The last little unblogged bits of 2014

The good news is, I think I'm finally starting to get better. The constant nausea is going away, at least, but it's kind of hard to tell--just when that started letting up, I got slammed with a virus 2 days before Christmas! The doctor at the clinic called it "flu-like", and while I wasn't actually having stomach issues from it, I did have to spend the next 3 or so days fighting off fevers. Since then, it's just felt like a nasty cold. And hopefully without going TMI, when I'm really stuffed up, I easily get nauseous anyway. So I still haven't had a nausea-free day, but I'm hopeful that it's coming soon. At least I'm slowly able to start expanding my diet again--I can actually drink water and a little tea now, and I've been eating fruit in the form of smoothies. I may even be able to start cooking dinner again soon, and while I know that takes up time, when you've been living off of chicken noodle soup and cheerios for a few months, that's pretty exciting!

All that to say, I wasn't able to do much sewing for those first couple of days after I finished up at my retail job. Because that ended the day before I got sick, and I was feeling so progressively lousy that day that I couldn't even finish cutting out one of the projects I do have to show. But I did get that done on Monday, and then sewn up yesterday.

I'm going to start with some knitting today, since I recently finished this fairly quick project. The pattern is called "Magic Hat", and it's supposed to be so stretchy that it can fit a variety of sizes. I used some leftover bamboo-blend yarn that I already had, and knit this up in the 4-12 month size, since Hobbit will probably be about 5-6 months old when he or she will need a winter hat. I also didn't quite use up all of the yarn, and I'm rather tempted to see if I have enough left to add some Yoda ears! But the yarn is so drapey, I'm kind of afraid it wouldn't work.

The hat looks a little cone-head on the table, so I had to improvise on a model. My parents gave us a few Christmas presents for the baby, including this little stuffed German shepherd. So its ears seemed to be enough to make the approximate shape. Cute, right?







I do have a little sewing to show. I stitched up this first one back at Thanksgiving, but never posted it here. Just a quick refashion--my mom was getting rid of some unwanted pants, so I picked the zipper out of these corduroys, scooped out the front and stitched up what was left of the fly, and then added this stretchy panel. I know it looks kind of distressed brown in the picture, but these pants are actually black. I have another pair all cut up and ready to sew, save the panel, in navy blue. Hopefully I can knock that out soon, because I literally have two pairs of "work" pants (both black), and two pairs of jeans right now. And that's it. I swear I bought 3 pairs of jeans, but the one pair seems to have vanished without a trace!

And then yesterday's sewing project was these burp cloths. I promised Doug I'd make some hockey-related things, so I found this flannel print that has the logo and colors of one of his two favorite teams. I managed to use up about 2 yards of flannel on this, between the one yard of Penguins fabric I bought, and the solid black that I partially got for this and partially to back one of the geeky bibs I made earlier in the month. There's a total of 9 burp cloths here, and I know my mom has a stack of others for us, too.

I do have one more bib to sew up, since Doug also really wanted to help make one! So he cut one out yesterday and I'll be sewing it. I also need to fix a pair of pants for him ASAP, but then I'm hoping I can start sewing some clothes again! 

I did some quick looking over my spreadsheet to see what my final tally was for stashbusting this year! It looks like I started 2014 with about 340 yards in...and ended with 375. Oops. Granted, I did just buy about 20 yards of stuff to make diapers with, which will get used up in the next several months and accounts for the bulk of the overage. On the plus side, it looks like I sewed up close to 72 yards this year. And I did manage to use up about 27 pieces of fabric altogether. I think that's pretty good, considering that I spent the entire last third of the year unable to do much at all, between traveling and pregnancy sickness!

Knitting away

Since I'm extending my stashbusting pledge to my yarn, I thought I'd give an update on what's going on there!

Unfortunately, I haven't managed to use anything up. But I did finish a couple of projects.

First up: The Chunky Irish Hiking Hat. I used the same yarn that I used for those handwarmers back in the fall, and still didn't use the stuff up! I'm honestly a little less-than-thrilled with this one. For one thing, the top cable got crossed the wrong way, though I was too lazy to rip back since I was knitting this at my mom's house and using a pencil as a cable needle. For another thing, it's too small and/or too short for my head. I wore this for the first time on Friday night, and it barely skims the tops of my ears, which makes it virtually useless for keeping one's head warm while sitting in a college ice rink to watch a hockey game! (I went with several of my cousins, because the colleges we went to were playing each other. Doug was more than happy to play interpreter.) It also kept riding up to stick up funny, so I had to keep pulling it down. I'm not entirely sure whether I should just rip the whole thing out and make something else with it, or send it to the thrift store and cut my knitting time losses.

