Finished Object - Cleo

My first off shift of the country wide lockdown started off quite productive, and I managed to get another long standing queue sewing project done. Quite a while ago I treated myself to a kit from Tilly and the Buttons to make the Cleo dress. Now I'm not normally the one for dresses, I only own one or two, but I fell in love with this one, and even more so now I have finally made it.

I did have one or two worries to start with, I had gone with the denim fabric kit, and I have never before worked with denim, but I did have a listen to the Love To Sew podcast episode on Denim and it made me feel a lot less nervous, and finding some denim needles in my sewing box I thought I would just dive straight in, and I am so glad I did.

I spread the making over a few days, but it could have easily been smashed out in a day. I started off tracing out the pattern on one sunny day and the next day was cutting out the pieces, again with the glorious sunshine on my back.

The pattern, with its lovely booklet, talks you through how to make the dress with clarity and lovely clear photos. Perfect for the ambitious beginner or a nervous sewist. The kit I got came with everything I needed, including the buckles and buttons, which was so useful, but I'm sure they are pretty easy to come across on the internet.

Taking the pattern slowly and one step at a time it really got my sewing mojo back on course and I loved how it turned out. I was worried at one or two points along the way that I wouldn't like the end product. I've said before how I'm not much of a dress person, but I think having made this and finding ways to style it that I feel comfortable in, I'm really quite happy.

I was also quite excited to learn how to finish off the seams in that typical jeans style, and got a lot better at my top stitching when making the pockets. Yes you read that, pockets! And so many! If you are anything like me, pockets on anything are a must and incredibly exciting. I took the options of a big front pocket and two smaller back pockets, but there are also instructions for front hip pockets too. I'm sure that if you were adventurous enough you could add in seam hip pockets, which might be my challenge for another day.

Having now got sewing with denim tucked firmly under my belt, I am looking at trying a full set of dungarees as well as a pair of jeans. I'm already excited for these, but first I've got a few other things to get sewn, whilst rocking this new dress of mine!

Finished Object - 3-ply Mini

My spinning wheel was one of the most precious things that I moved when I moved house, it came in the car with me and was one of the first things to be moved into the house even before my furniture came the day after. But I haven't done a huge amount of spinning since, horrendous I know! As part of my Virtual Knit Night we did a secret santa swap, and my lovely secret santa partner gave me a wonderful purple, navy and black braid of fibre. Half I spun like I would normally into a traditional two ply, my go to. But the second half I wanted to try something new.

I had heard other people talk about traditional 3-ply when they were spinning and I felt like I wanted to give this a go, and I decided to do it without any kind of research and it would be an experiment just to play around and see what happened. I found it so nice to do, and I might even consider doing it again!

So I weighed out and split the braid into three equal parts and spun the singles. These I made a special effort to keep as thin as possible. It was the first time that I actually spun with an outcome in mind. I wanted the final yarn to be as thin as I could make it, as I knew that having three plys would make it naturally thicker. It went relatively smoothly, we only had one or two snapped threads, and there wasn't too much swearing! ;)

Then came the plying. I kept it really simple with the traditional method, the only problem to overcome was the lazy kate. My tip top super duper snazzy lazy kate... It's a shoe box with knitting needles pushed through the sides to hold the bobbins. Until now it has only had two needles, as I haven't plied anything more then that. Fortunately there was enough space to poke through another knitting needle (as I really am not short of those) and we were all set up and ready to go.

The plying went super smoothly and was even a little more pain free then my normal 2-plying methods, so I was pretty happy. The final yarn had a little bit of a twist to it when it came off the bobbin, but not as much as some of my chain plied yarn. I was really quite pleased, and hopefully it will be quite a strong yarn. I do need to find something to do with it though!

The final measurements of the mini were:
For 24g, 17 WPI (light sport weight), with a yardage of 84.9m.
All in all I'm pretty pleased with it, its soft, squishy and the colours are pretty too. I was also quite pleased that I managed to get a sport weight out of a three ply, as my normal two ply efforts are a sport weight too, which does lead me to believe that the thinner singles really did work their magic. Now to work through the other delightful braids that I got for christmas too!

Finished Object - Spinning Apron

I feel that calling this a spinning apron makes me seem like a saxon maid who is sat outside her mud hut watching the chickens and spinning away. That may be completely historically inaccurate, and I apologise, but calling this anything other than a spinning apron would just be lying.

For some time now I have had a small amount of fabric sat in a box waiting to be sewn into this apron. I didn't know what sort of apron or what style of apron it was going to be. I just knew I wanted something to keep the fibre from sticking to my jeans when I was spinning.

