I've Finished a Thing!!!

Now just in case you think you must have stumbled in to the wrong blog I would like to assure you that it is I - dreamer of many things, starter of some and finisher of few - who has indeed completed 'a thing'! I bought this wool at the Bakewell Wool Gathering last year and swore I would have it all wrapped up and round my neck by December. What I hadn't considered was that it might be the following December. It's a wonderfully soft Blue Faced Leicester twist - not sure of any of the other details now as the ball band disappeared into the pale blue yonder many moons ago. 

The one on the left!

As you can see from this little chap this is not his natural colour.

Image courtesy of  cottontailcrafts.co.uk

It had been hand dyed a rich orange with a mottled effect. Because of this I decided to stick to a straightforward moss stitch. I cast on fifty five stitches on 4mm needles and just went for it. Obviously the repetitive nature of this became stultifyingly boring after a while, which may have explained it's absence from my list of priorities.

To 'tidy up' the edges I slip stitched around with a 4mm crochet hook, and added a little bit of extra detail with some teeny tiny loops at each end.

Overall I'm really pleased with it. It could have been a bit longer but to be honest it's snuggly, it's warm and it it's a perfect contrast for my new to me five pound coat!

Bad picture alert - it's tipping down outside
and  try as I might I can't get these colours to
ring true
- the coat is actually teal!

If Maud had thumbs they would both be up!

I'm busy beavering away at something else at the moment for which I'm trying to write a tutorial. Crikey! Hopefully I'll be able to tell all soon.

Wishing you all warm and well.

Jane

xxx

Thanks to all of you who contributed to my last post - stories are still appearing in the comments section so do go and have a look if you fancy a 'spooky' fix!

Come into the garden Maud ...

... and wear a pretty frock.

Or at least that's what Tennyson might have said had he had access to the 'Kate' dress sewing pattern from Sew Me Something.

It originally came to my notice being modelled by the gorgeous Gilly over at Gilly Makes. Then she made a couple more and each time I was thinking hmmmm, yeeeeessss, maayyyybeeee. And then - whaddayaknow - old Lazy Daisy Jones goes and makes one as well. Two extremely talented ladies, a supposedly 'easy' frock pattern and a spare Sunday in the offing was all it took.

After the strangest conversation with the salesperson at our local fabric store (in which she relayed a rather intimate dream as I was pondering the cotton poplin) I sped home and started my least favourite sewing job - cutting out.

But once that was done it was plain sailing. The pattern is simple to follow and soon comes together. The only bit I struggled with was getting the neck to fit the binding, but with a little encouragement (and to be fair a minor bit of puckering) 'twas complete!

The following evening saw me wafting down the canal with Mr K attempting to take whimsical pictures of my newest make. Oddly when I scanned through they were all either overexposed or blurred. Now I remember seeing a horror film once where that happened and I must say I was more than slightly spooked, so this evening I felt it was only right to try and rectify the situation. Out came Maud.

Perhaps you can understand my frustration here. The evening light was glorious - everything glowed - but my poor old frock looked washed out. 

Time for a close up to fully appreciate the fabric.

Aaah yes that's better - even with a bit of puckering!

The gathered sleeves and pockets add a bit of interest.

And I did a double row of topstitching down the back seam   - just for the heckity heck of it.

All in all I'm thrilled with the result. 

I've even worn it for work. Adding a floppy sunhat and bursts of 'We Plough the Fields and Scatter' seemed appropriate as I bustled up and down the busy corridors - curtailed only by the look on a poor eight year old's face as he turned the corner to face me. Poor boy.

But I do like it so. And I want to make more. Lots more.

I just need to find a helpful fabric elf to do the cutting out.

Hugs to all of you,

Jane.

xxx