leftovers

Socks, I shall knit socks. And not even for miss bear, just for myself. 

Ever since I knit the secret-pink-stripes socks for Tim, I have been meaning to knit another pair for myself. It's the same pattern and I might try and make these ones knee socks to use up as much random sock yarn leftovers as possible. There are three rows there of Grignasco Strong Print in yellow at the toe which I swear is the absolute last of that yarn (initially used for illicit socks in 2008). I started off striping them (some op shop Patonyle in blue/grey and some thrift store Trekking XXL) then realised, for goodness' sake, I'm knitting with self-striping yarn (the Trekking) - just knit!

Which I have continued to do, blissfully mindlessly. That's what I like about knitting socks from the toe up - a tube, a heel, then another tube (no gusset decreases) so great expanses of just knit, knit, knit. And two at a time using the magic-loop method, which worked well for me last time.

trenery

TREN-er-y? or tre-NERR-y? Trenerry is the name of the street where Country Road had its headquarters once (originally?), but I'm not sure how I'd pronounce that either. Anyway, Trenery came into being while we were living in the US and I wasn't really sure why it existed alongside Country Road (but I do now thanks to google, it's supposedly for the slightly older crowd).

I wonder how well the brand is doing (or not); I saw a pop-up clearance store in the city a few weeks back and have seen a lot of it at the op shop. Brand new stock at the op shop - I picked up these two shirts at the Salvo's in Elsternwick on Friday and left two behind. They're an XL and an XXL which perhaps explains why they are excess stock but that's fine because I bought them for the fabric, to cut up and sew into something else, so the larger the better. Maybe something from miss bear's wish list.

I love things to be handmade but it is also important to me that they are extremely well made and that starts with the materials. For the longest time, somehow the fabric on the bolt just never seemed to be of the quality that I saw hanging in the stores. (This may well have been a function of where I was shopping, both for fabric and for clothing.) But even since stores stocking much better quality fabrics have opened (Tessuti, The Cutting Edge), I still experience some anxiety about matching fabric and project. This way the work is done for me and I get commercial quality fabric that is just perfect for a blouse. Possibly (hopefully) I have also saved some money on yardage, although these blouses were pricey at $15-odd each. Still, I prefer to be re-using something that already exists and to have my money got to the Salvo's so that's great value already.

pachelbel

I love the name Pachelbel but it's not one you get to use often, unless you're a music buff naming a toy pachiderm.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Elephant by Bonnie Gosse and Jill Allerton from the great first knitting book, aptly named A First Book of Knitting for Children.  
Size: The pattern only provides for one size so it depends on what weight yarn you use. 
Yarn: Moda Vera Husky (100 per cent baby alpaca) in colourway 5 'dark grey'; 1 skein. 
Needles: It's a bulky yarn but I knit it with 2.75mm needles to get a really solid fabric so that the stuffing wouldn't show or leak through.

Start to finish: 15 December to 23 December 2012.

Stash/recycle content: Alas, no. Oh actually, a tiny little bit. The embroidery wool for the eyes was bought at the op shop!

Comments: I actually knit two elephants, this baby one and a larger one using two strands at once and a 4mm needle. Unfortunately, I was so excited with the finished product that I gave it away to the happy recipient without even taking a photo. I'll try to get one at a later date.

I knit only 12 rows for head and decreased 1 st at beg of the last 2 rows for the ears. I then sewed the ears on with tail of the cast on, starting at the side of the body and working up toward the crown of the head. Then I used from the cast off end to gather up the side of the ear. Both elephants were stuffed with wool roving.

Verdict: Adorable, but certainly hard on the hands to knit.

look what i found

At the op shop (yes, we're back in Australia):

Yes, the M2818 sewing pattern of my recent ill-fated dressmaking attempts. In my size too, for a dollar. I'm going to keep at it and it's good to have a spare on hand in case my current version gets too tattered.

