Joking aside

I'm beginning to think I might need to censor Dave's bed time reading.

Last night, just as I was dropping off to sleep he starts to chortle. I asked what was up and he replied...

"I went to the supermarket to buy some H.P. Sauce. I'm paying it off monthly, in sixpence installments."

This morning, while I'm still stumbing around in a caffiene deprived state, he asked "Why do elephant's have big ears?"

I, wondering why he was suddenly putting me on the spot and quizzing me about trivia, replied suitably only to have him smirk and reply. "No. It's because Noddy wouldn't pay the the ransom!"

Cue much mirth on his part.

Can't you tell he's reading a book all about jokes?

In other news, I went along to the knitting group last night where I scored four skeins of Louisa Harding Sari Ribbon (Ravelry Link) in a sort of pale green colour. No idea what I'm going to do with it, but it is very pretty... Ideas anyone?

No pictures, because I didn't think of it and my camera's batteries are playing up again (at some point I will give up and buy new ones).

I also came home with some vintage crochet patterns from the seventies. Everyone else seemed to think they were hilarious, but my response to most of the designs was 'Oooh, nice.' said in a not at all sarcastic way. What can I say, my costuming gene went off big time! I resisted for the most part, but did nab a crocheted cloak pattern (the ultimate in 70's style I tell you and possibly coming to an Eidolan near you) and a couple of very pretty lace waistcoats.

I also finished sock number one. I'll weave in the ends tonight and then, hopefully cast on sock number two.

Not exactly restful

Friday night I took my new tent back to Go Outdoors! to see about getting an exchange.

The good news was that they still stock the Vango Venture 500...

The bad news, they were not willing to take my word for it regarding the damage and said I'd have to wait until a manager had time to inspect the tent and give their opinion as to whether the damage warranted a replacement or not. No one was available there and then and there wasn't much chance of anyone being around until some point next week. Rather than argue I filled out the necessary paperwork, including an extensive description of the tear and left the tent with them.

I now await their call with interest...

So far, this has a been a quiet and damp weekend. It's not particularly cold, just dark, damp and miserable out there. I'm still worn out from last weekend and with the work the way it is, my priority this weekend has been on recharging my batteries and spending some quality time with my other half.

We've cycled a fair distance this weekend and went swimming this morning (cycling to and from the sports centre, despite the persistant drizzle), which serves the purpose of spending time with Dave but has been hardly restful. The other thing I've discovered about all this exercise is it makes me very hungry!

My only contribution to decluttering this weekend was to pass a couple of kit items to Dave to see if he can find new owners for them via Maelstrom. Two were items I've never used, having picked them up new on speculation but never had a reason to wear them... And since then, my costuming eye has, er... developed a tad... Which means I've become more selective in what I consider suitable kit.

The other, a lightly used (one and a half events) dress I'm still deliberating on whether to let go or not. It's a fairly simple smock in cotton/linen, with beading and fringing detail on collar and cuffs, to make it more interesting.

At the moment it's in the 'go' pile, mostly because I can't see me needing it currently and I could always make something similar if I needed it. Finding suitable fabric would be a pain, but that is always the case.

What it does represent is a trip down memory lane and creative investment. Every costume piece I make has a bit of me in it and so, letting it go is always a problem. Not to say I shouldn't shed kit I'm unlikely to use again, but it's hard when you've an emotional attachment. At the very least, I wanted to record that I'd made this and hence why I've put a picture here.

I finally got around to blocking the scarf I knitted last month which has been sitting waiting for my attention for the past two weeks.

This is 'Scarf Askew' which I originally found on the now sadly no more Magknits site. So far I haven't found it published anywhere else on the internet, but hopefully its designer will upload it somewhere else in due course. The yarn is an aran weight, the discontinued Jaeger Sport in an interesting bluey/green which I think complements the manly nature of this scarf.

The only modification I've made is to add a moss stitch border, in an effort to curb the curl on this one and boy oh boy, does this scarf curl! I think it really wants to be knitted in the round and I think the stitch pattern would make some wonderfully subdued and manly socks. For now, I've blocked the living daylights out of the scarf and I shall wait to see if it holds.

Finally to end...

My current sock in progress.

As always, click on the images to see bigger versions...

Mend and make do...

This weekend marked the official start of British Summer Time with the clocks all going forward by an hour on Sunday morning. Personally, I hate it when the clock gets adjusted as it takes at least another week for my body to catch on. It seems to have thrown the cats as well, who were decidedly late in their waking yesterday morning and again today, rather than being ready with the CPR at 6am to get me going.

Today I ache in all the wrong places and my right knee has a definite whinge going on, the cause being too much cycling. Taking advantage of the break in the weather, Dave and I cycled about seven miles on Saturday and another three or so, yesterday.

The ride on Saturday was the more productive of the two and I actually rode on the road, surviving my first encounters with inconsiderate drivers who blocked me in and rode so close, they seemed determined to knock me off the bike. I say 'seemed', since I'm sure they weren't trying to send me flying, just agressively claiming the road, which in turn pushed me into the gutter and made trying to pull out so I could turn right impossible.

