Random Acts of Yarn

FOs and WIPS

2012-01-25T20:48:00.004Z

I have finished my Sun Ray Ribbing! I'm not actually sure I blogged about it to be honest, but I started it just before Christmas. I had a vaguely insane idea that I could wear it for Christmas. I didn't manage it!

Here's a better colour match. And I have some mystery fabric (about 16 metres) that matches it, from my mother. She thinks it's silk but doesn't remember and it's been in her stash for at least 10 years. I'm going to make a high waisted skirt of it to wear with it.

And I'm working on my pomotomus sock again. Having put it on hold for so long I'm liking it again!

And I have started a new sock. I've run out of unused sock yarn. I know, it's a terrible thing. But I have many leftovers. Some of them have already become squares in my sock yarn blanket. But some haven't so I'm making colour block socks. I'm using some 4ply in a solid colour to unify them, and putting in bands of self striping sock yarn. This is what I have so far:

And Kathryn has an FO too. We got her a sewing machine for Christmas. Unfortunately I needed to take it back and exchange it for a working one, which I did this weekend. And she made her teddy a waistcoat:) She had a little help, but she did sew two of the seams all by herself:) (very proud mummy here)

My Christmas present from my parents was a pink drawer unit. For me, but for Kathryn's use. It's full of her art supplies. And when I say full, I mean I think we need to get another one!

If I get any chance to do sewing in the next few weeks, I have a pair of trousers ready to sew for Kathryn. They're from a sheet, as this is a test item. I want to check the fit on her, and try out sewing a fly front which is new to me... and looks tricky. I will post pics when I get round to it!

January goals

2012-01-12T21:10:00.002Z

I have some goals for January!

Mostly sewing goals, but there are some other things there too.

Firstly, I want to make this for Kathryn:

Bells sent me this sewing pattern when I asked her about a pattern she made for her lovely niece, and I want to make a nice summery dress - not that it's summery yet, but I can dream hey!

I also want to make some muslins for various items. I have a pattern for a pair of trousers I want to make for Kathryn, but really want to test them as she doesn't fit age 6 RTW trousers. I also have the Negroni shirt pattern that I want to make for Himself. Again, I want to test fit it to him as he doesn't fit regular RTW shirts very well.

I've also got a couple of skirt patterns that I want to roughly fit to me - I have been given approximately 16 metres (yes, 16 metres) of some mystery fabric by my mother. She had it for years, doesn't remember where it came from and thinks it might be silk. I did a burn test on a tiny corner, and think it could very well be silk too. I want to use this possibly silk to make myself a high waisted skirt. Well, I suspect I could make several skirts, a suit, dress and maybe a hat and bag to match! I've been knitting the Sun Ray Ribbing top from A Stitch in Time, and the colour match with the possibly silk is perfect!

I also want to finish the Sun Ray Ribbing, just need to finish off the neckline points and sew the sides together, and then the hard bit - finding two perfect buttons.

We've had a few changes around here, the biggest one is that Kathryn changed schools. There are all sorts of reasons why, which I don't intend to go into here. The result is that she now goes to a school with a uniform. I don't know how you feel about uniforms for junior school age children, but personally I feel it's wrong. I can't put all the reasons into words, but mostly I feel that children are still figuring out what they like and don't like, and putting them in a uniform seems unfair. I will admit that a line of neatly uniformed children is very sweet and endearing, and I suppose it will grow on me. I never had a uniform at that age, does it show!

Another result is that we now have a 5 minute walk to school in the morning, which is considerably shorter!

So, lets see how much sewing I manage this month!

2011-12-30T22:22:00.003Z

Erm. I meant to blog before this, but Christmas kind of crept up on me!

We had a lovely Christmas, Kathryn got some more ballet slippers from my mum!

My sister and I had pairs of these as kids, and my mum found the pattern and made some for Kathryn, and my nieces for their presents this year. These are actually a lot more purple than they look in this picture.

Kathryn decorated the tree this year, and here she is posing with a bit of tinsel. I love this picture!

And this is what I gave my mum for Christmas. She asked for a dundee cake, so I made her one.

I know everyone else is doing retrospectives of 2011 and goals for 2012. My only goal I'm posting about is to blog more often!

Happy New Year, and I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Actual Knitting Content!

2011-12-01T22:24:00.002Z

This is supposed to be a knitting blog. Here's some knitting!

I'm making the Sun-Ray Ribbing from A Stitch in Time 1 by Susan Crawford (rav link), which I love. I saw it made up at a show, and bought the book on the strength of that one pattern.

I'm making it from some denim blue 4ply, which I've swatched and swatched. I have changed the pattern a bit, mostly I've added a few pattern repeats so I could make the smaller size (the sizing is done with needle sizes, and I didn't like the tension on the larger needles), and some short rows in the front.
The pattern has an opening at the back, and that's where I am now. Looking forward to having this finished in time to wear for Christmas.

Christmas Carols

2011-11-28T13:07:00.002Z

I quite like Christmas carols, despite my somewhat Scrooge-ish take on Christmas (bah! Humbug!), mostly because you can mess with them.

My favourite is While Shepherds Washed:

While Shepherds Washed their Socks by Night
All Seated Round the Tub,
The Angel of the Lord came Down
and Gave them all A Scrub.

You know your child is growing up when she sings you a naughty carol version you've never heard before!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way!
Uncle Billy lost his willy
Jingle all the way!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way!
Aunty Ruby lost her boobies
Jingle all the way!

At least I think that's what she sang, there was a lot of giggling going on!

What carols/naughty versions do you like?

And we're back!

2011-11-20T20:26:00.004Z

Finally we're back. The return of broadband had something to do with Himself tidying the wires going from the phone point to the broadband box.

Anyhow, here are some pictures of my costume for the Halloween Ball. Which was totally amazing and I had a great time.

I saw The Hackney Colliery Band who were fabulous. You just haven't lived until you have seen a band where the drummer is dressed like Dr Frankenfurter and playing Angels with brass instruments. Just take my word for it! And I've found a youtube clip, here.

I saw a man juggling chain saws dressed in a tiny little pair of shorts.

I saw Abney Park! Live! And bounced my way back to my friends who were not so interested in the music, about 2 foot off the ground afterwards.

I drank a lot of cola (I don't do alcohol very well. Cola has caffeine and a sugar rush. Two for one.)

Best overheard line of the night was: "Please may I touch your electric penis!" (To explain, there were two Elizabethan Steampunk knights, one of whom had a plasma ball on the end of his codpiece)

I didn't take any pictures of the night (which I'm now kicking myself for) but here's some pics of my costume.

Hmm, pictures have gone in in the reverse order that I wanted them in. Never mind, I'll just talk about them in the order Blogger posted them.

My bodice, with the eyelets in. Love love love my new eyelet tool.
Well. Look at the holes it puts in:) Who wouldn't love that!
I hand sewed the hem. I was off work, sick. It did take several days even so.
My hair, final result.
Pins out, and head shaken.
Pins out, but no shaking.
Pins in, having been slept in.
Nail varnish matching my skirt.
Pic taken by my friend, at about 6am, at the end of the ball.
Quick re-creation tonight for a proper costume picture.

And I have more posts to come, funnily enough I've had loads of time to think up posts.

Broadband down!

2011-11-02T15:43:00.001Z

Our broadband is down and I can't blog. I'm quickly doing this in my lunchbreak just to say I will be back when the broadband is!

It's been a week and a half and counting so far.

Big Skirt!

2011-10-11T21:52:00.005+01:00

So, a quick update on how I'm getting on with my big skirt.

It has a steek. OK, it's not called a steek, because it's sewing, but it involves cutting into a panel of fabric, after sewing a line of stitches each side of the cut line. That looks like a steek to me.

It's just as scary on fabric as it is on knitting.

I've had to sew some poppers inside the facing that got sewn on here, otherwise it just gapes open.

Eyelets! Unfortunately I broke my eyelet inserting vario pliers doing this. Not entirely sure how, but the jaws broke. Have got a new one now, with an eyelet inserting tool so I can avoid breaking it again.

My friend took this pic for me, showing how long it is, unhemmed. I'm 5' 6" or so. I don't normally shorten skirts. Maybe I should have done so. Although Bella the cat likes it rather a lot. Oh, and I believe I may have mentioned my waistcoat love elsewhere.

I'm hand sewing the hem. It's taking forever, but then I've also got some viral crap which is making me exhausted and feel generally like death warmed over. Interesting fact: I've sewn a hook and eye at the back to lift up the trailing train I've created (by giving it a smaller hem at the back), which creates a bustle type back. Looks very nice:)

Just need to finish sewing the hem, and make the bodice. Which is black with red lurex pinstripes. It's officially suiting. Not sure I'd trust anyone who wore it without irony though. Might even finish in time.

Belated wedding post

2011-10-04T21:54:00.004+01:00

So, Kathryn and I went to York. Due to a variety of reasons, Himself was unable to come too.

We had a four hour wait in York before we could register at the place we were staying. So, what do you do in York for four hours, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

Well, you could go to the National Railway Museum. It's about 5 minutes walk from the station there, is free, and has a fabulous cafe! If you're not trying to persuade a 6 year old that it's interesting and fun, you could actually see some interesting things. But Kathryn wasn't terribly interested in the trains. But she did like the ice lolly. And chocolate biscuit.

Or you could go and visit the Yorkshire Museum. We didn't go into the museum, because it was more money than I wanted to spend, but the grounds were free to enter, and stunning.
Kathryn found plenty of squirrels to photograph.
There was a whole university art class drawing this beautiful ruin, and Kathryn wanted to draw it too. Unfortunately all I had was my filofax paper and a pen, or my old blackberry which she was using to take pictures on, and had games on. One of the games was an art game and she sat there drawing it with ArtGo!
It was really stunning. I want to go back, to stay in York, and actually to explore the city. It's gorgeous.
Then on the Saturday, my brother got married. Here he and his lovely bride are signing the register. The rest of my pictures from indoors during their actual wedding were quite bad so I'm not sharing them!

Outdoors, shadowing the official photographer, I managed to get a really good picture of my parents and my brother.

My brother and his bride are massive fans of music festivals, so the whole thing was festival themed. Each table was named for a festival. I was on Bestival.

A very tired flowergirl.
There was a tent thing for the kids to play in when they got bored. This is the only photo I could find that only had Kathryn in it.

After the meal, the kids were exhausted, so my sister and I took our kids back to the cabins we were staying in. As we had a spare bed, Kathryn had her cousin in our cabin for a sleepover.

Here they are in the morning, watching tv, not really quite awake.

At some point during the wedding and reception after, my old blackberry went missing. Kathryn used it as a camera, both still and video, to play music and games on, and she's quite upset. I'm kicking myself for not ensuring it was back in my bag. I should look on it as a learning experience, but I'm still too cross that someone took it. Everyone there saw Kathryn running around with it, taking pictures and showing them to people, so all the guests and most of the staff knew it belonged to a small child. This small and (to some people) totally insignificant issue totally spoiled the weekend for me.

But my brother and his new bride had a fabulous wedding, and had a great day, it was a nice venue, and a lovely area. The food was amazing, and the music (what I heard of it before Kathryn wanted to leave) was really good.

Packing madly

2011-09-22T21:20:00.001+01:00

I'm off tomorrow morning with Kathryn. We're off to my brother's wedding. In Yorkshire. Expect some really bad pictures when I return!

Sewing!

2011-09-14T21:43:00.003+01:00

Look what I made! I made most of it Monday, and hemmed it and did the button holes yesterday. I sewed the buttons on this afternoon, and Kathryn tried it on when she came home today. It's the Clothkits Red Birdie shift dress age 7 - 9, and I've made it in the biggest size for longer wear. It's a corduroy fabric, so it'll be nice and warm for the winter. She wants to wear it to school tomorrow (yay for no school uniform) with a long sleeve tee shirt and tights under. I even managed to put the pocket on it this time.

And you can see her wobbly tooth is nearly out too. Front top tooth that looks crooked. It's been hanging on for days.

And the beginnings of my big skirt for the Halloween ball I'm going to. I had to cut this out on the floor as it's too long for my table. It's going to be tricky. The satin is so very slippery, and also very happy to unravel as soon as it has a raw edge. I've got two more days to work on this before I start my new job, so hopefully that will be enough. It looks fairly simple, with a few difficult parts. The skirt panels all sew together simply, it's the waistband that's tricky. If I get going on this early enough tomorrow I might even finish it in one day (somehow I don't think that's very likely though).

I will post more picture of the outfit as I go.

September update

2011-09-08T23:03:00.003+01:00

Boy, I'm not doing too well at a weekly post here. See if I can manage for September.

Thing the first: Kathryn's started school again. Getting back into the routine of making lunches the night before and getting to school in time is a little difficult, but she's loving being with her friends again, and her new teacher is a big favourite.

Thing the second: Spiders. We seem to be having extremely large spiders around this year. Have I mentioned I really don't like big spiders? Small ones are fine but these are massive and yick. I would post a pic, but trust me, nobody wants to see them!

Thing the third: Practice Sock!

This is the stained glass sock (rav link) that I'm slowly working on. I decided that my tension was so variable and baggy that I needed to do a practice sock. I like it though so it may well end up with a partner. Loving them, but purling continental style - really don't know how anyone can do it!

