do you mind if i knit

A reveal you weren't expecting!

Hello!

I only realised today that I'm a day out, that it's Wednesday and not Tuesday, and that I forgot to post a blog entry last night. The Monday's Bank Holiday has got me totally discombobulated, I'm all over the place. Do three-day weekends do that to you too?

It all started with running out of steam last Friday, and having absolutely not the teeeeniest tiniest tinsiest bit of energy to do a blog post, even though I've got plenty to show you, almost too much. I always miss it when I don't do a blog post, it's like something is missing, I'm incomplete, so it takes quite a lot to stop me from doing a blog post. But there we go, no energy, not a milligram, and no blogola post.

But I'm back again with renewed vigour, even if I am a day late.

The surprise reveal is this cardigan I made recently, which was finished so quickly, I didn't manage to write about starting it.

It's my own pattern, very loosely based on the Annabel Cardigan I knitted which I blogged about in this post.

That's a picture of the Annabel cardigan above.

My pattern is sooo loosely  based on the Annabel cardigan, that if I wrote it up and published it, it would be very hard to accuse me of plagiarism.

I was thinking of writing up the pattern, but when am I going to find the time? My brain is feeling scrambled enough as it is. maybe one day, when things are calmer.

I haven't even got a name for my cardigan yet, I just think of it as my Herdwick Sheep Cardigan.

I bought the yarn back in April this year, with some Birthday money I received, when we went to the Lake District for a week.

The yarn is an Aran weight, using the fleece of the Herdwick Sheep, and produced by Crookabeck Farm in Cumbria.

The whole experience of buying the yarn was a bit of an adventure. The farm was a bit off the beaten track, down a very long a rustic winding lane. We were lucky that the lady owner of the farm was around to open up her shop, as she could have well been tending her flock of Herdwicks, which are a very pretty looking sheep.

You may have noticed lots of little wiry hairs sticking out of the balls of yarn in the mosaic above. Very prickly wiry hairs they are too. I don't want to criticise this yarn at all, because I love the colour and the way it knits up, and the fact that the yarn is from a breed that Beatrix Potter bred and loved, but I'm afraid I would be lying if I said it was soft and easy to wear once knitted up. (There's also a good blog entry about Beatrix Potter and the Herdwick Sheep here, it's very readable and informative). This yarn also sheds the white hairs whilst being knitted up, so that I was surrounded by a halo of white on the floor wherever I was knitting. I picked out a lot of the hairs by hand when I'd finished the cardigan, but there are still more to be removed. It's a cardigan that has to be worn over several t-shirts, or a garment that is so tightly woven, no hairs can get through and make you go "oww!"

If it wasn't for those bloomin prickly white hairs, this yarn would be very good, because the colour is so gorgeous, and it's a very hard wearing yarn, which doesn't pill, as far as I can tell.

Every time I wear this cardigan, which I have to work myself up to mentally, and make sure I'm wearing enough layers not to be tortured, I do some plucking out of the nasty white hairs.

One day, I will have a very nice and comfortable cardigan!

Shall we look at a few more pictures of a body in the cardigan?

I do have some beautifully soft Aran yarn in my stash which I was thinking of using to knit this cardigan again, and refine it, and then be comfortable wearing it. The yarn is lurking in a bag where I can see it, but that's not aloways a guarantee it will be used imminently.

I have almost finished the Coraline Cardigan I've been working on recently, I just have to graft the underarms, sew on buttons and sew in ends, and then its done! It feels like that's worked up very quickly.

Infact, I've already started a new project, another dress, using a lace pattern................. but that's another story.

I'll see you on Friday, I'm off to my knitting group, haven't been in a while............. cheerio! Vanessa xxx

 

 

A Sculpture of Garfie.

Hello! It's a puuuuurrrrr-fect day here today!

The cat's miaow of a day infact.

I haven't touched on the subject of my sculptures recently have I?

I am still working away on them, it's just that for various reasons, I haven't been able to show you anything I've finished.

But I think that I can show you this sculpture, commissioned by Sharon, to commemorate her beloved cat Garfie, who tragically met his end in a road accident at the tender age of two. Garfie was a special cat, and Sharon still misses him and his wonderful personality, so it was a privilege to make this piece for her.

When I do a commission that depicts a subject like this, I like to glean as much information about the subject as possible, not solely look at photographs. Sharon wrote me a long letter telling me all about Garfie's personality. He had different sides to his character. He was very, very loving, and knew just when to be affectionate. He was also a bit of an adventurer and a highly accomplished acrobat.

