Only a Half Dozen Different Things

First, an arctiid moth, because they're cool.

Second, an FO. This is Meditations on the Holy Mother, Leto by Diana Rozenshteyn. I used size 3's and lace weight, so it ended up being more scarf-sized than stole-sized, but it drapes beautifully. The brown is Misti Alpaca Lace in NT-304 and the green is Knit Picks Shadow in Lost Lake. The Shadow was deep stash from 2009 and the Misti Alpaca was from 2013. That's 819 yards out of stash, bringing my annual totals up to 6,287 yards in 14 projects. The sizing and yarn choices were the only modifications, but if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have done the provisional cast-on since the ends of the scarf/stole aren't particularly directional.

 Third, a cake! The eldest wanted a Steven Universe-themed birthday party, so of course I made an appropriately themed cake. This is a show that I would recommend to just about anyone. It's goofy and silly in a lot of places, but there's also a complexity to the characterization that's slowly revealed over the course of the show. You can watch this one with littles, but some of the more emotional parts might even make the grownups cry (ONLY A LITTLE! ::sobsobsob::).

Fourth, some crochet. This is from the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework and if you clicky that link, you'll find that there's a familiar photo under this particular pattern. Turns out that one wasn't in Ravelry's database yet.

This is going to be something for the holiday table and I'm using some ancient and venerable handspun stash that was too skritchy for pretty much anything else.

I also finished the drawing of Princess Luna I'd been working on. The app has been updated since I finished, which I hope means more versatility. I'm still learning how to get the most out of it and I hope to be drawing more-- not just fan art, but just more in general. 

Lastly, something for Mom. She's pretending to crochet here and wrapping the yarn around the hook several times, but she kind of has the idea.

Wise Friendship, plus tiny socks

I finished a wee little pair of socks this week, Bu's Short Socks in some leftover Crystal Palace Maizy Print. They were only a wee squidge over a hundred yards and it's likely she'll grow out of them before the month is out, but she loves them in other capacities as well. Here she demonstrates that they make superb mittens, but they might also serve as a hat for a monkey. She's a happy customer and really, that's about all I can hope for.

Nothing sweeter than a little hugging a sock

I've shifted from sewing back to knitting, mostly because it's recital week and my afternoons are occupied with hauling kids around and practices and whatnot. That leaves precious little sewing time, but I'm hoping I can pick it up again when the recital is done. 

The Apollo test is still underway, but I have discovered that I'd been knitting a ruffle instead of a neat dodecagon. The increases were too rapid. I suppose it would help if I'd ever knit a circular shawl before, but I'm going to put the learning in my pocket to use later and then move along to the next stage of design: rip the darn thing and start over. It wasn't very big to start with and I already have more, new, better ideas about how to shape it, so it's not really a loss at all. It's part of the process.

I am not sorry about any of this

I've been spinning, too, and I've finished half the black alpaca singles, which is a good thing because the Middle TN Fiber festival was last weekend and I may have come home with a pound of polworth that I intend to dye and a couple other things as well. The best part, though, was hanging with my friends from near and far and discovering that they are awesomer in person than they are online. The whole weekend was delightful and I really wish the far friends weren't so far.

After the black alpaca gets spun up and plied, my next two spinning projects are this:

And this:

The first one is 100% silk from Rain's Obsessive Stitchery, which I've never spun before, but it's a gorgeous coppery color that doesn't quite come through in pictures. The batt is a lovely gradient from Lunabud Knits and I have two similar in purple, turquoise, and black. The above two beauties aren't even mine (honest!), but I am afforded the joy of spinning them for my very dear Koren, who won a "spin some fiber for me" prize during our last round of stashdown. She picked out the fiber this weekend and it came home with me and my polworth (&etc.). 

This is what it looks like when I run

I've also been running and I'm stuck on week 5 of couch to 5k, but I'm hoping to conquer it this week. It's only a matter of time. I shall wear week 5 down with persistence and determination and then proceed to give week 6 the hairy eyeball. I'm comin' for you, week 6. You're next.

I do love a good flow chart

I decided to make a skill tree so that I can figure out some specific things to do toward my Project Make goals, namely "Produce excellence" and "Become skilled." Those goals are pretty vague, but learning to warp a loom is a specific skill I can acquire and/or improve. I've since added to this particular chart and will probably need separate charts for each craft, but this has been a good exercise in turning vague goals into specific actions. I can't remember why I wrote "wise friendship," but I feel like I've had a lot of that going on this week and that it's not irrelevant to achieving my Project Make goals, so it's timely and appropriate. Good friends are certainly supportive of your crazy ideas in ways that help you be better. 

No techniques this week. There's been a lot of switching back and forth between current projects, which I hope results in some more FOs during Stash Dash. I'm participating in a completely unofficial capacity, but there's a spreadsheet nonetheless. Dress rehearsal is today (Thursday) and the recitals are Friday and Saturday, so I'm hoping I can get some FOs by blogtime next week when things have calmed down a bit. 

