Fibres and Fashion in the Fastlane

An update, and a hat:

2012-01-23T23:58:00.001-05:00

Well, this year I'm going to try doing weekly updates. Sometimes I might even manage it!

This week's update is brought to you by a hat, specifically a hat to go with these mittens.

Double stranded worsted, knit on 6mm needles (windproof!, even when made of Bernat Super Value yarns). The pattern, written in two sizes, is here.
But, I could not find a hat pattern that matched them. (Seriously? No one has ever made a hat pattern?). My prototype is slightly too tall for my head, ( did 4 full pattern repeats, but only neede 3) so the pattern I've written here takes that adjustment into account.

Newfoundland Adult Hat Pattern in Bulky:

Supplies Needed:
6mm needles, dp and circulars if desired.
Bulky weight yarn (or doubled worsted weight). approx 100 yds bulky in MC, and 80 yds bulky in CC.
Note: Hat as pictured took about 200 yards of worsted in black, held doubled, and about 140 yards of yellow worsted held doubled. Since this is a stash project, I was not as picky with the amounts, so your mileage may vary.

Cast on 72 stitches, and join in a circle being careful not to twist yarns when joining. K1 P1 rib (or desired rib pattern to match mittens) for 2" or desired length. For a fold up brim of just ribbing, I would suggest 4", but this is up to you.

On the last ribbing round, increase one stitch every 8 stitches around by kfb. (*Kfb, rib 7* around row). Totals should be 84, which is a multiple of 6 stitches; adjust as needed during purl rows).

Pattern in round:
row 1, 2 : with mc, purl

row 3, 4, 5, 6: *k4 contrast, slip 2 as if to purl*
note: carry mc up inside hat, so that the bar is not seen.
row 7, 8: with mc, purl
row 9, 10, 11, 12: *k1 contrast, slip 2 mc as if to purl, k3* repeat around

Repeat rows 1-12 three times (or desired depth). End with rows 1 and 2 before beginning hat decreases:

Decreases: Using MC:
row 1: *k10, k2tog*
row 2 and all alternate rows: k
row 3: *k9, k2tog*
row 5: *k8, k2tog*
row 7: *k7, k2tog*
row 9: *k6, k2tog*
row 11: *k5, k2tog*
row 13: *k4, k2tog*
row 15: *k3, k2tog*
row 17: *k2, k2tog*
row 19: *k1, k2 tog*
row 21: k2tog, around row. Break yarn, and draw through all stitches. Fasten off.

Finish hat with a pompom using both colours.

Updates on the insanity so far...

2012-01-16T17:53:00.000-05:00

Here is the Blanket of Insanity, as of a week ago:

Three squares nearly covers the bed; 5 squares gives a good hanging edge length wise. 4 squares across gives a good hanging edge width wise. This is exciting, because that means that 20 squares, or a variation of 20 squares, will make it perfect. 25 squares is huge! I am currently working on square number 5! I am nearly 25% done! My Phoenix project will be 6 squares for this insanity it 8 weeks. I can do that. I think.

Quote of the week, by DD2, on the way out the door to my sister's baby shower. (The little darling is scheduled to enter the world on Feb 1, and I can hardly wait.)

"I feel like a Disco Ball!"

Notice the sparkles on the walls and floor from her skirt!

The big item for the shower was this quilt top, constructed by DD1:

It has a couple more borders on it right now, and will have a backing and edging and all that, but wow, am I ever proud of her! Great job, don't you think?

On the sewing front, I've made a pair of pants from the Laura pattern from style arc, and I am wearing them right now. There is fabric on the table for two more, possibly three. A dark grey stretch for a dress pant, a dark grey denim, and a stretch black striped dress pant fabric. I may not get a swap done, but I will have pants that are not all black.

Continuing on the weight loss journey.

2012-01-06T10:19:00.000-05:00

I won't be staying with the official Weight Watchers site in the new year. Even though I think it is a good value and it had some good tips, and I would recommend it, I am not a meeting person, and a good look at the budget this week means that money is going to go elsewhere. I'm pretty convinced that any tracking system will help you; overall, theirs seems pretty balanced and healthy lifestyle oriented. I will be continuing to work on the weight loss, though, mostly because I feel better when I weigh less.

I found a great I phone app that uses the new points plus system for tracking. I've used the new WW system for three months, so I can say that the new points system allows for my eating restrictions without a lot of hassle, or feeling stressed or depressed. My anaphylactic allergies mean I can't eat anything 'low fat' (poultry, eggs, fish, shellfish), mangoes, melons or peanuts. Every other diet plan I have looked at over the years suggests eating strictly low fat proteins, and normally melons as a primary fruit because they are filling and low calorie, or seriously penalizes you for having to eat beef or pork (this was an issue with the former WW point system) because they are trying to encourage 'lower fat/lower calorie' intake. The new one doesn't do that.

So, my sewing plans for SWAP are going to be a little fluid, because I am losing weight. I didn't think I was, and then I started sewing clothes this week and needing to take them in. Seriously? But, the pants pattern fit in October!

This is good, and bad at the same time. Good because I feel better, and look better. Bad because it means that I am going to be putting energy into transitional clothing. I already put three tops I made this summer that fit really well then into the black bags of blessing this week, along with two pairs of nice tailored pants. My new resolution is no tailored pants until I've stabilized.

Inspiration.

2012-01-04T20:08:00.001-05:00

I've been working on the border of the next square, and tidying the next area of the house. We are now up to 10 black bags, plus the old tree and the old lights and a few other things that will go in tomorrow's pick up, but tonight is sewing night.

Sewing night means that I need a little inspiration, which I found here.

Isn't this top just the cutest thing ever? Hers is cute, and inspiring. I can sew this! Check back in tomorrow, with hopefully my version of this finished top. You should check out her blog--it is totally fun and inspiring.

Calculations, and plans.

2012-01-03T21:28:00.000-05:00

Calculations, and reality:
Ok, the blanket has officially been renamed the Blanket of Insanity. I calculated that 20 squares will take 7600 m of RHSS. That, my friends, is a lot of knitting. I've made three squares, and the fourth one is ready to have the border knit on. 4/20 is 20% done! My date of finishing? June, since we will have been together 25 years in June. 25 years. Wow. He used to have hair. I used to be a size 6. Neither of us are the same. But, life is still good, and we are going to celebrate with a blanket of insanity.

So, Plans for the year.

1. Finish this insanity of a blanket! Before our anniversary. And stick to it, in spite of the insanity of the blanket. I can knit 20 squares. I know that the thought of 80 squares was beyond me. I can do 20 squares. (I am currently ignoring the fact that each of my 20 squares is made of 4 squares, so I am really making 80 squares. Ignorance is bliss in this case.)

2. Knit from my stash! 4 out, 1 in. I haven't decided whether it is m for m, or ball for ball. I'm leaning to ball for ball, ignoring the bigger balls as well, bigger. And make one for me, one for someone else. I am going to add right here, that according to the calculations, the blanket will need about 3600 m of white. I definitely do not have that much white in the stash, getting enough white to finish the silly thing is going to be a challenge. I'm not going to stick to the 'stash only' thought for the blanket. I have enlisted some of my Ravenclaw Friends to help provide white, and we will proceed from there. I am allowed to purchase for the blanket.

I'm also toying with knitting a km a month; it is only 1000 m. I can do that. Really. Particularly if I am knitting the blanket of insanity (one square a week would let me pass this goal).

3. Get the house fully useable from top to bottom, so that we can host Christmas 2012. This means a huge destash and ruthless declutter. It also means thinking through how to sleep over many people in a very small house. And feed people, and have many people enjoy many places. Time to have less stuff and more useable space and more fun. So far, I have decluttered the front hall closet, and half of the upstairs bedroom. This is a long term plan; it is doable.

4. Focus on the good stuff, and let some of the crazy go. It is time to move on from some things, like faeryfest. One of the things I will do is send some (many) costumes over to faeryfest, for them to use and store. We are not going to act in the cast this year, which means that a lot of our costumes can move on. After being in the cast the entire time it has run, I think that it is time to be willing to try other opportunities. There are lots of other crazy that can go.

5. Get the finances straight. Pay off the bills, and the credit cards and the debt, and build some possible equity. I'm not as committed here as I could be. But, I've spent about a week and a half not spending money, so we will see.

6. Get some exercise, and eat right. Use the inhalers. Take care of me. The usual. Given.

7. Compete a swap, with fabric in the stash. Swap is a doable and effective way to have clothes that work. When I was thinning today, I realized that what I was keeping was all the stuff I had made that worked from the last three attempts at swap and continuous sewing. So, swap works. And, I am going to complete one this year.

8. Spend some time in gratitude and prayer. Keep a 5 items of gratitude journal. Spend some time praying.

I could add more, but I'm not going to because these are the important things. More than that would be too much. Now, on to working on the borders of square 4.

SWAP of the TnT: Pick 7, make 11

2011-12-22T21:32:00.000-05:00

Swap is back. It may not (yet) have prizes, but it has the most important aspect of all--the foundations of a good solid wardrobe that you will wear and wear and wear.

This year's swap concept is definitely a winner. It started a while ago with a discussion about patterns and needing good basics that could be changed around and used in so many ways. Then there were a few of us who wanted to fit some good basics, and were going to do this during the last three months before Swap as we waited for the challenge. And now--fitting good basics is the challenge aspect of swap!

DragonLady posted the rules for SWAP2012, and said don't overthink, just do:

This year, our SWAP will focus on fitting, and making tried-and-true patterns: testing and fitting paper patterns, muslins, and fashion garments that will help lower the overall sewing failure rates, result in fabulous clothing to be proud of, and (hopefully) give every contestant a pattern or two that works every time it is used.

Choose any seven garments from this list:

Button Down Shirt w/Collar
Blouse or shirt (collar is optional)
T-Shirt
Vest
Overshirt
Dress
Jeans
Trousers
Shorts or Capri Pants
Skirt
Jacket (jean jacket, windbreaker, hoodie, etc.)
Coat (suit or sport coat)
Overcoat or Raincoat
Bathing Suit & Coverup

From those seven, choose four to make twice for a total of 11 garments that will work together. Those four may either be repeated garments from the same pattern, or one each from two different patterns.

It doesn't matter what styles you choose, but *do* keep in mind these should be patterns you will be using over and over in the future, so keep 'em simple with lots of room for future alterations, changes and embellishments. You will probably want to make a test muslin of each pattern, so that any fitting issues can be addressed early on.

If you already have a full set of basic patterns, this is your opportunity to expand a bit. You may have all the coats and coat patterns you'll ever need, so you can skip that and make two skirts instead.

For those of you who rarely wear pants, I'm allowing you to choose another skirt or dress to substitute for a pants-type bottom. This is only to prevent you from having to make a garment that will rarely or never be worn just for the sake of this contest, and only because the main idea of this year's contest is to make patterns that will be used over and over. If pants (or shorts or jeans or whatever) are regular part of your wardrobe, you should make pants instead. If you are using this option to make an extra skirt or dress, remember that you will get more mileage if you use seperate patterns that use different construction techniques or are fitted differently (i.e. one woven, and one knit).

In other words: Pick 7; make 11.

Here I am looking at the list and trying to actually narrow it down to just 7 patterns, lol:

Button Down Shirt w/Collar
1. Blouse or shirt (collar is optional) ** absolutely
T-Shirt (hmm, I have a good pattern for this, and I wear these all the time, maybe/maybe not)
~~Vest~~
~~Overshirt~~
2. Dress--Sheath dress, here I come
3. Jeans--Jalie jeans, dress jeans
4. Trousers ** work pants!
~~Shorts or Capri Pants~~
Skirt (hmm, I have two patterns already, and I mostly don't wear skirts)
5. Jacket (jean jacket, windbreaker, hoodie, etc.) **casual jacket block, and a panel jacket block
Coat (suit or sport coat)
Overcoat or Raincoat--maybe?
~~Bathing Suit & Coverup~~

Looks like I'm still thinking about this one...

What have I been up to?

2011-12-20T11:21:00.000-05:00

Well, for the last 9 weeks or so, I've been sick. I'm still teaching, and moderating part of the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup, and all those things I'm supposed to do, like sing at concerts and direct concerts. But, wow, am I ever tired.

At first it was a cold. Then it was bronchitis, that just didn't go away. Then, when I finally went to the doctor after 5 weeks, she put me on inhalers, maintenance inhalers and antibiotics, and I was better for a while, but I've been really tired. (Her comment? Well, if you aren't getting enough oxygen, you are going to be tired!) But, she's ordered some tests, which I will do between Christmas and New Years. Then, week 9 of this ridiculous something, I was grouchy. Grouchy is normal for teachers heading into the Christmas season, but this seemed a little odd. Friday, when I woke up sounding like a bass, I thought--oh, not again! I don't have time for this. I have a concert to sing on Sunday. I need to deal with the Christmas tree. I need to get presents. The present stash? Oh it is empty! So, I ignored it, and trudged on.

Saturday, I got up, croaked a bit, and hubbie made me go back to bed. I slept for 20 hours. Sunday I was up for 1 hour and went back to bed. Monday, I was up all day, but every time I got up to walk around or I laugh, I start hacking up a lung. Today, I am officially tired of being sick, which must mean I am finally getting better. I have enough energy to be tired of being sick.

Ok, enough whining! What have I been working on? Stash reduction. Getting ready for another term as a student in the House Cup. Dealing with whinging parents, and preparations for another year of VEX robotics competitions, along with Lego robotics competitions. Planning on how to reduce the ridiculously large stash of yarn that is currently invading our house.

One of the things I am going to make this year for our anniversary is a blanket for our bed. More specifically, this:

Which will, I hope, become this:

Only bigger! Much bigger! The pictured blanket is the original Mitered Crosses Blanket for Japan, by Kay Gardiner. You can purchase the pattern here, on Ravelry. Each of the squares is roughly 8". My squares are 19" across.

On a conservative estimate, I will be making either 18 or 23 squares, to make a blanket that will cover our bed, and drape over the sides. But the layout, and the look will be like the blanket above, either four across or five across, and five rows down. I'm not using Noro Silk Garden, which although beautiful is definitely not husband proof. Well, not my husband anyway. I'm using stash yarn. Specifically the Red Heart Super Saver, and other worsted weight acrylics from the stash that are currently exploding out of our basement and invading the living room.

The scary thing is that I think the blanket will only make a little dent in the stash.

Must tame the stash. Must get it back to something more reasonable.

Inspiration!

2011-08-08T08:17:00.000-04:00

I was poking around for inspiration for my 6 pack (well, given my sewing habits, I would say my 6 pack will end up being more like a 6 pack plus 3), and found this jacket on Madeline. This online shop is a vintage shop that is wonderful fun to poke through--the best of the best of designer clothing. If you are into decades, there is something here for you.

And I think this jacket just might end up as the inspiration piece for my 6 pack. I can see this one being made from Loes Hinse Bolero's Multiples pattern, in a nice brown wool, lined with bemburg. The belt would be inserted into the waist of the the inset collar. With interesting buttons, and a belt piece, this would be a really fun jacket. Off to plot in the aging stash!

Line drawing for the Boleros Multiples Jacket; View C in the shorted length

Faye Skirt--Style Arc Patterns

2011-08-04T14:05:00.000-04:00

I've been spending money on patterns. One of the companies I wanted to try out, based on their positive reviews at Sewing Pattern review are Style Arc patterns.

I measure exactly their 16 on the bottom, and their 12 on the top. Pretty unusual. What I really like about these patterns is that they give you a really great set of measurements for their blocks, including the shoulder width measurements, which is what I usually use to pick an upper body pattern. So I splurged, and purchased 3 patterns: a shirt, a pair of pull on pants, and a tshirt pattern. The bonus was the Faye skirt pattern. When they arrived today, I just had to try out the skirt pattern. Based on this one, I'm giving these patterns a two thumbs up rating. Give them a try.

Pattern:
Faye Skirt, Style Arc
pull on elastic waist skirt, intended to be made out of stretch jersey

Pattern Sizing: Style arc patterns come one size. I used a 16, exactly as measured, with no modifications to pattern

Fabric and Notions:
1.5 m black cotton lycra jersey
34" 1/2" elastic
thread
I have no idea when I purchased this fabric, but I think it is at least 10 years old.

Garment photo: goes here when the photographer finally gets around to it.

Pattern alterations or design changes: This was my first try with these patterns, so I left everything well enough alone. I wanted to see how this block fit, and I figured that if the pattern didn't fit, the fabric was so old that it didn't matter if it was a wader. Good thing I like the fabric I used though, because it fits perfectly.

Does it look like the pattern photo? Oh yeah, it does. It is quite long on me, but it looks like the picture.

Likes or Dislikes about the garment? Other than the fact that it is long by a couple of inches (not unexpected; I am only 5'1" and I'm sure these are drafted for someone around 5'6"), I love the skirt. It is comfortable and stretchy. I will make it again, for sure, but I will shorten the pattern by taking out a 2" pleat at the hemline notch mark, to make it my perfect length.

Comments about the pattern:
Style Arc patterns are industrial patterns. They are printed with whole front and whole back pieces, instead of expecting you to cut something out on the fold. They have industrial standards for seam allowances and hems, in this case 1cm. They come in sleeve protectors, which I really like since I store my traced off patterns in sleeve protectors in binders, with the image of the garment, the suggested amounts to purchase, a small sample of the suggested fabric, and really basic sewing instructions.

The advantage of the pattern is that it fits exactly the way it says it is going to fit, if you use the suggested fabric. The disadvantage is that you need to have a pretty good idea of how to sew things together, since some of the terms used in the instructions aren't common ones in the North American home sewing market. Instructions are often overrated, so fit is way more important to me than instructions, but I would have liked a better instruction on how to put the elastic inside the skirt so that the elastic doesn't show, as in the picture. My elastic shows; it isn't bad, but it isn't the cute hidden elastic in the pattern.

French Chic, and the essential list

2011-07-28T23:02:00.001-04:00

I've been reading The Vivienne Files which are awesome. Her idea of appropriate fabrics doesn't work with my wash and wear lifestyle, but I love her concepts. If I was going to distill her words down, they would be these: choose your best colours and stick to them, buy the best you can afford to take care of, make sure that every piece says something about your essential style, and no fluff. She does a two things I really agree with: limits the colours to two or three that work together, and mixes the level of 'formal' in the wardrobe so there is more flex for real life planning than a lot of other planning suggestions I have seen.

Her list of the 15 essential garments was summarized from a book I have never gotten my hands on. In her words (July 8 blog post, for those interested):

One of the things about the book French Chic (Susan Sommers) which intrigued me was the list of garments which included "The seven essentials no well-dressed Frenchwoman would be without".

That list included:

A black straight skirt
a V-neck or cardigan sweater
a suit
a pair of jeans
a silk shirt
a couple of white tee-shirts
an Hermes scarf

The idea of a list of essential clothing fascinates me; in a world that tries to compel me to over-consume, that finite-ness of a list like this, in which I could have some discipline and some structure, seems heaven-sent.

She adds more here, and finishes with another list:

But of course, the French wardrobe is not limited to just the above. French Chic counsels us that there are eight other garments which will round out the wardrobe. And this still is not the end of a French wardrobe - they do indeed own more than 16 pieces of clothing, but it does make up the core.

"The eight extras in a well-dressed wardrobe":

A white cotton shirt
a pullover sweater
a full or pleated skirt
pleated trousers
a simple sweater dress
a trenchcoat
a black leather blouson
a heavy coat

I think it is a great foundation list. It reminds me of Tim Gunn's ten essentials list, and a few others I could name, like the Eileen Fisher's style lists.

I know me, so there are things I definitely would do differently in my own life. I don't wear pleated pants, for example, so I would include a fuller leg, dressy pant instead. Sweater dress with my thighs isn't going to happen but I will wear a sheath dress or a classic 50's style dress. Scarves are out; I don't wear things around my neck because they are a safety hazard. I love the concept of starting with an inspiration piece, and the scarf with its many colours is a good example of working from inspiration to limit colours.

If I was going to summarize this list down to some essential pattern basics for someone who truely wanted to sew their wardrobe, it would go like this:

Three really good pants patterns:

a good basic trouser pattern--nice dress pants, or good chinos, depending on your fabric
a jeans pattern
a pleated pants pattern, or a fuller leg dressy pattern

Two really good skirt patterns:

a slim skirt pattern--for me, this is the classic knee length straight skirt, but I think the style depends on your personal preferences
a fuller skirt pattern; for me this is a 12 gore skirt, but I could see a pleated skirt here too

One, or two really good dress patterns

a good classic dress up or down dress; for me this is a sheath or dress without a waist seam
a more casual dress with a waist seam; for me, this is the 50s style dress, with a skirt

Several tops patterns, which can be changed to go up or down in formality, depending on fabrics and styling

a twin set pattern, which included a shell and sweater--my preference would be a vneck sweater and sleevelss shell with a scoop neck, but I can see tastes varying for this
a really good tshirt
a blouse pattern--button down the front, good styling, that can be made from cotton or silk to be formal or casual
some form of pullover sweater pattern; for me, this is a v-neck classic style (although, I would be more likely to knit this than sew this garment
a jacket pattern, classic styling for a suit, but with some definite style.

And, over it all layer patterns

a trench coat, rain coat, or all weather coat
a leather jacket or dressier all weather coat
a decent heavy coat

What she doesn't include in her list at all is gym wear, which in the French tradition is worn strictly in the gym, not for every day wear in the street. If you are exercising 3 to 5 days a week you need gym clothes. I would add to her list two more items to her list of essentials: decent gym pants (yoga pants, or capri pants or shorts) and some kind of warm up jacket.

Looks like a pretty good list of clothing to start with. Now, off to plan.

Summertime Blues Wardrobe: Finally, some pictures...

2011-07-27T12:24:00.001-04:00

Finally, some of the promised pictures. It all started with this blue ruffled sweater, and just grew. This is both my Spring and Summer capsules, with a few extras. I ended up with two sweaters, a jacket, two dresses, three skirts, five tops, as well as a pair of pants, a pair of black capris, and a pair of black city. No pictures of the pants, yet.

All of it goes with what I already own, which is black. Some of it, like the sweaters, are more transitional than summer weight, but when you consider that I started this whole wardrobe in April, that makes sense.

The ever present Simplicity 2603 drape sweater, made from a ruffled sofa throw. I had about 9" square left. No center back seam, and all the edges were preruffled from the throw.


