May The Fourth Be With You!

Happy Star Wars Day! 

In honour of today I have just re-watched The Mandalorian, how good is that show!? it has got to have been one of my favourites shows of 2019, along with Good Omens...oh and His Dark Materials, that was a corker! Anyway, I digress, as soon as I saw 'The Child' I was, like most of the internet, hooked! How flipping cute, and mischievous and such a great start to the series!

Please note, if you make this little tike, you gotta keep both eyes on him at all times, it's not only Mudhorns that he likes to play with!

As much as I was in love with 'The Child' my knitting of this pattern actually happened by chance, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a crochet version of the infamous 'Tiger King' (see it here) and jokingly suggested to my friend and colleague Steve, that I could make him one, as it was a show he had been enjoying (like most people it seems, me not so much) and I had lots of time on my hands due to being furloughed, he countered with this Baby Yoda pattern, and to be honest it was a pattern I was much more keen to actually knit, and so I ordered some yarn and got going!

~ The Child ~

Pattern:

Baby Yoda created and kindly shared by Kim Konen

Yarn: 

Worsted weight Cascade 220 in - Antiqued Heather

Worsted weight Cascade 220 - Pesto

Careful, the force is strong with this one!

I have made a few little changes to the original pattern to make it a little more realistic to the version in the show, please don't see this as a criticism in any way of Kim's pattern, its just that I had plenty of time to tinker, partly because I could and partly because I was using yarn that was quite different in thickness and behaviour to that used in the original pattern.

BODY
Knit the body as pattern instructs.

EARS
Knit Ears as pattern instructs.

Only thing I did differently was to weave floristry wire through the outer edges of the ears to add structure to my floppy yarn - this means its is not suitable for children.

ARMS
Knit in green only, following what the pattern instructs for the measurements.

Instead of rolling the arms up, I seamed them along the hand and up the long edge and stuffed them with stuffing, before attaching them to the body - Wait until you have sewn the cloak before attaching the arms as you can use the cloaks holes as a placement guide.

Sew three knots on the ends of the arms, to create a hand - I did this by oversewing in one area a few times and then securing, then threading the loose end of the thread into the body to hide.

CLOAK
This is where I varied from the pattern the most, work as follows.

On 5mm Needles Cast on 42 stitches.
Row 1: Slip 1, knit to end
Row 2: Slip 1, knit to end
Row 3: Slip 1, purl to end.
Repeat rows 2 & 3 (essentially stocking stitch) until work measures 3 inches ending on a purl row.

We now need to make some arm holes in the shawl, this is super easy to do
Next row: Knit 10 stitches, bind off 2 stitches, continue knitting until you are 12 stitches from the end of the row, bind off 2 stitches and then knit to the end.
Next row : Purl 10, wrap yarn around needle twice to create 2 stitches, continue until next hole and wrap yarn around the needle twice, purl to end.

Continue in Stocking stick for another 2 inches.
Bind off.

SLEEVES (make 2)
Cast on 12 stitches.
Work in stocking stick for 2 inches, ending on a purl row.
Next row: Slip 1, inc 1, knit 4, inc 1,
Continue in sticking stitch for another 1.5 inches.
Bind off.
Sew the sleeves together along the longest edge, to create a tube.
Attach sleeved to cloak but inserting them into the hole and over casting the two pieces together.
Roll end of sleeve back up the arm, increase row should be approximately where it folds.

FACE
Work as pattern instructs.

I only had 1 cm black buttons, but I think they worked well. To give him a little more definition in the eye, I sewed an upper and lower lid, by stitching each side of the button, creating a long thread which ran across the eye, and then securing the strand (couching might be the correct term) a couple of times into the face until it was secure, then repeating this until it looked about right, it was not a precise art. but it does give the option of tucking the buttons behind the lids, to close his eyes a little  you know when using 'his hand'.

So there you have it, my tinkered with version of 'The Child' just in time for Star Wars Day, The pattern is a lovely one to work with, hats off to Kim for creating it! I think he has turned out very cute indeed and I know I will struggle to part with him - however I have plenty of yarn left so I will start on my own version very soon!

I hope wherever you are in the world that you are safe and well and are able to enjoy a little bit of escapism today, no matter what galaxy you choose to find it in!

Wendy x

Monthly Meanderings - October 2018

~ A Trip Home ~

Woollen Village // Sleeve Knitting // My lovely Mum //
 Pizza Wrap // Struggling with Math whilst having a headache // Beau being Beau

In October 2018, I din't pick the camera up much, the only time I did was when I headed home to Liverpool to spend some much needed time with my Mum and Beau. My Dad was on the Isle of Wight and my little brother was away having yet another fantastic adventure, this time in Peru, and so I had a bit of alone time with my Mum. 

Hard life!! Photo taken by my brother

Beau as you will notice doesn't live with me anymore, this is partly due to him being much less grumpy and very content with my Mum and Dad and the fact that where I was living doesn't allow pets. I miss his grumpy little moosh an awful lot but I know that he is better off with three people fawning over him.

Ok, on to the video...

