tank girl

Ah the English climate. 

As I write: a cool, sticky day. The sky a greyish shade of rainy sports day. What to wear? Not too hot, not too cold. Layers layers layers.

Why, a tank top of course!

A couple of years ago I taught myself to read Japanese crochet symbols and made this tank top in Alpaca wool for my older daughter Eva. 

Reader, I am sorry to report that that top is no more. Unless you are a doll. Yes, it was put on a hot wash. And not by me. I will say no more.

The thing is, it was a really quick pattern, and had enough going on not to get too boring. So, I made it again in a kind of deep space blue with intergalactic silver threads I bought in the sales:

I made another, this time more a sleeveless cardigan than a tank top: 

The wool was a lovely merino wool mix also bought in the sales. I found this pattern on Ravelry to base the shape on. Such a great pattern for a cardigan on there: you just start with the circumference of a neck then do a simple formula to work out the rest.

It's the same author as  this cardigan, with my own amendments.

The weatherman says it will be barbecue weather this weekend. Can I, dare I, believe?

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whitsun week

Bluebells and boot fairs. 

Pinafore dress

My amazing aunt found me an old Cloth Kits pinafore dress kit. 

Burgundy needlecord, size 6-7. Perfect for Eva. I finished it off in the Welsh snow over Easter. 

For me, there is always a bit of teeth-gritting involved in dressmaking, even with a kit where the instructions are so beautifully explained.

Gratifyingly, it has been a hit. She calls it her pinaform dress and has rarely been seen without it.

On reflection I prefer pinaform to pinafore. It works much better don't you think? 

cables

I taught myself how to crochet cables recently. I didn't even know you could do such a thing until I came across this wonderful board on Pinterest. So I looked in books and online and found this tutorial to be the most helpful.  

I first made this cowl:

I made it up as I went along so there were a few false starts, but it went well and kept me warm during the Eternal Winter of '13. I then made a cardigan for my daughter Rosa. I used this pattern from Ravelry. It was so good to make, all in one piece with raglan sleeves. 

See how it grew from the top down? Beautifully logical and straightforward. I was crocheting in labour. I had taken a lot of drugs. 

I adapted it quite a bit as the original had no cables and a colour block-y pattern happening at the bottom edge. The wool was Rowan Cashsoft bought in the January sales so it was a bargain too.

Rosa is at that age where clothes become a way of expressing herself. Which is a diplomatic way of saying she screams for a long time and very loudly indeed if I try and make her wear something she does not want to. Such as crocheted cardigans. 

But she is also open to bribery with chocolate. A great life skill I have tried to instill as early as possible.