Yarn Crawl

Another Yarn Purchase!

I've been seeing projects made with Malabrigo Silky Merino lately and decided I had to try it! I wanted something that it is similar to the Tess Cultivated Silk & Wool, but DK weight, and I'm hoping this fits the bill.

It's called "Ravelry Red" - don't you love it?

Simplicity 4084 (COAT) Progress

I have been working (somewhat feverishly, lately) on finishing up the wool trench coat. Just for a refresher, here's the pattern I'm doing - View C, shown in purple in the center inset:

This has been my first coat, and there are a lot of other firsts with this too. (First completely lined garment, first lined pockets, first belt carriers, first sleeve tabs, first two-part sleeve, first shoulder pads, first sleeve heading - this is a neat trick) first woven with princess seams, first sewn wool garment, etc. etc. etc.) I have learned so much but in that learning process it's been very difficult to document everything, mostly because I've done the majority of the work in my six-hour sewing classes on Saturdays. The other reason is that I feel like I've ripped out practically everything that exists on this coat.

Here it is as it stands - right now it first needs pressing again and then it needs topstitching, buttonholes, buttons, sleeve lining hems (outer sleeve hems are already handsewn - what...) and bottom hem. I have pins to mark where the buttonholes will go. I had to lighten the exposure on many of these pics to get the details to show up in my dark hallway outside my sewing room, despite taking the pictures just now at lunchtime.

Here's the full length shots - I think the dress form is crooked, so I have to fix that.

This picture looks a little weird, as I had to get going back to work and didn't have time to mess with it:

I probably wouldn't have stuck with it if I didn't have this class to hold my feet to the fire, but I'm glad I did. The next one (what...) will be even better. The fit part was easy - it was a straight pattern size 12 with Miss Petite adjustments, no others were necessary. Other than needing to shorten the bottom hem a little, it really fits me perfectly everywhere, which is pretty amazing given my height. It's nice to know that whenever I'd want a trenchcoat, I could make this up.

It was more "fabric management" (i.e., fraying) that made me crazy. I think I would make this is a regular trenchcoat fabric next or in another fabric that didn't fray, or wasn't loosely woven so I could serge the hell out of the pieces first. I did serge a few of the pieces to clean them up, but it tended to distort them a little even with the differential feed set to zero. I am liking the (close-to) end result though and plan to finish it up before class on Saturday. Next up for the class will be pants - should be interesting!

Finished Project - Sylvar!

I finished Sylvar yesterday - this is one of my favorite knits in a while!

Here's all the details -

Pattern: Sylvar by Jordana Paige

Size: XS (32)

Yarn: Miss Babs Yowza! superwash worsted in Roasted Pumpkin (only used about 1 and 1/3 skeins - each is 500 yards)

Mods: I made the XS for the body but I continued the increases just on the sleeves to make them = to the S measurement after seeing that the XS sleeves were only 9.5" on the schematic. In these pictures, I have washed/blocked the body but not the sleeves, so they will grow a bit in length and width after washing the whole project. I also bound off the bottom garter stitch with needles 2 sizes up to make sure it wouldn't bind on the hips, as there are no hip increases in the pattern - you do waist decreases and then go into the garter stitch band, which I knew would be stretchy (!!) but wanted to make sure it was stretchy enough.

Verdict? I love it! I also really enjoyed the process side of knitting this pattern and was amazed that only one other person (Sylphette, one of my Sexy Knitters Club compadres whose finished project list looks a lot like my queue) had knit it! It's top-down, worsted weight and also pretty easy to knit! I love Jordana Paige's patterns - they work well for me and I plan to make MORE!

Thank You and Yarn Therapy

Thank you to everyone for your kind words on the passing of Jim's mom. We both appreciate it so much, and I am in the process of responding to each of you. Thank you all again!

And now for something completely different, how about some yarn therapy??

Here is what I just bought from Little Knits just now - Dream in Color Classy in "Shiny Moss". I have never tried the Dream in Color yarns and I figured now was as good a time as any, when it's on sale for $15ish a skein. I bought four.

obituary

---

From: Hildebrand-Russ FH <wihdr@keymemories.com>
To: Robin Martin
Sent: Thu Oct 22 11:42:22 2009
Subject: obituary

style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Marguerite P. Kogut, age
71, of Rhinelander, passed away on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at St. Mary’s
Hospital.  She was born on December
4, 1937 in "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /> w:st="on">Chicago, w:st="on">Illinois to James and Jennie (Ortaldo)
Brunetti.  She attended St. Mary’s
High School in w:st="on">Chicago graduating in 1955. style="mso-spacerun: yes">  She married her husband, Robert, on
September 1, 1957 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church. style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Marguerite graduated from w:st="on">Morton w:st="on">Junior College in 1979 with an RN
degree.  The couple moved to
Rhinelander in 1985.  She was
employed by w:st="on">Friendly w:st="on">Village as a registered nurse for 17
years.  She enjoyed crocheting
afghans, dolls, and taking family cruises to w:st="on">Hawaii and the w:st="on">Bahamas. style="mso-spacerun: yes">  "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> face="Times New Roman"> 

style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Marguerite is survived by
her husband, Robert; her children; Karol Bauman of Rhinelander, Bob (Cori) Kogut
of Rhinelander, and James (Robin Martin) Kogut of Downers Grove, Illinois; her
sister, Vicki (Frank) Dufner of Palos Hills, Illinois, her grandchildren; Steven
and Kristy Bauman and Joseph and Jaclyn Kogut; her great-grandson, Kyle; and
many nieces, nephews, and extended family. 
She was preceded in death by her parents.

style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> face="Times New Roman"> 

style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">A Memorial Service for
Marguerite will be held at Hildebrand-Russ Funeral Home, 715-365-4343, on
Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 2:00 P.M. with Deacon Mike Harvey
officiating.  Visitation will be
held on Saturday at the funeral home from 1:00 P.M. until the time of
services.  A memorial has been
established in her name and contributions may be directed to the family. style="mso-spacerun: yes">  All are invited to share memories of
Marguerite on-line at
hildebrandfh.com.

