Mechanicals and some projects

Bit of a confused and comical bunch aren't they? The mechanicals were brilliant in their play within a play, flipping hilarious! 

Oscar miming a lanthorn (lamp). He played a very drunk Satrveling the tailor and did brilliantly to get mentioned in two reviews even though his characters was very minor :)

Thisbe being attacked by a terrified lion! Mechanicals costumes were pretty basic, but loved the additions for the little play. Unfortunately bottom wasn't there on the day of the photo shoot so there are no photos of his lovely mask.

Theatre aside now, back to our place - lovely Cylcamens friends gave us on the opening night. Such a rich reddy pink colour! They seem to wilt in direct sunlight so I have moved them to a more sheltered spot. Fussy plants, but worth the effort I think :)

Now don't worry, I'm not that sad that the plays over. I'm quite enjoying the free time in the evenings now and getting back to some of my own projects!

This is a project from way back at the start of the year - quilted knitting machine cover which I don't think I ever photographed in it's finished state. Lovely and colourful and does it's job well. There's something very satisfying about using up all those scraps to make something functional and pretty.
Everyone of those fabrics has some kind of story behind it, that's what I love about quilts. They're a collection of memories.

1940's style vest in progress - just need to attach the cuffs and find some buttons to go with it. Funny construction! Had to figure it out myself after returning the magazine pattern to the library. Love the interesting silhouette it creates with those curving sleeves and straight body shape.

Wow, this photo shows just how lovely the weather has been lately with that lovely bright lighting. We've been spoilt with warm and balmy sunny days. It's only August! But yeah, this is a cake I baked when a friend came over. It's chocolate and coffee cake. I may becoming addicted to coffee, but not regular coffee. I can only have decaf and that'd fine by me. I'd rather have tea for a boost during the day. No coffee is just for taste. In cake, as a hot drink and as ice cream - mochachino ice cream from the rob roy dairy (2.00 for two massive scoops of the best ice cream) Three bucks gets you 3 scoops, it's too much. Then you can get 4 scoops, not something you want to eat all by yourself although it has happened before...

 A quilt I'm currently working on, picked up from quite a few months back. I think I finally have enough fabric to put this one together. Love the idea of a woollen quilt, nice and soft and warm and cosy. I've made two baby sized blankets but not an adult sized quilt. They work out quite nicely though.

Projects on the go:

• Star diamond quilt - 10%
• Oscar's anniversary presents - 80%
• Dress for me to wear on said anniversary - 10%
• Red 40's style jacket - 90%
• Cabled vest - 70%
• Cashmere hat - 75%
• T-shirt crochet bag - 50%
• Sunshine cowl - 10%

Projects I want to start:

• Cycling vest
• Elo's birthday present
• Felted handbag - crochet in thick bright coloured stripes.

That's all for the moment. Glad I am actually using this blog again now :)
N

More costumes

Today was a lovely sunny August day, I spent most of it sitting outside chatting with my friend Stasa and her wee boy Matai. It was so warm and pleasant and I'm noticing all kinds of signs that tell me that spring is just around the corner. Birds chirping cheerfully, bumblebees zooming around now out of hibernation and early flowers peeping out and shoots appearing. I can't wait for spring to be in full swing. It's always been my favourite season :)

Well here are the shots of the Athenians costumes:

Fancy eh?
I loved putting such regal costumes together- a nice contrast from the natural fairy costumes.
The ladies dresses we beautiful but the trains on the back of their dresses proved to be a problem, they got stepped on by the men! Enjoyed making that black and gold tailcoat as well. Think I will make myself one too.

That's all today, tomorrow some shots of what I'm crafting at the moment. It's so nice to have the evenings back again. Tomorrow I'm off into town to run some errands and get the costumes all organised again. Hope this glorious weather continues!

N

Costumes!

Well last night was the last performance of Midsummer's Night Dream! I feel proud and happy to have been a part of this production and am sad to see it end, however I know there are new projects to do now :) I'm looking forward to having my evenings to myself again and going to bed at a better hour.

