Charity Shop Bargain Brings Back Happy Memories

Yesterday, I found a couple of books in a local Charity shop that set my pulse racing and bought back happy memories of 1980s knitting, my sister dug deep in her pocket and bought them both for me at the princely sum of £1.35 (about $2.20).

The first book was the Sasha Kagan Sweater Book, I can remember borrowing this from the library in Stepney (back in 1984 it would have cost me a 1/12th of my weekly wage) and dribbling over the amazing pictures of garments knitted in a Fair Isle style. This was the first time I had seen this technique used to create fabulous pictures and back then the cardigan that I wanted to make was the Winter Scotties cardie... even if it was in 2 ply... yes, you read that right 2 ply! I never got to make it but there is a Scottie dog beret which even now is tempting me, although I think I might give the leg-warmers a miss!

The other book was The Sweater Book and excluding some of the shoulder pad heavy patterns, a number of them would translate really well into designs for 2011... although I am not sure I would submit a child to this!

So I thought you might like to see a couple of items I made back then from Patricia Roberts patterns... the first is a Sampler Sweater which I made in 1985, I bought the pattern and wool from her old shop in Covent Garden as a Christmas present to myself as I was going to be spending Christmas on my own, I remember having to wind up the skeins of wool into balls using my dining chairs to hold the wool!  It was the first time I had ever knitted from a chart and I worked into the night so that I could see the yacht, house, the night sky and the tree developing.  Although I have to admit the extra long cable between main sweater and the bodice still bugs me...

And the next is the Bow Tie cardigan, an absolute classic of the 1980s down to the shoulder pads which I used wear with black leggings and a black felt hat, and I thought I looked the bees knees, fortunately for me, no pictures survive!

 
I have realised that both these pieces are over 25 years old, but on searching for them, I discovered my first ever completed piece of clothing... An Aran cardigan made when I was 11 and my mother thought I should be kept busy as I was off school for a month with Glandular Fever.


Oooh when looking for my old pattern book I found a UFO (UnFinished Object) a Patricie Roberts cardigan using blackberry stitch to simulate bunches of grapes... and some of the skeins are not even wound up... it must be over 25 years since I started it... I think it might need finishing, what do you reckon?

Baskets and Booties

I cannot believe that we are already at the beginning of the week again and it is time for Wendy's Handmade Monday - do take a look and see what everyone has been up to over the past week, as usual there are some amazing makes on there.


As I have not been able to find a new job yet, I have been putting my time to good use (around agency visits) and have sorted out the hanging baskets, window boxes and pots in my front garden.  We are going for pink and cheery this year...

Filled with double headed Petunias, a blousy pink 

Geranium intersperced with blue Lobelia

More Geranniums, Busy Lizzies, couple of Penstemons

 and a rather strking Coleus

More Petunias and Lobelia with great

instant colour making my front window

a joy to look out of!

I have also been asked recently for some gender-neutral baby booties, it is really lovely the number of mums-to-be who don't want to know what they are going to have.  So I have whipped up some cream booties, a pair of navy blue Mary Janes with Zebra buttons and cos I like flowers and the basket weave pattern a couple of pairs of cocoa  coloured booties with  flowers, definitely not gender-neutral just plain lovely.

What I really enjoy about making booties, is how quickly they knit up... might make some beanie hats to match them... what do you reckon?

And finally, the good news is that the rushing for the Arts and Craft chair arrived in the post this morning, which means that I will have another item on my to do list!

Guest Blog by A Playful Day - Sitting on Top of the World

I am thrilled to introduce my very first guest writer who blogs at A Playful Day about knitting, daydreaming, cooking and finding pleasure in all things practical. Aplayfulday was created as a reminder to keep things playful and to search for that joy everyday.  From this blog, a podcast has developed that is rapidly growing in popularity and can be found on itunes and the blog.

Sitting on top of the World

I’m known for being daydreamy, tucking myself into a space, carving it out and making it mine. From where I sit I daydream, survey and indulge. I found a new place to do so today. I decided I will share the experience with you but don’t tell anyone else ok? It’s a special place.