I was much happier with the Whittier hat. It's surprisingly warm for a mesh hat, and once you get past the edge, the mesh pattern is pretty easy. The most challenging part of this one was the cast-on. I'd never done a tubular cast-on before, and was pleasantly surprised when I took the waste yarn away and the whole thing didn't fall apart! The yarn is Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends. I'm still surprised I can use this stuff, since I can't even touch wool without reacting. And though it worked fine for my Cadence sweater, I wasn't sure how it would be wearing it on my head. It gets a little itchy on occasion, but if I shift the position on my forehead every so often, I'm fine. So, at least to 30%, alpaca is a go! The buttons were already in my stash, from a thrifted jacket that I replaced the buttons on, and I think they look much better here than on the jacket!

I still have quite a bit of this left (I had two skeins and didn't even use half of one), so I think my yarn usage total for January, not counting in-progress things, was about 101 yards. According to my initial estimate, that leaves me with 19,827 yards...but hey, it's still progress!

While I'm at it, here's my fabric totals for January:
Yards in: 2 (from Stash Diet Swap)
Yards given away: 1 (gave a piece to my mom, since they didn't send enough for my project and I had no use for it otherwise)
Yards sewed up: 4.25. Though I actually used significantly more than that, since I cut up several more yards for more Thurlow pants. But I'll get to those later--I'm quite close to finishing 2 of the 3 pairs.
Net total loss for January: 3.25 yards/3 pieces, plus some scraps for Itty Bits projects. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

(Of course, I'm going to NYC this weekend, so it's a good thing I gave myself that travel allowance! Mood, here I come!)

I do have a few more knitting projects in progress. One will not be pictured here, since it's a gift and also a project I've been keeping at my parents', but here's the others:

I made visible progress on the Roheline cardigan! I finally reached the point where I can divide for the sleeves. I just haven't gotten any further than that, because I need to actually sit down and watch a few videos--ideally, I'd like to do both of these sleeves at once, and I found instructions for how to do that with two circular needles. Way better than wrangling double-points.




I've also started a very basic project--awhile ago, I bought the Knit Lab class from Craftsy, thinking it would be good to help me make sure I've mastered the basics. Of course, since then, they added another class that would probably have been more along the lines of what I wanted. But my mom had mentioned that she was thinking about doing this same class, so rather than both of us buy it, I've been going over there a little early on days I teach at her house and we've been watching through it together. So this is the start of the Lacy Keyhole Scarf project from this class. I like the texture of this yarn! It makes it look way more interesting than just basic garter stitch. I'm also taking this opportunity to try to get the hang of continental-style knitting, since that's what she demonstrates in the video, to see if it really is better for my wrists. We shall see. I haven't had any luck ever with purling continental, so that may be a big determining factor.

Random thoughts

First off--thanks for the kind words about the scarf! That was pretty different for me, but it was fun to make.

Second off--once again, not being able to do a craft compelled me to add to my stash. I spent part of the weekend and yesterday at the beach with my family. And while we were there, my mom/aunts/yarn-crafty cousins decided they wanted to check out this cute little local yarn shop. So this is what I brought home. The greenish one on the left (really more of a green-blue mix) is Chacabuco Multy from Araucania Yarn--it's exciting because it's from Chile, which I've actually been to, and it's hand-dyed, and it's cotton. You have no idea how exciting it is for me to find hand-dyed cotton, since I can actually use it! The brown and blue are Milky Whey by Kollage Yarns, and it's a super-soft soy/milk blend. I'm excited to have some new-to-me wool-free yarns to play with! And I think going to the store was inspiring for others in my family too. One of my cousins decided that she wanted to give knitting a shot, so we got her some cheap needles and yarn and I taught her how to make the knit stitch. She seemed to be getting the hang of that pretty well by the time I had to leave to come home (had to work today, boo), so I'm excited to see if she sticks with it!

I already have projects in mind for both of these yarns. I'm thinking the Whittier Hat from last fall's KnitScene for the Chacabuco, and I specifically bought the Milky Whey to try out the Branching Out fingerless gloves from Coastal Knits. My best friend and I have been making bucket lists lately, and I have several sewing/crafty-related items on mine. One of the things I added was to knit at least one project from every knitting magazine or book that I own. And since I didn't really have stuff for either of these publications yet, that means I'm justified in buying the yarn, right?

