Ancient finds - finishing a sock

This sock has been in the making since... I don't even remember... 

I had the yarn, since.... I don't really remember, not even where did I get it (though I usually remember, even the small bits of sock yarns), but it is one of those mainly cotton (and some wool and acrylic) sockyarn I have a big box of, and I had this ball on my shelf, right next to my bed, to use it... soon. 

But it was there for years.

I also don't exactly remember, when I actuall started it, as it was "knit in the car, when dark" category, and to top it all, I knitted it with a smaller than usual dpns (however, I do remember, that those needles were bought with one of my packages I ordered from Ice Yarns, but they do not have the sizes printed on them... they might be 2 mm, or a bit smaller than that).

The socks were in that small bag I put the small knits (like socks, mittens) into, along with the minimal tools /notions I take with me - if I take that bag at all. 

If I force my mind to think hard on the issue, I would say, that most probably I started the socks right after we bought my purple boots in Prague, which was at least three ir four years ago. (I don't remember ever writing about those boots, should I?)

The socks got pushed away quite often, as I knit mostly historical stockings in the car (when I have enough light), and shorter, less shaped socks get the nighttime knitting. (Yikes, I just checked, and I did tell you this, probably more than once, last time when I showed you my other modern socks).

Anyhow, we did travel, and I had other reasons to sit in the car, or places, I did not want to take the much bigger historical socks (or did not want to think about knitting, just knit in the round mindlessly), and they did get finished. 

Weekly Pattern Muster (Sewing)

 

This week I am bringing you the Paris Top from Fiber mood. 

It has a foldover cut and ruffles, so it has a flattering cut and a bit of romance. 

The summer of Rococo - Riding Habit Shirt

Before I made any big decicion about the Riding Habit, I  started to work on, what I thought the simplest item... the shirt. 

I thought an all out ruffled shirt is, what I want. But then, I have not made a historical shirt for myself (at least the traditional "men's cut" shirt, I did not)... I had a piece of nice, optic white cotton linen fabric, and I started with handhemming the ruffles. 

(I have no idea, why this picture is out of line, and I cannot make them line up... sorry.)

And then I made the collar and the cuffs.

And then proceeded to sew up the shirt, but I cannot find any pictures of the shirt itself, only, when I tried it on later, with the waitscoat, I saw, that the nexk-ruffle, with the high closing waistcoat might not be the best idea.

I left it as it is, but the thing would not leave my mind, also, I was just finishing up a longer piece of handmade linen lace... 

And I was thinking, that I spent about two years making that lace, and how I am always going on, making lace that I CAN use, so here is the perfect opportunity, and how cool would it be to have my own handmade linen lace on my shirt? 

Thus the last evening, before we left for the event, (just after I got home from performing / doing living history at the world famous Island Festival /Island of Freedom... it had many names since it started), I dug out from my stash a fairly old (probably bought it before Covid) linen, that was thin, almost like some gauze, then cut out and started sewing the shirt

I've put it together enough that the machine sewn seams were done, and I could finish the seams, and other stuff by hand, which I did in the car and the hotel. 

Because just to make my life easier, about two days before Norbert decided, he wanted to see/photograph the partial eclipse, and we left a day more eralier, than we planned...

Here I am in the hotel-room, cutting the thread after sewing up the last button. 

The shirt on a hanger on the hotelroom's door...

and on me:

I did take both shirt with me to the event, but it was VERY hot and I grew rather attached to the lace cuffs (which will have an effect later on, but that is a whole different story), so I washed it at night, and wore only the lacey one. 

However, I am sure that I did not made the other one for nothing, as there WILL be an event, when I will need both, besides, if nothing else, it did serve as a mock up, now, I do know, what size I will have to cut my pieces, if I want to make another shirt.

P.s.: I was asked, what do I do about thee lace when I wash the shirt... do I take it off? 

Well, no. I wash the shirt with hand, then iron it carefully, using spay starch on the lace parts, 

A Bee in my Bonnet: The summer of Rococo

The series, where I share parts of my ADHD brain's thought processes, the things that occupy my mind and/or how I come to some decisions about an outfit, or a piece of clothing be it modern or historical.

