Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Germ-a-lerm-a-ding-dong

Help! Cold germs ate my brains! Yes, your poor damselfly succumbed to the Winter Plague thanks to a very cute but snot-nosed 3-year-old, Grandbeastie Rosebud. That’ll teach me to wipe her nose and not decontaminate after. Yuck. Exactly 2 days after the snot incident we spent a delightful but foggy Sunday out at Reifel Bird Sanctuary with brother, sis-in-law, and Nana feeding the chickadees, geese and ducks:

DuckSoup

Here I even had one little female mallard with her head between my boots eating seeds that Thom chucked at me. They tickled! Now I have to wash my poor boots off too since they’re covered in duck breath and webbed footprints.

Unfortunately it was colder than I expected and I got a little chilled. (Hey, in my defence it was sunny and several degrees warmer when we left home!) Later that evening as we celebrated Thom’s brother’s birthday with fondue I started to feel a little sore throat coming on. Blech. Hope I didn’t share this with anyone there. Today I had to reschedule my dentist appointment too which was supposed to be tomorrow. At least there’s nothing else on the schedule until next week now which should give me time to recuperate.

Meanwhile, Before Bug, I managed to sort out some stuff in my basement dye studio/laundry area.  No m*ths down there either! Yay. I got all the Indian cotton scarves washed and freshened up, 16 in total. (Yes, I have a lot of them.) The area still needs more sorting and cleaning though. I have too many dyes and assists all jammed into 2 cupboards. Things are falling out when I open the doors and I can’t find what I need. Not a good situation. It’ll have to wait until I feel better though. I’m not tackling any dust when I already can’t breathe!

I know I shouldn’t wait so long to clean and sort the stashes but you know how it is. Time zips by too fast and before you know it, more years have disappeared in the rear view mirror. I’m not a messy person. I like to be organised and reasonably tidy but not scrupulously so. And I live with another crafty person who has his priorities too which I always have to take into consideration. Unfortunately his neatness standards are a bit lower than mine and he understandably won’t let me sort his stuff for him. So I have to work around them as best I can. Many years of negotiations have gotten us this far anyway. Heh.

Nothing much more to report really. I got the pearly handspun yarn dyed a deep red-orange semi-solid. The angelina fibres dyed even deeper than the wool and it’s very pretty! No photo yet though. Sorry. It’s still hanging on the basement clothesline. I also found a few items to over-dye (which isn’t happening yet), including a sweater-coat that goes with nothing in my wardrobe and a couple of shawls that I’ve joined together into one blanket. The latter were the results of long-ago sheep-to-shawl contests and, although not from the same fleece, they’re the same weave structure, Dogwood Lace, an Atwater-Bronson lace design. (If you’re interested, there’s more about this structure here.) So they kind of went together ok. It remains to be seen how they will dye though! I don’t really care as long as this thing isn’t white. I’ll be putting it on my bed for extra warmth. More on this when I get to it.

We’ve had so much fog lately but today it’s raining. I don’t care. I’m not going anywhere! Instead I bought myself another Craftsy class with a sale that was offered. I’ve really enjoyed the two that I’ve been alternating watching: The Ultimate T-Shirt with Marcy and Katherine Tilton and Knit Lab: Fit Your Knits with Stephanie Japel. They are both excellent, full of great tips and neither too fast nor too slow for my attention span. I think it helps that the instructors are fun, vibrant, smart people who are comfortable in front of the camera and very able to explain their topics in clear terms. Hopefully the new one I got, Custom Fitting: Back, Neck, Shoulders by Kathleen Cheetham will be as helpful to me. The Tilton class is short on fitting these very critical areas and Lynda Maynard’s Sew the Perfect Fit doesn’t go into it in enough depth so I’m hoping this one will fill in the gaps.

I must like this format – I’m now up to 13 classes! Quite a number were free and I tried to get the others on sale rather than pay full price so it’s not as crazy as it sounds. I’d certainly rather buy a specific class and have unlimited access on my own time schedule than pay a subscription fee. If they go that way they will just lose me. I think I already have enough information in my library to keep me happy for as many years as I have left anyhow! And there’s still lots of free sources on the web. You just have to watch the quality of the information.

