Category: craft

I’ve never been so excited …

SusanLeave a comment

… about yarn in my entire life! I finally ordered yarn for my wedding shawl at the start of this week and I cannot wait till it gets here. I had real difficulty finding a luxurious laceweight yarn in a suitable colour that was actually in stock somewhere in the UK but eventually stumbled across Knitwitches and fell in love with their undyed 100% silk laceweight. Two skeins will shortly be on their way across country to be turned into the Myrtle Leaf Shawl from the “Victorian Lace Today” book.

Fortunately, the baby knitting is progressing apace and I may even have it very nearly finished before the yarn for the shawl gets here.
00003
That’s the back and the first front in the picture. The second front is nearly done now too, which just leaves the sleeves and a knitted edging (which will match the edging at the bottom of the pieces in the picture and stop the front rolling the way it is in this picture).

It is really nice to get the (almost) instant gratification that knitting baby things brings. It is an entire knitted garment but can still be produced in a matter of hours. I doubt that the shawl will be finished quite so quickly!

Antique Pattern Library

SusanLeave a comment

Months ago, someone at Distributed Proofreaders pointed out the Antique Pattern Library website and suggested that they could be a good source of scans of public domain needlework and craft books for us to work on.

Fast forward to this week and it has finally happened! Volunteers from the Antique Pattern Library have agreed that we can process their scans to produce versions suitable for submission to Project Gutenberg.

I’m really excited about this! They have a great selection of 19th and early 20th century knitting, crochet, tatting, embroidery and other needlework books up there. That is a huge treasury of patterns and methods and inspiration and I love that we can help make it more widely available.

The projects are still in initial preparation at the moment but will hopefully be available for proofreading soon.

Random Friday musings

SusanLeave a comment

How does someone manage to stub their middle toe so badly it turns a ghastly purpley-black colour without injuring the surrounding toes in any way at all?

I managed to do this while walking downstairs this morning but have no idea how!

How can I manage to go into a yarn store intending to buy a pattern book, yarn for baby presents, yarn and needles for a wedding shawl, and a bottle of cider and come out having spent only £5.50?

This one I do know the answer to: £2.50 on “Natural Knits for Babies and Mums” by Louisa Harding (I Knit special offer) and £3.00 on a bottle of cider. I Knit just did not have anything I fancied yarn-wise. I occasionally feel guilty for not buying more of my knitting supplies there, since I spend most Thursday nights in the shop knitting and chatting (and drinking organic cider) but they just don’t tend to stock yarn that I like using. The cider is fantastic, though!

How do I manage to not spend lots of money in a yarn shop that I intended to spend money in and yet manage to spend lots of money on knitting-related paraphernalia over the internet, whilst at work?

I actually think this is a reaction to the above question. I got really excited last night about the idea of buying yarn and needles to get started on the wedding and baby knitting, so when nothing came of it, I just had to have another go this morning. So, I bought the Honeybee stole pattern, some longer cables for my KnitPicks Options needles and some Rowan Cashsoft DK yarn for a baby jumper from the Louisa Harding book. I can’t find anywhere that has laceweight yarn that I like in a colour that will go with my wedding dress in stock at the moment so I also emailed a couple of places to find out when they are likely to get something in.

Meanwhile, I get to decide whether I’d rather do the Honeybee or the Myrtle Leaf Shawl from “Victorian Lace Today”. I’m currently leaning towards the Honeybee but love the idea of making something based on an original vintage pattern (the premise behind the Victorian lace book). Now that I actually own both patterns, I’ll sit down over the weekend to compare them and hopefully make a decision.

One thing at a time …

SusanLeave a comment

… is something I’ve never been particularly good at. But, I’ve finished one thing so that means I’m allowed to start another, right?

The finished thing is Gran’s Lace Ribbon Scarf, which is drying on the floor behind me as I type. I’m not sure it’s going to be dry enough to package up to be posted tomorrow but at least it’s knitted on time! I’ll take a better picture once it’s dry.

00016

The new thing is the Shetland Shorty from the latest issue of Knitty. I bought some Sirdar Just Bamboo yarn on clearance at Hobbycraft last week and have been hunting around for something to make with it.

