The days of March went very slow, but the month flew by.  I had some making struggles this month, mostly due to wrist and elbow pain.  It really slowed down my knitting progress.  That being said, I did finish a couple of projects, and made a huge dent in my Switchback sweater.

• Finished makes:

Calliope by Espace Tricot, 3^rd size in Juniper Moon Farm Stargazer. 

Flax by Tin Can Knits, 2-4 year size in Schachenmayr Baby Smiles Super Soft (deep stash).  This was knit for Ahleena.

March charity hats, 80 stitch hat and 70 stitch ear warmer.  I really slacked on my charity knitting this month.  I was having issues with pain and didn’t want to work on something that I knit fast.  I did finish 1 hat and 1 ear warmer.   

See & Sew B6613, size 6 years

Simplicity 8027, size 6 years

DiBY ABB Tee, size 8 years

• New cast-ons:

The Switchback sweater

• Works in progress:

Jameson sweater

Knitting my memories blanket

Lawley skirt

White denim skirt

• Goals for next month:

Sew the Lawley skirt

Cut out and sew the Kwik Sew K 4138

Make up more jar candles

Finish the body of the Switchback sweater, block everything before steeking

Sew a Luna Tank using the overlocker

Make every recipe in the February Yummy Crate

 I have so much nerve to still have the white denim skirt on the Works in Progress list.  I finally got organized and sat down to sew it, a few weeks ago.  I took one look at the darts that needed to be sewn and balled the thing up, pattern and all, and put it in a basket.  This will have to be dealt with later.  I don’t mean to give up on projects or indulge in my start-itis, but I seem to have some kind of block against this skirt, so I am just going to shelf it for now.  I did end up using the food fabric and making the girl her jams, as you may have seen in an earlier post.  I am happy to have that fabric out of my stash.  I cut out the Lawley skirt, and probably have enough of the seersucker fabric left for a tank top of some kind.  I bought a bias tape making kit, so that should help me with future projects.  I think I will omit the drawstring on the Lawley skirt.  I don’t like bulk at my waistline.  I figured that between knitting and a lot of data entry at work, that I have been causing myself some wrist and elbow pain.  I have stopped the fast- knitting projects (anything straight stockinette), which is why I didn’t finish all my charity hats this month.  I think the little flax sweater was the knitting culprit.  Working on the Switchback has been less impact because it is all over color-work, and I knit with both hands.  This makes me slow down and use different motions.  I am also vetoing myself from bringing my knitting to work.  I need to stick with only knitting at night and on weekends.  I am getting an itch to start thinking of my next knitting pattern, seeing as I am about 65% done with my Switchback sweater.  I am holding out, though, so that I don’t get distracted by the shiny new knitting projects.  I was on a bit of a sewing kick last month, and I want to keep it going.  I didn’t make any yarn or fabric purchases, but I did buy a pack of yellow bee’s wax.  I have been saving food jars so that I can make some more candles.  I have all the stuff, so I really need to use it up.  My allergies won’t tolerate any scent of any kind, so if I want to burn candles, then I need to make some.

March, overall, wasn’t a bad month.  It was busy, but that is normal.  We finally finished up the weeds and back yard work.  We still have big gnarly plants to dig up but may wait till we are ready for a deck.  Now we get to shift our attention to the front yard and getting that cleaned up and tidied.  Right now, it is baren waste land.  We gave our powder room a little face-lift, which turned out very nice!  I like the color and the fact that it’s clean looking.  Sister #3 finally came to see our house, and it was a delightful visit!  I always enjoy spending time with her.  I end up laughing most of the time, even when she isn’t trying to make me laugh.  I also got to have dinner with Sister-in law #1.  It was such a nice evening.  The food was good, and the company was better.  (Note to self- those fish tacos are worth going back for.)  We took Feebs to see an interactive play in Walnut Creek.  It was for Jack and the Beanstalk.  She had a blast, and wants to see more plays, which thrills me!  Maybe I will finally have a theater buddy.  We met the O’s and the F-S’s at a park, one Saturday.  I got to snuggle a baby!  It was amazing and I didn’t even regret the baby elbow that resulted from it.  The little S-man is adorable.  Mid-month we had a minor incident with our truck and that has made it very obvious that we need to stop talking about it, and actually buy a commuter vehicle for the Husband.  We will keep the truck and it will probably run for another 100,000 miles, but it can no longer be a primary vehicle.  This has started a discussion about fully electric vehicles and the best value for our money.  I detest making big purchases, but in this case it is necessary.  Feeb’s February Yummy Crate did not arrive in February.  It did not arrive until March 23.  I was in contact with the company asking about the delay and was told that they have distribution issues.  The company was great about it, but it was still frustrating.  We haven’t yet made the recipes, nor have we received our March crate.  We may give Cheesy & Melty crate a try this weekend.  I am happy to report that I have scheduled a lunch with Sister #2 for May.  I am so excited for that!  I think that about sums up the lovely month of March.  I already have a full calendar for April, and it is only the first day.