Thing the fourth: I got a lovely needle roll from Amanda at Kitschy Coo, after I made her some fingerless gloves.
Thing the fifth: I'm going to a Halloween ball! I am almost more excited than I can stand about it. The theme is Ghost in the Machine, and it's a steampunk/horror/fantasy costume theme. I keep changing my mind about what I'll wear, but it will definitely include a skirt (view a) in a deep wine satin - I've bought the fabric, so I'm not changing my mind on that part! The top is constantly subject to change. I'll let you know when I make my mind up.

Thing the sixth and final for this post: Autumn! Windy, rainy, wearing knits weather! Yay!

Steam Museum Steampunk

2011-08-20T22:06:00.008+01:00

So, on Friday we went to the Steam Museum where they have a Steampunk exhibition.
That big tower poking up in the centre? That's the museum.
Yes, it really is down a road called "Green Dragon Lane".

Once you get past the main entry desk, one of the first things you see is a huge face. Actually from a train, I believe, but it looks like it has come out of Girl Genius! This is taller than I am.

This is called "Darth Vapour".
Goggles with ear piece.
A lobster made of cutlery and stuff.
A beautiful ring. Complete with tiny little cogs.
A large ring, with cogs, and an eye.
Side view of same.
The famous Thunderbuss.
Lady Raygun by the same artist as the Thunderbuss.
Part of the museum. Glorious pipes and at the weekends you can see it working!
Dials and gauges and pipes! Oh My!
A steampunk outfit designed by a Lady Elsie. Inspired by both Vivian Westwood and the Edwardian style, there's a bustle at the back (which I regret not photographing).
More pipes and machinery.
Machinery from above.
More dials. I am tempted to use this as my phone background.
Pipes.
A steampunk... parking meter? Labelling throughout the exhibition was... well just not there.
I believe this is a space outfit, missing the lower part.
Wrenches.
This actually was labelled. It is an Bomb Disposal Specialist outfit by Thadeus Tinker.
Closeup of the chain mail. It is real chain mail not painted garter stitch!
Close up of the tools.
Part of the museum that caught my eye. This is left over I suspect from when the museum was a pumping station not a museum.
Steampunk K-9. Uncredited.
Part of a case full of toys, some dolls, some steampunk-y robots, some prams and stuff.
My view of the exhibition? It was interesting, and I always like going to the Steam Museum, but I certainly wouldn't call it "The Greatest Steampunk Exhibition". I'm sure that it's better at the weekend when the exhibits are manned and events are happening (or at least I hope so). I was very disappointed at the lack of credits on the exhibits, which meant it was hard to credit the artists behind most of the pieces. If anyone can let me know who to credit the uncredited pictures to, I shall amend to credit them.

Holiday doings

2011-08-17T22:25:00.002+01:00

I'm off all this week with Kathryn. We've been having a lovely time, meeting up with people and having picnics. Today, we went to the V&A museum. It is one of my favourite museums, even if the fashion gallery is closed for restoration.

We had our lunch in the garden in the centre of the museum. It was lovely and sunny, and the little pond (which is just out of shot on this picture) was full of children running in and out.

The building itself is also stunning, and throughout the galleries they had people repairing the mosaic flooring as well as having galleries closed for restoration.

They do quite a lot of kids activities. These activities are not just summer holiday things, although they're only available during the weekend in term time.

We took an activity backpack, The Emperor's Party, and took it to the South Asia gallery. The first task was to look at the hangings, and using them as inspiration, to design our own one for the walls for the party we were going to hold for the Emperor.

Here's Kathryn, cutting out some additional decoration to the printed sheet from this activity.

We didn't complete all the tasks in the hour we had the backpack, but that is because we had our lunch in that time as well. Next time, we'll eat first, or last, as you only have an hour to do all the activities in that backpack. And yes, there will most definitely be a next time.

Possibly even tomorrow! If you want to see pics from the V&A let me know before tomorrow and I'll try and get some.

Friday we will be going to the Steam Museum, to see the Steampunk exhibition before it closes. Saturday Kathryn's going away with my parents.

Oh, oh, big news. I have a new job. I have a conveyancing legal secretary job. I'm so very very pleased:) It's maternity cover, so there is a large possibility the job will only last for a year, but. It's a job in a sector of an industry I've been trying to get back into since last June. I start mid September, and intend to stop doing my freelance evening work (for the most part anyhow) at the same time. I don't think I can do a full on full time job and a full on evening job too.

So, that's all the news with me. What's new with you?

Plans part 2

2011-08-15T20:50:00.002+01:00

Ha.

For their ruby wedding anniversary my parents are getting a large plate.

It will have their names and date of marriage 1971 - 2011 around the edge, and in the centre will have hand prints from all their grandchildren.

Sorted.

We haz a plan

2011-08-11T21:58:00.002+01:00

My parents have birthdays within 2 weeks of each other. Every year my family has a terrible time figuring out presents for them.

This year is different. We haz a plan!

On Monday my sister, me and our kids will be going to the Ceramics Cafe. We will paint mugs for our parents. They will love them.

And this year we need to have another plan. It's their ruby wedding anniversary in October. And there we don't haz a plan.

So while the kids are putting paint on mugs and plates and things, we will be plotting. Wish us luck!

London's Burning

2011-08-09T22:04:00.003+01:00

Many things to say today.

Firstly, yes I live in London. Yes, we're all ok.

I don't know anyone who has been hurt, although I do know people who have experienced the riots. My colleague has not been able to get home this week.

Ealing was attacked. It's a short bus ride from here.

Tonight all the town centres round here have been closed.

Our little shopping area here in Kew was closed by 9pm. Pub, Tescos and everything.

It's bad, it's scary and totally unexpected.

However the reaction riotcleanup and the twitter @riotcleanup is doing good stuff. If I wasn't working or could get a day off easily I would have been in Ealing armed with broom and binliners. However a friend who did found that the local authority had been cleaning up since 5.30am and that there was actually nothing to do.

We've got much stronger policing tonight. We'll see how that works out.

In much more cheerful news:
I finished my Corinne. It's slightly too small, and I knew it might be a tiny bit too small, but it's garter stitch, and I know it will stretch.

I seem to be not able to do a good KnitNation post so I will just say the following points:

Wollmeise - now I understand.

Susan Crawford's Vintage fit and finish was mind blowing.

Spinning in company is good. Learning while doing it is even better.

Knitters are fabulous. There is nowhere I'd rather have been not knowing anyone. I found someone to talk to and eat lunch with each day, and they were knitting interesting things and interested in what I was knitting.

Shame it's not happening next year, but I'm looking forward to the year after.

That's all.

Wedding stuff

2011-07-24T21:57:00.003+01:00

I have no pictures of me, Kathryn and Himself, but here's a picture of me and Kathryn. I know there were a lot more detailed pictures taken, and I'll try and grab one of those. Hopefully one with all three of us in it!

And the lovely bride and her gorgeous groom, immediately after the ceremony (during which they vowed to look after each other's cats amongst other things).

It was an amazing day, the kind of wedding day I think most people would wish for - celebratory rather than a statement wedding.

I wish them all the very best for the future:)

I'm a bad blogger

2011-07-21T22:51:00.003+01:00

I'll update re KnitNation soon, I promise!

Very briefly, it was fabulous, amazing, wonderful and completely exhausting.

And I scored some wollmiese, so I'm really pleased:)

In other news, we are finally ready for the wedding on Saturday. Kathryn and I have finished dresses, hems and all. We have shoes no less. Kathryn did want to wear her orange crocs, but we found some silver and lilac sandals that she liked (after nearly an hour in the shop) so that's good. I already have some nice wedge heels.

All we need now is... the weather to cooperate. Looks like it might just be cool and rainy on Saturday rather than the blisteringly hot I was anticipating. Bets on whether I can transform our outfits to cool weather in time?

2011-07-12T22:02:00.002+01:00

I have finished Kathryn's dress! Well, all bar the hem, which I will hand sew... soon.

I am really happy with this dress. I made a muslin of the bodice to check it would fit. The measurements I made were a bit dubious. I'm glad I did make a muslin as the bodice fits well, and the next size up would be too big.

I'm really pleased with the facing. Usually I mess them up, but this time, I didn't. And it looks good too.
I hand sewed binding over the waist seam because when she tried it on she said it tickled.

This is the pattern, and I bought it *years* ago, and bought the fabric at the same time too. I'm glad I went ott with the amount of fabric as, in the years since I bought it, she's grown bigger. Funny that!

And look, look! Wrap dress nearly finished! I have my jeans on under this for the photo, so it's a bit oddly fitting at the waist. I just need to hem it, and I think I'll sew the facings down to the inner layer of fabric because they're a bit flappy. And also put binding or ribbon over the waist seam as the fabric seems a bit prone to unravelling. But... it's nearly finished:) So pleased.

And it's KnitNation on Friday. So. Very. Excited.

Quick round up

2011-07-03T22:05:00.003+01:00

I seem to be taking a leaf out of Julie's book and seem to have a crazy deadline to meet.

I am going to a wedding on the 23rd July. I have decided to make the Crepe Dress for it. So far, so good. However, I'm essentially doing two nearly full time jobs right now, and my weekends are being crazy. I have, as of this moment, half a day I *know* I can do sewing before the 23rd July. Annoyingly enough, I have nothing in my weekends from the 24th onwards.

This is what I have so far (I know I've shown you the muslin I made a few posts ago... this is the final version)

Bodice not completely sewn together. I haven't sewn the side seams, nor sewn any of the facings in yet. Facings in this household are generally known as Effing Facings. Because they are awkward buggers.

I've actually had time to do a tiny bit of spinning. Not all of this, just the most outside-most spinning. I need to empty this spindle for Knit Nation - two weeks away, and one of the reasons I have no free weekends (very excited).
And a cute picture of Kathryn just because. She's still wearing her eye wateringly bright tomten I made her 2 years ago, but it's getting a bit small now. She'll need a new one for this winter I think.

I just need to get through July and the extreme busy-ness calms down. Kathryn's school breaks up on the 22nd July and then I can relax. Counting the days!

Working

2011-06-23T23:54:00.003+01:00

Still working slightly crazy hours.

Hey, it's midnight, and I've just finished for the night.

What's new here?

Oh yes. I may have mentioned before that I love reading. Have I mentioned that I love reading so much that I have 8 boxes of books in my parents loft?

Finally had enough of not being able to read them, and I've decided to replace them, where possible, with e-books. I don't want to buy the physical books as I already have them, so I'm hunting out all the lovely books I had.

I'm a bit annoyed to find that the particular series I wanted to read has book 1 free (yay), book 2 to purchase, book 3 not available in e-format and book 4 for free. Wait a minute, book 4? Eeep, new book! And book 3 not available? Kind of spoils the whole idea, surely!

What do people think of e-books? And the free "taster" books? I think they're great.

I'm still here!

2011-06-14T22:26:00.002+01:00

And I have some FOs

Nearly identical socks for me. Opal some-colourway-or-other. I really like them, and am chuffed to bits that they're so close to being identical!

A nearly FO. I've just got to do a bit of hand sewing at the zip, and sort out the hem. Oh, and put binding around the armholes.

This is not an FO at all. It's a duck. Enjoying the rain. It's been raining somewhat. Kathryn and I came out through the underpass under the station on our way to school and work a few days ago, and saw... this. We both thought it was very funny, and I thought I'd share.

Burda and Sewing

2011-06-02T20:39:00.002+01:00

I love the Burda magazine. I tend to buy it every month, look through it, eye up various patterns that I love, then... forget them. I even sometimes make sure I've got suitable fabric in the right yardage (meterage?).

This has to stop. I've got the latest Burda. There are at least 2 tops, at least 2 dresses and at least 2 skirts I want to make me and a top, dress and shorts I want to make Kathryn from the latest issue. So, I am going to break this deadlock and make something from Burda. I am, really.

And the current issue does not appear to be on the website to link to...

Posted while waiting for my "lovely" new phone to sort itself out so that I can plug my digital dictation equipment in and start working again. Not enough usb ports. Lovely phone, shame it keeps messing up. If it does this one more time I'm going back to lovely old phone, which didn't mess up at all.

Rock Cakes!

2011-05-28T22:35:00.002+01:00

Well, I was going to post a lovely long post with lots of pictures on making them. Unfortunately my phone has decided not to recognise my media card (where the pictures are stored). I'm gutted. But hoping it can be fixed and that I can recover my pics.

Still, here are rock cakes.

I mostly used this recipe here. I cooked them for slightly longer than suggested though.

The first time I made them I only had sultanas and no mixed fruit, so I just used them, and they worked absolutely fine, but they are even nicer with the mixed fruit too. The batter should be very stiff, and not sloppy if that makes sense. The cooked cakes need to be quite crumbly. Don't forget, the fruit makes them healthy!

In other news, I've got the contrast fabric for my crepe wrap dress. And discovered a very dangerous place for my wallet. Shepherds Bush Market, or more precisely, the fabric shops just outside the market. I had heard them denigrated as just being full of sparkly crap, but on personal inspection I disagree. Looking forward to a return visit. Maybe without my friend this time (my friend came with - we also got fabric for a dress I'm making her - and I'm not sure she realised that she was supposed to stop me if I went into a fabric buying frenzy!)

No rock cakes

2011-05-22T22:20:00.002+01:00

I didn't actually do any baking this weekend, but I have volunteered to make rock cakes for the school bake sale on Thursday so there will be rock cakes coming up soon.

