I am back! And grrrrraduated.

Look! I'm a real grown up person! I graduated...err...a month ago and got to ponce around in an unflattering gown at silly o'clock in the morning. Wheeee! Just what I've always wanted!

The month since has been somewhat blah, jobsearching is sucking at my soul and because the jobcentre is run by robot monkeys I'm not eligible for job seekers allowance. But hey, I have a lovely (and highly convenient) boyfriend and he has a lovely mother who doesn't want to charge me more than enough to cover the extra food in rent, so I have a place to stay until I find a job and a flat of my own.

(See, if I call it 'a place to stay' rather than 'living with my boyfriend' it's a lot less scary.)

All my worldly possesions, aside from a few clothes and the essential 8 or 9 knitting projects, are now in storage, including my poor neglected sewing machine, which got one last outing after uni to finish my dress for the graduation ball.

This is the best photo I've got of the dress, which is the one that was originally intended for Nancy and Olly's wedding last year before the previous sewing machine blew up. Or possibly just stopped sewing. I forget. It's a shame I didn't get a better picture of all the gathering on the bodice (it took me long enough), but apparently I was more focused on getting drunk and grinning/grimacing like a loon for the camera to get a good shot from the neck down. I think it was worth it. Although, the celebratory amounts of alcohol made it all the more confusing and disturbing when the dancing dwarves came on stage. I know I wasn't imagining this - I found photographic evidence the next day. Also, I'm wearing my Mia! At last!

The other costumes I made last month, for the other ball (yes I got two :D ), were somewhat less sophisticated. These were for the Summer ball held by the Bournemouth University - they kindly allow us Arts Institute types to latch onto their social events like creative little barnacles. My boyfriend and I went this year as the Queen and the Prince from Katamari Damacy/We Love Katamari. I'm not quite sure how to explain this. Katamari is a bizarre Japanese Playstation game in which you roll a ball around picking up things and making the ball grow bigger so you can pick up bigger things. And...um...that's all there is to it. And I love it intensely.

Anyhoo, I found some patterns online and I sent the link to Martin in an 'OMG, look at these, they are so hilariously weird' moment thinking nothing more of it and he came back with 'summer ball costumes please'. Who am I to deny a request for giant knitted earmuffs from my beloved?

I feel I have to add that this was ALL his idea, right down to the green shorts and lovely purple tights. I'm fairly convinced no one had a clue who we were. I did get one high five from a stranger but I think it was because he thought had a pair of boobs strapped to my head.

I can see why he thought that.

Stay tuned (maybe) for new socks! The whole of south east Asia! And the other new resident of Martin's bedroom!

Knitting socks in the costume show is apparently a tradition of mine

I am spending this week relaxing after a hectic weekend putting on the end of year costume and acting show at the Lighthouse Theatre (and going to the Summer Ball, for which I have the most ridiclous finished objects to show, once I find pictures). It was utterly exhausting, early mornings (getting to the theatre at 830am), late nights (leaving again at 1030pm) and frantic moments of trying to get 2 hours of sewing done in 20 minutes when three quarters of the sewing team haven't bothered to show up, but I got the last evening off to watch the performance and it was really good, so totally worth it. Plus! in between frantic repairs and alterations there were hours and hours of NOTHING to do, so I have finished my first Noro Jaywalker :D

And what's more, I have started the second one! I am NOT going to let this pair languish for a year like the last ones.

2 days to go!

I am two days away from the end! Not, I hasten to add, two days away from poncey gowns and mortarboards, I still have a little while to mentally prepare myself for that anguish, but my final deadline of the degree (CVs, portfolios and a lovely long evaluation about how wonderful the course is) is on Thursday. I had my big scary finished garments hand in 2 weeks ago, so this one isn't worrying me half as much, and I've been able to knit away to my heart's content in between preparing my portfolio and rather half-heartedly looking for jobs.

Ooh! And the costume I just handed in? Not only is it by far my best work, but I've been told by my Head of Costume that it's one of the best pieces he's seen ON THE ENTIRE COURSE. I am slightly swept away in a tidal wave of Smug right now. (Photos to come in a few weeks, gotta get a good photoshoot for this one)


And onward to knitting...


I have actually cast on at least 6 new projects since I last blogged, but in an effort not to make this post explode with images, I may leave those until later and catch up on some extremely late finished objects.



