BeatleWear

knitting and the life I almost have around it

Friday, July 29, 2005

BeatleWear so far...

And here, children, is the latest lineup from BeatleWear and happy spider.

Below: happy spider wears rescued resized op-shop shirt, 'scarlet' denim formal top and 'flower-child' hippy skirt (knits teal sweater). Baby bear wears 'sins of eve' mohair sweater and 'sandra d' poodle skirt.


Baby bear wears 'gracie-lou' fifties frock, 'cuddle-me' cardigan and ribbon choker. Happy spider wears wrap kaftan top, low-rize corduroys and mohair/beaded hair-flower.


Happy spider wears 'hello sailor' blouse and rescued jeans 'beatle' skirt. Baby bear wears 'hug-me' shrug and 70's beach dress. (how beautiful is my doggy?)


Happy spider wears too much makeup and halter neck dress. Baby bear wears flapper hat and 'fine romance' camisole.


Baby bear wears devil hat, hand-made earrings and 60's shift. Happy spider wears lacy scarf, 'shirted-off' shirt and 'clueless' pleated mini.

Thanks, thats all folks! stay tuned for further installments, and thanks to baby bear, the queen of wonderment and the BFG for loan of his camera.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

It was the best of times...

Yes indeed, a day off for me.
Yes, i have a pair of unstitched trousers pending for my best friend, the Queen of Wonderment.
Yes, i should be immersed in the insanity of Dostoyevski.
Yes, at some point i should try to squeeze blood from a stone and find something to cook for dinner. (this does require me to plan, i'm like that.)
Yes, i could use another 8 hours sleep.
But i also have a gorgeous partial sweater sitting in my bag, singing it's siren song ('knit me, knit me...') and day-time tv isn't THAT bad... is it?

by the by, saw Sin City last night and all i can say is "Holy crickets!" (Hermione Granger style). Will say no more, but instruct you to go see it immediately. QT has his greasy little fingerprints all over it, let me tell you!

(N0 pics today but maybe later on if the sweater overwhelms me)

Monday, July 25, 2005

title is as title does



Finished back piece of pink sweater today while watching the end of Othello in Lit studies. Magic, if you ignore the bit where we ran out of time on the dvd and everything went POP! and the tv went to blue screen of death three minutes before the end.


The first of these pics is a hair-flower thing i knit free-style after seeing the pic in the recent Jo Sharp pattern book. i didnt copy the pattern, but was inspired so should give credit. the centre is a self-covering button (i pre-beaded a bit of cloth and then covered the button with it.


This is just to show off the pretty buttons i found... Spotlight gets it right occasionally it seems. They're on a Quick-Sew shirt i sewed a few weeks ago... already a favourite.


Happy monday to all and to all a good night.

PS. rescued some more abused yarn today, this big blue green and white roger david cotton sweater. it's bulky size and pretty nice colours... but MAN! fair isle is a pain in the butt to frog!

Sunday, July 24, 2005

the blocking of the teal sweater


Hello all, just an adendum.
The teal-coloured sweater from recycled wool, the one that was super-short? Well i've blocked it long and despite it's breast-shrinking abilities it is quite satisfactory.
that's not to say i think it will make the weekly rotation... but it is nice and warm and a good colour.. we'll see.
will post a pic as soon as i have a good hair day (don't hold your breath).
This was the wool anyway, and i still have about 550 metres left over... let's face it, that's a lot of socks.
The colour is a little less grey and a little more green but this is fairly approximate. Just imagine it prettier (you can tell i dyed it myself, i'm all hung up that people will think the colour is ugly..).

Did i mention that last wednesday when i went on the hunt for abused yarns (read: ugly sweaters) i ran into this lovely lady i used to volunteer with at a charity store. we were having a merry old gossip about the price of yarn (she was shocked when i correctly identified her cardigan as Cleckheaton Country Natural 8ply) etc etc and she mentions a few things she's knitted have 'dropped'.
'But did you block it?' says i.
'What's blocking?' says she.
So, with the new knowledge that a 65 year old knitter doesnt know what blocking is i feel i should explain.
Goodnight all.

How to block knitwear
  1. After hand washing your knitted wool or cotton garment (this works for shopbought woollens as well) either spin dry in your washing machine or roll up in a towel and remove excess moisture.
  2. Spread said knitwear flat on to a large dry towel in a warm shady place (inside is good, out of sunlight).
  3. Moosh that baby into a shape you want . For example, your sweater is too short? Pin the shoulders the way you like them (use rust-proof pins) and tug the bottom til it looks about right and then pin in place. You can make uneven sleeves the same length, necklines less plunging (or more if you prefer) and even make it tighter by pushing in the sides and pulling down a little. Pin it the way you like and voila! a spanking new looking sweater! (or whatever). This also works for making the stitches look neater and lie flat... warm water makes the wool relax ('aaaaahhhhh') after all your bullying and knitting and it just wants to lay low after washing.

Pink yarn pics





This is the first yarn in the running for The Most Gorgeous Yarn Ever! I have no shot of the original bad eighties sweater, but this is the start of the new one.. (these are defined as 'how smart am i' photos, damn my vanity)

Again, it is darker than it looks (i call it 'raspberry sorbet' in my head, this is the advantage of not having to give credit to a yarn company, i can take total credit for this beeyooootiful colour!)... and you can appreciate the joy of buying 750m of yarn for $5.....