Top: Ballet top, self drafted, cut as a double layered reversible top, edged with serger ruffling. Skirt is self drafted, and gathered using the ruffler foot on my new serger at a 2:1 ratio.

Top: Simplicity 3566, cut with a 12 for shoulder and length, and a 16 through the body. Finished with a full back facing instead of the turn and topstitch suggested in the pattern. Skirt: self drafted 12 gore, exterior seaming detail. Fabric was a neat cotton print gauze remnant found at a second hand store.

Dress: Self drafted Ballet dress, sleeveless. Fabric is printed rayon jersey; it doesn't have a lot of body, but it breathes.

Dress: Self drafted Ballet dress, sleeveless, with full facing to finish edges. Fabric is a linen cotton blend that relaxes with wear. Comfortable, as long as it doesn't get stuffed into the dryer by hubbie, because then it shrinks until it has been worn for a couple of hours.

Jacket: Loes Hinse Bolero, longer length. Cut XS shoulders and medium body (notice a pattern here); sleeves shortened about 4". This came out way way more formal than I expected, but it is definitely sharp.

Top: Sleeveless tie neck blouse, cotton knit of unknown age. PMB draft, taken in about 4" total because of the stretch of the knit. Comfortable, but dressier than I expected.

Top: yet another version of the Simplicity top. Lightweight white double knit. Great pattern.

Top: yes, another Simplicity top. Black cotton single knit, of unknown age.

Skirt: Self drafted 12 gore pull on skirt. I used all kinds of remnants of bits from the black clothes I have been making for the last 6 months including striped/sheer knit, cut in several directions, rayon poly-lycra crepe, rayon poly lycra stripes, black stretch baby corderoy, black single knit, black rpl double knit, and at least one mystery piece.

Top: white scoop necked tank cut from the ballet dress pattern, double layer on front with cotton stretch lace. The edging didn't work as well. I may redo this edge again.

Sweater: Another Simplicity 2603 drape sweater. This one is white cotton double knit for the front and the sleeves, and white stretch lace for the back. I finished it with the serger ruffle edging, but I may just take that off again, because it feels like too much on.

Back of the sweater, shown over the white tank top. The back is sheer, just the lace. I thought it was a fun detail; the teenage fashion commentator was not convinced.

Look Chic but Wash and Wear like Iron!

2011-07-26T19:45:00.001-04:00

For the last two weeks, I've been looking over all the information about swap, sewing with a plan, capsule planning, small wardrobes, and packing with a weight limit, and I have one thought I keep coming back to when I try to take these concepts back to my own life: I have to sew for reality! Sewing to reflect reality means making choices in fabrics and styles that reflect my own every day life. My reality is this: my clothes must look chic, but wash and wear like iron.

I love the whole idea of The very tiny closet, and French Chic, but I don't work in an office or corporate environment. Three really high quality mix and match suits are not part of my lifestyle options. I work in an elementary school. I love 3 ply silk and wool and silk twills with the best of them, but my lifestyle is more along the lines of LL Bean and Eileen Fisher fabrics. High quality rayon poly-lycra fabrics will survive, but wool and silk twill probably won't in my glue and glitter, 7 year old filled world. I have to be able to get dressed in a very short amount of time, and look put together and trustworthy and thoughtful, no matter who walks through my classroom door. I need to look appropriately presentable even when the Governor General's representative, along with about 6 secret service people, walk in the door of the gym unexpectedly, or I meet the Education Minister of India. Suits are probably not going to be high on my must invest in list of clothing, but outfits that work together and look put together no matter who I am talking to while I'm helping program robots are really high on the list. Scarves that drag into the glue really aren't, even if they are beautiful. I have a couple of very nice straight black skirts that I don't wear, because I can't get down on the floor to play when I am wearing them. A 12 gore swing skirt is more appropriate to my life than a lovely straight skirt, much as I like them.

I'm also really not an avant garde kind of clothing woman. I have less height and more curves than most of those patterns, which are mostly appropriate to the straight and statuesque figures. As much as I like the ideas and thought and executions of some of the more interesting vogue patterns, I know I'm not going to wear them. My hems needs to be level. I'm not going to colour block with exposed edges; they don't feel trust worthy or appropriately put together to me, even if I do like the concept. There has got to be a little more polish in my clothes than fraying tshirt edgings.

My sewing for my fall capsule wardrobe needs to reflect these ideas: 'put together, approachable, thoughtful, chic, wears like iron'.

Facts, and facing the sewing room...

2011-07-26T17:50:00.000-04:00

Has anyone else here found, after looking for a pattern, that they had more than one copy of the same pattern in the same size? Or, since they can't actually find the pattern, given up and gone out and purchased another one, only to find it on the shelf above the cutting table, ready to trace? Well, yeah. This happened in the last two weeks. Both of these things. Combined with the 'I cannot sit down anywhere because of the piles of stuff' and I don't want to sew because of the piles of stuff, I have come to two realizations: I have too much, and it is time to thin.

I hate thinning stuff, but it has to be done because if I don't, I won't sew. I refuse to think of it as 'wasted money' (it will bless someone else, I am sure), but it is frustrating to take bags and bags of stuff away from your space that you will never use or sew. Tastes change over time. Mine certainly have. More to the point, my children's tastes, and sizes have changed. I have thinned five full garbage bags of things like patterns that no longer fit anyone in our house, and are not classic enough to keep for the grandchildren or friends' children sewing, dated books or magazines that really no longer are worth their shelf space. These will bless someone else, Even fabric got thinned: fabric that is for babies, or is too small a piece for anyone to use except a toddler, or simply isn't going to get made by us any time soon. There are three sewers in my house now, so when a fabric really doesn't make that cut, it needs to go out. I had three copies of Kwik Sew's sewing for babies; really? I need one copy. Someone else will enjoy the others, because they are good books.

(There should be a picture of many boxes and black bags here, destined for our local second hand shop, but I will spare you).

On the sewing front, I have been working on bits and pieces that go together, for my summer blues wardrobe. I've been trying to do some versions of a pattern for the Sewing Pattern Review One Pattern, Many Looks. I've been playing with the Silouettes Three Piece Yoga pant pattern, for this. Some versions are much better than others, lol. The denim yoga shorts went from my body into the black bag. They were cool, but just didn't work, even with the fun pockets. Just not comfortable. But, I am wearing the black knit city shorts version right now, and they totally work. From that pattern I have made two pairs of shorts, two pairs of capri pants and a pair of pants. I'm going to add a pair of stretch denim pants and a pair of stretch denim city shorts, and then post a review. But, I am still in picture challenged mode. Hopefully tonight.

Working on the summer capsule....

2011-07-02T20:06:00.000-04:00

Does anyone ever stick to a plan more than a weekend? Since this has gone on so long now, I changed a few things, but that always happens. I decided I would combine some ideas from Sewingplum's blog which has really great line drawings of shapes that will work for me with a little bit of tweaking of my tnt patterns, with the skeleton of ideas from Dr. E's Sewing 6 pack.

About 3/4 of the spring capsule is sewn. I've settled out on steel blue, plum and white between the two wardrobes. All those colours will work with my black basics from last summer, and I can extend them to grey if I need to add another deep coloured basic, but I'm trying to lighten things up this summer.

SPRING: A touch of the blues:
This is a more casual wardrobe that can be dressed up or down, depending on the circumstances. This means layers, light, washable, and mostly knits.

Trousers (neutral)--blue yoga pants, tnt pants with a modification of elastic in a bound waistband

1 blouse to match--v neck tie neck shell, done
1 complementary blouse: reversible lace/knit shell with ruffle edges, in layers
1 complementary blouse: still thinking about this one, maybe it will be a pink shell
1 Layering top/cardigan (to match skirt/trousers)-blue ruffled swing style jacket
Jacket (co-ordinating neutral)- zipper jacket, to match the yoga pants, still working on this one
Additional pieces:
Dress--pull on knit dress with big blue flowered print--done and awesome
Pants--blue, straight leg capri style
Skirt in matching blue knit--Eileen Fisher style, with fold over waistband

SUMMER
Dress--another pull on knit dress, of some description, maybe grey?
Skirt (accent colour)--plum skirt, using the slim skirt style of Eileen fisher, with the foldable waist band to vary length
1 blouse to match skirt--plum knit blouse with draping sides
1 blouse to complement skirt--draped front neck shell, simplicity pattern tnt
1 blouse to complement skirt--white shell, lined lace front with plain white back, tnt pattern
1 light layering top/cardigan--white cardigan, with lace back matches the lace on the shell

Planned bonus pieces:
leggings in black and blue, from the newest Ottobre Woman Magazine
capri pants in grey, plum and steel blue

Long time, no chat

2011-06-14T20:29:00.000-04:00

Wow! I have been away a long time. It is report card evening, and I am procrastinating. Back to sewing, and I will also chat a little about my knitting.

On the sewing front--I'm going to do a Spring and a Summer 6 pack in the next couple of weeks. For those who don't know, the original idea is here. I love the idea, and the basics are great. I've been wearing the pieces I made at Christmas every day. On the great side for this system of wardrobing: I can get dressed in 5 minutes. On the not so great side--everything I currently wear is black or dark brown.

I really need to lighten everything up for summer. I am tired of black and brown. For this round, my base colours are black, bright blue, stone, and white. The summer wardrobe will include some lemon yellow, and plums and pinks, just because I like them. I need summer basics of all kinds, badly. I currently own one pair of black capris, one pair of denim shorts that are far too short to wear to teach in at school, and one black sleeveless tie shell. I need to fill out some warm weather work clothes, and some warm weather casual clothes.

SPRING:
Trousers (neutral)--pull on yoga pants, in cotton lycra/spandex blend, in my blue base.
Blouse/top to match--sleeveless tie shell, in matching blue cotton knit
Blouse/top to complement--vogue cowl pattern, in wild blue/pink/plum print knit
Blouse/top to complement--printed georgette tie shell, sleeveless
1 Layering top/cardigan (to match skirt/trousers)--blue knit draped front sweater coat; made from a really cool ruffled sofa throw that exactly matches my cotton lycra blend.
Jacket (co-ordinating neutral)--this one will be my tnt jacket, with a zipper and pockets, out of matching fabric to the pants.
Additional pieces?
--draped neck sleeveless blouse in a printed knit.
--dress--something in blue? Not sure about this one
--blue capri leggings

All of these will go with all my black neutrals, and with my three pairs of denim pants.

Summer:
Dress: my tnt sheath dress in a blue stretch texture cotton
Skirt: something swirly and blue, and cotton, and full
Top 1: a sleeveless white draped neck shell (Simplicity tnt pattern), made from the same fabric as the front of the swing jacket with the lace back
Top 2: a sleeveless blue cotton shell, fabric to match the skirt? probably a swing style tunic length top
Top 3: Something with the asymmetrical shoulder look (I have an old new look pattern that has this look)

1 layering piece: Simplicity swing jacket with a lace back, and white knit for the front. I have seen cardigans similar to this in RTW, and love the idea.

Additional pieces: I need capris for work, so at least three pairs of capris, with cuffs, in rayon poly lycra, black, blue. Possibly a pair of blue, black or white leggings to go under the skirts. Since everything I own will go with any of these, I think this will be a great start.

Motivation...and a review

2011-03-12T12:15:00.000-05:00

I've been ruminating this week about motivation. What motivates me to get up off the couch and move? Or sew, or knit, or create, or.. even clean?

I started going to Kaerobics in January because I knew I needed to start moving, that I wasn't dealing with my life stress well, and I needed some social motivation to exercise. My oldest, who was my gym buddy, went to university. I stopped going to the gym. I knew I needed to do something active. Kaerobics is my social exercise time; I get to hang around with my god-son, and my husbands bff and his wife. It is my chance to go out and socialize, after running around like a fool and sweating my brains out in a fun way. I am learning; I am having fun, and I like it.

Yesterday was the First day of March break, and I decided I was going to be lazy, sit around, watch tv and drink a glass of wine instead of going to Kaerobics. I wanted to leave school early for once, not sit around until it was time to go to class on the last day before March break. This morning, my body is explaining to me pretty clearly that I need to get up off the couch and move. Other times I've missed class, I've been sick, and didn't want to infect anyone. This time--I can tell that I needed to get up and move and my body is whining. It wants some motion and some go. That, my friends, is new. I have energy, and my body wants exercise.

A friend at work mentioned the Body for Life challenge, where people take a challenge and totally change their bodies in 12 weeks; the pictures are pretty amazing. I found a copy of Body for Life for Women at the bookstore last night on the clearance shelf. She wants to do it again.

The challenge seriously tempts me. The whole book reminds me very much of the No Excuses Work Out System, which I already own but do not used consistently. 12 week challenges, do interval based exercise combined with weights, change your diet. Yep. All in NEWO. Personal training component--available in NEWO (at a cost). I've got NEWO. I know it will work for me if I do it. My current excuse is that I don't have a heart rate monitor (yes, it is an excuse. Probably one that I will change today). So why am I looking at another system instead of using the one I have?

I seriously think I'm being ineffective with NEWO because I don't have a target goal and the personal motivation that will keep me focused for the short time. There is nothing wrong with NEWO; I know it will work in the long run. In fact, I intend to stay with it for the long term. The issue is with me and my own personal motivation for the short term. The Body-for-life for Women book actually expressed this really well for me, in the form of questions. What is going to be my pm motivator? What will get me to the gym on that really bad day when I feel like going home and having diet coke and potato chips for supper? How am I going to deal with my toxic stress?

In the past, I've exercised to deal with the stress of change. I exercised a lot after going to University and being transferred to a new school. Exercise helped me tremendously at that point. It dealt with my depression, and left me able to cope, and my body liked being a size 6-8. It felt good. I've been dealing with serious toxic stress in the last four years. On top of dealing with developing life threatening allergies and physical limitations and chronic pain, well--you get the picture-- my oldest has left home, I'm working at a brand new school, and I'm dealing with chronic pain. I'm not trying to make excuses. This is my reality. But, I need to do something to change how I'm dealing with my reality because I don't like the flabby body I've got right now. If I can change my body to be something I like to hang around with in 12 weeks, then I am going to seriously think about it. And, I know from the last time I went through this kind of thing in University, once my body gets to that nice space, it likes to stay there. So, 12 weeks means June, and I can stay focused for 12 weeks.

My personal challenge has to do with the diet. Most of the diets suggested in these exercise programs fail me. I am anaphylactically allergic to low fat foods (fish, shellfish, poultry, eggs, nuts) along with melons and mangoes. Almost every protein supplement depends on eggs or albumin produced from eggs, nuts or fish components to be effective. All of the above will kill me, which rules out the 'supplement portion' of the body for life challenge, I think. I have to check ingredients to be certain. I can only eat red meat. So, I can't just take a diet program that uses low fat as the basis of change in diet and use it. NEWO was no exception. But both of them suggest water, which I am trying to do consistently. Healthy balanced portions, more veggies, more frequent meals. So, it will take some thinking and planning to get this to work for me.

So working through some of my reasons for starting to focus on changing my body.

Why do I want to exercise? What do I want out of the whole thing?

To avoid the wheel chair, and the high blood pressure medication in the long run.
To have some personal balance in my life, and develop some stress resiliance.
To feel better.
To like what I see in the mirror.

Going a little deeper:

I want to be around for my kids in 30 years, not in a wheel chair, but up and playing with my grandbabies.
I want to be able to play pick-up basket ball and soccer this year. My hips hurt today, which means that the exercise is making a difference, because they didn't hurt last week. I want to be able to run without huffing or hurting myself. I want to not hurt when I lift a full size basket ball. I want to make the baskets, not struggle to lift the ball.
I want to look good, not jiggly or fat, in a fairy costume in June when Faeryfest comes around. Enough said.

Going a little deeper: Kaerobics has made me realize that I am worth spending time on, and I am worth spending time with. I am worth taking care of, so I can take care.

Goals for the year...Breathe and Finish

2010-12-23T08:29:00.000-05:00

Last year, my goal word was 'explore'. I'm not sure I did a very good job at it; perhaps the truth was that I did it in a different way than I expected. I did explore, but my explorations related to getting a new job, parenting, and becoming a staff member for my Harry Potter Knitting Group on Ravelry. I think I explored my stress limits, more than my creative limits.

At the end of this term, I will have been staff for 8 months (hard to believe), and part of the group for two years. My children have nearly grown up with my knitting for HPKCHC--certainly become teenagers and young women. As a part of the HPHC group, I have explored many different ways of knitting, dealing with deadlines and online moderating in a sometimes very high paced environment. I helped build and grow a new, and hopefully more sound, structure to the group after some significant challenges in September. I learned some dyeing, and to spin. It wasn't where I thought I would be going in January last year, but it has been valuable and creative in a different way. September, though, was absolutely, without a doubt, insane in terms of time and investment and energy. The kerfluffle, and the aftermath, just took time and energy to work though. In the end, the structure was sound, but the process to get there was time consuming.

In September, my oldest also left home for university. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that my oldest left home, and going to university was the side benefit. She is, as far as I can tell, doing well. She got her first adult job: seasonal retail sales. This is something that everyone should try so that they learn to appreciate how much work it is to do, I think. I think I explored feelings of change and loss. Our celebrations and traditions are changing because she has left home. It is expected, but I am finding it hard to feel my way through this challenge of parenting a young adult, particularly one who is dependent on 'bank of mom' but doesn't want to communicate with mom or dad.

Combine a parenting change of this level with a significant change in job to a new school with very few resources, and I have had a tiring year. A lot of time is put into development of resources for teaching, and not so much into cleaning the house or dealing with the changes of having someone leave with all the stuff in two bedrooms still in piles. I guess that is part of mom-hood--cleaning up someone else's messes. Well, the house is still a mess, and she is coming home in two days for an unknown period of time to stay with us for an unknown period of time. Planning is challenging at my house right now.

Then, I added costuming a play to my fall schedule; a world premiere play, written by a good friend of mine. The play was awesome. Costuming, however, was not originally on my goal list. I don't regret doing it. I went into it, though, knowing I didn't have a lot of emotional flexibity with all the changes I was dealing with, and I got through it, but it was hard. I am exhausted in a way that I didn't expect would happen because the fall was simply so challenging.

I'm sure I could have added something else to the insanity, but seriously--three major things, plus several deaths in November, have made me think about my life, and where I want to be next year. True, I want to have goals, right now my energy level makes me think my goals need to be very simple: get through, build space to breathe, use stash, create within the framework you have with the stuff you have, enjoy the process and the people around you, just breathe.

Too much yarn and what I've been doing in my 'spare' time

2010-12-22T11:52:00.000-05:00

November was a miserable month. I did not knit; what I did knit, I ripped out and stashed back into the wall of stash, or gave away in a fit of frustration in small noodly balls of wool.

Instead, I costumed an original play, called when Santa's Away, written by Ken Cameron. It was awesome. It was exhausting, but here are some pictures:


When Santa's Away				Assorted Elves: DD1 is the artist in the center.

Best Laid plans...and all that

2010-12-05T07:50:00.000-05:00

We all know about plans--right? How they rarely survive past the first stage of planning because something happens? A change of plan because of boredom, fabric choice, pattern choice...you get the picture. My wardrobe seems to be suffering from Best Laid Plans syndrome. At least, though, everything is still black.

I did make a black top.

It wasn't the top I was expecting to make, but that happens, apparently more often than I though. It is black, it is knit, and it fits. I think I changed my mind about the wrap top, partially because I was lazy and partly because I was bored. After reading about tie neck tops, and how well they work in Carolyn's wardrobe, I wanted to try making a v neck tie top. Hers are sleeveless. Mine has long sleeves, a v neck, and ties that measured 30" by 4 1/2" cut.

The only things I would change would be to make the v two inches lower, so that the neck isn't so high on me, and to shorten the ties; I'm short. I don't need 30" of tie, more like 27". The top is a PMB5 draft, with slightly too much ease. It was drafted for wovens, with 2" of ease; I made the top from a nice stable knit, and it doesn't need that much ease on me, so I took it in about 2". But, otherwise, looking good. The tshirt draft is a really nice draft in the new pmb, much better than the old draft. The lengths are good, and the shoulder curve is lovely.

Now to make that top again in something red, and sleeveless.

Endless Black--or surviving back stage as a stage hand

2010-12-01T22:38:00.000-05:00

Last week was tech week on the play. This means that I spent the week plus a day or two, at the theatre--evenings and weekends, while I teach full time. The good part was the play--it rocks; the cast rocks; the costumes rock. The bad part--well, as crew I'm supposed to wear all black. And, I usually can, except that I actually ran out of blacks on Saturday. This is unheard of--how can I possibly run out of all black clothes? Black is my base colour (or one of them at least). But, by Sunday I was wearing dark brown pants and a burgundy shirt. Yep--not black. This means that my blacks wardrobe needs to be expanded. I decided to make an all black 6 pack (well, in reality more like a 6 pack plus). Note: My husband says that I need to do laundry, but we all know that this really means that I need more clothes.

A 6 pack is normally a bottom, and two sets of layering tops, and a coat. My six packs are more like two bottoms, and two to three sets of layering tops before the coat.

This one will end up like this:
I'm going to call it Backstage Baby.

Tops:
1. Funnel neck top--black stretch velvet, made from the Travel Wear two pattern. Quick, easy, fits really well. Love it.---done
2. Vogue wrap top with the huge shawl collar, from some black knit.
3. Extra--black funnel neck top with white daisies (just because I needed a change, lol)--done.

Wrap layers
4. Black zipper fleece jacket, in my tnt jacket, a PMB pattern I drafted at least two years ago
5. Black knee length ruffled sweater with hood (the theatre is cold, and I need to replace the black sweater that is getting sad in its old age)

Bottoms:
1. Silouettes Yoga pants--black texture knit--done. Great pattern, perfect crotch curve. I shortened the pattern 5" to fit my short legs, but otherwise this pattern fit out of the envelope.
2. RPL stretch crepe as Hollywood waist band bants.

Since I like to sew my wardrobes in outfits, my next outfit will be the Hollywood pants and the vogue wrap top. Both are turning into tnt patterns. Quick, easy and cute. I need to do a little shopping: I have to go buy more 1 1/4" elastic for the waist band of the pants, since I just finished the roll. And, I want to make the sweater as a refashion from a polyester ruffle sofa throw, which I need to go purchase.