As for that background....several yards of dupioni silk that arrived yesterday. Guess I'm committed to that wedding dress thing. Or, as it's gotten dubbed by some of my geekier friends and family, the "One Dress To Rule Them All."  So now I have the lace and the outer fabric taken care of, and I just need to get some underlinings and linings. And bodice support stuff.

Between the beach and some wedding-related stuff, there hasn't been much sewing going on in the last several days! But I did get the basting in the jeans ripped out, at least, so now they're ready to sew together for real.

knitting update (and a surprise)

I've been finding it a lot easier to find time to knit than to sew lately. Probably largely because my boyfriend's and my schedules have worked out over the last month or so that we can find several hours to hang out on Thursday in the late afternoon into the evening. So we've been keeping it pretty low-key and basically just cooking dinner and then watching some favorite tv shows or movies. He doesn't mind my need to keep my hands busy while I'm sitting for long periods of time, and I feel like it's easier to be social while knitting. At least at the point I'm at on this project. So except for some time yesterday when my best friend was also over and I was resizing some t-shirts on the serger for her, I've mostly been just knitting while he's around.

This is where my Camille Shrug is at right now-- the back is completely done for now (until the end when I have to finish the edges with some ribbing), and I'm about 30 or so rows into the first sleeve. It's pretty brainless for now, just a straight stockinette with a 2-stitch decrease every 10 rows or so. What's got me a little stumped as I work is that I think I may have to add some length to the sleeve--the largest size has something like a 20.5" finished length, I'm knitting the smallest size, and from shoulder to wrist, my arm measures at a whopping 24". (Told you I have monkey arms!) Unless I'm envisioning this completely wrong, since it does look like a long-sleeved shrug on the model. If my measurements are right, the lace chart plus ribbing should end up taking about 8", which is pretty much elbow to wrist on me. So I guess what I'll do for now is get it to the point where I'm supposed to start doing the lacy bit again, maybe knit the other sleeve to the same point, and then hold it up and see where it's at.

I am pretty proud of how the back turned out. Despite all of the counting, this was actually really fun to knit the whole way through. And after the nightmare that was the Cadence chart, I didn't think that would be possible! But I think it looks really nice so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks once it's all blocked!


I also made a secret knitting project that I couldn't write about until now...my boyfriend's birthday was this past Thursday, and so I made him this as part of his birthday present:

He's been rather curious about my crafty habits since he found out about them, and has been asking me all sorts of questions about it. And he did mention at one point early last month that he wouldn't mind if I made him a hat sometime. So I finished this right at the end of January. (After several bouts of basically having to lie to him over the phone about what I was working on. And I am a terrible liar.) It was pretty simple to make, other than just picking that third stripe color in the first place. (His favorite color is green, and he was wearing a black coat a lot at the time, so that was easy. Finding something manly that looked good with those two things was surprisingly hard!) This was the first project where I've actually done multiple colors where it wasn't variagated yarn, and that was surprisingly painless. The hat pattern (the Strib Hat on Ravelry) had a link to a good tutorial for how to start and end the stripes when knitting in the round, so that helped immensely. He was pretty happy with it--he's been wearing it around every time we've been outside since, and wants me to make him a scarf with the leftover yarn (of which I have quite a bit of the brown and green in particular!) I was going to attempt this, but I think that intarsia may be beyond my skills for now, so I think I'll just do something stripey and basic instead.

He ended up giving me a surprise on Thursday, too. After lots of questions about my various hobbies, I found out that he made me this:

He said he'd wanted to see firsthand what it was I enjoyed about making stuff, and figured attempting jewelry would be easier than, say, getting his hands on a sewing machine and trying something with that. So he found one of the simpler-looking projects with instructions on the Fire Mountain website, got the materials it called for, and gave this a go. He admitted that he was pretty frustrated while he was working on it, and said this isn't going to become a regular hobby for him, but that he definitely felt a sense of satisfaction when it was done! I've never had a guy make anything crafty for me before, so I thought that was pretty sweet!

a bag for a friend

I finally got a decent amount of sewing time in yesterday. It had been awhile, since the last week has been mostly making preparations/driving around for/recovering from another whirlwind weekend trip. This one was much further away and not the sort that I could bring anything crafty with me, either. Fortunately, since I'd already gotten all of the quilting in last week and found about an hour to assemble the strap on Tuesday night, this bag came together really quickly. (Which is good, because I'm getting really anxious to make some progress on my Fall Essentials list again!)

