Frittering

It was another full day of knitting, though if I am honest, when I say full day, it was really only a couple of hours.  It really means that I spent most of the day reading and frittering away my time.  

Frittering away time might be a waste but if humanity never frittered away our time, we would never have advanced beyond stone tools.  Someone back in the mists of time, was just sitting, and thinking. They had enough frittering time to notice that the sharp edge of a stone could cut things and they wondered if they could make a stone sharp enough to cut too.  And someone, somewhere in time, had a moment to notice that when they twisted fibres left in a bush by a passing sheep or bison, or from a broken branch of a tree, that they became stronger.  Never underestimate the power of frittering away time.  

My frittering was mostly connected to spinning and the debate of do I want to join the Tour de Fleece this year.  I tried last year, but in hindsight, I was not even close to healthy enough to participate and this year, I think I will spend my time getting my sewing begun for winter.    And my knitting.  Some fairly serious work needs to happen on my sock drawer.  

I did let my mind wander while I was knitting too.  While that was going on, I got a fair bit done on my green Elton sweater.  I completed the flawed sleeve so now both are done.

 I also completed one of the buttonbands. 

One more button band to go and the neckband, neither of which will take to  long, so I expect to finish this lovely thing up sometime today or tomorrow.

 If I keep my head focussed on the knitting and don't fritter too much.

Sigh

I spent my whole day knitting today.  It was great and I was getting very close to the end of the second sleeve till I noticed this.   

One sleeve with decreases neatly marked and a second sleeve almost done with nary a decrease done at all.  Sigh.  

I pulled back several colour sections, but not all to the beginning of the decreases.  If I increase just a wee bit more often, ie, every section not just alternating four row sections, I will catch up and no one will be the wiser.

It won't take long at all till I am back in the groove and the sleeve will be done.  Then it is only the neck and button bands that need knitting and the sweater will be mine.

 The really great thing?  I gave it a quick try on before I picked up stitches for the second sleeve and it looks really good.  I think this could be one for the ages.

Tomorrow is also going to have some sewing.  There is a piece of fabric, a lovely apple/acid sort of green and a matching floral piece that is another of the colours that I would love to wear. The delay sewing this has been will the plain green be a jumper, a dress or pants?  I bought it for pants, but then I thought my pinafore would be the thing and then I thought a dress, but with the linen that is on the way, I think I have enough dresses.  I finally made a decision today.  

It will be none of the above.  A skirt.  It will be a skirt.  Maybe.  I am a bit wibbly on decisions.

Delivered

The sweater was delivered for the last day of school.  He loved the pockets.  

However, I really wish I had knit one size bigger and at least an inch longer on the body and sleeves.  This guy is growing so fast.  

Finishing

It was indeed a weekend for finishing up.  It seldom happens as I planned it but this weekend, my heart was in it.  It had a lot to do with a phone call from Marcus asking if I thought I could have the sweater ready for before school ends.  

There is one wee thing I will do tomorrow morning but it is done and he loves it.  Now to see if it fits.  He requested long sleeves and a nice long bottom so it would last for a long time and I hope that this is exactly right.

I did some other knitting too.  I am getting very close to the end of sleeve one.  Tomorrow morning I will give it a try on to see if I have the length I want and if not I will do another colour row and a couple of green rows before the ribbing.

I love the way this is looking and can't wait to be able to wear it.

And then with those things done, all there was to do was to finish the bias trim and hemming on my dress.

I am quite happy with this one.  I shortened the top a bit through the shoulders.  The others were just a wee bit too deep for me with my shorter than average shoulder to full bust measurement. 

 I plan to wear it tomorrow and test out if this cut is right for a perfect sleeveless dress.

Now that Marcus' sweater is complete, it is time to make a blanket for my wee Everett.  He is almost six months old and the slow down of winter knitting means grandma didn't make him anything yet.  I have a plan and just need to get my supplies sorted out.  Digging for that later this week.

Anyway, the day was a practically perfect one, and this evening there are some thunder showers around.  The air is fresh and clean and it is just wonderful.  How lucky I am.
 

This Weeks Mantra

It was a splendid day.  The weather was perfect for sitting outside and doing something and that is exactly what I did.

First thing in the morning I cut out a dress, my now standard hack of the Ashton Top from Helen's Closet, from the lovely sea green linen I had on hand.  

Like a lot of greens, it looks rather dim and grey but honestly it is just my sort of colour.  I have always loved the greyed down tones that seem to be all over the place (well, at least at my fabric store) these days.  I can't wait to see the next batch of linen.  

