Sewjourn

I wrote the draft for this right after I got back from camp. I didn’t publish it because I needed to hem and photograph some stuff. Obviously it took me until the Easter long weekend to get around to that. Whoops. So please excuse the jumping back and forth between then and now, if I try to make it more consistent I’ll procrastinate and then it’s never going to get published. Please also excuse angry face. I just cannot work the self timer AND manage a facial expression at the same time.

Like a bee on a cactus flower

I got back from another craft camp on Monday evening. It’s Thursday morning and it already feels so far away, like a dream. I think it was my favourite camp yet. Not the most exciting or thrilling but the one that I have most constantly, solidly enjoyed. And probably my most productive. Not the one with the biggest highs from that feeling where you make a new friend or cross some border of intimacy. But more comfortable and sweet in that way where you don’t have to think about it because spending time with these people is just so easy and as effort-free as being in a space with other people will ever be, for an introvert. And the food, oh my lord.

I don’t know that I have much to say about it. It was just really really lovely. I continue to be so grateful for these people and these pauses in my year. Chances to reflect and take time and really get into the making. Such a refreshing thing. This weekend I flew in on Monday and out on Friday so I had most of those days as well as the whole day on Saturday and Sunday, and it was just blissful. I need to figure out ways to make my normal life just a little bit more like camp.

It was also the camp where I went through the most thread. I think I sewed almost every seam in every garment twice, and I came home with a couple of things unhemmed because I was out of matching thread.

I flew in with a suitcase that was 100g over the weight limit. Then I bought stuff at the op shop. With some rearranging of my carry-on I managed to fly home with a suitcase that was only 200g over. Phew.

Here are the things that I made:

A Tiramisu dress, which will get its own post shortly.

I also half-made a blank canvas tee out of this same fabric.

I will discuss the fabric in further detail when I post about my Tira, but basically, it’s a bastard. It’s super stretchy with not much recovery. So the shirt is fine, if a bit… fine (read: nipply) but the binding was droopy. I was going to redo it but I ended up just folding it under and zig zag stitching it. I think this will just be an around the house shirt, sadly, and I won’t bother hemming it. But as a wearable muslin I’d call it very successful.

Another one of those Ottobre skirts that I like to churn out. This one in camel coloured sateen from Spotters. Crinkly stuff, curse it. I did back pockets on this one which turned out a bit dodgy but oh well. I neglected this one in my photoshoot so this is the only photo of it. If I can find some camel-coloured drill I might remake it in that, but all the brownish stuff I could find was muddyish colours which I didn’t like.

A red Kasia.I wear my blue Kasia all the time because it’s comfy and simple but not boring and also it has pockets.

The spots in the pockets are a Robert Kauffman quilting cotton that I bought ages ago for a project that I now cannot remember anything about. You need so little of the contrast fabric for this, it’s great. The main fabric is stretch drill from Spotters.

The last time I made Kasia I graded it up and then ended up taking out all the extra width. This time I just cut out the biggest size, which was then too small so I spent ages taking it apart and putting side panels in, and then it was too big. So I took the panels out and sewed it with just a 1cm seam allowance and it’s perfect. It was initially a teeny bit tight on the hips but it’s stretched out enough that it’s just spot on. I omitted the front fly shenanigans, and put in a back zip, as well as borrowing a pattern piece from a Lisette pattern that Sue had brought, and making a little kick pleat at the back.

It sticks out some, but oh well. It makes the skirt much more functional. Another time I would make the whole pleat from a thinner fabric, which would also give it a seam to fold along. I hemmed the red one a bit shorter at the pleat than the rest of the skirt, and it sits flatter vertically, because of that. As in, the pleat doesn’t stick out the bottom of the hem, although it does stick out horizontally still.

