Getting ready for the holidays

I may not be posting, but I am doing stuff! I've been hibernating a bit since the election happened. I realised the other day that it's kind of funny that everyone is worried that he is going to send the U.S. back to the pre-civil-rights 1950s, and I am responding by retreating into the kitchen like 1950s Mom. Ah well.

I've been working (slowly) on this turtleneck:

Afraid the turtle is too small for my big head though. Because it's on dpns, I can't really stretch it to see. But I found my 2mm circ, so I can transfer it over to see. Meanwhile, it's getting cold for running, so I made this earwarmer headband:

Surprisingly quick knit, for 2x2 rib on 2mm needles! Will test it tomorrow morning. Also made this cowl in an hour:

So satisfying to start and finish something after putting the kid to bed, and wear it the next day! Unlike this scarf, which I'm still sort of slowly plugging away at:

Meh. And I've cast on these for the kid's teacher's xmas present:

Yes, mittens again. Can't fail. If I have time, I might make a hat too, since I have enough yarn.

In other holiday news, it hit me this week that November is half over, and I ought to be doing party prep! So yesterday I made candied peel:

and shortbread dough, and Imperial Cheddar biscuit dough, and today I am doing hamantaschen dough and puff pastry. I also made a "test loaf" of this pain aux figues, which I think will be a new staple! Yum.

And raisin bread, because it makes the best toast.

Most importantly, fruitcake today! Because it needs time to soak up some whiskey. Yum.

Sick!

Luckily I got my pyjamas finished - buttons and all - just in time, and knitting and movies to while away the hours.

Speaking of, I was delighted to discover this blog post about the two starlets I've been most entranced with of late - Barbara Stanwyck and Ginger Rogers. Apparently both were avid knitters when not lighting up the screen!

In my most recent binge, I've watched Barbara in The Lady Eve and Ginger in Roberta and Flying Down to Rio and The Gay Divorcee.

I have to say, I never cared for the line about Ginger doing everything Fred did, except "backwards and in high heels" - Fred's greatest performances were solos after all! But Ginger is far the better actor; she has a great sense for comic timing, and shone in roles with no dancing at all (e.g. The Major and the Minor, or Monkey Business). I don't think any director cast Fred in a non-dancing role, and unlike Ginger, he never won an Oscar for his acting.

Both played smart, funny heroines - no shrinking violets they! Barbara I think will always be my number one for her performances in Double Indemnity and Ball of Fire, but my whole life I've wished I could dance like Ginger.

And now, I think I'll take some cough syrup and fall asleep to Fred's soft-shoe sandman routine in Top Hat.

Movies make things get done

I feel like I have watched a zillion movies lately, and by coincidence, I also feel like I've been getting a lot done. I can only conclude that movies are good for productivity.

My bread-making has been improving - look at the crumb on this loaf of 60% whole wheat!

Hoping to get the next loaf a little higher. And that's home-made strawberry jam in the background too. Had the good fortune to stumble upon the last of the strawberries I froze last summer, just as I ran out of jam.

Have also been knitting - trying again to make socks:

Self-striping yarn to make them look interesting without being difficult. Will have to learn to do an afterthought heel. Also, this scarf, seen here a few days after I started it last week:

is now complete! I left it to soak this morning, and will block tonight. And today I am wearing a shirt...

that I sewed up on the weekend from fabric I cut a zillion years ago, literally. I'm quite pleased.

All this courtesy of a bunch of old films, from Idiot's Delight to Grand Hotel to Of Human Bondage to Some Like It Hot. They don't make 'em like they used to!

Don't kid yourself, Caesar...

Oh, Coen brothers. I have loved so many of your movies. I think that Hail, Caesar! is getting more criticism than it would have had the release not come on the heels of #OscarsSoWhite.

But neither of these facts gives you a pass on your obtuse comments as reported in the Daily Beast.

