I was very excited all this week, as my first month of daily photos has been drawing to a close. I am loving it - it's a fantastic way of shoe-horning a hobby into my daily routine. This means as it's part of my routine, I don't have to make time for it, when I haven't got any! This is what I've tried to do with exercise, although with admittedly less enthusiasm....

Here is September 2009:

We had really nice weather for the whole of September, so every weekend we went on nice walks, and it was a lovely month. The chickens (and their eggs) only feature 5 times, which is good, when I started I was worried it might turn into daily chicken project rather than daily photo.

Onto October!

I contacted Rowan, fully explaining the situation and received the following response:

"Dear Ms Devine

Thank you for your query. Unfortunately Rowan cannot give you permission to sell the garments that you have knitted up due to as you are aware of the copyright reasons.

Many thanks"

This email makes me cross. It's not the refusal I object to, as I can see from comments some of you made why they might refuse, but the tone! I've been buying yarn from them for 10 years, I just wish they cared enough to put together a proper sentence. I emailed them back and asked exactly which part of what copyright law I would be infringing, as even though they seem to think I know, I actually don't, but I doubt they will reply.

So I will have to look into other options. Maybe I can give my sweaters away, and then the person I give it to can give money directly to a charity. That would work, although would rely on some trust. Maybe I can do what Sil suggested and give them to a women's shelter.

Either way, I have next week off and will try to sort something out then, even if it's just picking out the sweaters to go, and washing and blocking them all ready for donation.

Thanks everyone!

I decided Etsy might be the best option, but I'm not sure about selling things knitted from published patterns. I'm only selling one of each, and probably at less than the yarn cost, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to?

I did see English yarns doing the same thing here, which makes me think it's probably ok. But I don't know!

I really want to sell them, as I don't just want to pack loved knits off to the charity shop, and I think I could probably get more money for charity that way. Does anyone know the answer?

Also, I am making a few changes to get my website in order. The About page still said I was 22....I am 26. But most importantly everything is a new colour! But if you come here and things look weird, I am working on it!

Anyway, here is the jacket.

Front:

Side (it is quite swingy. But it is short enough that it works, if that makes sense...I couldn't have a jacket this shape finishing on my hips, that would be dreadful):

Collar:

Contrast collar (I used a lovely goldy green silk organza):

The cute little sleeves:

Lining (I used some mystery silver lining fabric that looked nice, but was so thin and I hated working with it - I hope it wears ok):

I think this was quite a challenging project - it took me a long time to complete. The slow bits were the sleeves, hand sewing the lining in place around the hem and sleeve hems, and also sewing the sleeves in was a bit of a mission. But I really took my time and I'm glad, because I am really proud of the finished jacket. I think it is something I will definitely wear, and I think it could go to work or the pub, so it's a good item to have.

I am onto my next sewing project now! This morning I cut out some gorgeous purple silk satin for this DKNY dress, which I want to wear to our friends wedding in October. It is supposed to be easy, and I'm making it even easier by leaving out the pockets, so hopefully it will look nice and be done in time.

I still haven't finished the Vogue jacket, although I am hoping to over the next week - it's been rainy and dark this week, and I can't see well enough to sew in the evenings. I'm going to bring a lamp next to the desk to make it easier!

Instead I have started a new knitting project (even though I still haven't quite finished Mum's cardigan!). For my birthday my friend Rob gave me some lovely balls of wool, one of which was a Rowan Colourscape Chunky in Northern Lights:

I managed to get one more in the same dye lot, and then realised dye lots don't really matter too much with yarn like that, so bought another 2 in a different dye lot. I think it might be one of the most expensive yarns I've ever bought!

I'm making the Skye wrap from Kim Hargreaves book Amber. I've done one ball, and it's great to be knitting something nice and simple so I can work on it in movies etc. I don't have a photo of the project, because as I said it's been too dark and horrid!

I also decided to start a 365 project to take a photo everyday. To make it neater I started officially on 1st September, but as soon as I decided to do it I started taking more photos. Here are some of the chickens!

Margot laid a beautiful box of eggs:

She is also a bit crazy (I had some fennel leaves in my hand, and she wanted them!):

Georgina is a balancing hen. She just loves perching on things, like the arm of your garden chair, or a pot:

We love them!

Bye for now.