However I did spend approximately 6 hours working this weekend. And when I wasn't doing that, I made this:

It's a muslin for the wrap dress that Gertie did a sewalong for. Nothing like being last to the party! I've got two weddings to go to, one in July so.... I need to get a move on.

Procrastination

2011-05-18T23:26:00.002+01:00

Rock cakes will be coming soon, I promise!

Right now I'm a bit over committed on the things to do front. My freelancing has suddenly picked up (many many thanks to a former colleague for passing on the word there:) which means I'm basically working at day job, coming home, throwing food at Kathryn, doing some chores (as little as I can get away with), then sitting down and typing for several hours.

No knitting. No reading. No baking.

And I'm not complaining either.

Will get to the rock cakes this weekend, hopefully. Watch this space!

No update really

2011-05-10T22:39:00.003+01:00

I don't really have anything to update.

Well, I'm still knitting the corinne I started as soon as I saw the new Knitty.

I'm working my way through the Harry Potter books (again). And this time something caught my eye. Hagrid offers the kids some rock cakes. Really hard, bad, rock cakes. Now I remember rock cakes from my childhood, and they were lovely. Really crumbly, fruity and.. well just more-ish.

So I made some. And some more. And indeed, there will be more in the future. Yum:)

I had my birthday last week and my work spoiled me, which was really nice. I got a nice Amazon voucher, a tasty cake which we all ate in the office (the advantage of working in a nursery is that they have a cook. Who makes cakes:) and they gave me a huge orchid. Which I'm doing my best not to kill (I don't have a good track record here though).

But I haven't really got a large amount to report.

KnitNation

2011-05-01T20:20:00.003+01:00

I'm absolutely over the moon to be able to announce I have tickets for KnitNation 2011!

At 7.55 I had the computer turned on and the browser pointing to the KnitNation site, which went live at 8pm, BST. I started hitting "reload" at 7.59.

I'm booked on:

Friday 16th July:

Seamless knitting: Moving beyond the Raglan with Carol Feller (all day class)

Saturday 17th July:

AM: Vintage Fit and Finishing Details with Susan Crawford

PM: Spinning for Knitting with Merike Saarnitt

Sunday 18th July:

Take your spindle spinning further with Carol and Pete Leonard (all day class)

Wheeeeee! Now I just need to count down the days:)

Doing the happy dance here.

Tweet, tweet

2011-04-25T23:11:00.000+01:00

I've joined twitter. Now what?:)

Fimo

2011-04-24T23:02:00.004+01:00

Button! A sort of purply pink button as a practice piece. I like it, and will have to think of something appropriate to sew it onto.
Some beads. The purple is made of mixing red and blue and the red is the remaining red. The swirly beads are white and red mixed up. I'm thinking of making a few more and turning it into a bracelet for myself.
A flower on a pair of leaves. I am debating whether to make it into a necklace or to put it on a broach.
Stitchmarkers. Swirly blue and white. Metal hooks. I like these.
Kathryn's fimo necklace.

Edited to add: They've all had a glossy varnish put on.

Fimo!

2011-04-22T22:04:00.002+01:00

I have a new interest - Fimo.

It's all due to Kathryn. She went to a school club - art club. They made stuff with fimo, and she made me a beautiful necklace.

I then told everyone who asked that she'd like fimo as a birthday present. I knew she liked it and it cooks in the oven. And I thought it might be interesting for me too.

The result? She has bucket loads of fimo, and a few tools.

We made beads, and a few other bits. Kathryn spelled her name out. We baked it. It came out perfectly.

I have plans. Involving stretchy cord, the bead roller, and many different colours of fimo. Watch out!

I am all that!

2011-04-17T20:47:00.003+01:00

Katie from Kadiddlehopper has given me an award! So, I'm linking back to Katie, and then I'm answering some questions and then pass the award onto more people.

1) What size shoe do you wear? If you wear a size 6*, can I borrow your shoes?

*replace this with your shoe size!

2) 30's or 60's?

60s.

3)Have you ever kissed someone you shouldn't have?

Yes.

What, you wanted details?

4) Have you ever been poisoned? Was it by the girlfriend of the person you kissed?? That is awesomely "Knot's Landing".

Yes, food poisoning. By my mother. Twice.

5) Who's on your "Celebrity Free Pass" list (top 5)?

OK, I mostly watch documentaries. Sorry!

1. Dan Snow.

2. Professor Brian Cox.

3. Neil Oliver.

4. Johnny Depp

5. Marc Bolan (assuming time machine etc).

I need to pass this onto people:

Amanda from Kitschy Coo

Bells from Bells Knits

Donna Lee from What you think on grows

KL from Dots or Stripes

I'm supposed to tag more than that, so if you want to pick it up, please go with it! (and pinch the badge too).

Family and relations

2011-04-10T20:08:00.002+01:00

Have I spoken about my siblings? I don't think I have.

I have a sister, who is two years younger than me. A brother who is 10 years younger than me.

And when my brother was 5, my parents decided to become foster parents. They didn't want to foster young children, and were given the opportunity to foster older children, children who had been in care for a long time to show them normal family life.

The first foster child they had was Kiera. She was a year older than me, and fitted in extremely well. She was the first child in care for that local authority to go to university and obtain a degree. She got a good job in marketing and moved into her own place. By which time, she had become my sister in more than words.

And then she took a holiday to Paris with a friend. There was a terrible motorbike accident. There was hanging around phones waiting to hear.

She survived, although minus half a leg. And now she's campaigning to raise funds for other amputees. A few days ago she sent around the email I've repeated below. Read it. Sponsor her.

Hello

On the 30th September 2011 local amputee Kiera Roche will be leading a team of amputees and friends as they take on the ultimate challenge and cycle 300 kilometers in just 3-days, from the historic city of London to the romantic city of Paris.

10 years ago this summer Kiera was involved in a fatal road traffic accident in St Germain, Paris, where her friend Bruno Le Friec died on impact and Kiera was left with life threatening injuries. Surgeon Marc Mann operated for 11 hours and saved Kiera’s life, but he couldn’t save her leg.

After three months in hospital Kiera vowed she wouldn’t let being an amputee stop her form living a full and active life. Since 2001 Kiera has cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats, along the river Nile, Walked the Great Wall of China and Trekked in Cuba, all to raise funds for amputee charities. Kiera has dedicated her life to helping other amputees who find themselves facing life with limb loss.

Now the Chairman of a small charity, -LimbPower – Kiera organises events to encourage new amputees to rebuild their lives through the medium of sport.

“We organise the annual amputee games -first run in 2008 – at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, where we invite 100 new amputees to join us for a long weekend to take part in the 13 main Paralympic sports. This is an opportunity for new amputees to meet other amputees in a similar position to themselves so they don’t feel isolated and alone, as well as benefiting from taking part in the different sports and feeling empowered by being able to achieve something, they are also inspired by meeting Paralympic athletes, some who were identified through attending the games, such as local Paralympic power-lifter Kelvin Daniels. This is a remarkable event which encourages people to focus on what they can do not on what they can’t do”.

With all excellent charitable work there is a cost. To raise money for these events we rely on the generosity of the general public and the community we serve. One of our objectives is to encourage amputees who have benefited from our work to give something back by joining us for a sporting challenge to raise funds for the next generation of amputees.

The London to Paris Bike Ride will see a team of 15 amputees and supporters, including healthcare professionals cycle a staggering 300 kilometers in just 3-days to raise funds for the Amputee Games and Junior Games. The challenge starts now, with each participant having to raise £1,250.00.

Please support us by either joining us for the bike ride or by making a charitable donation. You can sponsor kiera at: http://www.justgiving.com/kiera-Roche

I'm taking part in the Londontoparis on 03/10/2011 to raise money for LimbPower (British Ambulant Disabled Sports and Arts Foundation) and I'd really appreciate your support.

It's easy to donate online with a credit or debit card - just go to my JustGiving page:

http://www.justgiving.com/Kiera-Roche

JustGiving sends your donation straight to LimbPower (British Ambulant Disabled Sports and Arts Foundation) and automatically reclaims Gift Aid if you're a UK taxpayer, so your donation is worth even more. I hope you'll join me in supporting LimbPower (British Ambulant Disabled Sports and Arts Foundation).

Thank you.

Kiera

Woohoo, FO!

2011-03-24T21:08:00.004Z

Done! One Vintage dress, completed.

This was my attempt at self photography, and the colour is completely wrong. The top picture is the best for the colour. But you can see some of the problems I encountered in this picture. This was the first pattern I altered, as well as my first vintage pattern, and I over-did it. I was worried that it would be too tight at the bust, so it ended up being far too loose, both across the bust and at the waist.

The pattern called for a placket, secured with hooks and eyes, but I decided I preferred an invisible zip. I've just noticed that this photo makes it look like the side seams are not lined up well, but in real life they are perfectly aligned.
And from the inside (I'm very pleased with this zip!).

And another picture where the colour is accurate. This is the result of not reading the instructions all the way through, and I missed the fact that the sleeves are actually in two parts, a sleeve and a cuff. I missed the cuff, and suddenly had to do something to cover the raw edges. I grabbed some bias binding and it went very nicely indeed. With binding, I either love it to bits, or wish the inventor had never been born, today I loved it.

Did I mention that this was actually supposed to be a wearable muslin? It is. It's not terribly wearable, as the bodice is... roomy, but I think if I chop a load off the skirt to shorten it I should be able to get away with it as a summer-y dress. Now to think what the final dress will be. Something more drapey I think, and possibly a bit more stretchy.

What would I change for the final version? The central panel of the bodice needs to be longer, and the whole bodice front needs to be less wide. The front opening needs to be longer, as there is supposed to be a slash coming down a whole load more, and closed with two buttons sewn together on a cord (which was one of the features that drew me to this pattern, so I want to get this right). Definitely more drape for the fabric. Maybe something less hard to photograph as well!

But now I have finished this muslin, I need to make a muslin for another dress, as I have several weddings to go to and want to have a nice, summer polite dress to wear. I have fabric, I have pattern. I need to get going on it.

Running on empty

2011-03-22T21:55:00.002Z

I'm completely exhausted. We've had a run of illness (me, then Kathryn, and then Himself), and I'm still not back to my normal self.

The longer days are helping, as is the sun - we've actually had some sunshine!

It will be the easter holidays soon, and boy has the last three months whizzed past quickly. And I haven't touched my sewing machine since I started my job, mostly because I haven't had a chance.

I really miss it, much more than I expected (but then I didn't expect to not be sewing). I made a firm plan to finish my 1940s dress this last weekend, which totally fell through. However, I actually have a whole day off on Thursday (well, I will be watching Kathryn's class assembly first thing) and I am determined that this time, I really will manage to do some sewing. I want to finish my 1940s dress. I want to start my other sewing.

I've recently obtained from the lovely Kitschy Coo a parcel of complete loveliness. It includes several pieces of fabric that I know I can make an entire item out of for Kathryn. So now I really want to get onto my machine and start sewing them up. She's growing, and needs bigger clothes!

Fingers crossed, my next post will have some finished sewing!

Reading Challenge

2011-03-13T22:54:00.002Z

I joined Goodreads some time ago. I found it a good site to try and catalogue my books, and unlike some of the other book listing sites, you can add unlimited amounts of books, which is a good thing as I'm currently up to 484 books and have put less than a quarter up.

I signed up for the 2011 reading challenge at the New Year. I ambitiously decided on 100 books for this year. Erm, I'm up to 40. Maybe I need to up it somewhat to make it actually a challenge.

Have I ever posted about reading and my love of it? I know I've posted about particular books, and authors, but the actual act of reading? I don't think I have.

I read. First and foremost, I read. It is my drug of choice. I read more or less constantly, although I have not managed to read and knit at the same time, but not from lack of trying. I love the way that you can pick up a book and be transported to some other place, other time. Your problems dissolve away as you concentrate on someone else's. The best reading is books that drag me away, without volition, and I only surface hours later, and it is a surfacing. In the best ones there is a real sense of shock when you come back to the real world, an assault on your senses from reality, and a craving to return to the book-world.

The first time I remember this happening was when I was 12 or so, reading The Silver Chair by C S Lewis. The latest time was today, reading (again) Magnificat by Julian May.

I am a book lover. Anything else I am comes from that point.

Vintage sewing patterns - for children

2011-03-05T21:33:00.002Z

I bought this off Ebay recently. It is the book to go with the 1978 BBC series. And the jumpsuits on the front cover might have put me off but the clever seller had some pictures from inside too.

This (slightly flash flooded) coat pattern is an absolute classic. You can see coats just like this today. And it's why I bought the book.

But, there's also...
I used to wear a dress just like this when I was small. It was really easy for small fingers to do up, there's a zip at the centre front. And of course it doesn't have to be made in grey for school. And the boy's face is fabulous, I'm not sure whether he's cross, crying, upset or just grumpy!
And of course there's some classic 70s styling going on. Floral dungarees anyone?:)
The shiny pages don't photograph well, and this is the best pic I could get of this dress. It's lovely, and I'm already planning to make one for Kathryn.

There are a total of 39 patterns, and although they are somewhat dated, I think that the vast majority of them can be brought up to date. The 1970s, as far as I'm concerned, is not a fashion era I wish to return to. I lived through it once, and like the 1980s, I feel that once was enough. And the coats (there are several) are all fabulously classic patterns. A hooded raglan jacket, an anorak, and the coat pictured above. I think the only thing really not worth updating is the patchwork Christening gown.

