Wick – Double Diamonds: Week 12, 20 July

Firstly, thank you all for your get well wishes.  The aches and pains has gone, to be replaced by itchiness.  I take this as a good sign.  The dressings have been changed daily, and the nurses seemed pleased, saying the wound ‘is very dry’.  My appointment with the surgeon was to Friday, and he seemed pleased too.  The dressing will now be changed every other day, and I am allowed to wash my hair.  I can even get it cut, if the hairdresser is comfortable with it.  Additionally, the surgeon didn’t a skin graft was necessary.  I’m hoping that following the NHS advice to stay hydrated and have vitamin C and protein in your diet has helped.

Fascinating foam

When I haven’t been walking back and forth to the surgery, I’ve been crawling around on the floor, laying out the fabric for the denim jacket mentioned a few weeks ago.  The facing layer was cut first, reasoning that if mistakes were made, there was spare fabric. Then I tackled the outer fabric, which was a finite resource.  The layout was complicated by some of the pieces needing a single layer layout – only one piece cut at a time instead of two.  By laying out as efficiently as possible, there is possibly enough fabric left for the optional hood, which can be made at a later date.  

Thistle

This all takes more time than it probably should.  One reason was that a multi-sized paper pattern was used, and I’m averse to cutting one size and losing the information for the other sizes.  Consequently, it is necessary to trace the pattern pieces onto the fabric.  Added to this, various design details need to be marked.  But dressmakers’ chalk tends to rub off, pins fall out, and pen markings would show, so my preferred method is tailors’ tacks made by hand with thread and needle.  Then, when I was ready to sew, I discovered that the fusible interfacing still needed to be cut.  Thankfully, that did not take long.

Vacuum-packed

Design decisions needed to be made, too.  The pattern calls for snaps, but I couldn’t find any I liked and went for buttons instead, which was another excuse to scour the internet.  Then, what style of buttonhole – machine, hand, bound?  I chose a sturdy bound style, which are done by machine when the jacket is nearly complete. 

Rose & bud

And the gansey?  The knitting was complete a week ago, and since then has been patiently waiting to be blocked until the foam mats are freed from fabric cutting duties.  This finally occurred on Sunday, when I spent more time on the floor pinning it out.  The ribs on the body have spread and the patterned ribs can be better seen.  If you spot any mistakes in the yoke, don’t tell me.

There will be no blog for the next two weeks, and possibly the two weeks after that.  I’m slipping the bounds of Caithness again, first to a bamboo pipe course in France, and then to Aberdeen for the handbell symposium. Stay cool and keep on knitting!