WIP summer pullover, body done!

So, last night I managed to finish up the body of the summer pullover I'm currently working on, took me long enough, didn't it?
Anyways, I am doing pretty much everything differently compared to the pattern right now. As I've mentioned in an earlier blogpost, the original pattern's knit in four pieces, flat. That would mean almost 75% of the rounds being all purl per pattern repeat. That's way too much purling for me when it's a sweater/pullover on 3,5mm needles. Editing the pattern and then knitting everything in the round, cuts all the purls drastically and also saves me a lot of sewing afterwards. I don't have any idea why this pattern is knit flat in pieces in the first place... But when that's said, I might not make the V neck line that the pattern asks for... We'll see...

Still get a hippie/gypsy vibe off it though, can't wait to see it finished!

And inbetween all the Minecrafting, I have started the sleeves. It's not really much to look at right now, but it's a start.  Gonna work out how the increases will go for the next round now and also how I'll be doing them on the rest of the sleeve. The exciteing part comes when I'm at the raglan.

Almost time for Jackie + Batman updates!

So, I finally got around to getting Jackie washed and layd of for blocking. Been holding it off since the only safe place for laying it out to try flat in this appartment is on top of the drying rack, and I've been really busy with laundry this past week.

Since Jackie was made in 65% wool and 35% alpaca yarn, not superwash threated, getting it washed is a gentle prosess. I always wash any wool items, superwash or not on cold or 30°C handwash in the machine along with soap specially made for silk and wool. If I use a program that's too fast or too warm, the garments will shrink and felt.

One awesome thing about wool garments, expecially cardigans and sweaters is that you can almost mold it into whatever shape or form you want when it's wet. Like Jackier here, by the way I've laid her out here, the cowl neck and the bottom will be super wide when she's dry. And that's the I want her to be. This wouldn't be possible if I didn't wet her first.

While I was going to wash Jackie, I threw in my Marius at the same time. I've been wearing this sweater 24/7 lately and I really love it! So warm and so cozy and yet so stylish! But since Jackie is taking up the whole drying rack and I don't have a second one, Marius here will just have to dry hanging on this chair. I'm not that picky about the shape of this sweater so it doesn't really matter where I put it to dry.

But I really need another Marius sweater or too... They're so classy and stylish... I really hope Silja here will work great as a sweater yarn, it's really good to knit with, but the real test will be when I've tried the Batman sweater on if it holds up or not. If it does, then I'll make myself some crazy and colorfull sweaters cause the yarn is really cheap and good quality!
Speaking of which... I've done quite some work on Batman and the body now is currently measuring just about 40cm (15.7") I'm planning on making the body quite long so I might do another 10cm before I cast off for the armholes.

I've yet to draw up the fair-isle pattern though and I'm still pondering if I should do it raglan or round. There's cos and pros for both parts so I think it'll all come down to how I make the fair-isle look. I've also been tossing around the idea of making a hood on it. Since it's Batman, a hood would be perfect and bring it all together, but I'm not 100% sure how to do this. I've read through a few patterns for hoods and I got an idea, so I guess I'll just have too see if it'll work in real life.

And one more thing. I've been wondering if I should try and make sleeves like these for it. It may crash a bit with the style though... I'm atleast pondering if I should make the ribbing that long, so we'll see if I'm to add or drop the poofyness of the sleeves.

 

Anyways, see yall later! I'm off to do some more mindless knitting on Batman before bedtime!

Felting in progress - video!

Looking good so far!

 

Anna mittens - Moment of truth!

Oh my god I don't think I've ever been this scared of felting since I made that Sunny Duckworth sitting cushion...which was also the last item I ever stitched an image unto...and then felted afterwards... Now, it went well, but some places didn't get felted enough, but that's cause the stitches were too close and too many at certain parts...

So now is truly the moment of truth for the Anna mittens. I just weaved in the last end and I'm about to throw them into the washer on 40'C for felting.

I am also going to throw in my slippers which I made just before Christmas that sadly turned out a tiny bit too big... Either I will ruin both of them, one of them or they will both turn out fine... I tell you, felting is SCARY!!!!

Now, you might be interested in how to felt in the washer so why not make a little step by step how I do it and blog it for you guys? Sure! Why the heck not! On to the washer we go!

First I wet the objects I am to felt...can't really remember if it's nessesary... Don't really care about what temperature that water has at this point, but it's just what I do... I sound SOOOO professional right now! I think it was to open the fibers so that the felting would start faster?

Then I put them in the washer along side a pair of jeans, you can also use towels. This is actually an old pair of mine whom I used so much that it started to get huge holes all over the place, they have now become my "felting jeans" and that is litterally their only purpose.
It's important to put something in with the objects you are felting because it causes friction and friction is one of the things that needs to happend for the felting to actually take place. You need heat and water, usually combined also known as hot water...either 40'C (104'C) or 60'C (140'F) if you're using a washer. If you're hand felting then you can just use as warm water you can manage. You will also need motion and friction. If you just put your object in hot water and let it sit for an hour, nothing will happend to it...except for getting wet... When you're handfelting you need to rub it against something or itself to get the felting started, this is where the jeans (or towels) come into the picture if you're felting in a washer.

Then I add a splash of green soap, you can also use a soap for wool or silk fabrics for a softer felting, but I prefer green soap myself...just what i grew up with when we felted in kindergarden, school and at home...cause we actually did alot of felting.

If you're nervous about leaving the machine on, then pause it frequently and check the result. When it's felted enough for your desire, stop it and rinse out the remaining soap. If you're too scared to use the washing machine, then felt by hand. The only downside to felting by hand (besides it takes forever and it's hard) is that the thing you're felting may get uneven felted. In a machine, the result get's alot more even and prettier.

Pepsi desided to join in on the action cause he's tired of being an adult and wants to shrink down to kitten size again...

Now. When you're finished felting, let it dry, but while it dries, you can shape it. Let's say you're making a pair of slippers, you can stretch them if they're a tad too small. You can give them the shape of a foot so that they're easier and more comfortable to use for the first time. I do not recomand flatten a pair of slippers down like a pair of socks and let them dry like that. They're horrible afterwards!

Got more felting questions? Leave them down below and I'll try to answer to the best of my ability! Wish me luck! I'll blog the results as soon as they're finished!