Knit one...knit two...

On a previous post I said that I had a couple of projects to knit for myself. Well there were three actually. The first being a snood. I don't mean one of these modern, scarf/wrap thingamy's, I mean a real snood,the ones which were popular in the early 1980's. I made mine in dark green, to match my coat. It's very similar to this one....

..it was knitted over two evenings, very quick. it's very warm and cosy and I love it.
My next piece was a chunky jacket from this pattern....

...again, it's an old pattern, but I loved the style, and I knitted mine in a gorgeous coppery brown....

..that's it, waiting to be finished with a pressing. I used some vintage buttons from my collection. I did alter the collar, as I'm not too keen on very wide collars, so I just made it half size. It was very quick to knit as it's in a chunky yarn and an easy pattern.

My third project is this tunic....

...I began knitting this just over a week ago, just working in the evenings for a couple of hours or so. It's another easy pattern, knitted in aran weight yarn. I'm just finishing off the second sleeve. Thne all I have to do is the neckband and sew it up.....

I know that there are a lot of people who wouldn't even attempt to try to knit anything with a cable in it, but once the basics are learnt it's so easy. Okay I've been knitting since I was four, so it's easy for me to say.
I can remember back in the 1970's when aran jackets and jumpers were so fashionable ( I made so many then) I knew many people who bought all the yarn and pattern to
make themselves some aran wear, just for it to end up in a bag at the back of a cupboard somewhere, for maybe years!
My one piece of advice for anyone who wants to try making a garment with cables, is if you have your pattern and yarn, don't go straight into knitting it if you are not confident. Take some time, get a couple of balls of double knitting yarn and some size 4mm needles and practise the pattern first. You don't have to worry about tension as it's only a practise piece. Once you are confident with the pattern then go on to knitting the garment. it will be worth it in the end. It's how I learned to do it years ago. The added bonus was that I saved up all the squares of " practise" patterns and sewed them all together and made a throw for my bed and it lasted years!
I shall be working on some new designs for my knitted patisserie range once my tunic is complete. My notebook is full of ideas and little drawings. it's full of sewing projects too. So much to do......so little time!