So this is the bag I made for Jolene. It's out of the same pattern as my "Autumn in Asia" bag, though a little bigger since I accidentally skipped the part about trimming the overall size down after quilting the fabric...oops. Picking out the fabric was a bit of a fun process--she told me what sort of colors and prints she likes, I took a bunch of pictures on my phone of every print I thought might fit those ideals while I was at Joann's one day, and showed them to her the next time I saw her at church. So the main fabric of this bag is the one she liked best, and then I chose the red and green to match. (She'd specifically mentioned a red interior with this fabric, and I think the overal brownish tone helps to keep it from looking too Christmas-y!)

Here's the back, with a patch pocket....

...and an inside shot.

So that's that. I'm perfectly happy to go back to selfish sewing for awhile, and have already traced out the Burda pattern for the teal skirt. I also attempted to draft a lining pattern for it, so we'll see how that goes. Pattern drafting is definitely not my strong point!

I've also been plugging away a bit at the chart section of the Cadence sweater. I think I'm about a third of the way through. So far so good, though I haven't gotten to the decreases yet.

And I've been thinking that it might be fun to start showing my me-made items in real life more often, since I tend to lose the willpower for daily outfit photos really quick during the Me-Made or Self-Stitched challenge months. But I still love the concept behind them. So since it gives a more accurate sense of the yarn colors anyway, here's a shot of my Counterpoint Hat from the weekend:

All along, I'd envisioned having this done in time for this particular road trip, since I was planning on taking a more scenic route home via Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. I didn't have time to go through as much of the park since I'd hoped since I got there later than expected and the sun was going down. When I entered the park, I was just wearing it for fun, but by the time I got to here, I was glad that I had a hat. It was getting kind of windy and making it much colder!

I'll blog about sewing again soon, I promise.

I just need to actually have something to show. I did at least start quilting the fabric for the bag my friend is paying me to make. (Two pieces down, one to go.) And I did go to Joann's today to take advantage of their Columbus Day sale and pick up some underlining for my raincoat/some buttons for the teal skirt. (Nothing on hand at home. I checked.)

But in the meantime, I did finish up two of my FESA knitting projects over the weekend!

#1, the Counterpoint hat.

An easy finish, as all I had left to do was put the brim in and stitch the hat closed at the top of the ribbing.

The brim is pretty subtle, so I had to take a profile shot so you can actually see it. And I like the quasi-tweedy but still really colorful effect of the yarn. Even though it makes me want to walk around with a magnifying glass and say things like, "Elementary, my dear Watson."

The other thing I finished was my cable slippers. Not the most flattering shot ever, as they look like deformed socks this way, but this is what you get at 12:30 in the morning in someone else's residence. I'm glad these are only meant to be lightweight slippers, since they feel kind of like they're going to fall off when I wear them. It probably would have helped if I'd stitched them up more, like the originals were, but I was literally sewing the first one of these around my foot and this was as far as I could stretch it. Mental note to self: Whenever I attempt socks, I might need to add a few stitches in that just-below-my-toe area to compensate for the extra width there.

Since I had both of these finished by Saturday night, I spent our tv-watching time on Sunday working on that scarf I'm making from the hat leftovers. It's currently about 15" long. The nice thing is that it's complicated enough of a pattern that I still have to look at the pattern for pretty much every single line, but not so complicated that I couldn't watch tv or chat with my friends.

I did think about picking up my Cadence sweater, but I looked at the directions and the very next row starts the chart. Which I'm still not entirely sure I read right before, and I think that's something I'm going to have to hole up in my room away from people and give full concentration to. Which means this is a great time to sidetrack myself from it completely by sewing, right?

Moving on...

The dress is fixed! I hope. I ended up doing the elastic thing, since I figured the dress is ruched enough that it would somewhat blend in. So I used the facing to make a casing, sewed one folded-under-and-stitched end of the elastic to the zipper (less likely to pull than the knit fabric)...

...tacked it again at the end of the facing, and then just to give it a little extra support, cut the elastic across the front and secured that in the middle where the knot is. I figure it should be stretchy enough that having what basically amounts to a chest stay (as opposed to waist) shouldn't be uncomfortable to wear. The sides do seem to fit me much better now, so here's hoping that's the end of the green dress saga!

So, other than this little repair job, I haven't sewn a thing in a week. Except for this.

This is a piece of plastic canvas edged in bias tape. Otherwise known as the brim for my "Counterpoint Hat."The pattern specifically called for plastic canvas, and I happened to have some on hand from trying to get my earrings somewhat organized. But I didn't want little plastic nubs poking through the yarn or into my head.

