Challenges

I promised myself I would not knit anything new until I had finished my Titanic Sweater.  But - broken promise - I just had to cast on some beautiful Manos yarn and challenge myself to knit a short sleeved sweater in a week.

I failed at that too.  Although it's nearly finished, I just need to decide how I am going to finish off the neck but I got diverted by the Twitter Food Challenge.

This is not a national sport, nor even some new twitter hash tag but something between friends.  On Sunday when my friend Lizzie Speller tweeted...

@TheFlowerFarmer @Bosleypatch We need to ask @cehopkins2. When in Greece she has proved herself to be ice cream inventor to the gods.

I had to find out what they were talking about and respond, they were talking about  BAKLAVA FLAVOURED ICE CREAM true food of the Gods if there ever was such a thing

Now The Flower Farmer and Bosley Patch are wizard gardeners and usually have better, horticultural things to chat about but  Lizzie and I often tweet about food.  Perhaps this is because we spend a fair amount of our time trying to avoid it when hoping to fit into THAT DRESS.  But Lizzie and I also spend a couple of weeks in Greece every year, and while we are there we eat a lot of baklava (Lizzie also eats what she calls tiny apple turnovers too but that is another thing).

And drink iced coffee (why does cold instant coffee with lots of sugar and milk froth taste good on holiday but wouldn't pass ones lips at any other time?)  Once I made ice cream with oranges from Lizzie's garden, plus eggs, sugar and Greek yogurt.  So I suppose I could make baklava flavoured ice cream.

THE (approximate) RECIPE

• Chop a couple of handfuls of walnuts or pecans add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and toss in melted butter and honey till slightly caramelised.  Leave to cool
• Whisk two whole eggs and the rest of half a jar of honey (what's left from caramelising  the nuts) in a bowl over simmering water until it becomes a thick foam.  Leave to cool
• Beat about a cup of double cream till thick and stir in a cup of full fat Greek yogurt
• fold all the ingredients in together (keeping back a small amount of the chopped nuts).  Taste, it should be sweeter than you think necessary as some of the sweetness goes when the ice cream is frozen
• Freeze - turning over a few times with a fork to stop crystals forming - eat while still soft set.
• Meanwhile make filo baklava wafers.  
• Lay out two sheets of filo pastry and brush with some of the butter and honey mixture left from caramelising the nuts.  
• Cut each sheet into two lengthwise and place a small scattering of the nuts on one end.  Fold up like samosas into triangular parcels, makes 4
• cook at 200 deg C for 5-10 mins (just watch till they are nicely browned)
• cool and cut each triangle in two

EAT AND ENJOY

xx

c

PS - This led to a small twitter debate.  Who can lay claim to the recipe?  The one who had the idea or the one who made it work (Daedalus or the Wright brothers).  What do you think?

   

Crochet Workshop - Review

I have reviewed books by Erika Knight from Quadrille before so this time I have decided not to dwell on the beautiful presentation, the mat paper and very fine photography by Yuki Sugiura, let's take that as read (Quadrille books are pretty much all highly desirable for their beauty alone) and cut to the nitty gritty.

Crochet Workshop  is for beginners and as I can crochet granny squares but before reading this book had no idea how to read a crochet pattern, I feel I am a good person to try it out.  I really like the clear line drawings,

and the stitch library has lots of ideas for textures I had never seen before, with the standard chart symbols for the stitch alongside

I took the book to knitting group last night, where there are at least two expert crocheters .  There was all the usual cooing over how beautiful the book is and - yes they loved its elegant neutral colour palette.  But we were not quite so enthusiastic about some of the projects.  I think it is fair to say that there are so many good things to say about crochet, its simplicity, the comforting association with our grannies, the way we can use up all sorts of scraps and how a piece of work is perfect to fit into a corner of our bags for long journeys, but the problems arise when thinking what to make.  Throws, cushions and shawls, yes but actual clothing, not so sure.  Erika Knight has come up with some very innovative designs but none of us could quite see ourselves wearing the Asymmetrical Cardigan or the Edgy Scarf.

But there is still plenty of goodness in there, Cathy thought she would like to make the Slipper Boots and we all wished we had a dog so that we could make the Rag Pet Bed.  And we agreed we loved the Texture Throw

For my try out project I had lots of fun using some Habu cotton left-overs and pearl buttons to make the Daisy-Chain Necklace, it took no time to make, just a couple of evenings

It is a little light and prone to tangle (maybe it would have hung better if I had used the stated yarn) and my Biba lamp is more likely to wear it than me but I think it looks very fine where it is.

