February 2011 - Page 3 of 3 - Handmade by Carolyn

Easy breezy

07/02/2011 7:07 am \ 14 Comments \ Carolyn

Still been blowing an absolute gale around here; with the tail end of cyclone Bianca lingering about. A plus; the stiff breezes have thankfully kept the temperatures down with pleasantly glorious days of around 32C, which is (imo) the perfect summer’s day temperature, and a deliciously cool change for us lately!
It was nice to catch up with ma Monday morning gals again, after the summer hols had had us all off to different parts of the globe for our various family breaks. Today we resumed our standing appointment, met up for morning tea and exchanged all our latest goss within the group…hehe.
Now, I am always up for a challenge. Although I do, yes, get mired sometimes in the bread and butter sewing of necessary clothing I do like to stretch my sewing wings once in a while and attempt something quite unexpected and frivolous… and late last year I bought a glove pattern; Vogue 7949. Lauriana expressed an interest in us doing a sew-along together, would anyone else like to join in? I am planning to use this particular pattern, but obviously others wouldn’t have to use the exact same pattern but one of their own choosing if you like. Since this is a complete first for me I plan to work through step by step and will document my progress, for fun… this actually could be a huge disaster, or I could end up with some lovely new gloves for winter. Sitting in my stash is an old lilac suede skirt I found in an op shop. This has sadly developed an unsightly bulge-y “bottom” from sitting down in it as well as some ugly “polished” spots, but most of the suede is in really good nick and I would really like to refashion it into some dreamy and unusually coloured gloves… thus the purchase of the glove pattern. Anyone keen? If so, drop me a comment and together we’ll see how we go.

And in other news from in the sewing/blogging world, as another little challenge for next month I am going to take part in this:

‘I, Carolyn of Handmade by Carolyn, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-March ’11. I endeavour to wear
all handmade clothing each day for the duration of March 2011′

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1152 with fitting modifications, chambray cotton
Scarf; gift from my parents, from their trip to Italy
Sandals; Akiel, found in an op shop
Nail varnish; Fools Paradise, OPI

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, Vogue 1152

Some random impressions of Tokyo (not fashion related)

06/02/2011 10:58 am \ 13 Comments \ Carolyn

To do the fashion in Tokyo any sort of justice, it has to be done separately… but here are some other impressions of this amazing city:

Comic books suitable for “all age” (sic), about schoolgirls armed with machine guns? Oh, sure.

A shop entirely filled with identical teddybears? (yes, we checked)

Tiny restaurants…

with awesome food

Plastic food is everywhere. And is that not one fabulous stack of star-shaped “pan cake”? *

Vending machines… see how the top half have a dark blue label underneath and the lower half red? The red ones are hot drinks, and are literally almost boiling!

The loveliest miniature gardens

As well as miniature doorways everywhere

A crazy electrical wiring system

Tea latte, anyone? Yes that is a tea-bag bobbin’ about in the foam there… I think of myself as a tea connoisseur but this was a first for me.

An urban canvas

Must be the skinniest building, ever

I really like that biking is so well catered to, possibly because car parking spaces are minimal… very civilised and a green win for Tokyo. The lower picture shows the way to the bicycle parking lot for the underground railway, how awesome is that?

(* “plastic food” picture taken by Lisa… thank you for letting me use it here!)

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: random life stuff

On knitting in planes

05/02/2011 3:23 pm \ 13 Comments \ Carolyn

Further to my post on the socks knitted on our plane trip, I thought I’d give some more details on my own experiences of sky-high knitting (and above is my nearly-second pair of socks knitted on the same trip). Obviously I can’t speak for all airlines, nor the behaviour one can expect of all airline officials, but only my own experiences here…
When I made my own enquiries with Qantas I was given the guideline “nothing bigger nor thicker than a ballpoint pen”. So I presumed that the little double ended needles used to knit socks would be alright, since they are as it happens much smaller and thinner than a ballpoint pen. As a further safeguard, since “metal”, and “pointy”, and particularly a combination of those two qualities, seems to be the biggest no-no’s when boarding a plane, I figured it would be sensible to get hold of some bamboo needles. Eliminate the “metal” factor, at least. And I had absolutely no dramas going through security, nor on the plane.
Can I just digress for one minute to mention how nice bamboo needles are?? Love working with these things… Metal is the best, natch. Plastic is the worst. Just my opinion…

