Maine Fiber Frolic

Since I was either hip-holding or hand-holding a toddler for the majority of my time there, I didn't get many photos of this year's Maine Fiber Frolic, but I did have a great time. It's been a few years since I've been up to the Windsor Fairgrounds, (blog says 2012!) but it seemed like high time to return. 

I spent several days talking up the sheep and bunnies to Little Miss Cleaver and then picked up a few from my knitting group and we were on our way. The car ride was just long enough to have some good conversations about knitting and wardrobes and work and plans and lupine season in Maine always makes the highways so pretty. 

Doing anything with a small child is about expectations, so I knew that this visit would be pretty animal-centric. In any case, as I hardly need anymore yarn at the moment, my shopping list was brief. Bunnies were petted, and alpacas visited. I picked up a pretty shawl stick and some perfectly-matched vintage buttons for an upcoming sweater, ate a gyro and some fries and called myself content. That I got pie at the A-1 Diner and did some card-handing out/networking with local dyers/yarnies, was an excellent bonus.  

One of my favorite things about these types of events is seeing just how many crafters there are, and the variety of things they love. From the woman who weave masks, to the felters and rug hookers and spinners and knitters, there's a place for all. 

Did you make it up to the Fiber Frolic this year, or is there a great fiber festival in your area? 

---

One Person's Weed May Be Another's Flower

One of my favorite things about being a parent is the chance to see things from LMC's perspective. For example, in her mind, the way to play football is to throw the ball and then fall down. In her world, everything with a skirt, peplum, or just a swingy hem is a "ballet skirt" and requires dancing. Knitting means taking the needles and poking them into the fabric. All of which are not inaccurate.

And of course as we grownup are mowing, uprooting or spraying dandelions, most kids are building bouquets and making wishes. When does that shift happen? When do we move from fun to the fear of an imperfect lawn? There are an awful lot of pretty "weeds" out there, but one man's weeds is another child's flower. It's only a weed if you don't want it. 

I makes me wonder, are there other things that I'm assuming are weeds, that just might be flowers?  That the traffic is the chance to sing along to one more song? That my to do list is not a series of chores, but opportunities? There are some things that are just the pits, no matter which way you look at them, but maybe not as many I might have thought. 

---

The Work of My Hands

I'm always astonished when I meet people who are one-craft only people, they only quilt, or crochet, or knit - and that's it. I'm constantly having to stop myself from picking up yet another creative pursuit. In some ways I'm jealous of their devotion to a single art - when it's just one you can really dive deep and get really good, really creative.

But I have always been a generalist, polymath, utility player - call it what you will. I love trying out new things, giving them a go and I think it's served me well. When I was deep into theatre, I did a lot of things within the theatrre, writing, directing, set design, etc., but it was mostly just theatre (and a little dance). When I reached a point where theatre didn't really work for my life anymore, I found fabric and yarn made a good outlet for my creative needs. In 5 years, painting may fit right. 

I made my Memorial Day weekend extra long by taking Friday off and filled it with multiple trips to the park, food, family, and a wide variety of creating. I prepped my raised beds and planted seedlings; I learned to use a racheting pipe cutter (!!) and made LMC a portable ballet barre; I sewed an old table runner into a throw pillow; I made peppermint ice cream for our BBQ; and wore a recently finished dirndl skirt that had been hanging around in my to fix pile for too long. Not to mention all the furious knitting I did on a deadline project while watching The Time Machine and Anne of Green Gables.

After a long weekend of creating, my hands are weary, but my heart is full.

Memorial Day Parade

Touring Ogunquit, Kennebunkport and Prout's Neck

Last week my Aunt and Uncle out from California came to visit. This was their 4th trip to Maine, which meant that we had to dig a bit deeper for the "things to see" list.

Fortunately, they were staying in Ogunquit, which meant that we spent most of our time in the very Southern part of the state, which I hadn't spent much time in myself. So with no real plans and some surprisingly good weather, we mostly just wandered about - popping into a shop or two,  consuming a lot of good food and drink, and walking a lot of local trails. We also, after brief google search of things to do, ended up at a quirky little monastery (!) in Kennebunkport.

LMC charmed other tourists in her mama-made tutu, and collected dandelions and rocks,  and rode on my shoulders. She ate french fries and ice cream cones like a true tourist, and did surprisingly well with the lack of naps.

On the last day of their visit, LMC went to her regular day-care day and we had a grown up day at Prout's Neck, sipping cocktails at the Black Point Inn and taking the cliff walk.

The great thing about having visitors is the chance to 1) see things you normally don't take the time to see and 2) seeing them with fresh eyes.

When you live in Maine, its easy to take for granted how gosh-darn beautiful its coast line is, but to see someone take it all in for the first time reminds you of just how truly wonderful it all is. Wandering around the rocky beaches, it's easy to understand why so many artist are drawn to Maine. It certainly had me itching to pick up my long-neglected paintbrush.  

Ogunquit

• Marginal Way Footpath

Kennbunkport

• St Anthony's Francisan Monastery
• The Ramp
• Walker's Point

Prout's Neck

• Black Point Inn

Tried and True Review: The Comic Book Dress

A Tried & True Review, where I look back at old project and discuss how it's held up since I made it, both successes and closet rejects, in an attempt to show how my projects have stood the test of time and/or to learn from the mistakes of my yesterdays.

The Original:  POW! The Comic Book Dress

Made: May 2012, 3 years old

Update: This dress is still unreasonably awesome, with a new and improved fit!

Fit: When I originally made the dress, I think it fit fairly well, but since I originally made the dress there's been a pregnancy and breast feeding and stopping nursing and life, and it ended up just too big in the bust and waist to really be wearable. But my love for this garment knows no bounds, and too big is always easier to fix than too small. Enter... shirring!  A quick review of this tutorial and I made my first attempt at shirring. One spool of elastic thread later, I had a new and improved dress, just in time to wear it to the annual Maine Comic Arts Festival to match LMC's "H is for Hero" Wonder Woman tee. 

Style/Materials: A mash-up of Colette Pattern's Parfait and a full gathered skirt (with pockets!), this is the perfect sundress for me.  As for the fabric, I only wish I had bought more of it  (though if you search "Camelot Cottons Girl Power" you can still find a second design printing of similar prints). It's quilting cotton, and its undeniably girly with the pink and the female superheros and it just makes me happy.  

Construction: In 2014, I replaced the original buttons with some fabric covered ones and made the buttonholes functional for nursing purposes. The inside is well finished, with a bias bound waist stay and facings in the bodice. It's held up perfectly well. The shirring makes it even more comfortable and wearable.

Lesson(s) Learned: Shirring is super easy and too big is often easy, and worthwhile to fix!

Final Verdict: This dress is the best. 

{this moment}

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.* 

* via SouleMama

Spring in Southern Maine

It finally feels like spring! The grass is getting greener by the day. the daffodils and tulips are in bloom and I'm cleaning up flower beds and laying down mulch. The blueberry bush is pruned, the veggie garden fence has gone up, and the sand pit has been raked out and is ready for play. Free Comic Book day happened and we've pulled out the sunscreen and the Seadogs hat. 

It'll still be a while before its warm enough for shorts, but that didn't stop me from sewing a pair for Little Miss Cleaver. The pattern is the KID Shorts from Dana at MADE. While I don't love that all the sewing instructions are on her site instead of included in the pattern (meaning I'm following instructions off my phone), the fit seems spot on (I made a 3T, lengthened the to the 4T hem), and the finished product is uber-cute, if I say so myself. I even got to sew in my first Ms. Cleaver label!

It took about 1.5 hours to make from taping together the pattern to finished shorts, and I imagine future pairs will be even quicker, especially if I do the more straightforward versions. It warmed the cockles of my sewist heart when LMC wanted to try them on as soon as she got up from her nap and wear them over her pants for at least an hour before the need to put a ballet skirt on trumped it.

I'm hoping to sew two more pairs before shorts weather is truly upon us, and then I'm delving into some serious me sewing. I have some grey gingham that I got on vacation last summer that is calling out to be an Archer button-up and I picked up a Watson bra kit and some denim for Ginger Jeans from Grey's Fabric as well as Cascade Duffle pattern that I'll be sewing into my new winter coat come September or so.

I've been super busy with knitting projects of late (look out for a lot of new stuff this fall!), and haven't had much time to sew and I forget how much sewing means to me. To be able to single-mindedly focus on seam finishes and fabric selection and to make something useful and beautiful.  

{this moment}

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.* 

* via SouleMama

Introducing Barbe

A downside to designing knitting patterns is that you spend an awful lot of time knitting for other people - samples in the sizes you'd never fit in, that sort of thing. So when you have a legitimate knitwear need for yourself? Well, that's where self-publishing comes in handy.

My sock drawer has been looking a bit sad lately, and so, I introduce to you - the Barbe socks!

Despite the fact the socks photographed above, in a lovely Permission Tree Farm Piggy Sock Yarn, were made in a few weeks, this pattern is actually several years in the making! It's my habit to only  knit socks while traveling due to their general portability and I began knitting a pair of socks with the same winding cable motif out of the leftovers of a sweater when traveling in late 2011. I finished that pair of socks, only to find that Sock #1 and Sock #2 weren't remotely the same size.

Somewhat disheartened by this, I put away the socks for a few years (like you do). This year, with my resolution to fight the entropy  I pulled out those old socks, determined to make a matching pair. Well, the finished pair ended up matching in size, but were a bit too large for me and were gifted to Mr. Cleaver.

I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound, so I found some suitable sock yarn in my stash to make another pair and figured, hey, why not make a pattern out of it while I'm at it?

Not content to do anything halfway, Barbe is available in five sizes from 6" to 10"/15-25.5 cm in circumference, so the unisex styling can fit feet of all sizes.

Worked from the toe-up with a short row heel (the easiest heel in my humble opinion), and the simple to work, but fancy to look at, spiraling cables Barbe would make a great introduction to sock-knitting and/or short rows. Barbe works equally well as a sock drawer builder for when you want a quick knit with a little something more. The ribbing throughout also makes for a nicely fitted sock.

Pattern Details 

Sizes

Foot Circumference (unstretched): 6 (7, 8, 9, 10)”/ 15 (18, 20.5, 23, 25.5) cm. To be worn with approximately 1-1½”/2.5-4 cm negative ease for best fit and display of cables.

Yarn

One skein Persimmon Tree Farm Piggy Toes SW [100% Superwash Merino]; 560 yds [512 m] per 113 g or approximately 350-520 yds of sock yarn for one pair, dependent on finished width and length. Sample as shown uses approximately 375 yds.

Purchase

Barbe is available for purchase via the following methods:

Ravelry  //  Ms. Cleaver Creations  //  Love Knitting