Twisted Headbands!

 My youngest got a new winter coat, a lovely teal Carhartt jacket featuring motifs by an American Indigenous artist. She made a comment about wanting a wide headband with a twist in the front. Momma to the rescue! 

I found a teal yarn (I think it's a washable wool from Wal-Mart, like 15 years ago). Of course, I can't do just plain. Megan didn't seem to want a headband that exactly matched her jacket as well.  I was going to machine knit this, so why not do some patterning? I only had the Singer 327 set up and the teal yarn was going to at the absolute upper limit, so I was also testing some cone yarns. However, the 327 did not want to play. At all. I tried a couple different cast ons, but it was in a bad mood and quickly, so was I. 

I walked away with a snarled mess still on the needles. I speculated it was the sponge bar--it had been awhile since I've used it.

I got out the Singer LK150. It's been in its box, I guess since I got the Singer 155.  I just scrolled back to see when I got the 155...February 2011! I haven't had the LK150 out since then?! Actually, in that post, I have the 155 and 150 on one table. Where was the 327? I don't know, but by using the LK150 tags, I found a post from August 2017 that described having some serious issues with the LK 150. This event had been wiped from my memory!

Immediately, the LK150 was unhappy. Needles were jamming, caps were coming off and jamming in the carriage or flying across the table. I couldn't find the tools. I bent one needle in the middle, so I tried taking an end needle out to switch...and along with the needle came goo. Icky, sticky goo.  My husband pulled on it and pulled out a few inches of disintegrated sponge bar. This did not help.

I wanted to use the basic four stitch tuck pattern in the instruction book, in two colours. I cast on 25-25 stitches, based on Anna Haferman's video. I was thinking tuck makes things wider but shorter, but I couldn't remember for sure. Having 50 sts meant one extra at each side for seaming (the 4 stitch tuck needed 48 sts). 

It was really rough going. I got tired from standing on the concrete floor, wedged up between the spare fridge and the knitting machine. I couldn't find the right focal distance when needing to fix mess ups. At some point, I lost the right edge stitch but I couldn't find a dropped stitch anywhere. I did eventually find the right tools, including the 3-1 needle selector. At 160 rows, as per the video, I cast off and gave it a good stretch.

It looked short, and it was. I put it back on the machine, at the right end. I thought maybe those needles would work better. After two rows, I took it off and put it all the way to the left, where at least some of the sponge strip remained, though it was no better than in the middle. I added another 28 rows or so, but I think next time I'd do a total of 192 for our small heads. 

I sewed it up, steamed it and presented it. Her comment "I thought you were going to do it all one colour?"

I had done at least one plain row after the cast on, I think partially by accident and also because I thought it would help. The instructions say the sewing together doesn't show, so I thought the plain row wouldn't show either. Perhaps because it's stretched out, it does. 

This headband used 79gr and just for funsies, I weighed the yarn tails after sewing together, and they were 3gr, so I'm calling this 82gr!

Megan is much taller than me and this wide width is fine for her, but I saw so many of these headbands done on the plastic circular knitting machines that looked really wide. They have fixed needles though, so only by changing the yarn do you get size changes, and you can't vary the yarn too much or it looks too thin or is too hard to knit.

I order a new sponge bar on Amazon. That was interesting. There were only two or three options, with the quickest being almost a week wait and with shipping costs. Then I added a bottle of Singer sewing machine oil, and suddenly I could get it the next day, and free shipping. I do have Prime, so the original shipping costs were surprising. While waiting for it, I took out all the needles and got to cleaning it. So much dust and yuck. We couldn't find anything to really get down into the needle channel (not just the large slot, but the actual groove), so finally I took it to the shower and gave it a good blast. The needles I soaked in some water, rubbing alcohol and a drop of dish soap.

The sponge bar and oil arrived...in a large box! It took awhile to get all the needles back in. I'd get in a groove but then one would be difficult. Mine are "white" and light grey caps, but only the little disc on top, and the difference between them is negligible....until you insert them. Originally I tried to put them in different jars when I took them out, but I kept mixing up which jar was which. Next time, write it down on the jar. I gave the two piles of needles a few drops of the oil in the latch area, but I didn't do them individually.

