Want to dress like Frida?
Since seeing the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum I have been thinking of being more like Frida. At least in terms of dressing. Could I make a blouse and skirt that I could wear in London, influenced and inspired by Frida, without looking exactly like this?
The key elements of the style are a round necked (occasionally square necked) waist length, boxy, blouse that is usually worn over a skirt. This T shaped garment is sometimes white or lacy, often brightly coloured and sometimes embroidered. The skirt usually matches or coordinates, and is either below the knee with a longer under skirt, or with a white lace floor length border. An even simpler look is a long, full skirt, a loosely fitted blouse and a shawl draped over the shoulders. Hair is usually worn up and enhanced with flowers, ribbons or plaits. Jewellery includes showy necklaces and earrings. Here is Frida, in New York, where they went crazy for her style.
So here is my suggestion. Fresh from my success in hosting a knit along, what about a Frida sewalong for those that don’t knit?
Shall we spend a month or two (finishing by the end of August say) making a Frida influenced outfit?
You don’t have to interpret this completely literally, but you could. Even though they can be worn together for dramatic purposes, I am thinking a maxi skirt and a blousey top would blend into most wardrobes, and would be fun to make. They could both be embellished with lace, braid, panels, hand or machine embroidery, or they could be relatively plain. You could use one main fabric, or several co-ordinating fabrics in bright colours. You may have an old table-cloth or embroidered hand towels or African prints, or Chinese embroidery or even Mexican artefacts you could combine? If your local climate is considerably cooler than Mexico you might want to think about using velvet, wool or heavier fabrics – this might make a splendid Christmas Day outfit. If you are in a hot climate then this outfit would be perfect in lighter weights. By making separates we get lots of wear – the little top with jeans, or the long skirt with a shirt for work or formal occasions, maybe.
I will look up some simple patterns that we could use or adapt and I will share them over the next month.
Today, the Huipil. Pronounced like Pupil, but with an H.
It’s a simple doubled over rectangle to produce a square. The effect is a bit like a cap sleeved blouse, with no shaping or fastenings. So it can be pulled on over the head. The basic shape is so very simple that all the interest comes from the fabric or embellishment. The Huipil is not essentially different from a T shirt.
I haven’t seen a feasible pattern on the internet so I will make one and share how I did it next week. If you want to buy a pattern Marilla Walker has a “Maya” pattern on Etsy, which is a modern version based on similar Guatamalan Huipul. The key issue is less the shape than the fabric or the embellishment. Many of these blouses are created in strong bright colours, but black/navy or white is equally attractive. And if you go in for some embroidery black or white backgrounds are the best as they make the colours come forward. But braid would be good too, or lace. I am planning a white one as I am not so good with black. The embellishment is traditionally just stripes or geometric patterns but there are many flowered versions too as you can see in the top photograph.
I have put together a Pinterest board with some inspiration on it, but I am going to use what I already have at home. This project is a perfect excuse to use up some of those ethnic fabrics you may have collected, or bought on holiday, but struggle to fit into your day to day wardrobe. Or to use some of those flashy trimmings that you were attracted to on market day but are now sitting sadly in a drawer.
Having just had a look in my cupboard this is what I have found that might come together in a nice outfit. In many of the photographs of Frida we see she has chosen a red-green-white colour scheme, the colours of the Mexican flag. While I don’t find British nationalism the least attractive I thought I might try a red, white and blue colour scheme. Mainly because I have two pieces of fabric I dyed with Indigo, a plain piece of blue silk, some 1930 windmills and houses I got in a charity shop, an old piece of Chinese embroidered silk and a Spanish embroidered tray cloth. It needs more red, but I think I can do that.
Let me know if you will be joining in – maybe just with one item that you will make. It would be great to finish this with images of us all in our home environment, including ready to wear items if you like, with hair, make up, flowers and trimmings, monkeys and hairless dogs if you have them. What do you think? (Grace I am relying on you!!)
Elizabeth Zimmermann Seamless Raglan Knit-along #5
Welcome back! We are engaged, internationally, in the creation of unique but matching jerseys!
I hope to have only one more set of instructions and discussion post after this one, which deals with how to make the faux raglan seams on this seamless jersey. I had a few new thoughts about this last week if you want to check back before we start our decreases to bring the jersey – which now consists of a body piece and two sleeves – together. We will be knitting the yoke and shoulder area, before coming in finally to finish the neckline.
I am planning to depart a little from the classic Elizabeth Zimmermann instructions as I feel her neckline treatment is unattractive and dated. But you may well prefer her approach so please do follow her instructions if you want the neckline to come up high and completely enclose the smallest part of the neck.
I will be knitting a much more open necked sweater because I find that a more comfortable finish and I think it is nice to show a little bit of what you are wearing underneath – your collar or your T shirt perhaps.
Have you finished the bodice and sleeves now? Are you ready to go?
At this point I suggest you go back to my earlier post, or to Elizabeth herself in Knitting Without Tears, and read at least one of them.
