Pins belong in pincushions, not in lungs

I've got a bit of a production line going at the moment, making a whole bunch of fabric totes to carry groceries, knitting etc around in. So there I am, sewing straight line after straight line, and every time I get to a pin I stop sewing, make sure my needle is in the fabric and then, out of habit, withdraw the pin and then pop in into my mouth, where it hangs out like Bogie with a cigarette. I'm a cool pin-smoking seamstress, doncha know!

What's so wrong with that? I hear you asking. Well, just have a read about this poor dressmaker from Sydney who actually breathed in a pin - and then got it embedded in her lung. Urgh!

Don't have time to read the whole thing? Then let me furnish you with this gruesome detail:

The whole thing was a joke to everyone. That is, it was until the surgeon operating on me the next day arrived at my bedside. He explained that the operation involved going in through my back between the ribs, possibly even breaking the ribs, and then removing up to a quarter of the lung tissue around the pin.

Yuck! All that from just inhaling a pin. And since I am in the habit of belting out songs as I sew (when I'm not swearing whilst putting in a zip!) then that is totally the sort of thing that would happen to me. So I'm now on a mission to completely break my habit of putting pins in my mouth. I mean, if I can give up coffee, then I can surely give up the pins, yeah?

Slow stitching

Reason number #4092 as to why you shouldn't stuff a craft project hurriedly into a cupboard: Because when you come across it 3 months later you will be aghast to find that you are only up to the letter F (which suddenly stands for you foolish, flibbertijibbetty forgetful filly!). So much for the 'oh yeah, I'll do one letter a day and have it done in no time' swagger you had when the kit first arrived in the mail.

Birthday winner

Jorth staggered from her bed that she had lain in for the past four days, with a raging temperature and a hacking cough, and slumped down at her computer, thinking that of all the lovely things she was given at her birthday party, this nasty dose of the flu was probably the one that she could have done without. But still! The birthday competition had to be drawn, sickness or not. After consulting with random.org she found the winner. "Hooray", she gasped with stinky ill-breath. And with that she collapsed back onto her bed, sending a cloud of scrunched up tissues into the air as she hit the mattress.

*******************************************************************************

Er, in other words, sorry about the delay with the competition drawing, but I have been one poorly gal. Anyway, I'm pleased to announce that SewJillian is the lucky lucky winner. Thanks everybody for entering - it really made my birthday to get so many lovely birthday wishes.

And while I'm at it, I'd like to say thanks to Galumph for looking after me so well whilst I've been ill. I'm sorry I coughed so much and kept you awake, honey!

35 - and the annual Jorth birthday giveaway!

Hooray - today I'm the ripe old age of 35! There are many, many things to celebrate, like all my fantastic readers, the joy of having a blog, wonderful crafting and, er, how friggin awesome I am! And modest - can't forget that one (bwahahahahah!)
Anyway, as per the tradition, I thought I'd have a giveaway to celebrate my birthday and share the crafting love. Rules are super simple: just be a follower of my blog, and leave a comment announcing your desire for the goodies.

Speaking of goodies, here they are:



To start, four recent issues of Ottobre Design Woman magazine (issues 2/2012, 5/2011, 2/2011 and 2/2010). Lots of fantastic patterns in here, but I'm giving them away because my pattern list is just too darn long as is, and I know I'll never get around to using them, so they may as well go to a good home.
What was that you said? You'll need some fabric to go with the patterns? Well, lookee here - I've got fabric for ya, too!



From left to right:

1.25m of Japanese cotton, 1.25m of Alexander Henry printed cotton, 1m of Japanese cotton, 1.5m of Zimmerman silk, 1.3m of Alannah Hill acetate blend and 1.25m of Marc Jacobs devore silk/cotton blend. All of them lovely, and all of them looking for a new home, because it's getting a wee bit crowded in that sewing buffet of mine, and if I'm brutally honest, as much as I love them all, I just won't get around to sewing them up.

So leave a comment, follow ze blog and all these marvellous goodies could soon be winging their way to you. Happy to ship internationally, so get commenting! Giveaway closes midnight Sunday 22nd July. Good luck, dear readers!

Zen and the green dress

Good grief! I turned into quite the panic merchant yesterday, didn't I? Sorry about that. Afterwards I stood in front of the mirror, gave myself a good slap around the chops and told myself to "Keep it together, man!"

So. Zen seaming it is. The green knitted dress shall be done when it is done. As the Buddhist monk Sheng-yen once said:

Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course. It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will take you.

