Category: clothing

beanie, cardigan, clothing, diy, hat, knitting, wool

Simple knitted beanie(s) pattern!

christinahopgood
Scroll down for the pattern!
I just finished knitting a beanie from the leftover yarn from my Miette cardigan.  I don’t know if I’d actually *wear* it with the cardigan, since it’s all a bit matchy-matchy but I love it!  I’m going to wear it a lot in winter, so comfy and warm.
But this is actually the FIFTH TIME I’ve made this pattern.  Firstly  I made a dark burgundy one for my good friend who went through chemo and needed a hat.  She loved it so much and wore it almost every day of her bald period, and I knitted her another one in white too.  She wore the white one for “good”.
The red hat before I gave it away.  Yes I’m wearing a mens flanny.
I also knitted a cream coloured one for my mum, and then a nice dark blue one for Charles!  I made Charles’ one bigger than the ladies’ ones so it was nice and comfy and roomy, and then I put a pompon on top!  And now he loves it!

 So here’s the pattern!  It’s from the March 1973 edition of Stitchcraft (do they still make that?).
You’ll need some nice 8 ply (worsted weight) yarn (I used a bit less than 2 50g skeins), and some 3.25mm needles (UK size 10, or US size 3), and 4mm needles (UK size 8, or US size 6).

With the 3.25mm needles, CO 108 sts. Work 6.5 inches of k3, p3 rib, decreasing 3 sts evenly on last row: 105sts.
Change to 4mm needles and starting with a k row, work straight in stocking-stitch until hat measures 2 inches from top of ribbing.

Shape as follows: 
1st row: k. 7, (k. 2 tog., k. 9) 8 times, k. 2 tog., k. 8. 96 sts. 
2nd row and every alternate row: purl.
3rd row: (k. 6, k. 2 tog.) 12 times: 84 sts.
5th row: (k. 5, k. 2 tog.) 12 times: 72 sts.
7th row: (k. 4, k. 2 tog.) 12 times: 60 sts.
9th row: (k. 3, k. 2 tog.) 12 times: 48 sts.
11th row: (k. 2, k. 2 tog.) 12 times: 36 sts.
13th row: (k. 2, k. 2 tog.) 12 times: 24 sts.
15th row: (k. 2 tog.) 12 times: 12 sts.
17th row: (k. 3 tog.) 4 times: 4 sts.

Break yarn, thread through remaining sts, draw up tightly and fasten off.
To make up, press and join back seam with remaining yarn (I used a crochet hook). Fold ribbing in half to right side, or wear as desired. You can also make a pompon for extra cute.

To make Charles’ hat bigger, I cast on 12 extra stitches initially, so that at the end of the ribbing I had decreased 3 sts to 117.  Then the shaping:
1st row:  k. 9, (k. 2 tog., k 10) 8 times, k. 2 tog., k. 10. 108 sts.
3rd row: (k. 7, k. 2 tog.) 12 times: 96 sts.
5th row: as for 3rd row in above pattern.
7th row: as for 5th row.

So basically you extend the shaping by one row, but still decrease 12 sts each time.  You could make it even bigger if you wanted!  Sometimes I like to wear Charles’ hat because it’s so roomy and comfy, so you might want to just make a bigger one!

I hope this pattern is useful!  It’s honestly a really great hat!

Matchy matchy!

clothing, fashion

Refining my Wardrobe

christinahopgood
Every few months I go through my wardrobe and toss out a whole lot of clothes, thinking “why on earth did I ever wear that?” Even to clothes I used to love and wear all the time! I guess fashions change, and my taste changes all the time.

Despite this, there are some clothes that I’ve always loved, and I can’t see ever going out of fashion. My lolita clothes are all classic style – predominantly Victorian Maiden or cheap offbrand (KidsYoYo, Infanta, R-Series). Since the Classic Lolita style is based on vintage fashions anyway, it’s not going to go out of fashion – it’s never actually in mainstream fashion – but rather it’s just going to get more vintage-looking, which is the aim in the first place. I’ve seen photos of old (well, 2002 old) Victorian Maiden and Mary Magdalene dresses on HelloLace, and those dresses are very similar to the current ones – meaning that they only refine the fashion, and don’t really change the basics that much.

A little comparison! (Photos from HelloLace.com)

Victorian Maiden Rococo Boquet Dress from 2001

And Victorian Maiden Rococo Something dress from 2011

Probably a bit TOO similar for being a decade apart. Be more creative VM!

I’m sure a lot of girls feel the same way about their latest sweet styled Angelic Pretty print – but I honestly can’t see those dresses standing the test of time. They’re too pastel, too bright, and when those things go out of fashion they’ll have to find something new. I guess that’s exciting too, always being on the cusp of fashion!

