A Whole Week of Making Things

Made the frilled bloomers

and the bonnet
to match the embroidered dress I’ve made my grand-daughter – see previous posting for the dress. The Bonnet buttons up at the back and when unbuttoned it lies flat which is great for laundering and packing ...

Then I started yet another knitting project – a zipped, hooded, cabled jacket for my nephew whose 8th birthday is just over a month away - will I get it done in time??? It is 12ply (from Bendigo Woollen Mills) so a fast knit but the pattern is from a French booklet and is all in French; to my shame, I’m totally mono-lingual.

However, French knitting patterns are fantastic, they give schematics with every measurement and with the aid of an old French/English dictionary I’ve worked out the basics … maille = stitch (and thence to chain maille ?) aiguille = needle, monter = cast on (I hope) …


Am working (travail) the fronts in one with the back to the armholes (emmanchure ?) and have changed the cables a little.


Those wire frame hats for the Cert 4 Millinery class are progressing – but slowly and they just won’t be finished by the due date – next Tuesday :-/ Here is the black one (I blogged about it when it was a head cage!) I was going to pile a heap of black lace onto it but that made it a hat for an un-Merry Widow and my teacher keeps reminding me that I’m supposed to be making “Fashion Hats” not reproductions from another era. Drat Double Drat - I don’t like most currently Fashionable hats and I lurv the old ones. Anyway, I think this might be a compromise – old tatty lace bits but cream not black and some paper butterflies that I bought in Paris – ahhh! Will look better without the pins and surplus wire.

On the weekend I was busy dyeing – a very old Indian Sari that I’ve had for over 20yrs (and it was old back then) a very lt weight pale apricot silk with metal thread medallions, very lovely.
But it had been in a box for far too long – so although it did feel like a total sacrilege I cut into it and turned it into 4 large shawls and 2 small neck scarves. But pale apricot is not a good colour for people with pallid skin so into the dye-pot they went. I do love playing with dyes, have a huge pot that barely fits on my stove – it is so tall I have to stand on a little chair and I stir the pot with a bit stick, recite Hamlet and feel like a real witch ☺ Very happy with the results, lovely fruit colours – apricot, peach, strawberry, blueberry … I've listed this shawl and one scarf in my Etsy shop.

Beanie, Bonnets, Beetles, Blythes ...

Lots of Etsy activity this week :-) best of all I've had a couple of sales - a baby's frilly playsuit with matching sun-bonnet and a vintage knitting pattern. The playsuit & sunbonnet were new-sewn from one of my fav vintage sewing patterns - I've used the pattern so often the tissue paper is more sticky-tape than tissue ! I used 2 co-ord fabrics with cute ladybird prints and made 2 sets - one for my little granddaughter and one for etsy.

The vintage knitting pattern sale was rather marvelous and you really do have to love the www sometimes. Fancy a knitting pattern, over 60 yrs old (WW2 time), a Sun-Glo - so published in Australia, Australian designs - and it is now on its way to Norway. I think that is just so lovely.


Also on Etsy I've listed the latest member of my GumNut family - a GumBlossom beanie for an adult "Little Ragged Blossom".

I've also listed 2 theatrical bonnets - they are made to theatrical standards (very robust) and are quite accurate to the fashion of the 1850s Crinoline era and the Jane Austin era. Have mixed feelings about putting them up for sale as I just can't charge enough to compensate for the hours spent making them - all that hand-sewing :-/ but I'm never going to wear them, they take up space and I'd rather have them being used than sitting in a box and deteriorating.

In other news - I'm madly knitting very small cute clothes - I've signed up for the 4th International Knitting for Blythe dolls Swap on Ravelry. My swap partner has 4 Blythes and I can't bring myself to knit for only 1 and disappoint the others so .... lots of wee garments flying off my dpns :-) but I'll have to be a tease, I can't show you pictures until those 4 Bythes have all their knitted things.