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Sweaters ((shrug)) ;-)
Friday, September 30, 2005
Anthropologie, always a source I enjoy visiting, has a number of very nice offerings right now.
Ripe for knockoff (these will open in new windows):
- Rare Objects Jacket
- Queen Mary Blouse
- Silk Peasant Blouse
- Gaucho short pants which they were calling "Knickerbocker" pants two days ago.
- Kimono Sweater
- Spitfire Sweater
I love the Kimono Sweater. In fact, there's a similar knitting pattern in the Patternworks catalog right now--close enough to use for this, anyway. Not that I would knit it. They would be back to wearing football-sized shoulder padding before I finished. It would be very, very simple to draft in PMB and sew in fleece or something.
Then, the Spitfire Sweater. O-o-o-hh...... I had not been the least bit interested in short, shrunken, shrug-like garments before I saw this delight. Let's see, draft a jewel-neck dolman, chop the sleeves and the length, fold back lapels and you have it!
It may be time to work on a transitional SWAP.
Traveling Vines Scarf
Thursday, September 29, 2005
After 11 repeats, the scarf measures 19 inches long. This thing should turn out to be of respectable size. The author's finished scarf measured 30" X 10" unblocked. My needles are size 7, rather than the 5 specified, so that has made some of the difference. Gauge schmage.
I've not finished my first skein of yarn, and I have another one. Since I would like to use the finished work as a stole, having plenty of yarn is a good thing. I should be able to get about 24 repeats out of both skeins, which, if I'm lucky, might block to 60" x 14" or thereabouts.
Even half-way through my 12th repeat of the pattern, it's still hard for me to knit a row without making a mistake. Usually it's a forgotten yarnover. On the purl side, when I notice the "off" stitch count, I might drop a stitch trying to fix the yarnover thing. That's when I despair of its turning out at all.
It's very pretty and light, even with the hair-pulling. When I KIP, people stop by to look at it. Fortunately neither they nor I can spot any mistakes in this squishy, unblocked state.
Exciter Pack Fun
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
At an ASG meeting (last year??) we dyed a silk fabric with some bottles of stuff that one of the members had bought at the sewing expo. She had taken the class and enjoyed it.
I was so enthused that I bought an "Exciter Pack" of nine little bottles. Mine had three Dye-Na-Flow colors, three Lumiere, and three Textile Traditions. Last night I retrieved them from where they had been waiting since I brought them in a dropped them, and went out onto the driveway to experiment with a small piece of my vanilla shirting.
I put down some newspapers with the fabric on top. To begin with, I gathered some leaves from around the yard and positioned them *artistically* ;-) on the fabric. I chose two paints to spatter over top of the leaves. My plan was to spatter one color, move the leaves, then spatter a different color.
I was having a great time until the wind blew my leaves away.
After I retrieved the newspapers from the neighbor's yard, I noticed that the leaves didn't do much unless they were large. The Dye-Na-Flow color took off running from wherever it hit the fabric. The Textile Traditions stayed put better but neither gave me what I thought I wanted. Then I tried applying the stuff to wet fabric with a bit of plastic bag, for a very different effect (by this time I was working at the kitchen sink).
I never did get to the stamping. The dyeing/stamping is definitely the fun thing to do with this fabrice--just gotta wait for payday and get to the store.
Shirt muslin
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
On the sewing front, I'm working to create a loose-fitting shirt to wear with my J@va Vest. Before I make the actual shirt, of course, I will make a muslin so that I can tweak things like length, collar style, and amount of ease.
The muslin will actually be made of a nicer fabric than the "real" shirt. It's some very fine cotton that I bought from Ressy--a beautiful french vanilla color and so-o-o soft. Unfortunately the color is flattering to neither the DH nor myself. He, in fact, turned up his nose at it right away--doesn't like the vanilla.
He's a chocolate man.
So, while I want to use the fabric--want to *wear* the fabric--I need to spiff it up somehow. I first tried Purrfection Artistic Wearable's split fabric technique, thinking that would be a fun way to introduce some color and try something new. No. It's too hard to get the ends of the shapes to be neat. The fabric underneath has to be finished somehow, too, and anything bright shows through the cotton. All-in all, too much time to invest in a muslin.
Now I'm considering some embroidery. I'm playing with some of Damast Embroidery's freebies now.
I like the old-fashioned look of this, but I'm not sure that I want to wear it. If this doesn't work out, I may next test some stamping--something I've been wanting to try for quite some time now.
