Hoards

The Chinese Knitting Machines

3 Comments

This morning I saw a lady knitting on the Tube (London subway). It’s quite rare to find people knitting in public here in London. I was doing it myself just this past year when I tried to learn how to knit.

It’s rather a useful skill to have as you generally can’t sew on the go, but knitting is much more portable. The only problem is, if I find home sewing pattern frequently rather dowdy, home knitting seem much worse. I like knit clothing that you’d buy in stores, so it’s not like I don’t like knits. But my own knitting projects so far have turned out 2 Oops (sweaters / jumpers) and 1 oops-but-still-good-enough (boyfriend scarf). And ones knitted presumably by experts and featured in knitting pattern books don’t seem much better style-wise.

Oops # 1: big chunky short sleeve sweater

Plan A – Fail! Tender from Winter Drift by Rowan
Looks good but impractical
Plan B: Comfort from Winter Drift by Rowan

My second knitting project, this one is destined for the Frogging Pile despite looking OKish in the end. I had already frogged it once, the original pattern being one size smaller yet still too big. Thankfully the Rowan Drift yarn was very fast to knit – I almost finished half of it on one 6 hour flights to the States – and easy to frog.

But call me frigid if you will, if I go chunky I need everything covered. Chunky + short-sleeve is knitting oxymoron. Chunky is actually also rather uncomfy under the arm. Maybe I’m just a princess with her pea. Anyway, Plan B is a puncho. I’m waiting to see if the August Burda have any skinny retro pants or skirt to go with it. Not the Poodle Pants that Channel No. 6 had already poo-poo’ed though!

Oops # 2: bat wing sweater

Kim H
Michelin Man
Michelin Man

Project # 3 turned out more Michelin Man than chic. I’m terribly disappointed. Again I had already went one size too small and further. But it’s still a balloon. (Is it that I’m just too short for all these Western patterns, sewing and knitting?)

Style it right and captured from the right angle I might just be able to get away with it in photos. But in full motion life it’s going to the Stay At Home Pile – the Rowan Kidsilk Aura being too hairy to frog…Unless I can somehow alter it by sewing, basically treating it as a knit fabric. A real shame anyway, as I managed to knit it in the round so there’s practically no bulky seams at all.

oops-BSGE: boyfriend scarf

k-boyfriend-scarfGlenn’s Scarf by Katherine BuckspanGlenn's Scarf from Ravelry by Katherine Buckspan This was the beginning. And probably most successful despite minor oops. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with a scarf can you?

The oops is in the pattern. I read the instruction wrong, so the first 3 rows of repeats are not reversible. No biggy though, I just turn the last 3 rows into the same and make it look intentional.

But the whole point of this post is to…

…Point out how fast the Chinese knit. The lady on the Tube presumably is knitting the English way. Many different finger movements were involved which seems to slow things down. I tried to learn from an UK book, but my Mom then showed me the way she learnt, which supposedly is the Japanese way. It’s a bit more efficient, but still nothing compared with the way a Chinese lady showed me when  I was knitting while waiting in a shop. Her fingers were like a knitting machine. Up down up down, the loops spilling out in no time at all. What took me weeks to knit she claimed would have been done in one day in China.

chinese knitting video (see 4:55)

chinese knitting video (see 17:58)

Those Chinese, tough & capable as … I’ll leave you with this inspiring image then.

Let’s hope prosperity won’t turn them soft! 😉

Oh the foolishness of youth!

4 Comments

It’s youth’s perogative to be over-optimistic and foolhardy. So there goes 20 – 30 or so Vogue patterns, several expensive designer ones amongst them. All cut out to a youthful size 8. Now at least two sizes too small – and counting! Many weren’t even ever made. Sigh.

Let that be a lesson to any beginners – always, always, I repeat – ALWAYS- make and work on a copy. Keep the original. Maybe one day they’d be vintage and you can flog on eBay for a princely sum!

So, amongst the carnage were these gems:

Vogue Pattern 1479 Bellville Sassoon dress

Never made. Looks so pretty & feminine. But maybe a tad too much with the lace – almost bedroom naughty! If I can salvage the pattern I might make it with lined chiffon for the main part & unlined chiffon border instead of the lace.

