Polka Dotty

It's been a bit quiet in Blogland lately, but I'm very happy to say that I'm on vacation again, so there should be more activity here within soon. You probably won't be surprised if I say that I have big plans, and I expect I will have time to accomplish only a fraction of what I want to do.

So, what do I want to do? I want to do another gradation, with a warm colour scheme this time, and I want to do some surface design on the fabrics that I dyed during my last dyecation. I'm also planning to sew a wrap around top with a stencilled and embroidered appliqué motif on the back. So stay tuned for reports about fun and games.

Meanwhile, I'll just share a couple of photos to show that I may have been quiet, but I haven't been idle. Here's a supercute bag I finished yesterday. (I blogged about it earlier when I'd finished the first outside pocket.) As soon as I saw the pattern in the Winter 2011-2012 issue of International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene magazine I knew I had to make it. I bought the polka dot fabric in December, but haven't got round to sewing it until now. It's such a summery bag, isn't it? It makes me think of strawberries and cream. Yum!

You're not going to believe this, but this is a recently finished vest that I last blogged about exactly one year ago today, when I had just started knitting it. I discovered this right now when I was looking through my archive to see when I wrote about it. Funny coincidence, isn't it?

Okey dokey, better get back to copying the pattern for the top I plan to sew. I'm going to do things right this time and make a muslin version first, to make sure the fit is correct before I cut into the real fabric. I haven't been very good with that kind of thing in the past, but I realise that it is a crucial step if you want to be sure of success. I want to brush up and hone my clothes making skills, which have rusted a little from lack of use.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week, and please return soon for an update on my new dyeing, surface design and garment sewing explorations. - Annika

Happy Easter

My plans for the Easter vacation were very simple: to sleep, take long walks, finish a couple of projects and hang around with my folks and Fia the Terri(fi)er. So far, things have gone according to plan. I finshed a tank top with an Alabama Chanin-inspired motif on the back (you will recognise the peony from the market bag I finished recently)...

... as well as the slipover I started knitting in February.

 (See the bed cover? I finished that in 1998! Phew, that was a long runner. 

I don't think I'll do another one in a while.)

And here I hang around with the sweet Terri(fi)er.

Enjoy the holiday! - Annika

Fun and Games Coming This Way

It feels like it's been ages since I engaged in any creative activities. I've been working, struggling with a number of everyday annoyances, tired, and also away from home. Last week I enjoyed an extended weekend with my folks in Ostrobothnia. I did some knitting there, and that sums up my creative activities for the last 10 days or so. Mind you, I had to be pretty creative with that knitting of mine, because I didn't check the gauge (I normally do!), and I discovered too late that the slipover was threatening to become too small. Yes, there's a reason why the instructions always ask us to check the gauge..

Slipover, back piece blocked

But now fun and games are coming this way: I'm off work for a week, and I'm planning to experiment with fabric dyeing. I have two different brands of fibre reactive dyes lined up: Procion MX dye and EMO Tuotanto dye (a Finnish brand). More about this soon. Right now I'm in the process of gathering my tools. I've bought a whole bagful of plastic bottles of different sizes and raided my cupboards for old plastic ice cream tubs. A friend is helping me out with the ice cream tubs. She got out her own and asked around for more, and has even generously offered to buy and eat ice cream during the weekend so that I'll get even more tubs. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Procion MX dyes awaiting their turn

Notice the clever bowl/plate: I got that from another friend, after I had been plant-sitting for her while she was away on a trip. It's made out of a flat piece of wood that opens up like a cross between a bowl and a plate when you lift it up.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more to come soon! - Annika

Something Finished, Something New

I love to learn new things and to try different techniques, and my head is spilling over with ideas and future projects, which means that I’m pretty easily distracted, although I prefer to think that I have an inquiring mind. I always have a number of different projects going on all at once, and an even greater number of UFOs that may or may not become finished products. Every now and then, though, I do finish a project, which gives me great satisfaction. Last weekend I finished two projects. Firstly, a hand embroidered piece that was shipped off to an amazing person overseas (I will publish an image later), and secondly, the knitted and crocheted wrist warmers that I started working on in January. Now I’m off to work on an art doll and the Franka wall quilt. – Or so I thought.

This week I’ve continued decluttering my home – a Herculean task – and found a bag of gorgeous yarn that I’ve been saving. So, there I went again, off in another direction, and I started knitting a slipover for myself. Well, my excuse is that it’s all part of the decluttering process. I need to find a good place to store the yarn, and what storage is better than actually finishing and wearing it?

Another thing I unearthed in my decluttering frenzy was an apron pattern by Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated, which I bought a couple of years ago. This project has been on and off my mind since then, while my old apron has slowly deteriorated. I also found the fabrics that I’d put aside for the apron and figured that the best storage for them would be the place where I store my apron. So I started cutting out the pattern pieces.

In conclusion, the situation now is that I finished two projects and started four new. It’s pretty normal for me, I guess. It will take some time to finish them, but I have faith in these projects. I don’t think they’ll end up in the UFO-bin. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

 Finished wrist warmers. Knitted base, crocheted flounces. 

Based on a pattern in Solveig Hisdal’s Dikt i maskor.

 

 Doll in progress. The fabric has been dyed and the pattern pieces are ready for sewing.

 Slipover in progress. Yarn: Freedom Spirit by Twilleys of Stamford

 Apron in progress. Fabric: my granddad’s old table cloth. 

The apron is reversible, so the other side will be something less Christmasy.

 Franka in progress. I started defining the pattern elements on the printout. 

This project will be a challenge, but I like that.