FO: knitted red kerchief, etc.

Well hello! It feels like an age since my last post. I have a couple of projects to reveal (one now, and one later in the week). And I have a couple of projects on the go: I'm steadily working away on my raglan sweater, which is beginning to look like a sweater! and I'm working on a(nother) Tova shirt - I'd cut this one out earlier in the year, but for various reasons didn't get around to sewing it up. And I've been doing a lot of thinking about my next projects. More on that later.

But first, I give you a big red knitted kerchief:

ever so slightly misshapen to the right due to some exuberant blocking!

I used the Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief pattern (free on Ravelry), and 2 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in Sealing Wax. It's just the most yummy yarn for snuggly scarves, hats and gloves.

I just love how the colour varies from a blood red to a tomato to shades of pink.

It was pretty quick and easy to knit up. I had a little bit of trouble with the garter tab set up, but YouTube came to the rescue. I mostly knitted it up during my lunch hours at work, which was a nice change from the naughty habit I have of just squandering time on aimless internet trawling.

The shawl turned out slightly smaller than I'd hoped, more of a shawlette than a full shawl, but I'm delighted with it. It was pefect for my brief jaunt to Amsterdam over the weekend:

Full details on Ravelry. It's certainly whet my appetite for shawl knitting. But all the prettiest shawls seem to require finer yarn (and seem terribly complicated). And I can't really cope with temperatures below 10C/50F, so a nice worsted weight suits me best. So if you have any suggestions for a not too difficult pattern, please let me know!

Next projects
I've been reading everyone's Autumn sewing plans with great interest. It was also great to talk through plans at the Bath meet-up. I'm going through a "I hate all my clothes" phase (I know, I know, first world problems), which I think is a combination of several factors: the change in season, the fact that I've gone up a dress size over the summer and little fits (put the brownie down, and walk away), and I'm lazy when it comes to thinking about what to wear to work, which ultimately leaves me reaching for the same old boring "I work in an office" staples.

So what I really want to do is make some skirts, to liven things up a little bit. I've already touched on this in an earlier post, and I think I'll make the wool A-line skirt with the lovely teal wool I got at the Bath swap. But that can wait til later in the season - I really need some mid-weight skirts. And fast!

So I've decided on the Grainline Moss skirt (much lengthened for my 5'10" height), probably in a navy needlecord (which I'd saved for the Colette Beignet, but helpful comments have made me realise that given my shape, it probably would require a lot of extra fitting work). Looking at the skirts I already own, I should really think of pleated and A-line skirts. So, I'm thinking also of a lined Wiksten Tulip skirt perhaps in a dark denim (please can I just blatantly copy Roobeedoo's everyday Kelly skirt?). And also an A-line skirt from one of my small collection of vintage skirt patterns (perhaps the bottom right checked one?):

I'd also like a half-circle skirt. Perhaps in a wool blend with good drape.

The main trouble is that I struggle with choosing bottom-weight fabrics. Other than denim and corduroy, I'm just not sure. I know this is a big part of learning to sew clothes, but it's a bit of a struggle for me.

Other potential projects are a Banksia top (I'll be following the sew along), and maybe, just maybe I'll get the Darling Ranges dress to work for me. If not, perhaps this:

I'd earlier mentioned that I'd really like to make a coat, and even fell for the bright pink Burda number (08/2012), but I just can't get my head around the instructions one bit. I thought that perhaps I should ease myself into coat construction by trying a Minoru instead. So that's also something I'm thinking about.

And maybe I'll get over my fear of knits and try a Renfrew top.

And last, but by no means least, a very dear friend who I've known since school days, has just had a wee baby boy. And so I'm making this:

I spotted the pattern in a lovely little yarn store in Amsterdam. The pattern is in Dutch, which of course, I can't read. But the lovely lady there gave me an English translation (yay)! This will be my lunchtimes project.

So that's all for now. I'll be back later this week with my other FO.

Speak soon!
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