Loves,

M

I’m getting there!  I have two sleeves and a lower torso.  The knitting is slow due to wrist and elbow pain, but I am really enjoying this knit.  The sweater is going to be enormous, and I have no regrets.  Stranded Chart 1 was very clear and easy to follow.  Any mistakes made were completely user-error.  I am still not terribly happy with the color contrast.  There are a couple of places that I feel the lighter colors don’t do the pattern justice.  According to Ms. H, only I see it and I need to get over myself or she will jack the sweater from me when it is done.  I have about 5 more inches to complete, plain, before I begin the center and raglan decreases.  Since I have a not so charming relationship with button bands, I am going to start watching YouTube videos and reading forums on how to knit them without the weird scrunched up look on the bottom hem.  I also want to up my button-hole game.  I am thinking that I may buy a pretty ribbon to sew over the steeked edges.  I am contemplating making it a larger ribbon that will also reinforce the buttonholes.  I think Katie of Inside #23 did a quick tutorial on adding ribbon to a button band.  I will have to ponder this. 

So, let’s get organized- Things to research:

Button bands and buttonholes

Shawl collars

Cut in pockets

Reinforcing button bands with ribbon

Reinforcing steek panels

Loves,

M

I think now is a good time to document the patterns that I turn to when I have a gift to knit.   I have knit these patterns multiple times and find them easy to follow.  None of them use a large quantity of yarn and the recipients have always seemed happy to receive them!

Accessories

• Coffee Sweater- Allison Griffith (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/coffee-sweater).  These are amazing for last minute, inexpensive gifts.  They are also fantastic stash busters.  For Christmas, one year, I picked up travel mugs, the Husband’s hot cocoa packets, and an assortment of teas.  Each sleeve took me about 1 1/2 hours to knit.  In total, each gift cost me $5.  I made 7 for my staff and 5 for the Husband’s co-workers. 

• Gramma’s Dishcloths- P.J. Allen (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grammas-dishcloth-grandmothers-2nd-favorite).  These are knit using any worsted weight cotton yarn.  You can buy a million different colors from Knitpicks, Michael’s, or Joann’s.  These can be made for a gift bag for bath time (scented soap, body wash, and some scented candles) or a prissy dishwashing kit (cute dishwashing gloves, fancy pot scrubber, and decorative dish soap container). These gift bags are great for housewarming gifts.

Wearable accessories

• Everglade Hat- Woolly Wormhead (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/everglade).  This pattern comes in 4 different sizes and uses one average skein of worsted weight yarn.  It is easy to knit, warm, and pretty.

• One Beer- Thea Coleman (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/one-beer).  Thea Coleman always puts out a great pattern.  This hat is easy and has a simple, non-gendered look.  It is all knits and purls with a few decreases thrown in.

• Land of Sweets cowl- Helen Stewart (https://www.ravelry.com/projects/KnittyGoodness/land-of-sweets-2).  You can do anything you want with this pattern.  It was designed to use up yarn advent calendars, so it is excellent for stash-busting.  I have knit 3 of these as gifts, so far.  I love the percentage system that Helen Stewart uses in all her patterns.  I find this to be a very simple and Zen knit, that can use any weight of yarn.

• The Snuggle is Real cowl- Maxim Cyr (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-snuggle-is-real-2). I am addicted to this pattern, both for gifts and for me. They are warm, unique, and are easy to knit. The mosaic knitting looks complicated, but it is really easy to get into a flow. Bonus, you can easily match the colors to your spouse’s motorcycle!

