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Well, here goes nothing!
Gigantor, the Christmas Stocking that threatened to eat Paris, is currently residing in the washing machine, hopefully being felted down to a more manageable size. It's always a bit of a hairy experience, felting; you just don't really know what's going to come out the other end.Let's recap the 'Stocking' story from the beginning, shall we?Back in November, when I thought I was leaving myself plenty of time to knit and felt a stocking (hey, it's knit in the round, on large needles - how could it not go quickly??). I cast on a few times, each time adding more stitches when I thought it might shrink too much in the felting process. So we went from 64 stitches, to 72 stitches, to 128 and then finally to 188 (I was tired of casting on and counting over and over again).
I knit in the round for awhile and then started the fair isle pattern, convincing myself that it would not be too big (because of course, there is no 'too big' in felting - is there?), until I got to this point:
I continued on, past the fair isle and into the solid colour, which I thought I would just zoom along on... I turned the heel - if you can call it that when you're trying to put a heel into a doona cover!
Once I'd passed the heel and the gusset decreases, I ventured back into solid colour territory and began to slow down. And I mean really slow down. Anything was better than hauling out the gargantuan sock. Pete started to crack jokes about needing to bring it on a trailer when I knit in the car, and my lap was getting too warm as I sat to knit of an evening.
I began to doubt the stocking. I asked Pete his opinion (and got more jokes in response!) and I seriously considered ripping the whole lot back and winding up whatever yarn I could salvage from the whole experience. But curiosity (and laziness) got the better of me and I continued to knit on the behemoth every night.
I finally grafted the final stitches a couple of nights ago and wove the ends in, resulting in this:
Here are a few to demonstrate the 'actual' size of this ridiculously enormous stocking...
Yes, Lola-Frog fits inside the stocking. Just like a sleeping bag. The reverse of the fair isle looks pretty neat though, doesn't it?
And so today, with my heart in my mouth, I crammed it into a hot wash cycle and crossed my fingers. Let's go and see what we've been left with, shall we?
Well... it's not as big anymore, I suppose... but I'm a bit disappointed in the way the fair isle really doesn't show up at all... and in the size discrepancy between the width of the leg and the length of the toe. I either should have cast on fewer stitches, or made the toe quite a bit longer... but all that said, it's felted into some good strong fabric, and it'll hold gifties from Santa - that's the main thing!
I really am, too.
Last Sunday we stopped to browse in Best and Less, a discount department store/chain while wandering through the shopping centre. It's a good place to go for cheap singlets, t-shirts, undies etc for the kids, and we thought we'd grab some stuff to pop in WonderBoy's stocking.
Pete wheeled Lola-Frog in the stroller, choosing undies and a couple of pairs of jammies for Wonderboy, and I kept young Mr. W out of the way in the little girls' clothes, looking at the wee skirts and dresses for sale.
And that's when I saw it.
It's still freaking me out to write this, even now.
It was there. Lola's Dress.
The darling wee smock-dress I'd bought the fabric and pattern for, and sewn all by my little lone self.
Same fabric (though a slightly duller version of the colours), similar style (except with unnecessarily naff looking bows on the straps), and buttons on the back in place of press studs.
Now, if I'd been perusing seed, or Pumpkin Patch, or some gloriously overpriced children's clothing boutique in Mosman or Bondi Junction, I'd be okay with finding this crude counterfeit hanging on the rack. But Best and Less?
Now I'm depressed AND weirded out.
I've decided this year that since Lola-Frog will need a Christmas Stocking for her First Christmas, I should knit and felt one for her, rather than buy a cheap one from Target or Big W with the thought that "... one day I'll replace it with a nicer one", just like I've thought I would for WonderBoy. Which I haven't. Yet.
So I got started on Lola-Frog's this week, with some Lincraft Cosy Wool (it's DK weight. I'd've preferred to be using 10 or 12-ply, but you use what you've got access to - especially when it's cheap!), and I know it felts well. KnitNight's Franee has made a fantastic 'Team Swiss' (That's a Twilight reference, apparently!) felted bag with this stuff that is gorgeous.
I cast on twice for this stocking - the first time, realising that I was going to need to make it that much bigger to compensate for the felting process... the second time, making it ridiculously big. This kind of ridiculous:
I'm pleased with the fair isle bands, and on one hand, I'm really excited to see what they'll look like once felted... 
... but on the other hand, I'm nervous as hell about felting this bugger! I know that felted knitting usually shrinks lengthwise, rather than widthwise, and I know that the fair isle bands will shrink entirely differently compared to the plain stockinette, but... well, we'll see! On the up side, if it looks a bit weird, I don't see it being an issue - after all, it's for Santa Claus to pop presents in, not to be worn...
... unless it ends up being large enough to actually FIT Lola-Frog entirely into!
In the meantime, there's the small matter of actually completing the knitting part before it can be felted!
"...Excess ain't rebellion... you're drinkin' what they're sellin'..."
Tonight's song is "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle", by CAKE. It was their first single, released from their debut album, 'Motorcade of Generosity', in 1994. They're an awesome band, one that I can't believe I didn't know about earlier. Pete introduced me to the depth of their work when we got together, and I've really come to love. They're lyrics are so clever and insightful, and very much right on the pulse of what's going on in the world, just with very cool twists.
As much as it was Pete who introduced me to the rest of CAKE's work (beyond "The Distance", which of course is very well known), this song is actually one I originally heard at the end of an episode of 'Daria', way back when I was in late high school... the lyrics really spoke to me, particularly the lyrics I've added at the top of this post.
