Another knitting project complete! I wonder if I can say I’m a knitter now that I’ve finished four projects? (Still need to blog about a couple…)
The Honey Cowl was a freebie pattern I found on Ravelry. I was buying some needles online and came across this Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece yarn on sale at the same store so bought a few skeins. I’m still pretty clueless as to what yarn to use for what project, but a quick Ravelry search for the yarn helped me decide on this cowl after seeing a few other versions made up using it.
I’ve worked with this yarn before and loved it. It’s 80% cotton/20% merino wool and super soft to wear. I can’t stand any scratchy yarn on my skin, even just a tiny bit of scratch but this stuff is amazingly soft. The colour is Spanish Olive.
I love cowls. Have never been much of a scarf wearer – the long hanging ends drive me crazy and I’m always adjusting it. Cowls are great to wear though, no moving around or getting uncomfortable, stylish too. You’d think there would be no reason for me to be cowl wearing now that we have headed into Spring, but this week has been bitterly cold – the coldest it has felt all Winter and I’ve been wearing it every day!
The Honey Cowl was a really easy, relaxing knit. I did most of it while we were holidaying in Queensland…a good project to work on and still maintain a conversation at the same time! I knitted the long (220 stitch & 11″ wide) version as I wanted a double loop and it is just the right length.
I love this project so much that I’ve ordered more yarn to store away and slowly work on more cowls…some for me and some to put in the present box ready for Christmas and birthdays.
I promise this will be my last Honey Cowl post for awhile…but it seemed fitting to share this one with you as it is my sister’s birthday today!
I knitted this cowl for Carli for Christmas and she is already requesting another one in a different colour. Time to teach her to knit I think!
Carli is my big sister – by 1 year and 5 days! I still can’t quite get my head around how Mum actually managed to have two babies so close together – and she worked shift work as a nurse. Back in the day, policies weren’t as strict and she would take her babies to work with her on night shift and we would sleep the night away tucked in a linen cupboard, getting cuddled by her fellow friend nurses when we woke for a feed!
Happy birthday sister dear – I hope I look as good as you when I’m 32!
I was lucky enough to draw two of my sisters in both of our secret santa Christmas draws this year. Girls are much easier to gift for and I’d been working on a few more Honey Cowls after the success of myfirst two, ready to give away for Christmas presents.
This first one was for my sister-in-law, Ashleigh. She is stunner and it was so nice to have someone to take photos of, rather than having to be in front of the camera myself!
I used the free Honey Cowl pattern here. The yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Cotton Ball colour – a slightly off-white. I still love this yarn, it is extremely soft and silky and lovely to knit with.
I feel like I should be extending my knitting repertoire, but this pattern is so easy to put down and pick up and is really mindless knitting, so perfect for when I want to veg out on the couch in the evening. Just warning you…there are plenty more to come!
These Honey Cowls have become my go-to “couch” projects. (See my first three here, here and here.) These four Little Honey Cowls have been knitted over the last few months with no particular purpose in mind.
After knitting my first little version of the Honey Cowl for Lil, I was so happy with the finished product that I wanted to use up the rest of the yarn that I had unpicked from my crocheted bag. Not sure that unpicking and reusing a yarn is technically the best thing to do, but for a cowl that is wrapped and losely worn you can’t really tell that the yarn has been previously used.
Once again, these cowls were made using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece yarn (love it). It took exactly one skein to make each cowl. This size was made by casting on 150 stitches, then knitting until 6″ wide.
We gave the blue cowl to my niece, Maya, for her 8th birthday last week. She looks lovely in it and had a super rainy baptism birthday and wore it all day long. The other three have been put in the present box (oh, how I love having a present box!) ready for some other special little girls birthday in the future.
Another Honey Cowl finished and gifted. I think I’ve just about worked through the last of the yarn I bought for Honey Cowl knitting. But that doesn’t mean that I’ll be stopping – it is the best gift! And I’ve got plans to have a go at knitting some multi-coloured striped cowls, I think they will look great!
This one was knitted using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Pink-A-Boo.
I made it for this sweet girl who is leaving for London any day now to serve a mission for our church. I have had a lot to do with Lucy over the last few years and was privileged to be one of her youth leaders so am really excited to see her going on a mission and know she is going to be the best missionary ever!
I haven’t knitted anything in a few weeks but am itching to start another project. I don’t know what to tackle next though – any suggestions? What are your favourite knitting projects? I want to stock up on some yarn and patterns for post-baby couch crafting…let me know if you have any good suggestions!
Well, after knitting my Honey Cowl I had Lil asking me for one for her. How could I say no? I had actually been planning on knitting her a scarf sometime, but when she suggested a cowl it made more sense. If I get frustrated with the loose ends of a scarf, then I knew that it wouldn’t last long on her but a cowl would be perfect. Easy for her to wrap and wear and nice and warm to keep her all cosy.