But, this is a wardrobe at its most basic--what I really wear, what looks good on me, and what is already a tnt pattern. Not exactly exciting, but I will sure wear all these pieces again and again. I'm backstage for another play in April. Maybe, with a little bit of sewing, I won't run out of clothes next time.

Sorrow and Loss

2010-11-30T20:19:00.000-05:00

Some Novembers are better than others; this one has been a hard one. A year ago, Remembrance day, my grandmother died. We had three deaths at church in a week. One of them was one I didn't expect at all--her breast cancer had returned, but she had been given about three years. She lasted two months. To finish off that, our fish is currently breathing his last. I will be surprised if he lasts the night.

Snape has been with us since my youngest was four. He was named Snape after the Harry Potter character, that first year the book was published, because he ate nearly all the other fish that shared his tank in the first year. After the second year, we gave up keeping other fish with him. For the last five years, he has regularly followed us along the glass of his tank every morning, giving us the evil 'feed me' glare. There is nothing quite like sitting to drink your coffee, and wondering what is looking at you, only to realize that it is your fish. He has been our companion through many ups and downs. And, it will be hard to lose him.

I shouldn't complain--he is nearly eleven years old, and his type of cyclid rarely lives longer than 8 years. But, seriously, losing him will be hard. We plan to get other fish (in fact, we were looking at other fish his size, knowing that he was close to elderly and probably wasn't going to last past Christmas), but knowing that and watching it happen are just different experiences.

So, here's to the house cup, and all that I haven't knit for this month. Here is my sweater, and how far I've gotten. I'm not going to finish my mitten--I'm having a hard time focusing because of my fish. And, it isn't an excuse that I want to post on the cup, somehow.

Swap once more

2010-11-27T10:20:00.000-05:00

Swap fever has begun again. For those who don't know, swap is Sewing with a plan (in other words, making a wardrobe that works together). Not as easy as it sounds, or looks, in my opinion, since I usually end up making two or three pieces that just don't go somehow, and so usually sew 14 or more pieces to get the final eleven.

I completed the very last swap that Julie ever ran, and I've managed to complete two since then, but somehow, last year swap fell by the wayside. I don't know why, except that I didn't really have an inspiration piece, and it was too....? I think I just got too busy, and school was extremely stressful towards the end. Sewing was definitely the last thing on my mind after I was surplused from my position. I did find a new, and way better, position at a brand new school, but I didn't complete the swap. And, then I started costuming a play--but that is for another blog post, I think.

The contest this year is here, on Stitcher's Guild. This year, the options for organizing the eleven garments of the swap are as follows:

Option #1:
6 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles
4 bottoms - jeans, pants, shorts, skirts or kilts.
1 your choice (not an accesory)

Option #2:
2 dresses -single pieces consisting of top and bottom that can be worn alone.
6 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles
2 bottoms - jeans, pants, shorts, skirts or kilts.
1 your choice (not an accesory)

Option #3:
5 dresses -single pieces consisting of top and bottom that can be worn alone.
4 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles
1 bottom - jeans, pants, shorts, skirt or kilt.
1 your choice (not an accesory)

3 garments may be purchased or previously sewn.
1 may be knitted or crocheted.

And, every year there is a twist. This year--Every garment should be made with a technique or feature that you haven't tried, or haven't mastered.

And here, my friends, is my challenge. How do I include techniques that I haven't tried or mastered in a wardrobe that isn't full of single amazing inspiration pieces? Those who have done less sewing have a lot more options with this twist, because, let's face it--if you are new to sewing, you haven't mastered a lot. But, I've been sewing for a long time, and I teach other people to sew for fun. The things that I haven't mastered or worked at are things like sewing with leather, or traditional tailoring, that don't fit into my casual wash and wear school teacher lifestyle, or a really for garments that are inspiration pieces that you make a wardrobe around. I'm finding this part of the swap challenge more....challenging....than I expected.

I think it probably goes without saying that I will be using option 1. I wear separates, and I don't really wear dresses. Well, maybe I wear one or two about once every two months. And, we are going into cold season, so dressing in layers is the norm. There is snow falling outside as I speak, and I love my wool sweater collection, and pants. My new room at school also has a wall of windows, which means that the wind cools the room quite effectively, even when the heat is on in the school. Those sweaters are getting a workout this year. If I do make dresses, they will be the 'plus' part of the swap--you know, the eleven final pieces, plus all the other stuff that got sewn and works with the wardrobe but didn't make the cut for the photographs LOL.

My colours are also easy. Since I started sewing with endless collections, where everything has to go with something else in the closet, I've limited myself to colours that work together well. So, black (deep grey), blue, red/cranberry, plum, and deep cinnamon brown are the backbone of my clothes colours. I can't see that changing any time soon. It makes getting dressed in the morning really easy.

So, enough of the complaining--time to do some problem solving about this swap thing. There has to be a way of making this work (literally).

What I've been doing for the cup....

2010-09-29T19:49:00.000-04:00

First, there was the dye experiment...all done with food colour.

Then there was the realization that all our wash cloths were done for.

and, the dragon, which is a lot of smoke....
And, what I wish I was working on...the Central Park Hoodie for dd1.

Playing with colour

2010-08-06T10:13:00.001-04:00

It seems that every time I look at my stash, it is multiplying exponentially. I am always on the lookout to figure out how to use up the stash in some useful manner, particularly those odd balls and bits. One idea is to pull a bunch of balls of stuff, and then, throw the colours into the random stripe generator. What a fun way to just attempt to make a sweater or something else with stripes that aren't matched. On Ravelry, others have used this idea to create blankets and things.

Me--I'm thinking a sweater, bordered in black like my Molly sweater. Except, with more neck shaping and a front band in black to break it up a little.

BSJ Hat:

2010-07-18T21:08:00.000-04:00

I've been editing my BSJ pattern to create a spreasheet style pattern because I like to check off each row as I go. I also want to make sure that the numbers are correct as written. When I have the pattern perfect (or at least closer to perfect) I will figure out how to upload a link for a downloadable pdf, for others to enjoy. In the meantime, here is a a pattern for a matching hat.

6 sts/inch makes a preemie bsj that is 11" around.
Changing the gauge to 4.5 sts/inch (4.5 mm needles, worsted weight wool) makes a 14" preemie bsj, which is good for a 5-7 lb baby. One ball of Red Heart will make the whole set. I made the blue set out of a ball of ombre/paints (3 oz instead of 4 oz), and I had about 2 yards left.

BSJ matching hat:
Hat is knit back and forth on two needles and then seamed. Gauge should match sweater.

Cast on 64 stitches. Knit 20 ridges (40 rows).
Decreases:
Row 1: (k6, k2tog) across row.
Row 2 and all wrong side rows: knit
row 3: (k5, k2tog) across row
row 5: (k4, k2tog) across row
row 7: (k3, k2tog) across row
row 9: (k2, k2tog) across row
row 11: (k1, k2 tog) across row
row 12: k2 tog across row.
row 13: k2tog across row.
Finish hat by sewing tail of last row through all stitches to gather. Sew up side seam.

BSJ matching booties:
gauge and needle to match sweater.
Booties are knit from the bottom to the ankle, in garter stitch.
Make 2.
Cast on 35 stitches. Knit 6 ridges (12 rows).
Toe decreases:
row 1: k15, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k15
row 2: k14, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k14
row 3: k13, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k13
continue in this manner until you are knitting k10, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k10 (23 stitches).
Next--eyelet row: k2, (yo, k2tog) across row, end k1.
Knit 5 more rows. Bind off wrong side, knitwise.
Sew up back seam and bottom of bootie.

Ties (make 2): Cable cast on 80-90 stitches. Cast off. This makes a tie that looks like an icord, but it is much faster. You could use ribbon instead. Thread through the eyelet row in the bootie, and tie in a bow.

The spinning wheel--part 2

2010-03-20T21:18:00.000-04:00

I made the flyer assembly holder, and it works when it is all strung together. Or at least, everything moves the way it is supposed to when you move the wheel. Tee hee.

Pithy notes:

The flyer assembly has an elbow with a t attached. The T goes onto the top of the wheel upright. I cut the connector piece about 2" long, just long enough to connect the two pieces with very little showing, which lets the flyer assembly be directly above the wheel. The upright part where the front of the flyer assembly sits is 4" long. On the top of this upright, I drilled a part hole (with difficulty!), and then madly sanded the whole thing, because it was rough and would make a mess. It sits nicely in the depression now.

The piece connecting the t to the back elbow is 4" long, and can be adjusted back and forth so it will be in the right position for the flyer. The hole for the back upright to line the whole thing up is at the 4" mark; it is a 3/8" hole so there is a little bit of movement for putting the flyer assembly into the flyer holder. I still need a brake assembly on the back of the flyer assembly holder, but that will happen tomorrow.

Still thinking through the footman and pedal assembly. My wheel doesn't turn on the front post--the post goes through the whole thing, and doesn't move, so the plan to attach the footman drive to the post won't work. I need to drill a hole in the wheel to attach a footman upright and the pedal. But, I can see it working.

The spinning wheel--part 1

2010-03-19T11:24:00.000-04:00

I want a spinning wheel. I don't need it, but I want it.

I've tried drop spindling, and it makes my hands ache from the twisting, and then I have trouble writing; drop spindling is not for me. My mom offered me her wheel as a loan. It is a traditional style Canadian wheel, but the orifice is 17" off the ground. I have to sit on a 6" stool to spin. That was great when I was 10 and learning to spin, but I can't do that now with the way my hip keeps deciding not to work, or my knee creaks. It is a great wheel for her, though. There is no way I can talk the man into a spinning wheel made of wood. The least expensive one I have seen is about $600, and it goes up from there. I also prefer the centered wheel style of wheel, like a Kiwi, or a folding wheel, like the Ashford Traveller ($800 to $900 where I am). Definitely not in the budget with the older one going to university in the fall.

So, in the spirit of "Can Do" that I grew up with, I started gathering bits and pieces and making plans to make my own wheel. This is a record of my process; I don't know it if will work or not, but, hey, it is worth an experiment or two. Right?

I've done a lot of research online. There are not a lot of diy wheel plans, except for the great wheel style. The great wheel is a spindle based wheel without a foot pedal drive. It works well for cotton and fine yarns, but it takes up a fair bit of space. The chakra spinning wheel is a smaller version of this wheel. There is a more traditional style plan, available from a wood working site, but, well, I'm not going to talk anyone into turning a wheel for me. And, the wood alone is more than I want to invest. The electric spinning wheel here is a great plan, and those who have made it love it. But, I want to have foot pedal power that is not dependent on electricity. My goal is to make a babe inspired wheel. I like the idea of their wheels, and the cost, and the light weight, but two or three hundred dollars is still out of my budget. Eventually I will get one, with a woollee winder. Right now, I want to try and make a wheel of my own.

You can make everything for a spinning wheel, including the flyer head and the bobbins. The most reasonable plans for a flyer and bobbins I've seen are included with the electric wheel plans. But, after looking a long time at the electric spinner, I decided that I was not going to make the flyer and bobbins. Maybe with the next spinning wheel, or as a variation of this one. I purchased an Ashford Traveller fly assembly and three bobbins, for about $85. The assembly came with a drive band, a brake band and an orifice threading hook (yeah!). The only problem with the Ashford flyer, though, is that the drive wheels are on the front of the flyer, and all of the pvc style spinning wheels I have seen have the drive assembly at the back of the flyer. It was a small set back; my original plan had to be changed a bit. Well, a lot. The good part about this style though, is that the issues with the flyer head popping out of the front of the PVC holding pipe will probably be eliminated, since I'm expecting that the drive band will hold it down.

The frame of the wheel will be made of 1" plumbing pipe--the cream coloured incredibly hard pipe that is very sturdy. The short sides are cut 13" (so far); front long side is 18"; the back sides are 8 1/4" on either side of the T connector to fit the upright. I've cut the upright 22 inches, and marked the hole spot for the wheel an inch above center. The wheel is a 17" plastic wheel rim for a bmx bike, that cost me $20 at a second hand bike shop. Including the glue and the pipe cutter, I've spent about $70. (Yeah, I know--I could have bought a babe for that; but now it is the challenge of the thing, right).

Next--to figure out how to put together the flyer assembly, and the line it up with the wheel.

Body of the dragon

2010-03-01T00:51:00.000-05:00

This is the body of the dragon (one third of the whole thing!). It is way bigger than I expected (about 23 inches before the head or the feet).

Olympic Sweater, but the gold was wishful thinking.

2010-02-28T23:39:00.000-05:00

Like the last time, my goal was to knit an olympic sweater. Perhaps if that had been the only thing I was doing, I would have made it, but I also made another sweater this month, and part of a dragon.

Here is the olympic hoodie, not yet blocked on its intended recipient:

I got the hood half way done, and realized that it would not make the closing ceremonies deadline with two sleeves to go. So, this week, my goal is to finish the sleeves, put in the zipper, and work on my other unfinished projects (including my dragon).

Crochet Blanket of Doom

2010-02-28T22:00:00.000-05:00

Well, hoping to use up stash, I started this:

I'm a third of the way along, and so far, so good (but I'm still a knitter at heart.)

Knitting again

2010-01-12T18:58:00.000-05:00

DD1 found some soon to be recycled yarn in the mysterious bags and asked to learn to knit again. Yippee.

Explore

2010-01-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

I love the idea of a single word focus for the year. It lets you evaluate all your goals, and simplify your thoughts and ideas. My touch word this year will be Explore.

explore new horizons, and learn 10 new techniques in knitting, like knitting with thrums, and double knitting
explore a new technique and craft: learn how to crochet, including reading patterns
explore my stash of stuff, and what it can do for me, and what I can do with it, letting go of what isn’t helping me explore the possibilities, and explore the things I can do with what is left. This is a ten out before a ball or pattern or yard of fabric in kind of goal.
explore a consistent goal of one sweater a month, and the discipline of being focused for a long period of time
explore how to connect with others more often in RL (join a knitting group, have people over to play cards once a month, be part of a community)
explore a healthy lifestyle–including going to the gym, eating more vegetables, and learning how to destress from work, which is really important for me, as I teach middle school children and I prefer little ones
explore life as debt free–work on establishing habits that let my debts decrease, and my life be full without stuff

Cleaning, and sewing...

2009-12-30T22:50:00.000-05:00

So far, I've cleaned out the front hall and the front closet. It is easy to get rid of stuff that is too small when the youngest can't even get the snow pants over the hips LOL. And, because the youngest is also wanting to make her new toy (a doll house), the basement got cleaned so she could build the house on the basement table. It was a good thing--but it took a day to do. Thant makes two car loads of stuff gone from the house. It doesn't feel like that much, but now the cupboards are holding what they need to hold, and there aren't piles everywhere. Thank the good lord for my hubbie, who is willing to drive stuff to the good will to get it out of the house.

I've also started sewing my SWAP, except, well, I started with something that may or may not work into the whole thing: a brown stretch velvet cowl neck turtle neck shirt. Next up is a pair of lined, wool pants. Between the 30 minutes of sewing a day, and the spring cleaning, I'm doing things slowly but surely.

Shepherds and Angels

2009-12-28T11:26:00.000-05:00

A thought came to me Christmas eve, about the angels and shepherds story. Why did the angels appear to the shepherds?

I'm not going to get into the literal and mythical issues about the birth stories of Jesus. If angels appeared, I actually don't think that the angels appeared only to the shepherds of the day. Given the importance of the event, I think angels probably appeared all over, but in all the clutter and noise of Jerusalem and Bethlehem they could not be heard. Think of the time: the movement, the noise, the need to find a place to sleep and put all the stuff of travel since everyone was going back to where they were born for the census. Is it any wonder that there was no quiet, no space, for the angels to be heard? Not that they didn't sing in Bethlehem, but that their song could not be heard over the clutter and noise of the day.

Sometimes, I think that my life is like that. Not that God isn't speaking, but that perhaps my life is so cluttered that I can't hear anything over the noise. Time to tidy, thin and make space.

Starting the new year with a tidy house

2009-12-28T10:24:00.003-05:00

Every year, we have a New Year's open house. Normally, we do a stash and dash cleaning job to get ready for the open house. This year, though, I want to start the year with a clean house for open house. So, I am working through from the front door around to the left through the whole house doing a spring clean.

Until I found this site, I had no idea how to do a spring clean. I mean, I know that people spring clean,but I had no idea how to do it. I particularly like Simple Mom's approach to spring cleaning. She has a great e-book, which can be printed out and put into a home journal,, but everything is also available on her blog. essentially spring cleaning boils down to declutter, clean, organize.

Or, to be more specific:

1--take everything out of the space.
2--wipe down the space, and clean it.
3--only put back what you need, and love.
4--actually send the rest away, as in don't just leave those black bags in the hallway, load them into the car and get them out of the house.

The last step is my personal challenge. I don't have a problem actually thinning out the space and filling the black bags. Getting them out of the house, though, that is a challenge.

I may do the 14 week challenge from the first link, since I'm not sure how far I can get in four days, but we will have a jump start on the main floor of the house. Space one is the front hall, and then I will work around to the left. The goal is to do a 'car dump run' every single day. Maybe even two a day. Thin, black bag or box, and get it out of the house. Maybe even replace our decaying drapes in the front window. Maybe.

Here is to a tidy and less overstuffed New Year.

No orphans

2009-12-22T13:25:00.003-05:00

The sewing contest on Pattern Review that changed my sewing the most was the Endless Combinations Sewing Contest that I moderated last year. I've done SWAP, and it is good, but when I sew now, I sew with the thought: no orphans. What I sew has to go with something else in the closet. I'm trying to sew styles that I know will work with what I have (as in, have a waist shaping, are open and flattering around the neck, are plainer on the bottom half). I'm also limiting my colours along the line of the very small closet concept. I use black as my base (black, deep gray, medium gray, white), supplemented with the deeper colours: cranberry in all its variations (from deep to lighter rose) blues (teal, medium blue, airforce blue), and brown (a lovely red brown, which is the only brown I can wear). Colour wise, everything works together.

This week's sewing is brought to you by the colour cranberry. So far, I've sewn:
1--a cowl sweater, in polar fleece; I had to piece the sleeves together to get a three quarter sleeve.
2--a panel princess sleeveless top, in cranberry velour
3--a matching ankle length mermaid style gored skirt, in cranberry velour
4--a cowl sweater in rose embossed crushed panne stretch velvet (this one might get passed to the daughter, since it isn't quite exactly the right colour; it is also her fabric that was put onto my shelf in a tidy up, oops).
5--rayon poly lycra crepe hollywood waisted pull on pants, in cranberry
6--rayon poly lycra crepe 6 gore flippy skirt, in cranberry.

Those are the keepers. They are all textured, but they are all the same colour. I didn't buy them together, it just happened that they are all the same colour. None of them are 'speaking' fabrics, in spite of the textures, and they work really well together. They also go with about 15 other things in my closet, including my favourite black and brown pants, as well as the black stretch velvet pants I made last week, and the white velour cowl top. The more laundry I do, the more I realize how these pieces work with most of what I already have. What a good feeling. Sewing should give you more options in your closet, not fewer options.

To make it work as a 6 pack sewing, I need to have a topper that coordinates, but I don't have any more cranberry fabric. Yeah--stash sewing gone right.

Following the crowd...

2009-12-05T23:50:00.002-05:00

Or, why I learned that I like more tailored clothes LOL.

Today, I made one of those lovely 'wrap it a million ways' uneven sweaters. I was loosely following the tail end of the Pattern review challenge: to make a warp sweater.

It was, well, bad. I did not take any pictures. I have saved myself the humiliation of eating crow for years to come. The sweater was cut like a Vogue pattern, morphed onto my own TNT, with fronts that tastefully fell to my knees. I wanted it to look like the pictures, but it looked....lopsided and horrible. My oldest (in her teenageryly way) gently let me down: Mom, you just have to accept that sometimes you make things that are just not fit for wearing by any living human. My husband just frowned at it, and said: um, no. My youngest, well, she gave me that look (Mom, why are you embarassing yourself this way, and me too?) and shook her head. Too big, too droopy, and ugly.

I gave up, and recut it into a nice tasteful sweater, with an even hem and a button band. It still needs buttons, but it feels much better. It fits my style. I don't look like I'm a little kid wearing my mom's clothes.

Lesson learned: quit following the crowd, and listen to that still small voice that says: are you sure that you want that much fabric hanging around your middle to your knees? You didn't like the burda mag pattern with the triple wraps, because it wrapped around your waist...So, now I have my skirt, tank top and tasteful cardigan on and I am thankful that I am not going to keep following the crowd. But, it was a fun illusion while it lasted!

6 piece Winter Sew along

2009-12-03T21:39:00.003-05:00

Endless combinations sewing really changed how I sew for a wardrobe. I still wear most of my endless combinations wardrobe. In fact, I am wearing some of it out. The wild print t-shirt with the sequins has really done its time, and I still love it. The sequin glue is giving up, however, and sequins appear regularly all over the place. But, what I realized from sewing and moderating the endless combinations challenge is that I sew in capsules. A capsule is a jacket/sweater, two bottoms (skirt and pants) and at least 3 coordinating tops. Sometimes I add a dress, sometimes I sew a top that matches the bottoms. Over at Aristan Square, Elizabeth has started to have 6 piece sew alongs for her coordinating wardrobe concept.

The sew along for capsule sewing works on this same principal, and is more suited to my climate that a strict SWAP plan because there are more layering pieces. Each season (3 months) you sew six pieces that co-ordinate. If you pick four colours (ideally 3 neutrals and an accent) in a year you *should* have a very easy wardrobe to pick from. But each season would still co-ordinate if you wanted to shift colours between seasons.

The winter sew along looks like this:
Trousers (dark neutral)
2 Tops (1 to match, 1 to complement)
2 layering tops/cardigans/jackets (1 to match, 1 to complement)
Coat (dark neutral)

Other than doubling the bottoms to two pants, or pants and a skirt, I can see this plan working for me in the long run. My base colours are black and deep gray, deep navy blue, and a rosy brown. My accents end up being plum, raspberry/rose, teal, white, deep green, and steel blue. I'm not sure I can go to just 4 colours, but I am happy with these colours because they are coordinating.

This season, I'm working on black and dusty plum.
So far:
Black embroidered stretch denim pants (done).
Plum stretch dress pants (done)
Two tops: plum/black print long sleeve knit top (done)
Black/white/pink print long sleeve knit top (done).
?Matching black top, that goes with the black sweater thing?

