Yarn Crawl

Upcoming Plans

This morning I went to the dentist's office to get impressions for my two crowns (for those implants I had done in September) and the ladies in the office were raving over how much they loved my dress. I was wearing this one (Simplicity 3775) except with gray tights and boots.

Of course I had to tell them I made it, and it made me motivated to make more of these. I've already made it in the ruched waist scoop-neck version - I think the next one will be the plain waist version, except with the V-neck.

It just made me feel great the way they were going on and on. I've decided that knit dresses are all-season, depending on how they're accessorized, so this has gotten me re-motivated to sew.

I am moving along on the upper section of Snow White and should have that to show in a few days. It's KILLING me not to have a FO for awhile, but I guess it's only been a couple of weeks. I'm crazy, I know. I want to cast on a nice easy top-down raglan at 4 stitches to the inch right now, or maybe a Fitted Knits project - something immediate gratification as I haven't done that type of project in awhile. Knitting Habanero is feeling like a job, because every time I work on it I only get an inch done! I guess that's what happens when you work on projects that are 6 stitches to the inch and 8 stitches to the inch row gauge...UGH!!! I have to see progress or it makes me crazy. Soon, I will be able to show Snow White and the new Simplicity 4074 knit dress that I worked on over the weekend.

ETA -later this morning some of my co-workers and I are going next door to Finley Grill (the restaurant next door to our office building) to watch the inauguration and have lunch. It really is exciting to watch history being made!!

Weekend Update

It turned out to be a pretty good weekend, although I have no pretty pictures to show for it!

On Friday Jim was feeling better so we ended up going to Reel Club as planned - it was really good and we had a fun time with our friends. I gave him Guitar Hero for the Wii, and he really likes it. Stef and Tom gave him two bottles of his favorite varieties of Jack Daniels - one of Gentleman Jack and another of the single barrel variety - so that was a great surprise, along with taking us out for dinner!

I mostly worked on Snow White all weekend and started and finished the 2nd sleeve, and am about seven rounds into the yoke. I'm stuck now on one of the pattern instructions (it is errata, I think) so am waiting for an answer on Ravelry. Then I worked on a new Simplicity 4074 dress (another view B princess seamed faux wrap dress) a size down this time to the pattern size 10 as I had taken in the other one so much, but I may have overdone it as this fabric is different - less stretchy. I may be doing more tweaking after I sew in the side panels. I'm using 3/8" seam allowances on the side panels as that is always where I need the extra room. Anyway....I'm getting closer to getting it perfect as the upper body fits great so far. Should be done in the next few days!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I Better Get Sewing...

I got the Talbots' suit yesterday and tried it on this morning. The quality of the fabric and construction was good, and the fit was OK, in that the pieces are wearable, but overall, not what I was looking for and definitely not soul-stirring. Too baggy in some spots, pulling in others. Bleah. So again RTW lets me down and makes me feel like something's wrong with me when things don't fit right. I better get sewing!!

Have a great weekend, everyone! It's Jim's birthday today (the Big 4-2) and we were supposed to try Reel Club tonight with Stefanie and Tom, but we may reschedule as he has a bad cold and is feeling crappy. I think he will like his gift (more to come on that after he opens it) and I hope he does feel better later so we can still go out. His aunt Vicki's birthday is also today, and we are going to her house tomorrow night as everyone will be in town, so that should be fun.

Here's a cute picture of Jim and Gilda to sign off with - I'm sure I've shared this one before, but I love it so I'll share it again on his birthday. Jim, I love you and the last 13 years have been great - there are many more adventures to come and I can't wait!

False Alarm

My Hancock's doesn't have the new patterns yet, so that plan is on hold. I'm glad I phoned first!

It's All About the Patterns

First - knitting patterns. I just saw a post about this earlier today - bought it!! This is so cute. I didn't realize that Twist Collective came out with patterns in between issues. I love all of the stuff they publish.