It's easy to say Oscars don't matter when you already have several. For an objective answer, how about comparing the salaries of Oscar winners to nominees, or those who have never been nominated? For men, there's a big bonus. Male actors experience an 81% bump in salary after nabbing an Oscar according to Forbes in 2013. Women just see their salaries drop as they age, but that's a rant for another day.

Setting aside the straight-up offensiveness of comparing "black or Chinese or Martians" there are two main responses I have to the Coens' assertions about "how things get made."

Diversity isn't about saying "I’m going to write a story that involves four black people, three Jews, and a dog." It's about letting go of the assumption that blacks, Jews, etc. must be a certain kind of character acting in a certain kind of way. When you sent out sides to casting agents - did they include "white" as a qualifier? Or is that just assumed? Do you look at all capable actors when casting or just those that "have the right look"? And why is "black" not the right look for a chemistry teacher, a judge, a neighbour?

Why can't people of colour just be people, without everything they do having to be an expression of their racialized state? Jodie Foster is famous for getting her agent to send her out for roles that were written as male, when the sex of the character is irrelevant to the plot. She can do that – because she's an established white Oscar-winner! (maybe Oscars do matter!) It doesn't generally work so well when black actors try to audition for "white" roles – although white people seem to have no trouble getting cast as everything from Cleopatra to Michael Jackson to Aang from The Last Airbender.

Now, I know how the argument goes, colourblind casting may work for, say, a modern cop drama, but with a period piece set in a time of segregation, you can't just randomly cast people of colour without rewriting the story to address how they would have been treated at the time. Obviously, if you're setting a movie in Hollywood’s "golden age" race was not a neutral factor at that time. Sure. The only stories that occur to you are those about people who look like yourself and the people you spend most of your time with.

But the next question is, who is paying for this? Out of all the ideas that get pitched to studios, how come the ones that get the money, distribution, and marketing support are all coincidentally about white people?

Having seen what goes on behind the scenes in casting, I know firsthand it's not pretty.

My experience here is more television than movie, but considering how intertwined the industries are, I doubt the system is very different for the big screen.

Ok, so casting. You send out sides. Agents send in head shots. They call to pitch their favourites. Some people get called for auditions, some (most) don't. But let's say you've got a great actor who happens to be black, and a determined agent who gets her an audition, a director who thinks she's the perfect fit, and a producer who is willing to listen to an assistant talking about how a show set in a very multi-cultural city should look like the city where it's set.

But it doesn't stop there. The producers – all those people who traded some coin for an executive producer credit so they could enjoy the power of holding sway over someone's career – they all get to air their feelings about whether the actor "looks right." But the real horrors happen when distribution gets involved. What does she look like? When you say black, you mean mulatta? What is her hair like? Can we see a photo? Oh! When you said mulatta, we thought you meant cubana, not black! (not making this up, seriously) we can't sell this in foreign markets with an afro. Can she straighten her hair?

And no, in the end, she did not get the part. The part went to a blonde woman. In fact, all the women cast in the series that year were blonde. The returning lead, a redhead, had her hair dyed blonde too. Diversity!

Yes, the Oscars are important. And no, the lack of diversity in Hollywood is not due solely to auteurs being true to their artistic vision. Maybe in the hallowed circles in which the Coens move, far above the fray, it's possible to believe that. For everyone in the real world, not so much.

So please, Coens, keep your mouths shut. Drop the silly "I don't understand the question" shtick. You're making yourselves look not just dumb, but selfish. Keep quiet so we can enjoy your movies without the bitter taste of racism to ruin it all.

to catch a thief: the plot thickens!

well, hooray for the toothpick protocol, because it made me aware of a very nearly fatal error.

i decided to mark out the paisles going down the front of the sweater, just to make sure i am getting them properly symmetrical (although, if you look at the original, it is a bit wonky - i just can't be that authentic. if you zoom in, you can see how hastily those paisles were stitched on, too). this ledt me to realise that, at some point the pullover as knit is about 24 rows longer than what i had charted! oh the fun of making things up as you go, sometimes you miss writing down a step or two.

anyway, back to the drawing board.