I wish I’d remembered to take out the pouchy bit at the back, though – the pocket panels are mirrored on the back and it’s puffy in the thick drill. I should have made the facings out of a lighter fabric, too, cos it’s bulky. But it’s perfectly wearable and I love it. I brought it home unhemmed because I ran out of thread. I also wish I’d done an invisible zip – it is actually an invisible zip, but I don’t have an invisible zip foot at camp so I just set it in like a normal zip. Oh, well.

Another Kasia, in black stretch drill, also from spotlight. Back zip for this one too and no pockets, I couldn’t be bothered mucking around and I just need something real simple to be a wardrobe standard. I just laid the pocket pattern pieces on top and cut it out like one piece, nothing complicated. I used a scrap from Jenny’s intimidating pile to make a sneaky kick pleat, though. (Which sticks out, too. Sigh.)

I might need another black pencil skirt with more interesting pockets. This one probably took me 2 hours ish, without hemming. When I did hem it this weekend I just sewed with a straight stitch because clearly I wasn’t getting around to the blind hem that I had intended, and I couldn’t find my blind hem foot anyways, or figure out how to deal with the kick pleat when blind hemming. So that took me all of ten minutes, plus I had to re-top-stitch the yoke because the poplin I’d lined it with isn’t as stretchy as the drill and it had gotten all wonky when I sewed it the first time, and I had puckers.

And I finished my blanket! Which has been to several craft camps now. I blogged the finished product here.

Such a lovely time. Thank you all for your company, and your food, and your stories.

Sunbreak

I finished Sunbreak.

Ravelry tells me that I started it on July 19, 2011. I remember starting it at a Craft Camp. I used one of Kate‘s stitch markers for the centre and ended up taking it home with me. I returned it on the next camp, don’t worry. I think I finished the centre bit that camp, because I remember frantically making up little bobbins to do the rays, as everyone was packing up to leave.

For a while after that it looked like this

I couldn’t really knit it on public transport, so I watched a lot of Qi and That Mitchell and Webb Look while knitting this part of it. This part was sometimes hair-pullingly complex, but I can genuinely say (at this remove) that it was fun. I would do it again, no matter how lacking in calm wisdom I sound in this other post.

The reason it was so tangly was that I didn’t want a lot of floats behind the rays. Because the yarn is crepe ply, not wooly, they showed through and it was hard to keep them neat. So I basically did intarsia. Each little section of colour was its own bobbin. I remember getting very frustrated at how lumpy and imperfect it was looking, but I decided that a bit of bumpiness was ok. Eventually I got to the end of the short rays and it did get a lot easier then.

And then you knit each corner to square off the shape. It’s been long enough that I can’t remember the details of this, but I remember thinking that it was very elegantly designed. I remember a few head scratching moments of confusion, but I trusted in the pattern and it worked out lovely.

Then you block the middle bit like lace. It’s knit on fairly large needles, so it spreads out a lot. I didn’t get exactly the recommended size, so I just blocked it till it was even, and a nice proportion.

The centre is 76cm x 110cm. Flickr tells me that I blocked it in early February 2012. I started knitting the border, although after a whole blanket I wasn’t super excited about that. I decided to knit the longest sides first.

Then, on March 30, disaster struck. I know it was then because that’s the date of the email from me to the Clean Person at the hairpin, saying ‘HALP! I have ink on my knitting!’ A pen leaked on my bag and there was a splodge of ink, right at the beginning of the longest border edge that I’d almost finished. Clean Person Jolie was very helpful but although the ink was reduced, it was still present and I knew it would always bother me. So I ripped it out.

Then I didn’t knit anything at all for almost a year. I picked it up again in January this year. Because a summer of repeated 40 degree heatwaves is clearly the best time to knit. But also, I started it when I found out that my best friend was pregnant. It’s not for her kid, it’s for her. But he’s about to turn one and I thought it would be nice to have it for her by then. Not to mention that I intended to knit something for her 30th which was in February but obviously I am working on a year’s delay here.

So anyway. I turned up to craft camp this time with the blanket, two long edges, and half of a short edge. I finished the first short edge that first Friday there, and sewed on everything I had, so I only had one short edge to go. I was DETERMINED to finish it.