Wendy x 

UFO Hall of Shame 2019 - Knitting Edition

A few years ago I wrote a post about all of my unfinished Sewing and Knitting projects you can see it here! I made great strides in to finishing the projects, well, that was until I moved away from London, since then I have been in a crafty stasis, I have made very little in the way of new projects and finished very little of those that were already *lurking* half loved in my cupboards.

Recently I moved home for the third time since decanting my self to the midlands, and yet again I was faced with bags of 'one day' projects. This time I knew I would have to explain them to someone else, which made me feel very self-conscious about all the effort and money that was being waisted sitting in these bags, so I knew it was time for another proverbial dirty laundry airing.

This time I've created a video, as mentioned in my September 2018 Vlog (yes another pre-working-internet creation). I actually filmed this video quite a few months before my most recent move, as that ended up being a little more unplanned than I would have liked, long story, but at least I had some idea what was in these bags this time, anyway waffle over, here it is!

Patterns & Projects mentioned:

Debbie Bliss Land Girl Pattern Book

Lavenda Roll Neck Pullover

1940s Womens Land Army Knitting Pattern

Hermonie's Everyday Sock Pattern 

 My Star Trek Socks

Susan Crawford 'Trimmed with Roses' Jumper

Thank you for watching!

Wendy x

* I don't alf, use this word a lot in this video, goodness only know why, maybe anxiety brings out the lurker in me!

Knit It - Women's Land Army Pullover

I made myself a little promise earlier this year, to try and become a monogamous knitter, you know just one project on the needles at any one time, so that I never have to have such a long guilt-inducing list of UFO's ever again, so far it is working out OK. I should point out I didn't make the same promise regarding sewing projects, I know myself well enough by now to realize I'd fail miserably at that! 

So today's post is about a very special UFO, one that's been on my list since 2011 (only five years) and now complete, it marks the very last UFO on said list to be ticked off! Hurrah!

~ Women's Land Army Pullover ~

Pattern: A V-necked Pullover by Jaeger Hand-Knit No.44, Essentials for the Forces

Size: Pattern 35" Bust -- Size Made 37" Bust

Yarn: Bottle Green 2ply knitting machine yarn

It was February 2011, if Ravelry is to be believed, that I cast this poor jumper on. For years I'd longed for a lovely Women's Land Army Jumper in a glorious bottle green, and as I'd just begun working on my new allotment, I felt it was time to give knitting one a try!

So, I set about scouring the Internet for an original pattern, but being 2011 there was a lot fewer free or paid for PDF vintage patterns available online, so I struggled to find much that was suitable. I'd seen a few of the officially issued jumpers for sale on eBay, so I knew that the original pattern was for a long-sleeved, V-necked, K1. P1. ribbed jumper. I also knew that the standard issue ones would have been machine knitted, due to the sheer volume produced, so I reasoned that there may well not be an original handknit pattern out there and so settled for this V-necked Jumper pattern from the V&A's knitting archive.

When it came to getting the right yarn, here I also struggled. I am going to say it again, but back in 2011, as hard as it is to believe, there was nowhere near the amount of 4ply yarns available as there is today. Much of what was available was in baby shades of pinks, blues, and yellows, there were very few in more grown-up colours. I struggled for weeks, trying to find the right ply to match the pattern with the right hue to match that which the WLA's jumpers were renowned for. In the end, I found a seller on eBay who had some 2ply bottle green knitting machine yarn for sale, so I settled for that knowing once I balled it up, off the massive cone it came on, I could then double it up to reach the 4ply thickness the pattern required.

So I cast on and got knitting, I actually blogged back then about how I was planning to see just how quickly I could knit this up, haha, the naivety! I knitted the back quite quickly, for me, but then I stalled on the front only finishing it in July of the same year. And so that is how it has been left until a few months back when I decided rather than waste any more time knitting sleeves, to turn it into a pullover by knitting ribbing around the armholes and neckline.

The pattern is a very simple one, after the 2 by 2 stitch ribbing for the waist, you move on to the body of the jumper which is knitted in a slip stitch style wide rib, which is what gives the jumper the channels which run up the front. Knitting this pattern was a little tedious, due to the spacing of the slip stitch channel, for some reason I found it very difficult to get into a rhythm with it and so spent much of my time undoing rows where I had, slipped up - Excuse the pun!

Also due to me using knitting machine yarn, the feel of the jumper as it was being worked was very rough and itchy, this is partly to do with it being 100% wool in its makeup, but also due to the fact knitting machine yarn tends to be coated to make it smoother helping it to glide through the machine without snagging, and so once washed and blocked the finished garment should soften up, which this pullover has, but not by much.

Now it's done I am really glad, but now it's done I can see just how bad my re-sizing was and how it really doesn't fit me that well at all! The shoulders are too wide (something sleeves would have distracted from I think) and so is the main body, it's all just a little bit too big for me and is way off from being a 37" bust more like a 42". If I am honest I know there are two simple reasons for this. One, I think that rather than just adding 2" overall, I added 2" to both the front and back. Two, I didn't do a test swatch, I just assumed that by adding more stitches it would all work out OK, but as I never checked to see how loose my tension was compared to the pattern, it was always unlikely it would come out the right size! Again, the naivety!