this is the joy of charting in exel - easy to cut and paste a few paisles into different locations, then tweak and augment them as necessary. i also noticed a shape or two at the side that i'd missed entirely, so there you go.

then i picked out the centre paisles with toothpicks again, to be doubly certain i'm getting it right for once.

it works!

also thinking - maybe i shouldn't chain around the outside of the paisley-shapes? looking at what i've done so far, i kind of prefer the un-chained ones. am i crazy? or just lazy?

i think i will decide that at the end. in any case, here is what the revised chart looks like:

it's only half a chart, since the pullover is symmetrical, with just the central column of paisles straddling both sides in an asymmetrical way.

to catch a thief, very slowly

remember this?

well, i'm back on it.

saturday i was feeling under the weather, so i sent the family off to parapan am goalball medal tournaments while i stayed home to rest, and futz around with this very non-portable project.

step one: finish the excel spreadsheet of the chart. print out. scribble on it.

step two: run in ends. why so many? seems not fair.

step three: duplicate stitch the individual shapes, or "paisles" as we called them when i was a kid. here's a finished one!

then i realised that if i do the chain-stitching around the edge, it is harder to count how many stitches away to start the next one. so, for now i am just doing the duplicate stitch, and leaving a long tail to chain later.

it's really slow-going. newest strategy is to "mark out" the perimeter of a given paisle with toothpicks, so i spend less time counting stitches, forgetting where i am, and then counting again.

such a tedious project! but i think i'll wear it a fair amount. wondering if i'll have the energy to do the back as well, or be lazy and just do the front. i kind of hate when designers get lazy about the backs of things though. maybe after i get through a few more, i'll get a knack for it and think it is easy?

my go-to source for dupe-stitch tips and tricks - watermellish - seems to have gone into permament hibernation. what other websites are good for duplicate-stitch?

to catch a thief: the pursuit continues

okay, i am a bit blah on the summer knitting, what with it getting cold again.

but, as a relief from the horrors of endless navy blue linen stockinette, i am tackling the charts for the to catch a thief top.

i started from a photo of the top - the biggest, most hi-res one i could find - blown up and printed out. notice that the pattern is basically symmetrical, so i'm just working with half of it.

i've gone over the outlines of the individual paisley motifs (or "paisles" as my sister and i called them when we were kids) in pencil, and then drew a rough graph over the printout to guide placement.

then i printed out a chart of the basic shell, and sketched the paisles on it roughly. once i had them in approximately the right place, i started converting the outline to "stitches" following the chart lines.

you'll notice some of those are half-wide stitches: you can do that with duplicate stitch! you get a slightly "higher resolution" pattern that way. next step is transferring it back to the chart file.

i will need to tweak the placement of a few of the paisles i think, but that's easy enough to do by simply copy-pasting. the whole process does feel like it will last well into next summer though!

is it really summer? almost?

it certainly feels like summer all of a sudden!

yesterday i sat on a patio, drinking gin and grapefruit juice, wearing linen, and knitting with cotton. perfect way to spend an afternoon.

and, i got a good amount of work done on the to catch a thief pullover. i had the shell finished, but didn't like the neckline - too wide. so i ripped it back and re-knit. think it will be better this time.

and, i found some cotton voile in the right shade of yellow to go with! it has been washed and pressed, will get that skirt made soon i hope.

i actually got more sewing done, too! i started with a simple four-gore skirt, because it was already cut and pinned, and had been for a good year. i did iron it, but apparently after being folded up and squished in the bottom of my fabric stash for a year, those creases don't want to leave. hoping some time hanging and a wash will help with that.

i likely won't wear it until fall, anyway. then i moved on to things i will wear sooner: the navy capris and jacket (mccall's 7938) here's a shot of the jacket bodice with collar interfacing:

maybe i will finish it today? the capris are basically done. i had them almost done on friday, before realizing i didn't have a zipper! boo. this morning i installed the zip and tacked the hem up so i could wear them today. and then we were unaccountably detained, so i actually would have had time to do it properly... sigh. tried to take a photo of them on - photographing dark colours is hard! here's the least blurry pic:

feeling very betty draper in my get-up. the top is one i made a couple of summers ago. for the capris, i used the same pattern (simplicity 8869) as for these grey linen trousers, which now have buttons! i wore them yesterday, and i love them. they have a very 1930s feel - not quite beach pyjamas, which i am slightly obsessed with, but a close enough shape.

