Finished Object: Mielie Vest

After giving some thought to how much information to provide to folks about costs and time invested in the items in my shop, I came up with a brilliant idea. Featured Projects!

Tada! Occasionally, when I remember, I will post the vital stats of a project that I've made, including the amount of materials used, cost of materials, and hours invested into the item. Not only will this allow folks to see how much goes into a project, it will hopefully give some of you all an idea of what to expect if you were to choose to make the project yourself.

First up: The Mielie Vest
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Sierra in Carmel nearly 5 skeins- sorry folks, this is a discontinued yarn.
Notions: Giant Snaps, I used 5 because.... it's 5.

Date Started: March 1, 2015
Date Completed:

Cost of Pattern: $5.50
Cost of yarn: Free :it was given to me by a friend.
Cost of Buttons: $12.65, but I had three left over so... $7.90
Total Cost (not including labor):  $13.40

Total Hours Invested: 27

 

Notes- I made the collar shorter than the pattern called for, because I'm short. And I was super worried about running out of yarn. I had been gifted a lot of yarn, and sold about half of it thinking I would still have plenty to finish the project as written. When I finished I had grams of yarn left in a ball, so I could have made the collar a little longer had I wanted to.

I was not a fan of the faux side seam, so I just ignored those instructions, as did many others on Ravelry.

Also, I am not a fan of sewing a lot on a knitted item. I mean, I sew yeah, but knitting is different for me. It shouldn't be sewing. So, anyway.... I made the pockets no sew. 31 rows from the end, I knit front and back into the first and last 32 stitches of the round, then transferred the knit front stitches to scrap yarn, and used the knit back stitches to carry on with the rest of the sweater.

 Before doing the bottom ribbing, I went back and picked up the stitches on the yarn, and followed the pocket directions, in reverse. Instead of decreasing, I increased stitches. When I got to the end of the pocket I let it sit while I did the other pocket.

Once they were both done, I started the ribbing on the bottom by knitting the pocket stitches together with the body stitches, like you would for a three needle bind off, just not binding off. Then when the time came to do the button bands, I just picked up through both the body and the pocket stitches, the same as you do at the neck band. No-sew pockets!

Caesious: Curls Project Update

For those of you who don't know, I have embarked on a journey. I am knitting every single pattern in the book "Curls", in order. I have no idea how long this will take and if it will even actually be seen through to the end, but it was a great idea so I'm going for it.

As I started out on Caesious, I quickly came to the realization that I had to make a rule about the approach to this project. I'm not allowed to flip through the book or look at any project in it other than the one I am working on. I think this will help me not get antsy, help mitigate the temptation to skip to another shawl later in the book because I really want to do it. At this point, all I remember is that Shawl #3 is one for me, I have the yarn and everything. Knowing this is a motivating factor, sort of.

This is an old picture... more has been done on it!

Caesious was interesting for about 2 repeats of the pattern, now it's a bit annoying. I feel like I haven't memorized the pattern enough yet to let it be mindless, but it is mindless enough that my mind wanders and next thing I know I've messed up something.

I just have so many other dang projects I'm trying to get done right now that this one is slow going. I've got blankets, and socks, and a sweater vest that just isn't progressing (at least it feels that way right now). I've been stashbusting like a madwoman, and yet the stash isn't getting used up as quickly as I would like it to be used up. My thesis is taking a lot of my time and all my play gets pushed aside. Sigh.