So there you have my last UFO. I can't say that I love it, but I'm not too disappointed, as I ought to point out that this was the second ever jumper I'd attempted to knit and my first attempt resizing a vintage pattern, so perhaps I can forgive myself for its inaccuracies. It is still wearable, with a belt, and I guess you can't always love everything you make. I have since stumbled upon the official handknit pattern - find it for free here - and as I do still really want a Land Girl Jumper, I think I'll give it a try, finding a 4ply bottle green yarn should certainly be much easier in 2016 - well at least I hope so!

Wendy x

Knit It - Star Trek Socks

We are currently experiencing a mini heatwave here in the UK, as I type this I am sitting on the back step overlooking the garden, relishing the cool breeze in the morning air and watching Beau attack some ants, you know because that's what cats do! So what better time could there be to write a post all about my newly knitted, thick and cozy, super toasty, woolly socks! Goodness, I'm perspiring just thinking about them!

~ Star Trek Socks ~

Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks

Yarn: Drops Delight (09) Turquoise/Purple

Needles: Circular 2.25 mm

Knitting Know-How: Magic Loop, Turning a Heel & Kitchener Stitch

I call these my Star Trek socks because whilst I was knitting them, the flashes of blues and purples that were being created by the variegation in the yarn, really reminded me of the cyan tinted lens flares used in the fabulous rebooted Star Trek films (watch the trailer here if you are not sure what I mean), this discovery also gave me a fabulous excuse to rewatch both films whilst I was knitting - it's a hard life!



The pattern I used is a free one found on Ravelry, called Hermione's Everyday Socks. They are designed to be knitted from the cuff down on circular needles and incorporate a very simple variation of moss stitch, to create the lovely texture you can see on the ankle section and top of the foot. I will say for my first time knitting socks they were a pleasure to work on. Something about the speed at which each sock grew was very appealing to me, and I can now see why people become obsessive sock knitters!



I was a little apprehensive about the instructions at times. The pattern is written for knitters who already have a basic understanding of the construction of socks, if you are a novice like me it can be a little confusing, but with the aid of YouTube and a little perseverance I muddled my way through and I am happy with the result. The area where I first lost my confidence was on turning the heel. Turning a heel can be done many different ways, but this pattern calls for a heel flap to be knitted and then stitches to be picked up along the sides of the flap to rejoin the knitting back into the round, creating a right angle in the knitting and giving the sock its heel. It is very ingenious once mastered, but I truly did struggle and I'm still not 100% sure I've done it quite right, but it works as a heel and so it will do!

The last thing you need to do when knitting a cuff down sock is to join the toe ends with the very clever Kitchener stitch. This was the most frustrating part of the whole project for me, OK, let me explain why. The Kitchener stitch is a wonderful way of invisibly joining your knitting together by cleverly creating, with a sewing needle, an additional row of knit stitches between the two pieces of fabric, or in this case the top and bottom of the toe. When done correctly it looks great and really is the perfect way to join the toe together, saving your toes from any nasty seams to rub against, whilst you're proudly prowling around in your new snazzy socks. The toes in my socks are not so neat. I watched the video on how to do it loads of times but I still haven't quite mastered it, one sock is definitely better than the other, but for a first attempt it's not too bad and they are still pretty snazzy right?!

Obviously, now they are done it is far too warm to wear them, so I'll have to wait until the weather cools down a bit before I can unleash their full fabulousness upon the world. That said, I am planning a trip to watch the new Star Trek movie next week and would love to wear them, but if I am honest, even with the air conditioning in the theatre (only place in the UK you can guarantee on air conditioning, even in the winter, brrr, is the cinema) I think it will still be too warm. I guess I'll just have to wait until the DVD comes out and then I can have a triple bill movie marathon whilst wearing my Trekkie socks and perhaps also while I'm knitting up another pair - now that sounds like a plan!

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - Kitty Cuddles & Compelling Yarns

Hello, lovely people, I hope you are having a great week and the sun is shining brightly where you are!

It's been a bit quiet around this blog over the last few weeks, I didn't intend to miss so many weeks of posting, but I've been a little in the doldrums lately which has meant I haven't really felt like posting or doing anything much worth posting about. Anyway I am attempting to pull myself out of it, as we all know it's pointless to worry about things you have no control over and so I am diving head first into another Wendy's Week - it's actually three weeks rolled into one but heck who's counting! So here is what I have been up to...

~ Kitty Cuddles & Compelling Yarns ~

-23rd May - 12th June -

Marrows ready to be planted // Me and the fury one // Finished Socks //
New book and new knitting // My Airfix addiction continues // Pretty Peony in my garden

- Finished my first pair of socks! I am really happy with them and they took a lot less time than I had expected, a proper blog post to follow shortly!

- Finally got a photo of me and Beau. It has taken four years, but now, at last, I have a picture of me and the furry one in which he almost looks pleased to be there - he's actually looking over my shoulder for an escape route and a second after this photo was taken he wriggled free from my loving hug, but it's a nice, if slightly untrue representation of our relationship, so I am keeping it!