Last year I had actually crocheted a bag using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece from Tangled Yarns. I finished the bag, but there was something not quite right about it (I suspect due to not following the pattern correctly!) so I’ve never used it. So I unpicked the whole thing and used the yellow yarn for Lil’s cowl. I skein was the perfect amount so you can bet that there will be four more little cowls for little girls in the future! I feel much better about putting the yarn to good use now after the failure of the bag!!
I changed the pattern so that I cast on 150 stitches and continued knitting until the cowl was about 6″ wide.
I think Lil looks super cute in it and she has worn it a lot so we are both happy 🙂 Although you wouldn’t think it from these photos – she was feeling a bit grumpy to start with but I soon pulled a smile out of her!!
I recently finished knitting myself another cowl. After the Honey Cowl marathon of the last few years I thought I should branch out and try a new pattern! I am not the most confident knitter but really want to try and improve my knitting abilities so have started a little yarn stash (I promise it will not take over the house…) and am challenging myself with new patterns and yarns.
The pattern I decided to tackle next was the Big Herringbone Cowl pattern from The Purl Bee. The herringbone stitch was fun to do and easy to pick up and this cowl ended up being nice and squishy and bulky. It did take me a few sittings to get used to using the chunky 12mm needles but once I was in a groove the cowl was a really fast knit.
The yarn I used was Milla Mia Naturally Soft Aran in Ochre colourway. I purchased it on a whim when I was stocking up on needles one day because I had a 20% discount voucher to use and wanted to make the most of it. I have used Milla Mia yarn before and knew that the quality would be great – soft and not scratchy. I really love it though, the finished cowl is super snug and keeps me so warm on a cold day.
This cowl is definitely not free of mistakes, there are a few spots that have messy stitches or little holes that I strategically place underneath folds when I wear it. I was *this close* to unpicking the whole thing and starting again after I had blocked it because the mistakes were annoying me so much but decided I would keep it as is and knit another one sometime without any mistakes! I found the herringbone stitch really difficult to rectify mistakes as I went, but I’m sure one day it will click and I’ll be able to fix up my mistakes as I go along. That’s the great thing about a cowl though, you can easily wrap and tuck to hide any messy spots before wearing!
My next knitting project is a 3-Colour Cashmere Cowl…I was about 1/3 of the way through and then the little boys landed on my knitting bag when they were jumping off the couch and snapped one of my needles so I am impatiently waiting for a replacement to arrive in the mail!
Hey, hey! I knitted something! It only took me a year and it’s not a Honey Cowl (there have been 10 of those)! This pattern is the Zigvest from TiKKi. It’s a beautifully written pattern, but boy did I experience some grief with it! All problems caused by my own inexperience and foggy mindedness, but I got there in the end!! I used some Luxury 8 ply yarn in Koala from Bendigo. This is a good, economical yarn…personally I wouldn’t wear it directly on my skin, it’s a bit too itchy for me, but I’m pretty picky about how fibers feel on my skin. Great for a vest that will be worn over other clothing though.
This vest is definitley the most advanced pattern I have knit. It was all good until I had to split for the neckline and then for some reason I just couldn’t get the zigzag pattern to continue properly all the way up to the shoulders. I tried at least 10 times to get the pattern to continue, with no luck. I even had help from my clever knitty friend and my Mum and I just couldn’t pull it together! I think that the main problem is that I left the vest unfinished at this point for many months because I had hit a roadblock, then every time I picked it up to try and finish it I became more and more confused because it had just been so long since I had worked on it!
I was determined to just finish the thing and my Mum suggested that I stop the zigzag pattern at the neckline and just knit some plain rows up to the shoulder seams in place of the pattern. I was a little apprehensive to start with as I thought it would end up looking tacky but the back of the vest is all plain and I don’t mind the look that I ended up at all. And….I FINISHED IT!
Tommy is so skinny that his chest measurement came in at the size for a 3 year old. I didn’t think to add length to the vest (duh!) and there was a growth spurt somewhere there in the 12 months that it took for me to finish it, so I don’t think we will get more than one Winter’s wear out of it. At least I have Harvey to hand it on to in a few years time!
As painful as it was to finish the vest off, the bulk of the knitting was smooth sailing – I was so proud of myself for getting the zigzag pattern to look as good as it does…not a bad effort for my first attempt! I did learn a lot, it is very wearable and Tommy loves it so that’s all that matters, right?!
So, now that I have finished this vest, I’m trying to decide what to cast on next…I have a strict “one knitting project at a time” rule which is great incentive to finish something off! I’m leaning strongly towards a shawl – maybe this one or this one. But I did just look through TiKKi’s patterns as I was linking to the Zigvest and am feeling tempted by her new Posy cardigan, or perhaps the Ferris Wheel or even something for me – maybe a Summer Festival or Lizzie cardi? Decisions, decisions…
The Honey Blouse is a versatile top boasting pure and simple elegance.