May Flowers

I can't even with how pretty she is.

This week has been pretty busy and intense as those of us at the House are leading into Thargelia and the end of the school year. Dance rehearsals are eating up much of our weekends right now and I've been working on Iris' dress for Spring Formal most of the week. It's finally finished and she's totally and completely in love with it. Even while I was mom-scowling at her to get her to take it off, I was secretly giggling with joy that she loves it so much.

Her Aunt Erin and Uncle Bob are planning to send drones to keep ne'er-do-wells away, and I would just about let them, but she's strong, opinionated, has no tolerance for BS, and can kick like a mule.

It's nice to have a big project done, though. This is a discontinued Simplicity pattern from ages ago, #9484, the one with the very cranky-looking model in maroon on the left. The pattern was sewn more or less as written with some alterations for size and a few deviations in technique. Rather than attempting to pull the entire bustier through a small hole in a lining seam to turn it right side out, I stitched the top, bottom, and one side seam and then turned it right side out through the other side seam.The final seam is hidden when the back is buttoned, but since the other seams are top-stitched, it really doesn't look all that different from the others.

Shawl designing continues apace and occasionally takes up more couch than I do. So far, I'm liking what's happening with the first little test knit, though I'm going to have to get some appropriately-sized circular needles if I'm going to go any further on the actual knitting.

So far, I'm liking the denser fabric that's coming off of the 2's and it's showing off some of the texture a little better than larger needles would do. I'm not sure what it's going to do with some of the lace elements, but I think it's going to be alright.

So far, so good!

With any luck, I'll have a pattern at least ready to be tested at the end of Project Make. Even though the learning curve is kinda high here, I'm enthusiastically taking it on because it's all about learning how to do something to the best of your ability. I don't know what my ability is in shawl design and writing a pattern, but it's going to be interesting to find out.

Brickless and Leto have gotten a fair bit of attention during morning coffee time and some occasional nocturnal knitting has garnered me some progress on my legwarmers, too. There are some things that have necessarily been put on the back burner because of time constraints and projects that have deadlines, but I have been very productive this week. On top of all this, I'm maintaining my exercise schedule, laundry is getting done and I even tidied up in my room, vacuumed, and made dinner every night. This may not last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it does.

This week's technique is all about boning. There are several types, but I used Rigilene boning in the bustier above, which can be sewn directly to the garment and doesn't require a casing. The video below shows what I used at 3:57, but it's worth it to watch the whole 15min.

There's a lot blooming, both figuratively and literally, here at the House and it's exhausting, but beautiful, but exhausting, and awesome.

Project bags and Bu shirts are up next in the queue. Have a happy Thargelia!

Something old, something new, and something cool on the other side of fear

Every time I go outside, I walk around my yard to look for flowers and it always seems to me as though there are never enough. It really is a whole lot greener out here, but what I really want is more purple, more yellow, more blue, more red, more everything. So every year, I plant more. Some things make it, some don't, some just kind of barely hang on to dear life until they either throw in the towel or until I figure out that they need more sun or better soil or something of that nature. Where am I going with this? I don't know. Flowers are pretty. There should be more.

And I have a thing about irises. These buttery yellow ones came from Bekah and the ones that came from Mom are about to bloom.

There are also muffins-- lots and lots of muffins. I found a basic recipe that uses a tablespoon of baking powder, which is really great if you're trying to get rid of baking powder. It's almost Thargelia and I think one more pass through the cabinets and the freezer and I can get rid of most everything that's more than a month old. I never can get quite everything, but I do seem to get a little closer each year.

This is the perfect time to cultivate new things growing and to transform old things into new things. That's where I am in Project Make as well. 

The project bags I'd started are still sitting draped over my sewing machine, waiting to be stitched, mainly because I've started on the eldest's Spring Formal dress. It feels like I'm training for prom because the dress, which is really a top and a skirt, is meant to be beautiful and elegant. The color is perfect for her and she will be the most beautiful princess at the ball.

My only concern is that it's sleeveless and to be held up by gravity, friction, prayers, and a little boning. It's not so much that I'm not sure I'm up to the task as far as technical skill, but really more that my baby is thirteen and I simultaneously have the urge to purchase a firearm and feel a little like a bad parent for making a bustier for her. 

Of course, that said, she's a confident young woman and I'm looking forward to the challenge of this particular design. The pattern is an old one from my pattern stash and I'm glad she found one from there that she liked. I'm looking forward to watching this transform as I work. 

And I have new yarn. I saved my spending cash for quite a few weeks and managed to go to Stitches South with about three times my normal budget. This is the entirety of what I came out with, aside from a pear-scented Lo-lo bar from The Barmaids. The best part of the trip was hanging out with my besties, meeting the most delightful people that I'd only previously known online, and watching yarn vendors flirt with Bu. The yellow yarn on the far left was from such a vendor, A Hundred Ravens, and happens to be in a colorway named Apollo. 