In the past few weeks I've been missing my sewing, and it was only when I finally bought myself an iron that I felt able to get back to it. I find an iron so so helpful it was a little odd to even try anything without it. While scrolling through youtube videos, I found one of Juliet Uzor's videos on how to make a circle skirt apron and I thought that would do. I'm not sure how I feel about it at the moment, I'm not really one for skirts, never been able to feel comfortable in them, but if I didn't get this sewn I don't think it would have got made at all. So I went for it.

Juliet has a free pattern for the apron on her website Sew So Natural, you can gain access to her resource library if you sign up to her newsletter. The library gives a printable PDF pattern. My only problem was that I don't have a printer, and I wanted to make the pattern there and then. So I got my maths head on. I know that I wanted half of a circle skirt, which as the name suggests is just a circle. Good old Pi came out to play. Let me run you through a quick drafting method for making your own.

First of all you want to take the measurement of your waist, or where ever the waistband of the skirt is going to sit, that could be around your hips if you want to. This measurement will become the circumference of inner circle on your pattern.

We now need to find the diameter of that circle, we will call the diameter "a" (as on the diagram). To find "a" we use the equation: diameter = circumference ÷ Pi. If my waist measurement was 74cm then I would calculate: 74 ÷ 𝝿 = 23.55 (Nerd alert, I do everything to two decimal places/three significant figures, you don't have to, round up to the nearest whole number to make it easy!) I used a scientific calculator because I have one, but if you don't then you can use the approximate figure of 3.14, you don't have to be super accurate.

So brilliant, we have measurement "a" now measurement "b" will be the length of the apron. This one is down to personal preference, I held a tape measure at the point I wanted the apron to sit and then measured down the length I wanted it to be. You will want to consider the amount of fabric you have and how the pattern will fit on to that fabric too. I decided that my length was going to be 45cm, which was really as long as I could possibly get out of the fabric and don't forget to add a little bit for hemming at the top and bottom.

The piece of fabric you will cut will be half of the circle. Just like the top part of the circle above the green line on the diagram. I got out the fabric and folded it in half to trace out the measurements for the pattern. Starting at the corner on the fold, I measured down the radius of inner circle along the edge with the fold. The radius being half of value "a" that we worked out earlier, then on the other side coming from that same corner I marked out the radius again. Then from that corner I marked the same distance out in an arc around that corner. This then marks the inner circle on the fabric.

From that first arc you can then measure down the length you want the apron to be including seam allowances for the top and bottom hems. Mark out this distance at regular intervals along this arc to make another much bigger arc further down your fabric, and you'll see the general shape of the apron start to take place.

Now I didn't really have enough fabric for this project, and I am actually making it out of an old blind that I found in a charity shop. So I decided to do a little bit of historical piecing and cut another couple of small pieces to stitch onto the sides to make the full skirt, else it would either been very short, or a really odd shape. I think it worked well overall though, and it being only something to keep the fibre off my legs while spinning, it really did not have to be the most perfect thing. I'm loving all of its imperfections and perfect functionality.

The waist ties that keep the apron on are the next thing to tackle. I'm pretty sure I bodged these and I'm not entirely sure how to explain how I did them, but I'll give it a go. The most easy thing to do here is to just hem all the edges of the apron and sew some ribbons to the edges next to the waist line and go from there. (I'll definitely do that next time) But I tried to make some ties with the fabric I had leftover from making the skirt.

 I used as much length as I could, which wasn't quite long enough, and cut them into about 4" wide strips. I turned the strips right sides together and sewed along one of the short sides. The other short side I placed right sides together over the waist of the apron, with the short side lined up with the edge of the apron. Each side of the strip was either side of the apron fabric. I then sewed along that short edge attaching the strap to the apron. That was the most complicated bit, and there probably is a much better way of doing it that maybe one day I'll discover. So after all that strap wrestling, I pulled the strap right side out and gave it a press, turning under the bottom raw edge and going along it with a bit of top stitching to hold it all inside. Then simply repeat with the other side... :P

Next time I really am just going to use twill tape or something similar as the straps, as these were so much effort and to be perfectly honest are not really that great. The apron has been put to good use though and I am happy that I've finally got around to making it. More spinning and less cleaning of my clothes from now on! ;)

Grow - Down Another Rabbit Hole

Veg Patch Before

In my new house I have a tiny bit of garden that I am now responsible for, in which has a bit of grass, a pathway and an overgrown bed, probably used for something like flowers before. Either way it is a little neglected and I feel like I myself can give it a bit of love that it needs. I first thought that I might find some low maintenance, pretty type shrub to put into the bed and that would be that. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try my hand at growing some vegetables and I ended up falling down a massive rabbit hole of veg gardening, and found several books to get my nose into.

When I made this decision it was getting on into the second half of February and it was just in time to start getting things in the garden ready for a new life. I was down visiting my Mam when I found these books and read nearly two books on growing vegetables, as well as finding bits a pieces in another reference book that my Mam had. By the time I was making my way back home, I had bought myself some seeds, a book, borrowed one of my Mam's books on long term loan, and decided what I was going to plant and had most of a plan of action thought out in my head.

