Category: bendigo woolen mills

bendigo woolen mills

Completed – Vintage teal cardigan!

christinahopgood
I have been working on this for some time now, but I am happy to present my new teal cardigan!
(Excuse my shirt peeping out from underneath)
Pattern: Cardigan, by Patons Australia (a very old pattern from the 70s I think)
Wool: Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 5ply in “Mallard”
My Ravelry Notes Here
This pattern was given to my by my great-auntie Norma (my dad’s auntie).  I liked a few things in this little booklet but this is by far my favourite:
It was written for Patons Bluebell yarn, which is a 5-ply.  I think it’s still available, but I had some Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 5ply in my stash in a gorgeous jewel teal colour so I decided to use that!
My only modification was to omit the pointy shoulders.  They are achived by increasing on either side of the moss stitch band in the sleeve for a couple of inches, at the same time decreasing for the set-in sleeve.  So I just didn’t increase at the moss stitch band.
This cardigan is made on size 3.5mm needles in pieces.  The body is plain stocking stitch but the edges are done in a lovely moss stitch pattern.  This moss stitch band goes right up the sleeves and forms a saddle shoulder at the top.
You can see clearly here how the moss stitch goes across the shoulder, continuing down the sleeves.
Before blocking the whole thing felt a little itchy and coarse but after a good soak, it softened considerably and now feels super lightweight and comfortable.  It’s like a completely different fibre now!
I chose 6 wooden pentagon buttons – aren’t they cute!
Back – as you can see it’s not so fitted that it’s uncomfortable.
This took me quite a while to knit becaue of the relatively fine gauge and moss stitch pattern.  But now I have it I’m practically wearing it constantly!  What did I do without it?!
bendigo woolen mills, knit, wool

Completed – Marion Cardigan!

christinahopgood
I’m ripping through the knits these days you guys.

I bought this pattern a while ago, and sent it to my friend Violet for her birthday.  We both knit it at the same time and it’s amazing how different they are!  Hers is in a beautiful deep red and turned out much smaller in length AND width.  Hers is quite lovely!  I almost went and bought red yarn and made myself another!
The only modification I made to this pattern was to put in an extra buttonhole above the others (which I can’t use because the buttonband gapes), and to go down a needle size (as usual).  The cable patterns were fine once I got used to them but at first they were pretty confusing.  I’m bad at visualising what I’m doing when I’m knitting upside down (this is a top-down knit).
The wool is … very pink.  I didn’t expect it to be this pink!  It looked like a soft coral on the swatch but then turned out to be all HELLO HIGHLIGHTER PINK.  I still like it.
It came out a little longer than the original, I think because my gauge is quite loose.  I find it hard to get a gauge that matches the prescribed gauge both ways.  Although mine matches horizontally, it’s still a tiny bit longer.  I don’t mind though, as now I can wear it with pants!  I LOVE PANTS.  Although clearly not with these pants.
bendigo woolen mills, jumper

Completed – Chuck jumper!

christinahopgood
I’ve made another lovely jumper!

It took me a little while to get gauge on this top, the pattern says 5mm needles but the gauge was totally huge.  4.5 wasn’t much better, so I went with 4mm.  Two whole needle sizes down!  I was a little worried while knitting, because whenever I showed anyone they said “Oh it’s so small!”.  But it turned out perfect.
This pattern features exciting cables down the front.  I hadn’t done cables like this before but the pattern has detailed instructions.  Once I got going it was fine!
Another nice thing about this pattern, is that you only need one needle size.  The ribbing is all knit on the same size needle, and it doesn’t gape or anything.
The wool is from Bendigo Woolen Mills as usual, and I’m using the Luxury wool.  It’s barely itchy at all, which is something that usually bothers me.  My Milena was knitted with their Classic wool, which is much itchier (I’m thinking of lining the arms to help – blog post to come if I do).
The sleeve caps are shaped with short rows, which are way easier than I thought.  Gives a nice neat effect too.  I made my sleeves full length instead of 3/4 because I don’t have many 3/4 length blouses to wear with it.
So yes, very happy with this jumper.  In these photos it looks like the sides are wrinkling but I don’t think it’s a problem.  I just needed to pull it down!

Now I’m knitting a jumper for my lovely husband Charles!  It’s my first time knitting fair isle, so stay tuned for that!!
bendigo woolen mills, craft, jumper, knit, wool, yarn

Nympheas Jumper – COMPLETED!

christinahopgood
I’ve finally finished my Nympheas jumper!

Pattern: Nympheas by Susannah Hill
Started: March 5th 2013
Finished: June 13th 2013
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills “Classic” 5ply, in Seaquest
Link to my project page on Ravelry, with further notes.

 This jumper is pieced – front, back, arms, and then the neckline is picked up and knitted.  The front and back are worked exactly the same except for the neckline.  Arms are symmetrical.  It was a pretty easy pattern to follow once I worked out the lace pattern.

I made a long-sleeved version of this jumper, instead of the cap sleeves in the pattern.  To do this, I just cast on 34 stitches instead of 58, and gradually increased up my arm.  I was worried they were going to be a little long but they turned out just fine.
The little picot edgings are lovely!

 The neckline was a bit of a worry.  Because you don’t decrease, there’s a danger it can flop out.  To solve the problem (mine did flop a bit), I threaded some yarn around the edge on the inside and pulled it slightly tighter.  Now my neckline isn’t stretchy but it doesn’t flop or sag.

There’s a tiny bit of extra bulge near my underarms at the front – don’t know why, and it doesn’t really bother me.  It goes away if I pull it down a bit.

I really need to learn how to join nicely!  I did it in such a rush because I just wanted to wear it!

This jumper is so beautifully fitted!

I’ve literally been wearing this every day since I finished it about ten days ago.  I love it so much!  It goes with so many clothes in my wardrobe and I’m so proud of myself.  This jumper took a long time to make – much longer than my other cardigan – but it’s so worth it.  The wool keeps me nice and warm.  I just love this jumper!!

A nice thing happened the first day I wore this.  I went to the wool shop to get some needles for my next project, and the shop lady complimented me, asked my username on ravelry, and wanted to know the pattern to make it herself!  She like it so much, I was really thrilled 🙂 The knitting community is lovely!
My Ravelry profile
Thanks for looking!