Quaker More Freedom Bicycle Bag

 

The second of my Quaker embroideries is entitled More Freedom  and features a woman riding a bicycle. It comes from the Quaker Tapestry panel A8, depicting the 1895 Manchester Conference. 

After finishing it, I realised there is some guidance in the published Quaker Gallery Stitch Guide, which I'm pretty sure I own! Somewhere. Having now looked at the Guide online, I notice Bridget Guest, the author, suggests adding a street scene to personalise it. I'm rather glad I didn't see that beforehand! 

As you can tell, my cyclist would be in trouble before she started with those wheels!  Perhaps, instead of tracing using the included iron-on transfer pencil, I should have used a compass.

The iron-on transfer gives, of course, a reverse image. Since, by this method, you are creating a pattern on the back of the fabric, it is what you want.

When you mount it right-side up in your hoop, voila! The wheels, however, are wonky.

It is an exercise in the basics - transferring the pattern, Quaker stitch and Bayeux stitch.

I managed those OK, but not perfect circles!

This time the fabric was enough to fold into a simple bag.

I added a zip, since I had one the right size- or almost. It dips slightly at one end.

I lined it in an appropriately coloured batik

and made a twisted cord. The zip means the cord can't be fully retracted for storage in the bag, so I added a bead and loop, so the length can be adjusted.

It can, if so desired, be stored inside except for a short loop serving as a handle. That should  cover most contingencies.

Again, I have no specific recipient in mind - and I certainly have more useful little bags than I will ever use, but hopefully someone  will take a fancy to it! It's too small to act as a bicycle bag, but it would do to carry a phone and purse safely while riding a bike if you didn't have safe pockets, giving you, yes, more freedom!

Quaker Kingfisher Bag.

I bought this kit when the Quaker Museum in Kendel, Cumbria, closed in December last year. I already had two other untouched kits I had bought there while visiting in 2019 or 2018. When I finished the Balvraid Hap I decided it was time I tackled all three. I began with the Kingfisher.

All three kits feature a figure from one of the embroidered panels of Quaker History on display at the Museum. These can still be viewed once a week.

The fabric provided in the kit is the woollen cloth specially woven for the Quaker Tapestry project. It comes with a cotton backing fabric, and the method of transferring the pattern is the same in all three kits: you use an iron-on transfer pencil to trace the design on to the cotton backing, place the wool behind the cotton and stem stitch around the outline through both layers, using the Appleton's wool provided and keeping to the colours on the illustration.

It's a relatively cumbersome  technique, in a world where we are accustomed to designs printed on to fabric, but the wool would certainly not take print, and this works.

The design requires thread painting, and I found myself with quite a few hanging threads in order to achieve the effect. As long as I left the threads on the right side of the work this presented no problem and it progressed quite quickly.

The final touch is scattering drops of water around the bird as it rises from the water with its catch.

I thought I had bought a pack of the fabric, but can't find it. I had hoped to use it as backing to turn this into a bag. I visited the Hand Spinners and Weavers' Guild Shop to see if they had anything similar, but was out of luck. 

While the design did not allow me to simply fold the edges in to make a small bag, I was able to cut a strip from the bottom and insert it to achieve the same. I could then fold over the top edge and line it with green watery batik.

After discussion with Veronica, I decided to add a cord so it can be worn as a cross-body bag. After testing the cords I had, I made a twisted cord from lengths of 6 of the colours in the embroidery.

Also in consultation with Veronica, I made a loop and added a button. The cord can be stored inside the bag if not required.

I'm somewhat surprised how well this has turned out. I'm not sure who will use it, but it does, I think, justice to the Quaker designers. It isn't large, but will accommodate a phone and purse, or a small project.

A really satisfying finish.

Balvraid Hap in Samite

Last year I bought some Blacker Yarns Samite, a 4ply blend of wool and recycled silk, along with their pattern for the Balvraid Hap. I bought two shades of pink, enough of each to make the larger of the 2 sizes in the pattern.

In the middle of this year I decided it was time to take the plunge. I wound the darker of the two shades into balls and got knitting.

The hap is worked around a central garter stitch triangle.  The unusual element, to me at least, is the set of loops knitted into the edges, to assist in picking up for the border.It makes for a very neat join.   

The first layer of the lace edging is a twelve row repeat of a twelve-stitch fan shape worked around two edges of the triangle. Stitch markers kept me on-pattern. The corner turn, was, of course, the tricky bit.  

                 

When I bought the yarn I had the idea of mixing the colours in the lace border, but after discussing with my family experts, decided against it.Consistency seemed the better option.  

It hasn't proved to be my favourite shawl pattern. The garter stitch centre was a bit tedious to knit and although the repetition of the border aids memory, it too is a bit monotonous. Although I used stitch markers to mark off each repeat, and checked each one, it was really easy to drop a stitch with the number of stitches knit together, especially the ssk. Even with care and checking, I found 4 dropped stitches I had to tie off when blocking. 

The really tricky bit, however, came with the edging. Varying between 16 and 20 stitches wide, with a 20 row repeat, this is knitted vertical to the lace edge, picking up one stitch from the shawl edge every second row. That's a lot of short rows! Towards the end I got a rhythm and reasonable speed, but I had to keep following the written pattern. It didn’t stay in my head.

