Hello darling!  He’s complete!  Harris is finally off of my needles and onto the Father.  Hallelujah!   This gentleman was an absolute beast.  I can’t tell you the weight that lifted off my maker’s shoulders when I wove in the very last end.  This baby checked off about 6 boxes on my Knitting Bingo card.  I tried new techniques and stepped out of my comfort zone.  I also almost had to kill a kitten.  Grab some popcorn and get ready for a rant.

When the Father asked me to knit him a sweater, I figured it would be no big deal.  I could crank that out super quick and he would have his sweater before his birthday.  I cast it on in December fully planning to have it done and to him by February 10.  Betty took me less than 2 months, and she was all over color work, so no problem.  Yep, famous last words.  I busted out the sleeves and got started on the body.  And then my elbow started to be a complete jerk.  I have no idea why I started having elbow pain.  There was no reason for elbow pain.  Yet, low and behold, elbow pain.  It killed my ability to knit colorwork.  It seemed to be specific to knitting with my left hand.  I could knit anything else, but not colorwork.  I talked to the Father and explained the situation.  He was bummed, but he understood that there was no way around it.  My goal to finish it kept getting pushed out.  Even when I had finished the knitting and steeked it, I still wasn’t finished.  So finally, I buckled down and finished it when the weather at his house was a mild 90+ degrees every day.  Excellent planning, Mrs. Collins!

What went wrong:  The sweater was too big after blocking.  By a lot!  It grew like what after blocking.  I wanted it to be oversized so he could layer it.  But damn…  Once it was fully dry and found its shape, I put it in the dryer with a wet towel for 5 minutes.  Yes, I set a timer.  Yes, I sprinted to the dryer when the timer went off.  I wanted to do it very conservatively, 5 minutes at a time.  I am shocked to say, it worked.  I think it is now a good oversize for him.  Something that I really didn’t like about the pattern, and subsequently finished sweater, is the raglan seams.  I messed up by doing the raglan in the master color, instead of continuing the colorwork.  This creates a hard shift between the front/back and sleeve patterns.  This is very noticeable because the decreases seriously mess up the flow of the colorwork pattern.  I am not a fan of how clunky it looks.  I am too symmetrical to have it change and have no flow. So that took some shine away from the finished sweater.  The absolute worst thing, however, was when I glanced at the sweater, lying on my dresser, and saw a huge loop of yarn dangling from the center back colorwork it was gnawed and fuzzy from a wool-addicted kitten attack.   Holy shit, I actually stopped breathing.  I was ready to strangle her.  And I know damn well which one it was, too.  Lillie!  She has a mild wool fetish (which I understand), and she loves nothing better than to attack it (which I don’t understand).  I seriously had to walk away from it and her.  I fixed it, but you can tell something happened there.  Holy crap, that girl almost killed me.

What went right:  Being able to shrink it in the dryer was a godsend.  I was very concerned about what I was going to do when it blocked to roughly a men’s 3X.  Dad’s and XL.  It hung off of his shoulders.  He said he was still happy with it when he tried it on, but come on…  You can tell when your dad is like “Aww, thanks for the artwork, honey.”  I hope that it maintains the size, but I now have the confidence to try this again in the future if needed.  The main thing that went right is that it’s done, and my daddy will have his me-made sweater.  I do love Wool of the Andes.  It is a good sturdy yarn that was built for colorwork/ steeking.  I am still awed by steeking.  It no longer freaks me out to do it and it really does seem like magic.  I also like that I tried a new technique and sewed in a zipper.  I was pretty pissed when I went to machine sew it, and it was too thick.  I spent the next hour sewing it by hand.  I was not a fan, but it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be.  I am still debating if I am going to sew ribbon over the inside of the zipper.  I know it would look nicer, but I will have to see if I get the motivation.  I may be able to kill two birds with one stone and also tack down the steeked edge in the process.  I have to ponder that. 

In the end, I am happy with how this turned out.  I originally picked the sweater pattern out for myself, then decided that I would knit one for both of us.  Unfortunately, the messiness of the decreases and how it interrupts the colorwork pattern is too much for my neurotic ass.  I will let the Father enjoy his sweater, and I will go in search of another pattern that doesn’t make my eye twitch.  I hope he loves his sweater.  I hope it keeps him warm and gives him a feeling of being loved every time he wears it.  I also hope like hell that he doesn’t forget himself and put it in the washer and dryer two weeks after he wears it…  So, now Harris is done, and I can move on with my knitting life.  Farewell, Harris.  Enjoy your new home!

Loves,
M

Hello darling.  I have just finished the Soho Top by Caidree.  I knit it in Lily Sugar n’ Cream worsted cotton.  It turned out very meh.  Nothing is wrong with the pattern, it was easy to follow, and even though half of it is garter in the round (my hands did not like purling cotton) it knit up very fast.  I wasn’t sure about the aqua color, but I think it is nice all in all.

What went right: As I said, the pattern is well-written and knitted up quickly.  I really loved the i-cord bind-off and collars.  I think the technique was easy to do and gave such clean edges.  I will definitely use this again in future projects.  This top used almost a whole cone of cotton yarn, that I couldn’t figure out what to do with.  The remainder went to knit dishcloths, so the entire cone is gone!  Hello, #oldstashdash!  I also like the straps and how they are thin but seem like they will be sturdy.