00004
00012

Although there are only 9 balls in the picture, I’ve actually got 12, four of each colour. The others were off being swatched when the photo was taken.

It’s far heavier than yarn suggested for the pattern so there’s going to be quite a lot of tweaking involved and I’m already thinking that I might lengthen the cardigan to suit me better but that’s all part of the fun!

And they’re off!

SusanLeave a comment

The 2008 craft marathon is off to a flying start thanks to a bout of food-poisoning that has kept me at home for a few days.

The Lace Ribbon Scarf is coming along nicely, if slowly. Here it is, roughly pinned out to show off the lace.
Lace Ribbon Scarf

The scarf is currently about 18 inches long (unstretched) and has taken an entire ball of yarn. I am hoping 3 balls of the yarn will be enough since I really want to make something for me with the other balls. I had thought that I would use the rest of the yarn to make a second scarf for me but I am not sure that I will want to knit another one straightaway, although, it looks so pretty that I am sure I will make more eventually!

I’ve got a couple of the origami wreaths done for Christmas cards:
Origami Wreaths

These three only took a single evening to fold so I should be able to get the rest done in plenty of time for Christmas. I still need to practise varnishing them and attaching them to cards though.

Finally, the wedding table centrepieces are coming along. We bought a couple more vases and the proper paper arrived.

00002

There are currently 9 flowers folded in the left-hand vase in the picture, so nearly two centrepieces’ worth. Which reminds me, I really should check with the venue just how many tables there are going to be!

Creative overload

Susan1 Comment

2008 has been a busy year already and it does not look like it is going to get any less hectic with 2 professional exams and the wedding still to go. It also looks like being a busy year craft-wise.

Current projects include the knitted lace scarf for my Gran, my Double Vision blanket and the origami flowers for the wedding table centrepieces. So far, so good.

The list of projects currently under consideration runs a bit longer though. At the moment it stands as follows:

  • Wedding shawl for me
  • Wedding kilt hose for Steven
  • Presents for a friend’s baby due in November
  • Origami Christmas cards

Let’s deal with these in order:

The wedding shawl: despite the problems that I’m currently having with a simple lace scarf, part of me still thinks this is a good idea!

The kilt hose: do I really want to knit two gents’ knee-high socks? I love the thought of Steven wearing kilt hose that I’ve made him to the wedding, although I don’t know how he feels about it, but gents’ socks take a long time.

Baby knitting: unfortunately, I Knit had a special offer on a beautiful baby pattern book when I went to the knitting group last night. I’ve ordered a copy so haven’t had a chance to take a proper look and decide on particular patterns but from the quick look I had, I’m considering making a hat, jacket, blanket and bootees for the baby and a nursing shawl for mum. All of which would need to be finished the same week as the wedding shawl and kilt hose. I think this could be considered “too much stuff”.

Christmas cards: I love making my own Christmas cards. Christmas has become so commercial that I really like being able to send people something that I’ve genuinely put some thought and effort into. Last year was the first year for several years that I haven’t made my own cards, due to lack of time, and I wasn’t happy sending out bought cards. I bought an origami book recently that had a pretty modular origami wreath that my trial runs suggest would look great on the front of a card. I only have about 15 cards to make and the wreaths only require 20 separately folded modular sections each so that’s not that many, right?

Let’s have a look at the timeline:

Immediately – the lace scarf for my Gran has to be finished before the middle of June so doesn’t really impact on anything else.

Next 3 months – I’m studying and wedding-planning but should still have reasonable amounts of free time. I just need to juggle craft stuff with volunteering for DP.

August to mid-September – Exam season. All other bets are off but some mindless knitting will probably be a good thing. Unfortunately, all the knitting I’d like to do involves concentration.

Mid-September to mid-November – Run-up to the wedding. Any organising that hasn’t been done will need to be done now. Looking at my list of proposed projects, I’ll also be knitting till my fingers fall off!

Mid-November to start of December – Honeymoon! I’m pretty sure not much of anything will get done at this point.

December – Can I make my Christmas cards in the period between getting back from honeymoon and the last Christmas post? During which time, I’ll also be writing and sending wedding thank-you cards. Hmm, it seems unlikely.

