Cattywampus

Only two quilts to go

I did start on the skirt, but was thwarted by the darts.  I couldn't find any help anywhere online on how to adjust darts if they weren't working, any advice?

The material was puckering underneath the darts when I put the skirt on, I tried making them longer, no help, shorter, no help, I stopped for sanity's sake.  I will take it to work with me tomorrow and ask the woman in our office who recently graduated with a fashion degree, she should be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong.  

The instructions on how to make a pattern were quite clear, and I had this wrapping paper with 1" grid marks on the back, that was tremendously helpful.  I will refrain my judgement of the overall quality of instruction until I get the dart thing worked out though.  It wouldn't be fair at this point.

So I went back to sewing things that don't have to fit...I finished, finally completely finished, my godson's quilt and it is ready to go in the mail for his birthday in August.  I also finished (to the point that all that has to happen is the handsewn binding) 3 -THREE- quilts, two baby quilts and one that has just been in the queue a long time.

I quilted the boat quilt with a darker blue thread in a diagonal pattern.  I was going to make diamonds on it, but 1. I ran out of the thread and 2. I'm afraid it would obscure the pattern.  I think the thread was a little darker than I should have gone, tho it's hard to tell in this pic.  This stuff is a lot of trial and error at first like everything else, I guess.

And I worked a bit on the next quilt.  I think I mentioned I'm doing a lazy 9-patch block?  Lazy in that the blocks will be 12" blocks and there will be solid blocks in between the 9-patch blocks.  Right now I'm just trying to get this stuff churned out and this one is for a 5 yo boy who loves plaid flannels, so I thought this would suit him and something fancier and more complicated would possibly make it less well liked.

The blocks are all ready to be sewn up the next time I have some time, which probably won't be for a few weeks.

After that, one ONE baby quilt to do and I am DONE.  Until there are more babies of course, but as I will have caught up with all the pregnancies at least I will have some warning and time to make those!

I found a pesto recipe to use with my garlic scapes this weekend.  It was pretty powerful, we had it for lunch and we both felt like we shouldn't get too close to anybody.  But on the bright side, we didn't see any vampires all weekend, so it must have kept them away.

 

YUM!  I think they are probably almost out of season though, I doubt we'll get any more until next year.  

I was off today, leading to a much more productive weekend than I would have otherwise had, I spent most of today sewing and I'm sad to go back to work tomorrow b/c I feel like I"m on a roll.  Oh well.  It must be done.  How else could I afford to buy more fabric?  ;-)

Yogini Bolero

An FO - for me!  Very exciting stuff.

The yogini bolero by Wendy Bernard in Brooks Farm Willow that Heather awesomely gave me for my birthday.

 

The only problem with this top, as you can see, is its lack of elasticity on the band under the bust b/c it's not staying in place.  Other than that...it's really cute and quite comfy.

I tried to do another modeling session when we got back and I realized it was askew in the original set, but they came out all overexposed and I think three sessions is just too much to ask, so here it is anyway.

Oh, and I eliminated the ties and replaced them with a button.  I was dithering and when I looked at the FOs on ravelry it looked like people really didn't know what to do with the tie.  Maybe the tie would have prevented the problem I am having though.  I'm not sure.  I might try to string some elastic through the band to keep it snug so it will stay in place.  If I can do that without the elastic poking through, that's key.  It's worth a shot, otherwise I'm going to constantly be fixing this while I'm wearing it and that's just no good.  

Overall, I like it and it will be perfect for work in the summer because it is SO FREAKING COLD in our office.  The new Brooks Farm Yarn, Willow, is fab and I ABSOLUTELY will use it to make something for the fall.  The drape is just gorgeous!

ETA:  I added elastic into the bind off edge at the bottom of the body where I picked up the stitches for the ribbing, it worked like a dream!

Birthplace of a nation and all that

Yesterday being the fourth of July and the most beautiful fourth of July we've seen in years (ie less than 85 degrees with low humidity) we set out to see what was going on in town.

We found an assembly that included the founders' descendents who were to ring the bell in constitution hall.  That was pretty freaking cool.  

The founders' descendants were the youngest in the generation, so it was a group of children  That was happening in the bell tower in the building you can see in the back of the picture.  While that was being coordinated we were listening to Francis Hopkinson tell his story and the story of the declaration of independence from his point of view.

The sons of the revolution were bearing the flags of the 13 colonies as well as a few others that look like earlier versions of the national flag.

There were military dudes & ladies doing...something.

and a protest/rally sort of thing that we walked through.

Which was pretty much the polar opposite of the political views I support, but it is always amazing to see democracy in action regardless of what 'side' the people are on, especially considering what we have been watching and reading about Iran over the last few weeks.