Though I haven't been sewing, I have been knitting some. So here's the updates on that:

1. Like I said, I'm done knitting the hat. I just don't have pictures yet since it's kind of wet from my attempt to block it yesterday. Not sure the blocking quite solved the issue of the stitches looking stretched next to the cables, but I was able to stretch it out to fit my apparently big head a little better. Once I add the brim, that's done.

2. My yarn estimation skills are lacking. I had over an entire skein of that yarn left over! So I'm making a scarf just for the heck of it. It's a bit hard to see the pattern, but it's got kind of a dragon-scale look to it. The pattern is called Guardian's Tail. It's got something like a 10-row repeat, and it's complicated enough to keep me from getting bored. I think this is about 50 rows in, so this is going to take awhile! Especially since my plan is to basically knit until I run out of yarn.

And I've made some progress on the scarf I'm making for Shantelle to use up the yarn from her handwarmers--this is pretty much all from keeping my hands busy while we have mini Project Runway marathons. I did use up the first half-ball that was left. Can you see what I did three stripes in from the right, though? The end of the second ball was the right color to add it on, and I couldn't find the other end, so I just went with it. And it's now reversing the colors! Which I kind of like. I'm afraid this isn't going to end up being a very long scarf, probably more of a neckwarmer than anything else. So I'm going to try to do some kind of keyhole to slide the other end of the scarf through. Hopefully I can figure out how to do that.

I'm getting kind of antsy to start sewing again. Next up on my list is a bag I'm making for my friend Jolene. (She is rather generously paying me to make it for her.) I'm hoping to get that cut out today. I'm also making a slight amendment in my FESA plan. Instead of the straight skirt I'd planned for my teal suedecloth, I decided that would be better off as some kind of A-line. So after digging around in my pattern stash yesterday, I came up with this. I think it'll look nice with the patches and topstitching with the somewhat textured fabric, and will keep a solid color more interesting for me. I also found a second skirt in a different Burda that will actually be perfect for the red twill--I wanted a more or less pencil skirt with some kind of pleat or godet in the back, and that pretty much does it for me. With lining and everything! I'll need to draft a lining for the teal, but I think it'll be fairly simple. But if I want to have any hope of getting on that soon, I'd better get to work!

Ok, so I'll go ahead and do that knitting update now.

I probably won't have time over the weekend anyway....I'm entering the part where my next 3 weekends are booked completely solid!

Anyway, here's what's been on the sticks lately.

#1: I started a scarf for my friend Shantelle to go with the handwarmers I made her (which she loved), for the dual purpose of using up the yarn and to give me something brainless to keep my hands busy while we have our Project Runway marathons. Just a basic k4, p4 ribbing, so I really don't have to think about it.

#2: The knitalong sweater! So far, she's just had us do the neckline ribbing, so this has been waiting for the next step to go up. So far, the hardest part has been just casting it on, which I had to do about 4 or 5 times for various reasons (cast on too tightly, ran out of yarn on the tail, etc.) I'll be glad to get to the increase section, since so far this is reeeeeeally stretched out on the circular needle and I've been afraid it'll stay that way from letting it sit!

#3, my "Counterpoint Hat". This is what I've been working on the most--the ribbing is done, and I'm about 5 rows away from starting the decreases. I'm hoping to get this one done by about the middle of October, since it seems like fall weather may actually be arriving soon and I think this will go really well with this vintage 70s leather jacket I have that my mom passed down to me. Plus I'm taking a little solo road trip to visit my best friend from high school for a weekend around then, I'm hoping to come home via Shenandoah National Park, and I think it would be fun to have a cute fallish hat to wear in any of those at-arm's-length self portraits I might be inspired to take on Skyline Drive.

And here's a closeup of the squiggly little mini-cables. I think I'm going to have to figure out a way to block this when it's done, since I seem to keep ending up with a bit of a pull right after the cable, despite my tendency towards super-tight knitting tension. But hopefully that'll even things out. If I can figure out how to block something knitted in the round....

The Frankenblouse, and other craftiness

Well, here we are--the big 600! I wanted to wait to post it until I actually had a finished project to show. And since I've been working on other stuff in the meantime, this one's going to be a bit pic-heavy. Also, just as a reminder, there's still time to enter my 5-year/600 post giveaway, which is open through Monday! And now, on with the show...