Quite often when I see a new book I leap into the projects first imagining all the pretty things I will make but this book (published this month at £16.99) is much stronger on the technical aspects of the craft, ideal for a novice like me.

xx

c

At the halfway point

Its high time I posted about knitting again.  I have got so immersed in sewing (and I'm dying to tell you about my latest acquisition but I shall have to save that till another day) I have neglected to chat about knitting.  But I have still been working hard behind the scenes on my Titanic related knitting project

After some swatching I decided on using the two shades of pink in the Debbie Bliss Pure Silk for the lozenge pattern.  I like the different textures as well as the colour contrast.

As you know I have no pattern for this, only a good photograph from Vintage Fashion Knitwear by Marnie Fogg.  I am trying to keep to the way I think the sweater is constructed, which is not the way of modern patterns, but also I am looking at ways of streamlining the process.  I have no technical skills for creating knitting patterns, I rely on keeping to the tension of my swatch for measurements and otherwise a 'suck it and see' (or knit it and rip it) approach.  And for time to time pinning out what I have made and seeing if it looks anything like the shape I have in my mind's eye.

I knitted the front and back peplums separately first on their own they look like nothing on earth.

But things are now taking shape

Having knitted the peplums and crochet a row of eyelets along the top I began the main body knitting up from the bottom of the sleeve, This time I have knitted the bell cuff continuous with the sleeve and made the eyelets by the yfwd k2tog method.  I am going for dolman sleeves, hoping the inc1 each end of every knit row will give me the necessary ease for the armhole.  There is another row of eyelets across the yoke, so that I can get some ease in I am knitting the front and back separately then the yoke, I will hand sew the yoke in to get the ease.

At the moment I intend to knit the sweater in two halves casting off with the 3 needle method on the right side centre front and centre back but if that does not look right I will graft it like the toe of a sock.  All the edges are then finished off with several rows of DC.

I am note taking as I go along but I also change my mind a lot!

xx

c

museum treasure

Anyone exploring Dorset with small children will know about the dinosaurs.  Known as the Jurassic coast, in the 19th century it was not unknown for fossil hunters to find (and plunder) entire dinosaur bones poking out of the cliff after a land fall.  In the county town Dorset there is a great little dinosaur museum, but there is also a gem of a county museum

Victorian Hall

Now I'm not expanding into museum promotion, although the eagle eyed of you will have noticed I have changed my by-line a little by adding (and other stuff) I am not extending my repertoire  that far.  Rather in the town museum I came across treasure that linked to my current enthusiasm, the great Titanic sew-a-long led by the wonderful vpll1912  The collection is small but contains four or five century's worth of clothing cast offs from the citizens of the county.  Because old cloth is so fragile and light sensitive the collection is rotated and how lucky was I to find on the day I went that they were showing off their Edwardian collection?  Titanic gold!

Black Ascot 1910

In 1910 the King had died just before Ascot, all the occupants in The Royal Enclosure wore full mourning, the meeting was known as The Black Ascot.  It is not inconceivable that one or two of those strolling the Royal Enclosure would be travelling first class on the Titanic two years later.

In the passenger list were agricultural workers from Dorset and the surrounding counties of Somerset and Hampshire.  I could imagine they may have gazed into this shop window on the High Street or one very similar in their local town.

Evans hatters in Dorchester High Street

Any agricultural worker travelling third class to a new world with new opportunities would most certainly have worn a sun bonnet, like one of these, when working in the fields or walking into town on market day.

Sunbonnets

Would they have packed them in hopeful anticipation of walking in their own corn fields in the mid-west?

Gloves and...

parasols

(No lady would have been seen without them on a sunny day)

Loved the...

fans

evening bags

and the...

I have just bought some pleated fabric like the cream on the left to trim my ladies' mantle (coming up soon)

I found it so poignant reading all the small details  in Titanic Lives by Richard Davenport-Hines, the possessions they took with them on that fated journey, their back grounds and their family relationships.  If anyone took a sewing machine with them, as some women surely did, it will still be at the bottom of the ocean together with so many other private possessions, known to be useful of believed to be beautiful. 

like one of these (possibly)

No 1st class gentleman would travel without it

Hats certainly wanted on voyage

I could have stayed longer but my companions had finished looking at the geological exhibits (and the Romans) and Thomas Hardy's study and were ready for tea.

xx

C

hand sewing inspiration

Titanic #6 A dress for a ittle girl

The fascination for vintage children's clothes is a little like the interest in vintage underwear.  While there is so much information about what the grander people in society wore less is known about what they wore underneath, much less what the children wore.  Although you can see from portraits that for much of history children wore a cut down version of what was worn by their parents, I often wonder how the little infanta could play when wearing all that stuff, very beautiful but oh so restricting.

But by the beginning of the 20th century still the clothing was nothing like as free and comfortable as it is today it was certainly more relaxed.