At work, we did Secret Santa. We had a sheet to fill out with our favourite drinks, snacks, smells, what we love but don't buy, what we can't live without and something we collect. For collecting, I put Diet Coke in cans (I put it for all the categories LOL), and yarn. I received a gift bag from my Secret Santa, and there was this gorgeous skein of yarn. They obviously knew me (some of the teachers are new, and many are part time. There's some I don't even see) because it's a great match for my bright pink coat! It's 100% acrylic, so I was stumped on what to make. Not mittens, but I could do more hand warmers. I didn't really need a scarf or hat, though they are both options. Maybe I'll make a cowl with the leftover.

I really hate Blogger's formatting. In the last post, I had copied a section from a previous post and it messed up the rest of the post. Here, I had written that paragraph above earlier on, but decided to move it down by copy and paste. Blogger wants it to be centered, even though I keep asking for it to be left aligned. It won't align this paragraph to the left either, even though it's showing it's left aligned. 

The picture on the label shows wide striping, but doesn't say how stitches that is over. It also shows greens, but my skein was definitely more turquoise. I decided I would do two row stripes, using each end of the skein. I cast on 20-20 and started with T4. I wanted it a bit narrower than Megan's. I realized it was too tight of tension though, so starting at row 57, I loosened the tension by one click every two rows. I kept it at 6* until row 104 and then started tightening the tension every two rows by one click. Because the two ends gets sewn together, they had to match. I knit to row 161, which was done with T9 and then a loop through loop cast off.

Quick grocery store selfie to send to Megan.

The sewing up is really interesting. I had thought, before seeing the tutorials, that there must be a keyhole. No! Watch the end of that Anna Haferman's video to see how it's done.

You can clearly see the looser tension in the middle section.

Here again you can see how the tension gets looser towards the left. I have issues with hats and headbands not laying right because of my glasses. I try to cover my forehead, but then it's weird on my glasses. Try to cover my ears, and the headband goes up high and doesn't cover my forehead. The way this headband twists at the centre front makes it even more narrow, so I guess the extra width they usually have, is needed. Or, don't wear it when it's freeze-your-forehead-skin cold.

The part knitted at 6* has a tension of about 5st/inch and 5.75 rows/inch. I think for general use, I'd do 5* or 6. The 6* does have nice drape but is verging on too loose. It used 67gr and I have 62 gr left. Do I make fingerless gloves? What's the latest tea on wearing matching items? Or should I make a hat to donate? How big of hat can I make? Some quick math reveals I have 124.26yds left. A quick Google search shows that'll be enough for a baby hat. Really, I thought there was more left in the skein! 

Yarn In:  141 grams

Yarn Out: 2466gr + 82gr + 66gr = 2636gr

Balance:  2495gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

And that's a wrap on 2025 (and Blogger changed the font!). 

Handknit Baby and Child Hats for Charity

 It's been a busy fall, but I wanted to get this last knitting post in (I do have one more baby hat on the needles, and I might get it done in time. Oh, and I have a headband that deserves its own post...). Okay, this is likely the second last post!

I've been knitting simple baby hats for a local charity. Newborn size goes to the hospital, bigger sizes go to other organizations. I got this basic pattern in 2020: 

With DK yarn, 3.75mm needle, cast on 70. Rib for 3". Switch to 4mm and stockinette for 2". Decrease 7 stitches every other row (Row 1: Knit 8, Knit 2 together and repeat; Row 3: Knit 7, Knit 2 together, repeat; Row 5: Knit 6, Knit 2 together, repeat; etc).  The pattern was written for knitting flat. If you do, I suggest adding a stitch so when you seam, you still get the decreases at the top spread evenly. I knit them in the round--Magic Loop style--so no seaming needed. I also use an alternate cable cast on. It's really nice for ribbing. I got the instructions from Montse Stanley's "Knitter's Handbook" but I assume instructions can be found online these days.

I often fluctuate with the number of stitches. I like 72 st so I can do 8 decreases at the top (knit 7, k2tog around the top).  I will also drop down the number of stitches if I'm running low on yarn, or it's a thicker yarn. 