I finished my stripy jumper! About 6 months ago! (this is how behind on blogging I am) This marks a milesone for me. It isn't the first full size garment I made (that was the blue green and purple acrylic blob), nor is it the first jumper I've made that fit me (that was Tempting), but it is the first full size jumper I've made that fit me and STILL FITS AFTER BEING WASHED!! Huzzah, success at last! I love it, as you can probably tell from my out of focus grin. Ms. Walker is a genius and I look forward to making more garments from Knitting From the Top, though probably not any of the various styles of knitted trousers.

Just before finishing my (incredibly cartoonish) stripy jumper, I made a Kombu scarf from the Manos silk blend I bought in Scotland. I love this pattern, though...err...it possibly would benefit from something a little less drapey in terms of yarn.

The second scarf I made was for a two part swap over at the Monthly Adventures group on Ravelry, the idea being that we sent someone a skein of yarn (along with some presents for them), then they used that yarn to knit a scarf and sent it back. I ended up being paired with Twinsmama a second time for this one! She sent me 2 gorgeous malabrigo skeins which I used to make her a Reversible Cabled Brioche Stitch Scarf. This is another great scarf pattern, it has all the flat, reversible, extra squishy benefits of ribs, with added pretty cables all over it. 'Tis a good thing she picked pink yarn or I would have been sooo tempted to keep this for myself. But I did get a lovely lacy chevron scarf back from her so I don't mind too much!

Last minute Christmas presents! These were for a couple of my friends from university who unexpectedly gave me presents at the last minute (eep). Thems on the left are Fetchings, the most popular project on ravelry, for good reason. I think I finished those in one day. Thems on the right I designed myself :D Yup, I made charts'n'everything. I'm currently reknitting these as full mittens with some minor tweaks to the cable, then 'll write out a pattern. (Though it might make more sense if I waited until after the summer. Maybe)




Last one! This is the Limerick Moss Cap in mmmmmmMalabrigo, one of the lovely presents Twinsmama sent me in the scarf swap. According to my project page, this is the last item I finished knitting and I remember wearing it on my birthday. *sigh* that's over 4 months without a single finished item.

Hmm. So much for not having a picture heavy post.

Never mind. Just to cap it off, this is my small selection of current works in progress:

Hmm. I may be overcompensating for the last 4 months...

P.S. I did go and see the turtles at Weymouth in the Easter holidays, they are unbelivably cute! I think they're actually terrapins though. Bah. False advertising. But they are (were) about an inch long and thoroughly confused by the mirrored sides of the tank which more than made up for it.

P.P.S. I also went up to Wembley Arena the day after my final fitting to see the Prodigy play live :D (yes, I took 2 whole days off when making this costume). The Prodigy are, it has to be said, not as cute as baby terrapins, but they do set off this bizarre reaction in me that makes me dance like a broken marionette having an epileptic fit while stone cold sober. I am still on a high from this gig. Though I may remember to wear a sports bra if I ever see them again

P.P.P.S. I finally got round to casting on my second toe up sock, on the same needles, with the same number of stitches, only to find that my guage has somehow changed in the last 6 months. Well, bugger.

I <3 Bosch

I thought I had better write a quick post before it gets to another 2 months with no word. 1930s suit finished and apparently performed in, but they didn't start the dress rehearsals til I was already gone, so I didn't get to see it. Shame. Currently my life is being consumed by this:

Anyone who has done dressmaking might know what a pain in the arse normal jetted pockets are, but curved ones? with 4mm jets? Oh my God. I must be insane. I have my next fitting in 12 days, and because it is now the Easter holidays, only 2 of those days are in uni. So, to make up for my withdrawal symptoms and rubbish home equipment I bought myself a very sexy new iron. It's sleek and black and so powerful I just set off the smoke alarms cleaning it, and it depresses me how excited I am by something that is really just a shiny, expensive LAUNDRY APPLIANCE. This is apparently how I spend the money that normal students spend on clothes and alcohol.

So that's taking up 95% of my waking hours right now, though in my 2 week easter break I have given myself one whole day of free time - I am allowing my boyfriend too drive me to Weymouth on Monday to see the new baby turtles at the sealife centre :D (*squeeeeeeal)

Other than that, I've been keeping myself (almost) sane with a couple of rows now and then on Candy, in the Knitting4Fun yarn I bought at Woolfest. It seems to be a little small at the moment. It is supposed to be knit with negative ease, but I may have overdone it slightly. Oh well, I can always add a massive buttonwrap.