I wanted to express his personality in the sculpture, so the cloud of butterflies represent Garfie's sensitive side, whilst the trainers and binoculars represent his more adventurous leanings. His pockets are stuffed with bits of ribbon and fabric, because Garfie was partial to playing with those things.

Garfie may not have been my cat, but I became very attached to him in the process of making the sculpture. I really have to get personally involved with each piece I make, otherwise the work is not the best it can be, and this inevitably means it's hard to part with each piece I finish. But coming from the background I do, the world of illustration, I am very used to accepting that when a work is finished it has to be handed over and I have to move on, plus, I have to make a living from my work, so it really wouldn't be helpful to hoard all the work I make.

I think of it this way, each piece I finish is going to a loving home, and what more can I ask for than that.

So Garfie is now going to be wrapped in copious amounts of tissue paper and bubble wrap, laid carefully in a sturdy box, and be sent off by secure special delivery to his new home. I know that his rightful family are waiting eagerly for him to join them.

Bon voyage Garfie!

Vanessa xxx

A tent FULL of Sweet Peas!

Last Saturday we went to a Sweet Pea Festival at a place called Sprouston, a tiny village with a beautifully kept church, but no pub, a village green, pretty yellow stone houses huddled round the green, and a smart new village hall (lovely and insulated, but lacking the character of the old crumbling village halls you still see standing occassionally).

To say I was excited when I heard about the Sweet Pea festival is an understatement, I was very very very very very excited, though I didn't shout about it.

I felt a bit on edge as we walked from the car to the marquee housing the precious Sweet Pea displays, I was that excited I felt TENSE.

You know that excited tension you get, when you're about to visit a shop selling a particularly nice yarn or fabric or whatever it is you love, and you're getting closer and closer to it, and then you're opening the door of the shop, and then you're there standing infront of the shops displays? That sort of tension.

The Sweet Pea Festival was celebrating the Centenary of the Reverand Denholm Fraser winning first prize in a national competition for the best bunch of Sweet Peas grown by an amateur gardener, back in 1911. The Daily Mail newspaper organised the competition, and was offering a huge money reward to the winner.

The Reverand sent two bunches of Sweet Peas off to Crystal Palace in London IN THE POST (!!!!!). They travelled all the way from the Scottish Borders to London in the post, amazing. One of the bunches was in the Reverend's wife's name, the other was in the Reverand's name.

The Sweet Peas were grown from seed in the Reverand's garden. The bunches he sent to London won third and first prize! And the total prize money came to £1050, that's the equivalent to about £400,000 in todays money!

The history surrounding the show is wonderful isn't it?

The walled garden where the Reverand grew his prize winning Sweet Peas was open to the public, but wasn't as glorious as I imagine it once was, though there are some Sweet Peas being grown as specimens by a volunteer from the village.

For me, the tent with the Sweet Peas in their jam jars was the exciting bit. I did like that they were displayed in jam jars, there was something very charming about that. Some people even left the labels on their jam jars, which gave their displays a quirky touch.

You would have thought the tent would have been overpowered by the scent from the Sweet Peas, but it wasn't, though if you smelt the flowers close up, you did catch their heady scent. I find that if you leave Sweet Peas in their vase on a window sill in the sun, it brings out the perfume, the smell can be quite powerful.

There might not have been a strong scent in the room, but the jewel colours were enough to make me dizzy with delight. It was pure visual gluttony.

It felt very old fashioned and loveable. People showing their prize Sweet Peas in humble jam jars is very wholesome and endearing. Both Hugo and I left feeling we'd attended a special event, it was tremendously satisfying, especially as there was tea and cake to be had too.

A tent full of Sweet Peas in jam jars, plus tea and cake, it doesn't get much better than that.

I'm off to do a bit of knitting now, my Coraline Cardigan is increasing in leaps and bounds, I'll have to show you in my next Tuesday blog post. Have a good weekend. Vanessa xxx

Debbie Bliss Dress Revealed!

Of all the coincidences, this was a good one. 

We went to the beach to take photos of the Debbie bliss dress I'd finished knitting, and washed up on the sand was a fishing creel that matched the turquoise colour of my dress!

I LOVE coincidences like that!

So here it is, my finished knitted dress, made following a Debbie Bliss pattern, (details at the end of this post).