Layering pieces still to go:
Matching plum 'casual jacket' with pockets and buttons
Black 'sweater thing' that can be worn a thousand ways

Extras:
Macphee swirl skirt in black knit, to match the black sweater thing
6 gore skirt with flares in deep gray something
Deep gray dress pants
2 piece plum stretch lace twin set (sleeveless top and v neck sweater) (done)

2009-12-02T22:04:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to decide if I'm going to do the Artisan's Square SWAP (sewing with a plan)--making 11 garments that work together, in 4 months.

The sewing is not the issue--the planning is the issue. Here are the criteria:

Option #1:
6 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles
4 bottoms - jeans, pants, shorts, skirts or kilts.
1 your choice (not an accesory)

Option #2:
2 dresses -single pieces consisting of top and bottom that can be worn alone.
6 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles
2 bottoms - jeans, pants, shorts, skirts or kilts.
1 your choice (not an accesory)

Option #3:
5 dresses -single pieces consisting of top and bottom that can be worn alone.
4 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles
1 bottom - jeans, pants, shorts, skirt or kilt.
1 your choice (not an accesory)

2 garments may be purchased or previously sewn.
1 may be knitted or crocheted.

1 will be a matched print or stripe.
1 will feature embroidery, beads or sashiko
1 will have buttons as the star feature OR use unusual or alternative closure(s).

This year's emphasis is going to be on making a wardrobe that fits your needs, and showcasing your sewing and embellishing skills.

Sewing will begin December 26th, and all garments must be finished by April 30th, 2010. Because this is a shorter time frame, pattern fitting and cutting may be done whenever you're ready.

I'm pretty set for colours. Since doing the endless wardrobe sew along, I've been pretty set in my sewing ways. My colours are 'low contrast deep winter'. Which translates, seriously, to basics of black, dark gray, and white, and highlights of plum, raspberry and teal, deep red, brown and china blue. Not really dusty, but deep colours.

The question is more one of planning--a central theme, an interesting closure, some embroidery....

She, Born Organized and Finishing things...

2009-10-24T20:30:00.003-04:00

(Spiral pinwheel jacket, made of Noro, with lace edging; a former UFO, finished and submitted to detention in HPHC, winning second prize)

I've been knitting along with the Harry Potter House Cup on Ravelry since February this year, and I'm beginning to realize how much the process of being creative on demand for a long period of time has changed me.

Before I joined HPHC, I used to have lots of ufo's, stashed everywhere. In fact, one of the reasons I joined the group was the class project in January--'organize your stash and queue'. Getting organized appealed to me. I knew I needed to have some focus, and I was hoping they would run that class again. About April, when I realized that they weren't going to run the class again, I gathered up all my wool, and sorted it into my insane wall of stash. I found most of my ufo's, and put them into one place. I sorted projects into project bags. In a fit of reality about May, I frogged a lot of items that I would never finish, and I let go of a huge stash of needles, mostly plastic circulars, to bless someone else (who loves them). I sorted my tools, and kept what I knew I loved and would use, and let go of the rest to bless someone else.

(The organ we rearranged our entire house to have, getting rid of a piano, and a book shelf, to make room for the organ, my youngest daughter's dream instrument).

Along the way, I knit and I knit. Man, have I knit! HPHC has made me realize that I am a deadline oriented person. I like creativity with a deadline. When points are on the line, I finish things. 6 projects a month, and two Owls (larger project) since April, and I've actually gotten Christmas presents knit, already, and it is only October. What is the world coming to?

After 9 months with HPHC, I've also come to realize I have a hard time with the finishing stages of creativity. Not the seaming, journaling and taking pictures of my knitted creations--no, that part is easy; it gets me points. What I find hard is the very last parts of letting go: the putting away the last few bits of left overs or sending them off to bless someone else, the wrapping, boxing and mailing, all the little tidying portions of finishing a job.

This is the essence of 'she--ness': not being able or willing to tidy up the mess, and let go of the process, maybe because we think that it won't happen again. I think it comes from the wish to stay in that creative space, and continue the fun. But, I've come to realize that the tidying up portion is necessary to the process. With out the tidying portion, there isn't any space to continue to create because all those other leftover wishes get in the way. I need clear space (both physical and time related) to create, and to get it, I have to let go. I have to shine my sink, and tidy my desk. I have to put away my tools, thin out the unnecessary supplies, and purge the bits that will bless someone else more than me. And, it is hard for me to do, because I have to take that leap of faith that I will be able to create again.

But, nine months in HPHC has taught me that I can do just that--finish the job, put away the extra, and let the process happen again. And, I get a lot of knitted items to bless others with along the way. Yeah, HPHC.

Starting again

2009-10-22T08:22:00.003-04:00

This month, given the state of our over stuffed lives, I've decided to start again.

In terms of knitting, I'm working on a top down sweater that will have EZ's lace from the Feb. baby sweater on the bottom, knit with a lovely hand painted wool. And I'm working on a sweater for my youngest that I hand dyed to be striped. That one is turning out too cute!

As well, I've decided that I'm going to start 'spring cleaning'--that is, declutter, clean, organize. Even a little bit will help in this definitely overstuffed house.

Check it out here

If you love someone...

2009-08-29T10:49:00.002-04:00

Dear Former Best Friend of my daughter:
I'm sorry you moved to Australia with your family, and it was hard. I'm sorry you feel that the only way to cope with your new home is to destroy a friendship that has existed since junior kindergarten, and to blame my daughter for your being homesick when you talk to her or email her. A long time ago, I thought you understood what it meant to be a friend. I guess I was wrong.
The mom.

Dearest Daughter:
Ugh. I'm sorry that I didn't hear you when you told me your friend canceled her email and stopped talking to you. Of course, you didn't tell me she told you that 'the only time she feels homesick is when she talks to you' and she 'has to let you go to deal with her new life'. That totally sucks; it is not fair to you, to have her blame you for being willing to listen and care, for you to be encouraging, and tell her to get involved where she is now. I am sorry for this pain, and I am sorry I asked how she is.
It is a rotten way to learn the saying: If you love something, set it free.
I am proud of you, and think the world of you. You don't deserve to be treated this way. I admire the way you are dealing with your pain and moving on. I know it is hard; I wish I knew a way to make it easier for you.
Guess I don't need to save for a trip to Australia as a graduation present; maybe you can go to France instead?

Harry Potter Knitting Crochet House Cup

2009-08-10T07:51:00.003-04:00

So, where have I been for the last 5 or so months?

Knitting, that's where! I finally started really looking at Ravelry, and found a few great groups, and started knitting like stink.

Knitting for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup, on Ravelry. If you haven't asked for an invitation to Ravelry, and you do any kind of fibre art, you should--it is fun. It is amazing; it is full of people who love to do fibre art type things. It has the world's best database of patterns that is searchable. You will fill your list of things to do in twenty minutes, just looking at patterns.

What have I worked on?

A lot of little things (arm bands, hats, coffee cup sleeves) and a few big things.

Like: a Sylvi sweater from the Twist Collective.

A couple of Felted Pirate hats--from Knit like a Pirate-this one is for Patch. (Still one to come for the birthday girl).

A stash busting sweater, inspired by Molly Weasley, using odd balls and a stripe pattern to make it beautiful. I think Molly would be proud of me for this one.

And, a great shawl, that I actually managed to finish after changing needles and trying different yarns, some of which I liked and some of which I hated.

Dolls--Waldorf and others

2009-02-15T22:40:00.004-05:00

This is Anime Annie. She is my very first doll pattern, and she is made like a Raggedy Ann style doll, but with a shaped bottom for sitting, and set in 'shoe style' feet. Her legs and arms are much longer than a regular Annie doll, much more like the Anime Characters my daughters both love. I may offer her as a freebie pattern on FOCD, if I can figure out how to create a pattern pdf.

This is my very first Waldorf-inspired doll--Jessie May. She is made from the 12" Friendship dolls pattern, from Dancing Rain Dolls. Her hair is wigged on a crocheted wig, with fibres that are (well) a mystery. She isn't stuffed with wool, or made with organic jersey knit like a traditional Waldorf doll, but I still love her. She is just so cute!

Her older sister, nicknamed Peanut Butter Cup for her hair, is still waiting for her introduction pictures. She is made from the 16" Dancing Rain Dolls friendship doll pattern, with medium brown wool hair and 'lighter coloured' highlights. The combination looks remarkably like peanut butter cups.

I prefer the 16" doll. I like the overall shape, and feel better than the 12" doll, but there were 'challenges' with the 16" body pattern in the down load. The lower body pattern did not match the upper body by more than 3/4" across. Being inventive, I enlarged with lower body page to 114% to get it to match. There are also no vertical 'match here' marks on the body pieces in the 16" doll pattern; I guestimated where the pieces should match, but I could be wrong. Although I love the pattern, particularly since it includes a wide variety of clothing that fits the doll, the pattern challenges for the body will cause troubles for a less experienced seamstress or doll maker. I did contact the maker, but I received no response after a week. She has a reputation for excellent service, so maybe I got her on a bad week, or on a vacation week.

Overall, her instructions are excellent. Some of the pictures are very close up, particularly for the nose directions. I found, as a new doll maker, I needed the information found on a couple of blogs to sort out some of the head information. All her patterns, including her clothing patterns, are template patterns. You need to add seam allowances, or be willing to sew on the line. This isn't a problem in any way, as it means that everyone can sew with their preferred seam allowances. The patterns include a very large variety of clothing patterns for the doll. For the money, even with the body pattern challenge, I would highly recommend these patterns.

Waldorf dolls, costuming and avoiding report cards

2009-02-08T18:26:00.002-05:00

The last play I helped with (I can't really even say I worked on it, except to sew a dress that was, well, insane, and to do a tiny bit of costume polishing) closed last night. I didn't even need to go to strike--that's how little I did. Our next show (Beyond a Joke, at Guelph Little Theatre) opens in about 5 weeks; I start costuming it this week. It is wonderful, funny and a little thought provoking play, full of misconceptions about life, and what happens to evesdroppers, and the requisite dead body in the closet. I laughed my way through the script, and am looking forward to playing along. Only 8 people to costume, and no real challenges from the script. We will see what the director wants.

On the doll front, I am continuing to explore how different dolls are made.

I've ordered a combination Hitty Kit, and the online class, to make a painted head/hands/feet Hitty with a cloth body. The class is about half way through; I hope I get the kit before it is over.
My first fabric Hitty is sewn and waiting to be sealed and painted.
I have all the printouts for Judy Ward's Cloth ball jointed Bleuette, and everything is traced. The secret ingredients for the cloth ball joints are painted, and waiting patiently. I am going to force myself to use fabric that is lying around to make the first one.
My challenge doll pattern for another club has been printed and trimmed.

So it isn't like I have no projects on the go. But, then I wondered--what makes a Waldorf doll different? Well, apart from the fact that everything is totally natural, they are stuffed with wool and made with organic fibres--how are they made so that they are so different? They have a distinctive face shape and a very simple embroidered face. So, I started researching, and I discovered, there is a prestuffed shaped skull and neck under the skin fabric. It is really cool!

If you get interested in learning more about Waldorf dolls, here are some well done tutorials, and a few free patterns:

The Silver Penny has a lovely tutorial with a lot of photos, and a few free patterns for a button jointed Baby style Waldorf doll.
This is a really tiny Waldorf baby, suitable for a doll house.
This is a pattern for a full joined (not button jointed) Waldorf baby; the pattern for the hands and torso are on the bottom of the page.
This is a felt body baby, with a Waldorf style head (about 4" tall). Another name for these dolls is Steiner dolls, after the first doll maker who made this style of doll.
Here is the pattern for a smaller 'sleeper style' baby doll along with instructions.

And, just in case it appeals, here is a pattern for a child sized doll sling, for your darling to carry your baby in. Too cute, and too easy. These would make great Christmas gifts.

Although I could make a doll from the freebies, I decided I wanted to use a real pattern, and make a girl style doll. I ordered a downloadable ebook from Dancing Rain Dolls for a 12" and a 16" Friendship doll. These patterns include all kinds of clothing, fantastic instructions (including how to make a crocheted wig that is stylable), and the rights to make and sell the dolls. The doll has attached (sewn in) legs, and button jointed arms. Her body and head cover are one piece, which is different than almost any other Waldorf doll I've seen, but this is a very cute doll. I did what I could without wool stuffing, but the next one will definitely be made with all the right stuff.

But, did I actually do any marking or work on report cards? Ummmmmm.....

Working towards goals--playing with dolls

2009-02-01T08:26:00.003-05:00

One of my goals is to play with different types of doll bodies. So far, I've made 3 new types this year:

my first painted head vintage doll, a challenge pattern from the Vintage Cloth doll group.
my first Hitty, a free fabric doll pattern. Hitty is an antique wooden doll, 6 1/2" tall. As far as I can tell, getting into Hitty is kind of like getting into American Girl, only a lot smaller! I don't think I will be really into this in the long run, but my youngest loves miniatures, and this is close to that. So, time will tell.
my very first pattern, of my own. This is for a rag doll, with a shaped body and a bum. She is about 20" tall, but thin. My girls tell me that she looks like an anime character--so we've nicknamed the pattern Anime Annie. I want to experiment with adding ears and tails, since a lot of the characters in the Anime cartoons have different ears/tails, and they would be interesting. She is a pretty doll. The little girl down the way 'ordered one with a blue dress' for her birthday LOL.

Goals for the year?

2008-12-31T09:01:00.002-05:00

It is December 31--the last day of the Endless Combinations Sew along...and time to review last year's goals, and renew/change a few of my own. In the spirit of the many bloggers in blogland and elsewhere, I thought I would put down some ramblings about my goals for 2009.

1. To see the floor of the sewing room by the end of 2009--this means much more stash sewing than stash accumulation! I'm thinking 10 out for every yard in, but that might be too high a goal. Maybe empying at least 2 bolts a month??

2. To play more with different techniques and things. One new technique a month should be good.
My current list of things to try includes:

using the computer programs I have, like EQ6 and Wild Ginger (assorted programs!)
drafting using the CAD program on Wild Ginger
exploring EQ6 applique (there is a ducky quilt in there for my youngest, just waiting to be created, I am sure--and I have the book)
using the embroidery machine!
trying out different fibre techniques like cutwork, fibre etching, and thread painting (on garments, and on quilts)
exploring dying fabric
spinning (hmm--another way to accumulate stash....maybe not such a good idea)
creating different styles of dolls, with different jointing techniques and armatures

3. To balance the budget! (Self explanatory, I think).

4. To exercise regularly. I really liked the idea that another blogger had: for every hour of moving the body, I can spend $10 on my fibre hobbies. Since I belong to the gym, this shouldn't be hard to do--but....we will see.

I think this year should focus more on process than production. Last year--I accumulated and I produced! I accumulated lots of different 'techniques' books to play with, and I sewed a lot of fabric. This year, I want to play while I produce. Or, at least, attempt to play while I produce.

Stash reduction....here I come.

The year in review:

2008-12-30T09:32:00.004-05:00

As I review 2008, I realized something. This blog really isn't about knitting (or at least, not just knitting), or about sewing, or about doll making. It is about all of those things put together--the explorations of a fibre fashionista. So, in honour of reality, I have edited my blog name.

2008 was the year of change.

On the sewing front:

1. I completed the very last Timmel Swap! This was a huge 'stick to it' project for me. Not everything has stood the test of time, but more of it has than not. I still wear the black pants, and white shirt every month.

2. I won the stash contest at PR in July--with a lot of sewing. 151 m fabric sewn in two months. Lots of garb, lots of clothes. Not a lot of blogging.

3. I upgraded to PMB4, and got a good pair of pants in two mock-ups--this is a record. I have made many pairs of pants since then.

4. I did an entire year of 'stash diet'--and got very close to parity. Not quite under, but very close. Still aiming to see the sewing room floor, but not by 2009 at the rate I'm going. It is better, though.

5. I learned to make 'interior button jointed' dolls. Love Judy Ward doll patterns!

6. I completed the 'Inspired by' Contest and made a Kohr-inspired dress, using a whole number of new sewing techniques.

7. I managed my first contest on PR--the endless combinations contest. This one finishes in two days. I learned a lot, and hopefully will be able to manage another one in the future.

8. I completed 19 garments (so far) in my endless combinations sew along. Each of them included a challenge--a new pattern, a new/challenging fabric, or a new embellishment technique. Although the actual contest will finish in two days, my sew along will probably not finish until March. This kind of sewing is really inspiring to me, and has helped me really stretch my sewing muscles. A few of my garments will become foundation garments for my Artisan's Square Swap.

On the home front:

1. My oldest ran for the first time since she broke her femur (a year ago Thanksgiving) in May. She had a non-contact fragility fracture, and most of this year has been physiotherapy and doctor's appointments. She has been cleared (at least temporarily) of osteoporosis, but there remains a possibility she will develop early onset osteo, so swimming and gym are in all of our immediate futures. She no longer needs a cane, and mostly doesn't walk with a limp. 'May Musical Madness' (our church music celebration) was the first time I saw her run since the accident.

2. My youngest started grade 8, turned 13, and got braces and a boyfriend. Can we say: teenager?

3. I began to focus on developing really good classroom management skills, something that will hopefully reduce my stress level at work, and make it possible for me to continue the job with glee for another 25 years. I completed two courses this summer, as well.

4. Music: Piano, choirs, and organ lessons became my 'out of school parenting' life. It is kind of like being a hockey mom, without all the other parents to chatter with at the arena (or drive for you when you are tired). Three nights a week we are out of the house at lessons or choirs.

5. My husband finished his CGA and officially received his designation in March, after 5 years in school. I think he has more degrees than I have, now. LOL.

6. My oldest started grade 12, and is making plans for the rest of her life--hopefully Ontario College of Art and Design will be in her future, as that is where her talents and skills lie.

7. Nicole, not Patricia, was in a play--not just one play, but two plays! This is a major role reversal. Patricia was back stage for one of those plays; I also did some costume polishing and costume work for the local little theatre.

8. The Ringing Link, our national bell choir conference, occured in June--and was a huge success. My husband was part of the planning committee for the last two years, and it was a relief to get to the end. Both Lloyd and Nicole attended. The next one--all four of us will attend. Yes, I have been talked into adding another 'hobby'. It is a family thing--everyone, but me, plays handbells in my family.

All in all, it was a very full year!

Finally, A Knitting Post

2008-12-16T09:34:00.008-05:00

It has been a while since I shared a pattern, so here is a stash buster for Christmas, with three options.

Stash Buster Throw, Baby Blanket or Prayer Shawl.

modified garter block stitch
stitch multiple of 6+3 sts

Easy version (easy to knit, harder to keep track of pattern, but I prefer this one).
row 1 and all right side rows: knit all stitches
row 2, 4, 6: *k3, p3* end k3
row 8, 10, 12: *p3, k3* end p3.
End pattern at row 6 to create garter stitch blocks at all corners.

Harder version (easier to keep track of pattern, lots of purl stitches!)
row 1, and all wrong side rows: purl all stitches
row 2, 4, 6: *p3, k3* end p3
row 8, 10, 12: *k3, p3* end K3.
End pattern at row 6 to create garter stitch blocks at all corners.

What you actually need:
32" long (or longer) circular needle, 8-11mm--guage is not important for this project, but mine was roughly 2 sts to the inch using four strands of wool and 9mm needles.
Lots of ends, small balls or single balls of worsted weight or sports weight wool, in a similar colour family (ie--all reds, all blues, blues and greens, tans/whites/browns). This throw works best if the yarns include at least 2 fancier yarns like eyelash or metalics, but, to be honest, anything goes.

For a prayer shawl
(roughly 20x60")
Cast on 99 stitches, using 3 strands of worsted weight or four strands of sports weight (or 2 worsted and two sports weight). Knit rows 1-12 four times, and then rows 1-6 once. You should end up with four and a half repeats of pattern (as in 5 garter stitch blocks across the short end of the shawl). As you finish with one yarn, tie on a new ball and knit in the ends as you go on the wrong side of the shawl. Since the balls rarely finish all together at one spot, this creates a lovely gradient of pattern across the shawl end to end.

Integrated Fringe:
If you wish to also have a fringe on both ends, as you come to an end, create a long loop (about 9 to 10 inches long) of all four strands of wool, and knot the loop close to the needle. Continue knitting. This is an ideal point to introduce any new wools if you care about too many ends.

Afgan:
roughly 45 by 68"
Cast on 111 stitches with four strands of sports weight yarn (or two worsted and two sports weight). Knit rows 1-12 nine times, and rows 1-6 once (10 garter stitch blocks across shorter end), creating an integrated fringe on each end as you knit.

Baby Blanket:
Cast on 63 sts using 4 strands of sports weight yarn and 8mm needles. Knit in pattern until desired length (square), or 10 and a half repeats of pattern. Make and attach long wool tassels on each corner of blanket. I like to use four strands of variagated baby wool, of the stuff with the silky thread through it to make this blanket. It is really soft and cushy, and a relatively quick knit. 4 jumbo balls will make one afghan.

Progress

2008-12-14T22:55:00.001-05:00

Three bodies and limbs done for the dolls--ready for stuffing.

4 to go.

Getting there.

Choices for Christmas

2008-12-09T20:14:00.003-05:00

Most of the girls are getting dolls for Christmas. To be more specific, this doll for Christmas, the Judy Ward's teaching doll. It makes a really nice doll, the girls loved them, and so these are high on the list.

The boys will get variations of one of these dolls from Carolee Creations

But, for my oldest, I'm thinking something more adult. Either Savanah, by Judy Ward,
or this very cool Penny Doll pattern called Claire

I'm torn--both are pretty, but Claire is just too cool for words with the jointing.

What colour are you?

2008-12-09T19:36:00.001-05:00

Ok, I did it, for fun, and this was the result:

What Color Green Are You?

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you.
Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible.
While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks.
Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

Creating a Wardrobe with challenge

2008-12-08T21:23:00.002-05:00

Swap has started (check it out on Artisan's square). I am thrilled Stitcher's guild is continuing with the Swap Contest tradition, started by Timmel fabrics (no longer in business, sadly). Each year, Timmel would have a Swap contest and add a twist. One year it was to include a reversible garment. Last year it was to create 3 different garments from one wardrobe pattern (that one was Hard! I was surprised how hard). This year, you have 6 months to make 11 garments: 6 tops, 4 bottoms and a jacket. (No dresses this year, unless it works as a top). Everything has to work together, and the jacket has to go with it all. This year's twist: your clothes have to fit your life and your body, as it is right now. Think: a week in the life of....

