I have mail!!

I went to my eldest son's intern commencement for a couple of days and when I got home a whole heap of the display and lighting things I'd ordered had come! So exciting!!

This is what came in the mail!

This is my new head display and hand display. The head was in a whole box by itself! The one on the chair!

This was how the lighting kit was packed. 

 And this is the whole thing unpacked! The lighting cube was all folded up in that black circle thing in the previous photo. I haven't actually managed to fold it up and put it back into the black cover again though. I might have to get youngest son to help me do that when he comes to help teach me how to USE it!

 There are two short stands, one tall stand, one long extender pole, two strobe light fittings (at least I think that's what they are.) two light bulbs, large light reflector, one light bulb and a lot of other things I don't know the name to much less exactly what they do!!!
I think I may have outsmarted myself there. I bought it to improve my photos on my etsy store but I'm lacking some pretty basic skills! Fortunately I'm pretty sure Jordan probably has the skills I lack and can help me nut it out. But it's still all pretty cool :)

Finally!...Vintage Stockings!!

and I am NEVER doing them EVER AGAIN!!!
Okay, this was a kind of fun experiment but there are a few things I have discovered from the 40's-50's knitting pattern.

• If there's a hard way or an easy way to do something, let's do it the hard way! Like knitting a sock flat despite the fact that we clearly know how to knit in the round because we do it for the toe of the stocking and ONLY THE TOE!!
• That sewing miles of seams obviously has some moral lesson in it that escapes me because there is one looong one right down the back of the stocking and, just for good measure there are TWO seams on either side of the foot to join the sole to the instep! 
• And just to make sure that you smarty pants don't try and squib out on all this convoluted construction, let's use a very simple appearing stitch that is IMPOSSIBLE TO CONVERT to a seamless version!!

You see I had a few issues with it. It was far and away the most frustrating thing I have ever knit and I've knit a lot of socks and even over the knee socks so you wouldn't have thought this would be such a fraught project!

See? Strange construction!!
 I unravelled the heel and foot portions over and over again, trying to make sense of the instructions. But finally, I climbed that mountain! I completed the Stockings!!

 I still don't like how the heel is formed, it's not smooth like a heel at all but pointy. But I have completed the pattern and BOY! am I thankful!!
:)

Silky Threads and Tatted Lace

Sounds alluring, doesn't it? Actually it's pretty pragmatic. I bought these absolutely gorgeous silk thread from a lovely shop on etsy - https://www.etsy.com/shop/Thecraftmagpie

Aren't they absolutely the most wonderful autumn tones you've ever seen??

Anyway, I'd always meant to try tatting with them since really lovely intense colours are ridiculously hard to find especially at the fineness I tend to want to use. These were a lot finer than what I usually tried but what the heck! I'd give it a shot!!

There is no way I am putting in any of the poor deformed attempt I tried before I got the combination of tension and looseness right. I snapped so many rings of tatting trying to draw the thread through that for months I didn't even look at the threads! But recently I had another go, having calmed down enough to look at it logically and know that while each knot needed to be complete it didn't need to have a death grip on the supporting thread because it simply wouldn't support the force needed to pull the thread through. And I'm pleased to say I succeeded!

Isn't it sweet?? The glass it's between is about 3cms square and the motif would fit comfortably on the pad of your thumb! Not to say it wasn't tricky to do. I had a couple of heart stopping moments when I broke the thread but fortunately I was able to rectify it fairly easily. But now I've had a success I might try this again. the possibilities, oh the possibilities!!

:)

Oh, How I LOVE Mail!!

Although not all mail is created equal. Bills aren't included in my mail love. And not even junk mail (which sometimes can be kind of fun but NOT when the elections for both State and Federal are coming up!) can be enjoyable.
No! I mean fun mail, mail that makes my heart sing, mail that broadens my horizons and my skills. Yes! I mean parcels!!
I found on etsy this wonderful listing for a bound book of Stitchcraft magazines. I LOVE Stitchcraft! Especially from the 50's and early 60's. Lovely knitting patterns and very kitchy needlecrafts. That ads are a real hoot as well. This winged it's way from the U.K. and is the 1953-1954 issues.