I mentioned in a previous post that I was worried about this dress being too small, especially on the band just under the bust, I was convinced I wasn't going to be able to get it over my chest.

But it's turned out to be a perfect fit, and there's noone more surprised than me.

The band under the bust stretches a little as the dress is worn, so it went from being a little tight, to just right.

And I'm very glad I started the neck shaping later than stated in the pattern, it would have been much too low cut if I'd followed the pattern.

I have to say, I'm thrilled with the results of this knitting, I love this dress. It's very, very comfortable, and a flattering shape too.

As there is very little sleeve to knit, this project didn't take too long to make, two months.

Knitting with Debbie Bliss baby casmerino yarn was a real treat. It's so soft, but also gives good stitch definition, almost like a cotton yarn, though it's actually made using Merino, a bit of Cashmere, and a bit of manmade fibre, so there isn't the heaviness you get with cotton yarns. It's lovely and warm too. This yarn washes beautifully. I washed my dress in the washing machine on the handwash cycle, and gave it an extra spin in the washing machine, and the dress has come out of that well. The range of colours is mouth watering too, I'm a big fan of Debbie Bliss yarn colours, she does beautiful brights to elegant subdueds, something for everyone.
In the above photo, my favourite turquoise trainers, and my favourite turqouise Falke cotton rich tights (please may they never ladder or get holes in them, please may they stay forever perfect).

But turquoise trainers and lady-like knitted dress, do not the perfect fit make.

High heels are the order of the day for this dress, or little slip-on pumps perhaps.

Even though I'd only increased my height to about 5 foot 4 wearing the heels, I felt like an Amazonian woman tottering about in these shoes all day. I very rarely wear heels, so it always feels a bit strange. I feel empowered because of the immense height I suddenly see the world from (!) but at the same time I feel quite vulnerable, like my feet are not firmly planted on the ground. Do you get that too?!

And now for the knitty-gritty details. The pattern is from Debbie Bliss knitting magazine Spring/Summer 2011. It's pattern no.15 (page 90).

The pattern calls for Debbie Bliss Eco Baby yarn to be used, but this can be substituted with Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which is what I did. The colour I used was 340031 (turquoise/acqua blue), eleven balls of it. My knitting tension is loose, so I had to go down from the 3.25 mm needles in the pattern, to 2.75 mm needles. The resulting fabric is quite firm, but I think that helps to keep the shape of the dress.

I started knitting this dress on 4th June, according to an old blog post, and finished the dress on 5th August. So let's say it took two months to complete.

As knitting patterns go, it was easy to follow, though I wouldn't give this pattern to a beginner, maybe intermediate, as you need to know what you're doing around the neck area, in terms of where to do the decreases, it's not explained very well.

I didn't knit the picot edge on the sleeves or hem, because they curl, and actually I prefer the simpler garter stitch edge.

If there weren't so many wonderful dress patterns I want to knit on my list, I would make this dress again in a different colour, I like it so much.

So there we go, another dress finished, done and dusted!

Now I'm completely engrossed in knitting the Coraline Cardigan by Ysolda. And I've started sewing another Miz Mozelle Dress, doing a seam here and there. It all adds up, knitting a few rows and sewing a few seams here and there, before you know it, you've got a finished piece. In the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, I'd probably be the Tortoise.

If you'd like to see other people's version of this dress on Ravelry, the link to the relevant page is here.

I hope you enjoyed the show today! Vanessa xxx

 

Cornishware and Custard Coraline Cardigan.

Hello! If you're popping by today hoping to see the reveal of my Debbie Bliss dress, I'm really very sorry, but there are still no photos of it.

I'm hoping Hugo can photograph me this weekend wearing the dress, so there is a reveal for next Tuesday's post. It's on a hanger, hanging in a prominent position rearing to be worn.

But I am busy knitting my Coraline Cardigan.

Every time I look at the blue and off-white stripes I'm knitting, and glance at the balls of yellowy alpaca yarn (to be used for the top smocked section of the cardigan), I can't help thinking of Cornishware china and custard.

It's led to me thinking about other things I'm nostalgic about.

Custard creams. Biscuits from my childhood. I remember breaking open the 'sandwich' of the buiscuit, and eating the filling first, followed by the two biscuits that encased the custardy filling. Now I eat them whole, I prefer them that way.

And Iced Gems. When we visited my Mum's parents, our Granny and Grandad, I remember the drawer in the cupboard in the kitchen, that housed the packet of Iced Gems. I thought of them as little magic biscuits. I still think of them as little magic biscuits that occupy a world where fairies exist.