I find the Zimmermann regulation yoke too long at 1/4 of the body circumference measurement. I suggest 1/6th instead or even 1/7th. In my case my yoke is about 5″. Check it out on your own body. Measure from the bone cup under your Adams apple to the line above the bust where your arms join your body. Or from wherever you want your neckline to end to the place where you want the sleeves to join the body of your jersey.
The reason Mrs Z and I disagree on this is because, compared to her prototype, I want my jersey to be a different shape.
Zimmermann sweaters are relatively voluminous with high tight necklines and cuffs.
I prefer a slightly shrunken, close-fitting, petite looking item.
Maybe yours are somewhere in between. Whatever. The real value of freelancing on your jumper design and construction is that you can please yourselfSo the exact arrangement of sleeve insertion position is down to comfort in wear, style, body type and fashion. You decide.
A good, flexible sleeve, allowing the full range of movement comes up high into the armpit. In certain periods of history it joined the bodice lower down (bat wing or dolman sleeve), but many sweater patterns have quite a lot of ease in the sleeves and I feel these look old fashioned today. When Zimmermann was perfecting her design the join point for the sleeve would be rather lower than mine, going in about two inches below the underarm. You can bring it right up to zero-ease if you prefer.
Personally I don’t like the sloping shoulder associated with a tailored raglan sleeve on me, but the Elizabeth Zimmermann sweater allows a raglan “seamline”, but actually gives a nice close fit over the shoulder.
Instructions
After you have joined your sleeves and bodice, with the correct number of stitches (8%) left on waste yarn at the underarm (shorthand: 10 stitches is usually enough), you mark the joins at four points, ie both ends of both sleeves with a sleeve marker. Decide which is the back and have a colourful or special marker for the start of the round at the back, left seam.
Now at the first, start of round marker, slip the marker, knit one, knit two together and knit to the next marker. Just before the next marker knit the last two stitches together, slip marker, knit one, knit two together and knit to the next marker. Do the same thing for marker 3 and 4. Finally knit to the start of round marker and just before you reach it knit the last two stitches together, slip marker. Now knit a whole round with no decreases.
Then repeat the above paragraph. Essentially you are decreasing eight stitches every other round. It makes a nice pattern but I find the markers essential. Mrs Z uses a safety pin in the fabric, but I prefer the markers.
Keep up this pattern of decreases until you get to the length of yoke you want. For me that is four to five inches. Now the stitch at the CF is the last one you will do before you put on your border. However the back and sides need to be built up a bit, unless you want a wide boat neck.
The way we are going to do this is to knit until the half way point (middle stitch) on your sleeve. insert a new marker, and knit to the half way point on the other sleeve and use another marker. Between these points we want to do short rows, moving in two or three stitches (you decide) on each turn. I use German or Continental short rows. Mrs Z wraps the yarn which I don’t agree with. I find around six or eight short rows is sufficient to get the look I want.
You can also put more short rows before you get to the neckline – between the two back raglan seams – the odd couple will lengthen the back. I did this on the EZ Raglan I made for my husband. I am not an expert on this, but I used my instinct for shaping and basic understanding of anatomy (the back is longer than the front) to achieve a reasonable outcome.
I may need to add that with stripes your short rows will be more obvious. But somehow, other than indicating which is the back when you are putting it on, this doesn’t seem to matter much.
I always try my jumper on at this point. The best way to do this is to thread a piece of elastic through the live stitches and try on and look in the mirror and measure to your hearts’ delight. You can use two circular needles but you need to be quite careful the stitches don’t slip off. You will soon see where there is a space that needs filling – at the back or sides of your neck – to create the neckline you want. Do any short rows where you want to build it up.
Remember you can also use the border finish (eg ribbing) to include a few additional rows at the back if you need them.
The final stage is to finish the neckline and the sleeve and bodice hems. We will do that next week.
Frida Khalo exhibition at the V&A
Years ago I read an article about how Frieda Khalo’s personal wardrobe, make up, accessories and artefacts had been carefully preserved for over 50 years. I decided then that one way or another I would get to see this fascinating and priceless collection even if it required a trip to Mexico.
Imagine my delight when I discovered that some of the collection was coming to London to our Victoria and Albert museum. Another friend, Grace (of @MadeinMaida) contacted me as soon as it was announced (about a year ago) to see if we could go along together. We waited patiently. And last week we went along.
The exhibition is phenomenal. I know it has had mixed reviews, but they are somewhat superficial in my view. That she has been commercialised, that it is all about style and brand and not the art, that it is “sad” and “depressing”. We didn’t find it so.
Both Grace and I have been interested in Frida for decades (well, Grace is half my age so not so long in her case). Grace speaks Spanish and has spent time in Latin America; she has read as much as she can about Khalo; she makes films for a living and understands photography. In 1979 my first husband completed his thesis on the art of Diego Rivera, and we were both influenced by Leon Trotsky and other communist authors. I have always regarded Khalo as a style icon and have loved her look. Grace and I both sew, and knit, and embroider and we identify with Khalo for various reasons. Coming to the exhibition with our own preconceptions and interests Grace and I immersed ourselves in it, read every caption, looked carefully and took a few photographs. And at the end we went to the shop and dressed up in the clothes and jewellery that was “inspired” by Frida, and Mexico, and the colours that she wore. I didn’t think it was tacky or commercial, although Grace kept saying – “you could make this yourself”. Which is true.