So what fashion eras do people feel is not for them? Myself I think the 70s and later and that's mostly because I lived through them. I do wonder if I would be as fond of the late 40s and early 50s style if I had lived through them.

Saturday Mornings

2011-02-22T22:13:00.001Z

This is what I usually find when I get up on a Saturday:)

Monday

2011-02-14T22:05:00.003Z

Today is a bit of a strange day.

Firstly I'm still slowly settling into my new job, and as it is so totally different to anything I've done before there is some considerable settling to be done. My colleagues are lovely though. And I seem to have instigated a small circle of knitting (or wanna knit) colleagues. Which I look forward to enjoying very much. And I also got to see a continental knitter going for it. Yep, now I see why people say it's much faster than the other way.

Secondly Himself is doing a training course this week. And it's not quite as easy as he anticipated. It's gone 10pm and he's still doing homework for it. And is expecting now to be doing the same every night. Fingers crossed, please - this is a really important course!

Thirdly I'm still exhausted. Going back to work is *so* very much more tiring than I remembered, and not just the using of the brain which I haven't really had to do for the last several months. Just going to work and spending the day working rather than knitting/reading/sewing/watching TV/even doing housework is tired. I know I will get used to it again but right now, shattered.

Up until a few minutes ago the TV has been turned off, and that's a strange thing too. We turned it off when Himself started trying to study, as it was not helping. Usually we have the TV on all evening. I usually ignore it and read, or have something interesting on and knit.

Now I'm going to go and do more reading.

Film Recommendation

2011-02-11T22:38:00.000Z

I'm watching this. It's brilliant.

Watch it:)

Update of sorts

2011-02-04T22:36:00.002Z

The finished vest. I'm pleased with this. It's KwikSew 3811 size M (3 - 6 months), which I bought from Sewbox. It went together fairly easily, but when I do it again, I will do some things differently. Firstly I'll remember to actually sew the binding of the sleeves the right way round - it took me an awfully long time to unpick the tiny little bindings from the tiny little sleeves. And I trashed one of them doing so (binding that is, not sleeve). I'll also remember to mark both sides of the fabric where the press studs go, as I had a really hard time getting them in place until I thought of that. Finally I'll make sure that the ends of the neck bindings are caught in the seam sewing the sleeves on, as they aren't quite in this one. All in all I am happy with it, and think that the other parts of the set (trousers and a hooded jacket) should go together fairly easily too.

Fabric all from Fabricland, although I bought the heart fabric some considerable time ago, and I don't think they have any more in stock.
Details of the press studs. First time I've used them.
Details of the neckline. It has an envelope type neck, which I like.
Oh, and some socks! These are matchy matchy socks:) First time ever for hand knitted socks, very pleased. One of the sock legs is about 2 rounds longer than the other, in order to make sure they matched!

In other news, I'll be starting my new job on Monday - I will be the Financial Administrator for Kathryn's old nursery. Somewhat different to my previous job, but I have had quite a thorough handover programme, and I believe I should be able to do it with a minimum of hassle.

However due to the totally different format of the office the chances of me reading blogs or posting to my blog while at work are very very small, so I'm likely to go to an even more unpredictably infrequent timetable, at least at first.

Sewing again

2011-01-31T22:38:00.002Z

I'm about half way through this baby vest. Because I'm an aunt again! My sister had her baby on Thursday, and she's a whopping 10 lb, 2oz. Gorgeous little girl called Molly. Who is decidedly too big for her "newborn" sized clothes.

When I asked my sister what size clothing she'd like, she said that she had a huge gap at 3 - 6 months. I passed all Kathryn's clothing onto her for her older daughter, who's now 3. When she grew out of clothing my sister passed them onto her sister in law (if appropriate, her sister in law had a boy baby and he's not likely to be wearing the dresses and skirts etc), or a friend with a girl about a year younger.

Once my sister knew she was having a girl, she started asking around for the stuff she'd passed on to be passed back her way, she got a nasty surprise. She got an unattractive selection of newborn and 0 - 3 month stuff, mostly lemon yellow or white and all the lovely things that I was given or that our mum made has gone missing. She was very very upset (and I'm a bit upset myself too).

She asked for things that are neither white nor lemon yellow, and that are feminine but not necessarily pink. I've got a few other things planned for the big little baby, which I'll post as I go, and I think hurrying is a good idea!

2011-01-18T21:13:00.002Z

Donna Lee wanted to see more details of the buttons.
Not quite sure why it's come out in such a grey shade of green. I don't think I gave any details of the cardigan itself, either. It's based on the Elizabeth Zimmermann fairisle cardigan/yoked sweater pattern, but I knit it back and forwards as the yarn is only 55% wool, 25% acrylic and 20% nylon and I didn't think it would steek very well. I just added 11 stitches each side of my "key number" for the border, and didn't change it other than putting button holes in. It means the collar has come out looking really rather lovely, completely by accident!

And today I made Kathryn more pjs. These are made of a really slinky knit, and was a complete bastard. It's red, with white spots, and I used New Look 6641, again. View B for the top and View E for the bottoms. Minor amendments - I put two rows of topstitching on the neck (to keep the neckband excess from folding up and tickling Kathryn) instead of one, and I topstitched the seam allowance to the trouser legs side seams. I thought it would look nice, and it does. Unfortunately she's wearing them right now and asleep (this is not the unfortunate part) so I can't photograph the side seams to show you.

1 more set of pjs to go. Woven fabric trousers and jersey fabric top. The woven fabric is dark brown with zebras, elephants and cheetahs on, and the jersey fabric is plain brown. I want to appliqué a zebra onto the top, but I'm not sure how. I think I will iron interfacing onto the cutout, and then tack the cutout onto the jersey (not slinky jersey!), then use my machine to zigzag it around the edges and remove my tacking. Anyone got any suggestions, or this is a good idea?

January Bluhs

2011-01-17T21:47:00.003Z

I've got 'em.

The weather is miserable, although we're not flooding like so many people are, it just keeps raining. And it's not really warm (it's January, it's not going to be warm) and the cold and damp are making my hip ache like anything.

I've managed to start and finish a pair of socks (identical socks, no less) in January, but I'm a bit down on the rest - my Some Assembly Required needs more spinning, which I'm slowly getting done. My Stained glass socks are lovely and a bit addictive, but I can't watch TV or carry on a conversation while I'm working on them. And as I'm holding the two different yarns one in each hand, my left hand is starting to ache a bit with the unfamiliar motions so I take frequent breaks from it.

I've finished a cardigan for Kathryn, really finished as in I've actually sewn the buttons on (normally I count it finished if I've sewn in the ends and have some buttons that will work), and it looks good. It's a green cardigan with little ladybird buttons.

She loves it. The googly eyes at the bottom left of that picture is the top of her frog chair. I'll get a better picture of the cardigan itself soon. It's stocking stitch with moss stitch borders.

I have a new job. I'll be starting at the beginning of February. It's not what I was doing before, and I'm feeling a little ambivalent about it as it's not the same industry I've spent the last 8 years in and I wanted to have my business bringing in enough to keep me going.

And although I'm no longer directly affected, Teh Crazy is still affecting my former colleagues, who are close to tearing out their hair. Whatever else happens, I'm so very very glad I'm no longer subject to it.

2011 Resulution

2011-01-07T14:45:00.002Z

To finish this cross stitch kit.

It's a needle case, and I bought the kit with my grandmother at the V&A seriously long time ago. All my cross stitch sort of got put to one side when I started knitting again. And I know that I haven't touched this for over 7 years. I started it... maybe 10 years ago?

All I have to do is the flowers at the top of the vases, and a line of stitching all around, and the back stitch for detail.

The kit I think also had a scissors case too, as the chart for the needle case has a scissors case chart too, but if so it's gone west a long time ago, along with the picture from the front of the kit.

My only resolution for this year. I think I can keep this one!

2011

2010-12-28T21:28:00.002Z

I've read a lot of 2010 reviews, but whilst I like reading them this year I'm not taking part. 2010 has been a horrible year and I shall be happy to see it going.

Instead I'm focusing on 2011.

With my some assembly required sweater, I'm in a race - shall I finish the spun yarn before I finish spinning more, or will my spinning be faster than my knitting? And shall I end up plying different colours or keep it all the same colour?

My beautiful Stained Glass socks are going nicely, and I'm looking forward to finishing them and wearing them. They might be a tiny bit on the big side, but if so it will only be a little bit. And having started them so many times I'm not planning on undoing them again.

Having finished Kathryn's jumper for this year (pictures to come once I've found some buttons - it's actually a cardigan) I am tempted to make her a matching hat.

I'm planning another cardigan, this time for me, from the same yarn I made Kathryn's from. Not so that we have cutesy matchy matchy cardigans, but because I've got rather a lot of it left over, and would like a new cardigan... and I'm still on a yarn diet.

I'm spinning what will be a 3-ply yarn, long enough (I hope) for a shawl, hopefully sock yarn thickness. We'll see. So far it's going very well.

I'm hoping to finish my 1940s dress by the end of the week, to wear to a New Year party. All I have to do is sew in the zip, sew the sleeves in and do the hem.

After that, I want to make Kathryn more pjs, she's growing out of her current ones at an alarming rate. I also want to make myself a vintage blouse, and matching suit. Kathryn needs more skirts as well. Also a few shirts or blouses. And so on...

Happy New Year, and enjoy whatever you have planned.

Semi Recovery

2010-12-19T22:18:00.003Z

We're on the way to recovery. Himself is pretty much ok, my hot temperature thing has transformed into a snotty cold and we're much happier.

Kathryn is not so much better. She's not been sick again, but she's been extremely hot at times, and has not managed to eat very much at all. However I'm going to take her to the doctors tomorrow so hopefully she'll be fine by Christmas.

I have put all my sewing plans on hold - I've managed to make my niece her doll, but not the clothing. It will have to go to my sister unsewn as there's no way I'm feeling up to that kind of concentration yet:( If I manage to do some sewing then I'll finish it before handing it over though.

As evidence for my mental state, I give you this:

Stained Glass Window Socks (rav link). They are, as I've been saying on facebook, a bit of a bugger. Fair Isle or rather two colour stranded, one black, one very long colour repeat varigated. This is the first 10 rounds. It's taken me (I think) 5 attempts to get this far. It would have been quicker I'm sure but my head is not in the right place for something this complicated, really.

I'm not expecting to go very quickly with these, but I've loved them since I first saw them... and I'm going to make them now. That's my Christmas present to myself:)

So, have a good Christmas everyone, with plenty of what keeps you happy.

Lurgy

2010-12-14T22:19:00.002Z

We're all not well. Himself started with a chest infection that nearly hospitalised him, followed by Kathryn with the vomiting bug going around. Now I've got something hot and headachy and wobbly. And a migraine too.

Don't expect a lot coming from me for the next few days. We're all feeling sorry for ourselves right now:(

Surprise!

2010-12-12T21:33:00.002Z

A friend mentioned that the last time he wore a suit was when he got married, 13 years ago.

Which means that Himself and I have been together for nearly 15 years. How did that happen?

Plus, it can't be 15 years ago we first got together... That's a really long time ago!

So, that's how 15 years go by. In a flash.

Saturday morning fun

2010-12-11T09:47:00.000Z

December!

2010-11-30T22:23:00.004Z

How did it get to be December so fast? OK it's not December until tomorrow morning but still...

And the weather has been distinctly Christmassy. It snowed today! In London! In November! I don't remember it ever snowing this early in the year before. Kathryn's extremely excited about it, and I tried to take snowy pictures but unfortunately none of them really show the snow. It's not sticking snow, it's melty snow, and has pretty much all gone now, but it's seriously cold out now and has been for about a week.

December leads to Christmas and this year I'm bowing out of the Christmas crazy crafting chaos (nice alliteration, hey). My brother has asked for a scarf to replace the one I made him years ago, and I volunteered to sew up some things for my niece for Christmas. I also have a thing or two to sew up for Kathryn for Christmas, but other than that... I have no crazy this year:)

I intend to finish my 1940s dress by Christmas. All I have left is to put the zip in, do the sleeves (put them in, and hem them) and finally to hem the skirt. The dress isn't designed to have a zip, it should have a closure called a placket, but it's not what I am familiar with as a placket. I would call it something like "a gap closed with hook and eyes" or something like that from reading the instructions, but I think a zip will fit in relatively easily. I've got a concealed zip, and it goes in the side seam.

The sleeves are short, and have a strange sort of double hem which I might ignore and just hem them if I can't figure out the instructions - the instructions are somewhat arcane.

I'm really looking forward to finishing it, and even though it's a test piece I think it will make a nice summery dress, and I can make a "real" dress out of something more substantial at some point. I have a lot of sewing mentally lined up for once the dress is finished, both vintage sewing for me and clothing for Kathryn. And I have a new niece arriving some time in January so I have some sewing to do for her too.

Do you have any Christmas crazy this year? or are you stepping out of the crazy zone?

Book Review

2010-11-24T20:29:00.004Z

I've just read a really really good book.

It's Rebellion, by Rachel Cotterill.

I loved this. It's fast paced, fascinating and a completely novel way (to me) of a society being organised. There's a mystery at the centre of it that was barely touched in this book. The central character, Eleanor, breaks out of the life outlined for her by the authorities of her world and goes another way.

