Little birds update

Perhaps you’re not on the edge of your seat to find out how my Little Birds red cardi turns out, but I am and want to share my enthusiasm with you!

Knitting is a relaxing hobby for me. I like to take my time with all I do and prefer not to rush to see the final thing. What this means in practice is that real life has more of a chance to get in the way and some projects take me a little while to finish. Cute little birds red cardi is one such project.

This project is particularly dear to me because I had to cut it in half. Yes, you’ve read correctly, I took a pair of scissors to it and just cut it – it’s called steeking and I can assure you that just because there is a proper name for it, it doesn't mean it's not painful to do it! When you spend so much time on a piece, the thought of cutting it can bring tears to your eyes. I thought I’d need vodka to help me through it; turns out all I needed was to lose my patience with not being able to progress until I cut it. So I did. And it was fine!

Whilst I don’t want to rush it, I am determined to wear it (please let it fit me!) this winter! Watch this space.

colour in our home

A home needs colour. It needs a bunch of other things too, especially to be lived in, but colour is an essential thing to me. Happy cheerful colour that makes your heart pop with joy at the sight of it. To me, that home colour is largely red.

I also think that a house should reflect who lives in it and let our personalities shine through the decoration we choose. Our house came with nice furniture, perfect to sit quietly in the background and be brought to life by colourful personal touches.

I already had a red ottoman pillow and wanted something to go with it. I used fabric from my stash and sewed the cushions above in my new (and yet to be organised) studio. I love them. They make our house feel like a home, feel like our home, and I love them for it.

the story of a tunic

As my sewing improved, I wanted to venture in the exciting world of dressmaking. I have booked myself onto a course but it’s only in the Autumn and although I’m sure it will still be very useful, I really could not wait that long to give it a go. And there’s something very special in trying something new without having learnt it before… I believe it’s called a challenge!

One Friday afternoon, I sat in Waterstone’s Costa with a bunch of dressmaking books in front of me.
I fell in love with three and brought two home, thank you Michael for the contribution. The minute I set eyes on the tunic in this book I knew this would be my first project. It just felt right and I clearly believe in *love at first sight* projects. Small setback though – this book helps you design your own patterns and that would be a step (or several) too far for me at this stage, so… I needed to find a tunic pattern that resembled the one in book. I did.

Meet Simplicity 5197 6 easy tunic patterns, View D. It has raving reviews throughout the sewing community and was described as easy to follow, make and adapt (thinking ahead, peeps, thinking ahead!). Could I ask for anything better?

Tunic love

:: The fabric and how cool it looks on.

:: The well-thought out details.
:: How comfy it feels.

Tunic dislikes

:: I didn’t get the sleeves quite right. From reading the dressmaking book above, sleeves are tricky things to attach to the main body and in spite of all my reading I still couldn’t avoid a bit of ruffling. I assume my technique will improve with time and experience, as I have done all the steps to avoid this… probably just not very well. Such is life.
:: I think that while the tunic is lovely and comfy and very flattering on the neckline, the waistline could be better. I cannot work out if this is how it’s meant to look or if it’s due to my sewing or pattern tracing abilities (or lack of). Or if my body covers two different sizes pattern sizes and I should reflect this on my traced pattern. I guess I’ll find out as 1. I learn more about dressmaking; and 2. sew more of these tunics.

Thoughts on the pattern (view D)

Overall: I like it. It gave me a cute wearable tunic.

Pros

:: Simplicity knows how to write patterns for newbies. The instructions are very clear and really well explained so I felt I could do it and I did.
:: The pattern is so well written that includes all the little tips I found in the dressmaking book to ensure best look, including how to tackle the sleeves in order to not get the ruffles I end up getting anyway (all fiascos in that department are my doing).
:: The tunic details are lovely and really add to the final garment’s look.

Cons

:: Neckline: according to my Mother, it’s too conservative. Her daughter agrees.
:: Adding interfacing to the sleeves ads a bit of unnecessary weight to them, in my opinion.

What I would change in a future tunic from this pattern

:: I would make the neckline a bit deeper and a tad bit wider, turning it into a more obvious V-neck.
:: I would leave the interfacing out of the sleeves, I’m sure this would make them lighter and overall nicer. I would then finish the sleeves as you do the bottom hem.
:: I would look more carefully into this waistline bagginess. Is it meant to be like this? What’s causing it? And then fix it.

Do I recommend it?

Most definitely!