I have been doing quite a bit of knitting and sewing recently. I had been very close to finishing Vogue 8280, but I fell out with the fabric, and it's now sitting in a bag until we make up. I'm using a wool fabric with lurex, and although it feels nice as a fabric, on the cut edges the spikey stands of lurex stick into my skin and actually give me a rash. So I'm having to retrospectively bind all the seams, which is so tedious and fiddly I don't want anything to do with it for now! Also, I'm pretty sure all my bras would show underneath the dress, which isn't exactly motivating me to finish it....

Instead of finishing that one, I have started Vogue 1099. I'm really enjoying this one!

Here's what it's supposed to look like:

I'm just making the jacket for the moment. I've got a really nice fabric - it's like a tweedy cotton. I bought a silver lining fabric, and silk organza for the contrast collar.

Here's some of my progress so far:

I'm basically making this because I love the sleeves! The body of the jacket is really big, and I hope it looks OK to wear when it's finished.

There are 40 steps, and so far I've done 20 of them, so maybe I can finish it at the weekend. I also just bought a ton more paper patterns on sale! My big goal this year is to make a winter coat (or 3!).

Here's a crap photo of the fronts:

I haven't made any effort to match sections of colour. I think it looks nice all random! I am quite keen to finish the cardigan, because of all the nice things to knit in the new Rowan, but also I just got the new Kim Hargreaves book, Precious, in the post as well! There are lots of lovely things in there too.

Finally, I had a lovely cuddle with the chicks the other day:

They fluttered onto my lap and stayed for ages, snoozing and preening themselves. Margot is laying eggs every now and again, and is looking splendid - a big fat glossy hen! Georgina isn't laying yet, but is getting more vocal and stronger, which is nice.

I might try and finish the second sleeve now!

I have got all the Rowans from 28 onwards, with the exception of 44, where literally nothing appealed to me at all. However, since it was released I have seen some projects from it on Ravelry which made me reconsider, so maybe I will get it one of these days, to make the set complete if nothing else! My least favourite one is still 39 - by a MILE. The styling is horrific.

Anyway! Back to the issue in question.

There are 3 main sections (plus some bit for teenagers), the first is Folklore - lots of tweedy, fairisle goodness. To be honest although it is lovely to look at it, most of it is a bit much for me. But I do really love this vest, Portree:

It would be nice if there was a photo without the model thrown over a sofa though. Then we could see what it actually looks like! I might wait for someone on Ravelry to make one, to get a better idea!!

And these little mitts are cute - they kind of match the vest so I would like to make both!

The only thing I don't like is that like every Rowan design ever they are knit flat and seamed, which seems a bit unneccessary for mittens. I think the seam would maybe be annoying, but I bet I'm too lazy to work out how to do them in the round.

The next section is Shadowlands. Which is lots of grey and sludge coloured garments in Cocoon and Big Wool mostly.

I must remain strong and not knit anything in Big Wool! I always do it, because it's so fast and I'm such a slow knitter, but then you end up with such a bulky garment, and it makes you look huge and it won't fit under a coat!

I initially loved this crazy jumper, Cheadle:

But it really does pad out that slim model a lot. I'm not sure it would be very flattering, even if it is very cool.

Also I really like this one, Stockport:

But I also am not sure how flattering it would be. I think it might minimise my miniscule bust, and then end near my widest part, giving a big triangle effect. But I still like it anyway!

Finally, the third section is called Heritage and is all extremely ladylike.

My favourite garment here is Sissinghurst:

It would take me about 10 million hours in 4 ply, but I think it's lovely, I also might pick slightly different colours.

Finally! It is mad and I doubt I'd ever wear it, but I still absolutely love this argyle jumper, Claremont:

I'm not sure exactly what it is about it, but I really like it.

Well! Whether I'll actually make any of that remains to be seen, I still have to finish Mum's noro cardigan, and a whole heap of other neglected things! But I think it's a great magazine this time, with lots of lovely things to knit that are a bit different.

Let's have a look through the egg door! What's this under your fluffy bottom?!

An EGG!

A lovely little egg! Still warm!

Margot laid her first egg yesterday - it was outrageously eggciting! I was so proud of her! I think she was a bit confused though. I ran screeching to get Adam, and we both held the warm little egg. We were hoping she would do another one today, so we could both have one for our afternoon tea, but she didn't, so we shared this one - hard boiled for 6 minutes, shelled and then eaten, half each, with a little salt and pepper - yum!

I really loved the look of Vogue 1087, a Donna Karan dress, my only reservation being that it might be too well fitting, so if I made it to fit my tiny bust I wouldn't be able to shoehorn my giant bum into it (my hips are 2 dress sizes larger than my bust!). But still, I thought it was a stunner, and there were a couple of good reviews on pattern reviews, so I decided to go for it.