Everything else I say keeps coming out with massive spoilers:(

Go read it. It's fantastic!

Plus, I might have just had my computer invaded by a virus. If you get an email claiming to be from me offering chocolates, delete it unread!

Pics

2010-11-22T22:16:00.004Z

The bed went in.

The tooth came out.

In fact the tooth came out the first night she was in her new bed. And got lost there (it was later found again but not before bedtime the next night).

She loves her new bed. All we need to do now is get suitable lighting for under the bed so the desk is fully lit up properly. Oh and I've just noticed that her books have fallen over. I need to make sure that all her books are on that shelf, then they won't fall over!

Edited to add, that's an awful picture of Kathryn but it does show the gappy tooth bit.

Blarg

2010-11-18T09:37:00.004Z

It's definitely heading towards winter now. I have a stinky cold:(

On the plus side I'm waiting for the delivery of Kathryn's new bed. She's very very excited about this and has told *everyone* she meets that her new bed is arriving today. She's currently sleeping in a "toddler bed" which is only just long enough for her with the mattress she had in her cot on it. It was a big cot, and the same size as her bed, but it's quite an old mattress now. Decidedly time to be replaced. New bed is a high bed, single bed size. So, she'll have a bed that will last her.

And, even more exciting for a 5 yo, under it will be a wardrobe (so she can have her own one, instead of sharing mine), shelves for her books and a desk! Yes, a desk she can do homework on (when she gets serious homework), and keep her laptop on (well, it's on loan from a friend who has gone abroad, but if he stays abroad it's hers permanently).

The wobbly tooth is getting more and more wobbly, and I really need to google tooth fairy bags. In my family we don't do the putting tooth under pillow thing after my sister lost the tooth under her pillow, found money there and then the next day found the tooth as well.

My unbloggable stuff is coming to an end, in a way very good for me, and so soon the Unbloggable and Teh Crazy can both be put behind me finally.

Why do I have this song going through my head now?

I really will get to some sewing soon - I have some stuff to do for Christmas, but first I want to finish my 1940s dress. I have the feeling, having tried on the bodice, that it's not going to look how I wanted it to, but it is a test piece and so I'm not going to be heartbroken if it looks like arse. I do however have a new pattern (actually I have many, many new patterns. I just can't resist!) for a really lovely blouse and a suit. I have some lovely blueish tweed my mum bought as a present when she went to the Isle of Man, which is lovely, although possibly not enough to make a whole suit from but certainly enough for the skirt of the suit. I have some pre-used fabric with a lovely flowery pattern on it, and the blue flowers exactly match the blue of the tweed which I'd like to make into the blouse. So watch this space!

Now with added Knitting Content

2010-11-13T21:54:00.002Z

In no particular order:
Vintage vest for a newborn, for the Period Garment Scheme. I'm halfway through the first sleeve. This feels soft as a cloud, so very appropriate for a newborn size!

Vintage knitalong evening wrap. Not got very far with this!
Progress with sock yarn blanket. I've folded it over to make sure it fits in the shot.
Cardigan for Kathryn. It's not quite this dark a green, and the sleeve is much further along.

My Some Assembly Required sweater is not that much more advanced from the previous picture as I had to undo it and start over with it bigger, then the colder weather meant I needed to make something for Kathryn asap as none of her warm jumpers from last year really fit terribly well. This has priority right now.

I'm sure I've missed stuff out as I've got about 6 different things on the needles right now, and when I remember I'll post them!

I'm up and running!

2010-11-07T14:07:00.002Z

Woohoo! Go look at this:

Kew Transcription Services

I'm in business. I'm working for myself, and even have a few clients.

I've got a business email address, website, phone and bank account. I've found that contrary to expectations the HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs - the tax people) have been extremely helpful. They offer a range of free (yes, free) courses to help start up businesses with their taxes (that link goes to all their courses not just the starting up business ones).

It has made me look at things in a different way - previously my thought process on buying something went along these lines: Do I need it/want it/can I afford it/ok buy it. Now it goes something like this: Do I need it/want it/can I afford it/How many hours work to pay for it? Forget it!

I have two phones now, which presents me with a bit of an issue with storing them in my bag. Ideally I will find some kind of quilted drawstring bag to put my business phone in but in the meantime I'm shoving them into the same little pocket in my bag which is decidedly not ideal!

Excited. And also scared, in about equal amounts.

Ho hum

2010-11-02T21:52:00.002Z

I'm knitting a secret thing for secret.

However, despite it's secretness, I can tell you this much: the yarn is not colourfast - my fingers are going blue, and so are my needles.

I'm not showing you a picture because the only one that actually showed the dye on my fingers was pants.

Anyone got any ideas as to how to get dye off Brittany needles?

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T20:33:00.003Z

Here's our pumpkin without the candle in it, and still with the pen lines to show Kathryn where I wanted her to draw the face. It's a smily, happy pumpkin, not a scary one.

Kathryn and her best friend all ready to go trick or treating - well, Kathryn is without her ghost costume in this picture, but she still has the white facepaint that a ghost needs. She's now suitably sugar fueled and did resist going to sleep - but the end of BST means that it's even later than she thinks and I think she's conked out now!

I have been doing knitting and will have an update soon, but mostly I've been dealing with stuff I can't really blog about so it's all been quiet.

Pics

2010-10-26T21:14:00.003+01:00

Kathryn in her new pjs (phone pic). She was very busy with her new magazine when I snapped this, the morning after she wore them for the first time. Sorry about the blurring, but she was very busy!

Sewing FO

2010-10-21T13:57:00.004+01:00

No, it's not my 1940s dress. Kathryn needed new pjs more than I needed a new dress, so they jumped the queue.

New Look 6641, view B for the top and view E for the trousers.

They look and feel snuggly and warm. Which is good because it was very cold and there was frost on the ground this morning.
The trousers will actually be long enough for her!
I put rickrack tape on the sleeves and legs. I found the secret to sewing rickrack. It's not pins, nor is it a different needle. It's glue. Glue the stuff down with a glue stick. Let it dry and then sew it on! Works like a dream.

Why rickrack? Well, these were made of some sheets Kathryn had when she was tiny. I love the pattern, it's so lovely. Kathryn loves it too. When she moved to a bed I kept the sheets, intending to do something with them. I wanted to make a pair of pjs out of each sheet, but they're not big enough. In fact, they're not really big enough to make a pair of trousers out of one sheet - so I had to piece them together. Hence the rickrack to cover the seams lengthening the trousers. Also the first time I've embellished my sewing.
I'm particularly pleased with the neckline. I've only done a knit neck once before, and it was quite a monster. This one however looks good. Really good. In fact I have RTW knit tops with less neat neckbands.

I'll try and get a picture of her wearing them tonight - I made the trousers yesterday and the top today, and she was very interested in knowing when they'd be finished.

Feels smug:)

Dietary matters

2010-10-20T21:36:00.002+01:00

I can't eat cheese, or cheese by products. This includes such things as whey, or whey powder (which the UK chocolate industry in their *infinite* wisdom have decided makes for cheaper milk chocolate - can you tell I'm cross about this decision?).

I have spent the last 15 to 20 years not eating cheese. This includes pizza. Yes, I have not had a pizza with cheese on for 20 years. If I take a flight I have to order the non-dairy meal. I have to read the ingredients of most foodstuffs (whey and whey powder use is on the increase as it's cheaper than adding actual milk to products where you would expect to find milk).

However, to balance the down there is an up.

First of all, I saw this product (cheddareese) on a shelf in our local supermarket a few weeks ago. Bought it. Himself used it in cooking. Wow... it really added a cheese flavour to our food (and not just for someone who doesn't really remember what cheese flavour is, Himself said it added a nice cheese flavour).

Then, whilst googling it to see whether there were any similar products in the same range, I found this book: The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. Even more wow! It arrived today so we haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but have been looking and drooling. There are some fairly specialist items to get (for us, anyhow) and most of the recipes are 100% vegan and the author has been very careful to highlight any items that may cause reactions. Even without trying anything in it I'm seriously impressed.

I'm looking forwards to the things I've missed the most: pizza with stretchy melted cheese, toasted cheese sarnies, and lasagne.

So, what's your favourite cheesy meal?

Stuff

2010-10-13T20:45:00.002+01:00

Right now I have stuff going on that I can't really talk about. Which is why I'm being quiet.

However, it's getting colder, and once I have enough of it I'll show you the cardigan I'm making Kathryn. It's green. Should match a green item on her list, once I manage to get some green fabric.

Also, and how could I forget:

Wobbly Tooth!

We were walking home after school and Kathryn was eating her apple. Then she said "Ow! That hurt my tooth!" and asked me to look at it. I looked but couldn't see anything but on a hunch, put my (clean) finger on the tooth and wobbled it. She's told everyone: The nice men who work in the library, the lady with a lovely shop near the station, Daddy, the man who checked her feet size (we bought new shoes today. Her old ones literally fell to bits), the lady at the checkout at Mothercare, the man in Tescos, Granny... everyone we bumped into on the way home!

Also, new shoes! In fact, more new shoes. The second lot are apparently washable in the washing machine. I'm not sure I'll be trying that but you never know!

Ally Pally 2010

2010-10-08T21:02:00.002+01:00

I went to the Knit and Stitch show at Alexandra Palace today.

I didn't buy very much but I did look and see and chat and meet.

I saw Sparrowkids. This is a small company who make sewing kits for kids and adults. Kathryn has a bus purse, which she loves. We really need to finish it soon!

I saw Jamiesons of Shetland. They have lovely yarn. And are lovely people who like a chat and remembered us (my mother and me) from last year, and the year before.

I spoke to a lovely lady at Knitting 4 Fun, who helped me out - my 120cm KnitPro cable had broken (the metal bit came off one of the ends and wouldn't stay on when I shoved/glued it back on)(note, people outside Europe may know these better as Knit Picks) to the extent that she replaced my 120cm cable, and I bought a 100cm cable and several tips that my starter pack doesn't have from her.

I bought some yarn. I know, I wasn't going to, but I saw some of this in a beautiful bright blue, and couldn't resist. It's a bit thicker than I would expect for 4ply but I think it will be a hat for me. Which I will probably make up on the fly, so I don't have to fit it into a pattern.

Susan Crawford was there, with Arbour House Publishing, and I bought Vintage Gifts to Knit, and she signed it for me:) I've already got her book A Stitch in Time, which I bought from her a few years ago, and she signed that one too. I'm a bit of a fan.

I had a nice long chat with the lovely people at Kalmedia. I showed off my papay shawl (that lace shawl I finished last Christmas) and gave them some chocolates (I've been doing this since their very first publication - in fact since before they had any publications and had a yarn shop I like).

I tried very hard to buy some fabric. Actually very hard. I had swatches with me to match. I wasn't looking for much, just some plain brown jersey to match some patterned fabric I have, and also some green.. something... (not quilting cotton, something warm-ish and also machine washable for skirts for Kathryn). I didn't find anything. Nada. Nothing at all. Well, miles and miles of quilting cotton. Actually some suiting. But what I had in mind? Not a thing.

Probably a good idea though as we went by public transport and I know from carrying big packets of yarn home in the past that it's not easy, fabric most likely wouldn't be that easy either.

Still, I'm now knitting on my Some Assembly Required (now the new, bigger version that will actually fit this time) on my new cable happily.

You know your baby is a big girl when...

2010-10-04T21:26:00.003+01:00

You get clothing orders for the coming season.

Yep. Kathryn has given me a list of what she would like for the autumn and winter.

Actually she drew what she wanted and then we went through it and I wrote a list.

Excuse really wobbly picture.

I'm going to list it, so I can cross them off as I do them.

Long sleeve t-shirts:

3 green

1 pink

1 red

1 brown

Waistcoats

1 green

1 blue

Trousers

1 brown

Skirts

1 green

1 pink with red flower appliqué

Dresses

1 green with red flower appliqué (now I need to learn to do appliqué) jumper type dress

1 red jumper type dress

1 yellow t-shirt dress

1 brown/purple t-shirt dress

1 purple flowery summery dress.

Just... stunned. She's thought about it, gone through what she owns, what fits and will fit for the rest of the year... and asked me to fill the gaps (and then a bit).

Also, waistcoats? where did that come from!

I'm also going to be making her some cardigans. I've got some lovely green DK wool which I offered her for woolly stuff. Then I checked the bag and realised I have 20 balls of it (did I mention I have a sizeable stash?). I can make Kathryn a cardigan. I can make her beloved Cousin Merily one. And I can make new cousin arriving at the end of January one (or maybe a baby February cardigan as it's odds on she'll arrive in Feb rather than Jan and that would tickle me).

Oh, and my some assembly required? needs to be ripped and redone. After nearly 20 cm I have decided that it really *is* too small for me. Putting it off right now.

Progress

2010-10-02T20:47:00.004+01:00

When I read the instructions it said to hand sew the collar top on top of the seam machine sewn attaching the bottom half to the bodice. I said to myself, "No way am I hand sewing *anything*!"

This seam could not have been machine sewn. Just because I don't like doing it doesn't mean I can't do it. It's actually a lot more purple than this. I've just got the sleeves to attach, and the skirt to put together... and then put the skirt and bodice together. Oh, and somehow fit a zip in where there was originally no zip. Before next Saturday when I'd like to wear it (muslin or not) to a party. Piece of cake.

