A Little Bit Country

One of my guilty pleasures in life is Time-Life Music infomercials. There's something endearing about the standard formula of past-their-prime musician + woman-of-a-certain-age co-host + those 5 second clips of unforgettable hits of the 60s and 70s. On a lazy Sunday afternoon Mr. Cleaver and I will merrily let it run for the full half-hour and our ultimate favorite collection is "The Golden Age of Country."

My costume this year is a tribute to the Golden Age of Country, the Grand Olde Opry, and fantastic country songbirds of the age like June Carter Cash, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton in all their big-haired, chiffon-clad glory.

I came across Simplicity Pattern 2180 a few weeks back, and thought it would be the perfect starting point for my costume, but it was out of stock in my size. However a kind friend in my knitting circle picked it up for me on a trip to Augusta, so I was in business!!

I knew the dress would have to have a gauzy chiffon component, preferably in a pastel shade and this Jenny Lewis video inspired me to pick up some lace trimming as well. I treated the seafoam-y tafetta-esque base fabric as an underlining, and sewed the two layers together before making the darts/seams/etc. which made dealing with the top layer chiffon a bunch easier.

It's not the best sewing job I've ever done, I skipped a few steps like the waistband facing and replaced the sleeve cuffs with elastic, but for a Halloween costume, I think it turned out pretty swell.  I'm racking my brain for occasions/places I could get away with wearing this dress in ordinary life, because I kind of love it (and I'm definitely remaking the pattern in a more casual fabric at some point).

Mr. Cleaver joined in on a more modern take on the theme, thanks to a cowboy hat from Target and some clothes from around the house. Our first thought was to do a more "rhinestone cowboy" look (like Buck Owens), but this was easier.

We went to a Halloween party over the weekend, where Mr Cleaver claimed to alternately be Toby Keith and/or Hank Williams Jr.

Even Steinbeck got in on the action (he is from Texas after all).

I even tried to keep the pumpkin in the country theme, though it looks more like a Holstein pig than the cow I was going for.

But while we may look country on the outside, inside we're both still rock ' roll.

PS - thanks to Bristol (and her dad) for the loaner cowboy boots!!

Fall Update

On Thursday I finally got around to making my annual apple pies. Technically you could say I made six, but I ended up with two, as four went to my co-workers who came over for a pie-making lesson/afternoon.

I might of eaten pie for breakfast. Twice.

In other news, I've planted about 100 bulbs for the spring,  raked some leaves, put the down comforter on the bed, finished my first sweater of the season, and sewed about 70% of my Halloween costume.

Yep. Looks like fall.

[PS - want a sneak peak of my Halloween costume or other projects in process? Check out my twitter account! ]

Puppy's First Apple Picking

On Saturday after several weekends of sickness and rain, we finally, finally! made it out for our annual trip to Ricker Hill for apple picking.

And even better, the the pick your own fields at Ricker Hill are dog-friendly, so we took Steinbeck along for his first apple picking adventure.

Steinbeck wasn't really into the apples, and he definitely wasn't into the slingshot.

But he did enjoy the wagon ride, and was very interested in the porcupine we wouldn't let him within twenty feet of.

As for the people, we got a beautiful crisp fall day, great views, a chubby pumpkin and half a peck of delicious apples.

See ya next year Ricker Hill!

A Home for Hedgie

Back in the day when I was first introduced to needlefelting, I made Hedgie, got bit by the needlefelting bug, and picked up a feet kits at Fiber Frolic.

One of the things that drew me to needlefelting was the instant gratification (and sculptural) nature of the craft, but you wouldn't know it from the four months that passed from my starting this kit and finishing it yesterday.

But that's life for you, right?

In any case, I'm one kit down and Hedgie has a nice mushroom grove to reside in. Next up - Gnomes!

Cumberland County Fair 2011

After a few days of rainy-day postponement and a bit of waffling, Mr. Cleaver and I made our way to the Cumberland County Fair Friday evening having decided to alternate years with the Fryeburg Fair.

The Fair never really changes, the bunnies and fried dough occupy their same spots each year, but there's something comforting in it's familiarity: in the pig races and livestock pulls, the pumpkins and mums, the earnest 4-Hers and the disaffected teens.

