King Cole Top in Splash DK

 

Little Mudlet loves her new top

In between ticking items off my Holiday List, I have been finishing off a lovely little summer top I’ve been knitting for Little Mudlet. The King Cole pattern has two tops and was bought as part of a kit from Deramores, a kit which contained enough King Cole Splash DK, to complete the largest size of both patterns, in the colours shown on the actual pattern. Little Mudlet and I agreed that we didn’t like the sleeved variant of the top but we both loved the off-the-shoulder top and the corresponding yarn which was shade “3083 Pavlova”.

Advertisement

Stylecraft Sweater in Cabaret Forest Glade – FO

There is nothing subtle about the banding created by the yarn.

Well I’ve finished Middle Mudlets’ sweater and she has declared herself very happy with it. She doesn’t normally go in for sparkly things that much but she really likes the effect of the shiny thread that is wound through the yarn. The three-quarter length sleeves and the roll neck are another new feature for Middle Mudlet but as she gets older, her tastes are changing and, to a very small degree, she is starting to shake off some of her tomboyish ways.

Sweater in Stylecraft Cabaret – Forest Glade

Stylecraft Sweater in Cabaret Double Knit Forest Glade

Around Christmas time an email from Deramores dropped into my inbox with the news that they were offering 10% off all purchases. Having finished my little stockings a couple of weeks earlier, I was looking for a new project – for Middle Mudlet this time – and so logged into the Deramores site and had a browse. Before long I had found a pattern which Middle Mudlet was happy with and had chosen a yarn to go with it. As it happened, the recommended yarn for the pattern, Stylecraft Cabaret double knit, had a range of gorgeous colour ways and Middle Mudlet chose the Forest Glade colour, a beautiful variegated green stripe ranging from dark bottle green to a much lighter pastel, with a shimmering thread running throughout.

Jumper Dress in James C. Brett Rustic Aran Tweed: a triumphant finish

This dress sits neatly just below the knee.

Well it took some doing but I finally finished my jumper dress and I have to say that I love it. It is so warm and comfortable to wear and I would absolutely recommend the yarn and the pattern. The only adaptation I made was to knit the sleeves slightly shorter, so that they sit more three quarter length. The dress sits neatly just below the knee and can be worn either with leggings or boots and thick tights and definitely looks better on a body.

Jumper Dress in James C. Brett Rustic Aran Tweed: Summer Sunshine and Winter Knits

Summer sunshine and winter knits

It struck me as rather incongruous to be sitting in a sundress, with the sun beating down, temperatures of 23/24 degree heat knitting an Aran weight jumper dress but it didn’t stop me doing it. I simply refuse to sit indoors and moulder when the sun is shining and I have the chance to enjoy the summer sunshine. Fresh air and the need to soak up as much vitamin D as I could, saw me pack my project and its’ HUGE ball of yarn, into my craft bag and head outside. 

Jumper Dress in James C. Brett Rustic Aran Tweed

Rustic Aran DAT32 jumper dress

With Little Mudlets’ Rose Trellis jumper dress completed, I turned my attention to my next project. When I had ordered the yarn for the Rose Trellis project, I had also found and bought a pattern for MY next garment and the pattern had been carefully stowed away, awaiting its’ turn.

Purple jumper dress with rose trellis hem pattern – finished and modelled

She loves the single pink rose on one sleeve.

Well it took me a bit longer than I anticipated to get Little Mudlets’ jumper dress finished off but I finally found the time to settle down with my sewing needle and tackle the job of setting sleeves, sewing hems and tidying all the loose ends away.

Purple jumper dress with rose trellis hem pattern – nearly finished!

I love the border

It seems like forever since I started the little purple jumper dress with rose trellis border pattern for Little Mudlet and to be fair, it has been almost 6 months since I posted about it. The thing is, as often happens, life got in the way of progress and I wasn’t able to pick up my needles and knit comfortably for a while, by which time the act of actually continuing with the dress felt more like a chore. To be honest, I kind of fell out of love with knitting for a while and decided I needed to take a break.

Purple jumper dress with rose trellis hem pattern

I think this Rose Trellis panel looks really effective.

Every now and again I decide I need a bit of a challenge, to push myself and try something new. I’ve been playing it safe recently, making animals using a basic stocking stitch, repeating Middle Mudlets’ snowflake jumper which has been my first foray into using more than one yarn when I originally made the blue variant back in 2015. Looking through my past projects, you could be forgiven for thinking that the lacy or cable based patterns are the hardest to do and that the notion of merely introducing a second yarn into the equation, wouldn’t prove too problematic but that’s not the case for me. I’m happiest working away on ‘complicated’ lace patterns and give me a cable pattern to get my teeth into and I’m happy as a pig in muck, as they say in these parts. 

How the yarns wore part 2

Three of the yarns featured in this post

Back in 2014 I did a follow up post on how the various yarns I had used for garments had faired after a bit of wear and wash. When I am choosing the yarn for my next project, I always read any reviews that may have been posted but these are, for the most part, written just after a project has been finished and so only cover the workability, feel and colour etc. which is all very well and good but so often I’ve bought yarn based on these good reviews, only to find out that in the real world, the yarn doesn’t fair so well. This is what led me to write my original ‘how the yarns wore‘ post and I have commented here and there about subsequent yarns I’ve used but I thought it might be helpful to do another follow up post on the yarns used since the 2014 post.