Sunday's jaunt was more sedate as well as shorter, since within moments of getting on the bicycle, muscles I hadn't realised I had started to complain very loudly! I persevered and then discovered a new issue, namely the bike seemed to be trying to throw me off every time I changed gear. In the end, Dave had a go, riding my bicycle for a short while around the park before deciding there was a genuine problem with the gear transition. A brief visit by Dave to the bicycle shop later (I let him go, since he knows bike speak) and it was sorted (I hope) and turned out to be a stretched gear cable, which the man in the shop said is normal on new bicycles.

Dave has cycled to work this morning, but for me I think more practice and confidence will be needed before I can do the same.

When not risking life and limb on the road this weekend, I pottered around the house (as I regularly do), performing household chores. In between all this, the focus was on 'mend and make do' type activities, as I get ready for the next AscendancyLRP event.

I started off by spending about three hours on Saturday repairing the robe I wear, which was damaged by a clumsy viking at the last event. Since I couldn't find any replacements for the torn frogs last week, I carefully removed the frogs from under the sleeves on the short jacket I made last year, then transferred them to the dress.

Pictures from when it was brand new and pristine...



The removal of the frogs, took quite a while as I'd sewn them on to stay sewn on, so getting them off without damaging the jacket fabric was very fiddly and time consuming. Then I had to do the same with the damaged frogs, carefully feeling for the stitching with my unpicker so I could cut it, but not the threads of the robe itself. Then came the fun of sewing the frogs back on, both for the robe and the jacket (replacing the burgandy frogs with black ones), since I didn't want to leave it in a canibalised state - knowing me I'd have never got around to fixing it again.

When I was finally done with the robe, I moved onto making an amulet pouch or a little bag to hang around the neck.

This little pouch illustrates and vindicates all my insecurities about why I should never throw away scrap! You never know when you might have to rustle something up which looks like it is and always has been part of your character's costume.

The main fabric of the bag is part of the left overs from a jacket I made... er... five (maybe) years ago. That fabric turns up again on the robe as part of the colar, and the gores (or godets) in the skirt. The lining is scrap left over from the robe I made for Dave last summer. The ribbon came off a chocolate box and the beaded bit is one of the frogs I'd just cut off the robe. Dave has retouched the beads for me, as the paint was worn off and I just need to thread a cord through and it's done.

Not too shabby for something made entirely out of left overs and all in about three hours work.

As always, click on images to see bigger versions...

By way of experimentation...

Dave has been safely returned from camping at the Maelstrom event last night and many thanks are due to Sarah who gallantly stepped in as his substitute lift, after his first ride had repeated car trouble. I was on the verge of going to fetch him myself (shoes on, directions from website in hand) when she kindly stepped into the breech, which saved me a two hour round trip. Dave himself is slowly recovering, no longer looks so plasticky (ye gods, the horrors of makeup!) but has a cold to show for his exploits.

Myself, I spent the weekend pottering around the house, running errands and experimenting in a fibery way.

I bravely dodged snow, sleet and hail showers to visit Coventry market in search of frogs. The habberdashery stall there does a range of very pretty, if horribly expensive, frogs and was where I found the originals I'm trying to replace, so it seemed a logical place to start. Sadly, it wasn't to be with nothing even remotely suitable on offer and so I'm preparing to canibalise the jacket I made last year so I can repair my kit in time for the next Ascendancy event.

I'm thinking of stealing the frogs under the arms and replacing them with plain black ones, which shouldn't be too jarring to the eye should I ever wear it again. Looking at the forums, it seems I'm going to have to make an amulet of some sort as well, so I anticipate I will be doing a spot of sewing next weekend.

Feeling an urge for experimentation, I decided to have a tentative first stab at felting knitted fabric. I've been curious for a while now as to how easy it is to hand felt as opposed to machine felting and I wanted to know if an acrylic/wool mix would felt or not. I've not been able to find a definite answer on this one, with opinions being varied and so I decided there was nothing for it but to resort to the swatch...

This rather dashing green Katia Azteca is a 50% Wool/50% Acrylic yarn of about Aran weight...

It knitted up into this 13cm square on 6.5mm needles as everything I've heard suggests that felting is more likely with a looser stitch guage...

The result was actually quite nice; while the stitches weren't overly tight, they weren't terribly loose either and felt good in the hand, with a very soft drape.

For the felting part, I set to work in the kitchen sink alternating between hot tap water, cold water and occasional input from the kettle, as I attacked the fabric square with my agitator (a whisk). It took about two minutes for the first sign of felting to appear and I stopped after about 30 minutes, satisfied the little square did indeed look like felt now...

So to answer my own question, yes, a 50:50 acrylic/wool mix will felt.

Although in this case, I also discovered that I don't particularly like the result.

Unfelted, this yarn produced a nice fabric but felted it looks like nothing so much as one of my kitchen scouring pads - which is of course a good thing to find out now before I try to use it in a proper felting project!

