Susan's Sardinia interpretation

Here it is then, a cotton top inspired by the pattern called Sardinia in the Rowan Summer Crochet book, but although I like the stitch and the way it's loose, the drape and so on, I don't like it on me. Mega dissappointed. It's too big and unflattering.

I thought using the pattern sideways would make it more slimming and the steeper neckline would be more flattering to my curvy self, but it hasn't worked out that way.

Could be that I used a thicker yarn? Dk instead of 4 ply?

I do like the shoulder yokes I created. I made it out of 6 panels you see, a back, 2 shoulder yokes, a centre front panel and 2 front-side panels.... All in different directions. The shoulder ones run horizontally, like the centre front. Trim borders of dc(USA sc) also please me, as do the neat side slits and the crab st( USA reverse sc) edges.

Front.

And back.

What shall I do? Give it away? Who would like to have it? Any takers, please?

Or dye it a deep blue and wear it with white top and trousers?

Or frog it and make something else, then dye it? Though I knida like the colour, I'm not sure lilac, even such a nice deep blue-y shade is quite my thing?

It weighs 434 g or 15 oz approx, size probably a 16 or 18 UK size as I'm a 12/14 and it's a bit roomy on me.

63 cm across the shoulders, inc the cap sleeve, 57 cm across the back at bust height and 57-59 cm across hem including the trim on the side-slits.

Back length 56 cm from centre back to hem. Centre front panel is 18 cm by 40 cm.

And on a cheerier note: my first African flower sample, worked from pattern directions found on the AFRICAN FLOWER group on FLICKR. It's such fun to do I'm going to make my sister her wedding present using this very motif but in different colours.

Phoenix Trail sunny cycling

Yippeeee THIS is just about my MOST favourite colour and shade and tone of BLUE!
Makes my heart go skippety skip, whoopee! Time to dance, to sing, to frolick in the fresh air.

Cup of tea in the sun in the garden and my logbooks and journal/diaries and some heavenly daydreaming as it's 2 weeks to my BIG/HUGE/ENORMOUS birthday ! The hugely eventful one, a real landmark this one. Pff I've been alternatelyy dreading it, making plans, dreaming and then again panicking over it . But hey NO, i'M GOING TO BE EXCITED, I'M really happy to have lived so many decades 14 days from now, there's sooooo much I've learned and experienced and so much that doesn't worry me or bother me anymore that life will be more free and more fun and more ''connected'' and more, well just MORE of EVERYTHING good.

Lovely snake-head frittillaries in a pot.

Purple everywhere in the garden just now.

re-worked the SARDINIA stitch sample in Patons DK cotton and a 4mm hook. In purple of course!

Weirdly, in sunshine the sample matched the flower on the right exactly but on the photo it does not.

Miss Y and I went cycling today, on the Phoenix Trail. Miss E cou;d not/ would not come as '' she had nothing to wear''.( stated whilst sitting in a ''carpet'' of clothes ankle deep)
AAAh the angst of an almost teenager......

So off we went on this idyllic sunny day. Miss Y is way ahead, can you see her?

Here she comes.

Whizzing on by.

Time for a wee rest break. Lovely sculptures on posts, we've always called them the 3 rabbits but we then discussed what else they could really be? That BLUE, though, THAT blue is divine!

Bikes at rest too. Much further on: a field of rapeseed not yet in flower.

We went further and faster than Miss Y had ever been, all the way to Horsenden tennis club in fact, approximately 7.5 miles we estimate. One way. There were also these AMAZING fields of a green, soooo GREEN that they almost glowed with the verdant new growth greeness of it all. EMERALD.

We saw many birds and heard them too and there were many butterflies: Red Admiral and little yellow ones and even a ''crows village'' in that there were 12 or more crows nests all grouped together.

Come on mum!

BRAVO little one YOU have cycled about 15 miles today: WELL DONE and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! from a very very verrryyyy PROUD mum.

Here it is again: that GREEN. Glowing glorious green.

Home again and the yarn from Inside Crochet arrived at long last, only almost a month late and of course AFTER I have cancelled the project? Why is that? Nice though! Might be tempted to try to do it after all?

This was the original design. A little summer ''smock'' top for either of the girls.

I have now had 2 days away from my EBC cupcake project in that I have continued to crochet bases and tops but have not done any embroidery and it is this which takes me so very long.