And I know - I just know - that he was totally talking about knitting then! Besides, if I rush it, I was screw it right up, just like I always do. Silvery stream. Got it.

Stay tuned - there may or may not be a birthday giveaway tomorrow. Oh, who am I kidding. There absolutely is. See you then!

Death by seaming

Dear fellow knitters,

This whole seam an entire knitted dress is, frankly, rather boring. And time consuming. I'm never going to get it finished in time for my birthday. Especially since I've just realised that I haven't even bought buttons for it. Gah! What was I thinking?!?

That is all.

xo Jorth.

Green dress seaming

Jorth was at home, busily cleaning away after a chaotic weekend, and was just in the process of decided which dully tedious job she should tackle next - hanging out the washing, making a dent in the ironing pile or scrubbing the bathroom floor. Suddenly she stood bolt upright, almost as if she was electrified. An odd gleam glowed from behind her eyes, and she threw off her apron and said "Sod the chores! I'm going to block and seam my green knitted dress, and I'm going to do it NOW!"

And just like that she was off, rummaging around in the cupboard for her dress, which was completed except for the assembly. Her household jobs, which just moments before had seemed so important, were now left unheeded. In the parallel universe which sat directly above her own, and of which she - and the majority of human beings - were blissfully unaware, a knitting fairy was flying smugly back to her companion, who was lazily perched on the couch, giving a slow clap.

"Tell me again how you make the people bend to your will like that?" said the second fairy, full of admiration for this magic which he had not yet mastered.

"Oh, it's easy enough once you get the hang of it", replied Grenulda. "All you do is align the universes, so that ours is sitting directly above the human one. Then you lean forward, muttering the parallel universe intersection spell, so that the barrier between the two is made permeable. Then you simply give the human a poke, allowing your magic to touch them, and thus you can sway them into doing what you'd like them to do."

"All well and good", said her friend, "but I thought that we couldn't use our magic for evil. Surely this spell is one that could be abused - why, you could make them jump off a bridge, or marry the dorky chap with the protruding teeth and severe halitosis."

"Ahh, but that's the beauty of it - just as our universes must intersect, so must our heart's desires, otherwise the spell won't work. Jorth desires that she can find the time to finish up her knitted dress, and I desire to see it completed. All I've actually done is reorganise her priorities for her. Besides, I'm really doing her a big favour - if she gets a crack on, she may well just have it finished for her birthday on Thursday. Every girl needs a fancy new frock for her birthday!"

"Selflessness, thy name is Grenulda!" chortled her companion, and off they flew, leaving Jorth to muse that if she hurried up, why, she might just get her dress finished in time to wear on her birthday.

Another duffle coat - this time in green

Ack! It was meant to be so easy - take a few close up shots of the latest duffle coat baby jacket (using the same pattern/yarn/etc as here), and then ask the Tyger if she would help me out by posing with the jacket on her favourite toy dog, what with us being clean out of babies around here at the present time.

Well, I got my close ups. Look - knitted buttoney goodness!





But as for the gentle, quiet modelling shots..., well I might just let the results speak for themselves. However there is a reason why they say to never work with children or animals, and this is why (even if the animals are of the stuffed variety!):



And now she's declaring that her and the stuffed dog are taking the duffle coat hostage until I knit something for her. Which is rather inconvenient, as I'm meant to deliver the duffle to our latest newborn acquaintance. Gah! When does school go back again???

Debbie Bliss Duffle Coat

Dang school holidays - the Tyger and I have been whizzing around so much that I've completely neglected my blog. Bad me! Every holiday I think "Oh, no problem - I'll have oodles of time to update ye olde blog" and then I find that I'm inching towards the end of the second week of holidays and not one update has been done. I think in the future I'll just declare that I'm taking a blog break, so then I don't feel so darn guilty about my lack of blogging.


Anyway, I'm back, and back with the goods! My super cute little nephew B came for a visit, and is now the proud owner of this Debbie Bliss Duffle Coat that I'd started knitting a few months back. I was biting my nails down to the quick, so anxious was I that it wouldn't fit, but it does, and with room to spare. Phew! It was an easy enough knit, and even features pockets, which was a knitting first for me. I'm loving those big red buttons, and that gorgeous baby smile!






Project Details
Pattern: Duffle Coat from The Ultimate Book of Baby Knits by Debbie Bliss (love this book so much!)
Yarn: 4 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK in shade 18018 (Navy Blue)
Needles: 3.25mm and 4mm
Notions: 4 buttons

Terrific pattern, although it did feel like it took forever - garter stitch always does for me. I did find myself being a wee bit spatially challenged when it came to attaching the hood, but then again I think I live in a permanent state of spatial-challengedness, so never mind me.

