Flat out like a Lizard Drinking

I do love a good Aussie idiom, sadly they are no longer much used as we become increasingly globalised & homogenised.

Flat out like a Lizard Drinking = buzy, very buzy.   Which is what I am this month!  Mostly working on some commissioned hand-knitting for another stage show, I can only show you peeps...

The Aqua plain & striped is a twinset - very vintage, very lady-like.  The costume designer chose the design from a vintage pattern, she chose the yummy colours too.
The yarn is 5ply (Sports Weight) which does give a lovely authentically vintage look (it drapes like thicker yarn never will)  BUT thinner yarn = more stitches to be knitted and I've had to be almost machine-like in my hand-knitting to get it done - has taken 10days for the cardigan.

This soft brown with all the texture is, thankfully, in thicker yarn- 8ply or DK.  This is based on another vintage pattern (one in my own collection:-)  )  but lots & lots of adaptation for this as the original pattern was for sock-weight yarn.  I've adapted the stitch as well, as knitting with twice the thickness of yarn makes a stitch pattern so much larger - it would not have looked vintage at all. 

Even with the highly textured stitch which is worked as a cable, this garment seems to be flying along after the slow progress of the thin-yarn cardigan!

In amongst all of that - I'm also making some more Knitted Cashmere TopHat coverings.  I made the first one last year and posted about it here  -  now they want 2 more Top Hats.  The first a rush-job and purple - not a bright psychedelic 1970s purple but a softer, rustic, crushed berries colour.  Of course I was nearly out of Cashmere fibre and had to order some in (from Belisa) then I spun it nice and chunky / rustic with about 40% sheep wool.
The cashmere is the brown - that is its natural colour and it is really soft, like spinning with cloud!   

Then I dyed it purple and knitted all the shaped pieces - the knitting is probably the fastest part of the whole process! 

Here they are after blocking.



I love the texture.

And now for something non-knitty.

Remember this?

Well Violetta was correct and it was a tutu ...  though along the way, part of this costume became a useful prop for this photo of Lillian ...

Here is the complete finished tutu costume ... Odette, the white swan in Swan Lake, for Blythe.

I sold this costume on my new Etsy shop for BlytheStar  within 3hours of listing it - hope the new owner loves it all as much as Violetta did! 
It was quite an involved process to make it all - first the tutu skirt seen in that previous post, then the satin bodice with its beading ...


And the lacing up the back - I had wanted to use metal eyelets but couldn't get any tiny enough that actually function without getting really rough on the inside - don't want to scratch Dolly's back.  Though, to be honest something worse than scratches has happened to the doll in these pics !!


There I've been drawing the 'wing' design for the top layer of the tutu.  

The 'wings' are lightly quilted satin and heavily beaded with lovely silver-foiled glass seed beads.  And yes, Lillian borrowed them for her Angel photo.


I used the same 'wing' idea for the head-dress - always a very important part of a classic ballerina Swan costume.

Audrey helped me to get the shapes correct.











The head-dress finished, it sits on a Blythe head without needing pins or things.






Here is a back view of the tutu ...

















And one last 'hero' shot.   I'll have to make more complete costumes like this for my BlytheStar Etsy shop ...

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."

Things ...

Time for a Catch-Up post?  To show you some Things I've been making and some of the other Things that have interested me - perhaps they will interest you.

Earlier this year I finally bought myself an overlocker.  I've been a seamstress for 3 decades but until this year I had avoided owning an overlocker.  So now I have an "entry level" machine (as in the cheapest one the brand makes) and it is making some garments a possibility ...

Very stretchy, fine, mesh fabric - with neat hems and edges.  Without an overlocker this would be a nightmare and / or impossible.



And it is making some sewing much easier.  This is the inside of a Blythe doll's dress.





But enough about Blythe dolls ... I'll show you all the things I've been making for the dolls in the next post...

