Category: knitting

Day 22: those blue striped socks again! I have one other pair of hand knitted socks, which are bright orange. They’re longer, so they work brilliantly under boots, but these little short ones are perfect for wearing with trainers, or just mooching around the house. When I embark on Operation Sock Drawer (which I really must make a concerted effort to do!), I need to remember to include short socks as well as long ones.

Day 23: That Bra again. I popped it on briefly to go bra shopping, and was met with an interesting conundrum. If this bra is made using the original pattern for a Triumph Doreen… then why doesn’t an actual Triumph Doreen fit me, when this one does? Honestly, bra shopping is a complete mystery to me. Hate, loathe and detest the stupid things.

Day 24: floral jersey dress, McCalls 5924. Made in 2011, and still going strong. For some reason this dress tends to hide itself away in the back of my wardrobe until I’ve forgotten all about it. Every time I spot it and bring it out, I wish I wore it more often! I also have a plain black one, made back in 2009, and that’s still looking great and being worn a lot too! I think I need to look out for some pretty printed jersey fabrics to make a few more of these.

Days 25 & 26: No Me-Mades. The shame! Well, it was a Bank Holiday, we were both feeling a little bit under the weather, and jeans and yoga pants and hiding under a blanket seemed to be the order of the day.

Day 27: Miette! I knitted my Miette cardigan in a tearing hurry during Me-Made-May last year. I was overcome by seeing so many people wearing lovely incarnations of this card that I cast it on and finished it in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately it has a few little… issues… which mean I don’t wear it all that often. Firstly, the yarn is an unpleasant cheap acrylic that’s already gone floppy in the wash. I bought it because it’s BRIGHT PINK and has a sparkly thread running through it, so I was basically powerless to resist. Secondly, as short-waisted as I am, this cardigan’s actually a bit short, even for me. It works over a dress, but not at all with trousers, which is what I wear most often. Third: I don’t think I like seamless construction. I know that’s probably a terrible thing for a knitter to say, but there’s just something I prefer about having proper shoulder seams. Perhaps it makes me look as thought I’ve got Proper Shoulders. (Mine are very narrow and sloping.) Perhaps it’s because I’m so used to dressmaking, and the fact that garments come in pieces that you sew together. Whatever the reason, the neck and shoulders seem very stretched out, and I think the cardigan looks a bit scruffy already. And finally, although it works over some dresses, it doesn’t work over the one dress I particularly wanted to wear it with. Oops. The dress in question is my vintage hibiscus-print shirt dress – and the sleeves on that are actually quite wide. This cardigan fits so tightly that I can’t squeeze anything more roomy than a t-shirt underneath it. As a person who increasingly appreciates the value of roomy clothes, a tight-fitting cardigan is a bit of a nonsense really! Poor Miette.

Day 28: Apparently I only have one terrible photo of this cowl neck fleece tank top. I still have a love-hate relationship with polar fleece. On the one hand, it’s a great ethical material, as it’s (usually) made from recycled plastic bottles. It’s cheap, it’s quite easy to sew with, and it comes in lots and lots of different colours and prints. But at the end of the day it’s a synthetic fabric. It might be warm but it’s also non-breathable, which causes me to overheat, and eventually it goes a bit strange and crispy in the wash. This top has been useful because it’s a great layering piece, but I think I’d actually rather knit something similar instead.

Day 29: White lace “sleep bra”, from instructions in a Singer sewing book on lingerie. I never did make the grey ones I’d intended… this white one, and the pink one I made immediately afterwards, have once again turned out to be not quite right in terms of daily wear. The bodice part on this one reaches almost to my waist, which means that every time I move, it rolls up at the bottom. Very, very annoying. Also, when my fibromyalgia is particularly bad, it can be quite difficult to get a top like this off again without any fastenings. (I can’t always cross my arms around my body, particularly by the end of the day.) So, back to the drawing board yet again, in the search for comfortable underwear.

Day 30: Look! I left the house! For an occasion that wasn’t work!
We went to a local club night (it’s effectively a school disco for middle-aged Indie kids – I really like it) where they had a couple of bands playing. The first band wasn’t really to my taste (and the room was far too small for a band to be mic’d to match a live drum kit!) so I spent half an hour sitting in the corridor outside the toilets. Classy. Loud noises make the fibromyalgia particularly bad, which is why I don’t often go to see live music any more.

Anyway, the outfit!

Using up the very last piece of polyester crushed velvet from my stash (HOO-FLIPPING-RAY!!), I drafted a very basic tunic dress with a little keyhole at the front. The peter pan collar is a remnant from a velvet dress I made back when I very first started sewing gothy things, and it has little silver stars all over it. The dress fastens at the keyhole with a hook and eye, but I need to replace that with a button and loop. It’s held closed in the photo with a great big sparkly skull-and-crossbones brooch. Under the dress are my cotton lawn bloomers, which I love, and don’t wear nearly often enough.

I have two thoughts on this outfit. One: I wish I’d added side seam pockets to the dress. I can’t believe I left them out. Two: Don’t dance the night away whilst wearing polyester velvet. I can’t believe I didn’t learn that during The Goth Years. (I say that as if they’re over. Ha.)