It took a while, because it was quite fiddly, but here is the finished result:

I think it is a fabulous design, but an AWFUL pattern! It wasn't too hard to do really. It was a pain, because there were about a trillion markings required and lots of funny folding and pleating, but it wasn't too bad. What was bad was the fact it is abominably finished!

It isn't lined, which to be fair you can tell from the pattern description, but oh my word, the number of unfinished edges! Some of them aren't even turned under - I turned them under and stitched them in place. And there is one bit where you make a pleat/tuck/something, and baste it in place, but then never actually catch it in a seam! So you finish the instructions, and there is still one pleat held in place with crappy hand stitching. I sewed along the seam allowance and removed the basting, which worked ok. Also, the bodice piece just hangs in the air on the inside of the dress, not very well secured to anything else.

I can't imagine the dress wearing terribly well when it's not finished properly. It seems a bit of a con to be honest - very expensive pattern, but then finished not in a designer way at all. It's annoying when it's such a pretty dress, and I spent HOURS on it! Oh well, I suppose no one can see the inside....

I was worried to post all this, in case it was my ignorance that was the problem not the pattern, but I later found another review on a blog saying all the things I had thought - it is here. I just read that review again and I have to say also I agree that it gapes at the back neck. I tried to fix it but didn't manage very well!

So in conclusion: A very lovely dress but a shame about the finishing. I really enjoyed making it and am going to do some more sewing tonight!

A while ago, Mum and I went to a really nice knitting shop near where they live in Birmingham, and I desperately wanted to buy some yarn, but couldn't really justify it given I have about ten thousand current projects. So, I got Mum to buy it instead, and promised to knit her a cardigan with the yarn. That way I get to play with lovely new yarn guilt free! At least, that's what I thought until months later I still haven't finished the sweater and now feel extra guilty because it is for my Mum!

Anyway, it is well underway (maybe half done), and I am really enjoying knitting with the yarn, Noro Kochoran. It's so pretty and feels lovely. Although there are some bizarro colours in there.

Mum wanted something similar to my Carolyn cardigan from Knitty, but with set in sleeves instead, and some other different measurements.

Here is the back:

And here are some pretty stripes:

I have made the back, one front, and half of the other front.

I just wish I could knit faster and finish the damn thing so I can start all the other things I have my eye on!

Here is their house:

We bought the whole package from Omlet, and this weekend a man came to set it all up and give us chicken tips! They offer 2 breeds of chicken, and we ordered one of each (so we can tell them apart!), this is the Gingernut Ranger, who Adam has named Georgina:

She will sit on our laps and go to sleep!

And this is the Miss Pepperpot chicken, called Margot:

She is really lively, and we discovered quite a jumper! Also she is the noisiest out of the two.

Sweet little hens having a sit down in the conservatory:

So far we LOVE them! I can't wait until they start laying eggs! That should be in about a month.

Maybe I'll show some knitting soon?!

I had wanted to knit something for the wedding all along, but suddenly it struck me 4 weeks before the wedding that I hadn't done it yet! I was working away in a hotel, and knitted all evening for 2 weeks, and got the bulk of the project done. It was finally finished the week before the wedding. I'm really glad I did it, thinking back it would have been awful as a knitter not to have knitted something!

The pattern I chose it River by Sharon Miller, made in a shade of Kidsilk Haze called pearl. It took less than 2 balls! And consequently was as light as a feather.

Here are some shots of it blocking - not too easy to see because the carpet is a very similar colour!

And here are some photos of it in action on the day:

Oh I was so excited in those photos! I like thinking about the wedding when I'm feeling blue, it never fails to cheer me up!

I will be back soon with more knitting (well, some knitting and lots of stashing).

The original post:

A bit of wedding stationery crafting today - we have been doing a lot of cutting and sticking and printing etc recently. Adam is only allowed to do certain risk free tasks, as he absolutely hates cutting things out and his writing looks like a load of squashed insects, but it has still been very much a joint effort, which has made it much more fun.

We made our invitations a few months ago (see here), and we have had replies for all of those (apart from one rude person!), and we have been using the same card and rose motif for making all the other stationery.

The first thing we made was the name cards, to put where people are sitting for dinner. These were really easy - we just guillotined A4 card into 12 pieces, folded them in half, and then I wrote the names on with silver pen. I really like how the silver pen came out - it stands out a lot better than we thought it might. The purple cards are for people having roasted butternut squash soup as a starter, and the grey cards are for those having sundried tomato and cashew nut terrine with cherry tomato sauce. Here are mine and Adam's cards! Mine looks really odd to me, it will take a long time to get used to my new name!

