Catching Up

I kinda fell off the blog-posting wagon there for the past week. Its been super busy at work, and when I've been at home, I've just wanted to do a whole lot of not much. And I haven't been taking many outfit photos, because I've been wearing a lot of repeats.

Here's the only two I've taken recently:

Lent Day 36

Day 36: Cardigan: Joy by Kim Hargreaves, made by me

Button up: Banana Republic Outfit

Skirt: New York & Co.

Tights: Target

Shoes: Clarks Outlet

Lent Day 41Day 41:

Cardigan: L.L. Bean

Skirt: New York & Co.

Boots: Naturalizers

A Trio of Seam Finished

The one thing I have been doing is working on my Beignet skirt.

I don't think I'll be relinquishing my title of "slowest seamstress ever" anytime soon, but I think the skirt is coming together very well. I'm basically down to hem, buttonholes, buttons, and belt loops. The goal is to have it done for Easter (remember when I thought I'd get two projects done during Lent - ha!!!)

Almost There

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When I'm In My Late 20s I Shall Wear Purple

Lent Day 26As I typed in the days for these photos on my compy, I realized that I've passed the halfway mark for Lent - only 20 days left to go!! (Lent - why are you so long?) Lent Day 26

Headband: ribbon

Necklace: Cloud Necklace by Kriya

Tee: Target

Skirt: Valentine's Day Skirt, made by me.

Shoes: Clark's Outlet

Lent Day 27

Lent Day 27

Necklace: Sears

Cardigan: Joy by Kim Hargreaves, made by me

Dress: Burdastyle Zoe, made by me

Tights: Target

Shoes: Bass Outlet

I have mixed feelings about this dress. I love the color and fabric, but it's shorter than I'd like (especially in the back- despite lengthening the pattern by several inches) and the neckline and sleevelessness aren't flattering on me without a cardigan.

What do you do with sewing projects you're no longer happy with or don't fit, etc.?

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Catching Up

Lent Day 21

Last week was a wonky week for me - between getting back from the DC trip to the snow on Friday - it was just weird and disjointed. In the midst of all I didn't feel super motivated either in dressing or taking photos, so all I have for Lent proof is these two. Don't worry, you're not missing anything.

Lent Day 21 (above):

Necklace: Sears

Cardigan: Joy by Kim Hargreaves, made by me

Tee: Target

Wool circle skirt: made by me

Shoes: Clarks Outlet

Lent Day 22

Lent Day 22:

Sweater: Gap

Skirt: Granny skirt, drafted and made by me.

Boots: Naturalizers, Macy's

Reaching

My seedlings are doing well. Almost everything has a little seedling now (except the mint). Up until a few days ago, though there wasn't a hint of activity on my peppers or tomatoes. The soil was too cool, methinks. Then while driving, Mr. Cleaver mentioned that the despite the cool weather, the sun made the car really warm. Only in Maine, he said, do you drive around with the window cracked in 38 degree weather.

Reaching

His comment gave me an epiphany, and immediately when we got home, I put my tomato seeds under my clear glass cake dome, and voila! within a day seedlings!

Beignet Fabric & Lining

My other big triumph of the week was finally cutting out my Beignet skirt yesterday (the blue twill is the shell, the polka dot is the happy happy lining).

I spent some quality time in JoAnn's yesterday and picked up two patterns, some notions, the lining fabric and fabric for two more projects - including the pattern and material for a new casual skirt. I'm putting my plans for pants on hold and as soon as I finish the Beignet, I'll dive into that skirt pattern, because really, the denim skirt needs a break!!

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Parlez Vous Beret? (Lent Days #16 & 17)

Parlez vous Beret (Lent Day #16) Yesterday I went to the optometrist for my bi-annual eye exam (everything's the same as before) and while at their office, I got about five compliments on this skirt. Then one of my co-workers called it "very European" - which I think is more due to the beret than anything else.

Parlez vous Beret (Lent Day #16)

Beret: Designed and knit by me

Scarf: Express, thrifted

Cardigan: Joy by Kim Hargreaves, made by me

Skirt: New York & Co., clearance for $5-$8!!

Wool Tights: warmlegwear.com

Shoes: Clarks outlet

Tone on Tone (Lent Day #17)

Today I went for a tone-on-tone look in classic Leah teals. It'll be quiet around here for the next few days as I'm leaving for DC tomorrow for a work conference - I'll be back Monday evening, with a new post on Tuesday. Until then, have a great weekend!!

Tone on Tone (Lent Day #17)Necklace: Gift

Cardigan: Old Navy, years ago

Tank: Gap outlet

Skirt: Wallpaper Skirt #1, made by me

Shoes: Bass outlet

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Lent Days #7 & #8

Day #7 Detail For days seven and eight, I mixed it up with some dresses. Thanks to "Springing Forward" it's not as light in the mornings right now, which has made getting photos a little more difficult (or at least blurrier), but I boldly strive on in the name of Lent.

