Monthly Archives: March 2024

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another little scrappy cardigan

23/03/2024 9:07 pm \ 6 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello! I’m back wth my March knitting project; this one is of course a cardigan for my oldest grandson Arthur…

It’s the same Sirdar pattern that I used for Theo’s cardigan, one size up. You might have noticed it’s the same colour pattern too… with seven double rows of each colour offset with each other. When you start out with a plan like this, using scrap yarns, then it’s always going to be a bit of a gamble that the quantities of wool colours are going to actually be enough to see it through. Fortunately I was very lucky again that it worked out!

Arthur has quite delicate colouring compared to his cousin; blond hair and blue eyes, pale skin, so I know these lighter, clear colours would be really nice on him. I’ll come back and post a picture of him wearing it, come winter time. 🙂

In Arthur’s words “it’s beautiful, like a rainbow” sigh! Higher praise is just not possible!

Now; when I posted Theo’s cardigan, remember I promised to post pictures improving how to join the sleeves to the body to continue in one piece without stretching out the underarm bit?

btw; I know this explanation is not going to make much sense unless you’re actually knitting a thing like this, but it’s mostly to remind myself if I ever need to do this again…

So, up until this point I’ve knitted the body ie. back and two fronts, in one piece and cast off the underarm stitches. Each sleeve has been knitted flat exactly to the pattern to the underarm. Then I take a needle and knit the right front and half a sleeve, then take a (long) fresh needle and knit the other half of the sleeve, the back, and half the other sleeve, then take another fresh shorter needle and knit the other half of the sleeve and the left front. So; the three sections join up on the middle outer edge of each sleeve; and I commence knitting the cardigan from the armholes up, decreasing the raglan seams across the whole piece. The only seams needing to be stitched at the end are the underarm and sleeve seams.

Posted in: knitting \ Tagged: arthur, cardigan, hand knitting, knitting, sirdar denim cardigan

the Karijini dress

16/03/2024 7:36 pm \ 8 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello! I’m back, and with a BIG project that has been on my mind for quite some time now… a new pattern! Please welcome the newest pattern to gallop out from the Carolyn & Cassie Pattern Co stable, the Karijini dress!

This is possibly our most ambitious design to date; being a complex arrangement of diagonal and asymmetric lines, pin tucks, folds and overlays, and hemline that dips low at the back and shows off your legs at the front… We absolutely love it; its unique style, structural lines, its comfortable fit combined with a (we think) quite elegant silhouette … and we hope that you do too! It is quite an advanced sew, but one that we think is well worth the effort.

Quick description; the Karijini is a comfortable summer dress with very interesting style lines… Technical description; the Karijini is a loose-fitting sleeveless asymmetric dress; with partial overlays both front and back. Features include generous inseam side pockets and asymmetric pin tucked hemlines across front and back. Skirt hits above knee at the front and tapers off to calf length at the back The dress has no closure but is designed to be slipped on over the head.

Some more important technical info;

I know, I know; the descriptions always sound so flat, but I promise this is not a flat design at all! I first made and profiled this design this design back in 2018 and, in the process of fine-tuning the construction procedure and writing the instructions I have made many for myself and more than a few for others too! The final pattern – well, my size anyway, of course not counting the grading – is practically identical to the first iteration, because I really was completely happy with that one straight off the bat. The only changes were to improve the construction and finishing techniques a little bit.

The name? well the Karijini National Park is in upper/middle Western Australia; and has always been one of our favourite places in WA. The gorges are absolutely beautiful, with waterfalls, rocky stratifications and layers at all angles .. all of which went towards inspiring the style lines of our new design.

following photo from the website;

the Travel Guide to Karijini National Park, WA – Tourism Australia

To showcase the design on a group of different ages and sizes, we have once again roped family members into modelng for us … I’m not kidding when I say this is one of our favourite aspects of doing the patterns! For our previous pattern, the Meelup skirt, we asked our niece/cousin Tiffany to model for us, this time it was her sister Jacinta who honoured us with her modelling skills.

My lovely mother/Cassie’s grandmother; was our other model, and both our photo sessions were such fun family events!

Jacinta’s dress was made in a softly “antique-y” blue floral from Spotlight, and Mum’s was made in a dark chocolate linen/cotton from the Morrison clothing fabric sale from a few years back. I love how the structural lines of the design are showcased in the solid, dark coloured fabric; as well as how soft and pretty it appears in the floral.

Cassie also made one for herself in two contrasting fabrics; a large scale blue check and plain white cottons… doesn’t this look so cool?!

As a reminder, here are some of my previously made versions of the Karijini;

the original, ochre linen version…

this green sparkle version…

this striped version… I have received many compliments for this one over the years!

this large scale check version… I have since dyed this version dark blue, and it looks quite different! At some stage I will take a photo and upload it here to show…

To celebrate the release of our newest pattern, we are currently offering 20% off the price for one week only, until Sunday 24th March… this apples to all our patterns in our Etsy shop here. Discount applies automatically at checkout, no code is needed. We hope you enjoy the sale, and our new Karijini pattern!