Yarn Crawl

SP12 Blog Question #1

This round of SP, we are posting the answer to a "question of the week" on our blogs.

The question of the week is, "What's your favorite summertime drink?"

My favorite summertime drink is a frozen margarita...yum. Here's a margarita recipe that is tried and true and uses an unusual ingredient that makes it taste GREAT.

Ingredients:

1 small can of Minute Maid frozen limeade (but you can experiment with other frozen juice concentrate!)
tequila (the good stuff is preferred but not required)
1 bottle of Corona or Corona Light (or any other type of beer in a pinch)
ice cubes
limes for garnish if desired

Pour the can of limeade into the blender. Fill the can 1/2 full with tequila (or more, if the spirit moves you) and pour into blender. Pour half the bottle of beer into the blender. Fill the blender the rest of the way up with ice. Blend until your concoction reaches "mashed potata" consistency (had to throw in a Chicago-ism.)
Drink and enjoy!!!

Pre-Vacay Update

Yesterday I got a lot accomplished but I don't have much to show for my progress (plus my camera is not turning on for some reason - it's supposed to charge in its dock so I have to figure out that problem.)

Here's what I did though -

1.) fixed my serger - I am getting good at troubleshooting its problems now.

2.) did the rolled hem on that bias skirt and it turned out great. I'm wearing it today. Jim was gone already this morning getting some decking for our upstairs deck off the loft, to redo the wood with the Trex like our other deck, so my photographer wasn't around.

3.) sewed part of the penguin together at lunch

4.) worked on Cable & Lace top - have about 30 more rows to go on the top section - I'm bringing this with me tomorrow for car knitting

5.) decided not to kill myself to get that Simplicity dress done for the weekend - I cut it out of a bad JoAnn's mystery knit fabric and it's fighting me every step of the way. I think I'll finish this one and assess it for fit (as I have a feeling I shouldn't have made my usual size, and should have gone down one) and then make one in a normal knit fabric. If I only worked with this type of knit, I can see why people get frustrated with knits. The ones I got from Vogue are so much nicer and pliable to work with - they handle really just like wovens, except for the cutting, which I only do with a rotary cutter and pattern weights on knits.

6.) Took advantage of the sale over at Audible.com - 3 unabridged audiobooks for 2 credits. I got The Good Earth, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and Dog Man.

I may or may not get pictures of the skirt later today - we didn't get to do our usual Wednesday night sushi last night as Jim and his friends went to an Iron Maiden concert (um, go ahead honey, have fun with that!!) so we are probably going to go tonight to get our "fix". If I don't get pictures posted later, I will eventually.

Have a great weekend, everyone! See ya on Monday!

Virtual Vacation: St. John

I think we all need a pick-me-up, so let's do a virtual vacation today.

One of the most beautiful islands I've visited is St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Jim and I visited the island as part of a cruise in 2005, and I thought I would share some of my pictures from there.

I can't wait to get to the beach on Friday, even though it will be Lake Michigan and not the Caribbean.

In other news, my coverstitch machine is supposed to arrive tomorrow already!! Free shipping AND lightening quick!

Breaking News!

I don't know what it is with me with the twice-daily blogging today and yesterday, but I had to share the fact that I bought a separate coverstitch machine, the Janome 900CP. Adrienne told me about hers, and I couldn't pass up the deal, so I bought mine from the same dealer she did. Now I won't have to screw around with converting my serger over to do coverstitch (for hemming!) With all the knits I sew, I think it's worth it, especially at this price. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Fashion Update

According to my most recent issue of Lucky magazine, summer plaids and ballerina dresses are in right now. I was also surprised to see multiple versions of sundresses with the straps/upper body shaped like this:

It reminded me very much of one of the patterns I just bought:

So it's good to know that the trends are reflected in current patterns that are out. I like reading Lucky to know what I should sew next (despite the fact that no matter what you tell me, I'm still going to sew a bunch of things that wrap over the body in knit fabric.)

Last night, I cut out that pattern I showed yesterday

which took FOREVER. It had a TON of pieces. The instructions are super straightforward though, and I've found that the more complicated/time-consuming the cutting process is, the better the end result, usually. Those "simple" patterns that only have a few pieces can be fraught with danger.

In case you can't tell, my knitting mojo has temporarily left the building. I really want to make myself some summer pieces right now, and knittting isn't going to get me there quickly enough. One thing I've learned in recent years is to go WITH the flow, not against it. I always used to try to fight it and impose my will on everything around me, with variable (and exhausting) results. Now I go with it and I find I'm much happier and more productive.

Found the Other Patterns!

I mentioned earlier today that I knew I had bought more patterns but didn't remember all of the numbers - well, I found the piece of paper I wrote the numbers on in the bottom of my purse. I swear, if there is any way to store info electronically, I always go for that option, as I never lose anything on my computer or Blackberry - but give me a piece of paper? Forget it, I'm done.