Happy fourth everybody, hope you had as beautiful a day as we did!

...and I'm back

Well then, work sort of sucked me in over the last few weeks and I'm finally coming up for air.

I have a few things to share - 1. if for some reason you end up with an abundance of garlic scapes, you can make a fab white bean dip.  The CSA is certainly pushing my creativity for yet more things to do with greens, but so far, so good, and I figure I'm probably eating healthier for it so I'm not complaining.  

2.  I finished the Heart to Heart scarf that was part of the lace club for May.  I love the pattern, it's SO pretty.  The color is not up my alley, but this will make a wonderful gift for somebody.

3.  I have been out shopping for key summer wardrobe pieces over the last few weeks and it struck me that a lot of the skirts that are on the racks right now are pencil skirts.  Hmf.  I don't like pencil skirts.  They are uncomfortable to sit at a desk in and sometimes hard to walk in, I'm past the phase in my life where I will suffer for fashion, so I'm not buying them.  This has led to a dearth in fun skirts in my wardrobe this year. 

 

Now then.  I have a sewing machine...I have access to fabric...I (theoretically) can fit my knitwear to my body type...so...why not try to make skirts?

I ordered Sew What! Skirts from Amazon after reading the reviews and I am excited!  I went to our local fabric shop and picked up some fun fabric and bias tape to make a cute little number and I am planning on making an a-line skirt this weekend.  This book has you take your measurements then plot out a pattern on paper using the measurements and make the skirt from there.  Brilliant, no?  It's so logical when you think about it, no trying to make the fashion industry standard measurements fit on your body, no settling for that color when you really wanted THIS color & so on.  

On advice from the book (and again, so logical b/c this is what we do with sweaters) I took a few skirts that I love from my closet to check out the shaping & measurements.  The measurements were spot on with what the book said I should be using, all good, but HORRORS, every single skirt I picked up had DARTS.

Now, the book vaguely explains darts, recommending them for the curvy among us, but it says to put them on the back and front of the skirt.  My skirts only have back darts, which, if you think about it, is logical b/c there's a bit more of a steep angle necessary on the back of one's garment compared to the front.  So I am going to attempt to make two separate pattern pieces, front & back, so I can have darts only where I need them.  

So yeah...wish me luck!  I think it'll be a small miracle if I don't get so frustrated that I want to set the whole mess on fire by the end of the weekend.  (Quilts, what quilts?  I don't remember any quilts that I should be working on...)

Hope you all have a great holiday weekend & I will be back at the end to report my success (or failures)!

Obsession

My obsession with finishing up these baby quilts continues.  This weekend I finished sewing up the top of the little boat quilt and the binding is ready to go on after I quilt it.  I sewed up the binding for the dick & jane quilt so that is ready to go on and sewed up the binding for a sampler quilt I finished eons ago that has just been waiting - it'll be about 7 years in the making by the time I finish it.  On top of all that I started a lazy 9 patch quilt, lazy because the 9 patches will be 12" square and I'm putting in some plain squares as alternate blocks.  

Hopefully next weekend I will finish sewing the top of that one, quilt the boats, and sew all the respective bindings on.  As always, time will tell.  I have two more weekends to get these done and start on the final baby quilt.  When those are done I will be free to sew whatever I want for whomever I want...but realistically I will probably take a decent break and avoid it all b/c I pushed myself so hard to finish these.

____

We started getting a CSA share a few weeks ago, this week we got rhubarb, strawberries, kale, collard greens, bok choy, and eggs.

I haven't ever really used greens like this so I've been using recipes from 'Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone', I make this yummy dish with the kale, spices, and cannelini beans.

I also made a strawberry rhubarb crumble which is quite delish and because dh doesn't eat desserts with cooked fruit in them, it's all mine.  Which is both good and bad...

Today is the first day of summer and I'm supposed to be starting my big, giant lace project and I spent the day quilting...ah well.  Maybe after dinner...

Highlander & Lace

Anne has released the Highlander pattern that I test knit for her!  If you are looking for my test knit info or photos my original post is here.  I am looking forward to wearing it this fall!

I have been working on various lace projects so far this year, I guess that just seems like the thing to knit in the summer b/c there is no rush to finish the next sweater so I can hurry up and wear it.

