Insomnia sorted!

No, I've not been having trouble sleeping, I've been knitting a sock pattern by that name, created by the wonderful Glampyre

 

This was a fun pattern, and in the course of making these socks I learned to cable without a cable needle (when I lost mine on a car journey - wasn't driving, of course) and to keep a close eye out for dropped stitches when I slipped the wrong bit... Other than dealing with the backwards knitting this necessitated, I found it speeded up the process considerably, though not to the point that I completed them in two nights, as their author did.

 

Worked in a Fyberspates deliciously soft and cosy space-dyed sock yarn, they will be brilliant for keeping my toes toasty when the weather cools.

 

The colour changes in the yarn do tend to obscure the lovely cables and twists in this pattern, so I plan to make it again in a plainer yarn in the not too distant future.

 

I also learned a new-to-me cast off/bind off method as my normal technique was far too tight. So, in one project I learned the figure-of-eight cast-on for circular knitting, how to work a short row heel, and a different way of finishing my knitting. I also gained a great pair of socks!

Knitting off Needles, Knitting on Needles

I finished knitting and sewing together a tunic for myself yesterday:



It's a Swing Tunic from the Twilley's Freedom Gorgeous pattern book. The yarn is a mix of bamboo and nylon which doesn't feel at all synthetic and has a lovely drapiness to it, although it can be a little splitty. The pattern was enjoyable to knit and the tunic will, I think, be enjoyable to wear, too. The colour is called Hollyhock, for reasons I can't quite fathom, but it's a lovely, gentle shade.

Naturally something else had to start on the needles, so I cast on for Glampyre's Insomnia sock and this is growing well. This the first time I've attempted a toe-up sock pattern and it's interesting. There will be short row heels, another first for me.



I was going to knit these in Handmaiden's Casbah but instead a stashed yarn from Fyberpates demanded its turn. I'm ashamed to say that I misplaced the label while winding it but it is delicious to work with.

My bathroom is being refitted this week so there is lots of noise, mess and coming and going happening here. I'm glad to have a relaxing knit to work on in the haven of my living room, especially as I'm still feeling under the weather.

Magic Stitches Part 2

I've undone the stitching on my dry shibori pieces: this is how they are looking now, before they get washed throughly and ironed.

I used running stich in rows, running stitch on pleats and box pleats, and chevron stitch. Dye was painted on with sponge brushes once the stitches were tightly gathered. I used indigo blue, turquoise and magenta. It is interesting to see how the colours have blended, taken and been resisted on these pieces.

I want to play more with shibori/stitch resist. I have a length of pipe tightly wrapped and bound with string over calico ready for dyeing. Yesterday we bought some curtain lining/interlining fabric, which was wound onto a tube to transport home. I was surprised to find myself requesting the plastic rather than the cardboard tube offered, so I could then reuse it for this purpose. This then necessitated an explanation to my husband and to the lovely sales assistant in John Lewis, who had never heard of either this kind of dyeing nor this kind of recycling, but was intrigued. I'm wondering about clothing applications for this form of dyeing.....

Magic Stitches Part 1

I was totally thrilled to meet a blog pal in the real world today, at the monthly meeting of the Avon Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers where Tiggy Rawling ran a workshop on shibori and dye painting. It's probably been a year since I last got to a meeting, my health having been so rotten since, but I was pretty determined not to miss this one, even if I wasn't at my best. I'm so glad I managed it: it was a very good, informative and enjoyable workshop and Tiggy as as lovely as I'd anticipated.

 

Here are Tiggy and Elizabeth discussing some of the lovely stitched shibori that Tiggy had brought along as samples and inspirations.

 

Oooops, Blogger has been transposing photos again. In case these are still not in the right order, Elizabeth is modelling the white lab coat, Tiggy's in both the photos and me - I'm the other one!



And here's a picture of Tiggy and me,which I'm thrilled to have! Pictures of what I did will have to wait as the two samples are batching in a plastic bag, while the pole wrapping I started is waiting on me finding some more string to complete it.

Thanks to Tiggy for the excellent workshop and to Caroline for taking the photo and organising the programme which included this session, and to Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers for hosting it.

Breathing Spaces

I've been very preoccupied and occupied with a big project.

 

I've recently been working on costumes (designs and realisations) for a dance performance of a newly commissioned work entitled "Breathing Spaces". It's being performed at the Youth Dance England conference at the Mermaid Theatre tomorrow, and I was able to attend the dress rehearsal yesterday.

