Ready for summer

It's only taken me three months, give or take, but I finally finished my lil sewing project for white shoe season!

I don't plan to use this as a kerchief for my head, but this pose looks cuter and evokes a carefree 1960s summer don't you think? 

Even taking the project from initial idea to fabric purchase took ages, owing to my not being able to decide (and also, having a lot of work on.) 

But to recap, I was hoping to solve the problem knot of white being SO not my colour, while also being a fun and heat-reflecting choice for summer; not liking to put on a ton of sunscreen all the time; and wanting to do a better job of balancing prints and solids. 

Enter, scarves! Only I couldn't find any in shops that would be lightweight enough, apart from bandanas and other square options, which have to be doubled to make a triangle. Too hot for a hot day, know what I mean? And on cooler but not quite sweater-friendly days, I didn't want a big flopping scarf over my shoulder or in a big lump draping down from my neck. I wanted something tidy, like a turtleneck. 

I settled on Liberty of London's Tana Lawn cotton pretty quickly, because it's the lightest, softest cotton I know. Half a meter was, I felt sure, enough to do the job. Then I stalled a long time because I couldn't find a pattern that matched my vision, and I didn't know how to get there on my own. 

Eventually I cut off 27" of one piece, planning to fold that piece to half height, and, with 3/4" for a side seam, make a funnel to slide over my head. The idea is to fold it up a bit to protect whatever isn't covered by the shade of a big hat in full sun, or fold it down a lot to leave air flow while still having some colour near my face to brighten up a black top or make a white one less jarring.

Then I cut out a triangle that spanned the full half meter on one side, with a view to finishing the edges for a single layer jaunty bandana for hot days. For my NECK, not my hair. I need forehead protection too so it's sunscreen or hats for this girl. 

Et voila! This was my first attempt with the finished edges.

My sewing machine took ages for the fancy stitch, which kind of buckled the fabric, and I still had to do a second run of stitches. After this one, I just pressed in a fold and tucked the raw edge toward it as I ran a bog standard stitch down the length. Definitely preferred. 

The funnel neck is pretty much as I described - a tube I stick my head through. 

Boring, right? Let's look instead at how cute these fabrics are with my blue suede Birkenstocks. 

How cute will these look with an all-white outfit, or all off-white? And check this for white jeans and a navy T:

Somehow I got into a lot of trouble making the funnel work, so in the end I made a long horizontal tube, pressed the raw edges inward on either side, and topstitched them down to each other for a 25" tube (maybe 25.5", don't quote me.)

 

I think that'll also give the tube some stability in the back, where I want it more or less flat, even as the front part flops down a bit into its fold.

Here's how that looks on my faaaaaaave of the three, the print that matches the one I had in brown tones in a miniskirt I wore for years after finding it at a jumble sale in England.

Swoon

I save this one till last as I was sewing, so I would solve all the little execution issues before I got to it, but then I managed to sew its initial seam with bits of raw thread sticking out right where it'll be next to my face, sigh.

Probably you can't see those bits along the top edge. And I've decided to just clip them close and pretend it never happened. 

Meanwhile, while I was noodling around online looking for patterns to spare me figuring this out myself, I started thinking about how fun it would be to sew a Merchant and Mills top in one of these prints. I mean, assuming I could afford it! Tana Lawn is SO pricey. Another reason for a single-layer neck scarf.

Might try to sew this top in some 'lesser' fabrics first, and see how it goes. 

It's a long weekend here and I have made my usual holiday weekend plans: DECLUTTERING THE HOUSE. I hate cleaning, but if I put on a good audiobook and dig in, I can go for hours just making the place tidy. Currently that audiobook is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time.

fun quote, paraphrased: your gifts don't count, it's how you use them that matters.

I loved that because it means it's okay if you're not the best at something, as long as you find a way to apply that skill that has a positive impact. Or to put it another way, it doesn't matter if you don't get a project done within a week of thinking of it, as long as you finish eventually, ha!

