more on maud

I finally sat down this evening and got around to de-punking my maud. I just outlined stitched in sewing thread through the two layers of fabric around the paisley motifs that I had previously drawn and pinned. The stitches are reasonably unobtrusive so I'll be able to wear it again without risking an act of self-voodooism. I could even refer to it as the deconstructed Margiela phase (great website, incidentally).

I have also finished the felted jumper bag, or at least the embroidery and construction phase thereof. I am still stuck as to what to do about the handles. But more on that tomorrow.

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.

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.