Traveling Vines Scarf
Monday, September 26, 2005
Sewing stash and knitting stash are both being whittled down. Two balls of pretty lavender Kroy sock yarn bought in Vancouver a few years ago are (slowly) becoming DogsStealYarns.com's Traveling Vines Scarf
This is *not* your mindless knitting. You have to pay attention. I can knit while listening to TV or my current mystery novel, but I've wasted a lot of time fixing mistakes. I'm not sure I corrected the worst one last night, but at least there are the right number of stitches. I'm sure it will show up *boldly* when I block.
The first pattern repeat is the worst. You don't know what you're aiming for, so it seems like you are making mistakes when you might not be. After that, you can at least look back to check progress. I've made it through 6 repeats, so I'm over 1/4 done if I stick to the 20 repeats specified by the pattern.
P2togTBL--ever tried to execute that maneuver? I thought it was a typo until I noticed it on several rows. It was only after I looked it up in Barbara Walker's stitch book that I figured out how it's done. You sort of turn the work toward you so that you can get the needle in the proper position.
Here's a "poofy" scan of my scarf--yes, it was scanned, not photographed. (I thought the light might be better.) There's a slightly more detailed scan in the gallery. Oh, and if the gallery loads up scrambled hit reload, I'm having a little >issue< with my style sheet.
BTW, I did not get the hurricane photos yet.... perhaps today. The DH is "consolidating" them. He's got so many from many different cameras that he wants to toss a few. I can understand that!
Mississippi
Saturday, September 24, 2005
This is the first of the Mississipi photos. I'm hoping to get some more up somewhere this weekend, and I'll put the link here.
Halloween already??
Friday, September 23, 2005
The Sprout has asked me to make a Halloween costume. I'm pretty excited to have received a request to sew for her. I believe this is the first time since she asked me to alter her DQ work shirt 2 years ago.
Numerous costumes have come from the sewing room over the years. Her brother got a camo army uniform, complete with hat. She played Wilbur in a school production of Charlotte's Web--pig suit that time. There've been gypsy costumes, aliens, clowns. Her favorite, up to now, has been an aqua satin princess costume. I have to admit that I put a lot of work in it and it fit her very well, when she was 13.
Now that she's "grown" and in college, I was expecting something exotic--possibly even somewhat risque. Nope. Alice in Wonderland. Blue dress, white pinafore, blond pigtails, Peterpan collar.
I've printed and glued a new PMB fitting shell, and bought some muslin. Sewing nirvana, here I come.
Knitting Small projects
Thursday, September 22, 2005
When my children were small, I hand-knitted each of them a pullover sweater. Only one each, and I still have them. Later, when I got my Bond "Sweater Machine" I knitted my son another.
He never wore it, so I gave it away. I knitted the DH a sweater with that thing, too. He never wore it, and I gave it away.
It's too hot here for sweaters. That's probably why I usually knit scarves and hats and socks and shawls and dishcloths. I just finished a dishcloth from Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton. Cotton yarn coupled with bamboo needles is very rough on the hands, but I finished it in two sittings:
It's pattern is very similar to one I found on the Lion Brand website and changed a little:
CO 46 (I used size 8 needles)
Row 1: K
Row 2: K
Row 3: K2 *K2 P2* K2
Row 4: K2 *K the Ks and P the Ps* K2
Knit these 4 rows until desired length and end with Row 2. Bind off. Work in ends.
Happy Autumn!
Oh Happy Day!
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Good news! The gum surgeon doesn't want to do anything! The pain and suffering have been deflected. PTL!
Another good thing: the DH has returned from Mississippi. He was there for the last 10 days working to assess impact of Katrina. I don't exactly know what he did there, and that isn't important.
The important bit, to me, is that he's back, 'cause frankly, I'm a mess when he's gone. I stay up too late sewing. I wake up late, and I'm late for work. After work, I drink Coca Cola, which keeps me up even later, and-- you get the picture.
He promised me some pictures of the Mississippi coastal area, so perhaps I'll have some of those to show you later.
Knit dresses, revisited
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Whipped up a 2-piece knit dress over the weekend. I made it from some more of the crepe knit that I got from Denver Fabrics last spring. I bought 4 lengths of the stuff to make twinsets, but haven't managed to work up any enthusiasm for the task.
The other two are pink and cranberry. They may become twinsets, since I can't envision myself walking around in a dress made from either of them. Not only that, but squeezing a dress out of these 45-inch wide fabrics has been nerve-racking. The periwinkle dress has a seam up the back, as does this latest model.