These are the instructions. The first third is all about the cutting layout. It's what I might call stingy with words. Or a good thing I got that Needlecraft Encyclopaedia. It's already proven very useful.
I don't believe I've shown you my sewing machine. Meet the Brother Quick System. I've had it for over 10 years, but only really started to use it in the last few years (you would think having had a baby would make me less likely to take on new crafts rather than more, but obviously not!)
Oh yes, and where you you store your sewing junk? I store mine in those firm paper bags you sometimes get from shops. One is full of cotton reels, ribbons, rick-rack, and so on. One is full of zips and general stuff. Another is full of things like interfacing and also the fabric left from making Clothkits kits. I didn't clear off my table before taking the picture and was mid-sew when I did it. It's normally all put away.

How do you keep all your gubbins?

Knitting!

2010-09-26T21:32:00.002+01:00

This is my Some Assembly Required. I've spun 7 2-ply skeins of this (approximately DK weight, or a little more), and have knitted about 4 inches, and am on the second skein. I think I'm going to need to spin more before I finish. It looks in the photo like the white and grey are much more separate, but it looks much more blended in real life. My camera hates white though and this is the only photo that wasn't whited out. It's lovely and soft. Looking forward to finishing it.

I'm also knitting some vests, for the Knitting and Crochet Guild's period garment scheme. I'll show some pics once I can get some that are ok - I'm using white so it's really hard to get a good pic. So far I'm just over half way through a 1940's vest for a newborn baby, in 2ply weight, and will be making a series of children's vests for them. Which reminds me, if anyone has any 2ply or 3ply weight yarn (wool only) that they no longer want, please let me know!

Random list of stuff

2010-09-23T09:25:00.002+01:00

It's raining. I like the rain.

I'm gong to have to accept the fact that my hip is never going to be 100% better. It will be better, or worse, but not completely healed.

At the moment it's worse. Sleeping on the floor while on holiday with my parents was not one of my best ideas.

The idiots on the ground floor were going to have another party last night, but after I explained (no, I didn't get cross, I just explained) how clearly we can hear them, they either learned how to use the volume knob, or postponed it.

I'm betting postponed it. Don't think they can learn how to use a volume control.

I've started knitting my Some Assembly Required sweater. It's lovely.

Unfortunately I think I'll have to spin some more as I'm on the second skein already and only about 4 inches into it. Nevermind, I've still got over 1kilo of unspun fibre in case.

It's all autumn-y now. I love this time of year.

I had porridge for lunch the other day. Mmmmm:)

Looking for a job/touting my own business is hard work.

I'd like to keep my own business running and not have to take a job as well.

I'll still have little time for sewing but at least I could pretend I'm going to sew that way.

My dress is cut out and pinned together but not sewn yet. It's been like that for a week. My alterations seem to have worked perfectly. I was rather stunned to find that the back skirt panels, when pinned together, fitted exactly onto the back bodice once I'd pinned the darts in. Wow, I wasn't expecting that!

I'm going to a fancy dress party in a few weeks. Firefly/steampunk theme. No idea what to wear.

Random thougts on a rainy autumn day. Hope everyone is having a good one.

Darn it

2010-09-19T21:52:00.000+01:00

The book featured in the previous post, Odhams Encyclopaedia of Needlecraft, doesn't just cover dressmaking. It also covers all sorts of things you can do with needles, including darning.

Now, I've been on this sock knitting kick on and off for about 7 years, and some of my older socks have had to be honourably retired due to the proto-holes in the heels.

In my teens I darned several "favourite" pairs of socks, shop bought, with black sewing cotton and they looked terrible so I had a morbid fear of even attempting to darn anything.

However, this book changed all that! And to the benefit of any readers interested in how you were advised to darn socks in the 1950s I will quote for you:

When darning cashmere hosiery use fine woollen thread; leave loops at the ends of rows to allow for shrinkage.

Hole: Cut away any ravellings or ends of web around the hole until it becomes quite neat in appearance. Begin work at the right-hand side, darning three or four rows before the hole is reached. The shape should be octagonal. Work across the hole, picking up the loops at the edge. Cross the darn, weaving into the threads over the hold and keeping the rows close together so that the hole is filled up and is quite flat.

Thin place: Use a long, thin needle and matching darning wool. Darn in the same way as for a thin place in linen, but, instead of picking up and leaving stitches and spaces alternatively, pick up alternate loops of the fabric, working first a row of upward stitches, then returning by means of a downward row. Leave loops at the ends. The shape should be either octagonal or diamond.

[How to darn a thin place in linen is rather vague, but it says: Mark the limit of the darn all round the thin place with small tacking stitches, including sufficient of the stronger fabric to allow the darning needle to sink into the weave.

Work the selvedge way only of the fabric and make the darn an uneven shape, zigzag, lozenge or diamond. Leave loops at the ends of each row of stitches in case the thread shrinks in washing. Begin at the right-hand end, take a few stitches, evenly spaced, on the needle, draw the needle up and out. Work the second row by beginning either higher or lower according to the shape required. Work down, alternating stitches and spaces with those previously worked. Continue in this way, working well into the less thin border.]

I have no photographs as the darned socks are now washing but might be able to get some tomorrow, also there will be daylight tomorrow and therefore better pictures.

Happy things

2010-09-15T20:55:00.002+01:00

Despite all my busy-ness looking for work, I've managed to advance my 1940's dress somewhat. I've finished fiddling with the pattern so it should (theoretically) fit me now. I've even managed to find an opportunity to cut it out (sewing related injury incurred, also - I cut myself on what I thought was a blunt rotary cutter blade, but which wasn't.)

I've done more preparing. I have bought a book, which should help me somewhat.

It's a book of sewing, from approximately the same period (it appears to date from 1953, according to various online sources - it has no date or ISBN or copy right information at all so I can only date it by guess work).

It's very interesting, not least because it's actually got some sewing patterns to draft yourself in it, including one for a bra (which I intend to try), knickers and some truely splendid dresses.

I have stuff to do tomorrow, and Friday morning, but I'm hoping I can pin fit my dress in the afternoon, and (gasp) do some sewing on Saturday or Sunday...

How come, even when I'm not actually at work all day I *still* have very little time for sewing during the day? I expected, when I stopped working in June, that I would sew up a storm... I've managed extremely little sewing since then, so WTF?

Thanks for everyone's commiserations about the mess about probably having a job/suddenly definitively not having a job. That was a job as an audio secretary, and not a legal secretary, and I'm annoyed but not terribly sad about it not being around - especially as I've been in touch with some City of London agencies who seem to think they can get me a very good job indeed fairly shortly. In the industry I love, so from a possible job I was fairly blah about to hopefully a job I'm actually *excited* about... wheeee!

And speaking of career type stuff, I'm now a Fellow (why does that make me giggle so much?) and entitled to put the letters FILS after my name... ok, so I'm the only person I know who's ever heard of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs but I'm still a Fellow there....

Boohoo

2010-09-14T20:44:00.000+01:00

No job. Bugger.

Woohoo!

2010-09-13T20:38:00.004+01:00

I have (possibly) got a new job:)

Reservation due to the fact that they want me to come in Wed, Thurs, Fri to do the job as a temp, to see how I fit in with the rest of the team, which will be followed by a 3 month probationary period.

This is a different job to the interview I went to with a bad eye, and it's further away (but more money).

So a qualified Yay:)

Edited to add: Am still browsing for other jobs though!

Meh

2010-09-10T20:40:00.003+01:00

Eye infections suck. Big time.

Tuesday I was ok for my interview, however by mid evening I was bad again, and before I went to bed I had already decided that a visit to Kingston Hospital eye causality unit would be a damn good idea.

Wednesday morning, barely able to see, and completely unable to keep my right eye open for more than a second at a time, I got on the bus to Kingston. The journey was a nightmare as I couldn't see and was feeling nauseous due to the flickering vision that was the best I could manage.

Once I got to the hospital, the staff were lovely and helpful, including pointing out where the eye unit was when I said that I couldn't actually read the map... not that I expected anything other than that as I've never had a bad experience at Kingston.

I spent a long time there, arriving at about 9am and leaving at about 2pm. I will admit most of that time was spent waiting, but as the signs everywhere said, it is an Accident and Emergency unit and sometimes urgent cases will be bumped ahead of already waiting patients.

I was seen by a very nice nurse, who decided I did need to see a doctor, and then I saw the doctor. I had (and still have the remnants of) an infected scratch on my eye. This is not what my GP diagnosed me with, so the nice doctor lady at the hospital gave me a prescription for what she called "dettol for the eyes" and said to come back on Friday so they could check the progress.

I'm glad to say that my eye has now healed enough to be able to use the computer although I won't be using it too much today, just to let it recover. The backlit monitor, I found, made it hurt more than the TV.

I'm now on my third different lot of eye drops... and have no idea how my interview went as I was pretty out of it at the time:(

Wednesday and Thursday I was fairly unable to do anything that required seeing, I've taken it really easy today and I've got nothing to show or share...

I've bowed out of being a cool girl for the trouser round. I've done barely any knitting or sewing. I certainly haven't kept up with people's blogs (you guys talk too much!).

I have a mini rant brewing if anyone's interested about children's rtw clothing though (the result of having to think about something to take my mind off the pain).

Timing is everything

2010-09-07T08:23:00.002+01:00

I have an eye infection. My eye hurts, is blurry and bloodshot and I can barely open it. I have an appointment with the doctors in about an hour.

This afternoon I have an interview (yippee). It's not exactly what I was doing before, but it looks very similar, and the differences look very interesting. I'm excited about the prospect of getting this job, it's close by and possibly even part time (which would be the best of both worlds to me) working in a small firm of surveyors. I spent most of yesterday browsing the job sites and applying left, right and centre. I had an email from an agent who was interested but hasn't followed up, and at 9 last night a phone call from a firm who I'd emailed direct (as per their advert), which is who I'm seeing today.

I spent some time working in a surveyor's office before I got my previous job. It was a temp assignment, and I enjoyed that. It's where I learnt audio typing (which is actually not that difficult).

So, my challenge for today is: To look like I am "presentable" and don't have an icky eye... and to know my stuff:)

Wish me luck (I need to find some work clothes that are suitable for interview now... )

A momentous event

2010-09-05T21:52:00.002+01:00

I've done my first ever FBA. Although there would have been more swearing if Kathryn had been out of earshot, there were not many moments when I wanted to swear vociferously.

The front bodice pieces of my 1940's dress are now a mass of tissue paper (well, more accurately baking paper) but it looks totally useable, so I'm happy.

Tomorrow is the first day of term so after dropping Kathryn at school (with the new-to-us Year 1 drop off system) I shall come home and cut out the dress in my gorgeous purple fabric - bought to be a muslin but I'll be ever so happy if it turns out to be a wearable muslin!

I also have two pairs of pj's to cut out as well while I'm doing. Which in an odd way reminds me of a question I meant to put to anyone who knows the answer: I bought a pair of trousers from Boots today for Kathryn, from their new Mini Club range (Mini Mode is no more). They are age 5 - 6, and have button elastic along the back waist. I have done the last button up, we can just about get them over her bum, but it's too tight for her to wear. Does anyone know of a sewing pattern for cargo pants style trousers or can suggest a brand that cuts their trousers for children that are not skinny? We have real problems with trousers for her - which is why I usually end up buying her trackie bottoms, which look sooo stylish especially when the waistband starts stretching and she does that builders bum look.

So, suggestions please!

Ooops, forgot these

2010-09-03T21:37:00.003+01:00

In Dymchurch, we went on the local railway. This is one of the engines. I suppose it's a mark of our geekiness in that we went on the railway to Dungeness and were far more interested in the railway and the trains than in Dungeness - less of a town and more of a location for a nuclear power station and otherwise complete desolation.

Kathryn's huge sandcastle. With my finger in the shot unfortunately. The pool is dry in this shot, and full of stones. They were, apparently, bad stones and had been put in prison.

Photos

2010-09-03T21:23:00.005+01:00

Kathryn in Norfolk, on the one sunny day, in a play ground.

Kathryn in her Kitschy Coo tunic and coincidentally matching trousers, in Norfolk.

The beach, at Dymchurch. Miles of lovely sand. And sea. And sunshine:)

Kathryn dancing on the sand.

Even more sand.

Back of Kathryn's head at the amusement park near the beach.

Kathryn enjoying the prospect of 10 more tokens to spend on rides at the amusement park!

Being a tourist. View straight ahead. Where do you think the above picture and the next two pictures were taken? Maybe I'll have a prize...

View to the right.
View of the bridge from the other side.

London picture - an unusual tube station having the platform between the rail lines (Clapham Common Station on the Northern Line). If it had not been pouring with rain I would have taken a photo of the outside of the station, which is a beautiful rounded building, with lovely old glazed tiles all around it, but it was so I didn't! You can just about see my brother, his fiancee and my dad on the platform in this picture.

Home again

2010-09-02T22:18:00.002+01:00

And we're home.

Kathryn and I spent several days with my parents in Norfolk (where I fear I did incredible harm to my hip by sleeping *on the floor* the three nights I was there) which was busy and hectic and tiring but enjoyable all the same.

Then we came home, and then the next day Kathryn, Himself and I went to the seaside. In addition to the damage done to my hip, I have become incurably disfigured (I have sunburn) all over my face. There is *no* photographic evidence of the same... just trust me, my cheeks and nose are day-glo red. Also, I bought flipflops, which I can assure random readers means that my feet are also incurably disfigured (blisters between my big toe and next toe on both feet).

