To all the members of my friend's list, or even just people who got bored and wandered here somehow:

I've moved house from la_vie_tricote to msmcknittington. It's the name that I've started using everywhere and I just like it better than this one. It's more playful, less pretentious.

I've added everybody to the new journal, I think, but I might have missed somebody because I did it in a tired haze of . . . tiredness. And chocolate withdrawal. So, if you'd like to be added to the new journal and I missed you, friend msmcknittington. It will make your hair shiny and remove bad odors from clothing and upholstery. For the low, low price of absolutely nothing!

_{Call now! Supplies are running out!}

I was browsing Vintage Textile today, and saw this absolutely lovely beaded dress, ca. 1920. Silver lace over a mauve silk. The flower motif in the lace is beaded. I even love the bow at the waist, and I'm not a fan of bows that look like dangling tumors.

Mmm, all that is beaded by hand. The work that went into it is mind-boggling. I have enough trouble bothering to actually hem my projects or turn under the edges of appliques. I'm not sure if it's the finished project that makes me go all swoony or all the hard work that went into creating it. Either one is worth the appreciation.

This Fortuny jacket is wonderful, too. Hello, rectangular construction! It's gold paint stenciled on velvet. It would be a simple project (since nothing is ever as easy as you think it will be) to recreate, if you had the patience to make/find the stencils. You really wouldn't have to worry about layering colors, though, since it's all gold. What a great project for a Gatsby party, though. A pink slipdress underneath, I think. Because I'm obnoxious.

Currently knitting this baby Yoda sweater for my friend Jen's baby boy. I think I'm going to change the shape of the neckline and put applied i-cord around the neckline to finish it, though. Or maybe cabled i-cord. I know it's supposed to be unstructured, but it will wear better with the i-cord attached.

Heh, I accidentally posted this to my personal journal, and the textile fiends there are coming out of the woodwork. Yay for textiles!

I just found this Czech site with tons of photographs from 1856 to the 1970s. Not all of them have exact dates, but there are tons and they cover a vast time period. They're rather sparse in the early years, but there are plenty from the turn of the century and later. It makes me kind of wish I read a Slovak language, since I'm completely lost in most of the notes on the images. Completely entertaining and interesting from a costuming standpoint, though. Well, and from an "Ooh! Pretty pictures!" standpoint, too.

I have to admit, though, that I want to question some of the dates. Like this photo. It's dated at 1877, but the clothing sure doesn't look like 1877 to me. More like the 1860s. It seems to me that a family rich enough to have portraits taken would have enough money to afford the latest fashions. Or was Eastern Europe on a completely different fashion timeframe?

Some of my favorites:

1. Woman in white dress, 1910
   
2. Traditional dress over fashionable corsets, 1892
   
3. Heck,all the traditional dress. Some amazing embroidery.
   
4. A wedding group, 1908
   
5. Little boys in dresses!
   
6. Gorgeous walking dress and hat
   
7. Bustle dress an overskirt like a TV pattern I seem to remember but can't find, dated 1912
   
8. Lovely hat and pale suit, ca. 1890s
   
   AGH! There are just too many. There are some really gorgeous photos there, as well as quite a few unfortunate looking women. I guess I've been spoiled by having a handsome family in the 19th century. That makes me feel petty, but, then, as now, some fashions do not flatter all people.
   
   EDIT: Because this is just too weird, a portrait that looks eerily like jenthompson.

So, I changed the layout of my journal, because it was not displaying correctly after I switched to Firefox. (I was forced to by big bad computer troubles. My power supply blew up the week before finals and took the motherboard with it, and when my uncle was fixing HAL up for me, he discovered that my 'puter was riddled with spyware and viruses and all sorts of things that my protection programs were supposed to catch. But they didn't, so I'm using Firefox now.) My monitor doesn't display light colors well, anyway, so it's all for the best. Here's to looking like an old damn book!

I finished most of my knitting projects for Christmas, though my sister got a learn-to-knit kit for Christmas, rather than socks, because I just couldn't get all that done. So, happy day!

I also am looking for a cheap (as in under $100) digital camera so I can start documenting all this work I'm doing. Handy for insurance purposes AND for feeding my ego. And neither of those are bad things.

What am I knitting right now?

( Oh, I shall tell you what I am knitting. )

How many knitting needles do I have? Oh, lots!

