Recycling

Recycling is so very 'now'.  But recycling has been going on for ever.  Then again, recycling can mean something quite different depending on the era.

This book was published in 1915. 

WW1 was raging and recycling was a necessity for most people, so, it was often a topic of interest, especially for women trying to make ends meet.  I find the difference in how we 'express' ourselves in different eras interesting.  Back in 1915 we 'explained' what we meant with a lot more words.

A good example was the 'Preface'.

War is a hard, stern teacher, and its lessons are bitter in the learning; yet some of its teaching we badly needed - and not the least important of its main lessons is the one it inculcated on the criminality of waste.

To so many of us "waste" was a word with a comparative meaning. What was waste in one woman was not necessarily waste in another, we argued.  It was wrong for the factory girl to let her skirts drop off her for lack of mending: but not wrong for the better-off women to discard their clothes directly they showed the least sign of wear, because they could afford to buy more, we said; and besides, it made it good for trade - that was a favourite argument used by the extravagent to excuse their wanton waste.

Harsh words indeed.

On reading this book I had no idea that you could use old crockery for beads.  It seems like a lot of work.  We can purchase beads at a very cheap price today, maybe this is something that will change over the next 100 years?

What I was looking for was drawings, rather like those of Margaret Clarke, to use in my 1920's quilt.  The only thing I found was these illustrations in advertisements.

I might use the faces of the girls looking over the wall and the flowers on the cover could translate into an applique.  Or maybe these?

 

What I can't see myself doing is turning the collars of my husbands shirts.  If he wants that he can do it himself!

WIPW

My health is the 'driver' of all sewing activity at the moment.  I think that I have the insertion of the panel sorted but the strain it has put on my right hand is slowing down my progress and I have to stop and take the strain off.  And, I must admit it is becoming tedious.

The small Kogin stitching is progressing.

Now I need to tackle the patchwork.  I have a bundle of orphan blocks,

a panel,

and some scrap fabric.

Let's see what I can come up with.

And last but not least, the new wool has arrived.

Second was the knitting

The pattern I have choosen is by Kate Davies and uses 2 strands of 8ply wool held together to knit it.

After twisting the first attempt at the ribbing I unpulled it and started again.  Knitting 2 balls of wool together is tricky.  I found a note to say you could unwind 50g from each ball to make this easier.  I am using Bendigo Woollen Mill yarn which comes in 200g balls. I had to unpull the work again when I got the stitch count wrong and then again when I got the pattern wrong.  By this time I am super frustrated.  I have spent over $100 on this wool!

Then, to add insult to injury, Bendigo Woollen Mills sends me an Email about a new product.

This is 16ply wool, in the colour I have selected.  And it looks good knitted up.

 Now I have to decide if I should buy new wool or stay with the old one?  My right hand and arm would work a lot better with the new one but there goes another $100.

I had not looked for this to arrive.

I joined the "Making Light" club on Kate Davies site last year.  I knew there would be a book but as it was coming from Scotland, and that meant that it would take some time to arrive,  I just put it into 'in the future' filing in my brain.

But it has just arrived in the post and it is one beautiful book.  The photography is stunning, the script sparkling and the patterns included all very doable.  I may knit more than just the one I have selected.

A big step forward

Since my treatment for cancer I have been unable to knit.  (The radium treatment has made my autoimmune system go into overdrive and all the other related ailments have started to raise their heads.). I have been knitting since I was 4 or 5 years of age and it is was one of my favourite activities.  This was partly because I mostly taught myself and then came the realisation that I could do something well that all the adults in the family could not do.

For the last 15 months I have been trying to learn every method of knitting out there, all to no avail.  The wrist just becomes so swollen and painful and I have to pack it in ice and not use it.  Then during this last round of illness, with the rashes I had to make myself not scratch, so, I concentrated, in my mind, on just how my wrist worked and how I could change my method of knitting to be able to knit again, to take my mind to another place.

This is the result.

 

I probably won't be able to do fine knitting anymore but I can knit.

(This is a free pattern on Raverly.)

It's time for the Drops Advent Calender.

I missed the calender  last year because of my cancer treatment but not this year.

I like day 2's book mark and it will be quick and easy.

Little Bill

Here he is, "Little Bill". 

Never has it taken me so long to finish a small project like this.

I think I must have re-knitted his jumper "upteen times" and then I see that I added an extra row to the pattern, but, it stays.  What was nice was opening my button box and finding a little old button just the right colour.

He goes to his new home next week.

Knitting

I have progressed with my continental form of knitting so I thought it was time I attempted a new piece.  Not too complicated, small and doable.

So Blinky Bill is my first attempt.

I still have to knit his clothes but I am pleased with the progress so far.

Advent is here

Here we are in December again at the beginning of Advent.  I have dug out my little Xmas tree and some of my old decorations.  I selected some that came from my time in Denmark and Sweden.  ( I have to admit that some are now 50 years old.)

The big tree was great when we had a big house but this little one suits our down sized home.

I have also brought out the nativity, minus one wise man who broke during out move.  The Xmas runner that was started by my friend Angela and which I finished the stitching of, and the Xmas candles, which are new.  I will light them on Xmas eve.

I have downloaded my advent calendar from Drops Designs.  I always say "Oh I must knit that" and never do.

And I see that Arne and Carlos have similar knitted decorations at their site.  They talk about Norwegen traditions at Xmas.

 

And they have some very attractive Xmas cross stitch as a background to their demonstration, and, Arne is using both the English and Continental methods of knitting in his colour work.  I really miss knitting.

It is normal Xmas weather, hot, humid and lots of thunder storms.  (This is the time for the Monsoon up north.)

Sometimes they miss our island and go right around us.

Other times we get hammered.

Well that's normal at Xmas.  I just hope that I get home from my cancer treatment each day before they hit .

Blocking your knitting and chrochet.

As a teacher and competition judge I get to see a lot of different work presented.  In the knitting and crochet section the major problem with most work  is that competitors do not know how to block their work properly before presentation.  Good blocking can take your work from being a good standard to being outstanding, it is that important.

I found this very good article on-line at the Knitting Shed's web page.

Their before and after shots of work speak for themselves.

It is hard to find some of these tools locally.  Some small speciality knitting shops have some of these tools but you may have to order them from overseas.  Still, they are worth the investment.    For most of my own work I use  a piece of 'styro-foam' which was left over from packaging, (although you can buy sheets from hardware stores) to pin out my work.  I leave my woollen garment for at least 1 hour, fully immersed in luke warm water to get the thread to really 'relax' before removing it and rolling it in a towel, or multiple towels to remove the excess water then pin it, to shape, on the board .  I don't remove it until it is dry.  (This may take a couple of days depending on the weather.)  If the water is 'hard' I add a little shampoo first.

I got to thinking "where did I learn this?"  I don't know for sure.   I know it wasn't passed on from my family and I didn't learn it in college.  I think probably back in the time I worked in the Fashion Industry. 

Presentation and finish is VERY important for all the things we make.

Knitting

Nice to know my daughter can use my knitting.

I'm off to a hand specialist, when I can get an appointment, so this may be the last knitting for a while.  I'm thinking of the worst so that anything less then that will be a bonus.