We awoke to a rainy Monday. January is such a dark and gloomy month here - there was nothing for it. I had to wear yellow.
I always keep a few brights out with my fall/winter clothes. You never know when you're going to need Clothing As Armour. Yellow is the colour I wear when I want to distract people from looking at me (usually when I'm sick), but since I only saw one person until 11am at the office, this was more about metaphorical armour.
- Dress - Lida Baday, vintage 90s, vintage fair; last worn here in January 2020 to create my own sunshine
- Turtleneck - Jacob, thrifted; last seen here layered under grey in December 2020
- Shoes - Sol Sana; last seen here in October 2020 with red and ruffles
- Leather trenchcoat (below) - vintage 70s, thrifted; last worn here on Friday
I layered a sparkly turtleneck under it for extra warmth, and then liked the sort of mod look of that, so went with black lacy tights and black and white ankle strap shoes to carry on the theme.
I'm not usually a fan of dark tights with light shoes, but what the heck. I liked it.
The dress is fully lined and is a light wool.
And you can't beat pockets!
Masked up - another one of Mom's.
She dropped off two more masks for my coworker Keith, who was ecstatic.
Outerwear - sorry to keep wearing this leather trenchcoat over and over, but it's my best waterproof coat.
My hat barely stayed on in the wind on the way home. Blustery!
- Hat - Edward Mann, vintage 60s, thrifted
- Silk scarf - fake Louis (Lewis!) Vuitton, thrifted
- Gloves - Cejon, thrifted
The stuff:
These are such comfy shoes. I love the big blocky heel.
Mod bling:
I covered up the earring zipper pull on the dress with this massive necklace.
- Necklace - Monet, vintage 80s, vintage fair
- Earrings - vintage fair
- Silver/smoky topaz ring - Anneli Neumann, Sweden
- Silver/onyx ring - Toccara, vintage fair
I spent most of the past weekend watching football - although I enjoy it, I get bored of just sitting on the couch, so I dug out my bag of wool from Mom and set to work to see if I could make a toque and gloves. I've never made either before - let's see if it works!
I have a ball of green marled wool and one of solid darker green (the marled wool has a thread of the same green in it). I made the toque first, then started on fingerless gloves. I got this far (above) on Saturday. I had a few pull-aparts and experiments, but I was happy with this.
As I carried all of that into the den to photograph, I felt something pulling...
"Hold up here, I have found something!"
Vizzini had spotted the loose end.
"Is this a toy...or is it food?"
He hasn't encountered wool before and has steered clear of me while I've been crocheting.
"If I'd know it was so delicious, I would have been bothering you sooner, Woman."
I had to wrestle it away from him! Naughty boy.
On Sunday, I worked on the gloves, as they were too wide in the body (the section going along the forearm/wrist), so I pulled it apart and reduced the stitches so that it was a slimmer fit.
From there, I added the top part and thumb-holes.
I also added a pom-pom to the top of the toque. I remembered my grandmother had pom-pom makers when I was a kid, and cut one out of a couple of pieces of cardboard. It didn't work all that well, so I might need to redo the pom-pom if it starts falling apart.
Then I wove all the loose ends in, and voila!
I have a nice green set of outerwear accessories.
Our bathroom mirrors make my arms look really long.
I'm really pleased with how these turned out, considering I didn't use any kind of pattern and just winged it. Go, me! Hooray for Crochet Crafternoons!
I absolutely love this yellow dress! I like how you paired it with the lacy tights and black and white shoes! This is definitely only of my favorite looks of you.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Lovely
www.mynameislovely.com
Thank you so much, Lovely - wow, that's a high compliment, I so appreciate it!
DeleteThe yellow is so cheery! I love the tights and shoes with the ensemble, it just gives it a little more zip. The mod necklace is very cool! Great job on the hat and gloves. So satisfying when you make something for yourself. I wonder if Vinzini will be snooping around for wool now. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteDar, Happy New Year! So nice to see you! I have been having fun with contrasting tights lately.
DeleteThanks - crocheting has been a fun activity. I'm proud of my set! I keep the wool well secured from that little mischievous kitty.
I am amazed at your crochet skills. And the endurance. I hate it and was really bad at it at school. It takes forever before you finally made an item. At least it did with me. Love your hat and gloves. You are very accomplished.
ReplyDeleteThe yellow dress... ah.. you can guess it has my fancy. Love yellow.
Greetje
Thanks, Greetje! I don't mind pulling it apart and starting over - it's still a very Zen-like activity for me.
DeleteI love the yellow dress too. :)
I love the yellow dress on you, it is always such a cheerful colour to wear and you wear it well! the gloves and beanie are so cute and cosy looking too! I'm impressed that not only could you make them yourself you did it without a pattern too! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Mica! It's such a great "armour" colour. I was so proud of my hat/gloves! I haven't crocheted in years, so I'm glad I remembered.
DeleteLove the mod look with the yellow dress.
ReplyDeleteWell done you on the hat and gloves! They look really good and I love the colours.I'm so impressed when people can crochet without a pattern; the only thing I've crocheted without patterns are the granny blankets; just repeat rows of triple crochet with two extra at each corner.
Take care
xxx
Thanks, Vronni!
DeleteI am pretty pleased with them, although the pompom is rather shoddy. Yes, I've made many granny-square variant blankets - they are so easy!
I love "metaphorical armour". I think I've been doing exactly that for the better part of a year. And yes, you never know when you need some pick-me-up yellow! That yellow dress is fabulous, and I'm totally loving your mod styling. Like you, I don't usually like dark tights with light shoes, but this is gorgeous. I wish I had a leather trenchcoat like yours, but although I've been looking for a while, it remains elusive.
