Fashioned by Lyndell Etsy Shop Update

I've a lot of new / old sewing and knitting patterns on the "Fashioned by Lyndell" shop.  De-stashing some of my pattern collections.


Don't you just love the photographs in those old knitting pattern booklets? Everything from sweet children ...

To these cool guys wearing a really deep V-neck style that must have been really fashionable at the time.  This photo really needs a caption

"Hi dude!  Have you noticed my cool hair-cut?"

The women really 'work' a variety of looks through the decades :

Elegant

Fierce

 This lady is leading with her chin but the man behind her looks quite sinister!

 But I don't think anything will frighten this blonde woman - or perhaps she is feeling triumphant that she escaped wearing the beanie!

A batch of Finishing

I've been "clearing the decks" and scrambling to finish some knitting projects so I'll have time for the next commission (another cardigan for the current production of "Mousetrap" - there is a change of cast coming up).

So - quite fresh off the needles are this vintage style vest for a very good friend. 



I've dubbed this Zep's Zig Zags :-)

I adapted this from a vintage pattern - circa 1930s or 40s.
The original pattern is called "Forbes" from "Patons Knitting Book No. 338" it was a jumper for a man, in a 3ply yarn (that's Light Fingering) which is far too much work for a commission - even for a very good friend!    I adapted up to 5ply which still took absolutely ages - the yarn I used is Bendigo Woollen Mills 5ply "Classic" in "Mayfair".
The vertical lines and horizontal zig zags are on the back too.

The original pattern also had the Zig Zags just above the hip basque - we thought that was a little TOO fussy.

and a close up of the front













I've also been knitting up samples for Sydney's main craft store Morris & Sons.


One Ball Samples - to show what the yarn looks and feels like when knitted and how much knitted fabric you get from one ball of it.

    

These are all Morris & Sons' "home brand" of 100% baby alpaca called Maya - in 3 weights / thicknesses.  It is a lovely soft Alpaca yarn.


The brick colour is Maya 14ply / Super Bulky - colour 3420 “warm spices” dyelot 215446, the needles 7mm - sample is 29sts wide.

The green is Maya 8ply / DK - colour 3823 “grass” dyelot 215879, needles 4mm / US 6 - sample is 45 sts wide.

Then - unfinished (and it'll take forever to knit through that 1 x 50gr ball) pumpkin colour is Maya Laceweight / 2ply - colour 3218 “sunset” dyelot 215472, needles 2.75mm US 2 - sample is 73sts wide

Isn't it interesting how much more knitting you get from a really thin yarn!   Probably why those vintage knitting patterns are nearly always for thin yarn is that it is so much more economical - all except it terms of the time spent doing the knitting!

This self-striping Mohair sample is Schoppel Wolle “Mohair Lady” colour

376 1874ombre - I used 5mm US 8 needles and the sample is 45sts wide. 

 

Love the fire-like colours of this self-striping yarn - it is a nice whiskery mohair too.

And, because no post on the blog can be completely without photographs of Blythe dolls these days!   Here are Lillian and Imogen modelling new knitted Ombre Skirts.

Imogen :  Do you think they'll notice our tiaras?

 These are in Noro "Sekku" a Laceweight yarn with lots & lots of variegation.  Not sure that I'd like this yarn knitted into a human sized garment but it is perfect for Blythe Doll clothing (Imogen's lace blouse is also from the same ball of this yarn!)  

Mummy planted all these purple flowers just for me.

Lillian's skirt is purple & pink - perfect with her new purple top and lace-top sockings (from Cool Cat)

Imogen :  "My new skirt looks better without the shirt tucked in - this makes my hips look enormous!"

Me:  "Possibly, but I do want to show everyone the whole of the skirt."

Imogen :  "hmmm OK but I'm going to pout!"

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 ...

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.

What I bought at the Vintage Market

Last weekend I went to the "Love Vintage" market - great fun.  Managed to avoid buying clothes - honestly I have too many already!  Saw some gorgeous hats and, if I get the time (my constant caveat) I might copy a couple of them for my Blythe Dolls.

So what DID I buy?  Rather a crazy collection of things really:  I nearly always buy old sewing and knitting patterns - this time was no exception...

Australian & UK Knitting Patterns rarely have copyright or other dates but "What to Knit for Baby" is probably from the 1920's and some of the patterns are hilarious - drawers, gaiters!  some are a worry - "Knitted Stays" !!!  though the photo shows a short sleeveless vest / singlet with long ribbon ties to go about the baby's tummy - hopefully not tight.

Child torture via knitting did not cease and possibly never will.  Take a closer look at the lad on the back of the Lincoln pattern - this dates from the late 40's or early 50's.  The whole outfit is knitted - shirt, shorts with belt and the tie with a panda on it!  

What a dapper young gentleman!

 

Now some would consider this a form of torture -

An industrial strength girdle, in great condition, probably never worn.






Here is the tag - made me laugh - "Camp"  ??!

However, I think Berlei may have made this girdle under license as Camp was an American Company, they developed that style of fan-lacing.  

The fan lacing does make this girdle relatively quick to put on - loosen the lacing, wrap it round and do up all those hooks on the side front.  Then pull on those wide tapes, trying not to think of parachutists and their rip-cords - check that you can still breathe - and tighten a little bit more!  

This girdle might have been sold as a surgical support - though I've nick-named it the "Diet-No-More".

  

Buns of steel (quite literally as the boning is made of steel) without setting foot inside a Gym - bonus!   And yes - you can sit down while wearing this thing but slouching is an impossibility. 

One more detail - look at those lovely suspenders.  Big, strong and functional.  And now for one of my rants:

I am not a fan of the naked leg (too much hard work) I love fancy and colourful stockings / tights / panty-hose.  I would prefer to wear stockings as too many layers of man-made fabrics around the nether-regions are unhealthy but there we are faced with a very old problem - how to keep stockings up.  Garters cause broken veins, the modern 'stay-up' stockings are a complete misnomer, so the best solution is the suspender but modern suspenders are poorly made - the metal clasps bend, the plastic buttons fold and pull through.  Underwear manufacturers - please make suspenders like you used to - please pretty please.    End of rant.


Now for some lovely little things that I bought despite the need to mend them.  And these photos show them straight out of the bag - not mended, not washed, not ironed.  When I've done all of that (if/when I get the time) I'll post some 'after' pictures.

A little lace boudoir cap - there is a rip in the lace on the other side and the ribbon needs replacement.

And (what I consider to be quite a 'find') this silk & lace dickie front or false blouse - American reference books call them Chemisettes and I've knitting patterns from the 1940s & 50s where they get called a Vestee.

Cooler and more economical than a full blouse but you cannot take off your jacket!  But people didn't back then.  This one dates from the 19teens - it's about 100yrs old; pretty lace but no collar, it has a soft 'pouter pigeon' or 'S-bend' silhouette.

 

 With many old clothes you can have fun unraveling their history.  I think the cotton waistband is a replacement and there were rather badly done adjustments to make the dickie front even smaller - funny little darts and shoulder seams.  

These blue marks seem to be dressmakers' chalk - wonder if they'll wash out!

 Will I wear these things you ask?  that girdle, lace cap, lace dickie front - 

why yes, why not?  I'll wear them.