52 Weeks, 50 Items

I started my last blog post with this paragraph:

I've spent the year studying my brains out, and Facebooking rather than blogging. But I have realised, now that hectic year is over, that I have been doing things I have been proud of all year, that could be recorded more systematically. Hence the fresh start - 52 Weeks, 50 Things. I'm going to post things that I accomplish that I am proud of. It may include items made, mended, repurposed, altered to fit, or even written. This is actually the start of Week Three of my plan, but that's the next post.

It's now Week 5. I probably won't actually finish anything this week, as although I have knitted most of one sock, I'm in Adelaide for a few days now to attend a friend's wedding, and it's unlikely that I will complete the pair!

But:

Week 1, Item 1

I so rarely get my act together to actually mend something that for the purposes of this next year, mending is going to count. These were brand new jeans, torn when George rescued my disintegrating suitcase a couple of months ago as it fell apart on the way home from - actually, Adelaide. That was a mid-semester break. Now I'm here for a wedding. I love Adelaide but I must admit that I don't normally visit quite so frequently! So I had a good go at 'darning' these jeans. I must say I am moderately proud of the result. I never darn, for a start. And it is actually damn near invisible - I lightening the photo so that you can see the stitching, but in real life both cloth and thread are a very deep, dark black.

Item 2, Week 2

A nightshirt for George. Embarrassingly, despite having measured him carefully, I then went and carelessly cut out the largest size, which is at least one size too big. I had also carefully measured the extra needed to add to the pattern to turn it from a Tshirt to a nightshirt - and then carelessly made it much too long. It is however comfortable. It also was the first time I'd made a whole thing on my sewing machine in about nine months. It also reminded me that I hate, hate sewing jersey. Yes, I used a ballpoint needle. And an appropriate stitch. And I still hated doing it. And yes, the photo is blurry. Everything hates me, too :)

Week 3, Item 3

Socks for George. Patonyle, the usual generic toeup pattern that I generally use. He loves them. They were pleasant to knit.

Week 4, Item 4

Tubular socks knitted in Woolmeise sock wool. Boring, boring boring. For someone who is very sensitive about how things feel on his feet, therefore made tubular to avoid arguments about size - because no size is ever 'right' for him.

I suspect by the end of Week 6 I may have finished the socks I am currently working on. But then production of things needs to speed up as I have some small Christmas things to knit.

And I intend to make myself some summer dresses. All of the above have been for other people, which is fun, but I have so much fabric and a renewed desire to sew.

For the next few days, however, I intend to enjoy Adelaide and the wedding of my friend. And eat and drink till I burst.

2014 and Stuff

Looking back over the last year I realise that I haven't done a lot of things that resulted in Finished Objects. Slow and happy crafting beat rapid gratification.

Oddly this seems to be the only pair of socks I have knitted this year. Could that be true? It's the only photo I can find, anyway. I think it was with a New Zealand sock wool. I call them Clown socks but I can't remember if that was the actual name of the colourway or not. I didn't even get round to putting them on Ravelry. For George, who wears them regularly.

Now this is on Ravelry. It took a VERY LONG TIME. Hence the reference to slow knitting! It finally got finished on holiday in the middle of the year. It is so fine that it fits through my wedding ring - which wasn't intentional but is a good party trick.

This is also on Rav. I haven't worn it yet, as I finished it just before Christmas and it hasn't been cold enough since then, but I look forward to getting the chance. It is greener/bluer than in the photo, which accentuates the purple which is in there but is less dominant in real life - it was very hard to photograph.

As well as slow knitting, I have been embracing slow cooking. Some of the slow cooking is actually quite fast cooking, but I'm using the term to mean more emphasis on fresh ingredients and home cooking and a lot less on processed food and lazy shortcuts. (Using a barbeque is the sort of the shortcut that I consider to be smart not lazy!) Most nights dinner is barbequed protein with salad and nuts. No, we have not gone paleo, and bread or potatoes feature with some of these meals. Risottos, simple Asian dishes with rice, the occasional couscous salad all get a look in from time to time too. The winter saw many hearty casseroles/pot roasts.