What went wrong:  The yarn was too thick, and I picked the wrong size.  The top is just too big.  It is too big in the bust and too big in the armholes.  I could have faked it with the yarn if I had gone down a size or probably two.  The needle size could have helped but because of the tackiness of the cotton, I couldn’t have gone down to a smaller needle. That would have been murder on my hands.  I also used the wrong yarn for the type of neckline.  There is zero drape in this yarn so the drapey cowl effect is lost with this weird ducktail in front and back.  I wonder if it would be as noticeable if it fit me properly. 

In summary:  I am going to see if one of my sisters, with larger busts than me, wants it.  I hope someone can wear it.  I do think the top could be cute on the correct body.  I don’t think I will knit it again.  There is nothing wrong with it, and I do have some yarn that would be better suited.  I just don’t think I will wear this top if I give it another try.  I bought another true tank top pattern from Caidree, and I am hoping that that one goes better.  It is a standard V-neck tank, so hopefully, it works better for me.

Loves,

M

Hello darling. Buckle up, we are discussing my body. Body type is a new concept for me.  My body is my body, and I like what I like.  Historically I didn’t pay much attention to how I looked or if my clothes work for my shape.  My style is fairly modest.  I don’t show a lot of skin, I don’t like body-conscious clothes, and I don’t feel the need to look “sexy.”  My size is fairly standard, and I can buy ready-to-wear clothes straight off the rack.  My current measurements are: upper bust 35”, bust 36.5”, waist 31.25”, stomach 36”, and hips 39.5”.   Due to my exercise regimen, my weight stays fairly consistent.  My body shape only tends to change during my cycle.   I want to be very clear when I say that I am very happy with my body and my shape.

My desire to learn more about my shape happened when I saw photos of me wearing Lawely and other gathered bottoms.  While I love them and the idea of them (I desperately love paper-bag shorts), I just don’t feel that they flatter me.  When I started to look more into body type, I realized that I am technically an apple shape.  Personally, I feel that I am a rectangle with a breadbasket around my waist.  I am not overly busty or broad-shouldered.  I carry all my excess weight around my middle.  The extra bulk is not excessive, but I definitely have to take it into consideration when choosing sizes for knitting and sewing garments.  I feel that I have to sew bottoms using my stomach measurement instead of my waist.  I also thought that having a high-waisted, gathered skirt would make me look more hourglass.  It doesn’t.  It gives more emphasis to my stomach and makes it look more pronounced.

Since I am a visual person, I liked the graphics on http://www.gabriellearudda.com which show examples of clothing styles that flatter different body types.  I was going to share the graphic from her site, but I don’t want to get busted for copyright infringement or some such thing.  Seeing the skirt styles that she recommends for apple shapes helped me to understand why the Lawely never seems to flatter me.  My plan was to make another Lawely in the near future, but the more I think about it, the more that I am leaning away from it.  I think I may try an A-line skirt instead. My only issue with this is that pockets don’t always work with A-line skirts.  Pockets, my darling, are a total must.  Pockets really don’t seem to work with any of the shapes of skirts that should suit my shape….  This will be a problem.  Perhaps I can be sneaky and do some side seam pockets in a circle or A-line skirt.  I don’t think that I have a prayer of pulling it off in a wrap skirt.  But if I try it, and work at it, who knows, maybe I can learn how to make it work.

Patterns that I would like to try:

Closet Case Patterns Fiore skirt- either the button-front or the wrap skirt.

Tilly and the Buttons Delphine skirt

Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt

So, I am going to start with skirts.  I will focus on skirts for now and shift the focus once I feel more confident with my sewing.  I may check out the Gertie tutorial for making a circle skirt.  Apparently, they aren’t hard to figure out, but…  This is me, and I need to stop thinking that I know stuff about sewing stuff. I am going to give it a try (while using only what I have!). I’m going to make some skirts that will hopefully work with my shape and get better with sewing as I go. Let’s knock out a whole flock of birds with only one stone.

Loves,

M

Wait a minute… What is this craziness?!?  Posting my June post on July 1?  This is insanity in the best possible way.  Especially considering how late my May post was.  Oh well, such is life and adulting.  June was pretty good, I must say.  More knitting, more socks. Further progress on the sewing front.  So, yeah, it was a good month. 

Finished objects:

Worsted weight socks for the Father.  I knit these using some deep stash String Theory yarn that I won in Yarn Harlot’s karmic balancing drawing for donating to PWA.  I believe I donated to Pato that year.  I held this double with Kraemer Saucon Sock which may have been Sheila’s.

Left-over socks for me.  I used the rest of String Theory and Kraemer yarns.  They are short socks, which are not my favorite, but I used every last bit of yarn.

