Hanky Box For Zoe FINISHED!

A button from my Grandmothers collection. I have three, and wondered if I ought to break up the set... but what else am I going to use them for? This is Zoe's great-grandmother's button!

See how I've added a row or two of crochet to make the base larger? That's because I forgot to allow extra size in the base and lid to compensate for the seams. You need to add an extra 1cm to each side for the lid and base. My lid is bigger than the pattern here. YES, I'll redraw it and blog it correctly, but just so you know.

I Have yet to make the button and tie catch. You can see them on all others if you click on the CROCHET tag at the bottom of this post.

Inside pieces:

Outside pieces:

I thought this design might be a bit easier for people to make as a starter. Also, it's cute, and traditional. The base and lid are made using equilateral triangles. You just draw the lines at 60 degrees apart and measure how side you want it. But use this if you want. I haven't cropped the pattern picture so the size should be right for A4.
Top is 10 1/2 cm wide (amended size), sides are 12cm tall. Don't forget to make the lid and base bigger. I promise I'll fix it soon.

TUTORIAL and MORE INFO HERE.

I Do Stuff But I Don't Share

I'm trying to make some clothes. You'd think it could be a simple and quick thing to do for an old dressmaker, but that doesn't account for the Brilliant Idea that turns it into a long and difficult task.

I thought a knitted lining for the cuffs would look fantastic (and it will), so with the aid of the knitting calculator, I figured out the exact knitting increases etc. to do it. That was easy-ish. I found a couple of brilliant knitting books at the Oppy and found a favourite cable design and worked out how many repeats and how much either side etc. etc. Then, I lost my place and missed a crucial step in the cable and had to pull it back, which turned into a mathematical nightmare! I couldn't figure out where I was up to. Crikey!

And the only wool that suited is 2 ply! Of course.

It's all good now. Excepting that the jacket pattern needs adjusting.

What began as a simple thing - To Make A Jacket - had turned into a course in Patternmaking, an elaborate Brain Stretch in knitting design, a deeper understanding of Cable Methods, some very pretty new knitting needles and as yet no jacket! Ha ha ha! Perhaps my new, fit, boxer-cise body will be ready when the jacket is ready!

Then I soaked and washed this Pot Holder. The black fabric ran (I threw the black out ages ago but this is one of the first).

I said to the One True that it looked like he'd been beaten up or maybe fell of his bike, and he thought he needed a bandaid and some stitches. Still seems happy enough, even without counselling.

I Have A New Plan

100 colours

20 colours

One shown in Petit Point with no background added as yet, the other in Cross stitch. The intention is to use the colours for the eyes and hands/bow-tie on the chart with less colours, to add dimension and prettiness, without using 100 colours!

Years ago, I bought (for a ridiculous amount of money) a program that converts images into cross-stitch patterns, or needlepoint patterns. I've just bought (at great expense again) the upgrade. The thing is, it's not as easy as you think. A lot of things don't work well. Or they do if you allow the program to use 100 colours, which no sane person will want. Except me, I think.

Anyhooo, I intend to put some patterns on Etsy.

I've been fussing and fussing with this design in particular. It's so cute, but the eyes need a bit of work and I had to eliminate the background. I just figured out where I saved it from... Arthur's Circus. So it's just for me and not for sale. They have a shop in North Melbourne that looks like a fun place to be! I'm gonna go have a squizz!

What do you think? Would you pay around $10 for a cross stitch pattern in PDF form? Would you get a picture of your favourite pet converted and make it up in wool on canvas, or cross stitch? Or your child slash loved-one?

Also, I've keyed in a few of my early samplers as patterns. At least one is almost ready to rock and roll, so that'll be there soon too. At Etsy, that is.

Thing Is, We've Done Twice As Much.

I took this before we began today. The One True did 7/8 of everything, at least. At LEAST. He's worth his weight in gold, that one. I must have done stuff though, because my body thinks it's been working. On a knitting note... I printed out some knitters graph paper and made a pattern for the cuffs of my new jacket. It works too! The graph, that is. I'm very impressed with myself. I'll show you maybe tomorrow. It's too much fun!

The Bob Cat Man Came At Last!

And we've begun in earnest. True! Since these photo's were taken we've placed two of the big rocks in and mapped out the line for the first ever rock wall on our place. It's good. We're a team. I actually miss this kind of work. Sitting on my (ample) bum all day is not good for the body. I try to walk in the mornings but don't always get to it I'm afraid. Carrying rocks up hills will be good for the Bingo Wings.

Everything's good actually. I'm drafting my basic blocks to make clothes that fit my middle aged pudding body. Ironically, making clothes causes me to eat less. I love clothes. I love making them and I love good design and technique. I get weepy when I see documentaries about good designers. I've nearly finished knitting my jumper and can then start the next thing. Life is good when you're easily pleased.

Paper Dolls On The Home Run

It had better look good, that's all I can say! Though, I have to add that the great thing about Ravelry is that you can see other people's versions on other people's bodies, so you can get a bit of an idea. Chubby arms, big boobs, biggish anyway, these days. Not BIG but bigger than before anyway.

I'm a bit excited. Now I get to do the next thing (orange cuffs for the new jacket). Yay!

Now I'm Excited! And You Will Be Too

I found this place after much struggling and thinking and thinking. Now why, you might ask, didn't I realise that of course this would be available on that good old internet. Why indeed, especially since maths makes my brain hurt. Knit On The Net has a place where I can make a knitting graph/grid so I can plot and scheme and plan in knitspeak. Yes. Yes it does.

I need to make cuffs for my new jacket you see. I've spent a fortune and an eon trying to match or equal some excellent orange wool I bought years ago from Marta's Yarns. They've discontinued the shade and so has every other wool manufacturer in the entire world. Everyone is so brick, so earthy, so not bright and true and so extremely earth mother. What happened to the modern space age rave culture revolution?

I bought dye today and wool to dye and dyed said wool, only to find it did not set. I did the microwave thing, but didn't do the ironing heat thing. It washed straight out. Leaving behind a soft pretty colour mind, but no bright tangerine orange. $$ I did meet my Dad for lunch so the time wasn't wasted.

But I persist. Perhaps Etsy has come to the party. Perhaps. USA, more money and I'd better like this jacket. I'm relearning patternmaking for the jacket. I bought RMIT"s book on the subject for th jacket. I'm working for the next three weeks just to pay for ten aborted attempts at the cuffs for goodness's sake!

It's a hard task master I have I tells you.