Friday, March 17, 2017

Kiss Me, I'm (at least a little bit) Irish

I wanted to make something new, and green of course, to wear for St. Patrick's Day today, but with little free time to sew during the week, I was limited in how much I could accomplish. Then I remembered this linen blend tunic from last autumn's clothes swap. It wasn't terrible, just a bit too big, and I wasn't a huge fan of the poofy sleeves. But the color, the lace accents, and the linen fabric will all be perfect for the Texas heat on the horizon.

St Patrick's Day Tunic - Before

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Don't Sweat It

As an inherently lazy person, I have been loving the recent "athleisure" style. Any fashion trend that makes it socially acceptable to wear sweatshirts in public is alright by me! This thrifted grey 4XL sweatshirt, however, was simply beyond my tolerance for frump. So comfy though!

Sweatshirt Refit - Before

Monday, March 06, 2017

Garter Stitch Revival

I was recently given a copy of Garter Stitch Revival and fell hard for several of its patterns. I loved the concept of the entire collection - taking the most basic of stitch patterns and using it to add texture, to highlight unusual construction methods, to play a supporting role alongside more fanciful stitches.

Garter Stitch Revival

It was that last category that really caught my eye in the form of Jesse Ksanznak's Boardwalk Brioche Cowl. I had never attempted the brioche stitch before and had been itching to give it a try. Alternating small sections of two-color brioche with small sections of striped garter stitch sounded like the perfect way to dip my toes into a new technique. And who doesn't love a reversible fabric?

Zombrioche CowlZombrioche Cowl

I searched my stash for suitable worsted but came up empty handed. So I resorted to a couple sport-weight yarns leftover from other projects - Madelinetosh Pashmina in Tern and Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in Kelly Green. To account for the thinner yarn, I used a needle two sizes smaller than recommended and cast on enough extra stitches for another pattern repeat.

Zombrioche Cowl

I thoroughly enjoyed working up this pattern, and the notes in the book walked me through the brioche stitch step by step and made it very easy to learn.

Zombrioche Cowl

I also enjoyed playing with different ways to style this cowl. How do you like the turned up, Pharaoh collar look? It probably wouldn't stay like that on a human person anyway, but it's fun to experiment with Rosy during photo shoots.

Zombrioche CowlZombrioche Cowl

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Hello, it's me

Hey guys. So, I've been MIA for a while, I know. I feel like I say this at least once a year, but the blog was beginning to feel like a second job instead of a hobby, and I just needed to get away from it for a while. I received some very sweet messages from several of you in the meantime though, asking where I was, how I was. I really appreciate your concern and thoughtfulness.

As I feared at the time, I think I pushed myself too hard last summer with the Refashion Runway and The Refashioners back-to-back like that. Until this past weekend, I hadn't even touched my sewing machine since September. Even that striped sweater I shared with you in December was actually refashioned back in August as a back-up plan for the RR tunic challenge. But fear not! I busted out the serger and sewing machine on Saturday, so I'll have some stuff (albeit it simple, baby steps stuff) to show you very soon.

While my sewing creativity seems to wax and wane, my knitting juices are always flowing. Maybe it's the necessity for more creative vision and problem solving that is inherent to refashioning. I mean, if you're trying to recycling existing materials, then you're obviously limited by those materials. Whereas, with knitting, that yarn could be virtually anything you want it to be. Plus, I have a backlog of things I want to knit, so I never run out of ideas.

My tiny baby niece was born in December, five weeks premature. She progressed so well though and escaped the NICU after only two weeks, wearing a hand-knit ensemble, naturally. Then there were holidays gifts for her older brothers: a reversible, double-knit Space Invaders cowl for the 12-year-old and for the 6-year-old, a scaled-down, elongated, scarf version of my Apatosaurus Shawl with added leg nubbins for extra dino-likeness. Their father, my brother, got a viking hat to match his majestic facial hair. He's not really as threatening as he looks here, I swear.

Baby Surprise Jacket, Hat, and SocksSpace Invader Cowl
DinoscarfViking Helmet

In January, I raided my stash for pink yarn and sent thirteen hats to Washington for the Women's March. I even made another, in a slightly different style, for myself and wore it to our local demonstration. Then there was some sporty, spirit knitting in the form of a simple green hat for the hubs to wear to Dallas Stars games and a pair of socks for my mom in the school colors of the university where she works.

PussyhatsNeon Hat of Pinkness
Dallas Stars HatSchool Spirit Socks

I did a little selfish knitting too. A friend gave me some Shibui Silk Cloud, which is a marvelous mix of silk and mohair. I used the three colors to work up a Gradient cowl, by working with three strands and changing out one color at a time for a slow color change effect. And I just completed a pair of U-Turn socks this weekend using one skein of Schoppel Wolle's Crazy Zauberball.

Gradient CowlGradient Cowl
U-Turn SocksU-Turn Socks

I also took comfort in a little political cross-stitching (patterns by Subversive Cross Stitch) and an original design, inspired by our sweet doofus, Laika.

This is not normalNevertheless, She Persisted
So BonedSo Boned

So that's what I've been up to lately. I promise to be back again soon.