Inaugural project: a felted poncho

This design comes from Betz White's Warm Fuzzies, a book devoted to projects made from felted recycled sweaters. K has been begging for a poncho ever since she opened the volume, and this one seemed to suit her need for bright color, warmth and softness -- the solid bits are made from sweaters with a hefty portion of angora to them, which I hadn't been aware would felt but which in fact worked themselves into a heavenly, fuzzy material that was a delight to work with. I made a size 7/8, which is a little big for K right now, but the way she's growing it will be perfect for the spring.

Welcome to my studio

Here's a shot of my newly-realigned shelves, with my quilting fabric arranged on them just so.  I'm amazed that the cats have not attempted to nest in there, but they seem content to laze on the woolen carpet or loll on the shelves I haven't quite finished filling.  More photos to come as the moving-in and decorating progress.

Short entry

Alas, I am having to start my sweater over because of some careless unraveling.

In better news, I am almost entirely moved into my studio and it is a dream come true.  Pictures as soon as I relocate my camera.

Mishmash: Topsy Turvy House Edition

The house has been turned upside-down for a week and a half now, as we did the painting, put up the shelves (which have a definite list to them and need to be re-leveled) and shampooed the rug in the studio.  I learned how to use a roller and a socket wrench and the carpet steamer.  I discovered how incredibly grimy the rest of the house is.  I bought a carpet and thought about lighting and tried not to make any new messes.

In the process I have been working on my sweater.  I bought the Addi Turbo knitting needles and fell in love.  They are just as good as Aunt Mary's teflon needles, if not better.  I finished the body and started work on the armholes.  Found that knitting back and forth on circular needles is not an intuitively obvious process.  Ripped out stitches, started again, figured it out.  This will very clearly be a "learning" sweater (to say nothing of the stretchiness of the alpaca, which is going to render the thing virtually shapeless) but that's okay.  It's designed to be a "Saturday" sweater anyway, and it will be well loved.  I can't wait to wear it.  (But I'll have to, because it's going to be a mighty cold day before it'll be chilly enough to be comfortable in all that wooly warmth.)

I love knitting!  I love painting!  I love socket wrenches!

My Hero

The amazing K-Cat takes time out from her busy schedule saving the world to pose for some photos:

Her cape is made from pink taffeta and yellow cotton (her choices) and her super power is the ability to claw through the heart of any villain. Her sidekick (not shown here) is Wonder Dog Deebo, who can howl so loudly that no villain can stand to be within earshot of him.

Things I learned from this project:

• How to sew with shiny, slippery fabric
• That I can really, truly do applique
• How to sew on velcro
• How NOT to sew on velcro
• That it is REALLY important to read ALL THE WORDS in the instructions BEFORE starting to sew

Seriously, it was Dress Like a Superhero Day at camp today and K wanted to make up her own superhero, so we had some fun with it. She's been feeling sort of apprehensive about going to camp, but she had no trouble letting me leave her there today after the ooh's and ahh's over her fancy-schmancy outfit. I hope she's having a fantastic day!

We painted the studio!

This week my mother-in-law very generously donated her time to help me move everything out of my studio and paint it a beautiful bright clean white. I'm so pleased with it! Now I have my work cut out for me. I need to:

• Consider putting in a carpet remnant to protect the beige carpeting that's already in there
• Wash the windows
• Purchase and put together shelving for the closet
• Determine which furniture I want to put back in the room and where I want to put it
• Do a final clearing out of craft supplies I don't want to use.

On top of which, K needs a superhero costume for camp TOMORROW and I haven't even started on it. I'm using this tutorial to make her a cape, which I think is adorable and I hope she will too. I need to go pick her up soon and take her to the fabric store so she can pick out the stuff she wants it made from. Should be a fun, if somewhat rushed, job to do.

Progress

Here's the progress I've made on my sweater so far:

I'm about halfway done the body.  I'm still worried that it won't fit, but I'm soldiering on.

I definitely do not like these bamboo circular needles.  It is very hard to get the stitches to slide around on them evenly to get any kind of speed -- I have to keep stopping to coax the stitches along.  I am going to try out some Addi Turbo knitting needles and see if I like them better.  I've heard good things about them from more than one person.

