WIP's turned to FO's

Here are a couple of projects I just finished up yesterday. Both of these have been WIP's for a while. (That means: "Work In Progress") So, don't be impressed by how quickly these seem to have appeared.

First up, is my Minimalist Cardigan. It is finally officially DONE and folded , and in my closet waiting for sweater weather. I LOVE the yarn I used... so soft and lovely I just loved knitting this up. I started it in March. I just put it in my closet yesterday. Three were several weeks when I didn't work on it for one reason or another, but still, it took some doing to get it done.

I faithfully blocked that thing last weekend and pieced it together, and tried it on... and almost cried. It was horribly ill-fitting. Ask my mom. She was there to witness this catastrophe. This cardigan was part of a Knit Along in a forum I am in, so I went back and posted about it, and got some good ideas. The shoulder seams were way down on my arm, and look sloppy, floppy, and just plain ugly. The sleeves were too wide, especially at the cuffs, IMO. I posted, researched online, then took it to my knitting expert friend at church Sunday night and we discussed the situation. As an amateur seamstress, I knew in my head how to alter it to fit. However, I was frightened to do anything to all that moss stitch I had spent so much time and energy on! You see, the alterations involved some resewing of seams, overcasting on the machine, then ruthlessly chopping off inches of worked moss stitch.

Sigh.

My expert knitting friend agreed with what I had to do. I was about to ask her to do it (with pay, of course) when she said:

"I think you should do it, so you'll have the experience behind you and be more confident if you ever have to do it again."

Sigh.

I gulped and said "okay", and Monday I took another gander at the whole thing and started taking out the sleeved and undoing the sleeve seams. That was a nice straight seam, and easy to alter, so I would practice using the sewing machine on that nicely knitted fabric. Not easy, since it is extremely stretchy.

I marked where the new sleeve seam should be and gulped again and went for it. Then I did a tiny little zigzag over the seam allowance.

I gulped..... then trimmed off the excess.

I really liked the end result, and was encouraged, so I did the other sleeve. That one came out perfectly too.

It was getting late so I decided to tackle putting the sleeves back in the next day after a good rest.

This was a bit tricker, because I had to set the sleeve IN from the edge of the armhole a lot differently than you would normally when sewing. By taking in the seam a couple inches, it alligned everything where it was supposed to be, The trick was getting both armholes the same, and sewing around that long curve without stretching the knitted moss stitch too much. That stuff is VERY stretchy!

All said and done, I am pleased as punch with the result, and feel I can wear my Minimalist Cardigan with confidence now. Bring on the cold weather!



Close up:



Oh, you may notice something is missing.... like 26lbs. :)


The other WIP turned FO, and a much shorter story (for now) is the boys' wall hanging I made for their room. The seminole piecing was a must. The Indian motif in the main fabric just screamed out for it.



Close up of border:




Back ( I just love that rich purple!):




Why I said it was a short story "for now" is because I am preparing a tutorial on how to do that wonderful Seminole piecing. I have a boat load of pictures to organize and then type out all the directions. Hopefully by this weekend I should have it completed.

Next under and on my needles is a quilt for Isaac's second birthday, and a wool soaker for Isaac.

Soon to come is a bunch of fall and winter sewing; more "chore" type sewing.

Have a blessed day!