Yarn Crawl

Drinking from a Fire Hose...

It has been an absolutely crazy week, mostly work-related. I can’t believe I’ve been too exhausted to blog since Sunday! I’m here now though.

Knitting: I have about a million projects going on.

1. I started Tree Jacket the other day. I’m done with the collar and am currently about 1/3 of the way through the garter stitch section. I’m loving it so far! Total mindless knitting, which is just what I need right now. The Knit Picks Andean Silk is great to work with and really soft. I love the drape of it as well. I am not sure whether I’m going with the XS or the S, but the great thing is, I don’t have to decide until I get to the end of the increases for the XS. If it fits fine as is, I will continue on to the next section. If it needs to be a little bigger, I’ll just do four more rounds as that is the only difference between the two sizes up through that point.

2. Sushi Wallet – no progress: body of wallet done; one sushi piece done, five to go

3. Cabled Purse – done with both side gussets, and have about 10” done on the main body of the purse. The total length is 24” as it folds over and is seamed to be about 12” in height.

4. Flair – need to adjust for my shorter row gauge or my buttons will be too close together. Probably need to do an extra three or four rows between each buttonhole, but I need to confirm that math.

5. Spicy Fitted Tee – actually worked on this earlier in the week and I’m at the waist decreases now. If I worked on this for a good afternoon or so, I’d be done.

6. Indigo Ripples Skirt - done with the increases on the top section; tried it on J.Lo and it fits, need to do about three more inches on the top section and then I'll start the lace.

Totally random: One of my friends at work brought in these amazing apples she picked in Michigan over the weekend. She didn’t know what kind the one was that she gave me, but this is the best apple I’ve probably ever eaten in my LIFE. It looks like a Mackintosh, but is really tart and tangy. I hate sweet apples (like the traditional red “give to the teacher” mealy tasting kind) and usually only eat Granny Smiths or Mackintoshes. What’s another type of sour-ish apple that looks like a Mackintosh? I must buy more. I’m reminding myself of one of my friends that was raving about these pears she got from Harry and David. You would have laughed out loud listening to this reverie about the pears. Think "When Harry Met Sally"...she looooves her food.

Sewing: I didn’t stay long for class on Tuesday night, just turned in my samples (inner and outer curves) and watched the demonstration of the samples for next week. We only have one more week of samples to do after this. The ones we are doing for next week all involve dealing with facing (for waistbands, collars, etc.) Understitching, stitch in the ditch, grading a/k/a “layering the seam” in commercial pattern-speak, clipping and notching curves. Easy stuff. I actually got full credit on all of my samples from last week except for the easing one (analogous to the knitting technique of setting in a sleeve into an armhole – easing a larger piece into a smaller one. ) Apparently, no one got full credit on this sample and our instructor said it just comes with practice. Adrienne told me about an article in the October Threads that covers how to do this technique well, so I plan to check that out when redoing the sample. However, in the meantime, I looked at some of my sewing technique books, such as the Simplicity Simply the Best sewing book and the Sewing With Nancy Tips & Techniques book, and realized that I hadn’t known to pull on each side of the seam allowance while sewing it and a few other tricks. Still waiting for my new machine to be back from the sewing dealer. It was supposed to be done yesterday. Grrr.

In my class, many people are still working on their purses (some just started cutting them out) and we have three more weeks to go until they’re due. I probably have about an hour of work left on mine, so I decided to leave. Pictures to come soon, as I hope to finish it this weekend.

MBA class (no one cares, who am I kidding?): had a case to write up for Wednesday night’s class so that was another part of my “drinking from a fire hose” mindset this week. I am starting to fall a little bit behind on the 2-chapter-a-week reading schedule, but I won’t have anything due for a while now, so should be caught up soon.

