Sewing More Sweaters

I finished sorting paperwork yesterday morning and rewarded myself by playing around with an idea. Whitney, at TomKat Stitchery, mentioned in a recent video that she had sewn up a lightweight sweater knit using a favorite T-shirt pattern. I have quite a few sweater knits in the stash that I’d like to sew into something other than cardigans. I pulled out one of the Walmart mystery remnants from my travels at Thanksgiving and the Lark Tee pattern and got to work. Two hours later, I had this:

The yarn is navy blue with multi-colored flecks. The fiber content is a mystery, although I am pretty sure it has some rayon in it. The gauge is loose, making the top somewhat translucent. I did not think the loose gauge would play well with the coverstitch machine, so instead of hemming the cuffs and bottom, I self-banded them. I cut the sleeves a few inches longer, folded them up to make three layers, then serged around them. Voila!—instant cuffs. (That’s a technique I’ve used on the bottom of baby leggings, too.) The top stretched a bit and was longer than it would have been in a stable jersey, so I did the same thing at the bottom. The shoulders are stabilized with 1/4” organza ribbon.

I also used the purl side of the fabric as the public side.

The stockinette side had more of a matte finish and I didn’t like it as much.

I think this will pair nicely with my Liz Claiborne wide leg jeans. I have a few more lightweight sweater knits in the stash that may end up the same way.

I have started a list of classes I’d like to teach later in the year. I think a class on sewing sweater knits would be fun to do, maybe in August or September. Bernina is also coming out with several new presser feet for their line of sergers. I’ll see how tonight’s class goes and if there is interest in learning about the other presser feet.

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Having two days at home to work with no interruptions (and functioning internet) has been wonderful. I know I get twitchy when the schedule gets fractured into a thousand pieces. I’ve made significant headway on several large projects, too, and that feels good.

I’m going to have to order seeds soon, although gardening season is several months away yet. We have a planning meeting at the end of the month for the plant sale. We’d like to be more deliberate about how many and what kinds of plants we want to offer. Last year, we ran out of cucumbers and zucchini starts. We also had about a thousand tomato plants. (Not really, but close.) Some of what we sell depends on what those of us who grow extra plants for the sale are putting in our own gardens.

The lettuce is doing well in the indoor system in the basement. It doesn’t provide everything we need—the husband would have salad every night if he could—but every little bit helps.

I had the husband look and see what mounting hardware we’re going to need for the Starlink equipment so I could order it. We talked to some neighbors at our fire department dinner last week who have Starlink now and love it. Starlink hasn’t given us a shipping date yet, but the husband won’t be able to install the equipment until the snow melts anyway. The receiver is going to go up on the top of the house. We’ll need the forklift to get it there.