My plan for this little square is to give it a trim, as it may look a bit tidier with fewer fluffy, straggly bits and then I may needlefelt on a spiral or something similar... After which I should have a coaster.

On a more positive note, I finally seem to be getting somewhere on the spinning front!

After Mandy mentioned the 'park and draft' method of spinning, I googled and hit on this tutorial. I gave it a go and this is the result!

(As always, click on the images to see bigger versions.)

Circumstances beyond our control

Having just spent the past three days locked in a room absorbing information on Project Management followed by evenings packed full of homework, I was looking forward to my regular weekly knitting group last night. Unfortunately, circumstances conspired against me with workmen uncovering a WWII bomb which led to the entirety of the Coventry city centre being sealed off until this morning.

Fortunately, I knew something was up well in advance so wisely stayed home rather than trying to get into town. The journey home last night took twice as long as it should have done, so I tuned into the local BBC radio which is when I found out what was going on. It turned out that the police had also closed Coventry's Ring Road, a major hub here without which it becomes very difficult to get from one side of the city to the other.

Hopefully, all the other ladies heard similar reports and stayed clear.

In other news, we had an event in York at the weekend which went quite well, despite the strong winds which made staying outside incredibly cold as well as making it impossible to hear what anyone was saying unless they were standing right next to you. Thank goodness for gloves and having drafty huts at our disposal!

There was one worrying moment though, when Dave and Richardxl5 disappeared around the back of our hut to fix the roof with some drawing pins!

One fallout of the weekend is that I now have a minor sewing emergency on my hands. A great big, clumsy, armour wearing viking, decided to throw himself dramatically onto my lap when I tried to roll him over (to tend to his wounds). Fortunately, my knee took the strain. Unfortunately, my costume didn't, with his armour ripping into and tearing the frogs which hold the dress closed.

At the moment, I'm counting my blessings that the fabric itself didn't tear as well, but as it is, getting hold of fancy frogs is hard at the best of times, so this damage is not as trivial as it might seem. My current plan is to try to locate suitable replacements, but if not I'll have to cannibalise another outfit which has less frogs on it... The theory being that I'll have an easier time finding a small number of matching frogging than a large number. Or at least that's what I'm hoping.

And back to the real world

I think today is Wednesday. That is, blogger is telling me it is Wednesday and my diary agrees, so it must be Wednesday but my poor body clock has lost all sense of time. It's an even worse shock to realise that August is very nearly over and we're almost in September!

The reason for this loss of time and complete disassociation with the calendar as accepted by the rest of the world is of course having not long returned from being cacooned from reality in Candleston campsite and eleven days of Shards.

Once we'd got past the first weekend, the weather cleared and was fine, which cheered us all up enormously. We were camping in our usual luxurious and prepared fashion, so the rain didn't hamper us too much, but had it continued throughout the full eleven days it would have dampened our spirits somewhat.

As it was, a good time was had by all, with the first two segments being particularly excellent - from my viewpoint at least. The last few days were a bit slow, mostly due to the nature of the plot and the focus on the tribal types, which made it difficult to get involved.

I took some knitting with me and completed two washcloths, with another half done. They're great for picking up and putting down, so made good knitting projects for those quiet moments as well as first thing in the morning. Pictures and details later.

Dave's new costume looked very 'fly' as he would put it, however the character it was intended for only survived about eight hours in game. Rather than have all that hard work go completely to waste, the tunic was passed to another player to pad out their kit for the week. I've got to say, it looked equally good on him.

Monday afternoon we packed up fairly promptly for us and were not the last off site (miraculously), but lost a lot of time due to car trouble. My brakes were resisting and rather than drive all the way home, I called the AA and waited for them to be checked out. It turned out the heavy rain that first weekend, followed by very warm weather and not moving the car was the problem, with a thin coating of rust having formed on the brake disks. A drive with the AA man and some aggressive braking sorted things out and then we drove home, finally getting back to Coventry just after midnight. This was much, much later than we should have done, but those brakes needed checking out.

Now... I have a mountain of laundry to do, plus a load of washing up. I also have a zip to replace with eyelets on my tent since it's about given up the ghost now. Mostly though, I'm trying to adjust to being back in the real world and marvelling at just how tired I feel.

Can you tell what it is yet?

Having braved the sun to run a few necessary errands, I'm now hiding indoors and psyching myself up to do a spot of sewing. I'm currently very proud of myself as I've displayed an unusual amount of self control and walked away from both fabric and yarn!

Yes, I was in Coventry and stuck my head into Busy Fingers, for no particular reason other than I was walking past. There I saw several interesting offcuts in upholstery weight fabrics which would have made very nice waistcoats - and if Dave had been there no doubt frock coats would have been mentioned - or cushion covers if you prefer tamer sewing pursuits.

I also checked out their bargain buckets/baskets and saw some very nice rich wool mixes of the fussy variety. By that I mean, they had either bits stuck onto the yarn or were variegated and multi-threaded (i.e. two or more threads of a different type wrapped around each other). Very nice, ranging from 50% to 79% wool and just 99p per 50g! Believe me, it took a lot of will power to put the yarn down and walk away.

