I'm still here

I never meant for this blog to slowly fade away. I did intend to keep it up and to post all the lovely things I do and make.

However, life got in the way. More accurately, a small wonderful little person got in the way!

Turns out my son is not a 'sleeper'. He doesn't take long naps during the day. He doesn't like to play alone. He doesn't like for me to be busy in another room or working on something he can't touch. He wants me to play with him, to talk to him and interact with him. He is curious and loves to explore. This all means my grand plans to make things for him (and myself!) while on maternity leave have not really happened. Instead I've been playing games, going for walks and singing songs to my son. 

I've made very little but I'm trying to work on a little bit of something every day.

Slowly I made my son a cardigan. I mixed four different yarns together to get a dappled effect. 

I'm back at ceramics. This time at the wheel, not just hand building. After almost 300 hours at ceramics I'm starting to make nice things that turn out how I want them to.

This bowl is wood fired in a dragon kiln. The colour comes from the ash in the kiln. Its magical.

I also look for workshops to attend while my husband baby sits.

I've taken up tapestry weaving and I love it. Its so exciting to see a piece develop.

This is the third part of a triptych I made for my living room wall.

Rather than blogging, I'm posting images of my work on Pinterest as Ellen Blue Triangle.

I'm still on Ravelry as Mrs Teapot. I just began updating the last 2 years worth of work!

And still working on my own little design collection now on sale in Japan.

And the exciting thing: my son loves texture. Its fun to watch him exploring with his hands, fingernails, teeth and tongue and even feet. He gets into all sorts of fabric and yarn and materials. He loves highly textured watercolour paper and paper string and things that crunch or are fluffy or smooth.

Maybe a love of yarn and fabric is genetic...

A little knitting

This leaf motif is from Golden Hands Magazine, published in the mid 1970s. There are many different leaf motifs: Oak, Ginko, Elm... so I've selected 4 to try.

I wanted to practice my Fair Isle technique (which is not so good). 

I plan on making about 16 motifs and joining them together into a little blanket. I think it will look great, its just taking some time. Each motif takes me about 3 hours to do.

Still, I love how it is turning out.

The dark green yarn is a silk/cotton blend left-over from a top I knit last year. The bright green is mercerised cotton. The motifs have nice drape due to the silk and so will be lovely as a blanket.

Should be done by this time next year!

Knitterly Pursuits - when acrylic is not all bad and is in fact quite good

I finished this Batwing Jacket from Debbie Bliss Magazine a while ago (though it took about 6 months to finish!) but I'm not completely satisfied with it. Even though I swatched carefully and recalculated the gauge and number of stitches to suit the pattern and the drape of the yarn, the cardigan is a bit too big. It works as an oversize cardigan that you can disappear into but its not quite like the pattern. Still, I wear it when I feel the need for disappearing in acres of handknit (sometimes this seems necessary!). 

Part of the confusion was the pattern schematic did not indicate where you start from and end up, so I had no idea where I was going with the knitting until about halfway up the back of the cardigan. So I couldn't gauge from what I was knitting that it might be too large.

Still, the cardigan is a nice object and the gauge I got achieved a lovely bouncy cushiony cardigan.

I'm particularly pleased by the cuffs. They fit well and look neat.

The yarn is from my stash and is simply an acrylic mohair as I have used real mohair in this weather and its stiflingly hot and uncomfortable, even in airconditioning. The acrylic is the perfect warmth level for 21 degree airconditioning.

Of knit and crochet

I started this cardigan more than 2 years ago to wear in Canada. It was so bulky it wouldn't fit in my suitcase, so I didn't end up bringing it to Canada to finish. 

I decided recently to finish it but looking at it I decided that I didn't like the style anymore. So I undid the cardigan and started again with a new pattern. The new cardigan I finished within a week and I'm happy with the fit. I made only one modification to the pattern to extend the front button placket so I can button the whole front.

The finished cardigan.

 Detail of the travelling lines & buttons.

This dress is from Interweave Crochet and I've been working on it for at least 6 months. It was sleeping for a while as I ran out of cotton. The layout is modified from the original to accommodate less squares at the top.

The new cotton was a different shade and so I had to overdye the dress to even out the colour. I first washed the dress and then I used very strong black tea to dye it. It had two attempts in the dye pot and a few days of soaking.

Happiness with Yarn

This is my incomplete version of the Coogee Bay Dress from Interweave Crochet Summer 2012. The original version was a bit too big for me (pattern is only one size) so I modified the number of squares (the dress is made of square motifs joined together) to make it smaller. 

I ran out of cotton at this point so had to get more...unfortunately the new cotton is a different shade, much lighter, so I'll have to dye it. As its a fairly neutral colour cotton I'm planning on using black tea to dye  it after I finish. I'm hoping this will even out the tones. Hopefully!

So as you can see from the picture I'm up to the skirt portion.

The original has longer sleeves than this but I thought they would be too big for me so I shortened the shoulder/sleeves to one square rather than two. I might add some length to the sleeves if I have any cotton left after making the skirt.

