Yarn Crawl

Fugly Friday Prize!

I got my prize for winning Fugly Friday over on Sarah's blog for Waterlily and Lambada.

Sarah sent me a nice note on some cute Hello Kitty stationery and some awesome purple yarn, along with some Fun Fur as part of the "Fugly Friday" joke! The purple yarn is "Mar-Len" and I had never seen it before - it reminds me of a lighter version of Rowan's Cotton Tape and I'll have to come up with a great project for it. Maybe a small tank top? I'll have to check the yardage. Sarah wanted me to let her know what I end up choosing for this yarn, and I will definitely let her (and y'all - pretending I'm from the South today - know.) Thanks again, Sarah - and as you suggest, I hope to never win this prize again!

Lace & Bobble Jacket - DONE!

It's FINALLY done - the Debbie Bliss Lace & Bobble Jacket!

(this picture looks a little weird b/c the waistband in my skirt is standing away from my body in a strange way - I have to sew this part flat - damn RTW skirts! You would think that with an Eileen Fisher skirt, you wouldn't have these problems, but anyway...)

I am also almost done seaming the yellow lace & cable sweater and I have one more inch to go on the red/orange Coquette Lace Tube top. I also sewed all of the seams on the upper section of the Surplice Bodice Camisole and did the picking up around the neck, armholes and back - now working on the bottom lace section. I am on a mission to finish all of my UFOs (except Fifi) by the end of next week. Pics to come later this week!

Decisions, Decisions

So, I started the dual knit/crochet along for the Loop D Loop books because I wanted to actually finish a crochet project. However...I am kind of wimping out. I think I am going to attempt a kids' sweater first - the Girl's Bolero - for my "niece" (really 2nd cousin) McKenna. On second thought, it'll probably be for her younger sister Mia as she is small for her age and will fit into the smallest 2-3 size for awhile and that's the size I'm most likely to have enough stash yarn for.

I liked that this design was one of the only ones at a large gauge (N hook) and I've never utilized multiple colors in crochet before (just striping, but still, it's something.) As I mentioned, I am going to try to find stash yarns for this - it calls for Iceland, which is a chunky (3 sts to the inch in half double crochet) yarn. I need three colors, 218 yards of each. Or maybe I'll just break down and get the Iceland if I can't figure out three contrasting girly colors at that gauge. Doubting it, now that I read my many requirements!! I printed out my Ravelry stash list (sorry guys, your invites are coming soon, I'm sure!) and am going over it.

The wimping out (for now) on the adult sweaters falls under two categories - 1.) gauge (size 1 steel crochet hooks are used for two of them) and 2.) pattern (scary difficult) or a combo of both with the addition of a fingering weight mohair yarn thrown in for fun!

Almost Done Seaming DB Lace & Bobble Jacket!!!

So I pressed J.Lo into service last night - her first day on the job - to show off the side of the Debbie Bliss Lace & Bobble Jacket that I finished seaming.

And right away when there's a new woman in the house he has to hit on her...

It started out as friendly flirtation..

Then he really started getting out of hand!

Thanks to him, I'm going to have to institute an anti sexual-harassment policy!! This is a hostile workplace if I ever saw one!

Baby Got Back

I've christened her J.Lo (she actually didn't come with a name) - any questions??

ETA - Here she is dressed (much better):

Acquisitions from Stash-Enhancing Expedition

Yesterday I scored three great yarns on my stash-enhancing expedition with Lisa and Heather. We had an excellent time at the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair and it was very well-organized, especially for a first-year event. There was a wide variety of vendors of yarn (including handspun/handdyed), roving, spinning wheels, weaving machines, and jewelry. I would definitely go back next year.

So now for the acquisitions:

First, some more Brooks Farm Riata in a really pretty blue. I needed more solid color yarns and I had absolutely nothing in this blue shade. I love it!

Next, Brooks Farm's new yarn - Solana. It is a superwash worsted weight wool and I fell in love with this teal color.

Finally - a great deal I got on Pima Silk. I'm thinking of using this for the Cable-Down Raglan. I got it for 50% off, or about $3.50 a skein. What a deal!