• Vanilla socks, following FLK heel instructions for size (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fish-lips-kiss-heel). I use this method for sock knitting for all of my sock-knit-worthy people. I actually have the cardboard cutouts for Feebs from 18 months to her current old age of 7, and still collecting. I also keep them for the Father, the Husband, and the female O, since they are the most sock-knit-worthy people in my world. If you are a fan of short-row heel socks or haven’t found a preferred sock heel yet, definitely give the Fish Lips Kiss Heels, and pattern method, a try!

Baby knits

• Flax pullover- Tin Can Knits (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flax). To be perfectly honest, I am not quite sure how many times I have used this pattern. I have knit at least 3 for Feebs, 4 that I can remember as gifts, and I have modified and spruced up the pattern most times that I have knit it. It is a beginner-ideal sweater pattern that knits up quickly. The one pictured is a 2-4 year old size and was completed today. I started it two days ago. Yeah, it’s a fast knit!

• Bean & Olive- Drea Rene Knits (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bean–olive). This is the sweetest sweater if you want a fun baby knit. For some reason, I always struggle with the yolk increase rows, each time I knit it. There is NOTHING wrong with the pattern. I just seem to have some kind of block on non-standard increase methods. Even when they are fantastic and practically invisible increases… My bad, not DRK’s.

• Stacked stag-horn baby sweater- Stacey Cilia (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stacked-stag-horn-baby-sweater-dk-weight). This has been my go-to baby boy sweater for several years. While I am not a fan of bottom-up construction with sweaters, this is such a cute and quick knit. I always forget how quickly the little sleeves knit up.

• Mignon cardigan- Loop London (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mignon-2). To be honest, I have only knit this sweet little cardigan one time, so far. I loved the pattern and the mommy-to-be loved the finished sweater. The reason that it made it onto the Go-To Gift Knits list is that I have every intention of knitting it again for future babies.

• Tweed Baby Blanket- Jared Flood (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tweed-baby-blanket). Again, a pattern that I have only knit once. But again, a pattern that I fully intend to use again. The center was a very quick knit. Picking up the 1,000,000,000,000 stitches around the border was a bit of a slog, but once that was done, the blanket was completed in no time.

• Chevron Cherub Wrap- Lisa Siefert (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chevron-cherub-wrap). This has been my go-to baby blanket since I started knitting baby blankets. It is very quick and can be fancied up if desired. The first time I knit it, I followed the pattern and did it in stockinette. I learned that was not my jam due to the rolling that all good stockinette foists upon you. I have since always knit it in garter stitch.

For some reason, this seems to be a big year for life changes for the people that surround me. I know a lot of soon to be married people, homebuyers, and family expanding people. Now is the perfect time to start cataloging these and planning for the upcoming gift-knit projects.

Loves,

M

This month I have sewn garments for Feebs. I was wanting to use up some fabric in my cubbies, and had my eye on eliminating the food flannel. That fabric was turned into some pajama pants using See & Sew B6613. I have used this pattern for her jammie pants several times and have always used size 6. Since I am a complete heathen, I cut out my patterns, so it was never going to last past size 6. My girl is 7 now, and getting too tall for the 6- 6X size. She still has a little waist though and can fit in her 6- 6X size clothes. To fix the situation I added about 3.5 inches of cuffs using the same fabric in the opposite direction. This worked great and now they will last her at least through the fall (I hope).

Last, and oh my god, certainly least is the DiBY ABB Tee. The pattern was so easy and self explanatory, so do not take any of the horror of the outcome as anything against DiBY.com. The was my first time sewing with jersey material, and my first time sewing a garment on my overlocker. IT CAME OUT SO BAD! I won’t even tell you everything I did wrong, because this would be a few pages long. Instead, I will tell you some of the challenges, new techniques, and positive outcomes.

Challenges:

1. I used a ball point needle and the fabric was still chewed up by my sewing machine
2. Even though I know how to drive both automatic and standard transmission vehicles, I could not figure out how to gently depress the pedal on my overlocker, so it went way too fast
3. I absolutely could NOT make the pocket look right and even, so omitted it
4. I was very careful not to stretch the fabric at all when I was sewing/ overlocking, and all of the hems are still ruffled.

