Yarn Crawl

Ophelia - Done!

I finished Ophelia over the weekend and I'm wearing it to work today. Here it is:

How cool is it that I don't even have to *ask* Jim to do a close-up of the lace pattern? He rocks as a photographer (and every other way :)

So, all the specs/rundown:

Pattern: Ophelia by A Mingled Yarn (pattern available free on her website)

Size: 32, but gauge was a little larger so it measures about 33.5", which is what I was going for

Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton from stash plus 1 additional (total of 5)

Needles: size 8 Addi's, size G crochet hook for edging

Modifications: shortened body by 1/2", did 3-needle bindoff on the shoulders instead of seaming. I didn't get the gathered effect in the front though (as you were supposed to sew more stitches from the front than the back when doing mattress stitch on the shoulders) but I think the seams look neater than they probably would have and it really doesn't look different from the pattern picture.

I think I would like this better with long sleeves, as a fall/winter piece, but it's ok with the short sleeve T-shirt under it, I think. I wish the front edges were a little flatter, but this yarn doesn't really "block" being part acrylic along with the cotton content. I like the lace pattern, and I may try weaving a ribbon through it instead of the i-cord, as the pattern suggests as an alternative look. It was easy and quick to do, and I should have been done in a week, but for the languishing it did in my yarn closet for a couple of months.

Weekend To-Do List Progress

Here was my weekend to-do list:

1. weave in ends on Ophelia for wearing/modeling the final FO next week - that's all I have left to do on it

Results:

DONE! I finished and washed it on Friday and it's ready for wearing after I attach the i-cord belt.

2. make that watermelon color knit crossover top

DONE!! Here it is:

I'm happy with how it came out, but the way the front sections come together is bugging me. The coverstitch machine was AWESOME though, and made putting this together a lot easier. I'll model it and you can tell me what you think.

3. finish seaming the other side of the VK #29 Lace & Cable Top and pick up in the round for the bottom section

DONE! I have about 2" done on the bottom section now.

4. get eyebrows waxed (8 am tomorrow) and then go to the post office to mail out all the destashing yarns

Done - no pictures of that - emails to come to everyone who "won" yarns - most cost $4.90 for shipping (USPS Priority), but a few were more if there was a lot of heavy yarn.

5. go to a party Jim's cousin is having (3 pm on Sunday)

Done! Here's a picture of Jim and his cousin Craig with the Calder Cup. His cousin is the equipment manager of the Chicago Wolves (American Hockey League champions) so the party was to celebrate their win.

Jim with the Cup:

Me and the Cup:

Aunt Blanche (Craig's mom) and the Cup:

The cake they made featuring the mascot of the team:

6. - maybe - make Dawn's kimono top out of the brown polka dot knit fabric

Didn't get to this.

7. - maybe - finish those brown rayon Kwik Sew shorts I started a few months ago

Nope, didn't get to this either.

8. - at some point - sit by the pool and knit on one of my other projects, like maybe finishing Aleita as I just have the neckband to do. It's supposed to rain all weekend, but whenever it's not, I plan to be doing that.

Did get to this - was outside all day on Saturday working on Aleita, which I'm done with now except for grafting the neckband.

I also went grocery shopping on Saturday morning and bought ingredients to make a cake with this pan I had gotten a few years ago:

We're going to our friends Mary and Tom's house in Michigan, about a half hour north of where we just were a few weeks ago, for the 4th/5th of July and I thought it would be fun to make this Sandcastle Cake to bring with us to share with everyone.

Off topic (if there is ever a topic) here's the song that's been running through my head all day today...my friend Monica used to love Bruce Springsteen when we were growing up, and this was her favorite song. I head a screen door slam next door, with the high winds we've had this weekend, so that must have brought it to mind...so enjoy!

So, I feel great because I got everything I definitely wanted to do DONE. How was your weekend??

Weekend!!