There were also holidays.

To Adelaide, where we saw in the New Year at the Hilton, and visited the Hans Heysen museum among other places, where I photographed this plant.

To the Gold Coast over Easter.

During the winter, a trip to Central and South Australia taking in Coober Pedy, Alice Springs and ending up back in Adelaide again.

And then a week in Merimbula to wind down in December.

Most of the year was spent studying for my first year of a Bachelor of Letters at Monash University. I studied Medieval and Renaissance History, and two literature subjects. This year I am doing all literature, a total of six subjects, and I cannot wait! And this year I will try to blog a bit about my studies instead of leaving the blog lonely for months at a time.

Trip to Northwest and Central Australia

It's the first time I tried to do this, but click here and see if it gives you a slide show of my recent holiday. It takes you to my Google+ page and then you will see a thing with the post title - click on that. I think.

Edited to add - click on the picture with lots of blue sky in it, on the left hand side of the page. NOT the blog post bit.

Me-Made-June Whenever It Was...

I have been a bad blogger.  I did finish Me-Made-June without any duplications, though I only made one item instead of two.  But I haven't felt like blogging recently.  Now ... I'M BAAACCKKKK...

Because it was a while ago, I can't remember which day I wore these things, but I did have them marked down as the last week of MMJ so here goes.



Good old Entre Chien et Loup!

This brooch was part of my Graduate Exhibition for my Diploma.  This is a shocking picture!  I take terrible pictures of my work :(  It was part of a set called Full Fathom Five and is meant to look like coral and seaweed and pearls (those are seed pearls that were his eyes!)

This cowl is the one I blogged about earlier and, because it took me an unneccessarily long time to finish it, counts as the one thing I made in June, to wear in June.  It is the Tilting Tardis cowl from Revelry (too lazy to look up) made from a Wendy sock yarn that is mostly bamboo and is silky and soft.  It is meant to be buttoned up.  When I was sewing in the ends I used them to sew up the seam without thinking, and then, as I could get it on over my head, just left it be!

A ubiquitous Clapotis of much Knitty and bloggy fame.  I made mine longer and narrower to wear it as a scarf.  It is one of the few things I have ever knitted in the recommended yarn, splashing out of Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb, if that;s what it's called?  Anyway it is utterly luscious and I wear it a lot.

A pair of Jaywalker socks knitted in , I think, a Regia wool-cotton blend.  Again too lazy to find a link.  Hey, it's taken me over two weeks to write this post at all!

And that, I think, finished Me-Made-June.  It was fun but towards the end I got a bit distracted, at least in terms of recording it, as must be pretty obvious.  Sometimes life you actually have just gets in the way of the life you want to have.  That's happening a lot at the moment.

On a lighter note - I have just formed a hopefully fruitful relationship with the gorgeous textile art shop Open Drawer  (to which I obviously can be bothered linking!).  Whether they actually sell any of my work remains to be seen but at least they were willing to give it a go.  And that has given me a bit of a kick in the pants to do some other stuff.  I have had a couple of Etsy shops at various times, and set up the framework of a MadeIt shop earlier in the year, but have never really achieved anything with them.  I am inspired to start all over again with a new name, new goods, and, well, watch this space!!!

Me-Made-June Week 3

Another chilly week.  But not quite as bad as last week!  It did however start with a scarf.

This is knitted from Lincraft Prism and is 70% wool and 30% soysilk.  The pattern is from Knitted Shawls, Stoles and Scarves by Nancie Wiseman and it can be knitted either as a shawl (my MIL has a lovely pink and purple one) or a scarf.

I had to get my favorite glass brooch in somewhere this month!

