Knitting - Some Finally Finished Knits

Excuse me, but this is NOT a gum tree!

Well - time for a little bit of a catch-up post - catching up on some of the things that have (amazingly) been finished in the last month or so.  As always - I've been knitting a lot!

This Koala Tea-Cosy is a for a friend who is a very proud 'Bear' and he asked for pink !!  So - Pink mohair yarn, with primrose lemon lining, thick black felt for nose & claws and button eyes.  The pattern is a blend of Vintage Tea Cosy and Barbara Lennon's Koala from an out of print Cleckheaton pattern leaflet (please don't ask for a copy - it is still in copyright).

Human necks need to be kept cosy too - and I've put a couple of hand-knit (to my own pattern) neckwarmers up on Etsy.  This one I've dubbed the Mermaid -


the yarn is my own kettle-dyed and hand-spun - there are green aventurine beads on each of the points.








There is one made in white alpaca yarn and this one in grey wool.  With the very different yarns - each collar is quite different in style.














With the cooler weather starting here it was time to finish this jumper for my grandson.  I started it back in 2009 - it was turning out too large for grandson back then but he has grown!

Pixie inspects the knitting

And as I'd only got as far as the arm-holes I could add length ... but I ran out of yarn - hence the grey stripes in the sleeves.


The pattern is Chaos from knitty.  And I love the random cabling, it produces a fantastic texture. 

I used a thicker yarn than the pattern calls for and this is a very warm jumper.  I used Bendigo Woollen Mills 12ply in Guava.

It should fit for this winter at any rate!

For my Granddaughter - a bolero from a vintage pattern - Bernat Handicrafter book no. 47 (dated 1956).  I dyed the yarn myself (it is Bendigo Woollen Mills again - it was white).

 The bolero is in a modified Moss Stitch and I think the variegations look quite nice.

The one button is a heart shape - of course :-)











As always - a lot of knitting has been for Blythe Dolls.

This is my donation to the BlytheFest 2012.  The theme is CandyLand - so I knitted a Candy Cane dress.  Knitted from sock yarn, the dress is all asymmetrical & twisty and it fastens with a fake bow on one shoulder.

Audrey has been rather spoilt of late - I bought a vintage Vespa for use as a prop in photographs but Auds has claimed it as her own ...

 You'll have noticed the beret ?  When I gave this to Auds she wasn't sure what it was.

Is it a Blanket?

Perhaps it is a cushion?

Oh! it is a Hat!

 Yes Audrey - it is a hat!   I was quite pleased at how the colours in this self-striping sock yarn (JigSaw I think) distributed themselves on the beret, the dark maroon was going to one side and the white all went to the other ... I tweeked things a little to maintain this as the number of stitches decreased.  But depending which way you turn this beret (or tam) - it is a pastel hat or a boldly striped one. 

Ciao people ... I'm sure that there will be more photos of me in the next post.

Update a Pattern Workshop

This coming Saturday (20th April) I'm going to facilitate another UpCycling Workshop at the Green Living Centre on King Street Newtown.  I think it is fully booked but there is a wait-list and if this workshop is successful, the centre will probably run it again.   Here is a link to more info and the wait-list. 

This workshop will be all about updating commercial sewing patterns. 

There is nothing quite as dated and out-of-style as something that has recently been very fashionable. 

Out of date & out of style sewing patterns are really cheap in Op Shops and they lurk in the cupboards of most home dress-makers.  What to do with them?  I mean apart from laugh at those enormous shoulders & that dreadful styling - or go all nostalgic because mum used to wear something just like that  ...

Well - let's look at one of those patterns again.

The flipped-out Farrah Fawcett hairstyles effectively date this to the late 70s and look at the price - $3.50!

Another good reason to re-use old sewing patterns is the cost of new ones!

But these styles are old enough to be fashionable again.  Paper-bag waists are totally in fashion once more and that little cap-sleeve top is quite cute esp. if done in a plain fabric.  However, this pattern is a size 8 and that is a 1970s size 8 ! Some basic grading can bring this pattern up to a modern size 10  or 12.

