1 Seam at a Time

OMG !

2011-12-26T10:02:00.002-05:00

Every year DH asks what I want for Christmas, I give him some ideas and then he buys something of his own choosing - always something great, but never from the list !

This year I didn't have much of a list and when he asked I didn't worry too much since he doesn't use 'em anyway LOL.

But he asked again and so I made a very, detailed list - stores, hours, addresses, specific items WITH pictures. There was now way for him to say 'I wasn't sure' :-)

Yesterday I opened the complete Harry Potter set in Blu-Ray and the Twilight book set.

AND these...

He did good ! :-)

Merry Christmas !

2011-12-25T07:42:00.002-05:00

We survived another one

2011-12-11T23:15:00.005-05:00

It's a lot of work but worth every bit of effort!

There were 15 of us this year - we lost a couple at the 9th hour.

Marjie & g had questions on the last post, I'll answer 'em here...

Marjie - I made the candy cane ice cream twice now and it didn't get eaten as well as the other desserts. We don't eat very much ice cream in the winter so I skipped that one this year - only made the eggnog and french vanilla.

g - the Christmas dinner started a long time ago (this was the 12th in the house and maybe 5 or so before that in the apartment) as a way to plan a December get-together with some of our friends. The first year, Hubby decided it would be a good idea to make an actual turkey dinner as we were either at his parents or mine for Christmas Day and we didn't make our own turkey. By the end of the first dinner, it was tradition and we've done it every year since. Started with 8 people and when we moved, we could sit more people and it's usually 14-18 people now.

The french vanilla ice cream is straight from the KA booklet.
The eggnog ice cream is from cdKitchen.com Eggnog Ice Cream w/Hot Buttered Rum Sauce and btw, the rum sauce is also excellent !

This is a final pic of ALL the cookies right before I packaged them up. Absolutely no idea how many I actually made.

Some pics of the evening - we ought to (but don't) take a group shot. I think I picked pics that managed to account for everyone. Notice in the first pic, hubby even managed to get himself in the reflection of the window !

Every person except 2 owns dogs and we had 5 four-legged creatures hoping for treats during dinner. Afterwords they all grabbed a lap and crashed.

...and has anyone ever seen a dog sleep like this. I think Charlie was a contortionist in a past life LOL

It was a fabulous weekend !

The final countdown

2011-12-08T23:29:00.005-05:00

so. Where was I ? Ah, more getting ready for Christmas Dinner. Saturday's the big day - and I'm down to the last few hours of prep.

Sunday, I made the ice cream - french vanilla and eggnog. No pics of the final products but DH was ready with the camera while I was making them and not paying any attention to him !

Monday and Tuesday - more cookies:

Some regular green tree spritz for the regular gift boxes and another full batch of spritz along with another batch of ribbon cookies made with Splenda for a friend who's watching his sugar. I was prepared for a difference in taste and/or texture but these are soooo close to 'normal' that I'm pretty impressed.

Tonight I made the cheesecakes - plain New York style (will make a strawberry sauce to go on top) and a chocolate-vanilla swirl (my swirling needs work LOL)

Cranberry sauce is made, the turkey will be thawed on time and a bunch of chopping is already done for the stuffing. Saturday morning I should be able to have the bird in the oven by 8am or so.

Tomorrow, there is still the almond cake, lemom pudding and a couple of pies to make.

We'll be ready - we always are. It's been crazy busy but it's always worth it.

Parting Shot:

We needed a new tree this year and found a good buy on a 9ft pre-lit one. My brother spent the day with us last Saturday and he decorated it while I puttered in the kitchen.

4 and counting...

2011-11-28T21:27:00.004-05:00

Red Spritz - done
Ribbon cookies - done
Candy Canes - done

...and, as of yesterday, Almond Balls - done

When I start this madness next year, would one of you PLEASE remind me to NOT make a quadruple batch of these ?! Please ?

For one, it took 6 hours from start to finish.
For two, there are 433 cookies in those boxes ! That's 36 dozen ! Actually that's not so bad - they'll all get eaten.

But even my 6qt KitchenAid had a hard time holding all that cookie dough LOL - you can't imagine the picture I must've made. One hand holding the plastic spill cover on and the other making sure no batter grew out of the bowl at the opening. Are you counting ? I've run out of available hands - had to call hubby to turn the mixer off :-)

What's next - green christmas tree spritz or eggnog cookies ? Decisions, decisions.

Next Round

2011-11-21T21:43:00.006-05:00

Christmas baking is my one guarantee of posting regularly !

Yesterday I made a double batch of Candy Cane cookies and refrigerated the dough.

Tonight, this (one plain, one pink)

made 162 little balls...which became

162 little ropes...which became

6 full cookie sheets, and voila ! ...

Oh yeah, and that's only half !

The other half in the fridge should make another 6 dozen and I guess I'm going to need to make another batch since 12 dozen won't go far. We added 2 more people (& 2 more dogs) to the dinner party (Toronto's coming !) so that's another can of cookies and one more can which was in the back of my mind but I will definitely do as another gift.

I'm done - off to bed.

Weekend Update

2011-11-20T18:42:00.008-05:00

For all I was pretty useless for the first 4 days of the week, I managed a fair bit since Thursday. It was my birthday weekend after all - it was all about the entertainment :-)

Thursday started with our department breakfast at work - ah we stuffed ourselves with bagels, cream cheese, bacon, bruschetta & crusty bread and mini cupcakes - 3 contributors makes for a pretty filling amount of food even if it all 'doesn't' go together !
This link is not exactly the recipe used but the pic is spot on - ours tasted as good as this one looks ! bruschetta

Friday afternoon, a friend and I went to see Breaking Dawn, pt 1 - lunch, movie, popcorn, all good. We both enjoyed the movie. Can't wait for pt 2 now.

I signed up for the Friday Night Sew In and did spend the evening in my sewing room. I decided to take a look at my coat. You know, the coat I started for the Coat Sewalong in 2008 ! So, I'd left it with one front and lapel padstitched, but hadn't done the other side. For quite some time I tried to figure out exactly HOW the padstitching was done. For the life of me, I couldn't see what I'd done on the first side. Checked out all the sites, blogs and links I'd used before and found a few new youtube videos that helped some. There was no sewing Friday night (it was all reading) but I did learn a lot. For one thing, the lapel was not padstitched well on the side I already did - it didn't curl hardly at all - I need to take it out and redo it, I think. This is the second side which I did this weekend - the main body front but not the lapel yet.

Next up - another batch of Christmas cookies are chilling in the fridge - they will become Candy Cane cookies in the next couple of evenings.

And my finished UFO for this weekend - I finished my Hermione's Everyday Socks on Aug 6 (yikes !) and they've been waiting for me to weave in the ends since then - jeez, it only took me 15 minutes - what the heck was I waiting for ?!

Oh and there was a break Saturday night for hubby to take me out for a birthday dinner. All in all a really good few days.

Hope you've all had a good weekend.

Another Attempt

2011-11-18T19:21:00.002-05:00

Practically all I have to do is show up in order to do better than last time !

I'll check in tomorrow with the results.

Baking for Moi

2011-11-17T05:00:00.002-05:00

Festive no ? This is my contribution to our Departmental Birthday Breakfast today. We do this for each month we have birthdays to celebrate, and the food is provided by the birthday people. I share November with two others, one being my boss.

This year it just so happens that we're partying on my actual birthday - Happy Birthday to me !

A UFO Weekend

2011-11-13T18:04:00.008-05:00

There are quite a few UFOs lying around, driving me crazy. No idea how many - some are in full view, some are hiding. Mostly they have an embarrassingly tiny amount of effort to complete. This weekend the plan was to finish some/any of them.

First up - a baby afghan made from a ball of yarn I inherited from my Mom's knitting bin when we cleaned out the house. She had a few of those 1-lb balls of acrylic as she habitually made baby blankets for a local group for new, poor, young mothers. There are no new babies due among my friends so this was made up to use the yarn and have a finished blanket ready to go when needed. Um, well I made this blanket last winter, early winter LOL and left it sitting on the coffee table in the basement. It was visible and driving me nuts, but I never finished it. What was left ? 4 ends to weave in ! Lord, I'm glad it's done !

Not long ago I showed a pic of my crumpled up, almost completed shawl. Well, the biggest time commitment this weekend was casting off. It took almost all day yesterday (off and on) and I cast off the last bit this morning. We went out for a few hours through the day and when we got home I soaked it for 20minutes in Eucalan and laid it out to dry. It's not pinned, so it may not count officially as blocking.

This is a close-up of the chevron pattern.
...and the full shawl. The alpaca was knit on such small needles that the fabric was very dense and it didn't grow as it may otherwise have done. I quite like it.

That's it for me - 2 FOs is still 2 FOs.

I wonder how many other UFOs I'd find if I dug around the sewing room ? There are at least 3 tees in varying stages of completion, a duvet cover, a skirt, a coat, a coat lining (technically a UFO as I took a lining out of a jacket, split up all the pattern pieces and prepped them to be used as pattern pieces, but still have to lay out, cut, sew and insert a new lining), there's also my knitting, the cardigan and another baby blanket (that one's 7 years old) - ohhh, I don't want to think about it !

2011-11-12T11:11:00.006-05:00

This pic was taken 14 years ago at our wedding. The four people on the right are my Mom, Dad and 2 of my siblings. The three on the left are from DH's side. His cousin is in the front and her husband, Jacques (left) and her Dad (right) are standing behind her. In the absence of his parents, Carole & Jacques stood up with Bob as his family. They are two of the most gentle souls I know and we love them dearly.

A week ago today, Jacques suffered a stroke and we spent some time on Sunday at the hospital. Things seemed a bit hopeful at the time but it was just too much and he left us early Thursday morning.

Rest in peace, Jacques, we love you.

My evening in pictures...

2011-11-02T20:19:00.004-04:00

'nuff said ? :-)

SFTTU #9 - Hearts & Flowers

2011-10-25T21:20:00.004-04:00

No sewing going on, so I've got to use knitting for my posts. I remembered I finished a couple pairs of socks in the spring & early summer and never posted them. The first pair is the next in my Socks from the Toe Up project - Hearts & Flowers.

Stats:
Knit Picks Gloss Fingering - Burgundy
Purchased online December 12, 2010
2.5 mm needle
CO May 12, 2011
JMCO 12 st each toe
inc to 64 st for foot
inc to 57 st at end of gusset
slip stitch heel
CO JSSBO Jul 3, 2011

Many tears here last week. Our 'other' kiddies visited us for a week while their daddies were away. Below are Lester, Sophie, my Alex and Kalani. On the day our friends returned, Sophie's right eye was in a bad state and they were faced with the most difficult decision doggy parents have to make. We're gonna miss you Soph girl.

17,160

2011-10-23T19:37:00.008-04:00

If I did all of the increases correctly, that's at least how many stitches I have to knit to complete the ruffle of my latest knitting project, the 'Ubiquitous Kate' shawl. Rav Link

This is my first shawl - started Jul 23 - g how on earth did you do this in less than 3 weeks !!??

I'd been wanting to make a shawl but didn't want a lacy one. A dense fabric seemed to suit me better and would be warmer (hopefully) in the office. Next one might be lacy.

I had no idea what I was in for...you start with 2 stitches and increase every single row. Each pattern repeat increases 72 stitches and I had to do an extra repeat. There were 477 stitches before the increases for the ruffle. After those rows were done, there were (give or take) 1430 stitches. The pattern calls for 12 rows of ruffle - my yarn is finer than I expected and if 12 rows doesn't do it, I'll have to add a few more. I've got 3 full balls of yarn left, hope it's enough.

Here's a pic - a shawl before blocking is just a pile of yarn :-)

The flu bug caught me again - laundry got finished, but other than that this weekend was lots of movies and lots of knitting.

Did you all have a good weekend ?

Payment

2011-09-25T10:30:00.001-04:00

2 posts in 2 days...don't get too used to it - LOL

Payment for what ? Aha, well you might ask. I'm not sure exactly how it came about but this week, in a space of 24 hours, I became the new owner of...

Hubby has coffee every morning with a couple of the other drivers, so the guys know about my sewing machine collection (and apparently, my wish list LOL). One day this week, it somehow came about that one of J's regular customers had a treadle just sitting around (how THAT came up in conversation between a courier and a customer - I have NO idea !). J must have asked if he wanted to get rid of it after which he mentioned it to Hubby who told me I would be 'getting a treadle tomorrow'. oh, for free !

So, the next day, J went back to pick it up, transferred it from his truck to our van after work and it came home with us. It is a 1910, model 127. Shoot, that makes it 100 years old !!!!!

All it needs to work is a new belt and a new spring in the tension assembly. Of course, it needs a good cleaning and the cabinet also needs some TLC. A project for DH. You know, I'm starting to wonder if these machines are for me or for HIM ?! He is certainly enjoying the fixing up process.

My cost - a banana cake for J (and the rest of the morning coffee group !)

It's a 15 !

2011-09-24T18:26:00.008-04:00

I have GOT to stay away from flea markets/garage sales/kijiji/craigslist (and any other places I may have missed)

Last weekend, DH & I spent Saturday at a flea market. This market is open every weekend from Spring to Thanksgiving. Some of the vendors sell new stuff, but about a full third of the vendors are regular garage sale spaces - you can find ANYTHING if you don't mind digging through stuff. There are always a few things we have in mind 'if we see it' but generally it's just a good few hours walking around browsing. I've seen a lot of sewing machines the past few visits and haven't yet succumbed to the temptation of buying although I LOOK at them all :-)

What did I see this time ? A really, really ugly plastic case sitting on the ground behind the seller's table. Well, yes, I had to go see what it was. All closed up you'd never know it was a sewing machine unless you sewed and were looking closely.

I opened 'er up and swooned ! A 15 ! I'd been interested in one, but hadn't yet come across one. It was a bit dirty, but the handwheel moved well, there was a bobbin case and bobbin and only the straight foot. The lady said she wanted $20 but had no idea if it worked. Yeah, so we've learned that they pretty much ALL work after a good cleaning, oiling and new wiring and $20 seemed a good deal. I said yes, Hubby handed over the $$ and once we were at the car, he told me "if you hadn't taken it, I would have" LOL - anyone else see the signs of a monster in the making !

