the balla(r)d of goodwill

It's quite a few months since I last went to the Ballard Goodwill. I've always found it vaguely disappointing there, with only my wooden sewing box as a stand-out purchase (and that dates my most recent visit to last April). Anyway, we went today to help some friends collect a desk they had purchased and spent a bit of time shopping - what a change a few months can make! Either they have been getting some really good donations lately or Goodwill's central distribution system has decided to favour Ballard - either way, they are really well stocked and I came away a happy shopper.

My strategy for collecting J Crew woollens in the trust that eventually I will find duplicate garments and be able to confidently knit myself something (more) from recycled yarn came to fruition. Out of this size medium and the identical size small that I bought some time ago, I would definitely have managed a garment. Alas, I have already repurposed the size small into a dress for little miss bear, which gives me the opportunity to show off a finished object dating from mid-October.

It started with making leg warmers from the sleeves of the garment, but when left with a truncated sweater what I saw was the potential for a little dress. I gathered the neckline slightly with some elastic and took in the sides to shape the dress a bit. There were also two spare lengths of sleeve left over after making the legwarmers, so I unravelled these to give myself some yarn to work with. The dress sleeves themselves I edged with some machine stitching and then, after turning the hem under, finished with a line of crocheted stitches. With my hook still handy, I also crocheted some motifs to adorn the dress. The larger one is from a free pattern that I found on Ravelry, the two smaller are just a simplified version thereof.

The entire dress took less than a day to make and will keep little miss bear comfy and warm. It is also 100 per cent machine washable as that is the way that I treat all of my woollens the minute I get them home from the thrift store. If they pass that first test I know that they are good for life. As to what I'll do with the size medium now ... umm, another dress? a jacket? wait for the next one to show up?

I also today very happily purchased a pair of Hanna Andersson pyjamas (brand new as far as I can tell) and cardigan and a book for little miss bear, a book on heirloom embroidery for myself, two other books, a vintage sewing pattern, a wooden toy high chair perfect for teddy to eat his breakfast at and, surprise, another J Crew woollen which I am hoping will deliver up enough yarn for Tim's first sweater. Thing is, I went to bed way too late last night, considering the relative benefits of knitting either Jarrett or Beau for Tim. Beau was winning out, being at a looser gauge with heavier yarn, and lo and behold, there was the yarn today. Ok, slightly twisted up in a few cables but that's just the way I like it for $7.99. (The entire Goodwill haul came in at less than $50 and included two decorated light switch covers which at a craft market I might consider kind of cute but not bother to actually spend money on, as opposed to 99c each for which you can try out just about anything. I love thrift shopping.)

blocking and pinning

I finished knitting the patterned portion of the pimlico shrug a couple of days ago, blocked it out yesterday and let it dry overnight. I am now ready to start on what I am sure promises to be an interminable amount of ribbing.

To be sure, I have taken some major shortcuts with the pattern thus far. To begin, I knit eight repeats of the eyelet pattern (as pattern directs last repeat knit to only row 11 instead of 16). As such my knitted panel measured only 17 inches in depth, rather than the 34 (!!) called for in the pattern. Now, I know the pattern notes tout this shrug as a 'cross between a cardigan and a shawl' but that would have been way too shawl for me. Besides, I only measure 17 inches from back neckline to lower waist. And in addition there's 10-odd inches of ribbing to go ... so, it blocked out an extra inch or so and I'm hoping to get the fit that I desire. Let the ribbing commence.

Elsewhere, I seem to be channeling Dame Westwood in the stitching department at the moment. What else to do with a stylish and reasonably sedate woollen check than to stick some (safety) pins into it? Inspired by my pyjama pants I drew some paisley motifs onto my maud with tailor's chalk but after three days of being draped over the back of a chair the chalk was wearing thin. I meant to do some rough outline stitching over the chalk lines but feared that the chalk would be all but gone in the time that would take, so pinned instead.

Unfortunate consequence is that I now can't wear the maud until I have indeed outline stitched those motifs for fear of turning myself into a voodoo doll.

handles

Ok, I don't think that these are the handles that I am looking for but they happen to be some handles that I already have (and which have recently reached us across the expanse of the Pacific Ocean along with some other Australian possessions). The receipt is conveniently there alongside in the bag showing that I have been treasuring (read, carefully hanging onto until I think of something wonderful to do with them) these since August 2003 and that I paid ... oh my goodness, how did I ever afford that?































Anyway, I purchased these bag handles at Margo Richards Antiques in the Rocks in Sydney I recall, in the company of my brother who was visiting at the time. The handles above are the more recent pair, two separate handles. I have no idea what wood either pair is made from, or in what era actually - any ideas?

These ones below are older with lovely carved details. The two halves are hinged with that wooden clasp to keep the pair closed. And the little holes for attaching the bag.
































I did attempt early in my crafting career a crocheted bag in some burgundy yarn but it wasn't very successful (and not very good yarn either). I'm glad of this because I now have much better ideas and skills as to what I might create. Another felted jumper bag of some sort maybe - an old-fashioned patchwork sewing bag - yo-yos from recycled fabrics - tweet tweet. Yes, thank you for reminding me, one thing at a time.

five little birds ...

... went out one day, over the hills and far away ...

Ok, I know that it's five little ducks but I haven't embroidered any ducks so there you go. We sing a lot of songs about five, including a couple about cheeky monkeys and bumps on the head and crocodiles and ... no, I haven't embroidered any crocodiles either.

Here are the five little birds that are to be affixed to my felted jumper bag which is still hovering there in the wings, awaiting completion. Actually, I'm a tad annoyed with myself. I have managed to get into that situation of having too many things on the go at once, such that nothing is getting completed and I am feeling distinctly irritated. These birds have actually been finished for a good couple of months but I lost one for a time (it eventually turned up in a bag of knitting which I guess I had with me the same day) and that obstacle was enough to stop me from any further work on it while in the back of my mind I pondered what to do about the lost bird. Thankfully I pondered long enough that I found it, but that was a good few weeks ago now too.

Anyway, all I really need to do now is stabilise the embroidery with a bit of glue on the back of each birdie to keep all the threads in place and then it will be time indeed to affix them. I am still stuck as what to do about handles though. I would dearly like some tooled leather straps and have been searching through the handbags at thrift stores in order to recuycle some but to no avail. Maybe some wooden handles? Suggestions gratefully received!

eyelets

Ok, so I got around to it pretty quickly. I have so far completed about two and a half of the 16-row repeat on the pimlico shrug, this time using a 4.5mm circular needle. I'm enjoying the knitting, it's pretty mindless and seems to be what I need just now. I also have the eyelets mastered and although I'm not entirely certain that I am doing them 'the right way', I am happy with the way that they are turning out.