I spent most of the summer of 2026 with rococo...

One of our favorite event (and one of the biggest one in our small country) is the Savaria festival, in Szombathely (at the Western edge of the country), where - since the city is built in Roman ruins- the base is Roman history, but since it evolved to an all period thing. 

It has a few main attraction, like the big firejuggler show on the first evening (the juggler/ artist /gleeman team of our group is one of the foundations of that, since the beginning - I am not in that team, so I can brag about them shamelessly), the roman gladiator shows, and the evening processions on Friday and Saturday evening. Our team usually does one or two shows, usually short, funny sceenes, interspersed with dances, though last year we did a cooperation with the juggler team too). 

Usually we do a different period every year, either the organizers ask for something specific (in connection with a certain annyversary), or we offer them something that they (usually) accept. 

However, in the procession through the city, no matter what we do, no matter, how historically accurate we are, we cannot compete either with the loud, steampunk-ish fire jugglers (not necessarily our team), with the -tonally not HA- Isis dancers with their led-lighted wings, or with the dwarf ponies of the hussars... in short, we usually feel kind of invisible. 

Three years ago, when we did the Edwardian swimming gears, the first year it was fun, and not only we enjoyed it, but the audience also seemed to like it, however, the second year it was not as as fun.  So last year, we were - once again- talking about what we should do, while we were seeing some -suposedly- rococo groups, in theatrical costumes, where the man's breeches were some short trainers, the women were no proper underwear, no stays, and if anything, they had round, circular crinolines...

We knew we can do -much- better than that. 

So this year, we set out to show, whatth ereal rococo looks like. Since I am the one responsible for the period, meaning that I collect most of the knowledge, especially fashion-wise, besides, I made the most 18th century clothes in the group... It was almost natural, that besides of my own outfit, I made things for two other teammates (and lended one of my old sets to another). 

I will show you all of those, and in order not to be all that boring, I will try to intersperse them with other stuff. 

Originally, I planned to do a silvergray Robe a'la Francaise (you know, "the flappy TV stealer" ), but then, after a fairly long deliberation, I decided against it. As for our daytime program, we planned an 18th century fashionshow, where we wanted to show a wide variety of 18th century styles. I already made several Fracaise gown, so making another one was not a challenge, and I also knew that there will be at least one, but maybe three other gowns of that style (because I actually was sewing one for one of my teammates, and I already did one for Anna, and I knew that the leader of the group is also planning one... I spent days flicking through Pinterest, Instagram, historical portraits, movie stills, to figure out what would I like to do.  Of course, I wanted it to be showy, fancy, with lots of decoration. 

That was the time, when I scored a piece of gorgeous sky-blue taffeta in my favorite store of the I Love Fabric chain, I already had a piece of white... brocade? Damask? for a skirt (as I would've needed a contrast colored sjirt under the francaise too) and then a few days later a piece of brocade, that was silvery light blue and silver, and the patterning had roses and deer-heads... DEER Heads.

That started a train of thoughts... Deers - hunting  -horseriding - and there the light blew up like a fireworks... A Riding Habit!!! 

There are several versions of riding clothes in the 18th century, the late 1780-ies, early 1790-ies redingot, the 1770 version, and the earlier, 1760-65 version, and this is what I choose, because they are worn over panniers (and nothing screams 18th century louder than those wide skirts), and the jackets/coats have very pretty shape, and can be decorated to all my heart desires. 

Also, first, I thought, since it is just a coat and an 18th century petticoat (which is literally made from squares), it would be simpler, than any style of dress I could think of. This was also the argument with which I sold the idea to Norbert... But then I realized, how wrong I was.

Aside from the regular underwear (shift, stays, panniers, under-petticoat), it will not only need an over-petticoat and a coat, but also a waistcoat and a ruffled shirt. Yikes. (aside from the two sets of clothes I promised to my friends). But my brain is my brain, and once an idea gets stuck in it, and it is  a challenge and it has a deadline... 