In the last fortnight, I've also picked up:

- various decor and tupperware plastic storage containers
- a size 4 Country Road hooded sweatshirt for baby b
- a green Seed hooded sweatshirt, size 5/6, for baby b for later
- some unworn European leather shoes for baby b for later
- a pair of Ecco girls boots for a friend's daughter (not sure which friend yet, they're size 23 - give me a yell if you have a daughter)
- likewise for a pair of silver Tip Toey Joey slip-ons
- a Trenery blouse for myself
- great children's books of Aesop's fables, Hans Christian Andersen tales and tales of the Arabian Nights, all with wonderful illustrations
- a wooden circus game
- a linen dress to repurpose as a school uniform piece for miss bear
- a hat for school, also for miss bear
- an unopened packet of overnight nappies for baby b
- a t-shirt for baby b
- a black woollen skirt for myself
- trousers for Tim
- a mug, and I'm sure that's not all.

Guess what else I finally found - free wireless internet (at home, not at the op shop).

ps. There is a spinning wheel in the window at Cheltenham Salvo's (or at least there was a few days ago).

fifth course

I've been randomly knitting away on Tim's secret pink stripe smorgasbord delicious socks. I'm up to the fifth different yarn and they're coming along nicely. Just stocking stitch in the round for a while now, then ribbing I guess. I don't think I'll even need to do any shaping as they are certainly not going to be knee highs (as the pattern accommodates).

And I am working on the lace edging for Cladonia, these are long rows now:

And I'm still working on my blouse. Here's a snippet of the fabric, upcycled from a men's shirt that I bought in ... Australia, maybe? From the op shop, brand is Blazer, it's a medium-weight cotton with this little dark blue print of sprigs. It looks just like a patchwork print but the material is heavier.


I managed to totally muck up the front yoke facing so it wasn't sitting nicely at all. Now that I have removed it, it appears that the front yoke and front yoke facing are completely different shapes ... not at all sure how I managed that. Am trying to maintain momentum in order to actually finish it (rather than resorting to the more pleasant task of cutting pattern pieces out for a different blouse. I've only done one so far).

babette's feast [of colour]

I fear that Babette would have a tummy ache.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Babette Blanket by Kathy Merrick.
Size: Ah, there's a reason this is not called the Barbara Blanket - it's tiny!! Mine measures 84 x 76cm which indicates that I didn't achieve the gauge recommended by the pattern (which gives a finished size of 109 x 101.5 cm). Usually I wouldn't be so concerned with gauge on a project like this, although I am a tad disappointed that it didn't come out larger.

Yarn: Lots of them!

• Patons UK - Crocus  in black; a vintage yarn purchased at Lake City Value Village
• Cleckheaton Merino Bambino 4 ply in 2158, a mid-blue
• Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 ply in 26 (yellow) and 20 (purple), previously used for my kashmir shawl
• Patons Australia Patonyle in a steel blue which I used to finish Tim's dad's socks
• Rowan 4 Ply Soft in a burnt orange
• Ski Yarn Fingering (中細) in 1876, a beige, purchased at Capitol Hill Value Village
• Zwerger Garn Opal 4-fach / 4-ply in a pink/blue/white colourway, unravelled from a baby jacket purchased at an op shop in Benalla
• Zitron Trekking (XXL) in 126 and 81, purchased at Capitol Hill Value Village
• Rowan Pure Wool 4ply in '449 - vintage', '436 - kiss' and '450 - eau de nil', also used in the kashmir shawl
• Rowan Scottish Tweed 4 Ply in '20 - mallard'
• Louet Gems Fingering Weight in sage
• Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn in '01 - blues in the night' which I received in a yarn swap and used for breaking the waves
• Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Solid in 'manzanita' with which I previously attempted the In the Pink shawl
• Heirloom Baby Wool 4 ply in 415 (light blue) and 407 (dark blue)
• Grignasco Strong Print in a blue/pink/yellow colourway, previously used for my illicit socks
• Grignasco Bambi in 416 'camel', previously used for the acorn hat, knit for life cupcake and rhubarb pie liza

So, twenty-one separate yarns.

