Thursday, 10 September 2009
body form/dressmakers doll...
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....................................................
Friday, 15 May 2009
MADE A MOVE TO A LIBRARY
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!!!!
Monday, 9 March 2009
Beautiful cushions....made easy!!!!
Monday, 16 February 2009
HALF TERM....HEAVEN OR HELL????
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
cabled tanktop
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!!!
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!!!
Friday, 6 February 2009
Well here's my first 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.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
ha!ha!ha!my first knitting pattern!!!
Monday, 2 February 2009
A cold wet day...Lovely!!!
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Blimey!!!
Its february the 1st and although we have a few flurries of snow,for me,its not enough,,,i wanted a load of snow so that we could get it over and done with,but no,the sun's shinig and i am depressed,very depressed.
Things have been a bit mental for the rest of this week....Thursday my hubs says"We are out of wood and coal,so we'd better go and get some...."which means i would be spending the rest of the afternoon humping wood about hurting my back again.......i spent the rest of the day flat on my back in agony as my hubs spent the rest of the afternoon tutting at me insesantly muttering that he didn't get what all the fuss was about.......
At 3.15 i managed to stand long enough to lurch my way to school to get the little one....but by the time i got home i was in tears...and he just looked at me....The daughter is driving me nuts,sinse she did her foot all she's been going on about is getting out of the house and going to get tom from school....the problem is that by the time she gets up the path from our house she's shattered.....so thats a no-no...
Still things are begginning to brighten up...have managed to finish the fairisle slipover that i had on order...and mail it.I was well pleased with it i followed the measurements to the letter he had asked for a 36-37" chest and standard length....it got there and it didn't fit!!!Turns out he had used his clothing size on the label to guess how big he was instead of actually measuring himself across the chest...and couldn't work out why the garment i had made didn't fit...turns out he wears a lot of cherokee clothes out of asda and had been wearing 36" chest t-shirts and shirts,but hadn't realised that chrokee clothing is a very generous cut.....which put all of my measurements off........But i soon rustled up another and posted it...it fit!!!!As it turned out he was a 38"-39" chest and wanted an extra 3 inches on the bottom.....but it fit!!!I couldn't beleive it......i was well pleased...and i managed to sell another set of hat,scarf and gloves...they'll get posted tomorrow morning....but this afternoon i shall be spending time with my knitting machine,and loving every minute of it!!!!!
Right have got to go and get the pork in the oven.......seeya!!!!
Thursday, 29 January 2009
FLIPPIN' HELL!!!WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS????
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
well today has been very quiet thankgod!!!have finally managed to finish my first fully fairisled garment....it took some deep breaths from me,and a few moments where i had to grit my teeth and jump in....but to be honest i was really really pleased with the way things have turned out.....what i found particularly nerve racking was doing the neckline,i found that by recording which row i was at when i started the decrease row so when i went back to do the other side i could reset the row counter and pattern reader....
the past few days have been manic i can tell you!!!
monday morning i had to go to Bury St Edmunds college ...my eldest son who's 14 attends an engineering course there and he loves it!!!!I ended up with a car full of teenage boys...they were funny and entertaining at the same time...some of the things they were talking about...they were worried about what they said to start with as they were worried that they would offend ,but it wasn't anything that i hadn't heard before....i just asked them to watch the swears and we would all get on great...and to their credit they did watch their swears and we had a good journey to bury.....
When i got home i then had time for a quick coffee and then i had to go to the junior school to pay for tom's birthday special....they have a scheme at their school where you can invite upto 15 of his friends and the school provide a special menu,of burgers,pizza,and chicken nuggets all with fries and all you have to do is supply the birthday cake,the fizzy pop and party bags and they effectively have a birthday party at school instead of running mayhem around your house or a village hall which would cost an arm and a leg.....this year will be tom's last one as he's due to go to high school in September...even though he's tiny.....he's still going,am having fun with the high school at the minute as the uniforms don't go small enough.....so i have to try and find a way around that....and then i had to run off to college again to pick up the boys and had an extra one to take home ,but i didn't mind....and then i had time for a rushed tea and get the little ones off to cubs.....the i take two others as well as tom,they stayed at cubs and then scouts as it was their first go at scouts i was a little worried as tom only has one kidney that works...one swift kick in the back and its a donor time......but he's a roughty tuffty boy and doesn't take any stick from anybody.I went and picked them up at 9.30pm and they were full of jabber,,,they couldn't wait to tell me about their activities that they did and the games that they played.....and now the boys are all saying that thy can't wait to go again next week....
I have got two more slipovers to make at the moment.... and can't wait to have a few hours to my self so that i Can get out my knitting machine and make something else....have decided to put two of my fairisled slipovers on e-bay to see how they go....have got another one on the knitting needles at the minute but its a little dark in the living room and need daylight to get on an knit it as the yarn is sooooo fine!!!!
right have got to go,tomorrow we are going to stowmarket to have look at some home brewing equipment,,,,tell you all about that tomorrow........
bye!!!helena.
Friday, 16 January 2009
OH MY GOD!!!
these are the first two items i have ever made on my knitting machine,and now i am going to go completely mad and make as many as i can whilst the trend is going,but tomorrow i am going to make one for a girl in several shades of pink and see where we go from here....i know that slipovers look great with jeans and a roll sleeved shirt for a bloke and with a pair of jeans a white t-shirt and a neckerchief and cap for a girl....but i want to find that one thing that will help me make some real money...i am sick of being an amateur at this and would love to make enough money to pay for the work on my car to be done,,,,the mot is due in 5 months and would love to NOT have to worry about money all the time.....but i guess i am in the same boat as everybody else at the moment....i don't have many skills but i can knit,crochet,sew and design clothing,so i guess thats a start.........
So i can't wait for tomorrow to come,when the shopping is done,and the kids have all disapeared off to their mates and my partner is having a rest and i can go to the top of the stairs and get my machine out and put my brain to work......................All i can say is;- ROLL ON TOMORROW!!!!
time for me to go have got a pair of gloves to finish and stitch together,
bye!!!!