So that's it. I'm well aware that I still haven't shown off my Christmas knitting, or even my finished-months-before-Christmas knitting,but I am also well aware that my degree will be finished in less than 2 months and sadly knitting is not much of a priority. But hey, there's every possiblity that when I graduate I'll be unemployed and living in a box, so I'll have all the time in the world for knitting and blogging!

Fingers crossed.

IT LIVES!! Again. Ahem. Excitement over.

There has been a shortage of pie and handkerchiefs in the world of late. I feel this needs to be remedied. Everyone needs pie and handkerchiefs. Handkerchiefs are useful, and pies are......well pies are pies. They need to exist just to make the world a better place. Plus my mother keeps complaining that she doesn't know what I'm doing because I haven't been blogging. I apologise profusely, Mother.

Sometimes I think this blog has had so many near-death experiences that it must be developing a pathological fear of bright lights.

Third year coursework has been busy kicking my arse, as is only fitting I suppose, and continues to do so. I was ever so slightly correct when I predicted that I had bitten off more than I could chew in the last unit. About halfway through the unit my tutors and I decided I had too much work to do so the baggy, frilly, knee-length jumpsuit got cut. Shame. Anyhoo, they did get finished:

Well. Ish. That there jacket would hang a lot better if it had actual buttons and buttonholes rather than pins, but they still haven't seen fit to teach us how to use the keyhole buttonhole machine and won't accept them with straight ones, so we have to just wait for our technician to do them for us. Which she still hasn't. *sigh*

I'm currently about a week away from finishing the first costume of two for my final major project, which is a 1930s two piece suit and shirt for a BA Acting production of 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'. Very excited about this one, as far as I know, it's the only production that the acting course is puting on for a paying audience, in an actual Bournemouth theatre rather than university studio space, and I've somehow ended up making the costume for the male lead. There are 8 of us making costumes for this play and we're working directly with the designer and director in our own little production studio. Ah, it's almost like real life. Except I sort of hope I will be paid in real life. Our payment for this is 2 free tickets which I'm very disappointed to find I won't be able to use as I'm in America again the week the play's running. Dammit. I'm hoping to sneak into a dress rehearsal before I go.

In my very, very limited free time, there has been knitting, which I will show off at some unspecified future date. There are gifts, and warm weather woolies, and an ACTUAL GARMENT, which I have been ACTUALLY WEARING.

Exciting, huh?

Rightyho, I am off to turn up my cuffs.

My life is so fun.

Back at uni and suddenly shocked to find myself a third year

How can I possibly be a third year? I'm not ready for third year! I want to do second year again!


To be fair, I am vaguely excited about the things I'm doing, but I still feel things are moving way too fast. I may have stupidly bitten off more than I can chew in the current project, especially since I only have 8 weeks to do it. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to build on the tailoring skills that I've learnt or try something completely new with corsetry, so...err...I'm doing both.



I'm making the suit on the left (only the jacket though, everyone else in my class is doing full suits, but then, they're only working from one design)...




...and the corset and combination on the right. For those of you not in the know, a combination is like a baggy, frilly, knee length jumpsuit. Well fit. My model is thrilled.

At the same time as I'm making those, we have a 4000 word essay to write. Not a long one by third year standards at all, but then, I'm guessing most third year students don't have tailoring and embroidery to do at the same time. I'm currently researching the physical and emotional effects of high heeled shoes, but I haven't got far enough in to decide what my focus is going to be.

We had a group tutorial on our essays this afternoon to talk about such diverse matters as Donald Sutherland's uberwhite teeth, whether Cheryl Cole is the best X-factor judge ever and Grayson Perry, the transvestite potter who takes offence at being called a transvestite potter yet produces pots and wears little girl's dresses. Personally I think Donald Sutherland is a diva, Grayson Perry is a fake and X-factor should be taken off the air forever. I think my tutor has more or less gotten used to my abruptness by now, but I can never really tell whether he's disappointed that I can be extremely negative, or impressed that I'm not intimidated by the Emperor's New Clothes effect of modern art. Mostly though I think he likes to ask my opinion about things so he can have a good laugh.