Now some pictures of Dave wearing the robe I finished on Tuesday.






















This is a robe of my own design, with input from Dave as to the features he wanted to see. It's meant to be clerical in appearance, with a deep collar, lots of swish but minimal hampering of movement.

The fabric is a brushed, heavy weight cotton which is both considerably lighter and cheaper than an equivalent amount of wool. I've split it front and back to make sure he can fight in this one (although officially, the split would be there so he could ride) and added gores to the sides to increase the fullness of the hem. The gores run from under the arm to the hem, but I've sewn the side seams closed again at the top to waist level, so that the gores fold in on themselves when Dave is standing still.

The collar is a simple folded over affair with the neck hole big enough for him to pull the whole caboodle over his head. The sleeves are straight and only slightly tapered to the wrist, again intended to give him plenty of movement.

As always, click on the images to see bigger versions.

Special thanks for help with the photoshoot must go to the director, one Missy Cat who closely supervised the wardrobe and the positioning of the model in each shot.

And now for a very important announcement

In the interests of finding a palatable alternative to my current favourite tea (and yes, tea has finally made it onto my blog) in order to stave off the fear that Morrisons (the only place in Coventry that I can find it) will stop stocking it, I decided to give Twinings Everyday Tea a try. Mostly for Richard's benefit this, but I can report that I have decided I like this tea. It's still not my favourite, but it is on a par with Tetley's normal tea, so it's mild, inoffensive and refreshing but without the kick found in standard breakfast teas.

In other words, just like a lot of the Twinings range, it gets my thumbs up.

And now that I've covered the vitally important subject of tea, onto creative pursuits.

Last weekend was very sewing orientated as I settled down to start making Dave a new costume for Shards. Friday night I drafted a pattern for a new robe and then drew straight onto the fabric, since I was running very short on time and it is quite a simple garment. Some time later, after much pain from my knee, bloodshed from Dave - who pinned one piece when I had to get up from the floor for a minute - and some wielding of scissors and I had all the pieces cut out.

Saturday afternoon I edged them, since experience has taught me it's a lot easier to edge fabric *before* it's sewn up than after. Edging is of course boring and tedious, but absolutely necessary since this robe will not be lined, is made from cotton which will fray if I don't take steps to prevent it and is going to be subject to significant wear and tear... LARP is incredibly hard on costume and of course, the robe needs to be able to survive the washing machine.

Sunday I sewed all the pieces together. I even set the sleeves and attached the collar, much to my amazement at my own efficiency. Over the last two nights I've continued with the hand finishing bits, namely I closed the collar by hand and I've oversewn the side seams using a matress stitch to make the gores sit right.

Alas, no photo's yet as it was quite late when I finished last night and I need to get Dave to pose whilst wearing it for me, but I will get some taken soon-ish.

Tonight I'm intending to leave Dave with a pile of ironing, in the form of the cotton for his cyclas. I've washed it and dried it, but he's been studiously ignoring it for the past few days. Since I intend to start on the pattern for that one tomorrow night, I think it's down to him to finish prepping the fabric so I can get started ASAP.

In other news, in an effort to earn brownie points Dave bought me a selection of jewelry pliers at Hobbycraft. Apparently they have sets of them half price at the moment, so those who like to make wired jewelry or stitchmarkers, take note.

And finally, I finished my second attempt at a washcloth (of which I do have a picture).


While its the same diagonally knit square as last time, taken from One Skien Wonders, this time I've crocheted a Picot stle edge, taken from Knitting Loves Crochet.

The last time I tried to crochet around some knitting, the crochet was too tight and forced the washcloth to curl up around the edges. To overcome this, rather than fighting my naturally tight crochet - a battle I'll leave for later methinks - I used the next size up hook, i.e. a 4.5mm rather than a 4mm and this time it worked well. I'm quite pleased with the way its turned out and envisage making many more...

As always, click on the photo to see a bigger version.

With only two free weekends to go...

This weekend we headed off to Ripley to visit friends on Saturday which was fun. The drive home was not so fun, with heavy rain, lots of surface water and an accident just after Junction 27 of the M1 all conspiring to make it a long and stressful journey. I was relieved when I finally pulled up outside our door and promptly fell into bed.

On Sunday, I concentrated on preparing to make Dave another costume for Shards, going by his vague brief that he wanted robes and a tabbard which should be very full, flared, be vaguely clerical and look good with armour. Richard's suggestions that we add hand sewn embroidered livery are going to be ignored for now, unless of course Dave decides to do it himself!

Cue me translating Dave's request into a floor length tunic, split at the front and flaring from under the arm. If I'm so inclined, I may also add gores (or godets) to the sides so that he has lots of potential swish. A mid calf length cyclas with a side fastening colar will do the job as a tabbard methinks and by the time it's all belted it should do the job.

