Not a house made of Lego, a Lego house.

Last night I watched James May's Toy Stories with the kids.  It was all about building a life size house out of Lego, Grand Designs with Lego - brilliant!  Here's a taste....(that gives away the unhappy ending).



James commented that he didn't want to build a house out of Lego, he wanted to build a Lego House.  Meaning finding a new architechural vernacular for building in Lego or somesuch (not his comment, me trying to be pointy headed).

R-almost-6 was inspired to build his own Lego House, not a house out of Lego you understand!

Can you spot the sink?  It has a big green tap.  The man and the boy have gone to bed with Lego blankets.

Here's the car parked in the garage.  And the star ship that transforms into a boat.

At one point in the TV show they ran out of Lego (as it always does in these "build" programmes.  It's usually the windows....  but I digress).  R leapt up exclaiming "they can use mine!" and ran from the room, returning with his box of Lego.  "I can send it to them!".  Bless. 

Sadly the Lego house is no more.  I haven't told R yet, but I'm sure he'd understand. 

That's the thing about Lego.

Glorious, Glorious Stitchcraft

I love Patons Stitchcraft magazines.  I have a lot.  My favourites are from the late 60s - the 300s and 400s are pretty much all brilliant.  The earlier ones may be cute and vintage and collectable, but the knitwear doesn't inspire me at all. 

Things get a bit weird in Stitchcraftland around 1970 - less inspiring but always entertaining. 

To be fair the Wild Things family don't come from Stitchcraft. They wandered off the set of a Dr Who episode. Nah, they're from a Golden Hands Family Knitting book.  I do have a small collection embarrasingly large amount of old pattern books.

Thank God for Faye Dunaway.  Bonnie & Clyde is just about my favourite movie ever.  You'll never go wrong with a beret and a long cardi.

With the exception of Hostess Gowns (for "home entertaining"), knickerbockers, blokes in dodgy vests, whole families in fake fur, knitted hot pants, crochet bikinis, crochet weddings, scratchy turtle necks and some seriously freaky fair isle, knitwear was pretty groovy in the '70s.  I even like those little disco numbers.  Then the '80s happened and I will not even go there. It was so bad I gave up knitting for 20 years.

Just before I go - isn't this just the most darling teenager you've ever seen?  I'm a little concered at her reading matter though - "The Mod".  Watch out mum and dad, she'll be out the window and on the back of a moped before you can say "perfect for TV knitting".

One more:  Forget the chap with his tweedy cap and golf club, a real man likes a sword and a Prussian helmet.

I could go on all day......

A Storm (and fair isle shawl collared boy sweaters).

We had a storm on Friday.  I live at the bottom of the hill this was taken from.



I've lived in Wellington for 39 years 5 months and three weeks, and I've never seen a storm come in like that.  I love the bit where the guy tells the child to come away from the windows and child answers "why".  Old people 'round here remember the Wahine Storm of 1968.  At my primary school we used to tell a horror story about a child who was decapitated by a flying sheet of roofing iron as she stood at her window.  I discovered recently this story is more than playground myth.  It already haunted me when I thought it was made up!  So, that's why.

On Friday I found myself saying "I think you should come away from the windows now". 
On a less macabre note, also on Friday, I decided I have to knit Ryan a shawl collared fair isle sweater just like one I saw in Country Road.  I've charted out the fair isle pattern and experiemented a few times to get the right edging pattern.  After knitting about 6 inches up from the bottom I decided this needs to be knit top down.  So I frogged it and am now trying to reactive my brain to calculate how many stitches and increases I need.

Random fact leading to new post - I have 3 large file boxes full of Stitchcraft magazines.

Nothing new under the sun

I thought my Tapa cushion was terribly clever and original.  But no, a wee internet search turns up several cushions using this desing.  Meh.  At least I'm original in South Pacific-ising it, huh?

Found the perfect buttons to fasten it in my local haberdasher's.  Not a great pic of the buttons but good look at my carpet.  Support New Zealand's "strong wool" industry, buy only 100% wool carpet!

Seems I'm not the only one suffering from Great Minds Think Alike Syndrome, check out this from Vogue Knitting winter 09/10, and Fontana 1960-something:

Have they got a time machine?  That is surely the same model. 