Weekend: I am SOOOOO looking forward to the weekend after this week! Tomorrow night Jim and I will be attending a “one year opening anniversary” invitation-only party tomorrow night at Blu Coral, our favorite restaurant, but other than that, NO PLANS. I am going to Hancock Fabrics at lunch today to take advantage of their $1.99 Simplicity pattern sale, which should be fun as well. The sale starts today, but I prepared in advance by looking online at the patterns and making a list of the ones I want. I also plan to beat the crowds by going today, on the first day of the sale, at lunchtime. Wish me luck!

Weekend Recap

I felt like sewing this weekend and decided to cut out a practice skirt for my class using some cheaper, but still nice fabric instead of my "good fabric." Kind of the concept of "making a muslin" but with actual wearable fabric instead of muslin. I hate the idea of making something that I know at the front end will be unwearable.

I decided on New Look #6733, view C (shown in a black and white print, second from the top, in the left column.)

I cut a 14 (those of you who sew know that pattern sizing has no relation to RTW sizing) based on my measurements and it was huge. Check out all this extra fabric.

I had compared the finished hip width printed on the pattern back to the finished measurement of another skirt I made and they were the same, but what I didn't take into account was the shape of the skirt. That one was a pencil skirt, and this one is more of an A-line, so it gives more ease as it is fuller, even with the same measurement at the hip.

So, I compared the pattern pieces for the 12 vs. the 14 and it appeared that each piece was only 1/4" different, as there are six pieces that comprise the skirt, so between the six, there was 1 1/2" of difference between the two sizes. It has a front and back, with two side panels that are sewn to each front and back (there is another view with godets, so it is kind of like that look, except I didn't choose to actually make those for my first attempt.)

I then compared the 14 to a RTW skirt I own that fits well to see how it differed.

I expected the RTW skirt to be smaller than normal as it is a knit and I was comparing it to a woven. What I figured out is that the finished measurement for the 10 per the pattern envelope = the measurement of my knit Eileen Fisher skirt in this style, so if (when! as I love this style) I make this in a knit fabric, I will cut a 10. The hip measurement for the 12 was one inch larger than the 10, which seems to make sense as I knew it would need a little more ease for a woven fabric.

The 12 fits much better. I took the slacker way out on this one and didn't pick out all the seams with a seamripper. I used the 20 mm seam guide (about 7/8") instead of the 15 mm one (5/8") and ran the seams again right next to the old ones. Then I pinked open the seams, trimming them to about half width, cutting open the old seam in the process, so that I can now press these flat. For the practice skirt, that was OK, but I wouldn't do that with my good fabric. I like it pretty well though. It is still a little big, but it is supposed to sit below the waist (which I tried to do on J.Lo.) Another problem I think I have is that my front is narrower than my back. My dress form is adjusted to accomodate and match this - like with my 38" hip measurement, my front is 18" wide and my back is 20", not 19" and 19" like you would expect. Is there an alteration for that? What would that be called? The "big booty" adjustment?

(right side)

(front, which is off center, I see now)

(left side, where zipper will be placed)

Now I have to recut the yoke pieces for the waist as 12s instead of 14s, as I hadn't touched those yet. Hopefully everything fits together right, but now I know the 12 is going to fit great when I use my good fabric. I could probably even get away with the 10 in the woven fabric, as the 12 is still a little big, but I don't want it to pull anywhere. I hate that "too tight skirt" look and want to avoid that. It is a fine line, as I can't get away with too much ease, being petite, yet I don't want things to be too tight. It is interesting and I'm sure I'll learn even more as I go along and get experience. I even learned a lot today!

I also cast on a kit from Pick Up Sticks yesterday on a whim. The sushi wallet that some of you may have seen in your LYS about a year ago. It's been sitting in my closet for about a year to a year and a half, and something made me say, Yeah, cast this on! It'll be fun! And so far it has been. I finished the body of the wallet and made the first piece of sushi. It'll teach me a new skill too, which I always love; I haven't sewn a zipper into my knitting before and this pattern will force me to do it! Here it is in progress, pre-felting:

Hope everyone had a great weekend!! I feel great as I got a lot of time in at home to work on my sewing and knitting. I always feel better when I don't have to go too many places over the weekend.

