Winding down

As far as creative crafty matters go, the year has been rather busy. Numerous mitts and caps were completed, along with another pair of socks for gift giving. I do believe I've mastered heels and gussets at last, and have a goal of learning to do cables and bobbles, among other interesting things, to make the leg portion more interesting for myself. I have just put down my needles after playing with a scrap of yarn and realizing that I can manage a candle flame design as well. I've got enough different colors from Knit Picks sampler packs that I've ordered over the past couple of years, that I may just use all that lace yarn to make multiple scarves for NEXT year's holiday gifts (or birthday gifts) as the case may be.

I am rather proud of myself for making a mans 1820 tail coat, alterations and all, to fit. Knocked out a Regency waistcoat in a day, and will knock out another one before the next Jane Austen Ball, scheduled for January 22nd. Speaking of which, I have ordered an additional two yards of the beautiful sea blue silk taffeta, and will start on my new ballgown soon. I want to have it finished well before the week of the ball, unlike last year, where I was sewing hooks on the bodice back about the time we were supposed to be leaving. So we were an hour late to the afternoon tea and entertainment before the ball. We still got to eat anyway. Not doing it again this next time around.

I brainstormed while sitting on the museum terrace yesterday on my lunch break. I noticed a couple of different visitors were wearing 3/4 length coats that closely resembled Spencer jackets as they had higher waistlines. If I were to make a 3/4 length pelisse with the Spencer waist, it just wouldn't look right. But if I were to make a Spencer and find a way to attach a separate full length skirt to the waistband - say an arrangement of hidden buttons and velcro - I might have a two in one solution to the need for a coat. I've been looking at past ball photos, along with thinking about what some of the other ladies have worn, and while it might be nice to have a full length pelisse in something scrumptious like a silk dupioni, or an evening cape in black velvet, neither would be really practical. This year I carried a paisley shawl made of wool, which was period correct, albeit for daytime. I may have to resort to my black pashmina for the sake of coordinating with my new dress. However, if I could find a nice navy wool gabardine, I think it might work for the 2/1 coat. I could go the other route and make a black velvet Spencer, but considering how cold it is late on a January night in Pasadena, I want something warm and practical.

I had a request for a dupioni rose pin, much like Winky's Christmas Rose, which I made last year for the Immy Homemade Craft Exchange. I haven't had time to knock it out yet - will get it done next week before my next museum shift, and after I'm feeling better. I think I may have picked something up at the last Regency dance practice evening. All that taking partners and neighbors by the hand as we're doing the various figures - someone was bound to have the Winter cold.

I made money doing custom sewing this year; however those jobs were not coming often enough. I took a fashion illustration course, and the instructor suggested that I find a way to sell my artwork on notecards, or some other such thing. She also thinks that I should be illustrating pattern envelopes, so if my hands hold out, it could be something to look into. With all the holiday knitting and baking, my carpal tunnel was really irritated, and I was in pain in a way that I haven't been in years. I have to find my splint that immobilizes my hand/wrist/forearm just in case. I had to produce so many drawings this past term, that I was starting to feel the wrist irritation, and on top of that, my hands were cramping up. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't sew/knit/draw/paint/embroider. I'd be lost. Aside from leading tours at the museum, it's about the only pleasure I really get these days.

I doubt that anyone will miss them, so I did not get photos of a lot of my most recent knitting projects. I had too much to do, and they were all made on deadlines. I think I shall photograph the candle flame once that gets going - it's a 24 row repeat, and I figure I can break at rows 12 or 24 if I'm smart - those would be the natural breaks. The pattern seems logical enough, with nothing but y/o's, ssk's, k2tog's, and the old k's or p's, so I shouldn't get too bamboozled. Number 4 needles seem awfully big for lace yarn, but I suppose they're make the thing grow faster.

That is all...

Off and running

I have started a new cap in Knit Picks Main Line yarn (now discontinued) - about halfway there now, and also going to attempt making mitts with partial fingers. I figured thumbs are no problem, so fingers should be more of the same. In the meantime, I am happy with my new yarn ball winder and swift, my favorite Yule gifts. I'm a fiber geek, I admit it.

