New Routine

Well suddenly it's been a minute, hasn't it? I wrote in my last post that I was making a move, and I in some ways I've been in motion since!

I started a new job on May 1, and it feels like it was a good move. It's simultaneously familiar and new, but it feels like I've got my feet under me now. I'm getting to know people - it helps that there seems to be an abundance of social opportunities. I wonder if that's just how it is, or just because it's summer? Time will tell, obviously. I feel like they are getting to know me too, getting familiar with my skill set, and where I want to go. People seem to have the ability - for real, not just for lip service - to choose their own adventure. I've been in my career field for...10 years now, and I feel like this is the first time that I can say, hey, I'd love to try THAT, and actually be given the opportunity to learn that skill. It must be some combination of the culture here as well as this point in my own development - that I can see what I'd like to do, the humility to admit that it's something I need to learn, and the courage to ask for the opportunity. It's a good place to be, all in all.

And there's a roof deck. Win.

I've had a bit of a summer fitness kick, which was unexpected. Seems more like a new year's resolution thing, which I didn't even bother making this year because I so seldom put any effort into them. We've been doing some family bike rides, and I've been working up my courage to do a charity ride for work (the shortest distance option, if that's even possible!). I have until August 2 to sign up....I'd like to do at least one more 20 mile ride beforehand just to make sure I can really do it. The options are 20, 35, 70, and 103 miles. One huuuundred miles. So much no. I've only done one 25 mile distance so far this summer (possibly for the first time ever? I'm really bad at biking. We lived near busy roads when I was growing up and we were only allowed to ride in our cul-de-sac....which was boring and there was gravel at one turn where we would always wipe out, so I didn't ride much), but it wasn't all in one shot. Timing wise, that leaves me just this weekend to try to do it. We don't have anything on the calendar, so if the weather turns out....it's actually possible to give it a shot. I even mapped out a route. Perspective is funny. I'm sure tons of people wouldn't even think to practice for a 20 mile ride, but it's really far for me. Typically any time I sign up for a fitness thing, I don't bother to train either, but it's out of laziness, not belief that I don't need to. I really regret it halfway through!

This year though, I might get strong. I've been going to yoga too. A perk of my old job was weekly yoga classes, and I'd missed that. I was going to just buy a 10 pack of classes as my mother's day present, but they were running a sale for 3 months unlimited.....I ran the math on it, and it balanced out if I went 2x a week, so I went for it. Actually all but last week I've made it 3x a week. Usually just lunch classes, but I've been doing the early class on Wednesdays fairly regularly. We've been using the roof deck of the building, and it's a pretty refreshing way to greet the day.  Not a chance though will I continue once my 3 months is up in September. I can't justify the cost of continuing at that rate unless I hit another special, but I've got time to think about what I want to do. I'd like to just work out at home, but I suck at it. Just too many distractions, responsibilities, demands on my attention, couches... I can definitely tell that I've increased strength wise in both yoga and biking compared to my baseline, but overall I'm still pretty soft. We love watching American Ninja Warrior (so random). I tried crossing the monkey bars yesterday. Instant blister and I couldn't even go 2 rungs. Those ninjas just fling their bodies around and do pullups like it's nothing. So weird how watching it on tv hasn't transferred actual ability to me....

Roof yoga view

In sad knitting news, my fave LYS shut their doors this summer. I feel so adrift without my place to hang. The groups have continued meeting, though it hasn't worked out much with my schedule this summer. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to hook back up with them this fall on a more regular basis. I've still been knitting, super monogamously on the exact same 3 things lol. Last time I was around here I think I was working on my cabled cowl, something that's been on my list for me for yeeears. I finished that in early May, right after I started my job. Since then, I've consistently had 3 things on my needles - a pair of socks for purse knitting, a "big" project for at home, and secret knitting for after the kids go to bed which is my REAL "big" project.

cowl, ends still not woven in, buttons still not purchased....I've got time before winter...

 

For socks, I worked on and finished a pair of Rose City Rollers (the biggest size of the littles, after knitting almost an entire pair of the second biggest size and deciding it was too small). It was my first time using Trekking. I liked it! The yarn didn't stripe, but it didn't pool either, so that was good. It tolerated being ripped back pretty well, but it has gotten rather fuzzy. That could come from being worn nonstop for about 72 hours after they were finished, but that's considered high praise as it was the hottest it's been all summer at that time.