These all came from one large ball of sparkly baby yarn. It has really long colour changes, with a slight shift of the colour between the colours (rather than red-bam!-blue, it's red-plum-violet-blue). I realized with the first hat if I just knit from the ball, I might end up with most of the hat one colour and a bit at the top another colour. So after doing the cuff on the first one (the one in the middle above), I decided to stripe them using a complimentary colour further in the sequence.

I didn't want to end up with orange and green...or pink and green...or purple and green, so blue and green was the only option. However, with the gradual shift, it's not as obvious striping at the top.

This striping technique left me with some small balls left over. I used the Helix method (evenly space 3 or more balls, knit to the next ball, drop the old yarn and pick up the new one without twisting), and I thought when one of the colours ran out, I'd just keep going. It didn't look good. So I adjusted stitch counts and height. And I also miscounted the tiny one--instead of 72st I had 62 stitches. 

All together, these  7 hats weighed 118gr.

These three were an attempt to use up a small amount of a pink yarn I found in my stash. It's hard to see, but I also used a fuzzy, thinner white yarn for some stripes. Together, they weigh 52gr.

These blue ones also have the same fuzzy thin white yarn. They weigh 57gr, with the one below.

Another random small ball from the stash.

The sparkly hats were started on a trip to Jamaica in mid-October. I'm trying to be realistic when I pack projects for trips. One ball of yarn was all I took and it was more than enough. When we went camping in Quebec after Labour Day, I took two balls--one black, one this Red Heart neon stripes. Like the baby yarn, this yarn has fairly long sections when you're only using <100sts. Black might seem odd for baby or child hats, but it's quite practical! It's hard to see since they're on a black background, but the rolled edge is in black for all of them.

This is Purl Soho's "Garter Ear Flap Hat", a free pattern. I misread the pattern, and the first hat I actually frogged (even though it wasn't all that different, it still bugged me). I made a couple different sizes. I even made a sort of spread sheet version of the pattern so I didn't have to read so much text. I put the sizes across the top, and the actions down the left, and the number of times, or the stitches needed, in the cells. 

All together, these weigh 234gr. Because it's a worsted weight yarn, they aren't suitable for the newborn hats for the hospital...a light worsted is okay but this definitely felt too bulky). 

One last little hat snuck in. I had started a few versions but kept running out of the green. So I went with the simple 2 row stripes, on 72 stitches. I have green left over. The white fuzzy yarn is never ending. This hat weighs 22gr.

All together, these little hats used up 483gr of yarn--over a pound! 

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out: 2005gr + 483gr = 2488gr

Balance:  2488gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Sinclair "Vera" Dress, Take 3

 I mentioned in the last Vera post that I had bought some pink floral 100% cotton. I'd been getting advertisements from G.K. Fashion Fabrics on Facebook, and I spent A LOT of time looking at all their lightweight dress fabrics. They have one line that really caught my eye, "100% Cotton Loom Line".  There are so many pattern collections in that line, and I spent forever trying to find the perfect pink floral because I have this wonderful rayon sundress I want to replicate. 

I finally decided on the Candy Pink from the Wild Hibiscus group.  Totally me, right?! There's a couple pictures of the Candy Pink. I did feel it wasn't as colourful as I wanted, but I couldn't find something with more colour that was affordable. Take a look at those sample pictures. In the first two, look closely along the bottom of the picture. Do you see it? No? I didn't either. 

I washed the fabric, and ironed all several meters of it. Then I stretched it out on my table to start cutting. Then I saw it. There was a solid black flower, repeating across the width, and down the length!

That doesn't look right, does it? It's a single black layer, with no detail over top.

Due to the repeating nature of it, it was basically impossible to lay out the full front piece without having those black flowers showing!  I was gutted! Who thought solid black flowers on a pattern of pink flowers with layers of detail, was a good idea?

I had to re-evaluate my design plans. I have the Simplicity 2938 that I had just made as a top that I thought maybe I could alter.  Not sure why I didn't think it'd work. I was also considering another one but I hadn't made it in my current size. I eventually went with the 2938, but I added extra  in the middle with the plan to do gathers. 