Firstly, I was excited because it was a sun spot, a much needed piece of warmth after the cold and snow we all longed to be liberated from this winter.  From where I sat I could watch the leaves stretch in the wind, glad to be free at last.  I could see new colours. I listened to the rustle of the trees and I smiled, relieved to be basking once more.

Secondly, I was excited because I was sat on a rooftop.  From where I sat I could survey the world, look down into neighbour's gardens and spy on the cats that watched me quizzically.  I delighted in looking up every now and then as one of the many cats tried once more to catch a squirrel.  I found myself rooting for both teams, it all just looked like a fun game of chase in the sunshine.  I peered into other people’s gardens and grew curious about artefacts that I could spy.

Then there was my chosen activity, a new project, ready to go and ready to entertain me with its’ freshness.  I worked away, pausing to reflect that those would need sorting before summer footwear and to take another sip of nice cool wine.  I wriggled my toes, glad to be bare foot, my favourite footwear of choice!  I did decide those might need a little tidying to get ready for Summer though....

I sat for so long and saw so many things that by the time I had company I was full enough with indulgent solitude that I could cope with sharing.

This is going to be the first in a series of guest blogs and I want to thank A Playful Day for for starting off the series in such great style... and now as it is a Bank Holiday in the UK, I think I will take a chance to stand, stare and enjoy the peace.


And remember to let us both know what you think of the guest blogs.

Arts and Craft Chair Project and My (Very) Old Singer

I love old things, especially those which follow the William Morris quote, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful" and both my old Singer sewing machine and my newly acquired Arts and Crafts chair live up to this.

This is my very first sewing machine, bought for the princely sum of £20, back when I turned 20 in 1978, and like the original machines bought on credit from my sister who I had to pay back at £5 a month.  I wonder how many of you know that Isaac Singer actually pioneered credit so that everyone could afford to buy a sewing machine?  I have made evening dresses, wedding dresses, cushions, baby clothes and quilts on this machine, and even now it is the machine that I prefer to use when I just have to sew up seams and put in zips as I sit at my kitchen table.  On another forum, there was a discussion about the age of our old Singers, so I googled the registration number and was delighted to discover this old war-horse was made in 1920... meaning my fave machine is 91 years old and still sewing beautifully... I love it.

Now, as you may be aware my firm Teachers TV closed on 29 April, so I thought to mark my redundancy I wanted something tangible and for a number of weeks I have lusted after an Arts and Crafts chair in a local antique shop which needed a little bit of TLC.  Although I did get a bit of a shock when I checked my credit card going through and the owner had mistakenly tapped in £50,000... I nearly had a heart attack before I started on it!

So I am going to learn how to replace the seat and re-weave the rushing in the seat... which is rather loose and certainly would not weight bear at the moment.

And I really like the stylised inlaid lilies, which may not be the most elegantly inlaid but to my eye make this an honest chair which will become more beautiful when I re-rush the seat.

So this is going to be my project for Handmade Monday which is run by Wendy - please go and take a look at the other projects being undertaken by the folk from the UK Crafts Forum.

I will update you when my rushes arrive and I start weaving.

Easter trees, booties and bunting

Now a bit of advice to everyone... if you wake up after falling asleep on the sofa, then not realising it, do not stand on a dead leg... the torn ligaments that ensue are rather grim!  So all my plans for doing window boxes, hanging baskets and reclaiming the garden this week came to nought. And I am limping round like Long John Silver sans parrot, although my training as a first aider came to the fore... you should see my figure of eight bandaging... a joy to behold by any member of the St John's Ambulance Brigade!

Anyway I thought you might like my Easter tree, I have had a tree for nearly 20 years and like my Christmas tree I now have too many decs but still need to buy a couple of new ones every year.


I was able to use the down time to good effect on a couple of commissions for my friend Sally, her neighbours have had twin girls and she asked me to make matching pairs of booties for the newly arrived babies and here they are:

And here they are ready to be delivered!