I bought this pack containing 5 needles, the label gives the dimensions of these needles as 20cm long and 2mm thick. And they are flimsy. Man are they flimsy… in the packet there is the fifth needle that I snapped whilst knitting with them… 🙁 You have to be really careful when using these little things. Or it could just be that I am too rough? But thank goodness the manufacturers were kind enough and had the foresight to include the fifth needle…!
If you are a really keen knitter and wish to do some larger scale knitting in the air then it might be worthwhile hunting down and purchasing a kit like this one below…
I bought this set of airline approved needles about seven years ago from a local yarn shop now sadly gone, Cottonfields.
The Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles. This is an American product, and interestingly the instructions give the same guidelines we have … specifically mentioning the “nothing bigger nor thicker than a ballpoint pen” line in their Airline-Safe blurb.
The set comprises a not-quite-complete-but-adequate range of sizes, and you can join all the bits and pieces together to create knitting needles both single pointed and circular, of various lengths, simply by choosing different lengths of piping to suit whatever you are working on. A big downside; this is an expensive option, one of those purchases that had me sweating and wondering whether I was truly mad even thinking of spending good money on yet more knitting needles when I already have a complete set of ordinary needles, for petes sake… but now I figure it to be a worthwhile purchase. Why? Because I am a really keen knitter. Keen enough to resent sitting on a plane for hours with nothing to do with my hands… And since I got them I have used them to knit two complete jumpers on separate trips. Worth it? Ohhh yeah!
Oh, the website is www.knitdenise.com for those who are as keen as me.

When it comes to snipping the yarn; I have a tiny pair of plastic handled, kindergarten-grade kiddies’ scissors that usually live permanently in my knitting bag, and I left these out before we set off for the airport. And good thing too, as I saw lots of these innocent things sitting in the bin of confiscated potential instruments of terror. (insert eye-roll here…) Luckily sock yarn is quite skinny and thin and I managed to break it when I needed to by just yanking it hard. Yeah, not ideal, I know. Can someone invent some plastic scissors, please?

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: knitting, socks

Plain and simple

04/02/2011 8:12 am \ 16 Comments \ Carolyn

I was thinking of calling myself Plain Jane today; but didn’t want to offend any Janes out there. I’m sure Janes have suffered enough, having a phrase like that readymade and just waiting to be lobbied at them whenever they care to step out looking minimalist and unadorned. In fact, the existence of the plain-Jane tag, whilst handy for the English teacher to demonstrate assonance, has probably caused a lot of Janes to go to great lengths to ensure they look fabulous and decidedly un-plain on a daily basis. An example I look to is my own friend Jane who is one of the most glamourous women I know. Sorry, Janes, I shouldn’t have even mentioned it…
When I put on this top this morning I was determined to wear it the other way around, with the buttons at the front. After all, it is designed to be worn both ways, and I wanted this versatility when I made it. But I decided I don’t really like it that way, and switched it around yet again. I really should force myself to wear it the other way around more…
Once upon a time, I would not have made nor worn something like this top, because I had a thing that a loose-fitting garment would not flatter my figure. But really, what does that matter? And what does it mean? Looking through the pictures in this pattern book I could see that the girls modelling looked lovely in the loose comfortable clothes, and so I went ahead and made them up. And the important thing here should be about how you feel in your clothes, as much as about whether you look nice or not. If not, we may as go back to the days of the corset…
So, maybe today is a bit plain and minimally coloured and embellished, but essentially I am cool and comfortable. In this kind of scorching heat; these are my priorities!

Details:
Top; top “b” from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, white cotton
Skirt; my own design, charcoal jersey knit
Sandals; Vincenza from Soletta shoes
Necklace; from the surf shop on Rottnest Island (another souvenir of a great holiday!)
Bag; Gucci
Nail varnish; Revlon Crimson Sparkle
Sunnies: RayBan

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, shape shape, skirt, top, Unique Clothes Any Way You Like

Rainstorm socks

03/02/2011 8:24 am \ 19 Comments \ Carolyn

There has to be an upside to spending hours and hours in cramped transportation going halfway around the globe, right? (Well, apart from the obvious one of ending up in some glorious exotic destination, such as Japan, natch!)
Now the airlines have seen common sense and allowed knitting needles back into the plane (only some types, mind you) one can be supremely productive whilst travelling. During our recent travel time I completed one whole pair of socks, and one and a bit socks of a second pair also. Yowza!!
I’m sure some of my fellow travellers looked on in amusement at the whacky lady knitting with thin thin yarn on weird skinny little needles… but hey, at least I wasn’t wasting my time watching inane movies, or heaven forbid sleeping, or some other such unproductive activity, yeah… I got something done!
Every time I put up my latest pair of socks here I’m sure to get comments expressing thinly veiled incredulity that I can be bothered knitting socks, which are so cheap and readily available commercially, and so (relatively) expensive and time-consuming to produce oneself… Well I can’t explain my passion either. I just love knitting socks, it is really my preferred knitting project above all others…
If you had met me five years ago, and told me I would be knitting socks, five-year-ago me would have firmly denied I would ever get mired in such silliness… well fast-track forward said five years and here I am. When I first saw my mother knitting socks (truly thank you, Mum, for passing on that particular virus) I was a little incredulous and disbelieving myself. Feeling a bit of an idiot, I decided to give it a go and visited the yarn shop. The lady in the shop told me I would get addicted, and I half didn’t believe her… But now I too am thoroughly hooked… All I can say is that you have to try it to get it. It is such a very satisfying pastime. A very easy project, mindless even… which is the kind of knitting I actually like to do. I can very easily carry on conversations and watch (not very complex) movies at the same time as producing a pair of yummy handknit merino socks of a quality you never see in the shops. Socks are loads quicker than a jumper or cardigan, and feel a more worthwhile project than a scarf… And since I have big feet, I can make the socks to fit me… not a couple of inches too short, which is usually the case with store-bought.
So, in my book, it is well worth it.
Re knitting on planes: I checked with the airlines first, as I didn’t want my needles confiscated. The short skinny double-ended ones used in sock-knitting are OK on the airlines we used. To further ensure they would be OK, I went out and bought some new bamboo ones, just in case some overly sensitive official got funny about my metal ones… and no one was concerned. The guidlelines I was given were; nothing bigger or thicker than a ballpoint pen. One of my new bamboo needles snapped (my bad!) but luckily the packet I bought had included an extra, so I didn’t have to cease knitting!
I took this photo above in our apartment in Hirafu, Hokkaido. Now, in looking at this photo I’m sure you’re all wondering what is the view out of the window casting that light from stage right, right? Yes, I’m sure! I’ll satisfy your curiosity; here it is below, Mt Yotei: (sigh, missing that view already…)

