Rona tah dah moment

TAH DAH!!!!! Rona was finally finished today .

I replaced the collar and finished the ends, sewed on the buttons and VOILA. Just within 7 months this was actually finally finished. I made it a bit longer and a bit looser /wider fitting than the pattern. Comfy like. For fell-walking and rambling in the countryside.

It's also used up quite a bit of stash from the 1980's: some Rowan scottish tweed ( the pine green) , some designer DK wool from Rowan bought in Liberty in 1986( burgundy and purple) and I added to these with 2 tones of felted tweed: shade 133 and 167. The paler brighter pink- which also looks tweedy- is made from recycled textiles.

I designed my own version of the raised flower square as I didn't like the central hole that the pattern had.

The sleeves are just the perfect length for me- I added a few rows of granny striping and a cuff border of dc rows to match the button bands and collar.

It can be worn loose- with layers of t-shirts under for walking/ice skating or nipped in with buttons at the waist for a little shaping. Hourglass- wise you know?

I had fun striping the yoke and inserts and am rather pleased with the final choice of collar stripiness- do you like it? I DO!

With Miss E at school I was trying to get some nice daylight photos......

Hey this is fun!

Bye then see you again soon? OMG does my bum look big in this? Spot the waist button instead:

nice little detail- I'm oh sooo happy with it.
C U L8ER.

PGL funtime adventures and a little crochet

Sorry, these posts are getting more and more rare these days, blame the job you know. Lots of days spent travelling and working but a quick update here. Rona jacket squares now over 50 % crocheted although not all of those have had their ends sewn in yet. That's more at 25%.
Quick gander at how the back may be shaping up. Quite a surprising bit of crochet and sewing in got done while on a PGL activity holiday in Devon.

On our day off, after 3 days and 12 intensive activity sessions we went to Torquay beach.

YEP, I DID it! Stood at the top of the trapeze pole with my raging fear of heights, my breathing laboured and my heart racing so fast I don't think it's EVER beaten so fast! Rational thought ( in that due to harness etc it's actually very safe) had to overcome natural survival instincts- ie the thoughts that screamed: DO NOT DO THIS!

There is Miss Y shimmying up the pole koala bear style.

Getting from the ''bearhug of pole'' postion onto the platform is actually harder than it looks! Athletic and the bravest, Miss E excelled in this task and repeated a perfect jump and swing 3 times!

Caught the pole and hanging superbly. Check out the platform- which should be horizontal- to ascertain the orientation.

Wow, with the fencing there was no stopping the advances of Miss Y: LUUUUNGE

Give me a hook rather than a bow anytime

Climbing: Miss Y had a good go at it.

Miss E reached the top every time, she's the monkey in the family. Well done everyone!

6 days and 24 activities later with a day off for miniature ponies and a visit to an amazing wool shop there will be more soon, see you later.

Rona from ROWAN update on progress: CROCHET

Back at last! Ordered a new battery for my ancient camera at last as could not yet decide on the new camera! Been at work for 3 whole weeks now and loving it . but for a few days ot was an 11 hour day , which is a tad EXHAUSTING!
All the non-blogging was spent in extra crochet planning time as RONA from ROWAN is to be my 2010 birthday project ( one of 2 or 3 as it's such a special birthday)

I have FINALLY agreed and decided on the 4 patches and they are as above. The green, purple, navy and burgundy wools are from my Rowan designer wool stash from the 1980's when they were destined for a complex knitted fairisle design with lots of big blowsy flowers and quite a lot of kidsilk haze as well as chenille. I knitted about 4 inches/ 10 cm before the wools all tangled horribly and I got fed up with the slow progress on 3mm needles and the tightness of the knitting.
At last I have decided to use some of the wool in this RONA jacket pattern which has 4 patches, 2 of which are classic granny squares.

Thus far I have made 7-8 squares of each , I have bought some felted tweed DK ( PALE SKY BLUE) and some REVIVE: a yarn recylced from old clothing which is a delight to work with and is the pale tweedy pink.

These were 2 squares I tried, I like both but they didn't quite fit in, especially the one on the left was too bright to mix well as in the design.

The flower patch gave me the most problems because the Rowan one has a large circular hole in the centre which I really did NOT like so I was experimenting quite a bit. I also thought the flower too big and too square so I have completely redesigned the flower in 2 colours with a heart and smalller curvier petals. I also experimented with a grren or a plum behind the flower but decided on a pinky burgundy which I already had in a younger part of my stash from Yeoman Yarns. You get just a tiny peek of this. Once I was well into making the squares I suddenly realised that I had been subconsciously influenced by a new scarf which I adore and had happily acquired from the charity shop recently for £1!!! It's very soft and warm and I simply LOVE love love wearing it. LOOK! See the resemblance? Unplanned I promise!

The darker blue is some more felted tweed which I bought before realising the colour has been discontinued, I now plan to make the yoke, sleeve underarm and buttin bands/collar in this.

It comes with a very basic schematic and no diagrams ( shame on you Rowan!) and the schematic is pretty limited so I made a toile by drafting it in tissue paper and sewing the pieces in a calico cotton. It's on the ''wide'' and very short side , the sleeves are too long and it rides up in the front ( I'm too busty by half!) so I'll have to compensate for all that.

I will model my version on a fave denim jacket I have had and worn for the past 20 years or so.

My squares measure 9.5 cm versus the GAUGE ones at 8 cm so I'm recalibrating quantities and sizing as well. I'm using a 3mm hook.

This is the inspiration, the picture in the magazine, although this did not appeal to me! I only fell for it when I SAW the real thing on a stand in Liberty of London just before Christmas.

It was tweedy but rough and scratchy in feel and I still do not really like the colours. I like the subtlety but can't wear those shades and tones, too much ochre.

She sleeps or she reads. As will I go do now: read and then sleep. Good night.