New cast-ons:

Vanilla socks

Works in progress:

Harris

Shatar

Blue Mountain Cowl

Possibly 8 pairs of Pajama pants/ shorts

Goals for next month:

Finish Harris

Cast on another summer top and use up some cotton

Sew the dress for Feebs

   Well…  I did some stuff in June.  I did some serious stuff.  I am still on my big sock kick and am still knocking out skeins of sock yarn.  There is more to that story, but I will get to it shortly.  I have completed the body of the Father’s sweater, I have reinforced it, and I have steeked it.  Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a cardigan!  I seamed up the underarms and wove in all the ends in the sleeves.  Next up is the zipper band, the collar, weaving in the other ends, and sewing in the zipper.  I need to get this done.  I want it done by the end of July when I see him.  I will also need to block it and duplicate stitch over some of the shoddy areas that don’t quite match up.  Originally, I planned to knit one of these for myself as well.  I bought the yarn and was prepared to be matchy-matchy with my daddy.  After knitting this and seeing how bad the raglan seams look, even if I hadn’t messed up, has changed my mind.  It is a shame because I think with better planning on the designer’s part, this would have been my perfect sweater.  I hurried to finish the body before he came at the end of the month so that I could have him try it on.  It is too big, but I figure that is way better than too small.  This way he can layer under it without it being too tight.  Fingers crossed it isn’t enormous after washing and blocking. 

   With him coming to see us, I had to get the toy room cleaned up so that he had somewhere to sleep.  And that is where we get back to the part about the socks and sock yarn.  I had a slight (re: huge) epiphany while preparing for the Father’s visit.  When I was cleaning up the toy room (I had the nerve to tell Feebs that she needed to clean up her mess in there when 87.4% of the mess was mine) I was putting everything into piles so that I could put things away.  I had a huge stack of fabric and fabric-type stuff.  I had between 10-15 bags and project bags of yarn.  I had books, notions, patterns, and all the types of making detritus in piles around the room.  I pulled out every yarn bin and fabric bag.  I photographed and logged all of the yarn and put it away.  I also donated quite a bit of yarn to charity.  I took a hard look at all of the WIPs that were in the bags and got real about what I would finish and what I would wear once it was finished.  With the help of the Mother, the Nordic Trail vest went to the frog pond.  The Ram’s Horn cowl was frogged.  The multi-colored Lapis top still needs to be frogged, but I will probably do that tomorrow.  I also looked at my sock yarn bag and got mad at myself.  I have more sock yarn than is realistic, and I keep adding to it.  I collect it, then only knit with Paton Kroy.  I am now being a bit ruthless about pulling out and casting on the “special” yarn.  The “it’s too good to use, and I will never be able to replace it” yarn.  Well, bullshit to that.  I have a metric ton of gorgeous yarn that I won’t use because it’s “too special.”  Not no more, devil!  It’s time to use it.  All of it.  I want to make beautiful stuff with my beautiful yarn.  Then I want to replace that beautiful yarn with other beautiful yarns.  Damn waiting for perfection.  So, as I was putting the fabric away, I got pretty disgusted with myself.  I am completely ridiculous to keep buying fabric but still be too chicken shit to sew.  For God’s sake, if I mess up, I have more fabric!  I need to get the hell over myself and either get rid of some stuff or start using it.  I won’t get better without working at it.  In June, I did cut out the pattern pieces for the Feebs’ dress.  I don’t know how cute this will be because I am unsure of the fabric combination.  But again, I won’t know until I freaking sew the thing.  And I don’t know if you noticed something, but the white denim skirt is no longer on the Works in Progress list.  Why is that, you ask?  Because your girl snapped and threw the thing away.  Yes, literally threw it in the garbage.  I was moving it for the eleventy-seventh time, and I saw that the dart markings were gone, the pattern was torn, and I couldn’t find the instructions.  And then I snapped.  I balled the whole thing up and threw it in the garbage.  Actually, I may have kept the front piece for bag lining.  Yeah, bag lining for bags that I don’t fracking sew.  Makes total sense.  I just didn’t have it in me anymore.  In hindsight, I realize how wasteful that was, and I have had a stern talk with myself about it.  But now it’s gone and is no more, and I am moving on with my life.  I also have Possibly 8 pairs of pajama pants on the list.  And this is simply because I have no earthly idea what pattern I used on these.  I don’t know what kind of nonsense I was on when I put them away “temporarily”, but I have absolutely nothing to go on.  The pants I can guess were the usual pattern that I use, but the shorts…  No freaking clue.  I figure I will try to work them out, but I may have to go medieval on those, too.  I just need to get real with myself.  Quit buying shit and not doing anything with it.  Quit telling yourself you will make stuff and never make it.  You get annoyed with a certain podcaster because she is always starting stuff and never finishing it.  Well, guess what Heffer, neither are you!  So… now the toy room is much cleaner…