I plan to knit eight repeats and then take the fabric off the needle and block it out (with a safety line in there to prevent unravelling of course!) to get a better idea of eventual size and shape. Then I'll clasp it all together with my trusty mini-hair clips and make decisions about whether any further knitting is required. I am aware that for many people this garment turns out way too big so I am going to be very conservative in the sizing, although of course I will only be able to change how long it is (from neck to waist) and not how wide (those 161 stitches are remaining 161 stitches whatever I do).

paternayan

Tapestry yarn - Persian tapestry yarn.

Shade 967.

where do ideas come from?

I have often pondered this. Why do you suddenly know what colour and yarn to knit a garment from, and at other times are completely stumped? Why when I think about decorative surface embroidery on a checked stole (my maud) does paisley come to mind?

Paisley is a motif that originates in India and Persia and seems to be completely at odds with a checked fabric which I associate with Scotland. Now, I know that tartans and certain checked fabric patterns have very specific origins and that not everything checked is a tartan and so on, I'm just talking about associations here. And it is called a maud. But of course, Paisley is a city in Scotland which gave its name to the design motif that originated on shawls from Kashmir. More associations and connections.

And why should I think of decorative surface embroidery at all? Well, my maud was originally prompted by my Oilily wrap and Oilily is a brand known for its, well, slightly gaudy aesthetic. Floral embroidery on stripes, riotous prints, bright colours. My wrap is in a reasonably subdued red and blue colourway with quite a bit of pattern and was woven in ... India.

So, if I ever get around to it (because I am calling the maud finished for now) I think that I would like to do some paisley embroidery, just in a couple of corners. I had a search around the internet for some basic outline paisley images. Then I did some tidying up about the house and came across my pyjama pants - lo and behold, paisley. And just the simple shapes and layout that I think could work, in a burgundy wool thread and a burnished gold perhaps, maybe a bit of black as well.

maud

There has fallen a splendid tear

From the passion-flower at the gate.
She is coming, my dove, my dear;
She is coming, my life, my fate;
The red rose cries, 'She is near, she is near;'
And the white rose weeps, 'She is late;'
The larkspur listens, 'I hear, I hear;'
And the lily whispers, 'I wait.'

Maud, Alfred, Lord Tennyson

I am not much of a poetry buff but this is one of my all-time favourite stanzas of poetry. There is so much magic and mystery in it. Not being a buff I've not read the rest of it, I'm just happy with this bit.

So, maud the noun, not the poetical person - Shandy has been kind enough to direct me over to Needled where Kate has written a post about a traditional Scottish wrap worn by shepherds called, wait for it, a maud. Unfortunately, I had already cut and sewn my fabric before I read about mauds but, nevertheless, that is now the name of my checked wrap.

A few details - the fabric that I bought is 100 per cent wool and 60 inches wide (apologies metric friends but when in Rome ...). The dimensions that I was aiming for were 22 by 68 inches and I decided to make my wrap, or rather my maud, from a double layer so I bought 54 inches (one-and-a-half yards) of fabric. I had thought to make the maud longer by attaching the extra eight inches or so to the 60 inch width but, alas, the checks are not square and didn't match up.

Instead I cut the extra eight inches into two equal widths and sewed one to either end of the maud. Then the unravelling began - some 90 by 8 inches of thread pulling. Unh, it took a while. The colours in the fringe don't line up with the checks either but for me this is ok.

I folded the fabric plus fringe in half and sewed it up, followed by some top stitching. What I have now is effectively a 60 inch tube of fabric with a fringe at either end. I had thought to run a few lines of stitching down the centre to keep it all together, and then I thought, well, why not a few lines of decorative stitching? and then I thought, well, why not some decorative surface embroidery? Where do these ideas come from? Topic for another post.

ps The portrait of Tennyson is by George Frederic Watts and is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.

curiosity

Australian friends of a certain generation - do you remember the ABC's The Curiosity Show? I do - kyuuu-ri-O-si-tyyyyy.

Anyway, have been doing a bit of curiosity casting on recently - just patterns or yarns that have long been bugging me, that I wanted to quickly try my hand at. The Pimlico Shrug was always a stand-out project for me from Mel Clark and Tracey Ullman's Knit 2 Together: patterns and stories for serious knitting fun. It was also one that was a bit tricky in the sizing department as evidenced by a quick look at various projects on Ravelry (seems to easily end up way too big). But I have long wanted to try it and the serendipitous availability of some Koigu Kersti (the yarn used in the book) was just what I needed to give it a go.

I actually didn't even end up casting on in the Kersti because when I got it home from knit night into the light of the next day I found that it was too murky a green for me. So, to find a yarn to knit in ... no appropriate 8ply/dk weight yarn in the stash so I actually went shopping for yarn. This is quite an unusual phenomenon because I almost always knit with recycled yarn or something that I already have. I was quite stumped. Usually I have a clear idea of the {pattern}x{colour}x{fibre} combination but this time I drew a complete blank. I wandered around Weaving Works and just felt overwhelmed (which is certainly an experience that I recommend).

I eventually came to my senses later at Stitches which has a limited (and thereby manageable!) range of Cascade Yarns and was able to make a choice, a mid-green heathered (shade 2100) hank of Cascade 220 which is a strange weight of yarn (or at least it confuses me). It is supposed to be a 10ply/aran weight yarn but behaves more like an 8ply/dk weight. Perfect though I think for the Pimlico Shrug which calls for an 8ply/dk weight yarn to be knit at a gauge of 19 stitches to 10 cm (kind of 10ply/aran weight).

I cast on for the smaller size (small/medium) and knit about ten rows which covered one row of eyelets. The eyelets were hard! There are some odd stitch instructions, particularly K1B, which I would usually interpret as knit 1 through the back of the stitch but in this instance involves knitting through the back of the stitch below (as in, from behind the work). I am happy with the eyelet pattern. Many people have substituted a different eyelet pattern, or even an entirely different stitch, but I find this one to be large and modern.

Which brings me to some more thoughts about this pattern. Like Eowyn, this is another one of those conceptual patterns that you could do so many different things with. It is basically a rectangle so you could do that any length and width you want, in any gauge yarn, in any stitch really. Making the rectangle into a garment is about folding the rectangle in half and sew up some of the side seam to create armholes. Then add ribbing.

So, the outcome - on 5mm needles I found my gauge to be too loose so I am going to frog and try again on 4.5mm needles. When I get around to trying it again.

1(67) things to make for children

Continuing with my love of 1970s craft books is the Better Homes and Gardens 167 Things to Make for Children. Alas, I think that the title is a misnomer because really, there's only one thing in there that I would consider making - and some of the projects are downright hideous like the doll with a shrivelled apple for a face.