Yesterday I wore a dress that arrived in the mail on Monday. I had pre-ordered it a while back, and while initially hesitant to purchase a red dress, I'm glad I did. It's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but there are scalloped tiers going down the length of the dress - which makes for a fun dress. The black and red might be a little harsh, but I think I'll have fun trying different ways of styling this dress, particularly as it warms up some.

Lent Day #7Necklace: Sears

Dress: Red Fox by Shabby Apple

Cardigan: Joy by Kim Hargreaves, made by me

Shoes: Clarks Outlet

Lent Day #8

This morning I was feeling a little crummy when I woke up, so I went with the dress equivalent of comfort food. I bought this wool-poly knit dress a few years ago and it's easy to throw on and go.

Also comfort food? Tea and toast with marmalade.

Lent Day #8

Dress: Brief Originals, Vintage (from the store above Strange Maine in Portland, ME)

Wool Tights: WarmLegWear.com

Boots: Naturalizers, Macy's

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Finished Object Round Up

If you're one of my friends on Ravelry, you might have noticed that for the past several months the top half of my project page seemed pretty empty. I had no photos of anything I made in the past 4-5 months - oops!

I blame this on two things - one: I didn't feel like putting on woolly things in the middle of the summer to take pictures of them and two: something I affectionately call That D@#n Sweater.

Chevron Cardigan

That D@#n Sweater is the achingly lovely Joy pattern from Rowan's vintage knits - my second and not last project from that book. It's a perfect lightweight cardigan that goes with anything and I wear it probably three times a week these days.

Chevron Cardigan

So why the name? Three reasons, it's black, textured and involves the following US needle sizes: 1, 2, 3. All of this is to say, I started it January 28 and finished around July 5th. A nearly six month labor of love.  That said, I'm a huge fan of the finished product, my only caveat is that I wish I had used better quality yarn, it's made from Knit Pick's Palette, which doesn't feel as nice as I'd like and it's already doing some serious pilling, but in any case I'm sure I will wear this cardigan to the bone.

My Pillow

To make myself feel better, this is a project I completed from start to finish in about three days, one which involved a marathon session of watching The West Wing.

Pillow Pieces

The project was inspired by a similar pillow pictured in SouleMama's book Handmade Home, which I picked up at a local book signing a few weeks back. The "bluework" pattern is free on a site called Pattern Bee (which as of 9/10/09 appears to be down for maintenance - the link should be re-activated around 9/16). The fabric is from a fat quarter pack I picked up at Z Fabrics a while back. The whole thing looks very nice on my sofa.

Woven Scarf

This one you've seen a lot of, but here's me actually wearing that scarf I wove earlier this summer (June). The ladies in my knitting group like to mock me for my consistency in color selection. Looking at the items in this post and my current (unpictured) knitting project, I'd be the last one to deny it. What can I say?  I like the colors of the ocean!

Book Jacket Photo

Another scarf photo, in a long tradition of what I like to call the"Book Jacket Photo."

Ishabel Shawl

This is Ysolda's Ishbel shawl from Whimsical Little Knits, which I picked up back here and knit in  some hand-dyed lace weight from Pine Star Studio that I got at the Maine Fiber Frolic. I knit it in about 10 days and took about 2 months before I got around to blocking it, which really does make all the difference in the world.

Ishbel Shawl

This is my new favorite picture of myself. All of the knitting/weaving photos were graciously taken by Mr. Cleaver while we took a walk around Mackworth Island this Labor Day. Mr. Cleaver joined me in creating the final FO ofthe post, of contribution to Mackworth's village of Fairy Houses.

Our Fairy House

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Because Sometimes A Sock Sack Isn't Enough

Large Project Bag

Having recently found myself with no fewer than three (3!) knitting projects on the needles these days, I was running out  places to put them all. As regular readers and members of my knitting circle know, I am not a usually a multi-project knitter, although I think I am starting to turning into one. The case these days is that I'm requiring different projects for different places - largely driven my the fact that my main project is black yarn on rather small needles. It started when needed something simple for an airplane trip, then something light-colored for theatre knitting and dark restaurants for knitting group, and then I had a design idea I really wanted to work on... you get the idea.

My solution to this plethora of projects? A new sweater-sized project bag!

Large Project Bag

As I'm also enjoying one-day sewing projects, this worked out great.  As a bonus it matches my needle roll!

Fancy Round Bottom

A drawstring bag is no work of sewing genius, there are a few details I added that I'd like to share.  First is my fancy round bottom, which was much easier to attach than I thought it would be.

Pockets!

Second is my interior pocket for holding spare needles, pattern instructions, needle holders, etc. This spare storage takes it just a step above the usual project bag. 

Overhead View

As for the project inside? I've been working on it since January, but I have every hope that I'll be able to show it off here, finished, by the end of the month. Because you know when you need a hand-knitted sweater in the Northern Hemisphere? The end of June. Yeah....

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