Tuesday 26 January 2010

Dillon my favourite animal!! And that cat!

Dillon charms the socks off everyone he meets.The anorak & I  love him to bits.Dillon loves chasing a ball.  Other dogs mug him for it!!  And he lets them!!

Sooty the cat.  Why Sooty?  Who knows, blame the previous owners.  He's just cost me £41 at the vets, he's developed an allergy to ..............fleas!!  Now I've just got to gut the house all over again.  he meanwhile is quite content to taunt the dog.

Sunday 10 January 2010

Confusion reigns.

Talk about confusing.  I had the bright (?) idea of knitting up some yarn to give me some knit yardage to play with for the SWAP, but of course the colours are all DRAB.  Olive green, some beige, lots of grey - OK grey I can use - some navy but not enough for a top.  Bright pink cotton, & maybe enough white for a simple top.  I've twisted different colours together to see what they look like & they still look bleh to me.  I'm going to have to experiment with tuck & slip stitches to see how they look.  The problem stems from having a little stash left over from when I knit my Dad jumpers, he looked good in drab colours, & the stuff that came with the freecycled knitting machines I collected.  Obviously colours that no one else wants either!  Oh & I can't wear acrylic which is what the remainder of the yarn is.  Better go & set up a machine I suppose & see if it will work.  That'll be the next problem.

Friday 1 January 2010

Thoughts on SWAP

I've got my pants base pattern sorted.  I will need to rehash it for jeans & make some changes for dog walking pants but the base is good.  I was inspired by David Page Coffins "Making Trousers" book that  my DD gave me for Xmas.  I haven't put it down - well apart from when I was drafting & amending muslins that is.  It re-enforced the need to get the fit right before I began on the details of construction that this book is all about. 
Now what to do about the plans?  I've been given a LBD by my daughter that I really need to shift the last 7lbs to look better than OK in, but will it fit in with the SWAP plans?  My lifestyle doesn't really involve getting dressed up but as we all know a LBD can look good in the right place / occasion as long as black is a good colour on you.  It is on me fortunately.  And should I ever need to go someplace all dressed up then it fits the bill perfectly.  So do I include it?  Or not?  Or do I start a second SWAP?  Or even another for all the other possibilities that keep entering my head? 
The current loose plans are based around the Smarties jacket which is a black, but looks dk grey, denim with pink & purple buttons.
The 4 bottoms will be :
black(ish) jeans
dog walking pants - probably lined for the cold weather as I have a lighter weight pair (though as they are currently being used with thermals under they may need replacing sooner rather than later)  Not sure on colour though something that goes with my pink or red fleece jackets might be a good idea.  I don't fancy black though.  Grey perhaps?
Smarter pants - probably black pinstripe Marlene style for going out & teaching (if I get the required student numbers next term), & all my black pants are too large & don't appear to be that straight forward to take in.  When they fit I wore them a lot.  The only hiccup is that I'll need to buy fabric as all I have suitable in the stash is navy wool & that don't fit with the rest of the plans!
Do I go with a skirt for the 4th piece?  I've stuck with pants as I've not had a suitable pair of shoes/boots for skirts the last few years but my DD gave me some Ugg lookalike boots for Xmas & I could get away with a longish skirt now.  Black seems likely but that means I have a lot of black,  then again I wear black as a base colour a lot if I'm  not in denim jeans.  Hmmmm, maybe a denim skirt?  Not sure on this one.
6 Tops:
Possibly a number of variations on basic long sleeve tees.
A couple of shirts - I fancy a couple of stripe ones, & maybe a warm western style check one to go with the dog walking pants. 
I do have a bought long sleeve tee that I could substitute in place of a sewn one if I get stuck, in purple, tha would go with the jacket that is my own choice garment.
But of course I could base my SWAP around the navy wool pants I plan on making now (as I already have it) to test the pants draft properly, then I'd need to rethink a few things.  I know I don't need to make it all matchy matchy but if I have random colours then I run into the snag of pairing up what with what?  And it won't look like it all came out of the same woman's wardrobe (closet).  Of course whatever I decide will involve buying more fabric as I have little if anything suitable in the meagre stash & money is in short supply right now.  May even mean I have to pull out of SWAP altogether but I do need clothes that fit me now.  Oh bugger. Decisions will have to be made somehow.  Maybe I'll just have to go with whatever I can find in the cheap shop & make it work.
Now I've hit a snag - these constitute two separate clothing needs I think & may not fit into the SWAP rules so I'll have to await confirmation of possible solutions to this.  I don't need a full SWAP for either casual (dog walking) or smart casual (ie teaching) so I'm stuck.  Better just get on with the navy pants I guess.