The good news is (and there is, I think, in life, pretty much always some good news) the vegetables are growing like mad. We have soooo many courgettes, beans, peas, pea shoots, lettuce, chard and kale, dinner time is just a case of taking down a large colander and filling it up with fresh and tasty produce.
The rain has also meant more time for sewing and crochet projects this past week. Having finished the shirt marathon, I kept the promise to myself of making something quick and easy and I made a dress for myself.
This (McCalls 7313) is a super fast pattern, that I have made several times before, and can literally be run up in an afternoon. I have one regret with this particular dress though. The others I have made have been in heavyish cotton or wool knit fabrics (the pattern is designed for knits) and after a few washes they have all stretched and the hems have 'dropped' along the bias (even after I have hung hem on Valerie for a few days before hemming). Also, the waistline has dropped, and a couple I have had to take up at the waist. This time I bought a lightweight synthetic knit, thinking I would avoid these problems, and I also removed the 1" I always add to the bodice length to compensate for my height.
Probably because the fabric is so light, the waist is now too high! I removed the elastic stay from the waistline, as it was riding up and driving me mad, and that has improved it a lot, but I still think it looks a little high. POH says it looks fine, so it's probably not as bad as I think it is.
I don't normally use synthetic fabrics, as I feel the heat quite a bit, but this should be a nice rinse-it-out-and-wear-it-again dress for holidays.
I didn't know POH was taking this photo. with Daisy photobombing...
Every year I grow sweet peas, from seed, for my friend, C, and myself. It's become a real tradition, and C looks forward to the day I take her a box of little seedlings to nurture and talk to and eventually pick the blooms. I always sow some of the seeds on Mother's Day, in both of our Mother's Memories.
This year I grew two types - 'Royal Family' and an unnamed trial variety from Thompson and Morgan. Both have done exceptionally well and the scent from the vase of sweet peas we have permanently on our dining table fills the whole room with the most delicious and intoxicating fragrance.
I've been a bit naughty and started a new project, despite having 2 blankets and one cardigan on the go already. The existing cardigan has been named Sludge, as it is not the most colourful wool ever. I bought it online and it was called 'Almond', which sounded nice. I have never seen an almond this colour though... I don't have a photo to show you, as it's not very photogenic, but I promise to take a photo when it's completed. I've finished the actual crochet, and it just needs sewing together and edging. The lovely ladies at Cooper's Creative said it would be nice in the autumn with maybe a burgundy, or navy blue, dress or top. They are very kind.
So, I travelled from Sludge to rainbow tutti-frutti!
I'm so excited to have actually started 'a good vintage cardigan', a pattern by Fran Morgan that I bought on Ravelry. It is basically granny stripes, and so simple to make. You change colour every row, so there are a lot of ends to sew in, but having listened to, and heeded the advice of Lucy from Attic24, I am sewing them in every 6 rows or so. I feel quite
I couldn't get all the colours in the King Cole Merino the pattern specified, so bought Drops Baby Merino 4 ply instead. Such a soft and squidgy wool! I matched most of the colours pretty well from their range, but have a lemon instead of the mustard. I think it is looking fab! No Sludge here!
This was at Cooper's, Skipton, last Friday. Mmmmm, almond croissant....
We did manage one afternoon tea in the garden recently, and very nice it was too :)
Let's hope, for those of us in the rainy bit of the UK, we get a few more teas in the garden before the summer is out!
Donna x
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