The next thing we made was the table plan - actually this was pretty much my work while Adam put together the playlist. We decided who would sit where together and then I made the plan. You can't see it very well, as it's so big in real life and shown so small here. We put everyone's name (alphabetical by first name - because otherwise there would be tons of Thurstons and Devines all stuck together) at the top with the table number they are sitting at, and then put the tables below with the exact layout. Then I used the roses from the invitations to put the same number of roses next to the table as the number of the table.

We are getting it printed professionally on A2 paper, in fact I think it arrived earlier this week and we just need to pick it up from the postal depot. I can't wait to see it, I certainly love how it came out electronically! I bet none of the guests even notice! But it's been fun anyway and very satisfying.

After that we put together the table numbers. That was very quick - just made a picture with the number in a fancy font and then arranged the correct number of roses around it (I just lifted the roses from the table plan and distributed them about the number). We printed 2 copies, and stuck one on each side of A5 purple card. Here they are:

I didn't write about this before, but the other very cool thing we made was photoboards. We tried to have photos of everyone who was coming to the wedding (old and embarrassing ones if possible as well!), and apart from a few guests other halves, I think we managed it! We took 3 50x50cm clipframes, and made a big collection of photos of us, friends and family, and put them in with a silver tissue paper backing to make it a bit prettier. Now they are up in our kitchen and I LOVE THEM! All my favourite important people on the wall!

The last thing we did was make orders of the day - using the same really nice shiny champagne paper that was used for information sheets in our invitations. We just did 2 to a sheet of A4 paper and guillotined them in half:

And now here are some professional photos of everything in action:

I hope you enjoyed the paper crafts, again as usual there were a few stresses that went with them, but they were a lot less intense than other things we made for the wedding, as they didn't have to be so last minute. I loved making them (Adam possibly less so due to his craft aversion!), but we were both really chuffed with them - it was all worth it when it all got laid out the afternoon before and we could see it all coming together!

We (and Jess) got our flowers from flowers 4 florists. I would recommend them to anyone - they offer a fantastic service. They have a minimum order, so we ended up having to get a few more flowers than we needed. But we only spent £175 in total so it really wasn't that bad! We went into a florists 2 weeks before the wedding, and asked how much for a small bouquet of roses, and were quoted £80, which almost made me wet myself with shock. I have no idea why it was that much - perhaps the W word?

We ordered Sweet Avalanche roses for my bouquet and the buttonholes:

Two kinds of gerbera (Pinky Eye and White Grizzly) for the bridemaids bouquets and the tables:

And also Biarritz and Feeling Green crysanths to add to the bridesmaids bouquets:

.

I don't know much about flowers - I thought that the crysanths would be one flower per stem, but they were in bunches, with about 5 flowers on each - so we ended up with 20 bunches of each colour rather than 20 individual flowers! Oops!

The flowers arrived in massive boxes, and it took me about 2 hours to unpack the lot, trim the stems and put them in water. They came a couple of days early so they have time to open up nicely before the wedding.

We drove them to the venue in big buckets, and made the table vases on the afternoon before. It was easy, we just trimmed the stems and put one or two in each vase.

The next morning, I had the bridesmaids assembled in plenty of time, and we jointly made the buttonholes and bouquets while everyone tried to calm me down! I would have been even more crazy if I didn't have anything to do though!

There was a lot of laughing and no one knew what they were doing - it was brilliant!

I found some very helpful videos on the internet, and then bought some floristry supplies from a cheap website.

Video instructions on how to make a buttonhole are here.

And on how to make a bridal bouquet here.

This is when I was trying to tell people what I had learned from the internet about buttonholes, and Alison is leaning in concentrating as though she is going to learn valuable information from a hysterical bride who had only picked up floristry as a hobby that morning:

The buttonholes came out fine, we made extras in case any were a bit too amateur! The bouquets were just bunches of flowers, with mine arranged as much like a ball shape as possible, tied with ribbon, and the ribbon wrapped round and pinned with pearl headed pins.

Bridesmaids bouquets:

My bouquet:

Us with our flowers:

As with everything else, it was mildly stressful but definitely I would recommend it. We could probably have saved even more money by getting supermarket flowers, but I really wanted a big bouquet of proper roses. Also making the flowers in the morning really was superb fun!

Evidence of fun: