At Her Leisure

I evidently forgot to post progress on the "Charming Waterway" cross-stitch after June first. I even forgot to take a picture. I really didn't do a ton on it that weekend because my daughter was out of town so I had free rein to work on her present instead. I also forgot to take a picture Sunday night, but I didn't work on it Monday so this week's picture is only after one more night's work.

Here's where I left off two weeks ago:


Here's where I finished the top half of the picture last Wednesday:


And here's where I left off last night:


I'm in that phase where I'm starting a new section of the pattern so I'm trying to use up threads out of the holder instead of work a solid area so it's a bit scattered.

I sewed up the mitts on Friday, and they fit much better than I feared. They are quite long, longer than I really would have expected, but I suppose they're not very far off the illustration.



Weldon's is usually pretty good on needle sizes, but in this case they seem to have been a bit off. While I can see going down one size on the hand alright, going down three sizes would be very tight. Going down two sizes on the ribbing might have been okay.



They probably would have been better done in the round, but the pattern called for knitting them flat and sewing them up. If I were to do these again, which I probably won't, I'd go down a size on the needles and knit them in the round.

Extra-long weekend + Houseguests = Lots of Stitching!

Here's where I left off last week:


And here's where I left off this week:

I had some pink yarn that was in pieces so I made a pair of garters, the boring garter-stitch kind. They're boring, but I figure it won't matter if there are some slightly thicker parts where I joined the tiny balls because they'll be hidden under skirts. And it used up more leftover yarn out of the stash. This particular yarn is left over from the 1930's Ferncliff sweater I made a few years ago. I think I've only worn the sweater once because it's a little scratchy. Another thing that I don't think matters for garters since they're worn over stockings.



Not that I need more garters. I'll try to find someone to give them away to.

I finished off the June bookmark that I had nearly finished at Easter.



That makes the project half-finished.

I finished the knitting for an 1892 tea cozy from Weldon's Practical Knitter earlier this week and then made it up tonight. I've been wanting a tea cozy for awhile. It was between this one and a 1940's one that the V&A has online. I decided to go with the Weldon's one. Got to justify the purchase of the books somehow, right? I even had the colors of yarn called for by the pattern - heavyweight blue and lightweight pink. The blue was a free skein of worsted weight yarn I got years ago and never knew what I was going to do with. The pink is leftover from the 1930's Eleanor sweater I made a few years ago.

I used the whole skein of blue. When I finished the 68 rows that I think the pattern meant to call for (it only said 34, but I think it must have meant 34 on each side), the pieces weren't quite 8" like the pattern said, but I didn't have enough yarn to make them longer. I used the rest of the partial ball of pink yarn too so this was a really good stash-busting project. The 78 rows were a little over the 9" called for by the pattern, but it just means it has a slightly larger frill. I did not put ribbons on it. I usually do just what the pattern calls for when making costume pieces, but for something practical around the house, I don't feel quite as committed to historical accuracy. I don't need a beribboned tea cozy in modern life.

It fits my teapot perfectly.

I thought I had messed up the pattern on the shawl I'm making, but after three false starts trying to fix it, I realized I hadn't actually messed up at all. That was odd. Obviously two pattern repeats haven't been enough to really get down how the stitches fall relative to the previous row, at least not at the start of the next repeat.

I got back to my "Charming Waterway" cross-stitch last night now that I've finished the stockings and bathing suit and gotten the shawl pattern established.

I finished my 1930's bathing suit over the weekend.



Pictures of it on me someday, but not today.

It's Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport in bare, semolina, and pumpkin, knit on size US2 needles. It's quite cute, but of all the 30's or 40's suits I've made, this is the one I am most concerned about stretching in the water. It's just stockinette and isn't super tightly knit. We shall see. Maybe this one really is for lounging on the beach but not venturing in the water.

This was the pattern: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1741139224/1930s-pdf-knitting-pattern-for-a-skirted. It was a very well-written pattern. I did end up shortening the straps in sewing, though I knit them as given. I wanted the straps to be under tension while the suit was dry.

I'm halfway through the plain part of the foot of my stocking. 80 rows to go to finish. I'm ready to be done with them. No more cotton stockings. I'm sticking to wool (or possibly silk) from now on!