This is the blouse I finished today (about half an hour ago, to be precise.) It has the distinction of being on both my Summer and my Fall Essentials Sew-Along lists, and was kind of a transition between the two. It was also a mash-up between two patterns and my own improvisation. And, well, like the literary monster it's named for, the results are a bit less than pretty. I'm hoping it looks less lopsided on me than it does on Donna! But I did have some issues with this, probably due to the pattern merges I made.

Namely that it ended up huge on me. I had to chop this much off of the sides just to get it anywhere remotely close to fitting! And it still doesn't quite have the look I was hoping for. So this probably would have worked better if I'd worked with two patterns from the same company. Or maybe a more fitted lower half. Oh well...you live and learn.

I'm not entirely convinced about the back either, due to the two lines from the stitched-down pleat. But it'll probably work better when I'm wearing it, because unlike Donna, I'm not blue-skinned.

And there are details I like. Like the button closure, which was the detail from the original RTW blouse that inspired me to do this. It could be a bit neater, and probably would be with skinnier button loops, but it seems like it'll hold the front closed pretty well.

I'm also pleased with the sleeve, which is pretty much straight off of the New Look pattern. Except I cut the band/tie longer so I could actually make a bow out of it, since I'd learned before that it's not long enough to do so otherwise.

So I wouldn't say this is a complete failure, and I'm still planning on wearing it. And it did bust a piece of stash fabric that I've had for well over five years, so that's certainly a good thing.

(While I'm at it, the update on that: I added in about 4 yards for the raincoat fabric, and it probably should have been a bit more for the things I got for the Vogue dress. But since I'm planning on using those up next, I didn't bother to add them in. I did completely use up this metallic stripey fabric, so that leaves me at about 253.5 yards, down from 275 at the beginning of the year. Only about 150 yards to go to reach my target....this is going to take awhile!)

It hasn't been all sewing around here by a long shot. I whipped up a quick necklace last Saturday:

Super-easy, since all I had to do was put a clasp on it, and link the pendant to the pre-made chain.

I just couldn't resist this pendant when I saw it on a more recent Joann's shopping trip, because it's my favorite painting by my favorite artist. There were actually two pendants in the pack, the other one being a small circular one with the moon from this same painting. But I gave that to my sister-in-law (who also loves Van Gogh and this painting in particular), so no picture of that.

And I've been doing a good bit of knitting, too. Back on Labor Day, I finished this:

It's the first of the cable slipper pattern that I found. I had to leave a bigger foot opening than it called for (I was literally sewing it shut while it was on my foot, and well, my feet are wide so I couldn't take it as far), so hopefully they'll stay on all right.

I think the cables turned out really nicely, though, and this really was a perfect beginner cable project.

Though the second one is started, I haven't worked on it since Labor Day, though. Mainly because I'm getting sidetracked....

I finished the first of my two swatches for the Newbie and the Knitter knitalong. As it turns out, since I knit rather tightly, I had to take this up a full two needle sizes from what the pattern called for! This is the pre-blocked swatch...

And here's the post-blocked one. This is going to be a much more open knit than I thought, so I think this one will be another one I'm going to have to wear camisoles under! But it does knit up lovely, very soft and drapey. And the alpaca isn't causing me any allergy-esque trouble except for a slight tingling in my hands when I've been working with it for awhile straight. Since I won't be handling it that long when I'm actually wearing it, I think this means I'll be ok.

I also went ahead and started the hat I want to make for the fall, because the yarn was just demanding to be played with. I have to say, I love this yarn so far--it's a dream to work with on the bamboo needles, with no splitting or shedding. Hands-down the nicest 100% cotton yarn I've worked with so far. (Probably because it's also the most expensive 100% cotton yarn I've worked with so far.) And the color scheme makes me think of a sunset--it's been fun to see how the colors change and blend together as it goes. I've gotten about 2" done so far, and need to knit another 3" of the rib before I get into the main pattern of the hat.

Fall Essentials Sew-Along!

I was excited to see this announcement over at Rhinestones & Telephones today--I was curious to see what the categories would be this time! Of course I'm participating--even though I didn't quite get through my entire list by the end of August (though I at least started everything by then!), I love the flexibility of getting to choose my own patterns. And this one especially seems rather conducive to allowing for knitting to be part of my wardrobe scheme. So, in almost no particular order, here's what I'm hoping to be up to for the next couple of months. The sew-along information is copied from Sarah's blog, with the rest of it being my own plans. (Lots of pics ahead!)


ABOUT THE SEW-ALONG
Fall is often a very busy season for many of us, filled with activities that often have us running hither and yon. Making your items should be a form of relaxation; a time to slow down and enjoy the creative process.