ReplyDeleteI'm admiring your crocheting endeavours and oh well, that loose end must have been tempting faith ... or rather Vizzini. Phoebe's playful days may be all but over, but I can still entice her with a ball of wool. xxx
Oh, same here, Ann! Brights have been my savior this year, for sure. Yellow is always such a great boost to my moods. I adore the mod look, and wasn't sure about the dark + light tights/shoes combo, but I ended up liking it. It's fun to try different things out, and why not. I see leather trenchcoats like this frequently in my thrifting expeditions. If you didn't live so far away, I'd buy one and send it to you!
DeleteThank you - it's been fun rediscovering my creativity with crochet. Vizzini loves any ends (ribbons, string, wool) so it wasn't a shock that he was after the wool! Aw, I'm glad Phoebe still plays with it too!
Well well, thats creative. It's relaxing isn't it. I tried croching and really liked it actualy.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very calming activity, isn't it, Nancy?
DeleteSuch a fab dress in a fab colour!, and love the way you styled it, with the geometric necklace and black&white shoes, love this mod vibe!. No wonder you've been wearing this fab leather coat a lot, it's really cool (and it's practical too!).
ReplyDeleteI'm admiring your crochet skills, dear Sheila!. Those mittens are really well made and look very proffessional!. Great job!
besos
Thanks so much, Monica! I had fun playing up the mod vibe of it. I love the coat, and it keeps me completely dry and covered with the torrential rains we were having. I'm very proud of my gloves and hat, thank you!
DeleteWhat a ray of sunshine you are in that yellow dress!
ReplyDeleteYour crochet toque and mitts are fantastic, I love the colours.
Look at that naughty Vizzini after your wool, he's still a kitten! xxx
Thanks so much, Vix! I had fun creating this crocheted set and now, onto the next Crafternoon adventure!
DeleteHe is still very kitten-like - loves to play, races around like a mad cat.
Jacob was such a great brand/chain of stores. I really, really enjoyed their offerings, which I will always associated with my earliest years of working, as I owned (and often wore) a small number of this stylish, classic pieces back then. Last I heard, five or six Jacob shops still exist in Quebec, but the rest have been shuttered from quite some time now.
ReplyDeleteI like(d) Le Chateau as well, but they were often a bit pricey for my means and the pieces I had from them were often obtained secondhand. I mention LC because they're another Canadian fashion chain that has gone belly up (or nearly so in Jacob's case) in recent years, unfortunately.
Hopefully we won't lose too many more of the other remaining Canadian fashion chains - especially as C-19 continues to negatively impact many businesses.
On a more upbeat note, your toque and gloves are awesome! You are a person of boundless talents, my friend!
Autumn Zenith 🧡 Witchcrafted Life
I loved Jacob - they had gorgeous basic clothes at good prices. I miss the one we had here. I also miss the Le Chateau - our local store is in the process of selling off all their stock - it's so sad to see them go after being around so long. Another Canadian institution hits the dust.
DeleteI think we will see more closures, sadly.
Thank you, Autumn!
Afternoon there Sheila, have enjoyed reading your last few posts with a hot chocolate at my side. You certainly are a ray of sunshine. I agree it is a "mod look" to the outfit. You little "kitten" must have ha fun with the wool another clever lady in blog land who can crochet. Unfortunatley I did not inherit my mum's talents but I appreciate those who can. There was some beautiful blue jewellery in yest. post and tht velvet maxi lovely. Stay safe Shazxx
ReplyDeleteShaz, how are you, my friend? Thank you for reading, and hot chocolate sounds just the ticket. Glad you enjoyed the outfits, thanks! I'm glad Mom taught us to crochet young - it's always been something I can just pick up and go with.
DeleteYellow seemed like a good choice.
ReplyDeleteAnd from afar the tights seem to go over the shoes, it actually looks very cool :)
You did a great job with crocheting, have you thought of making a tiny snug sweater for Vizzini?
It makes me feel better, whenever I wear it. I don't think I'll do tights OVER shoes - that's a little too "out there" for me!
DeleteHa, I actually laughed out loud at the suggestion of a sweater for Vizzini! He would destroy me if I tried that! :)
Excellent job on the toque and gloves! And no pattern to follow? Well done! I have tried knitting and crocheting several times but I don't seem to have the patience for it, or, as it seems, the manual dexterity ;) Sylvester loves ribbons and strings, so I'm sure he would be very happy with yarn as well. The yellow dress really is a staple in your wardrobe.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much - I was quite chuffed that I'd figured out how to make both the gloves and toque (much easier!) all by myself.
DeleteI'm keeping the wool securely bagged from Vizzini - he was far too excited about the wool.
Yup, I do love my yellow dress and all the other yellows that have come before it, going back to when I was a kid!
You are a beautiful ray of sunshine, my friend, in this fun yellow dress! I actually really like the contrast of dark tights with light shoes. And those shoes are really great, too. And how crafty you are. I love the crocheted hat and fingerless gloves. Such a great color, too! I wear fingerless gloves all winter long while indoors because my hands get so cold they hurt! Now if I could just learn to crochet, I could make some for myself. LOL
ReplyDeleteShelbee
www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Aw, thanks, Shelbee! I love bright bold yellows - they really lift my mood. I was pleased with how the dark/light all worked in this outfit.
DeleteThank you! It was really fun to get my craft on and try my hand at something new. I love fingerless gloves!
Hoorah for crochet crafternoons! And you are definitely a ball of sunshine in that beautiful yellow dress.
ReplyDeleteHooray! Thanks so much, Mim!
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