If I were to use the pattern again I think I’d work the centre in stocking stitch. Admittedly, the garter stitch opens up nicely on blocking.

 Turning the corner of the triangle took further concentration but was achieved relatively easily.

 

The outer edge border pattern was not easy to see as I was knitting but became clear as spread out.

I finished it around 10pm one night and set about blocking it straight away. Quite a lot of dye came out in the washing process. I used tepid water for washing and cold water to rinse, continuing until the water ran almost clear before squeezing out the water and rolling in a towel.

I’d hoped to mail it the next day, but it was still damp 20 hours later. I adjusted the pins and fixed the dropped stitches, accepting the need for patience.

I’m not entirely satisfied with the shape. I think the top edge would be better sloping the other way, so it fits more easily around a neck.

Nevertheless it’s a flexible, warm and elegant shawl. 

I rather like the knotted version but the scarf pin version shows off the lace a bit better.

It has a solid look when close against the body and a lacy look when it catches the light.

This is now on its way to the friend who rescued my website last monthI hope she gets pleasure and warmth from it.

While the pattern and kit indicated 3 skeins for this larger version, I did not completely use two of them. That leaves me with the possibility of getting three shawls from the six skeins I bought if I work one in two colours.

I'm still considering options. It might pay to set it aside for a bit. There are plenty of other knitting projects to take up in the meantime!

Library Kangaroo

 I made this Corinne Lapiere mouse back in June, finishing it while waiting at CMI Toyota for my car to be serviced. I wrote about it in my weekly blog back in June .As nice as it is I couldn’t see librarians getting excited about a mouse, however cute, as a library decoration given the time many of them spend keeping the real things out of their shelves.  This one is meant to have glasses. When I had trouble making these as instructed, I decided it was too much of a stereotype anyway. 

It did, however, set my mind racing with an animal idea that might appeal to librarians and also amuse young readers. The reading mouse will become a Christmas decoration.

I found and downloaded a free pattern for a felt kangaroo and enlarged it. I  then went shopping for grey/brown felt. Simela at Create in Stitch was very helpful. I ended up with a solid brown and a grey marle and began with the latter. The brown is yet to be tried.  

It took patience and concentration to construct. Thread proved a challenge. It was surprisingly difficult to get a good colour match. In the end an olivy green worked. My idea was to use the pouch to hold books.

I made the books more simply than those with the mouse. Instead of stuffing, I simply layered a piece of white felt between the coloured cover, one white piece for a thin book, three for a thick one.  The larger thin one was titled Skippy  and the smaller thicker one Grass.  

Simela helped me come up with the idea of the library bag. I toyed with a backpack, but it proved too complicated. 

Initially the library bag hung around the kangaroo's neck but finally fit across the chest and under one arm. I don't have a photo of that.

Even with the enlarged pattern, the joey is small. My idea was to place the joey in the library bag and the books in the pouch. They were made to be taken out and moved, on the assumption a child might play with them. In the end I attached the joey by a cord to the bag as getting lost seemed a high risk.

The hardest bit was weighing the base  to enable it to stand. I don't like useing rice for this purpose in case the animal gets wet. As I had done with the Penguin Doorstop some time ago, I used painted stones from the plant section of a hardware store. It works, but is hard to balance in this shape. The stones, padded with wadding, move around, overbalancing the kangaroo.

What is likely to work best are sinkers, from a fishing shop, which have holes and could be stitched in place. This one went to a library for assessment. It quickly found a use holding pages open in display books.

Yesterday, when the Embroiderers' Guild put out a plea for additional entries in the upcoming SALA Exhibition, I got out the felt and cut another one. It was a fairly rushed job, as I needed to deliver it today. I made a few refinements as I went. The cord on the library bag is a woven bracelet I made years ago in a class I have forgotten about.

I tethered the joey on a  long cord to the kangaroo, rather than to the bag.

The books are Skip and Emu (dictated mostly by the short deadline I had to make it!).

While the joey looks cute in the pouch,  for the purposes of the Exhibition, it rides in the library bag, along with Skip, while Emu  is in the pouch, handy for the mother to read.

I didn't have time to go out and buy sinkers, so it is once again weighted with painted gravel. Hopefully I can buy some sinkers soon.

I have delivered it to the Guild and given it the title Everyone is Welcome at the Library.  I hope it makes people smile.

A second Jewels of Summer tea box

 I've now finished the fifth tea box, using Anna Scott's Jewels of Summer pattern  for the second time.

Even the second time, it was a joy to stitch. Each section uses different stitches and demands precision.

It was going well, until I noticed I had stitched (right) the feather stitch leaf fronds either side of the central flower facing the wrong way.

(pattern left)

It seemed easier to extend the "fronds" into trailing vines than to undo them.

I enjoyed the exercise of working out the path of the vine. I also like the effect.

 

I debated which colour to use for the signature, settling on the palest green.

 

It washed and blocked well, removing pencil mark lines I used to keep lines straight.

The fabric piece was larger than than those for the other boxes, which, interestingly, made it easier to tighten. 

The completed piece fitted tightly into the box, so I only used double-sided tape on the corners.

It is now in the hands of the happy recipient. I've enjoyed making these lids and feel I've learnt a great deal.