Knittin' Bayou

I am a terrible blogger.

2011-04-24T13:08:00.000-05:00

In fact, I am not sure I AM a blogger. It is really hard for me to remember to blog! Going to try to actually start blogging again!

Check it out, a giveaway from Handmade Reviews!

2011-04-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

Handmade Reviews is doing a giveaway in which 2 lucky people will each win a piece of jewelry from Jewelmint. Link to enter is here!: http://www.handmadereviews.net/2011/04/jewelmint-giveaway.html

I'm Almost There!

2010-11-08T17:58:00.007-06:00

.... sung in "Princess and the Frog" style, of course. That is, I've almost finished with my graduate career! As far as my MS goes, at least. And it's the reason for my lack of updating, again. I actually have so much to post about; just no time in which to do it! Also, I joined Fine Art America, so in addition to my original artwork in my Etsy shop, you may now purchase prints of my work from my FAA shop!

I've several paintings in the works, been altering practically my whole wardrobe, making jewelry, and I've a couple of knitting projects to show you, including a finished one! AND this blog is getting a long-and-much-needed makeover! But all this must wait until the week is over and I have turned in all of my work. So expect some posts with actual content soon. :)

I just noticed that this new template apparently colors some of the links in black, which blends in with the black background... bummer. So, if it looks like a link should be in a particular spot, it probably is!

XOXO,

Crystal Nicole

Edited: Fixed the links!

Oops!

2010-08-29T14:35:00.006-05:00

As may be apparent, there has been a lack of updating for longer than usual. I have had a busy summer that has mainly consisted of conducting my graduate research. Not much in the way of crafting has been done, although I have done some artwork. However! I am going to be updating more frequently as I have begin the initial planning for my Mardi Gras costume. I even painted the "brass slippers" yesterday! I'll end this post with a photo of shoes in their current painted-but-unfinished condition.

*Note: these are not spray painted, but hand painted with acrylic paint mixed in a medium designed for fabrics. So, they are not any more stiff after being painted than they were before. Actually, they seem quite comfortable. I bought these shoes as "damaged items" from Vintique Online. They are REALLY beautiful in person, but I do not recommend attempting to tea dye them, or heating them in any way. Suffice to say, I almost ruined this pair trying to dye them. The heat melted the glue and I had to super glue them back together in places. Now I am hoping they will hold up to a day at the French Quarter! One of the heels feels a bit weak.

Also in the works is redecorating a hat inspired by Anthropologie's Topiary Hat.

Announcing The Opening...

2010-05-04T10:18:00.004-05:00

Of my Etsy store! When I first signed up for Etsy, I never gave a thought to having a store, hence the boring user ID I chose. But I finally decided that I really can't keep every thing I paint or make. I give handmade gifts to almost everyone, but still I just don't have the room for it all. So, I opened Color Enthusiast, so that others, who love the same freedom, color, and joy in art as I, now have the option of owning one of my original works!

Shipping is free for US customers unless stated otherwise (currently, all of my listings have free shipping). International customers will need to PM me so that I can give them the best shipping option possible and a credit of $20 for artwork! All paintings will be shipped with insurance as well.

Additionally, I will be donating 10% of each sold painting (minus shipping costs) to charity. My preferred charities are St. Jude's, thehungersite.com, Nothing But Nets, America's Wetland Foundation, and the ASPCA.

Bella Lili Jewelry Giveaway!

2010-04-18T12:40:00.003-05:00

Just a quick post about the giveaway at http://bellalilijewelry.blogspot.com!

She has such gorgeous stuff! I often rock one of her fairy cameos, and now I am particularly loving her winged designs such as Someday My Prince Will Come and, being that we know how obsessed I am with Steampunk right now, the Chaos Theory in Brass.

I really need to update, I know... I just have been so busy, and time that could be spent blogging, I'd rather spend crafting. But I do have projects to post about, nothing finished, though. I won't be updating any more today because I have a Forensics exam tomorrow, yikes! Time to get back to studying.

Favorite Thing Today

2010-03-09T14:17:00.002-06:00

My favorite thing of the day is not a material item, but the website GivesMeHope. Truly beautiful and inspirational!

A busy, yet laid-back day

2010-03-07T17:35:00.003-06:00

Today has been busy - I've been planting my Bhut jolokia seeds (oh, how I hope they grow!!), replanting my passion flowers, cleaning my apartment, and I dyed a top. The top was a gorgeous lace top, but stark white. When I put it on, I just felt it should be softer. So, I used my "40% off one item" Hobby Lobby coupon to buy some Rit dye in Taupe (it was the closest color I could find to what I had in mind, which was antique lace). The top came out, not quite as I hoped, but cute - a light, rosy tannish color. It was a rayon/spandex blend, and I'd read that rayon should dye, but spandex would not. Apparently part of it was also polyester, which of course doesn't take color, and that part is still white, but I think it actually looks cute that way. I'll post photos when it dries. I know I could have tea-dyed it and possibly gotten more of an antique lace color, but I've read that the tannic acid in tea can weaken fabrics and I didn't want to risk it with this top.

My Favorite Thing Today

2010-03-03T11:36:00.005-06:00

I've been looking into my closet lately. See, I really don't dress up. Jeans and t-shirts are my normal uniform; a pair of earrings is usually my only accessory. I'd LIKE to dress with some sort of "style," but generally anything I buy toward this goal, I end up disliking on myself. I was looking in my closet at the non-t-shirt part of my wardrobe, and had a revelation. Much of this stuff would be wearable if I just fixed something about the way it fit, or added a punch of something so it wouldn't be quite so plain jane. Today's favorite thing is inspired by the beginning of my "Project Wardrobe Remodel," in which I attempt to make the existing bits of my wardrobe more chic - I love the tone-on-tone embellishment of this dress by Ruche.

Favorite Thing in the Rain

2010-03-01T17:32:00.005-06:00

Today is a rainy day, and so today's "Favorite Things" post are these wonderful "Artist" Jeffery Campbell rainboots. I wanted these for a long time before I finally got them. The price held me back, but finally - when Amazon was down to the last pair in my size, I broke down and ordered them. I made good use of them today, splashing through the mud and the rain on my way home from class!

While I'm posting, I may as well add that I'm planning a new knitting project. I am thinking of starting on Ysolda's Little Birds cardigan, from Twist Collective. I've been wanting to make it, and there is a KAL going on for it. I'll probably use colors similar to the ones in the original, except that I'd like to have the background yellow. I also want to knit a Snapdragon Tam in a lovely goldenrod color.

I've been realizing that I don't have a wardrobe, just random things I wear. I don't have particular outfits, I'm not sure if I own any "wardrobe basics," and I'm terrible at accessorizing (except, of course for my earring obsession!). I wear jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers most days, and I am really tired of that. My main problem is that the styles I like aren't flattering on me, and the things that are flattering are BORING (also, I like to sleep in which sort-of inhibits the morning ritual of cuteness). I can't be the only one who has had this problem. Anyone who relates, how did you change your style from causal into chic (or in my case, just almost-chic would do)?

Introducing "These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things"

2010-02-28T14:39:00.005-06:00

I've decided, in an attempt to get back to this blogging-with-some-frequency thing, to start a new section, entitled "These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things" (original, I know). These will be posts, at least three times a week, in which I will post a photo of something I love - anything that is inspiring me or making me happy that day. Today's is this wonderful throw pillow I received for Christmas! I've been lying on it to study, and it's super comfy as well as gorgeous. I don't know where it is from - maybe Pier 1?

XOXOXO,
Crystal Nicole

Finished at last, Sylvi Evenstar!

2010-02-28T13:44:00.007-06:00

That's right! I have finally finished my (sort of) Lord of the Rings-inspired Sylvi. I am so pleased with it. It looks very like I imagined when I was planning it, which is a rarity for me. The photos are not very good - I took them with a self-timer, after my boyfriend reported seeing snakes in the yard (I hate snakes!), and it was really, really hot and bright outside. But, here is me modeling my Sylvi.

If you are familiar with the pattern, you'll notice quite a few changes. The front of the original design was just too plain for me, and I'd been researching Arwen's Chase Dress from LotR (someday I will make it). So, naturally both the edges of the coat and the collar are inspired by that dress. Then I decided that I may as well do the petal sleeves. I also added a bit of waist shaping as I've never had good luck with A-lines (I know they are supposed to be universally flattering but I've never liked anything with an A-line). In retrospect, I probably would have left the A-line as it would have left more room in the back for my flowers and might have even been more flattering, but I'm ok with it as is. I didn't make any large flowers (well I MADE three of them, but I didn't USE any). The back is all small flowers, and the front is a small flower knit with only one strand of yarn. (BTW, this is knit using Wool of the Andes, held double). The trim is Paton's, originally in natural but hand-dyed by me to a silvery-lavender. I added pockets to the sides (although I wish they were deeper). I initially planned to line it, but right now I don't see the need to. I may later. The clasps I originally bought, while very "elven" were too small, so I bought these findings and used jump rings to attach the original clasps onto the findings to make them larger. And of course, I have a love affair with pretty glass buttons, and I used quite a few of them, as centers for my flowers and to hold my petal sleeves together (as those sleeves wouldn't be very practical for a sweater coat otherwise). Obviously the color is less Tolkien-inspired, and actually more What Dreams May Come-inspired, but I think it's still appropriate for the elves.

(Sorry to turn on the word verification, but I was starting to get lots of spam comments. While I loooove to get comments from people, comments from "bots" are quite unwelcome. But real people, please comment although the annoying word verification is now activated!)

Also, I'm going in costume to Mardi Gras next year, I think. I am going to start planning that soon.

Finally, I'm looking to pick up a few new things. I want Anthropologie-esque style but at a more affordable price. Does anyone know of sites offering this? I know of Modcloth.com and, of course, Urbanoutfitters.com. I love handmade items, too, so suggestions for your own shops are welcome! (and I don't mind paying more if I am supporting local/handmade businesses). Of course, I'm not skinny enough to pull off most trendy styles right now, but I like things that are romantic and flattering, with a hint of faerie.

Now I've got to get back to studying for Forensics. I'll post again fairly soon, I hope, and discuss projects, books, and Jim Henson's wonderful "The Storyteller" which you should see if you have Netflix streaming. Also hoping to finish up my first real portrait ever (a self-portrait) soon, and I'll be posting that. Someday I'll figure out how to make this blog prettier, too. Won't that be wonderful and lovely?

XOXOXO,
Crystal Nicole

A little update before bed

2010-02-17T22:28:00.004-06:00

I've been so busy with school, Mardi Gras, and personal things that I've quite neglected this blog. I want to say thanks to those of you who left such nice comments! Sorry I don't keep up with the blog better! It's all Ravelry's fault - I've just been knitting, and it's easiest to go update the notes section of the project on my Ravelry project page than to come here and make a new post, etc. I've a few things I'm finishing up and will be posting soon, including the long-awaited Sylvi! I am THISCLOSE to being finished with it, at last. I have a couple of paintings to finish as well, which I'll post. And I am going to start planning a costume for next year's Mardi Gras. I intend to keep up with my progress here. Here is a sleeve from Sylvi to make up for the lack of content lately. It's quite a bit different from the original sleeve.

Starting a new composition

2010-01-13T23:45:00.008-06:00

I have been inspired to try painting on watercolor sheets again, and today I started a little composition. This is a unicorn, obviously. I usually think of unicorns as something like a mix of a deer and a horse, neither quite as light as the one nor nearly as heavy as the other. Immediately recognizable as a unicorn, but whether more horse-like or more deer-like, who knows? Peter S. Beagle had it right; they are certainly not just a horse with a horn, and I hope that comes through in this quick drawing. I drew the unicorn directly onto my watercolor paper, and then outlined it with black acrylic. I haven't gotten around to the background yet, but there will be a lot of shrubbery, bushes, and the like around, some tallish grasses, and (hopefully) a magical atmosphere. Color scheme is undecided as I haven't randomly chosen colors or looked to a spirit card yet.

In pencil: (I like how you can see my shadows on this photo)

And outlined in black:

Also, have been working on (the third [??] go-round of) Sylvi (finished the back, one front, almost done with the second front), reading as many books as I can manage (I swear for every book I read on my list, I add two more), and trying to finish a belated Christmas present.

Speaking of gifts, I can now post pictures of things I made for Christmas. Here's the gift I painted for Dusty's mother. This is her favorite kitty, Sugar. Acrylic on canvas, 8x10"

And here is a photo of the painting I did for my Paulette Insall class. I've posted it before, but the colors are MUCH truer here! Mixed media on canvas, 8x10"

Swaps - NEVER AGAIN!

2009-12-30T16:14:00.006-06:00

I don't like to post here about my problems, but I am irate and just can't resist this time. I attempted my first Secret Santa swap (online) this Christmas and I will NEVER do it again. I bought the person something from online and had it shipped directly to her. I was a bit late buying because the original gift I made didn't turn out nearly as well as I'd hoped, and I explained that to the giftee. I could have just sent the gift I was making, but I didn't want to half-ass it by sending a gift I didn't think was good enough for a swap, so instead I bought something. Well, the giftee got it and said it was very poorly made and just completely a mess! So I bought another gift for her. So disappointing!

At long last, the Quilt of DOOM!

2009-11-15T15:34:00.004-06:00

As you will recall, the Quilt of DOOM was named so because I totally did not realize what I was getting into with this, my first quilt, and was in over my head. My machine wasn't strong enough to quilt through the layers, so I ended up tying the whole queen-sized quilt. But at long last, I can present pictures! So, without further adieu, here is the Quilt of DOOM!

Link to review on Pattern Review.

Cool blog to check out!

2009-11-07T11:31:00.001-06:00

Lots of great inspiration here, and she is having a dress giveaway!

All About Faces - Finished Portrait!

2009-10-18T17:38:00.008-05:00

So, I finished my portrait. Painting is so addictive; once I am started on a painting I don't want to stop until it's done! Anyway, here is my finished portrait. Unfortunately, the camera didn't capture the depth of this painting. Her skin has a lot more depth to it IRL!

And a close-up.

This painting is really a self-portrait, despite the girl not looking exactly like me (although my mom and Dusty both said she does look like me). I selected snippets of a few of my favorite quotes - the uppermost quote says "There is nothing more artistic than to love people," a van Gogh quote. Then the quote in black says "Every artistic dips his brush in his own soul and paints his own nature into his pictures", by Henry Ward Beecher. The last little quote says "Born into color." I love color and these three little words really speak to me, and this is a painting that definitely is from the soul. In the uppermost right corner is the word "inspire," which I clipped from the same note card that held the hummingbird I also used.

In the background, I've included a dandelion seed head - something about those little flowers always makes me so happy, and to me it symbolizes something spiritual; a promise of hope, a newness and a cleanliness of spirit; a gift from God. There is a hummingbird, too, from a note card I just loved and couldn't think of a better way to preserve it. The fish scales are just a visual texture I like in my paintings.

Anyway, so there it is!

All About Faces - Background

2009-10-16T23:59:00.003-05:00

So, tonight I started on my background. It's not nearly finished, but while waiting for it to dry, I took a couple of pics.

Here is step 1:

Step 2:

Don't worry, it's not done yet!

Corpse Bride dress

2009-10-16T11:19:00.003-05:00

I forgot all about showing the finished Corpse Bride dress. I couldn't get a very good photo, and unfortunately I don't have any of the pics of me wearing the costume at Ornament Premiere, but I will be wearing it for Halloween as well, so if I get any pictures then, I will post. Here's a quick and crappy shot of the finished dress.

After I dyed it, I sewed lace (also dyed) onto the bodice and then hand-painted the bodice. Since I like the petal look of the bodice so much, I left the under pieces without lace, and sewed pearls on them, in such a way to look as though some have fallen off (leaving gaps with only sewing thread sticking out). I cut out a lot of the skirt, to look raggedy, and then painted Burton-esque swirls with blue fabric paint and pearl blue dimensional paint, as well as blue glitter (which is not very obvious but is just noticeable enough) all around the edging of the skirt. I wanted to make some "ribs" to attach to the bodice, but didn't have time.

I was making a wig of out yarn for this, but it ended up being very heavy before I was even half done, and I decided I would probably die if I tried to wear it. So I sprayed my hair blue for the day instead, and painted my skin (I used a mix of foundation and blue food coloring, but for Halloween I will probably just get some body paint). It was fun, and the costume was very well received!

Newest Knitting Inspiration

2009-10-16T00:05:00.005-05:00

Almost forgot to post what's inspiring me now knitwise - Ivko! I'm totally going to make a jacket inspired by this:

Which means I need to learn how to embroider. Yikes. My last attempt at embroidery did not go too well.

All About Faces

2009-10-15T21:59:00.010-05:00

I signed up to take Paulette Insall's online course All About Faces. Her artwork is so wonderful, and I'm very excited to have a chance to do this course. I'm a little behind (due to schoolwork!). Tonight, I did my first practice drawing. I'm going to try to do a quick drawing every day. This is just a quick sketch, not a serious drawing. I like how it came out; very whimsical, and I've decided the young lady I drew is most certainly a ballerina. She started out as an impression of me, but she sort of took on a life of her own! Although I do still see a resemblance. She is a fiery redhead, and she has freckles, but they are hard to see in this photo I took with my phone camera. The nose needs some work, but it is nice to know I can still pick up a pencil and get something I'm relatively happy with without much erasing!