The project that I have made is the Artist's Vinyl Apron. I posted a little while ago about the iron-on vinyl that I discovered and this is the project that I used it for. I'm delighted to confirm that the apron is now complete (although still under wraps until Di receives it).

Of course, one of my favourite things about the 70s craft book is the (rather ridiculous) copy:

There's a little bit of the artist in each of us, but children especially love to grab a paintbrush, dip it (or their fingers) in a paint pot and express themselves artistically.

But before they begin, outfit them with this vinyl apron. Then, just stand aside and watch your budding Picasso create his masterpiece without a worry about splashes and spills.

Funny, I never could imagine Pablo in yellow and white gingham.

(Oh ok, make it two projects because I do love that crocheted granny square dress on the cover too.)

oilily

Oilily is a spectacularly expensive brand of children's and women's clothes that hails from the Netherlands. They used to have a distributor in Australia but this arrangement ceased a couple of years ago and they had a big clearance sale. I bought a couple of heavily discounted (but I admit, still ridiculously priced, t-shirts and socks for little miss bear) and a woven woollen stole in red and blue for myself. It's a great size, super warm and gets a multitude of compliments every time I wear it so I consider it worth every cent.

So, I saw this burgundy checked fabric at Stitches here in Seattle some weeks ago and was quite taken with it but really had no idea what I would do with it. I wasn't sure about wearing a garment in a check like this (unless maybe a coat but that's a tall order) and didn't want to sew anything for myself anyway.

Then I recalled a post on wisecraft about making your own scarf from a piece of fabric and fraying the edge to create a fringe. That is what I am going to do with this fabric, of which I bought a yard and a half. I'm going to make it up to the same dimensions as my favourite Oilily stole. Stay tuned

japan

Oh I wish (kind of). Just more armchair travelling, well, the Japanese garden in the Arboretum which is a few blocks from where we live. Yes, those conifers in the background of the picture below are a bit of a giveaway.

I have actually been to Japan three times - for a nine-month stint in the year after I finished high school and two trips bookending my first trip to Europe. That first nine-month trip was just long enough to teach me how unutterably unknowable Japan was to a tall, fair foreigner with size 9.5 feet. A dear friend who was there a bit longer than I (and at a different stage of her life, married to a Japanese man) recently said it was only after a year that she started to feel like she could have, I don't think fitted in but become more part of the culture.

And of course it is only more recently that I have become interested in Japanese craft books. Another friend's mother is currently in Japan for three weeks and we have passed on all sorts of department store names and fabric shop details to her. I also recently borrowed a couple of books about zakka (which I take to mean household goods) from the library and it (almost) makes my feet itch a bit.

It is certainly getting colder here in Seattle, so unfortunately the ornamental carp have already gone into hibernation and there is no more fish feeding. We must go back in summer when it is spectacular to see them roiling around in the water in a feeding frenzy.

spooky

Well, scary actually. Scary the number of pre-fabricated, all-in-one costumes that so many children were wearing for Hallowe'en. Half the fun of costumes is putting them together - either making them or finding something in the back of the wardrobe or at the thrift store (although, disappointingly to me the thrift stores here are full of brand new merchandise at this time of the year in the shape of precisely the all-in-one suits that I'm complaining about).

Ok, so I rant a little; I do know that not every parent has the time nor inclination to make a costume but I think that it is a fantastic opportunity for children to do so themselves and to use their imagination. It also helps to make the occasion less exclusively about getting stuff. That said, there were a few hand-made costumes where we went trick or treating - an awesome rocket ship, a fabulous yard waste bin, a beautiful cotton woolly cloud.

Little miss bear wore a red corduroy cowgirl vest and skirt that was (apparently) mine as a child with a checked shirt from her wardrobe, a cowgirl themed t-shirt purchased at Value Village and her yellow gumboots. Yee-ha!

eowyn

Ok, so not everything works out in knitter-land.

Flatliner
Pattern: Eowyn by Theresa Venning from Rowan 38.
Size: Just the one size.
Yarn: Some really fabulous Álafoss Lopi by Ístex. This yarn is both fabulous because it's a single ply bulky from Iceland, and because I bought two-and-a-half skeins of it from an op shop back in Australia. The pattern actually calls for a strand of Rowan Kid Classic and a strand of Kidsilk Haze held together, knitting at a gauge of 12 stitches to 10cm. Unfortunately, the lopi was not a good substitute, even though it does knit up at a similar gauge. It just made the armwarmers, particularly the seams, too stiff and bulky.
Needles: 7.5mm circular and a cable needle.
Start to finish: 19 October 2009 to 20 October 2009.
Comments: I knit these in the round, whereas the pattern calls for them to be knit flat but I really can't see the point of an extra seam. The construction is very simple - the armwarmers are just a tube with a cable knit into it, no shaping. The lace trim is knit separately and then sewn on to the tube (didn't find the instructions for this detailed enough - slip stitch or mattress stitch? neither worked well in the lopi) leaving a gap for the thumb if desired.

Given this, as far as substitution goes, you could actually make a version of these armwarmers with any yarn - just calculate how many stitches you need to cast on to create a tube of suitable circumference in the yarn that you want to use. Knit that tube to the length that you want, including a 12-stitch wide cable, or any other sort of cable/decoration you like. Then knit the lace trim to the required length, making it wider with a few more knit stitches at the straight edge if you want. Attach the lace and you'd be done.

Verdict: Just didn't work out this time around but I would still like to make these armwarmers, either out of the suggested yarn or something else more appropriate than the lopi, or just use the tube plus lace concept in a different weight yarn altogether.

texture

I have cast on for Woolsthorpe. I'm not going to beat around the bush, claim that I only seem to have cast on, or that I haven't really cast on but am knitting a swatch that closely resembles the front. I was claiming for a while that I was just swatching the ribbing but halfway up the left front this is no longer true. And what else do I have to say for it? Ah, texture!

I have long not been keen on either ribbing or moss stitch, both of which require an endless k1 p1 (that is, knit one purl one) sequence. However, it would seem that my knitting has become more proficient lately because I am really enjoying knitting these fabrics which I would usually otherwise avoid. The ribbing is actually a twisted rib so it's k1tbl p1 (knit one through the back loop purl one) which I hadn't done at all before. And here at this juncture it contrasts nicely with the moss stitch and stocking stitch.

