I only have two more stitcheries to do. And I’m halfway through the penultimate one. 🙂
Debbie Bliss zipped jacket with hood – Made by Ma
Hoodies are much reviled by the tabloid press in the UK…the word is synonymous with oiky youths loitering with intent, drinking cheap cider, smoking banned substances and bashing old ladies over the head so they can nick their pensions.
This Hoodie, however, doesn’t come much cuter:
The pattern is taken from Debbie Bliss’s book Cotton Knits for All Seasons
which is chock full of gorgeous patterns (which I suppose is only what we’ve come to expect of the lovely DB).
Here’s a close up of the stitch detail:
The yarn is Sirdar Country Style DK in shade 595 Highland Burn which is a predominately man-made yarn with a little wool, making it the perfect choice for intrepid small people. I bought this from MCA Direct from whom I’ve only ever received really excellent service (and no, I don’t have any connection, financial or otherwise with them!).
Oh, and there’s plenty of growing room. Bonus.
Thanks Ma!
Jacket refashion…3
Okay…I’m officially bored with this now!
After much deliberation and taking into account the advice of my most talented sewing friend, I realised that I wasn’t quite as talented as she, and scrapped the original pattern and muslin.
Next up is a version of my own designing, based upon Button’s nursery cardigan.
This is the second toile and I’m not overly convinced!
Perhaps I need to park this, do another project and come back to it with fresh eyes. And a different pattern!
What do you think?
Violet wreath
Vegetable Patch
Only 4 left to do!
Othello
When Mr S and I married last year, one of our wedding gifts from Alice-who-isn’t-a-cat was a soprano for the ceremony. Stephanie and AWIAC have been friends for forever. We were more excited than I have words to express.
Stephanie Corley - soprano
She sang whilst we signed the register and as we walked out of church. There wasn’t a dry eye!
The reason for the emotion was the sheer and absolute beauty of her voice. It was magical and I shall never forget it, or be able to thank the two of them enough.
But, for once, you don’t have to take my word for it.
Tune into BBC2 tomorrow at 4.25pm. She’s singing Desdemona in Othello.
You’ll be entranced.
I promise.
Testing wellies
Yesterday it was cold. Which, frankly, is nothing new here, as regular readers will have worked out by now.
However, it was clear and not raining/snowing/foggy/freezing or any combination of these. As The Boy had received some very smart new wellies for his birthday, we decided it was the perfect day to road test them.
We splashed in puddles
Chased after the rocket ball
Climbed things we really shouldn’t
And flew aeroplanes
Roll on spring, we say.
Today they have both gone down for a nap. I’m off to the loft to do some more on the jacket refashion. I hope to have something to show you soon. My niece and her husband are on their way up from Suffolk for a couple of days…he has a job interview tomorrow. Alice-who-isn’t-a-cat is coming tomorrow just to visit. So not much will be done here other than catching up and drinking wine.
Jacket refashion…2
Or, “why we make a muslin!” (with apologies for a tomato smeared face and a paint smeared pinafore. These pictures were taken just before bath time).
This is pretty dreadful.
And at first I was blaming myself and my shoddy drafting skills for the new sleeve, which is too narrow and too pointy at the top of the sleeve head.
But closer inspection finds problems in areas that I haven’t touched. The shoulder seam sits very far back, the whole thing is too small across the shoulders and the back neck is very low indeed. As I haven’t removed the seam allowance there, it’s a pretty crazy neckline.
The pinafore pattern fits so nicely right out of the envelope so I’m quite surprised this is so small on her.
Anyhoo, I now have two choices.
- I can fiddle with this to make it just right. This will involve adding some width to the shoulders, raising the neckline, moving the shoulder seam forwards and redrafting the sleeve.
- I can go back to the drawing board and either start with a new pattern or draft something myself.
As I’m pretty tired and have a warm bath and a glass of wine with my name on them, I’m holding off on decisions for tonight.
Any suggestions very much appreciated.
I have no authority in my own home…
…and I kinda like it that way.
Why?
Well, in case you’d missed it today is Valentine’s Day and Mr S is being romantic with a steak dinner, a bottle of red and banishing me to the bath with a good book and a glass of wine. Perfect!
I’d very clearly explained to him that flowers were not necessary.
Sigh!
I do love a disobedient husband!
Hope you’re having a lovely day too.
Smelling the roses and a snail
Just a passing thought about these stitcheries. They are shown here as they come off the needle. They need to be washed to remove pencil lines and thoroughly pressed before I start constructing the quilt.