The skirt was drafted as a flared gore skirt. I *thought* I could lay out 4 narrow pieces easier than 2 wide ones, but that turned out not to be the case at all. I finally placed the two front pattern pieces along the fold with their seam allowances overlapping. The overlapped back pieces received a center back seam.
It turns out to be fun to wear, with a nice swingy movement that makes me want to twirl around. (All girls are princesses...or ballet dancers...or...)
The top also got a cb seam and the sleeves were cut off short due to lack of fabric. I had initially drafted the sleeves to the same 16-inches as the periwinkle dress that I made last week.
This is the second time I've used the scooped neckline. It is almost perfect for a short necklace. Next time I'll make it 1/4- to 1/2-inch lower, though, just to give the necklace a bit more margin around it.
This is not the same draft as the holy grail tee. This one is from my new "Widerback" chart. I like it. It could be scaled to about 95% width-wise, but it's fine as-is. The wider back is, of course, not needed for a knit, but I *really* like to use the same chart for everything if at all possible. That keeps me from having to set defaults in multiple charts, and keep up with any measurement tweaks in more than one chart.
I don't think I ever showed you the finished periwinkle dress, but I finally hemmed it with a twin needle. Then hems in both the sleeves and skirt are 1 inch, just turned and hemmed, no overcasting. This dress received the same treatment.
The necklines on both are done with narrow self-fabric bindings.
The shiny underside of the fabric would have been pretty for binding, but it picks so easily. I was afraid I would ruin the whole thing by snagging the neck binidng before I even had a chance to wear it. I managed not to pick this turquoise one (yet), but it's sure to get it as soon as I sit down on a bench at work.
The periwinkle has a large pick on the inside of the bodice already. Fortunately you can't really notice the picks on the crepe side.
ASG fun
Monday, September 19, 2005
Saturday a fellow ASG member and I spent most of the day down at Hancock Fabrics demonstrating how to sew a simple cell phone bag.
We met quite a few nice ladies there who were interested in visiting our neighborhood group. When we were talking about our next project--fleece blankets for Katrina evacuees, one of them told us about Taggies.com. Funny, as a young mother I was always told to cut the tags off my children's toys and blankets. I think that was to stop them injuring their fingers by twisting them in the tags.
I was one of those hysterical mothers anyway, especially on my first try, and always did what was recommended as "best practice." By the time the Sprout came along, I was much more relaxed. Not to the point of leaving the tags on her Teddy Bear, however.
Times change. Perhaps we can work this comforting tag thing into our blanket project somehow...
...and prevent some child becoming a nail-biter due to lack of tags to play with.
Zigzag scarf
Sunday, September 18, 2005
This is your Brain on "Friday"
Friday, September 16, 2005
| Your Brain's Pattern |
 You always amaze your friends by figuring out things first. You're also good at connecting people - and often play match maker. (Uh, no. I never play match maker. Not for love matches, anyway.) You see the world in fluid, flexible terms. Nothing is black or white. |
Yeah, but knitting (and praying) is keeping me sane right now. Yesterday I found out that I've got a possibly serious problem with my orthodontics, and I have to see the dreaded gum surgeon again. Yikes! The orthodontist scared me--hopefully he was just trying to be sure I actually *go* to the gum surgeon--and I could barely sleep last night.
I listened to my book and knitted up until bedtime. When I went to bed, all I could think of was "What awful thing will that man do to me now??? Will all my teeth fall out and my jaw cave in??" That's when the praying kicked in.
It's a good thing. Next time you can't sleep for worrying--especially about something that you can't do anything about at that moment--start mentally walking up and down the hallway of your workplace and pray for each person there. Pretty soon you stop worrying about your own silly mess.
Zigzag scarf is growing
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Moving on with the ZZ scarf still took a bit of ripping, but I think I've truly got it now. I kept leaving the directions at home and would knit past where I should have, or start decreasing before I should have, or something. Now that I know what to do at the end/beginning of each "triangle", I like it a lot. It's just interesting enough to make me pay attention, but easy knitting to accompany some other semi-captivating activity.
I have not yet heard from my MD scarf recipient. I have a nightmare that she will call me up and say "Was something supposed to be inside this priority mail envelope?"
Mama always said "Don't forget to put your name and address inside a package!"
But this time I did. 
Zigzag scarf
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
The zigzag scarf is a bit different. Different enough that I had to start over twice before I *got* it. Perhaps by tomorrow I'll have actually knit enough to photograph. Right now it's about 4 inches--not enough to lay flat yet. Eventually it will look like this scarf from Art Yarns gallery.