This top is from Vogue Knitting Winter 2011/12. I made this in a green cotton/silk blend. My camera can't really photograph green so you will just have to imagine this is nice dark forest green with hints of grey.

The nice thing about this pattern is the twist at the front which reveals the reverse side of the stockinette stitch. The little texture change is really subtle but gives this top some interest.

This cardigan is from Knitscene Winter 2011. I knit this one up using linen, cotton and silk. I lengthened the cardigan a little as I have a long torso.

The grey is linen/cotton, the black is cotton and the neckline is cotton held together with black Tussah silk from Habu. The Tussah silk gives the neckline some structure and a little crunch. The linen/cotton makes the cardigan comfortable to wear even in tropical weather.

This book is a facsimile edition of a Renaissance book published in 1587. It also contains another book published in the early 1600s. The patterns are Italian designs published in French. This book brings out the historian in me but also makes me squeal in happiness when I see things such as the bird motif.

I loved this bird pattern so I decided to try making it in Filet crochet. All I did was count the number of squares and make them in crochet mesh then fill in where the pattern picture was shaded. The hardest thing was counting the squares. I made this in bright blue #20 crochet cotton.

I'm so happy with how it turned out. It measures about 600mm x 600m. I wear it folded in half as a little shawl.  

Crochet birds make me almost as happy as real ones! These birds are my favourite birds too - Pigeons! 

 The cheerful blue colour makes me happy too.

At the moment I'm working on a Batwing sleeve cardigan from Fall/Winter 2012 Debbie Bliss Magazine. The pattern uses a much finer yarn than I had on hand in my stash so I adapted the pattern to suit my yarn. I used a much larger needle to get a nice soft drape and reduced the number of stitches. The pattern was also too large so I made it a little smaller. I plan on adding some silver yarn into the cuffs to give it some interest. 

After this I plan to make this cardigan in Grey and Fluorescent Yellow cotton.  Yes, Fluorescent Yellow.

March Making

I thought I'd share some things I've made recently. Though I've been sick, when I've had the energy I've been making all sorts of things.

 I've been busy making baby vests. I'm stockpiling them in case there is an onslaught of babies soon.

 Actually I just really like making them as they are quick to make and I get to play with colours and stripes. My jogless stripe knitting in the round is getting pretty good now.

 I made a bag out of two remnants I picked up in the fabric store in Montreal. Total cost for this bag is CDN $2.00 plus some black thread. The outside is a crunchy sort of vinyl and the inside is a lovely cotton.

 I like the lining as it gives some excitement to what is otherwise a very plain bag. I'm considering turning up the edge of the front flap so that the lining shows a bit to make the bag less plain.

 The nice thing about making your own bags is you can decide exactly how long the shoulder strap should be. 

 I tried making a crocheted shoulder bag before I attempted the sewn one but a few days into it I realised that I didn't like it. I'm going to undo it and try again.

 I made a tunic top from the Japanese book 'Drape Drape 3'. The pattern is very simple - just two pieces and has a really nice drape to it. The lace has a slight stretch and is slippery so I had to sew the front and back pieces and the neckline by hand first as I couldn't pin it. I then zig zag stitched it together with a jersey needle on the sewing machine.

 I assure you it looks less like a Kaftan when worn on a human. Its actually quite stylish.

 This dress I made from a jersey knit pillowcase (for an extra long pillow) from Muji. The dress is just a simple rectangle and I unpicked along the seams for armholes and a head-hole. I then reinforced the edges where I had unpicked by handsewing some stay stitches. I left the neckline and armholes unfinished.

I wear it with tights and a belt. I like stripes!

Birds Still Make Me Happy

This photo is my computer desktop at the moment. I love the colours of the feather so much - the depth of softness in the fluffy ends and the way the tones shade from grey to orange. Looking at it and thinking of what amazing bird dropped it gives me joy (I have carefully stashed the feather in the back of my diary and carry it around with me to enjoy). Its amazing that something so small and insignificant can be so beautiful and bring so much joy. Its a little reassurance that things are all not so bad as they often seem. 

I'm still sick. I've been sick now constantly since September. I've lost 8.5kg and now sport a BMI to rival a catwalk model and shoulders like a coat-hanger. My hair is falling out and none of the medicines are working. But there is still beauty, there is still love and there is still hope in my corner of the world.

Little things, insignificant things in the scheme of the big bad wide world, matter.

Go search for a feather. Tell someone you love them. Watch the clouds go by and look for funny shapes. Make something (I've been knitting lots of baby vests recently - all my friends keep having babies - proof  if any that there is goodness and hope left in the world). I'll post some pictures of my latest baby vest knitting soon. I've been having fun playing with colours. Perhaps I should make a vest based on the colours of the feather...