We did however manage to build the world's biggest sandcastle, with a pool in the middle. Kathryn did try to find a crab to sit in the pool, but none was obliging enough to *stay* in the pool long enough to be photographed.

We did have a really good time, and if you want a nice beach holiday in the UK, Dymchurch is a lovely sleepy, traditional seaside town. Even if I have been reliably informed by Himself who grew up in Kent that the locals there all have webbed fingers and toes - which I somewhat disbelieve.

Photos and finished objects to follow when I find where I packed the camera.

Quick clarification

2010-08-27T10:25:00.001+01:00

A quick clarification of my previous post - Himself isn't hassling me to reduce stash, I've realised just *how much* I have... and I can't justify, even by wiggling around, any more. I can't really justify what I have now. I don't remember buying some of it. So...

Time to reduce.

I'll be away for a week or so, so see you on my return!

SABLE

2010-08-24T21:57:00.002+01:00

Himself and I have just had a conversation.

It went along these lines:

Himself: So, I'm going to be getting rid of most of my photographic equipment. I'm really looking forward to getting at it and getting rid of the junk. What about you?

Me: Erm. I think I need to do more knitting.

Himself: Why...?

Me: Erm. I've found rather a lot of wool that I forgot I had.

And then I began listing it out. Those two boxes. And that one. And that cupboard. And that chest. And... that big pile of bags and that one there....

The upshot is that Himself seems to think I'm approaching SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life-time Expectation). I'm in denial. I am, however, shocked at the amount I have. And in order to actually move around our not that big flat, I'm instituting a drastic measure - yarn (and fibre) diet. No wiggle, no bending, no exceptions (except, and this is important, for 2 and 3 ply yarn for my current Period Garment Scheme for the Knitting and Crochet Guild), and it will stay in place until I have used up considerable yarn and fibre. I said half, Himself suggested somewhat more than that.

Oh, and... the insulation theory? Went down in flames!

Given up

2010-08-24T16:43:00.004+01:00

I've given up on making my 1940's dress before Kathryn goes back to school. I do indeed need to re-trace the skirt back, and I think I've messed up the front piece as well - the instructions are confusing and could be read several ways and I think I've got it wrong:(

So, having got about half the flat tidy, and even better clean, I think I'd better stick at it. It looks a lot nicer clean! It also means I have space to photograph things:

My centrique shawl is finished! And blocked as well. It's a beautiful yarn, and the pattern is really good for the subtle variation. And it would have been wasted as socks - it's much easier to look at this way:)

Multi-tasking

2010-08-22T18:08:00.002+01:00

I've not got very far with pattern fiddling. I did manage to do the skirt - which brought me to the inescapable conclusion that I have to re-copy the back skirt piece as I managed to mess it up. It seems very strange to have to add seam allowance (1/2 inch all round, and 2 inches for the hem. Hopefully I will find more time to do the collar and sleeve as well as the bodice which will need some kind of FBA, but I stupidly thought I could fiddle with the pattern, and tidy at the same time...

Since the tidying currently consists of lumping huge amounts of crap around, it was kind of a dumb idea on reflection. And tidying has a higher priority as firstly Kathryn is not here so I can use her room to store stuff that will be going to the dump/recycling in and secondly both Himself and I are sick and tired of the mess.

Several questions have occurred to me during the tidying process.

I have three big bags full of old underwear - pre maternity (which I no longer fit) and also maternity underwear (likewise no longer fitting). Why did I keep them? They're off to the textile recycling bank along with a huge bin liner of other (adult) clothing that no longer fits or is otherwise unwearable.

We have three car seats for Kathryn. Why do we still have the ones for her when she was smaller? They take up much much room. Ditto the toy walker thing, the other toy walker thing and the rolly toy thing (going to Himself's colleague who is a recent father who will hopefully also take the travel cot).

Why do we have three printers, only one of which works?

And why do we have a several bags full of empty bottles? They're not saved for any obvious reason, nor were they on the way to the recycling. They're just sitting under a pile of junk.

Why can I only find *one* boot of my pair of boots?

How did I forget my lovely summer sandals? Oh, yeah they were wedged under a bag of bottles under a pile of junk... shame we've now got flood warnings and it looks like I won't be wearing them this year.

Saturday

2010-08-21T23:48:00.002+01:00

Well, I've had a busy day cleaning Kathryn's bedroom which is now spotless.

Himself has made bagels, which were lovely.

And then someone sent him this link. Trust me on this, it is entirely NOT SAFE FOR WORK. And it is entirely funny.

Correction

2010-08-20T22:20:00.003+01:00

I'm not adding 1 3/4 inches to the skirt panels... I'm adding 3/4 inch. Doh!

And my 5 metres of purple (really in your face purple, too) poly cotton is drying. Yes, 5 metres. Yes, really purple. I bought enough to make a test dress... and then a real dress. (Also, yes, drying. I washed it first. I have no intention of having this cheap fabric twist if I can help it!)

This way I can satisfy my purple love *and* have enough fabric to make sure the dress will fit properly!

I was thinking about purple but did think a dress of plain purple might just be too much purple. When I looked at the fabric, I realised my mistake. There is no such thing as "too much purple".

Pattern fiddling will commence tomorrow morning. I also bought 2 reels of purple cotton that matches exactly and a concealed zip - in navy as they don't do purple concealed zips (wtf?) so I can start as soon as the pattern fiddling is done:)

Happy. And soon, happy in purple:)

Update

2010-08-19T21:39:00.002+01:00

Well, my sewing plans went out of the window thanks to a migraine which put me out of commission for most of Tuesday. Wednesday I collected Kathryn from her trip away, and we've been having a fun time.

The Twickenham pound shop (PoundLand, if anyone's interested) sells bags of A4 sheets of felt. Kathryn's been producing masterpieces of cut out and glued landscapes with them. She's very good at it.

Tomorrow I will be taking her to meet my dad, who will take her on a trip up to Norfolk, and I'll be joining them next weekend. After I've said goodbye tomorrow I'm off into Kingston to get some fabric to make the 1940's dress.

I think I've figured out how much I'll need to increase the pattern by - the skirt part is fairly simple, just slash the panels (there are two, to be used 3 times, to make the 6 panels for the skirt) and add 1 3/4 inches. The skirt, adding up the widths, is 3 inches too tight for me, and that doesn't add any ease in, which is why I'm adding so much. I can make the panels smaller if it's too big.

The bodice however isn't going to be so easy. The back, I'm sure will be fairly simple, as all I have to do is add the same amount to the waist (and possibly up through the shoulders), but the front is made of more than one part - side panels and a piece that goes across the waist and then up the centre. Not sure what I'm going to do, but I have masking tape and can tape the whole lot together, slash and spread, and then tape the separate bits with extra for the width.

Boy, you'd almost think I know what I'm doing, reading the above!

Having read through the instructions, I think I'm going to change the waist fastening from a lipped hook and eye type thing to an invisible zip - I have put zips in before and I'm not trying to recreate a genuine 1940's dress, just make the dress in today's fabrics. I have a pattern for another dress, about 10 years younger, which also has an opening at the waist, closed with a "slide fastener" (what zips used to be called) so it's not completely jarring.

It has, at the neck, buttonholes on each side of the collar and the instructions suggest attaching two buttons with a strong chain stitch and buttoning it, which sounds interesting to do.

Expect an update some time next week, hopefully showing a nicely fitting skirt and bodice before I unite the two.

Vintage Sewing - Preparation

2010-08-16T16:49:00.005+01:00

I decided on the left hand dress (with short sleeves), as I actually have a few lengths that I could make this out of without going to the shops and buying more.

So that I can remember what I did I'm making it into a post.

First of all, I took the pattern pieces out of the envelope and found the instructions. They are considerably terser than a modern pattern instruction would be, but I struggled through and knew several things: firstly seam allowance is not included in the pattern pieces (which is very important to know); and secondly I will have to amend the pattern as my waist is not that tiny! I will also have to do a full bust alteration as well, my first. This second point told me that there's no way I'm using the original pattern pieces except to copy them. By the way, they look like this:

Sorry for the bad lighting, but you should be able to see that it's a cream tissue with no writing or printing on it at all. There are a couple of notches cut into it and that's it. I had to refer to the layout diagram and actually find a protractor to get the grain line for some of the pieces.

So, I found my trusty roll of baking paper (if you can find the stuff that is *not* non stick, it's a good idea. Sellotape does not stick to non stick baking paper, and I'm going to need some kind of sticky tape when I make my adjustments) and copied the pattern pieces.

Here's the above piece, copied.
This is one of the front pieces.
Here's a close up of the same piece, with my notes scribbled on it, including the grain line.

Before I cut these out from the baking paper I will need to add 1/2 inch seam allowance all round, and then fiddle with the fit - I think I need to check my copy of Fit for Real People and see what order they recommend. Also I have a really useful looking DVD I got at the same time, called Full Busted Sew Clothes that Fit, which I should actually get round to watching!

Later today and tomorrow I will be doing that, and then deciding on the fabric. I could make it out of the fabric I got for making my summer dress in, which I have kind of given up on for this summer, and I have loads of it, or I have some denim like fabric which I can't remember when I bought or why, which I should have enough of ("should have enough" usually means "really don't have quite enough" in knitting though so I'm not so sure about that, especially as I'm making the pattern pieces bigger). I'm thinking that I'm eventually going to make this with a white waistband and front panel, and the rest blue. Or maybe white with large polka dots over most of it and the waistband/front panel small polka dots. Or maybe both. Depends on how the adjustments go, I suppose.

Intentions

2010-08-15T23:20:00.002+01:00

I have some child free time. I'm going to make one of these. I'm thinking the one on the left, but it's a size smaller than I am so I'll need to make some adjustments. The one on the right is my size, but needs more fabric.

Opinions anyone?

More sewing

2010-08-08T19:48:00.002+01:00

More sewing.

These trousers were, essentially, a muslin. They're Simplicity 5540, age 5 made out of a former sheet. I wanted to make sure that the age 5 did really fit her. I've been caught out by the pattern sizing before, and even though her measurements matched the age 5 measurements, I wanted to check they did fit before making her up a load of summer trousers. Of course, it's August and the summer has at most 2 months left. More likely 6 weeks if not 4, but I still want to make her some summery trousers. These do not give her builder's bum, nor do they fall down.

Shame that my camera can't really cope with the white glare in the sun.
Here we have from the back. They're a nice length too.
I hemmed the legs with a pink thread as a pretty detail. She likes!

Two random Kathryn pics.
When Kathryn is told to put her hair clips in... she puts them all in!

Bribery works! I told her she could have very pink nails if, but only if, she didn't bite her fingernails and there was enough nail for me to cut and then paint. Result!

Actual sewing!

2010-08-07T21:10:00.002+01:00

Clothkits pinny Dove and Cherries pattern, in the turquoise and indigo colourway. I bought this kit nearly a year ago and stuck it at the back of my sewing table and forgot about it until I cleared it off looking for something else. It's age 5 - 6 so I thought I'd better make it in a hurry! Also, it's been a bit pre-autumnal today so making something nice and warm was getting rapidly high on my list. I showed it to Kathryn who asked if she could wear it to a party today. This was yesterday and I said, Yes, of course you can. Started it once she'd gone to bed, and spend ages fiddling with the lining - the pattern is printed on the main fabric, but you have to trace it onto the lining. One of the straps has the lining inside out - but I challenge anyone to spot which one!

View from the back. There is an extra button provided so that you can take a tuck in the back with the button and some button holes, but it's nicely loose on Kathryn and when I pinched it in as if the button was there, it was too tight. So I left it off.

And hey, look. Dolly has the same dress too! The cute factor will be enormous when I make my matching skirt too....

Photos!

2010-08-04T21:56:00.003+01:00

Here's my spinning from Knit Nation.
This was really interesting to spin. It's sparkle from fyberspates, and the sparkly bits are actually silver.

I'll post more over the next few days, but I've a load of photos to upload.

Ply me a river

2010-08-02T21:59:00.003+01:00

I'm plying now. Miles and miles and miles of plying. At least, that's what it seems like.

I've plied 4 skeins so far of my Some Assembly Required, and am halfway through the 5th. I've plied a 3ply I spun for Kathryn from Fibreholics fibre. I did about 3 hours of plying on Friday.

Anyone would think I actually like plying, when actually... actually I hate it. OK, "hate" is probably too strong a word for it, but I definitely prefer the spinning of singles rather than the twisting of singles together.

Hopefully I will be finished with the Some Assembly Required plying soon, really soon and then can start swatching and knitting.

Hopefully too I will have remembered to get some more batteries for my camera. I've been trying to remember every time I go to the shops for the last 2 weeks. Maybe I'll remember tomorrow.

I've also made a load of cup cakes with Kathryn - but those didn't get photographed not because I had no batteries but because they didn't last long enough. I barely managed to save two for Himself before the whole lot went. Erm, anyone believe quality control?

Quick quick Knit Nation report

2010-07-30T20:58:00.003+01:00

I had a fantastic time!

(I was going to leave it there, but I decided to type some more after a cup of tea:)

I'm exhausted, it was a very long day and I left my camera at home, sorry.

