body form/dressmakers doll...

Evening all!!!
well things have been going swimmingly this week and all is right with the world!!!
Last weekend i was in tears of laughter and this is why.......
For the last few weeks have been having a problem with making dresses and tops to fit me perfectly.I always manage to find something that either is baggy at the bust or too small around the boobs and humongous at the bottom....so when my new "SEW!" magazine came i was flicking through it and found an interesting article on how to make your own body cast so that garments fit properly...so we took a deep breath and had a good long read...it took me two days to absorb what it was saying to me,but i wanted to give it a go...so Saturday morning i spent my final £5.00 on duct tape and a second hand t-shirt from a charity shop,and made my way home with my finds...i was grinning like a Cheshire cat...my son and hubs thought i was totally demented,then i explained my self and i honestly thought my hubs and son were going to commit me to the nearest mental institution...but they went along with what i asked them...
i stripped off all my jewelery and then put on the massive t-shirt..my son broke out the duct tape(gaffer tape) my son and hubs cut strips of 60cm lengths of tape and wrapped them around my body from the base of my bottom right upto my neck...i looked hilarious!!My hubs and son wanted to do a runner leaving me like that all day...believe me i know what the Victorian ladies went through with their corsets under their dresses,i was having a problem catching my breath the problem was that i just couldn't stop giggling the whole time which didn't help much either...
Any way the hard part came next...my poor son cut the t-shirt from bottom to top and was worried that he might cut me ...but i told him to go for it...and he did it in one go...it wasn't until he'd cut it off me i realised that he had cut through the waistband of my jeans...so my trousers were round my ankles as i desperately tried to wriggle out of this gaffer tape laden t-shirt...my hubs was trying to chase4 me round the house with a camera and there i stood swearing my head off threatening divorce if the camera flashed even once....he got off light that time bless him!!!
i re-sealed up the back of the t-shirt,stuffed the arms and breasts with toy stuffing and used old cushions and newspaper to get it right...to be honest i had no idea i was that flipping fat!!!so with a bit of disappointment at my shape,and excitement that i might actually be able to get a garment to fit i inserted a coat hanger and made a start on a dress i am designing myself...its a cross over side tied dress in white and blue paisley..and its a case of so far so good....have done the top part and am currently pinned and attaching the skirt which is also a wrap round .....its been a whole new revelation to me ...and i am learning fast about how to do things and especially what darts are for!!!!
this week have had several mothers turn up and ask me for help turning trousers up before the kids go back to school...i don't mind ,but because the latest fashion is for kids trousers to drag on the floor and get ruined with the constant dragging on the ground...i have devised a way of turning up the trousers without making them too short and so that the seams can't be broken open....but i don't mind the more experience i can get the better!!this week i have turned up about 20 pairs of trousers...all double stitched and double seamed for better wear and tear..and d'you know what ? my grandmother is right....there is money to be made from clothes adjusting and altering..maybe that's where i ought to concentrate my efforts for the moment.....it might be a way in for me.....Oh its just I'm sick of always going without..i know my kids will and always will come first but sometimes i just get sick of being last..and sick of having no money at the end of the week,i would love to find a way into making a little money now and again...i don't want much just £10.00 per week extra would go down rather well at the minute.....but in the meantime i shall keep practising....................................................

MADE A MOVE TO A LIBRARY

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,,,,
Have decided to write a library of all of my favorite knitting patterns both hand knit and machine knit patterns in another posting i have called machine and handknit library....all of these patterns are free to print and try....
all i am asking is that you send me a picture of your completed projects....many thanks helen!!!!

Beautiful cushions....made easy!!!!

BEAUTIFUL CUSHIONS FOR THE HOME.....MADE EASY!!!!

this pattern is for the knitmaster 321

Right here we go,this pattern is to make these cushions....and they are alot easier than they look....so take a deep breathe and go for it!!!!