It's been a long week and I am ready for the weekend!!! I haven't gotten much in the way of sewing or knitting done, as Jim and I have been going out every night this week. We'll get back on the eating at home thing soon - next week. His going back to work will create an opportunity for me to cook at least a couple of nights a week, as I will be home before him at least on Fridays. I went home for lunch yesterday and was able to put away a bunch of laundry that was in baskets (Jim is getting in a lot of golf lately in preparation for going back, so I was there by myself) and it felt good to get things done. I'm not minding the extra housework, as I will feel more like an owner of my house again instead of somewhat of a (pampered, lucky) guest. My tasks are going to be laundry and bathrooms, which I'm A-OK with, as the former is easy to do as background work while I'm knitting or sewing, and the second doesn't take that much time. We do have four bathrooms, but two are downstairs and not used very much. Mine is a trainwreck as it's huge, and Jim's, I usually don't set foot in. But it is nice that we can stay out of each other's hair in the morning when getting ready for work. He will probably be starting very early in the morning and will be leaving when I'm getting up and on the treadmill. Anyway, this is really boring!

Here's what's on my to-do list for the weekend:

1. weave in ends on Ophelia for wearing/modeling the final FO next week - that's all I have left to do on it

2. make that watermelon color knit crossover top

3. finish seaming the other side of the VK #29 Lace & Cable Top and pick up in the round for the bottom section

4. get eyebrows waxed (8 am tomorrow) and then go to the post office to mail out all the destashing yarns

5. go to a party Jim's cousin is having (3 pm on Sunday)

6. - maybe - make Dawn's kimono top out of the brown polka dot knit fabric

7. - maybe - finish those brown rayon Kwik Sew shorts I started a few months ago

8. - at some point - sit by the pool and knit on one of my other projects, like maybe finishing Aleita as I just have the neckband to do. It's supposed to rain all weekend, but whenever it's not, I plan to be doing that.

What's on your agenda?

SP12 Question #3

The question of the week is, What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

This is amazingly appropriate, given the activities here at this blog for the last day on destashing! Obviously I do not consider "the more the better" to be the answer to this question, or I would have kept everything for myself.

A perfect stash for me would include only sweater size lots of yarn, with each one designated for a specific pattern. I can make a summer top with 400-500 yards and a sweater with sleeves with 800-1000 yards, and no more than 1500 yards are ever needed for a sweater for me no matter how many cables, bobbles or other adornments are involved, so I try never to buy more than that. No single skeins or leftover yarn from previous projects. No mohair or boucle or "craft store yarn", either. Only wool and wool blends, cotton/wool blends (no 100% cotton), silk and silk blends, and alpaca/alpaca blends.

Does that sound horribly picky?

ETA: I guess it would be appropriate for me to share which items I decided to keep from Sandy's stash, as part of this post, as they meet all of the essential criteria! The pictures don't do the yarn justice (especially the last one) but here they are:

3 skeins (about 1600 yards, so there will be a little extra unless I make something longer) of Tess Designer Yarns Superwash Merino in gray

3 skeins of Brooks Farm Riata (1100 yards) in a forest green mix

and 8 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed in a navy blue colorway:

Nice, huh?

Here's What's Left!

WOW!! I couldn't believe how many people emailed me or left comments last night as soon as I posted the yarn pictures! I've compiled a list in order of request, first-come, first-served, and I will be emailing you soon for your address if you "won" the yarn you wanted. Before I finalize the list, I'd like to find homes for the remaining yarns - which are:

2 skeins Le Gran Mohair, pink

1 skein Rowan Plaid in gray

1 skein light blue Blue Sky Cotton

Rowan Soft Baby - three partial skeins in yellow, blue and off-white, left over from a baby gift

1 skein of what I think is Nashua Creative Focus Chunky

something labeled "Coed Mawr Woolen Mills" - 236 yards hand-painted; looks like it was purchased at Stitches Midwest a few years back, but other than that I don't know anything about it

Email or comment if you want any of these!! I'll tell you all what I decided to keep tomorrow - three things that believe it or not, were even better than what I'm giving away (sorry.) Also, I may decide to do this with a few of the yarns from my stash soon. There are some that I know I won't use that I bought too much of, or I already knit something with and won't want to use the yarn again for something else. I also have a full sweater made with Colinette Prism that I'd like to give away as it doesn't fit - for yarn harvesting or wearing, your choice. Stay tuned! I'm in cleaning mode!

OK, Here it Is....

I asked my friend again if she was SURE she wanted to give away her yarn and she said she does. I asked if she wanted me to sell it for her and she said if I did, to keep the money myself for the work of selling it. So I've decided to give it away, except for the couple of things I want to keep.

First person to email me gets it - I will ship it to you and let you know how much actual shipping was.

