(Not So) Recent Projects: Hats

Can it really be that the last project update I did was October 2009? I admit, I'm a lazy knitter/crocheter, but it seems that I'm an even lazier blogger. Mind you, the world* is not missing much!

(* my one follower - hello mum!)

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So, prepare for a visual feast of knitwear. Or not. Your call.

First off... hats.




















Not the greatest picture of a Selbu Modern, but an ace hat nonetheless. My first real attempt at stranded colourwork. Looks better in the flesh, honest!

This Everglade I made for my mum, and am kind of wishing I'd kept it. I don't normally do patterns twice but I might consider it for this one.

Note: the blocking pins and the dinner plate are not a feature.

This one was not for me - even my minute head isn't small enough to fit in that one. It's an adaptation of the Snowflake Hat and the chart I made is on the project page at Ravelry.

This is Capucine. And I wore the hell out of it during the snow last year. I know I look like a five year old in it, but I have little shame.

Another hat for mother. This was highly experimental, no pattern involved, and probably ended up being far too hot to wear. I imagine it's now languishing in the bottom of one of her cupboards.

This was my favourite hat ever. Fitted perfectly, great for fieldwork, etc, etc, etc. It's a pattern called Sixty Cables.

I'm finding this all a bit too emotional though, as it was eaten by a mouse a couple of months back. It still hurts to talk about it.

The mouse is dead now. Revenge was mine.

I'm not so keen on this Beanie Brim Cap. No fault of the design: its probably because I ran out of yarn and the brim's a wee bit too small. Also I was probably a bit bitter at the time.

It's a cat, on a hat. It wasn't for me.

I don't have an updated picture of this sadly, but we abused the poor cat into giving him a body somehow, *and* a bendy tail. In fact, this is definitely the maddest hat I've ever made.

I realise it's too hot in Georgia to wear it, but SEND ME A PICTURE, LESLIE!

INSULATE!

Yes, those are Daleks, and no, as established above, I don't have any shame.


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Next up... random accessories.

Another new addition

January was a bit of a spending frenzy, first Maud then 'Czarrna Malgorzata' (Black Margaret).



I'd been keeping my eye out on Ravelry for a second hand spinning wheel, and when this lovely lady came up in Leeds I couldn't resist. She's Polish - a Kromski Mazurka - and so she had to be called after the only Polish Goth geologist I know.

It's taken me a while to get the hang of it, and here are my first wobbly attempts. You can see them getting progressively better... I hope.


1. My first attempt - plain orange merino plied with an orange/brown/yellow mix. Looks fine until you take it off the bobbin!




2. Duck egg merino, navajo plied. The plying was hard, but it didn't turn out too bad considering.





3. My latest effort, jacob humbug top plied with pink and brown merino. It's definitely getting a wee bit more even.





Now I just need to spin enough to actually make something!





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Meet Maud

She's pretty, though it's a bit disconcerting having something your exact shape and size loitering around the house.

It's even weirder when she's dressed.

Yet another new hobby

It was only a matter of time before my fibre fetish led me to the world of spinning. I had a very brief go a while back at a Guild open day at the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, but I'd failed to get myself organised enough to actually get myself some kit together.

Cue a visit from one of my Newfoundland knitting friends. We took a trip out to the lovely village of Wentworth near Rotherham, to visit the amazing Wingham Wool Work. I'm slightly ashamed to say I was like a small child in a sweet shop, surrounded by hundreds of colours of fleece and a lucky dip bag to stuff full. You would have been proud though, I was very restrained and only came home with a drop spindle, 400g of fleece, and some small carders for the very reasonable price of £25. The owner also gave me a quick demo and I came home with a bit of practice fleece too.

So, without further ado, here are my goodies.

Merino fleece. Yum.

And here is my first proper attempt at spinning with the freebie stuff I got.

My drop spindle and fleece

Close up of my wobbly yarn.

To be fair, I'm pretty pleased with my efforts. I'm yet to ply it, and then Bod knows what I'll make out of it, but that's hardly the point, is it?

The last move?

I'm hoping so. At least for a few years now. I've made yet another drastic life-changing move, this time back home from Newfoundland to start a new job in York. For the first time in my life I have a job that won't end in 12 months' time. This is exciting stuff people!

York is ancient, beautiful and, as I discovered yesterday, home to an amazing Italian deli where I had a most excellent lunch and came home loaded with cheese and cured meats. I would heartily recommend it to any visitors to ye olde city.

Since moving back I have got into baking in a big way. I have had nothing but triumphs with this invaluable book, and given that my other half is still in Canada, I have the patience to spend two days making one loaf of bread. Worth the wait.

My Italian Bread

I have also equipped myself with rennet, mesophilic starter, a mould, and a book on Home Cheesing Making. My plan today is to make some cultures, then this afternoon maybe try out some cheddar.

Despite my new focus on domesticity, my other crafty habits aren't suffering, and I'm planning on learning to spin soon. I had a go at York Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers' open day last weekend, and had a grand old time. Will this yarn obsession ever end? I doubt it.

My new favourite toy

Everyone knows I loves the yarn. Fibre makes me happy, so I was excited to be doing a short course at the Anna Templeton Centre on Floor Loom Weaving. It's 5 weeks long - 4 hours every Saturday - and I'm past the half way mark. Week 3 was when I actually started weaving. The 8 hours' setup means that I will never again question why handwoven things are so expensive!

