Autumnal creativity

It's high time for a knitting update! Because I finally finished my scallop jumper, sleeves and all,  and even though I'm better at posting pictures on Ravelry I'm so excited that I want to share them on my blog, too. And, by the way, this is the original Top Shop jumper that served as inspiration. Thank you, internet.

 Besides the jumper I also managed to squeeze in a beret in preparation of colder days (finally!), a project with leftover yarn from my fair-isle cardigan. I used the "Kim" pattern from Madeleine Weston's and Rita Taylor's book "Knit Vintage" which I found in the public library by chance. It's a lovely pattern if maybe a little too big (this time I really made sure I used the right gauge but it seems like I just have a small head).

I currently have another cardigan in the making and this weekend my stash was (not so miraculously) enlarged by a donation of some wonderful Latvian wool yarn in all shades of red and blue. Pictures soon to come.

"Journée de la Laine" @ ParckDesign

On 14 September, the "Journée de la Laine" (or "Wool Day") was organized as part of the ParckDesign festival here in Brussels. I saw the notice on the good old Stitch'n'Bitch facebook group and it sounded really interesting, especially because the festival focuses on sustainability and eco-friendliness so I was quite intrigued. I read an article in the Guardian recently which suggested that 99.9 % of wool produced in the UK is a by-product of the meat industry - that certainly gave me something to think about. It also made me wonder about the mass produced yarn that I usually buy and that the sheep who provided the wool were probably not happy on a green pasture somewhere but in all likelihood already transformed into stew. It had actually never crossed my mind before.

The ParckDesign festival thus looked like a good start to explore better alternatives! The idea was to show different stages of wool production and processing in a simple way, including the carding, spinning and dyeing processes. The little farm that was established within the framework of the festival actually had some real sheep, too, but I doubt that they contributed the raw material (it looked like they were more of a petting zoo).

The people that organized the different workshops were super friendly and patiently answered all of my questions. Of course I know a thing or two about knitting but I did not really know much about how the yarn is being produced. This was all very small scale and to be honest, it looked like it's doable - even though you need some extra equipment such as the carding machine or the spinning wheel if you want to do it properly. It surely takes some time and practice to master the arts of spinning a regular thread and dyeing seems to be yet another step on the professional ladder but it would be worth trying. For the time being (and lacking the proper equipment) I have decided that I will start by trying to buy more ethically sourced yarn. I haven't done much research on this but if I have some recommendations I will certainly post them here!



Festival impressions:

(1) The park (2) Dyeing yarn with natural dyes (3) Walnut skin dye (4) Spinning with drop spindle (5) Weaving demonstration

Transformation Thursday II

In the second part of this mini-series I attacked this originally completely hideous shirt (see proof below), a vintage gem ca. anno 1970. I spotted it in a heap of old clothes at a flea market and fell in love with the sailing boat pattern. I got it for 1 € - the lady probably thought I wanted it as a dish cloth. To be honest I didn't even know what I wanted to do with it but when I got home I remembered that I still had some leftover bias tape which had the perfect colour to match the blue background!

I didn't take any pictures during the transformation process but basically I just took an old pattern that I used for the scallop hem dress amongst others and cut off the sleeves roughly according to the pattern. The ugly v-neckline was annoying (and I could hardly get it over my head) so I made a nice and round one. I don't know what kind of body shape people had in the 1970s but the shirt was also quite tight around the hips so I had to make two incisions on the sides, otherwise I would have looked like I had a pot belly. I don't, I promise! 

About an hour and some struggle with the bias tape later the transformation was complete. Voilà:

 

Tranformation Thursday I

And more sewing! Actually, this time the lazy kind because I just transformed some old items into something new and fabulous - I believe this is called "upcycling" nowadays. Whatever you call it I'm happy with the result, I liked the fabrics so much that I wanted to do something with it even though I didn't like the cut.

I bought the skirt in a charity shop in Glasgow and I loved the little polka dots as well as the fact that it was from NoaNoa and I got it for less than £ 3! The ugly ruffles had to go though, totally the wrong length (halfway down to the calves  - makes it look like I have even shorter legs than I already have in reality) and the fact that it didn't have a lining made it ride up so I had to add that, too. Surprisingly, this wasn't so difficult! I followed Tilly's tutorial but as usual I skipped a few steps. Since the skirt was already done and the zip of course sewn in I just left a gap for the zip and attached it to the waistband on the top. Easy-peasy!

In the end I added the gold trimming because I have a thing for golden clothes at the moment and I had the bias left over from a another project. Not sure if I will be wearing the skirt on a daily basis but I like the combination. And all of this took me one evening of work; not too bad for me. 

Dress No. 2

As I recently mentioned I challenged myself to make a dress for each wedding I attend (as a guest, as I may point out to avoid confusion) and so far I've been doing good. Well, I've only been to two weddings this year. The result is dress no. 2, a variation of my beloved Marimekko "Pitkä mekko" pattern from the "Surrur" book. It is super simple and because I was short on time I skipped the lining (again) and even a zip as you can easily pull it over your head.

The scallops were my first attempt and a bit tricky I have to admit. I think it takes at least one dress to practice how deeply you have to cut and how to trim the excess fabric to make them look even. I followed a tutorial on the "Über Chic for Cheap" blog which is short but clear and I managed fine. For next time I'll know even better though.

Thanks to my beautiful friend Ilaria for modelling!

Yarn stash - latest additions

As usual I've been buying yarn while travelling. In Scotland I got this really nice tweed yarn at the Harris Tweed shop and I already have an idea in mind of what I'll do with it. And then I actually went out on purpose to get some simple sock yarn because all I had is this multi-coloured yarn which is not great for textured patterns. Here are the new additions:

Scotland

In the beginning of August I spent a wonderful week in Scotland, on the Outer Hebrides to be precise. If you don't know where exactly that is don't worry - think West coast and then West and a little further West and you end up on the islands that are off the Scottish coast between Skye and St. Kilda if that helps. 

In any way, it was a long 7-hour drive from Glasgow to Skye from where we took the ferry to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. Harris and Lewis are actually the same island, I still haven't understood why they are called differently, but we only stayed on Harris which is the southern part. We camped almost the whole week except for two nights while we were driving up/down and in spite of our awful  £ 20 Tesco tent we managed quite well in the Scottish wilderness. From Lewis we took a ferry south to Berneray (definitely the best part of the trip) and North Uist and from there back to Skye. 

It was pretty much as I remembered Scotland from a trip I took there as a teenager almost 10 years ago but less midges for a change. Can't say I missed them much! The countryside was still as stunning and imposing and the air as clean and fresh. A lovely change from the big city routine! But even Glasgow was much more pleasant than expected; most people had told me it wasn't even worth a visit. But we stayed in the lovely West End near the University and it almost made me wish I was a student again. Definitely a place to go back to!