Here are a few pics of the new baby after Hubby did his thing - it cleaned up good.
We also checked out the serial number - Singer dates it to 1948.

The one thing left to do is get rid of the case - that thing's not hanging around for long!

FNSI - follow-up

2011-09-17T08:19:00.002-04:00

Well, the Friday Night Sew-In was pretty much a bust this time.

I sewed a seam - one seam, one wonky, crooked twin-needle seam - no pics !

Does it count that I actually spent time in the sewing room ?

Friday Night Sew-In - my first

2011-09-16T13:30:00.001-04:00

What WILL I get done ???...

It came, it came !

2011-09-12T19:39:00.004-04:00

Bloggy friends are amazing !
I've been waiting for a Vogue sale forever (at least it seems like it). Not long ago Joann's had a .99 sale and I received an email asking if I wanted a V1250.

Today I got a present in the mail and it only took 6 days to cross the country and hop across the border :-)

...and just look at the cutie pie that traveled with the pattern.

THANKS G !

Go DAD !

2011-09-08T15:48:00.003-04:00

Tuesday, I made bread - Dad watched.
Today, Dad made the bread & I just talked him through it.

Here are the fruits of his labours...

I got the first taste :-) It is exactly as it's supposed to be :-)

He did a good job.

It never works this well at home...

2011-09-06T14:53:00.002-04:00

My sister has a great recipe for bread that she makes regularly (and perfectly !). I've tried it a few times and while it tastes good, it never rises particularly well and is heavy-ish.

My Dad has also tried it once, unsuccessfully. During my last few visits home, he has said he wants me to watch him make it and tell him what's wrong. Yeah, sis lives in the same city, it's her recipe, she makes it perfectly and he wants ME ? to show him ??? So since I'm visiting for a longer time this trip, we planned a day. Today.

In actuality, since I hadn't attempted it in a while, I made it and he watched. THIS is the finished product...

Don't they look fabulous ????!!!! So far, I'm happy :-)

Then 'someone' (not naming names 'DAD' LOL) couldn't wait for them to cool before tasting. So we cut off a few pieces. Here is the middle of the loaf shot...

OMG! I have NEVER made bread so light and fluffy. They were a hit.

And Dad ?
Well, we have another date before I leave on Friday for him to make a batch himself.

Vacation - almost over

2011-08-11T15:48:00.019-04:00

Only a few more days left, but it has been a great vacation so far. DH takes a lot of pics of me (that I don't like !) but he took this one last week at the Toronto Harbourfront and I do like it - It sums up my feelings exactly about this whole time off, can you tell ? :-)

Last week, it was all about family, friends, food, shopping...you know. For the first time we attended a RibFest - OMG it was good (and I decided then and there to not watch my food intake at all and just enjoy myself) !

Many of our outings were to flea markets. I came across 2 Singer buttonholers, both of which I'm sure will fit one or some of my machines - and hopefully they will work. They always seem to have good reviews, I've wanted to try one.

The couple we visit live about a 5 minute walk from the Ravine (a large park space with walking trails and bike paths, right near downtown Toronto). For the first time, I took the pups one morning for a walk there and was surprised to find there was a packed trail for walking parallel to the paved bike path. Just like walking in the woods - and so peaceful at 7am. Look :

My neurotic Pom, turned into quite the adventurer and just loved the walk - he led the way everywhere :-)

Deceiving - this was high enough to walk under without ducking.

The end of that log from the other side.

The shopping/fabric acquisitions...remember the bag ?...

6 knits from Fabricland - 3 are rayon/spandex blends, the other 3 are poly/spandex blends. The 3rd row includes fabric from the Fabric District shopping - top to bottom are, black twill lining for an upcoming project - if it works, you'll see it. If not, well...Next down is a leaf print in (I think) cotton. Both were from King Textiles. Next one is a rayon print from Downtown Fabrics - I loved it but am not sure exactly what I'll do with it. The 2 pieces on the far right are both wool from Sue who so generously parted with some of her stash to both Connie and I. The top one is in 2 pieces and there is enough to make a skirt. The other is not quite enough to make pants, I don't think.

Last year, we went into Archie Fine (& Sons ?) to find that they cut the ends of their rolls into pant lengths and the more you pick the less $ per piece. I wasn't prepare to spend for a bulk purchase then but intended to check it out again this year. The 7 pieces above were all $15/piece - I can't go wrong with that if they make wearable pants. The colorful print is strips of gauzey fabric sewn onto a lightweight cotton backing. Connie, Reethi & I all bought a bit. This is one repeat and I think I'll just gather it to a 2" elastic for a waistband.

Need a bit of help with today's purchase. Any ideas are welcome.

We stopped in our local thrift store and left with a bag of stuff for $15 ! Including the fabric below. The plaid is a fluffy wool that I figured for a skirt but it might be TOO fluffy - I'll see.

All of the other pieces are remnants, 6 are labelled Zegna, and I DO mean remnants ! They are all half-width and range from 32-40" long. Like, say, really big swatches ! There are 11 pieces and the rolled up bundle was only $2.99. I couldn't leave it there, but have NO IDEA what to do with pieces this small ! What do you think ???

Oh, I almost forgot...the boxes I brought home. Well, one was a Featherweight (given to me by the friends we were visiting - GIVEN !) and the other was a Singer 66 RedEye found on Kijiji - it belonged to the seller's grandmother. It had originally been treadled but she was keeping the cabinet - it was gorgeous ! The machine in the middle is one of the 99s we bought last year.

2nd Annual Sewing Buddies Day !

2011-08-07T22:30:00.006-04:00

...and here we are this year !

Reethi, Connie, me & Sue

Thursday, Connie drove in for the day and both Sue and Reethi booked the afternoon off for Toronto Fabric District shopping and lunch. As expected, we had a wonderful day. Connie & I met early morning and after a kick-start of coffee and a catch-up chat, started right in. We hit a couple of shops before meeting Reethi, Sue and Connie's daughter Leah for lunch.

Afterwards, we shopped ourselves out before seeing Reethi off to an evening engagement and Connie and I took Sue up on a supper invitation. Her husband, Rusty, did the honours of chef and produced a wonderful fish/seafood supper. Sue gave us a tour of her sewing room and we chatted more about sewing. She had sorted thru her stash the previous night and had a pile of fabrics that we were able to choose from to take a few pieces home.

When it was time to go home, Rusty offered to take me on the bike. Oh, I haven't been on a motorcyle since we sold ours about 10 years ago - and couldn't resist - although I tried, LOL. I'm not nervous and once Rusty determined that, it was a great ride - I was very comfortable and really enjoyed myself. Now, this meant it was quite the production to get me home. Sue followed us in the car, because I bought too much fabric to fit in the storage of the bike and she offered to bring it. Thanks guys !

This was a quick post before we leave for home tomorrow but here is a quick look at the fabric bag - I'll detail it once I'm able to take it all out and get pics.

A couple other things are coming with me this year - a teaser pic...

Real pics once we get home.

So Ready for Vacation

2011-07-28T12:33:00.005-04:00

8 1/2 working hours til vacation - yes, I'm counting hours LOL

We'll be in Toronto visiting friends and with a bit of planning ahead, Connie, Sue, Reethi and I have a girls' day (oh, yes - Fabric Shopping on Queen Street) scheduled for Thursday
I CAN'T WAIT - see you soon ladies !!!!!!!!

This is us - last year

I was going to write a 'real' post, but, you know, this pretty much sums it up !

Fair warning - giddy gloating to follow LOL

2011-07-16T22:25:00.009-04:00

What a day ! BFF and I made plans to see HP7, part 2 today - in 3D no less. My whole life, I've had monocular vision. I only use one eye at a time. After an eye surgery 20 years ago, my Opthamologist told me I would develop binocular vision - I can now use both eyes but it takes concentration - this was the first time I could actually 'see' 3D. It was a GREAT finale !

No, that wasn't the gloating. We bought tickets for the 4pm showing and had the whole day to fill. Temps today went to above 30°C with high humidity - we decided indoors was best - the mall it was. I need tops so shopping was in order, if I found anything. Actually, I need everything...almost everything I own is too big.

Here it comes...

Since last October, I'm down 26lbs. For some reason, I figured I'd be 'maybe' down one size from a 12/14 to a 10.

We started in Sears. Picked up 2 tees to try on. Size ? BFF says 'try the small'. SMALL ? Say what ? I haven't tried on or bought anything smaller than a large or x-large in many, many years !

We wandered around the dress department picking a bunch (7) of size 10s - I was being VERY optimistic.

In the fitting room - the small tees both fit - the dresses were ALL too big, way too big. We went looking for size 8s. Found them all in an 8 plus a few others. Back to the fitting room with another armload. Aha, 2 fit. The others ? ALL too big. BFF went looking for 6s. Two of those went into the 'to buy' pile. In shock, I bought the 2 tees and 4 dresses in small, 6 and 8. OMG ! Normal is 12/14, remember.

Further down the mall, we passed a little boutique with more cute dresses outside (oh, it was sidewalk sale weekend). On the return trip back, the saleslady said the dress rack had been marked down a bit more since we had passed earlier. Between her and BFF they hustle me off to the fitting room picking up dresses on the way. More smalls and 6s ! No willpower, I bought 3 more.

I'm still a bit giddy - I KNOW the weight has come off but had no real idea how that translates to fitting clothes. For the first time, I own more than 2 dresses at once and they all fit to skim the body. It's going to take some getting used to, to wear clothes that are not baggy.

Wanna see ?

From left to right - coral/brown cotton w/belt, 3 poly/spandex knits all with wrap top and some type of ruching at waist, cotton knit tee dress (for the house only !), green/blue cotton/spandex sheath, brown/black poly/spandex knit w/cowl, 3/4 sleeves and belt (will be good for fall)

OK - gloating's done - and now,unless I want to go through this again in September, I need to get sewing ! I'll need fall/winter clothes too :-)

Happy 4th !

2011-07-04T19:23:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends !!!

A quiet week

2011-07-03T20:28:00.008-04:00

My 10 days of possibilities turned into 10 days of 'do whatever'.

I spent some time painting :-)

Lots of walking and I managed to get the bike out 3 times - think I'll try for 3x per week as much as I can - all this exercise was great for stress relief.

A bit of baking...
Hubby's coworkers were happy to see some of this cake show up at work the next day.

I tried a recipe for an oatmeal bread that was a complete bust - it didn't rise and it tasted icky - it hit the garbage before it even cooled off.

What else ? ah, time sitting on the deck and reading - the weather cooperated pretty well all week so there was deck time every day - lazy, lazy, lazy

No real sewing - I played with the narrow hem foot on my Singer 99, it was fiddly but not too bad. It makes a pretty cool hem. I traced Kwik Sew 3299 - I promised DH t-shirts ages ago and he's still waiting.

No gardening either - well, not entirely true, I spent a couple hours today with a friend redoing one of HER beds ! Mine weren't touched all week.

All in all it was the stress busting week I wanted. This was a familiar sight all week...what a life, eh ?

Tomorrow - back to real life.

HAPPY CANADA DAY !

2011-07-01T07:20:00.004-04:00

201 km !

2011-06-30T16:49:00.009-04:00

Self and I had heated words today...

After the dog walk this morning, I watched the weather for an hour or so and decided to take out the bike. Yesterday, it conveniently threatened rain all day and I used that as the perfect excuse to NOT go out on the bike. Yeah, yeah I knew perfectly well it was an excuse, but I had a sore butt, it was gonna rain, it was cold, yadda yadda, yadda.

5 minutes from the house she started:

Self - OMG, we can't do this !

Me - YES, we can, it's only 12k

Self - But, it's gonna rain, and our knees are sore, and our bum is sore and it's windy and it's faaaaaarrrrr ! whiny, whiny, whiny voice

Me - of COURSE we can, we did it Tuesday, we can do it today.

Self - but, I'm tired already and my bum's really SORE !

Me - just keep pedalling and shut up.

Self - but, but, but...

Me - lalalalalala, I'm not listening, keep pedalling.

55 minutes later self and I arrived back home after 13km (yes, she stopped complaining and kept pedalling LOL)

Not sure if I've blogged this before but I've been walking the Trans Canada Trail (tctrail.ca has an interactive map, you use a pedometer and log mileage or steps each day). This month my goal was 200 km for the month - it took 25 km on the bike to do it but I made my goal ! Happy, happy, happy :-)

Parting Shot(s)
I love that the trees completely overhang the roads in our neighbourhood. This was cottage country in the 1950s and most of the grown trees are at least that old.

Putting mileage on those little legs this week - 4k for 5 days in a row so far - and this is the result once we get home - everyone picks their spot...

Alex gets the couch:

Skippy, the sunroom carpet:

Charlie (who we have for 2 weeks rather than the expected 2 weekends) has settled in nicely and will flake out anywhere :-)

I'm a Wimp

2011-06-28T12:18:00.003-04:00

HA ! what a whuss !

You can see where I'm going with this, right ?
That, my friends, is a picture of a torture machine (similar to treadmills, ellipticals, etc.)

For the past 3 years (hmm, maybe more) it has lived hanging from our garage ceiling. Every year I say I should get it down and use it. For the same 3 years (or more) I've started and stopped a multitude of walking programs.

THIS year I've actually made some weight loss progress ! Somewhat unintentionally at first but hey, that was just bonus. However, it has all been a result of counting calories and cutting portion sizes. There's that 4km walk most days, and while I expect it's helping some, I try not to count that, I'd rather it just be 'normal' for me.

Now, I figure I better up the ante a bit. A weight loss program should definitely include exercise and at the moment I'm going through physio for knee pain. Biking is a good idea overall.

DH tuned it up on Sunday, today I took it out for a short ride. Those knee muscles need a LOT of work.

I can walk 10-15km no problem - and did in fact start my day with the 3-dog 4km walk. But biking uses different muscles and I apparently haven't used those in a while. My short ride turned out to be an hour - 13km. It was all local on bike paths and I tried to keep it as non-hilly as possible - those inclines felt like mountains LOL. I know it was a slow speed, short distance but I gotta start somewhere and really, I`m happy I did it without having to walk up any of the inclines.

Tomorrow again, if the rain holds off - and if I can walk. Like I said, a wimp :-)

It's all about the puppies !