Then it was a wet day and I had to catch the tram to work, which means walking through a park (which is pretty at sunrise, but gives you wet feet), and so I wore waterproof shoes and carried office shoes in the felted bag I made for Me-Made-May. 

This brooch, made some years ago, sits on the lapel of a designer denim blazer that I bought in an op shop about the same time that I made the brooch. 

A cold Sunday meant hand knitted socks.  These are Jaywalkers knitted in a mixture of wool and cotton.

I've worn very little of my own jewellery this month, mostly because I have had the perfect opportunity to wear the handknits!!  But I did wear these green and blue coralled earrings.

And finally, as Arctic blasts assailed Melbourne, I wore my Fetchings, knitted from the same Prism yarn as the scarf at the start of this post.

I haven't been doing My Creative Spaces for the last couple of weeks, because of the planning and photographing, etc, of Me-Made-June.  but I am going to this week, because I am participating in a KAL (Knit-along, for those who are wondering) and I want to show some progress pictures, and it's pretty much what I have been working on all week.

Me-Made-June Week 2

It has been a cold and mostly wet week in Melbourne, so it's been all about the handknits.  First off the rank, beautiful underwater colours in Noro Kureyon in a vest.  This was knitted to a Patons pattern for Zhivago but is obviously a bit different - less drapey but much more beautiful.  I use a fake kilt pin to pin it together - fake because it came with a cheapy cardigan years ago and has fake diamantes on it, I think any self-respecting kilt would give it a Glasgow Kiss!

I got over the whole noveltry yarn phase a LONG time ago but I do seem to have hung onto this bluish fluffy thing, and it was quite nice on a bitterly cold morning. 



I made this scarf as a project when I was studying for my Diploma of Textile Art.  The brief was to do something with grapes.  I made this scarf!  The grapes are large, faceted acrylic beads, and there are knitted leaves needlefelted onto the crocheted scarf with twining vines, and dangly bits. 

Then it was Casual Friday, and a long weekend, and it wasn't a warm one at that.  So socks and an old jumper were very comfortable.  These are an Opal with a silver thread running through them, giving them a subtle glitz.

These two pairs are scrappy socks, made from leftovers from all the other socks I make.  I like scrappy socks!

And last but not least, an old favorite.  This is an old Rowan kit inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, and I love it.  It is thick and heavy and warm and, by now, going slightly felted.  I started it a year before Baby Bear came along, and she is about to be 18.  (I finished it about six months after she arrived - there were periods in the middle when the brain couldn't cope!)

Me-Made-June Week 1

So starteth Me-Made-June.  I upped the ante a little from Me-Made-March by vowing to try not to repeat any hand-made-by-me accessories or clothes during the month, and by making two new things to wear.  No repeats so far in the first week!  There may be some in the next few days as it is really cold now and the vest I am wearing today is very cosy, but I will only count it once and wear another things with it on the days I repeat it.

This scarf was made during MMM, I think, as was the one I wore later on in the week.  They are just lengths of chiffon zig-zagged around the edges to provide a quick and easy wardrobe boost.  I wore this with a green top slightly lighter than the olivey green leaves, and black trousers.

Day 2 saw these earrings, made from seed beads with a chip of Venetian glass at the top of each one.  The colours aren't great in this photo but they are all autumnal reds and greens and browns and oranges.  I can't remember what colour top I wore them with but I know I wore black trousers (well, I often do!)

Friday is Casual Day at work and I wore this Samurai Shirt that I made years ago.  So long ago that it was a lot of kilos ago, too.  Consequently it is rather too big.  I don't often get to say that!  I am going to try and insert a few discreet darts to make it slightly more shapely.  If I do manage to do that appropriately and soon, I will count it again for wearing this month because it will be, sort of, new/refashioned.  It's made in a blinding batik print that I picked up in Spotlight years ago.  It got me lots of compliments, which was nice!  Worn with black jeans for contrast.