Hook: 3.25mm for the motifs and 2.75mm for the edging. 
Stash/recycle content: Oh hooray, all of it! Yes, crocheted entirely from stash. Yarn previously purchased for something else, yarn left over, yarn given to me and yarn bought at the thrift store.
Start to finish: 9 March 2011 to 24 May 2012 - actually not so long. It felt like longer ...

I'm so desperate to get a photo of this finished project out there, and I have so much to say about making it that I need some more time to think: to be continued ...

la waggá

French friends of ours whom we met in Australia, who also live here in Seattle, recently had their first child. What better opportunity to produce the world's first (I'm guessing) Gallo-Australo-American wagga?

The patchwork woollen blanket was actually sewn up about a year ago from pieces cut from a blazer that I bought at the op shop. As the baby's mother is allergic to wool, and even though I'm not sure whether that is a heritable condition, I wanted to encase the blanket in cotton as much as possible. I acquired a good amount of red cotton jersey courtesy of a Tommy Hilfiger sheet set that I bought at a thrift store here in Seattle and used that to mostly encase the blanket. I also figured that this would be softer against the baby's skin.

One of the things that has struck me living and driving here in Washington state is the wonderful graphic of George Washington's profile that is used on the road signs for the state routes. It reminds me of the Queen's profile on English postage stamps (although as someone here quite annoyedly pointed out to me, Washington was not the king of the United States; ah, yes).

Anyway, as our friends are also from elsewhere, living here, for decoration on the quilt I wanted to combine some cultural graphic icons so I chose Washington's profile and also that of the Marianne, the national emblem of France. The profiles are done in reverse appliqué - I placed the cotton jersey onto the woollen blanket and machine stitched around the image with a ball-point needle and tiny stitches, then carefully cut away the fabric inside.

The rest of the space on the quilt needed something so I transferred the outlines of both France and the United States to the top and used running stitch to further quilt the layers together. I stitched around twice, so there are no gaps between the stitches.

I must admit, I'm really happy with this quilt and also excited by it. Happy because it turned out so well, because I love the old-fashioned feel of the deep red against the cream, with the witty imagery (if I may say so myself).

Excited because finally, after probably about four or five years of thought, I finally realised a modern wagga as I have had in mind all that time. And because it is done completely from recycled materials - even the embroidery thread was from an unravelled cotton sweater. Yes, there is also the one that I started for my own baby boy, who at one and a half is hardly a baby any more. And yes, I'm still working on it, stitch by stitch.

home sweet home

It's all been a bit erratic around here lately, mostly because our spring break actually took us to Australia for three weeks. Now we're back home, from home. It's all a bit confusing really and that's not just because of the time difference (which is playing havoc with sleeping routines; we got up at 3pm today).

The flights were long (and I did the one there by myself with the two children as Tim was already in Australia for other matters - you can fit one adult, one child and one toddler into an airplane bathroom), our time there was hectic and wonderful and bittersweet. I caught up with old friends, met new friends (hi Leonie!), caught up with family, spent quality hours and hours at the US consulate, watched my children play with my childhood friends' children; they were supposed to grow up together, that was bittersweet.

And I went op shopping - hooray! One precious Friday afternoon solo stroll down Chapel Street, Windsor and various other opportunist stops in the course of our trip. In all it yielded:

MECWA Windsor - Dr Suess ABC game, one ball of Heirloom Alpaca
Sacred Heart Mission, Windsor - Ojay blouse to be refashioned into a dress, Country Road blouse for the lovely material, silver shoes for miss bear and this Nicola Cerini bag for $5
Salvation Army, Windsor - Rainbow Fish card game, a vintage framed story book page with a dear rabbit picture
Salvation Army, St Kilda - princess dress-up dress, Aquascutum coat, card game, Anna Sui blouse, Immune skirt
Yarraville - Miffy book
Glenhuntly - baby toys, children's Birkenstocks ($1!)
And various books from all over.

What I love about Melbourne op shopping is that it really is a case of finding the gem, as opposed to Seattle-area thrift stores which are like huge supermarkets of barely used goods. More details of some of the clothes purchases to come.

zippety-doo-da?

