Owl Mittens

A fun WIP that I will get back to someday this winter...

"Exquisite Corpse" socks

My Aunt is an artist in Sudbury, MA.  Her studio is located in the next town over and she often has shows and does other activities with her studio mates.  Last spring break I took my older girls out for a visit with her and her family, and one of the days we had a chance to visit her studio.

While we were there, she showed us a series of sketches she developed with her studio mates based off the game, "exquisite corpse".  They eventually each created an art piece based off their sketches and put on a show - it was amazing to see their pieces in the studio! 

Inspired by the collaboration, chance, and randomness of this game, my girls and I designed and knit up a pair of exquisite corpse socks for my Aunt to wear and enjoy.

I put all my sock leftovers on the couch, covered them with a towel and asked each girl to select three colors/yarns at random.  I kept their choices hid from one another until after their selections were complete too.

These are the six colors, plus unifying calf, heel, and toe gray color.

And these are the resulting socks!

We sent them out to my Aunt with a letter explaining our work and a hope that she'd at least admire them, of not wear them.  They were a huge hit!  I think that we can say objectively that they are not the most attractive socks, but they have a story and meaning.



















In thinking about this project, there are many different directions you could take it - maybe switch up the stitch patterns, but keep the same color throughout, or switch colors and stitch patterns every time.  The possibilities are endless!

WI Quilt Expo

This was my first time at the show and I was amazed.  It was HUGE and overwhelming, but I am so glad that I checked it out (and with my Mom no less!)  I came home with some fun fabrics, a pattern for a sweet zipper pouch and grand plans to sew myself an umbrella!  Stay tuned for that adventure.

Mind the Gap!

Finished up with just enough time to still wear them a couple times - a pair of fantastically colorful socks.  The pattern is the basic sock (7sts/inch) by Ann Budd.  I knit these a bit on the snug side, just because.

The yarn is a specially dyed, self-striping, fingering weight nylon/wool blend by Trailing Clouds.  It was specially ordered and delivered to me in a matter of days.  Global commerce is incredible.

The colorway is inspired by the 12 colors of the London Underground.  It reminded me of my trip there in January 2009.

Hitofude and Murakami

The inspiration struck when I was about half-way through my very first Murakami novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.  It dawned on me to search for Japanese knitting patterns and off I went.  It had been awhile since I had been inspired with a new project - and this one just came to me.

I wound up with Hitofude and have just a half-repeat to get to the end of the arms.  The construction of this piece is incredible - what you see in the photo is half of a rectangle that reaches wrist to wrist.  I will eventually fold the rectangle in half the long way and seam to make two arms.  Whew.

This is an amazingly clear pattern so far and the knitting has been very, very enjoyable.  I am working it up with Madelinetosh Merino Light in scarlet.  A red knit for a red head?  I think I can pull it off.

The photos I have seen of the finished sweater are lovely (over 2,000 in Ravelry) and I hope to have this one done and off the needles by the holiday season.

Crafty (Backyard) Camping Birthday

My oldest girls turned 9yo this past weekend.  They wanted a backyard camping sleepover.  My husband and I went around and around about whether to have a 'theme' or just go with a sleepover party.  Ultimately the theme idea won - if for no other reason than it helped to reign in ALL of the ideas that the girls had about their special birthday party.

I found this great camp cake recipe/idea online and did my best to create one similar.  I think I did pretty well.  In fact, making and decorating the cake with the girls was one of the highlights of the entire party planning experience.

I picked out two crafts for the girls to do as well.  The first was a photo holder: A wooden cube that could be decorated with camping signage, and then add a groove in the top that can hold a photo.  We all loved doing these!  I found the camping signs online at Etsy, each girl got her own sheet to cut from and we used Mod Podge to secure the 'signs' to the blocks.  My husband made the blocks and then used a saw to cut the groove.  Each girl went home with a couple of blocks and one photo holder.  I kept the extra blocks until the next day and then made our family a set of blocks for camping.  I can imagine using them for so many things when we are in the great outdoors - story cubes, conversation starters, etc.

The other craft was creating shadow puppets of northern woodland animals.  The girls (painstakingly) cut them out and taped each on to a chopstick.  They practiced shining the images on the side of the tent with their flashlights (a party favor) and then my husband made up a story and they acted it out.  The whole idea/production turned out even better then I ever could have imagined.  The animal shapes were free templates from a designer on the internet - there are thousands out there to choose from.

