Vintage dresses and a maximalist else

I want to make a few of these. I agree with her that a few of these look relly wearable. It would be a wonderful thing if the pattern companies eventually would digitalize old patterns, making them available for shopping, but I have a hard time believing they'd do that. I need to get better at pattern construction.

Also I've found out I need my own portable wearable star chart. I saw it worked in dark blue and slightly adapted recently, and have decided I will get yarn and pattern as a present for myself on the day I sign up for a new job.

I have been reading up on decluttering and minimalism lately, partly because I still have loads of unnecessary Misc Stuff (I hate cleaning), and partly since I need to change some life components that don't make me happy (it's a nice metaphor). I'm revisiting this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, wardrobe architect, tiny living (no, I'm NOT moving) and a collection of online courses

Have also done a new, brave thing today. Or, at least, it's new and brave for me. My local library gets copies of lots of good magaines, among them Burda. Not much of the things I'm interested in come in my size though, so I rarely buy it myself (you get to borrow old copies from the library, but then are not NOW). Anyway, I went to the library with a piece of pattern paper and copied the pattern for a really cute top that someone in one of my fb groups had made and that only come in smaller sizes. 
It felt a bit odd, standing in a remote area of the library with a pattern, but I did it. An now the resizeing. Wish me luck.

And lastly I wan't to share a piece of advice I don't want to loose in my pile of unsorted bookmarks.

Sew for a change

Oh, I've found anther project to join. The thought behind Sew for a change is to buy less, and to refine what you own.

You get a set of points to shop new stuff for, while using stash and remaking is free, including haberdasheries.
I should be doing fine, with my excessive stash though I actually have quite a few things on my shopping list that I can't make, like a new waterproof jacket.

I am saving both points and budget to get away with making a wonderful dream for this autumn:
Gerties coat , using up at least 5 metres of nicely coloured wool.

There will be monthly challenges that may earn you new points, this month is "clearing out", getting rid of 28 things. I'm not sure I will make it, but I'll try.

Long time no see, again

I've been mostly (that is: barely) blogging about my garden recently, but thought I'd get up to date here as well, having a few projects to report on.
Me and Lena have been doing the Sewing With A Plan for a couple of months now, and I have made a few things I'd like to show. My winter plan was mainly about making a few basics that would make me a new work wardrobe, since my old had turned out to be worn out, illfitting and inadequate.
The spring plan focus on a coat (it's been ages since I even had one), and will be complimented with a "Make do and mend" section out of my UFO box, which I intend to empty this year.

Knittingwise I'm stuck with two projects, the bluegreen cardigan that I had unravelled previously have been partially unraveled again, the lace finishing the arms (I started at mid back) was getting too little definition, so I decided to make the distal part of the arms narrower. Have just started making the new lace. I also got a knitting kit to be turned into a shawl for A, which started off with flying colours as I had a good Plan. It didn't work very well with the yarn, however so I have been rethinking the idea, still trying to figure out if I like the new pattern idea. 








I will bring photos, don't worry.

weekend-victory success in the yarn storage - revisited

SaraW asked how many of my UFO:s I'm planning on finishing, so I thought I'd go through the last 6 months of yarning, after posting the weekend-victory success in the yarn storage
I have "finished" the brownish one at the top (knitting and blocking done, no sewing) one so far and completely unraveled another (greenish one between the yellow and the striped) and reconstructed the pattern.

Also, no less than 5 objects in the center front are semi finished by now, the striped child sweater is knitted, the yellow baby sweater is mostly sewn, the green half-mittens below the yellow only needs sewing, the crocheted semi mittens and effect yarn stola bottom center are completely finished. Also, I've devised an action plan for the closest white top, including adding a small strip in the sides, making it large enough. Pattern available, just need the work, the blocking and some huge amount of sewing.

The ecru cardigan at the back might get scrapped, I'd like to make a dress

I just might have enough ecru cotton to make it, and I won't use the cardigan. Afaik it's crocheted in stripes, so it should be able to enlarge.

I have a Grand Plan to knit mainly from my stash this year. Borås may not interfere too much in this, my money are earmarked for driver license and building projects.

ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter

Opassande has written about the ban on grownup toy stores instigated by Visa och Mastercard before (the guest text from today made me sit here quietly, as I would never buy such horrible things online).

Anyway, I happened to notice that both Hööks and Arken zoo proudly informs their potential customers that their shopping is safe through Verified by Visa och MasterCard securecode. It's a fine thing, that decent, family-oriented stores are able to produce such a guarantee for the safe keeping of my finances.

Now I must go and clean up the clothes and miscellaneous debris from the laundry room so I can dust dust the floor.

Tomorrow my new walls and floorboards will get here.

Dem times, dem times, dem auld n ancient times....

Gertie posted a reminder about vintage clothing.

Apparently, in a couple of years it's time to get the old Docs out of the closet again.

Weekend victory!

I have forgotten to share the result of my weekend mission: I have sorted my yarn stash!

Two boxes of various unused yarns, mostly really comfy wools as I got rid of everything I didn't adore in the move a year ago.
Also, I have about as much in my two UFO boxes, including 6 (!) cardigans of mixed size, decent and age. I should only knit small, no mounting required things!
The crochet thread got it's own box, as well as the embroideries. I am amazingly energetic! At times.

Picture shows the UFO heap taking up all of my dining table....

To kill a bullfinch

Th local predator and light of my life is also very fond of my bullfinches. On the plus side is that they usually are quite easy to assemble again, as long as they haven't been chewn up completely.

Xmas decoration: yarn bullfinch

When I was a kid we sometimes had bullfinches at our bird feeder, but nowadays they seem to prefer the neighbour's food.

Since I think they are really pretty birds I thought I'd get me some anyway, but how? The answer, as so often, is: Yarn!