It is all a bit of a tangle at the moment but I have completed the knitting on baby b's tomten. This whole jacket is made from Icelandic Lopi that I bought from the op shop (St Vincent de Paul's in Malvern - before they moved) and the thrift store (Crown Hill Value Village).

The body is all in burgundy and blue with random stripes and the sleeves in bright teal, burgundy and light teal. Yes, two shades of teal - one purchased in Melbourne, the other years later in Seattle. Although not evident in this photo, the teal right up there in the first row of the sleeve will hopefully make the most of the tomten's distinctive structure.

My only question now is what to about fastening(s)? In my mind I envisioned a two-way separating zip, plastic moulded in dark blue, burgundy or any shade of teal. Alas, no such thing exists (or at least not at this length) and so thwarted I am left in a bind. Should I just use the dark blue one-way separating plastic moulded zip that I have already bought (which is not the zip that I wanted and this will probably weigh heavily upon me forever)? Or do some more knitting - button band, buttonhole band and buttons to choose to boot?

(These aren't really the only questions that I have about life but I am content right now that these are the most pressing).

opal

I acquired this Opal self-striping sock yarn in the form of a matching baby jacket and cap at an op shop in Benalla, a country town about two-hours' drive outside Melbourne. I'm not sure when I bought it but certainly before we came to the US.

I was delighted to be buying an item at the op shop made from identifiable commercial yarn (I still dream of a major Noro haul in just this fashion). The items weren't very well made so I unravelled them and now I am finally using it - it is yarn B in my Babette blanket (rounds three and four in square 8-3).

the feast goes on

I have been working sporadically on the Babette crochet blanket. Like self-striping yarns, these squares are quite addictive - what colour combination will come up next? All of the yarns for this are from my stash, some of them thrifted, some of them carted across the Pacific, some of them bought at the op shop (and therefore also carted across the Pacific).

I'm not sure about some of the colour combinations and I'm hoping that those darker blocks will be balanced out in the larger scheme of things. I also chose a self-striping yarn deliberately to make up some of the larger areas in the largest square. I'm not sure that this was a great idea as self-striping yarns really don't achieve the same effect with crochet.

So yes, all of these squares contain at least one round of the same yarn. In some squares it is mottled, in others there is just the dark brown, in some you get the pink. A project bag with 17 separate balls of yarn in it is quite cumbersome, so I am working all of the squares with yarn A in them first, then I'll do all with yarn B and so on. When I have a dozen or so more squares, I'll start to lay them out on a sheet to get an idea of the overall effect. I'm not going to seam as I go because I want to have the flexibility to swap some squares around.

cast on|away

I recently became very fed up with all of the yarn in my cupboard. Fed up with all the little bits and bobs of balls that might one day indeed be very useful for something. So I got rid of all the bits and bobs. If I do ever need a few metres of blue cotton dk then I will beg, borrow or buy some; I won't hold on to it for years.

My next cleansing step was to decide on projects for as much of the other yarn as I could. No more sweater's worth of yarn sitting there waiting for a sweater. No, everything was going to be designated. I've done a pretty good job, it's much clearer now what will become of what is left. All the more clearer because of course I've gotten a little carried away with casting on for all of these newly decided projects.

And here is one of them:

Elizabeth Zimmerman's tomten jacket, a pattern that I have actually knit before and have wanted to again ever since. It has taken, indeed, almost three years to get around to it. I have several balls of Lopi, bought at both an op shop in Melbourne and at a thrift store in Seattle. I've made a few accessories with it but decided that I wanted it used up so a new tomten was born.

