Sewing again

Well, I have been busily knitting again this week - sorry no photos. I have been working on the Moccasin Socks for the Elizabeth's Year group. My first sock is almost complete and I have knitted the sock cuff on the second. I shall post photos when I have finished them.











I have now completed my recorder bag. As you can see, the recorder fits snggly inside with a pocket free for small bits and pieces like a soft drying / cleaning cloth. I shall let you know how it gets on with the wear and tear of regular use.









The next piece, or should I say pieces have been stuck in my "what am I going to do with this" pile for some time. You may recognise the circular motif, "Leaves".









The background piece is made up of a collection of accidentally dyed "Colour Catchers". These are the remarkable pieces of what feels like a paper-based fabric which you can buy to put in with your washing whenever there is a danger of a piece of the load leaching dye onto anything else. (One of those red sock turning a white load of washing pink times.)


The ones I am able to get hold of can only be used once, but the colours that come out are wonderful! This was an attempt to use them. I only got as far as sewing them on to a piece of sheet I had dyed. I was not sure what to do next.


The other day, I took it out to look at it, added "Leaves" and left it on my wall. More needs to be added, but I need to stop and think about it first.



Also waiting for me to start work is this beautiful piece of stitching. It is the Band Robin from the Stitching Sisters group. It rests on my ideas board. I have a two inch deep section to add either to the top or the bottom of this piece. The talent of the stitchers in the group is awe-inspiring.

Recorders, knitting and stuff.

I finally completed my Notre Dame de Grace pullover this week. I decided in the end not to add a button, but to use my collection of brooches instead.



This second photos shows one of my home-made brooches. This was made some years ago, but the colours really seem to suit this jumper.



Today, I started work on my recorder case. I bought the fabric a few weeks ago from a charity shop. So now it begins. This first photo shows my Treble (Alto) recorder resting on the fabric. This is the true colour.



I've now got to the stage of binding the bag which will be rolled around the instrument to protect it as I carry it to rehearsals and performances. I'm a member of a local recorder group, playing mostly Treble.



This is the lining of the roll-up bag - the recorder pieces are in place. There are inner pockets to stop the smaller pieces falling to the bottom. The next photo look a bit washed-out in colour, but shows the bag rolled up with the recorder cocooned inside. I shall add a ribbon to keep the roll firmly together.



The CD case belongs to the music I was listening to as I sewed this together - Kathryn Tickell's Band. A rather nice folk music CD. Kathryn plays the Northumbrian small pipes superbly.
I had hoped to get more than one section of the binding done, but Coco decided to fall asleep on my fabric!



I hadn't the heart to move her.
The following pictures show a quick and essential repair I did to a pair of jeans. The dragonfly and flower motifs hold a piece of fabric in place on the reverse of the jeans. It all holds together a section that was going into rather a large hole.




Finally, I have started the November project for Elizabeth's Year. These will become the Moccasin socks. This time I am using the instructions printed in "Knitting Around" since this allows me to use up the remaining yarn from the open-collar pullover I finished recently.

The next photos show the completed open-collar pullover. The first shows the original buttons, the second shows the buttons it now has. These were chosen by my eldest daughter who had come to visit and rather liked the jumper. It is now hers. Well, it was her birthday! She left the house wearing it.....

Blocking!

Well, I have done a fair amount of knitting this week. The Notre Dame de Grace pullover is now being blocked. The next stage will be to partially stitch it all together and then get on with the collar.

The Open Collar jumper - the October project for the Elizabeth's Year group is also now up to the collar.

The buttons are the ones I am auditioning for the completed jumper. They have little flecks of just the right shade of green for the project, but may be a little too fussy............ They can always be used for a different project.

You can just the see the edges of one of my blocking boards near to my workspace desk. Over the back of the chair is one of my favourite cardigans. It was made some years ago and is currently on the second set of buttons - the first set lost its colouring in the wash! Its one of those comforting cardigans - one to snuggle up in when the air is chill. The collar is quite wide and almost like a shawl.

I had a disaster earlier in the week when I managed to knock the tip off one of my needles. (Serves me right for storing this project in a wicker basket!) It was one of the needles I was using for the Notre Dame pullover. This set was plastic and really nice to use. My dear husband came to the rescue and remade the tip for me using his lathe. The needles are back in use,as good as new, the only difference being that one is slightly shorter than the other!

Can you tell which tip has been redone?

Its the lower of the two needles shown above..........

I took some photos during the week of the evening sky. The colours were so beautiful as I walked home from school, that I just had to record them.