John Watson's Cabled Sweater of Warmth

I've always loved the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes but in recent years with the explosion of Sherlock in the media I've read all the stories over again and have become in specific a huge fan of BBC's Sherlock. In particular I love Martin Freeman's Watson.

As a knitter and costumer I'm always noticing what characters are wearing and from the very first moment I loved Watson's sweater he wears in the first episode. I've also always wanted to knit a wool cabled sweater and there just happened to be a pattern on ravelry so I decided it was about time!

 The pattern is really more of a collaborative set of guidelines  at times this made it harder to sort out but it lent for a lot of room for alterations. In particular I added some shaping in the waist and bust so it didn't look like a big sack, it still isn't the most figure flattering but I find it's very hard to do that with cables, at least for those of us with a bit of curves.

 I'd call this finished sweater a total success! I wore is to the friday of Chicago TARDIS and even got recognized a few times!

Till next time,
TheFreckled Crafter

Project Rewind: Leaflette Shawlette

Previously on this blog I did a series of posts called "project rewind" in which I blogged about finished projects of the past. I thought it perfect I get started right away and shoot for a weekly post on the blog about a project I did whilst away, because there's many!

The Leaflette Shawlette appeared to be the perfect project for this Shady Haven's alpaca I'd picked up some months back at a fiber showcase with some friends. The lovely alpaca was so soft and had such great colors (and price) that I bought three skeins. One of this variegated and two in a black/grey, which I'm now knitting the Dahlila Cardigan with. It's lovely yarn, so soft, it's a total joy to knit with.

I absolutely LOVE these colors but there's one downside: the pattern is fairly hidden in the variegation. BUT after blocking it I decided I didn't care, it was too soft and lovely and the colors were so pretty. I was lucky enough to get a chance to wear it almost immediately to a wedding. As luck would have it I had the perfect purple dress to compliment it!

Love,
Freckled Crafter

   

In my purse

I thought I'd try something new and show off my latest purse I made in the process. Some people get really into these and if you do a google search you'll find tons of 'in my purse' type groups and sites. I'm not one to label everything and show you all the content of every pocket but here's what it looked like when I dumped it all out, no wonder my shoulder hurts sometimes!



I'm trying out a new editor for pictures and it's been a lot of fun, especially for things like this. The outer fabric I'd chosen a while back and was waiting for this project. I had it all set up in my mind and finally got a chance to make it a few weeks ago. I quilted the outer fabric with a layer of fleece and in the handles added extra support of canvas. The interior is a sushi pattern I've had for years, the bag kind of reminds me of my art history class last semester on women in Japan, I think that's where I got the inspiration. It's really comfy to wear and fits an amazing amount of stuff!
Of course I had to make a matching wallet, for this I tried out my embroidery skills which aren't perfect by any means but it was a lot of fun. The hardest part was figuring exactly how to sew all the inside pieces together so no raw edges would show. I'm pretty proud of it despite the millions of mistakes.



I look at it as a learning process, as I do for everything else I make. It may not be perfect but I've learned something that I can apply next time to make it better. I'm anything but a perfectionist!

More stuff I tote around daily later,
♥ Freckled Crafter

Winston Churchill the Dalek

Sorry all for the impromptu hiatus. I was so sick of the computer after finals that I took almost a week off of using it at all. Luckily my disdain for it has worn off and I'm ready to start posting what I've been up to these past two weeks! Cause I've been doing ALOT of crafting and I've got tons to show.

No better time to start than now, right?

Pattern: EXTERMIKNIT! by Peniwiper
Yarn: Vanna's Choice and Lionbrand Cotton from ze stash (triple stranded)
Needles: size 9s

Whovian craftters probably already know the pattern, it's kinda legendary. For those who don't know Daleks are the forever enemy of the Doctor. This is actually my second Dalek and it was my post semester project, started it on saturday after Matt's graduation on our way back home for the weekend. He's alot larger than my first dalek, Tegan and also alot heavier. I learned alot from making Tegan a year ago and put it to good work this time around, tons of mods!


As you can see he's quite large, also REALLY heavy, great for cuddling! As you can see he still needs something to stiffen his plunger arm, hopefully a zip tie will do the trick. While I was still working on the bobbles (OMG so many bobbles!) I had a thought that he'd make a great ironside from the current season episode Victory of the Daleks. Thus my next sewing project is a cargo belt pocket that will button on.


Mods:

• purl one stitch between bobble panels instead of two. I saw this mod on ravelry and it prevents the tiny head they get sometime
  
• knit two, purl two at the 'shoulders'
  
• duplicate stitches on the 'neck' so it looks more like grates
  
• eliminate three stockinette rounds on the bottom between the decrease rounds (this creates a flatter bottom so it doesn't sit funky)

As much as I love them you can see the Doctor feels a little differently :/


And of course the scene which made all the fangirls squee:

"Would you care for some TEEEAAAA?!"

♥ Freckled Crafter