So this dress from the Vintage Pattern Library 1912 project was a perfect chance for me to learn a little about how children's clothes were made a hundred years ago.  I chose a soft cotton gingham with plain lawn for the contrast and, as an extra, some multicoloured polka dot from my quilting stash for the piping (I found some spotty buttons too!).

Making it to fit my Little Model I needed to reduce the chest size from 24" to 20".

So many pattern pieces! Slashed and lapped at two points on each piece to avoid the bodice becoming disproportionate.  When I made pretty much all my children's clothes quite a few years ago, I wanted to make them smart and attractive but also FAST - after all no point spending weeks making something if the child grew faster than I could sew.  This pattern is not a fast make, there are so many small details.  I decided to bind as many of the edges as possible.

The yoke with a bias trim and a second piece called a chemisette set above the main bodice up to the bias bound neck did not work out right first time around.

No matter how much I steamed and pulled and pressed it would not lie down flat. I cut it apart, remade the chemisette and this time stretched the lower seam as I sewed and things went a little smoother.  I chose not to use lace for the chemisette and under sleeve.

I closed the back with press studs and a hook at the waist sewn to a placket made with more of the bias trim

I loved making the little button and loop trim (bias strips again, folded into a mitre and fixed on with the button)  despite there being so many of them!

Of all the pieces that I had to fit together, the sleeves were the most tricky.  If I found the crown of the sleeve and matched it to the shoulder seam I was left with just too much fullness on one side of the shoulder seam and nothing on the other.  And were the underarm seams on the sleeves supposed to match the side seams on the bodice?  I  needed a balance point on the sleeve pattern to correspond with the shoulder seam and another to indicate where to match the underarms.  What I should really have done is make a muslin!

On reflection I should have done this *

• Calculate the balance point on the crown of the sleeve as exactly half way between the small circles which denoted the limits of the sleeve head gathering. 
• Taken a long look at the bodice and decide where to put the under arm sleeve seam (point #96) I now think it should be somewhere towards the front about 1" up the curve of the arm hole on the front yoke match point 89.

 The instructions were clear but I would suggest the following modifications**

• Cuff Bands - the instructions are to cut 2 pieces 10" x 2" this is just too short I cut mine 11" but you would get away with 10 1/2
• At Point 4 I would suggest the bias trim needs to be stretched and eased in to prevent little pleats forming at the neck

If anyone is redrafting the pattern I would suggest numbering a sleeve crown balance point 81 to correspond with the same numbers on the shoulder seams of the yoke and marking a new balance point about 1" up from point 89 on the curve of  armhole on the front yoke

I also felt that the upper bodice was too long, it had to be  gathered on to the lower edge of the bodice lining, together with the skirt.  But this achieved too flouncy an overhang, not like the illustration at all.  I realised (too late!) that I had not reduced the width of the skirt to match the reduction in the bodice which accounted for the extra flounciness but that still did not explain how instead of gently falling to the belt it covered the belt completely. ***I suggest that if the lower bodice is cut 1 1/2" only longer than the bodice lining it will look more like the illustration.

But the Little Model loved it and posed very cutely on a rocking horse to show it off

Then I had an idea how I might make a modern version for wearing today.  I dispensed with the bodice lining and the skirt section.  I cut two each of the front and back yoke to sandwich and cover the gathers from the lower bodice and fixed the skirt flounce with the contrast band trim directly to the lower bodice.  I made little cap sleeves from an ellipse shaped piece of fabric folded in two sandwiching the raw edges around the arm holes and between the two layers of the front yoke.

It looks so different but apart from the sleeves the only difference is the loss of one tier in the skirt (no need for a belt either).  In fact I think the original will be very wearable if I just remove that layer in it too.

And here's the science bit

VPLL Checklist

1. Pattern Name - #0501 Girls Dress March 10, 1912
2. Sewer’s Skill Level: Advance
3. Pattern Rating:  3 – Good/Average, to score a 4 it needed the balance points mentioned at * above and for a 5 the lower bodice length needs sorting out
4. What skill level would someone need to sew this pattern and why? Advance - the sleeves were tricky and the neckline only for the brave
5. Were the instructions easy to follow? yes  but see ** above for my suggestions for some small improvements
6. How was the fit/sizing? Did it correspond to what you thought? Yes - my model is very slim and not yet 3, but this size would be fine for an average 3-4 year old.  The big problem on fit/sizing is the excessive overhang on teh lower bodice, I suggest a modification at *** above
7. Did you make any pattern alterations? If so, what alterations did you make? Where they fit or design alterations? - I made fit alterations as mentioned above
8. Other notes: I was very pleased with the modern take on the pattern

xx

C

only two button loop trims on the modern version

A sweater is not just for Christmas...

