Take one thrifted tablecloth

I bought a beautiful quality tablecloth from Savers measuring 175cm square, so of course, my first instinct was to cut it up and make something out of it that I would actually use :D

TaDa! ... a cool summer dress from a vintage sewing pattern (also bought from Savers).

The pattern is Style 4589, dated 1974 and described as "misses' dress or tennis dress and panties". Don't think I'll be needing the tennis dress and undies anytime soon, but I'm sure that I'll be making the dress again (view 1, the blue dress on the right).

Somehow I always seem to make my summer things in the middle of winter, and have to find warmer accessories so that I can wear them straight away ...

thought that it worked pretty good with the shrug that I made here

... and there is still a lot of tablecloth left :D ...

From drab to ...

... well, pretty fab actually ;D

I joined the online Cut Out and Keep community and found some really good tutes, this one being my favourite so far :)

This project was so quick and easy that I didn't even think to take before shots ... basically, these were old t-shirts (in my bag of

clothes destined for the Goodwill shop), sliced up the middle and threaded with elastic or ribbon, to make awesome shrugs ... really, could it be any easier? I don't think that I'll ever be able to throw away a t-shirt again ... these are so cool :D

Pinnies are back!

I love the practicality of wearing a pinny (apron), but of course, have hated the 'Hilda Ogden' stigma that usually goes with it, so in the past, I haven't bothered.......but.......that's about to change :-)
Now that pinny's are less laughable (oh ok...so maybe my girls will still laugh at me!), I plan to make some more...maybe even matching His'n'Hers :-D
The main fabric was in a pile of black and white fabric oddments from the Op Shop ($1 for a whole bag full).
The piece was just the right size, and even had the border print as part of the fabric. The checkered black and white for the ties and pocket were from my stash, and the black binding, again from an Op Shop sewing notions goody bag :-)
I have enough supplies to make one more (see!...I wasn't kidding about the His'nHers!!)
....modelled photo's to follow ;-D)

A better top for the tube

After trying on my Tube Top with every other top I own (!!), I finally found a combination that I'm happy with. I liked the shrug from my last post, but it is nowhere near as wearable as with my new Rowena...I still need to add straps to the Tube Top so that I don't have to keep 'adjusting' myself, but other than that, I'm now more than happy with it's fit and feel :-)








...like I don't have enough projects started already ;-D...a mindless knitting project was needed this weekend to fit in with some lazy TV watching... (how cool that Captain Jack Harkness was on Doctor Who, after Channel 10 axed Torchwood before the season end,...really, do you think that Channel 10 were even aware that they were buying Doctor Who?! :-D )
After googling to see if there was going to be a second series, I found this program description from the BBC website that really made me laugh: Torchwood will be a dark, clever, wild, sexy, British crime/sci-fi paranoid thriller cop show with a sense of humour - the X Files meets This Life Yep...I think that pretty much covers it!!!...and yes there is a second series with James Marsters guest starring...oh how we miss Spike!
ok...back to my knitting :-D I decided on a mitred square blanket made out of random creamy/beige yarns...they're all different weights and textures, but hopefully, that will be the 'appeal' of the finished blanket...I'm thinking of knitted appliqued flowers to finish it off (I got the Knitter's Bible from the library, which has a really nice leaf/petal pattern in it)...maybe in some pastel pinks, blues and greens...

Don't stop me now.....

...I'm having such a good time...! ...so, this house is certainly starting to look like a knitting factory :-D My Bond knitting machine has been permanently set up for the last couple of weeks (giving all of my hand knitting and other stuff a bit of a holiday!...I will get back to it all, but I'm just having so much fun with the machine right now) :-)
I have been sorting through all of the patterns on my 'wish list', and seeing how easy it would be to adapt them....and so far..so good.
Instead of following the patterns as they are written, and trying to get gauge etc, I found it easier to just make up a similar pattern by looking at the picture, and designing it with my Knitware program. I started with this Rowena cardi from Knit 2 Together by Tracy Ullman and Mel Clark...it's just a really basic pattern (that knitted up in a couple of hours), with a really unique tubular edging that is meant to have ribbon threaded through. I'm doing all of the edgings by hand, which along with the seam sewing, is taking longer than the stocking stitch body!
I've also started the Bobble Rib Flower Pullover from Nicky Epstein's Knitting Over the Edge...I just LOVE this jumper and have been planing to make it for ages...the stocking stitch body is done, other than the flower to be swiss darned (duplicate stitched) onto the front...and then, just the ribbing, which will probably take ages. Not sure yet, but I think I might make it bobble-less...?!