P.S. - The photos... well, they have a story of their own really. I left it to the very last day, it was grey, I felt grey (and lazy!), I had just washed my hair the wind was blowing. I also need to work on the pose, it's so unfair on the garment that I look like I'd rather be doing something else... like knitting!

::inspiring Mondays::

It rained here today. And there was thunder too. And a bit more rain, just in case we had forgotten all about it. Nothing like a good rainy Monday to get some blogging done and some curling up on the sofa with a cup of tea watching Big Bang Theory. If you can add a cat or two into the mix, even better!

I had an eventful weekend. I finished THE tunic and... it fits me. It really does. There are improvements to be made and lessons to be learned, but until I write that post I'll just enjoy this feeling that comes from having sewn a garment. It's a great AWESOME feeling, even if I can't quite explain why. It just is!

Nicky did a half-marathon, just a small (or not!) milestone in his path to a full marathon in October. There was a small fan club who got up at 5:30am on a Sunday to cheer him on (and sleep in the car or on the grass) and photograph the occasion. Currently, Nicky is the responsible person for all my recent achievements (which do not include a half-marathon yet) and it was good to see that pushing me along has not fully compromised his more serious training.

My baby cousin (almost nephew) turned one this Saturday. A full year of missing yet another person, however mini. And what an opportunity to realise how love is such an elastic thing and how distance matters very little in these things of the heart. It was also a fantastic chance for me to learn I'm becoming a softy; his father, my cousin, nearly brought me to tears over the phone just by saying my absence was sorely felt. I used to be tougher than this!

Almost forgot... inspiring today? All of the above. With a bit of sunshine. And the rain, the grass really needed it. I mean, this country is green for a reason!

Hope you're having a brilliant July and that this Monday is just one more of those fabulous days :)

cute fabric for a cute project

I sew. I would like to say I sew a lot, but sadly that wouldn’t be true. I sew a fair amount though, and a variety of items from bags to aprons to dolls to puffs, my current favourite! I’ll sew pretty much anything I fancy or I’m asked to, but… I have never ever sewn clothes.

In 2010 (or was it 2011), I had a new year resolution to make myself a skirt. Turns out new year resolutions were boo and that never happened. This year I’m setting monthly goals which is really working for me; as a result, July seems to be the month which will see me sew my first piece of (hopefully) wearable clothing.

A Friday evening at the bookshop and I came home with two books. I knew which item I’d sew first before I left the shop - a tunic. That Saturday I found the adorable fabric above and it was magic! Even though my original plan was to use a light coloured fabric, the minute I saw those white flamingos on navy… Yep, you know what happened!

Let the fabric cutting begin!

Little birds

My current big knitting project is a sweater made from the Little Birds pattern by Ysolda Teague.

I have knitted Ysolda's hat Gretel several times and it's without a doubt my favourite hat pattern. The Little Birds pattern had caught my eye ages ago but my knitting skills needed a bit of consolidating before I could tackle such a difficult-to-me project. The time as now come when I feel confident in knitting this. Slowly, if need be, but steadily and excitedly.  

Reading other users' Ravelry notes for the pattern, Little Birds looked perfect as yet another big learning experience as far as knitting goes. So far it has not disappoint. I'm incredibly grateful for Ravelry and notes from experienced users though, I wouldn't be coping with the instructions otherwise. 

My chosen colours were love at first sight. Let the needles begin!

a coloured hat

I knitted this colourwork hat* ages ago but only now did it make it into a post. Oddly, I don't want to write about knitting, I want to write about just doing things. 

When I started knitting this hat, I didn't know how to do colourwork. I had no clue. My aunts, who are my knitting gurus, had never done colourwork and... they live in Portugal. What was I to do? As one of my aunts put it, you read the pattern really slowly and you do exactly what it says. Really? Is it really that simple? Hum... kinda, yeah! 

From my experience, it worked. Everything else fit into that slow reading. How to hold the yarn, how to swap colours, how to do a cast-on I'd never done before... it all just worked from reading. Yes, everything else works itself when you just go for it! Sometimes, we need a little reminder of what we can do when we do it, and this hat is just that.

*pattern here

Back to sewing

Last weekend marked my sewing come back. Not that I was away for long, just a few months, but the reason it's so important is that I had wanted to finish this design for a while now and it's finally done.

I'm happy with it. I'm ecstatic I've designed and created it! I had a very big push from Little Brother who believed in me for both of us. To now see it done and looking good is very rewarding.

Now onto the next phase...

Little green cowl

This yarn had been waiting to jump on the knitting needles for ages, pretty much since the day this ever so soft green yarn threw itself at me in the wool shop!