On the Sunday night I had the edge about five rows from completion when I gave up and went to bed. On Monday morning I steam blocked it and sewed it on. And then we had a little photoshoot.

I am SO pleased with it. I love it. The border gives it a nice heft, and it’s as snuggly as you could not-want in the heat we’ve been having. I am so pleased to finally be finished, and I’m really pleased with it as a piece of work, and proud of my own skill.

With the border it is 93cm x 120cm. I lost track of the amount of yarn I used, because of the shenanigans with the bobbins, but it weighs just over 900g, so I’d say I used 4 and a bit balls of blue (Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic in Tasman), and maybe a quarter of a ball of the yellow, which is an unknown yellow in Classic that I bought at their mill. Which is a shame because it’s a lovely colour, unlike all the standard yellows they offer which are palid and sad.

I’ll be giving it to its owner this evening and I hope she likes it.

Ravelry link.

On the weekend

I made some things.

I saw the idea for a fabric sensory play box here. My bff’s kid is really into everything but still not mobile, so he’s easily frustrated. Plus, like any kid and also Eeyore, he likes trashing things taking things out of things and putting them back in.

I bought a cheapo gift box (this was the only one without flowers) and cut a hole in the top with a stanley knife, on my self-healing mat. I was going to stick the lid on with double-sided tape but it didn’t work very well so I used some electric tape I had lying around, which worked excellently. Then I went through my scraps and stash and cut out reasonable sizes of fabric. I tried for a range of colours but obviously, since they were scraps, they’re stuff I tend to buy. Lots of different textures, though, from satin to velvet to drill to flannel.

Almost all of this is scraps and leftovers. A couple of the whispy things are deep stash that I cut a corner off of. I tried to keep them about the same size, but wasn’t too fussy. I cut most of them with a rotary cutter because it’s easier, and then I edged them with a rolled hem, on my overlocker. I would have pinked them if I had pinking shears, but I was working with what I had.

And then I unceremoniously shoved them in there. Took me about an hour, all up, I think. It would be quicker with pinking shears.

And it’s a hit!

I also made this cake from Posy Gets Cosy, because Bek said the icing was great, and I wanted to try it.

I didn’t double layer it because I was too impatient to get it out of the pan and one of the layers crumbled. So I stuck it back together and that one’s mine, and I took this one to my friend’s house while I hijacked her baby and took him to the park for a couple hours so she could have a break.

It is as delicious as advertised. Not too sickly sweet, and a lovely texture, both cake and icing. Yum!

Sailing

I’ve been making up some Oliver+S sailboat pants/top sets. I am completely in love with the pattern and would like several sets in my own size. Since that’s unlikely to happen, I’ve been indulging in sewing for small people. It’s a good break to have in between wrestling with other things (fitting is hard). Sometimes I need to be convinced that I do actually know how to sew, so this is helpful, plus they take less than a metre of fabric each, and it’s a nice excuse to use adorable prints. All the fabrics are from spotlight, and I serged everything together as far as was practical.

This first set is for the 1 year old son of an internet friend. I could not resist the pirate monkeys. The buttons on the pants were bought for my Kasia skirt, and then I lost them. Then I found them, the day after I bought new buttons. But nevermind, I really needed six for Kasia and I only had four – perfect for these pants. The stripe fabric in the pocket is leftover from Kasia, too, although I bought the drill new. I also made velveteen pantaloons for this kid.

Because what kid doesn’t need velvet pantaloons? I know I need some. I used the tute from Cirque Du Bebe, which was where I saw the pattern in the first place, and the pantalooning was the reason I bought it. (That and it is too freaking adorable.) I think next time I’ll make the cuff thinner, and it would have been nice to have an actual leg to measure but oh well. The cuff is a bit dodgy since it was quite thick, and really small, fiddly place to sew, but it’s for a toddler so haute couture is not really necessary.  I’m pretty delighted with the buttons, though, also from my stash.

