Yarn Crawl

Desperately Seeking Angela....

Angela, I still haven't heard from you on the contest you won on my blog on Monday, and I don't have your email address or blog link. Please contact me by Monday or I will be forced to re-draw another winner. Thanks!! Sorry to communicate this way but I have no other way of getting in touch with you!!

Knitting WIP Post!

It feels like forever since I've done one of these types of posts - but here goes!

First, Habanero - working on waist shaping endlessly. At least the sleeves are only elbow-length as I am really.sick of this one.

Next up, Tang, in variegated Brooks Farm Riata. This one's moving along quickly and I'm already on the hip shaping after starting this last weekend.

Even Mirepoix has some progress since I brought it to work - just bound off the armholes and neck, will be setting up the steek stitches on the next round. I'm taking it home this weekend as I think it needs some dedicated attention to get that all set up right.

I did start Wheat Ear with the SKC, from some cream Pima Tencel I had in stash, but haven't gotten past the neck ribbing yet so no pics.

Also, here is the yarn I bought for Bijou - I bought the exact recommended yarn and hope to start this maybe next month some time after I get some of these projects off the needles. It's Classic One-Fifty held together with Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace.

Auditors are (attempting to) kick our butts, but we turned something that could have been a very bad negative into an actual favorable adjustment. If we can make it stick, which I should be able to based on persuasive convos with them so far. I should have been a lawyer, but there's no more formal education in my future. I have a memo to write today to make my case.

Have a great weekend! I know I for one am very much looking forward to it after this week!

Simplicity 4704 - Version 2.0!

I am really enjoying making these patterns over again and perfecting them a bit each time. I had made Simplicity 4704 before, but I made it in the pattern size 12 and then ended up having to take it in a lot. This time I started with pattern size 10, making the same "petite" adjustments I did before, but sewing all of the lengthwise pieces except the back with a 3/8" instead of 5/8" seam allowance. I also cut off 4" from the length before putting on a 1/2" hem with the coverstitch machine. Next time I plan to make it exactly the same way, except maybe I will only cut off 3". It is a little bit short, but OK.

Here's the whole outfit:

head-on (with my necklace crooked - can you tell I've discovered the wonderful world of the flat iron? This is my new friend.)

A little blurry, but closer-in side view (no image stabilization lens on this camera - it's that Nikon S7C I got last year as it's easily portable)

and back

I'm in love with these wrap dresses. They're so easy to wear, and now that I found one with a more decent neckline, I really don't even need a cami underneath it (though I still wore one of those built in bra cami ones today under this as it was the right color and then I could skip a bra. What is all the conversation on this blog lately about bras??)

Oh well, now it's back to all auditors, all the time as it's that time of year. Toodles!

Check this out!!

One of my most encouraging and consistent readers, Kat of Phat Chick Designs, pointed out in her blog comment that my version of the Simplicity 3678 "Threads" dress that I worked and reworked over the summer made the Top 2008 Patterns page over at Patternreview! When I got there, I saw immediately that our friend Susan of Knitters Delight also made the page with her version of Vogue 8379. Susan has taken to sewing in a major way and like me, really got going with it in 2008! I actually don't believe she had ever sewn anything before last year, seriously! The outfits she is turning out are amazing and fit her perfectly. I am very impressed with both of us for getting onto the page in our first year of serious sewing! Yay!

And The Winner Is....

Angela! Angela, you commented on Friday but I don't have your email address or a blog link, so can you email me at rm090195 (at) gmail (dot) com to claim your prize? Send me your snail mail address and let me know which one of the two yarns I posted on Saturday you would like, as I don't have the original BF Riata I offered. Thanks! And thanks to everyone else for entering!

Snow White - Modeled!

I finished weaving in the ends/grafting the armholes on Snow White today and got Jim to do a mini photo-shoot before we went out for lunch. I just have to say, this knit looks so long and narrow when it's not being worn, but when I put it on, I felt amazing. I don't have any other knits that make me feel this, well, SEXY when I put it on. Part of it could be that padded strapless bra, though. I usually don't wear padded bras as I like a more natural look, but my only strapless one (which was necessary with this neckline) is one of those VS crazy padded numbers. Anyhoo... feeling a bit like Olivia Newton-John in Grease in the "post-makeover, bad girl" phase, with the hair done out to match, or maybe one of those 50's pin up gals, here I am:

and here's a picture I took of myself in the mirror while I was waiting for Jim to get up and be my photographer - I am just so HAPPY with this thing!

And all the vital stats:
Pattern: Snow White by Ysolda Teague (thank you, Ysolda!)
Size: 32
Yarn: Brooks Farm Riata
Mods: only to the length of the sleeves and body.

Did I mention this one won't be worn to work? It's kind of nice to have made a top that's clearly for my personal life, that can't really multitask to be work appropriate....

Slight Change in Plans!

You know that skein of blue-green Riata I said I was giving away? Welllllll, I don't seem to have it. This makes sense, if I think about it, as I used 2.5 to make Snow White and I only had 3. Hmmm. I don't know where I thought that other skein was to materialize from.

So the new prize is just as nice - and I have confirmed these are, in fact, both in my stash as I just photographed them now:

A choice of

one 570 yard skein of Tess Designer Yarns Superwash Merino (that you may recognize from the Cable Down Raglan I made with it)- this would be enough for a tank top or a lovely scarf. It can be doubled to get a chunky gauge as I did for the Burnished Tunic, with its sister yarn in a variegated brown colorway.

or one 500 yard skein of the now-discontinued and oh-so-rare Brooks Farm Harmony (made the Simple Knitted Bodice with it) - it is a butter-soft blend of mohair (55%), wool (22.5%) and silk (22.5%). I think it would make a lovely small shawl or super soft scarf or even tank top.

