a dress

I've always wanted to be able to sew. My life thusfar has consisted of little spurts of sewing, each spurt has lead to a lumpy twisted garment/bag/mess because there is something that I just can't seem to get about sewing. It's mysterious to me...just like math...sigh. Luckily, I seem to be blindly determined to learn, and continue to take on projects in spite of the string of disappointing items I have produced. My latest foray into the sewing world has been my most successful. Hooray!



On a whim (this is how I seem to do everything) I purchased a few patterns from the extremely dangerous purlsoho.com. My highest achievement in sewing previously was a laundry hamper liner, so you can understand the linear progression to a dress...or probably not. To make matters worse, the pattern is Japanese; not a word of English on the entire thing! This little sanity blip can probably be explained by my growing desire to live in Japan, speak Japanese and understand just how the happy iron in my pattern plans to guide me through the project (so cute). Luckily, working at a knitting store connects me with crafty folks from all disciplines, and a friend who is an extremely skilled seamstress volunteered to guide me through the dress. If it weren't for her, my fabric would certainly be in a helpless wad in the back of my closet by now...instead it looks like this...



...So far I have made bust darts, pleats, and some very cool seams (can't remember what they're called!) All that's left to do is put in the zipper, sew the side seams, hem and finish some seams on the inside. And I THINK that will all be pretty simple.
This project has really boosted my sewing confidence, and I'm already planning my next project; another Japanese pattern, this time a skirt. I am dieing to buy the fabric, but won't allow myself until the dress is done. I think it'll be pretty fun to go into the shop wearing my dress. I'm envisioning bolts of fabric and rulers clanking on the floor as everyone in the store drops what they are doing to admire my new dress, but I somehow doubt that will be the case.

IT'S FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, the epic shawl is finally done! I finished the knitting last Friday, and blocked it last Saturday! I gave it away last week sometime, and it was a hit! Hooray! Finishing that up made me feel great! Now I've been fighting the urge to cast on 20 projects at once...somehow that seems like a bad thing to do...



Since the shawl has been done I've finished 2 pairs of lingering socks,







I've returned to my spindle (it was feeling VERY neglected!) and I did all the seaming for my evergreen vest. More exciting than any of these projects is my paper dolls sweater...I started it a few days ago, and it is looking so pretty!



The i-cord cast on took a very long time, but was entirely worth it in the end; it is a beautiful way to finish the edge. I'm doing my best to power my way up the body at the moment, because knitting the paper dolls around the yoke is obviously the most exciting part! As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm using Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label, which is such a beautiful yarn! Her colours are mostly solid, but all have subtle tonal variations that make them so interesting and fun to knit. I'm knitting the entire sweater on 3.5mm needles, which I hope will give me a fabric tight enough that it doesn't become see-through, but loose enough that the garment isn't too stiff.

Yesterday, my knitting came on a little adventure with me...Jeremy is lucky enough to be given press cars every week, and this week he got this itsy bitsy convertible...




...we decided to take it for a spin in the country, so we packed a picnic and chose a destination. In the morning we planned our route to the Kawartha Lakes and drove off! We had a great time driving around once we made it out of the city...and it was a beautiful sunny day (I even enjoyed the sun, which is uncharacteristic). We had planned to take the scenic route up, but quickly got turned around and lost our way. Jeremy had brought along a navigation system, which had no idea where we were either! So it was up to me, our scribbled instructions and my I Phone. We made it there in one piece, but not without a few detours.

Once we were situated with our picnic alongside lake Scugog, we were finally able to relax. We spent a few hours just enjoying the beautiful day, and I got in some great knitting time!




Hopefully I'll be back sooner rather than later, but you never know...I'm getting a bit carried away with this paper dolls sweater (its just SO cute!) I may have it finished by my next post!

almost there...

So last time I checked in I was knitting on a shawl for a friend of my mother...and I am still! I have been completely monogamous (its terrible!) and I'm still not done. At this point I have knit the border up one long side, across one short side, and I am past halfway down the other long side. This knit-on borer business is just plain cruel and tedious, though it HAS to be better that knitting a border separately and sewing it on...I've decided that this would certainly be the most horrific thing a knitter could ever have to do.





I finally feel like some progress is being made, so I allowed myself to pause my knitting for this little update. It really does look great, and I think it will turn out to be beautiful. I'm knitting the border on 5mm needles (instead of the 4mm I used for the body) because the border is knit in garter stitch, and it just wasn't stretching out enough. The border is a little bit looser than the body now, but I'm not concerned...I want to block this this very intensely anyway, so everything should get a good stretch. Before I hit the "border wall" I was really enjoying this knit, I may even be convinced to knit it again without an edging...hmmmmm



The only thing that has kept me sane through all of this shawl knitting has been fantasizing about my next projects; I already showed you the yarn I have set out for my paper dolls cardigan, which I plan to cast on the very second that I bind off this shawl. I have also been lusting after the Muir shawl (I know, more lace...am I insane??) and I have the most awesome yarn set aside for this project, it is Funky Carolina laceweight in their Sunny colourway...i can't wait! But realistically, if I finish up the sweaters and socks that I already have on the go, I'll be pretty darn happy

ishbel mania

Once again, I have left it way too long before posting...but I'm still hoping that I'll get the hang of this!