Look at this photograph. Frida is about 10, and she is already dressed in a dramatic way with a huge bow in her hair, a lace blouse, necklace, over dress with embroidery. Her father – a German immigrant photographer, and her Mexican mother – clearly influenced her appearance and pose. Yet she is already strong, determined, artistic. Her appearance mattered and conveyed a message. Later she bought and wore the dress of Zapotec women of Tehuantepec, in Oaxaca. This look included long skirts (enagua), embroidered tops with a simple square or T shape (huipil), and colourful woven shawls (rebozos). In addition she would normally wear important earrings, pre-Columbian necklaces and flowers in her hair.
The clothes she chose celebrated Mexican nationalism, and she found beauty and value in the styles and work of indigenous people. She wore men’s clothes and trousers too, and applied mascara to her facial hair, revolting against over-feminised views of beauty. But her clothes also covered her withered, then amputated leg, her corseted torso and the scars of multiple operations. The exhibition brings her personal pain and suffering to the fore, as it reveals some of the contraptions, medication and cosmetics she used to “make herself up”. Much of her social life was conducted from her bed where she also painted, using mirrors and other means to keep on living, learning, creating, and loving. And laughing. Frida wrote “Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.” Frida turned pain into beauty. She was not self-pitying despite the most appalling disabilities, medical interventions and limiting conditions. She just got on with it and used her imagination and artistic skills to soar above her personal difficulties. I love her for this.
The fact that a number of people found the exhibition sad and depressing surprised me. But then we worked it out. When we visited there were a few technical hitches. We had to look at some of the photographs with our phone-torches, most of the videos were off and there was no sound track. Not a major issue – we intend to go again. But we realised that the doom-laden sound track may have unhelpfully contributed to the idea that the exhibition is deep and dour. For me you don’t dress up everyday, carefully comb and oil your hair, plait it carefully, pile it on the top of your head, then pick fresh flowers to adorn it, if you feel that life is futile. If you have a house full of dogs, monkeys, artefacts, colour, light, water and friends you are basically happy and creative and engaged with life. You paint your nails, your eyes, and then you paint and make art.
I will write about Frida’s wardrobe, and style, next week. In the meantime, if you can, do go.
Elizabeth Zimmermann Seamless Raglan Knit-along #4
The weather is so wonderful in the UK at the moment. I used up one my lovely Japanese fabrics to make a little light summer dress. This tried and tested Butterick pattern has featured on the blog many times and both Esme and I have several versions. Everyone needs a one piece dress and I have never been able to buy one in a shop as my top half is at least one dress size smaller than my bottom half. The Nani Iro fabric is based on a water colour painting and I just love the ethereal colours and strong turquoise detailing. Of course, as ever, I didn’t have enough fabric (1.5m, when 2.20m was specified) The dress is cut with the selvedge running across, rather than down, the fabric; the sleeve facings are cut on the bias, and the facings were made out of what was left. The double gauze is very nice to wear in this hot weather.
Nick and I spent a really great day in Blockley, Gloucestershire. Historically it was a major centre for silk production, although now it is just a very beautiful place with wonderful walks nearby. And horses.
Back to our knitalong!
Where are you now? Sue is miles ahead with both sleeves done, and Mags has got the ribbing done. So a range of achievements. Have you managed to finish your bodice yet? This is where we were aiming to be today. If not, don’t worry. The overall pace is relaxed and I will feature the finished jerseys in two hits – those finishing with me, and those finishing a little later.
But I am going to assume you have done the bodice and you are going to start on the sleeves. If you have already done the EZ colourful yoke sweater I don’t need to tell you what to do. This is the same as before.
I can’t really improve on those instructions so please have a look at the older post. The key idea is to divide your overall number of bodice stitches by 5 to get the quantity of stitches for the wrist, to increase two stitches every fourth row, until you get to your bodice stitch number divided by 3, and then knit to the required length and then stop.
One thing I have found, but it may be me, is that I prefer to increase every sixth row. This makes a slightly more slender sleeve, and you will probably be increasing almost to the end.
Also I am going to say one thing that you may like to think about.
When you get to making the raglan “seams” – actually where you do the decreases, you may find that the jumper goes almost to a point at the neckline, as the sleeve stitches get used up in the decreases more rapidly than the bodice (as they have less stitches). I have been thinking of increasing the sleeves just a bit more than Mrs Zimmermann specifies in order to have marginally more width at the shoulder point. I am not recommending a new percentage – say 50% of the first number rather than 33%. But if you want slightly more than 33% I would say that might improve the look. It is up to you! Also, in passing, I will mention that Mrs Z also includes a saddle shoulder look which I tried once and failed with, but I might be able to tackle that now I am more experienced. Maybe that is the project for another Knitalong – maybe next year. There is a nice one on pointy pointy sticks blog.