2011-06-27T11:33:00.007-04:00

Rain cleared up yesterday afternoon. Today is the only sunny day on the weather report - 'course we all know how accurate they are ! LOL

After I waved DH off at the door this morning (oh I'm liking this !), I leashed up the 3 dogs and out we went. I'm bound and determined to keep my calorie count stable and my exercise up this week. Now that I've had a couple of quiet, catch-up days, I don't want to be a couch potato all week.

Here they are - ready to go...Alex and Skippy are coupled on the purple leash - after the first walk or two of the season they walk really well like this. They get enough room to sniff a bit and no knotted leashes for me :-)

We live in a residential neighbourhood and I've got a couple 4km walks mapped out. One, in the newer (more sunny) area and the other in the older, more treed area. It was already pretty sunny and hot when we left, so we went with the shady walk.

Bah, we got the walk in, but ended up circling around some roads. Why ? because some people insist on opening their doors and letting their dogs run loose ! Their big dogs. Their big dogs who, upon seeing other dogs out walking adopt a not-so-friendly pose.

I have 2 little dogs, was walking 3 little dogs this morning and two of those little dogs have big dog complexes. When they look in the mirror they see Rottie's or something LOL

With my two, I can scoop 'em up and get out of Dodge,so to speak, if necessary - not so much with three of them.

Much better to backtrack and detour around instead. We have to do this all the time and it p***ses me off.

People, if you want your dogs out, take them for a walk - leashed !
If you want to open the door and let them out loose, fence your yard !

Tomorrow, I'll go the other route :-)

Staycation - what to do, what to do...

2011-06-24T08:07:00.002-04:00

Today is a stat holiday in Quebec, as is next Friday (Canada Day). Normally, I wouldn't take the days in between as holidays - a lot of people do and it makes for a pretty quiet week at work. This year though, I'm ready for a break - have to clear my brain. There's been a lot of stress since about November and I'm due.

The plan? There is none really. But I'm on my own, DH is not off with me.

We're babysitting Charlie, my DSIL's dog, so, along with my 2 I've got lots of company.

If the sun comes out, maybe the dogs and I'll walk, maybe I'll garden, maybe I'll nap, maybe I'll sew, maybe I'll work on my socks (or the 'almost' done sweater, maybe I'll sit on the back deck and read (or surf).

I could have gone to New Brunswick, or Toronto but I've been counting days to doing nothing for almost a month now so no travelling.

Right now I've got 10 gloriously stress-free days to fill up as I choose ! The possibilities are endless.

Gotta close the barn door

2011-06-13T09:31:00.003-04:00

...after the horse got out !

I'm so sorry everyone, my hotmail account was spammed yesterday and as far as I can tell there may be as many as 5 emails circulating.

Update - at least 7...

Known subjects as of noon Monday -
From the bottom of my heart
Specialy for you
It's amazing
Something special for you
Nice present
Exclusively for you
Present for you

I know most people are savvy enough now to not OPEN suspicious emails (I was never so happy to receive 'undeliverables' as I was this morning) but we do tend to assume some people are safe. With a few exceptions, I don't normally send links or attachments - I hope that will ring a bell with most of my contacts as being suspicious.

Thanks to all of you who emailed to warn me. :-)

Veggie Bed

2011-06-07T20:42:00.003-04:00

I finally got the veggie bed cleaned out, a bag of earth added and the poor, neglected new plants in the ground with a good drink of water !

Remember the before ?

And the after...

...so what's in there ?
Back L to R - sage, tarragon, tomato, cherry tomato
Front L to R - mini yellow rose (the largest it's been in 5 years), basil, yellow pepper, lavender, oregano.

The sage, tarragon, lavendar and oregano were planted 2 summers ago and I never expected them to overwinter one year nevermind growing into bushes ! So far I haven't harvested them at all, maybe it's time I figured out what to do with them.

HP - Plain and Simple - Ready for More ?

2011-06-05T22:26:00.007-04:00

Ah patience ! I've heard it said about me in regards to the pants BUT the reason my last post was May 22 was because it got the better of me for a bit - the fit was either more wrinkly than I wanted or each tweak had too much of a snowball effect and did more bad than good. It's been on my mind but I haven't done a great deal since my last pants posts - just bits here and there. Lots more reading online and in all the books I have with pant fitting in them.

Yesterday, I got up and decided to have another go at figuring out my crotch curve. I have both a flexible ruler and lots of tinfoil and have tried this unsuccessfully before. I don't remember the results but if I had to guess, it was before I knew that the back curve being much longer and lower than the front is actually NORMAL ! LOL

After a couple of attempts...this me (or at least a reasonable facsimile)

I carefully placed this over my pants and traced it out. The faint red line is the traced curve. Actually, it's not far off my last seam other than that bump that is (or should be) the CB seam. The CF starts a bit to the left, crosses to the SA at the CF curve and at the inseam crosses back over the CB seam where it is just below my last seam to the curve after which it curves about an inch before coming back to the seamline at top of CB.

I sewed this seam from the front to back, joining the original seam at the bottom of the CB straight seam. That bit of vertical fold is STILL there in the front but the back wrinkles are minimized. Now - for the last few weeks I've followed Sew4Fun's suggestion of taking my pics with heels to be able to see the difference between sewing wrinkles and posture wrinkles - I do NOT have heels in these pics.

Didn't like the feel of the front crotch so I sewed the final seam as shown below. I followed CF with the newest line, did not cross to the SA but kept the previous curve under CF crotch, the new seam under the CB crotch and the straight-a-way up the CB seam. Make sense ? I took a pink marker to it...

BTW - you may have noticed the mess in front of the front inseam. I took a 1/2-inch wedge?dart from the CF crotch to the knee. It is the only thing that made that darned front fold less. Was it the 'right' things to try - couldn't tell you, but I'm happier with them.

My final pic - those wrinkles are actually way less than I've ever had in flat feet !

Now to unbaste and copy this on to another pair - that vertical dart worked but made these one's an unwearable muslin :-)

Hope you all had a great weekend.

3rd Blogiversary !

2011-06-04T19:27:00.003-04:00

Wow - Kind of hard to believe I've stuck with this for 3 years ! oh, technically it was yesterday but I only noticed just now. Since I generally seem to notice way after it's past, this is pretty close to 'on time' :-)

...ok, so I just went back to see how long it took to write blogiversary posts for years 1 and 2 - I missed them both for timing but my writing is consistent ... on every one so far I've written 'kind of hard to believe' - I was going to edit it out and write something else, but it's true - I rarely keep at something so long. Maybe I'm acquiring some 'stick-to-it-iveness' in my old age LOL

Thanks for reading and commenting, I do appreciate you all.

Waterlogged !

2011-05-28T10:16:00.005-04:00

After the sunny long weekend we just had, it has rained almost constantly since Tuesday, and we're not expected to see sun again before Tuesday. We are in no danger of flooding and have had none of the extreme weather our southern neighbours have been subjected to. My prayers go out to all of you dealing with the ravages of the flooding and the tornadoes that have been plaguing different communities recently.

Our rain is only inconvenient and so we are very lucky.

The upside to the rain is that - everything moved aroung and divided in the garden last week has been well-watered in and seems to have recovered nicely from any trauma. They all look good and the rose bush is showing a lot more leaves this morning.

The other upside is - although I will spend this weekend indoors, it will be mostly spent sewing and baking. Laundry is the only other 'must-do'.

The last pant-fit coming up shortly...

Gardening

2011-05-23T21:52:00.007-04:00

*** 'lizabeth - now I know you're lurking - you're safe with this one - no butt pictures LOL ***

I didn't get back to the sewing room today. Went to the market to stock up on yard supplies / laundry (3 great days for line drying) / baking (oatmeal cookies and peanut butter cookies) / worked on 2 of the flower beds.

We've got 6 beds that need work in a bad way - I didn't do anything last year and they're overrun with grass and weeds. Today was the day to start.

All stocked up and ready to go...

I started on the bed that needed the least work-a quick fix I thought, NOT...

4 hours later...I'm pretty sure this is the first time that this bed has ever been mulched - will help with the weeding for sure :-)

In the meantime, hubby was working on the iris bed. This is 16 feet long by about 18 inches deep. I'd love to make it 2 feet deep or more but that's going to mean digging out a LOT of rocks ! This bed has yellow and purple irises, perennial geraniums and lots of grass. We have to dig it all up, clean out the weeds and divide what we're keeping, replace the edging and dig in some fertilizer and earth before replanting everything.

It started out like this...

...and after a lot of digging, it's about half done...the irises on the right are the ones I divided and will replant. Everything else is coming out (there are 3 geraniums in the bed I worked on - temporarily til they go back in with the irises)

Hubby found this hidden in the irises - our neighbour gave us a couple of raspberry stalks 3 YEARS AGO and they've been living neglected in this pot with a couple handfuls of dirt ever since. I figure anything that can survive that ought to be planted, no ? LOL

I decided to give veggies a go again this year. I picked up a yellow pepper/basil/regular tomato/cherry tomato
...have to clean out their bed before I can plant them though.

Still so much to do.

Back to work tomorrow for me.
Hope you all had a great weekend.

HP Plain and Simple - another tweak

2011-05-22T18:08:00.002-04:00

My goodness - thanks everyone !

Kay - if I understood you correctly, then I've just done it...I knocked off the point of the front crotch curve and made it a curve about 1/2 of what it was at what was the corner point.

Now, the one thing I HAVEN'T done yet is to clip out all of the extra fabric at the crotch curve. I was paranoid about cutting it out then finding I needed it later. I've just had a brainwave and enlisted hubby's eyes and camera. He took another set of pics after I rounded the point of the crotch curve. There is a fold of fabric on the inseam of my left leg both front and back. I don't want to have to make separate adjustments for each leg so figure I'm stuck with some wrinkles. THEN I remembered I hadn't cut out the excess curve fabric. I put the pants back on and folded all that seam allowance to the OTHER side of where it had been and the folds CHANGED sides !

So, now I'm off to bite the bullet and cut out some of that crotch SA.

HP - Plain and Simple Pants - 1st round of adjustments

2011-05-22T16:08:00.009-04:00

I've been playing with this most of today. I'd decided to trace out the size 10 lines from just above the hip line. My hope was that this would give me a fit closer to 'me', keep all those nice straight lines intact and take in some of the crotch bagginess. It kind of worked.

Mary Beth so kindly pointed out that I might do well with an L-shaped front curve. I decided to cut the size 10 lines 'as is' and see what's what. Well, what's what wasn't good ! No evidence LOL

I scooped the front crotch into an L-shape and tried 'em on - a bit better but still saggy/baggy. Pinched out another wad and sewed another 'L'.

For the back, I dropped the CB seam down 1-inch and carried the 'L' over to the crotch point.
The good - I'm very happy with the (non)shaping over the hips (I'm just not really curvy LOL), very happy with the straight lines still being straight, very happy that the back wrinkles are less (just look at my right butt !!!).

The bad and the ugly all in one - There are still poochy folds both front and back although less.

I'm thinking now that I should shorten the crotch extensions - I can't think of any other way of getting rid of those folds.

More basting coming up...

HP - Plain (yes) & Simple (not so much)

2011-05-21T20:38:00.006-04:00

Well, they fit at the waist and over the top of the bum but unless I'm misreading the problems, they're just overall too big.

The good - all the lines are straight, the knee line is AT my knee, that L-crotch does seem to be shaped like me.
The bad - too big, lots of folds - both front and back, you can't actually see the L-curve doing its thing because of the folds at the inseam.
The ugly - the front crotch - oooh boy !

My measurements put me in a size 14. After measuring the pattern pieces, I cut a 12. I almost cut the 10 but it required more confidence than I had :-). The vertical grainlines are thread traced, as well as the knee line - I forgot to trace the hip line. Both the zip and the waistband are basted on.

DH took distance and close up shots of all 4 sides. The front view is pretty gross. LOL. The back has lots of wrinkles, but they look different from the last pattern I was working with. They're all more vertical or diagonal rather than the horizontal bunching from before. At issue is the amount of fabric at the crotch - it's like wearing a diaper. Both front and back have too much fabric. Like about an extra inch, maybe more, of folds. Side seams from waist to hip are poochy. My hip is much flatter than most patterns, I think.

I've checked out my fitting books and online to see what do do about the extra folds but didn't find anything. Going on the basis of 'just too big', I think I'm going to recut them smaller - the size 10 may take out enough of the fullness to get a better picture.

So, without further ado...the first muslin.

As usual, I'm open to any suggestions.

Slow and Methodical

2011-05-20T05:51:00.005-04:00

No basting yet - I figured if I'm going to make adjustments, I'd better set the stage.

Last night I transferred all the markings and thread traced the kneeline and the grainline. The grain was marked about 3 inches from the inseam. I folded the legs in half and threadtraced the grain at that point.

It's not going to be a quick and dirty muslin - marking and tracing took ages !

More progress tonight...maybe even pics...stay tuned...

Next step in the Pant journey

2011-05-18T21:27:00.005-04:00

Monday I took out my HP pants patterns and measured the patterns - Weekender Chinos and Razor Sharps - WIDE pants - and by the looks of it drafted VERY large - I expect to have to cut about a 12 or 14 but my measurements fit somewhere in the size 8 range - WoW ! (hmm, should probably clarify that – based on the measurement chart, I fit into the 12-14 range – it’s just that the pattern runs large enough that after flat measuring the pattern pieces their size 8 is about where I fit – I’m not a legitimate size 8 but maybe one day LOL)

The Plain and Simple Everyday pants seemed to be more in line with what I'm shooting for - the width at the hem is only about 2-inches larger than my adjusted Burda pattern. I decided to start with this one. No adjustments. None. Really. No changing my mind partway through the basting. Definitely. Well, I did add 1-inch to the leg length, but that's it.

It's all cut out. Tomorrow I'll baste it all together and see where I stand.

04-2009-119 - a bit improved

2011-05-15T20:30:00.011-04:00

*** a quick update after wearing them all day today (in normal shoes and socks !) Fabulously comfy ! ***

Had the day to myself and used it to finish the waistband, button, buttonhole and hems of the latest pants.

Text below is taken directly from my PR review - link to the real thing is on the sidebar.