Cheat knitting

I love the successful resurrection of my Bond knitting machine :-)
I do remember now, why I stopped using it all those years ago...I tried to get too adventurous. I figured that if I was going to use a machine to knit, then I wanted it to do everything, including all the ribs and fancy stitches etc...that was my mistake :-( Really, the Bond is a brilliant machine, but it's best feature is it's stocking stitch. By doing all of the stocking stitch on the machine, and all the rest by hand
(fusion knitting) I've got the best of both worlds (and at a very speedy pace!). My girls are calling it 'cheat knitting' ;-D
I tested it out on this basic raglan jumper, using Knitware and the 3 balls of self striping yarn I bought from Big W a few months back.
I found some more knitting software called Wild Stitches
which is due for release on September 1st, so I'm really looking forward to giving that a try :-)
...but in the meantime, I'm re-visiting all of my old knitting books and mags to see which patterns I can convert to the Bond (like I need an excuse to spend hours with my head in knitting books!!)

A brighter day...

...and a better photo!
...and even better still...it's now a finished singlet :-D

Retro Knitting

This is the first time that I've used my Bond knitting machine in about 20 years... (can't believe that it's still in perfect working order!). I figured that an easy camisole/singlet would be a good way to ease back into using it...and so far, so good :-) It's probably a bit longer than I wanted, but once the i-cord straps on, it should be good. One of the problems I had with the Bond before, was trying to find good patterns to make on it, but now that I don't need specific patterns (thanks to my free Knitware program :-D), finding something to knit is as easy as! ... and it is so, so , SO quick :-)

That didn't stop me however, buying this hardback copy of Square Knits by Angela King and Caroline Baker, from the Op Shop!...I remember drooling over this book when it first came out in 1985 (!), but at ten pounds, it was way beyond my budget ... I was more than happy to pay a dollar fifty for it this week though... and with all of the retro fashions in the shops right now, it doesn't even look that out-dated :-)

My Tube Top from Fitted Knits is really easy, and nice to work on...the centre panel has a Rusted Root look about it, but the pattern is a whole lot easier to follow :-) I'm going to add straps to it, not only because I think it'll look better, but also to help keep it up...it's turning out bigger than I imagined, but as I was planning on wearing something underneath it anyway, it shouldn't really matter..(my fingers are crossed!)
*edit* I've just realised that the singlet picture is too dark to see...I'll try taking some better shots this afternoon, now that the sun is out :-)

Still using up my stash

I was trying to hold off starting a new project until my copy of Fitted Knits arrives from Amazon....but y'know what it's like...sometimes you've just gotta knit ;-D
I started this generic top down cardi using some Sean Sheep 100% wool from my stash...I'm using size 15 (us) needles with 3 strands of yarn held together...it's really cold in Adelaide right now, so it needed to be extra thick...it was going to be a sweater, but the wool is a bit scratchy and will probably need an underneath layer of clothes, so a cardi it is :-)
I'm still trying to decide if I like my Tubey/one skein wonder 'hybrid'... so until I know, I've put it on hold for a while....this is where it's at so far:
I also got out my old Bond knitting machine after reading about one on another blog....I've had this Bond for over 20 years, it's survived 5 house moves and one 'other side of the world' move, and has not been used in all that time...well, I managed to find all of the pieces, got it set up, and I even remembered how to use it! It's awesome...and I can't remember why I stopped using it?...the last thing I made was a baby outfit (jumper, leggings, hat) for my daughter (who is now nearly 21!). I even found the pattern book, and showed her what I'd made (ha! she said she would have prefered the pink dress on the next page!!!! I offered to make it for her now, but she thought it might be a tinsy bit small...!!?!!) :-D

Panic over!