Oh, and I read the ball band and discovered that I am using color #111 of the Super Merino. Mine looks darker than the Art Yarns photo, but you get the idea.
Despite having to start over twice on the scarf, I enjoyed the puzzle. My second project of the evening was a little frustrating. I tried (yes, tried) to fix a bean bag chair for the church youth group.
I should have let the youth minister put duct tape on it.
The tear in the bottom seam might have been an easy thing to fix with the proper equipment. Just take it apart, patch it, and sew it back together. Easy as pie. I didn't factor in the aggravation of all that styrofoam inside it. The insidious stuff kept flying away and getting *everywhere*. The tiniest opening only needed a puff of air to send it gushing out. That proved to be my undoing.
I just couldn't take it. I got a roll of packing tape, taped the hole closed and threw it in the dumpster. Problem solved.
Guess who'll be shopping for a bean bag chair after work today?
Peri Knit Dress
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
This is the dress with the bust dart rotated to the neckline and gathered. The crepe doesn't show up the gathers very much. I'm calling it a muslin. It will be wearable once hemmed, but not without two things: a body shaper and some striking accessory to draw the attention upward.
The knit--ahem--clings.
Find a bulge on my body, and the crepe knit flashes a neon sign in that direction. (I know you can't see it in these pictures--do you think I'd put a picture of that on display to the world???) In any case, it'll be a decent dress for church, and possibly work.
Well, church. I don't think I can tolerate a body shaper for an entire day!
The striking accessory is already in progress. It's a zigzag scarf from the multidirectional Yahoo! group. I got by the LYS late yesterday for some of Art Yarn's Super Merino. I'm not sure which colorway it is, but it matches the dress--red, purple--and is gorgeous, not to mention a real pleasure to work with.
Hooray for the Dollies
Monday, September 12, 2005
We had a great time playing with dollies on Saturday. I think each person was surprised and delighted with her doll when it came home.
Mine's the one on the far right. I thought it was male--an elf. Evidently the next person didn't think so. What fun!
Cell Phone Bag
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Do you keep having to dig around in your purse for your cell phone? Have I got a project for you!
Our ASG Atlanta chapter is participating with Janome and Hancock Fabrics to demonstrate basic sewing skills at Atlanta-area Hancock stores next Saturday. Here's a "glammed up" version of the bag:
Want to make your own? Visit http://asgatlanta.org/ for directions.
---
Sunday -- I made another of these with a key clip at the bottom. Such a fun little project!
More Knitting
Friday, September 09, 2005
There's still been no time to get into the sewing room, although I did manage to procure my thread on Wednesday night--maybe this weekend. Happily there is time to knit a little--during lunch, riding to and from work, sitting at the doctor's office.
The gift scarf turned out really yummy (yummily?)! It's knit from Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the "Vera" colorway. I want to knit more of this yarn. When I washed it (in shampoo) to prepare for blocking, it relaxed a lot and blocked out a lot bigger than it was when I finished knitting. I think my intended recipient will love it.
To any of my loved ones who might be reading this: If you are the one who receives this scarf and you don't like it, I WANT IT BACK!!! No questions asked or explanantions required ...
(and I will never knit for you again!)
-----
Later.... OK. That was snippy. Sorry. The scarf is now en route.
I might knit for you again, but you will *definitely* have to beg.
Doll RR finale
Thursday, September 08, 2005
This Saturday is the grand finale of our ASG group's doll round robin. It's been fun.
Our task for this month was to accessorize the doll you took home, and mine isn't done. (You're surprised, I'm sure.) The doll I've got is just too cute already! She doesn't *need* any accessories.
Her hair that won't hold a bow.
She has no fingernails to paint.
Her wrists are covered by her dress, so no place for a bracelet.
No fingers to put a ring on.
Maybe I'll just make a sign that says "Too cute" and pin it on her.
Lack of Thread
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
The only thing standing between me and actually sewing is a lack of matching thread.
Over the weekend I designed a knit dress with the bust dart rotated to the scoop neckline. I plan to gather the neckline onto a band. It's already cut out, but there's no thread. Since the DH and I have agreed to make no extra trips to town to conserve fuel (and more importantly money), an opportunity to get to the fabric store has not presented itself.
