I (finally) got a picture of the socks I knit for the Husband!


This was the first time I think I actually talked him into putting them on, since I finished them up just when the weather turned warm. They now reside in his sock drawer, and will remain there until October.

The knitting status might be a little quiet for a while, because I am getting a jump-start on some holiday knitting and at least two of the people that I am working on things for read this blog. So, you might get cryptic, photo-less updates, but that will be about it.

Sewing, though! Oh, do I have sewing lined up. As soon as I have my iron back, I am going to knock together a summer skirt, I have some (paid!) alterations work lined up for next week, and I have picked the Tudor Monstrosity up again.

Why are you on the floor? It's not that funny.

Last night, I went through the fabric stash (no, I did not take pictures) and found all the pieces. This morning I started on the last bits of seam finishing on the underdress bodice.

The state of the dress is pretty much the same as it was in this post from July 2007. I also tried on the corset and bodice last night, and they all still fit fairly well. I think I might have cried if they had not, because I do not have enough fabric to re-cut the bodice and still get enough skirt out of the whole thing and the corset took forever and I really, really don't want to have to re-sew all those boning channels.

I did decide, after all, to hand-sew the whole thing. Maybe not the skirt seams, but everything else will just be less frustrating that way, even if it is more time-consuming. This is going to be my hand-work for the next week or so (waiting on some supplies ordered for Giant Secret Knitting Project), and I will see how far I get. The hard work on the underdress (the pattern, mainly) is already done. I just have to execute the plan.

So, it's 2009 now. I have put up a 2009 projects page, and we'll see how regularly it gets updated.

The three things that are carry-over projects that I actually worked on any at all in 2008 are knitting projects. The Tudor Monstrosity, though ongoing, has not really seen any work in quite some time, and I am officially putting it on hold. I have nowhere to wear it, since my SCA activities are essentially at zero right now.

Right, knitting. Well, of course, we have the lozengy blanket.

Cat included for scale. Cat is about 12 lbs.

Significant progress has been made since the last time I posted a picture. It is just shy of halfway done at this point. The shiny thing on one of the black squares is the giant safety pin I am using to mark when I started the latest skein of black, so I can see how many squares I get from a single skein. Then I can go ahead and buy the rest of the yarn I need for the blanket. I have also instituted a few rules for this project, to make sure that it gets done in 2009.

1. I must knit at least 7 squares per week, since I have 319 left. That will give me some extra time at the end of the year for weaving in the last few ends and finishing up the crochet border.

2. Extra squares *do not* roll over to the next week's quota of squares, unless I know of something that is going to keep me from knitting on it the next week.

Yesterday I knit 8 squares, so I am caught up for the first week of 2009.

Project number two is the psychotic sock yarn blanket, which has shown no significant growth since the last post. I have added maybe five squares since that picture, in no new colors.

The third project is my Baudelaire socks!


I am probably about 2/3 of the way done with them. The first one is done to four inches up the cuff, and then I cast on the second sock since the Mountain Colors yarn is a bit light on the yardage at 350 yards per 400 grams. On the second sock, I am just about to start the heel gusset. I only really want six-inch cuffs on these anyway, so I don't think I'll run out.

I am still desperately in love with these socks. I spent most of my holidays with my family, first showing off the yarn, and how it isn't *just* purple, and then I spent at least one evening showing everyone who would sit still long enough that look! They have cables now!

The chart on this one is pretty quick to learn, especially if you can read your knitting well. I might change the ribbing at the top to a twisted rib rather than a plain rib, but we'll see.

For later in 2009, I have plans for a Swallowtail Shawl out of my Noro Kureyon Sock yarn, and a second Ravenclaw Harry Potter scarf. I think I might also knit the Simple Yet Effective Shawl out of my Firefly handspun and some black Cascade 220, since the handspun on its own is not really enough for a full shawl. That is all I have plans for immediately, and it is also the only things for which I have at least part of the yarn.