Thanks to everybody for your dyelot comments :-) ... I had a hard time trying to decide what to do, so in the end, thought that I would try a few different options, until I found one that I was happy with. I wasn't convinced that it would work well with cap sleeves, but gave it a try anyway, as it was the easiest ... ok, I have to say that I'm really glad that I tried this, as I love the way it turned out (who'd of thought!?!) . It will work great in the summer for airconned buildings :-)
I had enough of the original colour to finish the body and sleeves, and only used the 'off colour' for the i-cord edging and leaf ties (where, I'm pleased to say, that it's no longer noticable). This was my first attempt at an i-cord border, and it is definately my fave part of the whole cardi ... I loved the process of knitting it, and loved the way it turned out :-) I changed the i-cord method from the one in the pattern, to the one in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop ... they are basically the same, but I found EZ's less fiddly.
Ok...on to more Fitted Knits!...(as soon as the postie brings me my parcel from Amazon :-D )

Dye-lot disaster

I was thinking how cute my cropped cardi was looking, until the sun shone through the window and highlighted my two-tone sleeve!!! **insert hammer horror-esque scream here!!**
You can see it pretty clear in the photo...a few centimetres up from the picot facing...shame it wasn't so clear when I was knitting it....
...soooo I guess that 2 lessons have been here
1. the obvious one of course..ALWAYS check dye lots before you buy (yeah, now it's obvious!)
and 2. never change to a new ball whilst sitting in a dimly lit room watching Spicks'n'Specks on tv!!
I don't have any more of the same yarn, so I'm thinking that my best option would be to rip the sleeve back to the underarm, and make them both into cap sleeves with a picot edge to match the bottom..the only different colour then, would be the applied i-cord edge and front ties.
Oh well, it wasn't quite what I had in mind, but at least it'll get a lot of wear in the summer months as a singlet topper :-)

A very Glampyre weekend

After reading the posts on the Fitted Knits Along
I decided that I HAD to order the Fitted Knits book from Amazon...I've been thinking about it for ages and really loved the stuff that I saw on the KAL, so I ordered it at the weekend ... I now have about 3 weeks to wait for the postie :-D
Whilst I was googling the book, I found this free patern from it on the Knitty site...I'm so glad that at least I can still be making something from it while I wait for it to arrive :-)

I also started this blue jumper... I wanted to see how it would turn out, if I started with a One Skein Wonder, and just extended it downwards..kinda like a OSW crossed with a Tubey..?
I'm not sure how (or if!) it'll turn out, but I figured it was worth a try.
...see, I said it was a Glampyre weekend :-)

Dollar skirt!

I tested out my new Bonfit skirt patterner yesterday...All I wanted was a basic, A-line(ish) skirt, with as little detail as poss, and something quick that could be worn today...so here it is!..my VERY basic skirt, made from one metre of fabric that I bought from the Op Shop for a dollar. The fabric had the added bonus of being slightly stretchy, which eliminated the need for any kind of fastening...it has two side seams and a hem at the top and the bottom. I made the waist measurement bigger, so that it would go on easier, and so that once it was on, it would settle more on my hips than waist (fitted waists always make me feel uncomfy, like I've been chopped in half!)
It took less than an hour to make, and fits and feels great :-)
I bought about $20 worth of fifty cent/one dollar fabric whilst I was op shopping ... most of it will have to wait for the summer, but I'm really pleased that there were a few pieces that I can use to make more winter skirts :-)

Warm hands in a flash

I bought a bag of yarn oddments from the op shop for 75c (you'd be right in thinking that I had enough yarn oddments already, but hey, I couldn't pass up such a bargain!). I'm going to try to use it all on winter mittens ... starting with these fingerless ones. The pattern was from here ... it was really quick and easy :-) For my next pair, I'll make them seamless (my seaming doesn't look too brilliant on these ones, but at least it's mainly hidden by my sleeves) ... think I'll also cast on a few less stitches, because I think that these will stretch out a bit more than I want.
I have hardly taken them off yet since I made them...warm hands but with finger freedom...love it!