 

The whole project has been developed over a space of a mere six weeks, so creating designs and costumes for 34 performers has been intense and a challenge. The project is based around our community and features 32 children from the village (attending the primary and community comprehensive schools) who belong to the Yeo Dance 09 Group

 

Most of the costumes involved refashioning t-shirts, dyeing and space-dyeing them, cutting them up and recombining them with additions of t-shirting, muslin and other fabrics in earth colours. These were then further embellished using fabric paints and sequins. Each costume was unique but related to all the others.

 

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I was lucky enough to receive practical support from a dozen mothers from the school (including the headteacher's!), not all of whom had children taking part in the performance. They came and volunteered their time, and we enjoyed exploring the capabilities of fabrics, sewing machines and ourselves over four days in total, with the volunteers coming in when they could.

 

These are some photos from the dress rehearsal in the school hall, to show some of the costumes in action.

 

In the background is Elizabeth Glen, who was instrumental in developing the music for the piece as well as adding her glrious voice to the performance. She is wearing the silk wrap which I made, dyed in water/river colours.

 

The theatre performance will take place against a backdrop screen, on which will be shown a film made of the dancers on the Millenium Green, our Breathing Space. I have not seen this but the Artistic Director, Carolyn Savidge, is thrilled with it and describes it as breathtaking. I hope that the whole project will be performed locally so that we can celebrate the effort and creativity of everyone involved.

 

Progression

I'm really pleased with my Flutter scarf. I think it's so pretty.



Now I've cast on the back of a swing tunic in Twilley's Freedom Gorgeous yarn, a very soft blend of bamboo and nylon. I can't find a link to the pattern, whuich is in a pattern collection for this yarn. I am going to cast on for a pair of socks, too, so I have a more portable project, but I'm still deciding on which pattern to use.

Sue's Needles have been Busy

Today I completed a knitted lace scarf - Flutter by Miriam Felton - and for the first time ever I'm blocking my knitting, using a set of blocking wires I bought from Loop recently. I think it will be well worthwhile, as the process was very simple and quick to set up, and before I wired it up, the scarf was looking rather shrivelled and sad. Once it is dry, I'll steam it with the iron to set it and then hopefully I can wear it and be proud of it. It was an enjoyable knit and the yarn I used, Scrumptious Lace, from Fyberspates, was and is a delight, very lustrous and silky and soft.

My sewing needles have been quite busy, too, as I have been designing costumes for a Dance to be performed at the Mermaid Theatre in London next month. It is a community-based project within my village and is entitled "Breathing Spaces", featuring dancers from the village primary school and the local community high school. I have no photos of completed costumes yet, but it has been very busy as there are 34 people to be dressed, all in unique costumes. More about this in due course, but I've been busy space-dyeing fabrics, adapting t-shirts and making friends with my overlocker as well as working with a total of twelve volunteer mothers and helping them to be confident in using their sewing machines, teaching them new techniques and exploring their creativity. Enormous fun, but extraordinarily tiring as well, especially as we've been working in a very tight time frame. I now have plans for some space-dyed t-shirts for myself, made from scratch.

My previous make was with my crochet hook, and was another scarf: this time using a Drops pattern and yarn as recommended, bought from Scandinavian Knitting Design.

My friend Sara had made one which she wore when we met up at Liz's in January, and I decided to flatter her by imitation. It has been a while since I crochet something froma charted pattern and at times it was challenging to remember where I was and what I should be doing, but the mohair did not like being frogged, so I soon learned not to work on this when my concentration was poor! It's a pretty and cosy scarf/shawl which has already had quite a lot of wear.

I think I might give it a gentle wash and a blocking next, once Flutter is off the wires...

Meanwhile, I am thinking about making new curtains and a roman blind for our newly-redecorated living room, choosing between a shawl and a tunic for my next knitting project while also working on the costumes and my t-shirt dyeing. Sadly, I'm very very tired at the moment so it's all a bit of a struggle.

Last Friday I went up to Birmingham NEC to the Sewing for Pleasure Show. I've never done this one before, but I had a good reason to attend. As well as catching up with my friends Sarah and Gill, I called at the exhibition of Poetry in Stitches 2 where I had the pleasure of meeting Linda and Con of the National Needlework Archive for the first time, seeing the excellent entries and proudly receiving my prize for Contemporary Interpretation.

I was appalled to find myself close to nodding off on the way home: clearly the trip was a bit more than I can cope with just now. Flipping ME. So I have been taking it easy since then, trying to pace myself and get plenty of rest to recover from the feelings of exhaustion and muscle and joint aches and pains as quickly as possible. Spring is springing and there's lots of creativity to be realised as well as new materials stashed to play with.