As you can see, I got the dress sewn and the bias tape ready to go, so all that is needed is to attach the bias tape and finish that and to hem the dress.  That will be tomorrows work.

Then I took Marcus' sweater outside and I sewed up the side seams.  I had thought about weaving in ends, but it was much too nice a day for that.  I got another project and just knit away.  

The other project was my Fleece Artist 2/8 BFL Elton sweater.  I knit for quite a while outside before I had to go in to get out of the sun.  (Sun can react with one of my meds so I cannot ever be out for too long).  It was lovely to be out but even more lovely, My Elton is long enough that it is ready for the bottom ribbing.  Or at least I think it is.  I measured just before coming to my room for the night and I thought it said 15 inches.  I need to put a couple rows of the plain green on, and the ribbing which ought to make it the perfect length.  After that, sleeves and button bands and we are ready to wear it!

If I am not mistaken, the Blue River Adam and Eve Elton is almost at the same point.  Or maybe just past it.  I will check into that tomorrow.  But mostly, I will finish the dress, work on the Green Elton and finish Marcus sweater.  

Finishing is my mantra this week.  

A Rare Finished Object.

This morning, I had the choice to sew or knit.  I chose to knit.

I finished the knitting on Marcus sweater.  There are still a myriad of ends to weave in and the sides to sew up but the knitting is complete.  I can finish the last bits evenings watching movies.

I completed the neckband only moments ago.  I wanted to show how I made the pockets.  At first I thought I would knit two ordinary pockets but the more I thought about that, the more I wasn't happy with it.  I ended up making a bunny hug type pouch that went from the top of the slits down to the start of the ribbing.  I picked up stitches across the 'M' and picked up along the pocket opening sides each row

and then as I went down below the pocket opening, just picked up in the same row all the rest of the way down.  Along the bottom, I picked up and bound off the pocket lining with first row of ribbed stitches.  It looks very tidy and neat. 

I haven't quite sorted out how I am going to figure out how to crisp up the blue side of the M along the pocket opening.  It rolls a bit so it could use either a pick up and knit row or a quick row of crochet to beef it up.  

I am pretty pleased with the way the whole project worked out and I only hope Marcus likes it as much as I liked knitting it.

Joy

It was a hard weekend too.  Midknit Cravings and my favourite fabric store online had sales on things I particularly loved.  

Midknit Cravings had stock on hand for fifteen percent off and there are so many colours that it was very hard to resist.  I stayed strong though.  I have so many many good yarns on hand including more of their yarns besides the delicious Pesto Comfort Sport, that I need to knit.  It pretty much killed me to miss some of those stunning colourways.  

And then Fabricville.  They had linens on sale at up to forty percent off.  The ones at the forty percent were rayon blends but it took the price of other lovely linen down to a level where I seriously thought about buying. 

This morning when I got up, I felt strong and safe, knowing  that the sales were both done. And then I checked my email.  

Fabricville had one line of linen on their Buy One, Get Two Free page.  That means a whole dress or top or pants for the price of one meter.  I caved and am very pleased.  I got several colours and am thrilled.  And now I just have to figure out how I will use it.  

I played in the yarn today.  It was time for a good dig to make sure that all is well and clean and all the packages are sealed and fresh.  And they are.  

Going through yarn can be a very happy thing but it also can be sad.  Sad that it is all I have left to me of that life before and happy because I am rich in the things I love to do.  It isn't a fair trade but whoever said that life is fair.  I have troop of lovely little boys and and amazing granddaughter  and plenty of things to keep me busy and fulfilled.  

It is 10 years this summer since Brian is gone. I hate that he isn’t here and I still miss him with every breath I take but I will take what the world sees fit to give me and live with a deep profound sense of joy in all the things I do have.

Dizzy weekend.

It was a mixed up, dizzy sort of weekend.  

F1 was at Canada in Montreal this weekend, so qualifying and the race was midday.  It was great because I didn't have to wake early or otherwise try to fit my schedule around it, but that meant that the usual daily routine was untethered to normal.  That is a good thing once in a while.  Keeps you on your toes.

That sort of unsettled showed up in my knitting too.  

First thing I completed were the sleeves on Marcus' sweater.  

Only pockets and the neckband still to knit so I am getting very close to a completed project.  I wasn't ready to start on the pockets.  That will take a bit of thought and race time is not when to knit something that needs thinking.

I picked up the perfect race knitting.  The always brilliant seventh Sock Monkey Cabin Blanket .  

This seventh is for Amy's sister and it is somewhere between a third and a half complete.  As I said, seventh one of these and still a really great knit. Looking at it warms the cockles of my heart.  Blankets are a large thing though and I did find it a bit heavy to work on, so I switched to socks.  

