Friday, March 28, 2014

The Story So Far

Oh man, I am totally sick and tired of computers! Today was Day 3 of the preparations for XP-Mageddon and I’ve just about had it. I’ve downloaded and upgraded just about everything I can darn well think of – on two different computers. I still have to do some major backing up though. I’m not quite as ready as I would like to be. Yet. I see at least one more day of this crazy obsessive stuff in my future. After that I’ll be as prepared as possible. And then let the chips fall as they may. They can’t say I didn’t try! And no, I don’t care if there are no immediate consequences. There will be eventually. No computer system lasts forever. Ask me how I know.

I’d rather talk about something else right now. Oh, I know! How about my latest sweater?

Simple Tweedy Pullover

SimpleTweedyPullover

For: me (of course!)

Begun:  January 8, 2014
Completed:  March 25, 2014

Yarn:  2/8 Shetland woollen spun weaving yarn, 100% wool from UK, colour dark green blended. From the deep weaving stash.

Needles:  Needed to go down a needle size to get gauge so 2.75mm for the bottom ribbing and body. Used 2.25 for the button plackets and began with that size but shifted up after a couple of inches to 2.5mm for the collar and sleeve ribbing.

Notions:  12 - 1/2” green buttons purchased at Dressew.

Pattern:  Plain and Simple Pullover by Veera Välimäki, free pattern from Ravelry.

Mods:  Because my lower half is 2 sizes larger than my upper half, I began on the XL and decreased over 6” to the M between the hip and just above the waist. Worked out perfectly. I didn’t manage to pick up the required amount for the M collar but went with the smallest size there.

Comments:  Note that the photos are much lighter than the real thing. This stuff is nasty to knit with (harsh with dust, spinning oil) but softens and fulls a lot with washing. It’s still not next-to-the-skin soft and sadly pills some in wear but I do like the blended colour and the fuzzy woolly texture. Nice to get some use out of it after it’s been hovering in the weaving stash for many a year.

This pattern is well written and not particularly difficult but not really as simple to execute as the name would intimate. I actually used the iron to steam the armhole and neckline area before seaming because it was curling rather badly. That tamed it down enough to work with more easily. There’s a lot of seaming and picking up stitches involved. Lots and lots of small stitches on little needles.

SimpleTweedy_det I was really glad that I got a dozen buttons. The instructions suggest stitching extra buttons on the front of the collar right next to the button holes on the side that is up when it’s open. They are hidden when it’s buttoned up as a turtleneck but show when it’s unbuttoned to the shoulder. My extra-small gauge on the button bands meant that I had more and smaller buttonholes than the pattern instructions would imply. I think it turned out really wearable in the end. I love fine knits! Now I just have to make Debbie Double give it up. She likes it as much as I do. Maybe it’s cold up in the studio at night? Guess I need to make her something else to wear first.

So I have no idea what project I’m going to knit next. I have quite a few options in the queue. And there’s still the Tough Love Retro Rib Socks on the go. I’m nearly down to the heel flap on both socks. Obviously I’m much faster with this pattern stitch the second time around. Since this is a trial knit for Sweet Georgia’s Tough Love Sock yarn, I’m quite liking it. The Phoenix Rising colourway works out in spiralling stripes around the leg:

ToughLoveRetroRibSocks

Although I’m quite fine with these black, red, orange and gold stripes I’m starting to find myself preferring more semi-solid colours these days. Either that or a very long colour change, longer than you can get by dye-painting a regular skein. Just something to note for future purchases. Or dye experiments. Colour blending?

I also have a lace shawl that’s been sadly neglected for the last few months. Poor thing. Maybe I’m kind of over triangle shawls for the moment? Instead I’m rather hot for sweaters and I have plans to actually spin for a new project. I don’t care if the weather is warming up. There’s still lots of sweater time left here or, if it takes too long, there’s always the promise of some cooler weather to wear it in sometime. I have dyed wool and a drum carder and spinning wheel and I know how to use them! It’s been awhile since I’ve spun anything at all so it’ll be fun. But first I need to finish up a few sewing projects that I’ve been neglecting. Always something new to look forward to! No, I am never bored. How could I be?

Spring moves on apace here in Lotusland. My tomatoes and Japanese indigo plants are coming up under the lights. I actually left my early baby plants out in the greenhouse tonight. It’s only supposed to go down to 7C from the (rainy) 10C it’s been all day. That’s nearly 45F. They’ll be fine. As long as the slugs leave them alone. And they’d better if they know what’s good for them. I can be ruthless where my little plants are concerned. Grrr….

More soon!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

A Wee Rant

Computer talk coming!!! If you’re allergic to technical stuff, I suggest you skip this post and come back later. I’ll be back with my new sweater soon! Hint: love it. Debbie Double has it on right now and I want it back!