   The first week of June was the last week of school.  Feebs has officially completed 3^rd grade.  We went beach camping at Lawson’s Landing, like last year.  You know, because we have no imagination and always go on the same trips.  It was fracking cold!  It was really cold.  Even the Husband was cold.  I didn’t sleep either night because I was so cold.  Feebs ended up in my sleeping back the second night because she was so cold.  I think we got spoiled last year and just assumed that it would be that way this year too.  Of course, we went with the O’s and at least had good company while I froze.  I must say, though, I do love me an early morning walk on the beach.  That is worth the cost of admission.  On the second weekend, Feebs and I went to see the H sisters.  We had planned to go cherry-picking again this year, but the season ended early so we didn’t get to.  We talked about going to see the new Little Mermaid, but we decided against it.  In the end, we watched 8 movies at their house.  It was crazy, but we had fun.  Feebs got to see movies that she had always heard about but had never seen.  We started with Strange World, which none of us had seen.  Then: Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Aristocats, The Great Mouse Detective, Alice in Wonderland, and the Wizard of Oz.  Man, we packed in the classics.  It was so exciting to watch them with her.  I was really happy to see the ladies and note to self: Domino’s Pizza is really good.  The next weekend was Father’s Day.  We started making some plans for the backyard and started clearing it up a bit.  I helped the Mother with some of her projects, and we did a dump run for her.  On Father’s Day, we took the Husband to the King of County BBQ event.  We hung out with his sister’s family, and he got to eat, drink, and be merry.  After that, we had really good Mexican food and went to watch the sunset.  It was a pretty nice day.  The next day was Juneteenth, and we all had the day off.  It was more errands and getting stuff done.  That week was when the Father visited.  Things are progressing with his lady friend, and she is going to be meeting the best friends.  Not sure how I feel about that, but I have absolutely no say in the matter.   I just want my dad to be happy.  It was a lovely visit, and he loved his new socks and the fact that his sweater is almost done.  The weekend after that was productive and good.  We are starting to meet with the Sister-in-Law about the Mother-in-law.  Things are getting a bit tense there, and it is time to start sharing some of the load.  It was a very productive discussion, and I am happy with how everything is laid out.  The next day the McC’s came to dinner.  It was really great to see them and hang out.  It has been a while, and I want to avoid that big of a gap in the future. 

   And then the month came to an end.  I can’t believe that half of 2023 is over.  The weather has been really odd this year, and June 30 was really the first hot day of the year.  It has been getting warm (circa 75-80), but not hot.  California is used to hot by May. I am not sad that it’s not hot, but it sure is weird.  I am really excited about July and the end of the big work project.  I am hopeful that my work life will get better and more cooperative.  I want to like my job again.  I will just keep chipping away at it and make some big decisions.

   So, I am going to sew something soon, and I am going to use up more “good yarn.”  I am going to finish Harris and get it to the Father.  I am going to enjoy the rest of the summer with the girl, and I am going to enjoy my time off school.  I am going to live and breathe and find joy wherever I can.  Because I have only been finishing socks, I have no Bingo card update.  Here’s to hoping that next month I will have several boxes checked off on the knitting one and finally an introduction to the sewing one.

Loves,

M

Oh my goodness, here we are.  May was quite a while ago.  Next weekend I will be sitting down and writing about June. I’m such a slacker!  I guess that makes it pretty obvious that the months have been busy.  May was good.  It was full and high-speed.  I finished my semester, and oh thank God for that!  That freed me up to knit to my heart’s content.

Finished objects:

Worsted-weight vanilla socks.  I took the rest of the Malabrigo Sock from the Levee Shawl and paired it with Paton Kroy in natural to get the double thickness.

Another pair of worsted-weight vanilla socks.  I pulled out a deep stash skein of Stranded Dyeworks BFL fingering weight yarn (left over from a Pavement sweater) and paired it with Paton Kroy in charcoal.

New cast-ons:

Father’s Day worsted-weight vanilla socks

Works in Progress:

Shatar Vest

Harris

Blue Mountain Cowl

White denim skirt

8 pairs of pajama pants/shorts

Goals for next month:

Work on Harris

Sew something

Access my WIPs- get critical

Enjoy my making

It may not seem like I did much knitting in May, but I knit two full pairs of socks and started a third.  In addition, I have pulled out Harris and begun working on it again.  The elbow isn’t giving me problems (yet…?), and I am also not pushing myself too hard on it.  I can’t tell you how much I want to finish this sweater.  I want the Father to get his sweater, AND I want it to no longer be hanging over my head.  My original plan was to get the body knit and cut open by Memorial Day so that he could try it on.  I was worried that it would be too tight for him.  My plan was to have him try it on and decide if I would stick with the zipper or add button bands in order to add width.  Well, I suck as a knitter and as a daughter and did not get the body finished and cut, so it became a moot point.  I am getting work done on it, though.  I have no idea where my urge to work on socks came from all of a sudden.  I tend to keep a sock on the go just for waiting and standing in line, but for some reason, they are currently my jam.  I think I am just really enjoying busting through older/ single skeins of fingering yarn.  #oldstashdash is going strong!  The two pairs of socks checked off two more boxes, and now there are no more sock boxes to check.  My only box of concern is the Fade Project. I know that I want to use the Yoth half skeins of fading blues, but I don’t know what to make with them or how to create a fade on my own.  I don’t do maths, so I am a little overwhelmed.  I tried using one of the colors to make a stand-alone Rams Horn cowl, but I didn’t like it, so it is awaiting the frog pond.  Let’s just not talk about the Sewing Bingo card.  Yeah, let’s just skip that one.  I did my fabric pairing post, which got me excited about sewing something.  Let’s see what comes from that excitement.  Guesses, anyone???

