Sew Busy

I love making lists. First off, it keeps me from having to actually remember the thing itself, and forcing me to remember simply where I put the list. Secondly, I get a little bit of a thrill when I get to manipulate the list. For example, crossing things off a to-do list, or adding another project to the 'project list.'

I started keeping an excel sheet listing all my projects a few years ago. Looking at it makes me feel like I've actually done something productive with my time. But it also allows me to analyze what I've been working on. So, last year, I made 40 projects. 32 of them were knit and only 4 sewn with 2 'other.' This year I set a goal of 52 projects, averaging one per week. Currently, I'm at 24 and today starts week 30. (But I'm not worried about it. Summer isn't over yet, and I haven't even begun to think about Christmas.) Of those 24, 11 are knit and 10 sewn. A slightly better ratio in my opinion. But I also like that I finally have the time to sew. In any case, here are a few of things I've made so far this year.

First, a few knitted things:


Caroline Cloche by Hannah Ingalls, knit in Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold. I loved this project. It was simple and quick, the yarn is really wonderful to work with. Wool/silk blends may just be my new favorite to work with. I've found that they are light and drapy, but still retain structure, and are great to block.



This Drawstring Raglan was also knit in a wool/silk blend, but for this one it was JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk. The merino in this is incredibly soft, and generally the yarn was good to work with. The only thing that tripped me up on this project was choosing colorways. First it was white, light gray, dark gray, and black. Which would have been fine, but the white isn't exactly white. It's more like winter white. And there would have been nothing wrong with that, if I was working with warm grays. (These are the unfortunate circumstances of ordering yarn online.) So I had actually ended up buying the light beige (mushroom), the blue, and a red instead. However, the red ended up being overpowering, so the dark gray made it back in. Whew. I'm quite happy with the result, but I'm glad it's done.


I finished the Pleated Top last month during my trip to San Fransisco. This was knit in Misti Alpaca Hand Painted Lace. It just doesn't get better than alpaca. Ever. And in a lace weight, it's light enough to wear during the summer.

Ok. Now some of the sewn stuff:


I'd made this dress for my friend Rima's wedding. (Simplicity 2933.) The front yoke used to have beading on it, but I took it to a major cleaning operation, who doesn't give a rat's ass about beads, sequins, belts, or buttons, (It's true. It says so right on the ticket they print out.) so the beading fell off. I haven't bothered to redo it, and I'm not sure I will - I like the dress just fine this way too.


I call this dress "Fields of Grain." This is McCall's 5465. I've actually done this dress out of a sweatshirt fabric as well, and I sleep in it during the winter - so warm and comfy.


I'll wear this to my friend Amy's wedding in August. Since it's a traditional Bengali wedding, there are 3 full days of events. This is for the Bride's dinner Friday night. Saturday - the day of the wedding - all us girls will dress up in saris (!!), and Sunday, for the Groom's Reception, we'll each wear a lehenga, which is just a top and skirt. I'm quite excited for it!

Otherwise, this dress is kind of weird. It's almost like the mod squad goes golfing with George Jetson. I'm glad I have a reason to wear it.

Also, this is Simplicity 2927, which is one of the Project Runway inspired patterns. I think the clothes are cute, but the way they write the fabric requirements is completely ass backwards. Instead of "Look A, Look B" etc., they've broken it down by each element. So, they'll say "For collar, this much. For pockets, that much. And so on." I feel that an experience sewer will know that there will certainly be enough fabric for the pockets and collar both, without having to add the two measured requirements together. I think it then becomes a situation where too much fabric is purchased because the math starts to drive people a little crazy. Bad design.

These were going to be linen drawstring pants. Instead it became this. Not that I mind, I actually really like the way these turned out. These were made using Burda 8488. Burda is probably my favorite pattern company - I especially love their pants patterns. I've made a few pairs, they always fit just right, and I've also found that I've altered different patterns in the same place every time. No surprises on a pants pattern = happy me.


I absolutely fell in love with how light and elegant this cotton was. There was a yard and a half left on the bolt, just enough for a little peasant shirt. This is another Burda pattern, but from the magazine. It's actually an altered version of #121 from the 07.00 issue. That top had come down to just below the bust, I simply lengthened it, adding 7 inches below the waist.

Ok. Phew. That was a lot. See? I've been busy. :)

Swimsuit Cover-Up Contest

Whew, it's July already! I've been busy - but unfortunately it seems, too busy to take pictures or blog :( I think it's time to make up for some lost time...

I'm an avid reader of several craft blogs, the craftzine blog being one I check almost daily. When they posted a Swimsuit Cover-Up Contest, I thought, 'hey, why not?' First place is a sewing machine, and 3 runners up get a dress form (this is what I'm really pining for - I already have a sewing machine :P). Each contestant is allowed up to 3 entries, I've submitted 2.