We roasted hot dogs over a fire pit for dinner with corn on the cob, watermelon and chips.  We did the crafts right afterwards, then were inside for a movie.  Then outside again for sleeping in the tent.  Luckily the weather was on our side for the weekend.  The girls all slept really well (until 8a!) and after breakfast and some playing it was time for the girls to get picked up again.  It was a great party and after the guests left my daughters ran to me with hugs saying that the party exceeded every dream they had about it before hand.  A very happy Momma moment.

This was our first foray into a friend party - up until now, for all our girls, we've kept these celebrations close with just family.  It was a lot of work to pull of the party for kids but very much worth it.  And the party was in touch with our family 'vibe' which made it really enjoyable.  I even got to craft/create along the way.

Personal Summer Sewing Challenge

This summer I set a goal of sewing clothes for myself.  I was unsure how the start to the summer would unfold and we found ourselves afloat for a couple weeks due to a death in the family, bad weather (tornadoes) and no summer camp schedule to speak of.  We were adrift for a bit, but I had dreams and thoughts of sewing clothes to keep me anchored (and sane) and therefore the kids happy.  When I was able to schedule them with an activity I slipped away to my own activity and peace reigned for at least 20 minutes at a stretch.

I am very new to sewing clothes for adults.  I have made kids costumes here and there and done some quilting, but never anything that required measurements and fit.  I really didn't know where to start.  I reached out to a friend, and the internet, and then dove in.

Two tips I picked up pretty quickly were: 1. Make a (wearable) muslin out of cheap fabric and 2. Pick the pattern size based on your measurements, not your clothing size.

My first three patterns to try were: 1. The Wiksten Tova, 2. The Washi Dress and 3. The Schoolhouse Tunic.

Coincidentally my neighborhood sewing shop (The Sewcial Lounge) was offering a class on the Wiksten Tank which I also signed up for.  What a great experience!  I learned so many little tricks and tips that I felt quite accomplished when I was done.  I learned how to sew in bias for the armholes and use a sewing gauge.  And while it wasn't a pattern I had initially picked out for myself it made a great top and starting point for my other projects. 

My first tank (top left in first photo), that I made during the class, is a wearable muslin out of generic quilting cotton.  [I don't particularly care for the fabric pattern, but it was a good trial run and now has been worn camping and weeding the garden a few times this summer.]  I walked out of the store wearing my new tank top and the confidence to move on to something a bit more ambitious. 

The other three tanks I made to add to my summer wardrobe and I consistently wear at least 2 each week.  They came together very quickly and in about 4 separate 20-minute windows (cutting, sewing, armholes and neckline/serging seams).  The blue is from some Ghanaian fabric a friend brought home for me from travels abroad, the yellow is a quilting cotton that is softening after many washes, and the voile is a lovely Anna Maria Horner print that I found on sale.

Once I had the tank down I moved on to the Washi Dress.  My first go at that was not good - I made a dress entirely too big and learned the real value of making a muslin.  My second attempt at a wearable muslin was much better.  I opted for the tunic length, reasoning that I would save on fabric while getting a better fit and then could do the dress next.  The teal/green tunic above is out of quilting cotton from my stash and I do wear this top out in public.

Then came the dress, made from a cotton voile from JoAnn fabrics.  It turned out about as wonderful and I could have expected for my first dress.  The shirring is not straight and I didn't bother to change the thread color for the facing.  But it fits reasonably well and the hem is straight.  I am excited to make another (with the notch and sleeves this time) in another lightweight fabric.  Maybe a soft linen or another voile.  I love the sleeveless look for this one too.  A great all-around summer sun dress.

Two other details to note are the serged seams (!!) and 'handmade' tags.  The serger was a gift from my husband this spring and I am in love with it.  The finished seams make all the difference in a wearable garment.  And the tags were a gift from a dear friend.  They add the perfect touch this this first set of clothes.

I have taken to calling these items the Summer '14 collection.

And with August starting tomorrow I only have a few weeks before we roll over into the Fall '14 collection (smile).  I have yet to tackle the Wiksten Tova - I tried it out in and the muslin is too big.  Back to the cutting table for that one.  And I also worked on a muslin for the Schoolhouse Tunic.  This one fits well everywhere except just below the bust, where it is too tight.  I am puzzling how to extend the pattern piece to give myself a bit more 'below bust ease' so it all comes together well.

FO: La Flota Hat

FO: Petrea (CF closed-cardigan pattern)

I was so inspired by the first CF sweater that I immediately started on a second, Petrea.  This one did not come with a recipe (there is one now, I believe) so I swatched my yarn and purchased a closed-front, short-sleeve, cardigan pattern from CF.  I did the match for placement of the lace panels myself.

