I made a summer sweater of crochet lace cables.

Ok, so it’s very similar to the last dress I made, but I like this more.

100% Mercerized Cotton

Hand Made, Original Design 

SCARF  SEASON!!!

I’ve actually been working on all kinds of small one or two day projects lately- scarves, shawls, capes, caplets, and flower broaches (as seen on this scarf). 

Schrödinger's Sweaters & Other Disasters

Last night I started and ripped out 2 new projects. That’s ok, it was only about 3 hours of my time. I end up ripping out over half the projects I start - Most of them (like last night) are undone before too much of an initial investment. However, when I spend weeks on something that ends up  misshapen and/or ugly, I want to cry.

Most of the things I make will take me weeks (sometimes up to 8 or 9 weeks) to complete. And that does not include the time it took me to figure out what the heck I was trying to do.

Here is my latest disappointment:

A skirt that looks like unflavored oatmeal tastes.

It took me over a month and I had such big plans. I even sewed a lining thinking it might help. Clearly, it did not.

Another disaster:

This pattern just let me down - I wanted a pattern that looked like leaves. I got a pattern that looked like acne.

I managed to rehabilitate this one: BEFORE

I put this one in a time-out, and then reworked the bust to make a decent design.

AFTER:

Rarely do the time-outs work.

I have projects that have been abandoned for years, sitting in bags and boxes waiting to be unraveled or continued. I call these: Schrödinger's Sweaters. They are both a completed project and a ball of yarn simultaneously.

Every completed dress I make, every pattern I come up with, every original design represents months of failures. And those failures are totally worth it when a project works out.

What Is Vegan Silk?

I love silk. It’s soft, smooth, lustrous, and velvety. Making traditional silk is a labor intensive process - raising the silk worms (they’re really caterpillars), harvesting the cocoons, extracting the thread of the cocoon, dying, and spinning. It’s one of the main reasons silk is so expensive.

DRESS MADE WITH MULBERRY SILK

The problem with traditional silk is that it is made by boiling the cocoons, killing the critter inside. Other issues include being very delicate and soft so threads break easily, and finished garments pill quickly and easily.

Naturally, it was the cost of silk (and not the ethical issues) that inspired chemists and inventors to try and create an alternative. The earliest ‘vegan silk’ created was originally called “Artificial Silk” it was made from chemically processed cellulose fibers (mostly wood). This means that these fibers are a combination of both natural fibers, as well as synthetic. It combines the best of both worlds, as these fibers are strong like synthetics and breathable like natural fibers.

DETAIL OF DRESS MADE FROM BAMBOO

Eventually renamed Rayon, combining the words “ray” (sun) with “on” (cotton), Rayon pretty much includes Modal, Lyocell (Tencel), and Microfiber, as well as Viscose. While these were once made from wood, making it unsustainable, modern Vegan Silks come from renewable resources, like Bamboo and Eucalyptus. These Vegan Silks are extremely versatile: they blend well with other fibers, have an excellent color retention, are inexpensive, stronger than traditional silk, breath well, drape better, and are light weight. 

There are some drawbacks; these usually require dry-cleaning because the fabric is weak when wet (I hand wash my projects and use a warm iron, and they always look lovely).

DETAIL OF VISCOSE DRESS

These fibers are perfect for crochet and knitting garments like blouses, dresses, and trousers. It is best to use bamboo needles when knitting because these fibers are so shiny and slippery. Vegan silk threads and yarns are usually well spun so that they do not split or pill, are priced right for large projects, and are easy to use. Projects work up quickly and always look and wear beautifully. EDIT: There’s no such thing as Vegan Traditional Silk (often called Ahimsa Silk). Ahimsa silk is silk made from cocoons that have hatched. It still results in dead moths. These moths have been bred for their silk, so when they emerge their wings are deformed and are too heavy to fly. They are destroyed after laying eggs, either by being killed by humans, or by being scattered outdoors to be eaten by birds. The moths will also often be destroyed to test for illnesses. If they test positive for various illnesses, the eggs are destroyed as well. Plant silks are often called Vegan Silk because they really are the only cruelty free option for silk-like textiles.

Gathering Leaves Dress (Adapted from a pattern by Lily) 100% Cotton Most of the dresses I make come from random patterns I find. Usually those patterns are of tablecloths, doilies, or shawls. Adapting existing patterns is actually a lot easier than coming up with something original. All it takes is some very basic maths skills - if you can count, you can do this! Adapting a triangle shawl into a skirt is a great way to start playing with this concept. Normally in a triangle shawl the pattern repeats, with increases occurring at the corners and center. Simply count out the number of stitches for the pattern and multiply that so that it fits your waist. (I will sit on my couch counting out chains, then wrapping it around my waist to see if it fits!)   Begin your project working in rows, we want to be sure we can get that skirt on over our hips or bust! You may choose to use a button, snap, or drawstring closure for the skirt, so repeat the basic pattern at least once before joining to work in the round and begin. This opening at the waist gives us the extra room to wear the skirt. Increases should be evenly spaced, so you can divide your base chain by 4, 6, 8 or however many increases you want. Keep in mind that more increases results in a more flared skirt. And that’s pretty much it. Let me know if you try this, and what you think!

Everything Can Be Measured In Thread

My whole life I felt that everything could be measured in thread.



What binds us to others is as tenuous. Our frustrations are no different than a tangle. Our discomforts are snags, while illnesses are tears that may run and ruin us. 

Families and ancestors are woven together, with complex patterns emerging over generations. And the world is a vast tapestry held together by invisible threads, with brief and brilliant colors that appear and disappear just as quickly.



Our lives are measured in thread. 

This is done by the fates, the apportioners, the Moirae, that men and gods must submit to. Three sisters singing in unison - one of the past, one of the present, and the last of what is yet to come. They sing as Clotho spins the thread of life, as Lachesis measures it, and as Atropos cuts it.


Duty determines our destiny, as silk is meant for sutures and hemp is used for rope. Our experiences shape and test us, unraveling our life to help us find the fibre of our being. 



At the outset of any project or life there is no clear form or function, it is only as we approach the midpoint of either that we can begin to see the construction and shape. This is when we can breathe deep, and know our efforts have meaning and a place in the world.



Everything can be measure in thread