Well, I’m in a bit of a quandary these days. We have 3 computers in our house that run on Windows XP. It’s fine; it works; it’s all good. But unfortunately Grandfather Microsoft in its infinite <cough choke> wisdom has seen fit to chop poor XP’s little OS life off! Next week. Never mind that about 1/3 of the world’s businesses still run on it. Never mind that a bunch of the legacy software that I still use won’t run easily on any newer OS. And NEVER MIND that these computers (that are paid for and all and still work just fine thankyouverymuch) are so old and decrepit that they won’t run spanking new Windows 8.whatevertheheck. NO! They will pull support out from under good old XP anyhow. Curse their bones and pixels!

So I’ve been obsessed about finding out what my options are. I’ve tried to figure out how I use my computers, what software do I use all the time and what is just old unused stuff hanging about. I was happy to find out that Symantic has promised to keep my Norton security going for the foreseeable future since XP could very well become a particular target after the plug is pulled by MS. One worry down. Many more to go.

As if chopping XP off wasn’t enough, mean nasty old MS also plans to bail out on Office 2003 which of course is what I’ve been using quite happily for nearly ever. I’m angry enough at the moment to start looking for free open-source substitutes for Outlook, Word, Excel etc. I’ll have plenty of time to get used to the new stuff and integrate it into my system. I just might like it better. Who knows? Is MS aware that they are actually driving people away from their products? I can’t be the only one. Even Windows Live Writer, which is the offline blogging program that I’m using to write this post, is no longer supported. Ugh! In my research I haven’t found anything comparable in its functionality. In this case especially I think MS is missing the boat completely. They had a very good product there and foolishly let it drop.

Whatever. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be business as usual for the next while at least. Nothing is going to immediately self-destruct! However I’ve been carefully researching my options in case I have to buy a new computer in the future. For starters, my old flatbed legal-sized scanner will likely not work on a new system because it’s SCSI which needs a special connection. Yet another expense for a new one. Sigh. And there’s lots more questions that need to be answered here. Is each important piece of software immediately transferable to Win 8.1 or would it need to be upgraded - assuming an upgrade exists? Several of them haven’t been revamped in years. (I’m looking at you, Knitware!) Others I could live without I suppose. It’s kind of like cleaning out your closet. “Have you used/worn this in the last 2 years?” My crafty focus has changed somewhat in the last while so that’s a legitimate question to answer. A rather difficult one sometimes. If I get rid of it will I need it soon after? You know how it is.

It’s fascinating to me that “hobby” programs like weaving, knit charting, beading, sweater design, tabletweaving etc. are kind of one-offs, often created by a programmer husband for his crafty wife or sometimes by the crafty person themselves. The programs see a flurry of interest, maybe get an upgrade or two and then are abandoned by the programmers (and possibly the frustrated users too) even if there are no other competing options. A few have lasted over time. One example is Fiberworks PCW, my weaving software. (Thanks, Bob!) In fact I won’t put a warp on without looking at it in PCW first. I’ve been using this thing since it was a baby DOS program. Yes, that’s a long time! There is even an upgrade that I don’t have but will need before it will work with Win 8. It costs though. Again.

Obviously I don’t use computers quite the way most other users might, especially in a home environment. Apparently most people download and answer email, surf the Internet, watch videos, hang out on Facebook, Tweet and maybe write an occasional business letter, list or report. I do some of that (minus the Facebook and Tweets) but also tweak and design knitting and weaving patterns, edit photos, write up my makes, blog and read books from my public library. Among other things. I’m not what you might call a power user at all. I’ve just had a very long-time relationship – about 30 years. Ever heard of a Commodore 64. We had one of those. I learned word processing on it with no hard drive and an 8” floppy disk. So fun. Today my microwave has more brains than that thing did. Gotta start somewhere!

Anyway, I’ve spent the better part of two days futzing around with my main system. I’ve updated several programs to the latest versions. Next, I do a really careful backup of all the important stuff from both of my computers. Thom is already onto his but he has much less to deal with so he’s not nearly as flustered as I am. Only one of his computers is a PC and he doesn’t use it very much. His MacBook Air is his baby. Do not suggest I get one! I’m just not going there. Though if pressed I might consider an iPad Mini. But not while there’s life in my iTouch (5 years old) and my netbook PC (6 years old). And my desktop computer is older than either of them. Yes, I tend to take care of my things. I want them to last as long as they can.

I guess that’s the end of the rant. I digressed somewhat but hey, I’m allowed. This is my pond after all! More soon.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A Quick One

Just blowing in to say that I’m going a little nutso trying to finish up the last of the ribbing on my Simple Tweedy Pullover. I’m kind of done with knitting this thing and really want to get onto something new. Nearly there. And then some buttons sewn on and a final wash and block and we’re done!