...it's finished!

I love this Rusted Root :-) As I was knitting it, I wasn't very happy with how the leaf pattern was (or actually wasn't) showing up so good, but now that it's done, the pattern shows great (not in the photos, but it does in 'real life').
The top down construction made this a really easy knit, and the 14 stitches of lacy leaves in each row, meant that I didn't have to be constantly looking at the pattern (although, if you've read my earlier post, you'll already know that I did make a stuff up by not concentrating enough!!). The yarn was from my stash that I bought when Big W was clearing it's shelves of their Sean Sheep range. I can't remember if this was the time when I filled my trolley with the 50c marked down range, or whether it was a few days later when it was down to 20c!... either way, this top took just under 2 balls, so all up it cost me under a dollar, maybe even under 40c!!
I plan on making more of this style top (who wouldn't for 40c!!?!!), it's great for the layered look, and with today being the official start of winter in Aus, layers will definately be the way to go :-)

A Finished Dickie

How easy was this neckwarmer!?! ... and what a really neat alternative to a scarf (just perfect for the start of our Adelaide winter). The pattern is from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Around...the Simple Dickie on page 36. It took hardly any knitting time, and hardly any yarn (I used some Aussie 8 ply, which knits up to about 20 sts x 30 rows on 4mm needles, in stocking stitch). I'm thinking that these would make great little pressies, maybe with some wrist warmers to match...the complete layered sweater look! I would be able to get the complete set out of one 100g ball of yarn...ok, it's on my list :-)
Adrienne at Magic pixie knitter has tagged me :-) (Hi Adrienne!...love your blog!)
OK, these are the rules: I have to list 7 random facts about myself (I've been reading some other people's, and random seems to be the key word here :-D), I then have to tag 7 other bloggers to do the same....still trying to find another 7 that haven't already been tagged, so in the meantime, here are 7 amazing! Linda facts:
1. I have an IMMENSE dislike of tomato ketchup...can't look at it, can't touch it, can't smell it, can't do the dishes after it, and CERTAINLY can't EAT it!!!!...eeeww, quickly onto number 2...
2.I don't own any makeup...not one piece....nope, not even a lippy!
3. I've been married to the same person for the last 24 years :-)
4. I knitted my first sweater from a pattern in primary school (think I was about 11ish)...it had short sleeves, crew neck, a lacey eyelet pattern around the bottom of the body and sleeves, and was purple and pink random stripes (still love my random stripes!)...I think it was going to be purple, but I seem to remember that we didn't buy enough yarn...I must ask my mum if she has any photos of it.
5. Keeping the same theme, I crocheted my first wearable garment about a year later...it was a granny square vest/waistcoat....I started a trend in my class, and within a few weeks, every single girl was wearing one...my friend Karen offered me 50pence to make hers, but my mum wouldn't let me :-( Think Karen enlisted the help of her Nan in the end....Wish that we'd had yearbooks back then, we would have looked soooo good in our class photo!!..ha!...aaaah the 70's!!
6. Triple J is the only radio station that I'll listen to...drives the rest of the household mad :-D
7. My new favourite TV show is Life on Mars....sunday night at 8.30 on the ABC...check it out...it's really cool :-)
Well thats my 7 random facts...totally random, totally useless!!!! :-D Thanks Adrienne, I had fun thinking them up!....I didn't think I could make it to 7, but I ended up with a whole heap to spare :-D

My week in piccies

I'm having heaps of fun making this cardi :-) I'm definately a make things up as I go along, sort of person...things don't always turn out the way I expect, but that's what's kinda good about it :-D

Back to my Rusted Root (yeah!)
I know it looked like I'd given up on it for a while there (and of course, you're right, I had), but I'm back now :-) I put it down because I stuffed up a line in the leaf pattern, and couldn't be bothered undoing it (lazy?..yep, you bet!)