My challenge isn't to create a wardrobe in 6 months (LOL!!). One year, I made a full swap wardrobe, including embroidery, in 48 hours. 6 months is almost too long for me. My challenge is to get out of the 'really easy and fast to sew' box that I've lived in all my life, and try to include some more interesting and different techniques and ideas in my swap sewing. I am an intermediate sewer. I can do some more advanced techniques, but I don't enjoy the couture hand sewing that often goes with Advanced sewing. Now, my challenge is to stop making everything the same, and to try something new. And since I want to see the sewing room floor by 2009, it is time to sew.

I have a pattern stash that nearly fills a pattern drawer unit. I have an embroidery machine--and a whole bunch of discs. And a lot of threads. And, all the stabilizer I need. I have shiva sticks, and have only used them once. When I won the stash sewing contest, I got some really interesting items that I need to use, including fibre etch. I have a number of different computer programs, including a quilting program that is fascinating. I have design imagination, and sewing pattern drafting knowledge. But, when do I actually force myself to go through the process of using it all? When have I experimented with all this new stuff? When have I worked my way through making it all work together lately?

So, my personal challenge with endless combinations and swap this year is this: to use a new technique, a new patterns, or new and challenging fabrics with each garment I sew.

Endless combinations review on Pattern Review

Endless Combinations Sew Along

2008-12-08T20:59:00.002-05:00

I am currently moderating the Endless combinations contest on pattern review. Anyone who knows me knows that this means I won't be able to win the contest. It was a big choice to give up on the chance to win, but without a moderator, the contest doesn't run. So, I offered to moderate, started a sew along to satisfy my sewing urges, and I am stash reducing as we speak. All told, I believe I'm up to 14 items so far--and I haven't changed the serger to white (or red) yet. I am aiming to see the floor of the sewing room before 2009. My conservative estimate for sewing is about 60m to go before it will all fit onto my industrial shelves.

Hmm, 60m, less than 20 days!?

Ok, realistically, probably not going to happen--but, I am going to make a valiant attempt anyway.

For those who haven't heard of Endless combinations, it kind of works like this: sew one thing. Sew something that goes with it. Sew something else that goes with one of those two items (or both!). And just keep sewing . And sewing, and sewing, and sewing....

Making it actually fit you

2008-10-13T09:17:00.003-04:00

Sewing, like knitting, is sometimes a real adventure in fitting. Even if your sewing is impeccable, if the garment doesn't fit you, it doesn't look good. A simple thing like fabric stretch and hand can really compound the issue. I'm sure we have all gone through this scenario--like the pants in this fabric, but in this other one, they bag to my knees.

Christine Johnson, a knitwear pattern designer, has actually produced a handy little page to help with this problem, based on ease and stretch of fabric. After thinking these things through, you pick your pattern size (or, adjust up and down if you are working with your own tnt wonders) based on the final fabric measurements to give you the ease, and fit, you desire. Check it out:

Perfect sizing worksheet

Grocery Bags galore

2008-10-04T13:25:00.003-04:00

Have you ever wanted to have a bunch of reusable bags, but didn't want to advertise for a store? Sewing Pattern Review sponsored a grocery bag contest--which I didn't even enter--but it inspired me to post some neat links for making grocery bags.
You can check out the contest entries here:
grocery bag contest gallery

Sewing Links to check out:
There are a lot of different types of bags and links posited on the net. I gathered some of the more common ones here, sorted into basic shapes.

1. Just like the plastic grocery bags:
If you like the plain old 'just like the store's plastic bag' here are two tutorials, and a pattern.
This one gives you the pattern:
Indistructables grocery bags

This one uses a plastic bag to make the pattern:
Lunch bag based on plastic grocery sac

Burdastyle has a free pattern, similar to the traditional plastic bag, without the pleat at the bottom. You need a free membership to download the pattern, but after that you can play play play:

2. More like the paper bags:
This is a larger, traditional style carry bag. There is no seam on the bottom, and the cut outs along the fold provide the gusset. Handles are added to the top, or you can use other stuff you have around. I have an old, free, pattern from McCalls (probably given away in the early 80's) for a bag very similar to this one.

Here is another traditional style bag by creative thimble, with long reinforcing handles:

This bag pattern includes the traditional 'New Englander's Contrast bottom', my preference for the cottage.

This tutorial provides a very similar style bag, but with integrated, square cut out handles, that are reinforced by the extra fabric.

A number of patterns use actual paper bags as their pattern base. Sadly, some people like to take other people's work, and attempt to copyright it as their own. If you are basing your bag on a paper bag from the store, the pattern should not be your copyright--the shape was developed by someone else. Don't, for heaven's sake, use a paper bag from the store and then threaten litigation if someone else posts something similar (check out Jan Andrea's bag, and you will understand my vent). Many very smart people have posted versions of this bag. The person who developed the original grocery sac should really get the credit for this, now traditional, shape.

bag 1
bag 2
bag 3

3. And now, for some different shapes:

Check out this curved base grocery bag, with the comfort handles:

Or, this one, with a circular base from the Selvedge magazine by the Linnet Co.

Or this absolutely gorgeous quilter's Schlep bag, that is like a puzzle, done in squares:

Or this one, which is kind of like a grocery sac, with the handles turned:

And, the ultimate--a grocery bag, crocheted from recycled 'yarn' made from plastic grocery bags.

What inspires you to knit or sew?

2008-09-28T08:12:00.003-04:00

Why do we create? What inspires each of us to knit or sew, or even to write about it to the world? As my daughter is beginning her AQ course in painting, and possibly in scultpture, too, I am wondering about the creative process. What is it that keeps us going, beyond all odds, to actually finish a project? I think there is something inate about being a creator--that spirit that says to create is simply part of each of us. Some express it in words, some in music, some in the gift of hospitality, or in interior decorating, or collecting dolls or computers. Some express it in fibre--knitting, sewing, sculpture, embroidery, cross stitch, all of them are expressive arts. Some of us express it in costume, either wardrobe or stage costume. Some in quilts. But I think that the spirit to create is always present.

At the moment, however, mine has been stretched out, and is not enthused about much of anything.

To try and jumpstart my mojo, I joined the PR Pattern stash contest. This one is a 'make any pattern from your stash' (one point per new pattern) contest that runs until the end of October. I know I won't win. I think I got 'sewed out' this summer, so I am just trying to get myself back into the sewing mojo by joining. I would be happy with myself if I made just two patterns from my extensive stash. My only problem, however, is that I have to pick something to start with, and I have too many choices.

In my head, I understand that good art, like good costumes, start with a basic underlying structure, and that the structure frees the artist to become very creative. Form follows function, in a sense. Perhaps this is why 'wardrobe planning' is so seductive--it is sewing within a structure of colour and shape, for the reality of your lifestyle (or the lifestyle that you wish you had!). But, right now, my planning is a jumble of patterns in a bucket, with no underlying structure to help me focus. Pick a new pattern doesn't seem to be enough structure for me--there are too many things that would work.

Maybe that is why the 'progressive wardrobe' idea is calling me. This will be the next contest in PR , and it will run November and December. From what I understand it will work like this: make something, and then make something else that works with it. And keep going. The person with the most items made that work together at the end of two months wins. Well, actually, everyone wins because you end up with a wardrobe that works together when you do this. Somehow, this approach to sewing appeals to me right now, the organic planning of making things work together, progressively. Pick a pattern or two that will work with the insane stash in the basement. Work with only a few colours. Make each new item work with at least one item from the wardrobe (new or previously made). And just sew for the fun of it.

Thoughts on Sewing a Wardrobe

2008-08-23T20:24:00.002-04:00

It is that time again--back to school time. I'm thinking about sewing a wardrobe (of course), but I wonder if I want to change my look a little as I go back to school. So, I was looking though old things and links and came across a few really good ones, that I thought I could pass along.

http://casualelegancefabric.com/newsletter

This magazine is fun to read, although it (sadly) isn't published very often. The pdf to look at is the first one on the list: Possibilities (a wardrobe for a trip). They work through a trip wardrobe, from idea to final pictures, using all Loes Hinse patterns, of course. I don't have an opinion on the patterns; I haven't tried them yet. But the concept is well thought through, and they discuss 'sewing challenges' like making patterns work with not quite enough fabric. The clothes are dressy casual, more in keeping with my lifestyle as a teacher. The concept is well executed. All the magazines are worth a look, but this one really stood out as 'good for a beginner' to start with, so they can see a wardrobe sewn from idea to conception.

http://www.wardrobemagic.com/

Some of Diana's ideas in Wardrobe Magic are pretty standard, as far as wardrobe planning goes, but they are practical and well worked thorugh. She does go into 'dressing for your life' using a good planning model in wardrobe magic. I thought it was a good book.

Her Business Wear Magic e-book, however, is worth its weight in gold. It is the only book I have ever seen that discusses how different types of jobs have different types of wardrobe needs, and how to plan a capsule wardrobe for the different types and levels of jobs. It really hit the spot for me. As much as I love suits, I don't wear them in my job. They aren't appropriate at all for my job, unless I'm going to an interview. This was the first place I had ever seen a practical approach to wardrobe planning for someone not in an office. As well, when my computer died, taking everything into the great beyond including the ebooks I had just purchased, Diana kindly allowed me to re-download, something I totally appreciated at the time (and still do).

Summer sewing

2008-08-23T19:12:00.011-04:00

It is a week before school starts, and I have to wonder where the summer actually went. Well--into a course or two (special education 1, and a really great classroom management course by Harry Wong, that is available on line here: http://www.classroommanagement.com/ which I am almost done).

That would be most of my summer (if not all of it). Except, I sewed a lot of stuff this summer. I actally won the 'Stash Contest' at Sewing Pattern Review, which was fun. The contest was to sew as much fabric from your stash as you could in 2 months (June1 to July 31). I sewed 151 m, not counting 3 suits, in that time. It was fun but challenging. My computer also died, and was replaced in that time, which was not fun. Particularly as all the pictures for the contest were on the computer at the time.

DD2 is modeling a 'fairy skirt' from the Fairy Skirts workshop we ran at Faeryfest Guelph 2008--we made 100 kits of various fabric, and had 21 kits left at the end of the weekend. Each skirt took 1 yard of elastic, and 8-12 triangles of fabric. Parents and children sat on the lawn around the tent and threaded assorted fabrics onto their elastic, and they looked beautiful.

I also made garb. Lots of Garb. Garb for 2 men, and 3 ladies for Pirate Fest 2008, and faires and capes (3 of us). Here is Patricia modeling her underdress and skirt for Pirate Fest 2008. The skirt is two lengths of fabric. The sides are sewn together up to about 8 inches from the top. The front and the back are then pleated onto separate ribbon waistbands that tie around the waist (first back and then front). The cream 'dress' is a period ladies undershirt that I made from a great tutorial pdf, that I found here: http://www.nwta.com/patterns/pdfs/511shift.pdf

I made 3 of them, and plan to make more. The third one was challenging, as I got down to the end of my cotton fabrics and we had to deconstruct a roman toga to get enough fabric for the third one. This would be an ideal gift nightgown, actually--it is totally adjustable, and essentially one size fits all. I made a mistake on the third one, and used the full 45" width of fabric for the body, and it worked really well. So, I am not sure I would cut any fabric down to 36" wide again.

My niece came to visit, and we used up almost every piece of tulle I had in the house making three 'no sew' tutus. These were totally wonderful, and aren't hard to make. I got the idea for them here: http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/tutus/Tutu-Instructions-The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Full-Boutique-Tutus.htm but I essentially just made them up as I went. It took the three of us one whole morning (and a lot of strips of tulle about the width of my hand, 4" wide) and a waistband of elastic to get this result:

Patricia discovered quickly that the fairy skirt was cute over top of the tutu. She even thought it made a great fairly cape around her neck.

To finish off the sewing, I also did skirts. The plan was to make three skirts, one for each girl and one for the younger sister of my niece, but I miscalculated a lot, and only ended up with two skirts, one of which barely went on my niece's size 0 hips! I used an e-book from you can make this to start: http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/skirts-dresses/Embellished-Patchwork-Twirl-Sizes-2T-8.htm

The little one is the skirt I made following the instructions; the longer one is the one I made trying to 'upsize' the skirt instructions. Not quite the same look, but it is very fun. It fits me, and she loves it. I'm going to try again, this week.

I would recommend any of CarlaC Dolly's e-books. I have 3 now, and they are very clearly layed out, and the results are fantastic. I love her instructions, and I really wish they came bigger than a size 8!

Other than that, I didn't do a thing all summer.

Last, but not least, I started cloth doll making. I have made dolls before. I sold Raggedy Anns when I was a teenager. But I got interested in some cloth doll making when I saw a link for a totally cloth ball jointed doll by Judy Ward. Check it out here: http://dollnetmarket.com/shop/product.php?productid=175&cat=9&page=1

But my skill is nowhere near this doll yet, so I started with her Teaching Doll pattern here: http://dollnetmarket.com/shop/product.php?productid=36&cat=6&page=1 . The doll is very cute when finished, and was a popular gift. Here is the first 'body'. Check it out--it has ears!

Tshirt Muslins...ad nauseum....

2008-01-23T21:02:00.000-05:00

I am whining. I now don't like making muslins. I don't like it when they don't fit, and I don't like it when I don't like what I see in the photograph, even when I think it is close enough in real life.

I gave up on my PMB t shirt pattern. I couldn't make it fit. I tried. Really, I tried--but the side seams are too straight and the non-dart fit is just terrible on me. I drafted it with 1" of ease, and took out 4" total at the bust before I gave up, and switched to a different pattern. I've had this problem before--not often, but often enough that I get frustrated with the program, and switch to something else. Usually, it gets 'closer' than this, though. Not perfect (perfect is a pipe dream--I would actually settle for a more shaped side seam, however). To be totally fair, I did not use Curves to draft the tshirt pattern--and I probably would have gotten better results if I had started there because it does start with a more shaped side seam. But, honestly. As close as this is, it is just not good enough. I feel frumpy in this--and considering that this is muslin number 5 (or, was it 6?), that is not good enough. It does get all my stash sewn, but not one of those muslins is actually wearable in real life. I even made a slightly see through one that, well, someone else will be happy wearing.

So, I switched to a different pattern. A free, downloadable pattern from Burdastyle( http://www.burdastyle.com/) the Lydia pattern, which is a basic, long sleeved tshirt with a scooped neck with facing. I cut it a lot smaller on the shoulders (a 38) and a 42 on the sideseams. I shorted it a lot--the standard petite changes, including above the armhole. The first muslin was pretty close, except it was about an inch too wide all the way down the front. I used it to mark neckline choices. The second muslin was wearable, and became a (now missing in action) mock turtleneck tshirt. It was really stretchy fabric, though, not really a good muslin kind of fabric, but it is comfortable and I like wearing it. It was one of those 'I need to make something wearable' desperation pieces.

This is a picture of muslin number 3, made of a definitely NOT stretchy knit. It has no give whatsoever, but it was in the stash, and I am using up the stash. This picture of the front without sleeves or facings or hem is a lot better than the pink one. I still need a sway back adjustment, and some more hem leveling (mostly in the back), but this is a lot better than anything I got from my pmb pattern, sad to say.

Still, I don't like the process of muslins, particularly when you don't have any more muslin, and are on a 'sewing diet'. On the good side, I now have 5 empty cardboard bolts. At this rate, I will sew down the piles around the shelves by March Break. I have a couple of tshirts that fit well enough to wear in public. Not perfect, but close enough. And, this is close enough that I can sew some of the other fabric that I want for my Swap, after a couple of more muslins. But, I hate muslins. My black bag for Salvation Army is getting full.

Maybe, just maybe, I will get a few tshirts that I like out of this course. I finished this one into a scoop neck, cap sleeved tshirt for working out in. It fits well enough for that. I figure another two or three muslins will do it. But, I am tired of making muslins that are not even suitable for the black bag of doom! Eventually, I will be making up some doubled front tshirts for my Timmel Swap, when I finally get a pattern that I am happy with. I have a couple of nice strech laces that could use two layers in in the front and back. I also plan to make a nice crossover top that ties on one side from another stash fabric. I have plans. But, my plans did not include making 14 muslins before I got a good enough tshirt pattern! Ugh.

New Year's resolution--what resolution?

2008-01-19T12:48:00.000-05:00

I had this bright idea that I would stop buying fabric and start sewing more, and so reduce my stash. Well, the sewing is happening, but the not buying--I laugh in my direction. (My husband does not.) I lasted 19 days. Today, I came home with 6 m pink linen/cotton that matches my swirl print dress, a wild purple/teal/grey/black knit for a cross-over top, a pink and white stretch gingham that matches the pink linen, and the rest of the bolt of the the navy stretch to complete my navy suit. I have worn those pants a lot, and really want to have a proper jacket to go with them.

On the good side, I am sewing more. This week, I sewed 12 head kerchiefs for my daughter's pirate party, a few more corn bag covers, and 6 t shirt muslins for my t shirt course. So, I am sewing some of it up, and you can almost put the fabric away on the shelves (which is really the objective of the exercise). I sewed up two fancied up duvet-type quilts, from my thinsulate stash, and a lot of fabric. That used up at least 14 m of fabric, since I made some matching pillow cases for the duvets.

Patterns, though, are my downfall. I purchased 7 new patterns last night. That and the half price of the clearance price on the Fabricland sale for members day. I only spent $38 for my four pieces of fabric, so it was worth the trip, because I think I now have everything I need for my wardrobe. Not that you ever really have enough fabric for your wardrobe. But, I do want to actually be able to sew it up, and put it all away, too.

One of the patterns I purchased was this Vogue:

I'm thinking that this might be the jacket for my Swap, in the pink linen, underlined with pink batiste. Not sure, but I really like the jacket, and I have lots of those buckles in my stash.

The next challenge: to see if I can actually go three weeks without shopping at all. Maybe then I will really get some sewing done.

Swap Part 1--The Wardrobe pattern bits

2008-01-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

I decided to sew the wardrobe pattern pieces first, to get them out of the way since they would require the most fitting. Here are some pictures:

Top 1: Black bathing suit lycra print, with some glow in the dark grey that is barely visible in the picture. My copious stash is visible in the background, bolted and sorted by person/colour group.

The black sparkle top is a Swap wardrobe 'extra' at this point--it is a painted on sparkle slinky that is really comfortable to wear. I wore it to a party on Saturday night, with the pants and a sweater. Comfortable, and pretty. I may wimp and use the sweater as my 'bought' piece, since it works with everything so far. We will see.

The dress is a wild print, edged in my black stretch lace that is becoming my 'domino' element. The black and white top has it, too, around the neck.

The black slinky pants are done, but in need of more than a hanger shot. They turned into a frankenpattern more than anything else. I made the pattern into a one seam pant with no side seams, since the fabric was slinky, and it is just too easy to get the shrinkage issue in the seams of slinky. The bolt of teal on the bottom of the image is the next fabric I am thinking of using, along with plum purple, black crepe, white slinky and white stretch lace.

Last: a tip about hemming the dress:
The Jalie crossover top pattern suggests hemming knits by folding in the traditional hem manner, and then stitching it using a wide and long zigzag stitch that just barely goes into the folded edge. I honestly thought they were pulling my leg--but I tried it, and it looks great, my machine doesn't stretch out the hem on slinky fabrics. On my Bernina, I set the stitch width to just over 3, and put the needle position to the far right hand side, stitching barely into the fold of the fabric. With a perfectly matching thread, you really cannot see the hem. Cool. I always wanted to know a better way to hem slinky.

New Year's Resolutions, and SWAP

2008-01-13T07:57:00.000-05:00

I've been doing more sewing than knitting for the last month or 'sew'. The Timmel SWAP has started, and I've been preparing , and now sewing, for that since about the middle of December. Eleven garments (1 jacket, 4 bottoms, 4 tops, 2 dresses) cut and sewn between January 1 and April 11. Then, pictures have to be taken and submitted. There is a possible prize, but everyone who makes it to the finish wins a pattern--that is my goal right now. Well, that and a finished wardrobe that actually works for my lifestyle, and my colouring.

Some links to check out about the SWAP concept:
SWAP sewing information from Timmel
The article that stared it all
More wardrobing articles

The actual sewing doesn't stress me out as much as the story board plan and the final pictures. Story boards are supposed to keep you focused on the task at hand, producing a wardrobe that works well together in colour, fabric and shape. These ladies have developed the story board to a fine art, using photo-shop and other programs to make beautifully intricate boards. They are posted to admire here. I've planned and changed at least 4 versions of my wardrobe, but I am slowly but surely sewing something, so hopefully by the end of February, I will have a more settled plan of attack. The more low tech board appeals to me right now: fabric swatches, patterns and hanging jewelry, pictures of shoes and handbags that go with the swap, etc. pinned onto a plain cork board. At this point, I would get too involved in the planning, and not spend enough time just sewing. With 9 weeks to go, that could be a problem.

There is always a twist to make SWAP more challenging. This year's twist (making 3 different garments from one 'wardrobe type' pattern) did stress me out (thus the 4 versions problem) until I found this Maggie London pattern from Butterick. I waffled about a lot of other patterns, but this one is cute, current, and works with my body shape and current lifestyle, always a plus. Dressier wash and wear is good.

So far, I have made the top, dress, and kind of morphed the pants pattern into a one seam version. It took a bit of work to make it look flattering below the knot. There is a lot of extra fabric in the 'knot' portion of the top and dress that give you this belly pouch if it isn't removed. You can see it, slightly, on the model, but it is pretty clear in the line drawings. I took the extra fabric out. It took a couple of muslins to get the fit right, but once it is, you can just sit and sew. I think the pattern is worth working at to get it right, particularly since it does come in a wide size range, and larger ladies have challenges finding great patterns like this, but others might find the process of multiple muslins frustrating.

What is making SWAP more challenging is that I have decided to use STASH. In fact, I have gone on a fabric buying semi-moratorium. I had to go on a moratorium, since I'm having trouble walking in the sewing room. I have to sew 10 items before I can spend $20 on anything sewing related. My husband suggested that I use the ratio of $1/m fabric used up (which I might actually try, we will see). I'm hanging out for $2/m, which is the cheapest replacement cost, but the point is really to use what I have with is copious. Overflowing beyond reason. I refuse to count up the number of meters of fabric I actually have; other sewers do not have rolls of lining hanging around, and each of those rolls has more than 100 m lining on them. So, no counting until I can actually see the shelves, not the piles in front of the shelves. This means I have to use up the piles lying around the room, which is good. The other part of this moratorium is that every 3rd garment or item has to be for someone else. I sew a lot for me--this is forcing me to share the wealth.

