I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace a couple of weeks ago and got completely bowled over by all the huge knitting needles for sale.
So I bought a pair (60cm long / 8cm circumference) and lots of beautiful teal coloured roving and yarn. It is so much fun to play with but I thought Annie was taking the extreme element a bit far when she donned her new bike helmet for a stint on the pins!
1. They're challenging but not so tricky that you can't listen to the radio/music or watch tv at the same time.
2. They only use a small amount of yarn so you can use something more expensive/luxurious that you might not be able to stretch to for a whole jumper.
3.The yarns available are so beautiful and surprising. It's exciting to break open a new sock yarn and see what happens next!
4. They're small enough to be portable, perfect for waiting/car knitting.
5. As you knit in the round you can put them down if you're disturbed or needed at any point.
6. They don't take very long, I can finish a pair before my fickle head has been turned by a new project.
7. There's no sewing up of seams when they're finished and you're itching to put them on.
8. They're warm and cosy and so much more comfortable knowing you made them yourself.
9. You have your own unique pair of socks, made to fit your feet in your choice of pattern and colour.
10. Hand-knit socks are cooler than normal socks. full stop.
(I hope this answers your question Mr Cooper!)
Do you remember when I was planning my wedding outfit and I wanted a teal coloured wrap dress and some fifties style shoes?
I didn't tell you at the time (I was too crazy with wedding fever!), but I had that dress made for me by a local dressmaker and it was a total disaster! When I tried it on it literally fell off before I could count to ten. It wasn't the kind of head-turning look I envisioned in my perfect wedding dreams!
This was a fairly expensive disaster, the fabric had cost about £35- which isn't much for a wedding dress but it sure is a lot to throw away. So I got the ill-fated dress out yesterday and tried to make it into something wearable.
I really wish I'd taken a before photograph because you wouldn't have believed it. I had to take it in by four inches, yes, four! And add a piece around the neckline to keep it from slipping off my shoulders. I made a tie belt from the same fabric, took the sleeves in and up and added a little extra gathering at the side. Now it fits beautifully!
There are a few reasons why my dressmaker got it so wrong, but I think it mostly came down to the fact that she hadn't made for someone with a large chest before. She made the dress according to my bust measurement which meant she made something like a size 24/26 whereas I'm a 16/18, so the whole thing hung off me like a whacking great tent. I've since learned on the wonderful world wide web that when you're making clothes for busty gals you need to make the pattern according to your other measurements (ie waist and hips) and then increase the bust. You can read all about it here (it's a very good article). It seems very intimidating to me though. And kind of puts me off making dresses or tops from patterns.
Anyway, at least I've been able to salvage something from the wreckage.
And if you come across any stylish dressmaking patterns out there specifically for well-endowed ladies, I'd love to hear about them!
Seven years ago I went to a workshop led by Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably (I was a bit miffed by the latter's presence as I was harbouring a 15 year-long crush on Mr F and I suspected they might be a couple. I didn't want Mably's assistance, in my mind he was a pale imitation of the real thing- I only had eyes for Kaffe!).
Anyway... the top's been pieced, assembled and ready to quilt for all that time: I've moved house twice since and it's just sat on my shelf or in the loft patiently waiting for me to spare a few hours to complete it. It was seeing fellow bloggers' first quilts on Josie's blog (as part of her quilt month) that finally gave me the impetus I needed to pick it up again and finish. And it was a much quicker, far less painful undertaking than I'd imagined.
I briefly considered using it as the ideal project to learn how to free-motion quilt with but then I thought once the novelty's worn off it'll probably go back in the cupboard for another 7 years, until I get the itch again! So I just did what I know best and quilted in the ditch. It only took about 4 hours to quilt and edge.
Although there are a lot of things I would change about this piece if I were to make it now (it's too small for our bed for a start!), I can't begin to describe the overwhelming sense of satisfaction I've gained from completing it.
So here's my top tip for the week: Pull out that unfinished project you've been putting off for however long and get it done- it'll be worth it, I promise!
And thank you Josie for the inspiration!
Did you know that September is quilt month over at Josie's blog? To get involved just make a quilt related post this month, let Josie know and she'll add you to the quilt month blog roll. If you're at all interested in quilting pop over: it's a good place to be!
Bearing this in mind, I thought now would be a good opportunity to post about the quilt I've started working on. Remember when I went to the Festival of Quilts and said I'd spent waaay too much money and would show the haul at a later date? Well here it is:
Lots of lovely Japanese cottons, mostly from Roberta De Marchi's stall with a few blue silks and shot cottons.
While I was there I also took a 60 minute class learning how to make a folded log cabin block. I would share the block I made here but the fabrics we were given to use were b****y awful! I learned the technique though and adapted the scale when I got home.
I use Vilene Quickscreen as a base, which is basically interfacing printed with a geometric grid of squares measuring 1cm. I'm still really excited about the technique and the results I'm getting but I do wonder whether I can sustain the interest for the amount of squares I need to make to complete the quilt.
Here's four of the blocks I've made so far, they measure about 15cm each. I thought I'd play with the scale of the blocks, to keep my mind engaged. I have in mind something like the wonderful Babette crocheted blanket on the Purl Bee.
