Well helloooo there!

Well I'm feeling quite refreshed after that little blogging break!

I've de-cloaked to tell you that I'm going to UK Knit Camp in Scotland in just under four weeks and I'm pretty excited about it! My good friend and knitting buddy Jules asked via SMS, back in January I think, if I wanted to go and (after I'd googled it) my first thought was don't be silly, I can't go all that way just for knitting. But then I had a second thought, why the hell not! And now the time is fast approaching when we'll be on our way.

Knit Camp is actually only on for four days but we're going to stay on for a few weeks and do some sightseeing while we're over there.

The plan is:

• Arrive in Glasgow on Wednesday 4th August and go immediately to Lanark which is a beautiful historic town with a knitting mill
• Stay in Lanark for two or three nights
• Up to The Trossachs national park for two or three nights
• Arrive in Stirling on Monday 9th where we are staying in the university dorms until Saturday night
• Monday night Knit Camp kicks off and then there's classes Tuesday and Thursday all day and Wednesday and Friday mornings only
• On the weekend is Ravelry Weekend with a market, classes, demonstrations and a BBQ in the evening
• Sunday morning get the train to Aberdeen and check out the town then in the evening get a flight to Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands. Very excited about seeing the islands! Stay in the Shetlands for four days
• Friday morning get a flight to Kirkwall in the Orkney islands and stay there for three nights or so
• The rest is a bit unstructured, we'll play it by ear but the basic plan is:
• Ferry to from Orkney to Scrabster (on the mainland), bus to Inverness where we'll pick up a car and drive down to Loch Ness. We will probably just spend the day at Loch Ness and won't stay there overnight.
• Drive over to Skye and meet Jules's dad who is coming over to do some travelling with Jules after I go home
• Check out Skye, Lewis, Harris and anything else that looks good over that way
• I'll part with Jules and her dad and catch the train back to Glasgow and/or Edinburgh and see the city before I leave Glasgow on Monday 30th August

I am so looking forward to seeing everything!

Gotta go now and look for some t-shirts to take with me. Here's a picture of the Wallace Statue in Stirling.

Nice in the sunshine

Watching the birdies

Knitting Group on Tonight

Did you know that the new Morris & Sons store in the city is hosting a stitch 'n bitch on Thursday nights now? It's on tonight from 5-7pm. I'll be there until about 6:15 and then I'm going to the BurdaStyle club meeting at Tessuti. Busy, busy.

And here's a gratuitous photo of my cute boys.


Brothers

Another FO!

Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret

Yarn: Rowan Cocoon 1.2 balls in colour 816 - Kiwi

Needles: 6mm for the ribbing and 9mm for the rest of the hat

This was so fast, I started it one night and finished it the next!

Like watching paint dry

The slab for our house was poured today ... and the concreters are still there, waiting for it to dry more so they can trowel it really smooth ... and there were a few drops of rain as we left! Eeek. If it rains a lot it'll be too wet for them to trowel smooth and the raindrops can leave pits in the surface. We're not going to grind it back so it's really important that the finish is really good. Fingers crossed!!

Amy waiting for the slab to dry

Chiffon gathers

Hmm, Just found this dress which is by Maggy London the same designer as the pattern I'm using and is very similar to the pattern I'm using, the midriff part is just thinner.

But how did they get the gathers so small!! Mine are kinda chunky :(

My first method, used on the neckline, was to sew two rows of stitching, both inside the 1.5cm seam allowance and then pull the top threads to create the gathers. But on the midriff I sewed the lines of stitching either side of the seam line (and then pulled out the threads after sewing the seams) and this produced a better result but still not as tiny as these gathers ... poo.

Anyone know?

Dressmaking

I don't know why but I agreed to make a bridesmaid's dress for my brother-in-law's girlfriend. I think it was probably pride :) Don't want to admit that it's beyond me.

So, I took Tina shopping and we chose Butterick pattern 5134. Only to discover that it's been discontinued! Argh! It was the only pattern we even remotely liked so I called around and tracked down a copy at The Cloth Shop.

Then I put together a muslin of just the lining part to see if it was the right size.

It was almost right, just a bit snug around the waist so I added four centimetres and started on a full-scale test version.

It took 4 hours to put the bodice together yesterday! Blimey! The pattern is rated as "easy" but I would think that'd mean a beginner could make it and this definitely isn't beginner. I guess it's not that hard, but cutting out the flimsy fabric and doing the gathers was kinda fiddly.

So I'm really pleased with the way this has turned out so far. The gathers on the bodice aren't great but I did them a little differently on the sides of the midriff bit and they look much neater. I also learnt that it's a bit dumb to use white overlocker thread under black chiffon, it's totally visible - dammit.

Anyway, tomorrow I've got to add the skirt so Tina can try it on again on Wednesday. And then I have to do it all over again in the real fabric. Phew!