Yarn Crawl

Happy Weekend!

I haven't had much blog mojo this week, mainly because all I've really done is work on Silken Scabbard and my actual job (that thing I do that supports my Tess silk yarn and knit fabric obsessions) has been pretty hectic. Plus they are still working on my home computer to remove the virus. Yeah, that is worrying me as it's taking a while.

However...I am off work today and have a four day weekend. I hope to get alot of things accomplished and photographed. I'm not going to say which things, as I don't really know yet. But rest assured that in four days of crafting, things will be accomplished. Kind of counter-culture to the whole Labor Day weekend thing as I plan on working harder than normal (on my chosen projects) instead of a traditional idea of relaxing.

And speaking of the whole Labor Day weekend and what it traditionally signifies re: change in seasons, end of summer - I'm OK with it. I live in a place where there are four distinct seasons and I truly love each and every one for different reasons. I really don't believe in rushing fall or any other season (hence my whole "don't use the f word thing" as summer is not yet over despite what people say.) But when it really is over, and we're into fall, I'll embrace that as it's another season I really love. Clinging to the past is never a healthy or productive way to go, and I'd rather look forward than back. I've had a great summer so far, but I'm sure I'll have a great fall and then winter as well!

I discovered something about myself (well, really just my knitting) this summer - that I, as a rule, do not enjoy knitting summer sweaters/tank tops, because I really don't enjoy wearing summer sweaters/tank tops. I have so many that I've made and never wear. I ended up spending the majority of the summer knitting non-summer sweaters like Forecast, Cable Down Raglan, Dirndl Raglan and Silken Scabbard, and I think that's going to be my approach from now on with a few exceptions. I just don't really like that many summer sweaters, and now that I can sew, I can make summer tops a lot more easily and quickly out of fabric than out of yarn anyway.

But now? Fall and winter (and really spring too, as we have cool and sometimes short springs in the Chicago area - seems to go straight from winter to summer some years) is all sweaters, all the time. So I see my sewing taking more of a backseat (of course, after I create a bunch of fall dresses, which is my plan in the next few weeks) and being relegated to a supporting role of creating coordinating skirts to go with the fabulous sweaters.

Have a GREAT weekend (holiday or not!)

Silken Scabbard Progress

I did the seamless "hem" on Silken Scabbard and have started the braided cables for the sleeves. Here it is so far. Now I've got the Nikon (the same point and shoot I had with wifi) to do close-ups better, after adjusting some settings, but am still working on getting the colors to be true.

Here's a picture of the hem - they have you put the cable stitches on waste yarn (that's the yellow stuff here) for binding off at the end. I don't know why they don't just have you "3 needle knit" those too instead.

Anyway, yesterday I skipped blogging because I had a consultation with yet another oral surgeon re: my issue of my baby teeth that never fell out or had anything underneath along with my issue of replacing the implant I had. I'm going to be having surgery to place at least two new implants, and possibly all three, along with three bone grafts and a sinus lift, tentatively scheduled for the 18th of September. I'm nervous about this, mostly because of the "twilight" anesthesia, which is kind of a cross between local and general from what I hear* but this guy is tops in the field, does about 1,000 of these a year, and has a 99.8% success rate.

* The doctor says it's kind of like you had a pitcher of margaritas - you're awake but are literally and figuratively "feeling no pain". I'm thinking I will afterwards though, as I've already been given my Vicodin prescription for filling beforehand.

On a much lighter note, here's a preview of coming attractions:

Stitches Midwest Market Haul!

For someone who really didn't intend to buy too much yarn this year at Stitches, I sure bought a lot on Saturday!

Here's what I got:

four skeins of Tess Cultivated Silk and Wool (would've bought five if they had them, but nope! There are sweaters in the new Wendy B. book I can make with 800 yards though, or I could finally make a shorter-sleeved Sahara...)

three skeins (about 1300 yards) of Tess Cascade Silk - this stuff feels incredible, and is really a different color than the bright turquoise - it's more of a teal-y indigo:

three skeins (about 1300 yards) of Brooks Farm Acero:

two skeins (about 1200 yards!!) of chocolate brown natural colored alpaca - only $50 total at Yarn Barn of Kansas! That really is a great deal for that yardage. It is really similar in weight and feel to the oatmeal colored alpaca I recently got from my SP.

one full bag (about 1200 yards) of Laines du Nord Cashsilk in bright emerald green from WEBS - $75. I had never seen or heard of this yarn and it is super soft and silky, so I bought it.