I have been knitting furiously in meetings and on the coach to London to go fabric shopping, my lovely lovely Manos is gradually becoming a lovely lovely Kombu. There is no photo though, because I'm sitting on my bed and my camera is four feet away on my desk and it's a Friday evening therefore I'm too lazy to stretch that far. Pah.

I am a mite pissed off

My boss tried to get hold of me when my bus was late to work this evening and called my old phone by accident- the one I lost 3 months ago. Some guy called Steve picked up. WTF??! What the hell is some guy called Steve doing with MY PHONE! I have spent most of the night fuming at the nerve of this arsehole. For god's sake, he could have at least put a new simcard in my handset. Of course, in clearing out my room I've chucked away all the old receipts and the like so I no longer have any proof that its my phone. Dammit. What are the chances that he just found it and he's honest enough to return it to me when I politely point out that it is in fact not his. I'm thinking slim. I may phone him tomorrow anyway, at least I'll get to vent my frustration at him if he doesn't. And then, since I am on contract now, I shall phone him every single night until he's forced to stop using My Sodding Mobile. Hahahahahaaaaaaaaa, sweet vengeance is mine.

Anyhoo, since I finished work early and am too irate to sleep, I guess it's as good a time as any for the long overdue update on My Life Since Uni.

Unfortunately, the last 3 weeks (I feel so ashamed that it's been that long) have been largely camera free, not through mechanical fault, just through my own laziness. For the whole 8 days I spent in Scotland, my camera didn't leave my bag once, so I have no pictures of the beautiful Moray Firth landscape, or the art festival we were volunteering at, and only one stolen piccie of my parent's new puppy.




































Say Aaaawww. This is Oscar. He likes eating, sleeping, running on the beach, chewing people's shoes, licking people's jeans and getting in the way of the tv when engaged in a wrestling match with his bed.

I managed to finish the back and knit one sleeve of my red jumper (which really needs a better name than 74-7 Ribbed Pullover in Safran - the Drops people make great patterns, but are rubbish at naming them). I was sort of knitting the sleeve on autopilot once I got to the stocking stitch, being determined to finish it even though halfway through I knew it was going to be too big. Bah. It is too big - I could probably fit a leg in there. It seems that despite swatching I didn't in fact get gauge. Must make bigger gauge swatches. Tsk. I shall go a couple of needle sizes down, and make it a bit slimmer anyway to make up for my twig-arms. I can show you the cuff though, for that ROCKS.






























I love those tucked ridges! And they're so simple, just stitches from four rows down hoiked up through the back and knit together with the new row. Definitely going to use this technique again. Hopefully it will make the fact that I have to knit the sleeve again from scratch more bearable.


This is getting to be quite a long post...


Luckily I have no photos again of the Costume show, in fact I was backstage and didn't see most of it, but in short it was an utter shambles and the director will not be invited back next year. After we had sorted out most of his disorganised messes for him, we had a ton of free time between frantic dressing sessions during which I finished a pair of socks....which I don't think I've mentioned on this blog yet...there will be photos. I am not putting a time limit on them though.

Last bit to squeeze in before I should really go to bed: I made my costume for the summer ball! In one and a half days! Yay! I can't bear to look at it too closely because in the last 2 years at uni I've been trained to be a perfectionist and there are an awful lot of cut corners, but to the untrained eye they were fantastic (ah, who am I kidding, they were fantastic anyway). This is me, my best friend and her boyfriend as the Jack, Queen and King of Hearts, in my favourite photo of the night. I have absolutely no idea who these people are but we were wandering round the site and found the ace to the eight of hearts! Love it.

Aaaahahahaha. Four and a half months of freedom is MINE

I handed in my last project of second year this morning. Oh Thank God. It's about time, I think I was ever so slightly losing my mind by the end of it.

I suddenly ran out of ink at half past 6 last night, halfway through printing my workbook. There followed much high pitched swearing as I searched every inch of my room for the spare black cartridge I just knew I had, more high pitched swearing while frantically signing on to the internet to find the closing time of Staples, a fair bit of screaming and flailing at the less than efficient modem with the nearest thing that wasn't attached to the wall (a fold-up Christmas tree), and then more high pitching swearing, because I had found that I still had enough time to get to Staples but by that point the swearing had become a comforting thing.

Then I left the house. I got approximately halfway to the bus stop before I realised I had no money to buy ink. I don't mean that I picked up my purse without checking I had any cash,or picked up my bag without my purse in it. No. I left the house without my bag. I even went into my purse to get the bus fare, then put it back and left. Seriously, what?? Was an honest, hardworking life getting to me so much that I was subconciously planning to rob Staples?