And no, I haven’t done anything else on my Tilton Skirt either. Gardening has taken over a lot of my energy these days while I’ve been tenderly nursing my tiny little plant seedlings. A whole plethora of them are now in larger digs. (Ha-ha! Get it?) All the transplanted spring greens are currently being subjected to what we call The Daily Schlep: outside in the morning and back in at night until they are toughened up enough to go into their permanent homes in the garden. If it’s raining like it is today, the flats go in the greenhouse. Otherwise they go on the deck. Now I still have the lettuce and the woad and a few other things to transplant so they can join in the migrating. Better get to it quickly too because the real estate under the grow lights is beginning to come at a premium! Lots more little seedlings are needing the lights and I still have more yet to plant. An urban farmer’s work is never done.

The other thing we managed to do is get the peas planted and the poles in for their nets. Unfortunately this year the nets really need replacing. These ones are only about 20 years old! Poor things are developing more and more gaping holes which I’ve been tying together with string for several years now. Old fishnets are not expensive. We just need to get to the gardening shop and pick up some new ones. At least I’ve got a couple of weeks reprieve before the peas will be up and needing some support.

Just so this isn’t a totally photo-free post, I promised to show you the cute little cigar box amplifier that Thom made to go with his cigar box guitars:

CigarBoxAmp

Doesn’t look like much but it really does work! Hot stuff.

Poor Thom can’t work in his basement studio currently because he decided that it needed some major TLC. So all the furniture, tools and chunks of wood have been hauled away from the outside walls. The lower part of the walls have been scrubbed clean of mildew stains and spider crap, scraped, undercoated and repainted a nice fresh white. He even kept going out into the area where the grow-op and the basement door is located and cleaned and repainted all the concrete foundation. He’s currently painting his studio door too. Of course when he’s done I’m going to have to go through all the cupboards above and below the grow-op counter and clean them up. I guess I don’t mind him making work for me because it’s something I’ve been meaning to get around to for quite awhile.

It’s amazing how much junk collects, especially when you’ve been living in the same house for 35 years! Maybe that’s why people move so often? I always joke that maybe we should move the whole contents of the house out in the yard and only move the stuff back that we really want to keep. The suggestion hasn’t been met with any enthusiasm however. So instead we just get to one little area at a time before we both run out of steam or get sidetracked by another project.

Speaking of which, I’m determined to finish this darn sweater today! Better get to it.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Happy Spring!

At least I hope spring might be showing up wherever you are! (Or if I actually have any readers from Down Under, I guess it could be autumn, right?) It’s definitely spring here. See my lovely kale buds?

KaleBuds

I got a whole pail full of these delicious beauties! I definitely like them better than the kale leaves. Or broccoli. Or even gai lan (Chinese broccoli), which I love. So worth keeping the kale patch through the winter. This variety is Rainbow Lacinato, a cross between Redbor and Lacinato kale. The plants are different colours: green, purple and blue-green. It’s pretty, easy to grow and fairly winter-hardy. It managed to survive –10C for days on end – unlike most of my thyme plants, sadly. This year’s babies are just starting to get their second leaves under the lights in the grow-op. I’ll need to transplant them into bigger playpens very soon.

So in celebration of spring I seem to be spending money like crazy after having been very good for months now! My poor credit card is looking a little singed around the edges. I couldn’t help myself when the latest BMV pattern sale was on and ordered a few more to add to the stash. They will take awhile to get here however. Plus I got a few digital magazines. Even though I really prefer paper, I went digital for two reasons: one, because I’m sadly running out of room on my bookshelves and two, because print magazines are getting harder and harder to find locally. They are going the way of the dodo bird! A quick download and these are immediate gratification too. More on one of them later.

Backing up a little time-wise, on Wednesday the weather was nice so we walked downtown to Dressew. I needed to get something to line my Marcy Tilton V8499 skirt. I decided that the very lightweight wool fabric was too light, sheer and drapey to work well in this pattern. But since it’s already cut out and I’m stubborn, I thought I could rescue it by using an underlining. Underlining seemed to me to be a better solution than just lining it because each piece would then have the support of the underlining individually. (Does that make any sense?) I haven’t gotten very far on the stitching yet so only a couple of small seams need to be unpicked to do this. Happily I found a lightweight 100% cotton sateen in black which will hopefully be perfect. It might also solve any problems with the skirt sticking to my tights and also should make the skirt a little less prone to major wrinkles. I can only sew the darn thing up to find out, right?

Of course I couldn’t get out of that shop without succumbing to a few other items, now could I? I got some buttons that I really like for the pockets on the skirt. (I didn’t want zippers.) And more buttons, these ones for my current sweater project. I adore Dressew’s huge button selection! They also had fold-over elastic for $.99 a package each containing 2 pieces 2 yards long which should be enough for undies. Naturally I bought 4 packages to get all the available colours! One piece is pink so it might be fun to experiment and see if it will overdye. (You know how much I do NOT love pink.) They’re nylon and lycra so that should work. I also fell for a bamboo rayon and spandex in a glorious shade of rusty orange:

DressewStashAdditions

I got 2 metres and I’m thinking tights. I really want to perfect a tights pattern anyway. And maybe a tank or knickers from the leftovers? It’s very light and stretchy stuff. There was also a lovely lime green and I’m now regretting leaving it in the store! It was $14.99 per metre though which is kind of on the pricey side for my usual fabric purchases.