The goal: Stock your wardrobe with quality pieces that you will wear again and again.

The benefit: A group of creative people who will encourage and inspire you, not to mention talk you off the ledge when you need it!

Well, she's got that right....fall is almost always really busy for me, and it looks like this one will be no exception. Since I'm still having no luck in the job-hunting department, though, I should at least be able to find some time to sew during the weeks, even if it seems like almost every weekend between now and the end of October has something going on!

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather
Trousers, skirts, legwarmers and more! Anything that keeps your lower portion fashionably cozy fits perfectly here! The chilly weather necessitates the donning of bifurcated bottoms and sassy skirts!

I've said it before and I'll say it again-- I'm determined that this will be the fall that I finally conquer The Jeans. So I'll be revisiting my latest muslin from the twice-taken PR Jeans class, which I set aside once the LBD plans started happening, and hopefully using this denim to make a fabulously fitting pair!

There will also be some skirt action happening, though I'm not entirely sure how much. I do have one currently in the works that I started last night in an attempt to participate in the latest Refashion Co-Op weekly challenge. If all goes according to plan, it'll fill a long-standing hole in my wardrobe...but more on that in a later post. I did also pull out these couple of things so I could have some quick projects if needed in the midst of the more complicated plans I have for the fall. (Though I wonder how quick they'd actually be, seeing as how those prints mean that both skirts would be lined...)


Also, on a random note, I love that they used the word "bifurcated".


Chic Chemises for Cool Climates
Blouses, tops, vests, cardigans, and sweaters! These wardrobe essentials can carry you from day to night, not to mention provide necessary layering to keep out the chill. 

Blouse #1, which I mentioned in my last post, is already in action! But again, more on that later. I've also pulled out this knit...

I'm not sure what pattern I'm actually going to use for it yet, but this was one of my fabrics I got from Mood last year. And while this is a bit of a departure fabric for me, I think it would go fabulously with that red skirt if I get to it. I looked through my patterns a bit today, and came up with these four possibilities:

From left to right, I'm thinking either the 3/4 print top, the reddish twist-front top, the white basic top, or that stripey drapey v-neck top. I know you're normally not supposed to break up large prints with patterns that involve a lot of seams, but at the moment I'm leaning towards either the twist-front top or the drapey-front top. Seems to me that smaller pattern pieces in front might make it easier to avoid unfortunate print placement, given all of those circles!


Also, there is that sweater knitalong that's going to be happening very soon. And another refashion idea I've had bouncing around in my head for awhile, which again may be a quicker thing.

Fabulous Frocks
Dresses of all styles; mini, short, or long! Keep yourself warm in your modish designs, layering with tights and boots!



Two words (actually a word and a number): Vogue 1253. Which I will be making out of these: The jersey, which I've had for a couple of years, is on top, and this is the tricot lining and organza I recently picked up to go along with it. (It's ok to buy fabric to help me bust stash fabric, right?)



This will most likely be the next thing after the blouse and the recon skirt--since it's sleeveless, I need to finish it while I still have a shot at being able to wear it.

 

Underneath It All
When you're spending months covered from the neck down, a glamorous underpinning of your choice adds a secret, luxurious touch that chases the cold away!


No plans for this category currently.

Tender Tootsies
Let's not forget your frosty feet! Socks, slippers and the like are the order of the day. Keep those tootsies warm and dry! 

I did cast on a new knitting project the other day that actually fits this category! Which I'm only 7 or 8 rows into, so it still counts. But again, more on that later.

Those Cozy Nights
Is there anything better than snuggling up in a cozy pair of pajamas with a hot drink and a book whilst Jack Frost works his magic outside? I think not! Sleepwear of all types are the way to go here!


You know, I think I'm actually good on cooler-weather PJs for now! So again, no current plans for this category.

Baby It's Cold Outside
Coats, hats, and mittens donned to keep the cold at bay, especially when out enjoying the spectacular fall colours!


I have hopes of being able to work in a knitted hat, in this (the yarn I got at my inaugural visit to the local yarn store):

And, well, Gorgeous Fabrics lured me in with their current sale....which includes that raincoat fabric I wanted. So I bought 4 yards of that, and it arrived in the mail today. I think it'll be lovely to sew with--more taffeta-like and less vinyl-like than I expected! (And I did flick some water on it to see--it does repel!) Given that I have other things I need to get done sooner, this may not actually be part of the sew-along. I'm just going to say I'd like to have it done by around Decemberish.

