October challenge - Day 1

I'm aware I'm not very good at updating this blog and even worse at posting new items on Etsy so for this month I'm setting myself the challenge of putting something out there every day.

Some coasters have been put on Etsy tonight, which allows me a nice gentle start to the challenge.

Here goes!

Paper corset

Last weekend was another round of fantastic rugby games in the Six Nations. As I prepared to watch Scotland v France at Murrayfield on the TV I knew I wanted to have something constructive to show at the end of almost two hours in front of the box.

I decided to try out a pattern from de Gracieuse, which has an absolutely fantastic on-line resource for patterns for Victorian clothes and underwear. I downloaded some pages of the magazine with corset images and patterns, imported the pattern page into photoshop, started removing lines I didn't need but soon tired of it and decided to just persuade my partner (who has an A2 printer in his office) to print out the pattern page for me at 'human' size and trace off that.

Tartan special

Before

At the weekend my youngest daughter announced that she would like a tartan skirt to wear to a school ceilidh this week. It wasn't a lot of notice but, since she announced this in a fabric shop, at least I had the chance to get the fabric I needed to make it. She chose a black and white check, which tips its hat to being tartan without being a 'true' tartan. So a plan was formed . . . a wide elastic waistband with the fabric gathered and sewn on. Simple.

After

Autumn has arrived . . .

It's the end of September (where has this year gone?!?), the sunlight is weak and watery and there is a definite sense that the seasons are changing.

What does this mean for me? Well, I won't go out without a scarf for a start. I don't like being cold and last week's slight chill in the air has got me thinking about autumn/winter woolies. (Strangely enough it's warm today.)

I've dug out the crochet hooks and knitting needles that have lain dormant for the summer and am working on some super-dooper, super-cosy woolens. No pics of those here though because I allowed myself to be distracted (again?).To work with the chunky wool I had in mind I needed some new crochet hooks. So, having treated myself to a couple of beautiful new hooks I tried to put them in my knitting needle roll only to find I had no space. Oh dear, I'll have to make one just for the hooks!

. . . here's a little tutorial on the outcome.