Recquiescat in Pace

A Sad Farewell to Our Beloved Pickle

Some three weeks ago I was composing a blog post for an update on Pickle's health in my head. It would have been a cheerful post. At the onset of 2018 she was diagnosed with feline colorectal adenocarcinoma, a very aggressive, malignant cancer with the ability to rapidly progress. The average life expectancy following diagnosis lies between 8 weeks to 18 months. This January our beautiful Pickle was just about to turn a massive corner, completing her first year more or less without symptoms since the diagnosis. Things were looking good. 

Apart from minor skin issues, which didn't appear to bother her too greatly, she was doing fine with a good appetite and no litter tray disasters. Her coat had improved (not that it was too bad to begin with), her claws were in good condition and, especially during the final three months of her life, she appeared to be more active and playful. She was in a stable state and, as we were unable to determine the stage of the cancer at the time of diagnosis last year, she was not on any medication. 

She had her first follow-up examination in April 2018 and appeared to have recovered well from her dental surgery at the end of 2017, during which the cancerous polyp was removed from her anus. The polyp showed no sign of returning and her vet was not able to detect any obstructions when taking her temperature. Pickle would have been seeing her vet for her next check-up in early 2019 and we were keeping fingers and paws crossed for her. 

RIP Pickle 2009 - 2019

Sadly, I never got round to writing my 12-month update on how well she was doing, as she started to rapidly decline around eight days ago. At this time  we noticed the first significant change in her behaviour. 

Instead of tucking into her dinner (a mix of home-cooked and raw food, which we introduced following her diagnosis) last Saturday, she walked away from her bowl after a few bites. Even though alarm bells started ringing loudly inside my head, I was only able to monitor and offer her a different variety of food, whilst hoping for the best throughout Sunday.

Vintage 80s Knitting Patterns - Part 5

Putting my 1980s vintage patterns up on the blog has been great fun and, going by audience feedback so far, they have certainly put a smile on readers' faces. 

This instalment of 1980s knitting patterns features Patons Book of Knitting Patterns No 259, which contained '11 young fashion designs' utilising the 'Patons special Odpins technique' (basically knitting with two needles of different sizes).

All other 80s knitting patterns and more vintage knitting are available here.

Dolman sweaters and ridiculous poses coming up. Enjoy.

Vintage 1980s Knitting Patterns - Patons Book 259 (Odpins)

Vintage 1980s Knitting Patterns - Patons Book 259 (Odpins) Ladies' V-Neck Sweater

Vanillekipferl - Baking Recipe for Hazelnut Vanilla Shortbread

Vegans, dieters and the health conscious should look away now. 

Though I can occasionally be found dabbling in vegan baking, in this weekend's ventures I made full use of butter, eggs, conventional flour and refined sugar to produce a batch of Vannillekipferl. These crescent-shaped, vanilla-flavoured shortbreads (originally an Austro-Hungarian import into the German cuisine) are a popular Christmas biscuit in German-speaking parts of Europe. Alongside the ubiquitous Stollen, they are synonymous with Christmas baking in Germany.

Vanillekipferl Baking Recipe

Vanillekipferl

Vanillekipferl are best described as a type of shortbread. With the inclusion of vanilla seeds  straight from a pod or vanilla extract / paste and chopped almonds or hazelnuts, the Vanillekipferl is a little more glamourous than the humble butter shortbread. 

Monster High Knitted I-Cord Dress Pattern - Sneak Peek of the new Pattern

-Update: The Monster High I-Cord Dress Pattern is now up on the blog and available here.-


Following on from knitting a small pencil dress for a Takara Dollcena / Petite Blythe and Little Pullip doll (photos below) a few months ago, I have adapted my pattern to fit a Monster High doll.   

Knitted Mini Pencil Dress for Takara Petite Blythe / Dollcena Doll

The pattern for the knitted I-Cord dress for Petite Blythes (above) is available here.

My knitting pattern for the Monster High dress (below) will be on the blog soon. In the mean time, I couldn't resist releasing a sneak peek of the new Monster High dress.

I-Cord Dress Knitting Pattern for Monster High Doll

Vintage 80s Knitting Patterns - Part 4

As always, proceed at your own peril. : -)

Vintage 1980s Knitting Pattern - Argyll Wools Ltd, Leaflet No 576, 1985

Vintage 1980s Knitting Pattern, Ladies' Raglan Sweater - Patons, Pattern 3336

The Weekly Swatch: Lace Rib Knit Stitch

The Weekly Swatch: Bramble Knit Stitch

Bramble Knit in DK and Sock Yarn

Requiring a multiple of 4 plus 2 stitches, the Bramble Knit Stitch can be easily memorised and, once you have gotten to grips with knitting and purling repeatedly into the same stitch, there is nothing scary about this stitch sequence.