New techniques:

1. I decided to use my rotary cutter and mat, generally I am a scissors kind of person
2. I sewed shoulder, side, and arm seams with my overlocker
3. I used a recycled cotton jersey bed sheet to make this, and was my first time sewing knit fabric

Positive outcomes:

1. Feebs likes it (most important)
2. In the end, I did end up with a shirt
3. I learned to pay close attention to where the blade is when using the overlocker, especially when sewing around curves

Notice, I am only showing a 30,000 feet picture of this shirt? I have decided that this is not a project that I want to document up close. I really feel like any future project I make, like this, will be a vast improvement. I am also going to call myself out for being sloppy and lazy (and just mildly frustrated and tired) on the neckband. I did not follow the directions and mark the front, center, and side quarters. I decided to just eyeball it. Note to self: you do not have an experienced eyeball. While you know how to fudge knitting, you do NOT know how to fudge sewing. Follow the directions, lady!

Loves,

M

I knit a swatch.  And by swatch, I mean I knit the sleeves.  So far so good.  There is contrast between the Moss and the Cloud.  Not as much contrast as I would like, but it is definitely there.  I think the Midnight Heather will really pop against the body colors.  I have made my first error.  The pattern for the cuffs is 6 inches of ribbing, so that they can be folded over.  I am not a fan of folded cuffs, so I opted to knit 3 inches of rib instead.  By doing this I should have shortened the sleeve measurement by 3 inches, which I did not.  As a result, I will have exceptionally long sleeves, which I don’t mind.  Going down from a size 8 needles to a size 7 was a good idea.  The sleeves are snug (thanks to my very tight color work knitting), but not too tight.  I think the overall fit will be good.  Due to some soreness in my wrists and elbows, this is taking much longer to knit that I thought it would.  I am taking more and longer breaks with knitting.  I need my limbs to stay active and able, till death do us part, so I am trying to take it easy.  I hope to start the body this weekend.

Loves,

M

I have a ridiculous amount of fabric for someone that has been scared to death of sewing for the last 40 years.  I have store-bought fabric, sheets, curtains, and upcycled fabric from outgrown or damaged clothing.  I can’t seem to get rid of any fabric if I think I could use it for something.  After I posted my dream sewing, last month, I did a quick inventory of my available fabric.  I also reorganized my patterns and got an idea for some pairings.  I have decided to complete the pairings, and not just muse about them.  My intention is to pull out a few selections of fabric and coordinating patterns and sew them.  I am NOT trying to match every fabric I have.  I want to start small and work my way up.   I want my dream sewing to become wearable garments.  A reason that I selected these is because I already have everything that I need to complete these.  No, scratch that, I need a zipper for the overalls.  I want to have them all cut out and ready to go by the end of the month.  I also want to complete 2 of them in that time.  Wish me luck!

1. Cotton flannel jammie pants for Feebs

Pink jersey t-shirt for Feebs- using twin sized fitted jersey sheet

Summer skirt for me- using stripped seersucker fabric

Light weight overalls for me- using cotton/ linen blend curtains (this will need to be dyed, probably khaki green)

Loves,

M

P.S., in case you are wondering, no, I did NOT sew the white denim skirt.  I am ashamed to report this, but the mojo just wasn’t there.   I will figure out my life at some point, and the skirt will eventually be made.  

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the office, in the wee hours before anyone else in my house was awake.  I was smart enough to remember my headphones, charger and knitting, but not my robe.  Our heater doesn’t start pulling its weight until around 0600, and I had hours to go before that happened.  I was mildly (read: incredibly) cold.  Luckily the Husband had left his Dude sweater draped over the big ugly armchair, so I put that on.  I got quite comfy and snuggled in.  I started to have visions of having my very own heavy and comfy sweater to wrap up in.  I was dreaming/dreading of future camping trips and sitting as close to a campfire as I could safely get in a bulky and warm sweater of my own.  In that moment, I decided that I am going to take on a full-blown colorwork sweater.  By full blown I mean a FOR REAL colorwork sweater, with steeking and everything.  The Switchback sweater, by Rachel Brockman.  It is a men’s sweater, with the smallest size being a 42-inch chest.  It has an all over colorwork design and a contrasting band.  It has a button band and a shawl collar.  I may try to get fancy and cut in some pockets too, just to be decadent.

