The April meeting was in two parts, the club AGM was held at the start of the meeting and that was followed by April Hardman who talked about some of the garments she had made over the past twelve months.
April had brought along a range of lovely garments for both adults and children plus some hats and scarves. Most of the items were her own designs and the work was, as we expect from April, of a very high standard indeed. She showed us some lovely dresses for a small girl, a very pretty pram blanket, various adult sized cardigans and tops as well as a throw and some scarves and hats made on the garter carriage.
Below are April’s own notes on her work and photos of many of the items:
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Dresses
- Yarn:
- 2 dresses in 4 ply acrylic, which washes well if hung up and doesn’t need ironing and is suitable for children. The multi coloured one was a vintage Denys Brunton yarn.
- Stitch Detail
- 3 x 3 cable with a stitch out of work either side to accentuate the cable, make a cable every 6 rows. There are cables centre front and back and on the sleeves.
- Garment Design
- Inspired by a dress in Mon Tricot, it has garter stitch at the lower edge, wrist and neckline, the first 3 were knitted on the garter carriage but the 4th was hand knitted because there were decreasing in the row. The frill at the bottom was knitted with extra cables and was 24 rows.
Red top
- Yarn:
- Black Grigna, unbulked acrylic with a small slub. The red multi yarn is a 76% wool and 25% polyamide. It came in 100g balls, approximately 4ply, and this top size 14 took approx 250g.
Both yarns were very easy to knit and were problem free. After pining out the pieces they were steamed. The edgings were knitted in the black yarn. - Stitch Detail:
- Slip stitch, there is a pattern/punchcard in the 950 instruction book.
- Garment Design:
- By Elaine Cater. I read her instructions and she indicated that a a colour changer would make the knitting much easier. I made a cut and sew neckline but the edging would not cover the raw edge, so I enclosed this with a 9 row turned hem. I used a charter to knit this design
Scarves
- Yarn:
- They were all knitted in pure wool, to be hand washed.
- Stitch Detail:
- 2 x 2 rib, alternated to make a checkerboard pattern.
- Scarf Design:
- Knitted on a garter carriage
Sofa Throw
- Yarn:
- 100% Shetland wool, washes well at cool temperatures
- Stitch Detail:
- The bands were dog-tooth check knitted on a garter carriage. The Fairisle pattern was from Iris Bishop’s Celtic Designs.
- Throw Design:
- There are two panels knitted on the main bed over 160 stitch, 700 rows each panel. Started and finished with a 2 x 1 FNR, half pitch which laid flat.
Two pink hats
- Yarn:
- 100% wool
- Stitch Detail:
- 2 x 2 rib alternated, knitted on a garter carriage.
- Hat design:
- They were both made up of four panels which were stitched together with the seams on the outside. One was knitted of straight panels and was shaped by pulling the excess on the crowns to the outside to make a feature. The second was knitted straight up to the crown and this was shaped. There is a crochet flower as an embellishment.
Fairisle Pram Blanket
- Yarn:
- Yeoman’s 4ply Panama. Washes and wears very well and does not need ironing.
- Stitch Detail:
- Fairsle, 2-colour knit, using feminine symbols for a baby girl.
- Blanket Design:
- The exterior was knitted in two panels with a turned hem to start and finish that has a picot edge. The inside is nylon wadding and the wadding is held in place by fine ribbons which are threaded through and tied in a bow.
