Second Stab Shale Blazer

Some time last year I made a knitted jacket called ‘Shale’ from Kim Hargreaves’ Storm collection.  I wasn’t 100% happy with how it turned out, mainly because I had substituted the wool and it came out too big for me but also because I wasn’t keen on some of the features such as the back vent, buttoned cuffs and one too few buttons (to my mind anyway) on the front.  I blogged about it here

 

 Despite those things, I really liked the texture the stitch created and the style of the jacket so, nothing daunted, I bought more yarn and made it in the XS size, omitting the fancy details and adding a button a little higher up.

I’ve used these vintage buttons for now because it’s hard deciding what to use but, if I see something I like better, I’ll change them.

I really like the texture and it does actually feel like a jacket rather than a cardigan.

The mannequin is sporting the buttoned up version because I’m such a lazy baggage I couldn’t be bothered to change so I pulled some jeans on under my dress and then just folded the hem of the dress up a few times to make it look like a top with the result that it made me look hippy when I buttoned the jacket up.  So I’ve just used the photo of me demonstrating the open version.

This is the next thing I’m doing from the same pattern book and this really is supposed to be a ‘boyfriend’ cardigan.

I promise I won’t accessorize it like this. ( If only I could get away with such things any more).

I decided to knit this using the Rowan wools recommended but as you use one strand of Kidsilk Haze and one strand of Kid Classic throughout it worked out rather expensive.  I scoured Ebay until I came up with somebody who, miraculously, had the 11 balls of  Kid Classic I needed in a soft grey colour so I bid quite high as I was determined to get it and it still worked out a lot cheaper than any of the other sellers.  I found somebody selling the Kidsilk Haze to go with it at £4 a ball – which is about half the price of everywhere else – bought and paid for it and then they told me they were waiting for stock.  The next day they refunded my money.  I threw a bit of a hissy fit as I probably wouldn’t have embarked upon this project if I’d had to pay full price – or I’d have found substitutes – now they’re saying it is still in the system and, when it comes in, they’ll send it to me anyway without charging me again.  If that happens it’s a good result for me but, if it doesn’t, I’ll be naming and shaming them as I don’t like the practice, becoming more and more common, where sellers take your money for something they need to order from another supplier without always knowing they’ll be able to get hold of it.  Rant over (for now).

Do you think I’m compensating for not being able to add to my fabric stash because of my fabric fast by knitting like a woman possessed?  I must confess that I nearly fell off the wagon on Thursday.  I went to Ikea in Toulouse with a friend and, as we were walking round, I spotted the curtains and blinds section and noted again the fact that their fabric selection is diminishing.  My friend realised she needed the loo which we had just gone past so she backtracked, leaving me alone and unsupervised.  I vaguely wandered over to the fabrics and wasn’t interested in any of the home furnishing weight stuff but noted the plain cottons they have for 3.99 euros a metre and, as my stash is sadly lacking in ‘plains’, I thought I’d buy a metre of the black cotton.  If you have ever bought fabric in Ikea you will know that you cut your own and then weigh it and stick the resulting ticket on it.

This is how far I got – literally –  the scissors were open and the fabric was between the blades – before I remembered that I have 11 months to go until I can do such a thing again.

 

Still, I’ve cast on for another one of my huge blankets.  The weather has an autumnal feel in the mornings and evenings now and I think I can bear to be covered in wool from time to time and this will be for my Mum’s Christmas present.  It’s a funny colour – lilac mist I think – it’s beige with a lilac fleck in it but, to be honest, it’s mostly beige unless you look very carefully in good daylight.

Do you do ‘research’ when you’re making something?  By which I mean trying to find the materials at the best possible price.  It does take up a lot of time and sometimes I think I’d rather just pay the top end price and be done with it but, to be honest, I secretly enjoy it.