I finished those on June 21, and rather than casting on the next sock club suggestion, I picked back up my zigzagulars that I'd set down months ago. I started them back in February, but only got through the cuff and the first or second zig or zag. Come to think of it, that yarn had been ripped out too. It started life as a more heavily patterned sock, the Tornados I think. This pattern is a much better fit, and it's holding up just fine, as you'd expect from Regia. The contrast cuff is Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury sock. It seems like it will be really hard wearing, which is good as I plan to use it for heels and toes as well. It's one of the things I stocked up on when Wild Haven closed. I definitely had mixed feelings about that - on the one hand, you don't want to pass up a good deal, and it would benefit Kate more to have the cash than the yarn sitting around after the shop closed. But on the other, it just feels icky to be getting a good deal at the expense of your friend. I tell myself that I was a regular, if not high volume because I certainly don't NEED a lot, customer before the closing sale, and that I'd planned to just buy it as I needed it....but still the mixed feelings. Anyway. So those are my socks of the moment. I got down the leg to the heel in the car yesterday. I'd have started it, but I'd forgotten to pop that contrast yarn in my project bag. I'd rather knit than not knit (I'd have slept had it been quiet, but alas it was loud. Also my driver was quite sleepy, so better to be an alert pair of eyes) so the legs may be an inch or so longer than they'd have been otherwise. Now the contrast yarn is on board for the next time I find myself with time.

I cast on my "big" project right after the cowl, on May 14. A year or so late, I jumped on the Fade bandwagon. I've got 2 of Kate's Wild Haven yarns in there (one knit, one still to come). I've got the yarn specially dyed up for sock club that I didn't want to "waste" on "just socks," a sweet georgia color (that's the one I'm on now, color 4 of 7) also from Wild Haven (see self! Regular customer!), and a Leading Men Fiber Arts and a Madelinetosh that I got at the Knitting Pipeline Retreat. (I never told you about this, I guess it was in my break back in February? It was my first retreat, it was lovely, I hope to go again next year.) That's only 6 colors....I must be missing one. Oh, I see, as I check my project page - I guess I have 2 Leading Men colorways in there. All of the colors are super neutral, gray and white and purple, but light purple. Since it will be so huge, I'm hopeful that it will be versatile enough to wear with everything. If not, I guess it's a big at home blanket. I didn't stash bust for this project, as I'm not really a collector of the special skeins. Most of these were purchased with this project in mind over 6 months or so. (Better to spread it out, and to never calculate the sticker price.) I'll have leftovers, so I'm going to put a row of squares all in a row in my sock yarn blanket, and then knit a fade pair of socks with probably the rest, depending how much there is.

Ok, and then my REAL big project is a pair of Phoebe dresses from the Joanna Johnson book Phoebe's Birthday. I'm sure I've talked about the Phoebe mouse dolls and sweaters that I've made from another of her books, Phoebe's Sweater. Those dolls have been such a big hit at our house, so I hope these are loved as well. I have less than a month to finish, but I think I'm on track. I knit the first one (the smaller, darn. I was hoping it would be the big one (it's the size 4), but as it turns out it will be the smaller of the two) in just over a month. I've been working on the bigger (size 6) for exactly one month now. It's bottom up, and I've finished the waist decreases. I figure I should have the bodice finished this week, and then another week or two for the flounce.

After that (so we're getting into future knitting now, I guess), I want to make a little hat for a friend's first baby, and then the Fade will probably move into primary "big" project status. Come to think of it....the hat COULD supplant the socks as purse knitting and therefore arrive a little faster. That may be a good idea, because babies come whenever they want. Note to self. *Pause on heels, cast on hat.* Ok, so THEN when that's all finished....well then I'm not sure. A sweater, I think. I have several sweaters' quantities. I should let some of them grow up to be sweaters. I have a list in my queue. I'll have to see what moves me when I get there.

So also, because there's also, because it's been months since I wrote a darn thing, I think I'm nearing the finish line of a spinning project that's been sitting nearly finished for months. I didn't keep good track, but I think I started spinning it a literal year ago. I got a lot done in one shot, and since then every time I tried to spin it, my singles got too thin and it would snap, I'd get frustrated, and let it sit a couple more months. The Tour de Fleece is going on right now though (the fiber people's play on Tour de France....because both "spin," haha), so that inspired me not to "compete", but just to finish this one project! I missed the end of the tour, but it's fully spun, and maybe half plied now, so that's a win I think.

