Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Eggplant, while a lovely color, is not ideal for fingers.
The picture doesn't quite do it justice. It really is eggplant color and rather swollen. I only just managed to get my rings off lest they cut off circulation entirely. I think it's broken.
How, you may ask, did I manage such a rich color on the end of my little left ring finger? I very gracefully smashed it with a hammer in a bizarre sewing accident. I almost threw up and passed out and I'm not certain it would have happened in that order. On a related note, my sewing machine is almost surely dead.
No, I didn't hit it with a hammer, just my finger. I was working on the overskirt pictured here and as soon as I finished, the sewing machine started acting up again. The top thread doesn't loop entirely around and catches something instead of drawing neatly up. Time for a new one.
The observant amongst you will note that this little garment has grommets at the top. Here's a better picture.
One of those, and I forget which, is responsible for the redecorating of my finger, which I'm almost sure is broken. Once I recovered from the initial blinding pain, I finished up the grommets and then the hem. I was going to do just one more thing and that's when the machine decided she was done.
The overskirt fits nicely, though, and I'm pleased with the design. Just don't ask me to duplicate it. I'm not sure I could. It's all upholstery fabric and matches my doublet. The ties are a place holder until I can get something new and all it needs now is an underskirt. That should be fairly easy. I'm thinking something pleated or something with a front panel with lace trim, but definitely long. The overskirt is past floor length and should have a floor length underskirt to go with it.
I've taken a break from spinning wool for a bit and finished up a smallish hank of bamboo. It absolutely shines. So, there it is. I've still got a couple ounces to go of it and I have no idea what it will be when it's all spun up. Lace? Something related to China? No clue. It's superthin, though I've not counted wpi yet. I'm afraid. I'm guessing it's something upwards of 20wpi. Suggestions?

Thursday, May 17, 2007

A couple small FO's today. First off, we've got two popholders. To be precise, it's really a couple of commercially bought popholders that have been cleverly covered in order to extend their usage. The original fabric covering the thermal batting was becoming worn, so I put together a couple of covers from scraps. The old popholder is neatly sewn in and it is almost as if I have two new ones.
Next up, a pattern test wristlet. I'm working on what sort of pattern to use for Doc's socks, so I'm knitting some little wristlets for the purpose of testing the pattern in the round. This one is not quite what I'm going for, but close. There are three more candidates so far. These are done in a 5-stitch mock rib in Knitpicks Essential on two size one Knitpics circulars.
It's got a weird ridge on one side because I was attempting to finish with both a picot edge and elastic bind-off. The elastic bind-off is too fat for the picot edge to lay flat, so maybe next time I'll just bind off and have the picot on one side. It's kind of like spikes, though, so I don't entirely dislike it.

I ended up frogging the Teddy Bear hat. It was too big. I've decided to just set the yarn aside for now until I come across the right pattern. I'm not convinced it wants to be a hat. I've also swatched for a sweater for me made from recovered yarn. I liked the color of the old sweater, just not the design - at all. The neck was weird, it was too long, and I couldn't push the sleeves up. I'm thinking cardigan. I have a thing for cardigans. It's slightly over 6 sts/inch in stst, so smallish gauge, but it will be a very nice finished project.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Here's a couple of pics and an excuse to show off my baby nephew. There he is in his snakey sweater I made for him. He's clearly elated. Or asleep, it's hard to tell. The other pic is of my brother in the shirt I made for him. I am told that he likes it rather a lot and wears it often. You will see Woody from Toy Story trying to hide his face from the loudness of the shirt. Poor Woody.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Pictures later. Post now.
I've joined "Summer of Socks" (see sidebar). Now, before you go off and say "ooooh, she's a joiner, that one! Can't pass up a thingalong, even if it were the shawl from H-E-double hockeysticks!" I would like to remind you that I decided last year that Summer is for socks. I'll be designing a pair called "Doc's Socks" for Dr. Sanders and I'll also be making a pair for the Worsted-Stocking Knave. I'm not sure what those will be yet, but I know they'll be green. I'm considering lace. >:)
In other news, I've finished one of the Art gloves and very cleverly left the whole KIP bag at Becky's. I assure you it's fantastic. I also started a simple moss stitch scarf to match Iree's sherbet hat and sherbet mittens for my stupid knitting to do when I'm not paying very close attention. Now, since today is tuesday and tuesdays are for spinning, I'm going to make an attempt at setting aside an hour for carding. If I'm lucky, I'll get some actual spinning in as well. I've also got to work on my car, ride a bike, fold laundry, shower, and shave. I hope to have most of this done by 2:00PM. It is now 8:00AM. Perhaps I'm delusional.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

"Blog!" she says! I am not your blogging wench! I do not blog for your pleasure and entertainment!
...okay, so I do.
I am totally your blogging wench. You say "blog" I say "how many words?"...or something. Right. How 'bout some content?

I'm working on the Art gloves mostly these days as my bus stop knitting. I took Murfreesboro's Rover yesterday over to campus to get some stuff done. I think I waited something like unto 45 minutes or more. I ended up getting quite a bit of knitting done and walking home so that I didn't have to wait for the bus again. I can walk the same distance in less time than it takes to wait for the bus. While the bus is climate controlled, fairly comfortable, and doesn't require using my legs, it's slow and unreliable. I imagine they're still working out the kinks in the system, but dang.
Anyhow, I did make progress on them and they're looking like they might be gloves when they grow up. I am totally in love with this yarn. Holy crap, the subtle color shifts, the striping, and it's soft! I had to rip the whole thing back because it was too big in the hand and too small in the pinky finger, but this seems to be fitting like a ...nevermind. I'm not going there.
The blue flower is flax. It's one of the few flowers in this world that's honest to goodness blue and not a shade of purple. They're quite lovely and are blooming well this year. I'm tempted to try flax spinning, but there are a couple obstacles. I've been reading about what a chore it is to spin flax, especially as compared to wool. You have to keep the fibers wet. Secondly, where the heck am I going to get flax fiber? I know how to get the fiber from the plant, but I'm not growing near enough in my little container garden to make a garment. Besides, when I do it, I end up with tow rather than the longer, more useful fibers and retting is kind of gross.
I'm working on stash-busting with my fabrics. So far, I've made two rilly sekrit yule presents, and I'm working on some popholders. I've decided on log cabins 'cause I'm hoping to be buying a house soon. The red in the center represents the hearth and what better project to work the mojo for house-getting? Besides, making popholders is good short attention span sewing.
Soon there will be navy sock yarn for Doc's socks and some Knitpicks' superwash for the Worsted-Stocking Knave.