Hand-Knit Sweater Dress – I highly doubt I’d wear this dress if I hadn’t knit it
The minute I decided I was actually going to do the self-made wardrobe project I started rummaging through my yarn and fabric to see what I already had on hand.
I came across a huge ball of lace weight yarn in fairly ghastly colors, but it was a beautiful yarn, with a great drape, so I figured I would just overdye* whatever I made with it.
*overdying is when you re-dye something (yarn, fabric, clothes, whatever) that’s already been dyed, so it’s a different color than it was originally dyed
The results were unexpected, and pretty spectacular. That being said, I would never wear this dress if I hadn’t knit it.
Never, ever, ever.
I don’t do pink.
I don’t do brown.
I don’t do tan.
I don’t do green.
I guess this is the exception that proves the rule…
Unfortunately the ball was unlabeled when I pulled it out of my yarn stash (oops), so I don’t know what the yarn is, or what the color way is, or what the yardage is. But I’m guessing that it’s a wool/silk blend, and that the yardage was around 1,000 yards.
ETA 10/25/14: I did a little digging and I think the yarn just might be “Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace” in the colorway “Vera.” In which case it’s a 50/50 wool/silk blend, with 1,250 yards per skein.
I wanted a simple straightforward lace weight sweater pattern, and the “Silken Straw Summer Sweater” from The Purl Bee was perfect. I loved how simple the design was, that it was written for a lace weight, and that I got gauge (almost).
Since I didn’t know how much yardage I had, I wanted to knit my sweater from the top-down, so I reworked the pattern to be top-down. I also eliminated some of the neckline shaping so that the front and back scooped evenly.
Other than that I basically worked the pattern as written – but backwards.
So increases became decreases, decreases became increases, cast-ons became bind-offs, and bind-offs became cast-ons, etc.
(I also did a garter ridge around each hem just before attaching the i-cord – I don’t remember if that’s in the original pattern or not.)
Because I kept going back and forth on over-dyeing I finished knitting this sweater way back in May, but then it sat on my desk unblocked until a couple weeks ago.
Overall, I really love how it turned out. It’s a weird, funky, unexpected, (hard to style), self-made wardrobe win.
The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 11 – mystery patterns & shrinking sweaters
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made, for one year.
Sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without labels.
You can read more about the project, and catch up on past posts, here.
I’m trying something different this week, more of a diary-style-type post.
We’ll see how it goes…
DAY 71 – October 10th
Blue Kimono
Black Racer-back Tank Top
Black Maxi Skirt
Black Flats
Long Necklace
Various Rings
I’ve completely lost track of how many times I’ve worn this outfit. It’s easy to put on, and easy to wear, and easy to run around in. Win-Win-Win.
DAY 72 – October 11th
Knitted Dress
Black Racer-back Tank Top
White Maxi Skirt
Black Flats
Various Rings
Trying something different with the photographs. While it takes more time to set up, I like the results a lot better, so I’ll probably be sticking to it for a bit.
This is the sweater I (finally) blocked the other day – and it grew to a proper dress length, instead of a dress/tunic thing, which makes it much easier to wear, and is making me like it even more.
DAY 73 – October 12th
Blue Kimono
Khaki Scarf
Black Racer-back Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Sneakers
Princess Necklace (barely visible)
Various Rings
Every time I think it’s getting cool enough to retire the blue kimono, a day pops up where it’s *just* too warm for a sweater.
I’ve had this scarf for years, and had never worn it before. I got it from a friend who picked it up traveling somewhere, and I could never work it into an outfit before this one. It adds an interesting layer under the somewhat sheer blue kimono.
DAY 74 – October 13th
Moonstruck Sweater
Black Racer-back Tank Top
Red & White Pirate Skirt
Black Flats
Princess Necklace
Various Rings
And into the sweaters! I knit this sweater years ago, and when I went looking for the pattern name – it would seem that I never blogged about it, or put it on Ravelry – so I’m going to have to do a bit of sleuthing to figure out what the pattern is. If you have any ideas, I’d love a clue.
DAY 75 – October 14th
Boring Black Sweater
Black Racer-back Tank Top
Cascade of Flowers Maxi Skirt
Black Flats
Princess Necklace
Various Rings
The boring black sweater is finished! (sort of…)
I blocked it in the morning, and wore it that evening, and I think I must have put it on before it was quite finished drying. Because when I wore it on the 14th the sleeves were about an inch too short…
DAY 76 – October 15th
Boring Black Sweater
Black Racer-back Tank Top
Red & White Pirate Skirt
Black Flats
Long Necklace
Various Rings
…and when I wore it on the 15th, the sleeves were 2 inches too short. So I had to wear them pulled up all day. Sad face.
DAY 77 – October 16th
Boring Black Sweater
Black Racer-back Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Sneakers
Long Necklace
Various Rings
And then when I wore it on the 16th, the sleeves were still to short. So it would seem that the finished boring black sweater, is not quite finished.
I’m going to open up the sleeves, add two inches to the length, and then block it again. I wouldn’t mind the sleeves being an inch or so too long, but I can’t stand them being too short.
(Yep, I wore this sweater three days in a row, and I’m not apologizing.)
Thoughts?
If you know anything about the pattern for the sweater I wore on Day 74, I’d love any ideas you have. I know it was a Blue Moon Fiber Arts pattern, and I think the name was something along the lines of “Moonstruck” or “Moonlight” or “Moon-something-or-other.”
this week was a week full of sweaters
Each Wednesday I post little snippets about what’s happening, and what I’m working on.
You can see all of the Wednesday posts here.
It’s a week of sweaters…
I finally washed and blocked one of the first garments I made for the self-made wardrobe project. I kept putting it off, and putting it off, because I thought I was going to over-dye it, but the somewhat strange pooling is growing on me.
My boring black sweater is done!!!
Done. Blocked. Worn. Yay!
It might have been a nightmare to knit – but I absolutely love it.
And I have finished photos of the Versio Sweater to show you tomorrow!
I still have my transitional sweater, my jade sweater, my inherited sweater, and my sweater jacket to finish – but I’m feeling a little bit better about fall & winter.