Right....

cast on 104 stitches with waste yarn,and hang comb and comb weights...(tw0 large should do nicely1!!)set the tension to 8/8 on both dials....the rissel levers should be at = on both sides the side levers should be at the dome settings and the bottom two levers should be at = and the botton numbers should be sitting at 1/1.the main dial should be set to "O"(ordinary stitch)

knit 1/1 rib for 40 rows,transfer stitches onto main needle bed and change the tension to 9.25 and plain knit for 48 rows....Insert punch pattern card two rows before the number 1...

and plain knit two more rows,

insert new colour yarn into the yarn break at the front of carriage and the main colour at the front of the carriage in the yarn holder holding to the right hand side.

change the side levers to traingle,russel levers to -/- and dial switch to "F".and punchcard reader to forward.

push the first needle nearest to the carriage so that the yarn is just over the latch and knit to end

of row.you will notice that some needles engage the main colour and some will engage the contrast colour to create the pattern,

KNIT FOR 135 ROWS.

reset the machine for ordinary knit and knit for 50 rows....

transfer every other stitch to other needle bed and engage the other carriages ready for rib.....rib for 40 rows and cast off....

n.b i always knit for 10 rows with waste yarn and just run the stitches off the machine without casting off.....place the stitches onto a needle and cast off manually.......

turn the peice inside out and sew the sides together allowing for the ribs to overlap,to create a pillowcase effect.....

turn the right way around and fill in with a pillow and use straight away!!!!

HALF TERM....HEAVEN OR HELL????

Evening all,

Well its the first day of the half term,and to be honest its a case of so far,so good.

My son has had a bit of a disapointing weekend to be honest,on valentines day his girlie ended it...because she wanted his best mate....and then his best mate didn't want her,and she wanted my son back.....I mean what a troll!!But he does seem to be a lot more brighter after 24 hours...He went to the park yesterday morning(Monday) to meet her,i thought by the way he was talking he wanted her to come back to him.....But instead he told her straight that enough was enough,and he wasn't interested in her anymore.Since when did my son grow up???But i am still having problems with him doing his homework....My son takes the view that because its half-term everything stops because he's not a school.But he's still got his art homework to do,and oh boy! thats an uphill battle...All he's got to do is the front page titled "every picture tells a story "its to do with alice in wonderland and the illustrator John Tenniel,which i personally could get very enthusiastic about,I love art and always have done....Its at times like these i wish i could afford to go back to school and take gcse Art......But funds won't allow....But i guess i will have to do some more research into this.......But under duress my son has finally made a start,it took him one hour to sit and stare at a page and finally draw some lettering yesterday but he only did one or two letters on the page and to be honest i wasn't impressed...Lets put it this way....Its taken him 4 days to pick up a pair of dirty shorts from his bedroom floor,I know i am his mum and should do certain things for them,But if his little brother is capable of cleaning up behind himself,surely a 14 year old boy is as well???Or am i wrong???Its just i don't want my kids growing up not Knowing how to cook and clean up behind themselves...They would have to do it sooner or later so why not now???I mean i do the hoovering and dusting i don't think that it would kill my kids to pick up thier dirty clothes and walk to the bathroom and put it in the dirty wash basket would you????

Still if i knew half of my kids love life i would be bald by now!!!

Now back to the knitting,well have been making lots of kids jumpers this week to put on the web..and i am loving it!!!!!This week i have made the cutest baby pink jumper and a little fairisle jumper to put on e-bay,this week i have been using up all of my odds and ends to make bits and peices.I love the way that the striping works and the little jumper I am particularly proud of.

But i had a huge surprise this week,This year i mostly made christmas presents this year....My sister in law in cambridge is a partiularly discerning lady...I made her a lovely purple striped hat with a pretty flower as decoration,with a pair of gloves and scarf...I was a bit worried that she would be disappointed with what i had done for christmas...But she sent me an e-mail with photo's this week and there she is in every photo wearing the set that i made her for christmas....She even has it on on her office web page pictures...I was very very proud,But it has backfired a bit as she has asked me for another set but in green this time,Mind you have got some gorgeous green silk in my stash at home,have had it for the last few years,and finally have got an aim for this yarn!!!