Finished Karolyn Vest!!

Here's me and J.Lo hanging out after I finished the Karolyn Vest. This turned out really great!

Here's more pics:

Stats:
Karolyn Vest from Berroco Keltic booklet #249
Yarn: Berroco Keltic in Argyll and Peat
Size: S
Needles: size 8 and 6 addi turbos

Love it! I don't own any other sweater vests, and I think this is actually a good look for me, so I may make more. Have a great weekend! I am on my way to a candle party. One of my friends is going to start selling it, so this is her big "coming out as a candle lady" party. I have to be there to support her, so I'm going to buy a bunch of Christmas gifts from her (as I am NOT KNITTING GIFTS THIS YEAR! YAY!)

Stitches East Meetup

I just realized that Stitches East is around the corner. Jim and I are going to fly in on Saturday morning (October 13th) and leave the next morning.

So if you'd like to meet me, Jen, Marjorie and KozyKitty, come to DSX Restaurant and Sports Tavern (across the street from the Convention Center) between 4 and 6 pm on 10/13.

Here's a picture of me standing in front of the place from last year, when I went with blog-free Lisa (who is unfortunately not able to come this year.)

I have to go through my stash list and make my shopping list!

Clothing Construction Class #4 and Modeled Anthro-Inspired Capelet

Last night was a productive class. We only went over two samples (both of which were easy) because the copy shop hadn’t made copies of the others that our instructor had planned to go over. They were inside curves and outside curves (basically just clipping corners/curves so that corners are square or V-necks lie flat.) I finished them in class, and then most people started cutting out their paper and fabric pattern pieces. I had cut out the paper pieces at home a few weeks ago, and the fabric ones last week, so I dived into the pattern instructions and started working on my purse. The first thing I had to do was apply interfacing. This has been hit or miss for me in the past and I haven’t always liked the results. I noticed that next week’s class is covering application of interfacing as one of the topics, so I asked the instructor if I should wait until then. She said she could go over it with me now.

So I learned a few things about applying interfacing– obviously the rough, or shiny, side of the interfacing should go against the wrong side of your fabric, as that is the “sticky” side. However, she recommended that when pressing it to apply it to the fabric, it works better to press the right (public) side of the fabric, but using a press cloth next to the iron because some parts of the sticky side of the interfacing may protrude and then stick to the iron without a cloth. So it’s kind of like a “sandwich” of sorts – on top is the press cloth, then below that is the right side of the fabric, then the sticky side of the interfacing up (next to the wrong side of the fabric.) It did seem to work well. I asked if I should use steam when pressing the interfacing, and she said it shouldn’t be necessary – but it worked much better when I did. Maybe I am just too short to get good leverage over the iron or something, but it seems like you really have to press hard if you’re not going to use steam. I also learned that if the pattern calls for sew-in interfacing you can usually substitute iron-on interfacing. Someone else asked the instructor this and I was interested to hear it, as sew-in interfacing just seems like a pain. She did say that you wouldn’t want to do it with vinyl (as some of the purse patterns are designed for leather/pleather/vinyl, it makes sense that they would call for sew-in interfacing, so the instructor probably wanted to make sure that the student wasn’t using that for her purse!)

Because the sample demonstration was so short this week, most of the class was “open lab” and it was pretty interesting to walk around and see people working on their projects. It looked like Project Runway, with some people wearing Ipod earphones while sewing and others laying out fabric and cutting their patterns out. It was a cool environment. I stayed in the other room that I was in last week, with the other girl I made friends with who also has a Viking machine. We also had a few new converts to the “cool girls’ room”, including these two girls who I think of as the fashionistas of the group. They are both young, probably 18 or 19, and they usually are wearing some article of clothing that they made themselves and wearing it very well. They usually leave right after the sample demonstrations, but this time they joined our room to cut out their fabric, then left. Another interesting student joined us who is probably in her early 30s and said that she has cut apart resale shop clothes to make new things, but never worked with patterns. To me, that is really creative. I said I was a good “instruction follower” but don’t think of myself as that creative and she laughed and said that together we’d be unstoppable. I said that hopefully each of us would get better at the things the other person was good at, to become better at both, and we agreed that’s our goal.