Pattern Description: Trousers with curved four-piece waistband that are fitted at the waist and hips and gently flare to the hem.
I made this up 'as is' once and have since used it as a jumping off point for a narrower leg pant - possibly not my best decision.

Pattern Sizing: 34-46 - Originally, I cut a 44 waist blending to a 42 at the hip but as this is my 3rd tweak of the pattern, I have no idea what number it's at now for size. I do know it's smaller though !

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Nope

Were the instructions easy to follow? Burda ? Instructions ? Easy ?! I used Readers Digest, Singer's Pants that Fit, Sandra Betzina's fly tutorial as well as help from PR, specifically Sew4Fun's shifted leg recommendation and how-to.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It's a great basic pant - if I could only get a handle on those wrinkles !

Fabric Used: Same as last time - I found 10yds of a lovely, cushy bottomweight to use for pants practice. I want to say RPL but it could be just poly. It wears VERY well throughout the day.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
Here we go...as I said, this is my 3rd go at this pattern. My adjustments to date include:

Design changes:
- added pockets - I used the pockets from Butterick 6420. This was my first attempt at franken-patterning and had a bit of a problem. One of the pieces was measured too small and I had to redo it. I'm pretty happy with them now. I did not cut a pocket stay and was a bit worried about gaping, but once the waistband went on, they don't gape hardly at all.

- narrowed legs by marking 1-1/4 inch on each side of the leg at the hem and blending up to 1/4 inch at 2 inches below crotch line.

Alterations:
- took in the the back darts to a 3/4 inch depth (but left them the original length)

- took in 1/4 inch on each side seam from waist blending down over the hip and flattened that curve a bit.

- lowered center back waist by 1/2 inch

- scooped crotch approx 1/4 inch

- sewed a 3/8 inch deeper seam on the straight part of the CB seam

- on the back inseam I shortened the crotch extension almost 3/4 inch

- to remove some of the under-butt wrinkles I removed a wedge from the back leg under the crotch - 1/2 inch

After posting for help both here and on the Fitting Woes board on PR (and receiving soooo much feedback), I decided to try Sew4Fun's suggestion of shifting the leg. I cut the back leg in two just under the crotch and shifted the leg towards the inseam. After the fact, I realized I should have shifted the leg at the KNEE not the crotch, but the muslin showed the wrinkles were noticeably less - Wow !

However, I saw the grainlines were really distorted.

During sewing up the pants, those crooked grainlines were really bugging me - the inseams were so far forward and the side seams so far to the back.

With 3/4 inch SAs to play with, I sewed the fronts to the backs with 3/4 SAs for the back pieces and 1/4inch SAs (yes, it's too tiny, but I did it anyway) for the front pieces. This helped recenter the grainlines and place the seams centered to my leg, but in the final pics, those wrinkles are back !

The muslin pic above does NOT have the waistband attached. That may be part of the problem and shifting the seam allowances may have had a detrimental effect - but I'm not sure. Should have left well enough alone and just made one change at a time.

I DO like the front views and the back view is much better when I stand with one leg forward - we all know those wrinkles are worse when we're standing still LOL.

Please ignore the fashion disaster - I would not normally wear bright fuschia socks with heels !

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I do recommend the original pattern, but probably won't make it again as I prefer a narrower leg.

Conclusion: They're not perfect, but they're better than the previous pair, no worse than my RTW pants, and are wearable. I'm still working on a TNT pants pattern but I've learned a lot so far with these.

Now, I think I'm going to put this pattern aside for a bit. HP patterns have had good things said about them in regards to the L-shaped crotch for a flat butt. I've got Razor Sharp, Weekender Chinos, Plain & Simple and the Jean Jeanius patterns all in my stash. Plain & Simple would probably be the most logical one to start with, but the Razor Sharps are drawing my eye :-)

It's official ... and too funny :-)

2011-05-13T19:08:00.004-04:00

I went to physio today for a lifelong knee pain which was helped by surgery 16 yrs ago and is giving me grief again.

I got a full evaluation, therapy which consisted of torturing my butt and leg muscles and was sent home with a bunch of exercises to strenghten the weakling muscles. I'm hopeful that they will help.

John now knows I sew. Odd that it would come up in conversation ? Maybe, but during the evaluation the following words were uttered - by him :

swayback, hyper-extended calves and forward tilted pelvis/hip LOL !!!

ya think ?

My self diagnosis, made with helpful advice from all of you and the kind folks over at PR, has been officially and medically confirmed.

Of course I couldn't resist and informed him that I knew most of that (forward tilt suspected but not yet in the list of fitting adjustments) and it made fitting pants a nightmare prompting him to have to wrap his brain around "you SEW your pants !?"

He has no idea the pics I've posted here :-)

All in all - too funny LOL

Now, I just have to get that in-progress pair finished...stay tuned.

Note(s) to self

2011-05-08T09:54:00.003-04:00

1) When cutting out a pattern without seam allowances, make sure to add them everywhere they're supposed to be !

Yes, I'm still working on the pants - no, definitely not going to be finished today :-(

2) 2 legs, 4 attempts - RS together-'nuff said

04-2009-119 - still working on 'em

2011-05-01T18:12:00.008-04:00

I was hoping that this would be a 'completed project' post, but it was not to be. :-(

After 2 weeks, I finally got back to my pants. After getting so much great advice on the wrinkles, I decided go with the "shift the leg towards the inseam" suggested by
Sew4Fun and others. It did get rid of most of the wrinkles and looks a lot better EXCEPT the grainline is sloping towards the sideseam on the front and towards the inseam on the back. Rather than trash this pair, I'll take note for next time to shift both the front and back (below the knees) to see it that will fix up the grainline without affecting the butt wrinkles.

I only want to do one major change at a time, but will try the Low Butt Adjustment on one of the next pairs to see the difference.

Anyway, that muslin was done 2 weeks ago and taken apart ready for 'real' sewing - then work was busy and we were away for 4 days for Easter. Today, I was working on them for sure !

...however, not one to leave things alone, I decided to add pockets (do NOT like pants without 'em and I prefer a pocket for my pedometer rather than the clip on the waistband)

So, I started this morning with the pocket pieces from B6420.

I knew I didn't want to use this cushy fabric for the whole pocket so I went with cotton for the pocket bags with the grey pants fabric for that little side bit that shows.
I lost my last battle with fusible interfacing so I was very careful to not move anything til it all cooled - so far so good. The seam is stabilized - and stayed that way - bonus

Pockets all attached - looks fine, yes ? oh, wait it gets good.

Fly is in (really happy with the fly, Sandra Betzina's video is my go-to for these and it's getting easier), sideseams, inseam and crotch are all basted - still good , huh ? yup keep waiting - I so wish I'd posted my intentions this morning, you'd have all stopped me, I'm sure

Aha, here we go - the back part of the pocket bags with the pants fabric attached. I'm sure you all see the problem.

You know,right up til I figured out the problem, I was happy with these. I serged the edges of both the grey and the peach cotton and cut out the extra cotton from the back of the grey, so only one layer except where they join.

My duh moment - I had these all basted and put them on before I figured out just how 'too tiny' my grey side pieces are. The pockets gape some and it's horrible. Now the basting all comes out, the pockets come off and I'll replace the grey piece on each side with a larger one.

Finished pants to come - when? who knows?

Be careful what you ask for LOL!

2011-04-17T07:52:00.006-04:00

This is why they're not TNT ! Isn't it awful, though - I don't mind wearing them to work but didn't want to post on the blog where you guys would see them and think 'OMG she goes out in public like that !' LOL :-)

So, here is the back in all its horribleness - I don't know how to fix it yet, but some of the comments on PatternReview have been that I could get rid of the diagonals by shifting the leg, but the horizontals are likely caused by my posture (locked knees) rather than the pattern - have to play with the pattern a bit - I need the space to sit and move but I may be able to lessen the horizontals a little (maybe a tiny Flat Butt Adjustment?).

I'll document the process and we'll see if it works.

L to R - original, first adjustments, two final versions (btw - they are all the same pants - just different lighting conditions)

04-2009-119 - 2nd version

2011-04-16T13:13:00.006-04:00

This is what I did for the past 2 weekends. I liked my original version for dressy pants but don't like wide legs as a regular thing. Rather than start with a new pattern, I decided to try to narrow the legs on this pattern - in hindsight it may have been easier to start with a pattern closer to the shape I wanted.

Anyway, I narrowed the legs by 1.25 inches on both the inseam and outseam. The amount of wrinkles was staggering ! Tweaking included scooping the crotch .5 inch, shortening the back crotch extension by .75 inch, flattening the hip seam to get rid of the jodphur look, and loosening the knee by a total of 1" to see if it would help any of the wrinkles drop. They're comfy, but I'm hoping for some help to get rid of under-butt wrinkles so you're only getting the front shot :-)

You see it's not about me but all about my little girl ! LOL She was NOT giving up the spotlight !

I used Sandra Betzina's fly tutorial. Need to remember to make the underlap a bit wider though. ...and the bit of color ?

Cotton for the inner waistband and the underlap.

I'm happy with the wearability but they're not a TNT yet.

Market Bag

2011-04-10T07:23:00.005-04:00

I haven't yet made any progress on my current sewing project, and in case I don't get very far with it today, I finally snapped a pic of my market bag. I found the instructions for this on Liana's blog a long time ago and started it then. The bag was done very quickly up to starting the strap and stopped. Probably got distracted - 'almost finished' items seem to be my nemesis :-)

Anyway, after finishing the last pair of socks, I decided to get moving on clean up and finished this bag as well as using up a 1 lb worsted weight yarn (that was just sitting around and taking up space )for a baby afghan - well, in the interest of full disclosure, the afghan is 'almost done' LOL The yarn ran out and it's a bit smaller than I would like, so I'm going to edge the off-white blanket with a dusty rose color (it will clear out another stash ball of yarn while I'm at it). About 1-2" of sc should do it, I think.

So, here's the bag. I used a crochet cotten and only one ball. I followed the original pattern to the top of the bag and, like Liana, did a 10 st garter stitch strap, although I just did the strap til the cotton ran out and then tacked it to the other side of the bag. One thing I've recently learned is that slipping the first stitch of each row makes a neater edge - tried it on the strap an am pretty happy with it.

...and another pic of my favorite model of late. Given a stick to chew, Alex hides with it til it's gone; Skippy wanders around with it like it's a cigar til he finds just the right spot on the carpet to settle.

Let's pretend

2011-04-03T19:29:00.006-04:00

that it's last weekend and I'm posting about the 'baby stuff' on time - LOL Yes, I finally finished the baby gift sewing and on time too. The baby's not due for a couple of weeks yet. I didn't really have a plan in mind of what I wanted to make other than a couple of crib sheets. Apparently, mommy doesn't prefer the pastel babyish items that are readily available. I went to Fabricville, picked up a couple of non-pastel flannel prints and figured I'd make whatever I could get out of what was left over once they were pre-washed (lost lots of length there !) and once the crib sheets were cut out. In total, I made... 3 crib sheets 5 receiving blankets 8 double sided burp cloths Here's the whole pile (less the 3 receiving blankets that were actually finished in time for the shower)

2 receiving blankets - purchased ones are pretty skimpy. I made these as large a square as I could - about 40" x 40". I also used decorative stitches for the first time. Boy, I never filled so many bobbins ! The burp cloths are approx 11" x 18", each of them backed with white and decorative topstitching. And finally, the crib sheets. Those elastics gave me fits but I eventually got 'em on with the regular SM and a zigzag stitch. I didn't have it in me to turn the elastics under and stitch again but I have sheets with the elastic applied like this and they've held up really well. Hopefully these will too.

...still working on my own weekend project - today I fitted, basted, took pics, pin fit some more, basted some more, took more pics and finally decided enough is enough. I started seaming, pressing, serging, etc and made progress but didn't finish. Yet.

I sewed today !

2011-04-02T21:03:00.003-04:00

All day. But I'm slow so that means I've only got a project cut and mostly basted. I might have something to post tomorrow. There were 'on the fly' adjustments to the pattern so my next post may be for a wadder/muslin rather than a wearable item. Time will tell.

Motivation

2011-03-25T15:38:00.010-04:00

There's a new gadget just added to my blog. Hoping to keep myself on-track and motivated :). A treadmill walking program I started in October had the added benefit of taking off 8 lbs !

A few weeks ago, I found an APP for counting calories. I downloaded it and found out that based on the data and goals you input, it would track calories, exercise and weightloss. It calculated my calorie count for my weightloss goal and I've managed to be consistent with entering everything I eat and any exercise time. 4 weeks later, as of this morning, I'm down another 9 lbs - Right now, I'm pretty motivated and while he's not giving up any of HIS goodies :-) DH is very supportive of my choices and my attempt at portion control. Surprisingly, some things were unexpected...I don't mind whole wheat bread after all and most measured portions were either just about or much more than my usual amounts so I actually don't feel like I have to eat less at my meals - just keeping an eye on my calorie count overall (and choosing different snacks !) is making all the difference.

My sewing will take some rethinking now. It has gotten warmer here in the last week or so and I've started wearing my skirts. In the last 7 work days I've worn 3 skirts that I've made and they're all too big - one of those was uncomfortable snug and it was LOOSE **happy dance** and yesterday I wore my pants BWOF 04-09-119 you know, the ones I couldn't sit down in after they were made LOL - now...THEY FIT !!!!!

These are my 'walking home' shoes, I wore real shoes at work, promise :-)
I lightened up the pics to show more detail.
I know the hems are even so maybe I'm standing funny - the back shot shows wrinkles in the left leg that weren't there before - at least I don't think they were. The close up of the seam shows it's pretty straight. They were really comfortable and I think I'm going to try another pair.

My 'planned' weekend sewing plans have fallen through - my SIL has exams for 3 days next week and will spend her weekend studying instead of sewing. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Definitely something, but exactly what, we'll see on Sunday.

I learned something new

2011-03-20T21:37:00.005-04:00

...and finally conquered those pesky elastics ! This weekend I worked on the baby stuff. I got 3 crib sheets and 2 more receiving blankets done. I had decided not to do burp cloths but there was so much flannel left over that I made some after all - 8 in total. They're sewed up, one side printed flannel, one side white and turned RS out. They need to be pressed and I think I'll stitch around the outer edge with the same decorative stitches that I used for the receiving blankets. I'd like to have them all done tomorrow, but in reality, will probably only get a couple done each night this week. As soon as everything is done, I'll post a pic.