After four finished knitting projects in the red/burgundy/purple colour group, it is also lovely to be working with blue. Again, this is one hundred per cent wool recycled from a J Crew sweater that I bought at the thrift store. I am having a lot of success with recycling this brand and would recommend it to anyone considering upcycling yarn (except people who live in Seattle and frequent the same thrift stores as I do - hands off!).

inspiration

I truly love books, and I love to look to them for inspiration. I have previously mentioned and recommended Make Your Own Contemporary Quilts. Not only are there fantastic ideas and instructions in there for making quilts, the styling is also very inviting. Like this little vignette of antique dresses pictured at left. An image like this kindles an immediate desire in me; usually my response would be to try and make what it is that I have seen and responded to so strongly.

Actually, most of my needlework efforts and endeavours are about making my own versions of antique/heirloom-type pieces because they are so difficult (and expensive) to come by otherwise. If I can't acquire a piece of hand-made gros point de Venise lace then my first thought is to make some myself.

Anyway, having not yet gotten around to sewing any heirloom christening dresses just for show or mastering smocking, my own antique children's dresses vignette has been sadly lacking. That is, until this Sunday past. I went to Fremont Market to say hi to my dear friend Heidi, a fabulous potter about whom I will do a more comprehensive post shortly, and spied a white lacy something as I walked by a second-hand wares stall. You know when you see something and you know that it is just right, that it is just what you want and you mentally suck in a breath of air and wonder, 'how much do they want for it?'

There was another second-hand wares guy across the way who had a couple of vintage-looking cotton quilt tops for sale. As I usually do, before asking after the price I determined how much I'd be prepared to pay. I decided on thirty dollars (that's how much it would have been worth to me and if I really fall in love with something I'll often go fifty per cent over what I am 'prepared' to pay), he wanted one hundred. No thank you.

So the white lacy something (incidentally in pretty poor shape and badly discoloured) - I decided that I was prepared to pay fifteen dollars. She only asked for ten - hooray! I snapped it up, happily paid for it and gave it a good long soak in oxy-action stuff. A lot of the discoloration disappeared and after a gentle steam iron, here it hangs on the inside of little miss bear's closet door - the beginnings of our own antique children's dress composition.

swatch for joy

Ok, so I do like to swatch with new yarns, just to get an idea of how they knit up, what sort of fabric they create, what the gauge is with a particular needle size. I wouldn't quite say that I find swatching joyous but I have had the garment Joy buzzing around like a bee in my bonnet for a long time now. So I decided to just swatch up for it, in the yarn that I would like to use, following the chart, in the shape of a sleeve, just to see how it turns out.

So, I've got a sleeve and I'm calling this one finished for the moment.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Joy by Kim Hargreaves from the Rowan publication Vintage Knits.
Size: Bizarrely enough, I knitted the xs size sleeve and it seems to be just fine for me.
Yarn: This is recycled yarn, 80 per cent wool and 20 per cent cashmere, a purple/russet/burgundy tweed - it truly depends on the light. I recycled it from a Talbots twin set that I bought at Goodwill in Tukwila - a long sleeve cardigan and a short-sleeve top so no worries about there being enough yarn - hooray!
Needles: 3mm bamboo straights.
Start to finish: 19 August 2009 to 17 October 2009.
Comments: The major change that I made to this knit (like many other knitters) is that I didn't use beads on it. The original calls for some 5000 small beads to be placed to form the chevron pattern. No thank you - how onerous to knit, how heavy, how expensive and how would you wash it. Instead I purled on the right side (where the bead shoul have been placed) and knit on the wrong side. The resulting chevron pattern is evident but subtle. I really like the effect.

Verdict: I'm very happy with this sleeve and I am putting it away for the moment. I haven't even yet compared it to one of my favourite commercially produced cardigans to check the sleeve cap size. I know that the sleeve is long enough and wide enough because I knit it that way. I have concerns about how a size extra small sleeve cap would fit into a medium size front and back if that was what I ended up knitting for torso fit. But that's all for later.

here comes the sun

... and I say it's all right.





















The Vital Statistics

Pattern: Sunrise Circle Jacket by Kate Gilbert.
Size: Hmm, I mucked around with this quite a bit. I wanted a fitted garment so I cast on for the 86cm size sleeve but increased to the 91cm size and knit that for the front plus six more rows because I wanted it to cover up more tummy when it crossed over. And then I knit some short rows but more about that later.
Yarn: Recycled J Crew 100 per cent 10 ply wool in dark aubergine and burgundy. I want to take the opportunity here to wax lyrical for a bit about recycled yarn. Even though that is mostly what I use, I do still get a thrill walking into a yarn store at all the colour and texture nuances available in commercial yarns. It's all there for you, immediately available and it's easy to forget that with patience and good foraging, that you can find great yarn by unravelling and recycling. Like this J Crew wool that I have been knitting with. The variety of shades in this yarn is really difficult to capture - there are all sorts of other colours hiding in there, sometimes just a single filament but it gives the finished fabric such depth and vibrancy.

I happened across the same sweater in two different colours so used the dark aubergine for the jacket and the burgundy for the hems as i was again concerned about running out of yarn. As it is I have a hge cake of the aubergine left over and heaps of burgundy too. Actually, the burgundy is what I used to knit the Columbia Beret.

Which actually brings me to my next point - the light has changed in Seattle and I am finding it very difficult to capture colours. The dark aubergine is much darker than the burgundy, although this is not particularly evident if you compare it with the photos of the Columbia Beret below. Oh well, take my word for it.
Needles: I used both straights and a circular on this project - 4.5mm bamboo and Addi Turbo.
Start to finish: 15 May 2009 to 15 October 2009. Wow, five months exactly. I'm surprised, it didn't seem to be that long. I started knitting it when I finished the knitting on Wallingford, which just goes to show just how long I delayed on the seaming up that project.
Comments: This is a great pattern. I made a few changes, namely making the fronts wider so that there would be more coverage when the garment is closed. I did this at the neckline by simply knitting six rows into the next size. To make the fronts longer I worked six short rows on the front, from the side seam to part way up the front, wrap and turn, back to the side seam; the next one not so far up and back; and again. I also followed the example of some other knitters and didn't cast off the hem stitches but instead kept them live to then sew down. I took this one step further and also did a provisional cast on for each of the pieces and then sewed down the live stitches. Both of these measures were to keep bulk out of the garment.

Fit-wise, I took a lot of care with making sure that the row count on both the front and back sides was identical; ditto for the depth of the raglan sleeves. Nevertheless, I ended up with four stitches extra in the width at the neck which I took up using the same decreases as for the darts in the back, a neat and tidy double decrease achieved by slipping two stitches as if to knit two together, knitting the next stitch and then passing the slip stitches over (s2kp2 in the pattern which was a bit confusing as it makes it seem as though there are purl stitches involved).

I also didn't include any fastenings on the garment, preferring to fasten it with a kilt pin (or a shawl pin) depending on the weather and how tightly I want to pull it around me.

