Ingridients

And it's just conceivable that it's a bluey-greeny-tealy-aqua-ish linen, and that I have enough of it to make the Burda pattern of the sleeveless dress with swirley skirt and matching jacket, because the linen has the right kind of drape for the skirt.

And that I also purchased a blue-green-purple-beige silk skirt that the hypothetical jacket would look great with. I'm happy to admit to the skirt, I was eyeing it off when it was $100, and marked down to $20, even James had to admit it was a bargain I was entitled to. And he scored himself some bright yellow shorts in the process. I understood perfectly why the shorts were marked down so dramatically and why there were so many of them. Most men do not have James' taste in clothes.

But if I admitted my fabric purchase, that would also involve admitting that I've added to my stash without making terribly much progress in the whole knitting-sewing-textile part of my life since about October (blame the arrival of summer). And admitting that the renovations downstairs are not over, and that I'm going to be spending a fair amount of my spare time painting downstairs before I'll get my sewing space back.

Maybe if I get back onto my silk knitting project this weekend the textile gods will forgive me.

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DNA scarf

In September, I knitted a DNA scarf for my friend Matt, who is finishing up his PhD in molecular biology. All praise June Oshiro for her brilliant work in recombinant knitting.

I followed her pattern, with some minor alterations: The first and last moss stitch sections I made only 33 stitches wide, because I find moss stitch much wider than cable patterns, and 33 seemed to work out well with the 40 stitches of the main scarf, I also knitted about 12 rows of moss because I wanted a bit more of a "bottom edge" to go with the side edges. I did the mini-cable twists on every right-side row because I thought it gave a nicer effect, bordering the main DNA cable. I used K2P2 rib, rather than K4P4 rib, for the neck section because it seemed like a good idea at the time, and I'm a chronic pattern adapter.

The scarf is knitted in Bendigo Woolen Mills "Classic" (their machine-washable 100% wool) 8ply in "Spinifex" green. The scarf would have used almost exactly one 200g (400m) ball, but I'd already knitted a couple of gauge squares, figuring out how many moss stitches were needed at the ends. So there's quite a lot left over of the second ball. I'm planning on knitting a gumnut cap for Sarah's baby (once I know his headsize this coming winter), and I'm already creating an 8ply blue and green leftovers stash for some kind of afghan, so it's not like I'm suffering.

Matt has already let me know that it's causing appropriate levels of envy in other scientists in his lab. A definite success.

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In progress

I've finally gotten my textile-ing going again - having my stash cupboard, and thus a fair idea of what I actually have, has made a big difference.

So last weekend I finally officially finished the Technicolour Dreamcoat - it now has sensible sleeves and belt loops. James has been wearing it in its various forms for the last two years, I think. I'm actually associating it with winter now, and I might have to make another one in more or less the same colours once this one wears out. I say more or less, because I'm not sure that fluorescent green and fluorescent orangey yellow polar fleece will always be available (I'm pretty confident about the royal blue).

I keep thinking it's a good thing he only wears it around the house, because I don't think anyone who has seen it hasn't had a pretty noticeable reaction. And it might get a bit tiring to walk around in public and get that much reaction all the time.

I also launched straight into some instant-gratification knitting - a cabled hat for Aidan, which is already finished and ready to be worn. It's about a third the size of the other cabled hats; baby things are sort of weird to knit.

So now I'm back with Kirsten's gloves and I hope to get them finished soon so she can wear them this winter. She's also requested a pair of silk ipod earpiece covers, but my pair didn't take any time to make, so that shouldn't be a problem. At least my tiny silk is manageable to work with when I make tiny things with it, but I'd be looking at literally thousands of earpiece covers if that was all I used it for.

I also really badly want to start making the pinstripe pants I have all the makings for, but I have a feeling I ought to be good and work my way through a bit of mending and such first. I don't know if it'll happen or not.

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My kind of lace.

Here's a fence made using traditional bobbin lace methods (in dutch, but several useful pictures).

I've been curious about bobbin lace for a long time, but I'm not the lacy type, and I don't generally like how time-consuming lace making is, with the very fine threads. This looks like an excellent solution. I don't know if I have anywhere I need lace fencing for, though.

ETA: I also think it is ultra-cool that young male art/design student convinces older female lacemakers to share their skills with him.

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Crocheted manifold

I've just discovered this pdf which describes in detail, both mathematically and as crochet instructions, how to crochet a model of the Lorenz manifold, which is closely related to the Lorenz Attractor, sometimes known as the Chaos Butterfly.

The pdf also has lots of lovely pictures of the finished object, and lots of practical advice - the model is 0.9m in diameter, contains 25,511 stitches, and took Hinke Osinga about 85 hours over two months to finish. The alternating rows of dark and light blue help to really bring out the shape.

I'm very, very tempted, although it is a substantial project. Maybe I can convince the Maths Department to sponsor me?

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Lace collar

Here's a lovely metallic lace collar, to add to my collection of gorgeous projects that I probably won't ever get around to doing anything like.

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