I'm sure one year I'll tire of it, but for now I revel in the contrast of the farm and the ferris wheel, and dream of mini-rex bunnies with fur like velvet.

On Common Ground

This Saturday, I headed up to Unity for the Common Ground Fair with Aimee, Eric, and Bristol.  While it was a bit grey and drizzly, there were plenty of interesting things to brighten up the day and a good time was had by all. And now, I'm going to let the photos do the talking.

[The tag reads: "Turkey-tail Hat for walking in Snowy Firs, with Goose + Goat families depicted, ^plus one Beaver, and the 24 lb. Raccoon who opened and squeezed through the 5½" x 6" chicken door.]

What are your favorite things to do at the fair??

Fall Palette Challenge: School House Tunic

  It's rare that a project comes together quickly for me, usually because I gravitate toward patterns with lots of fiddly details (see dress with bow neckline and pleated sleeves). So while it's been in my to-sew queue for quite some time, the School House Tunic, was a bit out of the norm for me - particularly since I cut it out and sewed up it in about a day.

I made the shirt-length pattern exactly per the instructions with one addition: a button and thread loop mid-way up the placket, which I find to be a neutral additional. It doesn't really add anything, but it doesn't detract either.

The fabric was from my stash, and considering my usual fabric shopping habits, it probably came from Denver Fabrics. The texture is akin to those soft cotton dishtowels, which makes for a very cozy shirt.

I'm not sure if the empire-waist and pleated skirt are the best shapes for my figure, but the shirt is so comfy that I'm pretty sure I'm going to make a at least one more in flannel for the fall/winter and another in white linen for the summer.

Fall Palette Challenge: the Houndstooth Dress

  Even with a trip to the Botanic Gardens, I managed to finish two of my Fall Palette Challenge pieces this weekend, which I'll cover in two separate posts this week.

First up: The Houndstooth Dress

As I said in my original palette post. I saw this dress done up as a sample in JoAnns and knew I had to make it. The pattern is New Look 6909,View C and while I debated about doing the pockets,fearing they'd "poof out" I eventually decided to the pattern as is.

The seams were finished with a zigzag stitch for exposed seams and pinking for covered seams, as the fabric tended to be rather fray-prone (as I find is often the case with woolens). Though it tends to wrinkle a bit more than I like (!!), and the curvy fit makes me feel as if I should be wearing control top pantyhouse, I love this fabric as this dress.

I'm particularly found of the details on this one, the funnel collar, the bow, the pleated cap sleeves, yes, even the pockets and while it took a bit of time nothing was particularly difficult to put together. A declare this one a win!! (especially with the red shoes)

Oh and according to Wordpress, this is my 300th post! So yay for that too!

Catching the Last Bits of Summer

While Labor Day is the unofficial end of Summer here in the States, the official end of the season doesn't get here for a few more days, which means Mr. Cleaver and I time to sneak in one more excursion under the wire.

We'd wanted to return to the Coastal Maine Botantical Gardens ever since our last visit there, particularly since we were there about a week before the new children's garden opened.

It was worth the return visit. The children's garden was designed based on classic children's books: mostly Maine-based ones like Blueberries for Sal

Miss Rumphis (one of my personal favorites)

and

Burt Dow, Deep Water Man

And a few non-Maine tales were represented as well.

The garden was very interactive with mazes, treehouses, and a playhouse/garden, and interact we did.

We also visited some of the other gardens, and took note of a few plants we'd like for our own garden next year.

Introducing: Shoots & Ladders

I'm pleased to formally introduce Shoots & Ladders, the design I teased a few week back. Shoots & Ladders is an any season cowl, inspired by the orderly rows of plantings in gardens. I wasn't able to plant a big garden this year, but I did produce a few of these cowls.

The spring/summer version of the cowl features Elsebeth Lavold's Hempathy, which results in a drapey cowl, with well defined lace motifs

The more ethereal Winter version is knit in Rowan's Felted Tweed DK, resulting in a more structured cowl with a bit of halo.

Both cowls utilize approximately 300 yards of DK weight yarn and is knit in the round. The lace pattern is charted and decreases in the "ladders" section give the cowl a pleasing tapered shape.

The pattern is available for $4.00 USD

or you can queue it up on Ravelry

Photos, except detail shots, by Bristol Ivy.