The weekend was quite cold, so I wore handknitted socks both days.  These ones are a pretty stripy Opal I bought in Wangaratta one year, in a pattern of my own design - a very easy one admittedly, toe-up socks with the leg bit in feather-and-fan.  Because they are knitted from the toe-up, the feather-and-fan is upside down, which makes it a bit different.  (To say nothing of noice, and unusual...)

Sunday's socks were made from a wool and cotton mix, maybe Opal, maybe something else, I can't remember, but in pretty pastels.  Actually, you'd never guess they were clean, looking at them, I must have worn them in wet boots at some point and because they are so pale the bottoms stained!

And yesterday the idea was to wear this scarf with a white top, charcoal grey skirt and a new cardigan.  But it clashed with the cardigan (which looked great with the skirt - a printed lace-like pattern in dark beige on a cream background, and trimmed with lace and diamante buttons, which sounds awful but looked very pretty - this is the cardigan, not the skirt, which is also very pretty in a flirty French sort of way) so I ended up tying it onto my bag instead.  I used to wear silks scarves tied to my bag in London in the mid 1980s.  Maybe I could reintroduce the fashion!!

As for the making two things to wear this month - well, the cowl I showed in my Creative Space a couple of weeks ago did not get finished until this month, so that is going to count as one.  (I started it in late March - can you tell I moved house during the making of it!)  And I am trying to repurpose two tops into one, but whether I wear it or not depends on if it looks better than it does at the moment!  It is only at an early stage but I frankly have my doubts.  Maybe darting the Samurai Shirt will do instead.  We shall see!

Me-Made-March 2011 Week 4

I've tried to be more original this week and not repeat anything.

On Tuesday I wore these earrings (my own design, a similar pair has appeared at least once this month) in pinks and greens, with a pink floral skirt, a white Tshirt and black leggings.

On Wednesday I was on a roll with earrings.  These are also my own design, a slightly truncated version of the long ones because of the bigger beads.  I doubt if the 'turquoise' chips were real turquoise but I liked them anyway.  I wore them with grey pants and an embellished, asymmetrical top in shades of teal and turquoise and mauve and black, the sort of thing I would like to have made myself but actually bought.

On Thursday I wore the third of the quick, simple scarves, with a favorite plain cream rayon shirt and black pants.  The purple and the satin-cum-burnout velvet effect looked pretty damn good, though I say so myself!  It is the same width all the way down, honest, I just folded it badly when I took the photo.

Friday was the wedding!!!  I missed Casual Friday at work, but on the other hand, I HAD THE DAY OFF WORK.  I had had once had grand plans to make a dress to wear to the wedding, when it was announced six months ago, but that was before the whole Move House and Get A Job thing happened.  So I bought something in a sale, and then a 'pashmina' in another sale.  And wore nothing homemade.  Unlike the bride, who carried ...

Actually the Matron of Honour carried the mostly white one.  In the mostly blue one, the ruffly rosette on the middle right hand of the picture is the one I made at the bridal shower, previously blogged about.

It was the most gorgeous wedding and I cried buckets.  They were so happy and radiant with joy.  And nothing beats the Astor Theatre as a wedding venue!

And as it was cold, when we got home I changed into jeans and socks made by me.  Knitted from one of those soy/chiton/cotton/etc blends.

On Saturday I could have worn something made by me but I wanted to show off another of my favorite hand towels.  Made from leftovers of Rowan Dk cotton from long ago.

On Sunday I wore jeans and a grey top with spooky silver and grey and black printing all over it, and this cuff.  It's another of those crazy patchworky things for which I need a better name.  I think it looks pretty wicked, and it's surprisingly comfortable.

As the last week of Me-Made-March 2011 only has another four days to go, I am finishing off this post here and will do the last four days at the end of the week.  I will be quite sorry when this is over!  There may be a repeat or two next week though I will try to remain original, but I suspect that Monday, at least, will be a repeated brooch because it goes exactly with the clothes I want to wear.