Verdict: I really like this garment, particularly the construction and fit - the back darts are in just the right place for me. It's funny that this is knit in a heavier weight yarn than Wallingford but is nevertheless a sleeker garment. I think that it was a good idea to keep all of those hem stitches live but it made for a painstaking sewing-up process, or rather sewing down stitch by stitch.

So, what next? This garment knitting thing is really addictive. The end results so far have been super and I feel so great wearing a cardigan that I have made myself. Really, I would like to finish my other works-in-progress, if only for the sake of getting them done, but neither socks nor lace is appealing at all at the moment. I may also have knit up the pocket linings for Woolsthorpe last night while watching a dvd, you know, just to check gauge and whatever ...

rain is a-comin'

Oh yes!

Well actually, it's here in Seattle already. After a particularly dry summer when people's lawns turned brown and gardens actually needed to be watered, the rain for which Seattle is famous has started. I think that we are on day three of a forecast ten-day stretch. That's ok with me, I like the rain.

It's also a sign that it's going to get colder, soon, and my mind turns to ways to keep warm. After finishing Wallingford and being on the verge of completing my Sunrise Circle (it was blocking), I decided on a quick beret.

The Vital Statistics

Pattern: Columbia beret by Sarah Pope of Blue Garter (a free pattern - thank you Sarah).
Size: Just the one but it fits me fine.
Yarn: Recycled J Crew 100 per cent wool in a dark burgundy.
Needles: I used my Addi Turbo 4.5mm circular which is probably a bit small for this wool but ideal for making a firmer fabric for a hat.
Start to Finish: 11 October 2009 to 12 October 2009.
Comments: I didn't knit the ties on top but just crocheted a little cord of ten or so stitches and made that into a loop.

Verdict: Alas, this may be a little to scratchy to wear. I'll have to see whether it still bothers me against my forehead when the weather is really cold. My meret is very soft and comfortable to wear and I can see myself reaching for that first. I also don't think that I achieved quite enough structure with the yarn that I used. I'm wondering whether a bit of a spritz and a quick spin in the clothes dryer may help this along.










Apart from these misgivings (all to do with my yarn substitution) I like this pattern and I really like the way the eyelets swirl. It also knits up very quickly for instant gratification (it took two days but the actual knitting was all completed within 24 hours with an overnight sleep thrown in). If I had ready access to the available yarn I might consider trying it again but as it is, if I don't end up wearing this version, I think that I'll look for something else to knit with yarn that I already have.

remiss/redress

Me, again. I have also been most remiss about posting on all sorts of things recently but particularly about projects underway and projects finished.

First of all a project underway to thank Di for the wonderful package previously blogged about. Little did I know that after requesting that Di sew something for baby bear that I would return to Seattle and have a crazy burst of sewing inspiration and time.Oooh, inadvertent craft swap happening here. Apparently her little boy needs an apron for cooking and painting and other potentially messy activities and she never gets around to making one. A-ha, my opportunity!

I was going to buy waterproof oilcloth of some sort but in the spirit of refashioning and using my stash I decided to look a little closer to home and decided on a graphic black and white fabric, thrift-store purchased, which I originally used in my vintage fabrics quilt. My initially plan was to sew it with a layer of vinyl over the top but was delighted to discover a product that allows you to, effectively, laminate your own fabric - Therm O Web Iron-on Vinyl! Wow.

Here is a before- (unlaminated on the left) and after- (laminated on the right) shot:

The actual making of the apron is also progressing - I have cut out the pieces and pinned the binding around the edges but am not going to say or show any more so that it will be a surprise when it arrives in melbourne. I am also going to have to wrack my brains as to what special Seattle extras I can put into the final package.

remiss

That's me. I have been very remiss with posting about a fabulous package that arrived over a week ago already.

It is lovely to come home and see a box sitting on your door step, to recognise the Australia Post packaging, to know that it contains something from home. But not just something - many things! The package came from Di, of the blog Clementine's Shoes, who is a dear friend back home in Melbourne.

While going through our belongings back in June, I unearthed a scarf (black with scottie dogs on it) that belonged to my grandmother. I knew that I was probably not going to wear it but so wanted to keep it in some way. Ah, refashion! Di had recently made a drawstring pouch-type back pack for her little boy and I thought that I would never manage to get around to such a thing so she was kind enough to agree to make a backpack for little miss bear out of the scarf. Thank you so much Di!

But not only did we receive the backpack (referred to as 'the backpack that Di made especially for me' by little miss bear) but also a fabulous sock monkey. And some Lucas Pawpaw Ointment which is the only surefire cure I know of for those annoying dry cracks at the corner of your mouth. And a magazine. And something very precious that came in bubble wrap and was consumed pretty much before I could even get my camera out. And some more bits and pieces, all deeply appreciated, that are out of sight here. Thank you again Di, we are so delighted with it all.

happy birthday to me ...

... I am (no longer) thirty-three. Nor thirty-four for that matter but thirty-five. Ouch! And it was actually my birthday a week or so ago but the point is, I received a wonderful package in the mail yesterday. My mum was kind enough to give me some birthday money and I used it to buy a book that I have been coveting for about a year. It has only been available to buy in Europe and postage was prohibitive, except as a birthday present.

The book is titled Tausend Blicke - Kinderporträts von Emil Brunner aus dem Bündner Oberland 1943/44, which translates roughly as 'A Thousand Glimpses - children's portraits by Emil Brunner from the Bündner Oberland 1943/44' (Bündner Oberland refers to a region of Switzerland - I think).

I have never been much of a photography fan but when we were in Switzerland last year I saw some images from this book as postcards. I didn't buy them as I tend to only buy postcards of works or places that I have actually seen and I hadn't seen any photo exhibitions. Nevertheless, the images remained with me and I conducted a rather clumsy phone call to the bookshop at the Schweizerischen Landesmuseum in Zurich to try and find out more about the photos or the photographer. And thus I discovered Emil Brunner, a press photographer who in 1943 and 1944 visited Swiss mountain villages and took these inspiring portraits of the children living there.










Photos from Limmat Verlag website
I can't say exactly what it is about these photos that I find so inspiring, or haunting. I just do and am delighted to have this book as my own. Thank you Mum for the wonderful present!

off the perch

Time to confess that, apart from my recently completed Wallingford, the knitting has actually gotten a bit out of control lately, which is why I haven't had much to say about it. It's just slow progress and few finished objects (except for ones I made six months ago) because I have been working on too many things at once. I fell off the perch a bit on sticking to my knit list. My three projects on the go at any one time (thereby ensuring some degree of finished-ness before I can cast on for something else) recently ballooned out to:

Baudelaire (sock knitting) - The most I have to report is that I took them with me to Sock Summit, did indeed knit a couple of rounds, and actually crossed the road at the same time as (albeit in the opposite direction to) Cookie A, designer of the Baudelaire sock, while I was carrying the sock in my handbag. Partially finished sock and designer, like ships in the night.