And....a Namaste bag from Tess. Only $50!! No way could I pass it up.

Besides buying lots of yarn on Saturday, I also finished Dirndl Raglan yesterday and love it! Here it is drying in the sun:

All I have to do is weave in the ends. I finished listening to New Moon while I was working on it. The second half of this book was way better than the first half, and was really good!! On to Eclipse...

Speaking of FOs, I realize that there are a bunch of FOs I haven't modeled yet, mostly because they need some small thing to be finished. There's Mentionable, Forecast, Cable Down Raglan and now Dirndl Raglan, and I never showed the Sweetheart Vest that I finished a few months ago. I also am about halfway done with the 2nd sleeve on Mirepoix (but will probably have to reknit the other sleeve.) So now I'm down to Mirepoix and the recently-cast-on Silken Scabbard for "on the needles" and just finishing tasks for Silk Slip and Pasha the Penguin. This is not very many WIPs for me!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I am behind on my emails because my home computer got the "Virtumonde virus" on Friday and I have to take it in to get it fixed. I tried a number of things to fix it myself, but basically it's a huge PIA - it's like this popup comes up whenever I start Windows and won't close. It will only let me get on the internet about half the time, and I figured it was best to just shut it down. Geek Squad would have wanted like $300 to fix it, but my local Fry's only charges $59.99 to scan and remove any viruses, so that's a no brainer. I don't know if the latest Windows update addresses this virus, but I know a lot of people posted on message boards about it during this month when I googled for it. I hadn't done the Windows update, so it's probably my fault. Oh well! It'll be fixed soon!

Dirndl Raglan Body Bound Off!

Here's what it's looking like so far - remember that I've only washed the cream section, so the bottom will be more drapey/loose once I wash the whole thing.

I'm liking it!!! On to the sleeves...

SP12 Question #11

Hope everyone had a great week and is looking forward to the weekend! I know I am, as I'm going to Stitches Midwest tomorrow and hopefully finding some great stuff for my SP and for my stash. I think I'm going to look for DK-weight yarns this time, as I have so much worsted and aran already in stash. No cotton or hemp or angora - just wool or alpaca or silk. I might try to score another bag of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky to accompany the one I bought last year at Stitches East, as I think I'm going to use that for a self-designed sweater for Jim soon.

Here's the SP12 question of the week - we are on #11 already!

What is the best thing you've ever received in the mail?

There have been a TON of great things I've received in the mail, but I have to say the best thing I can think of was my Janome 900CP coverstitch machine. I love, love, love this machine and it has transformed my sewing in ways I hadn't imagined! I no longer dread hems. I need to master the blind hem foot on my other machine for things that I can't coverstitch, because traditional hemming is not my cup of tea. Anything slow and hand sewn is so not me.

As far as knitting or sewing news, I got nothin'. (Sidenote/explanation: this goofy new guy I work with keeps asking people randomly "Whatcha got for me?" and the required answer is always "I got nothin'", unless of course, you want to feed him information. He's a U of Chicago MBA so his education probably cost as much as some people's homes. The stories could go on for days. The joys of working with Gen Y.....English teachers and editors are crying all over the globe. I'm just thankful he doesn't write emails or memos in text-speak.) I'm binding off Dirndl Raglan's body and will be starting the first sleeve, and I got all the stitches off the waste yarn and onto another circular needle for Silken Scabbard. Not much else!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll have some stuff to show ya after Stitches and the weekend!

S3918 Modeled!

Here's the second Simplicity 3918 top I made - this is the one I made for myself after I made one for my friend/co-worker's birthday.

Here's the whole outfit - I'm wearing this with a side zip bias cut silk skirt, but it is too loose at the hip now (but a little too tight at the waist - ugh) so the zipper is sticking out a little on the side, which you can see on the second and third pictures. Sorry about the closed eyes/goofy expressions; at work, I didn't want to ask my friend to take a million pictures.

front view closer up:

and back:

I've gotten the camera to work with our corporate wi-fi network so I can email pictures to myself using that. The IT guy gave me the password for the wi-fi so I don't have to disconnect my charger/camera cord at home and bring it in. I got lotsssss of enablers (LOL).