I started with - and incidentally ended with another shirt, and I will show these tomorrow. 

Weekly SO

 AI pictures creep me out. 

Unfortunately, I happened to tell someone (umm, ADHD made me blurt out my first tought), who tried to illustrate an otherwise perfectly valid point with an AI picture, and she attacked back that what would I think if she'd tell me on my pictures whether she likes them or not.... 

1). She is welcome to do so, especially, if she finds ANY AI picture (others do that time-to time).

2). My pictures might not be perfect, but they are REAL. A real human took them, and they are not even photoshopped, and in the cases that the topic of the pictures are my clothes, those clothes were made by human hands as well. 

3). No water and electricity was wasted on making them.

4). The person is actually pretty and beautiful. With one telephone she could have made a so much better pictures, than that AI crap was.

5). This is not an opinion about her body, her talent, but the fact that (generative) AI is steeling, and using (generative) AI is simple laziness. 

6). I actually liked her page and content, but I am not interested anymore. 

Weekly Patternmuster (Knitting)

This week I am bringing you a lace cardigan, with a free pattern.

The Brenda Cardigan.

It is a cardigan, it is lacey, and to top it all, it is free... who needs more than that? (Okay, time, I know).

P.s: I just realized, that the name "Brenda" also have a meaning for me.... Like Brenda Walsh, from 90210... I practically learned English from that series (and also from the X files, and some soap operas), and I always rooted for her caracter.

Weekly SO

 My strong opinion this week, that I absolutely hate the fact that when one is looking for a place for an event, s/he cannot find ANY price (online or otherwise). Not even preliminary prices or ballpark figures or estimated prices, just to know, if it is worth to think about the given place further.

The ALL want you to write for an estimate, but with that they might be wasting their time as well as mine.  (Also, it is generally said, if you have to ask an "estimate" for the price, you cannot afford it).

Small spencer

There are a number of ways, you can make a regency outfit different. We could see that with my first white dress and the overdress...

For this simple white dress, to elevate it to an evening dress, or even a ball-gown, I only needed to add a small sleeveless spencer.

The fabric is a small piece of embroidered taffeta. I knew that one of the fabric-shops had a small piee, that was highly discounted, literally for years, because there were lines of sun-fading on it, when I went there, they used the piece for decorating a mannequine in the shop-window.

However, for this spencer I only needed small bits of pieces, so literally begged them to take it off and sell it to me (it didn't even had a pice anymore, they just blurted out a number, and I said okay, thats fine.

(Pattern was draped by me).

Photos: Norbert Varga @Bodeszphoto.
 

Weekly patternmuster (sewing) ... and a dilemma

 A few weeks ago, my computer totally crashed me, that meant, that all of the couple hundred open windows, some of them showing patterns I wanted to put into this "column" was lost.

And now, when I am looking, and putting words into search engine, so many things come up I like, but most of them makes me wonder, if they are bad AI patterns. 

For one, I want to collect patterns I like, maybe for later use. 

But then, I do NOT want to support anything AI related.

I have no way to check if those patterns work or not, even if they are made by AI or not. 

I said it enough, that most of the time, I only use patterns as a starting point, and do make mock ups, so not perfectly made patterns are no problems for me. 

So, what do I do now? 

For example, here is THIS pattern.

I like how it looks, I do love assymetric, foldover things, I would consider making it. 

BUT, it is supiciously cheap, and I suspect it is one of those not-good AI patterns. 

I know, I could make it work, but should I suggest it to others? 

What do you think? 

Napoleon and his time

 The Napoleonic (Regency) era is popular in most of the world, but we don't see much of it in Hungary. Yes, people know Jane Austen (ahh, the period/costumes they use in Jane Austen movies), and nowadays Bridgerton even more, but not much of either the history, nor its fashion. 

For men, there are some groups that reenact the Napoleonic wars, but for civilan life... it is close to nonexistent. 

Our group did dresses back in 2018, when there was that ball... upps, I have not written about that ball...

