Liberty Belle

Home made baby corduroy Liberty print dress

Like most quilters I have a compulsion for buying small pieces of lovely fabric, but the problem is that if the fabric is too lovely I can't make myself cut it up. I have now found a painless method of tackling this: make small clothes....and the left over bits can be used for patches!

Luckily I know a couple of small people.

Simplicity 5284

This dress is made using Simplicity 5284. I had to make it a bit smaller by altering the pattern so was a bit nervous that it might not fit, especially after I put so much loving attention into the details:

Liberty lining!!

Flower button (from my spare button box) and fastener....

 

Mummy Bee...

Baby Bee (in pocket)...

Hand made with love...

...and the very best bit....

....it fits!

Capes for Beginners

Hedley: the novice cape

This pattern is so simple that even with beginners dressmaking skills I was able to knock it up in a couple of days.

I had pictured something a little Jane Eyre (the melancholy cape)...

Jane Eyre

maybe a dash Red Riding Hood (the sultry cape)....

...I think I added too much Margaret Rutherford (the no-frills cape)....

...but if you look closely you can see a delightful little detail...

Clasp detail: from The Textile Garden

...which makes me smile with satisfaction.

Now I just have to make a sophisticated wardrobe of Downtown Abbey style clothes to match.

Troll slippers

Once upon a time there was a stinky old Herdwick full of bits of straw and crispy beetles (and a spider or giant tick):

 

but with a little help from Rumpelstilskin we now have a fine pair of Troll slippers:

Hand spun Herdwick slippers

Lovingly lined to protect delicate feet:

Bobbles made with hand dyed Cheviot wool

and edged and bobbled with the same hand dyed wool featured in the Afghan (they looked like a couple of dead rats before these bits)....

...I'll let you in on a little secret...

...the pattern from The Knitter's Year (Debbie Bliss) was for a pair of UK size 5 delicate ladies slippers:

I guess I should have factored in the homespun quality of my still sheep-greasy yarn, for how else to explain the final size-12-and-counting slippers?

I think this calls for a smaller set of needles.

Hat recipe

Take 100g of  18.5 mic 100's superfine merino top (£2.50)....

spin...

look no slub!

ply 2 strands together....

make lichen soup.....

don't get nervous about the colour....

add wool and simmer for 45 minutes....

lovely yellow wool.....

run out of wool halfway through pattern...

take 100g of 21 mic 70's merino top (£2) and repeat steps 2 and 3...

make onionskin soup (with alum)...

don't drink it....

add wool....

carry on knitting...

le voila!

Squares

Endless possibilities.

Stash buster

Finished!

Includes turquoisefromgreatauntymaureen'sstashdarkpinkfromjojosrainbowscarfcreamfromkaysiessheepjumperpurplefromjojospurplescarfcreamandgreenfromgabestanktopbluefromslimsbalaclavalightgreenfrommybalaclavaworldwar2patterngreenfrommycardiganmadebymumgreyandbeigefromgabescardiganwithhensgreenandsilverfrommytanktop 

edged with hand dyed Cheviot wool by Ruth Strong of the Wool Clip.

Border: Hand dyed Cheviot wool

   

Wonder of Wool

2012 being the year of wool (as well as the year of the cape etc etc), it was fitting that I attended the 'Wonder of Wool' exhibition at Rheged on the opening day, which was not intentional but an inspirational boost to start the year.

Although most of the exhibits were marvelous, a few deserve special mention:

Extravagansey by Annie Shaw

Extravagansey by Annie Shaw: dozens of tiny ganseys hanging from the ceiling, each one unique and beautiful. Hard to say which was my favourite because they were all lovely, but the one with the jumper knitted on the back tickled me. She used this project to soak up all the little bits and bobs of flotsam and jetsam that she had collected from the beach over the years - like a Bowerbird, one person's waste is another woman's art.

Celia Pym: Darning

Darning by Celia Pym:
On the same theme, this artist takes moth-eaten ancient but once beautiful garments and patches them up to make them wearable once again. The darned sweaters are in a curious way even more attractive than the originals. The child's fair-isle sweater (right) is displayed next to a photo of the original owner, wearing it when it must have been freshly knitted. I hate to think what happened to the Norwegian fisherman who wore this garment (below) - looks like he lost a fight with Moby Dick.

Celia Pym

Celia Pym

On this theme, I have a favourite pair of slipper socks received as a christmas present about 5 years ago. They were getting a bit holy (holey?) so I had a go at darning them with an odd ball of purple tweed. At this rate I may get another 5 years out of them!

Thimble: spot the darning

Finally and back to WOW, Knitted Homes of Crime, a piece by Freddie Robbins which combines 2 of my favourite things: wool (of course) and Victorian murder mysteries...except that there isn't really any mystery to these murders, and the stories really are macabre...

'Christiana' by Freddie Robbins

'Ethel' by Freddie Robbins