Details:
Socks; made using Morris Superwash Merino 4 ply in Rainstorm (col 420) and Beluga (col 430), using a pattern adapted from the Ladies Sockettes from Patons Knitting book C11, a circa 1960’s publication

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Knitted, Patons knitting book C11, socks

Some new stuff

02/02/2011 10:12 am \ 17 Comments \ Carolyn

Since I picked out some photos from Oregon yesterday, I thought it the appropriate day to wear and show the souvenirs I bought whilst there… and then I also remembered and pulled out this new top that I finished only just before we left on our holiday but didn’t get a chance to photograph for posterity.
The top is made from some of my Christmas fabric; a crushed shot silk from Fabulous Fabrics. It is woven with a brilliant orange weft onto a bright turquoise warp. It never fails to amaze me how such bright bright colours when interwoven in this way can result in such a dullish coloured surface. As well, the fabric doesn’t look as glossy as I have come to expect with silk. Because I am suspicious by nature I did a quick burn test to check if it really was silk or a synthetic masquerading as such, and it passed. So I presume the reason for the lack of silky sheen is that the crushed nature of the fabric breaks up the surface plane resulting in smaller areas to catch and reflect the light at any point of view.

The pattern is Burda 7834, a little top pattern Cassie bought and made for herself and which I snuck out of her collection to use for myself… because I liked hers so much, hehe. She had cut out an 8 for her own top, but it was a pretty simple matter to grade the necessary areas up to a 10 to fit me.
So I really should do a review here of this great little pattern… buuut I’m not. Sorry. Maybe later. Been feeling a little flat and exhausted since we got back actually… not sure whether to blame the heat or post-holiday let-down. Or just me…
And you probably can’t tell from this photo above, but it is blowing a bonafide gale here. Even standing within the sheltering boughs of this tree we are being buffeted about by insanely strong eddies… and I was really timing the photography here to coincide as much as possible with a lull between gusts to avoid looking too hilariously windswept. Man, I’d forgotten how blustery it can get on the foreshore in the afternoon…
Oh and please note Sienna’s lovely new professional do. She has had a visit from the mobile doggie beauty salon and especially wanted to show the results off here today… Doesn’t she look absolutely gorgeous?? a bit better than the hack job from before, hehe.

The pendant on my necklace is a tiny real pine cone that is encased in gold. Isn’t it beautiful? I really don’t go for accessories in a huge way, but when I do they tend to be small in scale and delicate. Large scale chunky jewellery annoys me big-time, and I have to force myself to wear the bigger pieces I do have. I once read something in a Trinny and Susannah book about accessorising, where they decreed (as they do) that women with large bones should gravitate to large scale jewellery and small-boned women will feel more comfortable with small scale jewellery. So maybe this means I have small bones; although I have to confess I’ve always thought of myself as tall and big-boned; with “child-bearing hips” as they used to say… so I don’t know really!
The earrings have stones in them that are called Mount St Helens emeralds, although of course they are not actually emeralds at all, but really made from fused ash from the volcanic eruption. So, yeah, just regular green glass … But still pretty, and uniquely from that part of the world.

Details:
Top; Burda 7834, crushed shot silk
Skirt; Skirt “m” from Unique Clothes Any WayYou Like, by Natsuno Hiraiwa, pink/grey linen mix
Shoes; Perrini, had forever
Sunnies; RayBan
Necklace and earrings; bought in central Oregon USA

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: burda 7834, daily outfit, shape shape, Sienna, skirt, top, Unique Clothes Any Way You Like

Oregon, USA; some impressions

01/02/2011 3:49 pm \ 8 Comments \ Carolyn

Americans love their cars…

We saw birds of prey, both tiny cute ones…

and iconic majestic ones…

Magnificent scenery…

Even the teddy bears in USA are on a grand scale…

When one orders a hot apple cider in a cafe, this is handed to you and you are pointed in the direction of the urn…!

The people are so nice… on my last day in Oregon Darci very kindly made time to drive out to the airport to meet me! We had a lovely spontaneous sewing chat in the airport coffee shop in the short hour or so I had before we were flying out to Japan.
Thankyou so much, Darci, it was so great to meet you! and thanks also for permission to put this photo up here!