Yarn Crawl

Winter Knitty's Up!

And I LOVE Spoke...must.knit. In the meantime, I still have to sew the shoulder and sleeve seams (I knit them flat) on Gathered Pullover, finish the 2nd half of the back of Vine Yoke and do the left front and sleeve, and also I started a new mindless project - Somewhat Cowl. I had the spring green Alpaca & Silk yarn for it in my stash since forever, and I finally decided to cast on as I wanted a new cowly sweater.

The party on Friday was fun - nothing too crazy, but a good time was had by all - and Saturday was my last sewing class. I ended up getting an A on my pants and a B on the half-scale little black dress project (which I did a pretty rushed, half a&& job on.) On the pants, I was a bit annoyed because my sewing machine suddenly decided not to make buttonholes correctly on the actual pants after diligently testing the automatic buttonholes on the swatch of the same fabric!! So I have to replace half of the yoke/waistband - which I have more fabric to do, thankfully - and redo the buttonholes manually. Apparently (as I read in the sewing machine manual later) the machine won't do automatic buttonholes properly on some multi-layer or thick fabrics as the little wheel that measures the buttonholes doesn't roll properly. So I could have done them without the automatic buttonholer using a different foot and the step by step instructions, but didn't have the manual with me. I still got my A but I want to wear the pants!

The good thing is that I have a perfectly fitting pants pattern now that I can use to make pants whenever I want! My teacher offered that if we aren't going for the fashion design degree, we could sign up for the class again and work on whatever projects we want, basically using it as sewing lessons. $300ish is not bad for 14 weeks of sewing lessons, but I'm not sure I'll be up for that or not. I kind of just want to sew on my own and work on what I've learned, getting neater (my one criticism from the teacher - that I could be neater about my sewing and seam finishing- which is right on point) and mainly just slowing.down. My biggest problem is I'm so focused on finishing things (for wardrobe enhancement) that I do blow past some of the small details or niceties at times (honestly, most of the time.)

My garments look good on the outside and fit well, but they're missing that "polish" on the inside and I do fudge things here and there. As I pretty much know what I need to do to fix that (slow down, take the time to do things and don't take so many shortcuts) I don't know if I need lessons for that. In fact, taking a class is almost counterproductive because it reinforces the "sewing on a deadline" mentality and rushing tendencies.

I did learn quite a lot in this class though, and I may sign up again after I have a semester off to digest and apply everything I've learned. My teacher was great for me in that she basically taught us everything one-on-one, as it arose in our projects, and didn't lecture. For me, that was good, as it didn't waste time on things I knew how to do already and allowed me to get the one-on-one help on things I did (hand sewing, lapped zippers - finally have a great method for these that I learned from my teacher, pattern adjustment on the pants, sleeve heading and shoulder pad placement.)

Anyway, I didn't totally plan for this to be a class post-mortem, but it's been helpful to put these thoughts into words.

Jim and I are probably going up to Wisconsin the first half of next week as my father-in-law Bob is not doing well at all now (cancer is back and has spread everywhere.) I feel so bad for Jim having to deal with all of this in such a short time. We probably will go up there the first two or three days of next week (his dad will probably spend the actual holidays with Jim's brother and sister like he did for Thanksgiving) then we have a get-together to attend on Christmas Eve with some friends, then Christmas Day we will go over to Vicki and Frank's and see them and the cousins/their kids, then go to my parents' house. It will be busy, but that's OK.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

KS 3408 Version 2.0 - Or, What I'm Wearing Tomorrow

I just finished my second Kwik Sew 3408 wrap dress - I wanted something new to wear to our holiday luncheon tomorrow at work, and I think this is cheery and festive in its red color, yet still office appropriate. I didn't want to go the glitzy route, even though a few people do, as it starts at 11 am.

We do get to close the office then for the day, which is nice (and probably necessary) as it also involves at least an hour and a half of -very good Napa - wine before we even get to lunch, which can be dangerous if not done very carefully. Thankfully I've been through many of these things now (mostly unscathed) so I know how to approach it (a larger than normal breakfast, eaten at about 10 am, like an egg bagel sandwich, and keeping my tendency to chug the wine in check.) I've even tried suggesting that we cut out the cocktail hour (sometimes it's two hours for other evening events!) but I have a feeling it's an institution.