What was that - you need one more big baby grin? Ok - I think we can manage that! Voila!

Wide angle apples

My birthday present was delivered early today. Whee! No, it's not four apples, it's a new camera lens. (Four apples - that would be a crap birthday present! Unless, of course, you really liked apples.) I've been lusting over this for about two years now, and finally saved up enough, so as you can imagine I was one happy camper when it arrived.

Speaking of which, I've never understood the term 'happy camper'. I'm usually cold when I camp, which does not make me happy at all. And I usually only camp when Galumph takes us on a bushwalk, and because he's so worried about the weight we have to carry I'm usually not allowed to carry any knitting or books, which means that after we have finally set up the tent I'm cold and bored. Nah, me and the camping are not amigos.

Er, enough blathering. I'm off to take some pics!

Pattern Review: Shirtdress #35 from Ottobre Design Magazine 4/2010

What do we have here? We've got pockets with pleating and binding. There's more pleats at the back, and flapped patch pockets. We have sleeve button tabs, a stand up collar, back shoulder darts and a whole lotta topstitching. Put it all together and whaddya got? One finished shirtdress - hooray!
This would have to be one of the more involved things I have made to date. None of it was hard per se, but there sure was a lot going on. Don't tell anybody, but I totally screwed up the button band placket. Silly me slashed my placket opening to make a square, rather than a triangle. D'oh - next time, read the instructions before you let the scissors anywhere near the fabric, Jorthy! I did manage to salvage it, but trust me - it was a close run thing, and there may have been swearing. Just a teensy bit, but it was definitely there. Ahem!

The tencel denim, which I bought when I was still at Tessuti, is so soft and lovely, but slippery as heck, so if you were new to sewing and wanted to make this, I would stick to a well behaved cotton instead. The tencel also creases before you can say "boo!", but it's so deliciously velvety on the skin that I will forgive it anything.

Erm, what else? I quite enjoyed doing all the bits and bobs on this garment, especially the pleats. I'm such a sucker for pleats - they are so easy to do, but look so impressive! I am also quite partial to the pocket edge binding. It's all those extra details that make a home-sewn piece look more professional, in my opinion.

I'm very very happy with the sizing of this - I sometimes find that the Ottobre patterns can err a bit on the side of larger rather than smaller, but this fits the Tyger like a dream. The only thing I would do differently is to use a finer fusing for the button band, as I feel mine looks a bit thick, but that's probably me just being nitpicky, and has nothing to do with that pattern at all.

All in all, it's a terrific, well drafted pattern - another winner from Ottobre. Just don't expect to get it finished in a flash - especially if you are sewing to a deadline, as there is a lot of work in this one. Still, I did manage to get it to the birthday girl only one day late, so that's not too bad!

Project Details
Pattern: Shirtdress #35 from Ottobre Design Magazine 4/2010, size 128
Fabric: 1.5m tencel denim from Tessuti Fabrics (purchased a year and a half ago)
Notions: 13 buttons

Make a wish...

...if it's for more crafting supplies, dear Tyger, I will be totally down with that!

Eight

I swear it was only yesterday that you came into our world, but the calendar tells me that I'm wrong, for today you are eight. And without becoming too goopily sentimental about it all, these eight years have been the best - the very best - of my life.

There are so many things I love about you: The way you ask every weekend if you can go swimming. The ways your eyes crinkle up when you laugh. Your boundless creativity (as evidenced by the thread, wool, cut up paper, glue, sequins etc that follows you around the house). How you never complain about walking in the rain. The enthusiasm you show every single type of food ever presented to you. The grin that lights up your face when you thwack the ball at tennis. How Pride and Prejudice is your viewing of choice. How you still sing yourself to sleep with steam-of-consciousness operas that you compose nightly. How any form of slapstick provokes you to laugh uproariously, like a crazy old man. The care you show if anybody falls, or cries, or heck, even sneezes.

Ruh-roh - somebody sound the goop alarm. I'm hopelessly melting into a great big puddle of goop just thinking about how terrific you are, and how lucky I am to call myself your mother. Happy birthday, dearest darlingest Tyger. xo xo xo

Sewing interventions

"What am I doing?" cried Jorth, feeling annoyed with herself and her lack of time management. "What was I thinking? There are pleats, and sleeve tabs, and pocket bias bindings, and button bands - how on earth did I think I would be able to snap my fingers and get this whipped up in no time?"