However, they were too bulky and even though I spent a GOOD amount of time folding them, and pressing and pinning, I wasn't happy once I stitched them. 

I decided to do pin tucks. I think I hadn't done that before. I opted to take them down past my bust. 

I'm not sure what I'm showing. I think I melted the interfacing or something dumb again.

Not sure what that's about either. This was almost two months ago!  It was a lovely fabric to work with, a nice change from all the crappy fabrics I had been using. Most of it went together really well though my bottom edge was all different lengths for some reason.

Here's an actual hibiscus on the Sandals Negril resort grounds!

Here's the final dress. I made a sash with the scraps. I don't think it does anything to define my waist, since I don't have one to begin with LOL. I'm pretty happy with it, and how I was able to still make basically what I wanted even though the fabric tried to thwart me.

Speaking of thwarting....we noticed this little crab, probably the first day at Sandals Negril. He had made a little home in the grass near Brava. One day we walked by, and someone had filled in the hole! But a day or so later, he was back!

When I got back from the trip, something was wrong with my ear, which then turned into a sinus infection and it hung around for a LONG time. Like, 6+ weeks, three different antibiotics. Still not 100% better. But, I emailed GK Fashion Fabrics to express my unhappiness with the fabric print.

They answered back saying you can see the black flowers in the sample online, and other colourways have a similar spot, and it's their top selling pattern, so basically, it's me that has a problem, not the fabric. Not what I was expecting. I decided to look closer at the different colourways.

The red circles are the corresponding flowers that were black on the pink fabric. On the black fabric, they don't show up (or it was very faint). On the cream fabric, they also don't show up. On the blue and the teal, you can see the flower blobs, but they're blue, so they blend in better--but are still the only flower with no detail. 

The white circles are the same flower shape (the artist uses copy and paste to create the flowers), but you can see those flowers are not a solid blob, but have a layer of a light colour with details that reveal the dark first layer. 

I am 100% sure the red circles should have that same top detail layer in the second colour. Whether it's the artist's fault, or the fabric printer's fault--I can't determine that. I can just say that it created more work for me, I was disappointed with the store's response, and I will 100% make sure I go over any sample photos with a fine tooth comb in the future. I really liked the fabric! I also liked that they sent some sample swatches--some of which I'll probably be buying! They also don't include a packing slip or receipt--I couldn't find a copy of my order anywhere, so take screenshots when checking out. Of course, if you're in the Toronto area, just go to the retail location!

Red Scarves Donation

 I was able to get the red scarves donated this year, and there were 18! It looks like I made 9 this year. Not as many as I would have liked, but still a good amount. I do still have some of the red Bernat Super Saver, and some bits of other red yarns, so I will definitely do more for next year. 

Last of the Red Scarves

 I do still have some red yarn left, but I needed a break and also I was travelling and just wanted to make something else. 

Both these red scarves are similar--a thin red yarn contrasted with a variety of other red yarns. The one above had two rows thin, then two rows of a different one. I didn't like how that meant all the yarn ends were at one side but once woven in, they weren't too thick.

This one was garter stitch bias knit, which really gave me a mental workout! I've done this before but this time I could NOT wrap my head around it and had to google it.

The one on the left is 99gr  (lets say 100), and the right one is 58gr (lets say 60gr, each of these had a lot of tails trimmed off, easily more than what I've rounded up to).

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out: 160gr + 1845gr = 2005

Balance:  2005gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Sinclair Patterns "Vera" dress

 I think I bought this pattern during it's release. I don't really have recollection of it. Or maybe when they were having a sale. At some point early this summer, I came across "Lifting Pins and Needles" version. I watched her channel on and off over the years and this one caught my eye. It was exactly what I needed to replace an existing rayon sundress that was starting to actually get holes. Somehow I got distracted in my quest for a sleeveless tank and got obsessed with making a Vera. 

I had some good fabric I could use, but nothing for a muslin. I went to my local Giant Tiger, a discount chain store in Canada. They always have cheap sheet sets. I picked out this nice grey set, came home and washed it up. There didn't seem to be a top sheet, but I had already recycled the packaging...but I do remember it was packed up like from the factory, so I guess they don't come with top sheets now?