As for my black tanktop i have got to the stage where i have divided for the arms and am now completing the back so have got to adjust my pattern,and add a little bit more to it.See i am writing the pattern as i am knitting it ,then anybody who wants to try this can do it with me....and at least i know this pattern is correct.and i won't have any mistakes in it.

But what really upsets me is the accusations i have had in the last few weeks which is unfounded.

My elder son seems to be under the impression that i am wasting the housekeeping on buying wool removing food from his mouth,but the truth of the matter is that i use the cash i make on e-bay to re-invest in yarn so that i can really concentrate on a new design concept that i have had in the back of my mind for the last few months....I am hoping that this might be the idea that takes off....but i don't want to say too much about that yet...as an idea kept close is an idea i will keep!!!!

Today my eldest son has finally bitten the bullet and finished the lettering on his title page,and started to add colour,but it has still taken him the best part of anhour to do this.....At the moment it seems that in order to get him to do his home work it seems to go one of two ways....I either have to threaten him with a grounding and carry it out in order to get hime to any important coursework...For instance i had to ground him for 2 weeks just to get him to sit down for an hour every night just to do his firework and romeo and juliet coursework for english....and because it was majorly important i had to do it this way as he had already dug in his heels and told me straight that he had already done it....His english teacher,who i am in regular contact (bless her!!!) had seen neither hide no hair of any of this work....basically charlie had lied about doing this work,but because i had gone to the horses mouth(excuse the phrase!) I knew better.....But this is by the by, because it is done and handed in,but mind you we had to e-mail the homework and course work to his teacher so that it got there in time...She was very happy to accept his work this way because it means that i have a copy and so does she....My son cannot get his head around that i do save every e-mail i get from his teachers so that i can show them to him....he always blushes when i show him the e-mails because he knows he's been rumbled!!!

The only other way i can get him to do his work is to try and bribe him in a way,by letting him have an hour on his beb0 for an hour everyday....But that doesn't always work....Unless he's got a girlie in tow....and then it works like a charm!!!!

But because he hasn't got a girlie in tow i have had to say that i wanted an hour of art from him everyday and when this is completed he can then go out and have the rest of the day with his mates....That i don't have any objections but,unfortunatley he does,he just thinks that i am getting on to him for fun....But i want him to do and be the best he can ,He's got the most fantastic brain i have ever encountered,he just refuses to use it!!!

This week My son has got Work experience at Bressingham engineering,he's going to work from 8 - 4 on thursday and friday,it was organised by the college he attends,and i am hoping it will be a real eye opener for him!!!!

gotta go for the minute

bye!!!

Helena

cabled tanktop

ingredients
300g of double knit,any colour you like....
a 3.75mm circular needle.
2 stitch markers
a pair of 3.75mm straight needles.

METHOD
cast on 136 stitches and place marker,cast on 136 stitches place marker.
knit1,purl1 rib for 40 rows
next
p1,k1,p1,knit 6,p1,knit4 carry on until you reach 3 stitches before stitch marker,
p1,k1,p1.knit 6,p1,knit4 carry onto 3 stitches before the last marker
p1,k1,p1,
This pattern allows you to create a faux seam on both sides.
do this first row 5 times
6th row
p1,k1,p1,place 3 stitches on a cable needle and slip to the front,knit 3 stitches,knit 3 stitches from cable needles.
do this cable pattern on the 6 stitches every 6 rows
MEANWHILE
On the tenth row and every tenth row;-
p1,k1,p1,knit 6,p1,place 2 stitches on a cable needle and place to the front,knit 2 stitches from the circular needles,then knit the 2 stitches from the cable needle.
this creates a barley twist on the knit 6 ,and a nice wide cable on the knit 4,
continue this pattern until this measures 16".
will carry this on as i complete this....we are doing this together......
Right,the next step.........
split the tanktop.....knit in pattern from stitch marker 1 to stitch marker 2,on the pair of straight needles....place remaining 136 stitches on stitch holder.
cast off 10 stitches at begginning of the next 2 rows...(116 stitches)
continue in pattern,doing the cables on every 6th row(right side) for barley twist cable,slip 3 sts on a cable needle and hold to front and knit next 3 rows from main needle and then 3 stitches from cable needle.
and DON'T FORGET!!!
cable the other patterned 4 stitches on every 10 th row.
these stitches are for the back.....knit and purl for 75 rows and cast off...
place stitches from holder onto straight needles,cast off 10 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows...
remember to incorporate the cable twists as for the back to 3" has been knitted from armhole decrease.....
knit 38 stitches,cast off 40 stitches and knit 38 stitches to end,place first set of 38 stitches on a stitch holder.
with 38 stitches decrease at neck edge every 6 rows to 26 stitches remain and knit and cable to 75 rows...cast off for this side of the neck.
place stitches on holder onto straight needles and do the same as for the other side reversing the shapings.....and cast off....
NECK AND ARMHOLES.
pick up stitches with right side facing and knit1,purl1 rib for 1.5" and cast off in pattern.
stitch the shoulder tops together press and wear!!!