In other news, I finally picked a yarn for my Wheat Ear raglan, re-engineered to be knit top-down. Because I changed the gauge to 5 sts to the inch for mine, so that I could follow the pattern #s for the 35" size yet get a 33" result, the Brooks Farm Riata I originally picked wasn't working out well. Too stiff, a little too fuzzy, etc. So then I swatched 1.) Patons' Classic Wool 2.) Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora 3.) Misti Alpaca Worsted and finally 4.) Cascade Pima Tencel. The last one ended up being the charm, and I picked the off-white/cream color from my stash. I think it will make the sweater be more "all-season". I'm excited about it now that I found the right yarn.

Another thing I figured out is that I always *must* have a mindless knit on the needles, otherwise I won't knit as consistently. Rather than working on the more difficult knit when I know I'm brain dead (which happens frequently at night after work) I just don't knit at all. I do have the 2nd sleeve of Snow White to do, which is mindless once it gets going, but the tubular cast-on is a PIA and I always have to look up how to do it despite having already done it on the body and the other sleeve. For some reason, I've been putting off working on Habanero after getting the sleeves separated, even though there's only cables on every four rounds. Who knows what my problem is?! But anyway, it will turn around soon.

Today I'm going at lunch to get some new Vogue spring collection patterns at Hancock as they are on sale for $3.99. Here's what I'm getting (hover over any of the pictures if you want the pattern number):

I still have a lot of other patterns I haven't touched yet, but I liked those so I figured I'd get them while they're on sale - I have to go the first day of the sale to beat out all the other crazies at Hancock's that will be fighting me for my patterns, though. There's only one Hancock's near me, so if it's out, I'm pretty much out of luck. No biggie, but I'd rather get them than not.

Yesterday Jim had to deal with that big Metra meltdown at Union Station, but didn't do so for long because after asking five cab drivers in the cab line, he found the sixth one that was willing to drive him out to the suburbs. It was funny because he was standing next to some other guy who lives one town over, and he told the guy he was getting a cab, and the guy had to think about whether he could do it or not and call his wife. Hmmm, half of cab fare (probably $25-$30 - Jim's ride was $45 and there's always a 2nd person supplement) or sitting around in Union Station with 30,000 of your not-so-closest friends for three or four hours? I don't know. Jim was outta there and was actually home by 5 minutes after 5:00, maybe like 10 minutes earlier than normal. You go babe!

Well-Suited??

Not much to report today - I didn't even knit yesterday. Can you believe it? I usually knit every day for at least an hour or two. I was just tired, and so was Jim, so we went to bed early. One comment I do have is that I really want to learn how to make professional looking suits that fit perfectly. I don't have much need for suits on a day to day basis, but I may have an occasion to wear one soon. I woke up last night in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep (probably because I went to bed too early - that happens sometimes) and so I decided to try to look for petite suits online.

I do have a few suits in my closet, after clearing out most of them that were no longer in style (most were purchased in the mid 90s when I had to wear them every day) but the ones I do have aren't "soul-stirrers" in the words of Tim Gunn. I realized that I hadn't had that "feeling like a million bucks" mindset when wearing a suit since Barami Studio used to have stores in our area. This store had petite suits that were fabulous - great fabrics and styles - and I truly felt fabulous when wearing them. For some reason they fit my body perfectly. So I googled them, not knowing if they had any stores remaining in the high end malls in downtown Chicago, as I don't shop there really, and found that they are still in business, but are no longer in Illinois. I guess next time I visit Atlanta (in April, actually, for Stitches South - though I doubt I'll have time) I can check out their store, or Washington D.C. or NYC or L.A. It just stinks that they aren't in Chicago anymore as it was the one store I really liked for suits.

Anyway, I checked out the sites of Nordstrom and Macy's and Dillard's and Ann Taylor Loft and Ann Taylor and googled around for petite suits, and didn't find anything. Most stuff was too casual (do they think that if you are petite, somehow, that's inconsistent with needing professional looking clothes?) or was too revealing. It doesn't seem that suits are worn too much anymore, but in certain situations, you absolutely have to wear one to make it clear that you have a clue. The fabrics were another problem - lots of polyester, which I'll deal with in a knit fabric blend but don't want for suits.

Anyway, I finally ended up on the Talbots web site where I found some good, career-appropriate, stuff in quality fabrics. My mindset about Talbots (the way they used to be) was dowdy, dowdy, dowdy, but they seem to have changed favorably. I ordered a suit from there and it should be arriving in a few days as I expedited the shipping.