I was incredibly busy this summer and I apologize for the lack of updates. I didn't get half my planned projects finished, and I didn't get the dresses (my sister's and mine) done completely in time for us to go to Bristol Faire in costume, which is pretty sucky. I did, however, get three dresses almost finished, and finished one of them before I left for school. I don't have pictures yet, but will get some as soon as I can.

In other exciting news, I talked my mother into wrapping me in duct tape. Why? For a dress dummy, of course! I haven’t named her yet, but I’m thinking about it hard. Any suggestions?

( And now, the write-up of the gown I finished. )

If you made it to the end, I salute you!

Okay, I've always wanted to get my favorites folder at my parents on my own computer, so here it is. I'm sure there's an easier way, but this way I'll be able to access it wherever I go.

( These are a few of my favorite things . . . )

Um, there they are. Not all of them are costuming/knitting/fiber related, of course, but they are things that interest me. Enjoy?

I found these stockings today. I'm convinced they're the same ones that Nini wears.

I've been dreaming of making a can-can outfit from Moulin Rouge since I first saw the movie. Should I add it to my list of projects? *maniacal laughter* I am more crazed than a piece of 17th century pottery. Maybe I should put "grow own flax and turn into handkerchief linen smock, entirely covered with blackwork embroidery" on my list of projects, as well. And then I can go hunting for marten fur while single-handedly unravelling silk cocoons! Yes. I can do it!

I was doing some more research for the pirate outfit today, and realized that I may want something from the 1690s, nearly a hundred years earlier than I was thinking. Hmm. This dress diary-thing on Reconstructing History for a hunting outfit is what made me think that. It's actually quite spiffy, don't you think? Can't you see the woman in the picture brandishing a cutlass and ordering you off the plank?

I still really like this redingote and this redingote-esque outfit. I like the idea of a man's frock coat over a corset and quilted petticoat, too. With wicked knee-high boots, visible because the petticoat has been rucked up in the front. I think I need to do some serious sketching.

I was talking to a friend tonight. The conversation, slightly edited, follows:

Me: I think I'm going to be a pirate. Wouldn't that be fun? To be a pirate constantly? I wonder if it's offered as a major here. Hmmm. . . . If we were pirates, though, we'd be stealing things and selling them on the black market.
Her: tee hee hee
Her: so what you're saying is that you want to become a pirate with me? i feel honored! or were you meaning a pirate in general? :(
Me: Well, it started out with me being a lone pirate, but piracy with a friend is SO much better.
Her: lol
Her: next time we're together lets dress like pirates...do you think megan will go along or just roll her eyes?
Me: I think if it involved pirates, we could get Megan involved.
Me: We could invade Platteville or Galena or Dubuque this summer. They'd never know what hit them.
Her: we could do all three!!!

Ha! So I have a pirate costume to make now.

( Research, m'buckos! )

I posted a question about obnoxious Elizabethan color combinations to the sca_garb Yahoo group and someone replied that the dress I want to make is actually carnation, not orange tawney like I had thought. This color is growing on me greatly. A nice dark salmon pink and I love pink. The only drawback would be that this would be a harder color to dye to than the orange tawney would be. It's much less offensive to the eye, and so getting a pretty color will be harder. Of course, pink is a much more flattering color to my skin tone than orange is, so it might be worth it.

If I change my color choice to pink, though, this means I'll have to rethink the contrasting colors. I still want them to be slightly obnoxious, I think. A pretty green would be lovely for the sleeves -- sort of an alarming celadon. With gold trim. LOTS and LOTS of gold. Okay, maybe not that much gold. I don't want to look like I held-up a Joann's.

The forepart should be . . . I'm not sure. I like the idea of a white one, but that would be really impractical for Bristol, since it's usually really dusty and I don't want to pay too much in dry cleaning. Brown? There's a whole bunch of brown saris on ebay right now. I'm fairly confident I could find another one sometime before June, too. I could get an entire kirtle out of one sari -- that's two outfits right there, folks. Yes, I think my forepart is going to come out of a sari, whatever color I decide on. And my shoes will definitely be khussa slippers, because they're beautiful and offer better support than ballet slippers.

And then I've been spending some time at Fire Moutain Gems putting together some possible necklaces in their design-thingy. Oh, so hot.

