I am happy with my sewing and knitting progress throughout 2023. I finished 11 knitted garments, I embroidered quite a few baptismal towels although I don't remember the exact count. Perhaps I should keep track of that. And I sewed three garments that I have kept and wear, one garment that I wore a few times and donated, and a few things I just trashed. I don't regret that. In retrospect I realize that my heart wasn't really in it at the time. Chalk failures up to learning experiences and move on.
Many of these garments were posted to the blog, but not all of them. Besides, I like having them all combined in one place.
In January I finished a wrap dress that was supposed to be finished in December. I wore it three times but never felt quite like myself in it.
I was happy with the construction of the dress, especially the way I had matched the small print at the back of the neckband, perfectly centered and then curving away symmetrically, a detail no one would ever notice but me. I was less happy with the fit in that the front bodice was slightly shorter than I was actually comfortable wearing. This had been a design decision, deciding that raising the waist was a more flattering silhouette, but in terms of comfort, we raised it too high. I had enough fabric remaining to recut the bodice, and I considering doing just that, but a wise friend reminded me that although recutting the bodice would fix the fit, it would not affect the style disconnect I felt wearing the dress. The dress was donated.
Aside from a couple of baptismal towels, there was a bit of a lull, in terms of completions, until the daily temperature blanket I had been knitting for 2023 was finally completed on March 1. I almost immediately started a baby blanket for my first great-grand-neice even though I was pretty darn close to being "blanketed out" by that point. But still, babies….
April brought more baptismal towels, and several works in progress,
Aside from the baby blanket, above, three other, fairly quick, projects were finished in May. Two were accessories. The socks were knit from yarn I received as a Christmas gift, and the brioche headband was a beginner brioche project begun at a knitting retreat.
I also finished the first of several tees or tops. This one, Anise, was knit from a cotton/rayon/silk blend yarn from Noro.
At this point I started another long project, a simple but large rectangular shawl in a lace weight silk. That was finished in early July.
Faster projects followed;
Another Noro tee was finished in August.
The tee was followed by an airy little linen cardigan in early September,
and another tee by the end of the month.
Another tee was finished in October. This yarn came from deep stash, purchased at a store that has long since closed. The colors make this suitable for wear throughout the fall, and into spring.
October saw me reentering the sewing room for more than baptismal towels (although I did make three of those in October and early November.) I finished this skirt, out of a stretch faux suede, which I have since worn several times and somehow always failed to take a picture. The pattern is by VikiSews.
And by the very end of November, I finished my last knitted object of 2023, another cotton shell/vest. This was a Rowan Pattern and I assembled it, and wore it the first time while traveling in Texas over Thanksgiving weekend. The photo above was taken on Christmas Eve.
In early December I finished a dress I had started in November, before my travels, and finished later. (Posted to the blog in December as well.). I also made a simple scarf/shawl, made from putting two pieces of chiffon together, one a peach that was somewhat too orange, and the other a pink that leaned a little to close to bubble-gum in hue. I like the combination of the two colors and together they make something wearable for me. Besides, pink and orange has always been one of my favorite color combinations.