Sherbert Dips, fake cigarette sweets, humbugs, Digestive biscuits (plain, not covered in chocolate). Some of the distinctive things from my childhood that my knitting makes me think of.

Nowadays, in my adulthood, the things that bring me a feeling of contentedness are the Roses in the garden, especially the yellow Roses. Cutting them and bringing them into the house always feels like a special treat.

Opening a new bar of soap. A new bar of soap unwrapped is a lovely thing. It's so pure, fresh scented, soft, clean and crisp-edged. Especially a gift soap which comes in lovely paper.

Getting into a bed made with fresh sheets. Putting on clean pyjamas. Sinking a spoon into a newly opened yoghurt. The startling smell of newly cut grass. The soft fur on Douglas' (boy dog) tummy, kissing the doggies ears. Watching the twitches of doggy dreams. Sunny days with no wind. Yarn and fabric shops and all the excitement of choosing wool or fabric to make a garment. Hearing Hugo's voice when he returns from work. Being in the involved moment of work. Sitting in the garden drinking a glass of cold white wine.

I could go on and on.

(It's reassuring that there are many things I love and appreciate in my life).

I musn't forget Sweet Peas. The bunches of Sweet Peas I am given by my parents-in-law from their garden. They bring happiness that lasts till the final flower is standing.

Annie at wonderful blog Knitsofacto, has a link to a place you can buy plug plants of Sweet Peas to grow in hanging baskets, in this blog post.

I never knew you could grow Sweet Peas in hanging baskets, I thought they had to be planted so they could be trained up stakes, tall and gangly. Hanging basket Sweet peas are a great idea if outdoor space is limited, and you long to grow Sweet Peas.

My knitting is making me feel pleasantly nostalgic. When I reach the section where I start the smocking, using the custard coloured yarn, I might feel overwhelmingly nostalgic, who knows.

You might want to know what the yarn I'm using is...........

The blue and white are Alpaca Baby DK, by UK Alpaca, colours Duck Egg and Natural Buttermilk (great names for the colours don't you think).

The custard colour is 100% Alpaca from Alpaca Select, colour 0102.

They're all from my stash, so not bought recently. I found the Alpaca Select website, and yarn that may be a newly packaged version of the Alpaca yarn I have. I can't guarantee that the colour Lemon I found on this page of their website is the exact same shade of yellow I am using.

The UK Alpaca website has the yarn I'm using on this page. But they don't seem to make the colourways I'm using any more, and their available range of colours is limited.

That's the thing about using yarn from your stash, yarn colours, and even yarns themselves go out of fashion and become unavailable.

Well I think I might potter off and make myself a nostalgic but very real cup of Earl Grey tea. I suppose if I was to be properly nostalgic, I would make it with loose tea leaves, in a teapot, kept warm by a tea cosy. Once brewed it would then be poured into a china tea cup sitting on a matching saucer, and the milk (which would be decanted into a little jug), and stirred in with a tea spoon. Lovely, but too much washing up afterwards. I'm not a die hard nostalgic really, am I.

Have a good weekend, and for those of us experiencing the very British never-ending rain, let's hope the weather suddenly becomes very un-British, that is, very sunny and warm.

Vanessa xxx

It's in the wash.

Hello! Bright and perky yes I am ................ That's the great thing about blogging, you can pretend to be cheery and chipper, when actually, you might be sitting in your chair at your computer feeling bloated, unproductive, miserable, and lots of other negative feelings, and noone will ever know!

Actually, I'm feeling absolutely fine. In percentage terms, my mood is 95% sunny, which isn't bad is it?

But I have a distinct lack of things to show you today, because lately I've been burying myself in work and not doing my blogging job. Last weekend was quite a busy one , and going out is time consuming.

The Debbie Bliss dress I have been knitting is finished!

When it's washed and dried and pressed and preened I shall reveal it to you.

I have tried it on, and the good news is that it fits like a glove, because I did have doubts about it fitting me. I have to admit, I expected a disaster, and was very pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.

That's the absurd thing about knitting garments isn't it? You often don't know if something is going to fit until the end. Crazy!

I haven't done any more sewing in the last week, but I have started a new knitting project. I've embarked on knitting Ysolda Teague's cardigan pattern "Coraline". You can find it on Ravelry here.