OK. I’m done babbling incoherently. More anon.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Damselfly: 10,000; M*ths: 0

Whoo-whee! That was a stinkin’ amount of work. I’ve totally cleaned out the front entry hall. The (remaining) woollies are taking an Arctic Vacation alternating in the freezer. The upstairs attic spinning stash is all sorted, inventoried and completely insect-free. Yay! Let me tell you, I was biting my nails hoping that the evil little critters had not found their way into the Stash! I’m still not completely convinced until I go through some more yarn and fabric stashes, but the bulk of it is done. This time I used my Evernote account to inventory it all and it works a treat! Check out these partial screen captures:

Spinning Inventory 2

 Spinning Inventory 1

So exciting! I made excellent use of my iTouch, Ruby, and photographed each item into Evernote as I hauled it out. They aren’t the greatest photos ever (January light levels being what they are), but they serve to document what I have and it’s all tagged for easy retrieval. While I was at it I also set aside the ingredients for the next couple of spinning/knitting projects. Plus I realized I have definitely reached SABLE – Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy. I will be shopping the stash from now on. There is NOTHING that I do not already own. At least in the spinning department. There are ingredients in there for a lifetime’s worth of projects!

So why did it take me so long to use Evernote in this very useful way? It took until very recently for the software to advance to the point where it’s truly painless to add photos with your phone (or in my case, my iTouch, which is basically an iPhone without the phone). Then I go in with my desktop app and edit to add the tags for easy searching. I love that you can access Evernote on virtually every platform and from anywhere where you have internet access. Mostly I kind of use it for a private Pinterest-type board. But I’m discovering that it has many more uses than I first imagined especially as the programming improves and I haven’t even advanced beyond the free level yet. And speaking of advancements, my cable tv/internet provider now has a huge series of connection points around town freely accessible to account holders. My dream of universal access just got a little boost. YAY!

So what else?

BlueGreen 80s Vest back BlueGreen 80s Vest front

I found this old sweater in the attic. Handspun 2/ply and dyed with acid dyes, circa 1980’s. It doesn’t fit either of us and although quite a complex knit, it’s scratchy adult Romney wool. I was thinking about frogging it and reusing the wool but, the armholes are steeked so No Can Do. Not worth it for the amount I would get that wasn’t all short ends. The pattern I believe was one of Meg Swanson’s from one of the first issues of Knitter’s magazine back in the day. Just goes to show you that steeking, although it is a very cool technique and allows you to knit in the round for the whole garment, makes it impossible to reuse the yarn later. Waaahhh… I’d rather knit back and forth. Unlike the goddess EZ and her disciples, I don’t actually mind purling at all. However, this vest is going into the salvage pile and hopefully someone else will adopt it as theirs.

So very sorry as I apologise to anyone still living in Winter. I do feel for you all as I picked a small selection of salad greens from my garden:

Winter Greens

That’s corn salad, baby mizuna and arugula. Some is from the greenhouse but the corn salad is mostly out in the garden. It conveniently plants itself for me and survives our mild winters with ease. My rosemary in the greenhouse has not only survived but is starting to bloom now. The weather has been quite lovely for the last while and not too cold, apart from the morning fogs that cause the boats in the harbour to Wake Me Up! Noisy boys.

I’m not done with the mucking out and inventorying yet. More anon!

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Oh. My. M*ths!

Yes, there has been a m*th incident here! Yikes! What a lot of work to attempt to clean up and contain the problem. I am grateful that (touch wood) it was contained to our small front hall where there is a hat/umbrella stand and a coat closet. Unfortunately however this is where I store the majority of my wearable woollies! We lost several hats and a wool bag from the hat stand where the infestation was worst but an angora scarf and a couple of pairs of older gloves in were also attacked in the closet. They’ve been disposed of and now the rest of the items are going through a couple of cycles of Arctic Vacation in the big chest freezer. Hope I don’t need any hats, shawls or mitts in the next couple of weeks or I’ll be digging them out of the deep freeze.

It’s unbelievable how much time it takes to go through everything with a careful eye, vacuum like crazy and wash down all the surfaces. Even in a small space like our front hall. I’m still not finished yet and I’ve already spent 2 long sessions at it. I wanted to go through my clothes again but not with this kind of impetus making me do it Right Now! Whew. As soon as I finish the hall of course I’m going to need to go check the spinning stash in the attic which is an even bigger job. On the positive side it’ll give me a chance to do a better job of inventorying everything again. I’ve found a good way to do that in Evernote with my iTouch which includes quick photos. I already had an inventory in Excel but it didn’t include pictures and it’s sadly out of date. Since I’m trying to not buy anything new, it seems like a reminder of what I already own will help me to shop better in my own stash. I’ve even done some spinning. Look!

Pearl handspun

OK, truthfully I really only chain-plied this 100g skein of NZ crossbred wool and angelina fibre. The spinning was done ages ago (years!) during several spinning demos and it looks it – uneven twist and drifting from thicker to finer. However it’s pretty and very soft and worsted weight so I’m going to throw it in a dyepot (have you ever known me to wear anything white?) and knit a cowl. There’s plenty for the Bandana Cowl from Purl Bee. It calls for chunky but this isn’t quite that thick. Hopefully it will work anyway because although I can double it, I don’t want to because I’m afraid I’ll run out of yarn. There’s only about 200 yards and no more is possible if I dye it first. Of course I could dye it after, couldn’t I? But then I’d have to knit boring white. It was bad enough just plying it. Why do you suppose it hung about for so long untouched?