Day 31: Organic cotton pyjamas again. That’s more like it. An afternoon of enforced rest was very much required, having dared to leave the house again on Sunday morning. I guess sometimes you have to learn the hard way that Not Doing Stuff, whilst it might be extremely frustrating, is actually the best way (for me) to maintain any semblance of good health on a daily basis. Still. Some changes are happening which will hopefully improve things on the health front, but for now, a pyjama day was exactly what I needed!

The end!

I’m still thinking about what this year’s Me-Made-May has meant to me, and what it will mean in terms of the things I make for myself in the future. Mostly it’s felt like a bit of a disappointment, in that I’ve had to search for me-mades to wear, rather than being keen to put them on and show them off. That’s a bit sad really, considering the amount of time and money I spend on these things, so clearly a lot more thought is going to be required.

On to Week Three of Me-Made-May… starting to turn the corner, still wondering why all my Me-Mades are ancient knits. Hmmm.

So, Day Fifteen: socks again! I was doing some voluntary work that involved standing up and walking about all day, so I wanted to be super comfortable while I was doing it. Also I needed to wear a uniform, so this was my only opportunity for a Me-Made that day.

Day Sixteen: Another cheat. I was mostly wearing old jeans and a t-shirt all day, for cleaning the house. I did pop this cardigan on over a smarter outfit, to go to a meeting in the morning, so I’m counting it!

On Day Seventeen my parents came to visit, and I wore my newly-finished Dr Seuss Cirque Dress! I blogged about this the other day, and I’m still keen to make and wear more versions of this dress.

Also – check out my radish harvest! This little lot went home with my parents, but I’ve got plenty more.

Day Eighteen: Grumperina’s Odessa Hat. There was hail. I’m so fed up with wearing woolly hats in the middle of May! Come on, weather. Sort yourself out!

Day Nineteen: I did wear the hat again, but I also wrapped myself up in my favourite clapotis. This one’s in Rowan Silky Tweed, which is smooth, soft, and NOT ITCHY. Hooray!

Day Twenty: Fleecy cowl tank top. I made this last year, and in fact this is last year’s photo because I completely forgot to take a new one. You can see some better photos of it on last year’s blog. I never did get around to making any of these to sell, or any more for myself, although I wear this one quite a lot.

Day Twenty-One: Emergency Bra! It’s not very often that I find myself in need of a white bra, most of my clothes being either black or very loud colours. This was the day I went to do some more massage therapy training, which required two of us to practice on each other, and also to look smart whilst doing so. Thankfully I remembered that I had this stashed away in a drawer – I made it back in 2011, on a Structured Lingerie course at the London College of Fashion.

I have to say that, three weeks in, I’m really not feeling the Me-Made love this year. Perhaps that’s because it’s been a bit of a tricky month (more on that another time), but I’m starting to feel as though I’m hunting for Me-Made thing to put on because I have to, not because I want to. Which begs the question, why aren’t I raring to wear the things I’ve made? I still have one complete wardrobe full of dresses that I haven’t sorted out yet, and that’s because I’m simply not wearing them right now. Maybe that’ll change if the weather ever perks up. Maybe I need to sew some different things that I will wear. But at the moment, my Me-Mades aren’t filling me with very much enthusiasm, which is rather a shame.

Day Eight of Me-Made-May started off with a hat and a coat. I knitted the turban in 2013, sewing together right before we left the house for a 1940s day. It’s from a Bestway pattern in the V&A’s knitting collection. I was originally concerned that it might look a bit weird to wear this hat outside of a 1940s context. But I like the colour, I like the style, and it’s really comfortable and soft and warm. So if it does look weird, please don’t tell me. I don’t care.

Day Nine was a complete and utter cheat. I’d just finished knitting this shawl, which is shortly going to become a blanket for a friend’s baby. I tried it on for a grand total of five minutes – partly to take some photos for Ravelry, and partly to see whether I wanted to knit another one for myself. I do. It’s gorgeous.

Day Ten was also a little bit of a cheat, in that I made these shorts during the day, and didn’t put them on until I went to bed. Still, they’re pyjamas, and I wore them on the 10th, so it counts. The pattern is one for vintage (well, 1960s) underwear, but without any clue given as to either body size or finished garment measurements, I just had to guess what which size I needed to make. I took a gamble on XL, and they’ve come out a bit too big. I think this size will work nicely in a woven fabric, but for a stretch knit I’ll need to re-trace the pattern down to a size L. (And shorten the waist by about two inches, as they currently come up to my armpits. Cosy!)

Day Eleven: This Loopy Cowl has a matching pair of mittens, that I did dig out for the day, but I seem to have shrunk them as they were a bit tight. I made the mittens and cowl back in 2012, and have barely worn them because they’re SO ITCHY! Another scarf that I can only wear with a polo neck tucked underneath it. Has anybody else had this problem with Rowan Felted Tweed? I’m not allergic to wool, but this stuff’s just so prickly that it drives me mad. I should probably give this away, but the wool and pattern were a gift, and I don’t really want to inflict this level of itchiness onto somebody else! Plus, I like the way it looks, and it is actually quite warm. So perhaps I’ll keep it. (This, right here, is why I have way too much stuff.)