A quick dive into my stash and I located 5 meters of a brushed cotton which will do nicely for his tunic, which I promptly dropped into the washing machine. Nothing to hand that would do for the cyclas so I discovered the joys (or not) of internet shopping for fabric and after spending a good couple of hours combing the interweb I finally ordered some cotton twill from Chawla's, who seem to sell discount fabric. I've never heard of them before so this is a bit of a test order but since its just a few meters of cotton I thought it worth trying them.

Finally, on a totally unrelated subject, some links to scarves I found in Magknits...

What looks like a manly scarf...

• http://www.magknits.com/Mar07/patterns/askew.htm

Because it looked intriguing...

• http://www.magknits.com/warm05/patterns/rib.htm

And because I'm looking for some simple lacey scarves...

• http://www.magknits.com/feb06/patterns/ziggy.htm
• http://www.magknits.com/Dec06/patterns/partylace.htm

Ladies and Gentlemen, we now have baby bump mark 2.5

The bump is done!!!!!!


This bump is mark 2.5 since it's actually the first bump I made, enlarged last year from six months to nine months and I've just enlarged again, to represent two occupants rather than one.

The picture was taken on Saturday, while I was adding a few layers of quilt batting to the top of the bump so it doesn't look quite so like someone stuck a giant 'C' to my tummy. The pink lines are to remind me where the bottom of the bust line or high waist is and over which the bump must not spread.

Once I was done here, I added another two layers of batting over the whole thing, which smoothed out any sewing lines. Then I covered everything up with another sports vest, two sizes larger than the original. I sewed up the bottom, sides, arms and neckline, then added straps above the bump (under the bust) and between the legs to stop it shifting about when worn. No shifting is vitally important, otherwise the bump becomes very annoying and uncomfortable to wear.

I've just done a costume check and boy, oh boy do I look huge and whale like once I have skirts on. No pictures as Dave isn't around and I don't think I can do the outfit justice from a mirror. Do I look like I am carrying twins in this rig? Oh yes...

The dangers of Hobbycraft

Today I popped into Hobbycraft to buy some cotton tape. It was a genuine errand, because the bump is growing and I'm starting to pull out the layers to the side and top, meaning it will soon be done. Only, now it is so much bigger it's going to need an extra strap to give it a bit more support under the bust and one inch cotton tape will do the trick nicely.

So off I drove to Hobbycraft, because I didn't really want to head into Coventry and more specifically the market just for cotton tape.

Sadly, Hobbycraft did not have any cotton tape, either carded or on a reel. Obviously, I had to search the store - just in case - to make sure they hadn't hidden it anywhere else. Of course, I totally forgot the inherent danger in searching a store such as Hobbycraft.

I came away with a pair of bent cable needles, which I'm going to need if I put my newly taught ability to knit cables to use. Seven different satin bias bindings, all very pretty. Some buttons, also pretty. A knitting needle bag. Oh and some angora yarn... OK quite a bit of angora yarn which just looked too fluffy and soft and in colours I liked, that I bought it. Which of course means I'm going to have to knit more scarves. I can see what everyone is going to get for Christmas this year!

I blame work. It's been a hard week since I've had to move office, which entailed packing up a whole lot of stuff and throwing even more stuff away since I was moving to a cubicle. Then I persuaded my (nice) boss into helping me carry everything to a van so we could drive it a mile up the road and then unload it again. On arrival, the lift ate my chair. It's still in there three days later, nice and securely locked in a steel cage that appears to be stuck six inches up from floor level. Hopefully, someone will arrive some day soon to release it...

Hence, after the week I've had, I probably should have avoided Hobbycraft which is packed full of goodies. At least I didn't make it onto the mezzanine, or I'd have acquired books and beads and tools and numerous other goodies.

Now, all I have to do is see if Dave can be persuaded to go into Coventry market for me, after all I do still need that cotton tape...

One soggy weekend later

With the hoped for dry weather failing to materialise over the weekend, very little got done outdoors and I seem to have had an expensive few days.

I've reluctantly decided that I need to join the rest of the online world, connecting from a broadband ISP... I've also come to the reluctant conclusion that I may need my own computer. Hence, this weekend I placed an order with BT and parted with hard earned pennies so there is at least one decent computer in the house, rather than the hand-me-downs that I normally make do with.

Said newly acquired computer is now at work so I can configure it prior to discovering the joys of a proper internet connection at home.

I also headed into town and in a moment of weakness bought the only new craft offerings on the shelf in Waterstones. I had a couple more book tokens left over from Christmas - I do tend to hang on to them for months and months and months - so it wasn't as bad as it could have been and I walked away with a copy of Knitting Loves Crochet and Crocheted Accessories . The first one in particular looks fantastic, if I had the skill to make anything listed in there of course!

Saturday night, I finished the ribbon scarf I've been working on.


This one is pretty rather than practical and when it catches the light (demonstrated with a flash here) it really does come alive. Drop stitch knits up quickly and the ribbon wasn't too troublesome to use, although I did have tension issues when starting a new yarn. With such a loose stitch (8mm needles) and shiney, slippery ribbon it really didn't hold together too well. Fortunately, going around with a needle and carefully weaving through the ends took care of that though, as I was able to add tension to that first stitch with the new yarn.