• Materials: 

Knitpicks Wool of the Andes- Moss, Cloud, Midnight Heather

• Modifications:  

Pattern calls for size 7 and 8 needles. I intend to go down one needles size to 6 and 7.  

Make the shawl collar smaller.  I am not a fan of an aggressive shawl collar.  I find them too fiddly to wear and they never lay right on me.

Possibly cutting pockets into the contrast band, if I can get them to fit correctly and not obscure the pattern.

• Challenges:

I have only knit one other all over colorwork sweater, Cobwebs by Megan-Anne Llama.  I have also only steeked one project, the Dude Sweater by Andrea Rangel. 

Several years ago, I bought a large quantity of Wool of the Andes in Moss, with intentions of knitting an old man style cabled cardigan.  I changed my mind on the pattern and knit a very basic raglan sweater (only using half of the yarn!). To be completely blunt, the color sucked on me.  It made me look weak and wimpy.  I ended up frogging the entire sweater, and only using bits of the yarn for random things like the Setesdal Legwarmers by Skeindeer Knits.  I still have a very healthy quantity of the yarn left.  I don’t want to waste that yarn.  I want to give it life and enjoy it.  Once I realized that I wanted to knit a bulky, snuggly, luscious cardigan, I realized that it would be the perfect opportunity to use most of that yarn up.  Problem:  The body contrast color, Cloud, is cream/ natural.  I am concerned that a weak and wimpy green won’t show enough to contrast against cream/ natural.  If it doesn’t, I may have to try my hand at overdying.  At the very least I will have to….  swatch…  Oh, horror of horrors.  Mind you, I am not going to do the correct thing and knit an actual 4×4 square swatch in the round, like a good knitter.  I am going to cast on the sleeves and let them tell the story.  I will know about 3 inches up if I like the contrast enough.  If not, I can just rip them out and not too much time and effort are lost.  The thought of overdying 100% wool yarn gives me palpitations.  I have dyed exactly 1 yarn-y thing ever.  It was the Puck top that I knit in Knitpicks Cottlin.  Unfortunately, the yarn was meant to be skirt with a contrasting underskirt, so was a natural tan color.  This color matched my skin tone so well that I looked naked when I put it on.  I figured that I would never wear it, as it was, so I had nothing to lose.  I bought some RIT dye in burgundy and went to town.  It came out great, and I have no regrets.  I followed the directions to the very letter.  But…  That was a top knit out of cotton and linen.  They don’t felt.  I have no idea how on earth I should handle dying wool.  I have already started my extensive YouTube research, watching all videos that I can find, just in case.

So that’s where we start.  I have 1 ½ sleeves to knit on another sweater (Calliope) before I will allow myself to start this.  I should be done this week.  I am very excited to get started on this new knitting adventure.  Wish me luck, Universe!

Loves, 

M

                                                                                      

For my 2022 New Year’s cast-on I chose the Calliope sweater, by Espace Tricot.  It seemed like a very straightforward and simple sweater that I would get a lot of wear out of.  For Christmas, I purchased yarn from Keri’s de-stash and thought it would be a good pairing with this pattern.

• Material: 

Juniper Moon Stargazer in Malachite

Size 7 needles- per pattern

• Modifications:

Only 3.5 inches of yolk ribbing

Decreased 6 additional stitches on the sleeves and only 6 inches of ribbed cuffs, instead of 8

Made the sleeves bracelet length

Overall, I enjoyed the pattern.  It was very easy to follow.  I figured I would breeze through it, but I became disenchanted and put it to the side for a couple of months.  I am NOT happy with the bind off of the body.  Even after blocking, it is messy and doesn’t lay flat.  I still feel that this will get a lot of wear. My review of the yarn is not great.  The dye is not set, and my hands were teal any time I knit for more than 20 minutes.  When I soaked it, the water was completely blue. I recently purchased Rit Color-Fix, a color fixative.  I will use that and see if I can avoid having a Smurf chest every time I wear the sweater.  We’ll do better next time!

Loves,

M

Looking back over this month, I don’t feel that I was terribly productive.  I have been knitting, of course, but while gathering and documenting all my makes I feel like I haven’t completed much.  I finally finished the summer jammie set (I have a separate write up for that project).  I learned a lot from completing those garments and look forward to taking that knowledge into future sewing.