Sorry for the mixup and I hope no one is too upset about the change. You can leave a comment on either this post or the original one to be entered into the contest. Meanwhile, I'm curled up into a little ball trying to recover enough from last night's party to gear up for tonight's party. Ugh. I had thought the work party would be tame, and the one tonight would be wild. I had it backwards. I was fine until they started in with the shots. I had remembered tequila as being one of the better shots to do, if I had to do one. I remembered wrong.

Finally Friday!!

This has been a really long week! It's year end so we're in the midst of the financial statement prep process and audit. For me, it's not that the hours are necessarily longer than normal, it's just that more random questions come up that have to be addressed/potential bombs have to be de-activated. It always seems like no matter how much you prepare, there's always some random thing that we have to justify - but so far so good.

Anyway, tonight my co-workers are taking me and my other co-worker who also just graduated out for drinks after work. That should be fun. I'm hoping to limit it to an hour and a half or so, because tomorrow night I'm going to the same co-worker's graduation party. She went back for her bachelor's degree as a non-traditional student and I am really proud of her for doing it. I've tried to be a mentor to her and encourage her along the way, and she always tells me how much she appreciates that, which is really nice to hear.

What else? I tried on Snow White this morning, after taking her off J.Lo and she fits great. The neckline is just the right depth, which I was worried about. Just have to weave in the ends, graft the armholes and I'll be able to do modeled pics!

Besides the party tomorrow night, and the thing after work tonight, I don't have any other weekend plans, so I should be able to work on my knitting projects (Habanero and Wheat Ear - I brought Mirepoix into the office to work on during boring webcasts) and finish my Simplicity 4704 2.0 dress I started last weekend.

I bought a chaise lounge yesterday for the corner of my master bedroom, and a gravity feed iron - two things to cross off the list. I'll show pics when I receive them. I'm moving along on that list though.

In other randomness, and in an attempt to reward you all for getting through these picture-less posts lately, I am giving away a prize. It is the leftover 375 yard skein of Brooks Farm Riata in the blue/green variegated colorway that I used for Snow White. If you've never used Riata, here's a great way for you to try it - it's really a great yarn. I'll randomly pick a winner from the comments on today's post. Here's a picture of it, although the blue and green colors are much prettier and vibrant than in the picture:

I really appreciate you reading every day and commenting. I am back to my usual 143 hits a day and it's funny that it's 143 a day, week after week. You all are consistent!! Happy weekend - I'll post the winner on Monday!

I'm in Love....

With a egg poaching machine!!

I bought this

on Amazon a few days ago (when it was actually $29.88 with free Prime shipping - it seems to have gone up quite a bit in the past week) and decided to try it this morning.

O.M.G. does this thing work perfectly!!! I almost want to film a demo of it, but seriously, all you do is put a few tablespoons of water into the steaming tray, spray the egg poacher part with some PAM spray, crack an egg into it, put toast or an english muffin or a bagel into the toaster slots, push the toaster lever down and press the "Eggs and Toast" button. Four minutes later the poached egg and toast are ready at the same time, and all you do is put the egg on the toast, add a piece of cheese if you want, and eat! Now, it does take a few minutes to clean up all the parts after this, but to be able to eat something so tasty so quickly, made just the way you like it? Heaven.

I really don't eat much fast food, but one thing I've developed a weakness for was McDonald's Egg McMuffins. As far as fast food goes, they're not that bad - 350 calories - but you never know how much butter they're going to put on it (standard amount or just whatever the person making it decides to slap on) and also I don't happen to like any type of breakfast meat, so although Canadian bacon isn't the grossest of the breakfast meats, I still prefer not to eat it and I won't bother to pick it off if I order the muffin. This way I can just avoid it altogether. If you do like breakfast meats, you can steam them in the tray above the egg at the same time. What else do I like about this product? It has the ability to also quickly hard boil (well, technically, hard-steam) eggs, another thing that I like but rarely make for myself. So this machine brings together my two favorite (well, really, only) ways I like eggs in one package. LOVE!

Snow White - Modeled on J.Lo for Now

I finished Snow White last night and decided to put her on J.Lo to block. J.Lo's measurements are a little larger than mine and so I thought as this sweater is super fitted, I'd put it on her for a couple of days. I still need to graft the armholes and weave in a few ends, but I finished the back neck grafting which was the only big finishing task. I love kitchener stitch.

Side view:

Front - here's where I'm thinking (hoping!!) it will look better on me than my dress form:

Back:

and a close up of the back neck grafting - it would have showed it better straight on, but I couldn't get the lighting right last night:

This was a fun pattern to knit (I actually like 2x2 ribbing) and I liked using the Brooks Farm Riata for it. It took just under 2 skeins - so only about 700 yards. I made the S size (32") but because this project is so long and narrow on the needles, it required a lot of trying on to get the length right. It was tougher to adjust the width, and if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't use the tubular cast on for the bottom as I actually think it's tighter than my usual knitted cast on. No biggie though, it just needs to be blocked a little more enthusiastically. Usually I don't really pull anything into shape when I wash it, just lay it flat to dry. On this one I will really block it into submission (it really only needs it on the bottom section.)

I'll show pictures of me wearing it once I weave in the ends and graft the armholes. I did try it on a couple of times in process and it looked good, so I'm looking forward to it!