A playful muff for my gran

This is a playful two sided muff for my gran. I knit it with some foundling wool at the thrift shop. One side is a variegated green and the other a fusion of reds and purples. My Gran will be 95 in the spring and has the early signs of dementia. Apparently these muffs help keep those with dementia calmer by allowing for the hands to fidget in a warm place.

I picked up the instructions on Ravelry.com. With chunky wool – a mix of colors and textures is best. Cast on 88 stiches and make the whole muff about 20 inches long. Knit to your hearts desire – the more stiches and variance in the texture the better.

Then comes the fun part.

The bobbles, bits and button that are large, shiny, smooth, bumpy and just fun. Chains, zippers, laces, and other nice things that will survive an industrial wash or two are good too.

So I delved into my stash for these bobbles. Once I had chosen the bobbles, button and such, I threaded groups together in random colorings and textures. I found some nylon/cotton kitting ribbon that I uses as my Gran would love the color. I used a doll makers needle – the really long one in the center of the photo above for most of this treading.

I pulled some cotton laces into a long squiggly thing .

Threaded together buttons to form a couple of chains for her old fingers to find in the warmth.

Next I picked up a threaded set or a button and sewed it firmly in place by weaving though a few kintted stitches and then though to the back where a placement button was waiting for the tie off.

The shot below is the underside of the placement with the button and knots. It is ok to leave the long bits, they will add to the texture and weight and that is good.

So, when I had attached all of the bits that I had set up, I then folded the two ends and attached them securely with a slip stich using the tail of the knit.

Apparently this playful muff will distract her from the frustration of loosing her memory. So, I hope at least.

Thanks for reading. Pass it on, care homes in Canada have found that these really do help.

Photo Update of the hand sewn coat

The pockets are in place and the lining is now attached in every way. Now just to finish the edges. Thanks for looking.

the cat trying for the warmth of the coffee machine!

This photo is the best color of the silk lining. Hemp thread closures for the inside hooks.

Basted: The washed wool winter coat.

Basted: My washed wool winter coat. The beginnings.

The washed wool was a 4 meters of wool plaid found at the thrift shop for 10$. I washed it in hot sanitize cycle of my washing machine with the bath mats and slippers! This was done over two years and the material stuck around in the stash. I suspect that this winter will be cold and that I need a proper warm coat.

For the pattern, I am using the 1912 traveling coat. https://austerity101.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/now-for-my-jacket-2/ I really like the princess cut of the pattern. It is easy to meld into my shape. As I added greatly to the length to bring the coat to just above my knees I found that I was a bit short. So the under sleeves and front under panel are in the natural wool.

The coat will comprise of the washed wool in plaid and a natural wool also picked up from the thrift shop for a few dollars and washed the same as the plaid over time. I purchases some quilting cotton batting for the inner layer for warmth. The lining will be in blue sand washed silk. Again, a thrift shop find of 6meters for 20$.

When I put the cut wool pieces together and sewed them on they shifted. And that was with the walking foot in full gear! So, I pulled each seam apart and hand basted each seam so the plaid now matches at all seams.

The front opening is by zipper on the left side. Again this was had picked into place and topstitched by hand to keep it there.

So before I can add the interlining and lining, I will topstitch by hand all seams. This is to seal each seam with the overlap. It will add bulk that will be hidden once the interlining is in place. Then I will steam the seams. Then on to the interlining, lining, hood and cuffs.

Washed Wool

Funny that http://didyoumakethat.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/fabric-focus-wool/ has wool as the Fabric Focus. This is wool that I have washed – sanitized in the washing machine for about 2 hours with my hemp slippers to felt the wool. I would do this three or four times when doing some deep cleaning on rugs and slippers to get a felted wool. These materials are part of my stash of thrift store material purchases. So no great loss if I bung it up.

As the main body is plaid each peace was individually cut to match the plaid. As this is a curvaceous pattern the end matching should be close but it is too soon to tell. The wool cuts like butter and no fraying involved!

Here is my posting of this pattern last year https://austerity101.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/now-for-my-jacket

For this coat I have lengthened the pattern to knee length. The beige will be the front facing and the under front panel. It will also be used for a collar which I have to create and the under sleeves. I haven’t ironed the wool as it will undo some of the felting and I am hoping that this process will keep me dry and warm this winter.

This bright blue will be the lining. It is sand washed silk and very thick. It also is a thrift shop find of 20$ for 4 meters – plenty to line a long coat.

In between the wool and silk I will put in a cotton quilting felt to add to the warmth. Each piece will be cut to the felt – so it will take a bit before I can post the finalized garment.

Ramblings of a dyslexic brain: Thoughts for today

Ramblings of a dyslexic brain:

And a few photographs of the first days of autumn.

Dyslexia I am. Always have been. It is a part of who I am. today. It has made life a lot more complex. If I was only dyslexic life would have been easier. Like so many lives out there mine is very complex. My past more so than my present. I have spent countless hours in therapy to come to grips with my anger, my well being, my survival. And still I struggle with some seemingly insurmountable memories. Yes, memories!

Some are spectacular like my 2 year old sister petting a wild Bear in Jasper Alberta, Canada in 1965 at dawn and I joining her in this little love feast.

