Posted on by wherethejourneytakesme

dear diary >> in the craft room

Finished at last!

The little dress for Sweetie with a knitted top and soft printed baby corduroy for the skirt. I hadn’t been able to find a pattern in the shops or online that had a knitted bodice and fabric skirt and then I came across this little book in The Works.

I had to alter it a bit at the back to make it a fastening bodice (the back bodice on the pattern is in one piece and slips over the head – but I wasn’t sure it was going to be easy to do that so split the bodice into two halves and added a button and buttonhole band. The sleeve head too didn’t work out with their instructions but I managed to rectify this by decreasing on every other row which in effect made the sleeve head longer and fit the armhole better.

With the gloomy weather I have been struggling to do the hand sewing to finish the dress. At first it was meant for her birthday last November, but that didn’t happen. Never mind, I thought, I will finish it and give it to her for Christmas……but then we had to go and attend to the cottage roof unexpectedly and the dress had to be put on one side. This week has been the first opportunity to get back to it.

Yesterday we picked up the table and chairs, it was a fine sunny day which helped, and amazingly all the packages fit into the car with just enough room to spare for a couple of small Ikea purchases (for more improvements which I will mention another time). DH assembled the table and unboxed all the chairs. This morning we put our old pine farmhouse table into the boot of the car and took it round to my brothers house. He already has some very nice farmhouse style chairs so our old chairs will go to whoever would like them, we will try the local charities and maybe Facebook Marketplace. We have had them for 45 years and we didn’t buy them in the first place they were left for us in the first house we bought. In fact I have never had any new dining chairs so it was nice to be able to choose my own. The ones we had have served us well though and been recovered a number of times over the years to match our changing decor.

Everything seemed to be going well, even my daughter’s problem that she informed us about in an urgent phone call on Monday has resolved, but then we hit another car problem in addition to the automatic brake not kicking in when it should and the engine warning light coming on after going through every little puddle (unavoidable at the moment with all this rain). Today DH went to refill the screen wash in his car. At first he struggled to get the bonnet to open….once open he put in the screen wash but then couldn’t get the bonnet to fasten properly no matter what he did! He phoned our usual garage but he is really busy and can’t even look at it until Monday when we will be in North Yorkshire visiting mum and daughter. DH had no option other than to have another look at it himself and eventually after a few more attempts managed to get it closed but it will need some attention and maybe a new catch. Presumably the nice garage man will add it to the list!

I keep feeling really ‘off colour’ at the moment…it could be stress…too many problems bombarding us! I need a few days of calm.

30 Replies to “dear diary >> in the craft room”

    1. Thank you it has been a bit touch and go as I am not a very experienced knitter – I used to rely on my mum for help but she is too far away now and her memory is failing. I am not sure it will survive my daughter’s washing machine though and she doesn’t handwash!

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      1. I find it hard to believe you are “not a very experienced knitter.” I learned how to knit from a book and could not stop. COVID changed my brain, so I put away all the yarn and needles, books and magazines. Before that, I took a hat I was having problems with to Barnes & Noble, to ask my friend if she could help me figure out how to fix it. (I’d dropped a stitch.) She couldn’t help for exclaiming how I was a better knitter than I knew–and marveling over how perfect my stitches were. I thought she was being kind. LOL. If I could knit as well as you, I’d knit a cardigan just for me. They are a secret pleasure I have enjoyed since I was a girl. I hope your daughter will handwash that beautiful work of art. 🙂

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        1. Oh goodness you are too kind – I really am a novice….if I were to drop a stitch I would probably have to start again as I am sure I would never be able to retrieve it. I am working on my edges to make them neater and You Tube, as ever, is such a help but I get lost when I have to start decreasing and increasing and the edges then become messy. I am also trying to develop and perfect the art of the fully fashioning because often a knitting pattern does not talk you through this in detail. I had to do my own ‘fashioning’ detail around the neck and armholes for the bodice as no instructions were given. I had no idea how splitting the back bodice into two pieces would work but luckily it has but I think my next garment will be something much simpler.

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          1. See? You really are talented. You have a knack, sister-woman. I learned how to pick up dropped stitches because I read how to do it. It’s really quite simple. You, on the other hand, knew what you wanted and figured out how to do it. That’s a whole other skill set. Give yourself credit because it is due. I look forward to seeing your next garment.

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  2. What a beautiful dress. I am sure your granddaughter will be delighted! You are so very talented. I hope you are feeling better soon. Once the nice sunny spring weather returns we will all feel rejuvenated.

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  3. you both seem to have enough on your plates lately and that does take a toll. remember you are only 1 person and you can only do so much. take some time please dear lady. breath………a lovely sweet outfit for your granddaughter. thanks for the post, always looking forward to them.