Knitted veil in Peruvian wool (project knitting) - Ok, the notion of a lovely big lace stole is wonderful, but the same four rows of lace pattern (and that's lace each row) 81 times over? Meh. Although I have overcome one of the annoyances of the pattern by purchasing some split stitch markers. I find it very necessary with lace to count, count, count and stitch markers really help to divide up the lace repeats and keep the stitch count what it should be. On the third row of the lace pattern the repeat is, how can I say, transposed to the left by one stitch, requiring thirteen stitch markers to be removed and replaced as you knit along the row. Ah, but not with a split stitch marker - you can k2tog with the stitch marker still between the stitches and then just rotate it into its new position. This is allowed for, of course, by the miraculous split. Took me three different packets of stitch markers to get the right size/pliability combination but that's ok, they'll come in handy. (Umm, that's the Joy sleeve on the right - bad formatting).

Diamond mittens (practical knitting) - Still in the rough.

Faux prussian stole (technically in hibernation) - I took this one on the Amtrak journey down to Portland with me, thinking that some uninterrupted train travel time may be all that I needed to get back into it. And I was right, until I ran out of yarn. Not completely - thank goodness - but came to the end of the skein that I was working with, and just when I was on a roll. I have to dig out another skein and see if I can get back into it again. And I might try some of those split markers on this project too as there are several occasions where I have to ssk or k2tog across a marker (see, handy!).

Swatch for joy - Well, I do love to swatch, and what better way to start a garment than to swatch for it and suddenly have a sleeve? This is just idle interest swatch knitting, letting my curiosity get the better of me.

Sunrise Circle cardigan - (to the left) This is probably what I am knitting the most at the moment and it's the 'oh-just-an-extra-garment-in-there' project that I have going. Stocking stitch and worsted weight yarn. I allowed myself to cast on for this second garment because I had completed all of the knitting for Wallingford and only had the finishing to go (so practically done in other words) and well, yes, half a garment later ... but anyway, I've completed both of the sleeve/front pieces (need to do some blocking) and about half the back. I think that with a bit of focus I could be wearing this soon - fingers crossed.

ps - I love the expression 'don't fall off the perch'. It's kind of like 'don't drop the ball' but not sporty.

wallingford

Eeeeeek, I am so incredibly excited - my first complete adult garment!! Finished this very day. Hooray, I finally did it. I can't produce much further ado so here are the details:

The Vital Statistics

Pattern: Wallington by Martin Storey from Rowan Classic Book 28 - Vintage, purchased at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas on Bainbridge Island.
Size: medium
Yarn: 100 per cent wool recycled from a J Crew men's sweater that I purchased at Goodwill in the U District.
Needles: 3.25mm, 3.75mm and 4mm straights.
Start to finish: 4 April 2009 to 29 September 2009.
Comments: I was very motivated with knitting this garment as I thought that I was the only person who was working on it (only person on ravelry - that's all that counts, isn't it?) and that mine would be the very first Wallington to be completed. Little did I know that someone else was working on it in secret and didn't log it until they had finished. That took the wind out of my sails a bit, and after very successfully finishing most of the knitting within five weeks it then took me a further four months to sew the blasted thing up - oh well.















This was also my first attempt at knitting an adult garment using recycled yarn which produced the inevitable 'will-there-be-enough?' anxiety. As it turned out, there was enough. I did substitute in a similar yarn (also recycled J Crew) in burgundy for the facings inside the body and sleeves and for the central portion of the belt. As it turned out though, I chose not to use the belt and wrist straps that I knit - I felt that it would have made the garment just too bulky, so I instead bought some lovely grosgrain ribbon from the ribbon room at Nancy's Sewing Basket which I can tie in nice big floppy bows. This also obviated the need to find three matching buckles for the belt and straps.

I also knit the facings in stocking stitch instead of rib because basically, why bother, they're on the inside and that would have made the garment bulkier still. Yes, 8ply (or dk weight) yarn in my opinion produces bulky.

Verdict: Much ado, much ado. I am, actually to my surprise, really happy with this project. I had all sorts of fears about it not fitting well, not suiting me, not being big/long/wide enough or short/fitted/shapely enough - take your pick. But it's great and I feel immensely proud when I am wearing it. There are still two more patterns that I want to knit from this book, Woolsthorpe (for which I have some more recycled J Crew yarn in a lovely blue just waiting) and Souter (although I'm not sure what to do about the fluted peplum which I don't much like). Sunrise Circle must be finished first though!

103

That is 103 stories of empty space beneath my feet (and a second and final installment from my Birkenstock wardrobe - I still haven't managed to paint my toenails). In an effort to continue with child-friendly activities last week on Friday we went up the Willis Tower to the Skydeck to have a look at the city from above. This is the sort of touristy thing that I would rarely bother to do but I thought that little miss bear might find it interesting. She was actually pretty nonplussed about the whole experience but I thought it was great! Having children can really teach you things about yourself.

Chicago is a city famous for its architecture and is a wonderful place to look at from above. It was a bit overcast and the horizon between the lake and sky was just a blur and then the grey irregular rhythm of skyscrapers and the voids between them - fantastic. The newest attraction up there at 412 metres (1353 feet) is the Skyledge which is a glass box that basically sticks out from the side of the building. You can stand there on the (I assume very thick and strong) sheet of perspex/glass(?) and look down at the space between you and the street.

Then, as a reward for this motherly concern for my child's travel enjoyment and edification, we went to Goodwill. The only Goodwill in Chicago and oh, the disappointment. It was small (compared to Seattle Goodwill stores), badly organised and the stock was dismal. We bought a couple of books but that was it. Upon returning home I worked out why (or at least why the Seattle Goodwill stores are so good). Look at the City of Seattle flag!

artic

Ten years ago, my trip to Chicago was planned around visiting the Art Institute of Chicago. Well, ten years ago I actually planned my trips, bought a guide book, wrote an itinerary, did this in the morning, ate lunch here, did that in the afternoon, ate dinner there, occasionally went to the cinema in the evening. (Actually, Chicago is the only place that I have ever stolen a movie! I am generally a very law-abiding citizen but I went to the cinema and saw The Mod Squad. It was so woeful that as I was leaving I saw that Forces of Nature was about to start in another theatre so I just walked right in and watched that one too. Slightly less woeful and I don't mind a bit of Ben Affleck.)