Let's see more sewing.
I've been making some of my 1930's inspired Kimono / Cocoons  for my Etsy shop (see above for a link).  They are very Glam evening wraps - I've made one in this lovely black lace, the others are in some all-over sequin fabric - one is rose gold, the other is a brighter (9carat) gold.



The sequin Kimono / Cocoons are really Old-Style Hollywood Glamour.







Now for some knitting.
Also for the Etsy shop, some of my slouchy beanies - too warm for an Australian Christmas but Etsy is on the www and somewhere in the world they will be having a white Christmas.

This beanie is very toasty - it is my own hand-spun yarn - un-dyed, naturally coloured sheep and alpaca fleece. 








Did someone mention Christmas?
Last year I made knitted snowflakes as little pressies for family and friends ... seemed like a good idea at the time!   This year the little knitted Christmas decoration / pressie is going to be .... guess!  


I've a bit of a production line of them ... thankfully I don't have many friends.







Now this is also too warm a garment for this time of the year - it can wait till next winter - a poncho for my granddaughter.   A mohair blend from Bendigo Woollen Mills that I dyed myself - the stripes are a cheap chenille acrylic yarn. 





This is my favourite method of making a poncho - 2 rectangles stitched together ... add a neck-band and some fringe.  Fringe is mandatory for ponchos I reckon :-)

Have also finished this scarf - made from Habu yarns packaged as a kit from Dairing.   You work 2 fine yarns together and one of them is a blend of silk and stainless steel.  The steel means that it'll hold a frilly edge like this.











Now for something completely different - I love flat shoes, the freedom and mobility, the independence, the comfort of them.  Towering heels / tottering platforms are not for me - I walk everywhere, don't have a limousine so no limousine shoes for me thank you.  I live in Ballerina Flats (the French call them "Ballerines") and the ones I love most are, appropriately enough, from Blochs.  The black leather version is my shoe staple but I also love the white satin ones - I think they are meant as bridal wear.  


But the ones I buy don't stay white for long ...

This pair are now a nice dark emerald green.



Fabric dye, painted on.  Now I just have to decide if I'm going to put gold beads on them or not ...









Enough of things I've been making ...
Was delighted by this historical old advertising recently revealed by a demolition following a fire on King Street Newtown.

It was once a garage with "Cars for Hire"  and that was "Waratah Motor Spirit"...

This link will take you to another blog with more information (and a lot of advertising!)   Unfortunately, less than a week later the other end of the wall with "Perdriau Tyres" was covered with some unattractive tagging / graffiti.

Now for some nature.
Summer time means crickets - no not cricket the sport of flanneled fools but insects like this ... she hitched a ride into the house on the washing and had to be escorted outside again.

Lovely long antennas !

A few weeks ago on a very hot day I spotted this young kookaburra in some jacaranda trees.  Poor thing was trying to cool down - beak open and wings held away from the body.

I'll leave you with something pretty - another surprise from my garden because I planted this lily bulb at least 8yrs ago and this is the first time it has flowered.  A small arum lily it is a sweet blush pink colour.

Stitches

It has been such a long time since I posted about the things I've been making  - there is quite a backlog!  

Most of the stitches have been knitting and the sewing projects are mostly things I can't really show you.  I can show you the complete mascot costume - one Hound Dog.  

Previously I've posted about the making of the head and about the hind feet - this is the complete costume being modeled by my darling hubby.

And a back view to show the tail.  BTW please do not notice the uneven lengths of those curtains!

 

Of the next project I can only show you a teaser - and tell you that it is all ecru with lace & embroidery - it involves masses of hand-stitching and quite a lot of glue.

And now to the knitting - the commissions for costumes have continued.  Some have been repeats ... and this was a repeat of a repeat   Eh! What!