Sally also asked me to make some bunting for her Royal Wedding barbie... we found some super stylised Union Jack fabric which works really well and the bunting in ready to be hung out for tea tomorrow... although bunting wars have broken out in our street, with my next door neighbours making a great response to  to the new people at the bottom of the street.

Finally I really chuffed to tell you that we will have my very first guest blogger in a couple of days, well actually  on Monday  - A Playful Day - she does amazing podcasts and I met her through the Ravelry   


So go and take a look at her blog and remember to come back and read on Monday 2 May 2011

Felting for the fearful...

Last night I went back for a second felting session and I thought you might like to see a little of the work we did and how we did it.  And as I have managed to sprain my ankle this weekend which has curtailed my mobility and crafting, I am also putting my flower up as my Handmade Monday entry... with grateful thanks to Wendy who does this every week... what a star!  Do go and take a look at the various makes that these clever crafters have completed over the last week.


We were all indulging in wet felting and started by choosing what we would like to make in our two hour session, a felted flower or scarf moving on to using more complex techniques with a resist which holds the two sides of your felting apart if you were making a bag or an all in one flower.  We then chose from the luscious colours of the merino tops... these are what you would use if you were going to spin your own wool.  I defy you not to find a shade you like!

Felting is a process of layering and matting the fibres to hold together using teased fibres, hot water and soap.  You can see in the pic below, various shade of merino together with some silk threads to give softness and contrast.

And if you have the imagination you can even add in beads (!) light fabrics - the sparkles are on a net fabric which has been trimmed to make the centre of a flower.  As long as you overlap the "foreign" objects to catch them, they will stay in place.

Bet you are all wondering what the bubble wrap is for... well you use that to agitate the fibres.    You place the fibres on the wrap as you lay them out and then thoroughly wet all the fibres with a warm water and soap solution and place another layer on top, then more soap and water and start what I can best describe a deep tissue massage to mat the fibres together.


Next stage is wringing out the soap solution and rolling up to shrink with a bamboo mat... messy but your hands will never be cleaner!  Then off to rinse with hot water to remove all of the soap solution.


Here is Jeanette Trim (in the centre) showing a couple of classmates how to style a finished flower... check out the flower on her scarf.

And here are a couple of the flowers which my colleagues created.

I made something a little different, a flower with a resist (an solid pattern piece around which the felting is done) and when the felting process is completed you cut it out to reveal the swirling pattern inside.

And for a first go, I am pretty chuffed... especially with the stamens and the way that the stem looks as though it belongs to the flower.

So there you go, my FO Friday make for Ravelry - let me know what you think?

On a warm and sunny weekend I have...

finished off the giveway bunting for Nancy... what do you think, two of the fabrics have fishes, whilst the other has stylised wave.  Nancy wanted something bright and cheerful for her senior's centre... hope that I have fulfilled the brief.  I will be at the PO first thing on the morning to send it through to her.

I also hit Belle Fabrics (or as I will aways know it , Richardson's) where I topped up my fat quarter stash.  they had smuggled in some lovely new summer fabrics together with the most fantastic Australian inspired patterns.  Simply gorgeous!  Rather embarrassing as I had to go back three times... the second time to pick up some fabric for Deborah's bunting that she wants to use for the the Royal wedding and which should tide her over to the Diamond jubilee!    And then I realised that I need some double sided fusible interfacing for some applique I have planned.

  Now, I am off to finish sorting out the lining for my Can Can bag which I am slip stitching in.

And all of this is just done in time for Wendy's Handmade Monday - I am constantly amazed by the ability of my fellow bloggers and the fabulous quality of their work.  I also tried my hand at  Kanzashi flowers, which Lisa posted up as a tutorial on her Dreamstar Diary

PS the bad news is that I also went to the Hand Weavers Gallery in Finsbury Park after my felting course... have you any idea what it feels like to stick your hands into a bag of Merino Tops - it is sublime!  I have a further course on Thursday and will combine the two courses and report back at the end of the week.  Jeanette Trim, I am holding you responsible for my new obsession.