Tag: finished objects

The Scoop.

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Here’s what I’ve been up to, now that I have a moment to reflect (and all projects/gifts for the holidays have been distributed).

A hat for my friend Hannah:

A shawl for Jacob’s mom:
Fingerless glovies for my sister:
Ear warmers (to pull over a bike helmet) for Jacob:
And a hat for Chrissy (the LUCKY recipient of a work White Elephant):

 Phew! Those are the gifts. now for the other stuff…

I wanted to make a fancy skirt for our annual Christmas party, so I went into my ever-growing fabric stash and used some (i think) silk from the Center for Creative Reuse. I used Gertie’s skirt tutorial, but made the waistband much wider, put the zipper in the center back of the skirt, lined it, added pockets, and added volume with a layer of tulle. Also, the blind hem is so lovely. Please excuse the awk selfies. The last pic is from my friend John (the one I’m kissing on the cheek!)

When I was at my parents this past weekend, I went to the PA Fabric Outlet. WOW. I will be going there again for sure. Leather hides, $2/yard table, buttons, zippers, tassles, ribbon… it just was a rando fabric heaven. I got a beautiful piece of buttery mauve leather, a bunch of zippers, some silk and some cotton knits. Here’s a pic:

and here’s some of what i bought:
So that’s about it! To put it simply, things have been really crafty around here!

folded!!

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I finished my folded sweater.

During the last moment of packing for a quick trip for a Florida wedding, I grabbed the project bag from the pile and threw it in my suitcase. I proceeded to work tirelessly since all I had left was ¼ of an arm, and then the yoke. I can’t imagine what people thought of me on the plane– I was furiously knitting and attaching dangly sleeves to body and then working in the “folds” with 3 DPNs along with the long bendy circulars. BUT TRIUMPH I HAVE. This sweater is DONE.

I tried it on right when i cast off, and was rather nonplussed by the fit. I blocked it and sneaked a try on before it was 100% dry and oh my. its perfect. Ill get some pictures this weekend.

Happy.

always keeping busy

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I made the “placket dress” I hinted at previously. the buttons are little wooden guys from joanns. It was a good learning experience, but I did a sloppy job. At worst, its a suitable house dress. At best, I can wear it to work with a cardigan. I based it loosely on the Colette Patterns Sorbetto, but I removed the pleat in the pattern piece, and lengthened about 14". The major issue was the bias tape facing did not get along very well with the placket. The fabric is some poly silky material, and I used leftover cotton bias tape.. not the best mix. Here is a bad pic:

I also made a dress from the Japanese Stylish Dress Book. I LOVE it. Its shapeless with a ridiculous amount of ease in the back, but its my favorite thing I’ve made so far this year. I made the smallest size, even though the “size chart” advised me to make it two sizes bigger. If you want to buy this book, beware: you pretty much have to trace the pattern pieces (vs just cutting them out) because the 27 patterns are all on top of each other on 3 double sided giant pages. I suppose that is the “right way” to use patterns, but I usually take the lazy route and just cut out the pattern pieces straight from the pattern. I found it very time consuming to trace the pattern pieces with tracing paper, and then add seam allowances. Maybe thats how they do it in Japan. (Also, after I took this picture, i added a strip of the dark fabric at the bottom to lengthen the dress a bit– it was very short before).

I’ll try to get some better pics of all the stuff ive made recently soon… I feel a little silly having mini “photo shoots,” especially with my crappy iphone camera. On the other hand, I want to document everything because sometimes I forget all the stuff I’ve made.

Today some friends and I are having a go at dyeing fibers. We are using onion skins. I’ve been scouring every grocery store to find dyestuffs, which got me some weird looks from cashiers and other shoppers. To dye, I have some knit cotton/modal and some stripey-eyelety cotton, as well as two skeins of worsted lamb’s pride, which is mostly wool with a little mohair. I hope the yarn turns out, if it does it might turn into a Lonely Tree Shawl! We’ll see how it goes!!!!

round up + what’s next.

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i’ve made 3 tank tops from 3 different patterns so far:

1:  (top left) Wiksten tank. Pattern cost = $8.50. I made this first, and it is the most simple. No darts (probably won’t make again because of it). I like the pocket.

2: (top right) Deer and Doe Datura blouse. Pattern cost = ~$20. The construction of this top is very professional and its fun to make. It includes variations for two types of collars. Will make again.

3: (bottom) Collette Patterns Sorbetto tank. Pattern cost = pattern is FREE. Has darts and a front pleat. Took me about 3 hours to make. I did an inverse box pleat and hid the bias tape. Will make again.

(I think its about time to move on to a new type of garment, and i think i am banning myself from any more florals…)

Next I am planning a sleeveless Hawthorn with some beautiful greenish bluish linen, and also I NEED TO FINISH my Folded sweater.

In other news, I’ve got some sticky bun dough rising in the kitchen…. mmmmmmm!

currently listening: sound of silver, lcd soundsystem (what else on the longest day of the year??)

a Cladonia.

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i finished my cladonia! I started it right before Christmas so I would have some “home for christmas knitting.” i finished almost all of the striped portion when i was home, and finished the lace through mid january. since i used heavier yarn than the pattern specified, i adjusted the edging to be just garter stitch and i used the suspended bind off (not tight, but not terribly stretchy. its truly perfect!). i love it and its very warm and big.

pre blocking (with napping Boyfriend):

blocking:
wearing!

on a slightly different note, i got some organizers for christmas, the roll-up, zippered kind. i took this as a sign that i needed to organize all my sewing supplies that had been all shoved haphazardly in a big box. it was really bad. as i was going through all my sewing stuff, i came upon my WIPs from years past. i decided to finish a dress that i had cut out but not sewn. i spent the rest of the weekend working on it, but i was pretty disappointed with the finished product. it doesn’t fit right, which is very annoying.

next up: i am finishing my shadow sweater (only have the two arms left!! they are ¾ sleeves! come on!)

pre-december buzz.