I am working on the embrace the lace club kit, a shawl that I started and didn't get more than an inch into (even tho I still have every intent on finishing it eventually), test knitting the Fruit of the Vine scarf for Anne, and me and the women I knit with at lunch, Jennygirl and Suzygirl, decided that it would be fun to have a summer lace project.  A BIG lace project...something to cast on for on (around) the first day of summer and finish up by (around) the first day of fall.  Never one to be unambitious in my knitting projects I originally thought about knitting the Ice Fantasia Shawl in this purple & grey yarn that my hubby bought for me in Lancaster.  
The other thing I am considering knitting is the Desdemona Shawl in either this silk merino blend that I just got from Deb at Fearless Fibers

Or this Sundara silk

I have to admit I'm leaning towards the desdemona because I really like doing square shawls, I'm not sure why, maybe because you knit them in stages and it doesn't seem never ending?  But I'm torn - feel free to weigh in with your opinion!

The Fruit of the Vine test knit is in fearless fibers cashmere, her old base yarn, it's lovely.  I'm sure her new base yarn is just as lovely but I haven't tried it yet. 

Lace, lace, lace - it's all about the lace right now!

Enough is enough already

I know we had a drought over the last few years, and I know that the water table was down significantly, and I KNOW we needed the rain.  But really.  I am fairly sure that we haven't had sunshine for more than 24 hours at a time since the beginning of april. 

This week, that was about 6 hours on Friday, from about 2 until evening, and then it rained again.  And Saturday, which they had declared universally sunny and rain free, it rained sheets of rain.  Enough.  Is.  Enough.

If I wanted to live in The Land of Cloud Cover I would have stayed in Central New York or moved to Seattle.

When I was in elementary school I read a short story about a girl living on a distant planet on which the sun only came out for one hour every seven years (details recalled thanks to wikipedia) and the girl was from earth and was looking forward to the day so much, and something happened and the other kids locked her in the closet and then forgot about her when the sun came out so she never got to see it.  When I was a child that story traumatized me, it stuck in my head and whenever the weather is like this I start to think about that poor girl.  The story was called All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury.

I do love the internets.

Yesterday we went out to NJ to go to the yarn store and spend my birthday gift cert, but as fate would have it, the yarn store had SUMMER HOURS (!!) and was closed when we got there at 3:20.  Hmf.  No yarn for me.  So instead we went to the quilting shop and I picked up some fabric to make placemats,

a skinny jellyroll (apparently these are called 'honey buns)' to make a log cabin quilt for some unknown person at some unknown time,

and a 10" stack (layer cake) of Christmas fabrics - again, just because I liked them, I'll make something with them someday. 

I do blame the woman in front of us.  She was getting a million fabrics cut and I literally had about 45 minutes to kill while waiting for them to finish with her...I kept picking up MORE AND MORE things.  Now to just finish with the baby quilts so I can move onto projects I'm doing 'just because'. 

I made good progress on the Embrace the Lace scarf, the little repeats really are fun to knit. 

 

And a close up to see the color

This week I also started a test knit for Anne in Fearless Fibers cashmere, the Fruit of the Vine scarf, the colorway is Endless Night. (no pics yet)

I am working on the sailboat quilt and have a nice little armada built up.

 

Hopefully next weekend I will be able to finish the top of this quilt and start the quilting.  Then it's on to the next baby quilt.  IF I can finish this one next weekend I will be decently on my way to my goal of finishing the four small baby quilts by the second weekend in July.  I still have 3 weekends at home before we start traveling again - it's theoretically possible.  I would really like to get through these so I can start making whatever strikes my fancy again.  I'm tired of feeling like I can't work on something 'just because' because these baby blankets are on my 'have to' list.  Hence my forced productiveness.

Cuteness.

Little things

Here is the beginning of the scarf from the Embrace the Club kit, I took this pic with my phone, but it was at night with the flash so it's a bit washed out.  It's a pretty color, but it's not my color - it will make somebody a lovely gift.  It is fun to knit, I think I have 8 repeats done now, and it's really pretty.  I might have to make myself one in a color that works for me.  (it's so easy to say that, but then when you finish something the last thing you usually want to do is start another b/c there so many things *SHINY*  *PRETTY*  *NEW* that are ever so much more fun to knit than another one of what you just finished)

I finished quilting the dick & jane quilt over the weekend.  I did a diagonal pattern, I think it worked pretty well, with one exception.

I stitched some buckles into the fabric.  I hope this doesn't have any negative effects on the quilt long term.  There wasn't any way to fix it without trying to rip out multiple lines of quilting stitches and that just wasn't happening in my world.  I'm not entirely sure it would have even been possible!

I'm having fun taking pictures with my phone, aren't these roses gorgeous?  We passed them on the way to dinner last saturday, they were running over the top of somebody's brick wall.

And here's a random flower garden, we are the kind of people who stop and smell the roses, all the roses.  What's better than sniffing random roses when you are out walking the dogs or walking to dinner or walking in general?

