All posts by Peneloping

Souffle girl

Souffle girl

Souffle girl

Souffle girl

Souffle girl

Souffle girldress: self-made // tights: Chinese Laundry // belt: stolen from Boyfriend 

This dress is going right at the top of the “I have no idea how this happened and I’m pretty sure I will never be able to recreate it” list. I decided that since I’m wearing a giant cupcake one of the days for PAX, I should probably go for a completely opposite silhouette for the second day just to give myself a break. This one is based on Oswin Oswald’s dress on Doctor Who.

I started off with Simplicity 2018 and then completely deviated from it pretty quickly. I used an existing dress with a similar silhouette and used that to lengthen the pattern pieces to dress-length. I also folded the back top pattern piece over so there would be less material and it would lay flatter. And then there was the front piece, which was the absolute bane of my existence for three hours two Saturdays ago.

The front part of the pattern was similar to what I was going for with the Oswin dress, except the Oswin dress has that inverted drape where one side is higher than the other, and it’s a thicker material than the pattern was meant for. I had a vague idea of how to cut it, went for it, and realized about three seconds later while pinning that I had epic failed. Spacial reasoning is not my friend. Somehow through the use of lots of pins and some handstitching, I managed to cobble together a neckline that looks pretty much like the original and doesn’t totally suck. There are still some issues to iron out (Metaphorically. I tried actually ironing them out and it didn’t work.) that I hid with strategic photographing but I have until April to figure those out.

And now I have one of two of my outfits for PAX East 2014! Just have to figure out the shoes. She wears red sneaker wedges in the episode but I absolutely abhor sneaker wedges so we’ll see if my footwear hatred outweighs my need to be screen accurate.

Oh and I hope everyone had a good Doctor Who 50th! Which was Saturday. Because normal people totally consider that a holiday.

 

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A wearable blanket

Turquoise Effortless Cardigan

Turquoise Effortless Cardigan

Turquoise Effortless Cardigan

Turquoise Effortless Cardigan

Turquoise Effortless Cardigansweater: self-made, pattern here // top: blogged here, pattern here // pants: Paige // boots: Clarks

To me, cold weather means snuggling up in front of a fireplace with a mug of a tea and stack of favorite books. I don’t have a fireplace but if I did I’d be snuggling the shit out of this sweater in front of it.

I wanted it to be really drapey and soft so I used Berroco* Ultra Alpaca and got exactly the effect I wanted. I ended up making** another one for my sister’s birthday present. It really is a totally effortless pattern. The instructions are super easy to follow and aside from the ribbing on the edge, it’s all stockinette. The only effort-ful thing about it is getting yourself to sit through hours and hours of mindless stockinette. I made this a while ago but I’m pretty sure I didn’t make any adjustments, except possibly adding an inch to the length. You can check out my Ravelry page for yarn details and amounts.

And actually, I just bought a couple skeins of navy wool to make another one. :]

 

*Does anyone else spell Berroco wrong every damn time? I swear I am constantly thinking “Ok, I remember this time. Two C’s and one R.” But nope.

**Took me two years and I made her finish the sleeves. I am a bad sister.

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Versatility

Pinafore

Pinafore

Pinafore

Pinafore

Pinafore

Pinafore

Pinaforedress: self-made, based on this one // top: Theory // shoes: Seychelles // tights: F21

Back when I was tiny, I absolutely adored Alice’s (as in Wonderland) outfit, especially the pinafore. I have no idea what was so appealing about a garment meant to keep clothes clean during playtime but I desperately wanted one. (I also desperately wanted a tail after I saw the Disney version of Robin Hood, so apparently tiny Ping’s mind was a strange place.)

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Katie over on Skunkboy posted this outfit and I nearly fell out of my chair. (Who am I kidding? I was snuggled up in bed like a lazy bum.) It’s so simple and kind of basic, but the possibilities seemed endless! I envisioned wearing it with stripey long-sleeved tees, with collared shirts, with a sweater over it..

It was pretty simple to put together. I started with the bodice, and just took a piece of paper smashed against my chest and marked where I wanted the top bit to sit. Then I cut two of that piece, marked where the darts should go, messed up and ripped, and re-marked them. Next I cut out 4″ strips for the straps, and a 5″ strip for the waistband (using the usual make-a-tube-and-topstitch-both-edges method.) For the skirt, I just did a regular pleated skirt and did an exposed jeans zipper in the back.

Since I didn’t use a pattern there was some trial and error involved, but I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out! I was actually kind of surprised that it worked with in a slightly dressier outfit since I was planning on styling it more casually, but I saw the pink top and had an idea and ran with it.

PS Thanks to everyone who shared their own stories of mental blocks! It’s so nice to know I’m not alone. :]

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An interview!

Mitten beginnings

Hi guys! If you haven’t already, you should check out an interview I did with Lelie over at A Bouquet of Buttons! Thanks Lelie!

Also I think I’ve caught the knitting bug. I may have started yet another project. In my defense, it’s Christmas knitting which means it’s a gift and therefore selfless and therefore — ok I’m out of excuses. -_-

Ok, back to knitting! (I’m watching Monsters, Inc. while I knit! Box of tissues at the ready..)

 

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Mental blocks

I think I’m stuck in a bit a creative hole.

Take this scarf for instance. It’s the Guernsey Wrap pattern by Brooklyn Tweed and I started it in February and then kind of abandoned it. I picked it back up again a few weeks ago and finished it all except for just blocking it. It’s been a full week and for some reason I can’t bring myself to get up off my lazy bum, soak it, and pin it out. It just sounds like so much work.

Guernsey wrap Then there’s this sweater. I knitted the front and back pretty quickly and all that’s left is the sleeves, but I feel stuck. Want to know why? Because I have 1.5 balls of yarn left and I’m pretty sure I’m going to run out before I finish, and I don’t want to get super sucked into it and then run out of yarn. Except I haven’t ordered more because I’m not totally sure that I don’t have enough. (I probably don’t.)

Fisherman's Daughter progress

There’s also my dotted Archer that’s been in the works for two weeks and I accidentally effed up one of the yoke seams and for some reason ripping it just seems like too much work for my whiny self. So that’s been on hold too.

So even though I’ve been actively trying to finish existing projects before starting on the shiny new ones, I decided to ignore that and start a new sweater instead. The last time I wore my Aidez I kept thinking how cute it would look in red, and I happened to have the perfect shade of the perfect weight of yarn. I clicked my needles happily for a few hours the last few days, vaguely remembering that there was an error in the way the cables were written but not totally able to recall what it was. I’m sure you can spot the issue in the photo.

Aidez #2 progress

Anyway, I thought about attempting the ladder-y thing to fix just the cable direction but then I decided that the ribbing is too loose and was always going to bother me and I might as well start over now. So yeah, riiiiiip.

After this, there will be finishing of all the projects. Promise.

(Realistically though, that’s probably all going out the window in a few days when my Christmas knitting yarn arrives..)

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