Perfect.

This set is in the smallest size, for my best friend’s baby who is just on 8 months.

I wish I’d been more thoughtful about the placement of the dinos in the pocket. This one turned out pretty nice, by accident.

I didn’t want to do buttons, partly because my sewing machine can be a bit temperamental about them but mostly because who wants to button up a super squirmy 8 month old? NO ONE. And this kid is squirmy as all get out. I had a bit of a hissy fit about not being able to find snaps anywhere, since spotlight only had silver and pearl ones, each sold in packs of 6 with an applicator tool. It’s an expensive way to buy them, and anyway I wanted coloured ones. I looked into snapsource and a few other places like that but postage was just stupid, so I ended up buying them from Mr Walrus on etsy. They were super quick and helpful, I am planning another order because snaps are GREAT. So many colours – and I might need some of these for my own garments. So much easier than buttonholes, especially since my sewing machine only likes to do reliable ones on thick fabric. It was ok on the pirate top because I only needed one buttonhole on each side so I could get away with them being unpredictable lengths and heights, but that’s not so great down the front of a garment. I’ve ordered special pliers for them but really, I enjoy the opportunity to hit things with a hammer.

These outfits were really quick and fun to make – the first one I made of each took me a while, but once I figured out what was going on I am averaging about an hour on each garment. The Oliver + S instructions are really clear and sensible, and their printable pattern was nicely laid out, with a minimum of taping and cutting to be done. I definitely recommend them.

Last night I cut out a bunch more so that I have something to sew when I just have a few minutes. There are plenty of small people in my life to sew for.

I’m trying to be more deliberate with making, because I know if I don’t make something every few days or so I start to get a bit twitchy. I haven’t been knitting much, since my hand is sporadically a bit sore from a bung shoulder and I’m just not really feeling the urge lately, so I’ve been sewing more. It’s much easier now that I’ve rearranged my sewing room and I’m more likely to be able to sit down and get sewing without having to move piles of stuff.

There’s a moral in that. Unfortunately it hasn’t seemed to have any affect on the rest of the house.

Ironing

Ironing is not my favourite thing. Of all the household tasks, I would say it’s my least favourite except that I can at least opt out of ironing. Dishes, not so.

However, ironing is less optional when sewing. My ironing board is fine but it just had the dodgy cover it came with, which kept slipping off, and the foam pad was so thin that I would occasionally get a waffle pattern on whatever I was ironing, from the frame.

It was sad.

I also had to replace my old mattress protector because it had shrunk a bit in the wash, and had generally seen better days. I doubled it over, laid the foam on top as a pattern, and cut it out about an inch wider than the foam. Then I overlocked the edges. Just happened to have blue thread in there and couldn’t be bothered changing it.

The end bit with the iron rest doesn’t have anyway to fold it under, so I kept the fabric even with the board there. I read some tutes where people quilted their mattress pad fabric together but I didn’t bother. The back of the mattress protector was a bit sticky and I made sure I pulled it together when I overlocked it, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

I considered folding it over and using cord to cinch it in but I didn’t want more bulk. Instead, I just got some knitting cotton and did a big running stitch around it. Then I pulled it tight, did some fiddling to get it to sit evenly, and tied it off.

Couldn’t get a decent close up of the stitching since it’s beige, but it’s not really photo-worthy anyway. Here’s what it looks like with just the pad. I made sure to pull the cotton nice and tight so that the pad doesn’t slip or pull. I am really pleased with how firm it came out.

That’s my drawer of half-finished projects and my toolbox notions storage behind it, plus a washing basket full of fabric that I am determined not to let become stash. I WILL sew with it soon.

Next, I lay the board down on the fabric I wanted to cover it with – I could have used the original pad again but I wanted to be sure it was right, and the foam was actually slightly the wrong shape. I used some drill I had bought from Spotlight because I loved the print and wanted to make a skirt out of it, but I decided it had too much white in it to be safe. I catch the bus to work and I don’t want to spend too much time thinking about my clothes and what I might be sitting on – not to mention the things I smear on myself while eating, etc. I am not to be trusted with white things.