...but, it's all fixed up now, and ready for some serious knitting :-D

I have sleeves...

...and I guess that if don't like the rest of the
cardi when it's finished, at least I've still got a
cool pair of armwarmers :-D

I made a start on the body, shown here with my new reading goodies...I wanted the Vogue Knitting specifically for Elizabeth Zimmermann's baby surplice pattern (there have been some beautiful ones made over on the Zimmermania blog), and The Friday Night Knitting Club was an awesome Mother's Day pressie :-) ...oooh... and, and, and!! ...my Bonfit Skirt Patterner arrived from Ebay :-D
Such excitement!!... what to do first?

More lounging!

I don't think I'm ever going to get fed up with this lounge pant pattern :-)
I made these from the same pattern as my last ones, but made them with a drawstring waist instead of a zip. I figured that putting a zip in them was going to work out too pricey, as most of the zips I looked at, cost more than the actual fabric. The first pair were darted at the front and back waist, so I left the darts out, turned over the top edge to make a casing, made a drawstring from the same fabric, and just threaded it through :-)
There will be more pants to come...!
2paw, the scarf in my last post was just made by decreasing at the start of one row and increasing at the start of the next...I really liked how the fringe was formed, it was as easy as tying on the next colour, and just leaving the ends dangling...It was an easy knit, and I think it looks really effective ... thanks for the comments :-)
Joanm, I'm more than happy to share my favourite op shops with you :-) The bonfit patterner was from the big Salvo's at Christies Beach (go down beach road towards the sea, through the last set of traffic lights, and it's just on your left)...also on beach road, there are at least 3 other op shops, 2 second hand book shops, and a factory direct fabric seconds shop (I think its called Talking Textiles, just past woolies on the left). I also really like the Salvo's at Hallett Cove and the big one just past Coles on Brighton Road. I keep meaning to go to the big car boot sale at Brighton High on sunday mornings, but haven't gotton around to it yet. I agree with you about the wharf markets at the Port, and only go there very rarely now :-) I tend to stick to the south of the city, but I would love to know if there are any other good ones that I'm missing out on :-)

Quilts,quilts,quilts!

I've spent all week working on some quilting UFOs...these 3 quilts have been waiing around forever to get finished (the house one has 2002 appliqued on the top!!)...I don't seem to have made too much progress, but hey, at least I've got them out and done enough to get me enthusiastic again :-)
As you can see in the photo, all 3 are scrap quilts....the double wedding ring was pieced by hand, using the english paper template method (cut out the shapes from freezer paper, iron them onto the back of the fabric, tack the edges over the paper, then whip stitch the fabric pieces together). The house one was machine pieced and hand appliqued (again, over the paper templates), and the star one is machine pieced and surrounded by red and white log cabin blocks.
I 'found' another Bonfit Patterner this week (yay!!...can you see me jumping for joy from where you are?!!) I was SO impressed with my pants patterner that I started looking for the other 2 (skirt and bodice) patterners. No luck yet with the bodice, but I bought the skirt one off ebay :-D Hopefully, it is winging it's way from Tasmania right now....soooo excited!...and just the bodice one to go now :-)
Thanks heaps for the comments about my pants both here and on Wardrobe Refashion...the bonfit system is really clever...you just need to take a few easy measurements (pretty much just waist, hips, crotch) and then slide the patterner pieces along until your measurement appears at the arrow, and tighten the knob to hold it in place..there is a bit of pivoting to do as you're drawing around the tempate, but once you've done it a few times (and watched the video), it's really easy. It took me a couple of attempts, and about an hour, to get it sorted in my head...next time should be as easy as! I dropped the waistline slightly, and shortened the crotch, because I wanted low slung, not waist hugging...to do this, I measured my waist a few centimetres lower than I normally would, and took the shortened crotch measurement from there...easy :-D
Can't wait to get my skirt one!!