Featherweight Cardigan by Knitbot in Ewe2Yarn + No-Pattern Elastic Waist Skirt

Well, I did it again.  I have gotten super behind with my posting.  Good news is there will probably be a flurry of posts for the next two weeks or so.

This is a 2-fer because the skirt is as simple as it gets.

The cardigan is the very popular "Featherweight Cardigan" by Hannah Fettig, also known as Knitbot.  I do mean popular.  Right now, there are 8,490 projects in Ravelry, but that will go up as soon as I post mine!  The beauty of this pattern is its simplicity.  If you look through the projects on Ravelry, you can get so much inspiration to customize it for yourself.  I wanted the basic version, though, since my yarn is fun.  It is hand-dyed by Ewe2Yarn.  The colorway is called Herb Garden.  

The finished sweater actually reminds me of camo, which is fun.

 The only downside to this sweater, for me, is the raglan sleeves.  I must have shlumpy shoulders or something, because raglans always seem to slide down my shoulders.  Super annoying.  I am going to add raglan-sleeve cardigans to my no-no-knit list along with single-ply yarns. (Single-ply rant here.)

 

The skirt is simple, but it sat half-finished in my sewing room for months.  It is just a rectangle seamed together to form a tube, and then fold-over elastic is stretched and stitched on the top for a waistband.  The reason it sat for months is that I made it too big at first.  I added too much ease at the hips and it was not very flattering.  The idea of unpicking the elastic, making the skirt smaller, and then re-doing the elastic was just too much.  Finally, I decided to just cut off the elastic and put on new.  Much easier.

Here is a look at the waistband.

I used a narrow-hem foot on my sewing machine for the hem.  The finish looks nice, but it was a super slow process getting the edge to go into the foot evenly.  I definitely need more practice with it.  The fabric is a poly charmeuse from Pennie Fabrics in Sarasota.  I love a nice border print, even if it is polyester!

Georgetown Cardigan by Knitbot in Berocco Fioro

This is the Georgetown Cardigan from Knitbot's (Hannah Fettig's) Home and Away book.  You can also buy the cardigan pattern by itself.  This book is a treasure trove of simple basics.  It also contains the pattern for the Lesley pullover I knitted in the spring.

The yarn is Berroco Fiora, a mix of cotton, rayon, alpaca, nylon, and wool.  I was drawn to the cotton content for my warm climate, and I hoped that the other fibers would help it retain its shape.  I am very pleased with the result.  The elbows do eventually bag out a bit, but that is only after several wears, and after washing, they spring right back.  The color is a light gray called Georgia, #3805.

I bought this yarn at Roxy's Yarns in Tampa while out with my mom.  I told her I wanted to make a gray cardigan, and she encouraged me to keep it simple so I would wear it a lot.  Excellent advice.  I have brought it on my travels this summer and am wearing it constantly.

Lesley Pullover from Home and Away by Hannah Fettig

This is definitely a record for me.  I knit this sweater in less than two weeks!  The pattern is the Lesley Pullover from Hannah Fettig's book, Home and Away.  Hannah's design company is called Knitbot.  The sweaters in this book are all pretty basic, but Hannah has a reputation for great fit and details, and sometimes, we all just need a simple sweater!  The design recommends a 100% wool yarn by Quince and Co, but I wanted a cotton version for spring.  I also obviously shortened the sleeves to 3/4.  

The yarn is Berroco Maya in a pretty icy blue color called cielo.  The yarn is 85% cotton/15% alpaca and has a chainette construction.  It is lightweight but quick to knit at a worsted weight, and the alpaca content made it more pleasant to knit than some cottons.

Since my yarn is worsted-weight and knit on size 8 needles, as opposed to the pattern yarn's aran weight on size 10 needles, I did some calculating to figure my stitch counts.  The fit turned out perfectly, and I can pop my sweater in the washing machine and dryer!

Yep, sometimes a basic is the way to go.  My blouse is this one, and my pants are here.  :-)