Here they are:

The kimono style top, except for woven fabrics, with a sash:

Summer stuff for going out:

More knits - I like the shape of this knit skirt:

Took a chance on this one - the dress on the left appealed to me, but it may be a little too shapeless - muslin will tell:

And a few kids' patterns for knit fabric, for Mia and McKenna - I thought I might try making them stuff too:

I just got back from the periodontist and I have to have my implant redone, as it has gotten worse since last time when he thought it was safe enough to leave well enough alone. Not so much. I'm doing it two weeks from today at 4 pm. Yuck. The original time I had it done back in 2001 wasn't bad at all, and I really had no pain with it, but it is just nervewracking and I'm dreading it this time. Because (as I said earlier today) it was a baby tooth with nothing underneath it, they had to build up the bone underneath it originally, so they will be doing that again. Bleah.

Weekend Recap

So how was your weekend? Mine was weird but OK.

Off topic - I had an employee's WIFE call in for him this morning to say that his alarm never went off and that he just got into the car to come to work, so he'll be a little late. More weirdness!

Thursday night I bought a bunch of patterns - here are the ones I can remember but I know there were four more.

Friday afternoon, Jim and I spent most of our time waiting for his CAT scan. He lost a baby tooth (he and I both have a weird condition where a few of our baby teeth never fell out and there wasn't a permanent tooth in place to replace it - hence my one dental implant) and because it was such a small space for the tooth in his case and there happens to be a permanent tooth embedded in his jaw sideways somehow, he had to get a CAT scan to see if they can do an implant. If they can't, he will probably have to get those Invisilign braces to move the space apart further to make space for the implant. It would be a PIA but at least it would also fix a few of his other teeth that bear the aftereffects of a misspent youth (lots of fights! he was a scrappy character but has calmed down in his old age.) I feel for him, as I wouldn't want to get braces now. You'd think that at 41, you're safe from braces at this point, but nope! So we're waiting on the results.

So then that night we went out to Carlucci's for dinner and I got my pasta fix that I had been craving.

Saturday morning I had a hair appointment and I let myself be talked into more layers and a side bang, along with my color touch-up. It actually turned out cute and I'm glad I listened to the stylist. You can see pics of it in the sewing FOs below. I went to a different stylist this time, while sticking to the great colorist I went to last time. I also added on a manicure as I was in dire need and they had availability.

After a quick lunch, I decided to sew my top to wear that night to Topolobampo - Simplicity 3536 - a simplified version of Views E/F (shown in flower/animal prints in the picture below.)

I started cutting at 1 pm and finished sewing at 3:45, 15 minutes before the cab came to pick us up for dinner. I kinda like sewing on a deadline if it's my own deadline - way to get motivated to finish pesky things like hems! If they sit, they don't get done for awhile.

I didn't finish all the embellishing touches on this - there was either supposed to be a fabric rose (made with a lettuce edge on the serger) in the middle of the neckline or a wrap around ribbon, and the shoulders were supposed to be gathered with two rows of elastic, but I was out of 1/4" elastic, was short on time, and also thought it looked good in a plainer version. Maybe I'll put the bells and whistles on it as Phase 2, but it's not the most flattering style in the world (though I do like it and think it's OK) so I may not bother.

Dinner was a major disappointment - we had gone with the much-praised and touted tasting menus and while we knew at the front end that we were in for the duration, at one point we didn't have anything to eat for an hour! This led to a crazy amount of margaritas being consumed, and everyone there apologizing for the kitchen delays. They ended up comping our entire bill except for the drinks, which was more than fair, but we won't be back. The food didn't live up to the hype (rarely does it, I've found, in the very popular restaurants with a four month wait for a Saturday night reservation) and so we were blah about it. On top of it, Jim ended up being sick all day yesterday as something on his tasting menu must have disagreed with him. I didn't have anything that disagreed with me, and any quantity of tequila never bothers me, so I was feeling A-OK. But the meal was wayyyyy expensive before the comping and there's no way I would have felt it was worth what the price was. There are definitely restaurants that would be, but this wasn't one of them.

Anyway....yesterday morning it was sunny out until about noon, and as I had gotten up early, around 7 am, I went outside to knit and pick out my next sewing pattern while dipping back and forth in the pool. I have a good amount done on the split-neckline tee, and I also finished all the pieces of the penguin. Do I have pictures? Nooooo. I also finished the hem on that A-line skirt that I started a week or so ago.

I think this is my next knit (sewing) project:

I want to make the cap sleeve version, with a v-neck and ruching at the middle. I have a pink/coral flower print knit that I think I'll use for it (pics to come) but all I've done so far is cut out the paper pattern pieces.