I left a good length away from the board, I think maybe 5″, but I could have done with a little less. 4″ would be about right, I think.

I turned the edge twice – once as a baby hem, and then a a 1″ hem to be the elastic casing. I just turned and stitched the bit at the end with the iron rest.

Then I threaded the elastic.

This is what I mean when I said I probably left too much overhang. I wanted to be sure it covered the pad underneath but because it’s so far away from the edge it doesn’t cinch in as tightly as I’d like. I might take it off later and fold it over again if I can be bothered. It’s a little bit loose but it’s only really annoying when you fold and unfold the board, it’s tight enough not to affect the ironing. I just tied the elastic in a double knot and trimmed the ends a bit shorter.

Tada! New ironing board cover that actually makes me happy to look at, and a use for some would-be stash fabric. It was a nice,  quick project that took me about an hour and a half all up, including thinking about how I was going to do it.

I read a bunch of tutes for this before deciding it was simple enough that I could just wing it – it really is a pretty simple process. But if anyone wants to ask me for clarification on anything I did, just leave a comment and I’m happy to help you out.

Saturday night in the craft room

These princess seams are fighting me, big time.

The weekend before craft camp I decided that I needed to completely rearrange my craft room. I took all the storage out and remixed it, instead of packing. When I got back I started sorting the drawers out. Had a big chuck-out – so many different bits and pieces for so many different crafts. Today I sorted my fabric stash. There wasn’t too much dross in there, actually, which was pleasing. I have a bit more sorting to do but it’s a vast improvement – and much easier to actually sew in! I still have to get some melamine to make benches out of the drawers, get a better thread-storage solution, and sort out the mending/current half-finished projects pile, which you can see teetering in baskets next to the bookshelves, here:

I reckon I might even have room to put them in a drawer. That’ll ensure that I absolutely never get to them, so that’s good.

I know that the new setup makes it easier to sew because I’ve BEEN sewing! Shocking, I know. I finished off the black dress I started at camp, and a pencil skirt of the same material – in fact, it’s just the skirt part of the same dress. I took in the yellow skirt and now I’m plugging away at that polka dot dress. I thought I’d sorted the fit at camp but the neckline was just too gapey, so I’ve had an evening of taking the princess seams in, incrementally, by about 3cm. I’m trying to avoid making it actually tight, because that’s less comfortable and my bust fluctuates a lot. I’m at the lowest ebb at the moment, if that term is allowable, so I don’t want to take it in too much. But I do want it to not be gaping or pulling. I think I’m there but I thought it wisest to take a break before final assessment. I know too well that if I try to push on I’ll end up with something not-quite right. That’s what happened to this dress the first time around. Besides, I really want to nail the fit because there’s lots you can do with a princess seam bodice that fits well.

Craft Camp

I took very few photos this craft camp. Janet articulated something I’ve felt for a while – that all the sewjourn photos have been taken. I feel that way about blogging it, too. How many times can I tell you that it’s wonderful, food for the soul, like bathing in ambrosia. See, now I sound hyperbolic, but I haven’t even come close to being able to capture how incredibly lucky I feel to be able to spend time with such lovely people, in such wonderful surrounds, doing such marvelous things.

It was good.

Because my inclusion was a little last minute – I’d opted out because it seems a bit silly to fly in for a regular length weekend – I came in a bit earlier and later, to defray the cost of flights by not flying on a weekend. I flew in on Thursday evening, and Janet was kind enough to put me up for the night. It was a nice callback to my very first craft camp, when I did exactly that. Except that this time I had met Janet, and she had met me, and we weren’t just strangers from the internet. Much more comforting. On Friday, Gill very kindly picked up me and Janet, and we all drove down to Sewjourn.

These are all of the photos I took

A face, for an absent friend.