I have a lovely friend who is sometimes referred to as Dirk Gently.  He was not so much named after DG as he inspired the creation of DG (but that is a story for another time and is his story not mine).  It all started with a predilection for hats.  But my friend goes further he loves all fine clothes - not finery, that is altogether different, but clothes that are cut well and made of the best schmutter.  He has jackets of the softest woollen cloth, creamy linen shirts, loakes and beautiful hats.  And on the whole he cherishes his clothes.  On one occasion I arrived at his house for Saturday lunch to find the kitchen table set with hats.  There were fedoras, homburgs, panamas and the odd Australian bush hat.  He was brushing them all in a strange Saturday morning ritual - he said it helped preserve them.  Fine clothes are not about fashion they are about style and with care they improve with age.  Unless, that is, they are made of the softest cashmere and you don't pay attention to them.  DG has recently had a woolly, cashmere tragedy.

A moth had taken more than a small snack from DG's beautiful Bamford gilet.  It is very easy if you spill a tiny speck of your supper on your black sweater, the one that must either be dry-cleaned or labouriously hand washed and dried flat,  to sponge it carefully till no sign of supper is left and think, job well done.  But it may not be.  Microscopic food particles on wool are like ketchup on chips for clothes moths.  Paying attention to cashmere means actually washing or dry cleaning often, whether you think it needs it or not. 

This sort of damage is tricky to repair.  You can't sew up the hole and old fashioned darning will leave a patch, like an ugly yarn raft sitting over the hole.  You also need to match the yarn for weight, fibre content and colour.  It took quite some googling to find black 100% cashmere in single ply but I found these 'cone ends' left over from some commercial production

Any knitter will know that you can never have too much yarn and although I only actually needed about five metres of the black (second from the left) I already have 101 ideas for using up the rest.  Top of the list is this.

So turning on the radio and a strong light I settled myself on the sofa  to knit a small patch and sew it in as invisibly as possible. I picked up about 20 stitches from below the hole and knitted until the patch was big enough to cover the damage. It curled into a tube as I knitted, as stocking stitch will do

The radio programme I was listening to was oddly appropriate, about a charismatic plastic surgeon Archie McIndoe who during World War 2 treated the terribly burned airmen who fought in the Battle of Britain .  One of his pioneering surgical procedures was the pedicle graft, (don't click on the link if you are not prepared to see some pretty serious stuff about some very brave men) . It occurred to me that what I was knittting was not so very different from a pedicle, grafted top and bottom and temporarily curly in the middle.  I fixed the top end of my graft using something similar to the method for weaving together sock toes (sometimes called Kitchener Stitch).  The sides were just stitched parallel to the stitches in the sweater

After this the sweater had a long soak in Eucalan and when dry and the patch brushed it is almost invisible

I chose the title for today's blog because DG knows a lot about dogs, well one dog in particular upon whom he lavishes quantities of love, attention and home cooked meals.  A cashmere sweater is not as demanding as a dog but... well... nearly

xx

c

silky dilemma - frogs and mods

Although I did talk about finishing my silky vintage cardigan a week or so ago there have been a few problems.

Firstly the button band was floppy.  Well of course silk is floppy but the pattern called for knitting the button band at the same time as the main body of the work.  This meant that although the ribbing was mainly knitted in 3mm needles and the body in 3.75mm the button band had also to be knitted with 3.75mm.  So it flopped and the button holes sagged.  I solved that one with backing the band with grosgrain ribbon. But there is a bigger problem.  I just can't get the neck to sit elegantly.

Either it shows too much of the workings

Or it is too high for comfort (and style)

And while I like it sitting just like this...

it quickly flops back to version 1.  It's not that I  dislike the contrast, although I am willing to admit to there being other opinions on contrasting colours for linings, I quite like it.  No its the way the neck sits and the way it shows a not-very-elegant-inside.

So what should I do?  As I see it there are four options

1. Wear it as it is, never button it up and readjust constantly (I think that is a bit of a shame after dressing and a quick check in the mirror, I like to forget about my clothes and it is so silky soft it is one of the few cardigans I actually could wear without a shell top underneath)

2. Frog the fronts to midway between the second and third buttons and knit a new lower neck line (too sad, could I bear it?)

3.  Steek it, machine the neckline profile I want, cut and knit a new neck band (too risky)

4. Unpick the i-cord bind off on the neck, knit on a double thickness neck band and rever facings.  This would cover the back-stage elements and have it as a collarless rever opening (may be too bulky)

I'd love to know what you think.

When I have solved the problem I will write up a modern set of instructions and post a pdf on ravelry

xx

c