Day Twelve: Another cold one at work, so another big cardigan was required. This was the first pattern I designed and published myself, way back in 2008, though I have since withdrawn it from sale. I need to make some amendments to the collar; it doesn’t sit as nicely around the neck as I’d like it to. It also seems to have shrunk in the wash, as the sleeves are really short now!

(I wasn’t really feeling the selfie-love this week, so a lot of these photos are old ones.)

Day Thirteen: Unlucky for this scarf. It’s my second Clapotis, knitted in 2010, from more gifted yarn. (Rowan Tapestry, this time.) Unfortunately, I put it through the washing machine last year (an act which it had survived quite happily before!) and it’s ended up felted at the ends. This has also made it itchy. Argh! Why do I own so many itchy knitted things?! What should I do with them? But again, I don’t really want to get rid of this one. The yarn was a gift, it took me the best part of six months to knit it, and the colours go with lots of different clothes. Maybe I can live with the felting. And the itching.

Day Fourteen: It’s That Coat Again. Get used to it, as I don’t think it’s going away any time soon! I keep hoping that the weather won’t be warm enough to need it soon, but it’s such a good light weight for popping on over a hoody if it’s cold, or wearing on its own if it’s warm-but-raining – which is was on this day. (I got soaked on the way home from the dentist. Charming.)

Stay tuned for weeks Three and Four!

Oh gosh, it’s been ages, again! I seem to have been very busy lately, though I’m not entirely sure what with. It just seems so much easier these days to pop up on Facebook or Instagram than it does to plonk myself down in front of the Big Computer and write something.

Anyway, I decided to take part in Me-Made-May again this year, as I thought it would fit in quite nicely with the whole wardrobe reshuffle that’s still ongoing.

Day One: Socks! I knitted these in 2012, and they’re still going strong. The short length (because I ran out of wool!) works really well under trainers, and I should definitely get around to knitting myself some more of these.

Day Two: Wurm Hat. The silk-and-wool yarn was a wedding gift from a friend, and I turned it into a hat in 2010. I wear this hat A LOT. It’s a bit bobbly underneath, where it folds over on itself, but I love it anyway.

(Sorry about the terrible photos – they’re all taken on my phone. They look fine if you squint at them and imagine them all about two inches across. Promise.)

Day Three: Spotty Corduroy Coat. I made this in 2009, and wore it for the first time on our engagement photo shoot. (Which I apparently did not blog about. The shame!) The front of my hair was pink to match. After six years, this coat really has been worn to death. One of the snap fasteners is hanging off (and yet I never seem to find five minutes to fix it), and the spots are wearing off the needlecord at the front and round the cuffs. I really need to replace this coat. I’ve bought a new pattern, and I even know which fabric I want to buy. Unfortunately the fabric’s £85 a metre, which means I have a lot more saving up to do until I can afford a whole coat’s worth! So, I keep wearing this one.

Day Four was a poorly-in-pyjamas day. These leggings are made from gorgeously soft organic cotton, but I only had enough to make this peculiar under-the-kneecap length. They were never worn much as a result, as I always felt they were neither here nor there. They do make really comfortable lounging pyjamas though, which is good, as I tend to lounge a lot!

Day Five: I knew I was going to be cold at work (it’s always cold at work), so an enormous jumper was called for. I like this one because I can snuggle down into the enormous polo neck. The lack of sleeves means it fits nicely under a jacket without making me feel like the Michelin Man, so it gets worn quite a lot. Its only down side is its tendency to shed fluff all over everything. this is quite a recent make, all things considered. It took an entire year to make (mostly because it was a very boring knit!), but I finished it in 2013.

Day Six also called for an enormous jumper – this time my bright orange, pink and yellow Huggies cardigan. You can see much better photos of it over here. Another piece from 2009 (it was obviously a good year for both sewing and knitting!), but I think this one’s going to have to go on the “not to be worn in public” pile. The yarn has fared very badly, going bobbly almost immediately. The buttons are too heavy, which has stretched the buttonholes out of shape, and the cardigan itself has gone terribly out of shape with wear. Considering it was expensive stuff, I’m really not impressed! I’d still like to knit another one of these, but I’d definitely make it from a much more stable kind of yarn.

Day Seven turned out to be Election Day, and work had been transformed into a polling station. Once again, I knew it would be cold thanks to the extra visitors coming in through the front doors, so I needed to wear something warm. This is a lovely little Childry shawl, knitted in 2013 from souvenir yarn I bought on a trip to Frome. It looks cute, and it is warm, but unfortunately this yarn is REALLY ITCHY. I can only wear this with a polo neck underneath, which is a bit limiting. I’m half tempted to unravel it and turn it into something else, though I don’t know quite what.

Two thoughts come to mind after the first week.

One: Why is is still so cold at the beginning of May that all I want to wear is big warm jumpers?

Two: Where are all the things I’ve made more recently than 2009?! Well, okay, 2013 was the most recent one, but that’s still two years old! Perhaps I’ll wear more recent things in the following weeks. Watch this space!