As always, click on the images to see bigger versions.

I revisited the bump as planned, but discovered one downfall of making things so sturdily. My intention is to take the larger bump apart, reversing the final construction phases - which make it wearable - so I can get back to the padding. Then I'll start increasing the padding once more, before putting a new shell over the top and reattaching the straps. The theory is sound methinks, but when I sew something together I intend it to stay sewn together despite any rigours that it might suffer due to the stresses of LARP. Hence it took me a good two and a half hours yesterday with a seam ripper to gently remove the straps and outer layers.

I finally got there though and the bump is now divested of everything which makes it useable... Heres hoping I get it suitably grown and wearable in time for the next event!

The best laid plans...

I just called the cattery I use and cancelled the booking I'd made for next weekend. Sadly, due to lack of confirmed bookings we've had to postpone the Strangehaven event we had planned until September, hence the cancellation. Fortunately, the cattery lady was happy enough as she has a queue of people waiting for cancellations, meaning my cats' space will be reallocated within the next hour. This is good as I like to keep the cattery on side in case I ever need to make an emergency or unplanned dash to the South West for family related matters.

With the cattery all squared away and my time my own again for next weekend, I was briefly wondering what to get up to but fear not, my time has been refilled. It looks like we'll head down to Tewkesbury for the Medieval Fayre and battle instead. Tewkesbury is free to get in, but you have to pay a small donation to park and I believe the organisers make most of their costs back from traders. The Fayre is a great place to buy fabric and see the more crafty end of stalls as well as traditional, historical kit suppliers. In other words there will be many opportunities in which I shall be sorely tempted to part with money. It will also be an opportunity to catch up with some friends from Plymouth I suspect, as I'll no doubt see a few familiar faces lurking around the market. In other words, all good... and it should go a good way to making up for the disappointment of a missed event.

In the meantime, I'm hoping for some dry weather this weekend - although I understand I'm unlikely to get it. I have tents to dry! Admittedly, they're not too bad but they still need to be aired and then folded, so they can re-emerge ready to use in a few weeks time.

With the Sweetpea Shawl finished, I'm contenting myself with knitting some ribbon scarves using a drop stitch pattern. This is the first time I've had a go at drop stitch, but it seems to be working out OK. The ribbon yarn I'm using is not disimilar to those I made last autumn, but then I crocheted them. The main difference in working it is that this time, it is behaving itself and having the ribbon on two sticks seems to be keeping it under control. Less twisting by far and much less of a nightmare to keep the loops open.

Other than that, this weekend marks the return to the bump since I think it's time we saw an increase in size. I have two of these physreps, so the plan is to take one of them, take it apart and then start adding layers until it is huge!

Another jacket in plum

This weekend just gone was my first free weekend in about five weeks! What with working and events, I'd just about forgotten what it's like to be able to spend a whole weekend running errands, getting on with projects and of course resting.

Once I'd done the whirlwind tour of town, dealt with domestic necessities and argued with the computer, there wasn't as much time left over for making stuff as I'd have liked, but I did manage to get this finished. Although I had to be very sneaky to sew on those frogs without Charlie's assistance.


Spurred into action on this one by nearly cooking at the event last week. It's a lightweight jacket intended for use in Shards, made as always out of wool and lined in cotton. I've added in extra fabric at the sides to accomodate the padding that is the bump and deliberately stopped the frogs just where it's rise should be. The idea was to make the jacket wearable without the padding, since it's a lot of effort to go to for something I'll only need for two months or so.







I also vented the forearms, using hooks and eyes set in alternate orientation to hold the seam closed. i.e. on one side you have hook, eye, hook, eye and on the other side eye, hook, eye, hook and so on. Basically, this prevents the hooks and eyes from undoing easily by themselves as they will do regularly if you have all of the hooks on one side and all of the eyes on the others (something I picked up on from examining theatrical costume).

As always click on the pictures to see bigger versions.

And to prove that Dave does not always look like a tree...

Stung by Richard's comments about only linking to pictures of Dave as a tree, I thought I'd better rectify matters by showing a couple of other pictures which maybe put him a better light. The first thing you need to remember is that both Dave and I play characters in LARP events and that we both like to dress up. That is, when kitting out our characters we tend to go to town a bit in the effort department.

At Maelstrom, Dave doesn't normally look like a tree. Instead he plays a polymorphic non-gender specific servant of the gods (i.e. an angel) who sometimes looks something like this...


Note the makeup, dreads and ears which make him near unrecognisable. In fact when I first saw this picture it took a second or two to realise who it was! Dave takes at least six changes of costume to each event for this character, although catching him on camera is apparently difficult and I rarely get to see photographic evidence.

I'm not responsible for any of the costume Dave is wearing, the frock coat having been made by a friend and the rest of his outfit has come from theatrical costume or charity shops.











I am however wholey responsible for this...

Except for the hat and boots that is; fear my sense of style.

As always, click on the pictures to see a bigger version.

Arrgh! Life has gone all crazy on me...