Of course, I'm poring over knitting patterns galore and I've found an adorable pattern for angora booties that I want to try for my niece-to-be.  I think I could make them this week before I drive up to (hopefully!) greet her next weekend, if I worked hard.  As D and K would say, "Just keep knitting, just keep knitting!"

Giving it a go

I spent most of the week practice-knitting with my wool-cotton on Aunt Mary's size-6 teflon-coated knitting needles, and I am now totally spoiled for them.  Such lovely slipperiness!  But I was not particularly enthralled by the project and wanted badly to get on to my sweater.

I ran out to Minocqua on Tuesday to the Knitting Nook where a lovely woman helped me choose some chunky baby alpaca yarn (believe it or not, the cheapest of all the yarns we looked at) and worked up some gauge swatches that evening.  I had picked up Debbie Stoller's Stitch and Bitch on Sarah's recommendation and spent some time looking at it to figure out what tools I would need to buy and what techniques I would need to use to work the sweater, and I asked Mary some questions too.

D, K and I set out for home on Wednesday morning.  Around lunchtime we drove into Escanaba, MI, and found a little shop called the Yarn Barn where I bought my size 13 circular needles, double-pointed needles, stitch holders and other doodads, along with some quilting material, vintage fabric and eyelet curtains.  The lady there (who runs an antique shop side by side with the yarn store) had a magnificent rocking horse that was big enough for big five-year-old K to ride!  I'm glad she didn't notice it.  I tore myself away from the store and started casting on.  And I knit.

Forty minutes later I realized that little twist in the fabric wasn't going to "work itself out."  I ripped out, cast on, ripped out again.  Got really good at casting on.  I think it took me four or five tries before I got the stitches cast on and knit the first round without twisting them.  Then the alpaca fur started flying thick and fast. I guess I've knitted up about six inches worth of sweater by now, which seems like a lot to me.  The stitches aren't perfectly even, but there aren't any dropped ones, either.  I think it will be a nice first project.  (Okay, second.  The first was an orange garter stitch scarf in Homespun yarn that I like a lot but that sheds all over my black pea coat.)

I only hope the darn thing fits.  I measured myself, I checked the gauge, I checked it again, I bought yarn accordingly, I'm hoping for the best.

I've been looking at the sites you folks have recommended and there's so much to see!  Thank you for all of your helpful suggestions!  Now I have one other question for you:

Other than teflon needles (oh my heavens, they're wonderful!), what are your favorite tricks/techniques that help you knit a little faster?

Knitting!

So I'm learning how to knit.  I was looking for something to do on the plane trip out here to Rhinelander (we're visiting D's relatives) and the obvious answer was to finish one of the umpty-million crochet projects I have started but never finished.  But I have changed so much since I started those projects.

For one thing, they are all afghans.  I do not care if I never see another afghan as long as I live.  I have made enough of them.  I need to move on to more interesting and challenging projects.  I suppose I could take on more complicated afghan patterns, but none of them cry out, "Commit to me for the next three months of your life!"  I really just need something different to do.

For another thing, they are all made with acrylic yarn.  All of them.  And I am so not into man-made fibers these days.  Give me cotton, wool, alpaca, angora.  Something that feels soft, has a nice hand, a good drape.  If I'm going to be working with a material for a long time, if I'm going to wear it or sleep under it or give it away, I need to love to touch it.

So it's time to give away the old projects to someone who will enjoy finishing them, or who will unravel the yarn and put it to good use.  I'm taking up knitting!

I have in mind a particular project, the Berkshire Pullover from Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick.  It's a big sweater made simply from chunky wool in stockinette stitch, and I've read the directions through and think that if I take my time I can do it.  I'm working on a practice piece right now, a scarf made from two strands of Rowan's wool cotton, and it's slow going but I think it will turn out nicely.

If you knit, I'd love to know what your favorite knitting sites are.

Wish me luck!

