Renewed, refreshed, recycled... and kind of new.

I may be a little quiet over here in blog-land lately, but I'm still alive... tinkering away at a few new ideas, following up a few conversations, sleeping a bit, knitting, revamping a few patterns to make them downloadable pdfs...

 

 The Belle was originally written in 2005.  Unlike most of my other patterns, it hadn't been tweaked since it was released.  

Although it was heartening to see how much my pattern-writing skills have improved since then, and how much I've improved my methods, it was a can of worms, once I opened it up and started fixing things. There were mutterings about whose idea it was to go poking around in old patterns, anyway.

I pretty-much rewrote the whole thing.  I took new photos.  I made it better, faster, stronger....

 

I had some fabulous pattern-testers test it for me.  You can see the results of Anna's pattern-testing here.

I'm thinking the Belle would make a really good carry-bag for crochet or circular-knitting projects. (This is possibly because I'm a bit obsessed with all things yarn right now, and I seem to look at everything with a view to its ability to carry crochet or circular-knitting projects....)
 

In other revamping news, Melbourne has turned cold, cold, cold.... and the girleen and I are rarely seen outdoors without a beret.   Both the adults and kids berets are available as a pdf or as a paper pattern now.  I love making berets - instant-gratification sewing for instant-glamour and snuggly warmth.  Satisfaction all 'round.

The girleen hasn't stood still long enough for me to photograph her in the current favourite (which is the blue wool one I made when I revamped the pattern instructions), so I dug out some of the original photos ....awwww......my little pre-school girl.... 

 

 And in between there are edits and rewrites, and plans for new patterns....

 

There are also a few new dates scheduled for classes in my Northcote studio, and a few dates in Addicted to Fabric in Canberra.  Do come!

 

And in between that, I'm knitting.

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Warmers

It's winter ...and I'm loving the layering opportunities that winter provides.  Too much is never enough, I say.

 

Sock yarn from Spotlight for $4 a (big) ball inspired a bit of machine knittery.  

 

 

There was then a mad dash back to Spotlight when there wasn't enough yarn purchased to make the sleeves....

 

Enter black merino, also on sale for $4 a (small) ball. 

 

Those natty suits that the character Bel swanned about in in The Hour inspired a deconstructed version of the little belted cardi. 

 

 

...forgetting, of course, that I am not a statuesque, hourglass-figured beauty in impossibly high heels. 

 

 My belted cardi is better-suited to comfy-womfy studio wear than to glamourous swanning about.

 

In this yarn, I like the reverse side of the stockingette stitch better, so I seamed it from the knit side and it's now reversible... and very deconstructed. 

 

And it can be beltless.. pinless.... whatever it wants to be.

It's basically 4 rectangles with a little bit of simple shaping (casting off a stitch per row) on the shoulder seams of the front and back pieces.

The pattern was made up on the fly at the machine and (you'd think I'd learn) no notes were taken about stitch or row count, or tension... or anything.  The sleeves are a tad long, but add to the comfy-womfy factor.  The rest of the fit is fine. 

I'll never be able to repeat it.

Ho hum.

In other wintery news, I've spent the last week revamping my beret and kids beret patterns as downloadable pdfs. 

Each pattern has 3 head sizes, with 3 crown depths for each size.  That's actually 9 beret patterns per pattern. 



 You can see the original blog posts (with much younger me and much wee-er wee girl) here and here. 

Hope you're keeping cosy if you're in these wintery parts.... or enjoying summer elsewhere!

The week that was.... the week from hell. (Oh, and a spot of Flickr Friday)

Actually, the week has left me quite exhausted. I'm not sure if I can face re-capping the whole ordeal....

Here are some pretty pictures from the Review Round-Up Flickr page instead.

This 75mm Purse Frame Purse is from the Accidental Crafter. See the review HERE.

And these are from Purses by KP. Lovely Baguettes... reviewed here.

And something that made me laugh this week.... if you haven't seen Gypsy's post about my berets, have a peek over here....

***

PS. If you have the time to do a review of one of my patterns, you have ONE WEEK left before voting begins for the Review Round-up competition!!!! See here for details.

Oui! Le Beret est arrivé!

It was a sneaky one, I know. What with all the hoo-har about the new bag, I thought I'd fly this one under the radar a bit. Now it's finished and printed, thanks to some super-duper-troupers who slaved over the weekend to do some short-notice pattern-testing for me.

The beret comes in three sizes (fitting head sizes 54cm - 60cm) and includes instructions to alter the pattern for larger sizes. It has three crown styles for each size - shallow (below), medium (above) and deep (I can't beat Kirsty's photo!!!).

And it's.....

This new "Quick" line of patterns will be quick projects for basic sewing skills. I'll be retro-fitting the symbol to few patterns that fit into the category.

The beret pattern is now available HERE!

...

Edited to add: The new BAG pattern is going to print as we speak. It should be ready tomorrow. If you'd like to order both (new pattern is $21.95), just pop a note to that effect on the bottom of your beret order.