( 1490s Goodness )

( Elizabethan Goodness )

I've discovered that I really like the dragonfly and kitten necklace clasps, as well. The flower one here is very nice, too. They're in no way period, but they're very whimsical. I know insects were very popular for brooches and things like that during the Elizabethan period, so I can scrape by with the dragonfly. The kitten, though, is going to be willful license and is going on my sister's necklace (which is a surprise!) because she loves cats.

I was poking around on ebay for fabric, and found these shoes. Is it just me, or do some of them look kind of Elizabethan? They're all dreadfully cheap -- $10 with shipping -- and no reserve. They certainly look to be an alternative to the ubiquitous ballet slipper, and a great deal more structured, too. They remind me of these pumps. Or a fancy version of the ladies' Escardo. (Second picture down.) The little curving bits on the toes of some of them should be removed. I wonder if it can be. Hmm.

I'm contemplating buying a pair as soon as I have the money to spare, since it seems like I'll always be able to find a pair. Probably not a pair with too many sequins, though. Heh.

EDIT: I wanted to post this in sca_garb, but I guess it can stay here. *sigh* Stupid Sarah.

I've been plotting a recreation of the Portrait of an Unkown Girl (1569) dress for the past month or so. I wanted to embroider the chemise and everything, but I don't think I'll have enough time/patience before early August. I think now I want to make narrow fitted sleeves, with spiralling trim and pinks.

Soooo, I'm contemplating what noxious color combination would be best for tawney colored taffeta. I'm leaning heavily towards pink sleeves and a pink and blue forepart. Or a sage-y green forepart and yellow-ish sleeves. The thought of clashing horribly is making me intensely happy right now. Did I mention I wanted to put gold trim on them? Well, I do. LOTS.

Does anyone have any leads on some documented mind-boggling color combos? Portraits would be wonderful, but wardrobe accounts would tickle me too. I want to appear a fashion victim, but not a total one. I know there was a page/link of Drea Leed's site about use of color, but I'm having no luck finding it.

Also, any recommendations for caul and cap colors? Should they be obnoxious too, or should I stick to the portrait?

Oh, color combinations that horrify my modern personality tickle my persona. They make me so giddy I can't describe it.

On a slightly related tangent, does anyone have any discount fabric store suggestions for the Milwaukee/Chicago area?

My sister and I talked today, and she's definitely going for the mid-Italian style. I was kind of dreading working an entire dress in black -- blech! Give me color! Then the dear Sister-Thing informed me that she loved the colors of this particular dress: dark chocolate brown and light blue. Mer? went I. That dress is obviously black and sage green. No, saith she, it is dark chocolate brown and light blue. Her monitor was displaying it in those colors, and I can't be more pleased.

Yay! Chocolate brown and sky blue! Let's forget that this period is nearly a hundred years earlier than Elizabethan. If it makes my sister happy, it makes my sister happy. She doesn't care about whether or not it's historically accurate.

I'd really like to do the underdress in a dark chocolate velvet or velveteen and the overgown in a pale blue and cream brocade. The problem lies in finding such fabric. I'm willing to dye anything, since I love plunging things into boiling water and bringing them out TRANSFORMED! *thunda and lightnin'* Does anyone know of any good discount fabric stores for brocade and velvet(een)? Tips, tricks? I've no idea what her budget is. I'd like to use natural fabrics, so she doesn't die at Bristol.

Question a billionty: Does anyone know of any discount fabric stores in Chicago or Milwaukee or that general area? The Sister-Thing would like to make a trip when I'm done with the semester to Chicago to go fabric shopping, and I can't say I don't approve. :D It would be much easier, though, if I knew where we could go.

I was talking to my sister last night on MSN Messenger and brought up the question of whether or not she wanted to go in costume to Bristol Faire this year. She said yes! Hooray!

We started talking about what style of dress she wanted to wear. I tried to poke her in the direction of an Italian courtesan style gown, and she said she loved the Bella Nani portrait. Yay! I like it too, though the sleeves scare me. More than a little. Mostly because they would take so much energy and time!

Then she started looking around on her own, and discovered that she also liked this portrait of Countess Livia da Porto Thiene. She asked me if I could do fur, and I was like, "Sure! As long as you buy it for me. You do realize that you'd die in fur in August in Wisconsin, right?" I dashed all her hopes and dreams. But that's what sisters are for. (It's a beautiful dress, though, isn't it?)