An interesting observation is that older Angelic Pretty dresses are more classic in style than current Angelic Pretty dresses. The brand has changed so much! Who’s to say it won’t swing back to Classic, or to something else entirely?

2001 Angelic Pretty dress (back then it was just Pretty)

Isn’t that lovely!? I hope they start making this style again, it’s just gorgeous.

So here’s a few items that I can’t imagine not having in my wardrobe:

ALL my VM stuff – 2 skirts, 2 blouses, 2 one-pieces and two jumperskirts. All 100% gorgeous and never going out of style, all make me feel amazing.


A white short sleeved blouse – looks good under dresses, over skirts and jeans, under jumpers and cardigans.

Skinny jeans (not TOO skinny – need to breathe). Can be worn with boots or heels for a glam look or just casually.

Cardigans – for me, they must be long sleeved, scoop necked, and just above hip length. So you can show off a blouse underneath and wear a skirt without it looking weird. I hate 3/4 length sleeves and I don’t see the point of short sleeved cardigans.

Businesslike knee skirt – this will never go out of fashion. Charles bought mine for me in about 2005 and it’s still wonderful. It’s a grey wool tartan pencil skirt from Oxford!

Warm casual clothes to snuggle in at home – it’s so cold here in Winter, currently it’s only about 4 degrees! My house is not centrally heated so I need a big fluffy coat.

Black tights – go with everything. Wear them under jeans for warmth and under skirts for class.

A nice cropped jacket – I have a great red one that cost me about $10 somewhere years ago. Currently sewing myself a new blue one (fingers crossed!).  The one pictured is from Vivienne Westwood.

 

And SHOES of course!

Apart from those, I think everything else in my wardrobe comes and goes with fashions and tastes. It would be wonderful to have a wardrobe filled only with things I can see myself in forever – but that’s unattainable. You need to have expendable things like t-shirts and converse and hoodies and summer dresses. Life would be boring without all the choice!

What couldn’t you live without in your wardrobe?

blouse, clothing, dress, shopping, skirt, victorian maiden

What I Like vs. What I Wear

christinahopgood
I admit that I get obsessed with clothes sometimes. When there is a super wonderful item of clothing on the wubs that is in my power to buy, I go a bit crazy. I ask everyone I know, Will this look good on me? What do you think of this? I even ask the Internets.

If I do cave in and buy the item, it’s true love for a few days, but after that… sometimes that wonderful dress/blouse/skirt doesn’t look all that great on me.

Remember when I went to the Victorian Maiden Press Room? It was so much fun. I bought a lovely blouse and a lovely skirt:


Lovely right? And they go together well. I tried them on at the shop, and I wore them out on the town. I felt frigging beautiful. But then I got back home, into the sweltering heat, and I couldn’t wear them any more. Too hot. When Autumn came around, I had trouble coordinating them. It looked too dark. Now I sometimes wear the skirt with a different top, but rarely wear my blouse. Which is a shame because I love it so much. The fabri c is so nice, it fits so well, but it just looks overdone. I need a cream coloured blazer to go with it, I think. I’ve been looking! I want this one from Mary Magdalene, but it’s super out of stock.


This is an R-Series blouse that I bought from Qutieland a couple of years ago. Quite nice, right? I thought so too, for a few months. The fabric is an interesting texture which I like, ribbon and lace collar is cute, the buttons are nice, and it’s a good fit. However! It’s really short! Observe how the shirt curves up over the hips of the mannequin. This means that you can only really wear this with a high-waisted skirt. I like wearing jeans sometimes, and this looks really good with jeans, except you have to wear another top to cover the gap between top of jeans and bottom of blouse. The other problem is that it looks kind of schoolgirl-ish. I’m 23, and I don’t want to look like a schoolgirl. Changing the ribbon might help.


We all know about this blouse – pretending to be off white in this photo! It’s a Mary Magdalene replica. It’s really good quality, and not short on me. But! IT’S TOO FRILLY FOR ME. I can’t handle it. The cuffs are SO frilly – they really puff out and make it hard to wear a cardigan. And maybe because I’m quite fair – it’s hard for me to pull off having a white high neck blouse.
Next there are two items I bought from FanPlusFriend. On the mannequins, they look so lovely! I think I was going through a pirate kick when I bought these.
This blouse is made of satiny clingy fabric that would probably melt if I ironed it, and the creases won’t fall out. It has corset lacing so it does fit well, but the arms are really long. And who wears a jabot?


This skirt was one of my obsessions for a while. I was amazed at the drop pleats! They are pretty cool. But when it arrived, I noticed that it was GIANT. It is TOO LONG for me. I can’t walk in it without tripping. It’s just very voluminous. But pretty rad still. The fabric is super soft and lovely. I plan on selling my two F+F items soon, if at all possible.