It's been an eventful few days in the less than helpful or co-operative sense, with the boiler dying (again) in a spectacular fashion on Thursday. And by that I we had crackling. We had smoke and a strong (still lingering) smell of burning of the electrical kind. The only positive was that it happened whilst we were there and hence we were able to switch things off and did not go up in flames. Those who've read my LJ know that this is becoming a frequent occurance, the third break down in less than a year with the last one being fixed in the middle of April... I am not impressed.

Timing couldn't be worse of course, since the next two weeks see the implementation of a major double upgrade to a critical system. To the non-IT professionals out there, that means I have to nearly camp out in my office, working through the weekend and I simply cannot just nip home for a couple of hours to wait for a plumber.

Cue me spending a couple of hours arguing with appropriate people on Friday - whilst trying to roll out a major upgrade - and eventually being bullied into joining British Gas's Homecare. Twas the only way I could get someone to respond! The result was that by the time I got home from work on Friday night, the gas had been turned off - not terribly convenient - but Transco did come back later and switch it on, before turning off the gas to the boiler at its valve. We still don't have any hot water, but we're not about to blow up or anything and British Gas are now legally obligated to sort it out.

Aside from all of this, I have of course been working. Again, bad timing as I have an event next weekend, which wouldn't normally be an issue but since I'm on the writing team, I'm feeling a bit pressured. I'm hoping that I get things sorted out enough that I can blag Friday off, but I shall have to see.

In the meantime, I'm working. I've sneaked on here for a few minutes to write this but otherwise I'm juggling computers (of the big variety) and persuading them to do what I want them to do. The temperature in here was 30.4C when I came in this morning, having maxed out at 29.7c last night when I finally escaped... So it looks like it's going to be another scorcher. Believe me, by the time I made it home I was tired and drained of all energy.

Still, the world of crafting and making things stops for no one, so besides trying to think in a creative fashion - the operative word being 'trying' - I've dug out unfinished costume pieces. I have a tunic I bought earlier in the year that needs hemming and another one that I made last year for Belgariad (another LARP I was on the writing team for) but never finished. My aim is to get them sorted out and wearable by the end of the week!

Other than that, I've not had time to do anything since like Mandy, I really could do with more hours in the day! Note I do not want more days in the week as that just means I'll need to work even harder. I also need some 'Ooomph' so if anyone has any going spare, please send it in my direction.

Finally, a purpose for scrap

It's with some degree of surprise that I have to admit that I've been making costume for over five years now. Never one to be daunted by a challenge, my first project was a full length semi-fitted coat. It was made of thick coating and lined with linen, which was very prone to fraying and creased if you looked at it. Over the years, I've progressed from those tentative days when I consulted with Esther (who has oodles and oodles costuming experience) over every stitch and these days she's only likely to receive a panicked call if I'm really, really stuck - something I'm sure she's eternally grateful for.

The point of this nostalgic trip down memory lane may not be obvious, but in those five years of sewing costume I've accumulated a lot of scrap fabric. At first, I used to save all of the scraps as I cut, putting them aside, not sure what I'd do with them but reluctant to just throw them away. As the months turned into years and the project count increased, so my scrap mountain grew and grew and grew...

Now, I no longer keep every scrap but I do keep those fragments which I think may be large enough to do something, anything with. Unfortunately, despite my long standing intention to give crazy quilting a go, those scraps still pile up and I never have got around to making anything from them.

Until now that is. I finally found something I can make which uses scrap fabric and here it is!




This is an 'Acorn Hat' taken from The Medieval Tailor's Assistant and it is made entirely of fabric taken from my scrap mountain. The outer shell is grey wool and I've lined it in calico, with four pieces of each sewn together to form the hat shape. I used an even tinier piece of scrap from cutting out these pieces to make a stalk and I'm pretty pleased with the result. In fact, I'm so pleased I may well have to make some more which may end up being donated as kit to Andy.



Before I make any more examples of this little hat, I think I may need a rotary cutter to speed things along. Cutting out the eight pieces of fabric which sew together to make this hat took as long, if not longer than making it up. With this in mind, I dropped by the Singer shop in Coventry on Saturday morning to try to purchase one.

The obvious mistake there was assuming that the ladies who work in Coventry's Singer shop would be more helpful than they usually are. Instead, the conversation went something like...

Sales Lady #1: Can I help you?
Me: Yes, I hope so. I was wondering if you sell rotary cutters?
Sales Lady #1: *Puzzled* A what?
Me: A rotary cutter? It's sort of like a pizza cutter but for fabric and you use it to cut out shapes.
Sales Lady #1: *Shaking head* Never heard of a...'rotary cutter'? Is that what you called it?
Sales Lady #2: *Coming over* Is there a problem?
Sales Lady #1: This lady is looking for something called a 'rotary cutter'.
Sales Lady #2: Oh, a rotary cutter. *laughs* No one uses them any more, so there is no call for them and no one makes them. Sorry.
Me: *Blinking in surprise* Pardon? I think you'll find they get used quite a lot by quilt makers.
Sales Lady #2: Oh no one bothers to make quilts anymore, so as I said, no call for them.