The day I got home I got out into the garden and spent a good three hours digging and making good the old flower bed ready to become a veg bed and hold some new life. I also managed a cheeky trip out to the local garden centre, just to see what gives and to pick up a bag of compost and one more pack of seeds.

After The Digging

My afternoon of digging, did make me ache all over, and I was back to work the next day, and was a little stiff and achy then too. But I felt so much better for being outside and the exercise it gave me. It is so nice to be in the fresh air when you have spent a lot of the winter cooped up inside. The idea of growing new things also filled me up inside. I have a few fond memories of when I was a child trying to grow things in my parents garden, with varying degrees of success. I remember enjoying the digging so much, I think it was a welcome tonic to sitting at a desk for days in a row when I was at school - I've never been one for a desk job!

After the mammoth weeding session, I dug in some fertiliser into the bed to get it all set for when I plant some things out. I found when digging that some bits of the bed were a little better then the rest. The section nearest the house was rather stoney, but the rest seemed less so. When I was digging I pulled out most of the larger stones, but this stoney part seemed pretty full of gravel almost. I marked the section off with a piece of bamboo that I found in the garden, to seperate it from the rest of the bed. It gives me the chance to properly plan what I am going to put in that section.

Fast forward a few weeks and it is now the middle of March, I've luckily been able to keep on top of the weeding, although there has been minimal weeds. There has been a couple of storms as well, but that seems to have helped to soak the bed. But the local cats seem to think I've made them a new giant litter tray. - I dug out three poops in about as many days. I gave it another quick dig to try and level out the soil, and I'm starting to get all excited again. I also planted some of my first seeds.

My plan for the garden was to plant spring onions, leeks, carrots, basil and spinach. I think saying all of those things are for the garden is a tiny bit misleading, as I don't think the basil is going to go outside. When I did my reading up to start with, those were the veggies I thought would be best suited to what I wanted to achieve and what I had. In my grand plan, I have started the basil, spinach and the first lot of spring onions inside. The basil I expect will stay inside in pots, but once the weather has decided what is going on, then the spring onions and the spinach will start to be planted out. Eek! I feel like things are finally happening!

New Seeds Just Planted

The carrots and leeks are in need of more thought. I have yet to decide on a variety of leeks I will use. I know the variety that I want, but I can't seem to find it in the shops I have looked around, so I might have to see what gives online. The carrots I do have the seeds for, but am yet to decide if I try them in a pot to start with. I am also very tempted to try some potatoes. I know they are fairly hardy and are good for planting in a plot that is relatively new, but I am weary of biting off more than I can chew.

So this is the new rabbit hole I've been dragged down this year, and hopefully I can get something out of it, even if that is a sense of  feeling closer to the world around me. I will try my best to keep you all updated. Green fingers crossed that these all work out.


** This post was written before there was a country wide lockdown, I hope that everyone is doing what the government has mandated, and is staying safe inside, only going out for the essentials. I am classed as a key worker, so am still going to work when I'm on shift, but doing what I can to stay indoors when I'm not. **

Finished Object - Antler Toque

Knitting on the Arbor Vitae has taken a back seat recently, while my mojo has been a little lacking from having to rip the thing out. Most of my WIPs were not doing anything for me, so I thought I would cast something new on. Deciding what to make was also a little hard, but I have recently discovered a brilliant new app that allows you to make lists and it will choose something at random from that list, so I've loaded up my queue in it and the Antler Toque by Tin Can Knits is what it came out with.

I used a skein from stash to make the hat. It was a yarn from a Knitcrate a little while ago and is Audine Wools Sigh DK, in the Ladybug colourway. The yarn is an 85% Merino Wool and 15% Cashmere, and is incredibly soft. I used one skein to make a hat a little while ago which ended up too big for me so I gave it to my Mam. This one I was determined to make fit for myself. Which meant a couple of false starts.

I started the hat on one of my knit nights, using the recommended needle size. No I didn't gauge swatch... yes, I have learned from the Arbor Vitae, I'm sorry! I knit a fair amount of the ribbing in the child size, using a 4mm needle, before realising that it was still too big. So I ripped it out and went down to a 3mm needle and cast on again. This time the child size was too small, so I was able to up a size and knit the small adult. This made me feel a little better about my smaller than average head.

I have so much trouble being able to knit a pattern that I feel actually fits me in the way I want to, but I guess the joy of knitting is that I can continue to use trial and error to actually find something I will enjoy wearing. I finished the ribbing and moved onto the main body of the hat, which was rather fun to knit, but I did not go up a needle size. I would like to say that was deliberate, but it was because I was sat in bed and I couldn't be bothered to go downstairs and find the right sized needle. Lazy I know, and I might be paying for it now, hopefully a good blocking will sort it all out.

