Cattywampus

Some serious knitting (finally!)

Staccato Socks from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn in Blue Moon Silkie. The socks were tight enough that I only did the pattern on the front and I still have a hard time getting them over my heels.

Spot Check socks, also from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn in Fearless Fibers solid and Indie Dyer for the color contrast.

Jaywalker (my first, can you believe it?) in Fly Designs Lacewing Sock.  Here is the yarn below, the color blocks are really distinct, but I love them, so I wanted to use a pattern that would end up showing off the colors and not get all UGH.  I think it's working.

Below is the beginning of Ditto, in Briar Rose in a custom dyed color.  This picture is a little washed out, it has an overall purple look.  It's moving really fast, I should be working on the yoke in a day or two.

The reason I got so very much knitting done on Ditto (everything that you see here was done this weekend) is because we drove up to my mother's to visit and went to the Ren Faire in Sterling, NY.

We saw some jousting and the parade, pics below.  It was grand fun, both the visit and the Faire.  I picked up a lovely opal bracelet that I will try to take a pic of to share because it is so unique, I've never seen anything like it!

On the way back we stopped at an ice cream shop that had some classic cars out front, this is the Mayberry County Police car.

I hope everybody had a fabulous weekend as well!

Skirt Conclusion & finally some knitting

So, I washed it and it still looked all stiff and no matter how cute the blue was it just wasn't working.  I dreaded ripping out that seam and pulling off the bias tape, sooooo I didn't, I just cut it off and took an inch off the skirt, no harm, no foul.

Action shots with a matching shirt to get a better idea...of course the part in the back where it puckers is completely covered up by this year's long shirt styling.

It's still a bit bell-y though, just not as stiffly bell-like as before.  I think that the next one I make I will make the angle a little less steep, less A-line, if you will.  I think I can handle that.

It's frustrating, this trial and error thing, not something my temperament is suited for, but if I can persevere it will be well worth it.  I have some fabric for another - and even for a dress if I'm feeling REALLY ambitious - so the next weekend we are home I will give it a whirl and see if I can make a less A-line a-line skirt.

In the meantime I have a skirt that fits well, is a really fun summer pattern, and that I am not at all embarrassed to wear out in public.  In fact I'm sure I will wear it to work one day this week.

Not tomorrow though because tomorrow is Jury Duty.  I am taking my ipod and lots of knitting, I am hoping for a calm day of knitting and no actual jury to serve on so I can happily go back to work on Tuesday.  

I'm not excited about the prospect of going there tomorrow instead of work, but the idea of being stuck in a room waiting with nothing to do but knit is certainly not giving me the heebee jeebies, y'know?  

I am working on the pompon top, which is a pretty fun knit now that I've gotten past the size 0 ribbing.

I'm not sure if they are supposed to, but the pattern looks like little flowers to me, leaves on the bottom and the blossom where the purl stitches are.

It's a fun little pattern, I am doing the body in the round and I am NOT excited about getting to the front/back separation so I am purling rows, but it is inevitable.  Actually, I guess it isn't, but if I want to wear the silly thing it's inevitable.  This is a pretty good shot of the color of the yarn too.

Oh and one last thing, I did make one thing that worked the first time around today!  I made these jam oatmeal bars.

I had a yellow cake mix that was for a birthday that I didn't end up making a cake for and I thought - why not?  I had to add some water to get the batter to 'clumpy', but other than that the recipe worked perfectly.  They are really yummy and taste more like dessert than a snack, but that's okay with me!

Skirt Update

Well. Here it is.   

I'm satisfied with my sewing job, the zipper is a little 'eh', and the seams could be cleaner, but it fits and all and all I'm pleased...except...

hem tape?  it says to use it in the book if you want, the lady at the sewing store said it would be fine.  I wasn't it as a short cut, just because I like the blue b/c it picks up the blue in the flowers and gives it an unexpected punch.

but...it looks like I'm wearing a bell.

What do you think?  Be honest please, I don't really want to take the tape off and redo the hem, but I'd rather do that than feel like I look all stiff-like.  

I know I'm focusing on it and that makes it worse b/c I can't see anything else, so tell me true, should I get out the seam ripper?