I made this jumpsuit on Sunday. This was the perfect excuse to make a jumpsuit as well, because I don't really know when the hell else I would ever wear one.

The fabric is a double stretch jersey, purchased at Vogue Fabrics in Chicago. I've always been a bit weary of stretch knits - my machine had never really like to play nice with them. But the garment design wouldn't allow for a woven (even a slinky silk or satin wouldn't have draped the same way [and besides who wants to wear silk or satin to the beach?]) and so the jersey adventure began.

Surprisingly (and pleasantly so), it wasn't as hard to work with the fabric as I had remembered. There is a shirring detail at the shoulder, which I worked by using elastic thread in my bobbin. (Lock the beginning stitches, sew on the longest stitch length to the end, don't lock the end stitches, pull the elastic to desired length, tie a knot with both threads to secure. Easy.) I think the best part of this whole thing is no buttons, no zippers, no pleats, darts, tucks or fancy fitting - truly an easy breezy summer outfit.


I love, love, love this dress. Probably one of my favorite things I've sewn in a while, and a dress that's already gotten a lot of use. I've worn it to the bar, to run errands, and to work. It's completely universal. The fabric for this dress is just darling. The scenes of children-at-play (also my nickname for the dress) are a perfect embodiment of summertime.

I made this dress on Memorial Day. My good friend and photographer Erica had taken many of the pictures for my portfolio, and in return had wanted to learn to sew. I brought over my machines and while she was busy working on a wrap dress, I'd made this. (Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of her dress.)

So we'll see how the contest goes. If nothing else I still have a couple of cute outfits from it, so I won't complain too much! Also, the photo credit goes to my friend Matt, who shall be thanked with a knitted baby hat and booties, for the son he and his wife are expecting!

15 minutes later..

So it seems I've abandoned the blog for a while..things have been super busy! The May FOs will get another post, mainly because I still haven't taken pictures yet. (Oops.)

Otherwise, since I'm in hyperproductivity mode, and since many of the projects I've been toiling on have been quite time consuming, I needed a bit of instant gratifiation. I found an instructables post on turning a t-shirt into a necklace or scarf; seeing as I have more t-shirts than I actually know what to do with, 15 minutes later...


Sweet. :)

The Pains of Being a Self Taught Knitter: Back to Basics

Today I learned how to knit garter stitch.

No, I am not kidding. Garter stitch.

Apparently, I've been knitting backwards (or continental, or eastern uncrossed, or so I've been told) for the past 4 years, which somehow lead me to twist stitches without realizing it. I knit with the left 'leg' of the stitch to the front of the needle. Most knitting books (at least the ones I've seen) show the right leg in front. It's no wonder I've been so mixed up! I had a breakthrough when I realized that I was twisting my stitches in the round, fine. I could handle that information -- I hadn't knit that many things in the round up to that point. But for the past 4 years I've been knitting garter...wrong??

I've always hated knitting garter -- it's painful and slow. Now I know why. I figured it out when I went to weave in ends on a garter border...and, waiiit a minute...those aren't supposed to look like that... (I've clearly also just recently learned how to correctly weave in ends.)

I also learned how to do a proper, right leaning decrease - k2tog. For me, the actions to get the slanted decreases are reversed. I already figured out that ssk meant I could just 'knit 2 together,' but today I learned that k2tog does not mean I can just shove my needle into the stitches from the opposite direction. I actually have to slip, slip, knit. I'd already deciphered some of the knitting code to match the way I knit (ex - tbl means to twist the stitch, even though I have to do it through the front), but k2tog!?!

Yeah. Still not over it. The wine is helping.

Emotionally Ready

Sunday, on my way to the gym, I caught part of an interview on NPR with a woman who has read every Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction. At the end of the interview, she was asked whether she'll immediately read this year's winner (Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout). She replied that she would probably buy it soon, but only read it if she was emotionally ready for it, as fiction has the ability to connect with our souls and move us emotionally. Similarly, I believe the same can be said for craft. Craft isn't just about making things; it's about communicating to the world what I'm feeling and how I've been inspired.

But it also explains why some projects just get shelved, or why I just don't have the motivation to continue. Despite that I currently have 3 projects on the needles, I cast on another yesterday. The WIPs are unsuitable to knit for the following reasons: Laminaria -- dropped a bunch of stitches and have to retrofit a lifeline. This requires time, patience, diligence, patience, a clear head, patience. Which I have none of at this particular moment. The yarn for the drawstring raglan has been ordered and I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival. (Final additional color choices where mushroom, ice blue and cinnabar -- color combo inspired by an artist who had decorated a robin's egg with dried flowers - white petals, beige centers - and some kind of flecks of red.)