 

Well, the first tatty & distressed shawl for the Bird Lady in Mary Poppins was a great success and they wanted a 2nd one - which I made from the yarn supplied - half of which was mohair.  That 2nd shawl was quite 'splodgy' and I think the mohair made it look quite elegant (it is the last item in this post).  Perhaps it was too elegant and it didn't look like the 1st shawl  SO I had to make a 3rd one ... and I now consider myself an expert in the art of Bird Lady Shawl Making :-)  For this 3rd shawl I sourced the yarn - it is a long length variegated yarn meant for socks.

 

I've also made a 2nd Cardigan / Jacket for Colline in Opera Australia's current production of La Boheme - there are some cast changes.  It is another distressed and artfully 'badly knitted' thing and I would like to avoid all shades of mustard for the next decade!   Had to hand it in without buttons (they weren't supplied) so here it is with safety pins.

 

And a back view - with those pleats and some of the deliberately 'knitted in' holes.

 Now if you go to the Opera Australia web site you'll see David Parkin wearing the 1st of those mustard cardi/jackets - with the beanie and scarf that I knitted.  I've borrowed one of the pics here ...

 Had my first commission for some knitting for the small screen - the next 'season' of Underbelly (starting in some states (or all?) Sun 21st Aug) is set in the 1920s.  If you watch the show, keep your eyes peeled during some of the more domestic moments for a character knitting a chocolate brown jumper.  Of course, it may all have ended up on the cutting room floor but I provided the knitting in 3 stages - just commenced ...

Up to the 1st (or 2nd?) sleeve ...

And Very-Nearly-Almost-Finished ...

 

  Poor ole' Bruce the Body there with those sharp metal things at his neck - very appropriate for this TV show!  The jumper is based on a vintage pattern and has old-fashioned styling including very deep rib bands.  I also had to source all those knitting needles - making sure that they looked like those used in the 1920s.  

There were some other commissions, not for the stage but via Jonathan Howard The Hatmaker.

 Donuts? toilet-seat cozies? hand-knitted UFOs?   No, but almost as unlikely.  Jonathan was making a top-hat for a client who wanted it hand-knitted and he wanted cashmere.  So these are, in fact, the parts of a knitted top-hat!

 

First I had to find the cashmere - the desired 'look' was chunky, country-fied and natural - hand-spun seemed the best option.  I bought some natural brown cashmere fleece (fluff) from Belisa Cashmere lovely soft stuff it was like spinning a cloud - I put in about 20% wool to make it easier to handle.  However, it was still brown - the client wanted charcoal so into the dye-pot it went ... until it became the colour you see above ... actually the knitting was the easiest and fastest part of the whole process!

Jonathan The Hatmaker really likes the look of my hand-spun yarns with all the lumps and fluffy bits ... he commissioned a man's scarf ...  

   The yarn is about 50% alpaca & 50% corriedale sheep, both undyed, naturally coloured fleece.    I used a simple knit/purl pattern with garter stitch edges and as it was to be a fairly short scarf, there are 2 splits.  The wearer can thread the scarf through the splits and the scarf doesn't slip off and get lost.      Here is a close up of the texture of the yarn and the stitch pattern.

I've also been knitting beanies for Jonathan to sell in his lovely boutique.  We've missed the window of opportunity to sell warm woolly beanies this year but inevitably, winter will return!  Here are 2 of the beanies ...

Again, all naturally coloured, undyed fleece, these were spun 'in the grease' so the yarn has retained some of the lanolin.  The mottled yarn is sheep - a grey/brown from the Robinson era with some very dark fleece from another Robinson sheep thrown in :-)   The stripes are 100% alpaca - the same ginger girl as in the scarf above.  Her name is Angelique and the fleece was from her 2nd shearing.

The stripes in this 2nd beanie are the same alpaca - the rest is re-purposed woollen yarn.  I found an abandoned knitting project in an op-shop - following some un-knitting and lots of sorting I plyed 2 of the colours together on my spinning wheel to create a thick tweedy yarn ...

For the ladies I knitted some very vintage, very French berets.  My own pattern but based on a 1940's vintage one.

The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills - their very dependable Classic 8ply.