Trivia: According to Ravelry, I have about 1,900 yards of yarn in full skeins in my stash right now. My leftovers probably double that number, or near enough.

Upon looking for a picture of the firefly to show you, it occurs to me than I never posted one in the first place, as far as I can tell.


That is about the best I've got. The spinning on that is all done now, and I ended up with just over 200 yards of it, approximately worsted-weight. I'll try to take a better photo tomorrow while the sun is up.

Wow. I think that this post is quite long enough. Happy New Year (again)!

Happy New Year! Another year is gone. Most of what has gone on this year has been knitting, despite my hands falling apart in July. The 2008 Project Inventory is mostly up-to-date, if anyone wants to see what has been done this year.

The last of this year's projects are the finished(!) Ravenclaw Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban scarf, which was my husband's Christmas present:


I knit a washcloth for my mother, to go with the bath set that was the rest of her Christmas present but did not get a picture before I left it with her in Texas.

The last item was a knitted doll, mostly made from this pattern, but scaled down by half, except for the legs, which prove that I should not do math at 11:00 at night, since they are too big. I would post a picture, but she has no clothing yet and that might be a bit indecent.

Also, according to some more 11:00 pm math, I have figured out that I knit around 4,000 yards of yarn in 2008 that ended up in finished projects. Just so you know. For trivia's sake.

I have learned that I need to take better care of myself next year. I have learned that nicer yarns really are worth the expense, for the most part (I know, duh, but I have not ever had much of a yarn budget to work with). I also learned that I can have too much yarn if I am not careful. I learned that I like not having eight million projects going at one time. I also learned that what is an amusing and useful hobby is not always the best choice for a job.

I finally have started to write again, after a several-year-long hiatus. My novel from this year's NaNoWriMo is not good, but it is finished, and there is definitely something to be said for that. I am making attempts to keep up with writing now that I have started again, as well.

Tomorrow I will be posting about what I have planned for 2009, and posting an update on the projects that have spilled over into another year.

The lovely Lime & Violet have a finish-a-long going for the first six months of the year. I'm moving past knitting projects for this, and so here is the list of unfinished projects I have going right now. It took so long for this list to go up because I wanted to make sure I actually listed everything.

Sewing - 7 projects

• Purple blouse, lacks buttons
  
• Pinstripe vest
  
• Black & blue messenger bag
  
• Black & blue wallet
  
• Red and tan quilted pillow covers
  
• Tudor Monstrosity underdress
  
• Rice-filled hot-packs (from this pattern)
  

Embroidery - 3 projects

• Blackwork cedar sachet
  
• Blackwork basket cover
  
• Covers for the hot-packs
  

Knitting - 5 projects

• Vintage lace doily from Lace from the Attic (because I'm apparently an old woman) - Done!
  
• Afghan (which will never be over)
  
• Jaywalker socks in a discontinued Regia colorway (currently frogged for being too small)
  
• Coronet in Louet Gems Amethyst, either in Peony or Sweet William, because the band doesn't say what the colorway is and I can't tell from the pictures online what exactly it is.
  
• A crochet bath pouf, mentioned in this section because I don't crochet enough to give a section all its own
  

Spinning - 2 projects

• Firefly glow-in-the-dark roving from Merlin the Cat Yarns, 3/4 bats spun
  
• Midnight roving, about 2/3 spun
  

Total: 17 projects

This list is going to be posted in a page linked in the side bar, and will be updated with links to the "Look! It's finished!" entry for each item.

Well, I have some unexpected time off during the middle of today, so I am going to try to catch everyone up on what I have been doing. No pictures, though, since I have not had time to photograph anything in the mornings, which is when the apartment sees the best light.

Knitting

1. I have finished the Victorian Diamond socks. I have some issues with these socks; they are not quite tight enough to stay up well. I love the pattern, though, so I will probably knit another pair in a smaller gauge at some point.

Side note: I know I had some reservations about the sturdiness of the KnitPicks Essentials yarn. So far (and I finished these socks about two months ago), they are less inclined to pill and fuzz, after the initial bit of fuzzing, than my socks made from Wildfoote sock yarn.