In this day and age, music is a fashion statement and a commodity... in contrast to the sixties and seventies, when rock 'n' roll really was a revolution and a lifestyle. These days, wearing the 'right' clothes to create the image that goes with your music of choice costs a bomb. It ain't about the music anymore, and it doesn't matter what type of music you go for, whether it's rock, punk, pop, emo, goth, dance, whatever. And that really seems to go against the ideals of a lot of these types of music...
"... And how much did you spend on your black leather jacket?
Is it you or your parents in this income tax bracket?"
I am exceedingly proud of myself, and have been these last two weeks. Why?
I knew when I saw this fabric that I HAD to have a dress made of it for Lola-Frog!
I finished this for Lola-Frog two weeks ago, and am so dizzy with feelings of self-congratulatory admiration that I've had it hanging up in the family room since then... that, and I haven't yet banged the press studs in the back to actually fasten it on young Lola. I'm frightened to take a hammer to this darling little dress, so I just keep it hanging out here, and I pat it on my way past sometimes...
When Lincraft opened in our area three weeks' ago, I went in on their first day to check it out, and found myself admiring several bolts of very pretty fabrics, thinking about cute little dresses and smocks and pinafores that could be made with them. I see that I've picked up my mother's thinking, in that I'll see ready-to-wear garments in shops and say, either to myself or out loud (I'm not picky for an audience. Those who know me know I do talk to myself on a regular basis),
"I could knit/sew that"
And so, when walking past this fabric, and thinking these thoughts, I realised that maybe I COULD make something out of it.
Now, believe me when I say this, when recounting the events that led up to the ultimate choice and purchase of the materials for this dress, I feel I can honestly say that I hold genuine admiration for my mum.
She was able to go into a fabric shop with three of us in tow, all complaining heartily for various reasons, and not only choose the pattern she wanted to sew, but select and carry the bolts of fabric based on the requirements of the pattern, and also find the other threads, fasteners and/or zips needed. My sisters and I could not have been much help at all. I recall the three of us climbing in, out and around the fabric bolts as they were on their stands and being told off repeatedly for it!
I went in on a day when WonderBoy was at preschool, and had Lola-Frog in her stroller. Okay, so I've got two free hands and only one child (who can't walk away) to keep track of. Shouldn't take too long. She waited quite patiently in the stroller while I quickly found the patterns I wanted in the big book, then went up to the counter where the assistant found them in the drawer, took the guts out of them and gave me the envelopes so I could use the directions to make sure I got the right fabrics etc.
So far, so good. I turn the envelopes over and start working out the English instructions with the imperial measurements from the French instructions with the metric measurements and start looking at bolts for their widths. Bear in mind, I've got two patterns, and one of these would need two complementary fabrics, one as the main colour and the other as a trim. I'm holding at least two bolts, searching through others, and Lola, now looking for further entertainment, is pulling at fabrics from her stroller. I move the stroller out of the way - several times - and begin to make an awkward path to the cutting table and till. Until I realise I'll need threads. sigh.
Steering an umbrella stroller one-handed is damn hard work, but weaving a path through a crowded Lincraft like this, whilst balancing three bolts of fabric and trying to give Lola-Frog a wide enough berth so her pudgy little hands can't reach is something else entirely!
And so, we have a darling little pinafore dress for Lola-Frog to wear this summer. It's something that makes me even prouder when I remember that the last time I used a sewing machine was over ten years ago, when I sewed my own 'Signature Bear' for the end of Year Twelve!
All right! After two weeks' absence from KnitNight, the first on the Shuffle chopping block is...
"Anna (Go To Him)" is a cover of a song by Arthur Alexander, sung in this situation by The Beatles on their 1963 album, "Please Please Me". 
At this early stage in their recording career, The Beatles used to really get into playing cover version of some of their favourite music whilst on stage. They'd particularly get into playing some of the B-sides and lesser-known songs from hit artists at the time. Because Lennon and McCartney's songwriting abilities weren't seen quite yet for what they truly were (ie. EMI wouldn't let them write and put what they wanted on albums at this stage till they'd proven themselves and sold some albums), this album in particular is made up of cover versions.
When I get into a Beatley mood, I especially like to put this album on to begin listening to their catalogue from start to finish... especially now that they've re-released all their material. It sounds just superb.
And so, till next Thursday!
... this colour!
These daisy-type flowers are running a bit rampant at my place (sadly, the whole garden's gone to pot this year - I gave myself the year off, knowing I'd have trouble fitting in the garden with baby Lola-Frog, and... knitting!), and even though I consider them weeds, I really like the colour... I think they'd make really good socks!
I continued on, past the fair isle and into the solid colour, which I thought I would just zoom along on... I turned the heel - if you can call it that when you're trying to put a heel into a doona cover!
I began to doubt the stocking. I asked Pete his opinion (and got more jokes in response!) and I seriously considered ripping the whole lot back and winding up whatever yarn I could salvage from the whole experience. But curiosity (and laziness) got the better of me and I continued to knit on the behemoth every night.
Here are a few to demonstrate the 'actual' size of this ridiculously enormous stocking...
Yes, Lola-Frog fits inside the stocking. Just like a sleeping bag. The reverse of the fair isle looks pretty neat though, doesn't it?
And so today, with my heart in my mouth, I crammed it into a hot wash cycle and crossed my fingers. Let's go and see what we've been left with, shall we?
Well... it's not as big anymore, I suppose... but I'm a bit disappointed in the way the fair isle really doesn't show up at all... and in the size discrepancy between the width of the leg and the length of the toe. I either should have cast on fewer stitches, or made the toe quite a bit longer... but all that said, it's felted into some good strong fabric, and it'll hold gifties from Santa - that's the main thing!