This cosy small cowl took me less than four hours to knit. It has garter stitch edges and stockinette stitch for the main bit. It was knit in the round and I used no pattern, it's that simple.

Cowl :: I love it! It's cosy and warm and happy.

Yarn :: Manos del Uruguay. Gorgeous colour and softness. I recommend it.

lace socks for Joey

Finally! Started in August 2010, sock no 1 finished in September 2010, sock no 2... February 2013. Yes, it is official, I suffer from Second Sock Syndrome! This condition affects a significant number of knitters and the Joey is one of them. Now that this is recognised, I can aim to do better next time... yes, I can.

The socks :: I love them! The socks are ever.so.pretty and comfy and soft. 

Yarn :: The yarn is amazing. I love the softness and colour.

Pattern :: It's the "Evening Stockings for a Young Lady" from Knitting Vintage Socks. It is simply wonderful (like all patterns from the book, really!). And with a name like that, I just had to knit it!

Changes :: Well... quite embarrassingly, the socks don't reach my knees as they should. So I would definitely add a few more rows to the leg bit to ensure they were just perfect. If I were to ever knit this pattern again. Hum... 

new scarf

Finished, my first lace project, started in October 2010 *insert mild embarrassed face here*. This is the year where all those WIP projects make their way to completion, one at a time. 

I'm loving this scarf, it's sooo comfy and soft and warm. I just want to snuggle up with it!

The up side of waiting so long to complete this project is that I realised how much my knitting has improved in the last two years! Yay me!

saturday in the house

Sewing curtains... ah, how I did not miss this. A full day on the floor, measuring, folding, ironing, pinning, hand sewing, more ironing, always the floor. Several BBC News, Poirots and Miss Marples later, we're almost there. As I sew along I say never ever again ever ever... but then the finished thing stares back at me, so pretty and calm and made by me and I know one day, one day, I'll fall in this trap once more... 

Positives: PJ day, yay! And coffee ice cream guilt-free as a small treat to myself, another yay!

::inspiring Mondays::

I had an amazing weekend in Bristol. I was myself and a bit of a new me who can wear red lipstick and have fun with it. I laughed and chatted and knitted and barely did any photography but that was ok too. I had a lovely lunch at Harvey Nichols and curry and pizza and mojitos and white wine, not all in one go. I watched the Grand Prix and could not believe how exciting it finally got! It was about time F1 people! Indeed I had an amazing weekend and coming back to the real world this Monday was not a problem because of that. And because Ascot is this weekend and I have lovely visitors.

I want to sew a red and white quilt. I already have most of the fabric and one day I will do it. And love it. This reminds me I am still crocheting a blanket and have been for the last 4 years...hum... yes... There is no hurry, it's the beauty of it! On the topic of handmade, I have finished this red hat... see above!

:: girly weekend in Bristol. thanks Julie and Leanne ♥

:: mojitos ♥ 

:: cats. even if other people's cats.

:: water. blimey it is good!

:: cardigan knitting. pure lush.

:: on time trains.

:: no rain today. well, just a bit, early.

:: Ascot!

:: M is visiting. yay!

:: cousin is visiting. yay!

:: red lipstick. it actually looks good. it does!

Hope you're having an amazing beginning of the weekend. The weekend is almost here :)

::inspiring Mondays::

Unfortunate Monday fact: I forgot to set the weekly alarm. That meant 30 minutes of a very relaxing extra sleep, a 2 minute panic after I woke up relaxed and happy and wondered why as it should be Monday and should be feeling it, followed by the most productive 28 minutes of my life so I could get out the door on time and looking decent. I guess this morning hiccup begs the question of why the hell I need the other 30 minutes in the morning... Think it is to keep my stress levels low, but I'll revisit that thought...

:: a relaxing plan-free weekend

:: sunshine. sunshine. sunshine. even if it is cold.

:: knitting club and seeing the fair isle hat growing. and a bit more at home over more coffee.

:: 37 minute run. 5k. only need to go to 10k now. progress.

:: sunshine.

:: new bathroom towel sets, one red, one torquoise. simple. happy.

:: sorted photos from September. and February. and this weekend. almost there now.

:: sunshine.

:: played with a 70-300mm lens, only to decide it's not for me. it was very useful though. and good fun.

:: 21 minute run. 3k. keeping at it.

:: sunshine.

:: no rain.

:: it is no longer last week.

:: ending with sunshine.

And those are the things that made this Monday worthwhile. Carefully selected happy memories sprinkled with the promise of a better week than the last one. For sometimes that's all happiness is... hope.