These are the only plain socks that are on the go at the moment.  All the other pairs have some patterning happening and a plain pair is best when your mind has two things to track.  It felt very odd to knit with the little needles.  It has been a good long while since I worked on socks.  Too long.

And when the race was done (It was a really great race) I worked on my sweater with the stunning Pesto colourway from Midknit Cravings.  

It is long enough under the sleeves that it is ready for a try on. That will happen tomorrow though.  

The freezer needs to be sorted through to see what is all in there and while I am at it, I might as well clean the fridge too.  The freezer seems to always be full yet we are often out of the stuff we usually eat.  I suspect it has to do with last summers produce.  There are some cherries from last year that deserve to be eaten so I will make a cherry grunt or cobbler, or possibly a cherry pie.  I can see the cherry tree outside and there are a myriad of cherries growing and filling in for this years harvest.  I want to do better at harvesting them and preserving them for winter.  I hate such a tasty resource go to waste.  Cleaning and sorting the freezer is a big part of getting ready for harvest.  

There will probably be some knitting too, but I really want to get this chore out of the way so I can play the whole rest of the week.  Time to get on the move.

Bluster and Blubbering

The weather system stayed and did provide some rain.  However it is also providing blustery winds and cold temperatures.  It is supposed to be only 16 C today which is not rare but after the heat of recent days, it feels really cold.  I am in winter layers and I am profoundly grateful that I have plenty of wool at hand.  

I am watching out the windows today and in the ball field across from us, I can see a sheen of water over the red sand infield.  That reminds me of making the water run when I was a kid.  

We used to go out after a rain and help the puddles drain by connecting channels and making the water move down whatever slight slope there was.  It was even better in spring when the melting snow fed the puddles and you could make the water run for a few days in a row.  A stick was your best friend and you connected all the small pools by marking a line in the soft mud to connect them, and connect the next and the next, hundreds of little channels with the water running faster, till you had a big river of flowing water and the pools above were empty.  Sadly in many places, we have manicured the world so kids cannot do this anymore.  We have paved and graveled and smoothed our yards and places to avoid mud, as if mud was something bad and to be avoided. It is inconvenient when kids track mud in or get mud on their shirts and pants, but maybe they should have been in clothes we did not worry about getting dirty, knowing the rest would wash off in the tub.  

I find a sort of joy in kids who are much too busy to focus on the dirt on their knees or the mud on their shoes and their faces.  Perhaps that is because I am a grandmother now and not a mom.  

 I am knitting today, working on Marcus sweater.  I have an inch to do to finish the first sleeve and hope to finish sleeve two today as well.  After that, there is only the pockets and the neckband to go.  Those things will take more fussing time than knitting time, but I look forward to a speedy finish.  

On a sad note, Marcus and Cassie and their family have lost their oldest cat in surgery. Casper has been with them since Cass was a wee thing and has been Marcus' best buddy.  Through the winter, there were days where Marcus would call me everyday after school and say 'Hi Grandma, it's your daily dose of Casper' and he would have poor Casper ready by the phone.  Sometimes Casper would meow and sometimes not but it was a sweet funny thing to do and I have loved being part of it.  Odd as it seems, I am going to miss that kitty.  Farewell Casper.  I was so happy to have spent time with you.      

And here we are.

Here it is, front and back aligned and equal. 

The sleeves have begun.

It was the perfect day for knitting, not too hot, not too cool, only we did not get any rain like the city did.  I hope we get some before the system passes

The Straw That Broke the Camels Back

Just at the end of the day, I lay the sweater out to see what I needed for length to match the back.  And then I saw it.

There it is, in the top leg of the M.  The line of solid blue suddenly becomes yellow.  I had increased on the yellow on the wrong part of the M and not caught it.  That was it.  This was the straw that broke this camels back.

I was a bit upset but I also knew it gave me a chance to change a few things.  The pockets slits were a wee bit low, there were a couple places where I missed the cross that makes intarsia colour changes hole free and I had a decrease where there ought not to have been a decrease.   

I pulled back all of the mess and even a few rows more to fix an error I had not seen till I was ripping.  Then I reknit everything I did yesterday and took it a bit farther.  I just started the ribbing on the front when I called it a day.  I love knitting ribbing flat.  It will be so fast.  

I hope to get to sleeve one tomorrow.  Onward ho.

Back to Intarsia

I went for a walk yesterday and I walked all the way to the end of town.  Sounds impressive and it is.  However you are doing it right if you are giggling.  I live one house and yard away from the edge of town.  It is still a victory to me.  I couldn't do that for a goodly number of years, and I am thrilled that I even could try.  If the smoke stays as low as yesterday, I will do it again today.