Finally, I sewed a bunch of stuff. My friend Meagan and I road tripped down to Vogue Fabrics in Illinois one day while I was on a mini vacation between jobs, and it really inspired me. I'll maybe do a separate post on what I've sewn, but maybe not because that would require effort and photography. (I will say that I've worn every single thing more than once since I made them. Perhaps I'll try to awkward selfie the next time I wear them and revisit this list.) At the end of my headlong immersion into my sewing room, I came out with a drapey (voile? lawn? Lawn I think) black dress from Burda with little yellow and white hearts with pockets and a keyhole that I wear with a belt because it's kind of shapeless but I like it, a waterfall front jersey dress from Burda, a short sleeved Burda sheath dress for work, a white jersey dress (McCalls I think) with a probably quite versatile gray slip (date night slip), a super simple black long sleeved jersey dress that I want 10 of based on an Alabama Chanin pattern (I like the look of her hand embellishments but I'm realistically never going to do that. I like the simple shapes of the base patterns though!), a black short sleeve tee shirt which I like but I'll make with more ease next time, Chanin again, and another Chanin, this time an oatmeal colored tunic that I attached some lace from an ill advised similar tunic from Old Navy that never fit. I like this tunic, but the fabric is sheer so I've been wearing it as an undershirt for a sort of boho look. I think......that's it. EIGHT garments?! What? I also made half a fail of another tunic because the fabric was really pretty but like trying to cut water. I should have paid more attention to how the pattern landed, and I ended up hating it and not finishing it. I'm also in progress of a blouse by Burdastyle that I WOULD have finished, but I forgot to mark the darts on the pattern and had to get the book back from the library. Now I've had it 3 weeks and still haven't traced the darts....my sewing room got a little bit tossed when we unexpectedly decided to remodel our bathrooms. How does one toss a basement sewing room while doing a completely unrelated remodel? Well, as this is already crazy long....I'll get to that later. :)

Once upon a time....

We wanted to mount the tv on the wall. For normal people, this should take what, an hour? For us? 5 days. Yep, pretty standard stuff.

 

To my husband's credit, I will say that I think it looks great and he did an awesome job. But I just have to laugh and shake my head, because I know it's ALWAYS going to be a bigger job than it was supposed to be!

Pumpkin Head Halloween Costume

In case you missed me over at Delightfully Noted for her Wicked Craft Week....here's a repost of my Halloween costume crafting.

Halloween is one of my favorite, favorite times of year. I looove the turning of the season, the chill in the air, sweaters, scarves, campfires, pumpkin....everything! While I'm a big fan of the pumpkin spice lattes, I'm actually here to talk about the pumpkin as the classic Halloween costume. It's pretty special to me as that FIRST Halloween costume for a couple of reasons. My mom made almost all of my Halloween costumes over the years, and I so love that memory. And the first costume of all of them was a pumpkin head! I could have actually used that same costume, but it's important to me to start that tradition all over again for my family. We can always use the original for playing dress up!

My mom taught me to sew in high school, and though I've been doing it for quite a while, I'm definitely no expert! This isn't necessarily a step-by-step how-to for that reason, but whenever I find myself stuck or having problems, I love looking to Make It & Love It for super clear and helpful tutorials.

When I'm sewing more than a hem or something simple like a rectangular pillow, I turn to patterns. I like the Simplicity brand because, well, they're pretty simple! They're good for beginners because they don't typically have a lot of complex steps or advanced stitches. I also tend to avoid things with buttons and zippers if I don't want to have a headache later! In this case I did some research ahead of my trip to the fabric store (I went to Joann's). Basically you just check the back of the pattern envelope and look at the options for your chosen pattern (they usually come with several related patterns per envelope - here I was following "D") and look under "Notions." Elastic and velcro are pretty easy, but I personally steer clear if buttons or zippers are listed! This envelope will also tell you how much fabric you need to buy. I like to buy a little extra to make sure that I don't come up short after pre-shrinking it in the wash - that's VERY annoying!

So gather up all of your materials.

The orange fleece doesn't matter so much because it doesn't fray, but the black cotton I wanted to use for the face will. It helps if you clip the corners on a diagonal before washing because it will help limit any fraying.

There's a white sheet of directions included along with tissue paper sheets that have all the pattern outlines. Here again you just look for the letter (D) of the pattern you are making, and it tells you which of the pattern outlines you'll want to cut out. It also gives you a layout that will help you maximize your fabric. The tissue sheets will also tell you what they are for specifically. I thought the hat looked pretty silly, and I had a different idea for underclothes other than the jumpsuit, so I opted not to make them. This means I didn't need to cut out the pieces associated with those parts of the costume. To me, this is part of the beauty of DIY-ing rather than just buying a whole outfit - it just seems easier to personalize it!

Gather up your materials. For me the most important things other than a work surface and sewing machine, etc. are the wine and junky shows streaming on Netflix. That's old school "Charmed" in the background! Way more seasons than I remember. :)

 

From here the pattern instructions will pretty much tell you what to do. Which, well, obviously.

This doesn't mean I don't deviate from time to time. I was supposed to use fusible interfacing for the, uh, face of the pumpkin. Basically you iron this sheet of paper onto the fabric that you want to turn into an applique, which is a fancy word for sticker as far as I can tell. Then you peel off the paper which exposes a sort of blue, and you iron them onto your fabric using a damp cloth. Why damp cloth, I have no idea, but since I don't usually use this stuff I went with it.