Anyway. Here's what I'm wearing. I'm thinking I'm going to be lazy and skip the hems, as I'm not going to blind hem it and I think coverstitch hems will take away from the look. I've been on a high energy sewing kick (here's a sample of my sewing soundtrack tonight) (apparently now Imeem is part of Myspace and it won't let me directly embed songs into my blog anymore...grrr, but you get the idea)

but now I think I'm winding down.

I think J.Lo is crooked on her little stand. Or she had a "couple two tree" as our friend Tim would say...she also needs to be trimmed down a little in the waist and hips (yay) but she hasn't gotten with the program yet. She's still overdoing it a little.

Vine Yoke 2.0 Progress

I have half a sleeve left on Gathered Pullover, and Vine Yoke 2.0 is moving along very nicely as well. Here are some pics - the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in "Black Forest" is working very well for the lace. I decided to make the 32 this time (2.5 -3 ish inches of negative ease) and that size seems to be perfect.

I also put the working stitches on waste yarn and washed it to make sure it didn't grow too much and it only grew lengthwise, the way it was supposed to. So I think success on this pattern is based on two key factors 1.) picking a size with at least 2" of negative ease and 2.) using a non-woolly yarn. I feel like the lace pattern lies flatter and shows up better in this 80/20 cotton/wool blend. I've figured out that I don't like Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece that much for stockinette stitch garments (too bulky feeling) but it works very well for lace work.

Clearly, It's a Sickness

My latest purchase from the Twist Collective...following my usual routine, they send an email, I buy the pattern. So many patterns, so little time. To compound the sickness, I'll probably buy the recommended yarn too, as it's an interesting blend of baby alpaca, silk, cashmere and camel - I know I don't have that already in the stash...

You Won't Believe This...

but I started another Vine Yoke last night, this time in a MUCH smaller size (30) (based on the comments and projects I've been reading/seeing over on the SKC group on Ravelry) and in a different yarn - Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in "Black Forest". So far it is looking really good. It will also help that this time I am using the pattern WITH the corrections and am not a knitting guinea pig. I'm done with the button band and am almost through the first yoke chart repeat on the first front. The BSCF lays really flat and shows the lace pattern off very well. I also am liking the pattern in black. Pictures to come soon!

Also, a PSA - for those of you who use Typepad as your blogging platform, did you know you can go back to the old platform they used to have by clicking a link at the bottom left of the screen in the new version? I went back. I couldn't stand having to click all over the place just to get to the posting template. I have no interest in "quick posts" or using Typepad like a version of Twitter or Facebook. Those applications have their place, but when I want to blog, I want to blog, not tweet. Just sayin'.

Check this Out...

I've been on a mission to discover new favorite yarns lately and have been wanting to try the Madelinetosh Tosh Merino. It was only $14.95 a skein over on Eat.Sleep.Knit (for 210 yards, which I think is a good deal - also they do free USPS Priority shipping on orders of $75 and up) so I indulged in "Wren" for Cambridge Cables, an upcoming project.

It looks like it will be a greenish brownish hazel-y color. YUM.

I also bought the Mondo Cable Pulli pattern today (though I'm pretty sure I could have figured out the mods on my own using the cardi pattern I already have, sometimes you just want to follow the pattern instead of thinking too hard) and I'm thinking I'll use my Noro Silver Thaw from my stash for it.

I know it seems like I'm doing more Christmas shopping for myself than for others but actually I am almost done with that shopping. I hit the Jo-Ann's after-Thanksgiving sale for McKenna, Mia and Noah (cousin Tracy's kids) and got them a ton of different types of craft projects. They really love doing that kind of stuff, and I think Mia is the one I'm going to be able to indoctrinate fully into my knitting/sewing web (mwah ha ha). She will sit quietly for HOURS working on those little lace-up sewing projects and will not rest until she's got it perfect. For five years old, I think that's pretty good. I think boys and girls are way different in terms of their concentration level at that age, because she seems much older than Landon, Paul's boy that we watched on Saturday.

Mondo Cable Cardi - Done!

I actually finished this the day before Thanksgiving and wore it that day, but didn't get pictures. Here it is today - I wore it to work.