In the meantime maybe you could help me along with the progress of this quilt- if you could just poke me with a metaphorical stick every now and then just to keep me going, I'd be very grateful! I'm hoping to get it done in time to enter it for the Festival of Quilts next year... although I have to admit finishing at all is a pretty ambitious goal!
I took this photo of my beautiful friend Esther wearing this hat a couple of weeks ago but kept forgetting to post about it. And now she suspects her modeling wasn't up to scratch, so without further ado, here it is:
It's from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing. I've made it once before but as I modeled for the photos I think they've all been trashed- it's not often I see a photo of myself that I like.
I made it an inch bigger in circumference, but I've read various reports from bloggers who've had to adjust the size one way or another. Who'd have thought there could be such a big variety in the size of ladies heads?
Anyway, I think I forgot to increase the size of the crown, hence the puffiness around the top.
The fabric is from my birthday trip to Liberty of London last year. It has a pale olive lining with white spots.
Thanks for modeling Esther, you are a star! I'll be a bit more snappy (hee hee) the next time you pose for me- I promise!
My swap partner's received her package so I can finally share what I've been working on during the 'Summer'.
I got some russian doll blanks from Russian Rebel and oddles of inspiration from this amazing russian doll set on flickr, and beautiful vintage Norwegian ceramics like this one...
... which I've been admiring forever and a day! I can't find the site I found these photos on, it was a japanese store but it seems to have disappeared, or the actual pieces I worked from. If you google 'figgjo', 'turi design' or 'lotte ceramics' though, there's quite a lot out there.
This beautiful table cloth has to be the most lovely thing I've found- it makes me green with envy every time I look at it!
I really enjoyed painting them but it took me sooo much longer then I'd anticipated, hence the lateness of their delivery- sorry Rachel! It wasn't helped by the fact that I (stupidly) painted them while they were whole rather than as separate halves. I had to spend a nerve-wracking hour trying to prise them apart with a stanley knife, all the time expecting to either end up in casualty or with the dolls in heap of splintered pieces!
Thank you to Katy for organising the swap, it's been a lot of fun.
You can find more photos over at flickr if Scandinavian dolls are your thing!
As it was a Bank holiday today we decided to go to Bewilderwood (along with the entire population of East Anglia it seemed!)
It's a really fun place with huge slides, zip wires, swings, mazes, all made out of wood and natural materials, and best of all, wood piles for you to make your own dens with.
The whole place is very imaginative and beautifully realised. Dotted through the woods are tiny little tree houses and miniature doors giving it a really magical feel. It has a peaceful, calming air about it, despite all the exhilarating activities, and made a good change to the usual sensory overload of amusement parks.
When I signed up for I'm a Ginger Monkey's Russian Doll Swap, I had no idea how long it would take me to make up my side of the swap. I kind of got caught out by the girls' Summer break- all of a sudden my crafting time was reduced to half an hour once or twice a week. And while this means we've had a fun time together camping, playing, visiting friends and family and swimming (oh my goodness, the insatiable desire they have for swimming!) it's meant I'm way behind with my swapping obligations!
My swap partner, Rachel of Four Wise Monkeys, on the other hand, was very prompt and so I've had a parcel sitting in my crafting space for the best part of a month teasing me with it's presence and spurring me on to get finished so I can open it! In fact I waited so long there was a good chance I could only be disappointed, the temptation was killing me and the build up so prolonged!
But look at the goodness inside! These little dolls are just so very beautiful, too beautiful for words! I love the spareness of the design, the colour of the linen with the crimson thread and the perfect, teeny, tiny stitches. And those little smiling faces make me happy!
And if the dolls weren't enough on their own (and they so are!), Rachel also sent me the pretty bag in the top photo (don't you just love those fabrics together?) and a Melly and Me bag pattern (which I'm really looking forward to making).
I feel very blessed and very grateful: Thank you Rachel, I genuinely couldn't be more delighted!
Yay, I have a new camera! But wow, it was hard to choose from everything that's on offer...
DSLR or compact or a bridge between them...?
Nikon, Panasonic, Fuji, Sony, Canon...?
And then you have to choose a model!
I did use the endless camera review sites, the Which report, the reviews on Amazon, photography forums and ended up very confused and a little overwhelmed by all the choice.
In the end I bought a Sony DSLR A200 just because it seemed like the best solution to my needs and budget. So far I've been amazed by how good it is at capturing images 'truthfully', especially indoors which is where most of my photos are taken and where my old, (forgotten) camera struggled the most.
It has a multitude of buttons and settings which I'm not quite sure what to do with. For now I'm just using the flash off (I hate flash photos!), macro and white balance. In September I'm starting a digital photography course so hopefully the purpose of all these bewildering settings will become clear!
These photos are of some of the fabrics I received through the Vintage Sheet Swap organised so very beautifully by Elizabeth of Oh Fransson! Not only did she send out multitudes of fabric parcels all over the world, she also wrote several tutorials for projects utilising the fabrics. It has to be the most impressively thought out swap I've ever seen. And my thanks are waaaay overdue. So thank you Elizabeth, you are my swap hero!
I'm also waaaay overdue in sending out my Russian Doll Swap package to my infinitely patient partner. It's being posted tomorrow, so as soon as it's gone I can open the parcel she sent me way back when and share whatever goodness lurks inside!
