Photobombed by a Greyhound

Not sure about you, but I like to photograph my makes as a reminder of when/how I made something. You have noticed that there are plenty of posts with pics of my sewing makes, and a few of my knitting. Like this one. This morning I wanted to take a few photos of a pair of socks that I had just completed - nothing special about them other than they were made out of yarn that was very soft - and the colour of the yarns is very pretty (Knit Picks Felici):

Then along came a greyhound who wanted to be in on the action!!

Thank-you Hobbes.  I guess it is time to play!

Catching Up - the Knitting Chapter

Well, it has been a few weeks since I last posted (Gosh! It sounds like I'm in confession!) and thank-you to those who inquired about my well being. I am fine - I just lost my dressmaking and blogging mojo. Most strange as it seemed to leave a gap that was quickly filled with knitting and patchwork/quilting! I have been a little loathe to share this diversion with you as I have read many blogs were people say they are put off by posts about quilting/cats/children etc., and then I reminded myself that it is my blog and my journey, so I hope that you will read on and who knows - maybe open your thoughts to other projects that you may find fun!

I am going to start off with a couple of knitting projects - both socks, so no surprise there, but also a little tale about how this has leaked into work.

The first pair of socks are made from my Billy Basic sock pattern (free on Ravelry)

I remember years ago - probably in the early-mid ‘80’s reading about Kaffe Fassett. It was a magazine article and he was photographed sitting on the floor with baskets of yarn around him and he was knitting a jumper or cardigan.

Each basket had a different color of yarn in it - and not all the yarns were the same weight, and some of the lengths of yarn were only a metre or so. He would pull out a piece of yarn in the color he wanted, and would just knit, using many different shades (yellow springs to mind) and it gave such fabulous depth to his knitting. To me, it seemed such a ‘way out’ way of knitting - so liberating to knit with what you had (including leftovers) rather than buying X balls to complete a project, and although I never knit like this myself, he has always been an inspiration - the first knitter that I had read about who broke to rules.

Fast forward 30 years (has it really been that long?) I came across some of his yarn in my local yarn shop, and all those happy memories came flooding back. So I knit some plain socks to show off the lovely yarn. And this is them!

Second up was a pair for Mr. SDSC.  Plain brown in colour but a fabulous pattern that makes clever use of  contrasting knitting and purling to get great results.

I am so pleased with both of these pairs as I have not been able to knit for the best part of 2 years now as I have 'thing' called De Quervains Syndrome that effects my left (non-dominant) wrist.  It has been excruciatingly painful and meant wearing a brace, lots of physio and finally . . . . . a steroid injection.  Oh boy - that injection was fabulous and means that I can now knit quite happily.  Woohoo!

So, a couple of my colleagues at work commented that they wanted to learn to knit and had contemplated signing up at a local yarn shop.  I volunteered my services and for two lunchtimes a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) we gather in our lunch room to knit and chat  no work conversation allowed.  It has really been fun - I have taught four or five ladies to knit, and it has really helped in the workplace (not that we have tough jobs or anything like that, but we do have to deal with quite volatile situations and angry people on the phone and in person).  One of things that I found interesting was that having taught someone to knit - they wanted to go and purchase fancy yarn to actually make something - rather than practice, practice and lose interest.  As a result, there are a number of finished fancy ribbon/fluffy scarves, booties, cowls, infinity scarves etc., and the feeling is that this is 'their time' in a busy workplace, a time when they can relax and clear their minds.  It certainly makes my week a lot happier being able to knit at work!

How about you - any sock knitters out there?  And what are your thoughts on blogs that cover a number of different topics/crafts?

Ladybird, Ladybird (don't) Fly Away Home

Last Christmas, Mr. SDSC surprised me with a totally unexpected present - a spinning wheel.

It is a Schacht Ladybird and is very cute.  The only problem was - I had no idea how to spin.  So my poor little 'bug sat all alone awaiting the day that I could find someone to teach me how to spin.  And woohoo -  at last I have found some tuition with the Heritage Weavers and Spinners.  Now, before you get thinking that I will be spinning and weaving the fabric for my dressmaking - let me show you my first skein:

I should have put something next to it for scale, suffice to say that I was not aiming for a thick/thin novelty yarn, but come the apocolypse I will have warm toes and fingers!!  Here is some of my spun yarn waiting to be plied like the skein above:

Yes.  It is a little 'twisty' - I have a long way to go :)

But that leads me onto some knitting that I finished off at the weekend.  A couple of years ago - before the dressmaking bug came and bit my behind, I was churning out a pair of socks every one to two weeks.  I now have more than 100 pairs and have knitted some for Mr. SDSC, my father and a few special people.  Somehow, I lost my 'knit' and have had a few pairs on the needles for a while.  Including these which I have now finished.

Sorry for the pasty legs - but there is still no sight of Spring in this part of the Northern hemisphere . . . . .

For these socks I have used a self striping yarn - the yarn is dyed in such a manner that you knit round and round and the yarn knits up in stripes.  I love blues and yellows - very seasidey!

