Wednesday, December 27, 2017

2017 - Gosh I made a lot of stuff!

Hello,
 I hope you  have all had a wonderful and restful few days off. I know I have!  Recently I purchased a bullet journal and although I am not going to show you my scribbles, I will say that I am really getting into the planning! This year although I have made a lot of stuff much of it is undocumented. Either here or on instagram ( in some cases I haven't even got photos) which in hindsight I am a little sad about.
Anyway I though I would do a bit of a round up of my makes as best I can and hopefully start a fresh in the new year.



So my #2017makenine overall I was pretty pleased with how this worked out. I have made 7 of 9. My Anna and Cleo dresses have been the best makes as I have made both multiple times and I have worn them all lots! The funny thing about the Anna dress is that I have had it literally years but just never got around to it. The others I have made only once, but with the exception of the Heather dress I will probably make them again. My little Morris blazer was made on Friday night so fairly close to the wire but it  was a quick make and if I hadn't had to put the sewing machine away I would probably have made another straight away.

The fabric was from Fabworks about 6 weeks ago and was an impulse purchase ( the lady in front of me had it in her pile and I grabbed some). It doesnt really show in the photo what a gorgeous combination of green and blue it is, but you can tell that it is a great pattern and looks good with jeans. I am hoping it will look equally good dressed up.


Then there have been all of the other things that have been made. I joined in two sewing challenges on Instagram. One was a to make a shirt dress and I made the little red one above. McCalls m6696 a very popular pattern in the sewing community and I can see why . Good instructions, and pieces that fit together very well. I would definitely like to make this again. 

The other was sleevefest you had to design a sleeve for a garment. I really enjoyed this and spent a lot of time looking at tattoos. The dress which it is in the picture above made the finals at which point I promptly took it apart again as I plan on doing more embroidery on it.


Probably my favourite make of the year has got to be Oriana's prom dress. We planned it and made it together. It fit her like a glove and she loved wearing it especially as it was completely unique for her.
My most used patterns of the year have been the SOI pussy bow blouse and the SOI ultimate pencil skirt. The skirt pattern has been used 6 times. 3 for me and 3 for Elenya . I have made the blouse 4 times, once for me and three times for Elenya. They are the perfect work wear combination. Although my skirts and blouse are too wild to put together...next year I must make some plain stuff!


Knitting wise I have been quite slow. I finished the socks for mum's christmas present and I managed to complete my Agatha Cardigan Andi Satterlund that I cast on last christmas but that has been about it. I have cast Hetty by Andi Satterlund on Christmas day( can you see a recurring theme)  so hopefully should be able to share a finished garment with you in the next week or two.

Anyway that is my round up wishing you a wonderful new year.

A x

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Well hello Dolly!


Afternoon all,

So today I really want  to talk about the unloved projects. You know the ones that you rushed out and got all the materials for, started with such enthusiasm and left in the drawer. Am I the only one who has these ? Surely not!


Anyway I have been trying to declutter over the last couple of months and it seems it is not just me that has a few of these projects ,but the kids did too and were keen to chuck them all out! Well  I couldn't let yarn go in the bin without first having a rummage . It is true what they say one person's rummage is another's treasure.

Some of them I couldn’t work out what they were supposed to be and those went into the local pet charity but two of them I kept.  A pair of striped socks and a little hand knitted doll.
The socks I am yet to find the pattern for so they might have to wait , But the doll I was in love with and I wanted to cast on straight away.



The AK Traditions doll and clothes I bought at Harrogate probably about nine years ago. At the time I was struck by her vibrant clothes and thought she would be a perfect project for a budding knitter. However the yarn is quite stiff ( with lots of knots) and on smaller needles was too tough for little hands. So the project languished, barely started.


So I frogged the few stitches and cast on. The instructions had a lot of faults, just little things stitch counts mainly,but the doll itself didn’t take much knitting,. A couple of evenings in front of the T.V she was done.



As she isn’t for a child I decided to fill her with cloves and cinnamon ( you can’t tell in the feel, because of how packed the stuffing is)She does smell very nice, rather like a pretty  potpourri!

Then it was onto the clothes. This was a little bit more problematic as I couldn’t find most of the patterns. All those lovely pictures and no patterns, very frustrating! I even emailed the company and messaged a couple of people on Ravelry to see if I could buy more. Luckily the knitting gods were smiling on me as cast off the last leg of the doll , I found the patterns yippee!



Ooh the clothes!!! There are so many amazing combinations you could be at it forever, but as I am just on a yarn using spree I just made these.

I loved making the little skirt, blouse and shoes, it kind of made me feel like I was in the  Elves and the shoemaker ( not a bad feeling this close to Christmas). I am not going to make any more clothes for her I don't think as she isn't that kind of Dolly but if ever get to make another I will definitely make more clothes  as there are so many potentials.

I am wondering if I can finish any more wips before my Christmas Cast on ....Watch this space!

Till next time

Ax

Sunday, December 17, 2017

The Saga and Success of the Good Vintage Cardigan


Afternoon all,
today I want to tell you about a project that nearly didn't happen. A good vintage cardigan by Fran Morgan. I saw pictures of the front cover of simply crochet way back in late February and instantly fell in love. As soon as I could I  rushed into town to try and get it, but it seemed everyone else had the same idea.



Unfortuantely everywhere was sold out at which point I had a senior moment and instead of looking on Ravelry I decided to download the app and buy the magazine. The app is shockingly bad and it took several attempts to download before I could actually print out a copy.

The next problem was the yarn King Cole 4ply  silver grey, which is the main colour  had been discontinued . What I predominately liked about the cardigan was the grey. Luckily I have a very good friend, Chris , who owns a Fine Yarn in Darlington and she managed to source the grey for my cardigan and for a friend who also wanted to make it and some of the other colours needed.



By mid July I had finally manged to get the rest of the colours together except the Scarlet, which I had decided to substitute for Rose as I found the scarlet too strong against the other colours.  I realised early on that even though the grey was the same dyelots the grey varied from silver grey to brown grey dependant on the ball so I striped the yarn. Everything was going really well, the pattern is easy to follow and with the exception of the sleeve heads could be done in front of the TV, then the ultimate disaster. I ran out of the grey. I only needed two grey stripes at the top of the sleeves and the button bands although I could of done other colours with them.



No where had any more! Chris hadn't got any more, the internet was drawing a blank. Luckily my friend who wanted also wanted to  make it, hadn't started hers and was willing to lend me the extra yarn that I needed. Thank you Kathy!

I am so glad that I persevered with this as I love the finished result! It is so much fun and very cheerful for grey days. It goes really well with denim which is a bonus as it is an excuse to make yet another Cleo although that might have to wait until after Christmas.


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