Just in time

Whoops. I did say I'd be back to share a few more completed projects didn't I? Honestly this whole family caper is a serious impediment to my ability to blog. And maybe the amount of time I spend mooching about twitter, instagram and pinterest probably doesn't help ....

Anyway this epic knit was finished in January (or was it February?) some time and boy, was it a mammoth effort.

I was sure the Striped Cotton Cowl was going to be a quick and easy knit but as per usual I seemed to have bit off more than I could chew with this. For a start all the teeny skeins of sashiko thread needed to be wound into little balls and the changing of threads every few rows certainly did slow me down. Also I had no real idea of how long the scarf would be before the joining part since the pattern talks about "ridges" instead of rows. Now admittedly I am short (5'3"), but this wound up being way taller than me and in the end I omitted the last 12 or so rows.

Having said all that (whinge whinge!), the yarn was such an absolute delight to knit with. The Blue Sky Alpaca cotton felt like cushiony cotton wool balls and every now and then I just felt the need to squidge the knitted portion into a big ball and snuggle in to it. Which you'd have to say bodes well for an excellent comfy, warm, snuggly cowl for the coming cooler temperatures.

Just in time.


(Ravelry details here)

fabric printing

Hey look! I said I'd be back and I am! Wow to be honest I've surprised even myself. I was sure I'd find something to drag be away from blogging yet again but it's proving surprisingly easy to sit here and type with a cup of tea despite baskets of dirty and clean washing overflowing within easy reach. Funny that.

So just another quick instalment of what I've been up to during my bloggy absence: today, a spot of fabric printing





First there was this leafy offering. Printed using a stamp I bought in Germany and a fabric ink stamp pad on a dark charcoal grey cotton. These were then shipped off to a few crafty buddies who, like me, snoozed and missed out on Leslie's fabric printing swap.

Another mini swap was organised soon after, this time with a theme: greyness. However, two of the participants were chosen at random to print in a colour (chosen by another participant), and guess what? I was one of those people.





This time I used a stencil method (using contact paper as the stencil), and fabric paint sponged on to my favourite Kona Ash. The name "blood blisters" popped into my head as I was photographing these hanging on the line and try as I might to think of something slightly more, um, nice sounding alas, the name had stuck.





So there you have it. My first dabble into the world of fabric printing. I believe I may have caught the bug and have a sudden desire to kit myself out with screen printing supplies sometime soon.

p.s In my absence I forgot all about Our Creative Spaces. Pop on over there for some crafty goodness.

Unblocking

Ugh. Writer's block. Blogger's block. Whatever it's called I've had and I need to un-have it. So I have finally downloaded (uploaded?) the TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY photos off the camera and on to the computer and endevour to spend a teensy bit of my day over the next few days updating this long forgotten space of mine with a few bits and pieces of life since last I blogged.

And since I was busy unpicking this when last I wrote I figured it's a good place to start: the yard sale skirt or as it is affectionately known to me, "the skirt of the thousand errata"







Finished some months ago and the go to item of clothing on the few hot days we have experienced this summer. There are plans to make another ... once I'm fully recovered from the stress of making this one!

I'll be back tomorrow (no really, I will) with some more!

today

... I have a date with the quick unpick and the couch in an attempt to salvage my first attempt at the Yard Sale skirt from Weekend Sewing*. If the weather continues on the way it's been in Sydney for the last few days (read: HOT), then I'm going to need lots of loose, floaty clothes STAT!

What are you up to?


*To save you from the same tears and tantrums that I've been having should you attempt this skirt, can I suggest you click over to the errata? 

a fête accompli

Picture this: you're in the midst of the busiest time of the day (school pick up), at the busiest time of your life (baby number three only a few months old), when you get a note home from school about the annual school fete.

On that note is a list of all the usual stalls and the people who have volunteered to co ordinate that stall. You scan down the list and see the following;

"CRAFT - ????"

Hmmm. Your mind starts to wonder, "I could do that couldn't I?"

STOP RIGHT THERE. Can I suggest that if you ever do find yourself in that situation that the answer to this question should be a very loud, very definite "NO!". In fact, why the hell would you even ask yourself that question?!

Unless of course you're me. Which means you're notorious for thinking, "How hard could it be?", committing yourself and then a few weeks down the track having that sickening realisation (usually in the middle of the night), of what this really will involve.

I'll spare you the details of the emails, tweets, phone calls, and meetings I made/had where I begged for and borrowed supplies and helpers, and just show you a few of the bits and pieces that were made and finally sold at the school fete yesterday. This being a relatively crafty orientated blog and all.













In all we ended up with 631 items to sell (not including a vast number of things that were thrust upon our tiny stall yesterday just as the fete started up) and raised over $3000 for our small school.

Not bad.

Oh and that baby I had?




Is now FIVE months old. I'd ask where that time went but I'm pretty sure I already know!

how to make an A-line skirt ... with a newborn baby

Five weeks post this little dude I found myself in a bit of a conundrum: none of my regular clothes would fit (of COURSE though I stupidly tried them on just to check), and all of my maternity clothes were too baggy except for my jeans, which quite frankly, I'm sick of.

Looked as though it was time for me to finally confront my two all-time sewing fears: drafting a pattern for an A-line skirt from my actual measurements AND inserting a ZIPPER!

Sewing it went a little something like this:

Day One: Take measurements and draw up a vaguely A-line looking pattern on paper. Whoops, baby awake.

Day Two: Cut out pattern. Whoops, baby awake.

Day Three: Look for zipper insertion tutorials. Sew side seam. Whoops, baby awake.

Day Four: Follow zipper tutorial. Works! Awesome. Wonder why the baby isn't awake. Push on and attach waistband. Whoops, baby awake.

And that's about where I stopped.

Here's the finished result





Yeah it's a bit wonky in parts. The waistband isn't quite finished and none of the seams have been finished off, such was my desperation to just WEAR IT (and such was the desperation of those around me no doubt to actually take off and wash my maternity jeans). BUT it fits! And did I mention it has a ZIPPER? It does!

Now to make another. If only that baby would sleep for longer than twenty minutes ...

An abundance of creative spaces here.

Excellent zipper tutorial here. Be prepared it's fast. I needed to watch it about five times before it sunk in but it's a ripper.

p.s. I've been totally CRAP at responding to comments lately ... hmmm I wonder why ... but I whole heartedly appreciate every one. I'll get better at responding. I will. 

boy/s on film

Man it's hard to get a good shot of a newborn baby. Especially when said baby is born during a week long downpour. In winter. Leading to pretty poor light conditions. Add to that baby's compulsion to wee or poo all over the preferred outfit seconds before the photo shoot was to begin.  Sigh. Then enter the addition of a big brother who can't understand why you'd like him to be absent for the shot*.

I think we got there in the end.

* since the photo was to be used as a birth announcement/thank you card and all.