Anyway let’s get back to the raglan that we are knitting! I am obviously having problems with my concentration at the moment. Here is a view from the house. 
This year our swan pair have six cygnets which is a joy to behold.
This week we will try to do both sleeves. With stripes I feel the sleeves should match each other. Personally I don’t mind if they don’t match the bodice line by line, stripe by stripe. If you are short of colours you could do your sleeves in one plain colour. Courtney of @blackyarns has made beautiful sleeves in her main colour (black) but with a band of stripes. It is going to be wonderful. Another idea is to use a block of colour from the wrist to the elbow, as this can look effective, and may help with over-striping! But I am going for very srtipey!
You may remember I am a “magic loop” knitter. If you haven’t tried this before I really recommend it as you can make your narrow tubes (sleeves) with the same circular needles as you used for the wide tube (bodice). Zimmermann never mentions this method so I am not sure she knew it. But we do and it is magic. So let yourself go and do it. I had one go with dpns and found it much harder. But of course use your preferred method to make a seamless sleeve. Let us all know how you are getting on and I will see you next week.
Elizabeth Zimmermann Seamless Raglan Knit-along #3 – selecting the right length
This week was my Mum’s 90th birthday, so the whole family went to Lancashire to celebrate with her. She had 60 or so friends and relatives round and thankfully used a caterer so the food was fantastic with no washing up.
It’s been a busy week!
I managed to get quite a lot of knitting done on the long car journeys, although I had to do two more pairs of slippers too. I wish I had seen Viliene’s advice to knit the ribbing in the round first. That is such a cool idea. I bought the black and light pink yarn in the Shelter shop so these were my cheapest make (about 50p). (Can you tell I like pink?)
I also watched one football match over the weekend which was Portugal v Spain. I don’t really like football, but it was a fantastic match, or as our friend Gordon Taylor put it (at Mum’s birthday party) “Football at its best”. Yes.
So how is everyone doing with the knit-along. Do tell! I will share an old post which should help at this point. It covers colours (for the colourful yoke sweater) but it covers making the body tube. Try to finish that this week. The only major decision you have at this point is the length you want.
Where could it end?
One thing to bear in mind is the length of your upper body compared to your lower body, with the waist being evenly placed in a “balanced” body. Many people are longer in the top or bottom half. If you are longer in the legs you may want a longer top than if you are relatively long waisted. The hemline will generally create a strong horizontal across your figure so choose where you end it carefully. Also think about your stripes. Do you want a strong, deeper stripe at the base of your sweater or something more subtle.
Cropped is usually a few inches above the waist. These looks were very popular in the 1980s where wide was a fashion trend. But there is something a bit silly about a sweater that leaves a gap of tummy on show. If your abs are extraordinary why not? But probably better on that holiday or festival, and maybe in a lighter material than wool. Cropped can look good over a high waisted skirt or trousers.
Waist length sweaters can be very pretty, just ending on the waist of your skirt or trousers. I wear these a fair amount, but usually with a tucked in long sleeved T-shirt underneath.
The high hip (about 4″ down from the waist) is my preferred length. It keep the eye above the fullest part of my body (hips) and emphasises my waist, while being comfortable and practical. Also there is not too much fabric flapping around. But I like a fairly close fit and lots of people like their sweaters baggy, which I completely get!
The hip line (about 8″ down from the waist) is the next place many people finish their sweater. An ideal spot if your hips are on the slim side.
Thigh length. Another 1980s throw back, or perhaps a 1930s look. I know quite a few people who choose this length to “hide” or cover their bum. I am not sure it works. It can emphasise the bottom as the hem comes in underneath, especially if the legs are relatively short. But there is always something rather romantic about the boyfriend jersey look. Too big, sloppy, cosy and enveloping, very casual and outdoorsy. There is definitely a place for this look.
So keep on knitting, round and round, using that lovely knit all day stocking stitch. Until as Mrs Z would say you are “sick of it”. I think that is me. This time my boredom threshold was about 17″.
Maybe your eyes are hurting from all these stripes…
Try to get to the same stage by next Saturday, when we will do our sleeves. Hope the pace is good for you all.
There are a group of us on Instagram if you look at our hashtag #ezraglanKAL – most are doing stripes and there are some wonderful colour combinations out there. I am beginning to wish I had two on the go!
Do tell us how you are getting on, ask any questions, or share your learning. Many thanks Ladies!
Elizabeth Zimmermann Seamless Raglan Knit-along #2
Before I got started I wanted to make some slippers for friends. What is nice about knitting for others is that you get to use colours that are not your own ideal shades. Orange, or pea green for example. Both these colours make me look a bit unwell. Fine for slippers of course, but I prefer the blue and pink ones…I love these vintage slippers – such a clever and elegant pattern.
OK Knitalongers, let’s get started!