I finished the bindoff on the Lace & Bobble Jacket and am seaming it in between working on the yellow lace & cable sweater. I thought the seaming might give my hands a break in between knitting sessions. I also am on page 300 on the new Harry Potter book, as I was reading that last night instead of knitting (SHOCKER!)

Ordered My Dressform!

JoAnn.com was having a good sale ($120 off) on the Dritz My Double Deluxe dressforms and I decided to go for it, as I also had a free shipping coupon code.

I had previously thought I needed a petite dress form because the Dritz My Twin small only went down to a 15" back waist length and mine is 14" - however, I was right at the outer limits of the petite size range. The My Double Deluxe can be adjusted down to the 14" back waist length, and it goes down to 26" waist and 36" hips, which is a couple inches smaller than I am now and the thinnest I've ever been (in my mid-20s) so I think I'm safe. The minimum is 33" on the bust, which is just a teeny bit smaller than my bust now, but I've never been smaller than that. I tend to only gain and lose weight from the waist down and stay the same from the waist up.

One "negative" thing I read on the JoAnn site from customers is actually a positive for me - that the hip shaping starts too soon after the waist - well, hello! That is exactly my variation from standard sizing! My hips are higher (start sooner after my waist) than standard sizing would indicate so it gives me issues as I don't have this long expanse of body from my waist to the hips, so some things tend to be too loose below my hips, and too tight at the hips as the shaping is still increasing but I've reached my fullest point already.

So yay!

Class is Starting Soon...

I just was notified that my book for the first class I'm taking in the fashion design program at COD is in - the text is A Guide to Fashion Sewing and it seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. I ordered the book from Amazon as the college bookstore had it on backorder and was going to charge me about $20 more. It should be arriving tomorrow thanks to my Amazon Prime membership, which gives me free 2-day shipping. I can't wait to look at it.

The class description is:

FASHION MERCHANDISING AND DESIGN 1155
Clothing Construction I
3 credit hours
Emphasis is on basic sewing construction skills, including fundamentals in the selection of fabrics, patterns, fit and construction techniques. (2 lecture hours, 2 lab hours)

So it does say it's going to cover fitting from some standpoint, but the next class sounds even better from that perspective:

FASHION MERCHANDISING AND DESIGN 1156
Clothing Construction II
3 credit hours
Clothing construction course designed for those who are familiar with the operation of a sewing machine, fabric and pattern selection, and basic sewing techniques. Emphasis on professional quality construction techniques. Development of fit techniques for pants and advanced garments. Prerequisite: Fashion Merchandising and Design 1155 or consent of instructor (2 lecture hours, 2 lab hours)

The first class starts at the end of August and doesn't end until December. It is once a week for almost four hours per session, so I am hoping I get a lot out of it. I'm at the point where I can do a lot of simple construction techniques but need a lot of help on the fitting as I need to make so many adjustments to convert regular patterns into petite. I still haven't bought that dress form yet either. I think I am going to buy a premade one to start with, and see how far that takes me, before I make/buy a customized one.

It's so funny - when I re-read the title of this post, I thought, oh yeah, my MBA program classes are starting soon too (September). I don't even think about those or get excited about them though. Three more classes to go and I'm just DONE with that. It wasn't as good of an experience as I thought it would be, but 80% of an MBA completed might as well be 0% of an MBA completed, from an outsider's standpoint. I did learn some things, but not as much as I thought I would. Oh well, I have to get it done now.

Lace Coquette Tube Top Progress Pic and Tree Jacket Musings

Here's the lace coquette tube top that I started over the weekend; I just finished the first skein of Cascade Pima Tencel. A ribbon will be woven into those eyelets. Talk about mindless knitting - the only part where you have to pay any attention is the 24 stitch lace section. Adrienne - this would be a good first lace project. It's easier than Rusted Root because there is no side shaping, and the lace pattern is easier.

ETA: here's a closeup of the lace pattern; I was half asleep when I took the first pic and realized afterward that I didn't take a picture of the right side.

In other news on the Tree Jacket

Michelle told me that the yarn used to knit the sample was Knit Picks Andean Silk in the colorway Barn Red. Apparently this question came up on the Zephyr Style blog (I didn't even know they had a blog - I added that to bloglines now). Their blog also says they have two more patterns in the works that should be available soon, so that is exciting!