finally, here's a shot of the bird dress i altered last week - the original midriff piece was more of a waistband, not even two inches wide. i found more of the fabric and cut a new piece. had to take out a bunch of seams, and the zipper (grr) and put it back together. but now i can wear it, after it gets a wash and a good pressing!

we've still three weeks to go before risk of last frost has officially passed, but i'm really starting to feel like summer is actually finally here!

dreaming of summer with grace kelly

well, the weather was so beautiful and warm - i even got a sunburn on a hike last weekend! - that i couldn't bring myself to keep working on the hat for mrs. brown.

so, i decided to start something summery - something i've had in the back of my mind for ages.

there's a scene in to catch a thief where grace kelly scares the living daylights out of cary grant by racing her convertible along a winding mountain road.

she's wearing a gorgeous two-piece dress. it's one i've often thought of recreating.

it's simple; feminine yet sporty.

i'm reimagining the top as a pullover. i can easily imagine wearing both of these pieces a lot - together or seperately. the pullover would go great with the navy jacket and capris i'm planning. or the grey linen trousers i made last week.

and you can never have too many summer skirts!

i'm not much of a pink gal myself, though. so i've cast on in yellow. i'm sick (what, again?) so i got a fair amount done today, while watching ball of fire (a little-known classic!).

plan is to knit the shell, then add the paisley detail in duplicate stitch (i decided it would be a lot less painful than intarsia for so many little things). now i just need to be on the look out for a cotton voile in a coordinating yellow to make a skirt and scarf.

the dreaded walk-away dress

i know everyone else discovered and made the walk-away dress a few years ago, but i somehow missed that. so when someone mentioned it recently in a discussion of 1950s dress, i instantly thought, "want!" even though most of the discussion was about how it's a terrible, terrible pattern that no one should waste their time on!

somehow, that kind of talk made me want it even more. my dress would be different and better than anyone else's, simply because it's mine. logic, right?

first i did a lot of googling. a lot of people have made this dress. many zillions of people have blogged about or made this dress. many, many, many. it was even featured on the great british sewing bee.

but a lot of the dresses i looked at... well, i could see why they weren't happy. they had used a fabric too heavy, or drapey, or without enough body. they weren't fitted through the waist. their bust darts were pointing the wrong direction. they had made strange choices for alterations, but blamed the original pattern rather than the changes. or, they just didn't have the right figure for the dress. in the 1950s, a tiny waist held in by a girdle and uplifted bosom was the order of the day. this pattern was designed for that figure - it won't work on someone who is more straight up and down, even if it's twiggy.

also, the "revised for modern figures" pattern butterick 4790 made some unfortunate changes, as you can see if you compare it to the original butterick 6015.

you can see the sides are distinctly angled on the original, but are straight and then curve on the new one. this gives the bodice less structure and support. even on the pattern company photo of the new version, you can see it comes down weirdly low under the arms.

the bodice looks loose and bunchy in spots too, and the waist isn't snug and sits too low.

how to "fix" these errors by butterick has been heavily documented on the blogosphere, with helpful tutorials.

here's a linedrawing of the original pattern layout - this is what i will be aiming for!

today, i bought the pattern. now, i'm keeping my eye out for a nice cotton poplin or chintz or even ticking - something springy, but with tons more body than the quilting cotton so many have used. i was kind of astounded to see the pattern itself recommends "lightweight broadcloth." are you kidding? that would be a mess!

and it needs to be inexpensive, because i need 4.5m of fabric. i need to find a day when i can spend some time down around queen street, preferably at king textiles i think. may take a while to find just what i'm looking for, but at least the sewing itself only takes a few hours!