ETA: Also, yay, I made a banner! Not a fancy one, but it features my artwork. It doesn't match the blog, and I don't care. I don't know how to pretty up the blog and I hate all of their templates except this one in this color.

Sylvi is ruined

2009-10-12T12:00:00.001-05:00

I accidentally felted it. A lot. There's no saving it. I bought new yarn to start over. I am so sad!

Sylvi again!

2009-09-29T20:42:00.003-05:00

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!

More Sylvi updating

2009-09-21T22:59:00.003-05:00

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!

Just a quickie to mention a site

2009-09-15T23:11:00.002-05:00

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.

Sylvi Progresses

2009-09-09T11:57:00.003-05:00

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

2009-09-09T11:25:00.012-05:00

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!

Dyeing ain't easy

2009-08-28T17:05:00.007-05:00

My first attempt at dyeing yarn did not go too well. I had a skein of Paton's Classic Merino Wool in Aran, and attempted to dye it. It did not take the color very well, so I ended up with a light grey-purple (not a bad color but I wanted it a little darker, and I was hoping to get some of that kettle-dyed variation like Malabrigo has) and also, a huge tangle of yarn. My self-wound hanks are now a mess. Also, when I was stirring, the yarn caught the drain stopper (I dyed it in the sink), and pulled out the stopper, letting all my dye water go, so I couldn't leave the yarn longer. Not fun.

Sorry - no pics this time. I'll probably edit later to include pics of the yarn I dyed, once it's dry and no longer tangled. I just wanted to leave myself a note that changes definitely need to be made in the process next time I try to dye yarn.

Edited to add: I used the leftover RIT dye in Navy that I used to dye my Corpse Bride costume.

Edited to add: Picture - as you can see, untangling the yarn required some cutting. I now have 4 smaller skeins instead of the larger 1.

New painting - Lycoris radiata

2009-08-24T19:34:00.007-05:00

I've finished another painting... at least, I think it's finished. I'm not really quite sure. Right now, I've left the background white, because I like the contrast of the white against the red, but I'm also worried that it makes the painting look unfinished. I was considering doing a light, warm-tones color gradient radiating from the flower. Should I go for it?

On the knitting front, I'm working on Sylvi. Lots of mods, let's see if I can actually finish this one! Usually when I try modifying a knit, I get frustrated or bored, and forget about finishing it. This time, I am determined - I so want to have my very own lovely Sylvi!

Also, I finally can wear my Noble Collection Arwen Butterfly ring again. I know it's nerdy, but really I wanted this ring because it's just lovely, not because it's LotR-related (although, of course, I do LOVE LotR). My mom got it for my birthday one year. Unfortunately, the quality was not so great - not long after I received it, the clear stone fell out - there are no prongs on this ring, and I guess it was just glued in. I super-glued it back in, but it fell out again, and I couldn't find it the second time. It had been too long for it to be replaced by the company, and I searched for a replacement stone, but couldn't find one. So for a long time, I couldn't wear it. A couple of days ago, I had an idea. I had an old ring that was too large for me, with an lab-grown opal in it. The opal was nice but the ring itself was blah, and I couldn't wear it anyway since it was too large. So, I loosened a prong, took the opal out, and, since the shape of the bottom was off and I knew glue wouldn't hold anyway, I green-stuffed it to the ring. I was able to do it so only a teeny bit of the green stuff showed, and that I painted silver, which happens to match the sterling silver almost precisely. It looks great, and now I can wear my ring again, yay! I'd post a picture but I couldn't manage a good, non-blurry one. I don't know how people take pictures of jewelry.

Soon, I'll post photos of the dress I decorated for Ornament Premiere, as Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. I don't have the photos right now.

And, is it terribly nerdy that, I bought makeup from EyesLipsFace partially because they abbreviate it as ELF and I thought that was awesome? I mean, yes, I mostly decided to try it because it is inexpensive (although it would be easy to over-spend on that site!), but the name totally makes me happy.

Finally, I thought the Blogger tab that says "Monetize" meant you could make your blog Monet-ish. I was excited. Alas, it is not so.

Paintings and Etching

2009-04-13T23:40:00.005-05:00

I've been experimenting with Armor Glass Etching Cream. Pretty cool stuff! I saw a tutorial on Craftster on making stencils for etching with fabric paints and tried that. It worked well for the design that wasn't highly detailed, but the really detailed ones I did needed contact paper for stencils... of course, I didn't have any contact paper, so I used Hallmark self-adhesive wrapping paper instead. It worked decently, but I think I really need to get contact paper for future projects. I also need to be more careful with the Exacto knife, as I cut myself around three times in one hour. I only bought one vase to try the etching cream on, and then after I'd used it and thought it was so neat, I started etching things like my WoodWick Candle jars and my reed diffuser bottles. I found some cool tattoo designs online to use. It was hard to get pictures of the results, but I will post the best I managed. The candle was my favorite, but I couldn't get a photo because the candle was a cream colored one (frosted cookie, mmm!), and the etching hardly shows (you have to look very closely). But here are the vase and the reed diffusers.
The first is a swallow tattoo design. The second is a fat little bird I freehanded. The last one is a phoenix tattoo design.

I also have two paintings to show! One (the Jazz Club) is a CorksnCanvas painting, and the other is only done in that style.

I'm still working on the Quilt of Doom, and have started Sylvi, although I have had little time to work on either as the semester is coming to a close and that means lots of work with little time in which to do it. Hopefully I will be able to finish the Quilt soon.

By the way, if ever again I say "How hard can it be?," refer me to the Quilt of Doom.

Even if Duct Tape Can't Fix It*, Superglue Can

2009-03-25T14:19:00.007-05:00

The atomizer from my bottle of (discontinued! how could they!) VS Angels' Halo broke off, and I was very unhappy. I looked online to see how you could "fix" it, but all the information addressing this problem said "can't be repaired, return the bottle." Considering that I got it for Christmas 2 or 3 years ago (no, I don't wear perfume all that often), returning it was not an option. Neither was throwing it out. So, I'm looking at how it goes together and it comes to me - I could just superglue it together. So, I very carefully applied a teensy bit of Zap-A-Gap superglue (it's what we use for gluing our miniatures together and tends to hold very well) to the part of the perfume bottle that looks like an upside down screw sticking up, covering in a thin layer of translucent latex/rubber (I don't know which), with a hole in the middle (what's that piece called? I'm not familiar with perfume bottle anatomy), and laid the atomizer on top of it, being careful to line up the holes for the spray. Let sit for 12ish hours, and it works just fine! I've only used it twice since, and I'm being careful when I spray, but it is working. The thing is to make sure you don't get any superglue in the holes that spray out the perfume or you'll really clog it.

*Disclaimer: Duct Tape couldn't fix it, but only because it is too small. No offense to duct tape, as it really is all-powerful. And I didn't actually try it.

Have officially cast on for Sylvi from Twist Collective (which means I listed it as "in progress" on my Rav page). My gauge is a little off, 13stx17rows rather than the 12x16, but that's ok because I'm both smaller and shorter than the XS size. I'm making modifications, of course, and giving myself a LONG time to complete this one (though of course I've had most of my projects on hold for a long time - whoops, darn Project ADD!). I'm giving myself till late September/early October as Spring has already arrived and, here, feels more like Summer. Summer, of course, will feel more like Hell. So there won't be any chances to wear this till late Fall, but I want to have it finished by then, and knowing how I am about projects, figure starting 6 months early is the only way I've a chance to actually finish by my deadline. I love this design, but I am not knitting it with the hood, mostly because then I wouldn't be able to show off my handknit hats (haha). No, really I just think the versions of this I've seen with a collar rather than a hood are somehow much more striking. So I am going to knit it with a collar instead. Also, I am going to add pocketses at the side seams, and I may want to line it (if I can figure that out). And use clasps instead of buttons. And put (glass?) buttons in the centers of my flowers instead of bobbles.

That's all I got. Peace out!

Ideas for Face Vase?

2009-03-20T11:25:00.007-05:00

Regarding my last post, Brie said she also hated Wuthering Heights as the characters were not compelling - I totally agree; that is the exact word I was looking for (or group of words). I, too, LOVE Jane Austen, and thought Jane Eyre was a great book, too, but not Wuthering Heights. I have a silly grudge against the Brontes anyway, since one of them said Jane Austen's writing was frivolous (to paraphrase) and I can never remember which it is. I actually think it was the one who wrote Jane Eyre, which is a great book, but which is, imho, still inferior to Miss Austen's writing - which as well as being love stories, were also clever observations on her society, while Jane Eyre just seemed to me a romance. But even if she'd said Jane was the greatest writer who ever lived, I would still not like Wuthering Heights.

Regarding unfinished series: I don't mind re-reading books (I tend to miss so much in the first read), in fact, while I am nearly always reading a book, about half the time it seems that I am re-reading one of my favorites instead of a new book, so the best unfinished series are almost guaranteed a re-read anyway (although having to re-read 10! books, wow, that is a lot). For A Song of Ice and Fire, I've read each of those books at least two or three times. But I do think I'm going to finish the Death Gate Cycle before I start The Name of the Wind.

I've also been reading A Series of Unfortunate Events. I don't own them all, but I have access to them all. I'd gotten to Book 6, and I don't really know if it's worth continuing. Taken on its own, each book is pretty well-written and enjoyable enough, but as a series, it's gotten to be VERY redundant. Honestly, I think there are only 13 books in this series because 13 is an unlucky number, not because there were 13 books' worth of story to tell, if you know what I mean. I'll probably finish them anyway since leaving a series unfinished is like leaving a book unfinished, and only the very worst of books (e. g. A Million Little Pieces) deserve that.

Ok, so now, the real reason for today's blog post. I bought a Face Vase, and I don't know what to put in it. I'm going to post a picture (although the only picture I could find was of a black one, and mine is white). What would you put in this vase?

Also, I am dying to make a Rorschach Inkblot lamp like these on Craftster.

Finally, my touchpad on my laptop keeps going crazy, clicking on and selecting things when I am not even touching the touchpad OR the keyboard. And sometimes it won't click at all. It is driving me insane!

To Read or not to Read?

2009-03-18T23:54:00.003-05:00

Of course, the answer is always "To Read," unless you're talking about one of James Frey's books. But the question is, which?

First off, thanks for the birthday wishes! They are always appreciated, as are any comments! :-)

I find myself in quite a dilemma. I've read the first book of the Death Gate Cycle (great book!), and received the rest of the series (6 books) for my birthday, BUT I also received The Name of the Wind. I've heard really, really great things about the latter, which makes me want to read it ASAP. Thing is, the sequel evidently won't be out for a while, which isn't a big deal (as there are sooo many books out there I want to read!), except that I could read the rest of the DGC first and then my waiting for The Wise Man's Fear would not be so prolonged (though my anticipation to read the NotW would be, resulting in major disappointment if the book turns out not all it's cracked up to be - somehow the longer you have to wait, the more disappointing it is for the book to turn out not as good as you expected). Of course, I'm used to waiting by now (see: A Dance With Dragons, haha). So which would you do? Read the book you're a bit more excited about but will have to wait a year or more for the next installment, or read the series that is complete and so far has been interesting, saving the other book for after you've finished?

Not that I even know when I will have time to start any new book that isn't about endocrinology. I've so much studying and so many projects to do for school, that I've had time for nothing else. Finished a sock, but haven't started the second yet. I love biology, and endocrinology in particular is turning out very interesting, but darnit, I want to knit and paint and read my fantasy novels!

By the way, which book organizing site do YOU use? I tried librarything a year or so ago (?) but they had a limit for free accounts, which I quickly surpassed and so gave up the site. Then I found Goodreads on Myspace and whatever-it-is on Facebook, but though I've been cataloging books I've read, am reading, want to read, own, and want to get, I'm not really sure which is better, if either. I don't particularly want to bother with TWO sites as I really don't even have the time to keep up with the one.

When it comes to reading materials, I find myself gravitating toward a particular type of book - fantasy novels. Not that I don't enjoy other types of book, but when I am looking for something new to read, I usually will head to the fantasy aisle first. Therefore, while I am somewhat of a prolific reader, I don't consider myself a great reader, as I'm not very well-rounded for the most part. I do also really love classic literature (everything from Beowulf to Chaucer to Shakespeare to Tolkien to Austen to Hemingway), and I'd say it's genre #2 for me (if it is indeed a genre). I'd like to branch out, but really, I never know what to read in other genres. Something's being a best-seller doesn't automatically recommend it to me. I know I enjoy other types of book - I used to be crazy about John Grisham's books, at least the first ones were really great, and Tom Clancy had some novels I liked, too. In high school I borrowed true crime books from a girl who lived next door, and devoured those. In high school I read everything I could get my hands on, but I had more free time then. Now if I'm not reading fantasy, I'm reading a book on micro or something similar.

I also adore Librivox for the free audiobooks. I've been listening to Wuthering Heights recently, for the first time. Honestly, I'm not crazy about this particular book thus far, but audiobooks are amazing and I wish they were less expensive. Seriously though, how in the world did Heathcliff come to be considered some sort of beloved dream-guy? Sandor Clegane is nicer and more of a dreamboat than this guy (at least he does semi-nice things for one person, well maybe two). I really can't stand any of the characters, and can't bring myself to care about what happens to them. I'm at the point of wishing that Heathcliff and Catherine would just run away together and save me having to read the rest of this book (or in my case, listen to). I usually love gray characters, and it's fun to read about people who aren't perfect heroes, but Catherine and Heathcliff are so dark gray, it seems like there is no depth to them at all (which I suppose is the point - they are both shallow people), and the kind of selfish love they share is not romantic at all. Seriously, I cannot find ONE thing to recommend them. Also, someone on one of those sites (was it Goodreads?) commented that HC and Cat could not marry because at the time it was illegal for an unrelated man and woman who had been raised in the same house as brother and sister to marry. I wondered about the accuracy of this, as in Mansfield Park (which is not from the same time period but is only about 30ish years earlier) Edmund and Fanny are raised in the same house and ARE related, and marry.

Finally, I find that I've become quite obsessed with fig scents. I want to find that perfect perfume that is figgy, a bit sweet, a teensy bit floral, very fresh, and woodsy, a bit musky. Sigh.

It's past bedtime. Goodnight!

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-03-16T20:50:00.002-05:00

Today is my birthday, and it's really been a great one. Friday I was able to visit with my mom and see my family. Saturday Dusty took me to Albasha's for some delicious Greek/Lebanese food, and Sunday he grilled steak, mmmm. Then today, his mom cooked crawfish pasta for me, one of my favorite entrees, and made the most delicious chocolate cake! I received the rest of the Death Gate Cycle books, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, a lovely lamp, a really cute purse, and a new laptop! All in all, a great birthday.

I really want to try my hand at making my own perfume and lamp oils. Anyone have any tips on finding the oils to do this? I'm looking everywhere for fig-scented oil and having no luck.

Nana-nana-nana-nana-dicebag!

2009-02-28T22:17:00.005-06:00

I finished Dusty's Batman dicebag, and it is a huge hit - he and all his friends think it's awesome! So yay!

Mardi Gras was fun - we usually go to the FQ, but only during the day; we left at 4pm. We ate chargrilled oysters at Acme (yum!!!! - best part of MG!) and walked around, particularly enjoying the costumes on St. Ann's Street. Got some great pictures!

Oh, I finally learned the named of my favorite flower - odd, as it's been my favorite my entire life, and I see it yearly, since they grow wild here. But I never thought to ask before, since I had my own name for them anyway. My friend Jenny is a plant person and she enlightened me when I was talking about how I want a garden full of them and daffodils (though I don't think they bloom at the same time, also I think daffodils don't grow so well around here as we don't have the cold weather they require, so they apparently get refrigerated). Anyway, it's Lycoris radiata, also called "Hurricane Lilies" and "Spider Lilies" (but not the Spider Lilies I think of when I think of spider lilies).

Beautiful, no?

Still working on the quilt. Tying is supposed to be quick, but I am finding it very tedious.

I MUST stop getting bored with my knitting projects. Sigh...

How are all these people on Craftster and Ravelry so amazingly creative and talented?!

Anthropolification Boyer Cream Cardi

2009-02-27T18:24:00.000-06:00

How awesome is this Anthropologie knock-off cardigan at Grosgain? I would never have thought of so simple an idea that looks so fabulous!

FO: Eiffel Flower Painting

2009-02-14T10:38:00.007-06:00

I finished a painting yesterday - one for myself(!) this time. This is a painting I just dubbed "Eiffel Flower" because "flower" rhymes with "tower." It's done on 16x20" canvas with acrylics (sadly, cheap craft paints because that's really all I can afford), spray paint, and a fine-line purple Sharpie. The idea of this painting came to me as I decided I wanted to do a painting of the Eiffel tower, but I did not want it to be just a normal painting. I wanted a different angle than the one we are mostly used to seeing, and I really liked the idea of a collage painting. The birds are borrowed from a cool photo my mom took of some birds on a power line, that I wanted to incorporate into the painting. The flowers are from photos of Dusty's trip to Hawaii; I think his dad took that photo. This was my first attempt at painting flowers, and I think it turned out pretty well. The lace was actually a strip of fabric lace I bought and laid on top of the canvas, and spray painted. I was a bit hasty and didn't spray the middle of the lace as well as I should have, but I still think it came out great. All in all, I am really pleased with this painting and it is going on the wall asap!