Not that I would necessarily use the original yarn, but to give an idea of the original fiber content, the Knit Picks Andean Silk is "55% Super Fine Alpaca, 23% Silk, 22% Merino Wool." This sounds nice - I haven't worked with the Knit Picks yarns before. It is $3.99 a ball for 96 yards, so pretty reasonably priced. For the S in this sweater (it says it is not designed to be as fitted as the other previous designs, so I would make the S based on my actual measurements instead of the XS based on negative ease) I would need 950 yards, or almost 10 skeins. It is nice to know that if I wanted to, I could make this sweater for just over $40 with shipping.

I am thinking about ordering one skein each of the most popular Knit Picks yarns and doing a "taste test" to see how they knit up. One of my knitting idiosyncrasies is that I rarely ever buy yarn for a whole project unless I have knitted with one skein of it first (hence my huge one-skein inventory). Hmmm, I could test these out and then I could pass the skeins on to someone else who hasn't knitted with the Knit Picks yarn (kind of like the traveling teddy bear and gnomes that are going around!!) Something to think about.

Does anyone have any experience with the Andean Silk? It definitely sounds like it'd be warm, with all that alpaca, so I don't think this solves the problem I've heard about finding a warm-weather substitute yarn.

Finish-Itis, Start-Itis and Weekend Plans

I have a major case of start-itis right now, all for winter sweaters. Here are the sweaters I'm dying to cast on that are swirling around in my head:

The new Tree Jacket by the Zephyr Style ladies

The Wheat Ear Cable Yoke Pullover (I can wait until 9/1 when the KAL for this starts)

Cable Down Raglan - I don't think I joined the KAL for this one but I might once I decide to start this

I know there was another one or two, but I can't think of them right now. I think the other competing items were the RCC by Annie Modesitt (with the SKC) and the Lovely Lace Leaf hemp skirt, especially now that Jenny finished such a great one!

I know if I cast on any of these sweaters, it will take me too long to finish what I already have in process, though. So, start-itis has also prompted an accompanying case of finish-itis. My hands and forearms were aching yesterday, I think because of the 300 stitches I picked up on that lace and bobble jacket and succeeding 300-stitch rows. I finished 7 of 15 of them on Sunday and didn't have the strength to work on this last night. I only got a couple of rows done on the yellow pullover (last piece, the front) and decided to put it down as I didn't want to aggravate the hand ache. I feel better this morning but haven't tried to knit yet.

One of the other upcoming events that is spurring interest in all these new fall sweaters is the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair in Crystal Lake this weekend. As if I needed more yarn - but really I do - all of my aran weight yarn that I wanted to use is variegated and I need smooth solid colors for these textured sweaters. I'm going on Saturday with blog-free Lisa and Heather (who I met on the Threadbear trip) and I heard that Brooks Farm (for sure) and possibly Tess Designer Yarns are going to be there. Then I'll be seeing both of those vendors again the middle of next month at Stitches Midwest - so I am going to try to only buy yarn for one project this weekend. I discovered that the cinnamon color Silk & Ivory

is actually DK weight so isn't going to work for the Wheat Ear pullover, so darn - have to buy something for that. I might be able to use that yarn for the Cable Down Raglan though, as I think that is a lighter gauge.

I do have some single-color aran weight Brooks Farm Riata in purple

but I think it is too fuzzy for the cabled sweaters. I do think it will be perfect for the Tree Jacket, though.

In the back of my mind are all the KALs I am hosting - but I do have stash yarn designated for at least three more projects from Fitted Knits and stash yarn designated for one more project in Knitting Lingerie Style. I can buy more yarn later for future KLS projects if I don't have anything suitable. For the KCAL on Loop D Loop, I have stash yarn for a few projects to get me started.

Ahh, I feel better now that I have this all figured out now. I am one of those people that think as they talk (or write) so this helps me to have everything planned out. I think I am still a diehard "J" in the Myers-Briggs test in some way, as I like to have things decided. On the other hand, I do like to stay flexible and take advantage of opportunities that arise - so that's a "P"-like trait. Oh well. Time to go do my workout. Wow, I actually managed a normal post, with pictures, links, and commentary. I think my blogging dry spell is finally over!