After my adventures, I spent the whole day knitting.  It wasn't always knitting forward, but it was knitting.  

I bound off the bottom of the back on Marcus sweater.  Then it was time to address the front again.

As you can see, the front needs quite a bit more length to fit the body of my growing boy.  While I was knitting the back, I thought about adding pockets.  We had not talked about them and the long straight sides of the M were a perfect spot to put some in.  I had to go back a few rows anyway.  

The previously knit M had some slightly wider bits on the bottom that had to come off if I was going to make the M longer.  

Back to Intarsia.  Sigh.

First up, make the side yellow bit longer to match the back

 and then deep into the mess of yarn again.  It's not quite so bad as it was the first go round because there are only three balls of yarn rather than seven but still.  

I have to pin it out a bit to check on the length of things and to see how my pocket slits are fitting in to the whole garment, but I think it will be okay.  I have only a bit of the intarsia left (I think) and once i am on to plain yellow it will be smooth sailing and speedy knitting. 

Making the Bed

Today was a different day.  I was planning to sew the third dress today, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I could not.  My sewing room was discombobulated because Keith had to get to the modem and it is in the nook in that room.  He said he was going to put it back in order, but he fell asleep.  It will happen tomorrow.

Instead, I decided to work on the wee house stuff.  I wanted to finish up the trim on the bed.  First things first.  I took the yellowed trim off.  It just kept getting more yellow and I just did not like it.  Everything else is such a crisp white.  

I used a .75 mm hook instead of a .65 hook this time and that, coupled with knowing what kind of trim I wanted, made everything much faster.  I also went with two rows of the lacy looking loops.  The lace on the first go round was really too small.  You couldn't see it on the bed and I wanted it to be seen.

and here we are, the main bedding all done.  I may do a wee bolster style pillow with some very tiny embroidery on it and the same lacy edging.  I also might possibly stuff my pillows a bit more.  

I am so pleased with the way it turned out.  And it fits just right.  You will just be able to see the chamber pot hiding under the end of the bed and the owners slippers tucked under the side, when I get around to making them, that is.

The rest of the day was filled with some delightful play.  I ordered myself a gift and some wee books for the cabinet house.  

The gift is something really special.  I have admired the Royal School of Needlework's books for a long time.  This edition is five of the books bound ever so beautifully together.  I don't buy many hard cover books any more but this was a hardcover, find space on the shelf for it sort of treat.

My photos cannot begin to show you the beauty of this book.  It is described as a coffee table book because it is so lush, but it is also filled with interesting stitches and techniques.

While Keith is restoring my sewing room, I plan to read.  And dream.  For a very long time.  

A Little Knitting Too.

Seeing that I put two of the things I have to wear together for the turquoise dress, I thought I would show you what I put together for the blue linen (Which came out stain free.  Yippee)

This is a lovely Holden Shawl I made a few years ago out of some Drops Lin.  It's kind of a shame that this yarn was discontinued.  I loved it's more homespun nature (versus Louet linen or other linen yarns I have been able to find.) and its weight.  The shawl is one of my favourite things to wear in summer.

The shawl I showed with the turquoise dress is an Aestlight shawl.  

There is knitting going on too.  

I am working very hard on Marcus Giant M sweater.  The back is almost finished and now that I have it almost to length, I can see that I should add just a bit more to the M or it will look as if it is hanging not quite the right height.  This is positive because I am sort of playing around with the idea of adding slash pockets along side the outer edge of the M.  The sweater will be long enough and I am pretty sure he will like some nice little pockets.  

I am also getting in some time on my sweater in Pesto and Kelp from Midknit Cravings.  I never get too much done on it a day, but it is below the armpits now.  Another few days and it will be time for a try on.\

So good progress on all fronts, which is my kind of happy.

in spain

Another new summer dress

Here is the blue linen dress.  Very very simple but oh how I love it. 

I was wearing it today till I dripped cherry jam on it.  Honestly, I am such a child when it comes to making messes.  It went straight into the was before the stain could set.  Crossing fingers and hoping for the best.

The next dress was the lovely turquoise embroidered cotton and linen.  

I decided to sew in the facing that the pattern is meant for, for this dress.  The fabric is quite light weight and I think it will help keep its shape on the yoke.

I also was interested to discover if the facing would be quicker to sew than bias tape.  It wasn't.  They take about the same time to do, because the process for putting in a full bodice facing like this means burrito rolling the whole project and that takes up any time saving you may hope for.