My SIL is supposed to come visit this weekend and I want her to take these home with her, they're all for her daughter. I haven't heard anything about the blankets that were ready for her shower, so I'm still flying blind as to whether she liked them or not. Oh, well.

SIL's visit this weekend is for Sewing ! She had asked me to help her with the things she wanted to make for her daughter and I agreed. I do have an extra machine or 5, after all LOL ! Anyway, after she bought her fabric we were talking and she mentioned the fleece. FLEECE !? what fleece ??? Oh, oh, I'm supposed to help her with fleece ? My one attempt at sewing fleece was a worse failure than my first attempts at attaching the darn elastic to the sheets !

Oh, I did finish knitting my string bag last Monday. I guess I need a pic of that too. It feels pretty good to finish a UFO :-)

It was all about colour

2011-03-13T19:58:00.009-04:00

It was a draining 7-8 weeks at work and most weekends we had something or other to do. This weekend I didn't want to DO anything ! I wanted to sleep til I woke up and just do whatever I felt like. Well, today I did laundry and that was the only household chore I accomplished all weekend - no groceries, no cooking, nada.

Yesterday, I woke up at 4am and surprise, surprise I was actually awake and rested. There were hours of recorded shows on the PVR that needed to be cleaned up, including about 4 weeks of Coronation Street - yes, I'm addicted to 'Corrie' - my one and only soap. I grabbed my knitting bag and the remote and started playing episode after episode (8 total) while finishing up my latest pair of socks - SFFTU #8 Ribbed Ribbons socks.

First color of the day - lilac

Stats:
Knit Picks Stroll - Twinkle Heather (mauve/lilac)
Purchased online December 12, 2010
2.5 mm needle
CO Jan 10, 2011
JMCO 13 st each toe
inc to 66 st for foot
inc to 57 st at end of gusset
slip stitch under heel
eye of partridge heel (thanks g !)
leg knit at 68 st
CO JSSBO Mar 12, 2011

At 8am my day really got started, DH was up and made breakfast (I HAVE previously admitted to being spoiled *smile*)

Then I decided that since I hadn't painted my toes all winter, it was time. I don't do a great job, but who can tell that far down LOL !
Color #2 - deep green

BFF made an app't for us to have haircuts next weekend. Well, my ever-so-helpful DH has mentioned that my roots 'glow in the dark' and I like to have my color done before I get a cut. I grabbed a box from the cupboard and he was pressed into service. He has been doing my color for years, does a great job and for now I do NOT glow in the dark !
Color #3 - burgundy-ish, purple...oops, no pic

Rather than cast on another pair of socks right away, I found my string bag that I'd started way back in Sep ~~2998~~ hello? 2008 - I had done the bag up to starting the shaping for the strap and put it down...it's on my UFO list, but it was in a drawer, out of sight, out of mind. It's not yet completely finished but it should be done tomorrow.

Sometime Saturday afternoon, I decided my nails should also be done. No pedi without a mani ! In the summer generally all my nails match, or at least coordinate - in the winter, not so much...Color #4 - purple

Color #5 White - we had snow at the beginning of last week, right before we got LOTS of rain to wash it all away. After work Monday, I let the dogs out back and looked up. That snow is hanging off of the roof way more than a foot past the edge of the roof line.

and the garage - that one's a 2-foot drop !

After mild temps the rest of the week, the roof is almost completely clear. We still have a long way to go, the snow piles will hang around for a while yet, but it's nice to think we got 30 or more cm of snow and 5-6 days later, it is noticeably less. Spring is coming :-)

I had my restful weekend - back to the grind tomorrow. Hope you all had a good weekend !!!

Sewing - and knowing when enough is enough

2011-03-07T12:57:00.003-05:00

Hmmm - I may have said recently that I had some baby sewing to do - DH's niece is due to be the mommy of a bouncing baby boy soon and in January I said I'd make some crib sheets and receiving blankets for her shower.

Her shower was Feb 26 - I managed to hem around the edges of 3 ! receiving blankets !
4 blankets and 4 crib sheets were in progress and yet that's all I got done. bad, bad Auntie :-(

Anyway, part of the problem is attaching the elastic to the sheets. It shouldn't be a difficult task - but it's killing me. I have a serger WITH and elastic attachment foot and multiple ZZ machines. Testing numerous times with every combination of machines and feet proved completely unsuccessful. It's definitely me and it's completely humbling to admit that for this simple task, I dug through my instruction books and on the Net for help. The instructions are understandable, it's the actual technique of doing that I'm having trouble with.

These NEED to get done and so I did a bit of sewing this weekend. I finished the 4th receiving blanket with a very pretty decorative stitch. I serged the raw edges of 2 of the sheets in preparation for the elastic.

The flannel is not quite wide enough and I've compensated by adding a lengthwise strip down one side of each sheet - didn't want to do this, but the seam probably won't show as it is just the amount needed for the sheet to tuck under the sides of the mattress.

I didn't do this on my first sheet and no way would it be wide enough so last night I undid 2 of the serged ends and added the required strip. No problem with this.

Except then I realized the darn thing was practically going to turn into a patchwork quilt because I needed to add a bit to 2 other short ends as well - thank goodness this is no longer going to be a wrapped gift !!!

DH asked if I wanted to watch a movie last night - I wasn't quite finished in the sewing room so I quickly (see the problem in the phrasing here ?) ran the 2 short pieces through the serger onto the sheet. Yup, they're both wrong - one is misplaced and the other is RS to WS. Actually, my mind in the light of day is telling me I misplaced the second one as well, but I can't check til I get home. In the meantime, everything is wadded up, in a pile on my ironing board where I left them in disgust....but I enjoyed the movie ! LOL

NO PICS of stupidity - only once everything is done.

Oh and there are still no elastics attached yet - if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears. I'm trying to gather the elastic to about 50% but just can't get the hang of starting the stitching then stretching the elastic but not the fabric - I suspect it's just practice.

and coming home

2011-02-20T11:28:00.003-05:00

It was a good weekend - Dad had a family dinner yesterday so I saw a few of my nieces & nephews and a sister I don't see often. Friday was lunch with my BFF, visit with another sister and a visit with Mom. Mom is physically well, but bedridden or in a geri-chair of course. She looked well cared for, she was animated and laughing. There were times she looked right through me but a few times she looked like she was understanding me and trying to communicate. It was about the best it can be at this stage and as long as she looks well that's good.

My flight from Saint John NB to Montreal is by way of Halifax NS - yes, traveling backwards again LOL

Halifax had freezing rain last night and for the past couple of hours I've heard more delay announcements than I can count. My flight boards in an hour or so and so far it ought to be on time AND I should have my seat. There were a lot of double bookings earlier - people got bumped.

Please cross your fingers for me - I had a great weekend but now I want to be home on time - in the meantime I get to knit for a while ! I was prepared to pack my knitting but asked first and they let me bring it on board - even though it says plastic needles and I have metal (expensive Addi metal ! that I would rather check-in than lose LOL) BONUS - I'm happy ! ... especially if we're delayed :-)

and I'm off again

2011-02-16T22:34:00.002-05:00

All packed and my flight leave at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon.

A quick (really quick !) weekend visit home - Dad, Mom and whichever siblings are around. Should be fun - tiring but fun :-)

Have a great weekend everyone !

A swift for g

2011-02-11T15:22:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago I had comments back and forth with gMarie and mentioned that I'd just made a yarn swift to wind the hanks I'd just received from KnitPicks. She asked to see the swift and I agreed, however that procrastination gene of mine kicked in and I've only just now taken a couple of pics - sorry g :-(

This is the link I used. I was missing a few pieces but made do.

The supplies - 4 coat hangers, 2 pieces of elastic, a bunch of clothespins and a 4x4" container. It also calls for a gripper pad and a lazy susan so it will spin while winding.

Tie the hangers together at the top and one corner (shown in the 1st pic), open them out and put them top first into the container (instructions called for a UPS box but my little rubbermaid container works great). Put 8 clothespins on the container one on each side of each hanger. The clothespins at each outer point of each hanger will sit just above and just below the hank once it's set on the swift.

And here is a hank of KnitPicks Tonal Stroll set up and ready to go (just as soon as I untie it LOL).

I don't have a lazy susan so I set it up on the floor and sit on a stool for height and unwind a few rounds at a time. So far it works ok, although slower. The whole contraption is sitting on a roll of packing tape just to raise it from the table for the picture. I'd like to find a small lazy susan (about 6") but haven't come across one yet - one of these days.

Some actual sewing ?

2011-02-06T21:30:00.006-05:00

Nope, not yet, but soon.

I've wanted to sew since the year started and just haven't been able to make myself go into the sewing room much.

Sometime ago, I couldn't say exactly, maybe November, a friend asked me to hem some pants for her. I detest hemming pants, even mine, except hubby's (don't ask me why LOL). But if she asks, I will always do them for her - she's one of those friends that you go running for at any time and she will do the same for me. Hemming fits in there somewhere - even if it's 5 pairs. She made a major tactical error though, and told me they don't quite fit yet so 'no rush'. Yep, so 2 or 3 months later I'm still avoiding them. Since then I bought DH 2 pairs of pants and my friend's DH bought 2 pairs of jeans - all needing hemming. 9 freaking pairs of pants all ganging up on me and keeping me OUT of my sewing room. As of tonight they are all done and it's a load off my mind. Not even picture worthy, I didn't want any reminders !

Next in the queue of 'real' sewing is simple but at least more interesting. My niece is due to have a little boy in mid-April and I'm going to make crib sheets & receiving blanket for her shower at the end of Feb. So simple it may not count as actual sewing :-)

I started another pair of socks - hmmm, at the beginning of Jan maybe - only just started the gusset yesterday so there's still a long way to go, the rest of the gusset, the heel and leg.

Ah, here's a pic. Of the four of us in this house, Skippy is the only who is liking all of this snow ... This was taken Wednesday after work. They called for 10cm, said afterwards that we got 20cm but you wouldn't know it from my deck or driveway what with all the drifting. And yesterday, another 10cm or so.

Socks !

2011-01-09T22:25:00.004-05:00

3 pairs done but not yet blogged...in order of most recently completed...

SFTTU #7 - Trilobite Socks - I made these ones for me but finished them tonight at my SIL's - turns out they fit her perfectly & she likes them so I gave them to her !

My stats-
Cast on Nov 23, 2010
Cast off Jan 11, 2011 (counting as a 2010 project since on Jan 1, I only had 2" to finish!)
Zitron Trekking (XXL) Orange
Purchased at Ariadne Knits in Montreal, Quebec - February 12, 2010
2.5 mm needle
JMCO 28 stitches
inc to 66 st for pattern
Heel - sl st heel with the stitches offset by 1 - don’t know the name for it
JSSBO
Magic Loop - 2AAT

The only adjustment to the pattern was to make it 68 stitches on the calf - I added one stitch at the beginning of each needle and knit that one stitch all the way up

Plain Vanilla sock with 2x2 rib leg

My stats -
Cast on Oct 15
Cast off Oct 30
Patons Kroy Socks Jacquards - Denim Color
Purchased at Michaels in Saint John, New Brunswick - December 2008
2.5 mm needle
Judy’s magic cast on
SS foot (62 st)
regular gusset
slip stitch heel
2x2 rib leg (64 st)
JSSBO
Magic Loop 2AAT

SFTTU #6 - On-Hold Socks

My stats -
Cast on Sep 17
Cast off Oct 15
ONline Supersocke 100 - 1129 (Yellow/Orange mix)
Purchased at Romni Wools Ltd. in Toronto, August 2010
2.5mm needle
66 stitches
Magic Loop 2AAT
Judy's magic cast on (JMCO)
Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off (JSSBO)

only adjustment to the pattern was to make it 68 stitches on the calf - I added one stitch at either end of the heel needle.

My Look Back on 2010

2010-12-31T16:44:00.006-05:00

I spent a bit of time looking over my posts from this year. In no way was it a sewing year - in fact, the only piece I made completely during the year was my orange dress. That's not to say there was 'nothing' sewing - the absolute highlight was the 2010 PatternReview Weekend in June in Montreal !!! It was such a fabulous weekend, working with Connie, Kay and Anne-Marie to plan it and finally after months of anticipation, meeting all the sewists who were able to come and share the weekend with us.

Knitting was pretty productive this year - I finished 8 pairs of socks and 2 hats (socks take me about 6 weeks to do a pair - the exception being a stockinette foot and rib cuff, 2 weeks for those !) The 9th pair of the year is still on the needles with a couple of inches to go, they won't get finished before midnight tonight but in the next couple of days for sure. November and December were busy and I didn't post ~~much~~ at all *smile*. The 2 hats and 3 pairs of socks are still due to be pictured, posted and added to my logs.

Personally, the year improved somewhat - I got off the short week and was back on full time in April, thank goodness. Work is busier and that gives a bit of security. Our owners are very optimistic for an improved 2011.

In October, I got off my duff and started a treadmill walking program in addition to making a concerted effort to walk more often and longer. Took off a couple of pounds too - bonus !

New Year's resolutions and I don't usually get along - the quickest way for me to NOT do something is to SAY I will LOL. There are a few things though...I want to keep up the walking and exercise; make sure I get some sewing done (I've a capsule/collection in my head just waiting to be made) and finish some of the sewing and knitting UFO's. Both the yarn stash and the fabric collection have grown and need to be worked up.

2011 is a big year for DH & I as a couple. Come November we will have been together 25 years - our wedding anniversary is 11 years behind that though :-)

I want to thank everyone who checks in on my rambly posts and comments with such encouragement. It is much appreciated and truly makes me feel a part of a very welcoming community.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy, prosperous New Year !

Anyone still out there ?

2010-12-23T10:43:00.005-05:00

Have you all given up on me ?

Life sure does throw curveballs once in a while doesn't it ? My last post was the beginning of my Christmas to do list. Since then, all the cookies were baked, gifts bought & wrapped, the party was held Dec 11 and in the blink of an eye it was all over. How does that happen anyway ?