I have been working in dark blue and burgundy and am part way through the hood and will introduce some teal into the sleeves to highlight the construction. At this stage I am actually hoping that I will have enough yarn! Oh it will be funny if I have to buy another ball to finish it.

the iggy poppins carpet bag

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Counterpane Carpet Bag by Carrie Brenner from Handknit Holidays: knitting year-round for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice by Melanie Falick.
Yarn: Noro Kureyon (100 per cent wool) in colourway 219; almost four balls.
Needles: 5mm.
Start to finish: Knitting time - 17 November 2010 to 4 January 2011. But I actually finished it today, just now, this evening when I finally sewed in the lining.
Stash/recycle content: This was yarn that came out of the cupboard, but I had bought it only several weeks previously in order to make something else (which didn't work out). Oh well, at least I didn't buy yarn to make this. I can't remember where I got the handles from, I have had them for a long time so probably from an op shop in Australia. the black velvet that I used to make the lining is re-purposed from a skirt that I definitely bought at Josies op shop.

Comments: I loved knitting this bag, seeing the Noro create its various coloured stripes. And I particularly love how stitch pattern creates stripes that are almost zig zags. I think that projects like this make the best use of this sort of yarn (and so do many others - many of the counterpane carpet bag projects on Ravelry are done with Noro or an equivalent). Someone asked me how I had managed to get the colours to change at exactly the right spot and that is the beauty of this - wherever they change just magically looks like the right spot.

I did make some changes: specifically I changed the handle flap to fit the handles that I had picked out as well as shaping it with paired decreases and increases. I also felted the fabric by hand slightly (in hot water with some soap and rubbing) before sewing it up, just to give it a little more body. Inside the handle flap I inserted some stiff fabric, almost a heavy paper-like stuff that you can use as backing for embroidery, to give the flap some rigidity and support the bag.

Verdict: Wonderful bag! I love knitted counterpanes so was delighted to knit something using a traditional stitch pattern, and in a completely non-traditional yarn. This one is large enough to hold a good-sized knitting project, including straight needles. And a quick note about the book - it has lots of other great patterns in it.

* Credit to Ravelry user lilyofforce for the great project name.

ivorie

I was never a Brownie. Not sure why; it was just one of those things that other people did. And I didn't like the outfits which were at the time, unh, brown.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Brownie by Woolly Wormhead from the Twisted Woolly Toppers ebook.
Yarn: 100 per cent wool, recycled from a Country Road cardigan that I bought at an op shop in Australia and lugged across the Pacific (an all too familiar tale). And this wool is beautiful - it is so soft and silky, perfect for a baby's head.
Needle: 4.5mm
Size: smallest size.
Stash/recycle content: recycled yarn - hooray!
Start to finish: 27 October to 7 November 2010.

Comments: This is a great hat pattern, probably intermediate in its construction complexity. I was casting around on Ravelry and as soon as I saw it, I knew that I wanted to make it. I love the structure - a band of braid grafted together to form a loop, then pick up stitches for the crown and pick up stitches for the ear flaps. Oh yes, I grafted. Not my favourite knitting skill but much easier with this yarn than with sock yarn.

I didn't swatch and it's always a bit difficult with recycled yarn to know whether you are knitting it at an appropriate gauge, but I think that this came out a little smaller than intended. It fits baby b perfectly snugly right now, and I hope for the rest of the winter. That cable is really dense and before I blocked it (vigorously) it stood up by itself. The blocking gave it some drape but still not a lot. Again, not sure if this is a feature of the cabled fabric or a gauge issue. You could also substitute a different cable pattern as long as it fit the stitch and row count.

One issue is that there are lots of ends to weave in, perhaps too many. Should I knit it again (and I would like to), I'd try to be a bit more judicious about breaking the yarn and then attaching it again at the centre back. I think that when you finish the second ear flap that you could just cast off from there.

Verdict: Great pattern and also a great finished piece. This hat is very cute. I'd like to try it again in Cascade 220 (the yarn called for) to see how it turns out. And bonus, then there would be another hat.

my sewing circle

Ravelry for sewing? I know that there are a couple of sites like this around but mysewingcircle seems to be the one that all the cool kids are using. I'm on there too, user name 'amelia', and I've started an alabama stitching group for discussion and sharing of Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style projects. If your a seam-ster/-stress (as opposed to a sewer which just makes me think waste management) you might like to have a look.