I had some beautiful DK Alpaca yarn in my stash, and was hunting for a good pattern. When I saw how many people had knitted this pattern, and how good it looked on everyone who has made it, I knew it must be a winner. Have a look at all the 691 (so far) Coraline cardigans that have been knitted and displayed on Ravelry, they are lovely, and inspiring. It's not often you get a pattern that suits everyone.

I'm not knitting mine in just the one colour, as you can see in these photos, I'll show you more another time.

And before I love you and leave you, a quick check on my mood percentage............... 98%.

You see, that's what blogging can do, lift your spirits, I was 95% at the beginning of this post!

See you on Friday. Vanessa xxx

£1 ALL.

See that?! £1 ALLLLLLLLL !!!!!!!!!!

£1 for nine balls of vintage Patons Beehive 3-ply yarn!

In a popping red that isn't too popping in real life, but has just enough pop to make me happy.

We went to a village fete on Sunday, and I started by taking photos.

There was a lot to look at, colourful inflatable fair attractions (for children to slide down or jump on), stalls selling candyfloss, lots of colour and busyness! I planned to continue clicking away with my camera.

That was until we reached the car boot sale and I found the £1 All bag of wool.

My hound like bargain sniffer, (it's an official part of my brain, I doubt I'm the only one afflicted with this), went into over-drive after that, I think I was practically salivating.

Maybe I should have been on a leash.

I did notice out of the corner of my eye, that Hugo was standing back looking slightly bemused, and knew better than to say anything like "haven't you got enough yarn?"

I went on to buy two cones of yarn for £1, three embroidered tablecloths for £5, and a nice necklace for £3.

I left feeling like I'd had a very big meal, and was all bloated up with bags full of bargain goodies.

Another thing I did this weekend just gone, was visit the market stall of someone I know called Hannah. She's in the process of starting up a shop that she intends to grow, from a market stall, to a shop in bricks and mortar, and she's called it "Sew Pretty". She's not yet selling her wares on-line.

Saturday morning dawned lovely and sunny, and I felt very excited at sauntering down to Hannah's stall.

I bought the fabric, threads, elastic and button from Hannah's stall a couple of weeks ago to make the turquoise Miz Mozelle Dress. Everything to make the dresss came to £12, so you can see her prices are affordable. And the selection of fabrics is wonderful. Shall we have a little look?

Hannah is full of energy and ideas, and so talking sewing with her is like watching a sponge soak up water, with me as the sponge.

Hannah's son has set up a company called Crow and Dunnage, printing t-shirts, and soon to expand to bags. You can design your own t-shirts and they will screenprint them. It would be great if they started printing fabrics for garment making, maybe that will be in their plans for the future. The link to their site is here.

And yes (!) I did buy some fabric from Hannah! This 2.3 metres screenprinted fabric was in her bargain box for £12, and I've got a pattern in mind for it......... will reveal that when I come to use the fabric.

The yellow polka dot fabric above is from Hannah too, £8 for three metres, and I plan to make another Miz Mozelle dress with it.

The stripy blue and white fabric above is a metre of curtain fabric, the plan is to make another Starboard Skirt with it.

The red gingham dress I last reported on in this post, has now acquired a waistband.

I've got some sort of mental block concerning this dress, you could call it "attitude". I'm like a sulky teenager reluctantly finishing a job I have started. I worked on it for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. The skirt section is ready to be attached. I should just get on with it.

The reason I'm not doing that, is that I've been concentrating on my sculptures.

You might enjoy this little anecdote.  I was making butterflies that are to be part of a commission I'm working on, and couldn't understand where one of the pieces had gone. It seemed to have just vanished, and I put it down to that mystical vanishing thing that happens to things like needles and pins, and other little bits and pieces. Well, the whole evening, during supper and afterwards, I was slightly perplexed as to the missing piece. It was only as I was washing my hands in the bathroom, and glanced at the mirror, that I noticed a butterfly tangled up in my hair.

I had been around Hugo all evening, had supper with him and spoken to him, and I presume he looked at me when he spoke to me. At no point had he observed the butterfly in my hair, (I'm not in the habit of wearing decorative things in my hair, so it wasn't a case of him thinking it was normal, and so not necessary to remark on).

What's this called? "Invisible Wife Syndrome"?

And my knitted dress? I'm starting to sew the side seams up. I'm praying it fits. Maybe my Friday post will have good news, or bad news, about that.

I'm off to get on with things that have to be got on with. Have a good week! Vanessa xxx