Pretty Pretty

I love this dress from Primozea so much. Its simple, but with enough nice little details to be interesting like the keyhole button closure at the back and the little ruffle sleeves. You can see the Primozea shop here (that's where the photos are from too). It comes in two colours (grey and oatmeal) both knit in alpaca yarn.. Oh, it would be so soft and lovely to wear. I love the way it is styled in the photos too- with the little striped or floral tshirt underneath. I'd love to buy this but its not a practical dress for the tropics...though I could just stay inside in the air-condioning the whole time I wear it...Its just so lovely...Is it wrong to suffer to wear a cute dress?!!

Bleh. (and some knitting)

So I'm still sick. I've been poked, prodded, x-ray-d, had my insides photographed and taken far more medicine than I would like to. But the good news is that I'm finally starting to feel a little better. I started September with a virus which turned into asthma/haze-induced breathing problems and ended in a stomach ulcer and some very irritated insides. I'm currently only able to eat baby food and am sleeping 10 hours a day and spending the rest of the day lying on the couch or sleeping. 

However, all this resting time has meant I've had time to read (in between my sneezing and coughing fits) and plenty of knitting (in between my naps!) has resulted in my enforced resting time. Cause, there's only so much Spongebob a girl can watch without going mad and I can't just sit on the couch all day and look at birds (well, I can for an hour or two!).

I finished my cardigan. Finally a prefect tropical-weight cardigan that is comfortable and weights only 100g. Its good for stuffing in my bag (as you never know when you need a cardigan). Though I've had to be careful with the bag-stuffing as I pulled a thread on a pencil in my bag! (I used a crochet hook to carefully persuade it back to its rightful place - cardigan rescue accomplished!)

The yarn is the softest silk-alpaca blend and is warm without being sticky-warm. The pattern is from KnitScene magazine but I modified it a bit by lengthening the sleeves to wrist-length and adding a second band of garter stitch trim. I also adjusted the pattern for my thinner yarn (the pattern calls for something much more medium-weight and I used lace-weight).

I had to go with red buttons - they remind me of sweets and my primary school uniform. I loved my first primary school uniform - it was red and white check cotton in summer with 4 big red buttons down the front.  I wore it with a red cardigan and red socks (though most of the other kids wore grey cardigans and socks). I like to think I was a trend-setter from way back, but in reality, it was just what my mum put me in.

I've been busy knitting baby vests. Lost of friends and family are having babies at the moment and this pattern from Interweave Knits from about 2-3 years ago is easy to make and I found it a  fun canvas to experiment with colours. I've knit this about 8 times now, so the pattern is in my head. Its good for when you are sick to have knitting patterns that you don't have to think about. I've just been enjoying watching the coloured stripes blossom.

The latest series of baby vests.

This one is a 'spare' vest. I'm stockpiling vests for when the Mr. and I finally have babies of our own. I dream of a whole week's worth of hand-knitted vest goodness with matching hand knitted nappy/diaper covers. 

This vest is knit with red raw silk and natural coloured soya fiber. I think my future babies will appreciate that when they are puking on it! Hahaha.

This one is for a friend. For a baby girl. This vest is knit with a bamboo/cotton blend so its soft but sturdy.

And so is this one. I don't think baby girls have to wear pink always. Blue and green are nice too (and so are red, orange, yellow and natural cotton). This one is a mix of bamboo/cotton and natural cotton.

I've also got plans for a third baby -girl vest (its baby girl season apparently). But that one will have to wait until I unpack my yarn box from Canada :)

On things knitted...

A few things knitted in the past few months that I haven't yet posted.

The Kermit Skirt was begun when there was still snow on the ground. I had plans for this to be a nice houndstooth-pocketed number. But then I ran out of green wool! I had just enough wool to make the pockets, but not enough to sew them on. I tried to sew them on with the grey wool but it looked bad so I took them off. So now I have two pockets with nowhere to go. Of course I could buy more green wool, but it seems silly to buy a whole ball of wool to sew on two pockets. I'd need only a small amount. So for now I just wear the skirt without the pockets.

Nice pocket!

I made this skirt on circular needles so I wouldn't have to sew up side seams. It worked out perfectly and it makes the skirt more comfortable.

I love the elastic waistband for comfort purposes but if I made this again I would not follow the pattern here. The double layer of knitted fabric to make the pocket for the elastic adds so much bulk to the waist of the skirt. And seriously, who wants more bulk at their waist?

Knitted necklace. Made from soft lovely bamboo viscose and brass findings. One is heavy the other light so it makes for an interesting necklace.

Vest for a little baby boy. The mama said 'no blue' because everyone was giving her blue things for the baby. I was happy to oblige with a daffodil colour scheme: creamy yellow and spring green.

Vest for a baby girl. Bright pink and green. Cause little girls should get to wear colours other than pale pink.

Knitted scarflet for my nanna. Soft kid mohair in cherry red. The 'halo' of the mohair makes it hard to photograph but lovely to wear.

Buttoned 'cowl' style

The buttons allow it to be worn in two ways - as a circle or cowl and as a collar.

Buttoned 'collar' style.