This sweater came out near to perfect.  The only issue I am still debating is whether to stitch close the little 'v' at the top of the button band.  A fellow ravelry member suggested a hook-and-eye so I can still unbutton the sweater, however I don't plan to wear it open.

This is another local yarn - Sun Valley Fibers DK Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) Superwash, colorway: Frosty Pine.

I am not sure what is up next - my daughters are staring to request things again: socks for #1, a short-sleeve tee for #2, a hoodie for #3.  Thankfully #4 is happy with the hand-me-downs that are still around, but I'm sure she'll want something special when fall rolls around.

And those socks I posted about a couple months ago?  The ones for my husband?  We'll they shrank in the wash (ugh - caution: front-loading washers can do a number on superwash yarns!) and now are for me.  And I've started on another pair for him...

Bliss!

The enrobed wrap is complete - I even took it out for a test drive at a meeting last night.  It went great.  I am really happy with my first seamed sweater and feel great about moving forward in making modifications to sweaters to fit my body.  Knitting this sweater - while not perfect - was blissful for the learning process alone.

This is my practice sweater, my first seamed sweater ever, and I learned a tremendous amount.  My goal for this first project was to knit a relatively plain/simple sweater, but one that looks smashing on me and my body.  And while I didn't exactly meet or exceed that goal, I came close.  And the bonus is that I know so much more for when I knit my next sweater.

Some quick notes on modifications before I get to the lessons:

* I shortened the torso by 2 and 1/2 inches and sleeves by 6 and 3/4 inches.
* The sleeve details called for one stitch change on each side of every other row, I did two.
* I made the edging about 3/4 inch instead of 1 inch.
* For picking up sts along the neckline I did a repeat pattern of *pick up 3, skip 1, pick up 2, skip 1*















And my lessons:

1) For my body, when taking length from the torso, I should probably take some from all over and not just the bottom.  I think this is evident by the bit of extra bunching fabric under my arms and around my back.  I am really happy with the overall length - so I did take out the right about of overall length - but there seems to be some extra fabric between my waist and shoulders. I could probably have left a bit of length at the bottom, and taken 3/4 or an inch from the upper chest.

2) I should also have simultaneously done more shaping with the neck line.  And that stands to reason - if I shorten the length, but keep the diagonal line the same, it will simply shift upwards instead of becoming more steep.  It looks fine, but I would have liked a bit more reveal and steeper 'v' shape.  I could have accomplished this with a more rapid decrease along the neck line, but didn't realize this as I was working through the pieces.  You learn as you go, right?

3) A steeper neckline could also have brought my upper arm seam higher so it sits more on top of my shoulder instead of slightly over.  I think this would help with the overall shaping of how the sweater 'hangs' on my body.




















4) Sleeves always need to be set in on center with the shoulder seam.  In the photo above you can see where I off-set it by 3/4 inch (due to a slight differential in length between the front and back panels).  I shouldn't have done this, but it was my practice sweater and felt that I'd give it a try and see what happens.  Only a critical eye would notice this - and strangely it doesn't bother me at all - so I am leaving it and will wear it as is.  (The other shoulder and sleeve line up perfectly.)  Also, since you can block to even out length it likely wouldn't have made a difference in the end.  But again, learn as you go.
















5) Little shaping stitches make a big difference - and a good difference!  I am so happy with how just a few increases or decreases can make such a difference in fit and accommodate (accentuate!) curves.

6) I still need to work on sleeve length.  I tried to go for 3/4 sleeves, but after washing they crept longer.  They look nice, but I wonder if a shorter sleeve, ending at my waist where I am narrowest, would have looked more balanced?















7) Take notes, draw new schematics based on new measurements, and make changes as you go along.  I did this a lot and it really helped me to get into the pattern and understand it.  Rather than reading the pattern as text, I was able to interact with it and while there were measurements and stitch counts, on paper I could play around with changes and see what might happen - I could make changes to suit the project I was working on.  Amy's reference section on modifications was invaluable in doing these exercises, and having worked through them once feel that I can do even better, more detailed work the next time around.
 

Overall a fantastic first seamed sweater for me.  I love the color (most true in the second photo) and will wear this often.  I know now there are things that I could have done differently with this sweater, but I never would know to do them had I not knit it in the first place.  Onward with an adventuresome spirit I say (as does Amy in her fantastic presentations!)