But there are pictures of those dresses (a plain white one and a blue oversress from saree-silk) in THIS post. When I made it, I had no pattern, and not much help with fitting. As much as I loved them, in every combinations, there were probems (the overdress was too wide, it kept falling off my shoulder)... To top of it all, I lost enough weigth that those things would've fallen off, even if they fitted me well in the first place. 

Last fall, when we went to the Palmanova Napoleonic event, I scratched the itch I had ever since I saw a video on Instagram about a size adjustable event, and made THIS dress. And then I made THIS spencer to go with it.

But this year, I wanted a "traditional" white muslin, regency dress, the one I started with many years ago, but much better. 

I was trying to find some pictures of the making, but (as usual? or as the typical ADHD way?) there is none, most probably, I made the thing in a hurry.

Interestingly enough, when I first saw the video of Amber showing the wrap around dress, I was completely enchanted by it, even asked her if she had a pattern for it (no, unfortnately she did not, though I would've bought it at once). However, I forgot about it, but Instagram somehow threw it before me, just as I was thinking about making this new dress. (Amber's insta reel is HERE)

As usual, I dug through my fabric collection, knowing that I have light, white fabric for at least 3-4 regency dress, and found a swiss dot one, I bought years ago (like in around 2017-2018) in I Love Textile.

I started out with a Black Snail pattern, but I modified that pattern so much, that its mother (umm, original designer) would not recognise it. 

I did make a video of the closure, but Blogger would not let me upload it (it says, the file is too big). 

I will try to make a reel out of it on Instagram, and link it here, somehow. 

But then, I also put the two picture (one of the old dress and one of this new one) to be able to see the difference. 

When I started making historical clothes in 2017 I was sewing for many decades by then. I thought, I knew everything, if not everything, but enough to... By now, I know I was brave and full of myself, and I had so much to learn. 

But that is also a lesson. No matter what are you doing, and how long you are doing it. There are always things to learn, and it is not a shame to redo things, to do things again, (and again, and again), just to be able to do it better. 

Fabric: I LOve Textil

Photos: Bodeszphoto

Time for socks....

So, we are back from Prague (too), and though we still have an international event to go, it is much closer, and shorter, than the Italianor the Czech trip was.

I am trying to get back to a more regular rutine, which also means, more regular posting...

Also the time is here, when I start to change my short, cotton socks to handknitted ones. 

Yes, I wear my socks. I wear my handknitted socks from the end of September, until about April, continiously. (and yes, I do wash them, in fact, I wash them in the washing machine. That is the only handknitted item I put in the machine, everything else gets washed by hand.

Anyhow... new socks. I started them earlier this year (much earlier, like in january, or maybe even last year???), because short, modern socks are things I can knit in the car, even in the dark (yes, I knit the historical stockings in the car as well, but during the daytime, as they need to be shaped, so looked at, at least once every round- though I did become much better of that too - meaning, keeping track of the zig-zag -and the connected decreases- in the dark, but then, that is a topic for another post). 

While we stayed in Prague, I got to the point with the (historic) stockings I am working on, where it needs light, and attention (turning the heel and picking up the stitches for the feet), and I was too tired on the way home, so I dug out the modern socks I stopped working on months ago. It seemed less of an efford to pick up the stitches and trying to figure out where I was with them, than turn the heel of the historic stockings. (Also, I am running out of the DPN's I am using for socks and stockings, I needed to free up some). 

I could see the advantages of having a system for knitting these simple socks a standard way of doig them, so I could easily find my way back, even after months of neglect.

Thus happened, that two pairs of short-ish socks, the ones that go into my fall shoes, and shorter boots, got finished. 

Actually nothing special abot them, both of them were made from leftover yarns I keep picking up in the second hand shop, they are not simmetric, as the Yarn Harlot says, they are fraternal twins.

Both have their toes, heels and cuffs from a different, solid color, I found going well with the colorscheme of the base-yarn. 

Yarn: random, unidentified sockyarn.

Needles: 2,25 Knit Pro.

Obelix at Orfű

 It was one picture, but ended up a longer story...

There is a big historical festival, and its main point is the evening procession.

The foundation is there for many-many years by know, however, with more-or less visibility...