I refrained from commenting further and put this down in the list of bemusing conversations I've either had or overheard in the Singer shop. If it were not for the sewing work they take in and their sewing machine sales, I really don't think this shop would stay in business. My worry is that sometimes they give this kind of advice or information to customers who don't know better. No one makes quilts? Have they checked the craft section of a book stores? Or the magazine rack? Or looked online?

A Testament to my Costuming Ability?

A week on from the first core Shards event of the year, I am just about recovered and my mind is already plotting away for future events, planning kit and coming up with ideas for Strangehaven. I haven't written here for a while, mostly because I was tired and what little energy I had was being directed into work. Now though, with a weekend between me and the event I'm feeling a little more energised and bubbling with ideas.

The event itself was fun, with the best possible weather for camping at this time of year although the flip side of clear, bright days was of course freezing cold nights. Fortunately, I was equipped with thermals, hot water bottle and the means to make plenty of hot drinks.

I spent a good portion of the weekend padded up, playing my pregnant character but curiously, no one really mentioned it until the last morning. At that point, one lady was talking to me when her gaze drifted down to my belly and a puzzled expression settled across her face. Then she prodded me in the belly, to which I naturally acted (as you would) in a startled fashion provoking apologies and exclamations that I normally look so slim. My non-plussed "Why thank you dear but its to be expected, I am pregnant." completely threw her.

Time out was called shortly afterwards, I got changed and returned to my normal slimline self, at which point the questions started. I refused to answer IC queries, just smiling tolerantly, but it seems that those who were not in the know as it were didn't notice the bump initially. I didn't draw overt attention and was dressed in flowing robes, although I made several casual references - again as you would. As the weekend progressed, some people did notice and began to ask amongst themselves if Julie had put on weight. Some even suspected that I might be pregnant, but didn't like to ask or react either IC or OOC in case I was, wasn't or they were seeing things...

The fact that in the mornings I was wondering around OOC and definitely not pregnant apparently didn't register. Nor did the fact that I was also playing my new character who is tiny and again most certainly not expecting anything other than to make as much trouble as she can.

Bizarre.

Trees, bugs and bumps, tis the season methinks...

This weekend I finally escaped from work at 6pm on Friday evening but I don't think I really switched off until the next morning. Having worked straight through, I didn't have much time for sitting around and the past couple of days have been centred around housework and getting things ready for next weekend.

We headed off to the local camping shop and showed great restraint, only buying what we actually went in for! Which was of course gas, a new foot pump and the endless requirement for citronella. Personally, I'm hoping that next weekend the bugs stay away but you never know, the little blighters could wake up early rather than remembering they're supposed to stay dormant until May.

Once we were home again, I busied myself in the house, cooking, cleaning, tidying... All those really essential but boring tasks that never seem to get done if I have to work a lot of hours. The cats took themselves out sunbathing whilst Dave locked himself in the shed, working as always on how to transform himself into a tree.


And here he is in person in tree guise.

I have banned him from the house in case he takes out the light fittings and asked him not to wear this mask in front of Missy. She took serious offence to his Russian hat which makes it look like he's wearing a cat on his head. If he shows her this mask, I think it will remove any doubts from her mind that he is indeed a cat eating monster in disguise.




In between all the cleaning, I did finish the waistband for the skirt to go over the bump and found time for a costume check, hence we have a couple of pictures of me in full padding. Once I'd put the robes on top of the bump, I've got to admit it was scarily convincing - which was of course the point - and I spent a good few minutes standing in front of the mirror staring in shock.




I haven't had time to make up a new jacket as yet, so I've pulled out the one I made a couple of years ago. As with everything - other than overrobes - I make for the character in question, this jacket is fitted but as it is centre fastening I'll get away with wearing it open as demonstrated here. All of which means I'm all set for next weekend.

Except for the customary pouches... I have no idea how I'm going to wear those!

(Click on the pictures to see bigger versions)

A 'Maternity' Bodice

Having spent the weekend working, I haven't really had much time to myself the past few days and today is shaping up in a similar fashion. In need of a bit of light relief when I finally made it home last night, I decided to lace up the maternity bodice which I set the last eyelet for on Friday.





Yes, it is finally finished, having taken far longer than something this size really should have. Made from black cotton moleskin with a cotton lining, this bodice is loose fitting, with godets set into the princess seams at the front to give it a high waisted appearance. The sides are laced closed and fitted with sewn in modesty panels, making the bodice adjustable.

The photo's don't really do it justice and it's out of context, worn over a modern top and skirt.

It's intended as a costume piece for Shards to fit a character who is pregnant, hence the loose fit and lack of boning. However, as it is based on a bodice from an illustration dating to the 1620's, I think it could be used as basic kit for other games if I wished. Either way, it looked pretty good on, fitting properly at the shoulders but very roomy everywhere else.

I'll be aiming to do a costume check next weekend, when I'll try the bodice with the rest of the kit, complete with padding. Providing Dave can be persuaded to man the camera, more pictures may be taken then.

(Click on the photo's to see bigger versions...)