So, now for the past couple of weeks, I've been looking forward to traveling to Toronto to visit our friends for the week. And here comes the curveball - DH was sick last week, I'm sick now and I'm not sure which it is but either a herniated disc is acting up or I have sciatica in both legs - what a freaking week ! The pain is worse than the flu and all I really want is to be able to get some sleep.

All that means we are now having a quiet Christmas at home, just the 4 of us, although I'm sure Alex & Skippy really have no idea of Santa LOL :-) I have to admit, now I'm looking forward to it.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year !

...and so it begins again

2010-10-23T13:57:00.005-04:00

LOL - to answer Ann - Yup, 'already' :-)
and for everyone who may think I'm batty - I booked my Christmas dinner date this past week and let everyone know. Then I checked the calendar - I've only got 7 weekends to get all these cookies made. Oh, and there's another couple coming so I have to make up 1 more cookie box than usual. Let the baking commence, er continue...

First up...spritz

From UFO to FO - Part II - the Dress (Finally !)

2010-10-13T21:59:00.006-04:00

It it now Thursday, I posted this last night and this morning, checked to find that pretty much all of the text was gone. So I try again.

Wow - 3 posts in as many days - must be a record for me LOL

My first post on my Marjie/GMarie sewalong lace/PR Weekend Cocktail/Niece's wedding dress was way back on July 7. Since then I finally finished the dress - before Aug 1 actually - that's quick for me LOL.

The full review is on PR (but for some reason, I just cannot get the link to work)

I've worn this dress and while I was happy with it after the fitting process, I see so many things wrong now. The 2 worst to me are the bust seam is too high and those folds at the back shoulders. The folds may be a normal feature of cut-on sleeves but I don't know. If I could fix those two things, I'd be pretty happy with it.

Oh, and don't look at that 'not invisible', invisible zipper ! I looked and looked for a matching zipper forever. At some point it was suggested to get one in cream and paint the pull with nail polish - Yeh, I won't actually ever recommend this to anyone. Blech. Anyway, days after the zip was in you'll NEVER guess what happened. Yup, found an orange invisible zip that matched just about perfectly. Murphy just loves me :-(

DH took a few pics. Sorry for the horribly squinty eyes - it was a VERY sunny morning !
All of the lines are shadows - it was impossible to get a clear pic.

The shoulder folds and that wonderful zipper !

I kind of like this one.

Butterfly Socks - SFTTU #5

2010-10-12T21:47:00.005-04:00

I figured I'd better get my sock log uptodate before the next pair is finished LOL

This is pattern no. 5 in Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up - Butterfly Socks

It was a LONG 6 weeks making these - I absolutely detested working with the yarn. There is a black thread running the length of the yarn and it's not really twisted into the yarn so it's splitty, and so easy to not pick up all of the yarn on a stitch. With all of the double YO's in the pattern, I didn't enjoy making the socks at all. It was just a matter of getting them done.

Now they're done and I really like them after all. When trying to figure out where to start each sock to make the pattern the same, I realized the changes between colors was extremely gradual. You'd need better eyes than mine to line them up ! I just gave up and cast on to let the pattern fall where it would. Turns out the socks coordinate nicely although the pinks and purples are offset by one pattern from one sock to the other.

My stats -
Cast on Jul 22
Cast off Sep 12
Regia Hand-dye Effect - 06553 (Purple)
Purchased at Tricot Quartier - Montreal, Quebec , June 2010
2.5mm needle
64 stitches
Magic Loop
Judy's magic cast on
Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off

Sewing - but not sewing

2010-10-11T17:50:00.002-04:00

Still no sewing going on here. Still have tee partially done and waiting for me to get my act in gear.

BUT - I'm still Buying Stuff ! There is a problem with this as I haven't yet kicked DH out of his computer room and switched it with my sewing room.

Saturday's acquisition ? We went to a local open air flea market and while we saw 5 or 6 sewing machines, none came home with me. This did...for $5

It's huge - I put the one I bought from Fabricville on top and measured them. The longest part of the small one is 18 inches - the large one is 30 inches.

I'm going to recover both of them - I don't want the silver covering on the small one and the new one needs to be updated. I've got a green/white stripe twill (a mistake from fabric.com) that should be enough to cover both. Just need to find something for padding.

This weekend was about finishing up things - there are 2 posts in draft mode now - 1 sewing / 1 knitting. First one - tomorrow.

Whoo boy - a busy 10 days !

2010-09-19T14:12:00.004-04:00

A week and a half ago, I headed to New Brunswick for my niece's wedding. As a lucky coincidence, our friends from Toronto were also planning a visit home at the same time and volunteered to pick me up on the way through Montreal ! Yay, a one way ticket saved.

The wedding was wonderful, the bride radiant and the groom never stopped smiling ! They are young and in love and I wish them all the best.

One of the high points of the wedding was, unbeknownst to any of us, my niece called my Mom's nursing home and made all the arrangements necessary for Mom to attend the wedding. Wow - she hasn't been outside in a whole year ! This would be quite an undertaking - how much would be too much for her ? Well, they got her all dolled up - made arrangements for 2 tentative pickups for the Handi-Bus depending on how she was doing through the day and as you can see, she arrived in great spirits ! There was a bunch of us all waving and smiling at her and she just started laughing.

Wow, what a difference from when I last saw her in the spring - my sister said she's been very animated and chattering and happy for a couple of months now. Mom did very well sitting through the service, 20 minutes wasn't too long for her. Afterwards, though, there was 3 hours before supper. The hall where the reception was held is attached to a mall with a very bright atrium set up perfectly to sit and chat and people watch. A few of us sat with her and the 3 hours passed pretty easily. After supper (and 6 hours !) after she arrived it was time for the Handi-bus to come back to pick her up. She had such a good day - it was wonderful to have her there.

Here are a few shots of the bride & groom - I don't take great pics but the first one is my favorite.

Once I got home on Sunday, the fur she was a flyin'...

Otherwise known as, a a 10lb pom playing tug with a 3lb yorkie - believe me it's a fairer game than you might think. At least til Skippy shakes, then the yorkie doesn't stand a chance LOL
Hmm, did I forget to mention we're babysitting the Toronto dogs ? Yeah, AND DSIL's pom, Charlie, as well. A group shot - can you pick out all 6 ? A cookie bribe was the only way to get them in the same place at the same time.
Clockwise from top left - Sophia, Kelawney (lord knows if I spelled THAT right !), Alex, Lester, Skippy & Charlie

This morning the Torontonians all went home, dogs and people and Charlie's mommy called about 1/2 hour ago. DH will take him home shortly. In the meantime, this is what our day looks like LOL

This was a filler post - I do have a couple items to post (dress & socks) but have to admit I just haven't got to taking pics and posting. Soon.

Ladies who Lunch - Part 4

2010-08-22T21:57:00.006-04:00

I'm VERY late to this party - since everyone else posted practically the next day !

But, since this will be my whole vacation post, I'll start at the beginning and lead up to the good stuff. As we often do, we spent some of our vacation visiting friends in Toronto. Normally, we have no plans, it's downtime (& shopping LOL) This year, I had one day planned for me, the rest we played by ear.

In my last post, I mentioned, amongst all the SM pics, that we spend some time visiting antique shops, consignment shops and the like. Last year, we carted home two pieces of furniture - this year one new piece came home with us. As an aside, I don't go "just" to buy furniture - if I could find these kinds of deals in Montreal, I'd snap 'em up !

Our house has NO cupboard space - my tiny galley kitchen in our old apartment has more cupboards than this house does. We've been looking for a buffet/sideboard type of cabinet for a long time. The intention was to take off the lunch counter in the pic below and replace it with storage.

An hour after we got home, the counter was off and replaced with this...please, please ignore the mess !

Now the good stuff !

When I knew we were going to Toronto, I emailed Connie and let her know. Connie, who should list mindreading in her list of talents, absolutely recognized the hidden (but not extremely subtle) message in my email - 'please, please come to Toronto and shop with me!'
And so she left her family to take care of business for the day and did just that :-)

Here we are at the start of our morning. I didn't know that Toronto had their own version of New York's Sewing Man sculpture. We've got a very large thimble, with concrete buttons surrounding trees as seating and a measuring tape imprinted into the sidewalk - pretty cool.

There's no point rehashing the trip down Queen Street as Connie has done a wonderfully complete post on the subject here...The down low on fabric shopping in Toronto

And that's not all ! I emailed Reethi and Connie emailed Sue and they met us for a while at lunchtime. We managed to catch up on the past couple of months, eat and get in some bead shopping before they had to get back to work.

Here's the 'Friends' shot - yes, we all have the same pic. We gave our cameras to a gentleman in Downtown Fabrics and he took one for all of us - we probably should have changed positions a little bit LOL !

The haul (from left to right):

16 yards of black poly/cotton broadcloth (I picked this up at a local thrift shop for $5.99) It's sure to come in handy.

Downtown Fabrics...
The wild print is a Nina Ricci cotton
Below that is a blue cotton, for a shirt and a purple and light blue knit for tees.

The steel blue and red fabrics are technical fabrics. The blue (cotton/nylon) from Chu Shing Textiles and the Red from Affordable Textiles.

The only fabric with a plan is the blue cotton/nylon - I've got a skirt that is just a titch too small and I'd like to try to copy it.

The yarns are both sock yarns, the yellow from Romni Wools on Queen Street and the other from Creative Yarns in Scarborough.

And that was my phenomenal vacation this year - I sure hope we can do it again sometime !!!!!

How Many is Too Many ?

2010-08-09T16:45:00.013-04:00

The herd is growing. When I wanted to make curtains for our bedroom back when (1988/89?), my DH wanted to buy me a sewing machine right away. Instead I borrowed a friend’s machine, made the curtains, and a few other things, a dress, a skirt, etc. A year or two later, DH bought me my first SM - a Kenmore 30 stitch from Sears in a cabinet that opened up quite large but could fold compact in our small apartment.

In ‘95 or so, I started looking around at sergers. A very basic model was my goal - 3 or 4 thread. While at the Creative Needlework Festival in the fall of ‘97, DH bought me the 5 thread Singer serger with coverstitch capability - it was sooo much more machine than I was looking for and so far beyond my sewing capabilities that I was terrified of it. It sat in the box for 7 years, we were in our house for 4 years before I got the nerve to open it up. Now I use it regularly.

For years I was very happy with the two machines - DH mentioned upgrading a few times but, I didn’t feel the need so I continued as I was.

A couple of Christmas’s ago, I opened a Singer HD110 and was very surprised as I had told him I didn’t need another one.,.’it might come in handy’’, he said.

Well, turns out it does a better buttonhole than the Kenmore and has an invisible zipper foot. It also gets put to use often now.

Now…after some time on PatternReview and blogs, I’ve stumbled across the names of SM brands that I’d never heard of (Necchi being one) as well as the sites and threads of people who promote the use of the vintage machines.

In a local thrift store in June, I saw a Necchi BU Mira (1953) in a cabinet - it needed new electrical cords and at the time, the only thing I knew to check was if the handwheel turned or if it was frozen. It was VERY smooth. It also came with a drawer full of stuff - manuals, feet, cams, instructions for everything. A week later it was still in the shop and I had to have it. Had to learn to use a knee control with this one.

This past week 3 - yes, 3! have been added to the SM collection (which wasn’t a collection at all until now LOL - denial, denial, denial !). We are on holiday in Toronto visiting friends. They have 3 machines - 2 were going to be tossed unless I wanted them.

1st one is a Singer 99K - Serial number dates it to 1953, manufactured in Scotland. It’s in a cabinet and uses a foot pedal, has a stitch length lever, manual and attachments. This one will get a bit of a cleaning and oiling but is good to go.

2nd one is also a Singer 99K - Serial number dates it to 1951, manufactured in Scotland. It’s in a bentwood box (for which I found a new key), has a stitch length knob instead of a lever and has the same attachments as the previous one. It needs a good cleaning, an oiling, and new electrical cord).

I’m not sure about this one - it looks so much older than the other that I wonder if it really is a ‘51. The serial number doesn’t look tampered with but there is no ‘99K’ plate on it. I don’t know if there is any other way to definitively date a machine though, so any info would be appreciated.

Almost done ! During our visits to Toronto, we frequent a few antique and consignment shops.

Yep, in the consignment shop the other day there was ANOTHER Singer bentwood box ! I was called to come see - it had only arrived that morning and hadn’t yet even been priced. We used the computer to check the serial number - I think it came up 1935 - maybe it was 1934. Anyway, it was another 99K. This had a much darker wood box, a knee pedal and a box of attachments, including a few I didn’t have).

Owner said ‘make an offer’; I said ‘no’; DH said ‘$45 ?’ - I have another machine !

It needs MUCH more work, We plugged it in and the light came on but the hand wheel is extremely sticky. Lots of cleaning to do - it's filthy. A good oiling as well. New electrical cords. There is a bit of fraying and in any case, I’d rather have DH replace them than take a chance with bad wiring. This is a true before pic, all I've done is lift the cover off.

My sewing room is approximately 10’ x 12’ - Our basement living area has a 14’ x 14’ nook off of it that DH is using for his computer set-up. He has volunteered a few times to switch spaces with my sewing room. I’ve always refused for 2 reasons - I like a door on my sewing room so I can leave it a mess when I’m mid-project and also I’m a tiny bit afraid my fabric/machines will expand/multiply like rabbits to fit whatever size room I have available to me (a pretty legitimate fear, apparently LOL)

I see a room-switch happening sometime in the not-to-distant future.

We go home tomorrow - I can't afford to stay in Toronto any longer !

From UFO to FO - Part I - Socks

2010-07-18T17:00:00.006-04:00

Did you know that you really can't knit while laying flat on your back ? Well, I can't anyway.

Thursday morning a really nasty pain hit my lower back - I went in to the clinic thinking it was a kidney infection but it turns out that it's 'something' muscular. 'Something' ? what the heck does that tell me ? I either managed to sprain my back while typing (very strenuous typing !) or it is a muscle spasm...if the pain was in my leg well, then it would be a herniated disc. Lots of possibilities will the same treatment, lay still, ice 4x per day and meds for 7 days that put me to sleep - after which I would need physio if it's not gone by then. About an hour after seeing the Dr. it was in my leg and by late afternoon it was all the way below my knees. hmmm, herniated disc ? maybe.

