SWAP #7

After the short interlude last week, compounded by snow-caused train issues, I have managed to make a further garment.

Zimmerman Yoke sweater

It is another Elizabeth Zimmerman knitted top, using the old yoke pattern that I have already made up before. In the round up from the EZYokeKAL you may have seen a similar one by Kerry who used black and white yarns. The design “Rusty” in English is available on Ravelry.  It is based on an old Icelandic pattern and it is very pretty indeed. It is knitted over 34 stitches so just make sure your final number of stitches can be divided by 34. I decided I wanted two motifs across the chest and back and one over each sleeve, so on my first decrease I got there. Then I knitted the motif and finally reduced once again before knitting the neckline. My version is a little lower than Kerry’s.

I used a navy yarn from Colourmart. The yarn is cashmere, reportedly from Chanel, and it has a beautiful light blue fleck in it. I used two strands creating roughly a double knit effect and knitted it on 5mm needles. It is much more chunky than my previous versions of this jumper, and I made it longer and wider so it had more of an outdoor look. I finally finished it by knitting a nice ribbed border at the hem with 4mm needles.

In creating colourwork the choice of colour is important, and I felt I wanted the biggest possible contrast (like Kerry’s). I had some small balls of four ply in two off white shades, so again I put two stands together to produce a satisfactory outcome. As ever I knitted it very very loosely, and it looked a bit uneven at first. Then I lightly pressed it with the steam iron and it came together perfectly.

It is now my favourite jumper. Soft and cosy, loose and comfy, but also traditional and elegant. It will go with everything being a nice simple neutral look.

Wool circle skirt

I also managed to finish the hem on my Circle Skirt.

I let the skirt hang while I considered how to hem it. It dropped quite a lot – up to one inch in parts.

Thank you all for your thoughtful advice on the hem. Most of you said hand sew, but I also listened to Annie and the machine stitchers. I planned to do a fold over narrow hem by machine, then hand sew. But the narrow hem took quite a long time on the machine I decided on trim, fold and resew – a traditional narrow, machined hem. It worked pretty well, with only the slightest of splaying out (I was so careful with the sewing). I managed to steam it back into shape and I am happy with the outcome. I just couldn’t find the time to do the hem by hand – sorry you perfectionists out there.

Nick took these pictures so maybe not the best for showing the sewing. The snow has nearly melted but it was cold – as you can see from my rosy cheeks.

I was hopeful we could get a picture of the skirt flaring out, but it wasn’t to be. 

I am pretty happy with these two items. They are both very me. I don’t suppose a baggy jumper and a circular skirt is the ideal combination, and the footwear was really the best I could do in the country. But overall it works fine I think. Wearing one dark colour makes you look taller and slimmer so the bulky clothes still have a streamlined look. Even when jumping!