It's Been About a Week

and I haven't updated. That's because I haven't been sewing. I haven't been doing alot of knitting. I haven't even really worked out or cooked or cleaned the house. So, what exactly have I been doing? Working! The office just bought me a laptop so I could work from home and next week our remote access is being set up. We recently got new client management software, as well as new billing software. We upgraded Windows and Office and man has that made my life harder this week!!! Please, no more changes intended to improve my life :) Also, did I mention that last week I had a horrible sore throat? Well that lasted about 4 days. Then it promptly moved into my head and chest, so, while I have still walked the dogs every day this week - I haven't done any of my other working out. The next goal is after 2 more consecutive weeks of morning dog walks and evening workouts - purchasing cotton lycra fabric and attempting to make some new tops. Right now, however, I have a pork roast in the oven cooking and I'm headed over to the sewing space to re-bond with my machine :) happy sewing everyone!

Weekend Recap & What's Up Next

Recap So my weekend turned out great! Saturday I didn't do too much of anything. I walked dogs and then cleaned house and after all those chores, I spent some time sewing. Sunday - I got up, put the dogs out and headed back to bed. I made french toast for breaky and then JB and I walked dogs. After a bit, I went shoping and found that great brown polka dot fabric! Love it. Then I made a fabulous dinner from one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks. This was yummy chicken with sauted mushroom, spinach & artichokes. It was very good. After dinner - more sewing was accomplished. Monday - I got up early and walked the big dogs all by myself! Then I came home and fed all the dogs. I met 3 of my girlfriends for lunch of spinach enchiladas. After visiting our way through a 2 hour lunch! 3 of us headed over to Great Yarns were we took over the shop and sat and knit for 3 hours! We chatted, shopped, foundled yarn, and knit. Good fun was had by all!!! I bought 2 balls of sock yarn - one for JB and one for me. When I got home - my D1 was back on my sewing table!!! I was so excited. I don't think that litte brother has ever moved so fast! Put away it has been. Yea, I have my real machine back! I finished up a pink 1/2 apron and have 2 more aprons cut out. After that it's all clothing. Next JB is taking a class for work on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next couple of weeks. So that means I have the house to myself until 10 p.m. Tonight I have a few chores to get done (garbage to curb, balance checkbook) a workout to get in and then the evening is mine! I plan on starting work on a couple of dress muslins. I don't want to cut into good fabric until I know if the dresses will fit. So, a relaxing crafting evening is planned.

Show and Tell

Okay - I told you guys I had been shopping. Time to put my money where my fingers are - do a little showing and telling and then get busy making some new clothes for this body - not aprons! First up - yesterday while at Hancocks for rickrack for another apron :) I spotted this beauty and had to have it. It's completely polyester, but it's brown with both cream and pink polka-dots. I'm thinking dress. I don't have a particular pattern in mind - but I have lots of patterns. The 100% poly is throwing me - there's 2.66 yards. If you have any suggestions - let me know. Next up is a beautiful chocolate brown faux suede with a beautiful border print. I'm really thinking something simple like The Brussels Skirt from Textile Studio Patterns. Obviously with a border print, this has to become a simple skirt. Next up is another faux suede. I got both of these pieces at JoAnn Fabrics last weekend while out shopping with the Princess. They were 70% off and I paid less than $6 for each piece. This one has a light (maybe oyster) background and wonderful browns, taupes and pinks dancing across the front. I believe it will just become another of my favorite Kwik Sew skirt 3098 with the center front placed on the fold. One last piece of faux suede. This will also become the KS skirt - this time, creating a "western style" yoke across at the very least the back. Including the pockets and using Beth's Cowgirl Pockets (scroll down) and closing the front of the skirt with snaps. I'll pick some up at Expo. Last up is a cute sheer print that I got when I met Little Miss. We had a great time and she spent way more money than I did :) I plan on making up New Look 6952. And actually that's not all of the recent damage . I just wasn't able to get photos of the rest. I also bought both a green and a white cotton woven. These are really need, they are 'striped' with the cotton sections joined with faggoting. I washed them and now they both need to be iron. The white will be the same New Look top and the green will become a dress. I also have a couple of old pieces of cotton and linen that want to become dresses this summer. So, I say - let the sewing begin!!!