I started the weekend with another ottobre skirt, in some drill from Spotlight. This line of drill/cotton is really hitting it out of the park. I will continue to loathe Spotlight, but at least they can do one thing right. I was in there tonight and there are some really nice, mostly cotton, ponte and jersey knits. I didn’t buy any because I got The Rage and had to leave, but not before I snapped a photo of the pear version of this drill, which is also fantastic:

Anyway. I made the ottobre skirt, with lining that I’d bought in the Lancefield opshop on Friday. I had a decent little haul in there. Nothing fancy, but some lining stuff and a few patterns.

I lined it because I always wear wither tights or bike shorts, and obviously skirts stick to either. Modesty is not a problem but then I do flash lacy shorts at people, which is not exactly the look I’m going for most days. I made my usual adjustments to the skirt – no seam allowance for this one because I just serged it (on Sue’s overlocker. I owe her lots of overlocker thread/karma) and three centimetres to the edge, because I traced the pattern a bit too small and can’t be arsed fixing it.

However, like the last two times I’ve made this pattern, it somehow came out to big. WAY too big. I’ve already knocked a centimetre of each side and this weekend I’ll probably take it back down again because it’s still big enough that it slips around. I could have just traced the pattern as is, no allowances at all. Yet the old ones I’ve made are still the right size. So what gives?

I wouldn’t wear it with this top, it’s just what I had on.

I also fixed the bodice of a red polka dot dress I’d made last summer and adjusted so many times that it was too tight and too poorly sewn. I just chopped the bodice apart and used it as a pattern. I’d show you photos of it but I just sewed up the bodice as a muslin and the rest isn’t done. I was going to try to finish it off on the day I got home, but I came down with a terrible headache and spent most of the day lolling about, and there has just been no time since to commune with my sewing machine. I also sewed a black work dress from an Ottobre pattern, but it is as yet unhemmed. Again, I meant to do that when I got home, but…

So those two will have to get their own FO posts. I am determined to at least have them done by next craft camp!

That was the sum total of my crafting achievements – one skirt, and two half dresses. Plus a whole lot of eating, laughing and talking, a bath a nap and generally relaxing. I’m a bit spoiled by having long weekends there – I felt like I was only just getting into the swing of it and then it was time to go.

I have no idea what was so transfixing here. Something on the iPad.

Under the table scraps. The big pile is Jenny’s.

And a hasty, wonky photo of the view. I don’t really need a photo. At the risk of being too cheesy and over the top, this place is stored crystal clear, in my heart. Along with all the people I am lucky enough to experience it with.

It really was over too quick. Luckily, I had some holiday left so I didn’t feel too bereft. I went and stayed with my cousin who lives in Melbourne now. It was lovely to be able to catch up with her, and I also spent the Monday traipsing around in unexpectedly warm sunlight and getting sunburn (hence, I think, the headache on my return) and fabric shopping.

It really was a lovely holiday. Thanks to Suse and Janet for herding us cats, yet again.

Only a month late

I Ma(y)de a skirt. A month late.

Well, it’s been cut out since May.

Another Ottobre yoked skirt. I just love this pattern. This one is in red cord, with some funky red fabric in the facing. It came together really fast and I only made two mistakes – did some weird improvised zip thing that I had to unpick, and sewed to front to the back the wrong way around the first time – that were both easy to fix.

I’m going to say that I Mayde it, though, because I made five partial skirts in May. I fixed the two black skirts, one of which needed multiple hemmings and unhemmings before I got it right.  And I ‘fixed’ two drill skirts that had gotten wear marks by dying and painting them. Well, almost, the last step is yet to be completed. Jeez, I’m organised.

Well, whatever, it’s been busy over here. My sister has been visiting from Ireland. She came for my grandma’s 90th, which was great, and she leaves tomorrow. I am sad to see her go – it’s been so great having her here – but also kind of glad to have my life/house back. She’s been going through the stuff she left in my shed and the whole back half of my house is basically impossible to enter. On the plus side, not much of it is going back into the shed, but…

These photos are courtesy of her, which is why I am pulling weird faces in them. I have a different exasperated expression when S takes my photo. (Must practice photo face.)