What do I mean by that? If the procession have huge roman legions at the beginning, a walking band of brass wind players, and you have fire jugglers before you yelling yelling "to infinity and beyond" every 50 meters, and small, child sized ponies behind you... with a smallish group (10-20 people) no matter what you wear, you are kind of invisible... 

And we arrived to wearing the turn of the century bathing suits one year (read its full story here).

And while we were originally talking about it, some of us tried to convince Norbert to wear one of those tank topped, stripy things much like these ones:

To which he just grumbled: 

"Right, and you know how woud I look like in that? Like Obelix..."

Our leader found it so funny, that she literally fell under the table laughing, and the idea stuck... 

That year, in our Xmas party, we did a little sceene, in which N. was Obelix (but messing up everything like having a beard, making Getafix (me) a women, etc... 

Of course, I made his dress for that... (don't even ask... I could not just use any blue/white striped material, the exact width and number of those effing stripes were... how sall I put it... 

Non-negotiable. 

I ended up sewing together stripes of white and blue fabric

(and let's not even get into how *I* ended up making the only more serious piece of costume).

Anyhow, we did the sceene, N overstepped his shadow appearing on the stage AND even talking, he was cute and all..

And then those stripy pants were packed up and forgotten... almost. 

Last year when we went to the Orfű festival (its kind of an alter-rock fest, one of our favorite), I started to nag N, how fun it would be if he would dress up like Obelix for a day... 

Of course, knowing him, his shyness, and all that I did not much hope I can get through him... 

But loo and behold... This year...

He did. 

The festivalgoers LOVED him. 

He had so many pictures taken, and, I think, he had fun. 

Now, I can retire those pants, knowing, they weren't only used ONCE... LOL.

Weekly SO

My weekly SO (Strong Opinion), is that I am ever so glad, that nowadays, the 1st of September (the traditional "end-of-summer" "school-is-starting" "new-season-is-starting" time, the kind of "real-start-of-the-year-time" has no meaning for me anymore.  I have been tied to it for the longest, my shcool years, my son's shcool years (with only a few years respite between those).

I remember the feeling, how I could NOT enjoy the August 20th celebrations, because they ment the end of teh summer, the thightness in my stomach, the feeling of "The End"....

But now my son is also well out of shcool, and absolutely NOTHING ties to that date, our reenactment season is still on, the weather is still warm...

Weekly patternmuster (knitting)

Which means a sign, that I am coming back... slowly, but surely.

My days are still hurried (like I have about two days to do about a week's worth of translation), I still need to wash up a bunch of clothes, and then pack them up, before we leave for Prague... But yes, I always say, life is beautiful, when (a lot of things) happening in it. 

In other words, a true Saggitarious way, I will sleep when I am dead. 

Anyhow, I am here, already drank my morning coffee  can of Coca Cola, had my caffeinated painkiller (formerly known as Algoflex Duo that unexplicably dissapeared from our pharmacies), now only brought in from either Austria or Germany by a totally different name - but it is still the only thing that can deal with my morningheadaches).

So, I was thinking for days how to come back, and since today is Monday, the Monday weekly patternmustern seemed to be innocent and easy enough. 

As for knitting, I am still waiting for the "pendulum" to move out the utterly boring, basic colors (i.e natural beiges and grays), and utterly boring shapes. To simplify things I opened up Ravelry to see, how many pages of patterns I have to look at to see something that makes my jaw drop. It took about 5-6 pages to see something I opened seperately thinking "okay, these are not bad" (but then again, NOT jawdropping). And it took me the 9th pages to see this one.

Now, this is really something. 

Jawdroppingly gorgeous. 

The Baltic Storm Sweater.

Wow, wow.

Would I knit this? Absolutely. It is special, it is colorful.

Will I actually knit this?  Maybe not in the near future, but that is only because the serious lack of time. 

While I would not say I cannot do Intarsia (and I suspect, this one does have a serious amount of it), I am not as proficient in it as in other colorwork techniques. 