As there are so many pictures of the costumes (and there are 22 characters!) I'm going to post the pictures grouped in three parts, Fairies, Athenians and Mechanicals.

First fairies! The best bit!

A dark and magical Oberon played magnificently by my friend Dean. He loved his costume so much he bought it! I'd say this was the most fun of all the costumes to make :)

 The fairy called Moth played by Lani. Look at those swooshing wings!

A mischevious Puck! Costume made by Sofie.
 

 Juliet as Cobweb the fairy. Loved putting her costume together, a slip with various decaying sleeves and a ruff, bustle and a lovely woollen shawl.

Our lovely queen Titania with her jealous Oberon. What a crazy dress that was to sew! The base dress was okay but sewing all those drapey bits was a nightmare! It looked beautiful though and worked well with her character I think.

Cobweb and me! Not the best shot of my costume really, you can't see the fern spirals.

  A good shot of the set and Titania with her fairies. Not sure where I am in this shot!

Pretty fairies :)

A better shot of my costume... so brown and vivid! I'm Fern the fairy, an added fairy that brings a New Zealand element into the play.

Peaseblossom! My mum designed and made this dress and she did a brilliant job.

 Moth showing off her wings and drapey parasol. The funkiest of all the costumes I reckon, I love that shirt front with the tassels!

 Mustardseed, lovely sparkly dress that used to be a skirt. She also have bloomers underneath that never showed. Love the cute little lace up underbust.

 Eh! A shot of me with a fern spiral showing. I had one on each hip. It was really great being a fairy, I enjoyed the singing and the movements we did. It was fun to prance around on stage even though we didn't say much!

Shot of the whole cast and the director. Lovely people! Glad to have worked with them all :)

More shots of the Athenians to come in the next few days as well as the mechanicals too.

Now I'm off to do some long awaited crafting, perhaps a new knitting project and a bit of baking.
Not much to do now the play has finished except for choir and the next play (modern costumes, 5 characters and minimal sewing involved). Next year is set to be different though - I'm applying to study Veterinary nursing at Polytech! Excited to go back and study something that I'm passionate about. I can definitely see myself working at a small animals clinic or more likely a rural practice working on farms and such. I'm just hoping I'll get in! Keep you posted on how that goes....
N

Dyeing and the theatre

So tonight's the opening night for the play - yikes!

Here's a sneak peek of the fairies, there's me second from the left!

More photos soon, and individual shots of each character too :)
It's hard to imagine how the fairies all look together on stage when I'm one of them, but they seem to work well together.

In other news I've been dyeing fabric, lovely soft cotton fabric for Oscar's anniversary presents. Blue and green... I can never seem to get those procion dyes to work, but perhaps they are meant to be pale? They're certainly nice when they're in the dye bucket, but rinse them off and dry them and they go all pale. I might dye them again to give them extra colour.

Here they are drying on the line:

What they will be is a surprise! I'd like to reveal them but I'm determined to keep them a surprise for Oscar till the 14th of next month.

I'm also working on a few small crochet/knitting projects that are easy to work on backstage at rehearsals. Striped leg warmers in bright thick yarn and a hat out of the beautiful purple cashmere.

Finished in the last week:

• Batch 'F' beer 
• Various costume mending

In progress:

• Cabled vest - 65%
• Cashmere hat - 60%
• Leg warmers - 10%
• 40's style jacket - 40% (not entirely sure how to assemble this thing)
• Oscar's presents - 5%

Off to do some baking for the cast for tonight and then some busking. Then it's off for the opening night, can't believe it's actually here now! Much excitement and nerves as well. Never acted on stage with an audience before... Eeep!

N

Went for a walk

Even though it's cold out there, I'm still making the effort to go for a walk each day. This time I took the camera with me! Though the battery was dead straight away...

Here is our neighbourhood at it's wintry best, I think it looks pretty with the light raining and everything covered in dew.