Finally, she discovered the Mid-Italian Renaissance gown by Lynn McMasters. *sigh* Silly sister and her love for Ever After. I guess there will be no courtesan gown building in my future this summer. Ah, well. At least this will be easier to fit. At least I talked her out of the headdress. I've always found that one to be exceptionally ugly. I think I'll talk her into a veil or a coronet and some braids, probably fake, considering how short her hair is at the moment. This style is exceptionally graceful and lovely, however. I'm not really unhappy to be making a dress like this. And, yay! Hemp cord for boning. I know she'll be really comfortable in that.

We haven't talked fabric or colors yet, because she's technically still deciding and will be until I'm done with school this semester. I want to put her in something rich and saturated, since her coloring is really similar to mine. Her skin is more olive, though, compared to my pinkness. I'm thinking a sweet red-pink (pink is period, dammit!) with a darker mulberry/murrey color for the overdress. Or a deep sky blue with white and gold over it. Hmm. I guess it's up to her, isn't it?

Is it completely wrong that my main motivation for getting a job this summer is not to help pay for college but to have money for yarn and fabric?

Perpetually broke, I'm still plotting this dress. I'm planning on ordering 7 yards of 55" spun silk taffeta from Silk Connection. This means I'll probably end up going to Wal-Mart and buying some hideous cotton print from the $1/yd table for lining.

I'd like to use linen for the chemise, but if I have a linen chemise, I want to be able to switch it between other costumes in the future. Perhaps a narrow-sleeved, low-necked chemise like the first one on the left on this page at the Drea Leed's? Then I could order some silk for the partlet and sleeves, which would make the embroidery project more portable. I'd also be able to line those, so I wouldn't have to worry so much about the reverse side of the embroidered pieces. Hmm. Interesting thought. Heh. Or maybe I'll make things a million times easier and forget the embroidery. Narrow white and gold sleeves would look nice, too. Or (and this makes me entirely evil) white and purple ones! Hee hee.

Speaking of fabric, which color from Rit matches most closely the dress? I'm leaning heavily towards Tangerine, but Sunshine Orange looks good too. If you click on "Custom Color Recipes" at the top, you'll get a pop-up that has color recipes (duh me!) on it. On there, the promising orange shades are Orange, Sea Coral, and Tiger Lily. Tiger Lily is the most promising out of those I think. Tiger Lily or Tangerine?

There's also the issue of the forepart. To forepart or not to forepart? I guess there's no way I can get around not having one -- French bodices without foreparts are few and far between. I'll have to track down some nice brocade for that, I think. Maybe to match the sleeves. Or does it? We'll see what happens. I have some brocade (okay, upholstery fabric) at home that might work, if I put orange beads over the red dots in the pattern. It's geometric though, which will clash with the flowers. And I love those damned things.

Last time I was home, I got a bag of black cotton velveteen scraps big enough to use for the guards on this dress, and maybe, if I really stretched it, a perky little flat cap or caul. Though, by looking at the painting closer, it looks like the caul is red and embroidered/woven with gold somethings. I can't imagine red velvet on my head as a caul -- my hair's so fine that I can't wear those stretchy headband combs and I've never seen any documentation for hatpins.

My next entry: Big boobs, the problems presented regarding schematics, and what to do with said boobs . . . I hope

Woohoo! I've finally got my layout figured out. It was crap for a while, really. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, and then realized it was the overrides. Damned overrides.

I plan for this journal to be a place where I can lay out the plans for my sewing, knitting, and other projects. I'd like to be able to document their progress as well, but I don't have a digital camera, so this may prove to be a pain. Unless I suddenly start sketching like da Vinci. This will probably also be a place to vent. Should anyone be reading this, brace yourself.

Anyway, since this is my crafting journal, I figure I ought to lay out my crafty (like knitting, not weasels) plans for 2005. Behold, in mighty list form, my plaaaaaaaans. With hearts! Because I can, you see.
( Entirely too many projects for this year )

Now, what I need is about twenty yards of silk taffeta and guaze and a crapload of yarn. Maybe a couple of extra arms. Yes. More arms would be nice. And a rich husband!

Test entry. Test entry. Test entry.

Test entry. Test entry. Test entry.