On the knitting front, I've been making a dice bag for Dusty, with the Batman symbol on it. I also started working on the Sideways Grande Cloche from Boutique Knits for a bit of mindless knitting, and I'm still working on the Drops Sweater. I got the yarn for Sylvi and it is oh-so-vibrantly purple and lovely!

Today I am going to work on finally getting my quilt sewn, and of course, the daily dose of study. I think we are going to eat at Acme Oyster House for V-day, yumm!

FOs: Verity and St. Vincent Cloche

2009-02-05T23:29:00.005-06:00

Yes, I know... I haven't even mentioned these projects on here, and now I'm posting them as FOs. Sorry, I suck.

The St. Vincent Cloche is a free pattern I started on last year. I actually finished it before Christmas, but just now stitched the ribbon down to the hat. This hat was inspired by the hat that Anne Darrow wore in Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong. I loved that hat so much. Of course, mine doesn't look much like it, but I still think it turned out well.

This hat is knit and felted. I used Paton's Classic Merino in natural. It took over one skein but well under two. The hat came out HUGE. I am not sure how many times I had to felt it to get the right fit, but it was a lot. After I'd finally gotten the crown to fit my head, I had to cut the brim to make it just the length I wanted (about the length of the inspiration hat). It is waterproof. Very much so. To shape it, I had to wet it, and it took a lot of water to accomplish that. I need to reshape the brim, I think; it looks a bit squished.

I found the ribbon for around one dollar at Michael's. It is Christmas ribbon, white with silvery-gray snowflakes. I machine stitched it onto the hat.

Verity is a project I started and finished last week, in just a couple of days. It's a hat by the super-talented Ysolda Teague. It's available on Ravelry. I had a skein of Malabrigo that I'd bought from someone's stash on Ravelry (it seems all the online stores that sell Malabrigo charge flat-rate shipping and that's usually good for big orders, but I can rarely afford to make large orders, though when I get rich, I am buying so much Malabrigo!). Malabrigo is my very favorite yarn. I love the current trend of slouchy hats. I will probably be wearing them even when the trend ends. This one is really not that slouchy (I made a M), but I like the fit of it. I made the M because I was worried I'd run out of yarn with the L, otherwise I would have liked to do the L hat and M brim. But no worries, I still love the hat! And I didn't have a button lying around, and I really wanted to go ahead and wear the hat, so I found this old (fake) gold brooch whose origins I do not know. It is a little heavy for the hat, but it looks cute imo.

Tomorrow I am going to try to have the nerve to finally sew up my quilt. The Drops sweater is still going - I've finished and blocked the front and have just started the back.

I have become obsessed with Sylvi from Twist Collective. It is so striking! My birthday is next month, and as one of my gifts, I asked for yarn to knit Sylvi. I found a purple color I love, Phantom in Louet Riverstone Chunky. I've read that this yarn is thin for a bulky, but even if it is, that's ok... I think this sweater-coat calls for much more ease than I'd ever need or want. It was also a great price, from WEBS Yarn. So I didn't really splurge in asking for that, as even the Knitpicks' Wool of the Andes Bulky would not have been much cheaper, and they didn't have a purple that I loved. I wish they carried it in the color Hyacinth like their worsted WOTA. LOVE that color so!

I bought both Vogue and IK for Winter 2008 and now I don't think I'm going to knit anything from either. Maybe the Victoria Yoke Pullover from IK; it looks surprisingly good on curvier women.

Anyway, that's it for now! Cheers!

Drops Sweater Update

2009-01-27T23:34:00.004-06:00

Just a note to say that the Drops pullover seems to be going... not too badly. I wasn't sure about this project because the pullover is designed for a yarn with a halo, which I do not have. But the Shadow, while not haloed, is... halo-y. There is a (very small) bit of fuzziness to it which works. The teal color is lovely, and the yarn surprisingly soft, considering how inexpensive it is. I'm almost to the waistband, which is a bit of a dilemma. Do I go out and buy a skein of Paton's in the closest thing to teal I can find? Or do I use something I already have? I've some leftovers in brown, natural, green, gold, and purple. I think I'm going to try to find some teal yarn, because I like the monochromaticness of the photo on the Drops site. Then again, the purple might be cute and Anthropologie-esque.

Projects and FO: Mysteriously Green Slippers

2009-01-25T23:14:00.008-06:00

I used to be pretty good about updating on my projects, but I've really been slacking there. It only matters because then I forget what I've going on and what was frustrating me most about a project.

I now know why Rapunzel was given that name (the sweater, not the princess). It is because this sweater is never-ending, just like her hair... well, at least really, really long like her hair. I've restarted it about three times and am getting nowhere. I am beginning to think I really need to choose a different yarn for the sweater. Thing is, can't really afford to buy new yarn right now. So, for now I am calling this sweater "Aurora" after the Sleeping Beauty princess (or Rosie, if you're a Robin McKinley fan like me), since it has been sleeping quite a while. But fear not, fair maidens, for I am determined that this fairy tale shall have a happy ending!

I've been working on an entrelac hat, but it, too, has been discouraging. I love the idea of this hat in this yarn, but seeing it knit up... it's just not working for me. The colors keep trying to pool, the hat itself is too large, and the yarn is too heavy. So I cast it aside, too. I think this is going to be a "loser" project. I don't really know quite what to do with it.

Fortunately for me, Drops Design released this pullover pattern. I didn't have any Kidsilk-like yarn, and again, couldn't buy any, but I did have some Knitpicks Shadow in Snorkel lying around, that was originally going to be for a shawl. I needed a quick-and-easy knit; something to get me motivated on knitting again. Why yes, those ARE size 10 needles. As many projects that I've completed and been not quite satisfied with, I need something that will, hopefully, help me get my knitting mojo back. Fingers crossed!

One thing I did finish on my trip to western Kansas for Christmas was a pair of green Mystery Slippers, from the Yahoo Holiday Mystery Knits group. This pattern was great! I love the finished slippers and have already worn them so much that I've had to shave them once or twice to get rid of pilling. They are warm, cute (although they make my feet look HUGE), and the green color is great. My only complaint is that they get rather loose, and being in 100% wool, can't be dried to tighten them up. (well, I suppose they COULD, since felting does have that effect...)

I also finished a pair of short ankle socks (western Kansas is a long ride) that had been lying around for a bit. They're really not worth posting, since they are just plain gray, from KP Palette, but they are very comfy. I ran out of the gray and had to finish one of them in black. I really love handknit socks, even if I do have to hand wash them.

Earlier in the week, I went out to Hobby Lobby to find some things for my quilt and some buttons for the slippers. I ran across a new magazine called Stitch. It's a publication by Quilt Arts and... wow! Really loving this magazine! There are two skirts I am definitely making, and soon - warm weather will be here in LA before we know it (and by warm, I mean unbearably hot - people around here say Hell is where New Orleanians go to cool off). The cover skirt is my favorite. I am going to have to finish up at least my quilt and the two paintings I am working on before I can even seriously think about these skirts, but it's never too early to look around for fabric. Fabric suggestions, anyone?

The quilt top is entirely sewn together, and now I need to do the quilting. So far I love how it looks (it has been covering my bed for the past few days), but the real challenges are coming up now. Wish me luck!

Also, Brisingr has gotten much better. It took almost a hundred pages to get me really interested, but this book is really easy reading, so that's not too bad actually. I'm enjoying reading the book now.

Last, I re-arranged my sidebar by craft, rather than by year as I had it before, though past projects are still separated by year. Is this an improvement? Please let me know! I have little time to work on things such as my blog's format, but I know how irritating a poorly set-up web page can be. I'd like to have it look nice, but I honestly just don't know how.

Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans was a very good movie. It had the advantage of being only an hour and a half, which was nice in this era of needlessly long movies. I have probably ranted about this before, but: yes, some stories (such as LOTR) take two or three hours to tell. SOME, not ALL. Most movies do not need to be two hours or two and a half long! Thank you, Underworld writers, for making a great movie that was not needlessly long.

That said, the writers of the A Song of Ice and Fire TV show that is in pre-production for HBO can take as long as they need or like to tell the story, so long as the tell it RIGHT. I have never been excited about a TV show before... but YES!

How Time Flies!

2009-01-21T16:38:00.005-06:00

Seriously! I have been so busy with life that a month has passed, and I have forgotten to update. Well, I ought to say I've neglected to update. I thought of posting a couple of times, but I never got around to doing so.

School has started again, and that will be keeping me busy for the semester. I am also working on a slouchy entrelac hat, two paintings - one a gift and one for myself, and my quilt... I mean comforter. I made the mistake of saying once I was going to make a quilt to Dusty, and got called "grandma" for the next week because of it. So I've been saying "blanket" or "comforter" around him. Haha.

For the quilt, I've more than a third of the squares sewn together. I don't know if anyone will recall my earlier posts regarding making a quilt, but I was inspired by all those cute quilts at Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie to make my own. So, I bought a bunch of different fabrics over a period of several months, and cut 8" squares of them, and now I'm stitching them together. I'm also going to "cheat" on the whole quilt-making thing, because I'm not using batting, well not the normal kind. Considering that this is going to fit a queen-sized bed, I didn't think it a good idea since this is my first quilted anything, after all. So, I went to T. J. Maxx and, for around $15, picked up a nice, plush microfiber full/queen-sized (90"x90") blanket. I do wish it was a little longer, because it limits my "comforter" to being 90"x90" rather than the 90"x96" I would prefer, but it will be easier (I think) to use a blanket as batting than trying to get nice, even batting on my first try, on a queen-sized quilt that I don't intend to quilt heavily. The blanket does cover the bed as well as the comforter currently in use. I may only "tie" it, which I'm told can be done with embroidery floss.

For the backing, I cheated again. Urban Outfitters sells these tapestry-bedspreads, which are basically bed-sized (108"x90") lengths of fabric, a bit on the thin side, but very cute and, when on sale, affordable (I paid ~$20), too. So my backing is a bright bird print (called "Mod Birdies" or something like that), with lots of pink and green, brown and blue, and orange, too. Should go nicely with the rest of the fabrics. The only thing that concerns me with this is that somewhere on the packaging it said something about the dye possibly running, but I washed this with all my other fabrics, and I didn't notice anything afterward. I've washed it twice already because of that warning, and so far, I've had no problems. Hopefully, it will turn out fine.

So far, I love how it's coming along. I adore each fabric I am using, and I think (read: hope) it's going to turn out fun, bright, and funky without being obnoxious. Which is pretty much my style.

After I finish the quilt, I am going to add a big, black bird applique to the bottom edge of it. Should be fun.

Oh! A while ago, I posted about the neat Garnethill Mirror Plates. Well, a kind Raveler messaged me with ideas on how to make them. So now I am going to try that soon.

I'm also reading Brisingr. So far... eh. I need to stop comparing it to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, because that's really being unfair. No one alive can compare to the quality of those books. Hopefully the story will get better, though. I've heard this book is better than the last two in the Inheritance series, Eragon and Eldest. There are things I liked and disliked about each of those books. But really... if you want talking dragons, go read Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern stuff.

By the way, I want IK Winter 2008. I am kinda in love with the Manchester Jacket. I want to make it in a leaf-green.

More painting, yay!

2008-12-19T00:07:00.004-06:00

While I'm not that great at making jewelry, I still like to try on occasion. "But the title of this post is about painting. What," you ask, "has that with making jewelry?,"

At Michael's (arts and crafts chain store), they have some great finds. Among them were these black plastic pendants with birds and flowers on them, in a set of four. You could hardly make out the birds when they were black, but the design of them is fabulous even if the color sucked, so I thought it would be fun to try painting them. As I had enough to make 2 pairs of earrings, I tried two vastly different styles.

I can't take credit for this idea - a friend did it first, though not in multiple colors as I used.

Here, I dry-brushed gold and a dull, dusty brown over the black. It made the earrings turn out looking antiqued.

Here, I went a bit wild with color. The design is of a bird in a tree, with branches, leaves, and flowers, so I painted the branches brown and the leaves green, the flowers red on one side and purple on the other. For the bird, as far as I know peacocks don't hang out in trees, but I painted them to look like peacocks anyway since the shape of the birds themselves made me think of peacocks. I used blue, green, and gold for that. I really love how they turned out!

I'm posting the painting I did of the shrimp boat again, because I touched it up - mostly by thinning out the "wires" and outlining the white rigging bits of the boat. I think it is just what was needed for me to be happy with it.

This is a painting I just completed, of a Nawlins French Quarter balcony during Mardi Gras. This took quite a while to do, what with all the fine detail and all. Like my other Louisiana-inspired paintings, this one is 8x10".

Both of these paintings are Christmas gifts. I still have one more to do. I hope the recipients love them!

Windows Shopping

2008-12-03T15:33:00.021-06:00

... Because I use Windows. Hahaha, I love puns, don't you?

See, back when I had more time to do things and bothered to write in this blog more regularly, I would mention other things, such as my opinions of the patterns in the newest IK (not that anyone cares) or point out cute things that OMGILUVZIT!

Of course, life got in the way and so I didn't blog for a rather long period of time, and now, when I have been able to blog, it's been only about things I've made. But since it's Christmas season(for many of us, shopping season), and I've done almost all my shopping online this year, I thought I'd point to some things I am digging now. Who knows, maybe I'll help someone with Christmas shopping!

I don't have my own place right now, but I really wish I did, as I love the current decorating trends. I know they are probably all things that will look dated soon, and that sucks because I adore the vivid and dramatic colors that are popular. I believe I've mentioned before how I little I like neutrals, but let me reiterate. I don't particularly care for neutrals ("What makes a good man go neutral?"). Yes, they are necessary, I suppose, and of course you can't avoid them, but I am not an "all neutral" type of person. White walls make me cringe and always have, but I suppose beige or some variation of it is alright as long as there is color SOMEWHERE... plenty of it. With that said, a good deal of what I am about to post is actually neutral... go figure.

At Garnethill, these plate mirrors. They come in three sizes; I particularly adore the Large.

Dusty's mom actually has the Patchwork Rose Hooked Wool Rug hanging as a tapestry in her house. It is much prettier and more vivid in person than online.

A rug with less color but just as much appeal is the Dharma rug. I love the chocolate brown and pink together.

The Wendy's Garden Hooked Wool Rug is another fun, bright rug. If only they showed a photo of the entire thing! Edited Jan 2009 to say: Dusty's mom bought this rug for her laundry room and it is FAB!

I'm digging everything "birdy" right now, especially these Ceramic Pigeon Vases at Threepotatofour.

If wishes were horses and pennies were hundred dollar bills, I'd possess the Cleopatra Neoclassical Chaise, available at Design Toscano. I just love this site. They have some very unique (and some very weird) things.

I've been dying to make an afghan using this Haverhill Afghan Throw as inspiration. Once I finish some of these projects that have been sitting around for a year or more, I am going to start on it. I like the pillow, too... maybe I'll make a matching pillow as well.

This Mademoiselle Haute Couture Floor Lamp is just too awesome for words. I love the dress form lamps I've seen online, and this is even cooler.

From Garnethill, this White Coral Lamp is gorgeous, though I'd like it better if it were the actual color of coral.

If you're looking for artwork, a great piece is Apple Tree with Red Fruit by Paul Ranson. I purchased this print from Allposters, and though the size is odd, so I haven't been able to find a frame for it, the print itself is fantastic.

Another great art print is Rain on Royal Street by Dianne Millsap. ALL of her Nawlins paintings are fantastic! The wonderful thing about these paintings is that you can enjoy the life and energy of the French Quarter without the smell.

Another artist with amazing Nawlins art is James Michalopoulas. Every time I walk into Barnes and Noble, I pick up his ($100) book (that I can't afford) to look through it. It would be such a great addition to my collection. One of these days...
A print of his I particularly like is Bisecting Balconies.

I'm loving the Vitruvian Collection, in particular the Peace, Warm Hands, and Kissing the Hand. "Kissing the Hand" makes me think of Mr. Knightley, literature's finest gentleman.

Finally, these Agate Coasters look like great fun, even if agate doesn't naturally come in blue or green.

Paintings

2008-11-25T22:12:00.003-06:00

If there is anything I love, it is painting. Granted, I am no true artist, but I enjoy it and that's all that matters. Here are the paintings I've done thus far this year.

The first two paintings are not "originals." They were done at CorksnCanvas, a place where you do a painting in an evening. There is an instructor who tells you what to do, and everyone in the class does the same painting, but they all come out remarkably different. I went with a couple of people, and we had a blast. We really liked the New Orleans house paintings, so we did two of them (on two separate occasions).

This pink house was my favorite of all the paintings they offer. I just love how mine turned out, but I forgot to add some potted plants, which I still need to do.

We go saltwater fishing, usually once or twice a year. I have taken some great photos on these trips, and I always wanted to do paintings of them. Well, I finally did, at least started my "series" of Louisiana wetlands paintings. I did the red tugboat first, and then the shrimping boat. More will follow.

