Slippery Slope

I blame Carolyn. I have never shopped at Fabric Mart.  No matter how many times she has linked to them or shown her beautiful treasures.

I try to buy most of my fabric locally just to support and keep my local brick and mortars in business.  And - regular readers know that just about all natural fibers, with the exception of cotton - sc

are me.  I'm not sure how to handle them or what to do.

So yesterday when Carolyn started talking about the Rayon Challis on sale for $2.50 a yard, well I clicked over and I looked at the lovely prints and I added some to a cart and then I clicked away.  I mean really - what would I do with them?  I asked as much in Carolyn's comments and being the lovely lady that she is, she replied that I would make a dress.

So today with the frustration of having spent the entire month of July working on a single, simple button front skirt - that's still not finished! - I clicked through again and bought 2 of the challis.  Both in a large enough quantity to make a dress.  I mean at that price - if I ruin it, well who cares, right?

I also added a lovely midnight blue windowpane checked cotton - this is right in my comfort zone and I see it being a dress.  I can't decide if it wants to be a slim dress or a dress with a full skirt but I hope it decides before it gets here.

Finally I added another cotton print.  It too wants to be a dress.  This one really wants to be a button front shirt dress. 

I'm happy that in Western Washington I can get 3 seasons of wear from lightweight cottons.  They will easily go from Spring right into the Fall.  And since it's never excessively hot here, they are fine in the summer too.  The midnight blue might go better from Fall through Spring being dark it might like tights and a cardi and be a winter dress.

But the title of this post?  Well I got enough fabric today, plus shipping, for  6 dresses for under $60.  That doesn't include any notions that I might need like buttons, zippers, thread, interfacing, but those are things I have on hand and they don't really count.  If I actually start making sewing progress - I can see this being a bad, bad place to be buying from.  I know first hand that Carolyn knows of what she speaks when she talks about fabric quality.  And I really don't need a fabulous source of quality fabric to add to my stash.  My friend Miss D. threatened to stage an intervention when she saw my fabric on the cutting table when we were doing the floors. 

Doodle Bug

This is Abigail Jane

One of her nicknames is Doodle Bug

Don't ask me - I don't know either

Doodle has a chair

She loves it

JB put her chair in the dog house

Yesterday before leaving for work I looked out and saw this

I was late for work because I had to take the picture

to share with you

Enjoy

Happy Dogs on Thursday

Why I Don't Do Singles

 Early in July I was contacted to test knit another sock pattern.  It's a lovely pattern and I said yes.  The designer needed one sock in 2 days time. 

So - I grabbed some yarn, caked it up,  and divided it into two.  Then I grabbed some double pointed needles - I have quite the collection that rarely gets used - and started knitting away. 

I finished the first sock in record time and then finally started the second this past week.  As I was knitting along, I noticed that the yarn wasn't patterning in the same way on the second sock - but I just kept knitting along - sometimes I'd

rather be knitting something I know I'll rip - just to have busy hands.

Maybe you can see it better in the second photo?  The bottom sock is the first one and it's easily a quarter of an inch bigger than the second.  Quarter of an inch!  You say - but really that's half an inch because it's doubled and it will make a difference. 

So now it's caked back up and I might start them again this week at knitting but I'm currently working on a shawl and a cardigan and I'm in no hurry to get back to them - regardless of how pretty they are.