Since my last post I have been knitting busily, as usual, my most recent FOs are two Ishbel shawls, and I love them! The first is a fingering weight Ishbel that I knit as a sample for the Sheep. I used Tanis Fiber Arts fingering weight in the colour Chestnut; it is BEAUTIFUL! This was my first time knitting with Tanis' yarn, and it was a lovely experience...the colour is mouthwatering too! After a considerable amount of Ravelry pattern stocking (as the Stash and Burn ladies would say) I decided that I would have enough yarn to knit the small stockingette, and large lace portions, which I did. Just a teeny ball of yarn remains, which is such a satisfying thing.





My second Ishbel is for me, and I've already talked about the yarn I used... Malabrigo lace in a colourway of my own creation! I knit the large size shawl, after noticing that a few people on Ravelry had been able to do this with just one skein, and it worked! I had an even tinier ball left over from this Ishbel, and its my new favourite shawl. I LOVE Malabrigo lace, but after knitting a few shawls with it, I'm noticing that it doesn't hold onto its block for very long. Even though its only been about two weeks, my Ishbel has already shrunk up considerably. Sad. I don't think that this little downside is enough to stop me from knitting with this yarn, but it is a bit of a bummer...






Speaking of Malabrigo lace, I've already cast on another shawl, this time in the colourway Polar Morn. Unfortunately, this one is not for me, its actually a commission from a friend of my mom. The pattern is "Melon Pattern for a Shawl or Scarf" (Rav link) from Victorian Lace Today. I've had the book for a while now, but this is my first time knitting anything from it. I'm about 2/3 through the body of the shawl, which has proven to be very simple to knit. This will also be my first time making a knit on border, which I'm kina excited about.





Because this project is for someone else, who is paying for it no less, I've felt as though I shouldn't be knitting anything for myself...and I haven't, yet. As everyone else in the world but me seems to know already, denying yourself something only makes you want that thing more. So as I plug away on this lovely little shawl, I've been dreaming about all the projects that I'd love to be finishing, and starting, and all the spinning that I want to be doing, and sewing, and all those other crafts that I can't even do yet, but want to learn...and I think you get the idea. How long will this monogamy last? Will I totally loose my marbles by the end of this project? Stay tuned to find out.




I have attempted to motivate myself by dangling the carrot of a new and exciting project; the Paper Dolls sweater by Kate Davies. I've got the pattern and the yarn all ready to knit, and have promised myself that I can cast on the moment I finish this melon shawl business...hope I can hold out is all. The temptation is even greater considering the excellent yarn I chose for this project...more Tanis! The colours I chose are "Sand" for the body "Blueberry" for the dolls and "Amber" for the little accents...I can't wait!

A Nautical Top

Though we've had this lovely yarn in the store for some time now, it was just this spring that I decided it needed to become a top...I think it had something to do with the fact that this lovely new dark blue colour came in. Whatever the reason, I snapped up this stunning dark and steely blue, a stone colour and a super-bright orange and set to work. Luckily I had a clear vision of what I wanted, and the entire project came together quite well. The yarn is Sirdar Baby Bamboo (it is more appealing than the name, I promise!) and its a DK weight 80% bamboo 20% wool yarn.




I knit this from the bottom up in one piece, at first worrying that the lack of side seams would make the top too saggy (because it is 80% bamboo after all). But I forged ahead thinking that anything would be better than fiddling with those tiny stripes in seaming. My bold move paid off, and this baby has the perfect amount of drape! I also used a handy little trick for getting rid of the jog created by striping in the round; fast, easy and much prettier than a nasty jog! The only hassle I had knitting this was in the neck and armhole shaping, because I was binding off at the beginning of some rows...and changing colours, I had to leave a HUGE number of tails in the back of my knitting, bleck!



I also knit a lovely hem at the bottom (that I still need to take pictures of...sorry...) and used the bright orange again on the inside. I love those little details that only I know about (now you do too)! I found the buttons at an excellent vintage sale in Leslieville, they are mother of pearl...and very pretty.

Well, I just had to share this. Its been finished for a while, but I just managed to wrangle Jeremy into photographing it yesterday. I'm hopeing to write up a pattern...but don't hold your breath people!

I'm still here, I promise!