And here's something that I've sewn recently:

We're attending a wedding next weekend and little miss bear is very excited as it is her first since she was a baby. This dress is taken from a Japanese pattern book and the fabric is a silk-cotton blend recycled/upcycled from a Sally Smith womens skirt that I once upon a time bought at an op shop in Melbourne just for the fabric. I had to alter the style rather because I didn't have enough fabric to cut the extra flare that the original pattern included. To use up as much fabric as possible I also made it longer.

I left off the front ruching as the fabric is so lovely and I didn't want to break up the print. I also finished the hem with bias tape, again to make the dress longer. Actually, my finished dress didn't end up much like the tunic pictured here at all - the reason that I used this pattern is because it was cut on the bias as was the skirt that I was sewing from.

There wasn't a lot of fabric left over (surprising how much a child's garment can take up from an adult skirt) so I had to make the bias tape from lots of small strips sewn together; came out fine though. No hand finishing on this one except for sewing on the button loop and the button (both from stash).

And that 'decorative' zig-zag stitch? There are no mistakes, just design features (I didn't do a great job of sewing on the bias tape). Same goes for that diagonal seam on the right front shoulder - the fabric went through the overlocker by accident and I couldn't cut the whole piece again so I just had to make do.

I used my overlocker/serger on most of the seams so hopefully there will be no fraying after washing. Impeccable finish is very important to me and I was put off home sewing for many years by the fact that I didn't have an overlocker and I just couldn't bear those raw edges. Funnily, nowadays I actually find those overlocked edges tacky; they are redolent of commercially produced garments rather than hand made. When using a weave, I actually much prefer French seams like I was doing on the (admittedly, yet-to-be-finished) tunique francaise; there is clearly so much more effort in them, the hand of the maker is somehow more present.

stretch target

Ahh, corporate speak - stretch targets, personal and professional development plans, key performance indicators. Anyway, on 1 January this year I stated that stretch was one of my goals for 2010, that is, sewing knit fabrics, and promptly forgot about it until I started working on my Alabama projects. I have decided to leave that blue/green tank unfinished and consider it a toile and ditto for the pink (which is from Alabama Stitch Book - I wanted to try it out for comparison, fit- and length-wise).

I used my overlocker to sew both of these and wouldn't actually recommend it (although I also wouldn't recommend hand stitching as who could bear to rip out those seams as you work on getting the fit right?) Next time I am just going to use the sewing machine with a very shallow, long zigzag stitch and a little less pressure on the foot than usual.

So what, I wonder, would the key performance indicators for motherhood be? Sometimes we catch up with people whom we haven't seen for a few weeks and they ask what I've been doing. Well, I want to say, both the children are still alive and in one piece and we're all wearing clean undies. I mean, that really is meeting my targets (the first one about keeping the children alive being non-negotiable).

And speaking of clean undies - that is my other recent stretch project.

I haven't been happy with any of the girls' underpants on the market here so, having seen Omi Creates' endeavours, I decided to make some. Modern yet modest is how this underpants pattern from that*darn*kat is described and I think that is spot on. And such a fabulous way to use up scraps, old t-shirts, favourite baby clothes - fantastic. You can still see the (admittedly upside-down) Esprit lable on this pair from a top that I bought at an op shop many moons ago. The blue was from a t-shirt of mine that was in decent condition but had a stain right down the front, the red for the bands was some yardage that I had bought previously for something else but decided not to use.

These were mostly sewn on the machine, with the overlocker to neaten up some hems but I question whether that is really necessary. The overlocker is great for knits but the thing is, knits don't really unravel so raw edges are not going to be such a big deal. I actually like to use the overlocker on woven fabrics to keep them from coming apart.

Anyway, I've met my stretch target. Now I just need to go about getting a raise ...

brought to you by the letter b

Little miss bear is allowed to watch a movie each weekend. She loves Madeline but last week was asking for the a-b-c movie. We had no idea what this was so Tim downloaded an episode of Sesame Street and that was a hit.