Mishmash: Summer vacation edition

So I've been busy thrifting. The cashmere sweater supply in the area is nearly depleted, so I'm going after the vintage linens now. Look at these lovely sheets:

They made up into a fabulous duvet cover, tutorial found here:

And it's reversible! I couldn't get a good picture of the other side with my cheapie camera, but you can sort of see it under the photo of the wool messenger bag from Akiko Mano's Linen, Wool, Cotton that I made.
I'm not at all sure how I feel about this one. I made it out of an old (felted) wool blanket, and it was very hard to do. The wool was thick and awkward, and it fought with the needle and wouldn't fit under the presser foot very well when there were more than two layers, which there often were. The lining fabric that I chose was just -- well, wrong. It was a quilting weight cotton and was just entirely too light for the bag. I made up at least three different linings (good thing I bought extra material) and got frustrated and took it out on the bag and had to do some creative zig-zagging. I ended up using no lining altogether.

It was an interesting project, but the end result is just weird. I'm going to try it again with a lighter weight, more normal colored wool and see what happens.

Other projects I've been working on: another pair of pajama pants and a top, which I'm not going to show you because they're completely insane. I made them out of a pair of polyester/cotton sheets (note to self: do not do that again) and they are sweltering and ugly, with giant blue roses all over. I don't know what I was thinking. I also made a top from a lovely vintage pillowcase, which I'm not going to post a photo of because you can see the exact same thing on Betz White's blog. I felted some soft creamy wool to make patchwork-bound baby blankets with. And I've started to work on a grown-up version of the cashmere blanket -- look for it soon.

Summer Pajamas

Success!
Success at making summer pajamas!
Success at making them in a size to fit me!
Success at making the pants from a pattern!

The top comes from Betz White's Amazon Blog and is an adaptation of her amazing Shirred Pillowcase Summer Top. I made it a bit longer than she specified, about 21 inches after hemming to be exact, and I'm a little sorry I did. I thought it would give me extra room to move around but it actually just makes me feel a little like a flowered tank; I may hem it further yet. I made it from yardage rather than from a pillowcase because I had 7 3/4 yards of pretty lightweight cotton hanging around that I'd bought for $7 at the thrift store and crying "wear me," so I still felt good that I was rehoming something. I also left the rick-rack off because who needs all that frou-frou when you're trying to sleep?


The pants come from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing, which I've mentioned enough in here that you know how I love it. They're her "Pajama Pants for Everyone," and they certainly fit the bill. The adult sizes were clearly made to fit both men and women because they came up to my ribcage, which would have bothered D not a whit but which made me roll the waistband down several times before I was comfortable. Fortuntately after I had done that they were both comfy and presentable, and I was quite pleased with the results. I think when I am braver I will tweak the pattern a bit so that the waistband is lower and the legs are a hair less baggy in the crotch/inner thigh area -- but that's for another time. For now, I have jammies!

I had enough scraps to make a "Jane's Head Scarf" (another project from Weekend Sewing for myself and one for K, and K has expressed a desire to be "Pajama Buddies," so it's good that I had 7 3/4 yards of that thrift store material! I see more PJ sewing in the near future!

Retro Ruffle Tote Bag

I needed a big bag, and I'd had an idea cooking for some time about these curtains that I'd found in the Lumberton Goodwill. The sight of them had taken me back to my early childhood in the mid-1970's and I'd snatched them up. The other day I took them out of my "vintage" box and made up this fabulously large carryall.

What about the ruffle part? That comes in with the lining, which I made from a second pair of curtains, a nicely coordinating calico where I used the ruffled hem to fancy up the pockets a little bit. It's hard to see in the picture below, but the ruffles are there!

The fun part about making this bag was the ease and speed of the ready-made hems and finished edges in the curtains. I had it done, even with adding pockets and reinforcing the handles, in just about an hour and a half. (Hand-stitching the lining into place took some time, but I was sorry I did that and ended up top-stitching it by machine anyway for durability.)

I have two valances and some remnants of the doll-patterned fabric left, so if anyone can think of another use for it or wants a smaller tote bag made from it, let me know.

Something old, something new

K cuddles on the couch with the completed cashmere baby blanket:

It may be kind of tricky getting her to give this one away!