So, in conclusion, I need to spend the next 3 months doing all the the things on my craft to-do list to be sure of getting them done in time and hope that I don’t come up with any new ideas over the rest of the year. It’ll be interesting to see how many things I actually manage to get done. Watch this space!

RIP Isabella

SusanLeave a comment

I finally admitted that I just don’t want to knit a jumper from 4-ply yarn. Or, at least, I don’t want to knit a jumper from this 4-ply yarn:

The Yarn

So, I’ve frogged my Isabella and, instead, have cast on a Lace Ribbon Scarf. This is going to be a birthday present for my Gran. There aren’t many people who’d appreciate getting a scarf for their birthday in the middle of June but if anyone will, my Gran will. It’s supposed to be a fairly light-weight scarf anyway but given how easily she feels the cold, she might even prefer a heavier one!

The pattern seems simple to follow and I’m sure the fact that I’m making lots of mistakes already (6 rows in) is because it is past bedtime and not because the pattern is difficult. Pictures of completed scarves on Ravelry look really pretty so I’m hoping this will turn out well. If it does, I might make one for myself as well. After all, I do have a jumper’s worth of yarn to use up, now.

Paper flowers …

SusanLeave a comment

… coming soon to a wedding near you?

A little while ago, I spotted some beautiful origami table decorations for a wedding over on the Style Me Pretty blog. Being me, I saw the decorations and immediately thought, “I can do that”, despite not having done any origami for years!

Since it’s a typical rainy bank holiday Monday, Steven and I spent this morning folding flowers.

img_0757.jpg

We’ve been experimenting with different styles and different ways of displaying them and think we may finally have hit upon our favourite combination.

img_0756.jpg

img_0748.jpg

All we need now are some pretty vases and the patience to fold many dozen more identical flowers!

Edited to add – Looks like we might have found the vases:
img_0769.jpg

Book Review: Knitting Vintage Socks

SusanLeave a comment

I recently bought Nancy Bush’s book, Knitting Vintage Socks. I was looking for good patterns for men’s socks and realised that several of the patterns I had added to my Ravelry queue were all in this same book. I decided that it was obviously my destiny to own this book and ordered it.

The book contains a selection of 19th century knitting patterns updated, where needed, for modern yarn, needles and jargon. There is a section on the history of the periodical that the patterns were originally published in and a section on how the author went about updating the patterns. Given my work with Project Gutenberg and, more especially, my interest in their Craft bookshelf, I found these sections just as interesting as the patterns themselves.

Not that the patterns need much by way of support. There are 20 patterns; a mixture of ladies and gents. I have only made the Gentleman’s Fancy Sock pattern so far (see this post) but I will definitely be making more of these. The patterns are clearly written, with charts where appropriate. The book itself is spiral bound, which is very handy.

There are only two things that I would change about this book. The patterns are only given in one size, which may not be a problem for more experienced sock knitters, but as a new sock knitter I was relieved that the pattern I wanted to make was given in the size I wanted to knit! I realise that the original patterns would only have been published in one size and that it would have taken a lot more time and effort to provide the patterns in various sizes but it would really have added to the value of this book.

My other complaint is that the patterns have been published under their original names, which means it is not immediately clear what size the updated pattern is intended for. There is at least one pattern that has been sized as a ladies sock using modern yarn and needles but was originally published as a child’s pattern, with “child” in the name. Since only the name is listed in the Table of Contents, it is unclear how a reader is supposed to know that this is actually a ladies sock without reading the whole book.

These are reasonably minor complaints though and I can highly recommend this book to anyone looking for traditional or gents sock patterns.

Behold the socks!

SusanLeave a comment

Today I finished the Gentlemen’s socks for Papa!
img_0725

I really liked the stitch pattern for these, which came from “Knitting Vintage Socks” by Nancy Bush. I wasn’t so keen on the toe or the heel used though, so next time I make them, I think I’ll do those differently. Given that these are only my second pair of socks, I just wasn’t brave enough to try anything different with these ones.

The socks are being beautifully modelled in the photograph by Steven. The good news is that I’ve managed to get them back off him and pack them in my suitcase to take them to Glasgow this weekend. Hopefully, I’ll find some time to pop in and see Gran and Papa and give Papa the socks. They’re only two months late as a birthday present!