But that’s not all! Yesterday I went with two of my dear friends out to Cloverdale to Fibres West. This is our chance to schmooze with our fellow fibre enthusiasts, get overwhelmed by the wool fumes and buy things from vendors who are mainly from out of the area or who sell mainly by mail-order. No substitute for touchy-feely for textile folks! There are excellent classes to take too but that’s not why I go since they are mostly on a beginner-intermediate level. We three had a lovely day with Our Peeps and in spite of my fervent belief that I have enough stuff in the stash came home with this haul:

FibresWest haul

Clockwise from the bottom: 2 skeins of sock yarn from Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts (Frolic and Grey Tabby), 4 tubes of 2/18 superfine merino from Jane Stafford, a large-ish cone of fine overtwisted wool and a small cone of Colcolastic (cotton and lycra thread) from Laura Fry, and finally a little bottle of Ashford spinning wheel oil with a nice long spout from Fibres Plus. Obviously I was in a spring-y mood with the yellows and naturals, huh? I guess now I actually need to weave some scarves using fulling and collapsing textures since I have all the right yarns for it! The Grey Tabby yarn is for socks for Thom in memory of our old tabby cat, Ms. Polly. Ancient Arts have some lovely kitty-coloured yarns and a portion of the sales goes to kitten rescue. I particularly liked the calico and tortoiseshell ones but thought Thom would prefer the tabby instead. The other sock yarn I fell for is a dark and subtle mix of many colours. The base yarn is 75% superwash/25% nylon for wear but they had other bases, including merino/silk and BFL. I hadn’t noticed their yarns before and obviously I’m starting to fall for the indie dyers in spite of myself! They are surprisingly not that much more expensive than the more industrial versions.

However, my quest to find a source for the undyed base yarn in reasonable amounts for a reasonable price has been thwarted again. In chatting with Felicia and Grace from Sweet Georgia I found that they get their Tough Love Sock already in skeins for dyeing. They will happily sell me the undyed version but there is no discount for that. I may perhaps go this route anyway. I actually enjoy dyeing and have lots of dyes to use up! However, it’s interesting to me that the indie dyers are none too interested in selling me their undyed product. I could understand if I was going into business against them but I’m not. I guess they would prefer that I just buy their dyed yarns at full price like everybody else but truthfully I’m not likely to buy as much of that as I would the undyed. Wouldn’t it be better to sell me lots of yarn that they don’t have to do anything to (except hand it over) at a slight discount and still make a fair profit, probably more than they would make if they had dyed the yarn? Am I missing something here? Guess that’s why they have a business and I don’t, huh?

BTW, I happily got to see Felicia’s baby boy, Russell, at Fibres West. He’s a whole 4 months old now and very cute! I’m so glad she has a whole bunch of great people working with her so that she can spend whatever time she needs with him. It must be tough to be a new mom and run a business at the same time. Not something I ever tried to do! Congrats to her and her family. Obviously I’m missing babies around here…

What else? Oh yeah. I promised to talk about a magazine, didn’t I? I picked up the digital version of Interweave’s special publication, Knit.Wear Spring 2014. I’m usually a bigger fan of patterns for cold-weather knits but whatever the season I’ve been very taken with the styles in Knit.Wear since the first issue. Not that I’ve knit any of them yet! I don’t know what it is about the aesthetics, but the kind of architectural clean lines and occasionally surprising details totally appeal to me. However, this issue has really expressed my style and there’s at least 6 or 8 sweaters that I would love to make from it. There are a lot of relaxed trapeze shapes that will fit me without much adjustment too. How refreshing! I don’t know what to focus on first. Meanwhile though, before anything else happens I need to finish my green shetland tweed pullover. Small needles and small yarn makes for a really nice sweater but a LOT of knitting! Just sayin’. It’s been nearly 2 months so far. I’m on the final few inches of the split turtleneck collar with only the sleeve bands left to go. The end is nigh.

Well, gotta go get some more seeds planted in the grow-op. They have to be big enough to go in the garden as soon as the weather is right and the beds are ready. Soon. Soon!

Later, gators!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

River, Carry Me Away

I woke up this morning with an absolutely killer migraine. No idea where it came from either. The barometer is steady. I didn’t drink any red wine. Just one of those idiopathic (no known cause) things I suppose. So I plied myself with Advil and plopped back into bed.

