WIPs

So yesterday was surprisingly productive. (It did rain, but only for ten minutes.)

I worked on the Solomon's Shrug

No, it's not finished. That's the amount I got done out of one ball (Sirdar Juicy). AND it finished the yarn at the end of a row!

I also worked on the Full-skirted Medieval Dress:

which I've been working on for a couple of months, on and off. The instructions are from Medieval Costume and How to Recreate it. Please note I said 'instructions' not 'pattern'. There is a diagram on page 99 of the book showing how you layout the fabric and manipulate it, but a lot is left up to the dressmaker to interpret.

I'm hoping to make one to wear to the Abbey Medieval Festival in July (I go every year, it's awesome, if you're in the area check it out) but I thought I'd better make sure I wasn't going to stuff it up hugely and waste a lot of fabric, so I made a doll's version first, which is being modelled here by Kim. Please make her welcome.

Here's another picture of the dress which shows more of the skirt:

It is an ENORMOUS skirt. A full circle reaching down to the floor is a LOT of fabric. The good thing is that the actual yardage to buy isn't that much, since there's some pretty impressive cutting and piecing going on.

And in other news:

The skirt waist has been gathered and the waistband is pinned on ready to sew. The colour is actually a very dark navy - imagine a blue-black. The pattern is from No Time To Sew, with a few alterations. (Like shortening it by 5" and tapering the panels in an extra 6" at the waist and even then it needs extra gathering. And yes, I did make the smallest size.)

Next up, hopefully I'll be finishing these off. Although, there's always the next project to start on...

Electronics with issues

My camera is telling me it's low on battery. It just got new batteries. Telling it this is having little effect as yet, but I will persevere.

My card reader has developed separation issues. It will only work with my laptop if I hold it in place the entire time it's plugged in. The moment I release my hand, it's gone.

Pictures will therefore appear as and when the technology permits.

The Solomon's shrug progresses unfrogged (mostly), although it is now being created from one sleeve edge to the other, instead of bottom to top as the pattern says. I consider the pattern forfeited all rights to telling me what to do when I realised that following its instructions as written would have resulted in a 40cm square piece of crochet. Given that the measurements given are 90cm from sleeve hem to sleeve hem... yeah. You see the problem.

Please note I am not blaming the designer for the error. I am quite sure that in her pattern all the instructions are correct and would indeed result in a shrug exactly like the one pictured. I am, however, choosing to believe that in formatting it for the crochet magazine in which it appeared about 2 years ago, some errors were introduced. (I will leave the crochet magazine nameless. They have since been taken over by new people - I don't want to blame them for the errors of their predecessors.)

This afternoon I am definitely going to get on to the skirt. Unless it rains again.

A little diversion into crocheting

So, I know I was going to do the gathering stitches around my skirt today, but the weather is still overcast, and besides, I started this

last night.

The yarn is Juicy by Sirday (I heard it was discontinued but not certain about that) and the pattern is Solomon's shrug by Jenny King. I'm having to learn the Solomon's Knot stitch - which, let me tell you, is not as hard as the instructions always make it look. Either that or I'm doing it wrong.

I do realise that starting a lacy summer shrug is probably not the most sensible project coming into Autumn. In my defense, I meant to start this months ago, but - and I swear this is true - I could only ever find ONE of the yarn or the pattern at a time. As soon as I found the yarn - WHOOSH - the pattern disappeared. Crafty gremlins - literally.

I'm just a bit worried though. It's supposed to be knit bottom to top, forming a rectangle 90cm wide by 40cm long. What I've produced so far is about 40cm wide. Either the pattern or I are in trouble. Possibly both.

I'll be taking it to the Oracle of All Things Crochet and Most Other Crafts, aka my mother, to get it checked this afternoon.