- Making progress on my Hurricane. Now that it's all glued together, I've just got the best bit left to do and that's painting and sticking on the decals. Once painted I'll just need to glue on the propeller and pilots canopy and then it will be complete! I can't tell you how nice it has been to have something a little different and totally absorbing to work on when your brain is firing off with a million different worries, it has had an almost meditative feel to it as I find it so absorbing it is difficult to think of anything but simply painting, oh, and not getting paint everywhere, those pesky mini pots of paint are a devil to get open!

- Sorted through my pattern stash. I decided it was about time I properly sorted through my copious sewing pattern collection and had a little cull of some those which I will never use. This is actually much harder than it sounds, as I don't know if every seamstress feels the same about this, but there is always that niggling 'one day I might need it' thought running through my head when it comes to downsizing my pattern stash. I can be rather ruthless with other things I collect, but sewing patterns are my weakness. I do have a few I've managed to put in the out pile and so I will to add these to the giveaway I am planning on organising in the next few weeks!

- Started a new knitting project & an audiobook. I've decided to have a go at knitting a shawl. I was so in love with my pink/purple sock yarn that I bought a few weeks back, that I wanted to dedicate two balls of the four I had bought, to knitting up a shawl. It's not something that I have ever fancied doing before, but after finishing my socks I wanted to keep knitting but needed something very simple and something I could show off this pretty yarn a little better, so I cast on a Be Simple Variations Shawl which I had found for free on Ravelry. I have been enjoying watching it grow quite quickly and have found that I have been able to multitask up a storm by listening to this months audiobook, The Girl On The Train which as been quite a gripping listen. It is totally not something I would ordinarily choose as I tend to read more vintage crime and historical stuff but it has actually been a welcome change, plus I enjoyed it so much that I managed to finish it within a few knitting aided sittings!




- Been digging and planting on the plot. I have been also keeping myself busy on the allotment. I have planted 5 short rows of potatoes and 2 rows of runner beans along with some onions. It is a small amount but with the weather being honestly bonkers (England seems to be going through monsoon season) over the last few weeks it has made it difficult to get as much digging done. I really need to get cracking as I have sweetcorn, marrows, pumpkin and broccoli seedlings to plant up, hopeful this weekend we might fare a bit better with the weather and I'll get a chance to dig like there's no tomorrow!

~ Me-Made May 2016 Week 4 ~

It's now super late, but here are the homemade garments I wore for the last week in Me-Made May. First was my second version of Butterick 5748 (the first is the purple and black plaid one I wore here) in a heavy 60s style curtain fabric which I bought from Abakhans in Liverpool at the tender age of 21 to make curtains for my bedroom (I was going through my 60s psychedelia phase, groovy!) I never got around to making the curtains, so it has sat in my stash for a very long time before being set free! Next was my Self-draft red jersey dress which I made from the same pattern as my swallow print dress (see in the header my Beau cuddling dress), both dresses are made from my tried and tested pattern from Sew U Home Stretch!

I failed miserably most weeks in hitting my three garment target and I think this was for two reasons. The first is, now that I cycle to work I find it easier to wear the same, mostly shop bought stuff most days, as getting fully changed at work into a dress or something nicer is not so practical, meaning a lot of what I used to wear on a daily basis instead gets saved for the weekend. The second and this is something I was aware at from the start, is that I only seem to make summer clothes and mostly dresses so my homemade wardrobe is much less practical than my life actually calls for. This is something I am going to try (begin) to remedy this weekend as I'm planning to immerse myself in some bright and colourful sewing projects to fill the void in my wardrobe and it might help cheer me up a bit to boot!

I hope you have a lovely weekend wherever you are!

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - Knitting & more Knitting

Hello, again I hope you are all having a super week!
I must say this week was a quiet one for me and as you might have guessed from the title there was rather a lot of one thing in particular...

~ Knitting & more Knitting ~

- 16th - 22nd May -

Published my Sunday Pictorial Beret // Did some work on my Plot // Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Signed the Home Fires Petition // Progress on my socks // Beau trying to hypnotise me into getting his dinner

- I signed the Save Home Fires Petition. I actually did this last week but forgot to mention it. I was told by lovely Joe from Josie-Mary, that ITV, in it's infinite wisdom, has decided to not to commission another series of Home fires. WHAT! I know a show about women of the WI during WWII may not everyone's cup of tea, but to leave it's fans with such a massive (if slightly ridiculous) cliffhanger is unkind, especially after this last series I feel I have grown more attached to these characters and want to know what is to become of them and their lovely knitwear! Argh, it's so unfair - has teenage style flailing arm strop! So if you think Home Fires should be recommissioned, you can sign the petition here, let's hope it makes a difference and even if ITV are not up for it, perhaps someone else might be!