The blanket is far from perfect but it is done as neatly and carefully as I know how and it is made with much love, and I am going to try to keep those things in mind and hold my head high when I present it to the recipient's mother.

Things I learned while working on this project:

• If you take a picture of your layout to help you remember it when you're sewing your blocks together, refer to it when sewing your blocks together. Observant readers will see that my finished blanket does not quite look like the one in the previous post. Oops!
• When working with stretchy fabrics, be careful not to let them stretch out of shape as you sew. Lowering the tension and extending the stitch length can help, but going slowly and carefully is most important.
• It's okay to start over. My work got stretched beyond recognition and I ended up cutting cutting around the outer edges and re-sewing the top to the backing. I'm glad I did, because now the edges have a much cleaner finish.
  
• Using a walking foot seems like a good idea to feed multiple layers of stretchy fabric through the machine, but it is not; things just get too slippery. Use a regular foot and see above.
• Fusible web is nothing short of a miracle. If you have ever been afraid of applique, this stuff will get you over your fear in the 10-15 seconds it takes to fuse your first piece of fabric. I always told myself that I preferred not to embellish, that I liked my work plain, but let's be honest, who was I kidding?
  

I can't think of a project that I've enjoyed working on as much as this one. There will definitely be more to follow.

Note to myself

I've finally found the time to start working on the cashmere baby blanket. I love, love, love these colors and am pleased with this arrangement, so here's a picture to remind me of how I want the blanket to look, just in case things get turned around in production. Stay tuned for further stages (maybe) and a photo of the final project (definitely.)

(Below is another arrangement I played with for a while. In a way it's more balanced but I just don't find the look as pleasing as the one above. Feel free to weigh in -- I have lots more blankets like this one to make so I'm coveting advice -- but I think I'm going to start sewing the blanket as shown in the first picture.)

Soft and fluffy

Meet the newest additions to the cashmere collection!

These fluffy bunnies are courtesy of Betz White's tutorial, and they are even more fun and satisfying to make than the baby hats. I especially like the cables that give the white bunny a bit of extra character, and the zingy Amy Butler fabric on the pink bunny's ears. More bunnies will certainly follow, and I imagine there could be other critters made from cashmere as well. What would you like to see?

I'm thinking that this red hat with the big stretchy cuff will make a cozy Christmas present for some little one's melon come December. So unbelievably soft!
I have so many projects in the works -- including a quilt that must be finished immediately, the recipient has been waiting months for it -- but I want to get started on the luxe cashmere throws right away. My stash of pink, blue, purple and green sweaters is screaming to be made into a heavenly baby blanket. I really need to focus and get some work done on the old so I can move on to the new. Patience! Diligence! Onward and upward!

Menu-planning Monday

It's that time again! With K home from school and camp for the next 2 weeks, I'm thinking that I'd better add some structure to our days. At the very least, I want to plan what I'm cooking for dinner so the end of the day isn't a crazy scramble. Here's what I've got in mind for this week:



Monday: Ham, green beans, scalloped potatoes -- strawberry shortcake for dessert with strawberries picked by K herself!

Tuesday: Spaghetti, meatballs, jarred marinara sauce, applesauce

Wednesday: Hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, corn on the cob

Thursday: Chicken breasts with pesto, couscous, cooked carrots

Friday: Amy's Organic Pizza, Raw veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snap peas), dip

Saturday: Garlic Pork Roast, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes

Sunday: Pancakes, sausage, fruit salad

I took K and did the grocery shopping this afternoon so all the ingredients are on hand except the fresh fruit for Sunday -- I'm hoping for a Saturday trip to the farmer's market to take care of that.

I have mapped out a fair amount of the time this week for activities K and I can do together, but she has requested some special craft projects and I will need to do some rethinking. I hope to put an outline here later tonight or tomorrow of the creative work we'll be up to, and then with any luck we'll accomplish one or more things on our list!

Sitting pretty

Lately I've been needing to cover up my sewing machine when it's not in use because I have a naughty cat who eats thread. It's easy to toss the nearest remnant over the top, but that looks kind of sloppy and it tends to fall off. Here's my solution: a sewing-machine cover made from half of a pillowcase.