So, I have my 'knit' back again, and I am thrilled.  I find that during the week I like to plan my sewing, but do not have the enthusiasm to actually do anything about it.  Most likely because once I start, I don't want to stop and go to bed!  So this means that I can now knit in the evenings whilst planning my sewing.  Perfect!

How about you - what post apocalypse skills do you have?!  Talking of which, have you seen the BBC2 series Tudor Monastery Farm?  It is a UK documentary about life in the Tudor period in the UK and includes shepherding, sheep shearing, spinning, etc.,  It is fascinating - the kind of show that makes you wonder why you are not milking your own sheep to make cheese, or spinning yarn to make your own fabric.  Here are some You Tube links.  It is currently being shown on the Knowledge Channel here in Canada.

Fleece Jacket - Simplicity 2482

Here is the jacket that I finished this jacket last weekend, and just so that you know, I was going to take photos outdoors, but as it was -25c outside (-34c with the windchill.  Seriously, who cares about another 9c when it is this cold??!), I thought that I would just show you outdoors, and take the photos indoors!!

Brrrr!

Now, onto the jacket details!  I used Simplicity 2482, a simple dressing gown/jacket pattern.  I liked the high collar, zippered opening and big pockets.  I used some fleece that I bought in the sales on New Years' Day - about $7/m, and it used less than suggested on the envelope.

I wanted to share a quick photo of how I marked the location for the pockets on the jacket fronts - as the fleece is so thick, tailors tacks would be hard to add accurately, so I used thread to mark the corners:

It actually worked out really well, and the pockets went on very easily.

I know that the color of the fleece is a bit 'blah', but it will work really well as a neutral - look how great it is with these scarves I made.

The only changes I made to the pattern were to shorten the length by a couple of inches (I think that I must have bought a slightly shorter zip that I should have), and I used 'fold over' Lycra edging for the cuffs and bottom of the jacket - I used black, and I think it ties in nicely with the zip.

If you would like to see the PatternReview - take a look here!

Singer Perfect Plus - update

I am excited to say that I have been on a bit of a roll sewing wise.  It is interesting to note (well, it is for me anyway!!) that I work better when I have a number of items cut our and ready to go.  It can take a good day or so to get lots cut out and then I can disappear into my sewing room and can work for ten minutes, three hours, whatever time I have available.  So, when I cut out Mr. SDSC's shirt, and my Chartreuse Sorbetto dress, I also cut out a couple of pairs of trousers and a top for myself.  And here are the results!

First up is a pair of grey trousers made out of suiting with a touch of lycra.  They hang really well, but are a little too heavy for the summer - they will be really warm in the winter.  I put side pockets in these and I am not that happy with them.  Pockets don't excite me like they do with others, so I will probably not put them in the next pair.

Just look at how they hang at the back (forget the dodgy pocket peeking out on the left!), I am just thrilled that they don't bunch up under my butt like my old RTW trousers do.  I used McCalls 5239 again - I love that pattern!

Hey, I hear you shout - that's a cute top . . . you know what, I have all sorts of conversations in my head, and I guess this is one of them . . . well thank-you!  I really want to make a great co-ordinated work wardrobe.  Although I work in an environment where casual clothing is acceptable, I personally like to dress up a bit and 'look the part'.  Using the information and suggestions in the Singer Perfect Plus book, I made the 'shapely shirt' out of some cotton with lovely woven thick and thin stripes.  I made a number of alterations such as a FBA, sway back and rounded back adjustment.  All in all, I am happy with this.  Seeing the photos of the back, it looks as though I can take in the excess fabric under the swayback adjustment - you can see it in the photo above where the fabric sticks out and catches the light.  I like the cute little sleeves and I love a collar on my tops as they help disguise my rounded upper back.

As with Mr. SDSC's shirt, I used my old, old, Singer Featherweight and buttonholer attachment to make the buttonholes.  Boy that is a good combination!

The other pair of trousers are from some black suiting that has woven black on black stripes that you cannot see in these photos, but they do look rather smart.

Again, I am really please with how they hang, and I am happy to be able to knock these out with some consistency, quickly and easily.

The same pattern (with more generous seam allowances) also made these jimmy jam trousers:

And the cute socks?  They were a 'mystery sock pattern' on Ravelry.  They have little glass beads down the side and are very soft and smooshy!

Well, having polished off that sewing, I am ready to have another cutting out marathon.  I have three lengths of linen/rayon in grey, natural and chartreuse, so I plan to cut out a 'shapely blouse' and a Sorbetto from each of the lengths.

These will be part of my 'Antipodean Adventure' collection for my trip to Australia.  The blouse and the Sorbetto can be worn on their own, or layered with the blouse acting as a lightweight jacket.  I also have fabric for three more shirts for Mr. SDSC and finally, oh yes finally, I am going to cut out my Oscar de la Renta shift dress.  The fabric has been washed (a 70/30 wool/silk houndstooth) that I planned to make for the Pattern Review RTW competition that  never made.  Here is the original version that I love so much!