I'd knit for him.

Maternity, 1955 style

Check out that post baby waistline!

Good lumbar support matters as a girl gets older.

I've been making cushion covers - nearly instant gratification for the craftily challenged.

Tivaevae, in tapa colours.

I found this glorious vintage cut out work in the Newtown St Vincent de Paul shop.  It is properly old, lovely faded cottons, all hand stitced.  I've somewhat inelegantly stuck it to a Spotlight cushion with iron-on bonding, and whipstiched (I'm crafty, honest) around the edges.  So much work went into making these beautiful flowers and leaves, I hope I'm doing it's maker justice by putting it to use, and on show.

The easiest cushions of all - the tamariki chose the panels at Nancy's Embroidery Shop, I found hopefully co-ordinating el-cheapo fat 1/4s at Spotlight.... ta da: instant cushions for  "you're the best mummy ever" grateful children.

Next time - crochet toilet roll covers and those poodles to go on your sherry bottle.  Yeah.....nah.  Would you like a kitten photo?  Of course you would:

Hetty

While I'm on a roll, here's free one.  Click here to download a PDF:

download now

Am I nuts offering a free pattern that looks like my pay one?  Yes, probably!  But this is really very different in construction from Anahera, and I want to see it knitted in different yarns with seed stitch detailing, and don't want to do it myself, so it's a freebie.  Please knit!

Hetty came out of size testing for Anahera, basically she's a size 6 Anahera without the details and knitted top down.  You can replace the seed stitch bands with garter stitch if you wish (sharp eyes will notice my sample is knitted in garter stitch as it's pretending to be an Anahera).


Hetty
Finished garment measures: chest 25” (63.5cm), length 18” (48cm)
Gauge: 20sts and 32 rows to 4”(10cm)
Yarn: 200g of Bendigo Woollen Mills Harmony
Needles and Notions
4mm 60cm circular needle or size to get gauge
4mm DPNs (or circs for magic loop) to work sleeves or size to get gauge
Stitch holders, stitch markers, tapestry needle.

Seed Stitch:
rnd 1 and all odd numbered rows k1, p1 to end
rnd 2 and all even numbered rows p1, k1 to end

Instructions
With 60cm circular needle CO 90sts, pm and join for working in the round.
Rnd 1: knit
Rnd 2: purl
Rnd 3: knit placing markers as follows: k16, pm, k29, pm, k16, pm, k29
Rnd 4 (raglan inc): (k to 1 stitch before marker, kf&b,sm, k1, kf&b)  repeat 3 times
Rnd 5 (sleeve inc): k6, (m1, k1) 6 times, k to 2nd sleeve, k8, (m1, k1) 6 times, k to end.
Rnd 6 (raglan inc): (k to 1 stitch before marker, kf&b, sm, k1, kf&b) repeat 3 times
Rnd 7: knit
Repeat rnds 6 and 7 9 more times, until you have 44sts for each sleeve and 51sts front and back, 190 sts total.
K2 rounds even.

Divide for sleeves
Place 44sts on holder, k51, place 44sts on holder, k51 (remove raglan markers as you go, and place new marker for side).

Body
K3 rnds even
Knit 3 rnds seed stitch
Next rnd k17 (Kf&b) 19 times, k to side marker, k across back increasing 19sts evenly as you go (approx every 3rd st).
K even until piece measures 9” from underarm, or desired length.
Knit 3 rnds seed stitch
Next rnd: *k20, (kf&b) 3 times, k26, (kf&b) 3 times, k to next marker**. Repeat * to ** once.
Work even until piece measures 13” from underarm or required length.
Knit 3 rnds seed stitch
BO all sts in pattern.

Sleeves
Place held stitches for left sleeve on dpns, or circular if you magic loop. Pick up 4 stitches around armhole, 48sts total.
Knit even for 1” (2.5cm) or desired length.
Next rnd: k22, (k2tog) 4 times, k22
Knit 3 rnds seed stitch
BO all sts loosely in pattern.
Repeat for right sleeve.

Weave in ends and block as needed.

© Sarah Wright 2009. All rights reserved. Please do not copy, distribute or sell this pattern in any form. This pattern is made available for personal, non-commercial use only. Do not make items from this pattern for sale.