It looked super cute, but because I was trying to get the face to stick to the sort of nubby texture of the fleece, I didn't really trust the interfacing. The corners seemed a little loose to me, so I ended up stitching along the edges anyway. I suppose that's fine because the interfacing held it in place nicely while I sewed. If I had used just pins I'm sure it would have slipped all around, so in hindsight maybe that worked out well!

The one other thing I did a little differently was right at the end when you turn everything right side out, rather than just stitch it closed as they directed, I opted to add some stuffing. I wanted to make sure my little pumpkin was nice and round!

After the finishing touches, here is the finished product!

I found some cute striped leggings at the Carter's outlet that look just perfect, and I will top it off with a cute knit pumpkin head hat!

So that's my method for homemade costumes! It's definitely not perfect, but I hope that my little one will have the same great memories of wearing costumes made with love like I do.

Weekend Productivity

 This was my favorite kind of weekend - no real plans, gorgeous weather, and a full list of projects!

And wine. Love wine. :) I'm a red wine kind of gal all year round, but something about it in the crisp fall weather is just the best. I'm probably showing signs of my age, but the above photo was from Friday night. And it was perfect. A little crafting, nice glass (just kidding, it's not a nice wine - two buck chuck!) of wine, junky tv show, quiet, lovely.

Putting the finishing touches on a newsboy hat. This is before I noticed that I put the button strap on at an angle. Argh! Just grab the seam ripper. :)

It's so nice to actually be able to gather a bunch of finished hats up and SEE how much I got done! I finished up the monster hat that I started last week, the gray is the newsboy hat, and I managed to start AND finish a little elf hat for a new December baby! Plus I have the brown swatch in the back that has a bunch of stitch experimenting for a project I'm about to cast on. AND I made a couple meals this weekend - I felt like superwoman! That is before I figured out that I didn't actually turn on the dishwasher after I loaded it. Right back down to earth.

I took a couple of new photos of the newsboy hat to update the listing. I had a rare combination of daylight, time and finished items so I tried to take advantage. I also grabbed some shots of a new listing - the monster hat! This is a topper for a Halloween costume, so it seemed right to make it a little....nuts. Silly googly eyes, mouth full of pointy teeth, and all in pink, purple and green to match a little girl's costume. Can't wait it ship 'er out!

 

Wingback Chair Reupholstery - Reveal!

For a little refresher on how far this has come, click here.

In August, the chair looked like this:

I had a notion of recovering it in this fabric, so I did some pretty laughable photoshop renderings of my vision for the corner.

However, after the acquisition of that shag rug, and 30 days (I kid you not, I started ripping into this on New Year's day and finished in the nick of time on January 30, mere days prior to my February 8 book club hosting duties) of backbreaking labor later, and the relocation of a table I already had that was somewhat homeless.....I had this:

 

Hooray! I'm so happy with how it turned out! It SURE isn't perfect, many mistakes were made, but I think it's a heck of a result for my very first time upholstering anything more complex than a simple seat that you staple over some batting.

Now for more pictures!

 

 

So there you have it - my baby! If there's any interest/I make an effort, I may eventually post a tutorial.

Because Perfect is the enemy of Good

I have had a finished project sitting in my living room for over a month now. I kept putting off photographing it because it was too dark or the room wasn't clean enough or I'm not a good photographer and today I thought ENOUGH!

Reveal coming Monday. :)

Yarn?

I haz some.

Hopefully, one day, it will look like this.  You know, right after about 14 other projects.  Or concurrently, because I seem to like to spread myself thin.

cute or weird?

Maybe it's because I'm freakin freezing all the time lately, but I have knitting and warm and soft textures on the brain.  I posed this question to my husband the other day - would one of these be cute or weird?

And just so we're all on the same page people - I'm talking about the pouf, not the kid!

He responded that he thought it was kind of weird.  To this, I sent about 4,000 images showing him why he is wrong.

I took a leap and found a great deal (well, hopefully great - I'll let you know my source once I get my order to ensure that it's good quality) on yarn....so I ordered it.  Yep, I'm going to attempt to DIY.  Because it's not like I don't already have eleventy-five other projects going on at the moment.  Oh wait, yes I do.  Well, maybe I'll make a pouf.  Maybe I'll make a mess.  And yes, I'm a little afraid I'll end up like this:

So, what's your vote?  Cute, or weird?

(I did my best to link to all my photo sources, but because I collected most of them all at once to photobomb my husband, I didn't do a great job with that.  If you find a source that I didn't link to, let me know and I'll be happy to add it!)