It was kind of disappointing though after the lovely day we had yesterday. It was sort-of sunny and relatively warm so Thom and I decided to go for a walk along the Fraser River. For those who don’t know Vancouver, we’re bordered on the south by the north arm of the mighty muddy Fraser as it splits up creating a delta. As this area of industry and patches of scrub forest is developed into housing, the Fraser Riverfront Walk gets a little more complete every year. We started out just past the Knight Street Bridge at the eastern tip of Mitchell Island:

FraserRiver west

Mitchell Island is that bit to the left there. We followed the river with its busy tug boats, barges and log booms nearly to Boundary Road and Vancouver’s border with Burnaby. Somewhere several kilometres in this direction:

FraserRiver

I don’t know if you can see it in the photo (it’s kind of misty) but on the right just above the line of trees is the snowy Mount Baker, a volcanic mountain that, although it’s actually in Washington State, shows up on the skyline over a quite wide area. We call it Flying Mountain because you can see it from places as diverse as Abbotsford and the Gulf Islands. It’s in the Cascade Arc, the same chain of volcanoes as Mount Garibaldi, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood and Mount Shasta. We’ve actually seen most of them, at least the US ones. But I digress. Back to the river.

After we got about as far east as we were going to get because of construction, we turned around and walked back. Happily, halfway back was a quite new restaurant located right on the river trail. Of course we had to stop for beer (him), cider (me) and some yammy fries with chipotle aioli and spicy banana ketchup (shared). It was too early in the day to be hungry for more but it was lovely to sit out on the deck outdoors in the sun. Those of you in colder climes, don’t hate!

A last look at the delightful cloud patterns:

FraserRiver dramatic sky

I’m very fond of tree branches against the sky. You can see the patterns they make so well before everything leafs out. We actually saw a few shrubs already starting to burst their buds. Spring is on the way! Really. Our total walk (according to Thom’s FitBit) was about 8 kilometres. That’s not out of the ordinary for our usual walks but I’m feeling pretty out of shape after this winter. Too bad I also ended up with a stupid migraine too.

So what else? I’ve stalled on the skirt sewing because I really think I need to underline this thing or it’s going to be hopeless to wear. And naturally I don’t have anything suitable for underlining. It’s on hold now until I get a chance to go shopping.

Thom has been busy too. Apart from all the pruning and mulching he’s been doing out in the garden, he’s been making cigar box instruments. Here’s his latest babies:

CigarBoxInstruments

That would be a concert-sized ukulele, named the Fairy Dust Ukulele. Can’t quite see the fairies? Here they are:

UkeFairies

He replaced the top (actually the bottom) of the cigar box with book-matched wood which looks quite lovely. The underside of the uke opens up with the original latch. Grandbeastie Princess Silver Fang likes to keep the “musical notation” for her own composition in there. So cute.

The other item is another 3-stringed cigar box guitar, this one with frets, and titled the Steampunk Guitar. See some of the not-really mechanical details?

Guitar detail

The bridge is the iron nail that was forged for us when we were in Cape Breton at the Highland Village Museum. Also palm trees are visible inside the opening:

SteamPunk det

There’s even a faux pressure gauge on the top of the neck. It’s very fancy! Thom got really wise this time and used some of my Mod Podge to coat all the paper labels on the cigar box. He didn’t do this to the first guitar he made, Romeo y Julietta, and it’s looking quite worn after 7 or 8 months. Well, at least he plays them! By the way, the two guitars are designed left-handed (aka upside-down) because although Thom is right-handed he finds it easier to play lefty. His left wrist doesn’t turn freely so it’s awkward to finger with that hand.He made the ukulele the right way around though so the grandbeasties can practice on it. He can still play it anyway because the neck is so short. Nice that when you make your own things you can customise, huh?

So that’s it for now. Me and my headache are going to knit some. More anon.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Sunny Day

So why am I still lazing around indoors? Dunno. Glad I asked me that. I’ll get back to me on it. Later.

Anyhoo, I finally started sewing on my Marcy Tilton skirt, Vogue 8499. Right before the larger grandbeasties and their parents showed up yesterday afternoon so I didn’t get very far on it yet. To refresh, that would be this skirt:

V8499 skirt

(The pants also in this pattern will come later.) The fabric I’m using is a lightweight wool suiting in a very subtle dark (mostly black and dark gray) plaid. It washed and dried in the machine like a dream but it creases like crazy. I hope I’m not sewing a giant wrinkle-fest instead of a skirt! It’s also quite drapey so I hope the skirt’s funky shape isn’t lost in its’ lack of body. Lotsa hopes, huh? We’ll just wait and see how it goes then, won’t we?

