Zaz

1 2 3 Soleil

2009-11-09T03:29:00.000+01:00

Marie-Antoinette’s runs in the woods to and fro louis xvi, and others of the court: now you run: 1,2,3, now you don’t: Soleil!

i designed those legwarmers as a counter culture on the slouchy legwarmers. they’re slim, sexy and follow the curve of legs, great with skirts and high heels.

marie-antoinette i want candy -Bow wow wow

2009-11-05T03:58:00.000+01:00

marie-antoinette -kirstin dunst and sophia coppola

2009-11-05T03:30:00.002+01:00

marie-antoinette behind the scenes 2 -sophia coppola

2009-11-05T03:20:00.003+01:00

marie-antoinette return from petit trianon -sophia coppola

2009-11-05T02:59:00.002+01:00

marie-antoinette behind the scenes -sophia coppola

2009-11-05T02:57:00.001+01:00

knitting jogless stripes in the round

2009-10-27T17:15:00.000+01:00

here

trumpet oya

2009-10-22T00:36:00.000+02:00

i wanted to knit a flower that would look good either hanging down from a knit or facing one, so i chose trumpet, a long flower which i think looks like a morning glory, so dear to the scotts.

it is very elegant, knit with lace mohair, all of it. a small culture sweet water pearl forms the pistil end.
i will be making more of this, perhaps as hatpins, perhaps as oya in a row but then i'd have to make the flowers much smaller...
this is a rather big flower, almost 8 cms (around 4 inches minus...)

Marie-Antoinette bigoudis béret

2009-10-22T00:25:00.001+02:00

i have used the instructions for this from "knitting nature", by norah gaughan.
her look for it is very rustic, like a "sunflower tam" as she named it and you'd imagine a girl running in wheat fields.
my take on it is very sophisticated looking yet without frills.
the first thing i noticed is the tam looked interesting only to the guy behind you, and nothing happened near the face for you to see.
and that is what i changed. i charted a mosaic pattern of a flower, as good as can be done using "mosaics knitting", thus "squares" instead of circles.
i used two colors, one for the top and it's yellow to keep the sunflower reminder cabling, and blue near the face to highlight it. the mosaic flowers are in yellow on that blue background.
i also introduced a baby blue color satin ribbon and made a little bow on the ribbing because it would be a shame to have this sliding off one's head.

the look is very "versailles" and "monarchy" then.
it's just that a Marie-Antoinette is so coquette that she'd probably have worn it to keep her rollers (bigoudis) in place till her hair took on curls. she would not be caught dead "decoiffée", without a hair adornment.

i'd wear the bow at the back, but then it's a personal preference.

tulipe hatpin

2009-10-21T23:31:00.006+02:00

i've always loved hatpins, i prefer the system to that of brooches, they're long and elegant.

this one is my first, i used a shape that resembles a tulip, put a pearl above and tied a baby blue ribbon, glued them all.

the pin even has a "stopper" at the end. it's an old matt gold color, just right for this yarn that's knit in the back.

you can make one yourself, you need:

a hatpin in yellow brass with a closure end
some metal/wood/all purpose glue in a tube
a flower shape finding in matt old gold
a fake or culture water pearl just a tiny bit bigger in diameter than the flower
about 4 inches (10 cms) length of 0.20 inch (0.5 cms) wide blue satin ribbon

i suggest you take your knit item with you when shopping to best match the colors, shapes, motifs if any.

my knit piece had flowers on it. and the yellow in it looked like old gold, mottled.

put glue on the tip of the pin, enough for the height of the pearl and pearl you'll be putting in it together.

i suggest you try those on it before deciding how long your glue streak should be.

take your piece of ribbon and fasten it around the pin under the flower you just made, knot tight but not too tight, satin will slip and you will always be able to tighten later. do that a bit down from the flower, you always can put higher.

now make a nice knot do not pull too tight yet.

put a dot of glue right under your flower and pull the ribbon bow on top of it.

now you can tighten real hard, keep your hand firmly on for 5 mns till dry.

the best part: get your good sewing cissors ant cut both ends on each side at an angle, much nicer, no?

now a trick: get a box of matches and bring the flame in a parallel motion to the end to keep it from fraying.

this will form a bit of a "seal" to your satin fabric.

wear with pride, give away, enjoy!

put some glue the hight of the

put some glue on the top of the pin for about a

bubble stitch

2009-10-12T13:37:00.001+02:00

here's the link to a video tutorial on the bubble stitch over 4 rows.