Our instructor doesn’t care if we leave whenever we want as soon as “open lab” begins (“as long as we know what we’re doing” – her words) and I’ve never stayed until the end of class at 10 pm as there are usually things I would be more productive doing at home and there reaches a limit to my concentration later at night. I left at around 8:30 last night, after applying the interfacing (more of a project than it seems, as it had to go on the bag front, bag back, and both pieces of lining), sewing the handles together, finishing the seam (using the pinking shears method b/c of the bulk of the multiple layers of fabric/interfacing), then sewing the curved sections of the bag together. I need pictures to show this, and I promise I will take them in the next few days when I pull this out to work on it. I need to finish clipping the curves that I sewed and finish the seams. Also, my instructor said I can absolutely work on that jacket as my 4th project. She said that since we have a lot of experienced people in the class, we will definitely have the option to do a 4th “challenge” project of our choosing (the required three are purse, skirt, and blouse.) She also approved the skirt pattern I selected, which I’ll show pictures of when I take the others. I have a few blouse patterns in mind, in particular, one that Erica B. showed on her blog (it was on September 4th but I can't seem to link directly to the post) but I need to get the pattern to see if it will be manageable for me.

I have the Corporate Social Responsibility class tonight and in a way it seems like a break. I can passively sit there and listen and talk, and don’t have to do anything much (except sit there until 9:30, but at least I know that going in now.) Some people bring in laptops and have them open during class, but I am in the front row (by design, so I have to pay attention) and also I probably wouldn’t pay any attention at all if I had the option of doing email/reading blogs, etc. I do check my Blackberry for emails probably every 15-20 minutes, which is bad enough. Oh well.

Now for those of you patiently awaiting knitting content (or have scrolled down to this point): remember how I showed the Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet on J.Lo. with a mismatched cami underneath it? Quite a slacker FO picture. Here’s a picture of me wearing it today to work. It is perfect for counteracting the crazy air conditioning in my office. It is supposed to be 89 degrees out again today (after 60s last week) so I alternate between summer and fall clothes.

I also started Flair with Karabella Aurora Melange (black/white variegated) from my stash. This is the swingy silhouette we’re seeing everywhere, but in a more fitted profile than Juliet. I started the cabled purse over the weekend and have about 5" done on the main purse piece, and have finished one of the side gussets and half of another side gusset. Pictures to come!

Word of the Day? Disillusioned

Well, I had Jim take pictures of me wearing Juliet this morning and I have to say, it's OK but not the most flattering thing I've ever knit. I really just look better in fitted clothes. Without further ado...

Overall, I would say I like it OK. The pattern was easy to follow and it's a quick knit, but as soon as we took the pictures, I wanted to change and put on Fifi for work. Now that's a good fit. Let's recall:

Another thing I'm disillusioned about is my sewing machine. I have noticed since I got it that the bobbin is noisy (kind of has that "on its last leg" spooling sound like I noted on those older Berninas in my sewing classroom) and it tends to tangle up and bunch up the fabric behind the presser foot. This made doing my samples tons of fun this week. So I actually pulled out my old metal Viking 960 battleaxe from the 80s and tried it out - worked like a charm. It has a solidity that the other one doesn't have, and honestly, the new machine doesn't do that much more than the old one did as it was one of the first electronic ones and was fairly top of the line at the time. I bought it three years ago on Ebay for $200...but at least that's my understanding.