Ok, so its been waaaay too long since my last post, and I didn't want it to be this way I swear!
A chain of silly events have kept me from posting all this time; firstly, I had my wisdom teeth out two Mondays ago. I stayed with my parents for a few days afterward...because there's no one out there who can fuss over me better than my mom! Needless to say I did not get around to posting while my face was sore and puffy, but I recovered quickly and was back to knitting in just a day or so. The following Wednesday my boyfriend, Jeremy, left on a work-trip for Dubai. I tend to stay with my parents while he's away because I don't really like being home alone for any long amount of time, and I also like visiting my family of course! No posting got done while I was there either, because there was a cute little puppy to play with!

Firstly, and most excitingly for sure is that this past Saturday was the DKC Knitter's Frolic! The Sheep had a jam-packed little booth there, so I worked for half the day and shopped for the remainder. This year was my second frolic, so I should have been better prepared, but I fell into the same trap as last year. I did go in with a better game plan however; no laceweight (because I haven't knit ANY of the lace weight that I bought last year) and buy rovings in fibers that I haven't spun before. At least I stuck to my game plan.

In the end I came home with some lovely rovings, including one of my new favourite dyers, Tanis Fiber Arts superwash merino roving...in a colourway that I have never seen before! I also got to meet Tanis and her mother, who were both very sweet. Hopefully I can do justice to this lovely colourway...I think I'm going to save it for a while before I spin it up!





I also picked up some 50/50 wool mohair from Wellington Fibers. I ventured outside my comfort zone and chose a bright orange...unfortunately my camera battery died before I could get a picture of it, but one will pop up soon enough. I'm really excited to spin this up, and I really love the box it comes in...cute packaging goes a long way in my opinion!

I also bought some superwash merino from Oceanwind Knits. I drooled over their yarns last year, but didn't bring anything home with me, so a purchase was long overdue this time around. Their colourways are right up my alley; the perfect balance of gray and pastel loveliness! I didn't get a picture of this roving either, but it is a stunning combo of blue and pink...it looks like a cottage sunrise...if that helps anyone visualize it...

My final roving purchase (I know, I was just throwing money at people!) was from the Black Lamb. I scooped a tiny amount of 50/50 merino silk in a very pretty burgundy and royal blue colour combo...this will likely be saved for quite some time...too slippery!

I scooped some lovely yarn too, but its just not as exciting as my roving, and I have more stuff to talk about......

While I was at my parents I made something that I am suuuper proud of...a BAG! Thats right, you may have heard me say that If I were ever left alone with a sewing machine I would likely sew over my hand...but I didn't! I enlisted the help of my mother, who had made the same pattern way back in the 70's I think. All in it took me about a day to make the thing, and the best part is I found this awesome fabric at Ikea of all places, so it was cheap! I will certainly be making more of these bags, and this little success has boosted my sewing confidence considerably! I even lined this baby with a coordinating fabric AND put a pocket inside the bag...sigh!



I also knit up my last handspun into a cute little toque. I ended up with about 105 yards once the yarn was plied and set, and initially thought I would have enough yarn to knit a had, but quickly realized that 105 yards was indeed not enough. In the end I striped my handspun with Rowan Cocoon (a droolworthy chunky wool/mohair blend), and am VERY happy with the look of the hat...though I do think that it needs a pom pom!

More Spinning...

So I think I'm completely hooked; I just about picked up the spindle in favour of writing this post! I've spun up 2 of the 3 braids of Fleece Artist BFL that I mentioned in a previous post. I plied the one bright skein with a pale (cream, bronze an gray) braid...and it looks super cute, like cotton candy, or superkid ice cream, or anything else that's bright an fun!


I do think that I didn't twist it enough while I was plying, but I guess that I'll get the hang of that (The skein is setting right now, so I hope you can excuse its twistiness in the photos...I couldn't wait to take pics and post about it). There is another subdued braid of BFL waiting to be spun up, but my attention has begun to drift to the baby alpaca roving that I've had stashed away since last winter...its about time that I spin it though...this stuff is so pretty and soft! The yarn that I got from the BFL looks like it will knit to a worsted weight (which is lovely) but i'd really like to spin something thinner, so that'll be my goal for the baby alpaca.




Now that I have the bright skein spun and plied I like it better than I expected to, but I'm not sure about using it to knit the yoke of a sweater...I held it up against a few colours of Malabrigo worsted, and was not thrilled. I'll chech again before I decide, but at this point it looks like this yarn will become a hat.


In other fiber news, here's a look at my most recent dye job...there was another skein, but without thinking I gave it away before I'd had a chance to snap a photo. I've also got a huge (580 yards!) skein of sock yarn cooling on the stove right now, and it may just be my favourite colour so far...I won't forget to take a picture of this one before I give it back to its owner, its waaaay too pretty!




Ishbel is into chart B, and is also looking great! Malabrigo lace has to be one of my favourite yarns; its soft and fluffy, and I just love how it "swells" once its knit. Beautiful! The pattern is so lovely to knit that I may want to make a few more of these...I don't want to get ahead of myself or anything...but the knitting is good, and I keep picturing all of my stash knit into 1000 ishbel shawls...that may be a bit excessive though...