Hope you have a great weekend however you're spending it, and thanks for spending some of it with me. See you next Saturday!

 

Slow spring

I've been feeling lazy lately, curling up with a book or some stitching, enjoying the view out the window and the warmth inside because it's been sooo chilly and damp out there!

What do you think of my new Emma Bridgewater blueberry mug? I know it's silly, but switching up my mugs for different seasons really makes my day. Also I love these shades of blue and green.

And speaking of green, the leaves are definitely coming out now despite the chill.

That's our lilac on the left, and on the right, the brilliant green of our mystery shrub. It's coming up to its most gorgeous moment in the year, when pink blossoms burst open. After that the petals brown and drop, and the leaves brown and linger till the fall. Good thing I love textured bark, and the squirrels and birds love places to shade themselves, or it'd be a pretty dull view.

 

As you may recall, I was at a jewellery show last Saturday. Trish had called to say a friend of her mom's was selling *her* mom's mom's various projects from the 1940s. Of course I dropped everything and ran to the venue!  

These little handkerchiefs are all so delicately edged or, in the case of the flowers, stitched. I think the white and blue are both crocheted but the purple is definitely tatted! That's something I can't imagine having the capacity to learn, and it's so pretty.

Prettiest of all though is that floral design, in my opinion. I just love it!

I'm also so smitten with this white crochet border, and the delicate embroidery of A. P. As it happens I have a writing friend with those initials so I snapped it up for her.

 

I also snapped up this little earring and brooch set for Lannie, made from shells! Shell jewellery was hot back then I guess and this lady was very adept in making it. I tried to get a little closeup for you of the earrings but you might have to use your imagination.

I guess it's not a surprise that somebody who can tat can also glue together tiny curls of shell, but I'm still very impressed. 

Meanwhile, I've continued to work on my second crochet blanket, with just one more colour stripe to go to make two full repeats of the six needed to make it long enough for a snuggly long stint on the sofa. And my main takeaway is that even though it's the same stitch and mostly the same colours, I like it SO much more than the original narrow-stripe blanket!

The fabric is coming out dense, almost rigid, compared to the floppy stretch of the original, whose stitches were a constant miracle to me as I learned how to work them. This time my tension is consistent and I'm working with as much calm as enthusiasm, which seems to go better than enthusiasm alone. 

Here's another shot to maybe show better how the two compare. 

Still enjoying the process a lot, still hoping to be done in time for the cool weather next winter! We'll see though, how much appetite I have for a big blanket in my lap during the inevitable run of heat waves.

For now I'm just going to keep drinking my tea and working away at things, mindful that even the smallest progress adds up.

Hope you have a great weekend and week, with progress of any kind or at least some happy moments! Thanks for dropping in and I'll see you next Saturday.

Legacy knits

I meant to post much earlier today but Trish put out a Vintage Linen Alert, so I had to dash off to a show-n-sale. Back now, and grateful to be in the warm again. This *is* May, right? Because it feels like February out there. Let's cosy up with a pretty sock:

This was knit by a friend's younger sister, who died tragically young from cancer, leaving many unfinished projects. If you've been around here long enough you may recall that I finished a different pair for my friend many years ago. Recently she discovered this sock, which not only needs its mate but is unfinished, itself:

and also, knit on three steel needles, aiiieeee! But I said I would finish the pair for her and so I shall. I've already snipped the grey yarn so I can start the second and take it up to the same point, then see if there's enough yarn to finish them without striping. 

My friend used to sit beside her sister and wind her skeins for her, but always too tight in her sister's opinion, and I can guarantee you there's no way the yarn in these balls would have held up, as stretched thin as they were for so many years.

So, I reskeined them... 

 

didn't they look beautiful just starting to relax again? and bathed them in Soak Wash, and hung them to dry. Then: the cakening.

 

All done now and ready to cast on, once I count out the stitches in the sock I have, and recreate the pattern she was using from that information, plus the base pattern book she had left in the bag. 