And then there's the beach dress. That dress has been stressing me out ever since my first attempt at it almost a year ago. Life outside of knitting is currently stressful as it is (end of the semester, graduating in a month, still looking for a job, etc etc) and this was an unfortunate project to take on at this time -- it wasn't alleviating the stress in my life, sadly, only adding to it. I need something that reminds me about the joys of knitting, something that surprises me, something that stirs my emotions positively. Enter Vogue's latest Pleated Top.

Every stage of this project has been an unexpected delight and delightfully unexpected. Paid a long overdue to my LYS on Sunday, to pick up needles. (Somehow I'd found myself with all this lace weight yarn, but no appropriately sized needles with which to knit it.) Nancy greeted me and instantly told me I needed the new issue of Vogue. It's a great issue, by the way, the patterns are truly timeless and versatile. And so I stumbled upon the Pleated Top...and matched it with a skein of Misti Alpaca Hand Painted Lace in Piney Woods.


Normally I don't like variegated yarns, but there was something about this hank that spoke to me, and now that I'm knitting it, it is revealing to me it's secrets, it's undulating rivers of forest floor, flecks of lavender and budding leaves, peaking out from the edge of ponds reflecting a midnight sky, all in lace yarn that is whimsical, feathery and playful, while being, not unlike pine needles themselves, sturdy and resilient.


In other words, this is a gorgeous fabric. I have visions of the finished top dancing around in my head. I haven't knit anything in over two weeks -- arguably one of the longest periods of time I've gone without knitting -- to the point where it was actually a bit awkward to knit at first, which is slightly embarrassing. In any case, this is the project that has restored my faith in knitting, in craft, in wanting to create and communicate with the world. This is the project I needed to change me, emotionally.

DIY Salad

The Artisan Cellar in the Merchandise Mart is easily my favorite place to eat lunch. It's a small shop and they only do a few things (wine, panini, salad, coffee, cheese, and cured meat), but they do them extraordinarily well. I've been eating there several times a week for 3 years now, and neither the food nor the service ever fail.

Tonight was a build-your-own-salad for dinner kind of a night. In complete homage to the wonderful creations Artisan puts together, this was my salad:


Romaine, clementines, strawberries, figs, and gorgonzola in a citrus vinagrette (fresh squeezed grapefruit, orange, lemon and lime juices, minced jalepeno, a touch of blue agave sweetner [similar in texture to honey] with sunflower oil). Yum.

Little Breakthroughs

I love little breakthroughs. Little breakthroughs are what makes the world go 'round.

Now, I understand about major breakthroughs in science and technology (and plenty of other fields) that have shaped and shifted our thinking, and in many cases, turned our way of doing things on its head. The difference between a major and a little breakthrough being that major breakthroughs affect a mass population; little breakthroughs affect pretty much me exclusively and happen when I'm trying to learn something new. It's that feeling when something finally 'clicks.'

Yesterday I had not one, but two(!) little breakthroughs on the guitar. First, I learned how to mute strings. My way is to put the side of my strumming hand on the strings to get the click sound. This doesn't always perfectly - if part of my hand misses, I'll get this half-mute, half-open cacophonous mess that requires me to stop and redo. I know some people that mute with their left hand and I have no doubt that in some cases this is probably the preferred method, but for now, the only thing I'm muting with my left hand is the F chord.

My other little breakthrough was that I figured out the "proper" (I use that word loosely. I'm basically teaching myself [with the help of some friends and youtube], so 'proper' could just as easily be substituted with 'way more comfortable.') way of positioning my left hand around the neck. Here's what I figured out: Cognitively, it makes sense to form a chord where your fingers are perpendicular to the strings. Physically, that doesn't work so well. I'm trying to strum a C, trying to figure out why I keep muting certain strings, strumming strumming strumming, and then I shift my fingers from a 90 degree angle to a 45 degree angle. Each string rings clearly! My thumb, which used to push against the back of the neck (as if I was giving a thumbprint biometric), now (the entire length of which, including the fleshy part of my palm) rests parallel to the neck. Brilliant!

I tried it with (fake) F, D, Am. Everything sounds better! And it's far easier to change chords now too, I feel as though my fingers don't have to move as far, for some reason. I tried sliding up and down the neck, also with clearer and faster results. Sweet! I'm now slightly better at the same 5 songs I've been trying to learn for the past 2 weeks -- which makes me think that someday I will get it; I will be able to play to tempo without having to stop at every 4th chord change. Little breakthroughs are little motivations.