Vhere there is a Vill there is a Vay! 2019 Part 3

Vhere there is a Vill there is a Vay! 2019 Part 3

I carried on Knitting the Head Lights in Light Grey.

Dark Grey Wheel

 

The Spare Wheel I did in the Dark Grey as the Pattern stated.

Threading Light Grey

After I realised my mistake with the colours I decided to keep all the lights Light Grey. Instead of having more loose ends I threaded the Yarn through like before.

Left Light

I found a problem with the Pattern. On the Left Side facing the Pattern it shows 2 lots of Red Stitches.

Right Light

On the Right Side facing it shows 1 lot of Red Stitches. Incidentally I found it quite ironic when the flash from the camera decided to be on the Indicators.

I decided to Knit both sides the same. I had enough to contend without making things for difficult.

Miscounted White Stitches

Another mistake. I miscounted the number of Stitches. I have had to adjust the Pattern slightly.

Mademoiselle Marionette 2018 Part 19

Mademoiselle Marionette 2018 Part 19

In Loving Memory of Sarah Louise Kay

The world is a darker place without her.

This blog is moving on to making Skirts to go with the Top

Rough Template

In keeping with the French theme I decided to add a touch of Red to go along with the Blue and White. Since the Skirt like the Top has to be detachable I came up with the idea of making it a wrap-around Skirt with Side Split

Cutting out the material was the easy bit as was the Hemming. The difficulty was trying to place the Press Studs in the right place. This was due to the hour glass figure.

If I tried making the Skirt tight around the Stomach it made it flare out in an unsightly manner. Too loose and it flapped about. In the end I decided that the best way would be to make the Skirt sit on the Hips.

Red and Blue

Once I had the dimensions for the Skirt I could make more with slightly different designs.

The Original Red Skirt is shown in the above picture which is fully Hemmed. The Dark Blue Skirt I have straightened on one side and have used Pinking Scissors to create the pattern.

Pure White

The White Skirt I have kept simple. I have merely Hemmed 3 Sides. Therefore the Bottom can be altered at another time if wished.

Party Blue

This Blue Skirt I decided to add a touch of sparkle by adding a Silver Ribbon. This will make an excellent match for the Party Top.

Autumn Cape A Long Term Project - 2018 More Hood Part 1

Autumn Cape A Long Term Project - 2018

More Hood Part 1

I know it seems like forever since I blogged about this project but there are several reasons for this one being the time of year. It is very hot and playing with this much wool just isn’t fun.

Another reason is I am at a difficult stage in the project and therefore do not want to rush. Last but not least since I have no pattern to work from I need peace and quiet in order to do so and frankly with my neighbours being so noisy I cannot concentrate.

Daytime Hood Pick Up 42 Stitches 

I have to admit I have been dreading this part. If there is one thing I hate it is picking up stitches. This is particularly difficult when it has been cast off but I fought through it and picked up 42 Stitches on a 5mm circular needle 

Daytime Hood 2 Rows Rib

The section I have picked up is from the Daytime Front Piece. I am using Dark Brown wool so with luck it will mimic a branch. The idea is to add a few rows of Rib and then slowly decrease at the open edge and pick up and knit onto the Hood.

Before starting the Rib I need to be at the correct place. I therefore have purled across so I am starting at the open end.

1^st Row

Knit 2 Purl 2 repeat until the end

2^nd Row

Purl 2 Knit 2 repeat until the end

Night Time Hood 2 Rows Rib

I am simultaneously working on the Night Time Front Piece. I again pick up 42 Stitches on 5mm needles and using Dark wool.

However in picking up I have ended up at a different starting place therefore this time I Knit until the end of the Row. This side I use the following formula

1^st Row

Purl 2 Knit 2

2^nd Row

Knit 2 Purl 2

I now need to check how much Rib I need to Knit

Button Evolution 2018 Part 2

Button Evolution 2018 Part 2

In the last blog I showed how I had altered the Green Winter Cape’s Hood fastenings over time. Now the Body of the Cape needed altering.

Cape Body - Pale Toggles

This is how the Cape is as present. I had previously removed the Buttons and changed to Pale Wooden Toggles.

Toggle by Toggle

 

There was wasn’t much space between the Button Holes. This coupled with the fact that the new Toggles were slightly larger made this change difficult. Therefore instead of removing all the Pale Toggles in one go I tried a different approach.

