Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Here It Is!

I tried to add a picture of my pattern yesterday but it wouldn't work. I don't know. Blogger has changed the picture uploading and, well, who knows. Let's see if this works. Isn't it gorgeous? I can't keep off of even though I should actually go look at actual fabric to see what it feels like. And yes, I have a couple of pieces in a cart. is the site that I mentioned yesterday - lots of prints in every style. I've found lots of beautiful and cool designs. Just a note - I've had to switch browsers just to post this. Do you know how much that pisses me off? I seriously want to swear at a certain company that's becoming quite annoying. I'll just grumble...the kids are home right now.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Quest Accomplished!

You may remember the post I made a while ago about my quest for the wrap dress. Well, my quest is over. I was casually browsing patterns on etsy last Friday night and saw the actual DVF pattern - for 99 dollars. I kind of chuckled as I kept looking and came across the Simplicity knockoff, with shipping for less than 20 dollars, and snapped it up. I got it in the mail today. ( A quick bit about the seller - I ordered it on Friday night and got it in two days, yesterday being a holiday. Awesome!) I'm kind of in shock. It looks like a rather simple pattern to put together. I need to resize it, since my bust is a long way from the 31" on the pattern. As for the fabrics, the envelope says any can be used, knits and wovens. I will have to invest in some new fabrics since my stash is very lacking - most of it was purchased before I had kids, and Kerry will be 14 soon. I see this dress in so many colors and patterns! I even have some picked out on Spoonflower, a fabric website that's not inexpensive but has a wonderful selection of custom prints like Doctor Who and steampunk - look at your own risk! I'm so excited. I'm nervous, too, because I've never resized a pattern before. Several of the sewing blogs have tutorials, so I should be able to figure it out. I've been looking at sewing books on Amazon, too - in fact, I have more sewing than knitting books in my wish list. I've gotten some lovely 50's patterns, too. I haven't made any fabric decisions for any of them yet, mostly because my brain goes crazy with ideas and then stops working. You know what I need? Someone to help me. And new fabric. I'm off to adore my new pattern now. Squee!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Weather is Making Me Crazy!

Honestly, I think the Mayans meant that the weather would go berzerk when their calender ended. I mean, warm and sunny to snowy to thunderstorms to warm again...in one week! And have you ever heard so many reports of thunder snow? Crazy. (Have you been out in a lightning and thunder snowstorm? Whew! Can't even describe it!) I do have some FO's to share, though. First is this sweater...
It's my tribute to one of my favorite Doctor Who companions, Barbara. She's one of the first two humans to travel with the Doctor in 1963, "kidnapped" with Ian because the followed Susan out of concern. Barbara is one of Susan's teachers and used her intelligence in their adventures, even becoming an Aztec god in one episode. She really let the Doctor have it on more than one occasion and always had a sense of dignity and class about her. This pattern is from the Custom Knits book. It's similar to a sweater that Barbara wears in a couple of stories. I don't have a picture of it on me yet (still figuring out how to use the timer on the camera), but I can tell you that it's not the loose, boxy style of the sixties - sometimes I forget how chunky I've gotten. It's very fitted on me but still looks cool. THen I finished these spats
that match a sweater that I made...um, last year I think. This was a fun pattern to knit. I should have done them both at once, like I do sleeves, but I didn't even think about it until the first one was about half done. The picture doesn't show the great stitch pattern - it's like a combination rib and moss stitch with cables. Very pretty! I've been working on a top from the vintage pattern haul in October. It's almost done, I think. The difference in fit and styling has me a bit confused. I know that tops were shorter because waists on pants/skirts were higher, but I'm nervous that it's too short. And I may have goofed on the sleeves, but I'm not sure. I'll keep messing with it for a few days...maybe it needs blocked again. I've knit a couple pairs of socks, too, because my feet have been cold. Sometimes I need to wear two pair to actually feel warm enough. Lately I've been working on keeping our computer running. It's quite old - nine years, I think, and until recently has been great. Lately, though, it's slowing down a lot. I know we need a new one, but honestly I don't want to deal with the whole stress of transferring everything over. I mean, I don't want to transfer my bookmarks from one browser to another! I'd much rather spend my time doing fun stuff...mostly, of course, because I'm computer-stupid and don't often know what I'm doing. I really should take a class. That's all for today. I need to go take more sinus medicine - another weather-related problem - and calm this headache. See you soon!