2 skeins Le Gran Mohair, purple

2 skeins Le Gran Mohair, pink

I believe these four skeins were purchased for the interlocking link scarf in Loop D Loop, so that could be a project to use these for.

4 skeins of Berroco Foliage

another 5 skeins of Berroco Foliage

One skein of Schaefer Yarns "Laurel" cotton - 400 yards - marked $39.95

1 skein Rowan Plaid in gray

1 skein of Brooks Farm Harmony

2 untouched skeins plus 2 rewound skeins of Magallanes

1 skein of Manos del Uruguay (no label, but I know that's what it is as I was with her when she bought it)

1 skein light blue Blue Sky Cotton

3 untouched full skeins plus at least 1-1.5 other skeins of Rowan Cotton Tape in a yellow-green color:

6+skeins of Louisa Harding Fauve and one skein of LH Kimono Ribbon yarn

6 skeins of Rowan Calmer in turquoise

One skein of Rowan Natural Silk Aran

Rowan Soft Baby - three partial skeins in yellow, blue and off-white, left over from a baby gift

One skein of Rowan Biggy Print in "Glum" colorway

1.5 skeins of Rowan Biggy Print in the blue/gray colorway - I think it is called "Dull" from memory (bad names they gave - they need to chat with the folks who name the OPI nail polish colors for inspiration!!)

1 skein Debbie Bliss Soho in green/brown colorway

1 skein of what I think is Nashua Creative Focus Chunky

something called "Coed Mawr Woolen Mills" cotton - 236 yards hand-painted

Just let me know what you want!

Yarn Discount Sale/Giveaway

This morning, I heard from a friend I hadn't been in touch with for awhile due to a lot of personal drama going on in her life for the last few years. Sandy came along on the Hawaii trip in 2006, and was super helpful with taking care of Peggy on the cruise, which Jim and I will always remember and appreciate. She was my next door neighbor and sushi eating/wine drinking/knitting buddy for awhile. I taught her to knit, and she was on a yarn collecting kick for quite some time.

Anyway, she called me this morning to say she is in the process of moving out of her house into an apartment and has no interest in knitting anymore or room for all the knitting stuff she'd collected, and asked if I would take her yarn stash, including needles and notions, off her hands. I of course said yes, and thanked her, so I'm going home for lunch today to get it when she drops it off then. I'll take a look through it and probably give some of the stuff away, on a first come, first served basis, and sell others at discounted prices. I don't totally know what's there, but she says there's a LOT. So stay tuned for updates!

I feel bad that she doesn't want to knit anymore, but I was happy that she thought of me and wanted to give it to me instead of (horror!) throwing it away. I had ended up getting too involved in her situation a few years ago as I was her friend and was just trying to help her, but I got way too involved and regret that. It seems like we will be friends again as we had a fun time chatting and catching up for a half hour or so on the phone.

Thinking of some happy times, here's a picture of us knitting on ship's solarium on a chilly sea day from Los Angeles to our first Hawaiian island destination.

and poolside fun - this is Jim's aunt Vicki, me and Sandy from left to right

Good times.

I'll keep you all posted on the stash and take a picture of it when I get it!

First off, thanks to everyone for their comments on my post yesterday about Jim's job situation. He called them back and it sounds like they will be able to give him almost everything he wanted to come back, so he accepted the job and starts August 1st. They are still working on whether they can give him 2VP straight off as his title or whether he will have to be in queue for it again. The backstory is, he was up for it for a few years before and they really mishandled the situation, so it would definitely be just and make him feel great about going back if they gave it to him as part of his package. The guy he's been talking to there is going to do everything to make it happen with HR, but he didn't want to promise (as that was part of the problem before - his functional area actually gave him the promotion to 2VP and told him, but then the next day HR somehow disapproved it. Now what is up with that? So that's why he wanted it walking in this time.)

I also had my dental implant worked on yesterday and I have a follow-up next week. The periodontist told me not to work out for the rest of the day yesterday, so I'm being extra careful and skipping my workout this morning too (LOL). I don't have any meetings scheduled today (not a one!) so I was debating a mental health day, but I should just go to work. Much as I'd rather sit outside in the sun, stuff always comes up, and it's better if I'm there when it does to handle it. Sometimes I think I need to be more of a slacker.

