This weekend saw the start of my spring sewing binge.
On Saturday, I made my daughter a white cotton camisole out of one of my Japanese pattern books. I haven't sewn for her since she was old enough to have her own sense of style, but luckily we agreed on this one!
The fabric was an ebay "bargain" which I thought had gone wrong when I noticed that the pre-sewn pin-tucks, lace and ribbon meandered their merry way down its length in wavy lines, when clearly they were supposed to be straight. However, with a bit of careful cutting, I have salvaged enough for this top, and probably for an adult version for me. "Reading" the instructions by following diagrams alone made me take extra care. If this pattern had been written in English I would probably have missed the crafty way to fix the straps so there were no raw edges or bulky seams.
It looks beautiful over a black long-sleeve t shirt, but my daughter complained it looked like an apron worn that way - she didn't "get" that look at all. She had this idea she would wear it with denim shorts and over-the-knee socks, but that particular get-up was a bit more "Lolita" than "goth", so has been over-ruled on the grounds of decency.
One thing is certain - there is a forthcoming pair of stockings which my daughter will demand I knit for her! Alice Bell is a winner in the Alice competition at Purlescence! The pictures aren't up yet, but Alice describes her cheshire-cat illusion socks over at her blog - oh wowowow! What a brilliant idea!
On Saturday, I made my daughter a white cotton camisole out of one of my Japanese pattern books. I haven't sewn for her since she was old enough to have her own sense of style, but luckily we agreed on this one!
The fabric was an ebay "bargain" which I thought had gone wrong when I noticed that the pre-sewn pin-tucks, lace and ribbon meandered their merry way down its length in wavy lines, when clearly they were supposed to be straight. However, with a bit of careful cutting, I have salvaged enough for this top, and probably for an adult version for me. "Reading" the instructions by following diagrams alone made me take extra care. If this pattern had been written in English I would probably have missed the crafty way to fix the straps so there were no raw edges or bulky seams.
It looks beautiful over a black long-sleeve t shirt, but my daughter complained it looked like an apron worn that way - she didn't "get" that look at all. She had this idea she would wear it with denim shorts and over-the-knee socks, but that particular get-up was a bit more "Lolita" than "goth", so has been over-ruled on the grounds of decency.
One thing is certain - there is a forthcoming pair of stockings which my daughter will demand I knit for her! Alice Bell is a winner in the Alice competition at Purlescence! The pictures aren't up yet, but Alice describes her cheshire-cat illusion socks over at her blog - oh wowowow! What a brilliant idea!
Meantime, photographic evidence that the second leg of Cinders is going well. It doesn't seem such a difficult knit this time around and I have only made one little mistake - again on the back seam pattern - grrr! Wouldn't you think I could memorise a 2-row repeat?
The stocking is resting on this month's library books. Alice Starmore's classic text on fair isle knitting, Sheila MacGregor's "Traditional Fair Isle Knitting", and for a bit of spice, "Dominknitrix"! I was astonished to find this on the shelf at a small branch library! Trouble is, the pattern I most want to knit (Elfin Bride) isn't in the book - just lots of tempting pictures of it!
The fair isle? Well, this is a case of "will I won't I?" The museum which commissioned a pair of 1940's socks from me last year has asked me to knit a fair isle tank top for a 10-year-old 1940's evacuee's suitcase. (Got that?) After the initial rush of self-congratulation and enthusiasm, the full horror of what that would entail struck me. Especially after a few hours with these books! I am not a "natural" fair isle knitter and I would hate to let them down with a shoddy piece of work, so I have politely declined the invitation. They would be far better off commissioning someone who specialises in this genre - like the people who knit the jumpers for the Harry Potter films, Pride and Joy.
Have you seen Eunny's latest fair isle? See what I mean? You either have it or you haven't - and she certainly has it!
2 comments:
Well, you can download the Elfin bride pattern from http://www.domiknitrix.com/. I think it's okay to use the password since you have the book in your hands, even if it's from the library.
Hi, it's good to see your progress on the second stocking - your design has come out really well.
Also, I thought that you might like to know that I have caved in and set up a blog too - shortly, I'm hoping to share some of my bumbling progress on Puss in Boots over at laarzenknits.blogspot.com!
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