Time for some success stories! Yes, I have some! I’m just going to share my three favourite pieces.
Firstly, my gorgeous Adele Bustier Dress. I think I can safely say that this is my favourite dress ever. It is so choice. I highly recommend picking one up.
It cost me a LOT to get this. I used a shipping service, Gosurori Order, who bought the dress for me in Japan and mailed it out. That cost me a fee, and the AUD wasn’t so good at the time either. It was super expensive. But since I adore this dress so much, it was totally worth it. I wear it all the time, usually with the next piece I’ll show you.


This is another R-Series blouse I bought from Qutieland. This blouse is practically perfect in every way, plus it was a lot cheaper than brand. The fabric is a light polyester (I guess) that feels gorgeous against my skin. The blouse has corset lacing so I always fit well. I adore the buttons – little faux pearls – and the details. I’m considering buying myself another one while they are still for sale. Mine has been loved almost to death! The buttonholes are fraying and the pearl paint is coming off the buttons. It’s getting a little pilly. But it’s still so beautiful. I wear this with the above dress and it’s lovely.

Lastly, my most recent purchase. I got this high-waisted skirt off the sales comm about a month ago. It’s VM, it was cheap, I thought why not. It had a little damage. Since it arrived, I’ve probably worn it more than ten times. It is nice enough that I can wear it to somewhere posh, but I can also dress it down to wear to uni. It’s A-line, which makes it easier to wear casually. Not a great photo I know, but this is a super lovely skirt! Top marks! I do plan to take photos of myself wearing all this stuff, but who knows when that will happen.

SO NICE.
Well that’s the end of my rant, for today. I omitted some of my other clothes, because they’re Summer clothes and I haven’t worn them in ages! Who knows whether I still like them or not?
Is there a lesson to be learned from this? I think the lessons are: Don’t Buy Dumb Colours, You Look Silly In White Blouses, Don’t Buy Something You Have Nothing To Wear With, Don’t Buy Extreme Things, and It Helps To Try It On.
I’d welcome advice about what to wear with my neglected clothes. I’d love to wear my old VM skirt and blouse more often…
clothing, emily temple cute, japan, metamorphose, milk

Kyoto Lolita Shops

christinahopgood

While we were staying in Kyoto recently, I was able to visit Metamorphose, Milk, and Emily Temple Cute. I’m not sure if there are any other ones in Kyoto, but there certainly weren’t any more in the downtown area.

First, Metamorphose. This shop can be terribly difficult to find. It’s in the Teramachi arcades, which is the main shopping area in Kyoto. It’s actually in one of the covered arcades, in Teramachi street. When walking from Shijo-Dori (as normal) it’s not far down the road and it’s on the left. It’s hard to spot because it’s on the 5th floor of the building, and there’s only a small sign outside on the ground floor. When you walk into the building, you can see their display in a glass case. When the shop is open, there’s a dress in the window.
Like so.
Remember, this shop is closed on Tuesdays!
The shop itself is quite small, but is packed full of clothes and shop girls. How do they afford to hire so many shop girls? Isn’t there a recession? Anyhow, I found Metamorphose had much nicer stock than last time I was there. Last time there was a thing for vinyl and animal prints, which I didn’t like, but this time it was more towards a classic look. The best thing I found there was short socks with lacy tops. I think that the short socks look is adorable. I used to wear those sorts of socks when I was a really little girl. I should have bought them! I didn’t! Fail!
Milk and Emily Temple Cute are next to each other. They’re not in the covered arcades, but are on a street off the other side of Shijo-dori. They’re near a shop called Naniwa Camera which Charles got a kick out of.

First, Milk. There was so little stock in this shop. I wouldn’t really call the style “Lolita” either. But some of their pieces were really beautiful – I tried on a pair of shorts with hearts on them (too big). It’s expensive, but there were some things in here that are very cute.
Emily Temple Cute was extremely pleasing. It’s really expensive, but good quality stuff. The shop girl could speak some English and had a conversation with me. She was so sweet! Since there was a sale on, some of their stuff was quite cheap. I love their sweet little embroidered cardigans and knit tops (or “cutsews” as they are called – where the heck did that word come from?) more than their dresses, but that’s just my taste. The dresses are a bit foody – strawberries and cherries galore. I’m not so keen on wearing food. Their catalogue had some really nice Spring stock coming in, so look out for that! It’s really cute. I liked this Kyoto shop a lot more than their other shop in Shinjuku – mainly because the shop girl was so delightful.
I get nervous in these kind of shops and don’t get to look properly. I probably could have found something to buy in ETC but I hate handling the stuff they’ve just neatly folded and hidden the price tag. And it’s hard to try stuff on when I’m wearing a thousand coats.
So there you go! Now go visit!