2. One grocery bag is finished and another started. I *love* using these to haul things in. There is amusing photographic evidence that they will hold at least 13 pounds of stuff easily. I will probably post these on Friday.

3. Tiny Knithulhu is languishing in a project bag in my closet. I have finished the head (complete with bobble eyes. I haven't ever knit bobbles before, and I must say that they are fit for a stuffed elder-god).

4. The tiny Dulaan Project socks have been sent.

Sewing

1. The Tudor Monstrosity Underdress now has eyelets. I have figured out a way to sew the pleats on the undersleeves without making myself crazy, but I have not finished with them yet. I imagine once I do, the rest will go together rather quickly. That might be a project for next weekend, if I can get enough in the way of homework done.

2. One mundane project is finished (boring, just below the knee pinstripe skirt), and another is started (fitted pinstripe vest to match skirt).

Spinning

I finished one spindle-full of approximately fingering-weight, two-ply yarn from the stuff that I started so long ago. I used just less than one third of the 4 ounces of fiber. I have got a project in mind for this, but I have to finish spinning the rest of the stuff up before I start on it. More details (and photos of the yarn) will follow.

Why have I not written about the Tudor Monstrosity's underdress yet? One would think that at the pace I was working when last I wrote of it that it would be nearly done by now, but no.

No.

The sleeves, which pinned so well on the mock-up, are being very, very difficult. I almost have the first one pinned in place, but I am having difficulty wrapping my mind around actually sewing the pleats down in a way that will both not show machine stitching and not require hand-sewing all of it.

I will get back to you when I have hit upon a solution. Of course, since I obviously do not have time to get the dress finished for an event this Saturday, I might end up hand-sewing them all anyway.

This is the final pattern for the bodice.


The only thing that really changed since the photos of the mock up was finished is that the shoulder was taken in about another 1.75" and the back panel was raised by about 1". I cannot tell how that lines up with the shirt, though, because I cannot find the shirt. I hope that I did not leave it at the last event I was at. Maybe it got lost in my sweater bin.

All of the fabric for the underdress is cut out, except for the lining on the skirt. I could probably get it (mostly) sewn together tomorrow afternoon and then do a good deal of the handwork while I am at work tomorrow night.

Have I mentioned before that I love having a job where I am basically just a warm body? A warm body that can fix printers and keep folks from running off with monitors.

In any case, there will hopefully be something more interesting to show you all by the end of the weekend.

The first thing you need to know about the undersleeves on this dress is that I do not believe that they were, in period, the separate, lace-on affairs that are commonly seen today. I have not heard of any instance of false sleeves being used in England earlier or later, and it seems a bit unlikely that by 1527 they would have developed, only to disappear again for who knows how long. If anyone has any other evidence, please let me know. I always want to learn things.

One of the main resources that I have for this idea is here. The woman in red on the far right of the painting is wearing a dress with a neck-line identical to the visible, second layer neckline of the woman to her left. Since this "transition dress" style evolved into the Tudor style, I believe that Tudor women were wearing a full underdress with sleeves attached. This is added to the fact that in several images (which I will dig out, eventually), the undersleeves, forepart, and a band around the neckline of the dress are all of the same fabric.

Moving on.

The second thing is to remember that I am working from this image of Mary Guildford by Hans Holbein the Younger.


The undersleeves on this were particularly tricky because 1) I have not seen any other instances of full undersleeves being done in this style, and 2) they need to fit underneath the tight over-sleeves while still having extra fabric at the wrists. I mainly figured this out by trial and error.

This gets a bit image-heavy, but there really is no better way to explain what was going on.

1. I started with a plain, straight sleeve, drafted from Lady Brooke's Drafting Sleeves and then re-adjusted to give the proper S-curve.


2. I cut the sleeve into four pieces.


3. The sleeve pieces were set at angles at the elbow. This adds ease of movement and prevents bulk on the top of the elbow while the garment is being worn.