With subtle gathers to give a feminine feel and a slimming waistband, The Honey Blouse is flattering for all body shapes and sizes.
The puff-shaped three-quarter length sleeves and scoop neckline feature a fancy twisted trim to add personality and detail.
With options to wear side ties long or short, The Honey Blouse can easily be worn as a casual top or quickly glammed up for a night out with some pretty jewellery and heels!
This pattern includes sizes from 2x-small – 2x-large.
Sorry for the overload of Skippy and Joey posts, but they each have a lot of variations and it is my job to show them all to you – we are slowly getting there!
I know I play favourites a lot when it comes to me-made clothing, but this new Skippy dress tops the lot for my Winter wearing.
I only made it two weeks ago but I have to have a quick think as I go to get it out of my cupboard each time to make sure I haven’t worn it too many times in a row…don’t want to get a reputation as the girl who wears the same outfit over and over again!
So this variation of Skippy features long sleeves and a cosy cowl neck. The method used to sew this cowl neck onto the dress results in a twisted, drapey look. I wanted to make sure that it didn’t end up looking like a skivvy and this method gives a more sophisticated finish. Of course, if you wanted it to look more like a skivvy, you could always attach the cowl in the same way that all of the cuffs and bands in the dress are attached. The fabric for this dress is really lovely. A nice mid-weight jersey with loads of stretch that my friend bought for me from The Fabric Store in Sydney. I love it and am glad that I choose it for this cold-season Skippy dress.
These photos were taken when I went away for a girl’s weekend with my Mum, sisters and sisters-in-law. We stayed at Low Head in these cute Pilot Station cottages and had such a lovely getaway – free from all home responsibilities. We went on slow walks, lounged around, laughed so much our tummys hurt, ate way too many treats, went out for a fancy dinner, took fun photos at the lighthouse and even played some funny games of sardines in the dark and reverse charades! It was a great weekend spent with special ladies at the most beautiful place.
And incase you were wondering…you can do awesome cartwheels in the Skippy dress!
I hope you girls are all ready for some selfish sewing because I’ve got a new pattern to share with you today…something special you can sew just for yourself!
The Honey Blouse is a versatile top boasting pure and simple elegance. With subtle gathers to give a feminine feel and a slimming waistband, The Honey Blouse is flattering for all body shapes and sizes.
The puff-shaped three-quarter length sleeves and scoop neckline feature a fancy twisted trim to add personality and detail.
With options to wear side ties long or short, The Honey Blouse can easily be worn as a casual top or quickly glammed up for a night out with some pretty jewellery and heels!
I really enjoyed designing this top. It was a slow and steady process and spread out over a much longer space of time than I usually take to design my patterns, but you’ve really got to be particular with women’s patterns, they can be tricky to get “just right” and I’m thrilled with the flattering fit and sophisticated feel that has been achieved with The Honey Blouse.
I’ve made a couple of these blouses now (will share soon!) and have played around with using double gauze and cotton voile fabrics and recommend using a fabric with a soft drape (such as these two) to give The Honey Blouse a lovely fit and comfortable feel.
Once again, thanks a million to Chelsea Parsons photography for these lovely images. And the lovely Chelsea herself for modelling The Honey Blouse – isn’t she gorgeous?!
I’ll be giving away a copy of The Honey Blouse to one lucky winner – simply leave a comment on this blog post to enter!! (Please make sure you leave an email address with your comment. Giveaway will close Monday 3rd October and winner will be drawn at random).
I have well and truly caught the knitting bug. My previous knitting projects have consisted of rotating the same few patterns over and over but I’m feeling much more confident and having fun branching out into new projects now.
This 3-Colour Cashmere Cowl is a very popular pattern and a few of my friends have knitted it so I knew it would be a winner. I ordered 3 x 50g balls of Lush sock yarn from Little Plum Yarn (an awesome Aussie dyer who is no longer in business – boo!) and they were the perfect length to knit this cowl without any left-overs. The colours I chose were Gunmetal, Silver & Belle.
If you are unfamiliar with the 3-Colour Cashmere Cowl pattern, it is basically a long, narrow tube, knit in the round on circular needles and consists of blocks of different colour, design and stitches (um…there is probably a more accurate way to describe it but my technical knitting terminology is not up there yet!) Anyway, I loved this knit! It was fun, fairly quick and switching between colours and stitches kept it interesting.
I love wearing this cowl, the pops of colour brighten up a neutral outfit and, best of all, it is super warm!
Lil needed some new long-sleeved tops. With my limited sewing time at the moment, I wanted the project to be a quick sew but didn’t just want a plain top with no special features.