There was little light as I awoke that morning – my little sister was not in bed beside me and I could hear her speaking to someone outside. I threw on a dress and slipped past my sleeping parents in the open log cabin. Quietly I closed the door as waking my parents was not in anyone’s best interest. At the bottom of the porch was my little sister. Blond and tiny next to a big dark brown bear sitting on her hind legs. My sister stood reaching up high to pet the bear behind the ears. She looked at me an smiled – “it’s ok, she said, she thinks that we are cubs” I edged closer down the stairs and stroked the bear. She was so soft, it is a true pleasure to remember her gentleness. We could both see into her mind and she into ours. She was more unsure of me but totally drawn by my sisters youth and innocence. When I got too close to her teeth I realized that this was not necessarily a good thing and went and awoke my parents. This was long before digital anything so no photos. Last thing on my parents mind really! The bear touted off with some boisterous prodding by my parents from a seemingly safe distance of the open wooden porch of our log cabin, no harm done. I was three years old.

With the passing of my father last year, I am the only one to remember the bear in Jasper. My sister was too little and my mother too dysfunction. So I ponder my life knowing that a wild bear was more compassionate to these small children then any in the community that raised them.

It is the other memories that I needed assistance with. Violence, sex, neglect and abuse. I will not describe them. They are there and I have discussed them with my therapist and trust me they were not happy with what I lived though. My dyslexic brain has a very sharp memory. I am also ADHD with what the psychologist called an ability to take it all in but not to put it back out – he called it alternative audio dysfunction. Time also brought out depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But I am a survivor. That is why I am still here.

School was technically a safe place but learning was hard for me. So hard that my many teachers all thought I was retarded – an IQ of 92 and not much more. But that was ok, the Grade 7 teacher said as I was pretty enough to find a husband and he would take care of me. She and an aid were speaking over my head as I sat in my desk and they honestly thought that I could not understand what they were saying. Not only could I understand, I also remember their conversation. I can say unequivocally that they were wrong on all counts.

So life is hard. It is for so many out there. In my years after leaving school and the family homes (yes, more than one) was I able to come to grips with these actions and inactions in my life. Took a very long time to do so but I have done it for the most part on my own. Some of my youth is still hidden from me. Too much to bear I think if I was actually conscious of it or its. I really don’t know what it is but what I do know is that it is not good in any sense.

I opened up once to a group of women whom also had hard youths. One woman approached me afterward and said that she now felt better because her life in comparison to mine was not as hard as she thought. She did have it hard, I just had it harder!

That was one thing that I noticed when in the youth center as a teenager, we would compare how bad our caregivers were. Back then, our plight did not make the papers – dysfunctional youth were not worthy of such attention. Today when I read the headlines I ache for the children of such abuses. I know what they are going thought and oddly enough, find it a relief that they died at the hands of their caregivers and do not need a lifetime of therapy to make sense of it or worse – a drug addled life of more pain and hypocrisy.

Sewing was a skill that I taught my self after school and family. I picked up a pattern of a skirt and followed the directions. I didn’t get the cut right so I tossed it after wearing it three times. But I did not give up. I knew that I could do it! And I did. My next dress was an Afghan Nomad Dress Folkware #107.

Here is my second Afghan Nomad Dress – I wore the first one to bits! I made this 25 years ago and I still fit it! The greens have blended with the pink of the silk to give it a funny color on the sleeves, The silk was on at half price and very pink. 5 meters went into the skirt. The sleeves I think another two. The yellow is jacquard cotton and the green stripes hand woven. The black material was from south America and hand woven. The front with the sun shining though the yellow cotton, ,The back with the dress. Of note, to keep all that material in place, I gathered it with dental floss and it is still holding strong!

Some back detail and the gussets can be seen in green.

Detail of the shoulder embroidery that is disintegrating with time.The back of the dress. I am missing the button and only need to put one on. talk about procrastination! It has been this way for years but as I only wear it once or twice a year no matter.

Detail of the embroidery on the front.

So in part this is me. If like today I write, I don’t get much more than the writing done. It takes a lot out of me. I know it is all over the place and loosely woven but that’s me. I learned to write at the age of 35 with the help of a volunteer at Project literacy. I continue to “Seek the Dragons Breath” I use it like a mantra at times. Moving forward and up. Here is the link to the poem that I wrote as I worked my to literacy and out of depression – https://austerity101.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/seeking-the-dragons-breath/

My unusual sewing supplies and tools.

Little bags filled with glass beads for sand blasting for pattern weights and they double as pin cushions.

Vintage glass stoppers also work well in a pinch!

I also use an old eyeglass case to cart around the pin cushions, pens, ect. Funky and it works.

Years ago I used dental floss to gather a skirt for an Afghan Nomad Dress by Folkwear Patterns. I made the traditional skirt and used 5 meters of raw pink silk – it is a lot of weight and needed some extra strength. I made the dress 25 years ago and it still fits! Too warm for summer ware and the big sleeves are best suited for capes not coats.

You can find the pattern here. http://www.folkwear.com/107.html

The cape finishing touches

The Lining with hemp linen pockets.

In between clients, certification for 2012 US tax preparation, Christmas and the infinity of a bad back I have managed to make some headway on the cape.

It is fully lined in a purple jacquard cotton. It hangs wonderfully and is a nice fit on the shoulders. To the lining I have added pockets from some scrap black hemp linen leftover from a vintage dress a few years back.

I have added the brass dragonfly’s as closures for the front.

From my jewellery box I am using beads and unworn pendants as fobs on the end of a silk ribbon to hold the cape closed.

Surprisingly they do the trick.

: Suitable bobbles from the jewellery box.

A close up of the dragonfly closures with the silk fobs holding the front closed

I am working up the courage to cut in to the sides and make the armholes! It is like a puzzle but without the finished picture on top. So, I am taking it slow.