A scarf for a friend...

This is a scarf I recently knit as a farewell present for a colleague. Its the same wool/acrylic blend as the hat I crocheted. This scarf uses two closely related brown tones so the colour gradation is quite subtle. Its knit on large needles (10mm) in garter stitch.

Something else I'm working on...

A sneak peek at a lighting design I'm working on in collaboration with the mr.

Dye Batch 005

Recently finished batch of experiments. All were mordanted with Alum.

Left to Right Top Row: Red Rambutan Skins 2nd use on Bamboo, Red Rambutan Skins 2nd use on Cotton, Red Rambutan Skins on Wool, Bougainvillea on Soy, Bougainvillea on Wool, Red Rambutan on Bamboo

Left to Right Bottom Row: Black Tea on Wool, Dried Brown Rambutan Skins on Wool & Soy, Black Tea on Soy, Red Rambutan Skins on Soy

How I keep track of what worked and what didn't, what colours work with what mordants, what colours are obtained from various dyestuffs and times

Cotton swatches in my dye journal

Dressmaking Update

The front pleats

Closeup of the pleats

The ends trail off....

Sneak peek at the 'white dress prototype' in progress. So far, so good. Now for the darts...

White Dresses & Jane Austen

Elizabeth & Jane go for a walk in floral prints

I love the striped cotton dresses! I love Jane's sleeves too.

Elizabeth picks flowers in flowers. The pleating/gathering here at the bust is lovely too.

Elizabeth talks to Mr Darcy in her fabulous puff-sleeved green jacket.

Looking sad wearing subtle checked beige cotton

Polka dots!

The green trim and buttons make a boring dress cute.

Jane and Elizabeth talk to their Father. I love the pattern/trim of the hemlines on their dresses

Daniela Gregis in Selvedge Magazine

This dress by a designer named Daniela Gregis and a recent resurgence in love for all things Jane Austen have inspired a new project. Daniela Gregis' dress appears to be a light white muslin of several layers with the gathering at the neckline. My version will have pleats instead of gathers and be more fitted at the top. So far I've managed the pleats at the front and back of my test version (made from an Ikea bedsheet). Now I need to figure out where to place the darts and how I'm going to do the sleeves and finishing. I like the simplicity of Gregis' dress but I don't think it would look right on me. I'm also considering a neckline more akin to Elizabeth Bennet's dresses than Gregis', something lower and more rounded but less revealing.

I recently re-watched the 1995 BBC version of Pride & Prejudice (from which the images are taken) and it was wonderful, so much better than Hollywood's recent effort. I spent a lot of time gazing at the costumes, especially the dresses and short jackets. I was also drawn by the short lace shawls they wear over their dresses when going out. I rather fancy making a little white lace shawl to wear too. I also love the boots they wear in the film with their little buttons and small heels. I'd love to wear all the costumes actually, just as they are, but I'm afraid I'd look rather silly. Sigh...

The orange linen jacket. Note the little buttons & trim

The green velvet jacket

All images of the film are taken from:

http://periodmovies.blogspot.com/2007/05/pride-prejudice-1995.html

Hats

Sophie the sheep models the yellow organic wool hat

details of the yellow hat

leaf-inspired pattern on the sides of the hat

back view of the hat on Sophie the sheep

Sophie the sheep models the brown beanie

closeup of the puff stitches on the sides of the beanie

Sophie models the brown beanie

Two hats I completed recently. The yellow one is my own design, imagined as I was going along, while the brown one is from the book 'Cool Crocheted Hats'. Both were fast to make, only about 3 hours in front of the TV, which, as I was also watching TV, probably equates to 1.5 hours work.

The brown is a wool/acrylic blend which isn't too hot for this tropical weather, while the yellow is an organically dyed 100% wool (yes I know I can make that myself, but it was lovely and I couldn't resist buying it!). I love the yellow colour, but it looks kinda bad next to my skin. It may find its way to another owner in due time. The brown wool is a new favourite though. I usually prefer 'natural' fibres, but this is a really good blend. Time will tell how it ages/wears and washes though. I've already knitted a scarf in it since I made this hat and due to its semi-chunky weight, it knits up nice and quick. I might buy another ball to knit the beloved Mr a hat as he has expressed a liking for mine.

Skeins...

foreground to background:

pink - beetroot

grey brown - black tea & wildberry tea

pink beige - beetroot (less alum used)

beige - black tea

yellow - tumeric (1 day in the dye and sun bleached afterwards)

pale yellow - bougainvillea

another closeup of the skeins

skeins of wool post-dye

Some of my first attempts at dyeing whole skeins of wool. These were all 50g balls which I unwound into skeins and tied with cotton threads. The cotton really helped prevent the wool from tangling up during the dye process. The amount of mordant & dyestuff needs to be refined though, as I'm not getting the depth of colour I get with the smaller amounts of wool.

The tea dyes had two rounds of tea each of one week to deepen the colour. I mordanted them again each time. The colours are still quite light though.

I've already started to over-dye again the pale beetroot skeins and the tea ones (for a third time!). I was hoping for a much darker pink on the second beetroot but for some reason the dye just didn't stick. I'm overdying the wildberry tea with more wildberry tea in the hope of a more grey colour. The plain black tea skein is being overdyed with some old red wine and will hopefully yield a darker brown colour.

This process sure encourages patience! Those few skeins are the result of about a month's work.