Vogue Pattern 1390 Genny wrap top & skirt

Adapted the top to copy a Romeo Gigli wrap top. But the fabric color doesn’t really suit my skin tone. So now in the TBA pile. Shame. I might attempt again with a more flattering color, though I better check it’d fit still.

Vogue Pattern 1891 Oscar de la Renta evening dress

Never made. No occasion. But a girl can still fantasize! Maybe it can be shortened, made with menswear fabric minus the bows for a more wearable version?

Vogue Pattern 1793 Marc Jacob dresses

Made the one on the left. Again fabric color wasn’t the best. (I seem to have a whole pile of them – so lovely by themselves, not so lovely next to my skin }:-) Had to give it away to charity shop when I grew sideways and could no longer breathe in it 🙁

Vogue Pattern 1639 Badgley Mischka dress & jacket

Vogue Pattern 1633 Karl Lagerfeld jacket & pants

Never made. interesting details, but not really sure about the overall silhouette.

Vogue Pattern 1638 Oscar de la Renta jacket & skirt

Vogue Pattern 1224 Karl Lagerfeld jacket & skirt

Made the skirt on the left, and the jacket on the left.

1638 looked like a clipping I liked which I still have somewhere. The skirt was a dark brown boucle and got lots of wear. So much so that it got a bit thread-bare in places and had to be chucked.

1224 jacket was my first tailoring attempt. It turned out well…except the silhouette didn’t really suit me: Too wide at the shoulder, too short in the bodice, big lapel that make my upper body look rather stumpy.

Vogue Pattern 1918 Michael Kors jacket, top, & pants

Never made. Am still thinking of making the jacket. Normally they’re quite spacious aren’t they. So hopefully I can just make the cut out size 8 and it’d still fit right?



Vogue Pattern 1608 Isabel Toledo top, shirt, skirt, & pants

Made the sleeveless top in some leftover baby blue satin. Another one that turned out well, but had to be given away because I got fatter. Bummer.

The shirt and skirt I’m not so sure about. The detailing’s interesting, but it look like a potential figure puffer. Leave it for the tall girls I think.

Vogue Pattern 1415 DKNY jacket, dress, & shorts
+ unkown DKYN shirt pattern

Never made. Sorry, I lied. I kind of adapted the dress for a satin skirt, which didn’t work out so well until I chopped the length. It’s kind of a cute silhouette – the jacket & short combo.

The shirt I never got, and can’t figure out the pattern number anymore. Shame as I kind of like it now.

Vogue Pattern 9015 jacket, skirt, & pants

Made the jacket in a stiff ribbed silk blend. Got a few wears out of it, so not so bad. But the one in the picture looks much nicer. Love the rich red, softer fabric. Mine didn’t drape so well when worn open.

Vogue Pattern 9000 dress

Made and failed. Love the pictures, but mine didn’t come out right. It was tugging at the wrong places and just looked dowdy. I might have thrown the pattern out after that – I can’t find the pattern in my stash anymore.

So there you go, live and learn. Maybe once I’m back in full swing I can pick up some grading skills and salvage these.

In the meanwhile, they’ll be safely locked away in the PSV (Pattern Stash Vault).

Blast from the past: back-burner CdG top

Leave a comment

Hurrah! La Chemise is done!

And for once I’m quite pleased with the result. There were hiccups for sure. But not bad enough to make me want to feed to the TBA pile. More about La Chemise soon. London weather has turned all Spring-y and changeable. So it’s too dark to take pictures. And a blog post is no fun without the pictures.

In the meanwhile here’s a blast from the past. Another back burner project. Another attempt to raise the glorious dead! 🙂

The sketch is from a long time ago, in a notebook I hardly use anymore.

Like most of my attempts back then, it was an attempt to copy designer clothing I couldn’t afford as a student – I was much more fearless back then. The inspiration for this one was…as the sketch indicates…Comme des Garcons’ Spring / Summer 1987 collection. I adored CdG at the time. It was my first designer love. This collection was quite feminine – a bit unusual for the avant-garde brand better known for weird baggy stuff. Actually there were a few seasons back then that were quite feminine / wearable.