I'm also taking the 'Build a better T-Shirt course' on Sewing pattern Review. I will be able to use the variations from my t-shirt in my wardrobe, when I get something that fits. I used all my muslin up yesterday trying to get my 'pre-T-shirt muslin' to fit correctly; I went through 5 m of fabric on just muslins, yesterday. Now I'm working on fabric 'bits' that might work for the pattern, but they aren't muslin. I think I have a 'woven t-shirt muslin' that works that I can post to the class board (or at least, this muslin is a lot closer than the first 4 versions, anyway). But, it isn't really getting my SWAP sewing done.

Quick Sewing--The Holidays are coming...

2007-12-17T17:28:00.000-05:00

My sewing machine has been languishing lately. Well, not exactly languishing, but certainly it hasn't been humming along for Christmas! I've been playing around with domino sewing (an idea from the latest Threads magazine), testing fabrics and patterns for my Timmel Swap, and otherwise doing everything BUT sewing for Christmas.

No more. Today, I whipped up a couple sets of holiday pillowcases, from this tutorial, recommended by Rusty Bobbin. More are sure to come.

Allergies can be difficult to deal with...

2007-12-13T23:25:00.000-05:00

Blogging is one of those things that, to do well, you need to do constantly. Kind of like sewing. Or knitting. I've not been blogging enough to be really good at it. I have so many things I am interested in, and I find it hard to limit myself to knitting--so I won't. Pictures, well, they might need to wait for an edited version of this post.

This week I did not do any sewing or knitting. I struggled with some challenges at school. I am very allergic to peanut products (among other things--I wear an epipen in school). We discovered through parent teacher interviews that one of my students had (much earlier this year) brought in peanut butter cups to school and smeared them on his desk to 'kill the French teacher'. He's grade 6, and not particularly bright. The world totally revolves around him, and his x-box; I doubt seriously that he understands exactly what he said, and what it really meant. But it wasn't fun to deal with, and it is something that has left me totally drained. There is nothing like calling parents to explain the situation, and the seriousness of the issue--nothing.

Maybe I'm in denial. I mean--I swell when I smell peanuts, fish, shellfish, eggs or mangos. Life is precious, in my opinion. I don't have a lot of it to waste, I think. The chances of me dying from an allergic reaction are probably pretty high, but that is not how I want to live out my life. I want to be able to enjoy my children, and to (hopefully) enjoy my grandchildren. I don't want to need to worry about touching the desk of a child, and wondering if it will kill me.

Life is precious

2007-11-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

This week was not a good week. It was a week to remember that life is precious, and sometimes far too short. This week, I attended the funeral for a 12 year old--a student of mine, who died in a car accident. Rumour has it she wasn't wearing a seat belt.

There weren't any strangers in Chelsea's life--only people she hadn't talked to yet. She loved to talk--in fact, some of my fondest memories were of me trying to get her to stop telling me all the cool things she had seen/done/noticed, so that I could actually teach a class. Some of her friends told me that, without fail, she got a pink slip every year the first day of school on the bus for talking. She was generous, full of laughter and caring, loving of animals and people, and her loss is a tragedy. She loved skiing, and anything active; she was a lawyer in some ways, and had a way of figuring out how to get someone else to do things for her. She made me laugh often, and exasperated me sometimes. She was one of those people who cared about others, and noticed. My children, who had only gone to school with me a few times over the years, knew who she was when I talked about her.

Life is short! Too short to waste on petty angers, and silly irritations. Take time to tell those around you how much they mean to you--and show it, too, by listening to them.

Tips on How to Sew Faster

2007-07-31T10:55:00.000-04:00

I sew fairly quickly. My sister in law call it 'Pulling an Elizabeth' when she cuts out, and sews a complete garement in a couple of hours. I come from a long line of women who sew fast. And truthfully, my great grandmother sewed a lot faster than I do, but then, she was a professional seamstress in a factory, and she had a lot more practice at sewing fast than I ever will, and a lot more incentive to do it! One of the women at Sewing Pattern Review asked for tips on how to sew fast. This is a slightly edited version of my post to her, and I hope someone here finds it helpful.

Sew with your head first.

Sew every day.

Practice helps!

You need to sew a lot to get fast.

But, if you are ready to read about sewing fast in more detail, here are some of my thoughts on sewing fast.

You are the designer, and you are in charge of your sewing, not the pattern sheet. The pattern sheet is only a guide. If you do something differently from the sheet no one will smite you; you will not get a ticket from the sewing police for doing something differently (and faster!). Reading the pattern guide through for a new pattern is suggested, as long as you also read it using your head; reading it through step by step for your TNT after making 14 of them really slows you down. Think through your sewing, and see if there are steps you can change to speed up.
You sew with your head first, and then your hands. You need to picture how you are putting the pieces together first in your head. It can help to put your pattern pieces out in order as you walk through the process. (eg. for the princess style dress: center front piece, side front pieces; center back pieces, side back pieces, zipper...). If you can think through the construction process in your head, you don't need to stop every step, read the instructions, guess to see if you are doing it right, reread the instructions, sew it, and wonder if you actually did it right. (My MIL is famous for this--and then she does it wrong and has to rip and redo). If you lay the pieces out in order, you also prevent those other well known crisis: oh no, I didn't cut the back skirt....and, oh no, I don't have a zipper.
Construction order is pretty standard: you put each of the parts together first--front, back, sleeves if pieced--then the pieces to each other: shoulders, side seams, (set in sleeves here)-- and last finish the edges (neck and hems). Once you understand that the overall sequence does not change between garments, no matter how complex the garment, your sewing will speed up. You almost need to develop an internal sequence for your garments--or your own mini guide with keywords. The steps for all tops/dresses are 'essentially' the same (of course, there are always design variations, and details that change...which is what makes it fun.) But understanding the sequence speeds the process up.
Use industrial seam allowances instead of 5/8 inch seam allowances when possible. Clipping off seam allowances takes time. Unless this is a fitting pattern, a pattern where you need a 5/8 inch seam allowance for a specific seam technique (flat felled seams on jeans, for example, or putting in a zipper), or you are working with particularly difficult fabric that needs an alternate seam finish, a 3/8 of an inch seam allowance is all you need.
Using different seam allowances for different parts (like in industrial techniques) speeds things up. Inside facings, waistbands and necklines--1/4 to 3/8 of an inch seam allowances help you to sew more accurately and faster. For your TNT patterns, particularly the collared blouses, it is worth the time to create a collar pattern with the right seam allowances. You actually don't need to clip as much with the narrower seam allowance, and it looks better. But, remember, you are the designer and you sew with your head first. If your head/gut say use wider seam allowances with certain fabrics, trust them.
Pins are (generally) optional. There are some exceptions to this rule, but normally, once you are a fairly experienced sewer, pins slow you down. Industrial seamstresses do not use pins; they match their notches and pleat up their seams along the edges, releasing a pleat as they come to it--but that is another thing. Having said that--I still use pins for difficult fabrics, and for matching princess seam curves, but I don't use a lot of pins. For example, I use only 4 pins for sleeves: notches, seam and shoulder.
I am not a 'fussy seamstress' and I prefer industrial sewing techniques. I don't thread mark all my grainlines; I don't tailor tack because I am more accurate with pin-marking, or chalk marking; I don't 'tie off' every seam allowance thread tail; I don't hand baste unless it is absolutely necessary. These particular fussy seamstress habits will slow you down. There are always exceptions to this; I would do most of those for tailored garments, because it would make a difference for the final garment. But, I generally don't hand sew unless forced to (except for beading; I like beading). I grew up the only right handed person in a left handed family, and I didn't learn to handsew until I worked as a seamstress. I can do anything with a sewing machine.
Don't be afraid of the machine going fast. Practice sewing with the machine going fast. Let the machine sew at a steady pace, and let the feed dogs guide your fabric. You will get more comfortable with the speed if you practice at a higher speed on things you don't care about, or just samples. You have to practice to work up to accuracy and speed.
Chain sew whatever you can; that is, sew one item after another with only a few stitches of thread between them. Cipping threads takes time; shorter threads, less time. This is a skill; if you quilt, you learn this one fast, but you can learn this one with garments, too.
You don't have to match every thread colour in the serger to your garment (the industry does not!), but the lower loopers should be pretty close or deliberately different as a design detail. Stitch all the same colour garments at the same time, so you don't have to rethread your machine every time you sew.
Wind more than one bobbin of the same colour when you start your garment. I usually wind two bobbing for shirts, simple pants, and simple dresses, and three bobbins for topstitched garments.
You will not be fast the first time you sew a garment; you will get faster by the 6th garment of the same style. If you want to get better at sewing a particular style, sew more than one at a time. You will be faster by the last one, particularly if you are trying to develop that sequence in your head. It helps if you don't have to change the thread for each garment. But, practice will help you speed up.
When you are trying something new, realize that you will be slower at it at first, and give yourself permission to be slow at first. It usually takes about 6 to 10 garments of the same type to become comfortable with the process, and about 10 more to become fast. I'm fast at Tshirts, now. By the same token, try something new and see if you will be faster with that method. Industrial sewing techniques are designed to be faster, with practice.
Have your tools where you need them, and put them back where they go when you are done with them. Nothing slows you down quite like having to go to the store to buy another loop turner because you lost the first one 'somewhere in the sewing room'. I like having thread snips and small scissors at each sewing machine, as well as a garbage can/bag, so I don't spend a lot of time looking for thread snips! (I have multiple machines, ok. I sew a lot. I also have two children and a husband who 'borrow' my tools.)
Take care of your machine. Try to get in the habit of using a fluffy 'blush brush' to clean out bobbin area every time you change bobbins. Oil the poor beast every once in a while (beginning of every garment?), particularly if you are sewing a lot. A well loved machine sews better, and faster, and nothing slows down your sewing quite like a trip to the mechanic.
The honest truth is that practice is the only real way to get faster and more comfortable at going faster. Sewing a little bit every day will help you go faster. Learning to sew fast is like learning to play the piano fast; it takes practice. No one is fast at scales the first time; no one is fast at sewing the first time. Be willing to practice. Wardrobe sewing helps with the practice factor; there is nothing like making 11 garments in two months to get in practice.

Phil the phenomonally phatt phoenix

2007-07-22T16:21:00.001-04:00

Nicole, of course 'needed' a wardrobe,too. So, down she descended to the dungeon, and up she came with fabric and a plan. This, lovely, lovely bird is her 'accessory' (in the spirit of Harry Potter). She adapted a duck puppet pattern into Phil the phenomonally phatt phoenix! I had nothing to do with this--she totally did this on her own, and let me tell you, I am impressed.

Phil, minus crest and tail feathers, being faithfully stitched up. Nicole and Julian took about an hour to find the perfect button eyes for Phil--and I am still finding buttons on my kitchen floor.

Nicole is wearing her first 'wardrobe' top in this picture, just to prove that Phil is a perfect 'accessory' for her wardrobe. (Ok, I am not a teenager, but, I am still impressed....)

In the spirit of Harry Potter, Phil enjoyed many festivities at our local bookstore waiting for Harry Potter number 7 to come out.

The yellow top she is wearing is one of her wardrobe tops. She cloned the pattern from a favourite top, and made two. The full pants are a PMB pattern, that she loves. The skirt, she cloned from one her Auntie made for her, and then she painted it with paints mixed with fabric medium. It washes well. She has also completed a striped top (no pictures yet) which needed minor surgery to be made large enough. The top she cloned it from was super stretchy lycra, and the fabric she used was not as stretchy. Oh, yeah, and Phil. Now, she is onto the shorts and tank tops...

Not to be outdone, Julian, my nephew, has completed his first FOUR pairs of pants. Yes, FOUR pairs of pants. They have side seam pockets, and elastic waists. Two of the pairs have fancy front pockets too. Julian is a beginner, and his topstitching is great. He didn't have fun with the grey fabric, though; it was very stretchy.

This is a close up of his first 'mock fly' with topstitching.

He has completed a pair of navy twill dress pants, a pair of light grey sweat pants, a pair of grey pants with extremely cool pockets and a pair of denim pants with fancy pockets (working on pictures for that pair.). This was week one of sewing camp, and he had never done 'pants' before.

He has a plan to finish 4 t-shirts, and 3 dress shirts this week, along with a water bottle bag, for the wardrobe contest. Who am I to say no???

Planning a wardrobe....

2007-07-09T10:51:00.000-04:00

The question is: How do you plan a coordinated wardrobe that will work for you? (This is a long post, and has a lot of thinking for me, so be warned).

I have been thinking a lot about wardrobes and planning this weekend for two reasons. My sewing pattern review wardrobe is great, but it has a pretty major problem. The main print is not in my colours (or most of them are summer colours) and I am having a real problem coordinating the rest of my wardrobe with that print. The dress fits. I like it. But everything that really goes with the dress that isn't navy doesn't go with anything else I own... problem. The other thing that happened is that my oldest started early on the weekend whining about not having a wardrobe, too. Yes, I am going to end up making 3 wardrobes, hopefully before the end of this contest. But, we are going to do this wardrobe thing with a plan. And, she, too, will have to thin down to what works with her wardrobe.

Most wardrobe plans start with the sewing concept using one of two basic approaches. The first is the 2 suits approach: 2 suits of coordinating colours, 1 dress made of a print that goes with both suits, and at least 4 tops that coordinate. The second is the more tops than bottoms, and a jacket approach (4 bottoms, 6 tops and a jacket, which is basically what the sewing pattern review contest uses). It is really a more 'generic' version of the two suits idea. You can use the print to set everything else, you can pick your favourite colour. All kinds of things can make it work for you. But, most of the things I have seen start with SUITS. (And, if you pick a print that really doesn't go with everything else, you end up with a problem....)

Ok, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't live in Corporate America, and I don't wear suits. I wear casual separates. I wear outfits. I wear sweaters, with dress pants. I teach elementary school. I get covered in chalk, and handprints, and I have to have wash and wear clothing. I don't need suits, suit jackets make me look like I want to be a principal, or I am going for a job interview, and I just don't need to be there.

If I was totally starting from scratch, I would start with the question: What looks good on me? I don't need to start there, though, because I have been a member of Missus Smarty pants for about 4 months, and her suggestions really have worked for me. There is also: Mystyle.com that has great ideas for people who sew, if you ignore the fact that they are trying to sell you something, and the go to the mall and try it all on approach. But, I hate doing that because I spend hours, and nothing fits, so I come home and sew things that do. Thus, the reason why I sew.

So, I'm going to start wardrobe planning with step number 2: a needs assessment. The questions I am going to work with go like this: What do I like to wear? What would work with my lifestyle? And all the other clothing I have in my closet? What do I need right now? What do I reach for and not have in my closet? What is my best base colour?

So, to answer my own questions right now.

What do I like to wear? Casual, separates, outfits. I love embroidered items, heirloom that is practical and washable. I like things a little different, a little fun.
What would work with my lifestyle? Wash and wear, corporate casual. Nothing that requires dry cleaning! I need to look put together, but with a bit of a twist because I am always 'on stage' so to speak, with my job. I need to look like I can be trusted with other peoples' children!
What would work with all my other clothing? My favouite outfits coordinate with a simple v-neck black sweater, open down the front, or a simple brown sweater, similar style. Mostly, I wear pull on shirts and dress pants with a sweater at work. Casual dressy, wash and wear. (If that sweater dies, I am in trouble!) I need clothes that will work into that in a summer way, that I can wear to the grocery store and not worry about meeting parents...
What do I need right now? More summer type clothing, capris, shorts, summer dresses. Clothes that will work into the fall easily, when it is hot and I have to teach in the hot portables. Tank tops, short sleeve tops, cotton pants, pull on clothes that coordinate totally.
What do I reach for in my closet and not have? A sweater that coordinates with my summer wardrobe, a jean jacket, a fleece jacket/sweater in a colour that goes with my stuff, a raincoat that works with my wardrobe.
What is my best base colour? Black, with lots of colours to go with it. Think rainbow. Clear and bright.
What would my second colour be to go with this? This is where I actually get stuck with my sewing. I keep thinking black, navy, and pale blue, but then there is brown, rose, cream, white, and pink.... For the sake of this exercise, and since we spent all weekend sorting fabric, I think I am going to use navy and aqua blue as my base colours (since I have about 6 coordinating fabrics of aqua blue...), and pink and yellow knit for tops/contrast. I could also do a complete wardrobe in black, but I want to lighten things up for the summer, or in brown (same deal as black). I may go back in August, and review the brown thing, though, since I really do have a lot of things that go with brown already in my wardrobe.

Now, for the fun part: the stash/style brainstorm. Eventually, my goal is to have a sewing plan for 4 bottoms, 6 or more tops, 1 or 2 jackets to go with it all. I keep thinking that 6 bottoms, 11 tops and 2 jackets would be more realistic for my sewing, but not everyone needs to go there. That is a lot of sewing. I'm going to sort this by category, and in each category ask what I would like to wear, what I need to add to my current wardrobe to make it work, and what styles appeal to me (thinking of my pattern stash, and of what I have learned from Mystyle.com and Missus Smarty pants about what works well on my body.)

What do I want to wear? What do I need to make my wardrobe work right now? What styles am I missing that are current, or would extend my wardrobe?

Jackets: I need to have a sweater style jacket, and a raincoat that is more dressy in my wardrobe, and I wouldn't mind a jean jacket, too. I also need some kind of fleece jacket with a center zipper. This will need some more thought. I could make all four, but that seems like overkill. Everything needs to open down the front totally for my jackets.
Tops: I want some more casual styled tops, with and without sleeves. Maybe some tops from New Look 6515, some simple t shirt tops with some embroidery on the front, and a princess style shirt or two. Something slightly more dressy than just tank tops, but still washable, and works with what I already have. Definitely short sleeves, or sleeveless. I could also really play with the tank top and make a million different styles of tank top, with all kinds of interesting heirloom type details. There is the one pattern, many looks challenge on sewing pattern reivew, and I drew about 18 styles of tank top this weekend. This may turn into the 11 tops plan...
Pants: In the non-wardrobe category, I absolutely need to replace my black dress pants and my brown dress pants since I outgrew them. I have two new TNT patterns from Burda. Jeans style dress pants, since I have a pattern that works well, and some boot cut dress pants style pants. Maybe pull on style Capri's. I really need a couple of pairs of shorts, but I don't want the totally slouchy around the house style shorts that I have worn the past couple of summers. I think I want something more dressy. I also think I would like a pair of Capri's that have some details on the bottom hems, either embroidery or beading or trim. Something more interesting that just 'hems'.
Skirts: I don't wear a lot of skirts in the summer, but I think I would like to have a bias cut pull on A-line skirt, with the lingerie elastic waist band. I have some blue print that would work for this, I think, and it would be a good transition piece. I think I need to make some 'save the thighs' underwear, if I want to make/wear skirts. Not that I don't have the fabric and the patterns in the basement for that plan from about 2 years ago to do that, but I haven't yet.
Dresses: Sheath style dress with a v-neck, darts front and back, either A line, or straight, knee length. Sleeveless or short sleeves. Pull on knit, A line dress, scoop hem, short sleeves (this one I have the pattern, the concept and the fabric, so this will likely get done first). I also keep thinking that a shirt dress with buttons down the front, with gathers at the center between the bust, would be a fun transition piece. I would have to really plan this one, and draft it for myself, though.

I'm going to work from my stash here. I have to work from my stash, since it would probably clothe a small army. My problem, here, is really too many ideas, way too much fabric that could make it work, and I could actually make it all. If I simplify, though....Who am I kidding? I could sew all my ideas and not even make a dent in my stash....I also really think in outfits, not coordinates. I dress in outfits. It is nice when the outfits can mix and match, but really, outfits are how my brain works.

Another thing I probably should consider is a focal point or theme. Often, people will create or purchase a focal point piece (a great jacket, an embroidered top, for example) and then work their wardrobe around that. Or, they will pick a theme: elephants, flowers, the sailor suit look, safari in the city, and work around that. It creates unity, and allows for some experimentation in a coordinated manner. I am waffling on theme, here. My original plan was summer roses. Maybe I could keep that plan, and work more into the blues. So, a plan. (Hahahaha. My children are laughing at this, since they know unless I sew it in a week, it will morph many times beyond what I plan...)

Jacket 1: jean jacket, with 3/4 sleeves, and embroidery; made from navy stretch denim
Jacket 2: sweater style jacket, aqua knit, matching pull on Capri's, white embroidery to match Capri's
bottom 1: dark navy stretch jean style Capri's, with matching embroidery to the jean jacket on hems, TNT Burda pattern
bottom 2: aqua blue jean style Capri's, with white embroidery, TNT Burda pattern
bottom 3: pull on a line skirt, with lingerie elastic waist, lined
bottom 4: ?shorts...
top 1: top view A, NL6515, matching the pull on skirt
top 2: pink tank top with heirloom style sewing/white lace, self drafted pattern, TNT
top 3: yellow knit t-shirt, with embroidery, self drafted pattern, short sleeves
top 4: aqua knit t-shirt, with embroidery, self drafted pattern, short sleeves
top 5: white t shirt, with embroidery, self drafted pattern, 3/4 sleeves
top 6: ? princess line top shirt, pink, with heirloom details, self drafted shirt, cap sleeve or 3/4 sleeve
dress 1: aqua blue knit dress, short sleeves, a line skirt, pull on style
dress 2: navy knit dress, with interest around the neck...
dress 3: blue shirtwaist dress, medium blue colour...

Or at least, that is the plan of the moment....

Wardrobe Number Two: All this--and Duckie too

2007-07-05T19:56:00.000-04:00

In the midst of doing my wardrobe, my youngest came downstairs one morning in her shorts--that were too short. Normally, I don't care, but seriously, they were showing things from below. This isn't what I want my almost 12 year old to be doing, apart from the fact that she has grown about 3 inches since march break!

She went down to the basement, and then came upstairs with two patterns, and some stash, and said: Mommmmyyyyyy, can you ppplllllleeeeeaaaaassssseeeee sew me some new shorts? Here is the pattern, and the fabric I like....?! (Add cheesy grin, cute smile, hugs, and you get the idea).