Now we have got our yarns chosen and have a good idea of our gauge, we can cast on for the body piece. This is a simple formulae – your personal gauge [with these needles and this yarn] (say 4.5 per inch) multiplied by the circumference of the chest on your favourite sweater (say 34″ for me) = 153. Obviously different numbers if you are young, modern or European in which case it is centimetres. That is it. Historically I have done between 140 and 200 stitches depending on what weight of yarn or needle sizes I am using. Mrs Z says 200 is always a good number, and I think she is right, but best to get your own number.
Obviously if you are using DK or four ply this will affect the number of stitches. Similarly on needle size. So that is why a swatch is essential. I usually make a guess and start with a sleeve as if I get it right I can carry on, but I am keen to tell you the proper way here. So make a swatch! Please.
What have I done this (busy, book launch) week?
Well, I said green, and this is what I have;
You can probably see that we have a two ply (top horizontal cone) and a double knit (right hand vertical cone) and a mixture in between (mostly four plys). Probably not the ideal combination but I think I can mix and match. Such lovely shades, don’t you think? The little bit of pink is my last supply of bright pink so I will use it sparingly, but I wanted it to set off the greens. I will add a bit of grey, and maybe some mauve I have too, just to liven it up.
My inspiration would be malachite!
How to start?
You can do your border first – using ribbing, or moss stitch, or a few rows of garter stitch. All of these methods creates a stable edge to stop your stocking stitch from rolling. But you may like a rolled edge. Or you may wish to create a hem. Choice is yours. If you are hankering for specific instructions you will not like the Zimmermann approach. It is always up to you. Personally I find this freeing, and it starts you designing your sweater rather than slavish following.
Or you can leave the border decision until much later. You can add hems in particular, or any of these finishes at the end (and I will show you how). However I have found that if you are going to do ribbing it makes sense to do this at the start. The ribbing added later is not as stretchy and there is a seam that you could do without.
Helene suggests provisional cast on so you can decide later on lengthening your jumper. I tried provisional cast on once and found it a bit like hard work. But there you go – these are the options for making a start.
Let us cast on and do our border, or just launch into the body tube. For tube it is. We are going to knit one big tube for the body and two smaller tubes for the arms, and then join them just like we did with the colourful yoke sweater. If you have made one of these before you can just rush on to that point if you wish.
Otherwise do your rows of ribbing, for as many rounds as you like – I have done about 3cms. Use a marker for the beginning of the row. If you are a bigger you may want more ribbing; smaller, less. On commercial patterns they suggest using a smaller needle (.5 or .25 less) for your ribbing. If you have lots of needles you may want to do this. Or you could start with a smaller number of stitches, say 10 per cent less stitches and then increase in a regular way to reach your starting number. Either approach will make your border a little neater and slightly tighter. But I don’t bother.
Then you get the marker and you start knitting your jumper. Round and round you go. If you are changing colour frequently to create the stripes you need to decide on how you are going to join your colours. I will be using a knot, but there may well be better ways and we will wait to find out in the comments below.
You can see how the “seam” looks on my knitting. The “jogs” are there but I don’t feel they are too noticeable, and the whole thing will be fine when it is finished and washed.
If you want to read more about this stage my previous EZ knitalong will help.
Please use the comments to ask any questions, give advice or tell us how you are getting on.
PS The slipper pattern is in Making Life more Beautiful.
EZ Seamless Raglan Knit-along #1
Thanks, everyone, who has signed up for the Elizabeth Zimmermann seamless Raglan knitalong. I am very excited by all the participants this year. Knitting together and learning from each other and getting new ideas from others is what this is all about. While I have knitted seven or eight of these sweaters I am still learning, so this is self-help rather than instruction. If in doubt Elizabeth herself will guide you through her lovely book Knitting without Tears.
I hope you have worked out your gauge by now – instruction were provided last week.
Today we are going to discuss colour and stripes.
Here are some designer items for you to consider.
What do we see? Actually on the whole we have exciting and very novel approaches to colour combining, differential widths of stripe and a few interesting details. Have a look at some well-known fashion houses – many of them have some nice striped jerseys at the moment. You may also notice how terribly expensive these items are, reflecting small runs and an exclusive look. But, ladies, our sweaters will be even more exclusive. We are making made-to-measure one offs. And we have the wonderful advantage of chosing colours that harmonise with our colouring.
Colours that suit your colouring
Apart from a couple of muted colourways I have gone for fairly bright examples here as they tend to suit me better than deeps or lights. Think about choosing a set of colours which go your colouring. If you have black hair maybe choose deep colours, with a few brights thrown in. If you have warm colouring what about greens and orange? And if you have light colouring look for subtle, gentle light colours that almost blend as you knit them. The Pringle monochrome is a nice sweater with its shading from light at the base to deepest green near the face. I would have reversed this arrangement so you have the deeper colour around the hips/waist and the lighter colours over the bust and nearer the face, but if you have a large bust you may want to have the deeper shades at the top.