I appreciate Pao’s advice in a comment that I might not need a zipper in the back of the elastic waist. Not sure there’s enough room to get the thing over my hips at the size I chose but I’ll check before I sew in the zip. Thanks for that! I also read on Pattern Review that the required zip length for the pockets is not necessarily as stated on the pattern envelope. It varies with the size so that the 7” would have been too small and instead a 9” would fit perfectly. That’s a 2” difference, Vogue! Not a problem though since I don’t have 2 more zips of either size and so planned to use buttons instead. In which case I needed to add a small facing at the top of the pockets to accommodate the buttonholes and will iron on a bit of interfacing inside to support the buttons. I’m putting 3 small ones on each pocket so the weight shouldn’t be significant. Also I got an inspiration from a reviewer that she added small pockets inside the main ones so little items wouldn’t get lost in the bottom of those huge saddlebags. Genius. I’ve already made them and they’re ready to sew in place.

One problem I had was choosing exactly how long to make this skirt. On the dummy in the photo it comes about where I would like it on me. However, I’m pretty short and the models are not, so I shortened the pattern pieces by about 4” otherwise this thing would have been down to my toes. It’s hard to tell exactly though since the belled hem pulls it in somewhat. Hey, I’m just not a huge fan of the maxi-skirt. Reminds me too much of my highschool circa 1966. All the girls were swanning around in floral print maxi-dresses while I sewed my own miniskirts, shifts and tent dresses. Ever the fashion rebel, me. I did however fall for the long dresses a little later on, in the early ’70’s. The loose styles fit over my pregnant belly very nicely and my toddler daughter and I could be all matchy-matchy. Cute.

These days if I’m going to wear a skirt at all it has to be a reasonable length. Not too short and not too long. Though of course too short can always be solved by wearing leggings underneath, too long just drives me nuts. Somewhere between just above my knee and just above my Blundstone boots is good. Also, maxi-skirts are hard to manoeuvre around in. I’m always afraid I’ll trip over the hem. And naturally I probably would. Good thing hemlines aren’t dictated at an exact height anymore, isn’t it? We are free to choose where we want it all by ourselves. I remember the days when all the older folks were flipping their collective wigs over the <gasp!> mini-skirt. It ended above the knee! Way above the knee! Oh dear! Society is going all to heck!

Alright-alright, enough of this Memory Lane stuff before I start telling you about the time I wore a pants-suit into a highschool. It wasn’t even my school and anyway I had graduated already the year before. We were just there to visit a former teacher. You’d think I was running around with a gun. Or naked. Pants on a girl. The horror. The principle nearly kicked me out on my ear! Ah, how the times have changed. But I’m not telling you that one. I’m going to do the laundry instead.

More anon!

Saturday, March 08, 2014

Umbrellas Mandatory

Almost another week flew by when I wasn’t looking! I guess that means I’m not bored at all, right? The weather has been alternating dumping rain and not-so-dumping rain. We’ve been trying to dash out for a walk whenever it takes a breath. It’s been relatively warmish though and plants are definitely starting to wake up. Thom’s been spouting the anti-version of GOT’s Ned Stark, “Spring is coming!” Yesterday we saw a fully blooming red rhododendron which is very early. Also the first few daffodils along with the crocuses, snowdrops, miniature iris and hellebores. Lots of swelling buds. Good thing we live in one of the most expensive areas in North America, huh? Or everyone would be moving here to avoid another extreme winter like they’ve had everywhere else.

Continuing the spring theme, I’m going to have to start planting seedlings soon. I’ve been hesitating because the garden is still too squooshy to dig. If the plants are ready too early there’s no garden to receive them and then they get set back. When they finally get planted they don’t grow properly. I’ve found it’s better to be a little later and get things off to a good start. Sometime in the next couple of days I’ll wash up the flats and get the first seeds going. Parsley especially takes forever to germinate! And I have an order from Milady Daughter who eats parsley by the fistfuls and has done so since she was about the same age as her little daughter, the darling Rosebud. Gee, why plant your own when mom will do it for you? And tomatoes too, if you please. And some cucumbers. And of course some for the other offspring and his family as well. Good thing I have the Grow-Op set up.

So back to all things crafty. Here’s the socks finally:

Blue Boyfriend Socks

BlueSocks

For: our niece’s boyfriend

Begun:  January 16, 2014
Completed:  March 1, 2014

Yarn:  DGB Confetti Superwash, 75% wool/25% nylon, colour 9027 (grey), over-dyed in navy acid dyes. 231 yds = 50g. Took just over 2 balls.

Needles:  Clover Takumi bamboo, 2mm.

Pattern:  Damselfly’s Basic Socks on 68sts for a 10” foot.

Comments:  I had only dyed 2 balls and stupidly made the legs so long that I ran out of yarn just before the toe decreases. I tried to dye my one last ball of this yarn to match and ended up making a decimal error and getting it way too dark! Used it anyhow. I was done with these. Anyway, I’m sure he’ll like them just fine the way they are.

For some reason I’ve been knitting the legs longer and longer on recent pairs of socks. For myself, I like them to come up above the tops of my Blundstones. (Wish I could make my own legs longer too! Oh, never mind.) Thom likes his socks longer to keep his bare legs from getting cold and showing skin under his jeans when he sits down. Apparently his legs are very shy. Unfortunately this tendency to knit longer before turning the heel does include the risk of running out of yarn before the end of the toes, especially on the larger pairs. These weren’t particularly large but I definitely made longity legs! Oops.