In this pic you can see where it pulls below the darts, my fashion student friend tells me that it's simply b/c my undies are there and cotton doesn't have any give to mask that.  Oh.  I wouldn't redone them a gagillion times if I'd known that!  Next time I'll try without the darts and see what happens.  And for sure without the tape.

I am washing it right now, hoping that a spin through will take some of the stiffness out of the hem tape, but I have my doubts.

I'll update if it does. 

Mini breakdown

As a few of you, those poor souls who spend enough time with me that I run on and complain about things of no importance whatsoever, know - I'm not so much on the yarn clubs.

I know I keep signing up for them, but I seem to be inevitably disappointed.  I don't like the color, or I don't like the pattern, or I feel like a bunch of my money has gone into packaging and pretty little gee-gaws and I really would rather have it go into straight yarn.  

But I keep joining them, keep being optimistic about the outcome...eternally hopeful that THIS club with be the perfect one for me...

I am enjoying the lace club, but I haven't liked the first two colors, I am again hopeful that it will get better.  The thing is, somebody else is picking out the colors and if their tastes don't run to my tastes, well then I'm pretty much SOL.  

I did enjoy the Sundara club, but holy cow was it pricey!  If we turn back into a dual income household by the time the next sign ups occur I am SO do doing that again.  Funny tho - ask me if I've knit with any of it...6 shipments and I knit with one of them, I'm just hoarding the rest.

ANYWAY.  Deb, of Fearless Fibers, is doing a sock club this fall - and it's JUST YARN.  No Patterns, no gee-gaws, just yarn, and yarn at a discount from her regular prices.  And I ADORE her dyeing, I think she is the bombdiggity of shaded solids.  So I joined it, a little breakdown in my non-purchasing, but it's a small commitment compared to most clubs, so it's all good.

If you are interested you can find it here. 

Too many veggies

We eat out and/or are out of town a lot.  Apparently enough so that even a half share of veggies is too much for us to consume in a week.  It doesn't help that things like kale or squash require special prep in order for dh to eat them, and I don't have time to do that kind of prep after work.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy veggies - especially fresh ones, but there are just too many to eat in a week!  So I am becoming creative with our veggies, which I think is good b/c I am discovering all sorts of things we didn't know we liked, and that's bonus.

Like that garlic scape pesto for example, that was super yummy.  And thanks to my friend Heather's resourcefulness and generally much larger knowledge of what on earth to do with veggies I am going to try this summer squash bread recipe and this pickle recipe to deal with the squash and cukes we got.

The beets I roasted and will take to work to put on a salad with some feta, yum!  I am finding other veggies hard to make 'lunch friendly'.  I blanched and froze the green beans, the swiss chard, and the kale.  

In fact, I spent so much time prepping our veggies so we could eat healthy yesterday that we had to order chinese for dinner...I feel like maybe something went awry there.

Thank you so much for all your helpful comments about the skirt.  I have a plan of attack and as soon as I'm home more than 2 hours in one shot I will give it a go.   Hopefully the skirt will be wearable by the end of the weekend.  Really hopefully, in fact, since I ordered more fabrics to make a few more...  

In knitting news, I cast on for this pom-pon top from Feminine Knits. I am doing the ribbing on size 0 needles. Now that is just crazy! But I love the top, so I'm running with it.   (It's not very exciting yet, I know)

I am also doing a decent job at getting through my WIPs, I finished one second sock (pictures after I block) and am working on two others, so theoretically I will have three new pairs of socks soon! And as soon as I get caught up so my UFOs are more like normal I can start working on some lace again. 

I was feeling sort of overwhelmed by them.  I think I got off track when I dropped everything to knit the highlander for Anne, which is fab and I glad I did, but I lost track of what I had on the needles. And you know how it is...once you put it down it's hard to pick it back up again, so I definitely feel good about moving forward with all of these.

Also, what the heck is up with typepad?  Anyone?  It's putting hard breaks in the middle of my lines for no apparent reason and on other lines it's allowing them to go on forever and forcing me to put in a hard return.  Which is why this post may look odd, in case it does, and if it doesn't it's because I've fixed them all.   

 

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)!