Marie-Antoinette's Guillotine Cuff

2009-10-12T06:27:00.005+02:00

it is said that Marie-Antoinette had her jeweller design her guillotine cuff links after her favorite castle chef’s dessert: a chocolate “biscuit” drizzled with a “crème à la pistache” and topped with a “cerise confite”.

this is my crochet version of it, in homage to my gourmet sense of taste and let's hope for the best for me.
you will notice that the cuffs, having been on the woman's neck formed a "ribbon of blood" that was silky
yes, death "is sweeter" on the more gracious necks.

crazy stitch

2009-09-19T00:11:00.000+02:00

it makes a quilted fabric, like a chanel bag. here's the stitch

Ulla

2009-08-29T02:55:00.000+02:00

Ulla in English

halter rib top

2009-07-23T20:39:00.003+02:00

i have enjoyed a swap where we exchanged things of interest.

i got two shells among other things and i sent one too that i sewed on a chevron cowl that i knit.

i also sent a top in a sunshiny color.

we will further knit each other other things :-)

how to make chiffon flowers

2009-06-01T01:13:00.003+02:00

Roll or Bullion Crochet Stitch Instructions

2009-05-22T22:27:00.001+02:00

Bodhi Tree hat

2009-05-14T14:58:00.003+02:00

my idea was to embroider the OM sign somewhere. i knit a double leaf at the top, it is stuffed.

chakras doll

2009-05-14T13:33:00.010+02:00

i was in this yoga swap with a girl that did kundalini yoga. kundalini arising is when all chakras are awakened and aligned from your root one to your lotus one (top of the head). so the purpose of the doll is to show where the chakras position on the body and the colors associated with them.
i chose to knit the chakras in velvety soft and ridged round patches of thin mohair yarns held together to create the color that i wanted.

some yarns was dyed with kool aid.

the doll has her face all embroidered after my swapee.

she said she has "sunflowers" in her coloured eyes, so i embroidered sunflowers in them.

cat bordhi: moebius cast on

2009-04-25T23:11:00.001+02:00

a video here

"Spaghetti Pomodoro" scarf

2009-04-04T16:06:00.003+02:00

this is a 2 meter scarf almost. it's crocheted with a red purple and orange variegated yarn held with a thin brown yarn to make a mottled effect.

you can wrap it round and round and leave no ends hanging. it looks pretty much like a boa except is it mose useful.

"Roman Holiday" coat

2009-04-04T15:57:00.003+02:00

this is a coat that's knit with chunky yarn, has a chevron lace border and a mosaic design at the bottom.

it's very toasty and is shapely around the upper arms and the waist.

pictures tell a thousand words.

OM

2009-03-20T19:19:00.001+01:00

ॐ

3 spiral conch cowl

2009-02-26T13:29:00.010+01:00

here's the recipe for those who have the book "the Opinionated Knitter" of Elizabeth Zimmermann and want to make a cowl to go with it.
it is based on the same stitch.

this cowl is designed to sit on the base of the shoulders and taper naturaly due to change of needle sizes.
it is tapered up at the neck so that it doesn't "fall" and hide the spiralling.

option 2) you may of course chose to have it wide on the top too by using the bigger size needle for the top garter stitch too and then you'd sew your conch shell to cinch or not.

you need:
10 mm circular needles
7 mm circular needles
a 5 mm hook

using circular needles size 10mm you will be starting by casting the same number of stitches as per the book for 5 rows in garter stitch, back and forth.
you will then proceed to get the stitches to be 60 as per the book.

using the 7 mm needles, proceed to knit 15 rows as per pattern.
turn work to start working in garter stitch back and forth and work this way:
WS: *K1 K2Tog* repeat till end of row = 40 stitches (using size 7 mm needles)
RS: knit
WS: knit
RS: BO all stitches using size 10 mm needles leaving a 15 cm yarn length.

stitch the casting on rows of garter stitch ridges.

with size 5 mm hook and the remaining 15 cms chain enough to fit your conch shell in for closure, i chained for 3 cms.

sew a pierced conch shell (naturaly pierced or drilled) on the facing side with a rugged yarn (i felted mine a bit) of the same color as the shell ( i used white) and knot in front.
i chose for my knot to be seen.

enjoy your cowl
if you make one of those, i'd be happy if you left me a comment with a link to your photo.

jane birkin

2009-02-22T13:54:00.002+01:00