Jewelry at its worst

2008-11-23T18:45:00.003-06:00

Oops! 2008 is almost gone, and I have a few things I've made that I've not posted. Mostly in the form of jewelry, which I am posting now, but I have a couple of paintings as well, which I will post later, when I get around to taking pictures of them.

Honestly, jewelry-making is one of those hobbies I wish I could indulge in more frequently, but just cannot afford to (without giving up pretty much all of my other hobbies). Plus, for those of you who make jewelry on a regular basis, how do you decide to buy your supplies? Namely beads and stuff. Do you just buy stuff you like, or wait until you have an idea? Also, are there any websites you frequent?

Anyway, so the main point of all this being that I do not make elaborate jewelry. I am aware of this, and most of what I have made is nothing special.

First, we have two pairs of earrings I made for my Secret Santa partner. We are doing several small gifts, then a big gift. These were two small gifts. The shells are just beads put on earring hooks, and the leopard print was a set of pendants that I simply put on hooks. So, nothing complex, but I think they are cute.

Next, I made these seahorses from beads that came out of the same pack of beads as the shells. I loved these little seahorses, and really, so much could have been done with this pack of beads (in fact, I have some left over and hopefully later can try something more elborate), but really I didn't think it NEEDED that much as the beads were so cute.

This pendant is a gift. I couldn't resist, as the person who is going to receive it for Christmas has the last name of Lucky.

I made these peacock feather earrings earlier in the year, but they are probably still my favorite pair of earrings right now. I saw the idea for these on some website; they were $99, which I could not afford no matter how well I liked them. But they were so simple, I figured they'd be easy to recreate, and they were. They were hard to photograph; when being worn, they do not look raggedy as they do in the picture. Additionally, I love the closures I used for these - I don't have to worry about losing an earring or an earring back.

I love these little jewelry-sized bottles. I wanted to use the green sand for something, and I thought this was perfect. Then I found the little green shell beads, and voila! I think the necklace turned out really cute.

2 FOs: Serrano and Goddess Halloween Costume M4954

2008-11-10T22:05:00.006-06:00

So, I've been a busy little bumblebee, and though most of that has been with school and work, I did manage to finally finish Serrano and make a Halloween costume as well. So, here's that stuff.

M4954:
For Halloween, I was attending a party that was (months ago) originally supposed to be a toga party. The theme changed to just plain ol' costume party, but as I already had the stuff for this, I stuck to it. It's a Roman/Greek/Egyptian "goddess costume," in quotes because I doubt the design could be much less historically accurate. At any rate, it was cuter than a toga because I look awful in a toga. I didn't do white because there wasn't any cheap white satin at Hancock fabrics, and this lavender stuff was cheap. I wore this to two parties and made it the day of the first one. I did all the cutting one day and then all the sewing the day of the party. It took most of the day, but I finished in time and that's that. Excuse these pictures, they were taken after the party when I actually thought to take a picture, so I look like crap. Really like crap. In fact, I can't believe I am posting such bad photos on the internet, and I will probably regret it someday. And I can't even blame it on being drunk.

As always, there is a review for this at PatternReview.

Serrano:
This thing took for-ev-er and two days. Mainly because I quit knitting for almost a year, and only haphazardly picked it back up a couple of months ago. Then, I couldn't find the zipper I wanted (and never did), and I couldn't decide what else to do with it because, as it turns out, a plain black cardigan is just not me. So I crocheted an edging (out of gray I was using for a pair of socks, which will now be finished in leftover black) and made an applique out of interfacing,(note to self: always check the interfacing before buying - make certain it is fusible! This is the second time I have bought the wrong kind of interfacing), scraps from my Leg Lamp costume, and a scrap of quilting cotton. I added a button on the applique, too, from God-knows what project that I probably didn't finish, but hopefully will someday. Then I painstakingly hand-stitched it on there (and let me tell you, my hand-stitching is a fright. Martha Stewart would have a stroke if she saw it. Actually, does she sew? I know she's Martha Stewart and all, but do you think she sews stuff by hand?). I chose a fleur-de-lys because I realized I live in south La and had nothing with fleur-de-lys on it, and I think you get arrested for that here. Or at least mobbed.

So, without further adieu, the pictures! The usual disclaimer of how un-photogenic I am, but my boyfriend took these and he wasn't going to stand there all day taking photos till we got one I liked, since that probably would have taken hours.

And finally, a photo of Dusty's Halloween costume. Can you guess who he is?

Just a quick update

2008-10-13T20:41:00.002-05:00

Life (to be precise, school) has gotten in the way of crafting. I finished Serrano but have not been working on anything else because I've been ill and my classes are kicking my butt. I can't remember ever being this stressed. Anyway, I will put up pictures of Serrano as soon as I get a zipper for it. I have been trying to find a dual zipper, and have had very little luck with that. I may have to look online. The positive? Serrano just may be a winner.

FO: McCall 5584

2008-09-24T21:06:00.013-05:00

About that "I haven't been sewing at all comment," I lied on accident without even remembering. I did sew this one thing this summer, in late June/early July.

I can't believe I almost forgot to post this. Here is the costume I made for work. I work at a very popular retail store that sells its brand-name ornaments, and for the ornament premiere, we pick an ornament and dress as that ornament. I chose the Leg Lamp from the film Christmas Story, and made my costume using some poly satin from Hancock fabrics and this pattern, M5584. I also found earrings made from real little light bulbs, and decorated the head dress. The beads are from Mardi Gras (never thought MG beads would actually come in handy). Fishnet thigh-highs, of course, completed this costume. This swingy dress, once finished, made me feel so like a flapper that I had to embellish on that end - thus the headband with a big, fat Christmas light bulb and gold pipe cleaner "electricity" wrapped onto it. The dress was very unflattering, but since it was supposed to be a lampshade, that was ok. Everyone thought it was a great costume, and someone even bought an ornament because of it - score! I'm posting the review at PR, so if you want to know more details, just click the link after I edit this post to include it.

Anyway, here are the pics! I probably didn't need to post so many, but oh well.

Me, the Leg Lamp. Yes, I did get many "I'm turning you on" and "I'm yanking your chain" comments!

ETA: Link to review on PR

Oh yeah, also, sleeves on Serrano are done and blocked. Next comes the seaming. It will probably be a hellish ordeal, as seaming always is, but I will survive it. Then the collar and adding a zipper, and I will finally be done with this sweater!

And, finally, I don't normally talk about anything other than crafting on here, but I wanted to mention that my friend Dave Yaden's album, "Bear Me Up," just came out on iTunes. Please check it out - "Down the Line" is particularly amazing and catchy! Dave is immensely talented, so don't miss out!

I spy... amazing fashion

2008-09-21T22:52:00.002-05:00

She's armed and extremely dangerous

I know I said I was done with sewing clothes for now, but I love this dress and must have it. Any pattern suggestions?

Zombie-fied Return

2008-09-21T20:02:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I am not really a zombie, but since it's been nearly a year since I have posted here,(good Lord, where does the time go?!) and nearly that long since I've done any knitting, it is like being a zombie, so that's what I am. A knitting, sewing, blogging zombie.

I know, I know what you're thinking right now. "Crystal! We're so glad you're back! What on earth have you been doing?"

Well... um. Grad school. Working. Reading. A bit of drawing, a wonderful, loverly bit of painting. Learning that, surprisingly, life goes on without knitting (so long as I have books). An exciting, surprisingly fun summer trip with my mother to Graceland. But mostly school.

"But," you say, "something must have encouraged you to blog again. After all, this is a knitting/crafting blog."

And you are correct! I picked up the needles again and started back on Serrano. I'm shaping the second sleeve. I originally put this down because it seemed to be taking soooo long, and now I can't imagine how I ever thought that. I feel like my needles are on fire! Hopefully I will finish that soon.

I haven't been sewing at all. I am still on a hiatus from it for now, since clothing wasn't going too well for me anyway, and I just didn't have room to keep up with all that stuff. It will have to wait a bit until I am in a place where I won't be moving any more for a long while, and have room to spread stuff out. Just like my scrapbooking stuff. But.... I am planning and buying fabrics for a patchwork quilt, inspired by this Urban Outfitters quilt and this quilt for Michael Miller fabric. I want the squares from the UO quilt, with the bird/leaf thingy from the MM quilt. I think it will be pretty darned pretty. I am one of those people who always associated quilts with grannies until recently. Now I am dying to make one, and it's not because I'm old. You heard it here first, quilts are cool! (I know it's been hinted at for a while now, but no one has actually come out and said it until now).

Anyway, so what's the rule for quilting? Do you need a theme? Or can you just put together any fabrics you like? I really, really hope it's the latter...

Stop! Grammar Time!

2007-12-06T18:59:00.000-06:00

We interrupt your regularly scheduled knitting blog to bring you this strictly non-knitting, nerdy post. Just in case you ever use (and trust) MS Office's grammar check, keep this picture in mind.

I wonder what severity cans? It has to be anchovies. After all, anchovies sound gross, and "severity" doesn't exactly leave one with a warm, fuzzy feeling. So it probably has canning parties with other unfriendly words like "discord" and "depreciate," and they can anchovies...

Or are they telling me to write that the severity of the disease fires "double"? Poor "double." Getting canned by MS Office's grammar check. I thought he was doing a pretty good job, myself. Good ol' "double"... but he is always getting into trouble, they say. I guess it was bound to happen.

This brought out the nerdiness in me enough to merit putting up the Hammer "Grammar Time" icon. Which, if you look closely, the background is "netspeak," making it even more awesome. I did not create that icon and I don't know who did... it was on one of those random websites with free icons. So if you made it, thanks, let me know if you want your name up there, and also you are the coolest person ever. Except for me. But that goes without saying. ;-)

* And yes, I know that's not the way to cite in a paper. But it's the way I begin citations all my papers. I have the actual citations on their little page, and I just put the number in till I am done and ready to purdy up all the citations. I'm not sure if it's quicker than doing them as you go (because I don't think I've ever actually tried that), but whatever. Works fine for me.

** And yes, I see the grammatical error in there that MS Word DIDN'T catch. And I fixed it!

*** Oh, by the way, as this post indicates, I'm still alive. I'll have to do a real post later... when I'm not extremely busy doing crap for finals.

Edit: Oh, I guess you can't look closely on the GrammarTime picture because Blogger stretches it out. But the background is netspeak. This image is only 100x100 pixels or something like that, but apparently Blogger says "NO! Ye shall have no photos smaller than 200 cubits" (and by cubits I mean pixels). I wonder if I can fix that.

Edit 2: Yay, fixed!

Seranno progress and my next project

2007-11-04T23:07:00.000-06:00

I am now knitting the back armholes of Serrano. I am doing so well! I have not been perfectly monogamous in my projects but I have mostly worked only on Serrano. (by the way, anyone have any idea why, when typing on my laptop, sometimes the cursor just skips to somewhere else entirely and I end up writing in the wrong sentence? it is like accidental madlibs or something except madlibs are totally awesome and funny and this is annoying). Anyway, I just have to finish the back and sleeves, do some blocking and some finishing, and find a zipper. I plan on doing one of those 2 way zippers instead of hooks and eyes because it's annoying to mess with those things.

I've been swatching for Eunny's Venezia sweater. I loved this to begin with, and after spending a long time deciding on colors and thinking of some modifications, I love it even more now. I am going to knit it in 2 colors only - a bright pink and a light pink - and I also want to add a v-neck, maybe a collar too, and make it into a cardigan similar to an anthropologie design I've been admiring. It's the Jacquard Jacket under Cardigans if my link doesn't work (I can never get links to this site to work). I would really love to hear any advice or ideas about this since I know I will need to add a steek but don't know exactly how to do that (add stitches, yes, but how many? etc) so any help would be sooo appreciated! Also, look at the photo on the model - if you zoom in, the sweater has what looks like a tattoo on the arm! How cool is that?! I am going to do that, too.

Edit: Ok, the link doesn't work. Here's one picture of the jacket:

I need to start sewing again too. I had quit because I felt bad sewing, having projects never turn out right, and then feeling like I wasted time, money, and good fabric. Also I really don't have too much time. But really I am wasting the fabric all the same if I already have it and don't use it. So I am going to try to make a top or something soon.

Obsessed

2007-10-30T17:53:00.000-05:00

I really hope I am able to get November's Burda WOF magazine. I am obsessed with this dress. I really must have it! Sigh!

New IK is up!

2007-10-23T18:31:00.000-05:00

And you can find it right here.

What do I think about this issue? I know you won't rest until you know MY opinions. ;-)

It looks pretty darn good to me! I do miss the redhead, though. But I adore the Bettie Paige looking model. Here are the patterns I liked best, along with the ones I may knit (no, they're not always the same thing).

Alicia Tabard (why no bonus photos for this?) - I love it! It makes me think "knitter's Miss America" what with the diagonal cable and all, hehe. I think it's very cute, but I doubt I'll knit it.

Henley Perfected - I think this is my favorite pattern in the issue. I love the lace! I will be tempted to knit it. But I really think the model's expression sucks. She does not look like she is happy wearing that super cute sweater! Maybe she realizes the color isn't the best for her. ;-)

Sweater Girl Pullover - Who won't like this one? It's so classic. I'm betting this one will be popular.

Colette Pullover - Really cute design, and I can't decide if the pattern is Transformers or kitties... but either way, awesome! This looks pretty Anthropologie-esque to me.

Celtic Tote - I love this! A must-knit for me!

Ivy League Vest - I always love Eunny's designs. I love this vest! It's so cute and timeless.

El Sol Pullover - I really love the neckline of this pullover.

Farrow Rib Cardigan - I love the texture on this cardi! A really cute design, too.

Gathered Pullover - Love it! This is a must knit if I see that it looks nice on busty girls (I'm worried about the cables being RIGHT THERE, ya know?). There's that disgruntled model again.

Rosemary's Swing Jacket - I adore this... I really, really wish I had the type of figure that could pull it off. It is so, so cute.

All in all, a great issue!

Btw, things are still going well with Serrano. I've got about 1.5" left to knit before I get to the armhole shaping, I think. That's really good, considering that it's knit in one piece thus far.

Also, I got some samples from Artfibers to swatch. I got some Sylph and some Andromeda. I knit up the Andromeda, and oh my, is this yarn wonderfully soft! And so, so beautifully drapey! GIMME! :-D

Also, it was so cold today! I wore Gretel out, and got a nice compliment. That was cool, and the hat is nice and warm. Yay!

Thinkin' about new projects

2007-10-16T21:24:00.001-05:00

So, of course I have a million wips, but as always, I am thinking about new projects.

One thing I really want is a Twinkle Shopping Tunic, except in fine (fingering or sport at the most) gauge bamboo or some other fine yarn with equal drape. I have no idea how to go about doing that, but I think it would look nice. Nicer, for my body type, than a chunky wool yarn, and a fine gauge bamboo would be a million times more wearable in this climate than chunky wool. Anyone know of a pattern similar to this? I imagine the change in gauge would be far too drastic for the Twinkle pattern to work.

I'm also still thinking about a Tilted Duster, and since the yarn I'm considering for it is at home, I will only think about it till Dec. :-)

I want an Estella, and but for lack of yarn and money for yarn, would be knitting it now.

I also want a Peasant Cap (warning: PDF!), but have the same hindrance as for Estella.

And of course, the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, for which I do have yarn, but am one ball short, sadly (if anyone wants to get rid of a ball of Rowan Felted Tweed in cocoa, lemme know). I really wanted to knit it in rage, but it's pretty lucky that I have even the cocoa color. My LYS never had the rage to begin with, had only the cocoa left, and I got it before the TYC pattern was released (the reason for my being 1 ball short).

I think before I get to the TYC, if I can, I will be attemping to knit Venezia by Eunny Jang. I saw a couple of modifications that make me even more in love with this sweater, and all I want is to get everything out of the way and work on it. I'm going to do it in only 2 colors (dark gray + light pink? dark brown + light pink?) and make it with a v-neck instead of a boat neck. The original is lovely, but as I've never done much fair isle, I don't know about managing so many colors, and a v-neck will look better on me, I'm hoping.

Oh, and I want to make that braided scarf that's on the cover of a VK.

Ok, there are a lot more, but those are the main ones.

Regarding Serrano (I know y'all are dying to hear how it's coming along):

I think this sweater is re-teaching me project monogamy. I've been working only on this sweater, and it is going by so much more quickly than I expected because of it! I have hardly even had knitting time, so I haven't gotten much farther than my last update; actually I'm now on the waist increases. But still, thinking on how slowly it normally takes me to finish a sweater, I'm doing very well. :-) Still having a bit of trouble with the whole shaping and keeping the lace pattern looking neat thing, but again, hopefully it won't be obvious to anyone but me. That's all I'm going for here. A sweater that fits well and doesn't look like someone who doesn't know what the heck they're doing made it (although that's pretty much the case - when it comes to lace, I don't really know what I'm doing, even with a stitch pattern as easy as this). I'm surprised at my ability to work on this so devotedly. The pattern is beautiful, but while KP Palette is a nice "workhorse" yarn, it is not very soft, so there's no "OMG I LOVE WORKING WITH THIS YARN OMG!!" like I get with Malabrigo, Swish Superwash, or the Merino Cable I'm using for Rapunzel. And it's black, so there's no "OoOoOo... purdy colorz! Me likey!" that I get with particularly lovely/exciting colorways. And the gauge is small, so there's no "OMG I can't believe I am almost done already!" feeling. But I am still really enjoying this knit. And that is saying something about this pattern!