I realise now that I still like taking interesting shots, I just haven't done so in ages. I used to be obsessed with taking photos, especially when travelling overseas. As I walked I was dreaming of coming home and having a nice hot cup of tea and writing this post. I don't think it needs many words though, you get the way I was feeling as I went on this walk. Just wait till spring, I'll be out taking as many photos of the new growth as I can! Now it's time for an afternoon of fine tuning some costumes, sewing on the jacket and an evening of knitting and watching Dr. Who. What a life I lead!

Tomorrow is busking, perhaps I can get some shots of that too... Just me and Osk this time, we'll see how we go.

N

At long last - a project finished!

So it's been a while since I finished any of my own projects but I finally have :) I started this scarf at the end of last year as a summer holiday project and did a bit of knitting on it over xmas and not much since. However I cast off last night with two balls of yarn to spare - just enough for a matching hat. Here it is blocking away:

 

It's so much bigger when blocked! And so long that it doesn't fit on this full size towel either. 

Such a pretty pattern and entertaining to knit, I recommend learning how to purl from the knit side though so you don't have to turn the work every 6 or 12 sts, it makes it a lot quicker and easier to make. It's very much like Entrelac knitting which means it's addicting to knit and the drop stitches were fun to do.

The pattern is Summit from Knitty.com
Needles: 6mm and a 4mm crochet hook.
Yarn: Purple cashmere that my mum brought back from China. It was a 1ply so I took two strands and tripled the thickness by navajo plying them together. The most lovely soft fibre to work with and very warm too. Split very easily though and seems to catch on everything.
I simply made less repeats to make a scarf rather than a shawl, but it's big enough to cover my shoulders if I want more warmth.

Overall very happy with this project! Once it's dry (could be a while in this damp Dunedin winter, I may end up hanging it above the fire if it doesn't dry) I'll take some better photos of me wearing it :)

Jacket is coming along nicely, all pieces cut out and overlocked, just needs to be assembled now. Hoping this week will be a better one, last week seemed to be just one thing after another.. I'm feeling rather worn out, but keen for better times ahead. I think the winter is getting to me, the cold and the long nights... I'm looking forward to spring so very much! Flowers and sunshine and new beginnings! I intend to get out into the garden and plant some colourful flowers and some fresh herbs and salad veggies. Well I guess it's not that long now :)

Having read some other lovely blogs lately I feel inspired to take more photos, not just of my projects but generally. Every time I go for a walk perhaps I should take the camera...

Well that's it for now, progress shots of the jacket to come soon.

N

On to new things >>>>>>>>

Phew! Costumes are done! All of them! I'm both relieved and excited and sad to see them all done, it's been a big part of my life for the last 2 months. Can't wait to see them all on stage soon, photos will be taken and then I'll share them on here. I feel so tired after working so hard on them, it's time for a bit of time off to relax. Then I can sit back and enjoy watching the fruits of my labour in all their glory! Oh it's going to be a wonderfully fun production :)

Here's the poster:

I haven't made anything for myself, the house or my family since May. I'm looking forward to making some new things that'll brighten up the drab southern winter. My craft room is nice and tidy with plenty of space now, all the costume fabric will be out of here soon too. My plans? First I'd like to make a jacket for myself with these happy fabrics;

Love those batik style fabrics, the patterns meander across the fabric, with no obvious repeat.
I need a bit of colour at the moment, winter is so grey! Spring couldn't come sooner...

And here's the pattern I'll be using from Burda September 2013

Cute huh? Even though I usually find three quarter length sleeves a bit chilly, I also have some knitted gloves that are quite long so they would work together. I usually can't fit them over or under my many jumpers so this is a nice solution. There's not much of the red outer woollen fabric either, so the smaller the jacket the better. I think I'll use the leafy batik fabric for the lining. Need buttons....

What else do I have planned craft wise for the next bit? I'd like to finish the knitting projects I have going now, (that is the cabled V-neck vest and the summit scarf) and then start some new ones! Then there will patchwork, machine knitted bits and presents for my dear oscar and niece.

I've just joined the group Crafty Freaks over on little minx's blog too so I can share my new creations.

Now I'm off to find some inspiration online - Ravelry and Pinterest here I come!

N