May was good. As usual, it was busy.  Do I even need to say that anymore?  I mean, I feel like I am just being redundant at this point.  My goal for next month is to not talk about how busy June was.  Duh, Mrs. Collins, your life is busy…  So, week one was our first Parent’s Night Out at Taekwondo.  Feebs and her two homies went to Revenge of the 5th night, and the parents went to dinner and out for drinks.  All 9 of us had a great time.  We will definitely be doing this again!  I can’t say how happy I am that Feebs is still close with the FH boys.  They have been together since they were babies, and I want them to always have that relationship.  That weekend, I took the MIL to lunch and to get her hair done.  She decided that she was ready to let the color grow out and go natural.  Libby was able to high and low-light her hair to help it blend out.  MIL was very happy with it, and the day was delightful.  The next day was a kid’s birthday party.  The next week was my infusion appointment.  It was as charming as always, and I felt like garbage after as always.  I ended up calling in sick the next day.  I just felt tired and like my innards were caving in.  That Friday was the in-law’s wedding rehearsal, though, so I still had to get up and be productive.  The rehearsal was a hot mess, as was the wedding day itself.  I won’t get into it too much since it is over and done.  However, I will note the two things that I learned as a result of the event.  1.) I am too Type A for the in-law family.  I will never understand the disorganized chaos of that family, and I need to accept that and move on.  2.) The town of Colma is a necropolis.  This means that there are more dead people in that town than there are living.  I was unaware of this, and my mind was blown as we drove through, and it was border-to-border cemeteries.   MIND BLOWN.   That Sunday was Mother’s Day.  The weekend was pretty much shot due to the wedding, and we had to take the MIL to lunch to celebrate her day.  So, my Mother’s Day didn’t really happen.  I postponed the Mother to the next weekend, so we could celebrate her properly.  On a positive note, I was told about the Sierra Nevada Yarn Crawl that is happening in September.  It is happening, and I am going!  So that will be my postponed Mother’s Day weekend.  The next week was a field trip to the Oakland Zoo that I chaperoned, it was Open House at school, and it was when Feebs came down with Strep Throat.  Again!  That is the 3rd time in a year that my girl got strep.  My poor Bean.  Because she was sick, she missed some fun end-of-year stuff and a couple of her homie’s birthday parties.    I did spend the weekend with the Mother.  We did some more work around her house and cleared more stuff out.  We took down a built-in hutch that was never intended to be taken down.  Holy crap, that was a beast to remove.  We took it down in order to build a “window” and breakfast bar.  Also, that Sunday was the last day of my Spring semester!  Man, that class was hard!  Well, not hard, but a lot!  I was very surprised with myself.  Since I have returned to school, I have had a “you’re choosing to do this, so you better do it right” mentality.  I have worked to do my best and get the best grade I could get.  I very stupidly signed up for a class over the time that I was heading up a triple conversion at work.  I DID NOT have the bandwidth to do all of that.  As a result, I only got a 92% in my class.  That is not bad by any means, but most of the reason for the lower grade is that I missed an assignment.  I had no right to skip the assignment.  It happened when we went to Hawaii.  I wasn’t able to work ahead and ended up being unable to work back while trying to keep up.  I got to the final weekend and made the decision to just focus on my final project and let the missed assignment go.  So, my grade was lower, but I passed the class and was able to check off another box.  I signed up for Fall 2023 and am going to take a film class to fulfill my general art credits.  I took this class several years ago, but I butted heads with the instructor over watching a movie that made me uncomfortable.  He wouldn’t let me substitute the movie, so I ended up with a W in the class.  I am hoping that completing this will remove the W from my transcripts.  The next weekend was Memorial Day weekend, and another wedding.  One of the oldest nephews married his longtime girlfriend.  They are the parents of my grandnephew.  Technically, we attended the reception, not the wedding.  It was held in my sister’s (his mom’s) front yard.  It was really pretty, and they all did a great job getting everything done.  I was delighted to see them married and happy.  We haven’t had a big family wedding in many years, and we always have so much fun.  I saw my former brother-in-law for the first time in many years, and it was really great to catch up with him and for the Husband to finally get to meet him. It was also the first young person wedding I had attended.  It was an interesting experience and brought up some pretty funny epiphanies.  I can’t tell you how happy I am to be in the stage of life that I am in.  I love being married and settled and sure of who I am.  We spent that night at the Father’s house and got to spend time with him and Mother since she spent the night too.  We left early enough to have a very mellow rest of the day.  The Husband stopped on the way home to pick up a washer drum that someone was selling for $30.  He intended to use it for the fire when we went camping in June.  The rest of the long weekend was spent getting stuff done around the house and preparing for the last week of school.  The last week of the month was a bit bittersweet.  I can’t believe the girl finished 3rd grade…  I just don’t know why the years insist on going so fast.  We also went to a niece’s (on the Husband’s side) 8th-grade graduation.  Considering she was barely 2 when we met, I couldn’t believe how much she had grown up.  Thank goodness I am not getting older!  Feebs has continued her taekwondo practice.  She earned a Decided stripe on her orange belt.  When she focuses and cooperates, that girl is really good.  I very much hope that she sticks with it.  I want her to be prepared to take on her world as it expands over the years.  I want her to have confidence and belief in her ability to defend and protect herself. 

May is long over, and June is in full swing.  May was a good month, and more memories were made.  Things I hope to focus on over the summer are more summer garments.  I generally tend to suck at summer-making.  I want to remedy that this year.  I would really like a new Lawley skirt and a couple more knit tops.  I also want to buckle down and make a cute dress for Feebs.  We will see what boxes I can check off next.