My copies were mostly guesswork. Occasionally I got to examine the real deal in store and make a few sneaky notes. Sometimes the guesswork paid off. But mostly there were no cigars – like my various attempts to recreate Romeo Gigli Autumn / Winter 1989-90 coats…more about that epic attempt another time!

I made this top once back in the days and it was relatively successful. Unfortunately I don’t have pictures of the result from that incarnation.

I’m now hoping to create it again. This time with a thinner, flimsier jersey. I’m hoping for a slightly more fluid, drapy  effect, like the variation in the collection that was the same sort of bias-tape-lace effect, but on what looks like chiffon or voile.

I’m a bit worried that this fabric is going to stretch out of shape while I sew the bias tape on. Hence the procrastination. Maybe a bit of dissolvable stabilizer like those used for machine embroidery?

In the meanwhile, here are some more luscious CdG SS 87 clippings for you to oggle!

Comme des Garcons Spring / Summer 1987


A risqué 122 & her french pretender twin 112

Leave a comment

Burda Style Feb 2010 issue’s patterns 122 and 112 that is…

Burda Style 2010-02 Style 122

Burda Style 2010-02-122

Burda Style 2010-02 Style 112

Burda Style 2010-02-112

These I’m quite proud of even though the fit left something to be desired. For once I used up a piece of fabric within 3 months of purchase. That’s unheard of! Usually it’s years, if not decades. Or ever.

It’s cotton jersey, probably not of the best quality as 112 has started pilling a bit. But I managed to get 2 tops and a convertible headband out of 1.75 yards x 60″ wide. The hand is quite pleasant to work with. Matching stretchy stripes not so much.

And like almost everyone else who’ve attempted 122, mine refuse to stay on my shoulders. Granted I didn’t help things by lowering the back neckline. I also made the booboo of not altering the pattern for my “mature” boobs. I went for the skinniest size – dowdy-phobia again – but forgot to lower the underbust seam. It’s not end of the world though it does look like I borrowed some teenager’s top. The off-shoulder number I do need to fix though. I’m just not sure how yet. So another one for the TBA pile.

112 came out better. Hence the pilling from wearing it once too often. I lowered the neckline and shorten to 3/4 sleeves. And went for the skinniest size again of course.

So here is me striking a pose in it with a jersey tube skirt and a cashmere beret I made earlier. No, I wouldn’t go out in the full regalia. Or maybe I would! :0) You can get away with a lot more crazy dressing in a big cosmopolitan city.

And the headband is typically me – commitment-phobe. At least when it comes to sewing.

Without Bow
With Bow


How it works

The loop covering the joint is closed by hooks. There are two sets of loops for the hooks to latch on to, one set of which are thread bars. This is to accommodate the bow: with bow the loop needs to be looser, without it needs to be tighter.

Now if only my head isn’t so flat so the headband would stay put instead of slipping off the back of my head…

And as if that wasn’t enough, the tiny scrap leftover is going to MBP. That’s “My Blythe Pile”…

Lucky Girl

I must have been Scottish in my past life. Or blighted by rationing. The MBP is overflowing as well.

Hmm…yet another no-breathing skirt

Leave a comment

I’m very good at these: No breathing clothes.

Normally it’s a case of not knowing where to add the absolutely bare minimum of ease so that it doesn’t come out dowdy. But this time I was simply in denial. I absolutely refused to believe I’d go beyond 27″. I mean, even 27″ seems like a lot. Middle age spread? No way! Not yet!

Actually, the mistake is probably in going with a thick waistband. At my waist I may be less than 27, but go a bit further up and all bets are off. The rib cage refuse to be reined in. (Though all those recent treats for extra hours at work probably didn’t help.)

And the boobs are definitely heading south. So unless it’s empire waist, the top of the waistband should never venture too close to my underbust. Now I know.

So style it all I can, this one I just don’t love. Even though the color combination I do like.

Will have to sleep on it. Maybe add it to the TBA (To Be Altered) pile (AGAIN! See previous post) so that I can at least breath in it.

Failing that a bit of nip tuck to shave off a few inches of flesh maybe? 🙂