So I went away for a sewing weekend with my Mother in law, at my Mother in law's house, with a pile of fabric for me and a pile of fabric for the child. All other living beings deserted the field to the cottage (smart people that they were!).

This is what came back from Grandma's house: a complete wardrobe (yes, complete!). And yes, it is possible to sew an entire wardrobe in 48 hours. I started with cutting and tracing on Saturday night, and finished the last embroidery about noon on Monday of the long weekend. Of course, sewing like this means that you don't cook, play with the children or speak in coherent sentences, but....such is the price you pay for beauty.

From start to finish:

5 tank tops, from Kwik Sew 3519:

pink double knit, yellow poly cotton ribbing, green, white and blue cotton lycra.

Adapted from the tank top pattern: colour block dress/tunic top, from the leftovers of the tops. (There was not a lot left after that, let me tell you!)

Shorts: View B of Kwik Sew 3519:

Green twill, and pink cotton fabric.

Long pants from Kwik Sew 3101: Blue stretch denim, and black flowered cotton print. (This pattern is for a knit, and I adjusted the pattern slightly for the lack of stretch of the fabric, since I didn't have my tried and true pattern with me--Kwik Sew 3056).

Jacket: same Kwik Sew pattern 3101. This is one that included pockets, and my very first professionally faced separating zipper. I adapted the instructions from Fashion-incubator.com for a centered and lapped zipper to do this, and I am totally happy with how it turned out.

We didn't do any sleeved items, since she has about 5 tshirts that already go, as well as a couple of pairs of jeans.

Getting pictures was a bit of a challenge: I had to defend the clothes long enough to take pictures. (She climbs trees, and they tend to leave black marks everywhere--not a problem, but I wanted to have a nice picture or two to start!).

I did all the embroidery with my Janome 300E, and used colours that co-ordinated with the rest of the wardrobe, mostly in a flowered theme, since that was in the print. But, the ducky was too cute, and she totally loves them, so I used that for the dress, instead of a cute flower.

Can you tell how she feels in her new duds?

The great Wardrobe Challenge

2007-07-04T22:56:00.000-04:00

In my spare time, I do things like sew, costume, play music, write, sing and all those other creative type things. This month's fun is brought to you by the great Wardrobe challenge (sewing with a plan). This concept has been featured in Australian Stitches for many years, and has fascinated me. One night, in the middle of writing report cards when everyone else was actually elsewhere, I spent about four hours searching the interent about sewing a wardrobe. I found this article, about sewing a wardrobe:

http://www.timmelfabrics.com/wardrobe.htm

Of course, I missed the contest by more than a month, but such is life. Since I didn't know it existed, it was hard to join it. But, since I had just finished a bias cut tank top and a prarie style skirt of a rayon print from my extensive stash, I thought I should come up with something to go with it.

Then I found a similar contest, on Sewing Pattern Review. I liked two things about it: I didn't have to buy anything to join (this is an issue for me, since I have a pattern and fabric stash that resembles a small store, and have no need to purchase something just to join a constest!), and the bottom line was that we were all winners, since we ended up with a great wardrobe. So, I joined Patternreview.com, and took the plunge and started a wardrobe. (Did I mention that I love to sew?). Since I had just finished the blue skirt and bias cut top to match out of the scraps, I thought I should try and coordinate a comfortable summer wardrobe to go.

The rules are pretty simple:

At least 3 bottoms; more tops than bottoms; at least one accessory, and it all has to work together.

The tops:

Simplicity 4076, view F and E (the Knot top), with sleeves from view B.

White cotton lycra, trimmed with lingerie lace

Lilac cotton single knit (with no stretch!)

and navy cotton lycra.

The pants:

Burda jeans pattern: 8085, done in over embroidered black stretch denim, and in a mid weight navy stretch denim. (I had to lengthen the top with lace, because it looked too short. )

The tank top is one I drafted from my moulage, and I made 3 tank tops, and a white t-shirt from the pattern (so far...).

Last, but not least, I sewed a couple of pairs of knit capri pants (navy and aqua). I think my wardrobe is pretty close to done (although, I do believe that this is beyond my limit...everything still goes together, and is mix and match. Of course, to prove it, I have to actually not be wearing it, or having it in the laundry.....

A stash'ing opportunity

2007-04-29T21:45:00.000-04:00

I picked up a copy of Knitting for peace as a birthday present. I liked one sweater in particular that was knit with a center panel front and back, and then the sides and sleeves were picked up and knit downwards to the cuffs. The link to the original orphans for orphans sweater is here (and it is cute!)

http://www.tropicalyarns.com/index.cfm?PID=22&ProdID=79

Liked the idea, made the sweater, and hated (absolutely HATED) the neckline, which is very low in both the front and the back. Probably appropriate for the Russian Orphanages, but not my cup of tea. But the construction was unique, and interesting, and the stripes were cool. I used up a lot of wool, created two sweaters, and moved onto working on one for my daughter, but with a slight difference.

The orphans for orphans pattern only goes up to a size 6 or so, and my youngest daughter is a size 10, so I decided to try my hand at a similar sweater, with a few differences.

I call this the 'Swatchless Striped Sweater'. The nice thing about this sweater is that it uses up odd balls of wool, and has interesting stripes that do not need to be matched across the front and back of the sweater.

Swatchless Striped Sweater:

Key measurements: desired finished chest measurement, center back neck to wrist measurement, sweater length from top of shoulder to desired length, drop of the front neck (on adults, roughly 3 to 3 1'2 inches, on children 2 to 3 inches, depending on size), desired depth to underarm.

Yarn, assorted lengths in roughly the same weight. Needles appropriate to the yarn choice: circular needles are needed to accommodate the large number of stitches when knitting the side panels.

Unswatched Back panel:
Start by making an educated guess about your wool, and casting on roughly 6 inches worth of stitches for adults, 5 inches for older children and 4 inches for younger children and toddlers. Keep track of the number of stitches you cast on. (The width doesn't need to be perfect, just a rough guess--necklines for adults are anywhere from 5 to 7 inches across). Knit for a bit; if you like the look of what you are knitting, keep going until the piece is roughly 3 inches shorter than your desired back length (2 1/2 inches for the bottom finish, and 1/2 inch allowed for the back shoulder drop). If you don't like your knitting, pull it out and start again, trying different needles, or a different number of stitches. It isn't a 'swatch'--it is the back center panel.

Front Panel
Cast on the same number of sts as the back panel, and knit a second piece, this time shorter than the first piece by 2 to 3 inches (the neckline depth). Measure your piece across, and calculate your gauge (just to give you an idea of how many stitches you will need to cast on at the top of the shoulder, and to determine your ratio of pick ups when you pick up the stitches along the sides; mostly your sweater is determined by knitting and measuring!). You determine how deep to knit the side panels onto the center front and back panels by subtracting the width of the center panel from half the desired total circumference of the sweater, and dividing this by two (one half on each side of the panel).

Change yarns wherever you want, or when you run out of a ball and have to start another. This is a stash reducing sweater--use all the oddballs up, since the stripes are unique and do not need to be matched, there are not a lot of worries about not getting everything 'perfect'. You can play with patterns, too, if you want (although I didn't with mine--just knitting up all kinds of different yarn bits).

Picking up for the sides:
Lay the panels with the front panel on the right, and the back panel of the sweater on the left, with the top (cast off portions) in the middle. Pick up stitches along the front (on my gauge, I picked up 3 sts every 4 rows), cast on the calculated number of stitches needed for the depth of the front neck (2 to 3 inches) plus the depth of the back neck (1/2 inch), then pick up the needed number of stitches along the back panel. Make a note of this number somewhere (so that you pick up the same number of stitches on the second side!) Knit the sides, to the desired depth you calculated.

Sleeves:
Calculate the number of stitches to 'cast off' for the underarm depth (minus your hem treatment). Put the number of stitches for your desired armhole depth onto a spare thread on the front and the back (to be grafted together after the sleeve is finished), and then knit down the sleeve. I decreased 1 stitch every 4th row, each end, until I reached the desired wrist width (roughly 25% of the desired chest measurement), and then knit until I reached the desired center back neck to sleeve measurement without the 'hem treatment' (ribbing, moss stitch, garter stitch, something non curling is best). Then I finished the sleeve with the non-curling hem treatment (in my case, 2 1/2 inches of ribbing). Complete the second side same as the first. Graft the sides together, and then pick up and knit the stitches around the bottom for the desired hem treatment (in my case 2 1/2 inches of ribbing).

This one is fun, and really gets the extra bits of wools 'gone'.

The knit up the stash conspiracy...

2007-03-01T22:51:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed that when you are knitting from stash wool, inevitably, you get to the last 4 rows of the pattern, and ...
you don't have enough wool.

You are reduced to cannibalizing swatch, and then digging in the amazing stash to find that no, you really don't have enough wool the right colour to finish the last 4 rows at the shoulders of your conservatively cabled pink sweater. You have 12 other colours/weights/varieties of pink that do not go, and many other balls in colours that will simply not do without re knitting a significant portion of your sweater. So, you break down and go purchase another ball (a Pounder, no less) to finish that last 6 rows or so of your sweater. You have knit a significant portion of your stash.

But it is getting BIGGER!

Is anyone else out there finding this?

Besides me?

This has happened on the last 4 sweaters I have knit:
The pink cabled wonder, made of Bernet Pounder (love it, needed another ball of Pounder to finish the last 8 rows, and the button band, even after cannibalizing the swatch);
The green pullover (ripped out the swatch, knit it in and was still short that last 4 rows; luckily was able to find a hidden ball languishing; it is another pounder sweater);
Purple eyelets from Kids, Kids, Kids (last 4 rows are in a different wool, in a different colour; yarn is NO longer available, too bad, so sad....but at least the sweater looks pretty with a darker contrast, and I didn't buy anything);
The sweater for my MIL, at Christmas (purchased 2 new balls to finish; needed only 3/4 of one. Now, of course, I have enough to start a sweater with the leftovers from hers, but I will need to go and buy more wool if I want to finish it).

I got lucky with my burgundy sweater. After I cannibalized the swatch to finish the neckline, I had exactly 19 inches of wool left. This burgundy sweater is a reincarnation of a cream sweater that I made from Wendy Knits. There is no more of that wool to be found anywhere. I love the new sweater. It fits me. It doesn't hang off my body like it belonged to my much larger husband, or would fit us both together. My SIL looks great in the original sweater. Obviously, I (being a mere 5'1", and having lost 10 or so pounds going to the gym regularly) had delusions of grandeur when I was making that sweater. The pattern worked fine, my tension was fine. But, it is a fact that my SIL is 5'10, and statuesque, and, like I said, she looks great in my cream coloured sweater.

Knitting up the stash

2007-02-19T21:00:00.000-05:00

Stash busting seems to acutally be working. I am knitting up a storm. I have completed 2 sweaters for me (one green, set in sleeves in the round, sweater using EZ's percentages and Spun out 21; a second lovely red set in sleeves in the round, adapted from Wendy Knits). I have most of a third one on the needles, and part of number four....

Knitting is happening here. Amazing.

Pictures...?
Did someone say pictures??

Oh, well, hmmmm

Once a month, whether I need to or not...

2007-02-09T16:27:00.000-05:00

I actually write a blog entry. Since I am trying to do way too many things, this can be a challenge.

Today, I am wearing my handmade cream sweater, made from the leftovers of my knitting olympic challenge. I finished my very first set in sleeve sweater in the round last week--that was WAY cool to do, as I have never cut a steek before (nerve wracking, ladies, nerve wracking!).

I am participating in a number of groups at work (groups aimed at spending money; groups aimed at making the transitions between grades and schools easier in a second language, groups just for the sake of groups), as well as updating my own, and my two school's websites. Needless to say, knitting and actually taking the pictures and posting them is turning into a challenge.

So,
Here is my work website:
http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~olahwinfielde

There are a number of great knitting links on the knitting page. Check it out.

2007-01-09T23:57:00.000-05:00

This has been a busy week, getting back to school and realizing that no, contrary to my firm belief, I apparently had NOT put the plans for the week in my day book before I left school on the Friday before Christmas. Needless to say, life has not been quite as smooth as I had wished (but it is going well). The kids are ajusting to the changes, and mostly they did their homework for me over the break: try something new. Notice the difference: TRY, not do it perfectly, but try it. It might not work smoothly (like the child who 'played dead' after a car went by--not something he will try again, and certainly not what he expected would happen!), but then again, you might actually like salmon for dinner!

In the interest of trying something new, here is a simple lace edging for the Striper Stash Busters:

Cast on 10 sts.
row 1, and all odd rows: knit all sts.
row 2: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, knit to end.
row 4: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, knit to end.
row 6: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, knit to end.
row 8: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, knit to end.
row 10: cast off first 4 sts, knit to end (10 sts remaining)
row 12: knit (This is the spot to change colours of yarn, if you want to do a pattern, or just use up the stash for knitting).

My blocks needed 8 repeats per strip, and 9 repeats per block of 80 rows, plus one on each end for neatness. These will be put on like quilt block edgings: first the short ends, then the long sides, after having been knit separately.

You can, of course, cast on more, or less (although, I don't think less than 6 sts cast on will give you a nice edging to keep the blanket from rolling in). I think I will try it, for fun.

Happy New Year's Day

2007-01-01T16:21:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! We rang out the old and in the new with a party at a friend's house, and visiting my father in law in the hospital.

My father in law had a 'minor' stroke Friday (although he is a lot better) and will be in the hospital for a while. Is any stroke a minor stroke? The funniest part of this, in my opinion, is that he now speaks French better than he speaks English (and he didn't speak French a lot before this!). But, he can communicate, he can eat, and he is beginning to move around. So, be thankful for small blessings.

Today is New Year's day, and the first day that I propose to not go shopping (except for essentials, of course, like food). I can't even include sock wool, since I have a large bucket full. So, in the interest of surviving this new year, I will be joining the Knit from my stash group, from Wendy Knits...

Check it out here:

http://wendyknits.net/stash2007.htm

Stash Buster Striped Blankets

2006-12-30T19:57:00.000-05:00

I got a copy of Sally Melville's Styles, and thought I would take her advice about sorting by colour... 14 large buckets later (and I don't think we found all the bags of wool around), I made the decision to create a pattern for something that would use a LOT of stash up, quickly. Really quickly. I mean--really! So, using some of the ideas from Styles, mostly about picking 3 adjacent colours on the colour wheel, and the handy knitting machine, I came up with a basic knitted blanket.

Knitted Blanket
On the knitting machine, I use a setting of 10 (gauge roughly 4 sts to the inch), cast on 60 sts, and knit 400 rows. Change colours every 10 rows; this can be done as blocks of colour with 4 dark and 4 light strips in each block. Knit 6 strips, sew them or slip stitch crochet them together. Block. Decide that you need an edging. Start drinking Reisling (or Rickard's red, or other beveredge) while you think about what edging you should use...garter stitch, not more than 10 sts wide, preferably something that will be easy to change colours on a regular basis.

The first blanket is red, purple and blue. I sewed it together with mattress stitch. By strip 3, I was definitely thinging that there must be a better (faster, easier) way to do this--maybe slip stitch crochet. I didn't know how to knit in the ends, so it will take approximately 17 years to sew in all the ends. They stick between your toes in your sleep, and drive me bananas. I may just decide to line it with fleece, so that Nicole doesn't whine for years.

Blanket 2 for daugher two, Patricia, was made with blues and greens and purples. I figured out how to knit in the ends as you go--much better, although some of the backs slipped to the front, and created a speckled edge along one side. This one has a crochet edging, which I don't think is the best choice, but I love the colours, and I love the pattern. .

Blanket 3 is all wool, and only 4 strips wide. I changed the pattern so that there are blocks of colour: 4 dark and 4 light strips of each 'colour way' to 400 rows (5 blocks of colour). Slip stitch crochet together, and this one will have a garter stitch edging. 3 strips sewn together so far; this one only has 4 strips, as it is for the sofa.

The plan is:
pinks, purples, whites (one for each of the twins, and one for my goddaughter)
green, blue, grey, and purples (2 youngest nephews)
red, purple, blues (oldest nephew, and godson)
whites, greys, yellows and greens (husband, our bed)
amish (read this as as loud as possible, rainbow colours (one sister)
romantic colours (pinks, reds and blues) (Mother, youngest sister)

Knitting for Christmas, and beyond

2006-12-30T19:53:00.000-05:00

This is another hats post (I really do love the hats pattern--it is so flexible, and easy).

This one is done with two strands of worsted weight yarn, on 8mm needles. Cast on 30 sts. Create wedges by knitting to 22 sts, then turning around and knitting back; knit to 23 sts, and knit back, and so on until all the sts are used up. Continue until 5 wedges have been made--and then check your size. You may need another full wedge, you may not. If you don't, then cast off and sew together.

My niece walked in while my nephew was trying one on, and said: Awesome hat--where did you get it, and can I have one? (all in one breath, no pause!).

These are fast, and easy, and really good stash reducers.

Baby Surprise, Preemie Sized

2006-12-29T22:13:00.000-05:00

This is a collection my ramblings on trying to create a preemie sized baby sweater based on the Baby Surprise Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. The original was published in Knitter's Magazine (first in issue 14, then reprinted in issue 41, both of which I own), as well as in Knitters Workshop, and The Opinionated Knitter. This is an origami type of knitting pattern--knit all in one piece, with only the shoulder seams to sew.

I played with the proportions using the desired guage, desired size, and the adult version, published in The Opinionated Knitter, to get a preemie size sweater that would be easy to knit and not have any seams in any uncomfortable places. The magic is in the folding; to discover how to fold it, please purchase one of the patterns. An inexpensive reprint of the original is available from Schoolhouse Press; or, you can go the more fun way and purchase The Opinionated Knitter that contains both the adult and baby versions, along with a lot more interesting stuff that is worth owning. (Both Knitters magazines are out of print, sad to say.) I can say that, without the pattern, I could not figure out how to fold it! Really, please respect the copyright issues and purchase a copy of the original. You won't regret it!

A note: this was developed as a charity knitting pattern, and cannot be sold for profit; the original copyright for the concept belongs to Schoolhouse Press, and Elizabeth Zimmerman; this pattern is copyrighted to me. If you do use my pattern variation, your 'cost' of use is a sweater knit for charity.

Baby Surprise, Preemie size

guage 6sts, 6 ridges to 1 inch (although, as EZ says, babies come smaller and larger, so play with it) using baby sport weight/sport weight wool and 3.5 mm needles. This makes roughly a 3-5 lb preemie sized sweater, about 11" in circumference.

The sweater is knit first from cuffs to elbows in two pieces, and then joined by the cast on that runs across the top of the shoulder. Markers are placed at each point; these become the decrease points, that run from elbow to the underarm along the back of the sleeve, and then the increase points that run from underarm to about belly button across the front. Length is added by knitting back and forth along this center section, and then the entire outer edge is knit up with a garter st border. In keeping with EZ's original idea, button holes are placed on both outside edges. This sweater is more fun when you change colours with abandon, and is a good way to use up your stash.

Sleeves: (make 2) Cast on 22 sts. Knit 3 ridges (6 rows).
Increase row: k3, *m1, k4 * end m1 k3
Knit until there are 8 ridges, in total.
Join: knit across first sleeve (rs), pm, cast on 55 sts, pm, knit across second sleeve.
next row (and all wrong side rows) knit.
Decreases:
(rs) Knit, decrease 1 st on each side of marker, knit, decrease 1 st on each side of marker, knit. (In the original, this is an sk2, which I found harder to keep in a straight line).
Next row, (and all ws rows): knit.
Repeat for 11 decreases. There should be 33 sts between markers, which is roughly the width of the back.
Increases:
(rs): knit to marker, m1, sm, k1, m1, knit to second marker and m1, sm, k1, m1, knit to end.
next row (ws): knit across.
Repeat increase rows until 9 ridges have been worked.
Note: EZ added increases about the 3rd ridge down across the back to provide fullness for the diaper, about every 7th sts.

Neck: Next two rows, while maintaining the increases on the public side, bind off 4 sts at each neck edge.
Next 4 rows, while maintaining increases on the public side, bind off 2 sts at each neck edge.
Work until there are 64 sts between markers.
To lengthen the sweater, work on the center 64 sts only until 8 ridges have been worked.
Border: (rs), work across center 64 sts, pm, pick up 8 sts along the lengthened edge (1 between each ridge), work sts placed on hold (center front).
Next row: (ws): work back, sm, work across center 64 sts, pm, pick up 8 sts along lengthened edge (1 between each ridge), work sts placed on hold for center front.
Work for 2 ridges total.
(ws): K3, *yo, k2tog, k5*, end yo, k2 tog, k3, m1, sm, k1, m1, knit to marker, m1, sm, k1, m1, k3, *k2 tog, yo, k5*, end k2 tog, yo, k3.
K2 more ridges. Bind off.
Fold and sew shoulder seams with a flat seam. (This is most amazing form of knitting orgami I have seen!). Sew buttons on left for a girl, or buttons on right for a boy.

Variations:
Any texture that has a 'square' ratio for knitting will work for this pattern. I have used a variation of two colour knitting, varying garter, seed st. and double seed st. in the stripes, with colour changes on both the public and private sides. As long as you maintain the decreases in the correct placement, and end the final edges with garter st, it looks very cool.

Enjoy, and knit a couple for a preemie near you!

2006-06-21T19:01:00.000-04:00

Hats, again

Just like Dad's favourite, I thought it would be fun to make a little watch cap style preemie hat. This is just like the k2 p2 wonders, only scaled down a lot. The ribbing lets it fit a lot of different babies, and it is fun and easy to make.
Enjoy.

Size: small (fits an orange) medium (fits a large apple), newborn
3.5 mm needles (double points or one long circular), small amount of sports weight wool.

Cast on 36 (40, 48) sts. Join, k2 p2 around row. Continue until hat is 5 1/2 (6, 6 1/2) inches in length, to decreases.
Decrease round 1: k2, p2 tog, around round.
Continue K2, p1 for 4 rounds.
K1, p2 tog around round.
K1 p1 for two rounds.
K2 tog around rounds until 10 sts remain. Cut yarn and sew through remaining sts, pulling the hole tight. Sew in ends. Fold up cuff.

This one is fun to use up lots of stash wool, since stripes are so much fun!