The verdict on the top: I made a size down from my measurements on this version, but I could also have stood to take up the shoulders a bit so that the gathers under the bust were actually gathering something. As it stands, it is a little loose but work appropriate as it's not clingy. I think if I took up the shoulders, it would also fix the low-ness of the neck. So if I make this again, I would do that at the pattern tissue stage, and also shorten it by 2" as I did that to the finished project and it is still tunic-length (although I have to cut things shorter whenever I'm coverstitching because I only need to turn up the hem 1/2" so that it finishes the edge at the same time that it sews the hem.) If it's any deeper of a hem, it won't make that clean edge on the inside. I like it, and I will probably make one more of these as they're quick and easy and I think the style is good on me!

New Patterns!

Last week, I bought some Butterick patterns at Hancock's sale, and now this week they're on sale at Jo-Ann's so I'm going to pick up a few more tomorrow when the sale starts. Here's what I picked up or will be picking up - I adore the first two, especially.

Lots of possibilities!!!

We Do It At Night Now!!

Why, sew and blog FOs, of course! What did you think I meant (dirty minds...)? Marjorie - see, I can come up with witty titles too on occasion!

Now that Jim leaves for work at 6 am, we obviously have no time for FO pictures in the morning! So we're going to start doing it now.

Without further ado, here is Version 2.0 of the Simplicity 3678 "Threads" (f/k/a maternity frock) dress. I have now really successfully de-maternitized it! Check this out:

I look like I'm about to do some kind of line dance in this one - sashay, chante...or something...

A straight on shot, with cropped head for the "purists" out there - Jenny, that inside joke is for you. I really did NOT like the look on my face so off with my head. (Can you tell I've consumed wayyyyy too much coffee tonight??) And no, I don't know what's going on with the hem in this picture - I swear it doesn't look like that.

In case you couldn't tell just how happy I am with how this turned out, here's a few more:

(crazy demon eyes and all)

(and Stacey Crimson Purl, the inclusion of the gratuitous shoe pose is for YOU!! You always notice my shoes in my pictures!) And Phyl, this is inspired by your "jumping for joy" pose on your blog!

This has turned out to be a huge shout out post as I am in the BEST mood! It wouldn't be complete without a shout-out to Adrienne...holla atcha gurl! (Project Runway reference for the uninitiated...) I don't know how I'm going to get to sleep with all this caffeine coursing through my veins...might just have to knit and listen to more of Teen Vampires, Part II (a/k/a New Moon.) See why I can't drink coffee at night?? It's FUN though!

Oh, and one more thing I'm excited about?? I got my new domain up and running - now you can type in www.yarncrawl.com and come to my blog directly! Cool, huh?

Weekend Progress!

My friend really liked her top yesterday but hasn't tried it on yet - pics to come when she does. She really liked the style and colors though. So...when I got home I decided to make another one (Simplicity 3918, view A) a size smaller. Except...this fabric is different, more spandex-y, so it is clingy (except still loose in the bust) and so it still needs a cami under it and something with a flat front on the bottom half (definitely NOT the gray fly-front pants I was thinking of wearing with it.)

I'm thinking maybe a longer black side zip silky skirt I have will work, or if I can find a pair of pants in my closet (or make a pair, hmmm) without any "noise" like a zipper, buttons, belt loops or pockets, I'll do that. I also haven't hemmed it yet because I'm not sure exactly what length I want it to be. I'm thinking "bottom of the hip" so that would be about 2.5" shorter, and I'd need to cut it before putting it on the coverstitch machine.

Next up, here's Forecast after a bath, but before I put the button bands on (the picture with the button bands on it is coming out a weird color.) I finished the button bands today and wove in all the ends. Nothing left to do except buttons now!