You need red, black and grey yarn (possibly 2 nuances of grey), I'm using Drops LIMA which is a wool alpaca blend suitable for 4mm needles). The birds I made are about 6cm high, a thinner yarn will make a smaller bird. (The yarn btw is lovely, nice and cosy, I must use it for some clothing later on.) You also need a piece of sturdy cardboard 15 cm wide and a pair of scissors.

Make a sheaf of each yarn by wrapping it around the cardboard. I made 15 wraps each of the red and grey, and 12 of the black. Cut at both turns to make 30 (24) identical threads. You also need two strands of (grey) yarn to truss the little birdie up. 

Place the black yarn at the bottom, the grey as a bar slightly above (or below for a more satanic twist to your decorations) the middle and the red on top of the black. Gather each sheaf so they wont spread and mess up the tying. Each should be about as high as it's wide. Make sure the longer leg of the cross is long enough to wrap around to the other side.

Use one of the grey strands to tie the bird head: middle part of strand under the black, cross it over the red in the front, and tie it behind the black again. You need to tie hard, but take the time to regather the sheafs while tying, especially the red will need it to look nice later.

When tied, the yarn turn and form the bird's head.

Gather each colour by itself, if using two shades of grey gather them separately as well. Two things does not show properly in the picture; the black is almost as long as the red (otherwise it will be hard to make little birdie neat) and a little of the grey is showing between the black and the red, forming a little beak. I have seen birds with leather beaks, and read about them being made from the fastening metal wire, but haven't figured that part out. I think a grey beak is just enough anyway. :-)

Next is the bird forming part: Gather the black and the red with the grey at the sides. Then use the grey to wrap over the black, securing it. If using two greys, plait each separately.

Tie around the bird tail, while holding little birdie in place. It might be helpful to have someone else tie the first birds until you get the hang of it. Remember, the greys should overlap, not just meet at the back, this is important to keep the black head in place!

 

If you want a hanging bird, thread a needle inside the black and behind the thread forming the head. A sitting bird need a piece of wire up it's derriere, unless held in place by pure fuzziness as below. 

Birdies nesting it their new home.

Nyinköp

Jag försökte publicera en bild på dagens nyinköp, men den vägrade. Har köpt garn till domherrar och några nystan till en kofta eftersom de hade rea på drops alpacka, 29:- nystanet för mitt favvisgarn!

Telefonbloggning

Endast 10 år efter alla andra har jag lyckats börja blogga från telefonen. Det kan börja finnas hopp om uppdateringar...

So many yarns, so litte time!

Got my package from EasyKnits.co.uk yesterday. I bought Very Berry and Storm Cloud. They are ultramegasupersmooth! I hardly would have guessed that the Berry was wool at all. I cannot bear not to start knitting right away... :-|

But I /shall/ finish at least one thing before I start on it. Basta! Lucky that my hand warmers are nearly done... Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!

I should marry obscenely rich, so I could do all the knitting I wanted... Or not.

while(true) {unravel}

Somehow I haven't really gotten around to any amounting work lately. I have, however, done quite a lot of unravelling. Boooooooring.
I bought the pattern for the dragonesque gloves from http://thread-bear.blogspot.com/ (curse you, online micro payments!). They look lovely, but as I as usual don't use neither the right yarn, nore the appropriate needle I thought I'd change it a bit. Im now on my second version, having discarded the first due to unexpected largeness. Tried to work on them on the crowded train yesterday (the one I finally found, after they cancelled the two consecutive previous ones!), and when I was home, I found I had made a serious error all the way home. Bah.
Love how the yarn behave in the pattern, so I look forward to seing them perform.

Also wait eagerly for my new phone. I want pictures here.

Merlettaio

Just thought I'd do a little webwalk before I went to sleep.

I found puncetto valsesiano. It's in italian, and I havent even tried to read it all, but the real value for nonitalian speakers is the youtube video at the bottom. Please watch, it's fantastic.
Another place containing some spectacular images is museocaprai, which also contains nicely readable english text.

It's a beautiful, beautiful craft. Please God, let me live long to explore it.

Caramel de camel

Visited the family W yesterday evening, celebrating T's 1000 days birthday. Apart from it always being great fun, it featured much-needed yummy food and happy and huggable kids. T was absolutely adoring trying to come to grips with her new skipping rope, and I had great pleasure in reading E's first halloween novel aloud. Monsters galore.
S had bought a very soft, fluffy and wooly camel yarn that was an instant "I want!" for me. The sad news are that it's only available in camel colour. The very same camel colour that make me look all sick.
I guess all that fluffy cuddlyness wasn't for me. :-(

Amigurumi, dårå

Ok, I give in. I thought amigurumi patterns where not for me, I like usable stuff. But I have to try this. I have to. http://apocalypseknits.blogspot.com/2010/08/chichester-pig.html Them little piggies are gonna fly. And I know just the place to put them...

Presentation

I learned knitting when I was 8yrs old in the 80-ies. Mum used to knit in front of the tv every night, and I asked her to teach me.
I fell in love with a wonderfully cosy semichunky red wool, and mum said that if I showed her that I could finish a smaller project, I would be allowed to start the sweater I wanted. I embarked on a pair of light blue acrylic legwarmers to match my dancing suit (now ain't that the essence of the 80-ies?).
Somehow she must have changed her mind, because I did the sweater (with loads of tutoring from mum), but when I cleared out the house after her death I found two knitted rectangles of light blue acrylics, both unsewn...

I still hate blocking and sewing pieces together.

Since I started I have tried various ways of doing beautiful things to threads: knitting, crocheting, felting, sewing, embroidering, tatting, bobbin lace... I'm constantly after new or better ways find fun by manipulating threads.