It's possibly time for some proper sleep.

Today I need to go down to Sewing World and rip them a new one because my sewing machine is broken again. Ugh. I don't want to leave the house. My sewing machine is heavy and it's raining. Bah. The 2 weeks of beautiful sunshine I was stuck inside for has definitely disappeared now, it is crappy and English again. On the plus side, I don't get quite so many odd looks for knitting a jumper.

Ah yes, I'm knitting a jumper.

This is the Cathay Ribbed Pullover I swatched for at the beginning of the year. I'm about two thirds of the way up the back now, so I should be finished next month, in time to go cavorting with sheep in the lake district. I try to conceal most of my excitement about this because it is unseemly for mature, well brought up young ladies to squeal.

Dapper gentlemen, drunk Americans and the best golf course ever

Apologies for the entire lack of Kentucky update, I have been mildly frantic for the past fortnight getting ready for this fitting.

Yes, all the boys in the Arts Institute are this skinny. Have to say, I love Victorian trousers. You can't see beneath the waistcoat, but they practically come up to his nipples. It's so funny to see guys who are used to baggy hipsters coming out of the fitting room with the waistband where they think it should be and the crotch around their knees. Of course,doing a WHITE SUIT! AGAIN! doesn't make for very exciting photos. Dang.

So, Kentucky. Hmm. I have to submit a 2500 word report on my experiences there in a week and I'm kinda struggling to write it. Yes, I made loads of friends, and yes I bought lots of yarn, and yes, I slaughtered everyone at poker (the first time at least,they got their own back for my beginner's luck after that), but I don't think that really makes degree worthy writing. As for what I meant to be doing, it sort of dissolved as soon as I arrived. The play I was supposedly woking on was contmporary and the applique adjustments I was supposedly going to making on the bought clothes ended up being professionally printed instead. Nuts. I spent most of my time learning beading and embroidery (no help whatsoever to Kentucky, just to me) and taking up hems for people.

I'm not complaining, I had an awesome time. I actually had more of a social life in the last 3 weeks there than I have in a whole year here (if only because i don't have enough free time in Bournemouth). I learnt the quaint tradition of beer pong, got addicted to Rock Band on the Xbox and went to Keeneland racetrack on my last day, where I didn't win anything, but one of my friends won $780 and spent the rest of the day in a bit of a daze. I met some of the best people in the world there and I wouldn't change it for anything, but it does make the follow-up written work a little tricky.

I've been doing a fair bit of knitting (read: procrastinating) recently - mostly on 50 million different projects, but I have a couple more FOs once I've woven ends in and sewn on buttons. Of course, I should have realised by now that promising photos in the next post means the next post won't appear for about a month. So, you may see my gloves in early June. Lucky, lucky blog.

P.S. Went out for pub golf for my housemates' birthday last week. Baked them the best cake in the world. Ah, I am the Sultan of Smug.

Ah, Eighteenth Century Man. How glad I am to be rid of you.

My God, I will not miss this costume.

This is not a good photo. Francis is in a piss with me because I was in a rush and wouldn't let him sort out his hat hair. Hahaha. Why yes, I am mildly evil and taking out my stress on poor defenceless models, thankyou for asking. As you can see, the costume is perfectly magnificent in every way and this is why I have spent the last fortnight eating frozen curry and takeaway pizza when I had the time to eat anything at all, and going to bed no earlier than 2am. Coursework deadlines are not conducive to healthy lifestyles. Or blogging, surprisingly. Finally got this handed in on Thursday and spent at least 75% of my weekend in bed. It was goooooood. Of course, I am choosing to ignore the fact that this extension has put me almost 3 weeks behind on my Victorian tailoring unit, for which I am making (drumroll please)...another white suit. *sigh*

Other spiffy (or not so) things which have happened in the month of my tragic absence:

1. I turned 22

There was alcohol involved. I'm in a weird limbo stage at uni, all my friends from home have graduated and gotten themselves proper jobs and make me feel young, all my friends here didn't take a gap year/foundation year and are thus 19 and 20 and delight in giving me birthday cards with little old ladies on. I still have my birthday cards on my windowsill, almost a month later.