I worked out how to work cables without a cable needle for this project, which I feel is a lifesaver. It allows you to wizz through so quickly. I think there are a good few tutorials for it online. I've never really looked, working on the Arbor Vitae has given me an insight into how cables actually work, so I found working out for myself how it is done rather easy. But do let me know if you want me to write a blog post about it.

Overall the hat fits well. It is tight on my head just how I like it to be, and I finally think I have found the right knitting needle for my hat patterns in future. Even if it is just for the ribbing. I think I will try again, but move up a needle size when I continue with the rest of the hat. The hat itself doesn't come too far down my head, stopping just above my ears, I think I would prefer it to come down a little further and I do feel like it might pop off the top of my head at any moment. I am going to subject the hat to a good blocking to try and smooth out the cables and I am hoping that this too helps the hat to sit on my head in the way that I want it to.

The final touch I added was a pompom. I treated myself to a modern pompom maker. Instead of two rough cut pieces of cardboard, and was able to make a matching pompom for my hat in a fraction of the time. I made in in such a way that I could just tie it on, allowing it to be taken off for blocking. It was quick and easy to do, so there way well be a good few pompoms in the future.

This make you can find on my Ravelry project page here, where the yarn and the pattern are linked. Overall I am pretty excited that I am starting to find the right needle sizes for making hats that actually fit me, so I'm hoping for some more hats soon.

Finished Object - Leftovers Shorty Sock

Another Leftovers shorty sock! This one knitted to exactly the same recipe as the last one, to make a delightfully miss-matched pair. Recently I have started taking my knitting to work and getting a couple of rounds done on my tea or lunch breaks. It's been nice, and quite pleasing to see a fair amount of progress on things as well. I've only been taking in little projects, and leftovers socks are perfect for the job.

This leftovers sock I've been knitting with the leftovers from a pair of socks that I knit for my sister-in-law for Christmas just gone (Ravelry page for those here) in an Opal sock yarn. I'm not sure what colourway it was, but the sock was mentioned back in one of my blog posts about all the Christmas knits I made. I knit them on my set of 2.5mm DPNs, and with 60 stitches, just like the previous sock I made.

I decided to make this sock in the same way and using the same techniques as the previous one, so they could be paired up. So there is about an inch of 2x2 ribbing for the cuff, followed by a german short row heel. The toe of the sock is finished normally, alternating one decrease row with one plain knit row. I added two plain rows just after the heel, mostly so the sock was the same as the last one, but also because I feel it worked well. I think it adds just a tiny bit more room for my quite long toes without the rest of the sock becoming too long. I think that may be a little thing that I add to most of my socks from now on, especially the ones that I have knit with this kind of toe.

So with this leftovers sock complete that is another pair to add to my ever growing sock draw. Maybe one day I'll have nothing but hand knit socks!

WIP Wednesday - Deck The Halls Stitch-A-Long

Back at the beginning of the Christmas season I decided to take part in a mystery stitch-a-long (SAL) run by Caterpillar Cross Stitch. When I decided to get involved the first part of the SAL had been published, and it looked cute, so the decision was made. The SAL was organised in such a way that a new section of the cross stitch design was released every two weeks in the lead up to Christmas. It was a totally doable time frame, and I joined the lovely SAL facebook group to see other peoples progress and ideas.

What I failed to take into consideration, was that I was trying to make a lot of my gifts for my immediate family, and didn't really have the time to dedicate to keeping up with the SAL. So here we are, in March and I haven't finished it yet. I have still been working on it, even though it is tempting to leave it now until December so I can carry on with the festive making, whilst feeling legitimately festive. I'll probably have a load of other gifts to make then too... a makers work is never done! ;)

I picked this project up again mainly because I was feeling the need to work on my WIPs after moving house, and I really fancied a cross stitch project. It fit the bill nicely, and I got a little more done. To be perfectly honest it has been put back in the draw now, and hasn't really been much of a priority for me at the moment.

I am having a little bit of a funk in my making as I write this. Most things have taken a little back seat whilst I get used to settling into my new home, but I also seem to have a million and one things to do and people to see. Is it too much to ask just one off shift at home! Although saying that I'll probably just get bored and want to go and do something.

I digress, I am still making progress on my Caterpillar Cross Stitch, Deck the Halls SAL, very late indeed, but I am still enjoying it. Hopefully it will be done and ready to display one Christmas soon. I have currently completed sections 1 and 2 and am now working on section 3. It is an enjoyable cross stitch with an easy to follow pattern, and I believe you can buy the whole SAL as a complete kit from the Caterpillar Cross Stitch website here. So if you feel like being unseasonally festive, go give it a go!