Anyway, Art Institute of Chicago, Oak Park to see the Frank Lloyd Wright studio and homes, somewhere down south to visit another FLW house - it was a packed few days back then. It wasn't until a few years later that I realised that Chicago was on a lake.

Needless to say, this visit has included a couple of visits to the Art Institute but in quite a different, meandering, 'come away from the fountain!' kind of way. I was trying to do some stuff that I wanted to and still engage little miss bear so we looked at the miniatures collection (well, eight of the fifty odd before attention span ran out), visited the education centre, read picture books and took a bit of a stroll through the galleries. Can't resist including this one:

When I was last in Chicago this painting was not on display because it was away on loan as part of another exhibition. That exhibition was actually at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (where I also stayed on that visit) but had not yet opened. So I didn't see it that time. It's always good to have something to go back for.

And I have something to go back for again now. I had been wanting to revisit Chicago for the past few years because I understood that they had some items in their textiles collection made from fifteenth century brocades, which is just the sort of stuff that I love. Due to the construction of the recently completed modern wing, the entire textiles collection has been packed away to protect it from dust and debris. So Chicago is back on my travel list. I have managed to walk along the lakefront a couple of times this visit - next time I might even get out on a boat.

windy city

We just blew in to the windy city and the windy city is mighty pretty etc etc.

Hooray - we're having a few days in Chicago. I love Chicago. I was last here some ten years ago so I expect that this trip will be a little different to the last.

In 1999, I stayed northwards at the dodgiest youth hostel in Lincoln Park (it may well be much nicer these days). Now we are staying in a plush hotel in the heart of downtown, just blocks from the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1999, I was a student and on a shoe-string budget. Now, well, I have a husband.

In 1999, it was just me and I did what I liked and pleased myself. Now I am acquainting myself with every children's attraction in the city.

And now I knit. In the airplane - so exciting (ok, if you are from Australia where you can't get knitting needles through airport security for the life of you).

3

... that's the magic number.

Baby bear recently turned three and we had a birthday morning tea for her yesterday. She is such a grown-up girl now (small sob) - no more nappies (even overnight!), no more mother-tot swim classes (just the teacher and students in the pool now), no more bedtime kisses (hugs are ok, she just doesn't want to be kissed; and just at bedtime, I cover her in them the rest of the day).

Happy birthday sweetheart! In honour of this occasion I hereby rename you, for blog purposes at least, little miss bear.

made for each other

Ooooooooh, it's so irritating when you have a picture in mind and you're sure that it's in a certain book and you go looking for it and it is indeed not there and then you're unsure as to whether you ever actually saw said picture or just dreamed it up and ... oh well, let go.

What I am trying to say is that, once upon a time (and this may be a fairy tale), I saw a picture in a book of a slightly prairie-style striped dress. Some time afterwards in my op shopping (so we're talking Melbourne days here) I found a great dress from a medium-weight cotton which was just the fabric for said dress, a sort of herringbone-weave self stripe.

Then, some further time later, I bought a Japanese pattern book (at Kinokuniya when we were in Singapore last year) and there was just the pattern for the dress. I have since discovered (in a kind of freaky co-incidence way) that the Japanese pattern book has just been published in an English language version titled Carefree Clothes for Girls: 20 Patterns for Outdoor Frocks, Playdate dresses, and More by Junko Okawa.

So, just a day ago I decided that it was time to dig that original picture out and put some thought into this project. Can't find 'said' picture anywhere in the book that I thought it was in. Will there be a fairy-tale ending to this sad story? Will I remember which book I saw the picture in or will I just have to make the dress myself? Ha ha - I'm not sure which would take longer!

here's one i prepared earlier

Ah finally, a finished knitted object! Actually, I finished this about six months ago and had been hiding it in the cupboard in anticipation of my friend Anne's birthday.

The Vital Statistics

Pattern: Cable and Lace Scarf Redux by Kim Powell, available for free on Ravelry.
Size: I knit until I ran out of yarn which was 38 repeats. I'm not sure how long it ended up - a good scarf length.
Yarn: Two balls of Garnstudio DROPS Silke-Tweed in colourway 18. I acquired this yarn at a yarn swap and just wanted to knit it up immediately. I can't actually now remember why I chose this particular pattern, I think I had Branching Out from Knitty in mind but came across this one along the way.
Needles: 3.25mm
Start to finish: 22 January 2009 to 17 February 2009 - wow, more than six months ago.
Comments: This pattern is avaialble for free as a Ravelry download and contains only written lace instructions, which I have found that I cannot work from. I charted the lace myself and found it much easier to knit from the visual. It's so long ago that I can't remember much more about it - oh, I reversed the twist on one of the cables so that they mirror each other. The yarn was lovely and blocked out very nicely.

Verdict: My friend Anne was absolutely delighted with the scarf which I gave her for her birthday last month. It was hard work to hang onto it for that long - every time I saw it in the cupboard I wanted to give it to her early. I enjoyed knitting it and can't wait now to see her wearing it.

houston, we have a quilt

A year ago, when my mum was visiting, we shopped together at various thrift stores for the fabrics to make a quilt, inspired by the one on the cover of Vintage Fabric Style: stylish ideas and projects using quilts and flea-market finds in your home. My mum is visiting again and this evening I finished the quilt. Yes, absolutely finished the quilt, removed it from the 'I'm busy with' list, it is utterly and completely done. HOORAY!!

I estimate that it has taken me a year to make: the squares were cut out and some sewing was done at the end of last September; in October the top was all sewn up but it took me until December to deal with the batting; by the end of March this year I had the top and batting all pinned together and the backing ready to go; in early April, much sooner than expected the quilting was done; and then ... well, somewhere along the line I must have sewn the backing to the top/batting and that is where it remained until today.

What a story of delay and procrastination! Although, admittedly and in my defense, several of the, ah, pauses in production were the result of not knowing quite where to go next and some leisurely consideration of options and possibilities. I was put off at times by not knowing what to do next, but hey, I've made it through.

A couple of quick notes about the construction of this quilt:

• I quilted only the top and batting together. This was because the top has so many different coloured squares and I wanted to use an appropriate thread colour on each but didn't want a riot of thread colours on the backing (because I always like to match my sewing and bobbin threads). It only occurred to me later that I could indeed have substituted in a different, matching-the-backing coloured thread in the bobbin. Oh well.
• Following examples in Make Your Own Contemporary Quilts, I then sewed the top/batting and backing together, right sides facing, leaving a gap of about 20 centimetres. I then turned the quilt inside out and ... well, that was April.

Today, in the glow of my recent advances with the doily quilt, I finally stitched that opening together using blind stitch (which is kind of like mattress stitch for sewing). I also stitched the junctions in the pieced backing to the corresponding junction in the quilt top to anchor the whole thing together. I did this in four places. I could have done it in sixteen places but I chose four, that's it. And, last but not least, top stitched around the edge.

