Thursday, 25 February 2016

Dusting off the cobwebs with a whole new outfit

Hello! Is anyone still out there? It's been a while! To make up for that, today I have both a cardigan and a dress to show you. Let's get on with it, shall we?


First up, the cardigan! I used a James C Brett pattern (JB108), which was an impulse purchase with a Deramores order at some point last year. It was one of those occasions where I had almost enough in my basket to qualify for free postage, and buying an extra pattern and getting free postage seemed like the only sensible thing to do. I really like the deep V neck and relatively short length - perfect for wearing with dresses.


The cardigan is all stocking stitch (with rib at the cuffs/waist/neckline) so was a nice mindless knitting project. I worked on it quite a lot when I was staying with my family over Christmas/New Year and it was the perfect thing to keep my hands busy without me needing to concentrate too much so I could still be sociable.

The yarn I used is West Yorkshire Spinners Aire Valley DK in purple and, as it says on the website, it definitely is excellent value and to me seems to be really great quality for the price. It was good to work with and, having now worn the cardigan a few times, I'm happy to report that it's wooly enough to keep me warm without being all scratchy.


I didn't make any changes to the pattern, but I did knit a size smaller than recommended. I'm glad that I did - it's still got a bit of positive ease which I think is probably needed with this style or the neckline might stretch out a bit too much, but if I'd knit the recommended size it would have probably been too baggy.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I'd definitely consider knitting the same pattern again in a different colour at some point.


Now on to the dress! I realised after I'd taken these photos that I'd forgotten to take any of the dress on its own, so I'm afraid we'll just have to appreciate what we can see under the cardi. It's another Emery dress to add to my growing collection, so it's not exactly revolutionary, but I love it all the same. After all, you can't beat a favourite pattern combined with a pretty print!

It's possibly hard to see, but the fabric is a dark purple covered in hundreds of tiny lighter purple and white starts (bought on ebay), and happily the lighter purple stars are a perfect match for my cardigan. Hurrah!


I think that's about all I have to say about these two. Both nice simple projects, and both already in regular wardrobe circulation. It's nice to dust the cobwebs off my blog with two successful creations. I've got a couple of other projects finished and waiting to be photographed, so hopefully it won't be so long before I'm back here again. See you soon!

10 comments:

  1. Two great makes, I really love that cardi. The neckline is really flattering on you, it's a great colour too. Beautiful dress too.

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    1. Thank you Louise! I'm really happy with the cardi, and we all know I love an Emery dress!

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  2. I love your cardigan, goes so well with the emery dress.

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    1. Thank you! I'm really pleased with how they look together!

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  4. Another lovely dress. That cardi is great. Really useful. Purple is one of my favourite colours and it really suits you K xXx

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    1. Thank you! My wardrobe usually has a tendency towards blue, but I love a bit of purple to brighten things up!

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  5. Great cardy, love the colour, perfect match for the fabric for that emery - all my favourite colours ;o)

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    1. Thank you! I was so pleased when I realised how well the yarn and fabric went together!

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  6. All hail the Emery! I love how well you've picked a purple to match the print in your dress. They look lovely together. I'm making a matching cardigan/dress combo at the moment too :)

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