Heavenly Wools
  • Home
    • About Haunui Handcraft Wools
    • About Kate
    • FAQ
  • Online Shop
  • Resources
    • Using My Wool >
      • Spinning
      • Feltmaking
      • Nuno Felt
      • Needle Felting
    • Projects >
      • Norwegian Stocking Cap
      • Granny Square Beanie
      • Anna Maria Hat
      • 'Scrap' Scarf
      • No-spin knit & felt scarf >
        • No-spin scarf videos
    • Hints & Tips >
      • Felting Tips
      • Making a Felt Sample
      • Navajo Plying
      • Photographing your work >
        • Lighting
        • Framing Shots
        • Image Editing
  • Blog
  • Contact

And the Challenge continues...

19/9/2011

0 Comments

 
challenge-1
Dyed and overlocked waistcoat piece
I'm just kicking myself that I didn't take a photo of the hideous mangled oatmeal jersey before I started this project - it was truly a sight to behold. My first thought when my daughter produced it was "What on earth can I make out of that?".

Further inspection proved that it was of good quality; had a nice feel if a bit lumpy, and was quite big, a major concern if I was going to shrink it a bit more in the dyebath.

Picture
Progress on the hat and mitts
Once I had it dyed (see previous post) I finished all the edges with overlocking (although the fabric was pretty comprehensively felted after the dyebath, I wanted to be sure) and inserted some little gussets cut from scrap into the thumb area of the mittens to give a wider hand and better fit around the thumb (I did all this 'by eye' as I'm a bit of a risk taker!). I shortened the mitts because I found that I had made them much too long in the wrist and they were a bit floppy.

Having chosen some felted thick-and-thin yarn, plus a light navy/purple wool, mohair and alpaca yarn from my 'stash of the ages', I began to play about with various ideas, starting with the mittens. The first attempt at cuffs, made with the plain yarn, was hopelessly clumsy-looking so I undid that and used the thick-and-thin. You can see the edge of the starting row of chain stitch (in the plain yarn) that I made to begin the knitting. The more bulky yarn gives a pleasantly lumpy finish, which actually looks as if it's supposed to be like that! (It was - but it needs to be convincing). Then I started working on an edging strategy for the hand end of the mitt. this was crucial as it would be a keynote for the whole set.

I'm not particularly fond of blanket stitch, as it can look very "home made" and I wanted a nice-looking, hand-crafted finish (I hope you understand what I mean here). The thick-and thin yarn is a pain to stitch on the felted fabric with, but it gives an excellent edge with a lot of interest - it forms a wavy pattern which is very pleasant. I decided to add a little height to the edge by forming a row of needle knots on top of the blanket stitch. This looks great and is quite unusual. You can see this on the thumb edge of the mitt. The finished edges of the original jersey were in simple rolled stocking stitch, which needed to be stabilised before continuing (it kept rolling while I was trying to work on it), so I have simply slipstitched them in place with a cotton thread.

 To start the hat, I sewed the (former) neckband onto the joined sleeve pieces with the overlocker. I had to trim the hat pieces a bit to get a nicer look to the shaping. Then I made a tassel by unpicking some of the thick-and-thin from a locker hooked sample I had made a few weeks ago - that was a bad idea! This was attached to the hat by stitching a few threads back and forth and then blanket stitching over the threads, forming a strong attachment which allows the bobble to flop roguishly.

To be continued...

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Not just a move, a time warp!

    Author

    Kate is a semi-retired photographer and craft dyer who lives in Southland, New Zealand.

    Archives

    October 2020
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    September 2014
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    June 2010

    Categories

    All
    All
    Area Open Day
    Art Yarn
    Awards
    Beads
    Boucle
    Christchurch Earthquake
    Christmas
    Christmas Rush
    Competition
    Crochet
    Customer Images
    Donations
    Dyeing
    Felted Knitting
    Feltmaking
    Handmade Felt
    Hat
    Hints And Tips
    Holiday Greetings
    Jewellery
    Knitting
    Mitts
    Navajo Plying
    New Fibre
    New Pastels
    News
    New Shades
    Newsletter
    Nightfall
    Nuno Felt
    Online Shopping
    Pastel Colours
    Postage
    Price Changes
    Products
    Project
    Ravelry
    Recycle
    Renewal
    Renewal Project
    Reuse
    Site Revamp
    Snow
    Spinning
    Spring Challenge
    Studio Space
    Thick And Thin Yarn
    Tour De Fleece 2013
    Travel
    Unwind Fibre Retreat
    Upcycle
    Video.
    Wait On Parcels
    Winter
    Woolcraft

    RSS Feed

Site by ImageOxford © Kate Mahoney 2010 - ​2021 All Rights Reserved
  • Home
    • About Haunui Handcraft Wools
    • About Kate
    • FAQ
  • Online Shop
  • Resources
    • Using My Wool >
      • Spinning
      • Feltmaking
      • Nuno Felt
      • Needle Felting
    • Projects >
      • Norwegian Stocking Cap
      • Granny Square Beanie
      • Anna Maria Hat
      • 'Scrap' Scarf
      • No-spin knit & felt scarf >
        • No-spin scarf videos
    • Hints & Tips >
      • Felting Tips
      • Making a Felt Sample
      • Navajo Plying
      • Photographing your work >
        • Lighting
        • Framing Shots
        • Image Editing
  • Blog
  • Contact