A New Machine for Me

The top photo is my most advanced swatch!  My first successful one!  The heel weights and latch tool weight helped to keep from having dropped stitches.  Second photo is the new baby.  Last photo ismy first effort,dropped needles and all.i am happy to be making progress!Because a friend was giving up the machine knitting phase of her life, I am now the lucky owner of several new machines. The most exciting member of the crew is. passap Duo80.  I am a rank beginner, but I am documenting my first two efforts. There is no place but up from here!

Sewing My Knitting Together

O. I made two more garments on my Brother knitting machines but only have a photo of one. This one is the Take a Turn sweater by Mary Anne Ogre. It can be downloaded I for free on Ravelry.  I omitted the cables, but otherwise carefully followed the pattern directions. The yarn was purchased from Newton'S Yarn Country in Anaheim.  I'm not sure of the color, but the yarn is their Four Seasons brand.  Anyway, I am improving and enjoying the process.  I am also considering the collection of vintage machines to be one of my new hobby!  It is fun, challenging, and a great consumer of space!

Second sweater on my knitting machine!

I bought this pattern from Marianne Henio on Etsy.  It is the second sweater I have finished since beginning the journey of learning to knit on my Brother KH836e knitting machine.  The yarn is from Newton's Yarn Country.  It is acrylic with a textured finish and a bit of sparkle.  The pattern is Butterfly sweater.  The sleeves were much too long for me, so I learned to unravel and knit top down to finish the sleeves at a shorter length (thanks Helen!) also, Marianne was extremely helpful in answering my questions via Etsy messages.  

I know this is s crummy photo, but it is a photo 😳. The color is emerald green and I plan to wear it with slim black pants.  Just waiting for cooler weather!

ETA correct Marianne Henio's name.   

Bulky knitting machine

Quick post to share a sample of a scarf made on my new to me Brother 260 machine. 

Vogue 8112 and Burda Style 120/7/2007

I needed a dress with pink for a wedding, but I don't wear pink.  So, I conferenced with my trusty sewing advisor and came up with this combo. I had decided on the Cirque dress by Marcy Tilton.   My local fabric store, Heddy's Fabrics, had this tan lace fabric with metallic highlights.  The fiber content is cotton/nylon.  But where is the pink?  I bought bright fuchsia rayon challis and incorporated it into the ensemble.  I lined the collar with the rayon and made an underdress/slip of the rayon.  The pink shows through the holes of the lace but isn't overpowering.  I like it!

Two Marcy Tilton Projects

Vogue 9112 and 9035

I wanted to try a few new patterns for fun and for the challenge!  Both pieces are finished, but I'm not sure how much wear they will get!  The jacket (9035) is a fun garment made from uniquely shaped pieces that gave me a chance to use the seam ripper quite a bit.  The fabric is a poly taffeta from Marcy Tilton.  I will wear it with black or dark brown slim legged pants.

The dress is V9112 made from a red tag fabric at Joanns. A wearable muslin.  It is huge.  I made the size M per pattern measurements.  I am currently making muslin #2 with an altered size pattern.  I made a "smedium" by tracing between the size small and medium.  I need the bust closer to the M, but shoulders S and below the bust S is still generous.  Hope to finish this version today or tomorrow 😃.

I have been sewing and working at the knitting machine too.  Just no photos!  I need to document my projects here for myself too!

Sweater Made on Brother 836

Well, finally, I made something!  This is the first pattern in the Brother book for using the Knitleader.  It is a dropped shoulder sweater, shown as a striped red and white in the book.  I traced the size medium and used the Knitleader to guide me.  Easy peasy.  I sewed it together on my sewing machine and there you go!  Yarn is something purchased at a parking lit sale at Newtons Yarn Country in Anaheim, CA. Might be rayon?  Next project still in my thoughts.  At least I finally made SOMETHING!

Catch Up--Loes Seminar Dress and Ascona Pattern

Wow!  I am far behind!  Working was such fun, but it really took up all of my personal time!  Back to retirement.  Someone wanted to see the dress sans jacket, so here it is.  Front and back!  Well, make that back and front...

The second request was from Cassandra.  Here are the images from the pattern envelope of the Ascona pants as requested.  I hope these images are helpful.  Happy sewing!  I'm beginning 2015 with a mini purge and then a few new projects are on my list 😀.