But I do also have this pulled out, to make another brown coat. This one more for layering purposes. Isn't the lining fun? And I love the look of this jacket (from the 11/09 Burda magazine)--it reminds me of those 70's jackets of my mom's that I used to wear all the time as a teenager, before they got worn out/too small for me. (I'm a bit taller than she is, so they were always a bit snug across my back and such.)


I realize that this is a lot of stuff, and the chances of me actually getting through all of this are pretty slim. But it'll be fun to try!

a post of epic proportions

....that still contains no MMM pictures. I'm SO behind. Though I've still been wearing handmade things every day, and taking really crappy, rushed photos of said handmade things. But let's move on to more important things, like amazing Anthro pants.

First of all-- yes, Nicole, you're right. I need those pants. ;-) And Joy, you have an excellent point--so far, one of the things I have taken from Me-Made-March (and observing my wardrobe in general) is that I really need to conquer the pants-sewing. Though I may almost have a jeans pattern now, though it remains untested in actual denim, a wide-legged pant would hopefully be not nearly so annoying to fit since it's not quite so close-fitting. And so I think that this is something that will be added to the queue. Elise, you seriously tilted the scales towards DIYing them with that pattern suggestion! There are still elements I'd need to add-- particularly the front pleat, I'd prefer a waistband over a facing, and of course pockets. (I actually really like the welt pockets in the Anthro pants, at least in the back. Since I need to keep my phone on me quite a bit, completely pocketless pants are kind of annoying.) But I doubt I could find a better starting point, unless Anthro gave up its patterns! (Wow...wouldn't that be a dream come true, if Anthropologie started selling its own sewing patterns...) Christina and Antoinette, the original pants are linen, so finding the right fabric could be quite doable. In fact, if I can get my butt to Joann's asap and see if they have the pattern so I can check the yardage, I may have already found it. (And on sale!) Hana, I have no idea about the quality of the original pants, since I haven't had time to go to the mall to see if the new local store has them.

Now that I've done all that talk...I actually finished not one, but two projects today! So have a boatload of pictures!

First up, my latest refashion, along with a quasi-tutorial! I started with this shirt:

I like it. I've had it for awhile, and it's comfortable. It's a good length, and it layers well due to the monochromatic print. And yet, it's still a print. For the most part, it's held up well to repeated washings and wearings. Only problem is, over the years, the back neckline has done this:

As you can see, it got all stretched out, and the tags refused to stay on the inside of the shirt. Not so obvious on Donna. It's a lot worse when I wear it. I was thinking about taking in just the shoulder seams to fix it, but the front is fine so I didn't want to take away from that. And then I got some inspiration....

First, I cut out the tags, then pinched out the excess in the back. (Which ended up being about a 2 1/2" dart, when unfolded.)

 Then, while the dart was still pinched out, I traced a circle with a disappearing fabric marker. (This is a box lid.)

Ta-da!

I don't have pictures of this step, but what I did next was unpin the dart and then cut the circleish shape out. I folded the raw edge in and stitched it down--I chose to hand-sew it so I could minimize any ripple effect and have better control over the raw edge actually staying where I wanted it.

I then sewed a small button onto one of the pointed edges at the top, made a thread loop on the other side, and buttoned it up to close the gap.

And here's the end result--best I could do, taking the picture on my own around 11 pm! I'm pleased with how it turned out--still ripples away from me a little at the bottom of the circle depending on how I'm standing, but not nearly to the extent that it did. The only problem is, the new neckline keeps making me think of the description I've heard multiple times for, of all things, the mullet! "Business in the front, party in the back." Hmmm....not the best association.

After I finished this shirt, I had more time to kill, so I finished off the beret I was knitting. It didn't take too long, since I finally got to the decrease stage a night or two ago.

I've long liked berets. I guess because it was the stereotypical artist hat. And I used to draw a lot--painting and such too, but I was a lot better at drawing. At least until I spent one semester majoring in art. I don't know if it's some psychological block or what, but I've barely been inspired to even try since. Oh well....maybe someday.

A closeup of the starburst-like top--yes, I had to learn a new stitch form for this one! A slip-slip-knit, she called it.

And the whole hat. It looks kind of like a sea urchin, lying on the bed like this...

The pattern was this "Early Morning Beret" at KnitBot. The only other thing I possibly need to do to this is that the instructions call for blocking it. Which, as I understand, involves wetting the piece and pinning it out. Except I'm not sure how that works with something more 3D, like a hat. Maybe I'll just skip that. But for now, I think I'd best go to bed, because I'm looking at these last few paragraphs and thinking that I sound a little loopy!