• Finished makes:

Husband socks- 66-stitch socks, toe up.  Patons Kroy (best sock yarn Ever!)

Worsted weight socks for me- 48-stitch socks, toe up.  Araucania Huasco Worsted.

4 charity hats- 80 stitch hats, yarn doubled to make bulky weight.  Used 3 ½ balls of stash yarn

Everglade hat- by Woolly Wormhead, size 20”.  Sea Change Fibers by the Dye Project Neskowin DK.  This is the second time making this hat.  I made one for the mom-in-law back in December and LOVED the pattern.  This is going into the gift box.

Summer jammie set

• New cast-ons:

Bean & Olive sweater for Ahleena.

• Works in Progress:

Calliope sweater

Jameson sweater

Knitting my memories blanket

White denim skirt

• Goals for next month:

Sew the damn denim skirt!

Make wearable toiles for 100 Acts of Sewing top and Simplicity 6446

Finish either the Calliope or Jameson sweater, probably Calliope since it only needs sleeves

Knit swatch for the Switchback sweater- see if there is enough contrast between the green and cream.  If not…  research how to overdye 100% wool yarn without felting it (or royally screwing it up).

Make every recipe that comes in the February Yummy Crate

Oh February, you fleeting month.  A lot happens in February, every year.  Even though it is the shortest month, it is always jam packed with stuff.  We have 7 birthdays, including mine, just in my immediate family.  My dad and I are one week apart, so we always get together to celebrate.  This year we took him to the greatest Eritrean restaurant in Oakland and rocked his meat and potatoes world. That weekend we took off for a kid-free weekend with the O’s in Nevada City.  We got a vacation rental house, and I may have done a quick google to search to find out how to successfully steal a house.  The house was so amazing, and the surroundings were beautiful.  On the last morning there, it snowed.  We sat drinking coffee and watching the snow fall through the wall of windows.  New life goal: find a way to become incredibly rich so that I can retire early, buy a vacation house, and sit for many days watching the snow fall while drinking coffee and knitting.  While in Grass Valley, I found a darling yarn shop called Heathered Yarns.  The shop was joined with another crafty type of shop and was delightful.  I bought two skeins of sock yarn, one for me and one for Feebs, and a pair of leather earrings for the Mother as a thank you for keeping Feebs for the weekend.  Aside from that, I did end up making a birthday yarn purchase and then a non-birthday yarn purchase.  I was able to get in on the Stranded Dyeworks Anti-Valentine shop update.  I have wanted that yarn since Jude first shared it and it is only available during February.  So, I snagged 3 skeins of Anti-Valentine in DK and 3 skeins of Red Velvet in DK. The Anti-Valentine will be used to knit a Paris Toujours shawl.  The Red Velvet will just be stashed and coveted with creepy “my precious” vibes. The shipping from Scotland was cringeworthy, but I have no regrets.  I later went down a rabbit hole looking for a warm and snuggly color-work sweater (after a morning spent wrapped up in the Husband’s Dude Sweater).  I have settled on the Switchback sweater.  I am nervous as there is only 1 completed project and this is a FOR REAL color work pattern.  I am also using this as an excuse to use up as much of the Wool of the Andes Moss green yarn that I have had for a long time.  I had to purchase two contrast color yarns, so went with Cloud as the body contrast and Midnight Heather as the colorwork band contrast.  I will have to knit a swatch to be sure that there is enough contrast between the Cloud and the Moss.  If not, I may need to try my hand at overdying.  Feebs and I made every recipe in her January Yummy Crate.  We made the bibimbap first, and it turned out very good.  Then we did the layered smoothies and realized that recipe yields a LOT of smoothy.  Then we did the salmon skewers. When we make them again, we will cut the salmon pieces bigger and put them farther away from the broiler. Each recipe was very easy to follow and required minimal “help” from me.  With her kid-safe knives, she was able to chop up most of the vegetables (or at least start them, till she decided to move onto something more exciting). The back yard clean-up saga continues.  We discovered at least another 1 ton of buried concrete.  I have never wished a person to hell as much as I have the former owner of our house.  We have started to dig it all up, which completely hijacked our plans to have the yard cleared and done in 2 weekends.  This weekend (weekend #4) will be all about backfilling where the concrete was, and where we removed the bamboo.  Then it is back to pulling weeds.  About half of the yard is done, so it shouldn’t take me too long.  The husband started his certification class, and can I just say, we didn’t read the fine print on this course.  We were both under the impression that he would have a night or two of instruction and a night needed for homework.  It seemed that it would be at his own pace and could be logged into at any time.  This was our mindset in October, when he signed up.  Fast-forward to February 14^th, when the course actually started.  He must log on at 4:00 PM, sharp, and be on the zoom call until 7:00 PM.  Mind you, he doesn’t get off work until 5:00 PM.  He must do this 4 nights per week.  Then he has roughly 6-8 hours of homework to complete on the weekend.  For 8 months.  Yeah, we didn’t read the fine print AT ALL.  This is shifting all of the house needs, Feebs needs, and all other must-dos to me.  It is going to be a struggle, but it will all be worth it in the end.  And the last car on my train of thought is Stitches West 2022.  I love Stitches West.  I have been going for the last 7 years and I love every minute of it.  I only go to the marketplace, as I don’t really enjoy taking large classes.  I either go with Ms. H, or by myself.  This year is the first year that they will be at their new location in Sacramento.  It is being billed as very big deal, since the arena is roughly double the size of the Santa Clara Convention Center.  I was doubly excited to go since it was cancelled last year.  However, I have decided not to go this year.  With Covid still being a real issue, and the mask mandates being lifted, I just can’t justify being a room with hundreds of people all crowding around tables and getting into each other’s spaces.  On the flip side, if they change it to be more Covid safe, that will change the entire vibe of the festival.  I have decided to for-go this year and make up for it next year.  On that note, I am SO OVER COVID.  I want it gone, I want it dead, I want it to be over and done.  That is all, rant over.