Loves,
M

Hello darling. I sat down yesterday and evaluated the white denim skirt. I have to be honest, I just don’t want to work on it. I keep trying to set my mind to working on it and just knocking it out, but I don’t want to. And unfortunately, I keep putting myself on restriction from other sewing projects until that skirt is complete, so I just don’t sew at all. This certainly isn’t helping me toward my goal of getting better at sewing. Now that I have my snazzy Sewing Bingo card made up, it is time to actually start sewing and checking off some boxes. I want to start doing the thing. In conjunction with my self-appointed #OldStashDash, I want to use some of my old fabric and patterns. I purchased tracing paper (since I want to try to not cut my paper patterns) and have a healthy amount of patterns and fabric at my disposal. I am not going to worry about perfection. Done is better than perfect. I have completely flaked on the first four months of 2023, so hopefully, I can pick up some slack in May.

Lawely skirt by Elbe Textiles- I need to make this in a smaller size than I did last time. I am indecisive about which fabric I will use for this. I am stuck between the gorgeous new watercolor cotton I bought in Oahu and an elephant print bedsheet that I completely love.

McCalls M7768 dress for Feebs. I will make View C in Size 8. I bought the cat fabric (main body) in Oahu and the polka dot fabric (contrast and pockets) at Joann Fabrics.

Stella Hoodie & Joggers by Tilly and the Buttons- Stretch! book. I will use the French Terry fabric that I bought approximately nine millennia ago specifically to make this outfit.

That’s it. Only three. I am trying to be realistic about what I will actually accomplish and stay within my comfort zone so that I am not overwhelmed. I had hoped to have my Stella Hoodie and Joggers done for our camping trip, but… It’s in two weeks. I am thinking I won’t accomplish this goal. I would like to sew Feebs’s dress before she leaves for college or after she is out of school in a couple of weeks, ya know, whichever comes first. The Lawely will get made. I am just stuck on which fabric to use. I like both, and I have more of the bedsheet than the watercolor, so perhaps I will save the sheet for something else. A huge downer about this process is that I am making myself trace the patterns for Feebs dress and the sweatsuit. That sucks like what, but it needs to be done. I bought the tracing paper, and now I need to use it. I also have to reprint and tape eleventy-seven pattern pieces for Lawely because I want to make a smaller size. Alright, girl, you talk the talk. Now get up and walk!

Loves,

M

April was really good.  I am surprised at how good April was.  There were some ups and downs, but overall it was a good month.  I finished a project and have cast on another one.  I am building up steam on a sewing project, and with the end of the semester fast approaching, I may actually get to sew it.  So, the month went pretty well.

Finished objects:

The Levee Shawl by Casey Day-Crosier.  I knit this using deep stash Malabrigo Sock, Knitpicks Stroll, and Why Knot Fibers.  There is a separate post about this, so I will just give Cliff’s Notes.

  New cast ons:

Worsted weight socks

  Works in progress:

Shatar Vest

Harris

Blue Mountain Cowl

Knitting My Memories blanket

8 pairs of pajama shorts/ pants

White denim skirt

  Goals for next month:

Work on Harris after school is done

Sew a new Lawley skirt

Finish the semester

Do another fabric pairing

   I knitted this month.  I knit a very nice shawl.  It felt good to work on it and complete it.  It knitted up very quickly, and I quickly cast on socks to use up the rest of the Malabrigo Sock.  I am taking my #oldstashdash very seriously.  I have stalled on the Blue Mountain Cowl, but that may be simply because it is warming up.  I already knit the Heartbeat Top, and I generally only knit one summer top per year, but I think I may cast on a second one.  You know, just to be a rebel.  I had the nerve to buy some vacation fabric, which I needed like I need a hole in my head.  I bought a cat print fabric for Feebs, a ditsy floral print, and a beautiful watercolor.  I have grand plans of grand garments, but who knows how long they will languish before I finally get the nerve to do something with them?  I really want to finish Harris, but I have decided to hold off until after the semester is completed.  I will work on my socks for now and wait to cast on anything fun until he is completed.  I am ashamed that the Father still doesn’t have his Christmas sweater.  I realized that I needed to stop knitting the color work for a while, but it really shouldn’t have been this long.  I will blame school, but my dad still doesn’t have his sweater…  One more month, and I will knock it out.  I really want to sew.  I know I say that a lot, but I really do.  I want to dust off the machine and sew something up.  I think I am going to sit and write out a list of possible things to make.  I know that I want another Lawely skirt in a stronger fabric and a smaller size.  I know that I want to make Stella Joggers for camping this year.  I also know I want to make Feebs a dress with her new kitty fabric.  I think I need to really sit down and figure out what to do and start doing it.