So today's post is brought to you by the letter b. This is part of my embroidery work on the wagga which is actually to be baby brother's baby blanket. For embroidery thread I am using cotton unravelled from a sweater (or cardigan?) that I bought at the op shop in Seymour (a town in country Victoria).

It is not mercerised so drawing it through the fabric can be a bit of a tug at times. I am using back stitch in an attempt to achieve as solid a line as possible.

For the other waggas I am contemplating testing out the 'perle-8-in-the-bobbin' technique as used on the White Romance project in Make Your Own Contemporary Quilts. Has anyone out there ever tried this?

out, damned moth!

Thankfully we don't actually have any moths but I can't resist a literary allusion when I think of one. But a few friends recently have had or feared moth problems so I decided on pre-emptive action and sewed up some lavender sachets. I wanted to use a fine, light-weight fabric so that the lavender scent would easily escape, so to speak, and decided upon some Swiss cotton handkerchiefs that I bought at op shops in Zurich when we visited a couple of years ago.

A couple of them weren't in very good condition after going through the wash but that was ok, I just cut some fabric out around the damage and sewed up the sachets. I bought a set of fine sewing machine needles especially for the task and promptly misplaced them. I had an inkling that for such a light-weight fabric I should alter the tension of the presser foot pressure or some such but, well, I was too lazy to look it up. So I just sewed - no problems.

Now each closet and cupboard with woollens therein also has a lavender sachet and (I hope) no moths.

wagga wagga wagga*

I was having a poke around in my stash yesterday evening when I found a few dozen pre-cut squares and rectangles that I prepared about three years ago in Australia, transported across the Pacific and promptly forgot about. Now that I have a sewing space permanently set up, the temptation was just too great - I started piecing and pinning and sewing. Twenty-four hours later, I have three more waggas to work on (eventually).

Hmm, no idea what I'm talking about? Sorry - last August I finally finished piecing together my version of a wagga, a traditional Australian quilt/rug that was often improvised from suiting samples, hessian and flour sacks. I improvised mine from squares cut from fulled cream-coloured woollen sweaters. Back at the time I was planning to add some other Australian(a) touches to it. I have started on some embroidery, more on that later.

But even longer ago, about three years, when I first had the idea to make a wagga-type blanket, I toyed around with a number of fabric ideas, all recycled clothing from the op shop. What I found yesterday evening and sewed up were a heap of squares from a llama coat and from a couple of woollen blazers. One day I will think of a way to decorate and back them but for now it is infinitely more satisfying to have them sewn up than in piles.

* Wagga Wagga is a town in New South Wales, Australia.

chunky children's mittens

Absolutely the last knitting project for 2009 - I don't have any more up my sleeve.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Chunky Children's Mittens by Adrienne Jones, available free at Fabric Addict.
Size: 3-4 years.
Yarn: Ístex Álafoss Lopi in shade 133, purchased at St Vincent de Paul op shop in Malvern, Melbourne.
Needles: 4.5mm
Start to finish: 6 December 2009 to 28 December 2009.
Recycle/stash content: 100 per cent! I was so delighted when I found this yarn at the op shop because it was one that I hadn't encountered before and it seemed quite, well, exotic.
Comments: While I am very grateful for patterns that are provided free of charge on the internet, I guess that they don't get quite the same degree of quality control/checking as those that originate from commercial sources. I knit the first mitten in an evening but had to rip it back to the cuff the next day because the proportions were way out - may have just been a case of the yarn that I used and my gauge. I knit them again, measuring against little miss bear's hand as I went. I also mucked up the stitch count on the first mitten as the pattern is written using the abbreviation M1 (make 1) but actually defines this as 'knit through the front and back' (which I would denote as kfb). This does make a difference.

Verdict: Hmmm, ok. Next time I would knit the cuffs using a smaller needle to keep them snugger. And the yarn - yes, exotic and still filled with scraps of Icelandic vegetation but really, these heavier yarns are just not my knitting cup of tea. I would like to embroider or needle felt a snowflake onto the back of these mittens but that will have to be considered a separate project!