The only thing I knew I wanted to make on my Addi Express was bed socks. It’s been quite a journey. The seventy-first and seventy-second casting-ons I did resulted in these:
Not exactly socks, but sock booties. They fit perfectly! And they’re a more-or-less adequate beginning attempt. (As I experimented, my samples got shorter and shorter.) These are knit from Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool — proving that wool can, indeed, work on the Addi Express! Continue reading
Here are a few tips, summarized, for maximizing success while using your Addi Express circular knitting machine:
Best tip of all: There are nearly invisible numbers in front of each needle, all around the Addi. Take a marker, and make the needle numbers visible! This will save you SO much grief over time! Continue reading
Years ago, Mr. Noile and I saw a demonstration of a vintage circular sock loom at a crafts exhibit, and we kind of fell in love with the idea of using an ancient device to make something at once so practical and so luxurious.
We soon learned that sock looms — the metal, ancient, venerable kind — are pricey, and that they can be a tricky item for a novice to buy. And that vendors tend to have lengthy waiting lists for the few that become available. So we let the idea simmer. Until now, when I wanted something new to learn to wrap up the year.
So a really talented artist in Japan has made a bunch of incredible cat backpacks. Her name is Pico Miho, also known as nekoseisaku pico, and you can see her phenomenal work here, on Bored Panda. Her cats are handcrafted, from a huge number of pattern pieces, and sell for around $1,000 USD. Also, she’s not making any at the moment.
This is one of Pico Miho’s cats.
Fraudsters all over the internet will try to sell you a fake.
They will take your money and break your heart. Don’t let them do that.
Leaving aside the question of whether I am willing or able to pay $1,000 for a cat backpack — putting all my money, as it were, where my eccentricities lie — they’re not available. I went for the next best thing. Read on to meet Rufus, my Folkwear Ragdoll cat — and, now, backpack.
We’re not interested in holidays, or anniversaries, and we don’t remember our own birthdays, much less anyone else’s, but we do celebrate one tradition: a new year tea. Or maybe it’s an end-of-year tea.
In any case, it’s how we mark the coming year. Continue reading
Mr. Noile had a favorite waxed canvas coat for a long time, and I bought a more rarefied waxed canvas coat myself a few years ago. I’d never sewn with the fabric, though, so making these bags was a new experience.
I’m not alone in loving the look of classic waxed canvas; it’s a bit like aged leather, without necessitating the murder of animals.
Once I had proof-of-concept for the body pattern for my weighted dolls, and (possibly even more importantly) proof-of concept (and proof of execution) for the faces, it was time to make the actual dolls.
The first step was to choose fleece for the external cover. This was more difficult than I expected.
The path to my doll’s faces was not a simple one, but in the end I found some kind of resolution.
The machine I intended to use to make them ended up in repair — specialist repair, far away — and, in any case, I hadn’t been very confident that I’d be able to produce anything acceptable without any previous experience with machine embroidery or a dedicated embroidery machine.
For the past few years, I’ve donated goods, of one kind or another, to a county nursing home. Last year I made tactile/fidget quilts, but this year decided to do something different.
Originally I thought I’d make bears, but soon realized that I didn’t have the wherewithal to manage anything quite that complex in this, Our Second Year of Covid. I decided that simple dolls made more sense, and started by drawing a face template.
I ran across this little gadget at Red Stone Glen. Annie, who helpfully watches the shop, enthused about it.
Though Annie’s advice is always excellent, I had my doubts. My sewing room is littered with useless needle threaders. Continue reading