I called the physio clinic where I go for my regular massage treatments and they made me a physio app't for Tuesday - better than waiting a week to see if the pain was still there and THEN calling for an app't ! In the meantime, I've been pretty sleepy from the muscle relaxants. Today is the first day that I have any comfortable movement - not painfree by any means, but less.

I'm able to sit up for a little while at a time and decided I'd better get some things done. 3 of those things being the 2 pairs of socks and the dress each with only a bit left to do to finish.

The socks were first on the list. The Skew socks have been sitting on the coffee table for almost 6 weeks laughing at me. I finally wove in the ends !

My stats -
Supersocke 100, colorway 1214
Purchased at Romni Wools in Toronto, Aug 2009
2.75mm needle
Magic Loop
Judy's magic cast on (my first attempt at this that it actually worked !)
Jeny's surprisingly stretcy bind off (love, love this bind off !)

Pretty pink diagonal stripes...

...and, the heels

2nd pair - SFTTU #4 - Tic-Tac-Toe-UP Socks

I made quite the boo-boo on this pair. I was making the size medium, but when I started increasing for the gusset I forgot to check the number of stitches and kept going till there were enough stitches to make the heel in the large size - there was no way I was undoing these in this dark yarn so I kept going and crossed my fingers. After all, the heel is not 'really' that much too big, the foot is a tad too long, but I can live with it. So far all my socks have tightened up in the wash, I'll just hope these do the same.

My stats -
Patons, Kroy, colorway Gentry Grey
Purchased at Michael's in Saint John, Dec 2008 (my very first sock yarn purchase)
2.75mm needle
Magic Loop
Judy's magic cast on
Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off

Part II - the dress...coming soon

Burda 02-2009-124 & Socks - Almost Finished

2010-07-14T06:21:00.001-04:00

The past few days were somewhat productive.

The dress is almost done. The dress that I’m calling my PR Weekend Cocktail dress. The dress that in fact came to be when I decided to follow along with Marjie and gMarie with their lace dresses. I couldn’t find any lace (& where would I wear a lace dress, anyway?) and put it out of my mind til I found fabric I really wanted to make it in. This linen was already in the collection and I just love the tone-on-tone embroidery at the bottom. Actually, I just really love orange :-)

When PR Weekend and its Cocktail Dress Contest were coming up, I decided that this would be my entry. Not really a cocktail dress but definitely a summer dress to get lots of wear (I hoped).

You know it didn’t get done !

In its third planned entry to my wardrobe, it is now my dress for my niece’s wedding in September.

The invisible zip is in, and the lining is machine stitched to the zipper tapes. It was a pretty wiggly process. Each of those seams was done twice. One side was too far from the zipper and needed to be restitched closer. The other was REALLY wiggly and needed to be straightened out. The thread matches the linen close enough that I’m too afraid of picking fabric threads instead – so, I didn’t pick out the bad lines of stitching. In any case, they’re between the lining and fabric and no one will ever see them. Plus, I look at it as a bonus as they are giving a back-up line of stitching in case the zip malfunctions ! Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I also stitched up one side seam, both lining & linen. What a job ! Since the armholes were stitched and flipped right side out earlier in the process, it was really difficult to get the stitching of the side seams right up to where the armholes seams ended. It’s not neat and I think I’m going to topstitch about 1/2” or so just at the bottom of the armhole / top of the side seam – just in case.

Only ~~the other side seam~~ (did that last night) and the lining hem to do now. The wedding is the second weekend in September – I should have enough time to get ‘er done. Ya think ? LOL

2 pairs of socks are ‘this’ close to being done – my Skew socks have been waiting for me to weave in the ends for a long time now - for as long as it has taken me to knit another whole pair of socks (6 weeks ?) ! My 4th pair of socks from SFTTU are just about finished – I’m on the cuff and working my way to the end of the yarn – I think I’ve got enough for about another 5-6 rows.

Pics on the way...soon

Oh, a little of this & a little of that

2010-07-04T20:52:00.007-04:00

I hope everyone has had/is having a great long weekend. I've been off since Thursday, puttering about. Friday was beautiful day, just right for laundry - Alex kept me company while I was hanging out the clothes...

When it got too hot, she moved to the shade - smart girl. Skippy spent most of the day under the kitchen table - no pics of my little boy.
I did a bit of sewing on my PR Weekend Cocktail Dress (Burda 02-2009-124). Before the weekend, I had the pattern adjusted, the lining basted for fit and the pieces all cut out. Since then all I had done were the darts.

Over the past few days, I sewed the bodice & lining each at the shoulders, sewed the bodice to the lining at the neckline and the armholes and turned it all right side out.
It turned out ok but my understitching leaves much to be desired.
I quite like the V-neck in the back

Since I took the pics, I've also attached the rest of the skirt and skirt lining pieces. It's ready for the invisible zip.

The last of the weekend projects was gardening. I've never been satisfied with the bed outside my front window - there were originally 2 cedars in that bed, one like 8ft tall that tipped over so we took it out to find the roots never grew down - the whole thing had been anchored with a root system no more than about 8" deep ! The other one was a globe cedar right under the living room window. Every year it collapsed under the snow and eventually was growing sideways instead of in an upright manner. It now looks like this.

The bed is partially reworked - the cedar was taking up about a 5' x 5' space. I added a couple bags of much needed new earth and manure to that space, moved (and divided) some of the plants that were on the outside perimeter of the bed and added a couple of new plants just picked up yesterday. You know, I never mind a bed that looks brand new with small plants, next year it will all fill in some more and look just fine.

The outside perimeter now contains 5 hostas that need more space (You can see on the far right where the hostas are smooshed. That what the cedar practically laying on top of them.) and a couple of groundcover plants that are taking over and need to be thinned out. Once that is done the bed will be done and hopefully I'll like it better.

2 years

2010-06-29T21:42:00.002-04:00

June 3 was my 2-year blogoversary - hard to believe I've kept at it for so long. Normal for me is to start something for a while then give it up.

I have enjoyed the past couple of years - I started the blog to keep track of my sewing - It's a good thing a bit of regular life has crept in since my sewing projects take so long. Hopefully speed will come with practice.

There is so much inspiration and knowledge in the blogs I read that I feel my efforts still don't quite measure up. But, I'm having fun learning new things and I have a lot more confidence than when I started. Mistakes will happen and it's only fabric, right ?

Thanks, everyone, for following along with me.

PR Weekend Montreal - a long post !

2010-06-24T08:35:00.018-04:00

I haven’t posted in quite awhile. For the past few weeks, all of my time was consumed with preparation for PR Weekend Montreal 2010 - the very first Canadian PR Weekend ! It was a lot of work - most of my responsibilities were computer-related and so I spent even more time than usual on the computer. It all got finished, but no time for posting or even any sewing.

People started arriving a week before the event and posted their daily activities as they explored Montreal. It was amazing to see what there is to do in my own city that I never knew about.

Friday was the big day - Everyone had arrived and it was time to get the party started !

Registration...

Once registration was finished, we were treated to 2 fabulous seminars. Kathryn Brenne of The Academy of fine Sewing and Design treated us to a trunk show, describing in great detail the background and construction of the wonderful garments she brought to show us. After a short break, Kathryn continued with a ‘how-to’ take measurements, complete with a volunteer model and telling where, why and how tight to take all of these measurements. There were a few eye-opening moments, I can tell you !

After a long lunch break - it IS Montreal after all, you need time to enjoy the great food! - Jeanne Binet and Emilie Fournier from Jalie took over. Oh my goodness ! In French, Jeanne gave the background history of how Jalie got started with Emilie providing the translation along with her own anecdotes and childhood memories. They had a wonderful interaction with each other and their whole presentation was so enjoyable. After that, Jeanne proceeded to pull out about 5-6 Jalie top patterns that she had cut out and prepared in order to show us how quickly and easily they could be put together as well as some of the tips/tricks involved. I know, myself, once she put together the #2921 The Scarf Collar Top and #2794 The Sweetheart Top I had a much clearer idea of what to do. In approx 2 hours, Jeanne had made 5 tops - it takes me a week to do one !

The cocktail dinner/dress contest was next. I can’t believe I didn’t think to pack ANYTHING I’d made - someone please slap me upside the head LOL. I had a dress for the contest planned, fitted (I think) and cut out, but that was as far as I’d gotten. The photographer took photos of everyone. I’m afraid to see mine ! Anyway, everyone looked gorgeous, the ‘made’ dresses fit perfectly and I have absolutely no idea how the judges narrowed the winners down to the 3 top prizes.

Our judges - Jeanne, Emilie & Kathryn This is the closest I got to getting a full group shot.

Saturday - SHOPPING - the group split into two, half went directly to Montreal’s St. Hubert Street, the other half went with Jeanne & Emilie to where they purchase some of their knits. Suzie Spandex is not usually open to the public and so I went with this group to take advantage of the opportunity. We made 3 stops (Suzie Spandex, Stretch Text and Tonitex) before heading back to St Hubert Street to meet up with the rest of the group about noon. Most everyone walked the few blocks to the Jean Talon Market for lunch - Wow, I live here and had never been to this market - I’ll be going back for sure ! The afternoon was spent in the 6 blocks or so of fabric stores ogling/petting/caressing/drooling over and of course, buying fabric. I was very restrained , only 4 pieces total - but I can always go back for more LOL

Saturday evening, we returned to the dorms, tired but ready for the pizza party and fabric show & tell and fabric/pattern swap. After filling up on pizza each one got up, admitted (yes, some hedged on the number :-) ) to their total yardage bought and showed off their favorite pieces. Connie & I totalled it up later, we cleaned out Montreal shops of about 700m of fabric !

These pieces were my contribution to the Montreal economy...

Bottom left - Suzie Spandex - black yoga pant fabric ($11/m - 3m) - they tell me it's the same as the fabric used for some really expensive brand name athletic wear (don't remember the name) - it feels wonderful but I couldn't tell you the fibre content.
Top left - Stretch Text - royal blue sports mesh ($1/m - approx 4m) - this was on a $1/m table and the man cutting for me wore me down to taking the whole bolt, charged me $4 and I've yet to measure it out accurately - probably closer to 5m. Hopefully to be turned into tees for hubby.
Middle - Goodman's - brown/mint green poly knit ($7/m - 3m) - this is slippery ! but oh so soft - definitely will try a knit dress
Right - Tueni - Silk/rayon blend ($9/m - 2m) - I was looking at a blue print but Connie who was my own personal adviser that day (Thanks Connie !) said 'not really', got opinions from everyone in the store, including the owner - who was so so so helpful - and they all decided the red print would suit better. Apparently, I'm not looking at bright/bold enough colors :-) This is my first silk, hopefully to become Burda 02-2009-124.
The small cream piece at the far right is 1yard of about 5" stretch lace, Connie assures me underwear is not difficult to make and for $3 it's worth trying it out.

Fabric Swap - the knit print on the right was put on the table directly in front of me - and I don't think anyone else even saw it - do you think it's bright enough ? Connie approved ! The piece on the left is a cotton printed with hairdryers, toothbrushes, etc. A totebag was suggested. I'm leaning towards a skirt - yes, I'd wear it ! They are both about 1m. The 2 patterns are in my size and I'm looking forward to trying the dress, I like the seaming at the bodice.

Sunday was our last morning :-( , depending on flight/trains departure times, people were leaving at different times throughout the day. For those staying through to the afternoon, we had one last outing planned - to the McCord Museum to see the ’Simply Montreal’ and the Cirque du Soleil exhibits. There was also a private showing of a small portion of their educational collection. There were a lot of ‘itchy’ fingers wanting to touch what we weren’t allowed to touch! It is very hard to describe the feeling to be looking at garments over 100 years old.

I had a fabulous weekend. Meeting and talking with everyone, all these wonderful women that I read reviews and blogs and feel such a connection with, it was so far beyond what I imagined it would be. I can’t wait til I’m able to attend another one, and there WILL be another one!

Now, DH made sure I had the camera, an empty memory card and a pile of spare batteries - but I have to admit, I only took a few pics before I just got too busy running around. So I’ll apologize and, if you would like to see more pics, point you to the PR Weeknd Flickr Group that Deepika created.

Deepika, Ann-Marie, Kay, Connie - it was a good team and I was proud to be part of it - thanks !

Kathryn, Jeanne, Emilie - thanks so much for your wonderful presentations, I learned a lot from all of you !

An unexpected day

2010-06-08T21:20:00.004-04:00

This is not the post I expected to put up today.

See this pic ? Aren't they just soooo angelic ? HA!

That creature in front was the whole focus of my day today. As a hint, she's had 4 baths today - tell you anything ? Last night we went to bed and Alex just would not settle, she roamed, and whined and whined and whined and whined and whi...oh, sorry, where was I?... By 2:30am, neither DH or I had had many zzz's and I was aggravated to say the least. I went downstairs with both dogs and we had a 45 minute or so catnap then Alex decided she wanted to go out. No fuss, just one bark at the door.

I let her out, she did her thing AND THEN my little chihuahua went on point (she would have put our friend's german shorthaired pointer to shame LOL) I wasn't quick enough, the whole upcoming episode only took about 10 seconds I think...she raced, barking like crazy, to the bush about 30 feet away with Skippy in hot pursuit - by the time I saw the skunk it was too late, the smell hit me and I panicked and chased them both in the house (duh - in my defense it was my first experience with a spraying skunk). Skippy somehow managed to be out of shooting range and was fine but ALEX ! OMG the stench and I'd just let her in the HOUSE ! Thank goodness we don't have carpeting, only a couple of small mats.

Having NO idea what to do with this extremely stinky situation, I figured I'd better get her in the sink - soaped her up with her regular shampoo 3 times and it seemed to help. All but the top of her head. I'm so paranoid about getting anything in her eyes or ears, I didn't do a very thorough job. In hindsight, that was probably where she got blasted so I wouldn't have gotten much better results anyway.

DH went back to bed to see what sleep he could get before the alarm went off. He went to work, I stayed home. First order of business check online for 'what to do' information. Armed with many suggestions I headed to Walmart, peroxide, baking soda, bleach, candles, pet odour spray, you name it...if it was going to mask that smell, I bought it - I was in no mood to be picky :-)

So, today at any given point in time, every door and window in the house was open, candles were burning, the pet spray was sprayed on dog, fabric furniture, clothes and throughout the house, vinegar and water then water and spices were simmering on the stove.