Oh yeah, also! I have really warmed up to the Gretel hat I knit, and now I am starting to like the way it looks on me! This is great! I think I just needed to get used to the look of a slouchy hat. I had this same reaction to the 2 slouchy hats I knit before (the Pithy hats). I never really gave them a chance, and left them at my mom's, thinking I'd never wear them. Now I wish I had them here, so I could see whether I'd like them as well! When I go home at Christmas, I am going to find out. So thanks, y'all, for the compliments on Gretel. I think y'all are the ones who changed my mind on that matter.

Last thing (I think!): When perusing Louisa Harding books online (love her designs!), I saw this one picture and I really like the model they chose for it. She is really gorgeous, but she doesn't look like a model (imho, and a good thing - I feel some times like modern "model" beauty is the only kind we really appreciate now, seeing this girl as a model reminds me that we don't only appreciate that kind of beauty - although she is very lovely, but maybe you'll get what I mean).

A Ransom Note

2007-10-15T12:51:00.000-05:00

From Flickr:

Hey knittin_bayou! About your photos...

You've run into one of the limits of a free account. Your free account will only display the most recent 200 photos you've uploaded. All of your photos beyond 200 will remain hidden from view until you either delete newer photos, or upgrade to a Pro account.

None of your photos have been deleted, and if you upgrade, they'll all come back unharmed.

Doesn't this sound kinda like a ransom note? ;-) So does this mean now that my older pictures can't be seen, even if they are linked?

Serrano progress

2007-10-10T20:23:00.000-05:00

Yeap, I started Serrano, as all my projects were really discouraging me to the point of frustration. Unfortunately, that trend is continuing somewhat into this project as well. I'm past the waist shaping, and have 3 problems. One was with the waist shaping - keeping the pattern while doing the shaping was very hard, and I am not sure I accomplished it too well. It's knit all in one piece, so you have to interrupt the shaping in order to do the decreases, and as I am not a lace knitter, I don't really know how to do this too well. So let's hope it looks ok. Before that, there was even another problem. Very early in the pattern, I apparently accidentally put in some random yarn overs in places they don't belong, and didn't notice it until now. So... yeah. Third problem. One front side of my Serrano has the lace edging extending to the front bands. The other side... not so much. I didn't have room for a final repeat, so there are several stitches between the lace pattern and my front bands. I hope the asymmetry of the lace on the fronts doesn't end up looking poorly. None of this is the fault of the pattern, I'm sure. I've seen lots of lovely Serranos on Ravelry, and no knitters who complained of any pattern problems. So please don't think I am criticizing the pattern! I am certainly not the world's best knitter. In fact, I'd say I'm a pretty poor knitter, as is evidenced by my lack of flawlessly executed FOs. I'm knitting this in black Palette from KnitPicks. It is strange... none of the other colors of Palette I have are scratchy in the least, but this one is rather scratchy and is definitely going to need some conditioner or something. Serrano is going surprisingly quickly for a cardigan with a lace pattern, knit in fingering weight yarn.

Sooo... something else is on my mind. I read a lot of people talking about how they are "process knitters." I'm not sure I understand the idea of this. Process knitter as opposed to... what? I don't want to offend anyone, and maybe I'm mistaking the idea of the terminology, but to me "process knitter" sounds a bit redundant (not sure that's the word I want, but it'll do for now). Why would one knit, if she or he didn't enjoy the knitting process? I mean, have you ever heard anyone say "I hate everything about knitting and it really bores me, but I'm going to knit this sweater"? Or scarf. Or hat. Or whatever. Even if you love gorgeous hand knits, you're not going to stick with knitting if you don't enjoy doing it. I've known plenty of people who were entranced by the idea of being able to knit their own items, and then turned off by the actual knitting of said items. If you don't enjoy knitting, you're not going to want to put hours and hours into a project, no matter how much you want that sweater or hat. If you're knitting, I think it's pretty automatically understood that you must enjoy the process of it, or you wouldn't do it. Am I wrong? :-)

Finished Object: Gretel

2007-10-02T22:54:00.000-05:00

I finished Gretel! Thank goodness, for I needed a finished object. I'm not sure how happy I am with it - the yarn (Malabrigo) couldn't be nicer, the pattern is so well written, and the hat itself is lovely... but I am still unsure of how wearable it is for me. I made the slouchy version, and I'm afraid that it may be TOO slouchy.

These pictures were taken on my camera phone, and seriously suck. Hopefully, better photos to come, when I get batteries for my digital cam and after the hat has finished blocking.

Now I've been struck by the desire to finish the long forgotten Sideways Spencer, but I've lost my place! I have no idea what to do there now and hope I don't have to do anything drastic, like start over. Ugh. I really want to finish one of my sweaters now!

Update

2007-10-01T13:33:00.000-05:00

Sorry, once again, I've been a bad blogger. I've just been so disappointed in everything that it is hard to even talk about projects.

Right now, I'm working on Gretel, and I've picked up the Ella Scarf again, after deciding the darn thing needs to be finished. Gretel I started because I really need a FO now. I'm pretty far along on that. For Ella, I made a deal. I've been trying to get at least 3 medallions done in a week. If I do that, then I'll have it done in a couple of weeks. Of course, nothing is limiting me to 3 medallions, so I could finish sooner.

I worked exclusively on Josephine this weekend, though I didn't get much done as most of the weekend was spent working, preparing for fishing, and then out on the marshes actually fishing. I did not catch anything weird this time, but I did catch two really big redfish, which was awesome. I love to catch redfish because anyone who thinks that fishing is easy in any way has never dealt with a redfish. Anyway, it was a great time.

I've kinda given up sewing right now. I don't know why except that nothing seems to work as I'd like it to, so I haven't felt like messing with it. I figure I'll just ruin more fabric that I really like and paid good money for. So I am in the sewing dumps... let's hope I can get out of that soon.

I've been stalking the Tilted Duster. Please, someone, tell me how unflattering it is going to be on me before I end up trying it and being heartily disappointed. I know there is no way it could look good on me, but it's such a gorgeous design! I thought maybe adding some room in the bust would make the whole thing lie flatter and closer against me, but I would have no idea how to do that. The concept of short row darts continues to elude me.

I need to go to class now.

Dressing for Your Shape? (aka possibly TMI and no pictures, sorry!)

2007-09-10T20:22:00.000-05:00

I've been pondering a lot recently about what really looks good on me. Apparently, I'm a pretty poor judge of it myself, considering the opinions of others 'round here.

For those of you who don't know, I am SHORT - 4'10" (not quite a legal "small person," but I'm only an inch over the max). I also would consider myself what some like to call "curvy," I suppose, but I am not sure what that means. I mean, I've seen magazines call Scarlett Johanson curvy, but did you see her in The Prestige (great movie, btw)?? In that corset? She was pretty much a stick with boobs. A very lovely stick, true (I rank her as one of the top 4 most attractive ladies on planet Hollywood), but a stick nonetheless. So, as a disclaimer, when I say I am "curvy," I do not have anything near the figure of Scarlett Johanson. I have boobs, 34" hips, and a little belly (but a 26" waist, except maybe at Thanksgiving). I also have short legs and well, my thighs ain't exactly proportional to my height, and they probably ain't going anywhere, either.

So, let's just say that designers aren't exactly designing for my body type. And I can see why that is - I sure as heck can't ever find things I like on myself, and if I like them, no one else does. All I've found that we can all agree on my looking nice in are button down shirts and pinstripe dress pants, and who wants to wear those all the time?

So anyway, if you're out shopping and you can't find things you like, well it's a bummer, but it's no huge deal - just don't buy it. Or return it if you buy it and get home and wonder what you were on at the store. But what if you're sewing or knitting for yourself? How do you determine whether something is going to flatter you if you can't try it on first? I know you can try on something similar at a store, but what if you can't find anything similar?

Also, which distorts your shape less? A mirror or a camera? Anyone know?

BTW, the pink dress did not go over well in person. Apparently, though it looks pretty good in the photos... not so much IRL (not that I had the nerve to wear it out after the looks I got just trying it on in the house!). At least that's what I hear. So I dunno what steps to take next. I have to admit to a major self-confidence drop recently, and I don't like it one bit. ;-)

V8386 "Muslin"

2007-09-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I've finished the muslin for V8386, and now I'm trying to decide whether it's wearable, and whether to use my fabulous Gorgeous Things' print for the real thing. I took a couple of pictures and would love to hear what you think!

So, should I go for it?

Boxes and boxes

2007-09-03T20:43:00.000-05:00

Well, ok, only two boxes. And a couple of pillowcases. That's all I have to show today... but it is, I assume, preferable to the complete absence of posting that's been going on around here lately, and also to posting without pictures at all.

So, I know what you're thinking - boxes are boring. Sure, they're good for keeping crap in, but they're boring. Well, I thought so too, until I discovered this wonderful stuff called Mod-Podge (or is it Modge-Podge? I don't know). Now I think boxes are wicked cool (even if saying "wicked cool" isn't wicked cool anymore), or at least can be after applying a gallon of this stuff and some scrapbook paper.

Actually, for these projects I used Mod-Podge (which will be abbreviated as MP if I mention it again), scrapbook paper, paint, ribbon, and fabric. It was mucho fun, although it stank to high heaven!

Here are some pictures:

The first box was a 12"x12" scrapbook paper box from Michael's. Now, in case you don't scrap, most of the scrapbooks I've seen come in a size for 12"x12" sheets of paper. That's right, the sheets of paper are exactly 12"x12". The box? Also exactly 12"x12". Anyone see a problem here? Anyway, I failed to realize this info until after the fact, and it's ok, because I have other crap in the box besides 12"x12" scrapbook paper (considering that I left most of my scrapping stuff at home). But just to let people know, the papers don't really fit. But for a box this pretty, who cares?!

After I finished the box, I wanted to do another. It was such fun! It just so happened that I got a free card organizer from Hallmark - handy, but oh so BLAND. I don't know if you've realized this about me, but I'm not a big fan of neutrals. They are boring! So, so boring. So, when I got this free card organizer that was (what else?) beige and white, ugh!, I thought I'd liven it up a bit. So, I used leftovers from the previous projects to make this:

I finally also accepted that my beloved comforter, the wonderful Van Gogh print, was wearing quite thin. I decided to get a new one. Then, inspired by some throw pillows I'd seen online, I painted pillowcases to match. I was going to do throw pillows, but it just seemed like too much trouble, as I would have had to make them, or make covers for a couple of throw pillows I found. I probably will do one soon, though, if I can ever find fabric paint in the colors I wanted to use for the throw pillow. I used sparkly fabric paint and some cheap beige (ugh, that color again!) pillowcases I found for around $3 (for a set of 2) at Kmart. I think the results were pretty fun, but here, you can judge for yourself!

And on the bed with the new comforter set:

Now, for updates on projects. In knitting, I'm currently still working on Josephine, but it's going slowly. For sewing, I've almost finished the "muslin" for V8386, of which I will have to get opinions before I use my fabulous pink, black, and white print from Gorgeous Things on it. I can't decide if the dress is going to flatter me or not. I thought it would, as I do have a very nice semi-formal dress in a similar style that I think is very flattering on me, but I'm not sure about this one. It will definitely need something under it, too, as the fabric (a cheap pink knit from the $1 fabric table at Walmart) is very thin. But you'll see in a few days.

Also, I updated some of my projects on Ravelry. I now have posted (not very good) photos of most my wips, as well as photos of all my fos (which have been on there for awhile). I do love this site - it is really great at keeping me organized and helping me remember what I'm working on, as well as what I want to do. I wish there was a sewing site like this - PR is really great, but it would be so wonderful to have a feature where I could post my projects I'm working on, as well as pictures of my stash and patterns I want to use them for. Just sublime. But don't think I'm putting down PR at all - I love it, too! I use my "pattern catalog" feature for keeping in mind what I want to do in what fabric, for now, but without fabric pics.

I really want to make a pair of peacock feather earrings. Any tips on how to go about doing so? I am dying for some, but how would you attach the peacock feathers to the earring hook thingys?

As this is really a hobby journal for me, and reading is a great hobby of mine, I'll talk a little about that, too. I just finished reading The Demon Under the Microscope today. This book has had me captivated, and is part of the reason progress on all my projects has been slow, even on a geologic time scale. It's a non-fiction book about the discovery and short reign of sulfa drugs, and it was just great. It took me much longer than most books do to read, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I give it an A++++!! I've not had much time for pleasure reading (yes, this is what I read for pleasure, along with many other things) any way, since I've had to read for class so much, but I think the next book on my list will be The Secret Life of Germs. I'm wary of this one, hoping it's not just another book that tells you to scrub everything and never let a bacterium into your house. Overzealous cleaning is as bad as no cleaning at all. I also have some Tolkien I haven't yet read, and am sorely tempted to wait until after reading one or two of those to start on Germs. Another couple of books I just finished are The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life and We Thought You Would Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive. Both very funny books, although I have to argue that Laurie Notaro cannot be "dorkiest girl alive," as I hold that title at present. ;-) I hope to get my hands on her other books. Yes, I know I'm reading them out of order, but the books are kinda random in themselves, so I don't think it matters too much.

Assuming anyone still even reads this thing, I'm very sorry I haven't been keeping up with your blogs, or mine either, for that matter. I'm just so busy getting into the swing of things with grad school. I can't promise I'll do better, but I hope to at least post more often, and I'll try to catch up to my blog reads now and then.

Now I think I will dub this post "officially longest post ever!!"

I'm still here

2007-08-15T09:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry, y'all. I haven't dropped off of the earth or anything, so I have no excuse for going so long without a post. I've been doing semi-crafty things and I've been knitting a little. I've been working and reading a lot, watching some movies and spending time with my family and friends, and thinking a lot about sewing but not doing it at all. I didn't even start on the dress in time for my friend's wedding, but I have a couple of days I don't have much planned (today and tomorrow), and I am going to try to finish the dress then. I'm getting ready to start school again on the 20th. I've some cute things to show, but haven't taken any pictures, so once I get on that, I'll post my projects and talk about them. Whee!

FO: BWOF Wrap Skirt 3-2007

2007-07-22T13:24:00.000-05:00

I've had this one done for awhile, but yes, am just now getting around to posting it. It's the wrap skirt from the March 2007 Burda World of Fashion (THE reason I wanted this issue to begin with). As usual, pictures here, details on the PR review. The lilac skirt isn't quite finished. It still needs a zipper. And I don't have any tops that I like with either skirt, so I will have to find or make something that will look nice. I've worn the turquoise skirt a couple of times with the top in the pictures and it goes ok, but I'm not satisfied, though I did get compliments (oh joy! hehe).

The usual disclaimer about the more awful than usual photos. These pictures couldn't have turned out worse if I'd purposely tried to make myself look ugly and overweight in them. And I'm not a junkie; the band-aid is from the blood test I'd had that day (everything turned out fine).

Now, on to other things. I haven't been totally lazy. I've been decoupaging boxes with Mod-podge, scrapbook paper, and ribbon. I did a scrapbook paper box (which turned out to barely hold the 12" scrapbook paper pages I like, since it's apparently exactly 12" itself, what were they thinking? the paper gets stuck) and a card organizer. I LOVE how they turned out, and will post about them soon, when I find my mysteriously missing digital camera (where's Nancy Drew when ya need her)?

Speaking of Nancy Drew, I saw the movie and loved it. Go see it just for the great clothes! Also, the movie itself was cute and I loved how Nancy didn't change to fit in - an important message, I think. Especially if you've got it all together as she does! ;-) One of the dresses I fell absolutely in love with (ok, I fell in love with all of them, but one of them I really want to make), so I've been on a pattern hunt. Here are a couple of pics of it (the best I could find, though I couldn't find any of the bottom). It appears to be A-line with princess seams, a square-ish neckline, and an empire waist. Pattern suggestions, anyone?

I also saw Transformers, and, while it offered no fashion inspiration, it was a great movie (then again, I'm a Transformers fan, so I could be biased).

Sorry I haven't updated more recently. There just hasn't been that much to post about. I've been reading C. S. Lewis, Anne McCaffery, and Wicked, and I have a huge reading list to finish. I've got plenty of great fabrics to work on, but not lots of time to work. Especially since I've been trying to get lots of reading in, working, and still trying to get some knitting accomplished, too. But a friend I've known since elementary is getting married in early August, and I want to have the Vogue 8386 dress done in time to wear to the wedding (if I like it and decide it's appropriate when complete). I've got to get past some major fear that, for some reason, this dress isn't going to turn out well for me. I am not sure why I feel so certain there's going to be a problem, but yeah. I've read all the PR reviews on the dress, and I think all of them recommend the dress, but I'm still getting warning signs. Regardless, I'm cutting out for a muslin today. I gotta get started on the thing if I'm going to have it done in time for the wedding.