TUESDAY FLIPPING TUESDAY!!!

Evening everyone!!!
Well its tuesday the 10th of february 2009 and well ..its RAINING.....Am totally fed up with this weather realted lying from the tv and meteorlogical office....
First we are going to have copiuos amonts of snow,so its batten down the hatches...and NOTHING....and then we are going to have rough weather,cold,wet,frosty,and snowy and.....NOTHING.
To be honest i am sick of being lyed to by the meterological office i wish that once,just once they would say on their forcasts"we haven't got a clue what the weather will be for the next 24 hours,and have no idea whatsoever whats going to happen for the rest of the week" at least it would be the truth.....I wonder if i could sue the weather forcasters for lying and worried the living crap out of all the local pensioners in our area?????
No seriously i digress,
This week has been a bit mad,monday morning o took my hubs to hospital to the pain management clinic and the poor bugger was bent over double in pain,as soon as we even get a temperature drop he's in agony,don't get me wrong he's in pain constantly but it gets worse as the year gets colder...But this time we had a breakthrough,the doctor and therapist recommended that kips trys a TENS machine its one of those funny electronic pulse thingys,thats gives natural pain relief.....well the doctor told me and showed me how to fit these sticky pads to his back and how to wire him up and turn him on,within about a hour of him having this fitted the results were ASTOUNDING!!!He was walking upright,he wasn't limping,and he was for the first time in donkeys years pain free!!!!he said that he was comfotably numb and couldn't feel his back at all...but after an hour he was back in pain...but we had had a taste of what this TENS machine could do and the doctors told him to use it as much as possible but to have aboput and hours rest in between sessions so that his skin wouldn't irritate,,,
When i got home i found a carrier bag of yarn left on my front doorstep...it was full of black double knit in copious amounts with a note from one of the girls on the estate had left it for me,i called the numbe on the card and we had a lovely conversation about knitting and crochet and what she used to do as she is older than i am and doesn't feel that her eyesight is good enough
to carry on,she was more than keen to find out what i have been upto and what i had got planned in the future...but at the minute i was getting thoughtful and decided what i wanted to do with the yarn,io can't wait to show what i have done with the yarn,i think she will be pleased....i'm going over to see her later on this week and show her how i am doing so far...
I have decided to write another knitting pattern and have decided to have a go at my own cabled sweater pattern,have done the front and back so far,but i am making it on a pair of circular neeldes,so what i am going to do is type up what i have done so far and just add to the written pattern as i do it........Hopefully my knitting patterns will get looked at...i wanted to publish on ravelry but i haven't got a clue where to start.....i did ask once how to do it but the instructions wer so technical i got as far as clicking on to add a pattern and got toally lost and lost the plot completeley...but i will work it out eventually,its just i know i am a bit slow when it comes to publishing patterns on ravelry but i don't want to sell them i just would like to publish one just to say that i had done it!!!!
This morning is driving me mental....if i see one more drop of rain i am going to scream!!!last night at 9.30 pm it was snowing heavy and i got my hopes up for a lovely drop of snow only to have my hopes dashed because this morning it was heaving down with rain....had to take the little one to the doctors he has to have a check-up on his knees every 6 months,he's doing well but has to stay on the ibuprofen for the next 5 weeks to see how he does....he's finally started to grow,in the last 3 months he's grown 1 1/2 inches in height which is a vast relief he's 11 now and doesn't seem to have grown at all in the last few years,he's still in ages 6-7 years clothing,i still can't get him a school sweatshirt as he's too small and they don't go small enough,but we will get there......
We had to go and get some coal and wood today...in the last few months we have noticed that the gas price has spiralled out of controll,the electricity has stayed about the same which is a bonus,but the gas heats our home and water,,so because we have a open fire we thought that we would use the wood and coal to heat the house and just use the gas to heat the water.and to be honest its doing the job and makes our heating bills drop from£35.00 per week down to £15.00 per weekwhich is a much better way of doing things for us...we have also found that the kids actually sleep better when we have the fire burning,they are so much more relaxed in the evenings,and the house is beautifully warm,when the gas drops in price again and we let the fire go out i think i will miss it very much.....at the minute my father has got two chestnut trees in the back garden that he's taken down,so w are urning them at the minute...the council don't mind as our fireplace is still legal and can be used at any time,in fact the council where we are are looking at installing wood burners in all of their homes with open fires as its cheaper than installing gas central heating...I personally would love it!!!!
but we will see what happens.
Right am now going to have a go at writing my cabled top pattern.............so here goes on a new thread.......
bye for now!!!