- I discovered the wonderful world of audio books. Last month I decided to give Audible a try, as I thought it might be a good way to increase my book reading level (or being read to level). When you sign up you get a month's free trial, which equates to the download of one audiobook. I decided to start my trial with a book I'd spotted when at the airport a few weeks back and I thought it looked interesting, Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave. Set during the early part of the second world war the story follows the lives of four young friends as they encounter not only the ever present war of nations but also the ever-present wars in society; of class, race, and love. I did struggle at first and was in two minds whether to continue listening; the book is narrated by Luke Thompson and he does an admirable job of creating different voices for each of the characters, but initially I found his female voices a little irritating. However I persevered and I am pleased I did, as it is a beautifully written book, some of the descriptions of war-torn London are simply stunning and the attention to historical detail is astounding. I finished listening to it this week and I would totally recommend giving it a read, or even a listen!

- Knitting & more knitting.  I discovered this week that knitting is the perfect accompaniment to listening to audiobooks and this is partly why I feel all I have really done this week is knit! I've been working away steadily on my Hermione's Everyday Socks; I have chosen to make my first pair in the drops 09 Turquoise/Purple yarn,which is so pretty. It is knitting up quite well, the yarn is a little fluffy so it's quite easy to split stitches while knitting, but it is so pretty I'll have to forgive it. Plus I finally figured out how to do the magic loop on circular needles, which certainly took me a while, but I found once I persevered past the first few wobbly looking rows, it all became much less difficult and I think has fallen into place, I guess the next sock will really determine how much I have remembered! I am nearly finished my first sock, just the foot to go, so I'm hoping to cast on the second this weekend fingers crossed!

~ Me-Made May 2016 Week 3 ~

Again this week I only managed two garments, though I did wear my newly finished beret for a few hours till it got too hot so it's almost three! First was my jersey Swallow print dress, which is made from a tried and tested pattern from Sew U Home Stretch, it's another I have yet to blog about but is the same pattern as my Self Drafted Red Dress and is lovely and comfy to wear; despite the fabric being just a bit too see through! I also wore my Spring For Cotton Kim Dress, which I made last year in my Odhams print fabric, I am hoping to get a lot of wear from this again this summer if the weather holds out!
I must say one thing this Me-Made May has taught me, which I honestly didn't realise before, is just how much I like purple! Much of my me-made wardrobe so far has had a purple hue, even the beret I've just finished and the socks I've just started are purple. Oh, and looking through my wardrobe at many of my vintage dresses the same can be said there too! It seems my colour comfort zone has moved away from black and on to purple, which I don't mind at all, I just wish someone had told me!

Have you any plans for the weekend?

Wendy x

Knit It - Sunday Pictorial Beret

~ Sunday Pictorial Beret ~

Pattern: 1930s Sunday Pictorial Beret

Designer: Susan Crawford

Yarn: 2 balls of 4ply Rowan Cashsoft in Loganberry & Deep

Needles: 3.25mm / US 3 / UK 10

I started this beret as a quick project to use up some stash yarn way back in 2012 (January 22nd, 2012, if Ravelry is to be believed), but it has taken me four and a bit more years to actually call it finished and put it on my head!

The pattern comes from Susan Crawford's fabulous knitting bible A Stitch In Time Vol.2 and has been adapted from an original 1930s pattern published in the Sunday Pictorial. When I first saw it I instantly wanted to make it, but as usual, I couldn't decide what colour to choose. After a bit of stash raiding I initially picked a soft browny-beige shade, which looked almost identical to the original in the book, but as I was knitting, I was gradually falling out of love with it, as it wasn't a colour which felt very 'me' and I knew I if I didn't love it now then I certainly wouldn't wear it when it was done.

So I frogged it and went back to my stash to find this wonderfully squishy Cash Soft yarn by Rowan, in a gorgeous dusky blue shade and cast back on. I realised pretty quickly that I wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish, so I ripped it back again and this time added in some stripes, in another Cash Soft shade, a lovely purple hue called Loganberry.

The beret is made up in a garter stitch pattern (knit every row, no purl rows) which means it is very simple to knit and would be great as a starter project for those getting into knitting. Also, unusually for berets, it is knitted flat; on two needles rather than four, so it is wonderful for a bit of quick, mindless knitting with just a bit of row shaping every now and then, to create the wonderful spiralling centre crown!

If it's so easy and quick to knit, I hear you ask, then why has it taken you so long to finish?
Well, it spent most of those years lurking in my UFO pile, simply because I could not decide on what to do about the embellishment that should be sewn over the seam. If you look at the original pattern here, you will see that there are two delicate bows, which I believe are stitched over the back seam to disguise it and to add a fabulous bit of 30s flamboyant flare to the beret.

Well, I knitted the bows up: one in blue and one in purple, attached them to the beret but they looked a bit ridiculous. They were so floppy that they just hung limply at the back and didn't really look flamboyant at all! I learnt later from a conversation with Mim, that the reason they didn't work was that the yarn was too soft and didn't have enough structure to be able to hold its shape, she suggested getting some fine florists wire and work that in as I knit them, which I thought was a great idea, but I just never got around to actually doing it. So this weekend I called it quits on these bows and decided to move on. After dragging the beret back out of my UFO pile, I redid the back seam as the stripes were not matching up to my liking (my standards have obviously improved since 2012) and tidied away the loose ends before I giving it a quick wash and block over a dining plate which I left in the sunshine to dry.