So I pulled out my Basic Tees pattern because I know it is super straightforward, quick and easy. Then I made some really simple alterations and additions to make it super funky!
The addition of long skinny sleeve cuffs, a hem cuff…
…and a pretty cowl neck were just what we needed!
If you’re a confident sewer, you could probably make these alterations easily yourself. For those of you who need a bit more guidance, I have plans to write these instructions up as a free PDF download to use in conjunction with your Basic Tees pattern so stay tuned!
There’s nothing like a quick accessory to give your outfit a boost.
Scarves and Cowls Creative Card will lead you through the basic instructions to create simple and unique scarves and cowls.
These projects are so quick and easy to sew, you will find yourself making them for special gifts and to fill your own wardrobe.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to colour and fabric combinations and different embellishments, we’ve given you a few to start out with to get your creative juices flowing!
(Make It Perfect Creative Cards are fun, compact mini-patterns. Creative Cards come as a single folded A4 card, and contain all the step-by-step instructions and templates needed to make fast and easy patterns perfect for people with little pockets of time to create!)
I know I’m on a winning sewing project when the wearer requests more of the same. I loved making my first altered Basic Tee with cowl neck for Lil so happily jumped at the chance to give it a second go.
I love this yellow/grey colour combo. This fabric was actually bought to make something for myself, but I was happy to use it for Lil and we always appreciate the change from pink/purple “girly” colours.
I really want to make one for myeslf, but will wait until I’ve managed to shed some of the post-baby fat. Basic Tee pattern for women coming up perhaps?
I’ve already been given the go ahead to make her more of these – I think the cowl neck would look really cute on a short-sleeve or 3/4-sleeve top too for Spring.
I’m back tonight with a little more from The Drapery. As a lovely surprise, The Drapery girls also sent me a Linen Scarf Kit from their store to try out. This kit is a super simple sew and the end result is a stylish and warm circle scarf (cowl). The kit includes absolutely everything you need to compete the cowl – yep, even the needle! It would be a great portable project to take away with you on a little holiday.
I love a bit of hand-sewing on the couch when I’m watching telly, and this scarf is completely sewn by hand! Of course, if you are a bit impatient or don’t want to sew by hand, you can make the scarf on the sewing machine and it would probably take you less than 15 minutes from start to finish!
I personally prefer the hand-stitched look. The contrast thread shows up in little irregular stitches on the cowl and gives it some interesting detail.
Not only is the cowl lovely to look at, it is also so, so warm. The one I used is made from a washed Lithuanian double-sided linen and is really soft and not at all itchy.
The Drapery is giving away TWO LINEN SCARF KITS to two lucky winners! The kits are valued between $20-$25. Simply leave a comment on this blog post to be in the running! Entries close Sunday 16th March. Please leave an email address with your comment.
Melissa from A Happy Stitch joins us on the Pattern Parade today – welcome Melissa! Melissa is an avid sewer and her blog is a great one to follow…she sews pretty much everything – clothes for her boys, clothes for herself, quilts, cushions, bags…and she also teaches sewing classes locally and has a lot of knowledge to share.
I was in Spotlight a few weeks ago and had a scrummage through the big sale table. Junk, junk, junk…and a few okayish fabrics at discount price that I picked up. This, being one of them – it’s a ponte knit and was reduced to $6 per meter. I’m beginning to get more familiar with different types of knits – this one probably isn’t best suited to a cowl-neck top because it is thick and more rigid than most knits, but it was cheap and for $12 I was happy to experiment and didn’t really mind if things didn’t work out.
I’m really quite happy with the finished top though. I do have to fold and set the cowl neck into place as it doesn’t really drape nicely on it’s own, but it’s a nice, sturdy top and washes really well. The pattern is the Renfrew Top. I definitley could have drafted my own, as it is really a basic shape, but sometimes I just want to take the easy option and have it all laid out for me! It was a quick and easy sew, although I did totally confuse myself with the cowl and unpicked it (ugh! I hate unpicking overlocked seams!) about 3 times before I realised I had it right the first time around!
All in all, a successful finish and I’ve worn the top at least half a dozen times in the last two weeks. I can definitley see a few more of these in the near future as it incorporates two of my favourite styles – 3/4 length sleeves and cowl necks. Next time I’ll try with a softer knit, perhaps some Stella in more funky colours!
Basic Tees: Spy Top variation is a chic addition to your Basic Tees pattern.
This variation is a free download pattern to add to your original Basic Tees pattern featuring a cowl-neck for warmth and style, long skinny sleeve cuffs and a fitted hem cuff.
My daughter loves her “Spy Tops” – nicknamed because she pulls the cowl up over her face and declares herself a spy!
We hope you enjoy this variation to the Basic Tees pattern as much as we do!
