Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sylvi again!

On Sylvi, I've now finished the right front, blocked the back, and started on the left front. Can't wait to be done with this one. Time to start planning my handmade gifts for Christmas. I don't make things for everyone, some people I buy for as that's what they'd prefer. But there are a few who will get handmade gifts, and I need to start planning for them!



Monday, September 21, 2009

More Sylvi updating

Here's where I am with Sylvi: I've finished the back, and I'm about 60 rows into the right front (but the pic was taken way before that).




If you're familiar with the pattern, you'll notice some changes here: no hood, armscythe instead of raglan shaping, and the A-line is decidedly less A and more C as in curved/waist shaping. Also, the top of the cable is way different, and the front has a curve and an edging of the stitch pattern from Rapunzel. I rarely knit patterns as they are written; I usually make some mods and in this case, major ones. It's not that Sylvi isn't absolutely gorgeous when knit as written, it's that it wouldn't be gorgeous on me, and I also just feel I have to make things my own. And to be honest, I hate raglan shaping because it somehow makes my chest look bigger, which is not a good thing. I decided to do armhole shaping because of that. I feel that the seed stitch front is too plain, but I don't want to put flowers on the front, either, so I came up with my own thing, which may or may not look good. We'll see. I didn't want the hood, and my gauge is really, really off. So I had to add lots of rows, except that instead of just adding rows into the chart like most are doing, I used the hood chart for the upper back, but, it wasn't long enough, so I had to "freestyle" a few rows past that. So my cable is different, too. It's bedtime for me, but I'll post more when I have more to post about. Peace, y'all!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Just a quickie to mention a site

So, I just discovered that Loretta, one of the wonderful ladies with whom I took M. Douglas Walton's painting workshop, has a website now! How awesome. She is a fantastic artist, and you should check it out.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Sylvi Progresses

I thought I'd post a photo of Sylvi, to show my progress. Sylvi is turning out to be quite an annoyance. It's not the fault of the pattern at all, because I really haven't been following it very well. I couldn't get gauge, and I wanted my Sylvi to turn out long, almost hitting my knees, and I didn't want a ton of ease in it. I also didn't like the openness of the fabric with my yarn and the specified needle size. So, I went down a needle size, but stayed with the XS thinking that way I'd lose some ease. And I did. The first time, the sizing seemed ok, but I totally missed the decreases that gave it an A-line shape, as well as somehow getting my cable off center. I had to start over. Now, on my second time, the cable is beautiful!, but somehow, although I'm using the same yarn, needles, and tension, my gauge has changed so much that now I think it's going to be too small. Sigh. My next project is going to be 100% by the book. What a headache.

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride Costume, Part I

Ornament Premiere came once again, and this year my ornament was Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. I loved this movie, and thought this would be a fun costume to make. I originally was going to make the wedding dress, but when I found a prom dress for $5 at Goodwill that fit me perfectly and that I could redo, I decided it was fate. The dress was a pale yellow, and there was no getting it to any shade of white, but I thought that in about half the movie, her gown looked bluish or purplish anyway; looking at the Corpse Bride doll that was released confirmed it. So, I used some Navy RIT dye to dye the gown and veil I found, as well as some lace I bought to cover the bodice. I was a little sad about the dress; its original state was so pretty, but the hem was torn, which helped. I especially love the bodice, which reminds me of a flower!

The original dress before dyeing, pale yellow (although it looks whitish in the photos):




After dyeing, a lovely silvery purple:



I'll post pictures later of how the whole thing turned out!

Also, Dusty and I made some Scrabble coasters for our new apartment, from an old Scrabble game my boss found at a garage sale for $2. Score! We stained them and glued them on cork. I love how they came out!