The Man Sweater Update

Remember this post about The Man Sweater. Or how about this one? Well do you all want to hear what a bonehead I am? I ripped the entire sweater out. Worked some new gauge swatches and started rd-knitting the back on size 2US Addis Turbos. Love these slick metal needles. Anyway, when the time came, I switched to a bryspun needle because I didn't believe I had an Addis the right size. I made two different trips to my local yarn store, I finally had the right size needles. I switched from the bryspun (which isn't my favorite, but is okay) to the Addis. I then finished up the back making notes on the pattern each time I made change. As I was binding off the last shoulder - guess what I noticed? I had switched to a size 4US Addis, instead of a 3US! What an idiot. I did not rip the back again. I cast on both sleeves on V-day and I'm about halfway through the increase sleeve shaping. It's going fast and I'm enjoying the process - keeping the pattern intact and just flying along on an Addis Turbo size 3US!! I know what the measurements need to be now, so I will just continue along. The front will eventually be knit on size 2s for the first 8 rows then size 4s for the rest. I can't believe I ripped and re-knit the back exactly the same! Bonehead!!!

Can Anyone Relate?

Sometimes JB makes me so frustrated. He gets on these tangents were he thinks he has the right to tell me what and how I should spend my free time when I'm crafting. Apparently, if I'm knitting, I'm not spending enough time sewing. If I'm sewing, then I'm not spending enough time knitting. If I don't use the swift and ball winder, then they weren't a good gift and obviously I don't need them. So anyway, last Sunday we were having dinner with friends. This friend just happens to quilt and make fabulous quilts. I however, don't quilt. I don't like to, I don't enjoy the process and it completely stresses me out. Sunday, while we are standing in our friend's kitchen, my husband proceeds to start the "Why aren't you more like . . . " conversation. Why don't you quilt. Why do you throw little pieces of fabric away. Why don't you spend more time knitting. I mean come on! Do you know exactly how pissy pants he would get if I told him how he should garden? A couple of times in our married life I have asked for a particular plant and asked if it could be in a certain place in the yard so I could see and enjoy it, he always says no - it won't work there, too much sun, too little sun, whatever. Okay - I've lost my rage on this subject and I'm not sure I'm making any sense at all anymore so I think I'll get some more work done, drink some more sweet tea in an attempt to soothe my sandpaper throat and make an attempt to go home early :)

I've Been Spending Money

but not doing a whole heck of a lot of sewing. I got everything pre-washed and put away (bad move personally), but I didn't photograph anything.

I bought a whole wack of Vogue patterns - this Spring is looking like dresses for me.

Friday found me with a day off work and sick dog :( The Beau man has an ear infection again, poor boy. First I met The Princess at WW, then we hit JoAnns and both of us spent money! Then I ran home, grabbed the dog and went to the vet. After that I did a very few Cinderellas, hopped on the treadmill, then sat down to clean up my sewing space and sew.

JB is still sick. I finished up the apron for the wife of on of his poker buddies. It turned out pretty cute. Then JB decided to dig through my sewing room garbage! Men! He pulled out some scraps of the fabric and asked why I was throwing it out.

Well I don't know about you - but I don't save scraps anymore. I don't particularly enjoy quilting, although I have tried it. My personality is too matchy/matchy and quilting isn't necessarily. Plus I would rather make clothing, so I quit saving scraps that were less than 1/2 yard. After cutting out the apron - there were random small scraps that got tossed into the trash.

Well there were enough bigish pieces to cut 12 3.75" squares from the card print. I cut the back squares from the same yellow accent used on the apron. I cut 24 square of batting and then layered them all together. I sewed around them with a straight stitch and then trimmed them with a wavy edged rotary cutter. JB now has 12 small (3.5" square) coasters to use at his monthly poker gatherings. Hopefully, he'll be happy with this for awhile and stay out of my space.

In other news - I finished the back of The Man Sweater on Sunday night. Hoping to get the sleeves cast on again today :)

More Knitting

Remember the baby hat I recently made and mailed off? Well that darling little girl has an older brother and sister. Since I had way more of the Rowan Handknit Cotton than I needed for one little hat, I made hats for brother and sister.

