Category: Blog

Here is the challenge. To make this little crocheted pink cardigan:

Into something that some normal sized person might want to wear, or use.

It’s not that the poor thing is that heinous. But the buttons are, and the color is not especially appealing. And it’s really tiny.

I was given this sweater by a knitting friend as a crafting challenge. The goal is to creatively “repurpose” the item. That could mean dying, cutting, sewing, augmenting, etc. etc. Use your imagination.

The sweater does have some things going for it.

The 25% angora makes it very soft.

The fact that’s it primarily cotton is inherently limiting, because it means it’s not feltable. So, I’ve resolved to leave it mostly intact so as to avoid any unraveling that I might not be able to control.

It has, so far been really easy to disassemble:

I’ve only undone the arm and side seams. And that might be as far as I need to go. Right now, it looks like it might want to be a shawl. I’m thinking about filling in those empty wedges in the circle with knitted lace panels . I could even take it further and close the front, add a cowl neck and make it a poncho….

As for colors, I did a little bit of sampling on what used to be the little patch pockets :

(the red doesn’t look that bright in person- must be my flash)

That’s cherry koolaid on the left, and lemon-lime on the right. I’m leaning towards the lemon-lime right now, but may try and experiment further with more subdued hues. Might have to sacrifice the collar for that.

What do you think this sweater wants to be in it’s next life?

First snow of the season hit yesterday.

And it is still here, as it has remained mighty cold (by PNW standards).

At least it provided a bit of a backdrop for this year’s holiday card photo:

Aren’t they sweet boys? Bruno was kind of nervous about getting in the front loader, but it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you have enough cookies on hand.

I’ve been busy spinning up the Border Leicester so I can keep my experimental project going,

and trying to get some cookie baking done so I have goodies to share (sorry, no photos yet!).

As per usual, I’ve feeling terribly behind on Christmas stuff, but hopefully I can wrap up the remaining essential items on the to-do list tomorrow and proceed to have a fairly stress-free holiday season.

That’s the plan anyway.

Wish me luck.

The experimental knitting is progressing nicely.

It now has a bit of a back,

and the beginnings of two sleeves:

At the back, I’m increasing on either side just before the stitches I cast on under the arms. My hope is to create a nice swingy feel to the coat. Hard to tell yet if it will work out the way I ‘m envisioning.

And I’m about out of the black/charcoal wool I’ve been using for the last few inches, so I’m going to have to find (or spin up) something compatible to finish it off.

The Border Leicester fleece that I brought home last month would be a nice match. Have some washed and picked,, but I’d hate to have to stall out on the knitting to spin up the remainder. I’ll have to consult the stash.

As an aside-The BL is really a treat. I’ve spun some in the grease, and some washed up and carded, and I like it both ways. It’s quite a bit finer and silkier than the last of that breed I worked with.

That’s it for now-

Thought I should finally post some shots of the finished Urban Aran and Oregon Vest.

So, without further ado, here is the former, front,

and back.

And the latter:

If I would change anything about the Urban Aran, I might take and inch of length off the sleeves. In fact, I might still do that. I don’t think it would be too hard. If I decide to give it a shot, I’ll let your know.
I wouldn’t change a thing about the vest. It’s really great. In fact, I would knit a whole bunch of these in different colors and wear them all the time. Super toasty in the heavy worsted/chunky Romney three ply. This is the first Oat Couture garment I’ve knit ( I don’t work from patterns much), but based on how it turned out, I might try another.

I have to admit,, I did make a few small modifications to the pattern. A little bit of waist shaping so it wouldn’t be so boxy, and some short rows to slope the shoulders a smidge. I think that they do help to fine tune the fit.

In other news,, the experimental sweater coat progresses, but is not yet at the exciting stage where the sleeves take off from the body,, so you’ll have to wait ’til next week for photos!

Denise out.