Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Ready to sew

I'm gearing up to sew today. I have a rare day off and nothing else scheduled. I have a dress cut out and the bodice front already pieced together. I also want to make a skirt, A-line, simple out of a Hawaiian print. If I don't spend too much time here I can get started!

The two little 'Bo Peep' skirts I made earlier this summer, for a one year old and her three year old sister. They were fun to make. Both the skirts and the pin cushion ball caddy above are from Anna Maria Horner's 'Seams to Me'-24 New Reasons to Love Sewing. Fun book, fun patterns.
Now to work!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

What have I been doing this hot, hot summer?

My skein of hand dyed and handspun fiber that I called 'Beach Glass' has become an 'Old Shale' shawl, one of Evelyn Clark's designs from a back issue of Spin Off magazine. I have made this shawl once before in the Matisse colorway that my friend Martie dyed, only this time I did the picot bind off rather than a plain bind off and I really like the way it turned out.

I look like a refugee in the snow however this was an attempt at a self portrait in the mirror and the flash did interesting things that look like sparkly snow flakes and I liked the effect, I especially like what the colorway does to my eyes...

A little detail shows the lovely lacey effect of the picot bind off.

Sometime earlier this summer my  LYS started carrying roving, dyed by Colinette. It is 100% merino fiber, and it wasn't until I got it home that I read the label more closely and saw that it was especially made for felting. Ah well, I spun it anyway.

5 ounces became 714 yards, not quite as many as I had hoped, however I should be able to get a nice size scarf or shawl out of it. My hand spun stash is growing and I have to keep working at finding or creating patterns to make with them. In the meantime I am also trying to work on socks...

Cherri, from our Friday Mockingbird knitting group gave me this yarn and pattern (she got from a sock knitting club) and I really enjoyed the knitting. Easy to memorize pattern and an 8 row repeat makes it easy to note the progress.
I've been wanting to knit socks for family members living in California. Last Thursday I got a happy call from my sister who was phoning from my older brother's wedding reception! I had no idea he had decided to marry, and as the two have been together for the last five years they have everything they need and, no, they didn't 'register' anywhere. As I was knitting this sock when I received the call I blurted out that I would make them each a pair of hand knit socks, and the idea was accepted. Any ideas for wedding socks?

I leave you with the view out my window taken earlier last week when we had an almost full moon rising, visible through the leaves of the tree next door; pardon the odd reflection of the flash and the light from my room...
Back to knitting socks.