Merry Everything!

Merry Everything, and Happy Always!

 

Work In Progress

A hat in hope it will be done in time to give it as a xmas present.

With latvian braid as one does.

For the very first time, as though I knew in theory how is it made, this was the firts time I actually done it. The video on the DROPS site was really helpful, though, I realized, that since I do my purls differently (with a short downward motion, I don't need either to twist the needle, like they do, nor to put the yarn behind the needle each time. 

I rather like the result so, this is most probably NOT the last time I have done it.


 

Giornea

 That is the little cape-like garnment over the italian renaissance dress (called gamura). 

No matter how beautiful your dress itself, somehow, it is not a full outfit without a giornea. 

It is like the cape of superheroes, flows after you, though its role is actually add a layer of warmth and protects your dress from... whatever, it can encounter in everyday wearing. 

For many years I did not have one, so I set out to figure out how to make one. 

I looked at patterns, I looked at paintings and I looked at pictures of women wearing it, and I took a good, hard and long look of the piece of velvet I had in my fabric stash to see how can I squeeze out someting fitting. 

I've tried to scroll through my phone-pictures, to see if I have some pictures of making it, but I could not find any, so you will have to do it with only me wearing it.

Pictures: Norbert Varga @Bodeszphoto

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 Renaissance dancing

What the friday?

 As I said, in these posts I will show you some of the forgotten UFO-s I found, while cleaning out and reorganizing a bunch of boxes full of yarn, and other stuff.

Now, what would you do, if you'd find something like this? 

I totally forgot this, but how can someone forget something that is almost done?  Only missing the two sleeve edge? 

Yes, there is a story for this one...

Back, when the book publishing company (with a great selection if craft books) took over the yarn store named Barka, they contacted me, that they would like to work with me... And would I be up to design and knit a smal booklet thematic booklet. 

Let me think I said, and in a few days, came up with the Knitted Stripes theme, with pieces from a simple hat/scarf/mitt set through a bolero, to a tunic and a few more pieces.

I even started working on the knits, I knitted the hat, the scarf (never photographed, and now I do not have it, I might knit something similar to them, because they were simple but nice).

And the tunic.

It was to be kind of simple, a raglan, a wide neck, with a deep, folded collar.

However, in the meantime, I felt disppointed, in how they dealt with some things, especially money.

I do not want to get into details, let's just say, my enthusiasm was severly dampened. 

And then they closed the store, and cut back severly on their craft books, and that was it. 

Most probably something more interesting came up, and It was... Not a good feeling to deal with this piece.

Now, when I took a good look at it, I think, it actually WAS a good idea, I still like how the yarns and the stripes work together. 

Now, I should like to finish it, the only question is the size, as I am bigger now, then when I started it.

I still think I will finish, if it will not fit me, I will give it away.

I even found the yarn that I need for it.

Lace neckwarmer

 Yes, that lace, you've seen me struggle with. Well, not really struggle, but I needed time to get back to it. 

When I posted the yarn I dyed for the day of wool, a friend of mine really liked it, but she is not a knitter.

So I tought, why not freshen up my lace.knitting skills, and make something for her? I winded it to  a ball, and looked up the pattern I have knitted once. It was quite a few years ago, but still...

Yes, I had to frog a few rows, I had to frog half rows, more than a few times, I had to do surgery on it...

But, at the end, I finished it.

Yarn: DROPS Flora, handdyed.

Pattern: DROPS 155-29 (only the last two pattern diagram)

Needles: 3,25 Knit Pro

Photos (modelled) Norbert Varga @Bodeszphoto

Weekly SO

 Strong opinion, that is. I would not go as far as a "hot take", but my thoughts.

Knits and zippers do not go together (for me, at least). I do not like zippers to beginn with. It is not because they are a pain to sew. No, I can sew them just fine, but I don't like them. I avoid them if I can and one can learn about ways of closing clothes without using zippers from historical clothes. I know there are a bunch of cardigans, especially hoodies that are designed with a zipper in mind, but for me.. eeeek. I much rather knit a buttonband, and use buttons.