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i meant to make curtains for our entryway to the living room last year, but i didn’t get around to it in time, so this year i made it a priority to keep out the drafts before winter arrived. the entrance to our living room is right by our front door, so it gets really drafty when its cold out. i’ve had a bolt of “vintagey” marines fabric from the thrift store sitting around for years. i got the whole thing for $10, i couldn’t pass it up. a few weeks ago it occurred to me that they would make really neat curtains. i got some red backing fabric and corner weights at joanns. i totally recommend getting weights, i LOVE the results, they hang so nicely. we finally installed the hold-backs this weekend, so its picture time!

my fiddlehead mittens are almost half-done. i got some orange yarn to line them, so they will be extra warm! i love love love the blue sky alpacas yarns, they are so soft and nice to knit with. im getting pretty speedy with two-stranded knitting– i started the second mitten last night. i want to do the colorwork first, then block them, and then knit in the liner.

i planted the paperwhite bulbs i bought in california. i cant believe how easy they are to “plant” and how wonderful the payoff is of watching them grow and bloom! all you do is stick the bulb in a container with rocks and fill the water to cover half the bulb, and watch the magic. 

also, christmas is getting into full swing here, i started christmas cookies. jacob’s special request were buckeyes, he’s already put a big dent in them, so i think ill have to make more before our christmas party.

here’s our tree! we haven’t decorated yet, so heres the raw thing:

twirl.

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i finished my hat on the plane to california. it was pretty funny because i wanted to finish it night before but couldn’t, and when we got to the gate we immediately boarded, so i feverishly did the final decreases on the takeoff, and pretty soon into the flight i completed it and attached the tassels. it was an early morning flight, so most people were sleeping or groggy, but i was doing a little dance of happiness in my plane seat.

UPDATE: here’s a pic of the finished hat:

california was so beautiful, but the most fiber-related part of the trip happened in a yarn store in Petaluma. Knitterly was the most wonderful little place. i took a walk around, noticing and petting all the pretty skeins, and then i came back to the front of the store, almost about to walk out without purchasing anything, and then i found the most breathtaking (seriously..) display of yarn i had ever happened upon.

handspun, pre-center pulled balls of yarn nestled in white tissue in wide, shallow blueberry boxes were stacked on (i think) a picnic table with bench “shelves.” i lost all interest in anything but this, and touched every single ball of yarn. some of the yarn was undyed and ranged from a very dark dark gray black to a light brown mocha to a wonderful light smoke. the dyed colors were reds, purples, blues and greens. i must have picked up almost every ball to consider purchasing it.

one of the employees saw my enchantment and explained to me that the yarn was made by a woman in Napa who lives on a farm with all of the animals who provide their wool to make the yarn. she shears, cleans, spins and dyes all the yarn herself! on the labels she includes the names of each animal who contributed to the finished product. the kind employee also told me that this wonderful fiber artist started out not using dyes, but once she made some herself, she couldn’t resist the amazing colors she could achieve. the yarn is only sold in two stores, knitterly and another store in downtown san francisco, and sells out very, very quickly. it is also ridiculously reasonably priced.

i deliberated about what yarns to get for a very long time. i settled on two bright grass green balls, and two medium heathery gray ones. i plan to make a cladonia striped shawl with these beauties.

bravo, california.

FO’s to report.

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theres a lot in progress here in the emilyWools craft room. this weekend i made:

1. a lace collar from a thrift store shirt (total cost: $3).

i looked for a peter-pan collar necklace at several stores, but all i found were low-quality, overpriced styles that weren’t quite right. frustrated, i went to goodwill and i happened to find a woven shirt with a lace collar. i cut it off from the shirt and then sewed a ribbon over the cut edge. im not quite sure how much i love it yet, but im excited to try it this weekend with the pictured polka-dot dress.
2. peacock costume tail. i sewed hot glued the felt “feathers” together, and then i also hot-glued them to the tulle. i originally attached the feathers to ribbons and they dangled down by themselves, but they kept falling to the back of the tulle and you couldn’t see them, so i resorted to gluing them to the tulle. i also started out sewing the felt pieces together with metallic gold thread, which looked awesome, but was just way too time intensive for a halloween costume. im happy with how this has turned out!!!

3. im also THISCLOSE to finishing my norby hat. i love love love the yarn for this project. pics when its finished! i am pretty sure ill finish before i leave for my trip, so i have some colorwork mittens lined up, as well as the sleeves to my sweater for travelling knitting. 
(OH! by the way i seamed the front + back of the sweater. i also did the inner collar knitting/tackdown, but im really dissapointed with it. i think i need to use a more sturdy yarn, and do some decreases on the first row. so i will have to redo that, but i want to finish the arms first. im proud of my progress with it, though!!)

baby blanket.

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i finished the baby blanket! i used a multi-color cotton batik and a polka-dot flannel. i spent a while in the fabric store trying to find two flannels that looked good together, but as i was unsurely carrying around several bolts i happened upon the batik and thought it was so pretty. i like the pink bias tape for the color pop, too.

the tutorial was easy to follow, but im a little disappointed in my sewing skills… you wouldn’t think it would be so difficult to sew three rectangles into a little quilt, but whoa was i wrong. it took a lot of patience to cut out each piece correctly, and then to sew the bias tape on to the blanket. i can only hope mom-to-be and baby Gemma enjoy it. it took about 3 1 hour sessions to complete, and it cost about $25 to make. i considered making my own bias tape, but i think i will save that undertaking for a future project.