I had this pretty pillowcase sitting in my "thrifted" stash, waiting for just the right project. The pattern is pleasingly reminiscent of some sheets and towels my grandmother used when I was little, so I wanted to make sure that whatever I made with it would be highly visible and heavily used. The "sewing machine cozy" project was perfect!

This was so simple to make! I like the design a lot, so after I've ironed out a few kinks in the creative process, I'll post a tutorial for the "cozy" -- my first (albeit simple) original creation!

Cashmere!

What could be more perfect to warm a brand new baby head than a cashmere sweater, washed and dried until it's extra soft and fuzzy, sewn into a tiny tasseled hat?

The pattern comes from Sewing Green by Betz White, and I modified it a bit by hand-sewing the tassels on (way easier for me than the machine-sewing method she outlines), folding up a double cuff and hand-stitching it in place.

I was so lucky to find this fine-gauge sweater with the baby cables, providing enough material to make two sweet little hats. I've been thrifting avidly for the last few weeks, scavenging unbelievably cheap cashmere sweaters (the kind that go for $100+ in retail stores and catalogs) -- sometimes paying as little as $1 apiece. I have about 30 sweaters now, dismantled and ready to become luxurious cashmere throws -- another Sewing Green project. What a joy to work with, and what a joy to give!

Recess

Here's the quilt I made as an end-of-the-year gift for K's teacher. I love it!

It was simple to make using a charm pack from American Jane's "Recess" line by Moda -- with the squares pre-cut all I had to do was arrange them, sew the rows and columns together, baste, bind and tie -- it took maybe six hours to complete.

The bright colors and lively patterns remind me of my daughter and her Pre-Kindergarten classmates, and the backing with its line drawings and primer words seems appropriate. I have in mind that Mrs. H will use the quilt as a spare "rest time" blanket, but maybe she will find a more creative use. I hope she likes it!

(Isn't the red-white-and-blue binding print sweet? I bought enough to make a skirt or maybe a sundress for K with it.)

Spring cleaned!

Photos from my newly spring-cleaned sewing room! (Still, alas, the dining room.)

I did a major overhaul of my fabric stash and kept only the fabrics I loved or thought would be really useful. "I might use it someday" is no excuse for hoarding items that could be used right now by somebody else. Now I can see what I have and I'm not bothered by the nagging thought that I should be working 24/7 to use up my stash, and using boring or ugly fabric to boot. See how nice it looks in my cabinet?

Then I went in and organized my ribbons, rick rack, pins, needles, elastic, thread, bobbins and other notions. It's easy to find what I need now, and it's easy to clean up, too, because everything has a place to go. I also un-teetered the piles of books that surrounded my sewing table, and organized them roughly according to category. I can't wait to get them upstairs to the new studio where there are real bookcases!

So what to do with the boxes and bags and tubs and baskets of fabric left over? I sent seven (yes, 7) boxes, mostly flannel but some terrycloth and an amount of quilt batting, to TLC for Angels -- they make blankets and clothing for "needy babies" and were happy to accept my donation. I have another seven bags of quilting cotton to give to my church's Prayer Quilting group. But there were still boxes and bags and tubs and baskets full of fabric -- fat quarters (kind of small for the prayer quilters), holiday and novelty prints, home decor weights -- plus a gazillion skeins of yarn and several more boxes of crafting odds and ends. What to do, what to do?

Obviously, this was the perfect time for D's parents' church to hold their annual flea market! We sold all of the fabric and nearly all the yarn, a few of the doodads and even a few handmade-by-me items: 3 small tied quilts, 2 patchwork-covered Moleskine notebooks, and a number of rice-and-lavender heat therapy bags. (We also sold: some clothes, a tv, vcr, dvd player and stand, and presumably some other things since our total intake was over $90, which is pretty darn good for a yard sale. We're still debating over what else we might have sold; it's kind of a mystery.)

And now -- onward and upward! Look for posts about my current projects, some new furniture, painting, thrifting, and more...