2. I bought my flights to Kentucky

I may well have bought these over a month ago, I'm not sure, everything blurred out of focus this month. However, I do know for sure that I got my dollars this weekend. I am feeling much smugness after some very good wage-saving last summer, and refusing to go shopping in England, so I've managed to load myself with £400 worth of Green for some lovely cheap suitcase filling. I <3 the exchange rate.

3. I am scarred for life

This would come under the not so spiffy category. I also may be being a little dramatic, I am hopefully only scarred for the next couple of weeks. Someone threw a bottle at me in a club. There was lots of blood, a whole half hour on the dancefloor and then three hours in A&E where a chav with a broken thumb and terrible teeth attempted to chat me up. No stitches though, and no concussion, though I did make the effort to look wan and wobbly the next night until my boss sent me home from work early. Score.

4. I have FOs!

FOs! Plural! Although, neither are blocked, and I feel they deserve a post of their own anyhow. In the next few days maybe.

Ta ta for now, I am off to start researching an essay on Iranian cinema, because I am diverse and interesting like that.

So, stress causes ulcers huh?

Well I have a mouth full of the buggers. Seriously, I can't move my tongue without finding a new one. It ain't pretty. I spent most of the week wanting to batter my head against a wall until either my head or the wall broke, and I didn't much care which.

Anyhoo, these photos are from the toile fitting, over a week ago, before the nightmare started. At this point things were going well. Give it a couple of days and it'll be going well again. I have to keep telling myself this or I will throw my sewing machine out of the window and I quite like my sewing machine if I stop and think about it. Quite like my window too.

My model likes it at least, it's 'swishy' apparently. You can't see the pleats in the photo, but yes, they do swish. He's not overly keen on the breeches (can't imagine why), but he has already announced plans to steal the shirt.

I have until next Wednesday for my final fitting, which means all the garments done in proper fabric, finished apart from hems and fastenings. It's now half past midnight on Friday and I'm taking a break from sewing 18 metres of ribbon and eyelash yarn onto the front of my waistcoat. It really is as fun as it sounds, and according to my schedule I should have finished it on Tuesday. I love my degree I love my degree I love my degree.

Knitting wise, in the two whole minutes of free time I have had, I frogged Pomatomus because it is a silly, silly pattern and I dislike it. Alternatively, I made the catastrophic mistake of attempting to knit it without stitch markers in front of Torchwood. I cannot keep track of where to decrease when there are dashing young men kissing each other on my television screen. I would have restarted, but I only have one set of those needles and as soon as the sock was off my half finished mitten went back on. I have completed half of one mitten flap in the last fortnight. University deadlines do not make for exciting knitting progress. Oh well, next time maybe.

Christmas knitting is well on its way (hurrah), this is sock 1 from Yarn Harlot's Earl Grey socks for my Dad. It looks huge, probably because it's largely stocking stitch and the last socks I made were ribbed, but I think it should fit. This only took me a week, very pleased with that, since I remember my ribbed socks taking fricking ages. Sock 2 will take longer (though I HAVE started it) now that I've started my next unit on the costume course, but still, it's going well so I may just finish it in time to make myself some mittens and a jumper to celebrate/hide from the winter.




















We're now a week into our making project at uni, and I'm torn between being excited about it, and being extremely pissed off, almost to the point of making a formal complaint because my unit leader is being such a useless twat (ahem). Everyone had their designs and their model's names handed out on Wednesday, except me. She forgot about me. Seriously. Once I finally did have a design, I was told they had run out of male acting students, so I would have to fit mine to a first year costume student, so there's every possibility that it won't actually appear in the costume show. Now here comes the fun part. Nobody bothered to tell said costume student that he was modelling for me so he didn't come in to be measured last week. If it wasn't for the fact that I already know him, he still wouldn't know now. As it is, I won't be able to measure him till tomorrow which puts me at a four day disadvantage to everyone else in the class. *fume*
On the other hand, I'm dead excited because the cutting workshops have renewed my love for the eighteenth century. Mmmm, sack back dresses and square cut coats, yom yom yom. All perfect seams and pleats as far as the eye can see. Precision cutting is why I want to do costume. Everyone else was staring at me wierdly when I admitted how happy flat pattern drafting made me.

This is the design I will (eventually) be making. It wasn't my first choice, but it's grown on me now, especially since Francis (my model) is flouncy and over the top and absolutely PERFECT for this character.