The Bramble Stitch is a little less 'bobbly' than the Gooseberry Stitch and ideally suited for garments with a dense texture. The pictures show swatch samples in both sock (Araucania Botany Lace) and DK yarn (Wendy Merino Double Knitting), highlighting the different effects you can achieve depending on the choice of yarn.

The Weekly Swatch: Horseshoe Lace Stitch Pattern

Vintage 80s Knitting Patterns - Part 3

You know the drill...

It's time to kick-back, relax and indulge in more 1980s vintage knitting - 22 vintage jumper, vest top and cardigan patterns coming up now. 

Proceed at your own peril.

Vintage 1980s Knitting Pattern - Jarol Ladies' Square Neck Top 

Knitted Pencil Mini - Dress for Petite Blythe or Little Pullip - Free Knitting Pattern

As promised months ago, here is my pattern for a miniature knitted pencil dress, designed for both Petite Blythe dolls, Dollcena Dolls and Little Pullips. 

Little Pullip Doll in custom Hand-Knit Pencil Dress 

The pink mini pencil dress, worn by the Little Pullip doll above required less than 2 grams of yarn. I used Araucania Botany lace, which is a 4 ply fingering weight sock yarn, but any sock yarn with similar attributes will be suitable for this pattern. The construction of the dress allows you to easily adjust the design when fitting the dress on your doll whilst knitting. 

Knitted seamlessly in the round from the bottom up, the pencil dress is secured at the back of the doll's neck with the help of two i-cords. The simple design can be customised by adjusting both the length of the dress itself and the length of the i-cords. In two prototypes of the design (worn by a Takara Tomy Dollcena below) I turned the mini into a maxi dress, but overall I prefer the shorter version.

Takara Tomy Dollcena Doll in Knitted Pencil Maxi Dress 

Simple DIY Monster High Outfit - made from scraps

The Great Scarrier Reef edition of Clawdeen (Monster High)

The Great Scarrier Reef edition of Clawdeen moved in three months ago and I completely ignored her pleas for an outfit change. I'm pleased to report that I finally rectified this dire state of affairs and - after a brief outing into the world of hand sewing - here we have her in a prototype of a new stripy outfit, which was made from the sleeve of a an old top and the salvaged components of a retired bra. 

Clawdeen Wolf (Monster High) in custom stripy outfit

As a result of the fins on her hips and arms, and her mermaid-style stand, the scarrier reef version of Clawdeen poses certain challenges when it comes to creating clothes for her. 

The  design of this two-part (three-part, if you care to include her small scarf) outfit tries to work around these obstacles (arm fins, hip-fins and and tail-stand) rather than altering the doll.

Custom DIY Outfit for Monster High Great Scarrier Reef Clawdeen 

As I didn't have a suitable piece of velcro to hand, I resorted to cannibalising an old bra to salvage the metal fasteners and the elastic bands. The fabric scrap used for her sirrong-style skirt and drapey top is rather stretchy and wraps tightly around the elastics when sewing up the fasteners. The elastic top seams help adding drape to skirt and top, and ensure a good fit around hips (below the fin fasteners) and torso. 

Clawdeen should be much happier now, whilst I'm off improving the design. 

Clawdeen Wolf Monster High in Custom Outfit

The Weekly Swatch: Lace Mesh Stitch

Vintage 80s Knitting Patterns - Part 2

If you can't get enough of 1980s knitting patterns, here is another post full of them. Some might be 1970s, some 1990s. Unfortunately, the majority of these don't have a publication date.

At any rate, be prepared for broad shoulders and daring colours.

More of my vintage knitting pattern collection is available here.

Vintage 1980s Knitting Pattern, Ladies' Slash Neck Slipover - Argyll Wools Ltd, Leaflet No 647

Vintage1980s Ladies' Jersey with Aran Stitch Bands Knitting Pattern

Vintage 80s Knitting Patterns

As I was going through my vintage knitting pattern collection, I came across these gems from the 80s. They simply had to go on the blog. 

It's time for knitted jackets (preferably with foam shoulder pads), over-sized jumpers and colour blocks. Let's go back to the 1980s.

Enjoy!

Vintage 80s Argyll Knitting Pattern - Ladies' Cotton Drop Stitch Sweater 

Vintage 80s Alafoss Ladies' Jumper Knitting Patterns 

Vegan Baking: Pumpkin Spice Coconut Oat Cookies (Gluten-Free)