I could probably have made it a case for it on Monday, but I was temporarily sidetracked by a call for Linus Blankets for Katrina refugees. You know I'm not a quilter, nor do I handle large pieces of fabric with any great skill, but I did manage to make a few simple blankets from a piece of fleece that I had. (That's one fast way to pare down stash!)
I first thought I would bind the edge of the fleece with some stretch satin--bad idea. I wasted an hour fiddling with continuous bias before I decided that the ripply mess wasn't going to work. In the end, I mitred the corners and zig-zagged a 1-inch hem in place, which turned out nicely I think. This will be my method of choice for any fleece blankets that I construct in the near future.
After that, I worked on Maria's chemise for a bit. She seemed to be pleased with the attention. I was pleased with the result, but no thread magically appeared.
This is Wednesday, I think there's a thread crisis brewing that must be dealt with, pricey gasoline or no.
Margaret's Shawl
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
There's nothing like a crispy, freshly-blocked shawl.
The odd skein is clearly visible in the center back, and I like the effect. I very nearly used the entire skein on that center panel. Funny how that worked out. My first "Margaret's shawl", which is exactly the same size, used only two skeins of Brown Sheep. This one was from stashed Muskoka Aran weight yarn--three skeins.
Unless some VIP requests one, this will be the only one of these this year. There *are* two other shawls that I'd like to knit--the Sheer One Piece Shawl from the Modular Knits book, and this Lotus Blossom Shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting that I first saw on someone's blog.
Since I've discovered that I can knit up a skein in about 4 days, I've changed the way I think about knitting projects. I used to start knitting and have no idea how long it would take to finish the project (and it might take nearly forever). Now, I think "I can finish that in 4 days x number of skeins." Very motivating!
The title of this particular shawl has bothered me. I called the first one my "Lace class shawl" but that lacks appeal. I looked back to see what Margaret called this shawl. Her title was "Margaret's all knit, lace edged half and half shawl".
OK.
Another Multidirectional
Monday, September 05, 2005
It being Labor Day weekend and all, we had our usual "Saturday before Labor Day" celebration down at the lake. With the gas prices, there were very few boats churning up the water, which suited me fine.
I infinitely prefer a man-powered boat to the gasoline-powered variety--nasty noisy beasts.
Happily I lazed the day away knitting on a new multidirectional scarf. I'm hoping this one will be good enough for a gifty for a special person, who won't be named here! This one is from a nice yarn--Shepherd's Sport by Lorna's Laces--that I found down at the LYS last week when I was there looking for the Modular Knits book.
I discovered that the slip stitch between the triangles looked much better when I slipped as if to knit
rather than as if to purl as I was taught. Clearly there are reasons to try various ways to do things before settling on a method for a particular project.
While I wasn't sitting on the porch knitting, or down by the lake eating, I was in the lake floating around enjoying the lukewarm water. Every now and then I would come upon a cool place...nice.
"Elegance" skirt all done
Friday, September 02, 2005
There are definite differences between this linen skirt and the knit dress. When I walk the knit has nice "swoopy" motion. The linen tends to have a life of its own and stands away from the body a bit. I expect it will soften up over time, but right now, it has a more A-line appearance than the knit version.
When I cut the linen, I placed the center front fold line about 5/8" away from the fold to give me a bit more ease in front. It's perfect, and the linen will only get better with age.
I would like a few transitional knit dresses. They'll have to have elastic in the waist, I think, to support the weight of the skirt. I've drafted a new style knit top with the bust dart rotated to the neck for gathers, and 16 in sleeves. Perhaps I can morph that into a dress for some of those other knits I bought last spring.
With the long weekend upon us, I'm hoping to get some projects finished. Maria is still waiting for her chemise and a dress. The doll round robin ends next weekend, so I've got to accessorize the little urchin who is waiting patiently for my attention on that project. Then, there's my taupe shawl almost completed.
Fun!
Elegance Skirt
Thursday, September 01, 2005
You may recall that my new dress of last weekend was inspired by Pam Howard's Flirt Skirt. I love the dress so much, that I just couldn't stop.
The lower part of the dress became--what else?--a skirt. It took about 15 minutes to cut and an hour to sew (sans hem). Too easy. I'm letting it hang so that the hem can stretch downward all it wants to, but I'm hoping to be wearing it tomorrow. You can imagine just how nice it is to wear. The "swoop" in the back feels nothing shy of elegant.
It's made of the teal linen that I bought from Timmel Fabrics last year to go with my woven copycat. I've been wearing the top with the taupe pants from my spring SWAP up to now. The copycat and the new skirt should look spectacular together--pictures soon.