I took some time off of work while she was here, to hang out with her and to get some stuff done. I had VISIONS of all the things I would achieve. Of course, I didn’t. But I DID hang out with my sister, and relaxed, both of which were amazing. I also went through my mending pile. It is now all but gone. All the is left is two things to hem – I’m trying to get my inherited coverstitch machine to work first – and a coat with fallen apart lining that I am not proficient enough to reline, but I can’t let the coat go.

I finished sticking together and tracing the pattern for Kasia last night. But my hips are one size too big and my waist two and a half too big and it was too late for pattern adjustments. That one might have to wait for a weekend because it’s hurting my brain slightly more than it should.

PS please ignore all the %*&)@ soursobs in the garden. I am tackling them from the other side of the garden, and haven’t gotten to that bit yet. Oh, how I hate them.

December notes

Been on holiday for a week. Already having trouble remembering what day of the week it is. Lovely. Two more weeks before I go back.

Went to stay with S for a few days. It’s like a mini resort stay. Not as luxurious, but someone else does all the work, I am fed excellent food, and there are no ‘shoulds’. Went up to my old hometown to look at the lights and the christmas tat in the markets there. Was awful in a very nostalgic way and I was only a little bit sad – when we went to see the ‘living nativity’ in which my family participated every year. I was usually a shepherd, not being blonde enough to be an angel, which was fine because the animals were great and one year I got to lead an alpaca around. One glorious year I got to be the wise man’s assistant, and wear the shiny costume. My dad was the corresponding wise man. When we saw it there was a dad and his daughter playing those roles, and there were a few Moments. In a good way, sort of.

I was a bit apprehensive about the stay. I’ve only really spent time with the kids a few times, and I’ve previously found the eldest a bit… not difficult, that’s unfair. They are both super lovely kids. But he is/was a teenage boy. And his temperament is a bit like mine, so there were some moments I found hard to navigate especially as I have no actual status as anything. But this year was 100% delightful. Those boys are turning into – are already – lovely people, and it was a pleasure to hang out with them. It was heartening.

I have had some very thoughtful christmas and birthday presents from friends. I don’t really expect anything, in general, although it’s nice to have something to open. But everything I’ve received has been so perfect and thought out. It’s lovely to know that people are thinking about you and care enough to go through the hell that is christmas shopping. That sounds a bit self aggrandising, somehow. But I really mean it to be about how much I appreciate my friends, and how touched I am by the lovely gifts. One was a book about guerilla embroidery from a guy friend who always gets gifts bang on. Previous gifts from him include a brooch that is a teeny bit of knitting on teeny needles, and a book on how to make zombie cupcakes.

Speaking of cupcakes, been baking up a storm here. I’m in charge of deserts for Christmas lunch. I think I’ve gone a bit overboard. Last night I cooked a christmas cake – my first christmas/fruit cake ever, a little singed around the edges but man, it smells divine. At the same time I cooked a roast and two loafs of bread for domestic consumption, made the pastry for the famous and requested chocolate pie, and made vanilla icecream which is basically frozen custard and is absolutely amazing. I ate the bits that were left in the freezer bowl and then I thought I might die of a heart attack right there, because it was so rich. Tonight I made an inferior ice cream, with just cream and vanilla essence, for people who want to eat icecream without fearing death, the actual famous chocolate pie (originally a Jamie Oliver recipe), a raspberry coulis for said pie, and some lemon curd to go on top of the pav that I’ll make tomorrow morning. Did I mention that both today and yesterday were high thirties? Yikes. But should be cool enough to sit outside tomorrow.