Colours that work with your wardrobe
A striped sweater is a real wardrobe staple as it can go with so many things. When you choose your colours you can introduce colours you wear often – your best neutrals for example – denim blues, grey, black or brown. Or if you like a contrast with your mainly blue wardrobe include pinks, yellow or orange. For me green is a colour I am a bit low on, so I am going towards green this time.
One of my previous seamless Raglan striped sweaters features neutral colours – greys and beige, with a little light pink, lemon and white. This has proved to be a very nice, versatile item. The shades also harmonise well with my hair that includes beige, blonde and grey and silver. Although I generally like to wear colour in my jumpers this neutral colour scheme is a keeper and I am surprised that it is often complemented. I think it is quiet but a bit different – and compared to a plain grey or beige sweater it does have a bit of excitement.
I made one in gray cashmere (you can see this is a try on picture as the underarms are not yet sewn and it is paired with running shorts…). I actually lengthened this with ribbing later on, but you can see how one colour can work well with stripes. I really like wearing this sweater as the cashmere yarn is so very soft it feels marvellous and warm.
My third version is much more colourful. I used whatever I had for this one, with grey and beige playing their part. It includes quite a few blues and greens, deeper reds and purple too, so it works well with lots of my skirts, especially a deep red corduroy one I have, and navy.
I also made a couple of these with an ombre look which might appeal to you. This is easily achieved by using an variegated yarn, or just doing slightly more subtle stripes. The bright pink was a plain yarn, and the rest of the jersey uses the variegated yarn. I have a small amount of the bright pink left and am thinking of using this up with my green yarns this time.
What colours to mix together
While I have made suggestions on tending to stick to one colour scheme, there is also the issue of how you balance and blend colours together. I like to mix neutrals in. I find colour after colour can be a bit tiring, whereas when you add some neutrals it helps the colourful colours along. Some neutrals can really make other colours stand out – particularly if you chose white or black consistently. Helene is planning on brights against black, and recently Helen used rainbow colours against white. These are both the most effective backdrops for the clear colours. But if your colours are a bit softer or mixed then grey or beige will be easier. My stronger colour jumper above has beige, grey, and a few pastel colours in.
Using what you have
And then there is economy and using up what you have. I was sort of following this principle with all my jerseys so far, but when I was buying I had this idea in my mind. I think you can mix just about any colour with any colour, but if you stick with one palette eg deeper, or cool, or muted colours, you will get a harmonious look. In my stronger colour jumper all the shades I have are cool (with a blue undertone), or they are neutrals which go with anything.
Stripe size and placement
I tend to stick to two to six rows. This means my stripes are fairly narrow, but also varied. You can do this too, or use larger stripes, or stick to smaller ones. Generally if you are larger you will suit a bigger stripe, and vice versa. If you are making for a child or a man, bear scale in mind. Also look at what the designers have done. I would steer clear of an obvious pattern like four rows of navy, followed by four rows of white, ad nauseam. This will look like RTW and is more boring to knit. BUT the choice is yours, of course.
How to join your colours
This is a tricky one. I have tried all the techniques and I do get a bit of looseness around the interchange. In the end I do the simplest thing and knot the two colours together. The other method seems to be to knit one or more stitches that include both colours. I don’t have a brilliant solution here, so I will wait to see if anyone can suggest a better method.
The issue of “jogs” will irritate some of you. The method that Helene showed me involves slipping the first stitch on the second row of the new colour. I think this is very neat and you could try this. Personally I don’t care about jogs.
What colours are you planning to use? Any colour, sizing or gauge questions?
And any tips on joining your yarns?
Seamless Raglan Knit-along – Introduction
It’s June already. Lovely summer weather in the UK makes thinking of a knitted sweater a little challenging. But you know it won’t last.
Who is in?
As Karen wrote “Bringing the world together through knitting”. What a nice thought as we gather to knit the same thing, in completely different styles, colours and sizes. I am pretty sure we have people in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and UK – probably other places. So far the following knitters (four joined me last year) have said they are keen:
- Chris
- Cynthia
- Geo
- Giorgia
- Helene
- Hila
- Karen
- Kerry
- Kim
- Michelle R
- Michelle S
- Nadia
- Sue S
- Susan W
Maybe some will drop out, and maybe some will join in, but a dozen or so is a good number. (with Geo and Helene now added!)
If you have already completed one or more Elizabeth Zimmermann seamless colourful yoke sweaters this project is very easy as it follows on in a logical way. If not, don’t worry. It is a straight forward project suitable for a beginner.
If you want to do the yoke instead here are the instructions.
Now I am going to assume that most of us are going for stripes! That is because this jumper just looks lovely in stripes and it is nice and eco-friendly to use up small pieces of yarn. I always feel sad when I waste yarn or silk, feeling the animal has worked hard to create the product and we just throw it away. Silly sentimental feeling for silk worms (who of course usually perish) and sheep who are probably glad to lose all that hot fleece. But I hope there are a couple of knitters who go with plain as it is always interesting to see the variations.