Her breathing became quicker, and shallower as the mental pressure built up. Just as the first hyperventilation dots began to appear in front of her eyes, Jorth realised that she needed a sewing intervention. Taking a few deep breathes, she glanced around the room, realised that she was by herself, and decided that in emergencies, a self-administered intervention was better than none. She took herself over to the mirror, and said "C'mon Jorth. You can do this! Just take your time, because you know when you rush you always totally screw things up. It won't be the end of the world if you don't get it finished in time for the Tyger's eight birthday - what matters is that you took the time to make it for her in the first place. So settle down, sit down, and get some sewing done, because before you know it she won't want you sew things for her anymore."

Having given herself a metaphorical slap across the cheek, Jorth pinned the bodice front to Sabrina the dummy, and began to work on the pockets of the skirt, all the while wondering how 8 years could have possibly flown by so fast. Whilst Jorth was thus occupied, Sabrina took the opportunity to get a little sentimental. "So!", she thought, "she's making the Tyger a shirt dress for her birthday. My goodness - I've never had anything made for the little girl pinned onto me before." Sabrina glanced down at the bodice, and in a tone of shock said "My dear! She's not a little girl anymore. She's very much grown up - look how tall she's gotten. Oh my... how so very quickly it goes."

Sabrina felt the cruel stab of nostalgia dig deep. It only seemed like yesterday that the tousled hair toddler had used to hide behind her in games of hide and seek, but now she was almost 8 years old. The days that had been filled with such giggle-filled games were now replaced with school days, and the whole house sat lonely and quiet until she came bursting into the door again in the afternoon. Feeling the first pricks of tears, Sabrina pulled herself up with a start. "Now, Sabrina, my girl, you too have to pull yourself together. Children grow up, and it's not your job to become maudlin over that fact. She's growing into a fine young woman, and you should be happy that her clothes are now also being pinned on you. Besides, crying will do no good to your movable parts - they're rusty enough as is! So stand up straight, and be glad that the Tyger still wants her Mum to make clothes for her."

Unaware of what the other was doing, both Jorth and Sabrina let out very small, slightly sad sighs for the days that had gone and would never return. Then both concentrated on the tasks at hand - Jorth on making the shirt dress for a daughter who made her prouder with every passing day, and Sabrina  on standing straight and proud with a bodice pinned to her that had been made with love.

Chocolate and beetroot cake

It's kinda hard to believe that these...



...have ended up in this:



But it's true! I'd like to shake the hand of the culinary genius who first thought of pairing these two together, because they are magnificent! I'm really hoping that there is some left over after knitting club tonight, so I can have some for breakfast. Oops! Did I say breakfast? I meant morning tea. Really.


(shyeah right!)


Recipe here.

Quick! Make a shirt for the birthday girl!

What with all the baby knitting, bike trips, article submissions, piano practice, meetings, cake baking and the never-ending piles of laundry, I kinda forgot that it was the Tyger's birthday in little over a week. Gulp!

Actually, let me clarify - I hadn't forgotten forgotten per se. After all, her presents have already been bought and safely stashed away in the cupboard, but what I did forget was my tradition of making her a special gift from my own hands. It wasn't until she turned to me the other day, and politely inquired if I'd created something for her birthday that the alarm bells finally went off. I patted her gently on the head, assured her that it was all in hand, and then excused myself to race into the bedroom, her parting line of "Cos it wouldn't be a birthday without something made by Mum!" ringing in my ears.

Boy, does that kid know how to lay it on with a trowel! In the privacy of my bedroom I flung open the doors of my sewing bureau/stash cupboard and sat there, rocking on my heels and gazing in desperation at the fabric. The fabric, darn it, chose to remain silent, offering me no hope at all. But then I remembered a purchase of yesteryear. Praying that it was still in there somewhere, and that I hadn't just imagined it, I began to scrabble about in the fabric like some sort of desperate textile junkie looking for a fix. Finally I found it - 1.5m of lovely soft tencel denim. Phew! Combine that tencel with the above Ottobre Design Magazine 4/2010 shirt pattern plus a few hours of my time, and we'll have one home made gift whipped up in no time! Well, hopefully by her birthday, at least. I sense some late night sewing coming on...

Knitting. Lots and lots of knitting.

