Sorry for the radio silence, but I’ve been suffering with an awful ear infection on top of my usual Long Covid for the past two months(!!), despite three trips to hospital and four prescriptions that did absolutely nothing… I’m finally starting to feel like my ear infection is dissipating, putting me back at my standard, awful Long Covid baseline fatigue again (so, err, please don’t offer congratulations, okay?).
So I’ve got a few makes to show you before the end of the year…
Green lingerie set
I’ve truly lost count of the number of times I’ve made the Sophie Hines Axis Tank pattern but here you can see the view with the style lines again! Plus an extra seam in the Centre Front since I didn’t have enough mesh to cut it on the fold… I’ve paired it again with my old favourite FehrTrade Runderwear Thong from our Threshold Shorts pattern, this time in Size XL.
I used a mix of sage green lingerie mesh (leftover from my Wren bra kit), lingerie jersey, and matching FOE, all from New Craft House.
I actually cut this set out way back in early September, before I even started on the Wolfkiller Cloak, but I didn’t start sewing it until after that was done, by which point I got midway through then got really sick. So it sat for ages in my sewing room, looking forlorn and only needing a few seams…
The colours actually match better in real life than in these photos. But I’m sad to report that the tank is too tight to be comfortable, despite other pre-Covid ones sewn in the same size still being comfortable. So it mmust be that the mesh doesn’t have enough stretch, even in the cross-wise direction. Boo. So that goes to the back of the drawer along with the other bras that are too tight to wear right now.
But at least the thong fits, and is comfortable! (I know the elastic looks wavy here, but that’s because I learned that this FOE has less stretch than the jersey, and if I put tension on it to make it not wavy, then it’s too tight on the body. So I’m valuing wearing comfort over photogeniality here…)
Escher Bats socks
While I couldn’t sew, I did a lot of loom knitting instead, since I could do that lying down with my head propped up…
These are another pair of socks using the KB Sock Loom (fine gauge) set at 52 pegs, and using the “Escher Bats” colourwork pattern from the Alter-Knit Stitch Dictionary book.
I still had some Mothy & the Squid merino sock yarn in “Ruby” & “Midnight Black” leftover from my blood drip socks earlier in the year so it was a no brainer to just use that! I love the gentle variegation in the red, and both are just so soft to knit and wear.
I wasn’t quite sure about the colourwork though after the first sock, as I felt the red bats disappeared a bit. But I carried on with the second, hoping they’d look better after blocking and thankfully I was right!
Vampire Lestat bobble hat
Once I cast off the socks, I immediately pulled out my KB “Adjustable Multi-Knit Loom” to make myself a Vampire Lestat hat using the same colourwork pattern as my recent socks.
I used Bessie May chunky yarn in “Blueberry” and “Nero” (100% merino), using the full two 50g balls of the purple and a portion of the black ball.
I really must remember next time I make a hat to use a wide gauge loom when working with chunky wools because this was NOT a fun knit. The yarn thickness make it a tight struggle with every single stitch, and I had to do each as a “proper knit stitch” instead of the way quicker “flat stitch”, and my fingers would hurt after a few rows.
Also, I haven’t knitted any hats in about 5-6 years and the ones I’d made before are all too long. So despite looking up my notes and seeing how many rows those are, it seems I miscalculated and overcompensated, because this hat is a bit too short for my big ol’ head!
At this point I’d rather have poured salt in my eyes than threaded all 80 very tight loops back onto the loom though, so I’m just going to try and stretch it lengthwise a bit (and no, before you offer, I don’t have any balloons or sports balls, and my mannequin head is way smaller than mine!).
But the bobble (pompom) makes it all better, right??
Hope you all have a great holiday break and keep an eye out for my annual Year in Review post on New Year’s Day!