Materials
So, from past experience, you need 500 grams of yarn. I find 300 grams more than enough for me, but I am saying 500 as you don’t want to run out and you may want a really big, baggy one, or you may like a large size. I suggest for quick results double-knit yarn and something like 4.5 to 6mm circular needles. You can also do this in 4 ply and smaller needles, or just about any variation. In this Knit-along we all take responsibility for our own gauge (I will hold your hand if this is a new area for you). Buy or borrow the book if you don’t have it, Knitting without tears, by Elizabeth Zimmermann. But if you can’t get hold of one, don’t worry. You can knit this sweater just through following the blog posts. I will be suggesting a more comfortable and modern neckline you might like to try, and I (or a more experienced knitter) will answer questions as we go along.
The yarns I am looking at are the last knockings of some soft DK merino yarn sets I got from Colourmart yarns. I also have some green cashmere in odd bits from the same source. You may already have a colour scheme in mind, but next week we will talk about colours for a striped jumper. I am thinking green this time as it is such a good colour to go with my wardrobe. Now might be a good time to see if you have yarns you can use up. The received wisdom appears to be to stick to one fibre content eg merino, alpaca, cotton, silk, acrylic, or of course a mixture.
If you are itching to get started, work out your gauge. I will reproduce my instructions from the last KAL.
Guage
- You can check the gauge by using say 5mm needles and DK yarn; or say 3.5mm needles and 4 ply yarn. This is just a suggestion – you do have to make your own mind up, or use what you have! Cast on say 20 stitches and knit in stocking stitch for say 20 rows. Then measure one inch or 2.5cms across and count how many stitches are included in this length. It is likely to be a whole number and a part of a number eg 4.25. This is the figure you multiply by your chest/bust circumference measurement to find out how many stitches you need to cast on. The width is the most important measurement – depth is not as important as will be measuring the length of the jersey with your tape measure, or against your body, as you go along, rather than counting rows.
- Now you know how many stitches you need to cast on for the body. For me (s8 UK), with my personal knitting tension, I have used 160 stitches for DK and 200 stitches for the four ply. This is just a point of reference – you may be smaller or bigger, and knit tighter or looser. The other casting on you do is for the sleeves and the number of stitches is a percentage of your first cast on number for the body ie 160 or 200 in my case. I will explain this as we go.
I will be back next Saturday to discuss colour and stripes before we begin to knit. Do ask any gauge, sizing or fitting questions at this point – or anything else you would like to know.
Royal Wedding
I have held off from writing this post as I didn’t have time to watch the wedding. But a few people have asked for my opinion. Well Claire has. So this post is for you Claire.
Overall I was a little disappointed. Here were the rich, the glamorous, the famous, the international, and yet. To my eye it all looked a little dated and predictable. Images from The Kit.
Full disclosure – I am not keen on fascinators, preferring a proper hat. Not many were worn, which was a great shame. I also feel the long midi dresses that dominated the wedding were not the best length for all. Just above, on or just below the knee is a better look for many figures. I think summer weddings are just the moment for a nice summer dress – I love florals – and slightly informal shoes rather than spikes. A vintage summer hat that looks like it could protect you from the sun is preferable, or for something smaller perhaps a hair band with fresh flowers.
Let’s start with the dresses I liked. These three were successful because the wearer looked comfortable and pretty. They suited what they wore. All three are nice dresses and the hats were complementary. I love the green worn by Kitty Spencer. It is a nice, A line shape and the orange heels and little bag complement the painted flowers. The neat hat works well. Her cool blonde hair and silver jewellery looks nice too, and the wide neckline is flattering and stops the Dolce and Gabbana dress looking dowdy. I would have made it a shorter and perhaps used pinks rather than orange, but otherwise very nice. I think Sofia looks really great. The blonde colours in her dress, with pretty floral reds, blues and yellow really suit her colouring. The fascinator is a good colour with the dress and I like the black shoes which give an edge. And Jacinda’s deep maroon dress is a winner for me. It really looks lovely with that above the bust triangle, and the interesting shaped sleeves. I like the little hat too with just enough trimming to lift it above ordinary, and the nice brooch and simple black shoes. As she is quite fair I think brighter, lighter accessories might have been more interesting, even silver. But this elegant shaped dress with lovely pleating and shaping is very attractive.
Now let’s look at some maybes. Princess Eugenie is wearing a nice sixties inspired dress with a sort-of pill box hat. She has got shapely legs and this length is OK on her. While I like the overall shape and colour of the dress it emphasises the bust a bit too much. She would be better with a lower or V-shaped neck. The bag isn’t quite right either. I like Cressida’s dress, in pink and green stripes, with dangly bits and surface detail, and think the light coloured shoes look good too, and the restrained fascinator. It is a nice shape for her figure, but maybe it is just not quite special enough. Joss Stone looks grand in her light short dress and bouffant headdress. I really like the shape and length of this dress, but I dislike the black accessories which are just too heavy. Dark green or light navy would have looked better, or brown.