PS. The silk was $7 Australian.

And Now....




How beautiful is this!? Havent decided what it will be but it's so soft and gorgeous maybe a slinky singlet top thing? This does not show the true depth of colour, it's purple and pink and aqua and.... YUM!

(1200 metres)

Ugly Sweater pre-frogging


This is the sweater pre-rescuing, with a close up of the entrelac. I'm sure someone spent a lot of time and money to knit this but... well, lets be honest - it's HIDEOUS!

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Babysitting nightmare

Q. What is the definition of Sadism?
A. Giving your three-year-old coca-cola half an hour before bedtime and then going out for three hours.

And then giving a lecture on being 'firm' about bedtime.
Somebody, please give me a spanner to throw at him.

PS have photos of rescued jumpers, will post tomorrow. am wreckage.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Ha!

OK, am total idiot.
Instead of 2B2 i was supposed to go to 12B2. feel dumb. but am SURE that has changed since i copied it the first time.
And the room that was changed was for the other lecture which is on Monday. Hope no-one could see me from building 12, running around like a crazy person.

OOh! finished frogging silk sweater... :) 1200 metres.... Hoorah!

Happy Spider and the Missing Lecture

Ok.
It's official.
Not only am I lacking in any desire to do uni work, but i have managed to lose my third lecture of the week! And i was trying so hard too...
Dragged myself to Uni by 11.30 (yeah i know, shadap) and in my Lit Studies room there were a bunch of mature age students doing Family Law.
So.
Was very brave and went to Uni computers for first time in 18 months of study (am computer-phobe in big way, blog is miraculous). Found recently emailed replacement lecture room.
RAN! (and i do not run)
And guess what! Not there.
so gave up and had a coffee. i mean, what's a girl to do? (Hope i didnt miss any more Othello...)

NB. For those of you following my Trials in Denim i bought a pair today. Caved is the word i think. not only do they have the weird whisker affect on either side of crotch but also 'crinkle wash' where they are all crinkly!! asked nice (ie. cute) man at counter if it would wash out and he said "about 40 washes". Said "But i HATE it" and he said "oh just iron it!". Go figure!

These -> are a doll i knit for my cousins daughter. she's reversible, turn her skirt over and she wakes up! so cute... and a good (synthetic) stash buster. From a woman's realm book thingo from the 80's

PS. Finished recycled sweater and it looks like a midrif top on me... hope blocking will fix it...

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Higher Education Headache

I have three words for you : Three. Hour. Tutorial. Yuck-o. Whose ideas are these anyway? I think academics sit in their dingy little offices planning ways to destroy my life. Speaking of destroyed lives, am reading 'Crime and Punishment' and its actually pretty good. Well i know its a classic and all, but it's something i want to keep reading.
Have finished the final sleeve of teal sweater and have nearly done the turtle neck. Then a few seams... and voila! Sweater for me!
Also found new frogging prject this morning at salvo's - hand-died, hand-knit silk entrelac sweater! Totally hideous sack of a sweater but it certainly vies for the title of The Most Beautiful Yarn Ever!
I suppose one day i will get around to Uni work...

Monday, July 18, 2005

A less whiney intro





Well, I suppose i should be a leeetle more forthcoming about the price of fish. I am twenty and live in Australia's forgotten capital. I work in an antique shop that is extremely groovy and bad for my long-term saving plans (ie. I have none). This multiple picture of me (i have no idea why there are four and it won't let me delete...) was taken by my boyfriend last year in a caravan park ( we are sooo trailor trash). we now have our/his camper van... i say our/his because although he can drive and i cant and he paid for it and i didn't, i sewed some drawer-liners for the van so we're square. This is one of my first post-puberty attempts at knitting. it is one of those 'feathers' scarves which i am sick to death of and wish people would stop knitting but there you are. i am currently knitting a totally gorgeous jumper from recycled wool. It was very satisfying actually, turning this huge hideous man's sweater knitted by someone who was obviously high into gorgeous sweater-y goodness. I am on the final sleeve and i only started ten days ago so this is quite good for me (ie. i have no life). i fear however that my low-slung pelvis will peek out from 'neath the hem but i think i can handle it... blocking might help. i also bought this gorgeous (yarn-wise) 1980's sweater from an opshop and now it is 740m of The Most Beautiful yarn ever. many shades of pink in Aran weight, am in heaven! will try to post photo soon.

Welcome me?

Hello all!
Have had the day from hell and thought 'c'est tout!'. i have had it up to my ear-holes with the fashion industry! I am not overweight, I am not super-tall, I am your average size 10 girl but can I find a pair of jeans that fit? NO!
And when I say 'fit' I mean fit, not just on the hips with sacky jodper-like thigh spaces, but properly, not with thrush-inducing tightness but with the comfort and style befitting a wardrobe staple! And this prefading stuff is completely beyond me. When my jeans have faded that much its a sure sign they are dying. Don't even get me started on the pre-rip... why would I spend $280 on a pair of ripped jeans anyway? I just dont get it.
And I'm invisible in the shops! The sales girls look right through me.. how many of them are called Jasmine anyway?