   As previously mentioned, the month was good.  On day one, we boarded a plane (Feebs’s first plane ride) and headed to Oahu.  We hadn’t taken a real vacation (no, I don’t count Disneyland) in a long time.  We stayed in Waikiki Beach and rented a car.  We went to a luau, Pearl Harbor, beaches, and into the forests.  Poor Feebs was sick the whole time.  It turned out she had strep throat.  My girl was tough, though, and she still had a fantastic time (as long as we kept her on her Motrin schedule).  We ate some good food and swam in the ocean.  We had a very nice recharge, which we all needed.  It was incredibly sad to leave Honolulu in 85-degree weather and come home to 53 degrees and rain.  We were pretty jet-lagged for a couple of days, but we had no regrets.  We were glad that we got home in the wee hours of Friday morning because it gave us 3 days to recuperate from the trip.  We came home to the crazy news that the Mother had purchased a house and would be closing in 7 days.  This meant that by the time we got home, she only had 3 days to go.  She stayed the weekend, and we moved some of her stuff around so that she would be ready to go once her house closed.  Sunday was Easter, and we kept it pretty low-key.  The bunny showed up and hid some eggs for Feebs and brought her some scrummy snacks.  The following weekend we had a date night and went to the movies.  We saw Renfield, which was very funny.  We even saw it in the movie theater, which I am usually a poo about.  I hate spending an arm and two legs for a couple of hours, but we did it.  I regret nothing.  We also started attacking the front and back yards.  The weeds had become aggressive, so we started hacking and burning.  The process was long, but we had to suck it up since we let it get out of hand that way.  The following week we finally started something that I had wanted to do for 8 years: we met with a trust attorney.  We began the process of getting everything set up and documented to protect Feebs, and all of us in the event of a tragedy.  The process took 3 weeks, and then it was done.  All signed and sealed.  We will get the final packet in a few weeks.  The weekend of the 22^nd, I met with Sister #2 at a halfway point.  We had lunch and did a little looking around.  It is always a good time to meet up with her.  And OMG, guess what she made me…  She made a “Badass Skater Lady”- Pink Ladies style jacket for me, with a picture of my roller skates on it.  It is ridiculously badass, and I love it.  In true sister fashion, she verbally tore the whole thing up, but I love it.  It is so fun and silly.  I can’t wait to go to the roller rink and wear it.  The next day we met the O’s at the same place I met with my sister.  It was a nice day and a fun quick visit.  It was the Female O’s birthday, so we wanted to spend time with her and have a mini celebration.  The last weekend of the month, we were supposed to finally get to go to the Little Farm and see the A’s.  We were so excited.  We haven’t seen them in years, and we were so happy to get up there.  Naturally, I had to get sick and screwed the whole weekend up.  I got a sinus infection from hell, so we had to postpone our trip.  I was so incredibly sad.  We are going to pick another weekend after school is over.  We are determined to get up there and see those beautiful people.  I felt like crap, so I don’t think we even did anything that weekend.  Feebs is still doing her taekwondo, and she seems really happy with it.  She should be doing belt testing again in May.  My fingers are crossed that she stays happy in it.  I like her being in an activity that builds confidence and has discipline.  Hopefully, having two of her homies in the class will keep her engaged.

   Missing the A’s was a low point of the month, but a lot of good came from April too.  I definitely want to start thinking about another trip in a year or two.  I want us to keep going and see more of the world.  I want to keep making stuff and expanding my wardrobe and knowledge.  I am excited for May.  I think there will be some fun stuff happening, and the fact that school will be done for Feebs and me makes my heart very happy.  I am ready for both of us to have a nice big break.  I am so happy to have my mom living near me.  It was a long time coming, and it was finally time.  So, onto the next month’s adventures.  I hope it is another really good month.

 

Loves,

M

Hello darling. I have knit a shawl! I have had this Malabrigo Sock in mind for a shawl for years. I was set on knitting the Gumdrop shawl or something with beads. For some reason, the Gumdrop just didn’t stick. I was scrolling Ravelry, like you do, and came across the Levee Shawl, by Casey Day-Crosier. I loved the stripes and the fact that it is knit in a garter stitch. I have found that I really dislike stockinette stitch shawls because of the edge rolling that inevitably happens. I recently inventoried my shawl collection and found a shocking lack of neutrals. I have knit two purple shawls, one natural color that sheds like holy what, and a few colorful cowls. I needed to step up my game. I paired the Malabrigo Sock with a skein of Knitpicks Stroll in white and the skein of Why Knot Fibers Sole in the sweet potato color. Since the Sock and Stroll were light fingering, I could feel a difference when knitting the Sole. I don’t think it is noticeable in the finished shawl, though. The yarns worked beautifully together. The pattern (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-levee) was very simple and well-written. There was nothing fancy or difficult about it. It is a very beginner-friendly pattern. I am very happy with this shawl. I think it will get a lot of wear and maybe something that I would knit again to use up single balls of yarn.

Loves,

M

Hello, darling. She is complete, and she is fabulous! I am referring to the Heartbeat Top, designed by Knittles Creations. I knew I really liked the look of this top when I was browsing Ravelry, looking for a pattern to use up the incredibly deep stash yarn. The yarn is Crystal Palace Mikado Ribbon. The yarn belonged to my beloved Sheila. Michelle gave it to me after she died. I have hoarded this yarn for almost 20 years, looking for the perfect project. The fabric it makes is an ode to Indian Summer, with all of the lovely fall colors. I am not a fan of knitting lace, but this was a relatively easy pattern to follow. I added one pattern repeat to give extra length. I am not a fan of cropped tops. If I had really dedicated myself to it, I think I could have finished it in a week or two. That wasn’t the case, though, so it took about a month. Once the body was complete, I decided that I knew better than the designer and knit the straps about 4 inches longer than the pattern called for. This was a mistake. I also decided that I didn’t need to try the thing on before I kitchenered the straps together and wove in the ends. This was also a mistake, and I instantly regretted my life choices. I tried it on, and it was waaaaay too long. So, of course, I got to undo everything that I had just done and rip back to the 2.5 inches that the pattern called for. Lo and behold, the thing fits perfectly. Funny how that works (dumbass)… And I tried it on before I re-kitchenered the straps. Groundbreaking! Now that the top is washed, blocked, and seamed, I am really considering lining it. My first idea was to wear something under it, but I will never find a cami that follows the lines of the top, and I don’t want to take anything away from it. I went to Joann’s and had the Mother help me pick out a lining fabric. I am not looking forward to drafting the lining shape and hand-sewing the thing. But I think this is the best option to make the top the most wearable. I even bought a brown skirt to go with it! As I mentioned, I don’t like knitting lace. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy wearing lace. I can really see knitting this top again in a neutral color yarn (possibly, Berroco Glace, the oldest yarn in my stash). So, I give this top a solid 8 out of 10 stars. We may be seeing more of them in the future.