Moving right along. After stalling a number of times I finally finished the last sewing project:

Marcy Sleeveless Jacket

 Marcy Sleeveless Jacket front Marcy Sleeveless Jacket side

Completed:  January 16, 2014

Fabric:  wool and lycra stretch woven, tweedy taupe (not gray, not brown but in between), 56” wide by 2 yards, pre-finished by machine wash and dry.

Notions:  lightweight non-woven fusible interfacing, Gutermann sewing thread to match, gray serger thread, ten 1/2” buttons, twisted cord made from brown, gray and tan weaving threads, 2 copper-coloured plastic disk beads.

Pattern:  Marcy Tilton V8876, View A minus the cap sleeves and hem band.

V8876 viewA V8876 line

Comments:  I was inspired to make this sleeveless jacket or vest by Patti B’s version on Pattern Review. I didn’t use a zipper though but instead did the button front. Actually I kind of like the zipper version too but I wanted the contrast of the coppery buttons and beads on the drawstring. I couldn’t find a zipper that worked. I had trouble enough just matching the thread.

This was kind of an easy make in that I already did all the pattern fitting for my Stormy Dress. I had a little oops moment when I realised I’d forgotten to cut out 4 centre front pieces but managed to piece together enough to get the facings cut out. Since this jacket is never worn open the seams don’t show at all. I had a little trouble as I’ve already mentioned in another post with picking out the armhole facings’ machine topstitching and hand-stitching them instead. I also hand-stitched the voluminous hem. I think the lack of topstitching looks quite elegant. All the inner raw edges are serged. I ended up sewing the buttonholes from the wrong side because for some reason I can’t get the tension right on them and they look much better on the bottom. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

This fabric sews and presses like a dream though it unfortunately does crease with sitting somewhat. The photos don’t really show the colour very accurately. Now that I’ve harshly pre-finished it I’ll wash it on delicate and hang to dry in future.

I’ve already worn it several times and was wondering what coat would work over it until I discovered my ancient Issey Miyaki kimono-esque jacket (Vogue Individualist 1693, from 1986) works great. I love this light jacket and get compliments on it every time I wear it even if it is nearly 30 years old! Just shows you that some garments never go out of style, huh?

So what’s next? After so much Tilton sewing I need a little palate-cleanser of something simple with only a few pieces. So I’m working on this:

 B5954 B5954 side

B5954 line

I love the cosy tailcoat look of this Butterick 5954 View D. Pattern Review was unanimously pleased with this pattern but advised wearing a camisole or something underneath in case it falls open too much. I’m using my own basic block to cut the shoulders, armholes and sleeves so I know it will fit me in those critical places then morphing into a size M at the waist and cutting a size S neckline and collar. Sounds wacky but it works for me. I’m making it in a brown sueded jersey that has changed its mind several times on what it wanted to become. Even though this fabric is ridiculously wide I still didn’t have enough to cut these huge triangular pieces with the nap. Besides it’s such a waste of fabric! I don’t think the nap will show significantly anyhow. It is quite off-grain though and refuses to fold correctly so I’m going to cut each piece individually one at a time. It’s supposed to be an easy make, right? Right? If I like this style there are several other versions to try including a lightweight short-sleeved or sleeveless version for summer.

Meanwhile it’s back to the Battle of the M*ths! Ergh…More anon.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Ten Days Later

Gee, not doing very well at posting regularly, am I? It’s been a combination of running errands, family stuff and lazing about reading a lot. The weather has been alternating between damp and downright soggy. Too dark to do much close work or take half-decent photos. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

I do have one FO done however. First of the year! Of course it’s boring old socks:

Gray-Day Socks

Gray-Day Socks For:  Thom

Begun:  December 4, 2013
Completed:  January 6, 2014

Yarn:  Lana Grossa Meilenweit Men, 70% wool/20% nylon, colourway 1605 (brownish-grays), 460 yds = 100g.

Pattern:  Damselfly’s Plain Socks, on 68 sts, 8.5” before heel flap, 8.25” before toe dec.

Comments:  Another pair to add to the drawer.

Also on the subject of socks, my dear niece Alison’s sweet boyfriend has asked for a pair of his own. He hinted that his favourite colour is blue so I decided to dye some of the medium gray Confetti sock yarn in navy. I miscalculated slightly and ended up with quite a dark navy blue when I was going for a lighter value but oh, well. He gets what he gets, right? I’d take a photo but it just looks…dark.