4. I cut a new sleeve, guessing about how to keep the upper arm tight and give the lower arm enough extra fabric to be pleated into the wrist. This needed to be about three times the measurement around my hand at the widest point, which is nine inches. The basic outline of the sleeve here stemmed from a conversation with Beatrice earlier today. She does some amazing work, and everyone who doesn't read her blog really should.


5. I sewed the sleeve mock-up onto the bodice mock-up, and preceeded to pin, re-sew, try on, and re-pin the darn thing until it fit. The pieces I wound up with look like this:


You can see where the pleats were pinned in. They worked well just graded in at a right angle to the end of the sleeve cuff. The whole thing, pinned and attached to the bodice, is seen below. There will be about another two and a half inches trimmed off of the top of the sleeves in the final version; they are a bit too long and bunch around my upper arm.


So, now that I have that worked out, I can actually start work on the rest of the dress. Except I spent of my free time working on this all day, and now I need to do some homework and eat dinner. I might get to cut out fabric tomorrow morning... maybe...

It has become apparent that no work is getting done on the Tudor Monstrosity.

Part of the reason that I have not started on the outer wear is because I have lost some interest in the project. Part of the reason is that I do not want to hand-sew quite that much in the way of skirt, even though I said I would.

So, what am I going to do?

I am taking a page out of David Allen's Book and re-negotiating the project with myself. I will not be entering it in any sort of competition, as I had thought about doing. The dress exists to make me happy now, and so the need to hand-sew it is decreased.

Would I love to have a fabulous, hand-sewn dress? Yes, of course. Who wouldn't? The trouble is that I am obviously not inclined in that direction at the moment. The fabric is sitting in the fabric bin, unused and taking up space. I have no garb to wear over my corset, and my old, corded corset is just about worn out. The only way to resolve these problems in a timely manner is to compromise on construction a bit.

The major construction seams in the dress will, therefore, be machine-sewn. The visible finishing work will be done by hand, but not much else will be. I may well be altering the style of the dress to something simpler, but I will get back to you on that one.

We shall see if this trick gets anything new done on the dress or not.

The first bodice mock up has been completed.


I know, I know. Your eyes are bleeding. Don't worry, I have less than a yard of that fabric left. I might have enough left for a sleeve mock-up, but that would be the end of it.

The pattern was made up as I went along, pulling a variety of techniques from The Tudor Costume Page, The Elizabethan Costume Page's corset pattern generator, The Renaissance Tailor's basic pattern drafting demostration, and Basic Pattern Making: An Individualized Approach by Connie Littman.

While wearing the corset, I took the bust, waist, underarm to waist, center front, and center back measurements. I measured the hight and width of the triangles on the back of the shift to get the shaping for the back of the neckline. Then I guessed at how to throw these together. A more detailed write-up of the pattern production may happen later.

The problems with the mock-up are fairly obvious.

1. The shoulder straps need to be much tighter, though for guessing how much fabric to throw in, I think I did a fair job.

2. The straps needs to be altered. The start of the strap is at a right angle to the horizontal neckline, but that produces a chunk of extra fabric at the armhole. The modern solution would be a dart. To fix it in period, I have a couple of options. I might angle the strap where it meets the front neckline. I also could angle the top of the strap where it is sewn to the strap in the back. I also could have the strap cut separately from the front of the bodice and sew it in separately.

3. The bottom of the back of the bodice is much too low. It sits at the top of the tabs on the corset, yes, it needs to come up at least an inch, anyway.

4. The top of the back of the bodice is a bit lower than I would like. Most of the portraits at this time do not show any of the shift neckline. The solution to this and the previous problem may well be to just cut an inch off the bottom of the side-back piece and move the back piece up that far.

5. Also, I am still standing all kinds of crooked. Correcting my posture would help an awful lot.

Overall, though, I am happy with the way it turned out, especially since, as was mentioned above, I was pretty much guessing on how to make it work.

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