Now, I won't be checking in for at least three weeks, because I have two ballgowns and a man's evening suit to make, circa 1800, for the Jane Austen Evening. Took my friend fabric shopping tonight, and she spent $125 on fabric so that I can have fun sewing. I will post photos of completed outfits at the ball (is my Darcy fangirl geek showing?) so that I can share the Regency love. Her dress is going to be ecru eyelet that has rayon embroidery on it, giving the fabric a slightly more dressy sheen than typical eyelet. The underdress is aqua cotton lawn. The sash is a turquoise shot dupioni that has gold/taupe cross threads in the weave. I'll use that fabric for the trim around the neckline as well as the reticule. I have a changent silk taffeta in navy/sea green, but I'm not sure I want to cut it and make it up into a dress, since I've been losing weight. Maybe next year. In the meantime, I have a pink cotton that has a stripe weave with teeny faggoting bordering the stripes. I have white lawn to use as an underdress, and that may just be my ballgown. The plan is to make false sleeves so that I can wear it as a day dress some other time. I brought the costume tiaras down off the storage shelves tonight. The ball is on the 23rd - can't wait. I plan on having a lot of fun sewing, even if I've only got a week and a half free before the Spring semester starts on January 19th. It usually only takes me about eight hours to make a dress, so I'm not stressing too much. It's the men's outfit that I've got to be more careful with. "Puffy shirt," no problem, waistcoat, no problem. Fall front breeches - never made them before, but they don't look too tricky. Regency dresscoat? It's been awhile since I've done any serious tailoring. Black is good. Black is forgiving of any bobbles that might happen, but truth be told, I'm sure that if I am just cautious and carefully follow the directions in my book of men's costume tailoring, I should be o.k. I figure I can pretty much make anything I want to make. I'm that experienced that I don't get freaked out about trying something out for the first time. I can sew a straight line, I can sew curves. I think I shall do more basting than I normally do when I get to the jacket. That should make my life much easier...

Victoire cap

So this is the cap I came up with as a variation on the "Victoria Fingerless Mittens" from the Louisa Harding book, "Knitting Little Luxuries." It's a rather loose fitting cloche. I have a 22" head and it's very comfy on me. I will be expermenting on the weekend with version number two, as the friend whose birthday present this was intended to be is a good 4" shorter than me, not to mention smaller boned. I need to come up with something a bit more snug. Anyway, the how to for this version follows...

Materials

Worsted weight yarn. I used 1.5 skeins of Knit Picks Main Line, which is being discontinued. 82 yards per skein. 7 rows = 1 inch.

Knitting needles, #5 circular, and #5 DPNs.

Stitch markers, tapestry needle.

Picot cast on --- *co 5 sts using the cable method on circular needles, bo 2 sts, slip st on right needle back to left needle - 3 sts co; * repeat from * to co 113 stitches.

(N.B. Use stitch markers every 10 stitches as you finish your picots or you will make yourself crazy counting five and three then 113.)

Place marker and join, being careful not to twist stitches.
R1 - k all sts R2 - p all sts R3 - k all sts.

R4- k1* yo ssk; repeat from * to end.

R5 -k all sts R6 - p all sts R7 - k all sts.

Decrease row - k to last 2 sts, k2 tog.

k2 p2 ribbing for 10 rows.

Switch to stockinette stitch. K until 5" long, switch to DPN's, 28 sts on each needle.

Crown shaping

R1 - k9, k2 tog 10 times. 102 stitches. R2 - k

R3 - k8, k2 tog 10 times. 92 stitches. R4 - k

R5 - k7, k2 tog 10 times. 82 stitches. R6 - k

R7 - k6, k2 tog 10 times. 72 stitches. R 8 - k

R9 - k5, k2 tog 10 times. 62 stitches. R 10 - k

R11 - k4, k2 tog 10 times. 52 stitches. R 12 - k

R13 - k3, k2 tog 10 times. 42 stitches. R 14 - k

R15 - k2, k2 tog 10 times, k 1. 31 stitches. R 16 - k

R17 - k 1, k2 tog 10 times, k 1. 21 stitches. R 18 - k

R 19 - k 2 tog 10 times, k 1. 11 stitches.

R 20 - k 2 tog 4 times, k 1, 5 stitches.

Cut yarn off, leaving a 6" tail. Thread through tapestry needle, work through loops and pull tight; knot off. Weave in loose ends.

It went pretty fast, as most caps do. I had fun making it, will have some more fun coming up with the next variation. If you want to decrease, or increase, I would recommend doing so in increments of 4 stitches to ensure the ribbing alternates as it should. Enjoy.

Catching up

The Immeritus SPEW knit along project was finished about the 9th. Happy to say that I can now do cables with very little trouble. I did like the hat pattern enough to consider it for gifts later this year.