Loves,
M

On my sewing table, at the moment, is a white denim cut out that needs to be sewn into a Butterick B5466 skirt.   I have had this cut out for at least a year.  It has been moved around my sewing space no less than 7 times.  Last weekend I pulled everything out, bought the appropriate thread, and it is just lying there waiting for me to sew it.  This skirt must be completed before anything else is pulled out and cut.  I will NOT be defeated by this denim skirt.  I will wear the hell out it (if it comes out half-way decent) once it is completed.  I just need to get off the schtick and do it. 

However,….  Just because I can’t cut out something new and fancy, doesn’t mean that I can’t start dreaming and planning for new sewing projects.  In fact, I have several pairings already in my head.  Two of the dream projects will require a toile, which I will hopefully make into wearable toiles.  Because the toiles will be made from an Ikea baby pink bedsheet set, there will also be some fabric dying involved.  For the most part, I have the necessary supplies for these projects.

100 Acts of Sewing Dress No 1:  This will need a toile and fabric dye (may want to make it into a top instead of a dress)

Toile fabric- Ikea twin size bedsheet

RIT burgundy dye & color fixative

Fashion fabric- cotton fabric with Asian print from Mill End Fabrics, in Reno

*Things to buy- thread, single fold bias tape

Simplicity 6446 short jumpsuit: This will need a toile and fabric dye

Toile fabric- Ikea twin size bedsheet

RIT black dye & color fixative

Fashion fabric- cotton fabric navy with white polka dots from Mill End Fabrics in Reno

*Things to purchase: pattern, thread, 2- 16” invisible zippers

Tilly and the Buttons Stella Joggers:

Brushed cotton fabric

Ribbed cuffs

*Things to purchase: thread, 2” elastic, 1 ¾ yards of cord or cotton tape, small piece of iron-on knit interfacing

Simplicity 1355 long jumpsuit:

Pink garage sale fabric

*Things to purchase: pattern, thread, 3/8” wide elastic, one package of ½” wide single fold bias tape

Sewaholic Hollyburn Skirt:

Black twill fabric

Thread

*Things to purchase: 1-yard fusible interfacing, 9” regular zipper

Helen’s Closet Patterns Luna Tank:

Serger

Baby pink jersey bedsheet

RIT black dye & color fixative

Thread

Hopefully my dreams will come true soon!

Loves,

M