On the knitting front, I stopped working on Rapunzel. For now. I think it's coming out way too large, and it seems the only way to fix it is going to be redoing it. Fortunately, I was still on the back, but I was nearly finished with it. All that SEED STITCH, too, ugh! And it's not going to be a matter of changing needles or yarns, because my gauge was spot on. No, I'll have to figure out how to size the pattern down, I guess. Argh! So I'm working on Josephine from IK, instead. Some yarn has gone missing for a Chez Plum project I intended to start instead, so I had no choice. I can't figure out where it went! Maybe it's with the camera. And I don't have much yarn here to choose from. :-( But I am loving Josie, in a lovely lilac Microspun (yes I know it will probably pill and won't block). It's soft and really pretty, and since the lace pattern is simple, it will be ok.

An interruption

2007-07-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

As you may know, I try to keep my personal life and my personal views/beliefs separate from my crafting blog. But this is one of those topics that are so very important that I am even posting it here, and I certainly hope no one will take offense (you never know what is going to offend people these days).

In the July issue of National Geographic, there was an excellent article on malaria. It's posted online here, and I think everyone should read it. It is so, so very important for us to find a vaccine, and to continue funding research for treatments of the disease, as well as to donate money towards helping the victims.

FO: Butterick 5046 (Garnethill knockoff)

2007-06-27T21:20:00.000-05:00

Butterick 5046 is finished! I like it. I think it came out pretty well, and looks very like the inspiration dress.

As usual, I will talk briefly about my experience making this dress, but save most of the details for the PR review.

This dress is rated "very easy" or some such wording. It is very easy, but, in the words of Burda, "more time consuming." This dress took me a lot longer than it should have, probably, and it wasn't all due to procrastination! The interfacing stuff took forever. Then with all the smocking I added (which I didn't know how to do to begin with), it took forever. Or at least felt like it.

I think the style of this dress is very cute. I remember seeing this pattern when it first came out and thinking it was adorable. Seeing the similar Garnethill dress sealed the deal. I loved it, but could I wear it? I hope I can pull it off well. It's not the type of dress or a color I would normally wear (oh wait... I don't normally wear dresses), but change is good, right? As I wrote on the review, I think the long version of this dress would be in danger of looking matronly, and I hated the thing before I added the sleeves - it looked very unbalanced. This probably wouldn't be a problem for a different figure type, but for mine it was bad. It made me look like I had huge hips and boobs, and no shoulders at all - and I don't think I have narrow shoulders. At least, I think I look like a linebacker in puffy sleeves. My dress hits a little above, almost right at, my knees. I don't have access to a full length mirror right now, so that is subject to change if I end up thinking it looks bad once I can see my legs.

Anyway, here are the pics! I took them with the self timer, and they aren't very good, but they are the best ones I got out of the short photo session I did.

Hopefully this one shows the smocking a little.

Oh, and in one of the pictures on the Garnethill website, the model wearing the pink version of this dress is wearing a green cami underneath. How cute! I am thinking of trying a very pale pink cami under my dress instead of the white.

And finally, the inspiration dress is priced at $98. My cost, including fabric, notions, and pattern at regular price (well, the "40% off" price, ~ $10), was around $25. Yay!

FO (?): Simplicity 4076: Wrap Top

2007-06-21T21:46:00.000-05:00

So I finished this about a week ago, but have been hesitating on calling it "finished" because it's a little too tight. I mean, it's pretty tight, and I like to wear my clothes fitted, but I think this one might be too much, if ya know what I mean. I've decided to wear it a couple of times and see what I think. I left big seam allowances, so I can make it looser if I'd like. I love the fabric, and it was only $1.99. I love this pattern - it's so easy, and the results are great! Link to the review at PR is here.

As usual, the quality of these pictures is poor. I had to take them in the mirror with no flash, so I apologize for the blurriness!

Also, I've been meaning to post these for a bit, but had been too lazy to upload pictures from my camera until tonight. I didn't use a mirror for these but had to turn off the flash, and I haven't figured out how to get a clear picture of small objects yet, so I apologize for the quality of these pics as well! These are earrings I received from Susan of Sulu-design! The black ones I had ordered for graduation, but they never arrived, so she kindly sent me another pair and two extra pairs, all of which I LOVE. The pink and black are just perfect to match the fabric I got to make the Vogue dress for. I really appreciate the great service and beautiful earrings, thank you so much, Susan! I didn't get to wear the graduation earrings for graduation, but I've gotten a lot of wear out of them since then!

She's got some more great designs in her Etsy shop. I particularly like these three pairs.

I got nothin'

2007-06-16T14:33:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so I haven't even the linen yet for the Butterick dress. But I hope to get to it today, and then I hope to work on it a little next week. It's rated as easy, so hopefully it won't take me TOO long to get it finished.

I've knit maybe 3 rows on Rapunzel. Whoop-dee-doo. I'm really sorry to be updating without ANY interesting progress to discuss! It's not completely out of laziness; I have been working, too.

And I'm SO SAD! I missed out on this amazing fabric. I didn't find the link until it was sold out, and now I wish I hadn't seen it at all! WAAAH! Ha. It's the same stuff that is in the new Burda, and I'd admired it then. Maybe it will magically pop up again somewhere... if it does, please let me know! :-)

I want to get Fitted Knits. I'm dying to make the drop stitch lace tank. Gorgeous! And maybe airy enough to wear it in the summer, if I do the drop stitch pattern on front and back.

Vote or die! ;-)

2007-06-11T22:25:00.000-05:00

No, this isn't a political rant. I shall always try to keep those to a minimum, since that's not what this blog is intended for. Actually, this "issue" is rather on topic. Garnstudio's Drops Designs is having a vote for the new patterns they will release. I thought those of you who didn't know about this already might want to get your vote in. My personal favorite is the red cropped cardigan near the bottom of the page, z-284_278. It's SO Delphine-esque and I MUST HAVE IT! It even has that cable I particularly adore. So if you vote, please include that one in your vote!

Also, the new Knitty is out, and I just love Marnie's Chapeau Marnier hat. Now I must get my hands on a skein of Lorna's Laces sock weight in periwinkle, asap! This is one of the cutest hats I've seen, and my favorite thing in this issue. Gorgeous!

Also, check out this vintage dress pattern. The number looks to be M4425, and it's apparently from the 50s. I am on the hunt now. I want to find this pattern, or something very similar! :-D

Isn't this jacket from Burda June fabulous?

New project: Butterick 5046

2007-06-10T19:21:00.000-05:00

Rapunzel is going well, but right now I am S-L-O-W-L-Y wading through an ocean of seed stitch, so I really don't have anything interesting to report! I'm so sorry, y'all. I only brought 2 projects, and need to get yarn for the third (a test knit), but haven't been able to yet. So yet AGAIN, I've nothing interesting to say about my knitting on my KNITTING blog. Argh! I can say that I'm a little worried - the back of Rapunzel is looking kinda large. :-(

So, remember the Garnethill dress I posted about last time? Well, check out Butterick 5046. Very similar, no? A few details are different - the obvious length and lack of cap sleeves, and the Butterick pattern doesn't have gathering on the shoulders or a bias strip on the edges, but aside from that, it's the same dress. So I got this pattern and some beautiful linen... it's between a deep turquoise and a deep jade. Sometimes I see the green more and sometimes the blue stands out more. I really love the color! So, I'm cutting this one out next. I need a break from working with knits! I really like them, and they are easy to sew... but annoying as all get out to cut. Well, better than chiffon. But more annoying than a woven, because if you're not careful, you'll stretch the fabric and cut your piece too small. I "finished" the wrap version of S4076, but I feel it's kinda tight so I think I'm going to need to loosen it up (fortunately I left enough hem allowance to do so).

I'm going to shorten it to the length of the Garnethill dress, or maybe even right above the knee - I'm short and it seems that's the best length for me. In the tissue fitting, the shoulders were too wide by quite a bit... can I just use that extra space for a gather, or will it not work because there's no curve? I'm also wondering how to add the cap sleeves. I really can't afford to buy more patterns to add shoulder gathering and cap sleeves from them right now, but I definitely don't know how to draft my own! Any hints? There is a sleeve in the pattern, but it's definitely not a cap sleeve.

I also picked up, at Hancock's, the pattern I never received from eBay, Vogue 8386! I filed a non-receipt claim with Paypal, so hopefully I can get the money back on that. But yeah, so I will be using the pink/black/white flowers for this dress! I'm pretty nervous about this one because I don't want to ruin that wonderful fabric, so I'm going to wait until after the linen dress and the "Stacy Shirt" (made of the same gorgeous chain link fabric she used!) to give the dress a try.

Finally, another pattern I'd been coveting since it came out, and got awhile back at a sale, was Simplicity 3797. I'm enamored of the dress view! I had some cotton that might work, but I'd originally planned it for other projects. What do y'all think? Should I use this for the dress or for the projects for which it was planned (a blouse and a skirt, not to be worn together)? I've also thought of making this dress in pink, just as shown. This, by the way, is the reason I chose the teal/jade linen for the GH dress instead of going for pink - I figure that although I can't see how, it probably IS possible to own too many pink dresses.

And, I finished another book, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. It's non-fiction, but presents itself very much like a fictional novel. It was very good! I am extremely interested in viruses, so I expected to like it, but I think someone who isn't necessarily interested in microbiology would enjoy it as well... especially if you like thrillers, or Michael Crichton (though, of course, his sci-fi IS fictional!).

I started The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. I own this dvd, and have always wanted to read the book. So far, it is, of course, better than the dvd. :-)

As an aside, I am not in any way affiliated with Amazon. It's just the first site I could think of where I knew I'd be able to find these books. Buy them from anywhere you like, or borrow them from the library. :-)

Edited to add: Stacy, I am all about a Vogue dress sew along, but you may not want to wait for me to get to mine - it may be a week or two. I want this dress to turn out as RTW looking as I can get it (well, expensive, well-made RTW looking... not cheap, badly made RTW!). That's a general goal for every project, but this one in particular! So I want to get a couple of other projects done, because I'm using a different sewing machine and learning how to work it. It is quite different from mine and, while nicer, is harder for me to control the speed (a big thing for me, since I still have to go more slowly to keep a straightish seam).

Atajev, thanks for the advice about using a cap sleeve from another pattern. I DO have one pattern here (aside from the knit tops I just made) that has cap sleeves, but it is Simplicity. I'll cut it out and see if they match.

Also, I forgot to mention this. Yesterday we went fishing and I caught an eel. That was neat, but I didn't think to bring a camera on this little adventure, so I don't have a picture. I now have a pretty good list going of weird things I've caught when fishing: 2 stingrays, a shark, a sheepshead (and if you don't think that's weird, check out its crazy teeth!), and now an eel (link is not to my photo, but it looked like that except it was green and fatter, with a pointy nose). Wonder what strange creature will hop on my line next!

Oh no!

2007-06-03T14:35:00.000-05:00

Evidently, I will not be getting my Vogue 8386 dress pattern from eBay. It looks more and more like I've been screwed over on that one. This is my first transaction in which I paid but didn't get my item. I've emailed the seller several times (at least 3) without receiving a reply, and the seller has 7 bad feedback comments within the past couple of weeks. I am VERY disappointed... I guess I'm going to have to file a report with eBay and Paypal to get my money back, and I wanted this pattern so badly! I really wanted to work on this dress soon. ARGH! And it figures the Vogue sale would pass, and there is no where around here that sells patterns... there is a store about 40 min away, I think (I don't know the area too well yet), but it will do me no good if I can't get over there during a sale... and I'll probably be working that weekend. And I also feel bad, because what if something bad happened to this person, and that's why they haven't sent the things out, and here I am whining about a sewing pattern! :-(

In good news, I actually worked on Rapunzel some last night and got to the armhole shaping. It feels good to be knitting again after my hiatius.

Thank you all for the great comments on my recent projects! I am going to be doing some more knitting and some sewing, so I will have more to update about... but not the dress! So disappointing.

Speaking of dresses, there was a Garnethill catalog in the mail, and I fell in love with this dress. I really want to copy it, anyone have pattern suggestions? It's linen.

Also, I have a book recommendation for you! I am calling it a recommendation rather than a review, as I am neither a writer nor a critic, just an avid reader. I just finished The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I loved it! It is about a boy who ends up stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger and three other animals. It is charming and a well thought out story. It is not "action-packed;" it is more of a thinking type of book, yet there is still some exciting action in it, certainly enough to make you fear for the main character's life many times, and it is a very original story. Pi is such a real character, too... so well developed. I highly recommend it! :-)

Sewing FO: Simplicity 4076

2007-05-31T20:07:00.000-05:00

You may wonder why I am making two separate posts in a row instead of just putting all of my fos together in one big post. I thought it would be easier to keep up with if I do a separate entry per fo instead of just lumping them all together as I've been doing.

Anyway, I also made Simplicity 4076 just a couple of days ago. What a great pattern this was! So easy, and I am really happy with the two tops I got out of it. That's right, two! The muslin actually turned out wearable, and that never happens for me! I think this top looks very RTW, even with my less-than-stellar finishing. I was very careful with the finishing, as I've finally grasped the "it's your hobby, what's your hurry" frame of mind, but still I am not great at it yet, so although it's improved, it's by no means perfect. But I've worn one of the tops already, and I am extremely pleased!

Here's the link to the review on PR.

Sewing FO: Simplicity 4118

2007-05-31T19:52:00.000-05:00

I finally had an opportunity to post some pictures of my recent sewing fos. I finished Simplicity 4118, on which I've been working for quite a while.

The fabric used is a cotton Amy Butler print. I love this fabric SO MUCH! I don't know how I feel about it for this dress, though... but I hope to get more and make a fabulous bag! I had to do ALOT of work to get this dress to even look ok on me, but I still don't know if I will be getting much wear out of it. Anyway, here's the dress.

Here is the link to my review of the pattern on PR if you'd like to read more about it!

I Won!

2007-05-30T14:33:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I forgot to mention that I won one of Bonnie Marie's contests! I get free yarn! And a free pattern, too! Yaaaay! And it's one I've never tried (always exciting), and in a color I love!

Tomorrow or the next day I am going to post some pattern reviews on PR and some pictures and details here, too. I am SO EXCITED about one of the things I just finished!

Marji commented on the post with the dress election, saying "I'm thinking the first pattern you put up. I love wrap dresses, but I'm really thinking that the Vogue dress is going to be v wearable as a day dress too in that fabric, and probably a little more flattering on you. I'm cutting that one out in a large print and in a white cotton in the next day or two, so you can see what they look like if you want to wait."

Thanks, everyone, for your opinions on the matter! The first pattern was the one I was leaning toward initially, but I haven't gotten mine yet! I've been waiting a couple of weeks for it. So, then for a couple of days, I thought I'd go ahead and make the wrap dress instead of waiting for the pattern, but last night I started reconsidering because I do have plenty of other projects to keep me busy while I wait for the pattern. But really, I think the first dress in this fabric would be so fun, and with a cami underneath and a cute pair of flats, I thought it would be great for daytime wear, too. Also, I can't always picture how well something will look in a particular fabric, but this I can, and I really think it's going to be great! And I think Marji definitely has a point about the first one being more flattering on me since I've yet to find a wrap dress I love in RTW, but have tried on dresses similar to the Vogue pattern and liked them except for their having no room for my bust (a problem I can fix). So I think I'm going with #1 after all! But I will make a wrap dress... I'm sure there are lots of other great fabrics out there to be found! In fact, I can think of a couple offhand. Then again, I can always find more wonderful fabrics and yarn than I have money for! I think it's a gift... or a curse?

Expect to hear a little about Rapunzel or the Butterfly dress soon!

Decisions, decisions

2007-05-28T21:42:00.000-05:00

I've actually finished sewing 3 items in my queue, and I am very happy with one, pretty happy with one, and undecided about the third. I'll post pictures and info later.

Moving on to my next project, I want to use the embroidered cotton voile next. I just cannot decide on a pattern for it! I'm going to list some options, and I'd love opinions on them.

I have been thinking of a blouse because I'd get the most wear out of one. I have enough for a skirt, but I've just made one and have fabric and patterns for 2 or 3 more. And I don't wear skirts that often. I may have enough for a dress, but I don't wear dresses often either (although if I had any I just loved I would probably wear them more!). I love dresses in themselves, and the idea of dresses, but have a hard time finding ones I'm happy with.

So, here are some patterns I'm considering. Let's have yet another vote, please! Y'all always have such great suggestions, and often bring up points I hadn't considered! :-D

These are in no particular order of preference.

1. The blouse from Simplicity 4047. Likes: Very unique, retro, shaped nicely, love the style, several good reviews on PR. Dislikes: May not be flattering to someone more busty (like myself), looks a bit complicated to make up, is my fabric too busy for the pattern?

2. New Look 6356. Likes: Simple, so won't detract from the pattern, Vneck is usually flattering on me, rated easy. Dislikes: No reviews on PR, no actual picture of this made up, it seems to have a lot of ease. Also kinda boring.

3. Burda WOF 05/07 # 111. Likes: Unique, love the drawstrings, really love the style. Dislikes: no review, has a collar (which might give me trouble), Burda's instructions suck, has long sleeves (but that may not be hard to fix), have to trace the pattern.

4. From the same issue of Burda as above, #116. Likes: Love button-downs!!, simple but flattering style. Dislikes: again, the things I am not crazy about with Burda in general - that of having to trace patterns and that Burda's instructions could be better. Also, no review and I don't know about the blouse with this particular fabric.