I'm not looking forward to those steel needles, but I can't see how else I'd come close to the right gauge! and I would like the mate to be as near as possible to what it would have been in her sister's hands.

But first, I gotta make supper. I can't believe I left this week's Hug so late! especially on a day when I'm prepping eggplant, which needs its sweating time. Lately I've been cooking barley to toss in with roasted bell peppers and a sauteed mix of shallots and cherry tomatoes under a dusting of fresh parmesan, but today I'm adding roasted eggplant too. With a side of buckwheat baguette! We've got all healthy here at Hugs lately. 

Hope your Saturday's been lovely and that you have a delicious dinner coming up soon, if not tonight! See you next week and thanks for spending this time with me today.

 

 

 

The last of the stripey sock yarn

Omigosh you guys, ever since I've been knitting socks (give or take a pair) I've been knitting with Knitterly Things Vesper Sock, and after years of club yarn and one-off purchases I thought I'd never get through...

I'm down to six final skeins. And there's no more shipping to Canada, neither. While I work out who I'm going to hit up to take yarn deliveries for me because honestly, the colours on offer aren't getting any less swoonable, I decided to cake two skeins for ready knitting, and eke out the other four. But which two?

I mean these ones are gorgeous.

As are these.

 

waaaaannnhhhh

 

This is SO HARD. But choices need to be made, so I am being ruthless. I don't love this one as completely and utterly as I do the others...

 

... so it's standing back for a minnit. 

And I really, really love these ones, so they're standing back for the final knits.

Which leaves these two!

I mean, they're perfect. One says summer, and the other says autumn, and by a complete coincidence we have a summer and autumn coming up.

Wouldya look at that perfect drape of luscious colour? Whaaaa

Cake time!

Nearly forgot how to do that, it's been so long. Reminds me of how I used to be all yarn all the time, instead of mostly yarns (har har, a writing pun.) It feels good to be getting some balance back.

Here's hoping you have a lovely balanced weekend. And by balanced I mean with equal amounts of good things and even nicer things. Thanks for dropping by, and I'll see you next Saturday!

 

(ps isn't this pretty?) 

 

 

 

Springfestings

Hello again and lookit this little caterpillar I found when I was tidying up some neglected knitting projects!

I found a lot of daunting things in the pile (SO MUCH DARNING in my future) but these cute socks-in-progress are still full of early potential and I hadn't even gotten them past their heel flap.

You're only seeing one of the two because the light was fading as I took this pic last night, and today it is rainy. Hopefully you will take my word for it that they both look pretty much like this now.

They didn't get there without complaint, though. Both of them gave me trouble over the decreases to make the turn, and negotiations were so bad with the second, the mohair/wool blend practically felted in my hands. Got pretty dicey, the last couple of times I had to rip back and retry. 

Now that *that's* over though: I love my decision to strand the heel flap!

Not sure whether the emotional weight of the colour shifts is because of the natural evolution in their hand-dyeing, or because I held one colour in front for one row, and then the other for the next, but I like it. Fingers crossed I didn't make it so tight I can't fit into the sock in the end... yikes.

Let's leave that concept under a rock and dwell a moment on the cute cuff, which is the part of the sock least likely to wear out. 

I love how this one pale smudge settled in, like a gauzy cloud.

Lately I've been wearing ankle-length pants, so this pretty pattern should show whenever I sit down, and it's so worth the exposure, don't you think?

While *not* sitting down, I've been out walking in the ravine again. Seemed like it took forever for the last of the ice to melt off the access slope, but now it's safe to get down there and we're seeing the effect of the freshly liquefied snowfall on the creek running through it:

Probably I should have taken this as video so you could hear the torrents of water pouring between the banks but trust me: the water level here is going to drop a lot by summer, and you'll be able to see through to the rocks and pebbles and occasional discarded microwave oven. Bliss!

Want to see the cute bridge I took this from? 

Ha! I was going to show you anyway. I've seen people taking wedding pictures here, and engagement ones. It shakes when a lot of people are walking on it. 