Prayers and Good Thoughts Needed

I won't be around to blog the next few days or so. We just got a call that my mother in law's cancer has taken a major turn for the worse, so we are all traveling up to see her. Me, Jim, Aunt Vicki and Uncle Frank are driving together and leaving in about an hour, and all the cousins are going up later this afternoon. She has a "do not resuscitate" order on file as she doesn't want to be connected to machines to keep her alive, and Jim and his cousin Tracy have the primary and secondary powers of attorney, respectively. I pray that she finds peace whichever way things turn for her. Tracy is a nurse and says that there is very little chance she will make it past the next two days, however, based on what's been happening. She is on morphine to keep her comfortable.

Clarification on Foster Pride

Please note that the Foster Pride organization will be happy to take partial (leftover) skeins. They can use these for colorwork or trim. I clarified this just now as the question was raised by one of my readers.

Sylvar Update and Foster Pride

I finished the body on Sylvar on Saturday morning and decided to wash/block it to make sure the garter stitch neckband wasn't going to grow too much. I'm happy to say it went right back into shape after I blocked it back (though it looked really huge when it was wet.)

I also wanted to see how the garter stitch bottom band worked out and that fits great too - it curves out the way my hips do, and fits fabulously. Now that it's dry, I'm going to be doing the sleeves. I'm undecided if I want to do them in the round the way the pattern instructions say, or if it'll just be faster to do them flat and seam. They won't have to be seamed in the lace pattern, as it's basically 3x1 rib under the arm. We'll see.

I made a LOT of progress on my coat Saturday, all undocumented. It needs a complete pressing again after being brought back and forth. I have the front and back of the coat, the collar, the yoke with D-rings, and the sleeve tabs/carriers/belt mostly done. I also have the lining sewn together and the front facings sewn to the linings.

I still need to do the following:

1.) finish turning the belt (teacher did one half, I need to do the other) - it is super thick wool with interfacing - ugh - so it is not easy. I may ask Jim to do it as he's very good at turning things.

2.) sleeves and sleeve heads and shoulder pads

3.) attaching the lining to the coat and

4.) buttonholes and buttons.

I have two more full class sessions (total 12 hours) to work on it, so I think I am on schedule. Next up will be pants, and I went to Vogue Fabrics yesterday and got my fabric and lining for those. I decided to use the bemberg rayon lining per Vicki's suggestion, and bought enough of it to fully line the pants instead of just getting 1/2 yard per the pattern envelope. This class/teacher is empowering me to use my own sense instead of just following the instructions, which is great. I have the confidence now to make changes where I think they will improve the finished product. When I got to this point with knitting, it was a great feeling, and this is too.

Now for the second part of my post - the Foster Pride part. Yesterday afternoon, I was contacted by the founder of a non-profit organization in New York City called Foster Pride. Here is her email, as she explains her group and its mission much better than I could:

I'm the founder of a NYC non-profit called Foster Pride (www.fosterpride.org)
We have a class for troubled teens in the foster care system who've discovered (and are calmed by!) crocheting--and we can't keep up with their demand for supplies!

Any donations of yarn (any color, any amount) would help--and we can of course provide tax donation letter.I thought you might have extra yarn, or ideas about how we could proceed to get in touch with people or stores who do--even if it's only a skein.

Thank you so much! It's amazing to see this kids go from "behavorial problems" to motivated entrepeneurs who want to sell their goods on Etsy!

All best, Lynn Schnurnberger

I think this is a great organization, and I've often thought (and remarked!) that fiber arts might be a good way to engage troubled and non-troubled teens alike and keep them out of further trouble! I also recommended that Lynn join Ravelry and post about her group on the "yarncycle" group which is set up for requests of donations like this. I thought if any of you would like to donate unwanted or leftover skeins of yarn to her group, I would pass along the address.

Foster Pride, 41 Boulevard, Pelham, NY 10803

If you would like to ask any further questions of Lynn about her organization, please leave a comment with your email address and I can provide you with her email address.

More Sylvar Progress!

How about some positive news: here's Sylvar - just finished the decreases and now have started the garter stitch waist/hip band:

I can't believe I started this only a week ago...and I've ripped a few sections back, too!

Tomorrow afternoon I should get a chance to press and work on my coat so there should be pictures then!

Scary!!

This is just one of the reasons I haven't been going on any flights lately. Jim has been saying this since we entered this recession - and it usually is true - that one of the first things to go in tough economic times are "discretionary" spending items like repairs and maintenance. I do admit I thought Jim was being a little bit too worried about this, but after seeing this article today in the online Chicago Tribune, I think he is spot on (as he usually is.)

So I think I'll continue doing local destinations/driving trips for the time being. Between the craziness with the airlines now cancelling flights willy-nilly, not maintaining their planes diligently, and cruise ships quarantining passengers to their cabins because of the H1N1 flu, I think I'm staying closer to home.