5. From BWOF 03/07, dress 109. Likes: Love the flounce, the shirtdressy-ness of it, and the puffed sleeves. Dislikes: I have yet to find a shirtdress that looks good on me, and usually am not too crazy about puffed sleeves on me either. Also, it's a dress.
But I still think that this would look so cute in the fabric!

6. From BWOF 05/06, this aforementioned blouse. Likes: I think this blouse is totally cute, and I think the fabric would work well for it. Dislikes: the bottom of the blouse is pretty loose, I think.

7. This dress, M5374. Likes: really like the shape and style of this. Dislikes: not sure if the fabric is heavy enough for it.

OR... I could just save it for this blouse from the June 2007 BWOF. I love this top and plan to buy this issue, but that would mean waiting! :-(

I'm hoping by tomorrow to have decided on a pattern. I decided to wait about the dress from the black, pink, and white fabric until probably next week or so... I've been working with some knit fabric, and I want to get good and used to it before I cut into that lovely stuff! But, I'm almost sure I will be making the wrap dress and waiting on the party dress, mainly due to the fact that the wrap dress pattern is here now, and I'm still waiting on the party dress pattern to come in the mail, and if it doesn't come in the next 2 days, I won't be here to get it. I still love the idea of the party dress in this fabric, so if I don't get around to the dress before I come back here, then I might reconsider.

Also, I finally got Simplicity 3797! I have really wanted this pattern, so was glad to get it on sale! I just love the dress and can't wait to find a great fabric for it. :-D

Graduate! :-D

2007-05-25T12:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I'd hoped to have more to post about (some FO or something), but I didn't want to wait too long to post, and I am having no luck with the wips right now!

I graduated from La Tech Uni with a bachelor's in Biology on May 19, yay!

I'll have to post a picture of me in the dress later, but they are all on a disk and I'm too lazy to put them on the computer right now!

I haven't picked up a knitting needle in about 2 weeks. I have been TRYING to sew, but I seriously suck. I don't know if I just haven't done it enough or what, but even going as slowly as I can, I still can't get seams anywhere NEAR straight, which is a very bad thing when you're trying to make this skirt. Then also, the thread I used didn't have enough contrast, and the only other threads I had that would have worked colorwise aren't heavy enough, so now I have to buy a new thread. So I put it aside. And I just don't know how it's going to look on me when it's done (assuming it GETS done). ARGH!

Then I started on a muslin for this top, and that was a hellish experience. Even after asking at PR about working with chiffon, it was ridiculously difficult to cut and my pieces didn't end up the right sizes or anything. I'm very scared of cutting my good fabric now... it wasn't terribly expensive but it's so pretty and I don't want to ruin it!

Then I learned that my zig-zag foot (I think... the all purpose foot is how I think of it) is GONE. What a disaster!! I'd planned on making a few knit tops and a knit dress, which I cannot do without a zig-zag foot! So now that is delayed until I can get to the sewing machine repair shop to purchase the part.

I do have some linen to use for a skirt, but after the way things have been going, I just don't know. Sometimes I don't think I'll ever get the hang of sewing and have a finished garment that I like well enough to wear IN the house, much less out of it!

I did find a GORGEOUS red knit at Walmart for $1 yd. It's going to be my "muslin" fabric, but dare I hope it comes out wearable? As inexpensive as it was, I'll be a little disappointed if it all goes to waste. And I found some other fabric, white, on the dollar table, but I'm not sure what it was... perhaps someone can give me some suggestions? I think it was peachskin because there was some black which was not on the dollar table that seemed pretty similar, marked as peachskin. Anyway, one side of it feels kinda sueded (I have a scrap of sueded rayon and it feels similar to that, except the rayon feels a little nicer and the other stuff isn't stretchy). It's really soft, and the other side of it feels and looks like the wrong side of a satin fabric. It has no stretch, too. I don't know if it is poly... the bolt was just marked unknown content. But it is really nice, although I have no idea what it's good for. I just got some of it because I liked it so much! I also got some embroidered cotton voile from Gorgeous Things (and boy is that a perfect name!). I don't know what to use it for. There are a couple of tops I was considering from BWOF, such as this one, but I might have just enough for a dress, or a skirt, what do you think I should do with it?

But really, sewing is going so poorly for me. I don't know how much more time and money I can afford to waste making things that never turn out, but it's not much. With knitting, at least you can reuse the yarn if it doesn't work, but with sewing, what's done is done. I don't want to give up, especially since I've wanted to sew my whole life, but it is expensive and especially so when nothing works.

In knitting news, I signed up to be a test knitter for Ysolda's Snow White pattern, but I don't think I was selected (I haven't gotten an email or anything). I figured I wouldn't, because she'd sent the email out that morning and I didn't check till the evening, and there seem to be a lot of knitters who knit my size (34"), so I figured that spot would be gone. Oh well. I really love the design, though. It's so elegant!

Also, I got a Ravelry account. If you aren't on the waiting list yet, sign up! I had to wait at least a couple of weeks for my invite, but it was SO WORTH IT. This site has everything a knitter could need! And it's only in Beta. I can only imagine how powerful a tool it will be when it's released to the public. I'm organizing my projects and my stash, finding new patterns and knitters with similar knitting interests as mine, there are discussion forums, links to awesome new knit sites (at least ones I haven't run across yet), and the list goes on. I really love it, and I'd read some skeptics who said that sites like this never last because people quit using them, but I have to disagree! Look at Pattern Review! I can easily see Ravelry becoming the knitting equivalent of PR. I just hope it stays free!

Anyway, I am going to get back to Rapunzel and the Butterfly dress and everything else soon. I just NEED to get some sewing done, I need to complete something that doesn't suck and look homemade in that really, really bad way, both for practical purposes (I need summer clothes!), for self-esteem purposes (you CAN do this, Crystal!), and so I'll know I haven't wasted a lot of time and money on fabric and patterns. :-)

Opinions needed

2007-05-17T13:34:00.000-05:00

I've been packing, so I have not knit or sewn a stitch. But I've been THINKING about knitting and sewing a lot!

I got some of this fabric and want to use it for one of two dresses, but I can't decide which.

Dress 1 is more of a party dress, but I think (?) it could be causal, too. Which is needed, because I don't attend many parties. I think it would look great in this fabric.

Dress 2 is a wrap dress, aka the wear anywhere dress, and I think it would be gorgeous in this fabric, too.

But I want to use the fabric for whichever style the print will go better with. What do y'all think? I am pretty bad at imagining how things are going to look, so I'd love some opinions/advice!

Project planning

2007-05-12T15:22:00.000-05:00

Whoops, I forgot earlier to post something I've been meaning to link to for days. I put a new set of photos up on flickr. These are pictures of fabrics I have already, with the patterns I am planning/considering using them on. I'd love to hear what you think of my choices!

For the fabrics that are posted twice, I have to choose which project to use it for. The only exception is the pink plaid, of which I have 2 cuts... it should be enough for me to do both projects.

I'll be adding to this as I get new fabrics for new projects... but that probably won't be soon. I need to get some of these out of the way!

Graduation Earrings!

2007-05-12T12:35:00.000-05:00

Here are my special order earrings, designed by Susan of Sulu-designs. Aren't they gorgeous and just perfect for the dress?!

She ships for free, too, just in case you wander over there and see something you must have! ;-)

Edited to add: Photo taken by her, not me. She is a fantastic photographer, I'm not! haha.

Graduation Dress

2007-05-08T21:47:00.000-05:00

You know how you see a dress you just LOVE on the hanger, and then you try it on and are disappointed?

That didn't happen with this dress!!

I didn't make my graduation dress, but I love it so much I wanted to show it off anyway! It is from Ann Taylor Loft.

Isn't it lovely?!

Decisions, decisions... which shoes to wear?

A close-up of the shoes in the running.

Which necklace to wear? I'm leaning toward the black, but I just don't know for sure. It's a choker style and I usually like necklaces to be a little longer than that. I really need to find the one I'd planned to wear... but it has unfortunately disappeared for the time being. Hopefully I'll find it by the 19th!

Fused Glass

2007-05-07T22:58:00.000-05:00

Remember the class I took last summer in fusing glass? I didn't think so. Haha. Anyway, it was such fun, and I've wanted to do it again since. I finally got my hands on a microwave kiln (sooo neat!), so now I can make more jewelry! But, I know I need other things for fused glass jewelry making... the things I am aware of needing are: glass cutters and pliers, a drill with a teeny-tiny bit, and a grinder. And, of course, the glass. Anything else I need? Anyone know how much this stuff is going to cost me? I know the drill and the grinder are going to be expensive, and I have no idea when I'll be able to get one unless you know of a great deal somewhere! :-)

By the way, if you're interested in one of these microwave kilns, I found them here.

I'm almost to the sleeve shaping on Rapunzel. A very long car trip will do that for ya.

Finals and graduation soon. Yikes! I'll probably be scarce for awhile.

No time for creativity

2007-05-01T18:56:00.000-05:00

I'm swamped. I have less than 2 weeks left in the quarter and lots left to do. So I haven't been knitting or sewing at all. I did a few rows on Rapunzel that will have to be ripped because I messed up the moss stitch pattern.

But I am going to have a break, and during that time I HOPE to get lots of sewing done. I am going to focus on sewing because I have hardly any summer clothes. I have a hard time finding things I like in RTW, and I hate the quality of the clothes I can afford. I went to a store in our mall called Rave, and caught a good sale - everything in the store was 40% off! I even found 5 or 6 tops I loved on me! So I got them... only to discover the most expensive one (a knit top that was my favorite purchase) was literally falling apart at the seams. I had it exchanged, and the new one is better, but I'm still going to reinforce the seams just in case. So, after that, I am even more disgusted at how much money you have to spend to buy clothing that doesn't fall apart! Not to mention the whole sweatshop thing. It's one of the reasons I've always wanted to sew.

Anyway, so I found some really great deals on fabric recently, and got some with the hopes of sewing on my break. Unfortunately, I just can't afford to do a SWAP right now (timewise or moneywise), but I have picked out some fabrics (that I just LOVE) that will go well with things I have already, along with a couple that will add some much needed color and variation.

To make my blog less boring, I'll post pics of the fabrics and the patterns I plan to use them with. And also, I'm taking a short study break so I may as well do this.

This is a polyester/lyrca blend. I love the color and the print, and figure that since I'll buy polyester RTW without a second thought, I may as well do the same for fabric. It was really, really inexpensive. I really wish I could find a picture of the pattern I'm planning to use: it's from Burda WOF 8/2006, #104. I can't bring their archive site up right now, so I'll try to post a pic later (wonder what's up with the site?). I'm going to make the top short sleeved instead of long (hopefully that won't be too hard). Edit: Burda is back up, so I was able to get a picture. Here's the top I'll be making with this and the below fabric.

This is a rayon/lyrca blend. I think it's just beautiful! I'll probably use it to make the same top as above, also with short sleeves.

This is a lightweight denim that I'll be using for this Burda WOF denim skirt. LOVE this skirt so much, I just hope it will look great on me! And omg, those shoes... where can I get them? I adore them.

This is SILK chiffon! I love silk so much. Not that I ever wear it, because I am such a klutz, but the fabric was such a great deal that I couldn't pass it up for this chiffon blouse (I will wear a camisole under mine).

This is a pink plaid cotton shirting with 3% lyrca. I already have some of this for a button shirt (haven't decided on a pattern yet), but I got some more to make the modeled view of this skirt. I hardly have any skirts, so I really wanted to make a couple to wear this summer.

I'll probably be making these in order of what looks easiest to hardest. Here's to hoping I can get back into the sewing thing!

Oooh, IK Summer preview is up!

2007-04-21T13:39:00.000-05:00

The link is here. And it is looking like a great issue!

My thoughts:

I can't wait for the extra pictures because a few things I'll need to see close up to decide on, but here's what I think.

The On-Your-Toes Socks are socks. I will need a close-up to appreciate them.

The 1824 Blouson will be adorable on the girl who can pull it off. I am not that girl.

The Sleeveless Tuxedo Shirt might be cute on the same girl who can wear the 1824 Blouson. Not on me. Also, I hate the color used. It's not brown and it's not grey... it's drab. Ugh.

I like the Notre Dame de Grace Pullover, but it looks a little masculine to me. Maybe it's the color, could be something to do with the shape. I really adore the collar, though.

I LOVE the Josephine top, gorgeous, beautiful, adorable! I will definitely be knitting that. It looks like my beloved Brown Sheep Cotton Fine would work. What color do you like for this top? I like Perry's Primrose or Wild Sage, I think.

The Little Smocked Cardigan looks pretty cute. This is a maybe... there's a chance I'd love it and a chance I'd hate it (on me), and right now I don't know which is more likely.

The Wing Top looks really pretty from the back but I want to see the front.

Lutea Lace-Shoulder Shell could be cute with some waist shaping.

I really like the Wheat Ear Cable Yoke and the Lacy Yoga Bags, but am not too likely to knit either.

I LOVE the Origami Cardi, but I think it would look awful on me. This is usually the case for me with Norah's designs... they're beautiful but don't work with my body type too well. I'll look forward to seeing others' FOs though.

The Summertime Tunic is cute, but I'll need to see FOs before I even think about it.

I cannot imagine wearing gloves made from crochet thread, but the Motorcycle Chica Gloves are cute.

I actually really like the Luvtröja Måns sweater, but I don't have any guys to knit for (my bf would never wear a sweater).

The Hand-in-Hand Cable Sweaters are sweet. And if it comes in the right size, possibly something that would be good for my grandmother.

Love the Syncopated Caps! Definitely going to make this one.

My favorite in this issue is Oriel Lace Blouse. I will definitely be making this one as well, but I may change the neckline. I'm not crazy about wearing turtlenecks. The yarn is superexpensive (although beautiful) and way out of my budget. I will not be using it. I hope to find a sub... any suggestions? I was looking at Artfibers, but I don't know if they have anything.

Can't see enough of the Montego Bay Scarf to have an opinion on it, other than that the color is very pretty.

The Ogee Lace Skirt would make a cute swimsuit cover up, but the yarn'd have to be washable, for sure.

Love the Spiral Boot socks, but I would shorten them because I can't stand long socks.

What is the Lace Chuppah?

What I can see of the Pomegranate Blouse looks really cute, but not for me (though with added shaping... maybe), and I also like the Summer Wheat Top, but I don't know how I feel about those bobbles.

All in all, great issue! Can't wait to get my hands on this one!

Oh, I picked the Sideways Spencer back up, and have been working on it. I forgot how quickly it knits up. I've finished the left sleeve and side, and am working on the back. Of course, after I finish the main body I'll have lots of (ugh) stitches to pick up and ribbing to do... so I'm sure I'll slow down after that. I've also finished the waist shaping on the back of Rapunzel, and have ~5in done on it (I think). I'd take pictures, but my digi cam batteries are dead, so I need to get some more.

Perhaps I should have finished something else first

2007-04-15T14:49:00.000-05:00

But I started on Rapunzel from Rowan 34 last night, and got a good 4" done while watching the new 007 movie. I just realized, though, that the pattern uses a discontinued yarn, Rowan Lurex Shimmer, which I do NOT have, and cannot find to match the yarn I'm using (Stacy Charles Merino Cable in shade 122, a deeper wine color than in the picture.

By the way, this yarn? SO SOFT. SO PLUSH. SO NICE. A little splitty, but wonderful. Not in the least bit itchy, so far as I can tell. It doesn't even feel like wool. The skeins are small, and it is pricey, but was half off when I got it. It knits up beautifully (the stitch definition is superb, while not making every mistake or wonky stitch stand out the way cotton does), and I am loving working with it. And looking at it. All the colors I saw at the LYS were just lovely; so lovely, in fact, that it took me about 15 minutes to decide on one. And I still think about shades 130 (that divine purple that is so deep and rich, while still being beautifully bright, vibrant, and jewel toned-ish, though if I ever actually saw a jewel this color, it would be the only one I'd ever wear) and 112 (a gorgeous, brilliant turquoise that seriously seemed to glow and looked very nice with my skin tone) with a little regret, though I adore the 122 I am using. Thinking back, the picture on the link does no justice to the colors at all. But I do think the color I have is best for Rapunzel. :-)

The Lurex Shimmer is used, doubled, for a "intarsia moss stitch" at the top of the jacket (I suppose the part that is obviously moss stitch). What do y'all think? Will it still be totally, completely gorgeous if I don't do any intarsia at all, and just use my Merino Cable for the whole thing? Or should I try to find something to take the place of the Lurex Shimmer?

FO - VK Twist Top

2007-04-14T15:32:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a quick knit this was! I finished this thing so quickly, I didn't even have a chance to blog about it.

Project details:

Pattern: From VK Spring/Summer 2005, Twist Top
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Bubble Gum, ~2 3/4 ball
Needles: Size 6 from the Boye IC
Mods: Not one

This was sooo easy to make, and I really love the finished product! It hasn't been blocked yet, but I just couldn't wait to show y'all. I'll post another pic or two after it's blocked and dried.