So now my beret is complete and I can actually wear it, I really like it! It's a floppy beret with a loose style which means you can position it on your head depending on your mood or era you are trying to recreate. I actually really like how the stripes make it a little more interesting and are totally in keeping with its original 30s style which means it should look great with my dark blue original 40s fit and flare coat! I did buy a little more of this yarn in both colours before it became discontinued so I am toying with the idea of making up some matching stripy gloves, though I'm not convinced I'll have enough yarn to do the job so I might have to play a bit of knitting roulette and see if I win!

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - Yarn & UFO's

Hello you lovely lot, I hope you are having an amazing week!

This is what I've been keeping out of trouble with...

~ Yarn & UFO's ~

- 9th - 15th May -

Reading A Woman in Berlin // Yummy yarny goodness // Beau checking his garden for intruders //
A gift of pretty flowers // Lots of new knitting patterns // Last Knitting UFO completed

- Finished a reading book! It may have taken me a few months, but I have finally finished reading 'A Woman in Berlin'. I am so glad to have finished it, as it was a fascinating but utterly traumatic read. How these women were able to cope with essentially being the spoils of war astounds me. I read slowly, so it's not the books fault it took me this long. Perhaps it was the time I took to read or just the amount of horrendous events, but the month or so time frame that the book covers felt more like years rather than weeks. If you are interested in WWII history then I would say it is a must read!

- Finished my very last knitting UFO! My Sunday Pictorial Beret is complete, it only needed
re-sewing together and for me to weave away the loose ends, so the length of time it has taken me to finish this is shocking. But it is now done and photographed, so there will be more about it in my next post!

Drops Delight Yarn: 06 Pink/Purple, 09 Turquoise/Purple & 15 turquoise/burgundy/beige

- Bought some very yummy sock yarn! With my last UFO now finally a FO (finished object) it was time to start something new, without any guilt! I have been wanting to have a go at socks for years but couldn't quite muster the enthusiasm to actually start anything. Well, that all changed this week when I found this gorgeous Drops Delight yarn on Love Knitting's website. The fact that it was on sale was even more tempting so along with some yarn for my Home Fire's Fair Isle (I am still working on it, it's just taking me longer than I thought to work out re-sizing...the blighter!) I bought a few balls and can honestly say the pictures on the site don't quite do it justice, it's much more delightful in the fluff! I am really looking forward to begin knitting with it, I am thinking of trying Hermione's Every Day Sock Pattern by Erica Lueder, which is free on Ravelry, as it looks easy enough for a beginners pattern, has a little detail to make it interesting to knit and is still simple enough to show off the pretty yarn. Oh, and add in the fact I love Harry Potter and well, my decision is pretty much made!

- Operation Victory Garden is back on track! I spent the weekend weeding and digging on my allotment to get everything back on track for planting up my onions and potatoes this coming weekend. I have decided to keep it a little more simple this year, so have held back on the seed planting as I don't want to overwhelm myself as I have in other years. Also, I finally planted up some runner beans and once I find where I put my seeds, I'll also pop in some marrows too, slowly but surely I am making progress!

- I was gifted some wonderful vintage knitting patterns to share with you all! last week I got an email out of the blue from the lovely Suzanne, who runs the fabulous vintage clothing store Authentic Glam on eBay. She wanted to know if I would like to rehome some vintage knitting patterns for her, as she feared the charity shop may not give them the respect they deserve and of course I said: Yes please! The patterns arrived this week and blimey they are fabulous, there are loads of them, the above is just the very tip, of the tip of the Iceberg! As a thank you to Suzanne, I'll be gradually turning them into pdf's and sharing them over on The Vintage Pattern Files over the next few months (actually, it might be years there is that many) so that you all can share in her utter generosity too!

~ Me-Made May 2016 Week 2 ~

OK, on to this weeks Me-Made May 2016! Week Two I managed to wear only two garments. On Sunday I wore my still not blogged about 1950s Simplicity 1166 skirt, which I panic stitched before my holiday about this time last year; and on Friday for a lovely sunny pub lunch with my mate Alan, I wore my Anderson Blouse (though I forgot to get a photo). My Anderson blouse is fast becoming my favourite thing to wear! I'm not quite hitting my three garment quota this week, but I am not disappointed, as I am still enjoying the challenge. I am also rapidly realising I don't have as much practical clothing as I'd thought so that's something to remedy with any future projects!

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - Planes & Trains

Hello, I hope you are having another great week and are looking forward to the weekend!

This is what I got up to last week...

~ Planes & Trains ~

 - 2nd - 8th May -

Leaving Schiphol Airport // Crazy cat lady  // May the 4th be with you //
Beginning Me Made May 2016 // Sunbathing knitwear //Bowie pin a prezzie from my brother!