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  5. Oh, that dress is an absolute delight. It is so stylish for a young girl (and my favourite colour), you are really talented.

    I am not surprised you’re feeling off colour – worries about the cottage, on top of Covid, inflation, and this morning we wake to the war Putin has just started. It is all stress even the stuff which might feel [sort of] low level and background, and the cummulative effect should not be ignored. Take care. xxx

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    1. Hi Jayne – thank you for the comment – much appreciated. Sometimes stress just stalks you for a while and then one day wham you feel it.
      If you read this – are you still blogging? It seems I cannot link through anymore from WordPress.

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  6. What a beautiful little dress. You are so skilled. I’m sure that the recipient will be delighted with it. Life can be a struggle sometimes, especially when you are facing one problem after another. I hope you manage to resolve the issues with your car soon. Have a lovely time visiting family in North Yorkshire.

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  7. Sending hugs. I honestly believe that the weather is wearing everyone down. And how annoying about the bonnet – so minor but you can’t drive off with the bonnet flapping around! That dress looks amazing and you have done an amazing job.

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  8. Love Sweetie’s dress. You did a wonderful job of bringing together the different fabrics and techniques. Like a tricky jigsaw puzzle–especially the knitting component. Glad you were able to fit all the furniture in the car, but sorry to hear about the car issue. Must be the week for it–DH’s vehicle lost all electrical power on his commute home one night last week. Luckily, he made it across a long two lane bridge before it gave up entirely. Ah well. Safe travels to North Yorkshire.

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    1. I wonder if horses were as much trouble as owning and maintaining a car!! It has been quite a week here but I feel a bit better having got the dress finished – my next knitting project is going to be an easy beginners one.

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  9. What a delightful and beautiful dress. I do hope your grand daughter loves it, I loved anything my granny made me when I was a little girl. I still have a jumper she knitted me for my 18th birthday.

    I am so sorry to hear that you are not feeling right at the moment. There is a lot going on the background which adds up, Covid, inflation, in fact most of the news. Add to that a busy life with family and you are pulled in all directions. I hope you can find moments of calm and rest and make time for them. They are so important. We can’t be there for others if don’t look after ourselves. Take care of you.

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    1. My gran sewed, my mum was the knitter so I had lovely outfits when I was little I can remember them all – wish mum had kept some they would have been adored by my two granddaughters.
      At the moment if it is not my own problems it is a family members that I am dealing with so it has been a rather hard week or two.

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  10. The little dress is gorgeous. I’m sure she will love it. Sorry to hear that you are feeling a bit ‘off’ right now. It’s not surprising with everything that’s happening in the world. It’s all stressful stuff even if we’re not directly involved isn’t it. Hope you feel better soon x

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    1. Feeling anxious is a funny thing… it can hit you unexpectedly but it has been quite a busy and fraught period for us since before Christmas so I suppose it just all catches up with you and catches you off guard! x

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  12. What a gorgeous dress! You are so talented. I’m sure it will look adorable on your grandaughter and she will love it. Hope you are able to get some moments of calm and relax a bit. Take care.

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  13. Oh, what a beautiful dress, you’ve made such a good job of it, perfect. Your granddaughter will be the best dressed little girl around. Glad the collection of your new furniture went without a hitch but sorry to hear about the car problems, there’s always something with cars, isn’t there.

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    1. New furniture in place now and although I will my old pine table I know I can still go to my brothers to see it when I need to. The size of the new one is so much better for the space while there is just the two of us.

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  14. The dress was well worth the wait, it is beautiful and wow what a gorgeous colour you chose to make it in.

    I do hope you are feeling a bit less off colour or stressed at the moment. The news doesn’t help at all does it, I’m trying to only watch once a day, at teatime usually and to keep my other viewing and reading much more light-hearted.

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    1. Hi Sue – the news certainly is just beyond belief and it hasn’t helped with the mounting stress I am feeling at the moment in my life from other issues – I seem to have so much to worry about. If I didn’t know for sure that I haven’t had Covid I could easily think I had Long Covid as I have many of the symptoms but equally it could be my thyroxine medication that needs adjusting or just plain anxiety getting the better of me.
      I do look forward to reading my favourite blogs though and so enjoying the trips into the depths of your freezer and cupboards!! Sorry for the lack of comments recently – we have been away to see my mum and the grandchildren and in a day or so it will be back to Scotland – I may fit another post in -I have written the beginnings of a few but never got to finish them and now they are old news.
      I will wave on our way past Garstang – I am hoping to slip in a visit to Booths in Penrith on this visit – that always cheers me up.

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