It was the details of this last one that has had me held up since April. I was struggling, again, with what colour thread to use. I had toyed with ideas of changing top-stitching thread colours for each of the squares on the top but finally took my friend Di's advice and just chose the darkest colour thread to go all the way around. However, I actually put this darkest thread into the bobbin and did the top stitching with the quilt backing uppermost in order to top stitch in red on the red sections and in blue on the blue sections (not Di's advice, my compromise).

Given all of the above I'm sure that you'll understand that making this quilt has been a real learning experience, but also a real thinking-it-through-and-figuring-it-out-for-myself-(and-asking-for-some-advice) experience. No wonder it took so long! And still, after all the hours that I have spent looking at it and thinking about it and thinking it through, I still love it.

double double doily trouble

No, not really, no trouble at all, I just wanted to get that one last bit of word play* in (plenty of toil though). I have finished sewing together the doily quilt top - hooray! But I am left with somewhat of a dilemma. I'm not sure about how to finish it, that is, about how far to go with finishing it.

I thought that it needed some sort of sashing, even if just in the way of thin coloured ribbons, to divide the patterned from the plain blocks, and some sort of border to make it a bit larger, and they would really need to be from the same fabric and ... and the whole thing just started to get a bit bigger and more 'finished' than I think I ever really had in mind. You know the concept of 'matchy-matchy'? Well, I fear that there is the risk here of being too 'finishedy-finishedy'.

To just bat it and back it with a minimum of fuss and some stitch in the ditch may be just the thing and whatever size that ends up being is just the size that it is. Or maybe just a border, or just the sashing, or ... ok, perhaps a bit of trouble deciding.

* Could also have been called 'Houston, we have a quilt top'

marie seznec

A year ago or so I wrote about growing up and going grey. At the time I was unable to find any photos of my favourite grey-tressed icon, Marie Seznec, who used to model for designer Christian Lacroix. When we were recently home in Melbourne I unearthed some magazine pages that I had kept from circa 1991.

Fabulous, fabulous hair.

Reading the article in the (now defunct) British Women's Journal, I realised that she would now be 50 or so, and I am the age that she was in these photos. I'm not quite as grey as she was; I wonder if I am as grown up?

and we're back

Connected to the world again that is - the past week has been one without internet and I tell you, it has been stifling. The number of times website addresses are given out on the radio, in magazines, wherever; when you can't actually go and look them up, you really notice (and want to look them up, whereas usually you wouldn't be bothered).

Anyway, finally connected again and I feel like I've forgotten how to blog, and after such a busy month in August too. I really missed my blog when we were away in Australia and had a lot to make up for.

My mum arrived for a visit last Wednesday and that has been wonderful. On Friday afternoon we explored Bellevue Goodwill for an hour or so and I bought this length of fabric. There was a little tag on it indicating 1 1/2, so whether that's a yard and a half or a metre and a half I'm not sure. I love the print and it was 99c. I'm hoping that I can make a sweet top or even a dress out of it for baby bear.

One thing that I have been busy with is Stitchery (which is just my own personal version of Ravelry in the form of a few sets of photos on flickr). I am attempting to record all of the lengths of fabric, garments for refashioning, sewing supplies and patterns that I have collected (or should I say amassed?). I find the pattern search function on Ravelry so helpful, I'd like to just be able to search through my own patterns (Japanese craft books, Golden Hands volumes, random paper patterns) so that if I want to make a size 4 blouse out of this fabric I can just check my set of blouse photos, or size 4 photos. High hopes perhaps? A lot of work maybe, but hopefully worthwhile.

custom made

The great thing about making your own bag is that you can, indeed, make it your own. Ah, the insight!

I have been working away on the felted jumper bag - embroidering birds and sewing up the actual bag and lining. There's a sneak peek up above. And it occurred to me how great it would be to not have to root around in the bottom of the bag (it's quite deep) in order to find my phone when it rings. So I added internal pockets, tailored to my wallet and phone - hooray!

Next steps in the vision:
- decorative touches on the last two birds
- fix the edges and loose threads
- trim around bird shapes
- appliqué to bag
- sew lining in

Then there's the handle question - that's the one bit that I can't visualise at the moment. I think that I would like some tooled leather handles but haven't yet found any that I really like. I'm going to keep thrifting for a bag that I can recycle them from.

ps. What do your to-do lists look like? I start out with a rough overview of steps, the first ones the most detailed. As I move through the steps, the subsequent ones become increasingly detailed. I rewrite my to-do list (with its many many components) every few days. I wonder what onee would look like if I kept it from start to finish?

size matters

Better a week late than never, finally a knitting post. I'm talking about matters of size here, of course. I am reasonably tall, generally an Australian size 12 (which is a US size 10), so a medium to large let's say. And Trinny and Susannah would probably call me a vase (a vaaz, not a vayz - phew). What Trinny and Susannah would not call me is an extra-small.

Which brings us to Joy. I have been wanting to knit this cardigan forever. Vintage Style was the first time that I got Rowan suckered; that is, so in love with the models and the styling that I wanted to knit everything in there and bought the book immediately. Ok, so there's only a couple of things that I actually want to knit in there but Joy is number one.

So, please observe the photo: I think that this model is definitely an extra-small. And there is not a lot of ease in the garment's fit, that is, it's not baggy or loose and those are not bell sleeves. Gauge is 26 stitches to 10 centimetres, using a 3.25mm needle. By my calculations, casting on 61 stitches should give a sleeve cuff that measures about 23.5 centimetres in width.

Ok, I'm going on and on about this because I am knitting my first sleeve of Joy in size extra-small and on 3mm needles. My cuff measures about 22 centimetres in width which would easily block out a bit but I don't know that I would even want to.













These two photos show how incredibly different the colour of this yarn is in different light. I can't decide whether it is brown or russet or purple. It's recycled from a Talbots twin set, 80 per cent wool 20 percent cashmere. A further note: while I am following the chevron pattern chart I am not achieving the effect by slipping a stitch with one of 5,300 tiny beads on in. No thank you. I am instead purling the stitch on the right side and knitting it on the wrong side. Because while sometimes nuts I am not crazy.

And those little clippy things holding the sleeve together in the photo on the right? Miniature hairclips. These things are an absolute must for anyone who has not mastered the whole seamless knitting in the round picking up stitches thing. They hold your knitted garment's seams together perfectly, grip tight, one stitch in, don't allow slippage and I could not seam without them. Why then is my Wallingford still languishing in want of a side seam? Well, I never said that I seam with them either.