I believe that all of these hats originate from Itty Bitty Hats and then were republished in Knit It! I used left-over green from the stem of the petal hat to make this cute little square hat. The original pattern called for 4 stars of varying size - but I was too lazy to make all of them and sew them on. The cream used for the star is Tahki Cotton Classic and was a better choice than the pure white Rowan that was left over.

Next - this cute little hat was shown in 5 colors, knit in the round with the color changing every couple of rows! Not in my lifetime - this is a hat for a 2 1/2 year old. It's going to a woman who currently has 3 children under the age of 5. I doubt it will ever get washed - and definitely won't be hand washed if it ever does get washed.

So down into my sewing room I went. I knew that I had recently picked up a hank of Tahki Cotton Tweed and thought that the colors would work great and show the patterning. (Unfortunately, my photography skills are lacking - I'm working on it :D ) It's hard to tell as the hat is all bunched up on my Build-A-Bear, but the bottom is stockinette for 2" so it will roll, then there are a couple rows of garter, more stockinette, some seed stitch, etc. The crown is shaped very slowly.

The best part of this hat is the little bunch of stuff right at the top. I had enough of the cotton tweed to make 3 of the little curls, I used some green Tahki left over from another project and the dark and light pink from the petal hat. The Rowan Handknit cotton is stiffer than the Tahki and curls more - but I love it!

Finally, I tucked each hat into it's own envelope and addressed them to each of the older kids. So, not only will they get their own hats - they will get their own mail too! Some days it's tough being the older kids :) Hope these hats make it a little easier.

Do You?

Make your own workout clothing? Where do you find the fabric? Is it hard to work with? I realized on Saturday morning, that with my new schedule of working out - I'm always in workout clothes. I get up and put on my yoga pants, a t-shirt and my rain coat and head out of the house with JB to walk the dogs. That's what I'm wearing when he leaves for work. I do change and put on work clothes, but that's not what I'm wearing when he gets home. Most days by the time he gets home I'm already dressed in my afternoon workout wear and usually half-way through my workout. Right now I'm have long black yoga pants, some short dark grey yoga pants, a couple of tanks (that are pretty boring) and old oversized t-shirts. I figure if all he's ever going to see me in is workout wear maybe I could step it up a notch. So, can y'all help me out and tell me where to find the appropriate fabrics? For the record - after 2 weeks I'm down 6# and getting tired. When does the increase in energy from all this working out kick in? Did a tiny bit of sewing this weekend - finished up the apron for The Princess, got 2 more aprons cut out, but didn't sew a lick. I can't wait to get my real machine back. Went to JoAnn's and bought some magazines and mostly knit all weekend. I finished another baby hat, and have the yarn to start a few more. I also made progress on The Man Sweater - I have 4 rows until the armhold shaping on the back - for the second time! Right now I'm off to find lunch - what are you having?

I've been Knitting

Remember that cotton chenille yarn I showed on my new swift awhile back? Well it has now become a very cute warshcloth from Mason Dixon. I plan on dropping it in an envelope and sending it back to the friend who gifted me the yarn - I mean why not? I already got the joy of working with the yarn, why not spread the love and send a little gift back? Because I like to pull from the center when I use a yarn 'cake' I took the remaining yarn and rewound it into a smaller cake. It's so freaking small and cute. Now to find a tiny project to make from it :) Finally in my journeys out and about in blogland, I stumbled upon this young lady's blog. She is expecting and has been making the most adorable hats for her wee one. An attorney that our office works closely with has just had a baby girl. It's cold in Western Washington. Well when I saw this hat on Alison's blog, I knew it was just the thing for this new little one. To cement the deal, I recently picked up the Spring 2007 issue of Knit It! magazine. This magazine is a collaboration between BH&G and Lion Brand from what I could find on the web - however they don't appear to have a website. Bummer!! The Spring issue has some of the cutest baby clothes I have ever seen - including - the upside down Daisy Hat from Itty Bitty Hats. So, I went right out to the local yarn store, stocked up on Rowan Handknit cotton and knit the little thing in exactly the colors called for. I made the tiniest size - but mine must be really small because there was only room for 4 petals on top! I hope they like it :)