Next up we have my usual crappy photography and a sewing project:

Crinkle Top

CrinkleTop

Completed:  March 5, 2014

Fabric:  Body - novelty poly gauze with elastic ruching and probably heat set, 54” wide, 2 metres and used just over .5 m. Sleeves and bands – charcoal cotton/lycra jersey.

Notions:  Black sewing and serger threads, iron-on stabilizer tape, 4mm twin-needle.

Pattern:  My personal TNTee.

Mods:  None except added a wide bottom band. Used Marcy Tilton’s neckband application method (from The Ultimate T-Shirt class on Craftsy) for both neck and bottom.

Comments:  I was inspired by this top:

InspirationTop

I think I saw it on Marcy’s website somewhere but darned if I can find it again. Lost the original link. Anyway, the minute I saw it I knew what that sproingy fabric lurking in my stash finally wanted to become. I’ve had it for a few years and I wish I kept better track of my stash so I could tell you where I got it but it was probably Dressew. (Still have enough left for something else but what? It has wonderful fringed selvedges too.) The colours in the photo of my garment have been lightened slightly so you can see the details. The true colours are black and dark charcoal grey.

I was a little nervous about how well this odd fabric sewed up. It’s quite thick due to all the crinkling and the neckband is 2 layers of it plus 3 layers of the jersey. It stretches a lot in the width-wise direction but not at all in the length. This made it necessary to stabilise the shoulders well but made it difficult to install the sleeves smoothly. They ended up with some odd wrinkling issues but nothing that will stop me from wearing this. One regret – when comparing the two photos (mine and the inspiration) I’m now wishing I had used a fuller width on the bottom binding to make it a little more ruffled instead of it pulling in slightly. I was thinking at the time that it was supposed to be less ruffled but that the fabric was working against it. I was careful to avoid that issue on my own top but now wished I hadn’t. Sigh. No fixing it now.

It’s surprisingly airy and cool so this time of year it needs an under-layer though it will be handy when warmer weather finally comes around.

Another garment done. There’s lots more to go that are all cut out in heaps around my studio!

Yesterday I indulged in watching another one of my Craftsy classes. This one is Custom Fitting: Back, Neck and Shoulders with Kathleen Cheetham. So far I’m finding it a little tedious after the Tiltons’ brisk tag-team action in the last class I watched. Her presentation style is very methodical and she totally reminds me of one of my high school sewing teachers. This will appeal to the more beginning level sewist but I’m finding I want to move her along faster. (But instead I just keep knitting!) It was fun to watch how she uses the French curve where I would just sketch in the line by eye and also how she pokes holes with an awl to transfer pattern lines through the paper. I would either trace over it with a pencil or if the paper is too opaque, use my needle tracing wheel. Such a rebel, eh? Good to see different methods though. You never know when a particular technique will be worth knowing.

Kathleen is best known for her line of patterns, Petite Plus Patterns, and a book for Singer, Perfect Plus: Sew a Mix-and-Match Wardrobe for Plus and Petite-Plus Sizes. I find her garment styles pretty basic and conventional but I’m sure she has quite a large audience that would fit well into her shapes. Her other class available on Craftsy is Adjust the Bust which, along with something on sleeve caps, would cover the trickiest fitting issues for most people. Lengths and widths are easy-peasy once the critical sections are working ok.

I’m personally neither a regular size nor a plus-size but have parts of both! My neck, shoulders and arms are quite small but my bust is larger and waist and hips larger still. I’m also short enough at 5' 3-1/2" to be a petite but my torso is not. I have to shorten the arms and legs on patterns but not the body. Sounds pretty ghastly, doesn’t it? LOL!! I am what I am and there’s really no point wishing I was still a willow-slim 20-year-old. The old bod’ still works pretty well so I’m not really complaining! (Not too loudly anyhow.) However it hasn’t been easy learning how to fit this aging flesh so that I can dress in a way which pleases me. But I’m getting there. I’m quite pleased with the obvious advancements in my skills.

As an interesting aside I noticed that they have Kathleen as being from Sointula, BC. That’s a really fascinating little village on Malcolm Island, just off north-eastern Vancouver Island. The name means “place of harmony” and was settled by Finnish utopian socialists in the early 1900’s. There are still some descendants of the original Finns but recently more wealthy retirees are moving in. It’s also the head office of the Living Ocean Society, an NGO dedicated to marine conservation. I haven’t actually been there but we once drove by the ferry wharf in Port McNeill on our way to Port Hardy and the Inside Passage ferry. It would have been nice to have had time to explore. Maybe one day when we save up enough to afford the ever-increasing expense of BC Ferries! There’s quite a lot of interesting places to visit in that area.