I should take a pic of my own collection of Stitchcraft magazines. Wish I could get them bound. So nice!

I love mail!!

:)

Shops on Etsy I admire

There are a lot of shops on Etsy which I admire a lot since they sell things set in resin or between glass. I wish I had the technical skills they obviously have that I'm still struggling to attain.
Of the resin Artists;

Garden Jems Jewelery

I love how beautifully positioned is each piece! I'd love to know how she does these. There are lots of other beautiful examples in her shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/GardenGemsJewelry

Dream Half Full

Some really sweet pieces with real pressed flowers like this delicate white flowers in this shop. Again I wish I knew how they did it!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DreamHalfFull

Lowe Lowe Jewelery

Beautiful range of flowers, leaves and lace preserved in lovely clear resin. So gorgeous!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lowelowejewelry

That Old Blue House

I love these and would dearly love to learn how to solder. Many pendants with lovely vintage lace preserved between glass. Such a wonderful way to enjoy this delicate beauties!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThatOldBlueHouse2

And that's just some of the wonderful artists on Etsy who I admire!

So far I think I can do this.

It might be a bit obvious but I am not a naturally good at running a business.

Just thought I'd put that out there.

While I am a very able Technician, I can come up with fresh ideas for jewellery,pendants, tatting and knitting I have a really hard time selling.

My father, who's excellent at selling, did not hand it down to me when he gave me the hodge-podge of genetic material which included high-function Aspergers!

Thanks a lot Dad!

So to try and help myself I've bought some books (I love books! I've taught myself almost everything I've ever wanted to learn from books!) to help me with my etsy shop.

I think I'm learning...slowly.

I've put up some new listings and I will tweak it some more and hopefully increase my exposure!

The flower brooches are up but I'm still taking new shots of the pendants.

I guess you really do get the results you work for.

:)

Knitted Vintage Dress Experiment

I got brave and set about attacking a large project and knit a dress from a vintage pattern. I had just the pattern I wanted to try and it didn't look too complicated (don't you hate it when you tell yourself that on no other evidence than the picture??)

I had two cones of Gemini Acrylic 5ply which I thought would make an interesting contrast (besides realizing that the blue was going to run out long before I finished the whole dress. Ah well. Needs must.)  

And it was easy...too easy! 18 inches of stocking stitch which I chose to do in the round since the idea of having to do it separately twice  made me feel ill! But it seemed to go on FOREVER!! But finally I got to the end of that and started with the red for the bodice.

Now it started to look more like a dress and not an endless tube! It wasn't difficult doing the shaping for the v-neck and the armholes (had to go back to straight needles for that!) and quickly progressed through the sleeves. But that's where I finally hit some problems!

Do you see the ruffle here? It took me 5 tries to get the directions right! I'm the only one who can probably notice but the increases on one sleeve are much looser than the other sleeve. It took me a while to figure that out. And the lace just before the ruffle? That I fudged...a lot! I ended up getting a pattern from my Barbara Walkers stitch collections to find a pattern like the one I could barely see in the picture and used that. I simply couldn't get the pattern as written to make any sense at all!! But at last...I finished it!

...well, not quite...

As hard as I tried I couldn't understand the instructions for the crocheted edge that goes around the neck and ruffles. Crochet is SO not my thing and in the end I fudged this too. Or I might have been doing as I was supposed to but I just followed what the picture looked like. I also added it to the skirt because I thought it looked nicer that way.

So, huzzah!! I did it!

But there is something here you may have noticed and I didn't until I tried it on. The shoulders are hugely wide!! You'd have to be impossibly well built to be able to wear this or wearing killer shoulder pads! 

It hangs over my shoulders by about 5cms. I tried to convince myself that it wouldn't matter but it does, oh heck it does!! So it's been relegated to the naughty corner so I can cogitate on it and figure out what my best option is with it. It might have to wait till winter. It is truly horrendous trying this on in 30C heat!

But it has been a great experiment :)

Happy knitting :)