I’ve also been making. I had a little production line and made a bunch of bike shorts to wear under skirts. Churned them out, I’ve cracked it now and each pair only took about 20 minutes, cutting included. I also made two skirts, both from the same Ottobre pattern that I traced off of Janet’s magazine one Camp. I discovered the blind hem stitch on my machine, which is AMAZING, but I buggered one of them up so have to redo it. Maybe tomorrow? It’s red and white so I might wear it as a festive outfit to lunch. I feel like I’ve leveled up a bit, sewing-wise. I’m still finding it hard, and there’s lots of swearing and ripping out seams, but things seem a bit more possible, somehow.

I really just meant this to be a bullet point catchup, but apparently I had more to say than I thought. Well, anyway, I am thinking of all of you this holiday season, and wishing you a happy whatever-you-celebrate (I’ve got a few christmases, a solstice or two, Hanukkah, Kwanza and a festivus, that I know of). Thank you all for another lovely year of internet friendship, sporadic as it may have been on my part. Here’s looking forward to many more.

Old FOs

I finally got around to sifting through photos from the last few months and putting some of them on the internet. Here are a couple of Fos I missed, plus one little new one.

First up is a pair of Genmaicha mitts for myself.

I knit a pair of these for my sister’s birthday in 2008. I really loved the pattern – the cabling is so interesting to work, and very neatly designed. In 2009 I cast on for a pair for me in this undyed Camel yarn, but they came out to small so I frogged them. I cast on again in April of this year, and worked on them in fits and starts. They were done in July, photographed in August, blogged in December. Not very timely mitts. But they are nice and warm, and soft although the long hairs make them a teeny bit itchy on my wrists. I got a good month’s worth of wear out of them before it got warm enough not to need them. I’m glad to have them ready for next year, though.

Next up is the cowl that I knit from S.

I knit it from Malabrigo and the original plan was to knit it long enough to be a snood/hood thing. But that didn’t work out – it would have to have been wider and maybe double-wrapped, which he didn’t want. As it is, it’s tall enough to keep the top of his neck warm if need be.

Terrifying. I did offer to knit a matching beanie out of the leftovers, but he was uninterested.

I’ve always wanted to try brioche stitch, so I looked up the instructions, swatched, worked out how wide I wanted it (100 stitches for about a 32″ circumference), and went to it. Brioche. Lovely and smooshy. Would knit again.

The last is a more up to the minute FO. A pair of ‘better than booties’ that I knit for my Boss’ baby shower, which was last Saturday.

I’ve knit this pattern before, both times in the ‘ruffle cuff’ variation. Very neat pattern. I might try to whip up a few pairs (maybe try one or two of the other variations, which are also sweet) for generic baby gifting. I wish I liked baby knits more. She says, contemplating the baby blanket that has possibly fallen into some sort of time portal and will just absorb all the knitting hours without getting closer to being finished. Hmmm, booties are looking promising.

One of these booties took me one day to knit – to and from work on the bus, and an evening on the couch. The other took one whole week’s worth of bus knitting. No need for the pattern being lugged around, although I did need paper to mark rows on.

Also, please to note the rhubarb leaf on which the booties are nestled. I grew it from seed, and then left it in its little pot a bit too long because I wasn’t sure where to plant it. All the places that would be good for rhubarbs are sort of in transition – waiting to be mulched or fenced. So I prepped a spare half a wine barrel with a bunch of rabbit poop, and planted it there. Within a week the leaves had burnt off, but I kept watering it in hope. It sprung back like WOAH. I took these photos on Thursday last week. Here it is, in its pot.

This is the disorganised side of the garden. My policy is, if it’s not in a garden bed, and it’s not poisonous or spikey, and it’s growing, it can stay. You can also see the sad passionfruit that shot up last summer during a heatwave, so that I missed training it properly, and the bed that is supposed to be the herb garden but that I need to fence because the chickens like taking dust baths there.

Anyway, I went out to water the rhubarb on Sunday and it’s now hanging over the edges of the pot. I swear it doubled in size in two days.

That rabbit poo is good stuff.