However, reading the description, it is a top-down sweater, with a round yoke and there is more than 70 projects of it on Ravelry. So, I am not saying never. It IS certainly something I would attempt one day. 

It ain't over yet

The last few months were incredibly busy, incredibly tiring, but also pretty satisfying, from many points. Of course, there were mishaps, problems, and all that, but looking back, I think, wow, I cannot believe, we did all that. 

And just as the title of this posts say, it is not over yet. Not the events, not the work, nor the summer. 

I do have to say out loud, that I am ever so glad, that the 1st of september does not effect me anymore, not even through my son, it (or these last days of august) does not fill me with dread, the feeling of everything is over, and the feeling of hate school and school-season.

And while I am trying to wrap up things, I think about coming back to the blog, with full intensity.

I do have many things to tell you about, many things to show you (though, some of you could catch a glance of some things on FB or Instagram), and now I am wondering, what order should I put them...

Timewise? The oldest first and catch up? Start with the least impressive things and go to the ones I am most proud about? Or just random? 

What do you think? 

Also... What are you most curious about? Events? Travels? What I was making? 

Weekly patternmuster (sewing)

 Still looking for the perfect pair of barrel leg...

№1109

 

Weekly SO

 My strong opinion this week, that the new Coca Cola Zero design is highly misleading.

One cannot see at the first glance if it is regular or zero. Yes, you have to read, and the black wave is there, but still... 

I do not drink anything with artificial sweetener, for me it tastes bitter and have a nasty aftertaste

In the last couple of weeks, I've reached for my regular drink out of some fridge (in stores) only to find, that it is NOT my regular drink, but a zero. 

(And let's not get into the fact that in many places they only put zero into the fridge, so you are kind of pushed drinking that shit.)

Pink ruffles

Since I have been told that some of you indeed wants to see 6 meters of pink ruffles, so there you go :-) :

I was also asked how I made them...

No pictures of the making, but: I measured and drew up 8 of 12 cm wide stropes across the fabric. (Remember, that the warp thread usually stronger than the weft thread, so if you are cutting straight ruffles, cut them-if possible) across the grainline). I cut them with my scallope-cutting scissors. They are much like the zig-zag scissors most crafters are familiar with, but the scallops it cuts are ointing to one side, so those lines had to be cut twice. I mean if I wanted to be the two sides simmetric. 

Then sewed the pieces together at their shorter ends, so I got an about 10-11 cm wide, 12 meters long strip.

Changed the bobbin in my sewing machine to a fresh one (nothing like running out of the bobbin-thread at the middle of a stitchline, you are planning to pull to ruffle up something).

Turned the machine to its longest stitch, and loosened the bobbin-thread a little (it does not really matter, if you are loosening the needle-thread or the bobbin-thread, it is just easier to pull the one that was thighter).

Run two stitchline in the middle of the ruffle, approximately 0,5 cm apart (for me that is the width of the machine-s foot - I am sewing with an old industrial straight-stitch machine). The bobbin had about 10 cms of thread after I finished :-) Yeah, I won the bobbinthread-chicken game!!!)

I treated the two line as one, I held the two bobbin thread together while pulling.

Then I pulled the thread that was left thighter in the sewing machine (in my case it was the bobbin-thread). 

I did not try to ruffle up all of it at once, but did it in 150 cm pieces, To do that, in the places the ruffles were sewin together, I pushed a thicker knitting needle under the stitch and carefully pulled the loop up until I could grab it with my fingers. I pulled each piece from both ends, while I kept checking its length. I kept pulling and pushing the ruffles until the 150 cm piece became about 75 cm and the ruffles were more or less even, then did the next piece. The threads that were pulled out were tied together very carefully. 

After that, I left my hadns to rest for a day and then I pinned the ruffles on. 

They were sewn on by hands, but that is another story.
 

Weekly patternmuster (kötés)

I brought a shawl today. 

Just because I always loved those wing-like shawls.

The pattern is HERE.

 

Short comment

 There is something surreal to look for info on living history / live historical interpretation, and museums, and find yourself staring a picture on screen... of you. 

HERE

I think this is the closest I will ever get to being a cover girl.