What about some of the more extreme styles like this -

The skirt is a basic straight style with a little split at the back - a classic.  But the top is a different matter - massive shoulders, close plain neck-line, a long peplum & buttons makes this a very dated 80s look.

But - here is a quick idea - badly sketched (sorry). 

Scoop out the neck, make the shoulder line more natural, delete the buttons & peplum and we could use this pattern to make a nice batwing sleeved top.  Very now!



Here is another 80s pattern - a rather Princess Diana inspired look here - all pretty and demure with the lace collar, thin belt and long skirt length.  The shoulders are big but a cross over dress is always flattering and easy to wear.

Again, my quick sketching is not very skillful but if we reduce those shoulders, give the dress slimmer sleeves,  add flair to the skirt and make it a better length - we could make the dress button up and instead of lace put on a floaty bias fabric collar / frill.  Far more wearable.  

This is the sort of thing we'll be doing this Saturday - how to look at our out-of-date sewing patterns with fresh eyes and how to make some alterations to the patterns so we can make fashionable garments that fit.

Spinning & Spun Sugar

So what have I done with the wool that I dyed & showed you in the last post?

The brighter of the 2 yellows has been spun together with some commercially dyed roving (aka sliver) to make this.

The brown is Bendigo Woollen Mills ReadySpin  in  Russet.

The inspiration is the 'egg and bacon' flowers that are so common in the Australian bush.

The proper Latin name for the genus is Dillwynia, they are part of the 'pea' family - endemic to Australia.  There are lots of species - most have yellow & red/brown flowers that remind hungry Australians of  breakfast.  I've reversed the colours; in the flowers the yellow is dominant - in my yarn the russet brown in about 75% and the strong yellow only about 25%.

I'll be selling most of my Dillwynia inspired yarn in my Etsy shop - should get it listed in the next couple of days.

And now for that Fairy Floss pink dyed wool ... most of it has become "Fairy Floss" (aka Spun Sugar / Cotton Candy / Candy Floss / barbe à papa) for Blythe dolls.

 

There is to be a big meeting of Blythe Fan(atic)s in Sydney on the 23rd June - the theme is "Candyland".  Here is the Poster ...  and here for More Info

Candy - Lollies - Sweeties -  num num   

The Fairy Floss is my contribution to the Goodie Bags ... 

Might have to put in a note that it is not actually edible.








Audrey helped me to make all that "fairy-floss"  and took her job as Quality Control Officer very seriously.

"Now, let's see, the colour is good, but the construction of this stick is a little loose.  Does Not Pass."

Yellow & Fluffy ... again ?!

Oh no - not more - is this woman obsessed with fluffy yellow stuff?   

  

Well, this is different fluffy stuff - not feathers this time but wool ...

Yes, I've had my cauldron  Dye Pot out - creating coloured yarn for spinning (and other) projects.









The wool is Bendigo Woollen Mills ReadySpin sliver - this yellow is a mix of LandScapes' Camomile and some left-over Dylon (name unknown, sorry).  The 1st batch is a yummy bright golden yellow, the 2nd batch came out lighter. 

I'll be using both these yellows to spin up some Australian Botany inspired yarn - the paler yellow will make great wattle flowers :-)

I'm a completely un-scientific dyer and love to experiment - a bit of this with a bit of that colour ...

Anyway, in every dye session I usually manage to produce at least one colour that wasn't exactly planned - let's call it experimental.  And we'll call this colour Rust.  
Mostly Landscapes' Sarsparilla.

Now for the reason I started this dye-session - I needed to make some fairy-floss pink ...

and here are two batches of pinkness spread out for drying.






And a close-up.   Mostly Dylon's Tahitian Rose  with a touch of Landscapes' Sarsparilla.  Very happy with this very sugary pinkness.

More Happy Yellow Fluffyness

LPS Blythes  :  As promised - some photos of Violetta in her costume for the Easter Show.

 Julia :  Dear Violetta works very hard - practicing her dance steps and routines until they are quite perfect.
















Bird :  She helps us with our routines too ...

we like working with Violetta, we work hard but it is fun too.  

Julia :  Yes, Violetta looks after her Chickadees.