Finally let’s get to the not so good looks. The men are much more successful I would say. Caroline has chosen a nice colour but it just looks messy with all the ruffles, cut out shoulders, flounces and layers, the matching hat and shoes, sunglasses, fluffy hair and bag. Too frilly, too much going on. Giada has got a great figure and this shade of ice turquoise does flatter her nice deep colouring. But again it is messy and the coat is baggy and unflattering. It looks like she is just nipping out to the shops. If she had taken her coat off it may have been a big improvement. While black shoes are not the best wedding colour here I think they would have done something to ground the outfit. The hat is fussy with her long hair. Pippa just looks “meh”. The sludgy pastels just look too ordinary. She has strong, deeper colouring and I think a more fashionable dress in a stronger colour – red or orange for example, would have set her off better. The hat looks a bit like a cake.
Finally, here comes the bride. I am a big fan of Meghan. But I was a little disappointed, to tell the truth. The dress was too simple for me, and the fit was off. I loved the fabric and the purity of the whiteness. Darted from bust point, and with an off the shoulder Raglan sleeve, I just found it nice, but too ordinary. I didn’t love the tiara, nor the hair style. I loved the sentiment of the veil and Meghan looked sublime lit by the sun when she entered the church. I may be going out on a limb here but no.
The evening dress was better in terms of its shape, and the bloke looks great. But I wonder why she went for another long white dress? I would have chosen a deeper colour. Also, while halter necks are a good look for women with straight bodies (like Meghan and Harry’s Mum Diana) I thought her shoulders looked wide in this Stella McCartney dress. It does fit really nicely and I love the drape over the hips and the full skirt. Very elegant.
And best dressed? That would be Amal. In another Stella McCartney number this dress was spot on. A great, strong colour that complemented Amal’s deep colouring, a great shape for her figure with just enough detail, including a swishy train, a nice hat that works well with her long hair, and discrete accessories.
What do you think?
Book launch events
This weekend is the last push. I am doing the final edit, check of the design, knitting a pair of slippers and making a skirt (don’t ask!), last minute photographs (including re-doing some of them, again don’t ask), checking the colour and details and proof reading the text (another area of difficulty. You would not believe the debate on how many commas are appropriate we have been having). But there you go! No-one said it would be easy.
But it is close to done and then I can look forward to the party!
I know not everyone can come to the launch of my book – it’s in London and its a Thursday, and some of my friends are on holiday or have commitments. It’s the first anniversary of Grenfell and a number of my friends will be involved in special events in our area. it is a big day for me and I am very grateful so many have decided to come along. If you are still thinking about it, or even if you are not able to attend “in person” I thought I would publish the programme so you can see what is on offer.
Here are the details of the event.
I have finally tied down the programme for the launch, which maybe of interest. I am very grateful to my friends, especially other bloggers Giorgia of One Stitch Forward and Marijana of Sew2Pro, who are getting involved in the festivities.
Making Life more Beautiful 14 June 2018
6pm arrivals
- Pick up or buy your book, with a personal dedication if you would like one
- Get a drink – wine, water, juice, tea or coffee
- Enjoy the garden if the sun is shining
- Food – Iraqui buns (spinach and feta), Samosas (potato and pea) and snacks, home made chocolate cake and lemon buns
- Music
- Meet the bloggers, sewists, knitters, international visitors, and my family
6.30 Speeches
- Gus (Master of Ceremonies)
- Kate – why I wrote the book and thank yous
- Response (to be confirmed)
6.45 Colour consultation
Recently qualified Giorgia of One Stitch Forward will demonstrate a professional colour analysis – model selected on the night
7.15 Workshops
Use your Gele with Remi
How to select and wear a Nigerian Head tie with Oluremi (on the right)
Farhana on Making the most of your eyes
Make up artist Farhana shows you how to use the right colours to enhance your eyes.
Lyla’s session on how to make slime
Eight year old expert Lyla shows you how. This is surprisingly addictive and fun to play with. Lyla will provide materials, colour choices and small pots so you can take your slime home with you.
Paper crafts with Marijana and Nhi
Marijana and Nhi introduce you to Origami (using techniques Marijana first perfected with the Brownies), and show you how to use Indian wood prints to make your own wrapping paper. You will be able to wrap a copy of the book as a present and make an origami card!
Meanwhile
- Mingle and Network
- Visit the selfie booth. Photograph yourself with our colour boards and decide which colour direction suits you best.
- Use the hashtags to share your photographs
- #fabrickatedbook #truecolours #makinglifemorebeautiful
- Eat some more food
8.15 Workshops close
Final thank yous
And finally if you cannot come in person I will be sending out books on the same day. I will post anywhere in the world, and apologise in advance at the price of postage. It is free in the UK and I have knocked a similar amount off the international prices, to be as fair as possible. I do hope you will consider getting a copy. It is fairly short, tightly written, very colourful, somewhat original and I think it expresses what many people like about the blog – authenticity, style, the friendship and support of the sewing community, diversity, celebration, experimentation, being happy in our own skins, and a fascination with making beautiful things. It is also useful in helping you determine your own colour palette and shape. Here is the link which is now working.
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