I found some almost matching thread in the deep thread stash (Don't worry. This stash is not large. ) which allowed me to hand sew the hem without the worry of the thread peaking through.

And voila.  It looks a bit sack like hanging on this lonely hanger but on me, it looks fine.  

The really fun thing about this unusual blue?  I have a little shawl that is going to look glorious with it.  

 

A Good Time

I had a wonderful day today.  When it started out, I was feeling a little down.  I think I was missing Cassie and the sounds of a busy house.  

I stuck to my normal chores even if I did not feel like it and suddenly the laundry was done and it was only 10 a.m. and I magically felt like doing something fun.  I didn't want to knit all day and damage my hand again, so I decided to sew.  

I decided to sew my linen and cotton dresses.  I could really use some sleeveless comfortable airy dresses if summer is going to be hot.  I purchased some lovely dusty blue linen and a piece of embroidered cotton in a rich deep turquoise and another time, ordered another piece of linen, this time in a soft green.  I am using the Ashton Top pattern and just going longer on the A-line sides of the top.  I did that on a test with a black and white floral and it worked wonderfully well.  

I cut and sewed the blue linen and it is almost done.  It looks great and all I have left to do is the bias trims around neck and arm openings and the hem.  The trims may be completed by hand sewing. I haven't quite decided.  It isn't my favourite easy quick way to finish things, but I only use back and white thread to sew with these days.  Unless I want the bias finishes done with a visible white, I have to hand sew.  

The plan is to sew all the dresses first and then do any hand sewing so tomorrow, I want to get the the cotton dress cut out and sewed and maybe even to cut out the green linen.  I would do the linen first but I realized that I had not yet washed that batch of fabric.  It is in the machine now.

While I sew, I may also get the lovely knit fabrics ready.  They need to be washed and prepared for sewing too. Summer is barely started but I know how fast time flies and it is a heap of sewing that needs to be done before winter.   It is so much nicer when everything is just ready to sit down and start sewing.    

Pictures tomorrow.  There just was no time today. 

A cropped little top

It was a very busy weekend.  Cassie was here and we did some sewing.  She is really shaping up to be a good sewist/sewer. This weekend she decided she wanted to make a cropped top of a particular type.  It was designed from a top she saw in the stores with a wee bit of additional trim.

We based the design on the same peasant blouse design we used to make her tunic. 

She lay out the pattern pieces and did the cutting with only a little technical help from me. The fabric she chose was a bit challenging but she did a really good job dealing with the slippery rayon polyester knit.

She did all the sewing but for sewing the casing on the white trim.  She did such a great job.

She wanted to model it stylishly.  She also did not want me to put a photo of her here so this is severely cropped to show only the top.

I am really pleased with the way it turned out.  Next time we will go for a  different style, a tank or a blouse without sleeves and a collar. Something in a fabric that is NOT a knit or slippery rayon so that she can do all the finishing herself.

A day in Ordinary Time.

I sure wish I could knit more in a day.  Still the sweater is coming along very nicely and I think he will like it.    

 FYI, you are looking at the back and the blue M is blending with the black of my WIPs bin.

I mucked about with other things after knitting for a bit.

This is a wee dollhouse I have had for many years.  I got it because all I had was toys for boys and whenever a little girl came over, she had nothing to play with.  It stood the test of time and many many children playing with it.  It has even gone through a period where it may have been a garage of some kind because the little cars were in the bedroom and bigger cars where sitting on the sofa. Cassie started this but the boys eagerly joined.  Or maybe it was that cars need mommies and daddies too.  Hard to say.  

I do have some very little boys still but I think it is time to fix it up a bit just for fun.

 This is the inside of the house and the furniture that it came with or rather, almost all the furniture it came with.  The baby's crib is missing, though the mattress remains and the mom and pop's bed is missing too, but again, the mattress and pillow is here.  Pops may be off looking for the beds or he may be building them, because oddly enough, pops is missing too.  I am going to go through the rest of the toy boxes.  The missing bits may be tucked in with the cars or the action figures.  

There is a bit of repair work required on some of the furniture and it will all look much nicer if it is painted or stained.  The house is in need of flooring and wallpapering and painting, so there is lots to do.  I do want to make it a display house like my cabinet house but furniture for dollhouses at this 1/24 scale is much more than I want to pay.  It will take quite a while to make or to find pieces I can afford.  In the mean time, I will fix it enough for kids to enjoy playing with it and slowly, I will assemble the pretty pieces I want. 

In the mean time, I am planning the next step for the cabinet house: the fantastic garden.  There are plants to sort out and lawns to plant and 'concrete' patios to lay.  Lots to keep me busy till I gain my full ability to knit as much as I want.