Quatrefoil Gown

I have a good friend for whom the quatrefoil is significant. This is a four petaled flower thing used in heraldry. Something over a year ago I got excited with the idea that I could make quatrefoils with shibori. Just do a standard square type fold and clamp it near one corner. But what to make and therefore what fabric to dye? Well, I have the coat pattern I made for her back in 2015 and she lives in Tasmania which is is on the cold side. So maybe a dressing gown? I’d had the thought for a while that such a thing might be nice done in cotton flannelette, which is also easily dyeable. Voila I had a plan. I managed to source some white flannelette, whew.

The small flaw in this plan was that flannelette is bulky, and I only had two appropriate clamps, so I could only do two quatrefoil panels, bother. Never mind, these became the gown fronts. I did another two with similar square folding but just tied which became the back panels. One was done pleated which i used for collar and facings. The last piece was done wrapped around long screws which gives a pretty effect that makes me think of dandelion clocks. This I used for sleeves and pockets.

The best quatrefoil effects I managed, photobombed by a pocket:

A dandelion clock sleeve:

It has deep facings front and back to increase warmth

Pocket and belt shot. The belt is made of three colours to come the closest I could to the blue of the dye, if you squint and let the colours blend. I had enough fabric to make a self belt but given how flannelette sticks to itself, I thought that was a bad idea.

Here is the whole thing from the front. It’s a fusion garment. A-line body, western cut sleeves and armscye, kimonoesque collar for good chest coverage and I confess, ease of construction.

and from the back

I really like it. It is one of those gift makes that I would be very happy to keep! I didn’t though, I was good and posted it off to her as was intended.

Sock pair #40: Two at once!

I needed a travel project. Sock knitting is great for that. Very compact, time hungry, mostly doesn’t need a pattern these days. I had some yarn that I was keen to knit but not in my colours. Orange shading into purples. I posted a picture and a friend who loves these colours had a big squee over the yarn. So of course I knitted them for her. To add interest to a simple plain knit sock, I decided to have my first go at knitting two socks at once, by the circular needle method, not the terrifying alternating stitch method. I had to make a special trip to find the right needle but it was worth it. Despite the beautiful colours I nearly “died of boredom” in the latter stages of the knitting.

I managed to knit the toes and only the toes on the aeroplane. That’s the tray table grey rather than the ironing board grey that you usually see.

Another progress pic just because. Oh, and because this is the only pic that captures the pink glow at the tips of the toes.

and the finished socks. Such a beautiful long colour gradient that the camera has not quite captured. It’s prettier than this in real life. I believe the yarn is Schoppelwolle Zauberballe but I had it unlabelled as a stash gift from a friend. I used a different yarn for the heels so as to not interrupt the gradient.

These have been delivered to my friend and she loves them to look at, but I don’t yet know if they fit. Fingers crossed.