So there we go, that should keep me busy for a while - what about you?

MMM - 5

Jimmy Jams, Socks, Flinen Trousers and the Pattern Plus Pyramid

OK, so there is a lot to get through today, so better get at it!

Mr. SDSC and I had a very lazy day today - no shopping, cleaning, meeting up with buddies, washing cars or anything.  A truly lazy day.  So in honour of that, I chose to wear a brand spanking new pair of Jimmy Jam trousers (PJ's to other folk) that I finished last night.  I used a soft cotton with a plaid weave (and no, I didn't even attempt to match any of it up) and my new McCall's pattern (5239) that is fast becoming a TNT.  I added 2" to the waist for the fold-over elastic and stitched the side seams with 5/8" seams even though the pattern is altered to 1" seams.  I thought that the extra space would be just what was needed!

I love this finish for an elastic waistband - there is a great tutorial here, and rather than use a twin needle, I used a three step zigzag and I am very pleased with the finish.  It will be appearing again!!  The only comment to add here is that the trousers looked like a dogs breakfast whilst I was stitching on the elastic.  It was only when I had started the zigzag that they began to look a LOT better!  So if you do try this technique, no wobbly bottom lips until you see how they transform when the elastic is sewn down!

Although a little creased, I am happy with how the back hangs on these, no bagging under my butt :)

And to finish off, another pair of hand knitted socks!  This is a very plain pattern used with self striping yarn (Knit Picks Felici Sport) and as we are moving into warmer weather, I won't be wearing hand knitted socks very much from now on so I am making the most of it!!

Following on from these toursers, I am going to make another pair - a bit more fitted - with some lovely red (wannabe) linen - hence the name 'Flinen' (aka faux linen!!).  If they turn out well, I have some mustard linen/rayon from Fabric Mart that will be put into use for a fabulous pair of summer trousers.

And finally - although maybe the most exciting news, is that I have won the current leg of the Plus Pattern Pyramid.

In short this means that I will soon be receiving some plus sized patterns, I get to chose one (or maybe two or three) to keep, replace them with some from my stash, and then hold a competition on my blog and the winner will have the patterns sent onto them . . . and so it continues!  As the parcel is making it's way from Australia - thank-you Chris - it will probably be a few weeks, but watch this space for details if you would like to play!

Me Made May and Retirement :(

I am taking part in the Me Made May - wearing a homemade garment every day for the full month.  This is all being organized by the lovely Zoe of Sozo - pop on over and sign up!

This will be quite a challenge for me as I only really got back into sewing last year, but we all need something to push us along! Here is my pledge:

'I, twotoast sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to a self-made garment every day for the month of May. These garments will be either sewn or knitted by me.'

I think that weekdays will mainly be sewn garments, and the weekends will involve a lot of handknitted socks.  Which leads me onto a sad moment.  I had to retire a pair of socks this weekend due to a hole in the heel of one of them.

So, a moment if you please . . . .

I actually dyed the yarn for these socks myself, knit them up two-at-a-time and entered them into the Western Showcase that highlights local crafts at the Calgary Stampede, in 2011.

 
They will be missed.  I know that I could darn the heel, but I have about 100 other pairs to wear so I think I will be good to go!

So how about you?  Are you taking part in Me Made May?  Go on, you know you want to!!

Mojo

I kind of lost my sewing mojo.  It was linked into moving house and my sewing room looking like this:

 

But, Mr. SDSC has been very busy building my units, and I will be back to full sewing speed pretty soon,  There are still some things that need moving from the old house (we downsized our house without downsizing our possessions.  Oops!)

In the meantime, I resorted to my more portable hobby - some knitting, and have cast on a cute scarf called Hitchhiker (you can pick up the pattern on Ravelry).  I am using some lovely self-striping yarn called Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball.  The scarf has teeth along one edge and gently curves.  Very cute!  Here is my progress so far:

And here is a photo of my little helper enjoying the afternoon sun - Rocky the greyhound:

Glynis

Last year I went on a knitting retreat in Tofino organized by Knits by the Sea and hosted by Cookie A, the most fabulous knitter-come-designer.  She really is an inspiration and if you ever get chance to take a class with her, it is something that I am sure you will treasure.

Here she is, in person, teaching us about 'suckage'.  Yep, really - but you know, she is quite right.  When you use cables, the fabric 'sucks in' and becomes tighter.  All very clever!

 And yes, she is holding my knitting !!

 And as glorious as Tofino is . . . .

 Boy, it rains!!

Anyhow, reminiscing aside, I have decided that I want to have a go at knitting the socks from her books, starting with Sock Innovation.  The first pair of socks is called Glynis (I mentioned them on this posting), and here they are:

 

The pattern was an easy one, but don’t forget to check out the errata as there is an error in the chart for the top of the foot, row 8.

 

These socks will be gifts, not sure who for yet, but I would like to build a stock pile of a few pairs for those special people in my life . . . and it helps to keep the yarn band for those all important washing instructions and yarn composition . . . . !