Hats, hats, hats

2006-04-05T22:20:00.000-04:00

Garter Stitch Hats

I have been experimenting with a variation of a garter stitch hat, similar to the cloche in Knitting for Babies, and the garter stitch hat in Knitty Magazine (made for a man, in 8 sections with colour changes each row) . I wanted something thatwas very easy, and could be knit by my students at our elementary school in Knitting club. What I came up with is a short-rowed garter stitch hat. The hat is worked sideways, and seamed at the back. A lot of patterns like this use 7 or 8 wedges; I liked 6 wedges better.

The number of rows knit determines the circumference of the hat. The number of rows in the wedge corresponds to the number of sts left unworked at the beginning of the wedge: fewer stitches (rows) means a smaller hat. The straight knitting portion turns into the body and turn up of the hat. The garter stitch does not need to be wrapped, so it is an easy way to start short row shaping. And, the bonus, the kids at school all like the hat, and it is actually flattering without being really tight on the head. My oldest, who hates hats, loves this one.

The big version:
Hat: Child's small (2-4); medium (6-8); teen; adult.
Worsted Weight wool; 5 mm needles. Guage roughly 5 sts to the inch.
The pale blue hat shown in the picture is the teen size.

Cast on 40 (40; 40; 45) sts. Knit to end of row.
Wedge one:Knit 32 (30; 28; 31) sts, leaving 8 (10; 12; 14) sts unworked.
Turn;knit back.
Next row: Knit 33 (31; 29; 32) sts, leaving 7 (9; 11; 13) sts unworked.
Turn and work to end of row.
Next row: Knit 34 (32; 30; 33) sts, leaving 6 (8; 10; 12) sts unworked.
Turn and knit to end of row.

Continue pattern, knitting one more stitch in the short row section every time before turning, until all stitches are worked. This completes one wedge of the hat. Continue working wedge pattern until 6 wedges have been worked in total. Hat should have 48 (60; 72; 86) ridges. Bind off all stitches. Sew up seam, gathering up the top stitches and sewing through them.

You can change colours in each section by knitting the first complete row (from crown to outer edge) with the new colour.

The Preemie version:
3.5 mm needles, sports weight or baby sports weight wool
makes approx. a 2lb (4-5 lb, 6-8 lb) baby size hat. Guage is 6 sts to the inch, and 6 rows to the inch, using baby sport. The 2 lb and 5 lb size are shown in the picture.

This hat is made with six wedge sections, knit sideways in garter st.

Cast on 30 (33, 36) sts.
First wedge section:
Knit 22 (23, 24) sts, leaving 8 (10, 12) unworked on needle. Turn, and knit back.
Knit 23 (24, 25) sts, leaving 7 (9, 11) sts unworked on needle. Turn and knit back.
Continue working wedge, by knitting one st beyond sts already worked until all sts are used.
You can change colours by knitting the last row of the wedge in the new colour.
Work until 6 wedges have been completed (48, 60, 72 ridges in all). Bind off all sts. Sew with a flat seam.

Oh, the things we will do when avoiding .....

2006-03-17T16:59:00.000-05:00

marking
house cleaning
work
sewing
mending
laundry
.....

It started, of course, with a KAL. March's second KAL for the dishclothknitting group. The cloth was one I recognized, although I had never knit it. Round, doily-ish, and just plain fun. After two days, being the impatient soul I am, I raced ahead (despite the disaproval of the teenage daughter) and knit the whole thing. Lovely.

Then, feeling guilty, I started a second one--and finished it, because it was way too fun. Of course, I had to go to the store and pick up a second ball of the yarn because one ball was 5 yards too short to finish the cloth. Then I started a third one, which is still on day two's KAL...

The pattern for the round cloth is here:
http://www.knittingknonsense.com/lacyround.html

Then, I got to thinking...
What if I played with the lace? What if I tried to knit a tea towel for the stove with the same/kind of the same lace edging? What if I didn't want it so gatherered? What about something like a cool hand towel for the bath room? Wouldn't it be neat to make something pretty.

Kitchen Tea set.
This set includes a Button top hand towel, a square dish cloth, and a larger hand towel. The round cloth is copyrighted to the link mentioned above.

These are all made of worsted weight cotton yarn, on size 6 (4 mm) needles, although you can use size 7 (4.5 mm) needles.

I used two 85 g balls of Lily peaches and cream to make the 3 pieces.

Button top kitchen towel:
There are two choices of edging on this hand towel, a ruffled edge, and a straight edging. The length of the edging on this towel creates the width of the towel. The body of the towel is then picked up across the top of the edging and knit to the desired depth before the button band and tab.

Ruffled Edging:
Cast on 15 sts.
row 1: k2, * yo, k2 tog * twice, yo, k to end.
row 2: sl 1, knit to end
row 3: k2, *yo, k2 tog * twice, yo, k to end
row 4: sl 1, knit to end
row 5: k2, *yo, k2 tog * 3 times, yo, k7, turn
row 6: knit to end
row 7: k2, *yo k2 tog * 3 times, yo, k7, turn
row 8: knit to end
row 9: bind off 4 sts, knit to end
row 10: sl1, knit to end.
Repeat these 10 rows for 12 points, or desired width of tea towel, measured along straight edge. Bind off all sts except the last one. Pick up 3 sts for each repeat (total of 38 sts across).

Straight Edging:
Cast on 12 sts.
row 1: k2, * yo, k2 tog * twice, yo, k to end.
row 2, and all wrong side rows: sl 1, knit to end
row 3: k2, *yo, k2 tog * twice, yo, k to end
row 5: k2, *yo, k2 tog * 3 times, yo, k7, turn
row 7: k2, *yo k2 tog * 3 times, yo, k7, turn
row 9: bind off 4 sts, knit to end
row 11: k2, *yo, k2 tog * twice, knit to end
Repeat these 12 rows for 8 points, or desired width of tea towel, and then bind off all sts except the last one. Pick up 5 sts for each repeat, total of 40 sts across. Decrease to 38 sts in first knit row of eyelet row.

Eyelet edging: This is optional, but it makes the cloth look pretty, and you can thread a ribbon through it for a totally lacy look.
row 1: knit across
row 2: knit across (right side)
row 3: knit across
row 4: k3, *yo, k2 tog * across row to last 3 sts, k3
row 5: knit across
row 6: knit across
row 7: knit across

Body of towel:
row 1: (right side) knit
row 2: (wrong side), k3, purl to last 3 sts, k3.
repeat rows 1 and 2 for 6 inches above the border, or until desired depth has been reached, ending with a right side row.
Repeat eyelets pattern if desired.

Top of kitchen towel (button band)
row 1: (right side) k3, *k2 tog * to last 3 sts, k3
row 2: knit
row 3, 4, 5, and 6: knit across
row 7: k3, * k2 tog * to last 3 sts, k3
row 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12: knit
row 13: k 2, * k2 tog* to last 2 sts, k2
row 14: knit
row 15: k2, k2 tog, k2, k2 tog, k2 (8 sts total).
row 16: knit
Continue knitting on these 8 sts for 17 ridges (34 rows total) or desired length to button hole.
For Button hole:
row 1: k2, k2 tog, wrap yarn around needle twice, k2 tog, k2
row 2: k 3, knit into each wrap of the needle once (creates 2 sts), k 3
row 3: knit across
row 4: knit acros
row 5: k 2, k2 tog, k2, k2 tog, k2
row 6: knit across
row 7: k2, * k2 tog * twice, k2
row 8: knit across
row 9: k1, * k2 tog * twice, k1
row 10: knit across
row 11: bind off all sts.
Sew on button just above the last gather before the tap.

Face cloth, or tea towel.
The edging is knit on either side of this flat cloth. For a wash cloth, cast on 36 sts. For a medium tea towel, cast on 80 sts. For a larger cloth, cast on 100 sts.

row 1 and 2: k2, * yo, k2 tog * twice, yo, knit to end
row 3 and 4: k2, * yo, k2 tog * twice, yo, knit to end
row 5 and 6: k2, * yo, k2 tog * three times, yo, knit to end
row 7 and 8: k2, * yo, k2 tog * three times, yo, knit to end
row 9 and 10: bind off 4 sts, knit to end.
row 11 and 12: k2, *yo, k2 tog * twice, knit to end
Repeat these 12 rows until towel is desired width. Bind off.

My face cloth was 6 repeats.

Oh there's no place like home for the holidays...

2006-03-10T13:23:00.000-05:00

Oh there is no place like home for the holidays,
Particularly since it is March break.
I haven't cleaned anything in at least a month,
and my husband invited fourteen people for lunch...
tomorrow!

But I did actually get all my report cards done,
edited and given to the boss (oh yeah!)
Could be considered that this was a real miracle,
since I spent Febuary riding the Olympics Knitting horse!

The Olympic Gold

2006-03-04T14:41:00.000-05:00

Isn't this just way too cool?

Winning gold is just way too fun.

Thanks so much to Stephanie, the idea master of the Olympic Knitting Event, and all the other organizers who made it happen.

Wow!

What to do with all that lovely leftover Decor wool...

2006-03-04T14:19:00.000-05:00

I was very generous when I purchased the wool for my olympic challenge--fearing, I suppose freezing rain or another act of God combined with 'running out of wool' --horrified gasp--would mean that I would not finish my challenge. By the time I finished the Maple Leaf Forever, I had used two balls of red, but only 4 1/2 balls of the cream. What to do with the other almost 6 balls of cream wool, and the various balls that were from the first two frogged attempts.

Wishing for the cottage and wanting something totally comfortable but easy, I cast on 88 sts on my 4.5 mm needles, and began a variation of my grandmother's favourite sweater. My grandmother has knit MILLIONS of these sweaters--all in exactly the same size. I think this is what drove me to learn to knit things that have a hope of fitting ME--not the 6'2" 34" chest model my grandmother believed she (and I) were. I am not knocking grandma's knitting, in any way, but at just over 5' and for most of my life a generous 37" chest, I wasn't so comfortable in grandma's sweater.

Dreaming of the Cottage, baby, sweater

Neckband:
Cast on 88 sts using 4.5 mm needles and magic loop method. Join in round, being careful not to twist sts. K2 P2 ribbing for 5" or desired depth of neckband.
Switch to body pattern , establishing markers for shoulder increases as follows: PM (place marker) K3 (for mock cable) p2 K3 (for second mock cable), PM, K36 (front) placing marker after st 18 for center front, PM, K3 (for mock cable) p2, K3, K36 for back.
body pattern:
round 1 K3, p1 around
round 2: K around round

Short rows for neck:

Note: if you don't want to bother with this, you don't have to, but it makes a more comfortable sweater.

Maintaining body pattern, knit to within 12 sts of center front marker, increasing on either side of cable sts with a p marker st. This translates to knit to within 2 sts of round marker, K front and back, p1, SlM (slip marker), K3, Kfront and back of next 2 sts, K3, SlM, p1, Kfront and back of next st, knit to within 12 sts of center front marker, Sl, Sl, yarn to the front, turn. Wrap first st, purl around row to within 12 sts of center front marker, maintaining all sts as set (purl the mock cable sts from the back; knit the purl sts that set them apart by the markers), sl2, turn, wrap one st.

Repeat short row to within 9 sts of cf marker, remembering to increase on either side of cable, leaving a p st as a divider, and to pick up and knit or purl the wrap with the st it wraps as you come to it, sl2, turn, wrap 1, purl around to within 9 sts of cf marker, sl2, turn, wrap 1. Short row to within 6 sts of cf marker, sl2, turn, wrap 1, purl back to within 6 sts of cf marker, sl2, turn, wrap, continue around, picking up wraps and knitting them with the st, and increasing 1 st on either side of every marker to the marker for the beginning of round. Check sleeve counts: both sleeves should have the same number of sts between markers; both fronts should have same number of sts between markers. If not, on this round only, increase on either side of the markers on the one sleeve so they both match. Otherwise, you will have one sleeve smaller than the other. (Ask me how I know).

Continuing to increase every other row (I like to match the increases and the cables with the pattern round that has the purl sts), on every 6th row when you come to the mock cable, knit the mock cable by knitting the 3rd st from the needle without removing the st, then the second st from the needle without removing the st, then the first st from the needle, and then sliding them all off together.

Maintaining the body and cable pattern, increase on either side of the cable, every other round, until the depth from the base of the neck is 9", or desired length to underarm divide.

Divide for the underarms:
Knit across sleeve sts, place on st holder, knit across front sts, maintaining pattern, knit across sleeve sts, place sleeve sts on holder, knit across back sts maintaining pattern. Cast on 12 sts, or enough sts to complete pattern across body (up to 12 sts). Knit across front body; cast on 12 sts, or enough sts to complete pattern repeat (up to 12 sts). Knit across back sts, maintaining pattern. PM. My sweater had 200 sts total, including the underarm sts, which was 25 repeats of the 4 st pattern in front, and 25 repeats of the 4 st pattern in back.

Knit continuing to maintain pattern for 4 inches, or until you want to start the mock cable pattern for the body.

Place markers at center underarm 'cable'. The cable pattern starts every other cable, every 6th round. In other words, for your first cable set, knit to one cable past the center underarm cable, mock cable these three sts, maintain pattern to one 'cable' before underarm cable, mock cable these three sts, knit underarm cable plain, mock cable next cable, knit across to last cable before underarm cable at beginning of row, mock cable these three sts. Continue with body pattern for 5 more rows. Next cable round, underarm rib set plain, mock cable previous cable, next rib set plain, mock cable next rib set, knit to within 2 rib sets of previous cable, mock cable rib set, one rib set plain, mock cable previously cabled rib set, underarm rib set plain, cable previously cabled rib set, next rib set plain, cable next rib set, continue across to 2 rib sets before previous cabled rib, mock cable rib set, one rib set plain, mock cable rib set (previously cabled rib), next plain rib set should be the underarm and the plain rib.

I am sure there is an easy way to write this, but essentially, you are adding a mock cable to the pattern on each side every sixth row, to create the center front diagonal rib. Knit continuing pattern established to 13" or desired body length before ribbing. Change to k2 p2 ribbing, and rib to 15" from underarm cast on, or desired body length.

to be continued

to be continued

Maple Leaf Forever Sweater Pattern

2006-02-25T11:01:00.000-05:00

My Olympic Sweater Technical Notes:

Knit with Patons Decor, 5 balls Winter White (main colour) and 2 balls Barn Red (contrast colour)
4.5 mm circular needle
I used the Single circular needle technique for whole sweater, including neckband and sleeves.

Guage:
Ladder Ribbing: 12 sts and 14 rows equals 2" on 4.5 mm needles, slightly stretched.
Stockinette: 10 sts and 13 rows equals 2" on 4.5 mm needles.

Sts:
Ladder Ribbing multiple of 6 sts.
row 1: K3 P3
row 2: K1 P1 across row.
This pattern is totally reversible, and is knit exactly the same when in the round, or on two needles.

Neckband:
Cast on 90 sts, with white, join round being careful that sts are not twisted. Start Ladder ribbing (multiple of 6 sts)row 1: K3, P3 across roundrow 2: K1, P1 across round.
Knit 11 rows, ending with row 1. Change to main colour.
Dividing round:
PM (place marker), K5, PM, k20, PM for center front, k20, PM, k5, k40.

Short Row portion:
Remembering to increase at either side of the markers on the public side of the sweater (I did this by knitting in the sts front and back, but a variety of sts will work, including M1), knit to within 15 sts of the center front marker, sl, sl, turn, yarn in front, wrap the first stitch loosely, yarn behind.
Purl around sweater to within 10 sts of the center front marker, sl, sl, turn, wrap the first stitch loosely. Knit to within 10 sts of center front marker, remembering to increase on either side of the markers placed for the sleeve increases, and picking up the wrap and knitting it with the slipped stitch when you come to it, sl, sl, turn.
Wrap first st, purl around to within 7 sts of center front marker (remembering to pick up and purl slipped stitch when you come to it), sl, sl, turn.
Wrap first st, knit around to within 5 sts of center marker, sl, sl, turn.
Wrap fist st, purl around to within 5 sts of center marker, sl, sl, turn.
Wrap first st, knit around, picking up any wrapped sts as you come to them, and increasing on either side of the markers as before.
Knit one row plain, checking that your sleeves have the same number of sts between marker. If they don't, then increase on this row only to make them match. (This was the only problem I had with the short rows.)

Yoke:
Continue alternating plain rows with increase rows until the sweater is 9" from the bottom of the neck band (or desired depth). You should be knitting one row plain, and then one row with increases on either side of markers.
Knit 3 rows plain before the divide for the sleeves.

Sleeve Dividing row:
Knit across first sleeve; place sleeve sts on holder, knit across body, and second sleeve, place sleeve on st. holder, knit across body sts. Break yarn.

Join for Body:
Attach contrast yarn, cast on 21 sts with invisible cast on, attach main colour, knit across body sts, drop and attach second ball of contrast yarn, cast on 21 sts with invisible cast on, attach second ball of wool for body, knit across sts, end yarn over, turn.
Purl back across body sts, wrap at colour change, p1 k1 across underarm panel, ending p1, wrap at colour change, purl across body sts, wrap at colour change, p1 k1 across underarm panel, ending, sl 1, p1 in yarn over, psso, yo, turn.
(Public row) Contrast portion: K3, place marker, p3, continue k3 p3 across panel, ending k3, wrap yarns at colour change, knit across body sts, wrap yarns at colour change, contrast panel k3 p3 across underarm panel ending k3, wrap yarns at colour change, knit across body sts, ending sl 1 k1 into yarn over, pss0, yo. Turn.
Continue in this manner until desired body length to ribbing. Mine is 13" long, with 2 1/2 " for ribbing, in pattern.

If desired, introduce the intarsia motif after the first two rounds of the body. The motif can also be duplicate stitched on afterwards if you are not feeling confident about the intarsia in the round technique.

Ribbing: At 13" or desired length before ribbing, change to contrast colour and Fireman rib pattern. Decrease 15 sts around body, or as many are needed to be decreased to have a multiple of 6 sts for ribbing, starting with K3 P3 row. Complete 10 repeats of pattern, ending with K1 P1 row . Change to main colour. K3 P3 around row. Bind off all sts purlwise.

Sleeves.
With contrast colour, pick up and knit all sleeve sts on holder, then pick up 21 sts along invisible cast on for the contrast colour panel. Join round. Continue sleeve, maintaining pattern for contrast panel at underarm, for 3" before beginning decreases. Decrease 1 st either side of the underarm pattern panel, every 6 rows, until 48 sts remain or desired sleeve length to ribbing has been reached. My sleeves are 15" long from the underarm pick up, before the ribbing. If there are more than 48 sts, decrease to 48 sts, ending the sleeve on a K1 P1 row of the panel. Change to Fireman rib pattern, knitting 14 repeats of pattern (28 rows, or 3") ending with a K1 P1 row. Change to main colour, and complete a K3 P3 round. Cast off purlwise.

Sew in all loose ends and block sweater.

Comments, after the fact:
I found the neckband was large, and could have been reduced 1-2 repeats of ribbing for comfort. This would also solve the very large sweater body issue, as it was 46" chest measurement. If I was making it for a man, I would make the sleeves larger by 3 sts between the increase rounds and at least 3 inches longer both in the body and the arms, for my darling husband. This would mean casting on 6 more sts to start. Still, it is a lovely, loose comfortable sweater for me.

Gold Medal Finish!

2006-02-25T10:52:00.000-05:00

Kaffe: Well, Deborah, I think that this sweater has qualified for the Gold, don't you?

Deborah: Absolutely. The neck has a lovely back raise, and the short rows are barely visible. The underarm panels are lovely, and I particularly like the red sleeve detail. Shades of the Canadian flag.

The intarsia portion is impressive, particularly since this is the designer's first attempt at intarsia, let alone intarsia done in the round. Straight panel intarsia under the arms with ribbing detail adds to the interest of the sweater.

Gold Medal Sweater.

2006-02-25T10:24:00.000-05:00

This picture is from Tuesday evening, just before the Flu hit our house in full force.

Wednesday: Mom, and both lovely daughters were home sick. Thursday: Mom still home, seeing double, and wavering while standing. Teaching--what is that?

Of course, anyone can knit while prone on couch between seeing double and running for the bathroom, right!?!

Olympics Commentary

2006-02-16T18:52:00.000-05:00

Kaffe Fasset: Well, Deborah, after two disheartening false starts, Beth seems to be picking up steam on her Olympic Knitting event. She has passed the sleeve divide, and is working at significant speed for the intarsia front portion of her Olympic challenge.

Deborah Newton: Yes, Kaffe. Beth is competing in the very challenging 'Design your own' category, for the Canadian Knitting Team. Her project is a top-down sweater, in her team colours, using Paton's winter white and deep red. Her sweater includes some very challenging elements, a definite step up in complexity for this long time knitting designer.

Kaffe: Tell us a little more about these elements, Deborah.

Deborah: Beth's sweater incorporates a significant self designed, center front intarsia portion, the maple leaf, as well as intarsia insets along the body and under the arms . She is using the 'intarsia in the round technique', a new personal challenge. She also significantly stepped up the complexity of the design by incorporating a totally reversible ribbing pattern known as Fireman's rib, or Ladder Ribbing. The neck also includes a short-row portion to raise the back of the sweater for comfort.

Technical Notes:

Patons Decor, Winter White and Deep Red for contrast.
4.5 mm needles
Single circular needle technique for whole sweater.

Neckband:
Cast on 90 sts, with white. Start Ladder ribbing (multiple of 6 sts)
row 1: K3, P3 across round
row 2: K1, P1 across round
Knit 11 rows, ending with row 1. Change to main colour.
Dividing round: PM (place marker), K5, PM, k20, PM for center front, k20, PM, k5, k40.

Technical notes to be continued...

Freeezing Rain Frustrations...

2006-02-16T08:16:00.000-05:00

So, Southern Ontario is covered in snow, freezing rain, and rain. The universities in this area are closed--the last time this happened, I was in Teacher's college and the world stopped for three days. A great day to knit--only....

My knitting bag is sitting in my room at school which is CLOSED due to freezing rain! Ack!

I can't believe that I did that!

So, here I am starting on challenge number two: Lace and garter stitch Maple leaf dishcloth, coming up.

Just joined the Knitting Olympic Team Canada

2006-02-09T15:27:00.000-05:00

So, it is official. I now have to get yarn, and start swatching in earnest! One new sweater, and a dishcloth coming up...