I know I've said this before, but one of the things I love the most about the ravine is how many people use it, in so many different ways, each of us making it our own... and then in more compressed places like the bridge, our personal experiences must be shared. I've exchanged so many smiles with strangers crossing this thing, as we're all influenced by the gorgeous view and peaceful water and bird sounds. 

Again, BLISS. 

Taking these pictures yesterday, I wasn't thinking so much that spring is really coming on now, but that winter is over. I love winter, but it gave me such a good feeling! 

That said, the warm weather on the way isn't really mohair sock-friendly, so apparently I have time to finish this project. I can probably even take a break again, now that I'm over the worst of the heel flap and gusset setup, to remind myself how to do the stitch on my neglected crochet blanket, aiieee. I am not even kidding - if it turns out that the stitch isn't like riding a bicycle and unforgettable, I am in trouble.

Hope you have a marvellous weekend lined up, and that if you get rain like we are, you have a cosy chair and some crafty work to get to as you wait it out! See you next Saturday... and thanks for spending this time with me.

 

Happy Easter weekend!

Even if you don't celebrate Easter, the shops are full of cute spring things, aren't they? Yesterday I saw cakes with tiny chocolate eggs decorating the top edges and was SO tempted.

Plus, a lot of us got an extra day off for a long weekend. I feel justified marking the day in Hug form, even if all I've got is a repurposed pic I took two years ago of my cute animal story collection.

With a side of spring-themed sock yarn I keep on display as a yarny ice cream sundae, naturally.

I hope you're able to enjoy this magical time with more readiness than I have: my living room still looks like Winter Cosy, and I still have a full roster of lobsters and highland sheep on the mantel crowding the space where I would normally put cute pastel dishes full of foil-wrapped eggs. That's today's job, along with the making of a hearty chicken soup with turmeric and pearled couscous, for reasons I'm not entirely sure about. People wanted it, I think was the main one. 

In other news, I'm officially onto the next stage with the manuscript I've been thinking about and writing and revising for the last year and a half or so, and trying to put the ol' schedule back into some semblance of work/life balance. I'm hoping to re-incorporate sewing and painting or at the very least, sock repair. To that end: I am gonna take next weekend off from posting a Hug to kinda breathe and think about where to carve out the necessary work space. 

Wish me luck, and I wish you the very pleasantest of holiday weekends whether or not it includes soup. Thanks so much for spending a bit of it with me.

 

See you April 18th - take care till then and fingers crossed you have some nice days over the time! 

 

  

Time for some spring cleaning

Hello from my disorderly house to your hopefully very pleasant and uplifting one! 

This week I finished a huge writing project and promptly started tackling the mess that's been building up while I worked. So far I've tidied up some yarn, and accepted the fact that I don't need any more yarn.

I also cleaned up my closet and accepted the fact that I definitely don't need any more clothes.

Also that it's high time I learned to use the steamer I bought in January and never used, because I have a new dress and it's a bit wrinkled from the bag. In an unrelated shopping mishap I bought an over-door hanger, and I think that gives me the perfect setup to steam the dress on the bathroom door, standing open so any water drips onto a tile floor. Exciting!

Other things I don't need any more of: art supplies. But I am thrilled that I got these little rubber stamps in my Christmas stocking and certain I will find some fun projects for them. Eventually.

(the little bee might be my fave, what about yours?) 

 

While in the closet I tidied up some shoes and accepted that even after I donate the ones I ended up never wearing, I do not under any circumstances need more footwear. 

(Unless they are Birkenstocks. There are still a bunch of Birkenstock styles I am pretty sure I cannot live indefinitely without.)

Next up: the living room mantel, which mostly just looks like a pile of yarn ends from the perpetual crochet blanket, but some highland cows and a pair of very cute lobsters. Everybody has those things in their living room, right? So you'll know - they get into EVERYthing and don't always look quite right for a springtime Easter display. I honestly don't know where to put them for the holiday unless I get a big basket for the floor near said fireplace, and put a big pastel ribbon on it, and put all the animals inside like egg hunt winnings... except, all of them will be holding on to yarn ends and crochet hooks, like they're starting their own blanket.