Am back to the socks. Managed to make the flap and get the heel turned, but I don't think it's terribly pretty at this time. I am seriously considering frogging the silly thing for the sake of making a slightly smaller sock among other things. I also don't much care for the yarn now that it's working up - it's a 75%/25% wool/acrylic blend, but it's really itchy and I'm wondering how comfy this yarn could possibly be on the feet! I'm going to have to look at softer versions of some sort of wool or cotton blend. Cashmere would be divine, but I don't know if I could justify that sort of expense.

The Tilli Tomas beaded yarn project is going along alright. It really should have been done by now, but I'm finding the yarn rather annoying to work with, although it looks exceptionally beautiful in daylight, with the variations in the strands as well as the glimmer of the glass beads lending a different dimension to the texture.

Have some ideas for accessories to sell on Etsy. I don't think I can go back to my day job - I just don't. So I would have to be on the ball and sew at least six hours a day. We'll see - possible samples to come later ;)

Next

I've done a lot of knitting since the weeks before the Holidays. I can see the difference in my stitches in projects I started a couple of years ago, and things started and finished recently. My tension is much more even, my stitches are more even. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. So now that I've made a cap and two pairs of gauntlets on dpn's, I believe I'm ready to tackle socks. Fingers crossed they come out o.k. I feel a lot more confident about my ability than I did a year ago. If anything stumps me, all I have to do is look at an online tutorial. My granny never had it so easy!

More for the stash

I finally got my Knit Picks box today. The yarn and Guy Knits book arrived to my delight. Pics posted on my Ravelry stash page, here. I started working on a sweater that's been hibernating for close to 2 years now. It will be a good Yule present. Forgot that the back is already done. I've got maybe two inches to go before I can start shaping the front neckline, then all I need are the sleeves and the hood. If I stay this sick, I could probably get it done soon as I can't do much of anything other than sit...

Practice

Nature has forced me to slow down - I'm sick again. However, sitting in one position is quite good for knitting, so I've remembered how to make nice, even cables and got to practice a lace pattern that I'm wanting to try out on my next KnitPicks shipment.

Also came up with an idea for a knitting needle holder. I'll have to play with my fabric stash and decide if I want it padded or not. It's not exactly revolutionary; I just want one in fabrics I like rather than something ready made that isn't made of very nice materials. Who knows - might be a craft fair item in the future.

Stitch markers - yay!

I received my Hogwarts stitchmarkers from the Yarnola chat today. They are darling! I'm thrilled - too bad I'm not working on anything that needs stitchmarkers at the moment, I'm dying to try them out. I think someone should come up with a second set. There's already the rat, as well as Trevor and McGonagall. They need Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs as well. I dunno - if you're going for weird stuff (the Dark Mark?), there could always be a dementor or Buckbeak...

I'm staring at the same four squares for the RMBR project. I have been really bad the past two days, with the amount of time I've been spending online. Someone on the Lost and Found group had the watch cap pattern I was looking for, so there are my guy's Yule-time presents. It's a really simple 5 stitch rib watch cap in super bulky yarn that was published in Real Simple magazine. I made one and promptly lost the pattern. It only took 8 hours to knit the entire cap and stitch up the side - how fast is that? I love it. So I have some future projects planned, as well as a hoodie that I started for Mr. Soli, which is currently sitting in a tote bag in the studio. I wonder if I should bother with the effort, as he doesn't seem to wear the sewn clothes I've already made for him *grrr*

I've been looking at online photos from DragonCon (aside from the ones of HottSirius and HottLupin), and checking out the costumes, trying to get inspired. It's sort of cool that people do make line for line copies of the movie costumes, but I think if I were going to go as a Hogwarts teacher, I'd want to put my own spin on it, rather than being a slave to the film version. Having said that, I found some high resolution pics of Helena Bonham Carter's sexy Ministry outfit, and I'm thinking it might be possible to do a good copy. I thought that the dress/bodice was a knit, and it looks like it's some sort of woven, almost like a flatlined burlap. Some of the swirl elements are stenciled on, and the prominent ones seem to be couched with silver thread over a silver cord, so there's a lot of dimension. The corset belt looks like the biggest pain, as it's leather, and there doesn't appear to be a busk in the center front. I can't tell what the lacing is like on the back of the costume. The lacing for the sleeves appears to be leather cord, the same as in the belt lacing. It could get a wee bit expensive. I'm guessing she's wearing Peter Fox shoes, which run about $300 a pop, but they're pretty authentic for a Victorian look. I wonder if I could pull that one off. I'd have to lose another 20 pounds before I'd feel comfortable wearing it, but I also happen to own a Phantom-type wig like all the girls wore, with cascades of curls down to my butt. I bought it in Hollywood - where else?

Hmmm...inspiration may be striking after all.