Well, Thom was off at the crack of dawn this morning to attend a woodturning demo. I should go get a few things done before he returns sometime before supper. More anon!

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Snow Again

Woke up this morning to another skiff of snow:

SnowAgain

So what is about Sundays and snow? Anyway it wasn’t really much and it’s already melting. It just seems odd after it was so warm and sunny on Friday! It got up to a whole 12C. (that’s nearly 54 degrees F. for those who are metric-averse) and was so hot inside my greenhouse that the automatic windows opened wide! It was lovely to go for a nice long walk wearing a tunic and a sleeveless vest instead of layers of woollies. We enjoyed seeing the crocuses and snowdrops and blooming heather and all the other signs of spring. But then it was back to winter again. I’m getting whiplash.

So how did it get to be March already? February just flew by. I guess it’s because it’s such a short month? Or time flies when one is having fun! I’ve cut out several more garments. This time I used some beefy RPL double-knit in a reddish-brown. (Yes, more “drab” colours. Sorry, Sharon!) I had 2 pieces of this bought at two different stores on separate occasions a year apart. Obviously I liked it! Each piece was only 2 yards (a hint that I bought them in Portland since we mostly see fabrics sold in metres here in Canada) and it was a little narrower than usual at 54” wide. I was glad to have the extra since I would have had to piece the sleeves by adding cuffs because the dress I wanted wouldn’t have fit on it otherwise. And because I had the extra I was able to get a pair of pants and a top out of it as well as the dress! I have to piece a front yoke on the top but that’s just fine as a design line.

One good thing about having lots of patterns and ideas for a given piece of fabric is that I can get the most out of the layout. I never follow the pattern’s layout! You might recall that with the last 3M piece of fabric, the charcoal jersey, I was able to cut 3 tops and sleeves and bands for a fourth. It was extra-wide at about 62” and those were metres instead of yards which helped but that’s still pretty efficient cutting. I also cut out the body of the fourth top from 2 yards of a black and very crinkly-stretchy poly gauze with lycra threads woven in every 1/8th inch. I still have enough left for something else as well but couldn’t figure out what quite yet. In this case I really want to see how this novelty fabric sews up first before I decide on what type of garment the rest of it wants to become. It also has the most lovely fringed selvedge for which I really should find a use somewhere. It’s too cool to waste.

So now I have to sew the black crinkle top and my Vogue 8499 Marcy Tilton skirt (which I don’t think I mentioned yet) before I go on to the next 4 brown pieces. That little efficiency saves me having to change serger threads so often. In my 4 browns I’m also counting the Butterick 5954 that I cut out quite awhile ago. I think I’d better finish this voluminous tunic before it gets too warm to wear it, huh? Just cranking ’em out here! I am so determined to have a Very Me Everyday Wardrobe.

In knitting news, I finished the Blue Boyfriend Socks. (I changed their name because they were originally the Blue January Socks and it took me until March to finish them!) Now I have to wait for a family get-together to present them to my niece’s boyfriend. Since she’s currently in Africa, it’ll probably be awhile before they get to him. Oh well. They will wait.

And I’m on the yoke of the Simple Tweedy Pullover sweater based on the Plain and Simple Pullover by Veera Välimäki. It’s coming along fine even though I re-jigged the numbers to fit my shape better. For some reason I have 2 extra stitches but they’re easy to deal with in this tiny gauge. I think I messed up a decrease somewhere but I can’t see it so it doesn’t matter. Once I finish the yoke/cap sleeves then it’s on to the button plackets and the collar. Getting there. The shape might be “simple” but the knitting isn’t really that simple at all. There is sewing of seams and picking up of stitches. I was getting spoiled for top-down yoke cardigans where you have hardly any ends to stitch in and no sewing at all. Not that I really mind it, just that it’s kind of a hitch in the flow of knitting a sweater. At least it’s not knit completely in separate pieces. I’m totally over that method of sweater construction. I save it for fabrics! And use a sewing machine.

What else? Oh yeah. The Retro Rib Socks in Tough Love “Phoenix Rising” are coming along nicely. I need a photo for my Ravelry page. This colourway is so pretty: fiery orange-reds and black. It’s coming out in semi-stripes on my 64 sts and it’ll be interesting to see if it maintains the patterning or not. You never know when yarn is dye-painted in the skein and not as regular as the commercially printed yarns. However I’m actually developing a fondness for semi-solids rather than truly variegated colours now. But since this is in socks, it isn’t critical.

BTW, have you heard that Ravelry is up to 4 million members now? That’s what you get when you do something very right! Getting lots of volunteer help, listening to what your members really want and giving it to them in a timely manner. Providing a truly functional and useful platform. Being respectful of people’s needs and desires. Acting like our friends and fellow crafties rather than corporate bigwigs. I think Jess and Casey have got it and I so wish the sewing people would get it right too. Just sayin’.

More anon.