As promised I got a good start on it. I even remembered I had some lovely sale bought Cleckheaton Country Silk 8 ply yarn. This is a bit heavier at DK weight but the soft white blends well, the silk gives it the same hand and shine as the rest of the yarns and the bonus, it has nubs in it!
This mimics the original fabric perfectly. Of course starting on it meant I had to finally sit down and figure out just how many, how long and how much on the yarn front. Stats are 18 epi and 22 inches wide and 3 yards long, plain weave. It was obvious (finally) to me that more yarn was going to be needed. I probably would have figured this out a little sooner had my hand held cheapy 10 year old calculator not died. I had to go to the old fashioned way of pencil, paper and brain power. My folks will tell you, math is not my strong suit, but I rise to the challenge when I must, if albeit, a little late. The Shibui, while lovely (and I still have a second complete ball for mixing in) is expensive for the amount of yardage I need, but WEBS has come through with a very similar yarn with good yardage. Meet Valley Yarns Charlemont, which hopefully will arrive on my doorstep sometime around the end of the week. Next weekend, I'll finish off the warp and start to get it on the loom.
Not much sewing, one item in process that likely will be finished up today, but plenty of planning and getting patterns out and matched with fabrics. Pants mostly. And then there are these.
DH gifted me Valentines Day with some Italian pattern magazines, La Mia Boutique.
I had been hot for some interesting patterns and these were recommended by the helpful folks on Sewing Pattern Review. Of course they are not readily available in this country so a look see over at eBay was in order. We found some in the UK, he said pick and I did. They look innocent enough don't they? And after you get through browsing the fashions,
and technical drawings,
you can pull out the pattern sheets. OH MY! Mama Mia!!
At least 6 pages of them (double sided) with approximately 25 patterns
in each issue.
It may take me half the week to just find all the pattern pieces on these sheets, but dang it, I DO love a challenge and I have a good sense of humor. I'm feeling my skills are just good enough to get this together properly even if I can't read Italian and there are no construction pictures. Most blouses go together just about the same way, right? But the real question is: Will this be easier BB or AB (before beer or after beer)?
Parting shot: Biscuit baiting out take. Still too short even with tongue stuck out and eyes glowing. Such a pity.