So..I am going to take the new machine to my local sewing dealer and have them go over it/tune it up. Then we'll see. It might just go back on Ebay after that if I don't think that its extra features/modernity are worth the $750 I paid. I asked Jim if he saved the box last night, and he kind of went off on me (he did save it though.) I just feel like a lot of machines and products are just not made very well anymore (made in China and all that goes along with that - nothing against globalization, but quality is a big thing to me.) I looked at my old Viking yesterday and heard it solidly sew the seams, and noticed for the first time that it says right in the front, "Made In Sweden." I think that means something. So anyway. Now that everyone thinks I'm crazy...PMS anyone?

Wordless Monday

Coquette Lace Tube Top - With Cord

You may recall that I made the Coquette Lace Tube Top from Fitted Knits a few months ago, but never showed a version with the cord threaded through the eyelets. Well, that was because I was slacking on finding the right type of cord/ribbon/closure for it. I finally picked some suede cord from the beading aisle at JoAnn's yesterday, and I love it.

I'm thinking this could be either a date night top with Jim (if worn alone) or a "letting the freak flag fly" outfit for my Tuesday night classes if worn with a long sleeve chocolate brown top under it. Check it out...Jim is helping his friend Tim remodel his bathroom so he is not here to take pictures and I'm resorting to the "hallway mirror self-portrait."

Worn alone -

Worn with a long sleeve top -

Oh, and I'm done with 2, 4, 6 and 8 on my list from yesterday. (LOL - I definitely relaxed yesterday - #8 - a little too much wine. But I just slept a little later today to make up for it.) I'm half done with #1 (samples) and I got the buttons from M&J Trimmings already yesterday, so I finished the knitting on Juliet and will be putting the buttons on. I may do this instead of my original #3 (finishing the Karolyn vest).

Reorganized Sewing Room!

Don't look at the messes on the periphery, but I rearranged my sewing room with Jim's help. Check it out!

Weekend..Finally!!

It has been a tough week and I am so glad the weekend is finally here. I must be getting o-l-d (Maryanne, that reference was for you in light of your recent blog post) but it really takes a lot out of me to be going nonstop and away from the house all day long from morning until 10 pm two days in a row. Of course, the sewing classes on Tuesday are very enjoyable, but I am really tired on Thursday mornings after the Wednesday night MBA class. I’m glad it’s the weekend, but I have a full agenda for it as well. Here’s my to do list:

1. prepare all my samples for Tuesday night’s sewing class

2. buy plastic needlepoint canvas (thanks everyone for the suggestion on this!), duck fabric and more interfacing; cut out the remaining pattern pieces for my purse. I'm not sure whether the canvas or the duck fabric will work better for this particular style of purse, so I will just have to try both.

3. finish picking up around the neckline and armholes on the Karolyn vest and weave in the ends

4. go shopping for my Secret Pal and put a package together for her (obviously, no more details can be provided publicly on that!)

5. start this

Adrienne asked me about a purse pattern for a cabled purse she had seen online and I immediately thought of this pattern from Classic Elite Essentials. I told her about it and then started looking at it with interest myself. This pattern was originally why I had bought the pattern book, and I think it will be perfect in my leftover (large) skein of Brooks Farm Riata in red.

6. cut out the paper pattern pieces for this (New Look pattern #6619) as a first step

I am a little intimidated about making a jacket, but this is a style I’m seeing everywhere and I think it will work well on me. I want to make View E (the version shown in pink with one button). I look good in short jackets, and I’m thinking this will eliminate any need to adjust for hips/short waistedness as it’s short. Our instructor had mentioned that we could do a fourth project for extra credit, and I was thinking maybe this could be it – especially as I could ask her for help if I got stuck on it. It’s only five pieces – how hard can it be?

7. go on a “knitting cruisette” on Sunday with Heather and see Dee and the rest of the Wool & Company gang – this should be fun!

8. try to relax!

I think #8 is going to be the most difficult. But it will be a “good busy”! Have a great weekend!