March was a good month.  March was a very good month.  There was some knitting involved.  There was a mostly finished project.  While there was no actual sewing, there was an urge to start thinking about a new sewing project.  There was also a fun day spent with good people at a yarn festival.  I mean, it was a pretty good month.

* Finished objects:

The Heartbeat Top, by Knittles Creations.  This was knit in very deep stash of Crystal Palace Yarns Mikado Ribbon Print.  There will be a separate post about this project.

* New Cast-ons:

Nordic Trail vest

The Levee Shawl

* Works in Progress:

Shatar Vest

Harris

Blue Mountain Cowl

Knitting My Memories blanket

8 pairs of pajama shorts/ pants

White denim skirt

* Goals for next month:

Finish Harris

Continue to work through old stash

Sew something

Log and put away all new stash acquisitions

Figure out a brown-colored knit

Sew Stella Joggers and hoodie before Lawson’s Landing in June

I only made one thing in March, but I feel like I got a lot done.  I am mostly through the body of the Nordic Trail vest, but in typical me fashion, I got to the fiddly front/back decrease portion and put it in a small time-out.  I also cast on something new and shiny, so my gnat-sized attention span moved on.  I say I have a mostly finished object with the Heartbeat Top because I think I want to line it.  I could always wear a camisole or tank under it, but I really like the lines and the shape of it, and I don’t think they will come across as much if I have something under it.  Since hand sewing is the devil, it will probably wait till I am feeling motivated.  Also, I did something very uncharacteristic and purchased a brown skirt, specifically to go with this top.  I am not a person to buy clothing that only goes with a specific outfit, so you know I must be really excited about this top.  Harris is still in a little time-out, and I feel horrible about it.  I just don’t want to deal with the elbow pain associated with colorwork.  I am hopeful that I will have rested my arm enough to start working on the sweater again next month.  Maybe my little hiatus from it, paired with the fact that I will only do a little a time, will be enough to just get it done.  I especially want to get it done before the weather gets hot.  Poor dad…  I really want to sew a garment.  The only thing that has been stopping me is not having the space to pull everything out.  I want to make another, more structurally sound, Lawely skirt.  While I dislike the fabric that I used for the last one, I wore the heck out of that skirt over the summer.  I want to make one out of sturdier fabric, with better construction.  I learned a lot from that pattern, and I would like to take another go at it.  I also want to do another fabric pairing post and start working through my fabric stash.  I better not buy any more fabric until I use some up.

March was full of some pretty fun stuff.  The first weekend was Stitches West.  There is a separate post about this, so I won’t drag on about it.  Let’s suffice it to say that it was a good time, and I got some good stuff.  The next weekend was spent with the O’s at their house.  We had a great time.  The girls got to play and spend time together.  On a side note, we went to a Mexican restaurant for breakfast there.  I am fairly certain that is the first time I have had Mexican food for breakfast.  It was the first time I had coffee with chips and salsa.  I have no idea why, but it struck me as being such an unusual flavor combination and kind of blew my mind.  The next weekend was jam-packed with the Mother.  She finally sold her house, so the floodgates of packing and storing were opened.   We went back and forth between her house and the storage near my house.  We went to open houses and on several roller-coaster rides of emotions.  The moving process continued through the entire month and concluded on the last day of March when the house closed.  Thank God for Aunt J. She really knows her stuff when it comes to packing a storage unit efficiently.  The moving continued the following weekend, but in the middle of it was the Female Clay’s 40^th birthday party.  We got to meet her friends from home and spend some adult-only time with fun people.  For some reason, it really got me thinking about the Husband’s 50^th birthday, which will be happening next year (2024).  The last week of March was all about getting the Mother moved and getting us ready for our trip to Oahu.  Because we booked the trip such a short time out, it didn’t give me enough time to get my usual travel anxiety/ dread.  I did feel like we were scrambling till the very end, though.  Work has been its usual charming self.  We are getting closer to conversion, so my days are filled with meetings and decisions.  I can’t believe that we are in double digits now.  Training is coming up, and then we will be at go-live.  Craziness!   School hit the halfway mark, so now I am traveling down the hill instead of climbing up.  I will be so happy when this semester is done.  It’s not like my other classes will be easy, but one more box will be checked off.

Now that March is over, April will be coming in full force.  I don’t see it being any less crazy than March was.  I am REALLY looking forward to our vacation.  We haven’t done a big vacation in over 10 years (no, I don’t count Disneyland).  So, good things are in store, and I can’t wait to document them.

Oh, and my updated Knitting Bingo card!  Someday I will add the Sewing Bingo card too…

Loves,

M