I am almost done with three knitting projects: Aleita, Ophelia (remember that one?) and Mentionable. I literally need about an hour on each one. Oh, and the penguin and the Bounce skirt too. This week or next week needs to be knitting week. I've determined that crochet just hurts my hands too much for some reason, so I'm back off that again. Next weekend we're going back up to Michigan for the 4th of July as we got an invite up to my friend/co-worker's new house on Lake Michigan about an hour north of where we stayed before in Union Pier, so I'll have plenty of car time for knitting then, but I don't know about all the finishing in the car. The car seems better for actual knitting, so maybe I'll finish all these projects and then have a new one to bring with me up there to concentrate on.

For my next sewing project, I think I'm going to make this:

I like the version shown on the model except with short sleeves - like the black and white print one they show in the 2nd row of drawings. I have some plain corally-red knit fabric that feels really soft and silky that will be perfect for it. It's like the color of a watermelon - yum!

This project has a TON of hems throughout (the ties, the sleeves, the neck, the bottom hem) so the coverstitch machine will be perfect for it.

NL 6816 - Done!

I finished New Look 6816 yesterday so I am wearing it to work today. I am soooo happy with that coverstitch machine - it made these hems on the bottom and sleeves a piece of cake and not something to dread!!

I'm happy with how it turned out, and this is the first finished sewing project where I'm just as happy with the inside of the garment as the outside (thanks to my serger and coverstitch machine.) I sewed all the seams on my regular sewing machine (not that there were that many) then serged them to finish them off, then did the hems on the coverstitch machine. It worked out great. I could have gone down a size on this, I think, as the neck area is a little "blousy" (Flashdance-y?) so I needed to wear a cami under it. But it fits well everywhere else, so I'm thinking that's just the style of it. I did solve the "neck flipping out" problem by sewing another round of stitches right below the neck band, through the seam allowances, as the pattern instructions said, and it looks fine.

There were two inches of positive ease on this pattern for my size, which is usually not the case with knits unless they're gathered or ruched somehow, taking up some of that ease, and the size down would have been zero ease (which is recommended usually for most knit garments.) I like it though. It's comfortable and I think it's stylish. I think I'm the first person to review this on Patternreview, so I'm going to go over there and post my review now.

In other news, I sewed one side of the Lace & Cable top and started two crochet projects. More to come on that later!

In OTHER other news, Jim may be going back to work August 1st. His old company is recruiting him heavily and he may end up getting everything he wants if he decides to go. We've been doing more than fine for the past three years, but at 41, he's obviously too young to retire permanently, and if he's going to ease back into it, better to go back to a situation he knows than the unknown. He can take the train there again, so a 25 minute commute (the man needs to learn to KNIT to take advantage of that free time!) with all the same people who know him and the quality of his work. He also can take the motorcycle to the train station (2 miles away) during the warmer months, and we can just get a basic car to sit at the train station for the winter as that's all we'll be using it for. Neither of us want to incur a car payment so it'll probably be a used SUV that will be practical for carting stuff around, as we don't live too far away from anything so gas won't be a big issue (and those SUVs are being sold dirt cheap right now because of the gas situation.)

As far as the actual job, he'll be report-writing again, pulling data out of the behemoth banking systems and writing procedures/training people on how to work with the reports. He hasn't officially decided yet, but tomorrow is when he's going to touch base again with the guy he had lunch with on Friday and let him know what he's thinking. I think it's a good move, but I'm conflicted about it. It's nice to spend so much time together, lunches during the day, etc. and to know he's right there at home, not very far away from my office (3 miles) if I need anything. I'll also miss early morning FO pictures as my photographer takes my picture better than anyone else. We'll just have to do the photo shoots on weekends or after work, or I guess I can resort to bathroom mirror shots at work or getting a tripod. You really can't put a price on the closeness we have right now - which I hope doesn't go away, and it shouldn't, but I am nervous about it. However, I guess we are putting a price on it - the price is his foregone salary. He's really done with the house projects now, for the most part, so I think it's OK for him to go back. Am I just being mean and focusing too much on money to feel like he should go back?

Coverstitch Demo!

A few people asked me if I would do a demo of coverstitching on my new machine. DONE!

Here's the finished front and back side as well (as still pictures as we couldn't get the zoom to work clearly enough):

Right side:

Wrong side:

Can I just say I *heart* this machine?? I used it to finish the top I started yesterday and it looks GREAT. Finished project pics to come tomorrow when I wear it to work!