Tally Ho!

It’s that time of year when, like everyone else, I just couldn’t resist counting up the year’s makes. I’ve already blogged nearly everything here but can’t be arsed to link it all. Anyway the results are pretty interesting. At least to me! It’s nice to know I’m moving forward – at least some of the time.

Knitting:

• socks – 10 (+1 more pair not quite finished!)
• hats - 3
• mitts/gloves – 2
• scarves/shawls – 7 (+1 half-finished)
• sweaters/tunics – 4
• other knits - 3

Sewing:

• vests/jackets - 4
• dresses/jumpers - 3
• skirts - 1
• pants/shorts - 6
• bras/panties - 6
• other sewn items – 3 (bags), 1 (bug curtain)
• refashions - 2

Miscellaneous Items:

• kumihimo bookmark – 1
• eco-dyed scarves – 3

Total Makes for 2013 – 59

Conclusions:

Whew! The knit items somewhat outnumbered the sewn items. While we were driving cross-country for 2 months all I could do was knit. Otherwise the sewn items might possibly have dominated. I’m always amazed by how many pairs of socks I can finish in a year. Obviously they are my go-to portable projects. Most were plain but I did expand my toe-up skills on 3 pairs. The hats all used the same pattern: Sockhead. Definitely a hit. I’d like to make more sweaters, particularly cardigans since I get a lot of wear out of them especially in the winter months. If I’m going to continue to make scarves and shawls I’m going to have to start giving some of them away! They’re getting hard to store neatly. Heh.

This fall I also began test knitting/tech editing for Sanjo. They are redeveloping their pattern/yarn kits using some of their new delicious yarns. Here’s the first one I worked on. I think that’s my version in the photo (although the big leaf is showing its purl side.) I’ve just finished a second project for them that luckily was much easier than the first one. Even though I had to pull most of it out – twice! This is a collar/neck warmer using a strand of fine kid mohair/silk held together with a thicker silk single. Yum. To Dye For!

I’m really quite pleased with the improvement in my fitting and sewing skills this year. I feel like my wardrobe is beginning to reflect the “real me” and the way I prefer to dress. I wear me-mades every day, even if nobody but me ever notices. I’ve learned not to make too many dressier garments because I don’t really have much of an opportunity to wear them. Tunics are great layering pieces that make me feel both comfortable and feminine and I tend to prefer them over skirts or dresses. I’ve also learned that my preferred sleeve length is between wrist and elbow where my arms are somewhat covered but I’m not pushing them up constantly. Unsurprisingly I prefer garments that fit closely in the shoulders and upper arms but looser in the lower body. Boxy wide shoulders and droopy batwings are not for me. Neither are waistbands that aren’t at least half-elasticised. Asymmetrical shapes still please me very much – whether or not they are still considered to be in style.

This year I found myself drawn to ever more muted colours and farther away from prints. I’ve been trying to sew with the better fabrics but still using up stash. Favourite fibres are naturals and natural/blends and though I still love knits a lot, I’ve been sewing more wovens. I want to get confident enough in my skills to be able to sew comfortably with the really pricey fabrics. For instance, my own handwovens! Yes, I know I have to actually weave something first.

Of course I’m also working on using up stash for knitting. Though I did buy a few skeins this year, they were all sock yarn which gives a lot of knitting time for the buck. I find I’m preferring much finer yarns over the chunky stuff anyhow. Regular knitting worsted even seems too thick to me these days. I keep saying this but I think I’m going to have to get spinning up some of that fibre stash for the sweaters I want to knit this coming year. My default spinning is somewhere between sock yarn and DK. Is that sport weight? I’ve hardly spun at all this year. Sad really.

So this has been the first full year with T-Man retired. We had lots of plans to clean, refurbish, purge and generally re-order our home but…although we made a start and a few things got done, we’ve kind of slacked off rather sadly. The month or so before the Big Cross-Continental Trek was the busiest. After that we were gone for 2 months. We came back to a garden desperately needing attention which kept us occupied until all the fall leaves were raked up. However we both seemed to need a holiday from the holiday, if you know what I mean. So we’ve been reading a lot, puttering around, getting out for the occasional walk (weather permitting) but not working/creating with the intensity that we used to. Maybe it’s the dark and dreary season? Maybe we’re just having a creative time in our heads? I dunno. Hopefully we snap out of it very soon. I’m all for a work/leisure balance but when the bed starts to show permanent body indents, you know somebody needs to get moving. Oh. That would be me.