Confessions of a Rapunzel hater

Ok, I have to admit to something embarrassing. A couple of weeks ago I realised why Rapunzel doesn't fit. If any of you have read the pattern, you will now that the moss stitch section is actually fair isle moss stitch. It's not in a pattern of any kind, just every other stitch, in the same colour yarn so I decided it was kind of pointless to go through the fiddly process of learning fair isle which wasn't going to be that noticeable. I just left it out. What didn't click in my inexperienced brain was that fair isle has lots of little threads woven across the back. Which stops it stretching so much. Which changes the gauge. Ah.

Boy do I feel foolish.

Mind you, what I said about not knitting without doing the maths first still stands, even with the shoulder seams in the right place, the sleeves are too long, something of a rarity for me. Once I pluck up the courage I will take it into university to attack it with the overlockers and pray it doesn't unravel.

On a brighter note, I had my hand-in today! Yays! No coursework for the weekend and my Christmas gift yarn has arrived from cnyttanpatterns.com. I've been very good and not even unwrapped the package for the last 3 days so I'm making up for it tomorrow by spending the entire day on the sofa knitting, watching DVDs and eating cake. Oh yes. It will be magnificent.

Mmmmmshopping

Last Wednesday (hmm, that was a while ago, not had a chance to blog in far too long) the uni took us on a fabric shopping trip to London to get samples for our design project. Since I plan to make all my costumes from cheapo fabrics bought from the uni and manipulated in the craft room rather than buying fancy expensive Soho stuff, and since the trip wasn't optional, I moaned most of the way there.

Until I remembered that there's a John Lewis on Oxford Street.

This is a Big Thing for me. We don't have any yarn shops in Bournemouth. Or, more accurately, we have about 7 (which I looked up on yell.com and wasted 2 days visiting), all of which sell plastic yarn and plastic needles. Not a single scrap of natural fibres anywhere near me.

So after trying not to drool all the way down the road, I dragged my rather sceptical, non-knitting friend Lucy up to the haberdashery section with me, and after LOTS of oohing ad aahing emerged with 11 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby for another jumper I'm designing.
















Yom yom yom.

Once we got into the yarny goodness Lucy didn't seem so sceptical and eventually admitted that she'd quite like to make a scarf. I tried very hard not to bounce excitedly as I forced yarn and needles into her hands and pushed her towards the till. I thought she might be a little put off if she realised just how insane people turn once they catch the yarn bug.

Eventually re-appeared in the real world feeling elated, but also slightly ashamed of spending £50 on yarn (John Lewis not too friendly for a student budget), so to make myself feel better I went into Schuh and bought some new boots. I am the Queen of Logic. They were a huge bargain though, and so pretty, and they fitted my legs perfectly. I know that for a pair of boots with laces and buckles up the wazoo that was a fairly silly reason since I could just adjust them if they didn't fit, but having the display pair hug my calves like a second skin just felt like fate.





















I LOVE thse boots. I just went to take the bins out and got a wolf whistle from the builders over the road. Heh.

Spent the coach ride back teaching Lucy how to cast on and do drop stitches (she already knew how to do garter stitch but wanted something a bit faster). I've taught a couple of people to knit before but I always find it weird going slow enough to break down exactly what I'm doing. At first Lucy was having trouble holding the yarn and needles at the same time, and I realised that I picked my yarn so automatically that I actually had no idea what I was doing with my fingers, so I had to teach myself again before I could teach her! She's now itching to add tassels because apparently it isn't a scarf without tassels.

It was my cousin's 30th birthday this weekend so I went home to drive up there with my parents and to show off my new yarn and boots to my Mum on the way. My Mum has this wonderful ability to completely outdo my splurges and stop me feeling guilty by buying far more impulse purchases than me. Our study now contains - along with the yarn winder, niddy-noody, drum carder and THREE spinning wheels - a knitting machine and a loom. It is no wonder my Dad's going grey.

Not dead yet. It's a close call though.

So, first year at uni is long gone and only a week left till year two starts since the summer holidays flew past in a haze of nothingness. Initially I made up my mind that I was going to stay in Bournemouth, get a job and revel in my independence. Then I realised that I was barely earning enough to pay rent, all my friends were at home and Bournemouth is full of foreigners in the summer. Ok, the Polish people who suddenly invaded my house were nice, but it's a bit odd to get the bus to work every day and never hear an English voice. I lasted about a month before I came crawling back to my parents' house. Eh, I have the rest of my life to be independent.