Week 1 was working out the project, choosing the yarn, and winding the warp. We had a whole wall of yarn to choose from:



But I went with these:



The next stage was winding the warps. This one's not actually mine - I forgot my camera the first week.




Week 2 was setting up the loom.



We're using Le Clerc Floor looms, which have 4 shafts and 6 treadles. I want one of these beasts, but I doubt I have the money or the space. Threading the reed, transferring it to the loom, and threading the heddles took an age and was back-breaking.

Eye wire heddles

Threaded heddles

Week 3 I actually started some weaving.



I had a yard extra for samples so I messed about with plain weave first. I was pretty pleased with the results but my edges are fairly dire. That's what hemming is for anyway!





My proper project is in twill, so I'll post those when I'm a bit further on. I can say I'm very happy with the results though - not bad for a first try :)

Recent projects #2

I've been a bit quiet of late. Not because I haven't had anything to post about, but more through shame. I'm reluctant to post about projects I've finished when I still feel guilty about not finishing the present I was making for the lovely Lisa's 30th birthday months ago. Lisa - I'm really sorry! I promise you'll get it before Christmas...

I've been being fairly experimental, trying to learn new techniques:

This, believe it or not, is supposed to be a sand dollar...


I've also been mucking about with recycled yarn and made a few crochet scrubbies:


I also messed about with colour work (don't look too closely - it's fairly rubbish) with this Charles Rennie Mackintosh sample:


In terms of garments I was pleased with these:

This 'Mudstone' shawl used the Old Shale* stitch and some lovely soft merino tweed wool that my marvellous brother bought me for my birthday this year. It now resides in my office where it routinely keeps me warm when the university fails to put the heating on.

(* According to one of the Earth Science profs here, there is no such rock as shale - they are all mudstones...)


This Urchin beret used to be a cardigan. (Note also my new favourite t-shirt.)


These Maggie arm/hand warmers are also made from the other tweed bought by Stef for my birthday. My very first invisible joins. I feel quite proud.


And finally, the Wispa cardigan. It cost me about 50 cents to buy the crappy acrylic fibre at a sale in the Anna Templeton Centre. It's not perfect, and if I do it again I'd make several changes, but overall not bad...


I have a few other things on the go (not least the mystery late birthday present), including my first pair of socks and my first lace. However, I appear to have destroyed my hands in making my Halloween costume for next Friday, and I'm only about a quarter of the way through. Doh!

Curry Top

I had a small curry-based accident with a plain brown top I owned (see previous post!) and it ended up with some grease spots on it that just wouldn't come out. So, inspired by some other posts on Wardrobe Refashion (most notably the ones using the Alabama Stitch Book pattern) I decided to try out some reverse applique...

Here is the top with my design (plus visible grease stains...) with the new fabric inside being basted on.

Then I got busy with the scissors - a bit too busy in some places where I accidentally cut bits I didn't mean to. I had trouble folding the fabric under though, so instead I folded it outwards and sewed the edges roughly to give it a sort of leafy look. I know it doesn't look it but the thread is the same colour as the top... Also, the fabric underneath is shiny so it looks brighter than it actually is. It's really a darkish maroon.

And here it is, modelled in Staff House Bar (recognise the quality 'art'?), rescued from certain doom. I hope I don't spill anything else down it, there's only so many holes I can cut...

Last minute sewathon

I've realised that there's only 10 days left to my 6-month Wardrobe Refashion challenge and I've hardly made anything! So, I'm currently doing a last minute mad dash to get some things made and posted.

1. I've started a skirt which I completely made up the pattern to, but I've had to stop without an appropriate zip fastening,

2. I've got half way through a shirred dress, but it's so tedious as my machine won't do it properly and it's looking a trifle dodgy as I didn't have quite enough material,

3. I've also started hacking up a t-shirt that had a few grease spots on from an ill-advised curry - going pretty well but slow going...

I might make an attempt this weekend to blitz it. What else are Bank holidays for? (Apart from drinking and relaxing and watching terrible films).




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Fame at Last!

Well after 31 years I have finally found fame in the pages of the Birmingham Post. A reporter recently attended the monthly Stitches and Hos night at the Hare and Hounds and I got interviewed as the "Rebel Crocheter". Well the article has now appeared and not only am I famous, but I've been given a promotion! Now if only I could get one in real life...

Experiments in felting

I have recently acquired a felting needle and have been itching to try it out, but I lack the incentive, money, or stash space to buy fibres. So, I decided to try a little experimentation...

I had quite a lot of trimmings from the fringing of Project Alison and so I thought waste not want not! I had doubts though, as I wasn't sure that acrylic yarns would felt given that they don't in the washing machine.



I acquired these tiny brushes from a haberdashery stall a little while ago with absolutely no idea what they were actually for, but I thought they might do as mini-carders...




...and they seemed to do the trick as regards fluff creation! I was surprised how much the colour lightened in the process.





So, I set to with the needle, poked myself in the legs a few times (due to lack of sponge) but ended up with a fairly cool one-inch felted ball that I now have absolutely no idea what to do with!