Here's what I decided on - I've learned that I need some sort of waist definition on my jackets, and boxy is NOT my friend, so I went with this.

Althought I like the way the pants look with the jacket on the model, I went with the skirt instead, as skirts work better on my body than pants and are a lot easier to fit, especially in an A-line style like this. This seems to be another thing I am weird about - it seems to be more the norm to wear pantsuits these days. I really sound like an old lady now.

We'll see how it is. I will not hesitate to ship it back if it's not 100% (or can't be altered to be 100%.) But anyway, back to my original point - I really need to find a great go-to suit pattern and alter it to fit me appropriately, so I have a go-to pattern, or can pre-emptively add some great suits to my wardrobe. Maybe if I wore them to work here and there, the immediate assumption wouldn't be that I was interviewing if I wore one.

(Small) Project #1 - Bar Reorganizing

I thought I'd start working on my list yesterday and picked a nice easy thing to tackle - reorganizing the bar area at one end of my living room. I haven't done everything on it, but it looks substantially better. I wanted to see some immediate progress to build momentum.

Here's what the bar looked like before - no room to open a wine bottle or actually mix a drink because of all the random bottles that never get touched. Basically I only drink wine (or sometimes a Corona Light) these days, and Jim only drinks Jack Daniels and Coke or Guinness. So why do we have all these random bottles of craziness, like Blue Curacao and FOUR bottles of Baileys, all on the countertop for easy access? Who knows!!

Before (but after I took all the random garbage out of the cabinet, before washing it)

After:

The only thing I didn't do (and I need to) is take all the glasses/shotglasses/miscellany off those glass shelves and clean everything. I was thinking maybe one day I would just either sit there and wash all the glassware in that bar sink OR wait til we have a new (larger, better) dishwasher and load them in there. There is no reason we need that many souvenir glasses out either - I'd rather have useful glasses on there like wine glasses or rocks glasses instead of ones we never use. Jim and I will end up compromising and leaving the shot glasses and the Jack Daniels collectible items out and putting away the martini/champagne glasses in another cabinet. He tells me the shelves are too flimsy to put actual bottles on them (my original plan) but I like the way it worked out putting the bottles in the cabinet anyway. I threw out all kinds of random junk that was underneath the cabinets, including tonic water from like the year 2000. Yep.

Project House Remodel

I was coming up with my list for my 2009 "Project House Remodel" and thought I'd share. I'll fill in some of this with pictures/before and after shots while I work on it, but this is my (ambitious) list. It will help me commit to finishing it if I make it public. I am sure I'll be asking for your input as I go through it!

 Living Room

1. charcoal grey suede couch/chaise from Dania

2. 2 spring green chairs - Dania - or other spring green chairs if available

3. organize bar/clear off extra stuff

Kitchen

1. six new cushions for chairs and barstools (Pottery Barn - black/white print)

2. new stainless dishwasher

Bathroom off Living Room

1. new towels

2. organize/make better use of closet - may want to partially turn into another linen closet

TV Room

1. fix couch or replace

2. organize cords/TV area

3. need picture for right hand wall

Bathroom off Entry Foyer

1. new towels

2. change candle display/stock in shelving unit

Sunroom

1. green ogee print sofa from Pottery Barn? Measure

2. other furniture - figure out - make best use of natural light and French doors

Sunroom/Hall Closet

1. donate excess coats

2. move shoes to upstairs closets

3. come up with organization plan for hats/gloves/scarves

Game Room

1. ? may need just general cleanup - get Jim's input

Basement

1. drop bomb?

2. have Jim recover tiki bar with new bamboo covering

3. replace carpeting

4. organize storage section

Master Bedroom

1. move papasan chair to loft

2. get new chaise lounge for corner

3. new bedding - green and white duvet cover from Pottery Barn, new white sheets

4. get picture framed and hang between two candleholders

5. get new organizer/holder for DVD player/cords - possibly move existing one to workout room

Master Bedroom Walk in Closet

1. replace cracked mirror on closet door - or just replace doors altogether with non-mirrored doors