Last week the day before my birthday I got an email from Fearless Fibers, she was introducing a new yarn, a silk/merino blend.  Well.  I decided that because it was my birthday the next day OBVIOUSLY it was a sign I should buy some, so I did.  It's a bit pinker than this in real life, a lovely subtle variegated color.

I HAVE to stop buying yarn, but then my dad & stepmom sent me a gift card to a yarn shop in jersey that I've never been to and she and I are going to go this weekend, she wants to go with me to spend it - cuz - y'know, she's cool like that (absolutely no sarcasm there, she really is, she will ooh and ahhh over everything in there).  So I will have yet MORE yarn to show you next week.  Since it's a gift I am thinking maybe something luxurious, something not at all budget friendly.  We shall see.

Another phone pic.  This is where Pixie sits when I am home and her person (DH) is not, right next to his chair in front of his desk.  Cute little thing - except for the devil eyes, those are a little creepy.  But I know she's not a robot dog, so it's all good.

And STILL I have yet to tell you about my trip to the mannings.  I will show you eventually, but dudes, in case I forget - let me just say this - it was worth it, so completely worth it.  If you have been thinking about it you should totally go.

Let me also say that if I usually read your blog and I haven't commented in a while it's b/c I am incredibly behind.  Work has gotten SO busy and while I know of ABSOLUTELY no reason why this would impact my ability to stay caught up with blogs  *AHEM*, I have still managed to get quite behind.  So, sorry, and hope to read you again soon.

Quickly

I got a new phone this weekend!  I am now mobile - woot!

Living in the city like we do, and with me working on a campus where I often spend a good deal of time not in my office, it will be good to have an updated phone that will allow me to email, facebook, google and oh yes, let's not forget RAVEL to my heart's content no matter where I am.

It's so cute, isn't it cute?  I think it's cute.  (and of course those are the adorable dogs on the background there, all you can see in the pic is their little paws b/c of the cards in the way)

It's a palm pre and so far I adore it.  It's a touch screen, I can't throw it in my bag like my old phone, so I was at a loss for how to carry it around.  I checked Keykalou's patterns on Etsy and lo and behold she had a pda/smartphone pattern.  

I added the key fob on the side b/c at work I must have my keys on me at all times.  It also has a little pocket in the back that is perfect for slipping some cash, a credit card, or some business cards in.

Upside down.  Sorry.  I am trying to do this quickly...

Lots to show from the weekend - soon I hope!

Another FO

So regarding the Caricia, after much more deliberation, we (Jennygirl and I) decided that the ONLY logical thing to do was to find another skein of the Rayon Vert Malabrigo sock and make another shawl that is EXACTLY the same.  It's the only fair thing to do, really. We will end up with matching shawls, but since she's moving, there is no danger of us showing up at the same party with them on, so it's all good.

This would be a bit less funny if I hadn't sold two skeins of the very same yarn a month or so ago.  Hmf.  Now I have to order one and pay shipping.

I finished Buttercup the other night.  It came out reasonably well.  

The pic is a little grainy, hmf.  I still completely lack understanding of photography.

This is in Frog Tree Pima Silk, this was super nice to work with.  It didn't make my hands hurt like some cottons do and it makes a really nice fabric with just a touch of shine.  (also, I got 6 st/in, not 5.5)

I did alter the neckline before she came out with the pattern alteration for a higher neckline, I basically just cast on for the feather & fan front 16 rows earlier and kept up with the same yoke increases, did two more feather & fan repeats than in the pattern & finished the yoke as soon as it reached the right place.  I couldn't repeat it if I tried, so I'm not sure that makes sense.

It didn't really come out as a bell shape on me, just sort of a loose fitting top.  That's okay, I think.  There's a weird line in it from sitting on the drying rack, I might try to steam that out later.  If nothing else I'll hang it near the shower.  It creates sort of a buckle in the fabric.

btw, for those of you who know what I'm talking about, THAT is the necklace.  Can't see it very well, I know - sorry.  Sorry for being a bit theatrical & vague for those of you who don't...long story.

My friend Heather rocks.  She sent me this gorgeous Brooks Farm yarn for my birthday (this saturday).

Here's the facts.  1. I missed MDSW, which was my only chance to find Brooks Farm yarn in person. 2. I wanted to make the yogini bolero but couldn't find the perfect yarn for it. 3. I wanted to knit it in lilac for some unknown reason.

Enter 800 yards worsted weight bamboo/wool mix in a gorgeous slightly variegated color called lilac.  Seriously.  How much does Heather rock?  Thank you Heather!