Managed to successfully finish the Elizabethan costume, and yes, it did look vaguely more exciting in colour.

And here's a closeup of the headdress and ruff (look, knitting! oooo):

And the shoes! I love the shoes, they makes me happy

Eighteenth century menswear to come this year, with any luck.

Can't wait to start second year, not only do I get to specialise in making (no more designing, yaay), but there's a possiblity of a study exchange to America in the Spring term.

*small squeals of excitement*

Since I have been way too lazy to get myself a job back in Wycombe, the last two months have been spent moulded to the sofa watching an endless string of Buffy, Spaced, Doctor Who and Heroes (in between getting drunk, my summer hasn't been that wasted) and trying to get back into the swing of knitting.

At the moment I'm attempting to design my first garment. It's called Chloe. According to the note scribbled beside a sketch I did about a year ago, this is because it was inspired by a photo of Chloe Sevigny, but I can't honestly say I remember that. I'm sure it was a lovely picture though.

Progress so far...

It's based on Tempting as a starting point, because I love the way the sleeves are attached on that, plus some bust shaping (which you can't see on the photo because I managed to take a photo of the back - genius), and a yoke with some type of collar. Not sure what type yet, kind of making it up as I go along. I've ground to a halt at the moment though as the neckline's getting too small for the needle, so I'm back to zombie knitting until I can buy some more DPNs.

Zombie knitting (mostly while getting annoyed trying to work out yoke decreases) has been a matching hat, scarf and mittens set - finished but not photographed, and a spiral bag - a frugalhaus pattern that seems to have disappeared from the internet, which I started yesterday. I don't have gauge for that though, and I want to make it about half the size it's supposed to be in the pattern so....not really sure how that's gonna work out. I may end up with some huge shell shaped table mats instead.

Fitting on Wednesday. Eep

Toile almost finished (well, getting there), I'm getting very bored of calico, can't wait to start making it in a proper fabric.

The bodice is practically done, complete with hanging sleeves, though I need to redo the shoulder rolls, which aren't big enough here

Eyelets for lacing up the back

Half finished partlet to fill in the neckline

Bumroll! I don't know why this gets me so excited.

Hayley cartridge pleating the petticoat, which looks like a sleeping bag because the shop had run out of sensible fabric.

So, just have to do the neck and wrist ruffs, the headdress, the top skirt, finish the petticoat and partlet and redo the shoulder rolls. Before Wednesday morning. Oh dear.

Hmm, so I abandoned the blog for another year. Oops. Well, trust me, you havn't missed much - I managed a grand total of 2 FOs in 2006 and I really cannot remember that last time I had a free moment to sit down and knit. *sigh*

Anyhoo, the gloves finally got started in June (I got some very odd looks for knitting gloves in 45C heat)

Ah, the everpresent mirror shot

These are knitted sans pattern (oh yes, I am so proud) from the lovely tropical fish inspired sockyarn Amanda sent me way back when for SP6. Opal I think - lost the ball band along the way. There are two of them, honest, but they got quite a bit of wear this winter and one of the fingers needs repairing.

The other FO was a stuffed stegosaurus for Chris back in April (he was a little amused that I still thought he was of an appropriate age for stuffed toys). That was from a pattern, and it was gorgeously silly, but I can't find it anymore. Hmmph. Turned out way easier than I thought, since it was my first toy, tail spikes and all. He was called Texas, and was incredibly goofy (my embroidery skills displaying themselves to full effect on the face.)

Wish I'd got a picture, but sadly the boyfriend is no more, and I feel it is not generally accepted good etiquette to ring up ex-lovers demanding photos of their dinosaurs.

I'm now finally at university (it's taken me long enough), doing Costume for Screen and Stage at Bournemouth, which is great, when its not driving me nuts and interrupting my sleep patterns. I just started my first making project a week and a half ago, and have been given a design for the widow from the Taming of the Shrew to make for April. Feeling a little daunted by the costs at the moment. We're probably going to need about 20m of various fabrics. Why couldn't I pick a nice cheap course like Maths? Hey ho. Spent this week pattern drafting and we should be ready to cross our fingers and start sewing up our toile tomorrow.

What the finished project will (hopefully) look like

Our bodice pattern - or at least two fifths of it

My lovely partner Hayley and our insane metre long hanging sleeves