Had a lovely time on Ravelry on the rainy Wednesday : tracing Katia Bombay- it's in 190 projects, and also Sardinia has already been made by 2 ladies, one in black. Corsica too has already been made by a lady who made it in red. And 13 or more people have made ''Rona'' from the July 2009 Rowan #46 , which I'm thinking of making from my stash or Rowan wool and tweeds in reds and purples. That stash dates for the early 1980's when I bought for over £100- which was a huge amount in those days- enough Rowan wool to knit a cardigan in fairisle and intarsia involving large floral motifs and a border in wools,tweed,kidsilk mohair and chenilles.

My tension was too tight and the yarns got knotted and muddled and I only managed about 20 cm from the hem up.

So yesterday I also tried out a NEW STITCH not just a stitch pattern but actually a whole NEW STITCH. This is SHALLOW Double Crochet. It's in Inside Crochet and on a website: www.melissah.com . It's a very short stitch, shorter than a dc and makes a very firm fabric.

In the orange sample above I have tried a 4mm , a 5mm and a 5,5 mm hook with a DK cotton.

Only the 5.5mm was getting towards a drape- quality fabric.

I found some other stitches to try while on YOUTUBE but more of that another day.

Front and back are almost identical with this stitch.

See you soon and HAPPY HOOKING!

Easter 2010

Wow this was some cold EASTER: Brrrrrrr in our house, probably because JJ thinks a thermostat set at or below 15 degrees is fine, not so for poor old cold-blooded me! Cold feet, freezing hands and when he pops out I sneak it back up to 20: Blissful heat for a wee while.
The above is my first 100's and 1000's cupcake for my course- 22 or 12 to be completed now by 20 April. Loved the crochet but hated doing all that hand embroidery- definately NOT ''my thing''.

Oops this is a bit dark, it's the chocolate cupcake rejected by the tutor: not quite good enough alas. Got to add way more pleats and french knots rather than beads.

These were the truly scrumptious cinnamon and raisin whirls the kids made on Good Friday using a waitrose recipe from their launch issue ''KITCHEN'' magazine. YUMMEEEEE!

Whicked and utterly delicious.
To complete out W'rose/Delia Easter we also had the Delia grape stuffed roast chicken on Easter Sunday and that too was delish. Aaah doesn't it look sweet? Took me all day mind you and that's without crocheting the base AND I have the pleated case yet to sew too! HELP!

This is the poorly assortment of bases and 2 tops- 1 lavender and 1 lemon icing - that I have made thus far but lots of embroidery yet to be done! All to be stuffed with used teabags.

On a much happier note : on Saturday I treated myself to a wee Easter treat: Rowan Summer Crochet booklet- no egg you see- and it was fun stitching the above sample from ''SARDINIA'' on the Saturday evening.

Then Sunday after church and after walking the dogs I had some feet up wih tv and crochet time to myself and taught myself to do the lace panel from ''Corsica'' - AND HERE IT IS!

In Katia brand cotton called BOMBAY. ( very popular on Ravelry there are 190 projects featuring this yarn , yep HONEST 190 projects and I had a peep at all 190 this morning)

YEP, love love, lurvving this too! Have to order some more yarn ( first stop up my ears to stop me hearing the screams from my huge yarn stash)as I can ''see'' ( in my mind) a lovely cap sleeved top worked sideways in this lace with a ribbed panel below the bust. Very similar to Corsica really but worked sideways so the stripes will be vertical.

When you're petite and curvy : you need that kind of help!

Thus when embroidering all afternoon I was dreaming of my crochet to come.... And here's where I left my regia sockwool scarf story so far. Working on the 7th stripe, red melee and to be a wide one I think.

Also did quite a bit of admin, some Ravelry-ing , many cuddles with kids and JJ this and every morning, and logging my enormous textile book library on a database for reference - 35 years of passionate textile/jewellery/home decoration book collecting. Lovely thick ''coffee table books'' with fabulous inspirational photography.....

Best bits? 1.The water sprays in church from Father Mark on Sunday ( gave us the giggles as the cold drops trickled down my cleavage as I was wearing cutwork lace) 2. the giggles as we tried to cuddle 3 persons in each of the kids beds in turn. 3. Chocolate egg making fun and the grins of pride and pleasure as the girls un-moulded their choccie creations.

Sorry no photos of the choccies as my camera battery was down since Saturday morning.

I soooo hope you had a brilliant relaxing happy EASTER weekend too!