Pattern: Mondo Cable Cardi by Bonne Marie Burns (chicknits.com)

Yarn: 3 skeins of Dream in Color Classy, in "Shiny Moss"

Size: 34, but see mods

Mods: no armhole stitches were cast on after separating the sleeves. To give it the look shown in the original pattern pic, about 2" of sleeve stitches were supposed to be cast on under each arm. I knew that more "closed up" or swingy looking cardigans don't work great on me, so I decided to just eliminate those cast on stitches and have a more open look. The finished bust measurement on mine is about 30". I also did the 1" collar option (there are options for 1", 2" and 4" - the latter is the version shown in the pattern pic) and decided not to do the two buttons at the neck.

Verdict: This pattern was very quick and easy to knit! I liked the subtle variegation of the Dream in Color Classy yarn but was not crazy about the fact that there was a knot (sometimes two knots) in each skein. The yarn wasn't super soft to knit with but it got softer and drapier once I washed it. I would use it again.

Long Weekend!

I've only been off work since Wednesday at 2 pm, but it feels like forever! It was a fun weekend, one of the best holiday weekends I've had in a long time.

First off, a new knitting project - I started this on Thanksgiving, using some Rowan Kid Classic in "Peat" I had in stash:

Here it is, unblocked and majorly curled up:

close-up of the cable section:

I have the back (from the armholes) to do and both sleeves.

On Thanksgiving, we visited Jim's aunt Vicki and uncle Frank and their kids and grandkids (the ones I used to knit for) and then went to my parents' house. It was a good Thanksgiving, way too much wine involved (if I'm going to overindulge, wine is where I do it - I rarely overdo it on food as I hate that stuffed feeling) but we had a great time seeing everyone and hanging out. Jim's dad spent the day with Jim's brother and sister and kids up there in northern Wisconsin, and we talked to him in the afternoon - he seems to be in good spirits, which is encouraging.

I didn't have my sewing class on Saturday because of the holiday and so I worked on my next project, the pants. They are fitting PERFECTLY and I have them done except for the zipper and hems. Pictures to come soon.

On Saturday night, our friend Paul had asked us as a special favor if we could babysit his five-year old son, who he had for the weekend - he had a "gig" that night (he plays keyboards and does sound production as one of his jobs) so we agreed to watch him. We decided we would paint wood ornaments with him (something we do ourselves every year) and he painted five of them and probably would have done more. He lost a baby tooth that night so we told him the tooth fairy would come when he was in his own bed (LOL.) A good kid overall, but he didn't have any interest in going to sleep. He watched a bunch of freaky cartoons on Nick at Nite (the normal SpongeBob but also weird ones like El Tigre and Avatar - these were bizarro) and played his video game and drew pictures.

Funny story - I was repeatedly asking him, "What time do you go to bed?" to which he replied he doesn't go to bed, to which I said, "Hmm, I can see you not going to bed if you're at your dad's house, but what time does your mom have you go to bed? He replied that his mom was far away - she lives in Iowa - Paul drives him back and forth on weekends he has him - and I didn't want to be the "heavy" so I accepted this. If he stays over again, he will have a bedtime. Like I told Jim, we shouldn't be asking him to sleep, we should be telling him. Anyway, I was exhausted by the time Paul finally came back from his gig at about 12:30 (kid had gone to sleep at around midnight) and I was ready to go to bed. Reaffirming my decision that kids.are.a.lot.of.work. I gotta hand it to anyone who does it and does it well, but as we've known for a long time (forever?) we won't be signing up.

To continue the family fun, Jim's cousin Anna had asked me if I could help her make some drapes for one of her co-workers. I had never made them before but agreed to work with her to figure them out. She came over Sunday at around noon and we were done by 3:30. They turned out really cool - used the coverstitch machine to do the hems (they were a cotton fabric with cards printed on it - for her co-worker's game room) and then sewed the casing/heading with the regular machine. Anna pinned, I sewed. She's going to take pictures of them once they're up, so I'll show them then.

Overall, busy weekend but lots of fun! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

At LAST....

The coat!

Without further ado...

I wish these pictures were taken with my good camera but I had to settle for my "work camera" that I keep in my desk drawer. Maybe I will take more pictures another day.

(back - coat is on crooked, apparently, or I'm standing funny! The belt loop is really in line with the D-ring above it, I promise.)

Winter Interweave Knits is Up!

And I MUST KNIT this! It better not be knit in pieces is all I have to say!