cottage fabic

this is something i've been promising for a while!

i finally have the cottage fabric up on spoonflower. here's a sample snap i took an age ago - the original is dingier, and i had the pattern repeat the wrong size. i've fixed that now - so it's good to go!

this is the original i started with:

i'm so excited! after i get about fifteen other on-the-go projects done, i am totally going to start quilting. any day now. really.

marvellous moore

about a month and a half ago, i mentioned watching the last time i saw paris and enjoying having a look at the young and handsome roger moore. he's great eye candy. but even better when he isn't trying to act, as in this pattern book from the 1950s, found here via how to become a professional knitter! even better, although the copy of the original pattern which robin linked has now been sold (surprise), the website offering it has lots of other great vintage patterns for sale, and some free patterns too!

solitude

i find myself with an unexpected weekend home alone. lovely solitude! just me and the radio, haven't even looked at the internet till now, haven't answered the phone.

i spent most of yesterday doing a jigsaw puzzle. tidied up the kitchen a bit, made blackout liners for the bedroom curtains (finally!!), ate cake for dinner, finished the kiddo's xmas pyjamas, as well as pyjama pants for myself & tg - tops to come later, but there are categories at the fenelon fair for ladies' and men's "sleep pants" and fair entries are my priority at the moment. i now have 5 entries done and tagged! yay.

also watched the last time i saw paris - a bit melodramatic. curious to read the book, surely fitzgerald couldn't be quite so facile - and there had to have been more to charlie's relationship with marian. and i have to say, it's a good thing helen (liz taylor as a gorgeous young thing) never visited canada, she would have died on the spot. but oh, would i love to have her wardrobe! van johnson was a bit of a stick, but it was neat to see roger moore - before maverick, before the saint, well before james bond.

now, with this blog post, i feel i've done my socializing for the day and will go hibernate a while more!

rainy-day ttc knitting

a rainy day today, so i rode the bus and brought my knitting!

didn't do any knitting, mind; last night, i finished the first sleeve of the invadin ur space cardigan i posted about yesterday. while watching forbidden planet, no less. sometimes it's difficult when watching an old film to let go of the commentary and actually just watch it. so instead of just watching, we had fun experiencing it as an artifact.

look how young leslie nielsen is!

check out the painted backdrops!

the electronic tonalities are beyond crazy!

can you believe that robot cost $125,000!

... and on, and on, and on. anyway.

my point was, i couldn't knit this morning as i needed a chart. so instead of knitting, i brought a printout of a blank sleeve chart, and a picture of the beastie i wanted on the sleeve, and charted him up on the bus.

a cleverer person would have printed these things out to the correct scale, held the papers against the window, and traced. i sadly am not that well-organised and was already on the bus when i realised it wouldn't be that simple.

in any case, the chart is done, and i'm ready to cast on!

fifties fabric fun

a couple of days ago, i saw this and fell in love.

so clever and sweet! and very grace kelly as well.

a quick search later, and somehow i find myself ordering a yard of this from spoonflower! can't wait till it gets here.

but looking at all the spoonflower stuff reminded me of an idea for a project i had last year: to make a quilt for the cottage. out of fabric reproduced from the orginal cottage curtains. but as yet i'd done nothing! so, inspiration.

i dug up some photos of the curtains, brought them into an illustrator program, and began turning them into crisp vectors. this is almost like knitting - sort of mindless yet engaging. tweaking images can be done while sorta watching a movie or listening to the news, but it's relaxing, it gives my brain a little rest. and i can somehow focus on this sort of task for ages.



i'd say i'm about half done - there are three squares that make up the pattern repeat, the deer square, and two thistle squares. but the thistle squares are actually the same, only mirrored. i've done the deer square, and just started the thistles, so i'd call that halfway there. here's a deer:



here's the original, for comparison. i think i need to tweak that red a bit:



and, just to say i actually got something done, here's another fabric pattern, based on a different arrangement of some of the original elements. i think this might make a nice backing, or pillowslips or something:

could someone lend me $30000?

please and thanks!