In frustration at needing something easy to knit, I began swatching for the aptly-named Plain & Simple Pullover by Veera Välimäki. I’ve had this one in the queue for quite awhile and even chose the yarn: some dark green 2/8 Shetland from the deep weaving stash. It’s kind of icky to knit with because it’s dusty and oily and scratchy but it blooms nicely and softens somewhat when washed. I had to try again after the first swatch (on the bottom of the pile) with the recommended 3mm needle.

Simple Tweedy swatches

The second swatch (on the top and not yet washed and blocked) used a 2.75mm needle. Of course I measured it again after washing and it’s pretty much on the nose for gauge. BTW the KnitGauge app on my iTouch was invaluable for this!

KnitGauge

It’s a mere $.99 and works for iPad, iPhone, and iTouch. You just put 2 pins in your knitting and count the stitches between them. Doesn’t have to be in exact inches. Move the slider to the number of stitches you counted, then line the green pin up with your first real pin and slide the pink one over to your second pin. The app will automatically show the exact number of stitches (to 2 decimal places) for 1, 2 or 4 inches. It’s much more accurate than I can count with a regular ruler.

Naturally I’m going to have to adjust the pullover pattern to fit me. So what else is new? I started with the XL which gives about 2” of ease for my hip and will dec toward the waist until I get to the M size then follow that the rest of the way up. At the bust the M is about 2” of negative ease on me. I don’t think it will be too tight but I can try it on to see as I go. The gauge actually gets a tiny bit looser after washing quite vigorously so if it fits well enough even unblocked it will be fine. This is going to be a longer project with a lot of plain knitting! Luckily I love that I can read while I’m doing it.

What else? I still have the buttonholes and buttons to add to my latest Marcy jacket/vest. I ran out of bobbin thread in the middle of the first buttonhole and now I keep avoiding finishing it for some reason. Maybe the lack of light these days is a factor? I decided to pick out the machine stitching on the armhole binding. Here’s the left side before:

V8876 vest armhole machine

Since there’s no other topstitching except on the drawstring channel it didn’t look quite right. Here’s the right side after slip stitching instead:

V8876 vest armhole hand

Maybe I’m being hyper-picky but I think it looks better now. The jacket is really looking very nice! If only I could force myself to complete the darn thing. Oh well. It’s not a contest, is it?

More anon!

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

A New Year Dawns

We sort of missed the actual stroke of midnight last night. Not into partying with the younglings, we went to bed around 10:30pm but got woken up several times with fireworks going off at random moments. The last time it happened I roused enough to look at the clock and it was already 12:30am. Waahh! I missed hearing the boats in the harbour sounding off which is always my favourite New Year’s event. Oh well. There’s always next year, yes?

Oh right! I was going to show you my fabulous prezzie from dear Heather (True Stitches). She recently had a little giveaway on her blog which I didn’t actually participate in, thinking that I have enough stuff. However, she had something that she knew was totally me so sent me a little package anyway:

Prezzie1

A lovely card and this very special piece of fabric:

Prezzie2

Look! Damselflies!!! <squeee!> You can tell because they can can fold up their wings. Big cousins the dragonflies can’t. Those ones look exactly like the damselfly I sometimes draw with my signature. It’s an indigo print on a very lightweight and crisp voile. I’m thinking if I hem it, I can wear it as a summer scarf. It’s long enough to wrap around my neck. Love.

And that’s not all! She also included this lovely little hand-stitched book:

Prezzie3

See? It has sewing-themed fabric covers! And a lovely red inside:

Prezzie4

Guess I’m obliged now to actually use this notebook, hey? Rather than put it on a bookshelf with its pristine pages all blank. Oy. I’m so bad at actually using these things. They’re just so much more precious than Post-Its, aren’t they? Thanks so much for thinking of me, Heather! Super Big Hugs!!

So I decided that I don’t need a Word for this new year. I’m just going to keep on keeping on. Clean a little, clear a little, use a little, buy as little as possible. Except food. We never stint on good food! Fresh, maybe local, maybe not. Maybe organic. Varied and different foods like jicama, pomello, rapini, bison, teff, sorghum flour, hemp hearts, chia, quinoa…

Hmmm…can you tell we recently shopped at Famous Foods and Kin’s Market? Famous Foods is a small local independent grocery store that’s been around forever and is famous (pun!) for its bulk packaged items. We stocked up on lots of things for my favourite gluten-free pancakes and muffins. They’ve also got legumes, cereal grains, pastas, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Kin’s Farm Market is our go-to for fresh produce. They began business locally as an actual farm but now are expanding as a franchise chain. They sell only fruits and vegetables, both local and imported with many organic options too, and nothing else – not even a container of milk. Now we’re all stocked up for awhile.

Today we’re off visiting, first to friends’ for a quick drop-in and then out to our nephew’s mom-in-law’s house for more family noshing and schmoozing. Gotta take it while you can get it!

More anon!