If I did it again, I'd use a different yarn. Not because I didn't like the Cotton Ease, in fact, I really like it. But this top feels quite heavy. Ideally (for me), this top should be in a lighter yarn with better drape. I would like to see it in a sport or even fingering weight yarn. But I'm no good at rewriting patterns so drastically, so I used what I had, and am still very happy with it. It will probably be too warm for summer in La, but it will do fine for spring... though it's currently 50 F and too cool outdoors for me to wear short sleeves. At least I won't regret the time it'll take to dry!

BTW... not to be crude, but the spot is on the mirror... not on the crotch of my pants. Just wanted to make sure that was clear! ;-)

Recognize this pattern?

2007-04-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

I have this saved on my computer, but I don't know where it's from. Anyone?

I haven't done much crafting in the past few days. I've been too busy, and a little lacking in motivation. So, no real progress to report. I do still plan to have some FOs up soon, though... so keep watching!

Edited to add: I will definitely share any knowledge I get about the origins of this pattern, if I ever find out. For some reason, I'm thinking it may have been a Phildar pattern, but couldn't say that for sure.

Happy (belated) Easter!

2007-04-09T19:25:00.000-05:00

I hope yours was as nice as mine. I had a nice, long weekend, with time to do some sewing and knitting... expect a knitting FO soon, and POSSIBLY a sewing one. I can never promise sewing FOs since I've had so many projects that didn't work out lately. But I REALLY, REALLY hope this one does!

New Use for Buttons!

2007-04-04T16:53:00.000-05:00

I don't make jewelry often, mainly due to a lack of supplies and time (since I focus more on other areas of crafting), but I thought of a pair of earrings that sounded really cute, and decided to try it out. I like the result! The earrings are not quite as "dangly" as I'd like since - don't tell anyone - I used picture hanging wire as I didn't have anything else to work with, but overall, I'm very happy with them, and can only imagine they will get better when I get more supplies! Ghetto, right? Haha. Well, as Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work." So I did. :-D

I think I may have found a use for all those random buttons I have! :-D

And thank you all for the comments on Gatsby Girl!

Oh, and I wore the LG wrap sweater today since it was chilly, but not cold enough for GG. It was so nice! I really love this sweater. I recommend it to anyone! I plan to take pictures wearing it completely finished, but I'm linking it as an FO for now, anyway. It doesn't look THAT different than the last picture.

SWAP (sewing with a plan)

2007-04-03T17:28:00.000-05:00

Lots of people on the PR board are doing a program called "Sewing with a Plan (SWAP)." I am really intrigued by the idea, because it consists of choosing a print, and using those colors as a basis for a wardrobe that coordinates. Of course, I need to get my sewing skills up a level or two, so that I'll feel confident taking on such a task!

But the idea of a wardrobe that goes together so well, so that you don't have to spend so much time thinking "Does this match? Will someone think a 5 yr old picked out my outfit if I wear this?" is just really... well, stress free, I guess. Like, I think of it, and my muscles relax. Haha. I wouldn't want every article of clothing in my wardrobe to be the same 2 or 3 colors, but I would love to have several outfits that I could depend on. Since I normally just grab the first things I see that might look ok together and go, this idea is really tempting.

And I already wear so much pink that it would definitely need to be one of my colors. Thinking of the colors I wear most, they are: pink, red, blue. I don't know about a neutral though (which I assume I'd need?), black is dependable, and Dusty thinks I wear black well, but whenever I put it on, I feel like I should be at my own funeral... I'm so pale, haha. Maybe chocolate brown or grey. I like both of those for neutrals. Of course, since it's summer, khaki is a good idea.

For anyone as interested in this idea as I, one of the members of PR posted her template, which seems like a good starting point for all the pieces you'd need to do. I'll link it here, but just want to point out it's not mine! SWAP wardrobe template. In addition to this, I would like to do a dress or two. Every summer, I dream of dresses, but never find any I like that aren't too fancy for everyday wear.

Since I'm starting so late, and I know this is going to take forever, my biggest problem is... should I focus on summery type things? I am thinking yes, since La's weather means that summer is the main season and pretty much lasts the length of 3 seasons everywhere else. Plus, I tend to wear the same colors throughout the year, though in the fall and winter I do wear some darker shades, but not all.

This is going to be a big, complicated undertaking, though I feel it will help simplify my life when it's done. But still... finding fabrics (because I hardly have any), and I really don't have it in my budget to ever buy a large amount of fabric at a time. And finding that much time to sew! It takes me such a long time to sew anything. I just can't imagine being able to sew so many pieces. And then there's patterns. I already have some patterns I'd like to use, and a couple more in mind. Actually, honestly, I have patterns for all but maybe 2 shirts and capris or shorts if I decide to make any, but most of those patterns are in the 3 Burda WOF mags I have, and their patterns only come down to a 36", while I use a 34" normally, so I'd have a lot of resizing to do. Plus a lot of pattern tracing to do, which I hate. Yes, I normally cut patterns. I just don't have the time to trace every single pattern. Maybe someday I'll regret it, but I really hope not! :-)

I'll post later with ideas for patterns, I think. I already have thought of a couple of tops I've been wanting for awhile, so I think I'll plan them into this.

Oh, and I'll try to match some knits in this, too, but as I already have yarn for several projects in other colors, they won't all go. Which is fine by me... variety is the spice of life!

Edited to add: Link to patterns I'm considering for my SWAP on Flickr. They're not listed in the order I like them or anything like that. And of course, I will be choosing from these, not attempting all of them! I left a pretty broad range because I have to find fabrics, and wanted to have options. Tell me what you think! :-)

Fear of the Unknown

2007-04-02T15:44:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it. I'm afraid of sewing.

Silly, isn't it? I'll put several months' worth of work into a sweater that I can't really try on and have any good idea of how it is going to look for quite awhile without any fear, without thinking twice. A sweater I will have little occasion to wear, considering the climate. If it doesn't work out, I'll feel some disappointment, then rip without too much remorse and find something new.

But sewing? I don't know. There's something so committal about that first cut into a nice fabric you're totally afraid of ruining and/or wasting. Especially knowing I need to do all of these adjustments to the pattern before ever cutting into my fabric. Then, after you sew it up, if it's an atrocity, doesn't fit, and/or looks bad, what do you do with it?

A failed knitting project is a chance for a new beginning. A failed sewing project is a failure.

I really want to make a jacket. A nice, fitted brocade jacket. That fits ME, without being too long, or having sleeves too long, or being huge in the shoulders and tight in the boobs. I have the fabric, I have a pattern, I have fabric to practice with first. But thanks to my recent failures, I'm afraid to try any new projects. I want to make at least 2 sheath dresses, some tops, at least one nice pair of pants and some capris that aren't so long on me that I look like I'm wearing pants that are a couple of inches too short. I want to make up some of the darling 50s and 60s dress patterns I have, and I want to make a dress like the one I posted recently. I want to make use of the Burda WOF magazines I have. I want to have a wardrobe that is completely personalized, completely me, that fits perfectly and is exactly my style. But I'm afraid!

How do you recover from one or more failed projects?

Don't worry, I'm not giving up sewing. Just trying to get back in the game!

About Time! (Gatsby Girl FO)

2007-04-01T19:53:00.000-05:00

So the Gatsby Girl is done, and I don't think I've been happier with a finished item yet. Seriously, I really am happy with this knit. In theory, this sweater should not have been very flattering on me, but, though IRL it may be less flattering than in these pictures, I still think it is really flattering, especially for a sweater.

Project specs:

Pattern: Gatsby Girl from IK Fall 2006
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed, color: watery (I think)
Needles: size 2 and 3 from the Boye set
Mods: Long sleeves instead of 3/4

I lengthened the sleeves, not because I didn't like the look of the 3/4 sleeve, but because my yarn has so much alpaca in it that I knew it was going to be a very warm sweater, and I felt that it would be more wearable and practical with longer sleeves. I don't like the look quite as much, but I am very happy with it. Many thanks to Jodi Green, the pattern creator, for helping me figure out the numbers for lengthening the sleeves.

The pattern was wonderfully written, easy to follow, and easy in itself without being boring... although the 1x1 rib sleeves were taxing at the end. In retrospect, I would have done a cable on the sleeves or maybe lace, just to make the sleeves more exciting.

The yarn is not something I would have chosen for this project if the ladies at the yarn store I visited had not suggested it and let me knit up a swatch in the store. I was shocked, because I thought the tweed would be too busy for this sweater, but I think it worked up beautifully. I do love the Felted Tweed, and already have obtained another sweater's worth. The fabric is lovely, the yardage is great, and it's nice to work with. The sweater is a little itchy, though. I don't think I'll be able to wear it without a shirt underneath.

The buttons are a little special to me. Someone gave me her great-grandmother's collection of buttons, and boy, do I love buttons. Especially old buttons. I like to think about what they were on before, but for these delicate little pearls, I just couldn't decide their history. I only found 4 of them, thought I could have sworn I had 6, which is the amount the pattern calls for. So, I mixed them with 3 rhinestone buttons I had, alternating every other button, and got the button holes crocheted, then found the other 2 pearls. Sigh. I like the mix a lot, though, and don't care enough to change it. I couldn't get a good picture of the buttons, too bad!

The color is really odd. When I bought it, I was convinced it was a greeny-teal color, but after months of looking at it, it looks totally green to me now, with only a bluish tint. Also, the lighting may have something to do with it... but I swear in the yarn store it was much more teal! I think the color's off in the pictures, anyway.

As usual, the pictures suck. I was able to get one decent one with the self timer on my camera, but none of the rest of those came out, so I did a couple in front of the mirror. Anyway, hope you like!

Edited to add: Link to Rowan Felted Tweed. I used the color "Watery."

Yaaay!

2007-03-28T23:21:00.000-05:00

Gatsby Girl is almost done! I will finish knitting it tonight! I am SOOO GLAD! I have loved knitting this pattern, but 1x1 rib on size 3 needles can only be interesting for so long, haha. Anyway, yeah, just wanted to say that!

I'm also working on getting my fabric scraps organized into a book. I'm trying to separate them two different ways - based on fiber content and on weave (for the ones I have big enough scraps to cut, or two of the same), and adding information in there when I get it. I think it's going to be such a great and handy tool when "finished" (of course, I am sure I will be adding to it whenever I get a fabric I've never used before). If you have a million random scraps you don't know what to do with, you can send them my way. My goal is to learn and have access to as many different fabrics and weaves as I can, because I am such a hands on learner. I can read all about a fabric, but until I actually have it in my hands, I really can't judge it or picture how it will look and feel. Since I don't have a fabric store to go "experiment" in, I thought of this, and several nice ladies from PR sent me scraps.

I'm thinking of doing this for yarn as well. I have scraps of most of the yarns I've used so far left; only a few projects I think I used every yard on.

Also, does anyone know of a pattern that looks like this?

I know it's from Burda Easy Fashion, and I think from the Feb 07 issue, but I cannot find it anywhere to purchase! I thought there might be a single pattern out there somewhere that is very similar. So please let me know if you've seen anything. Or, if you know where I can purchase this mag (I looked at GLP's website but couldn't find back issues), or if you have it and want to get rid of it, or even if you don't want to get rid of the whole magazine, but know you are never going to make this dress and would be willing to sell me just this pattern, please leave a comment! I would really appreciate it! I just LOVE this dress!

Edited to add: FINISHED! The knitting, at least, on Gatsby Girl is DONE! YAY!! She is blocking now, and I am so excited. I hope to have it seamed this weekend.

I may be able to save the Burda blouse

2007-03-27T12:52:00.000-05:00

I have had an idea, and can't wait to try it! It involves taking the shirt apart, so unfortunately, I don't know that I will have time for it today. I wonder how hard it is to do those fabric covered buttons, though, and whether Walmart would have any (since that's the only place around here). Hmmmmm...

Wow, inspiration!

2007-03-26T15:07:00.000-05:00

I'm not a quilter, nor have I ever attempted to be, but wow, this quilting blog I ran across is so inspiring, I just had to share! These quilts are works of art (not that they aren't all works of art, of course!). Check it out if you'd like:

Nellie's Needles

Really amazing!! :-)

The muslin didn't turn out very well this first try. I'm going to give it another shot when I get some more sewing time. I have never done a lining, so after I get it to fit decently, I am going to try a lining before I make the actual dress up.

I have dress envy

2007-03-24T19:06:00.000-05:00

Aside from study for multiple exams I have next week, what do you think I did today? Perhaps tried to rescue the disaster from the last post? Nope. How about knit on the Gatsby Girl? Nope. What about one of the other hundred projects I've started and not yet completed, then? Nope.

I cut out the muslin for Vogue 8280. Hopefully I'll be more pleased with this than the Burda shirt. I did finally crochet the edge of the LG wrap sweater, though, and wove the ends in. It's complete, I guess, but I still haven't found anything to close it with that satisfies me. I wore it on a cool day fastened with a cute little butterfly pin, but the pin is a bit heavy, and, being old, gave me a hard time getting it undone later.

If you happen to see any fabric with a print like that used for the dress "Rhoda" from this site, please, please, please let me know! I saw Stacey London wearing this on WNTW yesterday, and now I really want to make something similar! I just love all the black and white with splashes of pink, so fun! And how they brought the pink out with the trim. I've been obsessing over the thought since I saw the dress. I also totally love Barclay , Blair, and May in the black/white fabric. Any pattern suggestions there? Hehe. Unfortunately, I think I love planning new projects more than finishing old ones, but fear not, the old ones will get done (except I haven't yet decided about the Burda blouse).

Edited to add: Oh, and thanks, everyone, for the birthday wishes. I did not get to knit, but I did have a wonderful birthday, complete with a fabulous crawfish boil! :-D

Burda 7993 Progress

2007-03-23T16:58:00.000-05:00

I've worked more on Burda 7993. In fact, it's nearly complete. I don't know how much closer to complete it is going to get, because I don't know whether I like it. I think it's either too big or too unflattering, or both. Too big can be fixed, but unflattering probably cannot, so once I decide that, I'll decide whether it's worth finishing. Progress is stalled, anyway, because I need elastic for the sleeves and don't have any. Anyway, here's what I've got thus far:

What do you think? Is this pattern worth finishing or at least giving another try? Or is it wrong for my body type?

Edit: Ok, normally I would be far too vain to ever put such horrible pictures of me where they may be viewed by anyone (and that's something, considering the crap shots I normally post), but several people have commented in the review I did at PR that the shirt is too small for me and that I need to go up a size. So here are some awful pictures of it with no waist belt ribbon thing. Too small? I'm worried because the next size up is a 36", which is what I originally tried to start sewing with, and everything I've made in a 36 has been less attractive and flattering than a burlap sack would be.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-03-16T14:13:00.000-05:00

Maybe I'll actually get some knitting time today! There has been very little of that lately.

Finished? Object - Lana Grossa Lacy Wrap Sweater

2007-03-14T23:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I've seamed the LG sweater, and now am trying to decide what else needs to be done. I still can't decide if all I need is to do an edging around the fronts, or if I need to add to the bottom, and of course, there is the matter of how to close it. I could knit the tie as pictured, or I could get some cute brooch/pin, or I could sew satiny ribbon in a matching shade. I was even thinking of finding ribbon to sew all around the bottom edge, and extending it for the tie... but that might mess up its stretchiness. What do yall think? And I still can't decide whether I should rib or do some kind of lacy rib at the bottom, lengthening it, since I am not "long and lean" as I think is normally the shape a sweater like this looks good on. Would it be more flattering this way? I definitely don't want something that makes me look dumpy, and since I love this yarn so, I want to love the sweater and have it as perfect as I possibly can. Or should I leave it be? Argh, so many decisions! Please give advice!! :-)

Edited to add: Link to FREE pattern is here: http://www.lanagrossa.com/service/mdm/08_2005/index.html

Sewing news

2007-03-08T16:50:00.000-06:00

I made a muslin for Burda 7993 (the cute top). I did a 2" FBA, which worked really well, except that it made the vertical darts HUGE and you can see them through the muslin. That won't matter on the real shirt, because I don't think the pink cotton I have is as thin.

I didn't bother with any of the facings yet, and though I did the collar, I didn't do it right (you're supposed to cut 2 pieces, but I only cut one, whooops!), but I don't think it will matter too much anyway.

The FBA used up so much extra fabric that now I'm worried I'll always need to get more than called for by the pattern. That really sucks, because I've already got fabric for a few projects that will need an FBA, and I had bought only what the pattern called for. I really hope I don't need more!

Anyway, back to the top. One thing I'm not sure I like about the shirt is how much the ruffle at the bottom sticks out, and another is the puffy sleeves. The ruffle kinda poofs out (which it does NOT do in the pattern picture!), and I have never thought puffy sleeves would be super flattering on me, but as the sleeves on this top didn't look very puffy, I thought it might be ok. I still don't know, because I didn't have the elastic you're supposed to put at the bottom of the short sleeve. I'm going to cut out the fabric soon, and give it a try in the real stuff. Maybe in the cute pink, I will be happier, and I am sure I can figure out something to do about the ruffle and the puffy sleeves if I just hate them. Mainly this shirt was to learn FBAs, and because I thought it was super cute, but the fabric was so cheap that I won't cry if it doesn't work out, just sigh and be a little disappointed for a day or two.

Edited to add: FBA stands for Full Bust adjustment, and so far, I am not liking how this shirt looks on me... but I still need to sew on the ruffle and get that elastic.