Big hugs to all my Loyal Readers for another fabulous year just past and I hope 2014 is going to be a happy, healthy, peaceful, and productive year for us all!

More anon. It’s nearly 2pm. I need to get up, get dressed and go do something useful.

Do You Believe In Magic?

I believe there’s a whole lot of magic in textiles. The magic of a fat caterpillar exuding the stuff of exquisite silks. The magic of blue forming before your very eyes as you draw fabric from a vat of smelly greenish-yellow indigo. The magic of a sheep’s dirty old coat turning into fine yarn at the spinning wheel. I made some magic happen today. I started with some very coarse dark grey wool roving (I have pounds of this stuff that was gifted to me) and I made felt insoles for my Purple Elephant Slippers. I did it all by hand too, no washing machine involved. First I put down a double-wide layer of bubble wrap (bubbles up for this coarse felt) and then a double-wide layer of nylon netting. Then I began covering an area about 12” x 16” with wool pulled from the roving. I used thin layers, first laying them in one direction and then the other, until I had a fluffy pile nearly 2” high. I folded over the netting and stitched it all around the edges with thick polyester thread and big stitches, then continued with a + and an x across the centre to make a mini-quilt. I probably didn’t need the stitches at all but at that point I thought I might be using the washing machine later and the wool needed to be in a good sturdy package. Of course my friend Jo Anne’s cat Cloudy decided that it was a great cushion to curl up on while the Spectrum Study Group ate lunch! He smacked at me when I tried to remove him, although I did apologise first. He wasn’t done with his nap yet.

I wet the quilted wool down with hot soapy water and a sponge until it was all wetted out and then rolled it in the bubble wrap with a piece of foam pool noodle in the centre. The sausage was secured with rubber bands because I was lacking strips of nylon stocking which would have been better. After most of the excess water was squeezed out, I rolled it back and forth on the table with my forearms for awhile and then opened up the package, turned the quilt a quarter turn and re-rolled. Even though I was using the weight of my body to help, I quickly got sore (the old pinched nerve in my neck) so I used my feet for a bit. Everyone else was still working on felting scarves using merino/tencel or merino/tussah silk fibres, so I sat and chatted and knit for awhile to rest my neck and my foot. My neck only hurts when I press down too much which is exactly how I damaged the vertebrae 3-1/2 years ago. Knitting doesn’t usually bother me unless I really overdo it and then it’s mostly my wrists that get sore. What a wreck!

After I got home I decided the felt was secure enough by now that it wouldn’t fall apart so I removed the stitching and nylon net and started rubbing the piece on my old washboard. That was the most fun because I could feel the felt hardening under my hands. When it was as solid as possible, I rinsed it in alternating hot and cold water to get out the soap and remaining wool grease. There was quite a bit of grease left in this stuff. Coarse and greasy and a dark grey that’s hard to dye over into nice colours. Lovely wool, eh? Ten pounds worth originally. No wonder it was a gift! I certainly wouldn’t have bought it myself. At least it felts eventually.

Now I had a thick piece of felt that was several inches smaller than the original mini-quilt. It’s still big enough to cut two innersoles out of it. It’s somewhat hairy but good and solid. Too boring in grey though so I poured some dye stock over it and ran it through the microwave to set the dyes. It’s much prettier now in purples and blues:


Not the right purples and blues, mind you but at least it’s not dark grey any more. I’ll cut it into innersoles to put inside my slippers where nobody but me will ever see them. Of course I could have bought some innersoles for a few dollars but where’s the magic in that?

Be aware that I can’t easily reply to comments left on my blog unless I already have your email address or I reply directly in another comment (which I'm not sure anyone reads). Doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate every single word though! So to Diane who left me a comment about the Sock Toe Grafting Tutorial, you’re welcome. Glad you found it helpful. Susan, glad you’re all safely moved to your new home. Hope you find your way out of Boxed Hell soon. Rosemary, I always appreciate your thoughts. Sharon, sorry to disappoint you about the new Twisted Sisters book. I still haven’t had time to read it through yet so hopefully I’ll be posting more eventually. Hope the rest of your books you ordered meet your expectations. Surprisingly, I don’t own any of them! You’ll have to review them for me. And Chelle and N Maria, you two are just so darned sweet! I’ve left out a few names from recent comments but you know who you are. I always say I write this here blog for my own amusement but it’s really nice to share with those who care to read it. HUGS!