- Flew back to Liverpool and almost enjoyed this flight! The weather leaving Amsterdam was gorgeous, clear blue skies as far as they eye could see; the weather over England was not so nice. Our decent into Liverpool was...turbulent, I didn't enjoy it one bit, but as my brother kept reminding me as my sweaty palms were clutching the armrests, it was caused by the thick layer of cloud we were passing through and nothing to be scared of, it was bad, but not anywhere near as scary as I had feared so that's something I guess! One thing I did enjoy was that at both Schiphol and Liverpool you get to enter and exit the plane via steps at the front and rear, rather than the jetty tunnel thingy. Now I know to most it's probably more like an inconvenience, but I really liked stepping off the plane this way, it felt like being a celebrity back in the day alighting to meet their adoring fans from their glamorous jet, my jet was just a bit more easy that's all!

- I received a mystery parcel in the mail this week Once I opened it I found a fabulous Aladdin Sane pin badge from Thread Famous, kindly ordered by my brother for me as he knew I really wanted one. He has his own, which is how I found out about them, but when I went to buy one they had all sold out, so I was very surprised to find one in the post! I shall be attaching it with all my other pin badges to my knitting bag, I know rock and roll, right!

- Cats, cats, cats! While still in Liverpool me and mum spotted a cat asleep on a car parked in a driveway, as we looked down the drive we could see other cars each had a cat sleeping soundly on its roof, I thought this was really funny so grabbed my phone to take a snap, when the first cat got up started mewing at us for attention, within seconds there were at least ten cats and kittens appearing from every corner of the garden jumping up on the car for a bit of attention, it was lovely as they were all very friendly, but it was a bit mental, I thought I was a crazy cat lady but this was something else! It does make me a sad though, as however well cared for these cats clearly were, it was evident that this cat clan was a result of them not be spayed/neutered, which is something I feel quite strongly ought to be done, there are so, so many unwanted kitties sitting in shelters, not neutering just means increasing those numbers and that's not right.

- May the 4th Be With you! I travelled back to London last Wednesday and as it was the 4th of May I obviously had to wear my favourite Star War T-shirt. Imagine my surprise when I noticed while boarding the train back to London that the carriage was wishing us a 'Happy Star Wars Day'! It didn't stop there, the train guard was clearly a huge Star Wars fan too, as he had a tailor made announcement each time we left a station, and he even hosted a competition on board to win a toy lightsaber. I didn't join in as I couldn't answer the last question and didn't want to cheat by googling it (which tube station was used in for filming the new Rouge One movie? I had no idea of the answer, but go watch the trailer it's epic!), but it was a lovely added touch to the journey and hats off to him for being proud enough to share his nerdy love with his somewhat bemused passengers!

- Potted up some potatoes. Before I went away I forgot to do a check on the vegetable rack to see if anything was growing legs, so when I got back I found the potatoes I had stored had not just grown legs they were practically walking out of the rack! Rather than just chuck them away in the compost bin, I decided to pop them into some buckets and let them do what they clearly want to do and that's grow. I used to do this all the time when I had my little balcony, but once I got my allotment I no longer had the need. I wouldn't recommend planting your allotment with supermarket sprouters as the seed has not been properly tested so there is the small chance they could spread disease to other peoples crops, however sticking then in a pot in your garden it's fine and in a few months with me topping up the compost every time they sprout above it they should certainly yield enough for a dinner or three!

- I gave my knitted babies a bath! On Sunday it was such a gorgeous hot and sunny day I knew I needed to make the most of it and give some of my handmade knits a bath. My Victory Jumper and Miette cardigan are both knitted in acrylic blended wool so could most likely be machine washed; thought after the hours I have spent knitting I would rather treat them to some TLC even if it does mean they get washed a little less often. The weather was so warm that they were dry within a couple of hours and are now ready and waiting to be worn again very soon!

~ Me Made May Week 1 ~

Victory Jumper & Box Pleat Skirt // Butterick 5748 and my handmade Hair Bow

My pledge is to wear 3 garments a week for May and I managed 4 this week! On Monday whilst still up in Liverpool I wore my Victory Jumper and newly finished Sew Over It Box pleat skirt, which go together really well! On Sunday while mowing the lawn and doing the chores I wore my Butterick 5748 dress and my handmade hair bow (sometimes I like to be overdressed while gardening!). I have never shown the dress on here before, I'm not sure why, I made it years ago and do really love it as it's so easy to wear and it goes really well with the cardigan my mum gave to me, though I do really wish I had lined up the centre stripe on the bodice with the one the skirt as it now really bugs me! Please excuse the grumpy face it was actually far too warm for a woollen dress and I was overwhelmed!

Wendy x

Me Made May 2016

Hello! When this post publishes I should be sampling the sights, sounds and hopefully scrummy food of Amsterdam, fingers crossed for some veggie options! As May begins while I am away I wanted to nip in before it does to tell you that I have signed up for Me-Made-May 2016! 

I have wanted to do this for a few years now but have either missed the sign-up date or feared that I wouldn't have enough me-made garments to see me through the whole month, well this year I decided to take the pledge!

I, Wendy from this blog right here oh and this one over here (The Vintage Pattern Files), sign up as a participant of 'Me-Made-May 2016. I endeavour to wear at least THREE me-made items each week for the duration of May 2016, which I will attempt to document here!'