The fabric sucked. It was slippery. It frayed like crazy. The only thing going for it was I could tell the right side from the wrong side. I even managed to melt a tiny bit in a shoulder strap. 

I had heavily debated on what size to make. My measurements put me at an 18 with a C/D cup, but that wasn't sitting well with me. I'd been struggling with my health and looked bloated and heavy. I didn't know if I had measured poorly, or it was a bad day, or what. I asked Karina in the comments of her blog about the sizing. There seemed to be a typo in the pattern that said the waist ease was 30cm or 4" which are not the same. I could get the same finished chest size using the 18 C/D or the 16 E/F (but both were a smidge less ease than what was recommended). I just did not feel like an 18. Karina said to go by the measurements, do not randomly choose. Well, I wasn't randomly choosing--I've made many items that were too wide in the shoulders because I was trying to fit my bust. 

In the end, I went with the 16 E/F, petite file. 

I posted it to the Sinclair Patterns group on Facebook, because I couldn't believe it seemed to fit without any adjustments! This wasn't the picture I posted but I think I deleted it. Several noticed the rug edge and thought I had made an angled hem.

I wasn't sure about the dart. Surely I should have to lower it, since I'm not 30, but it actually was where the directions said it should be.

I put pins in to mark the dart tips. This is so not a flattering angle LOL. The darts have a bit of a bubble, but did I mention how terrible the fabric was?

I also felt the neck was little high, though it didn't look like that in the sample photos or on Karina.

I wore it for the afternoon and decided I needed to let out the side bust seams just a little. I took them out 1/4, which was easy because I made the facing version, so it's much simpler to adjust than if I had bound them. There was no way I was making binding from that fabric.

I made the side seam pockets, awesome. It would really benefit from some ties but did I mention the fabric? 

I made it while making and eating dinner. And of course, got something on it. I prompted washed it, gently scrubbing the spot with stain remover and my gentle brush. Pulled it out of the dryer (only dry for a few minutes, then hang to finish), and noticed the colour had been affected where I scrubbed.

I was so sad! I could still wear it with a scarf I think. I don't seem to have a full length picture of it on.

I adjusted my pattern, adding 1/4" to the front and back seams from the waist notch to the armhole. I lowered the dart 1/2" because the opinion was rather split in the FB group on if I should. I had this gorgeous linen (blend?) and got to work.  I also lowered the neckline a bit.

What a difference a good fabric makes. So much easier to cut and press. I did have some issues with the lining matching up, but it was late at night and I think I was rushing. It worked fine the next day when I took my time and used a million pins.

The strange this is....this one is a bit LOOSE under the arms! What?! It'll be easy to take it in. I just need to wear it again to decide how much to take it in. I bought some more fabric, a bright pink floral in 100% cotton. We're going to Jamaica in October, so I hope to have it done by then! One month, actually!

Welding Cap

 Megan came home for a quick visit. She worked the night shift, then drove 15 hours, was here for 3 days, drove back, and worked the next day. The last day she was here, I realize I should have made her a new welding cap. Well, I had the day to make one! And it's a good thing I hadn't made one because she picked out a combo I wouldn't have LOL. 

I looked back at my last post on the welding caps to refresh my memory what I did. It still left questions LOL. 

I still had trouble matching up at the top. I tried switching from 1/2" to 5/8" but still had some puckering.

This was the inside so not a huge deal. She doesn't like to reverse sides; one is always the inside after the first wearing.

It feels a little dull to me. She likes it though.

She wouldn't model it--too busy doing something with Dad. So I found a stand in, using the fun faces.

Then I found this fellow! When you take the picture it actually makes a little opossum noise and he wiggles. 

She'd like something a little more stiff, like the one we bought on Etsy for her birthday two years ago. I found a Toronto fabric store with a good online shopping website, and they have some different canvases. I ordered some fabric for another project and they sent samples. One was for the solid colour canvas. I think it will work well! It's still pretty lightweight, but stiffer than quilting cotton. You can see the weave, and it's a bit open (not like, a mesh), but I suspect it will bloom when washed. 

Have you used any canvas types fabric for welding caps? Let me know!