I seriously don't think I will really sew with wovens again, after experiencing how easy knits are to work with and fit. I like that zippers and buttons aren't usually needed, as most of the items just slip on over the head, and I like that they're wrinkle-free. What's not to like? I also decided that I will not buy any more fabric online, except maybe once in a while from Gorgeous Things, because I washed that red polka dot fabric I bought from Fabric.com and the red bled into the white polka dots, relegating this fabric to PJs of some sort. I'll have to pick out a new fabric with Dawn - maybe we'll do a shopping trip to Vogue, because I am going through my fabric pretty quickly now.

I also experimented with the rolled hem and lettuce edges on my serger yesterday and the former is very easy, but the latter is trickier to do. You have to pull on the fabric in both directions while avoiding breaking the needle (which I did, once.) So I'm still working on practicing that. I may just do rolled hem for that bias skirt, as I think the fabric is not stretchy enough for the lettuce edge. I am considering getting a separate coverstitch machine, as there are some basic ones available for less than $300, and it would eliminate the need to convert my serger over between functions.

Oh, and yesterday I also sent out my SP12 matches for my hostess group. I also contacted my spoilee and heard from my spoiler last night - I have a great feeling about this round! I think everyone is going to get along great with their pals this time.

I guess that's it - lots more sewing planned for this week too as Jim and I are going back to that great B&B in Michigan this weekend for our 6th wedding anniversary and I want a few cute new dresses to wear for dinner here and here. Hopefully we have good weather so we can hang out on the beach during the day. We leave Friday morning, as I took that day off from work.

How was your weekend?

Good News!

My FIL Bob has made almost a full recovery, both physically and mentally! The MRSA infection is almost 100% gone, and he is not confused any longer about time or really anything else. He does need to have knee replacement surgery, as I guess what they did before was something short of that, so he will be undergoing that soon. It turns out that all the meds he was on were what was making him so loopy (heck, you shoot me up with morphine a couple of times a day, I'm gonna be loopy myself!!) Thank you so much for all of your kind thoughts and prayers - I am sure they were a huge factor in Bob's recovery. It means so much to me and Jim and the entire family.

So I just wanted to quickly share that! No big weekend plans really - I have my hair appt tomorrow morning and we are going to Topolobampo tomorrow night with our friend Tim. Other than that, not much of anything. I bought a bunch of new New Look patterns yesterday and a few patterns that were on sale over at Hancock, so I have some more sewing mojo (as if that's even possible.)

I separated the sleeves on the split-neckline T from Fitted Knits yesterday and so now it is just mindless knitting all the way. I have a bunch of projects that are almost done that I plan to get to.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Misc.

Thanks for all the nice comments on my Simplicity 4020 top yesterday! I actually am going to be making another one for my friend Dawn at work. She is the one that I gave my jewelry-making supplies to who surprised me with a great Elann gift certificate. I think it will be pretty quick to whip up another one, and this time I'll use my serger. I'm making it for her out of this fabric that I got on sale at fabric.com about a month ago - I let her pick from a couple of different fabrics I had in stash:

It's a pretty big polka dot, but I think it will be cute. The good thing is I let her try on my top and it fit her perfectly, so I'm going to make the same size. No re-cutting the pattern. She has the same measurements I do on the top and in the waist, but is an inverted triangle so her hips are super small. I never thought we had the same measurements from the waist up, so that was a good eye-opener as I always thought she was way thinner than me.

On the split-neckline tee from Fitted Knits, I only have two more rounds to go before separating the sleeves. I've got a lot of knitting projects that are almost done right now, that I need to sit down and finish (as is also the case with sewing.) The good news is that once I do, I'll have a lot of new things to wear!

Simplicity 4020 - Done!

I finished Simplicity 4020 over the weekend and am wearing it to work. So far I've gotten some compliments already, along the lines of "Where did you get that?" Love that!

Here it is (sorry a few of the pictures are blurry - we were in kind of a hurry this morning to get out of the house as Jim had a dentist appt to get to, so I've mixed in a few mirror shots:)

I like it - next time I would lengthen the bottom section and widen it at the hips just a smidge. Other than that, it fits perfectly and is super comfortable and soft and silky. I posted the review over on Patternreview.com, and you can click into it by clicking my Patternreview widget in the right sidebar.

Last night I also got my serger working again after converting back from the coverstitch functionality - it turned out to be two little things I didn't have set up correctly. So now I'm back in business with the serging. I'm thinking of maybe doing a rolled hem on the bias skirt, on the serger, after looking at pictures in my serger books of finished projects. The bias skirt is basically a wearable muslin - it was a $2 piece of fabric, so I think I will try it after practicing on scraps. The other idea was to do a lettuce type of edge on it, another thing the serger will do if I set it that way. I don't know, I'll have to think about it a bit more.