FOs - Monkey socks and Vogue skirt

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Needles: 2.5mm
Yarn: Blissful in Ring a Ring o Roses by Skein Queen



Pattern: V8560
Fabric: Sun spots by Amy Butler
Size: 14

What do these two have in common? It turns out that just one isn't enough. According to Ravelry I've now completed my 11th pair of Monkeys and I've just started my second skirt in this pattern - this time a slightly shorter version in a gorgeous grey cotton I bought at Darnit and Stitch.



It's almost a shame that the zipper is such a perfect colour match as the method for inserting the zip is so neat that you can hardly see it.



I love the pleats - they're very satisying to do and give the skirt a lovely full shape.



These photos btw were taken with the aid of our new mirror. We got it at the same time as the rest of the furniture but it's been standing in a box in the hall until this week. Now it's standing on the floor in the living room until we work up the nerve to hang it. I want to hang it over the dining table or the sofa but it's very heavy and I'm rather paranoid about it falling off the wall and killing us whilst we eat dinner.

A present from Liberty

I love how when you buy something from Liberty it comes wrapped like a gift!



I went in there to buy some fabric for the skirt pattern I picked up at John Lewis. I was actually trying to find the same pattern which Felix made a couple of weeks ago (yes, I'm a skirt stalker) and I really thought I had until I checked the pattern number a couple of minutes ago (hers is V8424 not V8560). Still I really like this one and think it will look fabulous in this fabric which (although you can't tell it from this photo) is pink on pink rather than pink on red.



I'm making skirt B (shorter and with no contrast hem). I've got as far as cutting out all the pieces for the muslin and sewing together the pieces for the front and back yokes. I'm making the muslin out of leftover blackout curtain lining from Laurie's room at my parent's house which sounds frightfully like a tip from a late 'forties guide to making more of your clothing ration - "you can make a smart skirt from old blackout curtains".

Now we are thirty - #2

I don't think anyone ever had such lovely crafty friends. Clockwise from the top left are:

500 cupcakes & muffins from Kathrin - I think she's just hoping that the boyfriend will start bringing the cupcakes that we can't eat into work!
Machine stitched owl from Ellen.
Handmade beaded fuschia earrings from Jenny.
Crocheted brooch on a handknit heart cushion from Mikal.
Pink glass dotty earrings from Helen.
Handmade cards drawn by Kathrin's girls - I feel they have a future in the quirky greetings card market.



After our lengthy conversations about packed lunches on the way back from Woolfest in the summer Felix decided that I needed the ultimate picnic bag. If you read Felix's blog you might have noticed that she tends to play down her sewing skills with typical modesty but this is a beautiful piece of work. The outer fabric is an Amy Butler fabric in a lovely fresh green and the lining is some leaf patterned oil cloth. I'm incredibly impressed with the neatness of the stitching as I've heard that oil cloth can be really tricky to sew. The bag has two handy pockets on the outside and was packed with handy picnic stuff including a one-person vacuum flask (which will be filled only with hot water), two mini tupperware containers, a napkin, a biscuit box, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and a freezer pack in its own little bag. I was absolutely stunned when I opened this and saw all the lovely things that Felix had filled it with.

Thank you so much to all my lovely friends who celebrated my birthday with me on Monday!

Quiltfest '08

Phew, it'll be a relief to go back to work for a rest on Monday! We did the quilt show in fine style on Friday, I think we saw all the stands and nearly all the quilts. There were too many to remember or to describe in detail. Ruth and I loved the winner in the miniature category which had around 30 or so one inch sashed blocks containing tiny open umbrellas in different colours finishing with the final one half-closed. No pictures I'm afraid as we were very good and (mostly) obeyed the injunctions not to take photos. We also loved the Liberty Jack quilt which was made up of around 32 Union flags in different Liberty prints - just gorgeous.



Luckily there was no such prohibition on taking photos of Ruth and Ellen, although I did get a verbal warning!

Amongst the quilts on show on the stands we were all very excited to see not only the Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric but the made-up quilt.



I especially loved the panels showing the food that the caterpillar eats a hole through - I've always adored the water melon, which is slightly weird as I find water melon a bit disappointing in real life. It's probably because nothing can taste as good as water melon looks.

The first stand we spent any time at was Buttoncompany who stocked Amy Butler fabric, some great woollen felt and loads of Japanese prints including the robot fabric which Kim used for her fantastic messenger bag. She happened to have this with her at the show and it was promptly grabbed off her by one of the stand holders to show a customer what could be done with the fabric. I snapped up a fat quarter of the stuff and when Katie went back later to pick up some for herself they were still talking about Kim's bag!



My main objective for the show was to pick up a pattern and some fabric for a skirt as I really want to get started making clothes but I couldn't resist this roll of fat quarters from The Quilt Room especially as I was able to get a metre of the light blue print with white flowers as backing fabric.





I should have enough for another crib sized quilt of some description though I've not even started to think about a pattern. The colours would be good for a swimming pool quilt but given the amount of fabric I have it would have to be more like a paddling pool.

By this time Ruth and Ellen and I had finally found the nice seating area near the teaching and Q&A rooms and everyone headed there to sit down and compare purchases. Katie and Kim had been to the Cotton Patch which had a large selection of Rowan and Amy Butler fabrics. Katie had got a lovely book of baby patterns which Amy Butler signed for her and Kim had bought a great dress/tunic/camisole top pattern so I thought I should get over there and see what else was on offer. I was really tempted by the dress pattern but it's somewhat out of my league for a first attempt at making clothes from a pattern so I went with the Barcelona skirts pattern and (after much consultation and dithering) a lime green fabric with a green/grey flower pattern.



When I got home I confirmed that I'd picked the right one by the age old method of wrapping it around me in front of the mirror - why they don't let you do that at the show I have no idea.



My final purchase of the day was a metre roll of Lamifix from nid-noi.com. It's clear plastic film that you can iron onto fabrics to make them waterproof and can be used for making bags and mats etc. I thought I'd try ironing it on to my robot fabric to make a small bag or purse.



I had a fabulous day - it was really great to see Jaq and Kim again and to see Ruth who has recently moved away from Oxford so won't be making it to many Bluestockings meetings. The whole thing was topped off perfectly when I finally made it home to discover that my ticket to see the Yarn Harlot at the iknit day had come in the post. Only 20 days to go!