Sirdar Indigo Denim Cotton & other bits!

The Idea:

I've got 7 balls of this denim cotton in Mid-Denim shade idling in my tiny stash & wanted to use it somehow. I've always wanted a denim-look knitted something or other. I found the 2 Twilleys books for their denim cotton. I decided this would be a suitable project, the 'Macy' vest:

The Swatch

OK, I hold my hands up, I NEVER swatch, I grab the pins & knit. (I've only knit one swatch in my life) Thats' a really bad confession to make, but I've done it now. I wanted to know how much the denim would shrink by as I was using a Twilleys (with 15% shrinkage) pattern So, I grabbed the 4 mm, did a swatch, cast off, cut the yarn, picked up the tape... OH crap, it was measuring 19st/26r. OK, it must be the way I'm holding the yran, let's try again, same pins, an extra wrap around my finger... nope 20st/26r. Maybe I need to change pins, let's try 3.75mm that'll be right... nope still 20st/26r. I'm getting rather pee'd off by this point. I dropped to 3.5mm & hooray, I got the required 21s/28r. This took me a whole evening to sort out.

I chucked it in the machine with a white wash on 60C & after washing it was measuring 21s/31r, approx 10% shrinkage, just like it says on the leaflet.

The Knitty

When the maths of converting the pattern got too hard, I decided to bite-the-bullet & just cast on! A moss-stitch project in dk is not the quickest of knits, but I love the feel of it, especially in cotton, all crunchy & lovely. DS kept stroking it as he likes the feel too! You can see the white core showing through:

The Completed Item Pre-wash

I spent nearly a week on this, but at least the cotton is nice to work with & not rough like some other denim cottons can be. I tried it on for a pre-wash fitting:

I hope it doesn't shrink too much, I like it like this! anyway off to the machine it goes. I've left some of the ends loose to sew after they've shrunk in case it puckers.

The Completed item post-wash

It did shrink & fade, but I was able to pin it to the length I wanted, 23" as opposed to the 24.5" pre-wash. I'm sure it got wider, but I fixed that too! Here it is, I used all but a tiny scrap of my 7 balls & still need to put a tiny band around the armholes (just one of those where you pick-up & then cast it straight off) but was reluctant to order any more just for that in case it didn't work. I might use my washed swatch of the cream & see how that looks for the bands & the lace.

I really want a denim jacket in this yarn & there are patterns in the Twilleys books, but I might contact Sirdar & arrange a copy of one of theirs as my maths won't cope with sleeves aswell!

Action-man has blagged himself another sweater & a bag. I wonder if I could enter it for Gilraens' Bag-along on the Craft Threads Forum:

No, I don't think she'd accept it LOL! But this might do instead, made in Sirdar Spree for 49p a ball at Kemps. I'm hoping to use it as a beach-bag, assuiming we get a late deal somewhere.

Don't laugh, look, I even gad a go at lining it. I've had a new sewing machine since April & this is the first time it's been out of the box!!

I'm currently knitting in Sirdar Snowflake Chunky, I'll save that for another day!

Knitterly Update...

I've finally added the buttons to the lacy summer top, I'm really pleased with how this has turned out:

The buttons were in the dregs of the House of Fraser sale... Rowan #389 for 5p each (I love bargains!). Here's the modelled shots:

I used 6 balls of Fantasia dk on 4mm pins. I just made it as per the pattern but added an edge stitch for sewing up as I don't know how to sew holes together LOL & it made the pattern match exactly at the seams, yay!

Here's my contribution to the sock-a-month challenge for August:

Regia Galaxy in shade 1553. I bought all 12 of this set...anyone want to buy a ball or 3 LOL!

Guess Who?????

As if I've not got enough knitting of my own to do, my 5 yr old ds decided Action Man needed some new gear! I learnt a new technique on the lacy top, the one-row buttonhole (thanks Monste Stanley)& it came in handy for the balaclava! What an *rse making that sweater, with its' raglan shapings, back neck opening, I could've made a me-sized one quicker! (**Makes mental note to self, not to send black dk to the charity shop ever again**). I've had to buy a ball of khaki dk to make more stuff, ho-hum, September 4th is just around the corner :)

My brother had loads of Action Men in the 70's, but he never had one like this:

This must be the deluxe or limited edition, he never had a beard or blond hair. This is from a 70's Sirdar pattern book, just part of my over-sized collection of dolls patterns!

I'll leave you with a 'things kids say' moment...

I showed ds Action Mans belly & said "that's his six pack" to which he replied... "is that because that's where his sick comes from?."