Okay, the camera has gone AWOL again and I have got fed up of waiting for it to turn up in order that I could show you the evidence of the latest welter of crafting activity. So you are just going to have to take my word for it...
Do you remember
The Haul? Well shortly after that, another haul arrived - my fabric order for the medieval stuff - linen, more wool (woven this time) a few yards of silk/cotton blend and an experimental few yards of jute. This last is not for clothing I hasten to add but it will do very well for the floor of our tent.
So my latest bout of crafting has resulted so far in these:
- 4 bonnets - two felt, one calico but lined with felt, one crocheted. The last one is for the etsy shop, the other three are for the girls, it is probably going to be cold in Chepstow Castle for Yuletide celebrations
- 1 cape - double lined with fleece and brushed cotton for Eden
- 1 underdress - basic rectangles with side seams left open to the knee for Rose.
- A whole bobbin full of lace weight merino in purple
- A hank of lace weight silk dyed purple to ply with the merino
- Sheets of merino felt that have since been made into the bonnets
- A small band of weaving on a borrowed box loom just to get a feel for a loom again. I used mercerised cotton for the warp and the tail end of the shetland lace weight that I have had hanging around for the last year or two. I bought four hundred grams of shetland fleece and four hundred grams goes a heck of a long way when it is hand spun to filament thickness.
I also had a go at making some braeis for V. These are basically medieval boxer shorts. It was an utter disaster but it was well worth the giggle. Shall we just say that I have only ever sewn skirts or dresses for myself and the girls. Men's undies are a whole different ball game as it were...and well...they didn't fit and I'll leave it there!
I still have a huge amount to do sewing wise - hand sewing takes me an awful long time but using a machine doesn't really save me any time at all. The machine goes so quickly I have hardly any control over so I make mistakes quite frequently so I plod along taking three evenings to do what someone else would take half an hour to do with the machine. Ah well, I shall get there in the end and the although the journey is slow, it remains pleasant and rewarding.
Hopefully I will track down the camera very soon and I shall have a few pics up before long. I might also show you the latest handicrafting - a completely new direction for me - as soon as I have anything that is worth showing off.
Have a great week won't you
And this is what I came up with...
Chalky turquoise merino wool flitted through with some handpainted silk in ultamarine, bright pink and pond green 
I don't want to spin it though as I think it will lose its painted quality. So felting it is. Probably into flowers for the edges of the shawl I crocheted while in hospital with Eden. The shawl is a heavy, dark grey - very like the clouds in the picture so it will come together nicely I think.