When I started Project Make, I thought I might be tweaking my sewing skills a little, learning some more about weaving, or maybe trying a new heel or two on socks. I didn't think I'd be taking on something as daunting as planning a circular shawl. I've never done it before and have a great fear that it'll suck as a design, but I'm poking along anyway because there might be something cool on the other side of that fear. 

This week's technique is the cast on I'm using to start the shawl. If it has a name, please do tell. I just kind of made this up as I went. Because I wanted to work it from the center out, I started with just a few stitches and increased from there. The intended shape is twelve-sided, but you could make any number of increases with this method. For the dodecagon:

CO 3 sts

1. As though knitting I-cord, kfb in all three stitches (6 sts)

2. Continue as though you were knitting I-cord and knit all 6 sts

3. kfb in each stitch, transferring stitches to three DPNs as you go (12 sts: 4sts/needle)

4. And all even rounds Knit around

5. (k, yo, k) into each stitch (36 sts)

7. *k 1, (k, yo, k) into one st, k1* repeat around (60 sts) (If desired, transfer to four DPNs: 15sts/needle)

9. *k2, (k, yo, k) into one st, k2* repeat around (84 sts)

11. *k3, (k, yo, k) into one st, k3* repeat around (108 sts)

And so on, adding one to the number of stitches on each side of the increases.

I'm also working on transforming myself. Week 4 of couch to 5k hasn't killed me yet, so I'm going to keep on truckin'. I can't wait to see what blooms next.

Soon.

Relax, Cupcake!

Kirk's Cupcake

So, this is not actually a picture of my husband. It's not far off, though.

I know this will come as a shock to all of you, but Husband and I are pretty big in the Star Trek geek department. One of us writes fanfic, one of us plays STO, and between the both of us, we could tell you just about anything from TOS to the most recent movie.

There's nothing sexier than a big nerdy guy who's trained in take-down techniques and knows what you mean when you say your gaming group is going to be on an Akira-class ship in the new Trek campaign. Yeah, that's nerdiness to the nth degree, I tell you what.

My Cupcake

This is Husband. You'll note he's got more hair up top. I kinda miss the beard, which he has since shaved off. sigh What a handsome guy.

Anyway, enough of that nonsense. The stress that always comes this time of year when school starts and there are a hundred different things gearing up has finally begun to subside. It's also the middle of Birthdaypalooza here at the house, mine having just passed, the little one's being tomorrow, and the big man's coming up in October.

Making cake is fun and it's not often that I decide to really do it up bigtime. Really, Chekov/Sulu-related fic fests and Bubby's birthday are about it. Now, I'm not a gourmet cupcake-making person, I don't have much in the way of specialty equipment, but my artist's heart likes to come out and play with color, no matter what the medium may be.

We started with Pillsbury "Funfetti" cake batter because that's what she wanted and then dropped in some food coloring until it was just the right shade of pale blue-green. Now, I never can get quite two dozen out of a box mix and, being that there are 21 kids in her class and her teacher deserves a cupcake, too, I had to make the full two dozen. I ended up cracking open my trusty Joy of Cooking and flipped to a quickie cake recipe. In this case, "quickie" means that we used the 'lectric mixer. Y'know, like "quickie" mashed potatoes.

With food, it can be good or it can be fast. Rarely is it both.

Anyway, I whipped that up and voilá! More than enough batter! I actually made sixteen more cupcakes than were needed. They were slightly flatter than their box-cake counter parts, but that could have been easily fixed. I think I was a little batter-stingy toward the end, there. I'm particularly pleased that when I tried one of the surplus, it was soft and fluffy and cake-like where my previous homemade cake attempts had been...

...dense.

Birthday Cupcakes

Those are cupcake-flavored goldfish on the top and I was quite pleased how the combination of blue and green decorating spray made a lovely sea green/ocean blue. That stuff is amazing and I feel like a dang genius.

In the interest of full disclosure, Little Bit did most of the box-cake mixing and baking, reading the instructions, measuring, and putting the first batch in the oven. The only thing I did was mix while she very carefully added food coloring and measure out batter into cups. Bedtime came before decorating time, but she could have done all of this herself. I'm proud of how self-sufficient she is becoming and while baking cupcakes isn't an essential life skill, knowing how to read and interpret recipe directions (or any kind of directions) is. With these tools, I don't have to worry whether she'll be able to feed herself good food when she grows up. Whether she chooses to is another matter; at least she'll be able to.

Today has been quite relaxing, as was yesterday. I actually spent some time on the Echo Flowers shawl (which Little Bit is convinced is going to be hers) and carding and spinning some hand-dyed wool. It's beet/curry flavored, which makes for an exciting orangey color. I'm a little excited to try out some cream of tartar/alum mordant for my next batch involving some shriveled-up beets in my crisper. I had intended to try to make a further dent in the llama, but did this instead. I needed the break.

I needed the break from school and from all the responsibilities that seem to pile up quicker than compost at a commune and I had that opportunity today. I hope this will allow me to face the coming weeks with renewed strength. I think it will.