tend to feel cold at swimming baths even in July.

I did not actually make them for after swim but since my intention is to swim regularly then that could mean its a good outfit for the next month or so until it starts to warm up. Even in summer, on a hot day, I will not wear shorts when I go swimming. I have lovely cozy warm clothing for after-swim.

And yes very cozy and comfy these are too.

Interestingly the pattern on these trousers is straight. I tried so hard to get that right. I took ages over lining it all up because when I made the jumper it all came out slightly at an angle. I don't mind because its still a lovely cozy top but it was frustrating. 

I actually measured the pattern against the selvedge for the top using a ruler and lining up the SG arrows. That did not work. So this time I went with how it looks for the trousers and that has worked except for one small problem. The side seams twist a little. I have had this with RTW but it really annoys me. My partner tells me you cannot see this but I notice when wearing them.

So: I have a top where the seams are perfect and everything is straight but the actual pattern is off. 

Or I have trousers with perfect looking pattern and the seams twist. 

I am coming to the conclusion the fabric is just naff thats why it was so cheap. Its a very soft lovely fabric and was seriously cheap at £5 for 3m. I assume thats why!

Still the downside sometimes of buying offers and cheaper lines is you get imperfect fabrics. The seller should say this but often they don't. Never mind. For the rest of this winter at least I will be warm and cozy and I felt good wearing this so thats what counts.

It feels stylish as well as warm. 

Have a great week,

Bracken

Treasure socks progress

 

As you can probably see I am almost up to the heel. I have I think one or maybe two repeats to do first if I go for the length I usually go for. Its a good length so probably best to stick with it. I reckon this evening assuming I manage to knit I will get to the heel and maybe if I do well actually start the heel itself.

I have found these surprisingly fast to knit - so far anyway. I am still on sock one but really I think often a slightly more difficult pattern, or maybe rather a pattern that does require some thought and concentration, meaning you do not get bored, is often faster to knit than a basic pattern.

With socks mostly I have to concentrate anyway so I tend to find them an easier knit than a basic jumper which is just boring.

I actually started a basic jumper around this time last year and still have not finished the back of it. Its something I should go back to. Its sat in a bag next to my usual seat in the lounge for nearly a year now and not grown a single row. I have made several other items during the past year, but not finished the jumper. It always gets bumped down my list of to-dos.

 

Anyway the Treasure socks are growing nicely and I am liking how they are looking.

Take care and thanks for visiting my blog,

Bracken