2. make better use of shelf space throughout

3. make more shoe storage space at end

4. put together additional donation bag - shoes & clothes

Master Bathroom

1. get new cushion for makeup chair - pop of color

2. organize candle holders

3. fully utilize drawer space

Loft

1. donate remaining excess books

2. move magazines to sewing/knitting room

3. figure out where to rehang pictures

4. move/get rid of silk plant

5. consider getting rid of wicker furniture and replacing with something more comfortable

Upstairs Deck (summer project) 

1. get new chair and lounge chair - throw out broken lounge chair

Jim's/Hall Bathroom

1. better utilize drawer/cabinet space

Small Linen Closet in Hall

1. reorganize/may redo with Elfa stuff 

Guest Room

1. new bedding

2. better utilize drawer space and shelf space in closet - move holiday stuff into boxes in basement

3. throw out outdated clothes

4. get rid of junk

5. store luggage in basement

Laundry Room

1. new iron

2. shelves for laundry detergent

3. new laundry organizer

Workout Room

1. new organizer/shelf for DVD player and DVDs

2. frame Bowflex poster and rehang

3. find way to organize weights/jump ropes/misc. junk

4. organize closet

End of Hall Linen Closet

1. redo with Elfa system from The Container Store- get rid of existing shelves to better utilize space

2. get sewing junk out of there

3. get rid of fabric scraps

Sewing/Knitting Room

1. organize thread/serger spools

2. move magazines from loft into desk corner bookcase

3. organize shelving above printer

4. get rid of excess junk

As you can see, getting rid of excess junk is a recurring theme. I worked on this over the weekend, and cleared out a lot of stuff, but there is still more. We haven't been very good about throwing things out, and um, both of us (one of us more than others) can have pack-rat tendencies. I can't let myself get overwhelmed though. I just have to attack it little by little. I think a year is enough time though for everything I want to do.

Habanero - Sleeves Separated!

Here's Habanero after separating off the sleeves - this one felt like it took forever with the yoke rounds b/c the row gauge was 8 rows to an inch. Plus as the stitch gauge is 6 stitches to the inch, I had 384 stitches in each round when the sleeves were attached (CRAZY in my mind.) But I am liking the way it looks on when I tried it, from what I could tell from my half*ss attempt to try it on while on two needle cables. I didn't feel like putting it on waste yarn to try it as it was looking right on as far as size.

An Unusual Weekend (for me)

Just checking in...I have had somewhat of an unusual weekend. I did do some knitting but not as much as usual. On Friday, which was a pretty routine day, I finished the first sleeve on Snow White, and need to cast on the second one, as my internet was down for about a day and I couldn't look up the instructions for the special cast on for the pattern. Then yesterday and today, I didn't do much knitting at all until this afternoon, when I worked on Habanero and am almost ready to separate the sleeves. Pictures to come soon. I also have cast on for the Wheat Ear Yoke sweater and am knitting along with a subset of the Sexy Knitters Club on a conversion of this pattern to seamless/top-down knitting (a 2009 goal of mine.) I started the subgroup, but I haven't been doing much of the work to convert it as the other moderator there has been doing the heavy lifting, but in my mind, it still counts toward my goal.

What else was I doing yesterday and today that was unusual for me? Well, one thing I did was read two books yesterday - actual physical books instead of my usual audiobook routine. Both were memoirs - I read sTori Telling by Tori Spelling (really interesting book! her mother and mine would be great pals) and Losing It by Valerie Bertinelli (OK, I mostly skimmed it.) I also got halfway through Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler and it's pretty hilarious. I had bought it for one of my friends for Christmas from her Amazon list and decided to request it from the library along with the others I mentioned.

Besides that, I watched the (previously Tivoed) Real Housewives of New York marathon, worked out both days, and worked on throwing things out/straightening things up in various rooms. I'm really crystallizing some of my decor/furniture ideas for various rooms of my house too, in keeping with one of my other 2009 goals. Once I find out for sure if Jim will still be employed for the foreseeable future, I'll push the button on some of those purchases, but until then I'm waiting. I've recently developed a love for the Pottery Barn catalog and have found some things I want to get as well.

Oh well, that's my weekend story. It seems like it's been a long one, which is a good feeling! I'm not sure if it's because I haven't been online much due to the outage, or what. Hope everyone had a great weekend!