In which I make pretty things!

It has been a long time since I puttered about with a dye pot, but since it’s half-term this Monday and Tuesday, I figured I could splurge and take one afternoon and evening completely off from marking. I had the remnants of a dried out food coloring paste from the kitchen that I wanted to play with, so I soaked some yarn and a bit of alpaca roving in water and vinegar while I mixed up the food coloring with some more water and vinegar.

I soaked one skein of yarn properly for over an hour, and the other one I didn’t soak as long as I wanted it to take up the dye unevenly. The less soaked yarn went straight into the pot to kettle dye, and the more soaked yarn I wound around a stick of bamboo which I put over the top of the pot. I wanted to try my hand at a gradient dye job, so about every five minutes I would go in and turn the stick to let a little more yarn into the dye bath.

The alpaca roving I had was stuffed in an old nylon, also thoroughly soaked, and I just let that cook away in the hot dye. Overall, I am quite pleased with the results! Too bad that was the last of that food coloring… I tried to make sure to heat it for long enough for the dye to set properly, and when I rinsed the yarn very little washed out.

Now I have the yarn I want for the project that I have been desperately wanting to cast on…

And cast on I feel I can since I finished two things this week!

On Halloween night Beth and I really pulled out all the party stops…or something like it! I was a pirate for the evening,

and we made lattes, ate Nibbs, and watched Ghostbusters while knitting. Do we know how to party or what? Neither of us had seen that particular part of pop culture before…can’t say that it was life changing, but for what it was, it was fun!

In knitting news I finally finished the everlasting mittens! I had enough green to do the thumbs in the checkered pattern, so I ripped out the first one and fixed it. Not bad; I’d do that pattern again, but not for awhile…

I also finished a little hat with cat ears for a friend’s new baby—adorbs! I might have to make a few more of these… I opted out of embroidering the cat face on the hat; I think that puts it over the top. I have another one that I tried that involves fun fur…picture to follow.

I'm hoping to do a bit of spinning over half-term, but we'll have to see how things go. Signing off for now!

Parting shot: Java is too adorbs sometimes for her own good...

Who wouldn't want a Regency gown?

As you might have figured out, I have a thing for history, sewing, literature, and dressing up. I am a Ren Faire junkie, and I love watching Jane Austin movies. This holiday I decided to take another whack at the ‘Sense and Sensibility’ pattern since my first attempt was a) rather less than skillfully executed in more respects that I care to name, and b) I have lost a bit of weight since then, and now it REALLY didn’t fit me well. So, Beth gave me some cloth that would work (finding a SMALL print fabric in Zambia is rather an accomplishment), and I set to work.

The hardest part about this pattern is getting the bodice adjusted to your personal size. One of the things I love about it is that not only is the pattern well thought out, but there are some great ideas on the website to guide you through the process. Once I got that sorted out I was able to easily modify the rest of the gown and get it cut out. This time I did a much better job of sewing things together, and I even messed with the button on undersleeves. While the result is not perfect, I was delighted with what I had created. Here are a few pictures of me modeling my gown on a sweltering afternoon.

One of the features I love about this gown is the gathered back. I suppose this got out of hand and lead to the bustle, but I love the way this disguises some figure flaws.

With the fiddly button on undersleeves-

Without the sleeves!

Where do you plan to wear this outfit you might ask? Perhaps I’ll sip tea out of a tea cup while I write letters at my writing desk with a dip pen by candle light and channel my inner Jane. Perhaps I’ll be able to work it into a birthday party theme one of these days. Perhaps I’ll wear it some day next holiday. The point is not how much I’ll use it; the point was the journey of creation and knowing that I now have a Regency gown should I ever want one!

I've always wanted a pirate hat...

Hey-I actually finished something this week! First though, since Reformation Day was Friday, I want to share how I made my tricorn hat so I could be a very quiet steampunk pirate (not that I told anyone that!). After shaping two layers of felt into the crown using a bowl and some white glue, I cut out the two brim circles and stitched them on. Result- a very floppy hat!

Then I put glue between the layers and pinned them in to the tricorn shape and let it dry.

After that I just sewed some ribbon binding around the edges and put in a few judicious stitches to hold the shape. Voila—swash swash buckle buckle in the bush!

I whipped up a pair of baby socks to match the sweater I just finished; I took the lace pattern from the sweater and used it on the cuffs. They look slightly out of proportion to me and I have no idea what size they actually are (oh the difficulty of not having the baby around to try things on!), but hopefully they will be usable with or without the sweater.

I’ve also made some good progress on my dragon fire shawl. After adding several repeats to it I’m back in the pattern proper and about to finish the second chart. Yes, I am one of THOSE people who almost never knits a pattern exactly as written!

I’m working on a Christmas ornament for someone special, and I started a gift for my brother-in-law that is so barely started and boring right now that I’m not even going to post a picture. Other than that, I’m enjoying researching ancient Greece for history, re-reading the Anne of Green Gables books, and trying to not die of stress before the term can end. Just a month till I’m home!

Parting shot:

Nothing much to report

I have been pretty insanely busy lately--what's new? I haven't been able to do near as much crafting as I wanted to, I've not got my marking done as quickly as I hoped, and there is the double edged sword of Christmas looming on my horizon (Escape! Deadlines! Show! Report cards!), so I've been just keeping my head down and taking each day as it comes. That being said, I have managed to do this in the last two weeks:

My dragon shawl now has the full edging finished; I'm just working out how to lengthen it a bit without making my life too interesting. I really like the beads I've added, but I'm glad that they're all on now as they are a bit fiddley!

My Christmas gift for a little hobbit is coming along nicely.

Over half-term I put up 5 shelves--mighty woman!

Also, I started a project who's first step looked like this,

Any guesses?

Parting shot: This has been my iPod background and been making me smile all week!