This time I altered the Toggles one by one. This meant lining up the New Toggles was easier with the previous ones still fastened. I had to sew the Dark Toggles slightly further to the Hemline to adjust for length

In addition to this I had to very carefully cut the Button Holes to make them longer. Rather than using scissors I used a stitch un-picker so I could gently tease the fabric. I also kept stretching the Button Hole to increase the width.

Cape Body - Outer Finished

The outer fastenings were now complete. I now needed to turn my attention to the interior. The inside of the Cape had never originally had any fastenings. However I had to add some as the wind blew through.

Old Interior Fastenings

I have already removed the old Toggles. Next I had to remove the Loops. Previously I had sewn on Loops that were elastic. I realised afterwards that this was a mistake as strong winds had stretched them.

I-Cord

I had to really search through my sewing box until I found a Green that would blend in. I made an I-cord roughly 7 cm long knitted in Green Wool

Loop

Once I had the cord sewed together both ends to make a Loop. I used the excess tail of the wool to do this.

Interior Toggle Finished?

I then had to sew both Loop and Toggle in place. This is a test fastening. I may have to alter it but I won’t be able to tell until I have worn it. Then if it is satisfactory I will add additional Toggles.

Button Evolution 2018 Part 1

Button Evolution 2018 Part 1

For many years I have had a Winter Cape in Green Cloth. I did not make this myself it was made by a friend Sascha Semmler. He asked what kind of Cape I wanted and I said one suitable for the British Winter.

Winter Cape 2011

Copyright Unknown Tourist 2011

This photograph was taken at Stonehenge Winter Solstice 2011. We had met a couple of reporters who I vaguely seem to remember were European possibly French. They were very interested in all our outfits. This is a cropped group photograph so you can see the Cape better.

This Cape was made in two parts - the main Cape Body and a separate Hood. This gave me the option of using the Cape without the Hood when it wasn’t quite so cold.

Evolution of Buttons

In the Solstice photograph you can see that it is fitted with medieval type buttons. After wearing it in cold weather I found although the buttons were beautiful I had real trouble trying to do them up and undo them whilst wearing gloves.

Green Winter Cape Hood

I needed to replace the buttons with something I could use easier. As I was at the time doing re-enactment shows I need something suitable both practical and historical. I hit upon the idea of using Wooden Toggles. This shows the Hood as present.

Although the Toggles were practical I was never entirely happy with them. I found some made of wood but they were far too Pale for my liking. Unfortunately I had to use what I could find due to time restraints.

Pale Toggles Removed

Now all these years later I have finally decided to change them once again. First of all I removed all the old Toggles from the Hood.

After taking the Toggles off I had quite a great deal of thread left on the material as you can see in the photograph above. I removed this very carefully as I did not want to damage the cloth. There were the tiniest of raised marks left afterwards. I used these as markers as where to place the new Dark Wooden Toggles

Green Winter Cape Hood Finished

This is how the Hood looks now I have completely replaced the Pale Toggles. Next I will tackle the Body of the Cape

Autumn Cape 2017 A long Term Project Hood Extension Part 2

Autumn Cape 2017 A long Term Project Hood Extension Part 2

As I stated in the last blog I have 60 stitches on each of the 5mm circular needles. I am knitting in stocking stitch with selvedges at both ends of the Light Coloured Side (Day Time) and the Dark Coloured Side (Night Time)

Pictorial and Written Chart 

I am still a little hesitant about how I am knitting the Hood so I decided to do 20 rows Knit and 20 Purl making 40 rows in all. As you can see I have split the Pictorial Chart in 2 so I can put both sides on one Chart.

40 Rows Hood Extension Both Sides

This is how the Hood Extension of the Light and Dark sides looks at this point on the Charts.

Hood Extension 40 Rows Day Time Sewn

Next I had to sew the outer edges of the Extension to the Front Pieces. Above is the Day Time section. As you can see in the photograph once sewn it doesn’t go very far across the Front Panel.

I also had to make sure that I didn’t sewn all of the Extension edge as otherwise it would have made it exceedingly difficult to continue with the stocking stitch.

Hood Extension 40 Rows Night Time Sewn

 

After sewing the Day Time Front Piece I sewed the other outside edge of the Extension to the Night Time Front Piece.

Now I had both sides sewn I can see it beginning to come together. However I have decided (and others have agreed) not to sew the other two edges together.

Instead I will add a third panel in which I will mix both the Light and Dark Wools. In the meantime I will carry on knitting the Extensions.