Dirndl Raglan also got a bath - I wasn't sure how the Elann Superwash Bamboo would change with washing on that scale, so I washed it before finalizing the length for the main color section. This yarn gets super soft and smooth after washing, and really nice and drapey. The stitches weren't looking so great before I washed it but it all evened out after I did that. I just started the third row of the contrast color section. It just hit me that my color names are "Devon Cream" and "Praline (something)" so my sweater is basically "Pralines-n-Cream!" Too funny...I hadn't thought about that before. I'm really liking this one now that I feel good about both the yarn and the fit. I love the mid-project washing thing! It works well to avoid mishaps.

Also, I am almost to the "joining hem round" on Silken Scabbard. I have never used a provisional cast on for anything, let alone to turn a hem. It's this technique that's kind of like the 3 needle bindoff without the binding off part. Pretty interesting! I think it was an Elizabeth Zimmerman thing, from what I'm reading. I'm really liking this project too, and have not minded the thin yarn at all! I think it's because it's a really soft animal fiber (alpaca) and not the dreaded hemp or 100% cotton. Those yarns just kill my hands!

It's a little lighter than it looks here, but I like how the cables are looking so far! It'll be interesting when I get to the part where they "morph" into a different type of braided cable too! Most of the pattern is really simple though. I like patterns like that - they have easy stockinette sections where you can zone out, with interesting parts thrown in just so you don't fall asleep.

Hope everyone's weekend was great!!

Forecast Progress, Silken Scabbard and Simplicity 3918 (In No Particular Order)

Yesterday I got home from work around 1 pm and started working on a gift for my other friend/co-worker's 40th birthday party today. I had made a different top for her earlier this week but I didn't like how it came out so I'm tweaking it and keeping it myself. I finished this (Simplicity 3918, view A) at about 3:30:

She is about my size, so I tried it on and determined that the bust was too low on it so that the gathers under the bust weren't really gathering anything. I took up the shoulder/sleeve seam about 5/8", but the bust could stand to be a little more fitted. I'll see how it works for her when she tries it on - hopefully I'll have modeled shots of it later today. I know for sure I'm going to make the next size down when making this again - I'm thinking of making it for me in this fabric:

Actual knitting: I haven't shown a progress pic of Forecast in awhile because I've just been hanging out on Sleeve Island and it hasn't been very interesting. I'm almost finally done with the second sleeve. I am debating about what I want to do about the button bands in the front until I wash it and see how much the Lamb's Pride relaxes. I changed the sleeves to eliminate the ribbing sections and just did the bobble pattern all the way down to the garter stitch cuffs.

Today I broke my provisional cast-on cherry. Somehow with all of my seamless knits I had managed to avoid the provisional cast-on, and I think it was because of the long-tail cast-on that is required for one version. I avoid the long-tail cast-on like the plague, and always use the knit-on cast on to start projects. I think it's because the knit-on cast-on is the first cast-on method I learned and I liked it, so I figured, why bother? Long-tail always looked fiddly to me and I didn't see any upside to using it. Well, I used it today with Wendy B's provisional cast on method, as it looked easier to me than that crochet-hook method (we all know how successful I am at crochet) and I actually got it right:

The light green yarn is my waste yarn and the tan one is my Joseph Galler alpaca that I'm using for Silken Scabbard.

Since I'm so close to finishing Forecast, I figured I could cast on a new project I really wanted to work on. I reworked the row gauge math on the sleeves for Mirepoix, as I am getting 7 rows to an inch on the ribbing and I am supposed to be getting 10.5 (have to reknit the first sleeve that I mindlessly followed the pattern on) but that yarn (Louet Gems) drives me nuts with its constant twisting up and I can only handle it for so long. Plus that one is going to have to be steeked, and is generally high maintenance and a PIA. It's lucky it's going to be finished, is all I can say. It can't expect me to finish it quickly too (although "quickly" is relative as it will be a year since I cast that on in October.) Dirndl Raglan is going along smoothly (I have about 11" done from the armhole) but that is my background mindless knitting project. Silken Slip just needs straps and the bottom fabric skirt section to be sewn on.

So all of that is justification for why I cast on YET ANOTHER knitting project!! Jim always tells me I shouldn't explain myself so much, but I always justify everything in my mind as part of making a decision, so I explain my reasoning to anyone who wants to listen (or is trapped and can't get away.) I plan on finishing the sleeve on Forecast before the party this afternoon and washing/blocking it to see how the sizing is looking, so progress will still take place on the other WIPs.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!