I got to Imperial College (where Knit Nation is held) just after 8.30, having packed my spindles, lazy kate and toilet roll bobbins in two bags and carried them on the tube with me. I have to admit, it's been a while since I travelled on the tube at commuting time and I forgot just how very crowded the District Line can be at that time. And I was expecting to see a few more spinning wheels and so on, but since there were not very many spinning classes today maybe that would explain it.

In order to be prepared I printed out the map and the blurb of the class I wanted to do, but I left them at home. When I got to Imperial, I hadn't realised quite how *big* it is and did wander a bit. Fortunately there did seem to be a lot of people with Knit Nation bags or knitting stuff so I followed a couple and found the registration area where they told me that there were still spaces on the Spinning for Socks class and that yes, I could register for it right now! So I did.

Fortunately the student pack had a map in it, which is good because the spinning class was "out of that door, across the green, over the road, in through that door, up the stairs and the last one on the left".

The class was with Janel Laidman, and I learned so very much. It was fantastic, she was brilliant, the other people were interesting and it was fun watching wheel spinners get confused by spindles:) My one and only grumble (and it's a tiny one) is that they all tried to persuade me that I wanted to buy a wheel.

I learned how to spin long draw, which I've been trying to do for *ages* but the youtube videos just didn't do it for me. We spun pretty much all day, with a large variety of fibres, and we got to take home what we didn't spin from each bit - I've now got an enormous bag of random fibres!

When we broke for lunch (2 hour lunch break) I had a quick lunch at one of the many, many canteens at Imperial, and then launched myself into the market place. All I can say is, Oh Wow! Wollmeise had a stall. Now I see why people have been raving about it - the colours are just so rich and saturated. I didn't buy any though, by the time I got to their stall I'd blown my budget. But having seen it in the flesh, I am tempted to buy some when I get some work.

I managed to get some fibre from Baby Long Legs, which I've been eyeing up for... well, forever. Her Gothika, which she doesn't currently have up, which is a merino/silk mix in purples and blacks. I'm going to make it into socks for me, now I know how:)

I also bought Janel's book The Enchanted Sole, which is lovely, and I'm quite looking forwards to knitting some of her amazing socks. And she signed my copy.

There were just so many indie yarn producers, it was wonderful.

Then we went back for the afternoon's session, and I've successfully spun a 4ly cabled yarn, which is lovely. I think I'll be doing that again too.

During the afternoon session my phone kept ringing, and eventually I dug it out of my bag and checked it (I had my hands full of spindle/fibre/yarn when it was ringing) and found that Himself had taken Kathryn off for a nice morning playing and then tried to get back home but had left his keys behind. All the people with spare keys were not at home, could I not hang about and come straight home as soon as it was finished? Luckily, when I tried calling my parents (who live close by, if I haven't mentioned that), they had just come home so Himself and Kathryn went over there until I got home. A good thing that it was quite warm and didn't rain today.

I didn't realise how exhausting it all was until I was on my way home and nearly fell asleep on the tube.

Photos of my haul to follow, along with a pic of my lazy kate and spindles all ready to go (which I will need to re-create for the purposes of taking a picture!).

Edited to add: Nearly everyone had a small shawl, one of the triangular ones with a very long base and not very deep, with lacy edgings wrapped around their neck. They looked very lovely. I might have to make myself one.

Knit Nation

2010-07-29T18:48:00.002+01:00

I'm going to Knit Nation tomorrow.

I don't have a class, but I have a market place ticket and I planned originally to make a few, carefully considered purchases, and just soak up the atmosphere.

However I said to my mum that I was quite sad that I couldn't really justify the cost of the classes (that's £45 for a half day class, or a whopping £90 for a full day's class). I suspect I might have been a bit grumpy about it as well.

Out of the blue, she asked if I would like an early Christmas present, and handed me the money for a full day's class!

Woohoo! I'm doing a class:)

I don't know which yet, as you can't book them online now, but have to buy from the registration stands so hopefully the class I am eyeing up which is showing one place left still will still have a place left when I get there tomorrow morning. Spinning sock yarn, so cool:) Failing that, there is a different spinning sock yarn class on Saturday, so if the first is actually booked up I'll go again on Saturday (such hardship, really:)

I'm doing the happy dance over here, I tell you:)

Clown freaking

2010-07-28T21:05:00.003+01:00

OK, my godmother and I were both sitting on a bench next to the children's playground. Kathryn and Himself were in the playground (apparently Kathryn was climbing up a 20foot tower shaped climbing frame).

At the gate to the playground, along to my left, was a clown making and selling balloon shapes.

There was a small crowd of children (3 or so), who promptly abandoned the clown and stood in front of me and my godmother and started asking questions and showing great interest. The clown looked over, did a double take, looked confused, then looked cross and walked away, presumably to find somewhere where there was less competition.

Obligatory disclaimer - watching someone give a spindle spinning lesson is much more fun than watching a clown make balloon shapes. Watching a clown storm off is much more fun than watching your spindling, but the resultant drop and "That's why it's called a 'drop' spindle, folks!" does get a giggle from a gaggle of 5 year olds (or so).

Plus, himself says that the clown deserved it, they're freaky anyhow.

I love London

2010-07-25T22:57:00.005+01:00

I love the city I live in.

We went to Battersea Park today. I gave my godmother another spinning lesson and we freaked out a clown. Kathryn played in the amazing playground. We fed the ducks, and the ducklings.

On our way home we walked up to South Ken station, and I noticed (as I always do) the panels in the entrance. This time I decided to take a picture. I do love the old style station signs rather more than the dull sign above it.

Maybe I'll do a semi regular post with things around London...

Kathryn

2010-07-22T22:00:00.002+01:00

Partly as a test of the camera on my phone, here's some pictures of Kathryn.

Big smiley face. Why's she laughing so much?

Ah. She has a new book bag for school.

Hmmm, that's a funny looking book!

Goals...

2010-07-20T22:22:00.003+01:00

I have, in the last few weeks, managed entirely to not sew anything. I have managed to trace a pattern (I can't help it, I cannot bring myself to cut into a multi size pattern. Something in me says "You'll want that size at some point. Don't cut it!"), and cut out the fabric.

Maybe it's the lingering effects of my stinky cold (mostly gone now, but I've still got an interesting cough).

Maybe it's the heat (which is coming and going all the time. Currently it's here).

Maybe it's the slight feeling of desperation I'm getting as I look at all the jobs for legal secretaries that are not there, and the lack of people interested in my freelance legal secretary typing.

Or (much more likely) it's because I think I've spun enough yarn for my Some Assembly Required sweater and am now plying it. I've spun 3 lots of 7 x 30g, but have decided not to use the first lot, as it's very different from the 2nd and 3rd lot. I'm plying the 2nd and 3rd lot together making a very nice 2ply yarn that is somewhere between a 4ply and a DK, mostly on the DK side. I was aiming for a thicker final yarn, but I still have over 1 kilo of unspun fibre so I can always do it again. I panicked when I ordered and didn't want to run out. Really don't think that's going to be a problem now!

The singles were spun on a top whorl spindle (which means that the stored, spun yarn is under the whorl), and I'm plying on a bottom whorl (where the stored plyed yarn is above the whorl and I can see it as I go), and so I can see the beautiful sheen on this yarn. It's going to be lovely.

I think I'm going to make an Elizabeth Zimmermann seamless sweater, but I'm not sure whether to do a plain, raglan sleeved one or a yoked one with other fibre in a pattern across the yoke. I don't need to decide yet though, so once I've finished plying I will start swatching! So excited:)

Who would you put on the naughty step?

2010-07-18T21:26:00.002+01:00

Vonnie tagged me to say who I'd put on the naughty step, and I've thought long and hard about this.

I thought of politicians for their behaviour (which in my daughter would certainly result in being sent to... well we don't have a naughty step but to her bedroom for time out).

I thought of the initiators in Teh Crazy. But that's not really a good one for a public forum.

Then I heard a story from a friend of mine and that sparked an idea for me.

My friend is pregnant with her second baby. She was warned by another friend not to drink alcohol in public once she was obviously pregnant. The warning friend had had a glass of wine snatched out of her hand, whilst very pregnant, by a "concerned bystander" worried about the effects of alcohol on her unborn baby.

Another friend of mine has recently had a baby, after an epic battle firstly to conceive and secondly to keep the baby. We all consider it an amazing triumph that she had the baby only two weeks before her due date by c-section. Unfortunately she then got terribly, terribly ill and was unable to actually stand up, let alone hold her baby for a fortnight. She lost serious amounts of weight, as well as not having the chance to try breastfeeding. She started going out with her baby when her baby was about 8 or 9 weeks old - and nearly everyone she met congratulated her on losing her baby weight, without thinking of the serious illness that caused her to lose that much weight.

I myself was... well I was going to say "lambasted" but that's somewhat too strong, but was certainly questioned strongly by another concerned bystander when I bottle fed Kathryn. Now, had this person asked I would have told them that I had had real concerns about Kathryn's feeding when she was tiny, and that the midwife had recommended trying her on a bottle when she went for nearly 24 hours without breastfeeding enough to satisfy her (she would feed for 5 minutes, and fall asleep. Then wake up half an hour later, screaming and starving, feed for 5 minutes and then fall back to sleep). One small bottle of milk later, and she was happy. After that, I mix fed her until I went back to work when she was 5 months old. This also let Himself feed her, which I think resulted in a lovely relationship between them. This lady who questioned how I fed my baby stunned me - she was quite certain that I should have been breastfeeding my child, and only breastfeeding her and wasn't really interested in any reason why I should do any different. She was not speaking from any position of experience - she had no children of her own and was not a maternity specialist in any form.

I have been asked on more than one occasion when we're going to have the next baby. And have been asked with quite a lot of force behind it "why not?" when I've vaguely put them off. For new readers to the blog, I am going through early onset menopause, and am already beyond the point of being able to have another child, and find these type of questions very hard to deal with. Yes, I'm not even 40 yet. Yes it does make me cross. And upset. 'Nuff said.

Which leads me to this: I would put on the naughty step "concerned bystanders" with little medical knowledge or personal experience stepping in with no invitation to "help" pregnant women or new mothers, because they don't think the women in question has considered the issue. Also people who believe that a woman's pregnancy is a community event. And also and with specialness people who ask when you're going to have the next baby with insistence. I'm sure every parent has similar experiences, from the unasked for stroking of a pregnant tummy to the truly outrageous comment people feel free to make about your baby or parenting once the baby is actually born.

I'm tagging Julie if she has time between moving and unpacking and shingles, Bells, and Rachel to tell us who they'd put on the naughty step.

My latest toy

2010-07-11T21:51:00.003+01:00

I needed a new phone. I have previous to this point owned 2 phones. My first one, which I bought in 2000 (or maybe 1999, I can't remember), and the one I bought to replace that one after it had a close encounter with a glass of OJ (who knew, electronics and orange juice do not mix!) in about 2003 or so. And then my battery started to go. I replaced it (with a different battery as by that point my phone was obsolete.), but the replacement started to go.

I was asked by a few people why I had such an old phone and I honestly answered that it still worked and did everything I wanted it to.

But then the battery deteriorated to where it would show full charge, but would run out when the phone rung. So I knew I needed to replace it. As I was about to be made redundant, I didn't want to spend loads of money on a new phone. I logged into my account on my provider's site to see what free phone handsets I could get. There were about 10, all with big screens and much more things that my old phone could do (phone and text. That was all). I must have spent about 5 hours that evening and the next looking at reviews for them all, and searching out what additional software could be added (software for a phone!) and settled on this:

My blackberry (oddly the background is actually a white sheet, not green at all).

I've had it for about 4 weeks now, and I really have to say it's not a phone. It's a pda which also makes phone calls. It has a calendar, which is really useful. It has a notebook function, which I'm using to track where I am on my sock yarn blanket - I'm on the second row now and I can tell you I have 10 squares to go on it before I start the next row.

It has a browser, and yes I can access facebook on it. I do not have my emails forwarded to my blackberry, as I need a data plan with my provider for this and I don't want to upgrade my account to that at the moment, but it works fine with WiFi, which we have with our broadband package.

The strangest thing is browsing online with it, and downloading software (still stunned at the "software for my phone" thing) onto my phone.

The best thing I think though is that I have installed on my phone MobiPocket, which is an ebook reader. I've also installed on my computer the computer part of it. The beauty of this is that I can use the computer part to open pretty much any "document" be it .pdf, .doc. .htm or whatever, and save it as a mobipocket document. I can then download it onto my phone, and read it, comfortably in my armchair, on the station platform, or even in bed.

It has a camera, both still and movie camera. I'm still getting to grips with that.

Also, and terribly, terribly time eating, is the game brickbreaker. Which I'm becoming obsessed with.

My new toy. I love it.

Good intentions and all that

2010-07-09T20:07:00.002+01:00

All my good intentions went by the wayside, because I've got a stinking cold. It's the height of summer here, and I'm snotty and sinus-y and not feeling well. I think I can say with some assurance however that it doesn't matter whether it's winter or summer, a cold is still miserable.

Everyone keeps saying to me that I must be feeling really bad because a summer cold is worse than a winter cold - but I can see that they've both got bad points, and that at least I'm not getting my sore nose or the skin over my sinuses chapped by the freezing winds. Admittedly I spent most of yesterday convinced that I had a soaring temperature because I felt so very hot and sweaty. Then I checked the weather report, and realised I was hot and sweaty because... well because it was hot and sweaty!

Hopefully my somewhat reduced sewing goals will be achieved next week when I will be better.