Well here's my first machine pattern!!!

my first knitting machine pattern.
this pattern is for a 38 inch chest slipover/tanktop
its designed for a knit master 321.
1 cone of 4 ply yarn
BACK
cast on 136 stitches
1+1 rib for 20 rows @5/5 tension
reset counter to 000 change tension to 6.75
transfer to main bed and drop the ribber down two notches.
knit 130 rows
reset counter to 000
ARMHOLE SHAPING
Cast off 10 stitches at end of next two rows.
cast off 1 stitch each end every two rows(dec,one row,knit one row)
until 18 rows have been done and 100 stitches are left.
knit straight until 80 rows are completed.
SHOULDER SHAPING
Cast off 7 stitches at end of each row for next 4 rows
cast off 9 stitches at end or row for next 2 rows.
place remaining stitches on a holder.
FRONT
reset counter to 000
cast on 136 stitches,
1+1 rib for 20 rows @ tension 5/5
transfer stitches to main bed and drop ribber down two notches
reset counter to 000 and change tension to 6.75
knit 130 rows
ARMHOLE SHAPING
cast off 10 stitches at end of next 2 rows.
cast off 1 stitch at each end of next alt rows( dec on either side,and knit the next row)
until 100 stitches remain.
knit 49 stitches and push the remaining stitches to position D
cast off 1 stitch at neck edge every alternate row.
until 23 stitches remain.
carry on knitting until 80 rows have been done
SHOULDER SHAPING
cast off 7 stitches at shoulder edge every following alternate row TWICE
cast off remaining stitches
OTHER NECK SIDE
place 2 stitches on a stitch holder
put the other 49 stitches into active knit,and repeat as for the other side of neck reversing the shapings.
WITH HAND KNITTING NEEDLES
pick up stitches around neck incorporating the 2 stitches on holder,mark these two stitches with a stitch holder on either side,
1+1 rib to 2 stitches BEFORE the stitch marker,p or k 2 together,knit the two stitches in the marker space,and knit two stitches together and carry on to end.
ROW 2
1+1 rib to 2 stitches before the stitch marker,p or k the two together,slip marker,purl the two stitches,slip marker,p or k2tog and rib to end of row,
repeat this until 10 rows have been completed and cast off in pattern.
ARMHOLES
with a pair of straight needles,pick up stitches with right side facing....1+1 rib for 10 rows,
cast off in pattern.
REPEAT for other armpit.
SEW TOGETHER AND WEAR!!!!
I hope that you get enjoyment from this pattern and i hope that this is easy to understand....i have tried to put as much information as i can,but if there is a problem i can be e-mailed ....thanks helena.