I am hoping by setting my me-made garments to just three a week I will be able to easily keep to this target and may occasionally exceed it. It certainly should be a fun way to make the most of my lovingly handcrafted garments as the weather warms up and will no doubt help to highlight the gaps in my wardrobe that could do with filling (I've got an inkling it will be 'need more separates, no more dresses!').

If you fancy joining in yourself then there is still time to hop over to Zoe's Blog 'So, Zo...' and take the pledge, it is really very flexible and designed to be a bit of fun rather than a strict challenge, so if you think it's something you might enjoy then why not have a go!

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - Patterns & Packing

Hello, I hope you are having a great week and looking forward to the bank holiday that is just around the corner here in the UK (sorry if there's no holiday where you are I'm sure you'll have a lovely weekend anyway)! Thank you for all your get well wishes it's very kind of you all, I can confirm I am feeling much better now and have been super busy to make up for my much needed lazy spell last week!

~ Patterns & Packing ~

- 18th - 24th April -

Beautiful Spring Blossom // Officially a geek // Lots of new old knitting patterns
// A gift of sewing patterns // My Anderson Blouse // Packing for a trip

- Renewed my membership to the I.O.W Steam Railway. I haven't already made myself sound like a teenage boy what with Airfix kits and my love of sci-fi, I have gone one better and I am now a member of a steam railway too! OK, I've actually been on and off been a member from birth as my parents have been members since I think the 70s, but now that I have started regularly attending the annual 1940s weekend, it seemed only right to join up myself and help support them all year round, as nothing beats a steam train ride for a little bit of time travel!

- I went to the cinema! On Tuesday I went with my best friend Diane to see Disney's new version of The Jungle Book. It was great I won't lie I wasn't expecting very much but it was really good, it even had a couple of the original songs which was a nice surprise, my favourite character had to be Baloo played by Bill Murray, his voice was perfect for the part! How similar it is to the original cartoon I can't say as I have actually only ever seen the first half, due to it being the video of choice at Junior school for filling in the last day of term when we were all too demob happy to be expected to do any work which also meant it was always, without fail, turned off before it reached the end, so I know the beginning very, very well. The end? Well, that's still a mystery!

- I Bought some knitting patterns! My obsession with that Home Fires Fair Isle is still going strong and thanks to the amazing Liza from The Vintage Knitter I now am the proud owner of the original pattern (amongst a few others which I couldn't resist, see header photo)! I lucked out when found the original pattern on The Vintage Knitting Lady website so I knew it had to be mine. The original cast on and ribbing that I did for the jumper has turned out way too big so I will need to rip that back and start from scratch anyway though the pattern that I originally charted matches up perfectly, which means all I need to do now is work out how many stitches to add for a (much) bigger size and I will be ready to get started! If you are as besotted with ITV's Home Fires as I am, then do pop over to Liza's blog where she has created the most fabulous 'Home Fires: The Knitwear' post matching up the knitwear in the show with its original patterns, it is really wonderful and is making me want to add them all to my must-knit list!

The mini wheelie bin is a belated birthday present for my brother, if you have ever been to Liverpool you'll understand why!

- Started Packing for my trip Tomorrow I will be heading off up to Liverpool to meet my parents and brother, before flying off on Friday to Amsterdam for the bank holiday weekend! I need to stop for a second to appreciate the fact I have typed a sentence that has the word 'flying' in it without the usual stomach-churning terror, yes my nails are still bitten in anxiety, but the therapy I am taking is certainly starting to work! We are going to explore the city and to take a trip to the Keukenhof to see the tulips in bloom. I am really looking forward to our trip as it's somewhere I have wanted to visit for many years, especially the Keukenhof, as if it is in full blooming glory it should be really magnificent. Expect lots of pictures on my return!

- I was gifted some Vintage Sewing Patterns! Last week I got a message from one of my Facebook friends David, who I met (albeit virtually) through writing this blog over our shared love of the history of WWII's home front. He contacted me to ask if I would like some old sewing patterns that he had been given in a house clearance and were only going to be binned if he couldn't find a home for them, obviously, I snapped his offer up and so they arrived this week! They are fabulous, mostly they date from the 60s & 70s and most are in larger sizes, which is wonderful for us more curvaceous gals! I am honestly blown away by his kindness in thinking of me, it's really touching just how generous people can be, so with this in mind, once I am back from Amsterdam I will be hosting a giveaway so that I can pass kindness forward to you lovely lot, so watch this space!

- I finished my Sew Over It Anderson Blouse! As usual I could look happier about it in this photo, but honestly, I do really love it! I will write a more detailed/waffelsome post once I can get some better photos of it but it's done, I think it's great and I've already worn it twice! The fabric was a challenge at times, more so in the poor cutting out than in the sewing together, and basting the pieces before stitching worked a treat, thank you, Cate! It's by no means perfect, there are some dead wonky seams, but it has certainly given me the confidence to start on the dressing gown soon which is all I was really hoping for anyway, and now I have a bonus top to boot!

Have you any exciting or crafty plans for the bank holiday weekend?

Wendy x