Shhh! Don't tell anybody, especially not Bob the Bobbinator or Jean-Luc, Master of Macramé, but all knitting on the green dress has been suspended. It's not my fault - people keep having babies, and requesting totally gorgeous duffle jackets for them. What's a girl to do - I can't let dem babies get cold now, can I?

The pattern I'm using is the Debbie Bliss Duffle Coat. How cute is that thing? Just as well it's adorable enough to make your ovaries squeal and demand another baby, because all that boring garter stitch is killing me. I'm on my second coat, and boy oh boy, if I never do garter stitch again then I'll not regret it.

Right, must go. Time waits for no man, and baby's growth waits for no handknits. So I'd best get cracking! Oh, and apologies for not blogging earlier this week - we went for one of our mammoth bike rides, and I came home with a cold, so I blobbed instead of blogged. With knitting in hand, bien sûr!

Coconut and passionfruit cake

Jorth, Galumph and Tyger were doing the last minute checks on their bikes before heading off on a ride.
"Tyres pumped up?" asked Galumph.
"Check!" answered Jorth.
"Chain cleaned and oiled?"
"Check!"
"Rims polished and shiny?"
"Er..." said Jorth, quickly bending to do a quick spit'n'wipe. "Check!"
"Cake baked?"
"CHECK!" said Jorth and Tyger, grinning with anticipation at the thought of the coconutty and passionfruit goodness that was to come once a few k's had been put under their belts.



























Recipe here.

Spiced cauliflower and potato soup

"So let me get this straight", said the cauliflower to the potato. "You're telling me that when Jorth sticks the immersion blender into this pot we are currently bobbing around in, and blends us to bits, that it won't hurt a bit. Correct?"
"Correct!", confirmed the potato. "There was this cute little russet I was in the sack with..."

"You dirty spud, you!" interjected the cauliflower.

"The POTATO SACK!" sighed the potato, wondering why he, of all the potatoes, had to get stuck with this smart alec cauli. Pretending he hadn't be interuppted he said "And by the way, I'm not dirty - just unwashed. There's a difference. Anyway, this hot potato told me it happens all the time when handsome vegetables such as us are made into soup. So don't sweat it!"

"I don't have time to sweat it!", said the cauliflower eyeing the top of the pot nervously, "for here it comes!"

The immersion blender came, it saw, it blitzed. Afterwards the cauliflower, as it happily mingled and merged with the potato said "Oooh! Just like being in a spa, really. A hot'n'spicy spa. Hey, your little russet would like, wouldn't she?!"

The potato groaned, and thought to himself, "Of all the saucepans in all the kitchens in all the world..."


Spiced cauliflower and potato soup

1 onion, finely chopped
1 small head of cauliflower, leaves removed and flesh cut into segments
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
4 cups vegetable stock or water
cracked pepper and parsley leaves for garnish

1 - Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan, and saute the onion until golden and tender. Add the cumin, coriander and chilli and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.

2 - Add the cauliflower and potato, and stir to coat with onion and spice mix. Add the stock/water and bring to the boil.

3 - Once boiling, turn heat down and cover pan. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the potato is tender. Leave to cool.

4 - Once cooled, use either an immersion blender or a regular blender to blend the soup until smooth. Pour back into pan (if using the regular blender) and reheat until hot. Serve topped with a good grind of freshly cracked pepper and parsley leaves.

Grace Kelly: Style Icon: Bendigo Art Gallery

Yesterday we took ourselves to Bendigo on the train, leaving Melbourne far, far behind. Good thing, too, as the weather in Melbourne yesterday was atrocious! But what was calling us to visit Bendigo, I hear you asking? Why, the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition, of course! Oh, and the chance to sit quietly for a couple of hours and do some knitting (ahem).




Sigh. It was so very, very lovely. I could have stood and gazed at her dresses all day. She had a keen sense of personal style, and knew exactly what suited her.

My favourite part of the exhibition were the photos showing her meeting Prince Rainier for the first time whilst on a film promotional tour of Monaco. Upon opening her suitcase that morning, she was dismayed to discover that all of her dresses bar one were crumpled, and that there was no time for the hotel to press them before she met the Prince. So she put on the uncrumpled frock, met the Prince and lo! fell in love and sealed her destiny of become a glamorous, much beloved princess. I know you're wondering who made the dress. Why, it was a McCalls dress that she had modelled for the spring/summer catalogue! That fact made my seamstress' heart fill with joy!


I think I need a version of that dress in my wardrobe, stat.

Grace Kelly: Style Icon is on at the Bendigo Art Gallery until 17th June, 2012. Bookings are absolutely essential.