Seriously, that's a pretty good idea, isn't it?

(don't answer that.) 

Hope you have had a super productive week, and that we all have a lovely weekend. Enjoy yours and thanks for dropping in to see me - see you next Saturday!

 

 

Sometimes legs are overrated

I am taking a break from blankets today to introduce you to Annie! My new apple friend. She is super sweet and so loving. 

 

One of the things one must accept in marriage is the broad landscape of what constitutes love language. Pete's is 'giving Jellycats and/or chocolate', among other everyday things like driving me wherever I need to be because I hate driving, and coming along when I want company on a walk. 

Obviously I love this situation a ton, but the Jellycat thing has gotten a little out of hand. We have a LOT of them now. I actually have to be careful about walking him past a store that stocks them, because he cannot help himself. This is hard because I also have a terrible weakness for them. A few weeks ago, for example, we were both magnetically drawn into a store with a shelf supporting the weight of a wombat, and I wanted to buy it SO BAD, and insisted we must not do so under any circumstances, and we left without him. Then on Valentine's day I found my very special wombat waiting for me at the end of a trail of square chocolates because wombats poop in cubes. 

Be still my heart...

Anyway, back to Annie. I eat a couple of apples every day and Pete can't go long without buying me something special, so: Jellycat apple. Fair enough: not complaining about that! But Annie had a problem, and one I've never stumbled across before with this brand. 

It was her cute corduroy legs.

And her equally cute corduroy stem.

 

They smell like burnt petroleum, or a dead tire in a heatwave.

If you're reading this you're probably to some degree a fabric nerd, so you may have come across this issue before. It usually happens with a cheap fabric that insists it's a cotton, or sometimes it's a stretch polyester blend. It can be random, too. I have been burned by fabrics that smell fine in the store but after you wash them, they have this headache-inducing odor that does not go away ever. And it's pervasive, getting into any other textiles stored nearby. 

Regardless of how Jellycat came to use such a suspect corduroy, something had to happen for Annie's well-being and mine. While I figured out what that might be, she sat on the arm of my favourite chair, safely away from the other Jellycats, where I could pet the part of her that wasn't stinky so she wouldn't feel totally rejected. 

I mean OBviously that wasn't sustainable.

Finally, she and I came up with the answer.

THE RIPPER. 

My mother's ripper, actually, which gave me the emotional fortitude to go in and shred the stitches on a $30 toy.

Doing this surgery gave me an even deeper appreciation for Jellycat quality. The legs were tucked into holes in Annie's body, but the fabric allowance on the depth of those cavities is so generous I will not have to stitch them shut unless I someday allow a child under three to gnaw on her. 

Seriously: still smiling. What a perfect patient! 

The stem was not embedded in a seam at all, but stitched into a deep depression in the top of her head, separate from her leaf, which was unaffected. 

And the thread was white, so once I managed to work it out into view it was easy to see what I should pull and what I should not. I used tweezers for the final part of the surgery. 

Annie was lovely throughout, and afterward she was so happy to be able to meet her colleagues properly. 

 

That's William, my wombat, on the right. The bee on the left is one of two on our New York Times Spelling Bee team, though I can't say she's helped me win, ever. (I'd like to be able to convince somebody that *my* love language is letting Pete win at Spelling Bee every day, and that it doesn't just happen because he's so much better at it than I am, but here we are.)

Annie is so happy to be footloose and fancy free now. She and Wendy, the bunny macaron Pete gave me ages ago, are having great chats about having no legs.

And she and Squash, the squash Pete gave me also ages ago, are giggly over their plan to infiltrate next year's Christmas display as baubles.

All in all, the surgery was a massive success, leaving Annie free to live her best life.

We both hope you're living your best life, too. Thanks for dropping by today and we'll see you next weekend!