I tried it all - if anyone is interested - none of it really worked except the pet spray. I sprayed my clothes, knitting tote bags (the in progress socks were in a tote, in another tote, in a plastic bag - no smell ! but yes, I would have sprayed the balls of yarn if I'd had to) and purse and hung them out on the clothesline - once the spray was dry, they were all skunk free.

Nope actually, I'm fibbing, her last bath was this evening in a peroxide, baking sode, dishwashing soap mixture and I'm still waiting to see if it worked.

The house? well, it's better, we'll be able to sleep - I think (hope) but certainly not skunk free. Apparently, from everything I looked up, it'll be 2-3 weeks before it's all gone. Oh, joy. I'm thrilled.

One good thing - with all those necessary baths I'm glad it was only one dog and the short haired one at that.

A day off work and absolutely nothing accomplished. My computer is in the sewing room and so I got nothing done...Alex was NOT spending the day laying in my little room filled with fabric.

Next post = sewing (maybe tomorrow, I've been working on the pics for this post since Saturday)

Brain is mush !

2010-05-09T21:41:00.003-04:00

You know the embroidered green linen I wanted ?

Well, I went back to pick some up and guess what ??? It's stretch cotton !

It doesn't feel at all like linen, it's definitely stretchy and on top of it all , the bolt was labeled correctly - My brain must turn to mush when I go in a fabric store LOL

I also picked up a lighthweight polyester that should make a nice pair of summer pants and probably a skirt as well.

I got 3 yards of each.

Will post pics once the camera batteries are recharged and I'm going to need advice. Because now it's cotton and not linen, I don't know what to do with it !

No willpower, and so...

2010-05-02T16:45:00.006-04:00

I posted not long ago that my local Fabricville is closing. In response to the comments, I must admit this is not my only Fabricville - only the closest to me. I don't lose all my fabric shopping, just the convenience of having one within 3km of my house.

Anyway, I was trying to exert some willpower and avoid the closing sale. I failed (and there's still 2 months to go).

Today, I was at the door with pattern list in hand, about 10 minutes after opening.

4 McCalls patterns @ $2.99 each (no, that wasn't my whole list LOL)

L. to R. - M5591/M5847/M6035/M6076

And, as I've said before, it's darn near impossible to NOT look at the fabric. There were a couple of displays of 3/1 but nothing on them that I HAD to have. Everything else was marked at 50% off.

There is a green (kind of lime green more than grass green) embroidered linen that jumped out at me as well as the cotton pictured below. They were both marked 50% so I just chose one (aha, there was willpower after all LOL !)

When I got to the cutting table, the girl said it was 3/1 - awesome. So, 3 meters of 115cm fabric for $8.99. It will become a skirt, M5591, above.

Now, it IS only 115cm wide and was displayed with the quilting cottons, but I don't know. It is very similar to the cotton sateens elsewhere in the store although they are wider. The feel is about the same and it has a shiny look to it. It really doesn't look or feel like a quilting cotton - but it IS pretty, no ?

I think I need to go see if there is still some of the green linen left.

2010-04-27T19:29:00.002-04:00

I 'get' that very few people 'get' my office.

Many of my coworkers are not just colleagues, they're friends. We work in a very pleasant atmosphere (yes, of course there are ups and downs) and I like going into work. I like my job, the people, the atmosphere - and I'm not the only one who feels this way. There is no short term turnaround in our place, we have many people with 20+ years of service - even a few with over 30 years. I'm up to 14 years, myself. There is no massive exodus at 4pm many times you gab your way out the door 1/2 hour or more after your finishing time. There are socializing events outside of work, retirement parties, birthday parties, we have each others phone numbers, speak on weekends, know the husbands, wives and kids.

Yesterday we went into work to find out that one of our friends passed away Friday. I've worked with him on every single project since I started with the company, we had many things in common and lots to talk about. After the shock hit, I verbalized it with another one of the guys (as it happens, he's now one of the owners). I felt like I'd lost one of my brothers. It sounds ridiculous that you can feel that kind of closeness with someone you work with but there it is. I got through the day right up until DH asked me how my day was. I told him, the waterworks started, and he understood immediately 'oh no, your friend Steve'. They had only met once but DH had heard plenty of 'Steve stories' over the years. The emptiness will not go away quickly.

Rest in peace, Steve - I'll miss you ...

Some finished items

2010-04-18T20:34:00.004-04:00

WAY past due LOL but here, finally are the finished BWOF 04-2009-119 pants. These were started back in November (or was it October?). Anyhoo, I fit and adjusted a muslin 3 times and after all that, these pants don't fit ! Smiles in the front, and extremely snug in the back and over the front of the thighs. Actually, the picture looks fine - I just can't sit down :-)

I've asked for a bit of help over on PR and while I had already done some of the suggestions, I did not give myself 1" seam allowances and also did not allow that the muslin may have stretched during the fitting process.

So for my next pair I'll recheck the measurements, both me and the pattern, give 1" SA's AND use a stretch fabric.

Since I'd started these as part of my 2009 Wardrobe I added this pic to that album. Wardrobe pics .

This week I also finished my third pattern from Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up (SFTTU) - Diagonal Lace. I really love the orange.

A few more sock pics here

Next up -

Sewing - adjust the pattern and start another 04-2009-119 pants. I have 2 pieces of stretch bottomweight fabric I picked up off the discount wall at Fabricville a while back - They were about $1.50/m & I ended up with 5 meters. I 'could' get 2 pants and a skirt from them.

Knitting - I cast on the Skew Socks this morning in a pink/white/grey yarn I picked up in Toronto last summer. It has quite a wide striping, so the sock doesn't have the look I was expecting but I think I'm going to like the finished pattern - I just hope they fit. The pattern is for a size or so smaller than me so I went up 2 needle sizes and crossed my fingers. I put off starting this project because I couldn't make heads or tails of the pattern while reading it and thought it would require sitting still and only concentrating on it and so it would be only doable at home. Well, the pattern is broken down into manageable sections and I'm now on the foot, a 2 row pattern repeat for another 4 inches or so. These will travel with me after all :-) They will also be finished one at a time - I didn't want to attempt mirror image, diagonal patterned socks 2 at a time !

Have a good week everybody...

I can't decide...

2010-04-02T23:13:00.004-04:00

if it was a good day or not.

Reading the local paper this morning, there was a half-page notice that my local Fabricville is having an 'end of lease' sale and will be closing...not moving, CLOSING ! That's why I can't decide good day or not. I really don't like to see our local shops closing especially fabric shops. BUT, they ARE having a sale and I had to check it out.

Most things were 40% off. Not bad, but they don't have the one specific thing I'm looking for so I was saved from buying fabric. I did however, pick up two patterns.

B5247 has been in my hands and put back in the drawer more times than I can count. Why ? I don't know but today Buttericks/McCalls are $2.99 so I finally picked it up.
The Vogues are $5 and I picked up the one I mentioned in my last post, V8633.

From what I could gather, they will be closing sometime in June. It would probably be a good ides to short-list my pattern wish list and see what I can find. There is a McCalls shirt (have to find that number again) and a couple of dress patterns.

In weather news, the normal daytime temp in Montreal is +6°C. Today we had +25°C ! and tomorrow ? Forecast is for +27°.

I guess overall it was a good day after all :-)

A happy camper

2010-03-25T18:17:00.006-04:00

A few posts ago, Trena posted a beautiful piece of silk she'd picked up along with a few patterns. 2 of the patterns were on my wish list and yesterday I stopped in Fabricville on my way home from work. The Buttericks were 65% off. The other pattern is a Vogue - I'm waiting for the next sale !

So, they did have the B5382 I went in for...

...but who on earth can go in a fabric store and not browse ??? Not me LOL !

I've got my eye on the lace dress in the March Burda and was looking at the 'good stuff' to see what I could find. So, I looked at the silks, the laces, etc...and wandered the store.

At the remnant bin, I saw a piece of blue (kind of teal) that looked remarkably like the silk charmeuse I'd just looked at. It was marked 1.2 m for $4.00 - I grabbed it and went to check if it was actually the same fabric. IT WAS !!! Then I noticed the sale tag on the remnant bin.

Silk charmeuse - regular price $34.99/m
1.2m piece from the bin - $4.00
Sale on remnant bin - 50% off

You do the math... :-)

Now I'm off to dig through my patterns to see what I can make with just 1.2m of 45" wide fabric.

A mid-life crisis and a teeny bit of sewing

2010-03-14T22:12:00.005-04:00

DH called my plans for Friday a Mid-Life Crisis !

But, apparently, I'm going to have to have another stab at it in a couple of months.

I went for a haircut and a color. To understand my history, I have baby-fine straight hair and not much of it. It won't hold a curl and it doesn't take color well. But, of course, I LOVE to color my hair and I do so knowing that I never know what I'm going to end up with.

I buy boxes of color in every shade from light brown, brown, red, orange red, burgandy red and purpley red. When it's time, I grab a box, DH colors it for me and for less than $10 a box, it's fine if it washes out quickly - and it DOES.

Undeterred, I've been talking about having a peekaboo bit of fuschia (or blue, or orange, or green ;-) ) in my hair for a few years now and decided to go for it on Friday. My stylist was practically wringing her hands in glee !!! You should have seen what she wanted to do. Stripes of electric blue and fuschia all over my head. Hello ? ! I'm just getting my nerve up here, AND I work in an office. They're used to me changing my color and cut regularly but at least it's not neon colors ! LOL.

Anyway, we decided on the electric blue to match the nail polish I had on at the time. Isn't it a great blue ?

She separated my hair from the top of my right ear diagonally to the bottom of the left ear. Top of the head is red, bottom is blue. Then she cut my hair to show the color in the back.

I love the red...I love the cut...the blue ? well...we never know what will happen when we put color in my hair and it was a LOT of work for a navy blue ear and a navy blue cheek - LOL.

A completely new cut for me...

See the underside ? In real life, it's navy-ish !

And the blue ear and cheek....mostly washed out now, thank goodness

Well, it's hair, it'll grow out - or I'll chop it off ;-)

Sewing - did some fixing on three skirts today. I've been putting it off and decided today was the day.

L to R -

M3341 - I messed up the invisible zipper - it wasn't stitched enough at the bottom and when I wore the skirt and unzipped it, the bottom of the zip popped out to the front !

M3341 - the facings at the zipper needed to be retacked down. Can someone tell me why houndstooth photographs so badly ? Geez, it's like a kaleidoscope !

Burda 07-2008-113 - oh boy, it needed to be let out a bit at the waist. I fit this thing, I couldn't tell you how many times, and once it was all done, it was too tight right at the waist. The invisible zip is in the side rather than the back and I WAS NOT taking it out. So, I was only able to give myself another 1/2" of room. We'll see if it did the trick.

A week's worth of progress...

2010-03-06T12:30:00.002-05:00

Follow-up to the bra fitting post ...

crdott & fabricfan asked where I got the new bras. Yes, fabricfan it was at Change. I didn't realize how few stores there are (only 3 in Quebec, I think). They were fabulous and I went back with a friend the next weekend for a couple more, since I needed at least one light colored one (but, of course, bought 2 LOL). My friend also got fitted and was very happy with her new purchase as well.

And, just for the record, I certainly didn't feel bad about the new sizing - my top half looks GOOD !

Now, what have I been doing ?

Just before the Olympics started, I found a group on Ravelry that was going to cast on a project during the opening ceremonies, with the goal of casting off by the end of the closing ceremonies. Well, there was no way I'd get a whole project done in 16 days so I decided I'd try to get my socks completed by then. At that point, I think I still had the gusset, heel and cuff to do. The bind off was done on the bus home Monday, 1 day late, but I count that as a success.

Next up... These are on my radar but are definitely NOT an easy bus ride project - so, I've cast on the next pattern in the SFTTU book - Diagonal Lace in the orange Opal I bought in New Brunswick a few weeks ago.

A bit of sewing has been done.

I'm working on my pants again. The inseam, outseam and crotch seams are all done. The waistband is next. 04-2009-119

My 4th version of M3341 (Basic A-Line Skirt) - Started way back in November - finished last Sunday. Need I repeat how slow I am LOL ? It was a straight 14 with a 3/4in. swayback adjustment. Invisible zip, rather than a centered application. I also added a lining.

Here's the back:

These were the first 3 I made from this pattern.

I'd like to put some more time into the pants this weekend...we'll see...

Bra Fitting

2010-02-20T15:45:00.003-05:00

Extremely busy at work this week so again I didn't get any sewing done in the evenings. I'd planned to do some this weekend but what seems to be a bout of sciatica has hit and the discomfort is enough to keep me mostly on the couch - nothing quite like sitting on an ice pack huh ? LOL

If I can stand long enough tomorrow to hem my skirt, there will be a pic to post. Let's hope.

Today's post is not about sewing but it IS sewing related.

I HATE wearing a bra ! & I'm sure I'm not alone. I have never owned a comfortable bra that I could put on and not fuss with all day. Back rides up, straps fall down, you know, you spend all day fidgeting trying to get everything back in place. Aggravation to the 'nth' degree. Yuck.

A few months ago, DH & I were in our local mall and noticed a small lin gerie boutique. I took a peek in and the sales lady said they do fittings. Since then I intended to go but never went in. Now, I need a couple of new bras.

Last weekend I went into Walmart and picked up a $7 special. It's my usual size but really not more comfortable than any others I've owned. Yesterday afternoon, I went to the mall looking for another bra and ended up back in this little shop. When the sales girl asked me if she could help me, I said 'yes' rather than my standard 'no thanks, just looking'. She asked if I'd been fitted there before and I figured 'oh, well, might as well' - I'll admit, I was feeling a bit embarrassed about it. :-)

Her 1st question - what size are you wearing - 36C and I figured it was too big

Um, no. Out comes the tape measure and she says ... 32 and probably at least DD - say what ??? I don't think so !!! My mom only passed out the boob genes to my eldest sister - the other 3 of us got left behind, waaayy behind - or so I thought. LOL

Anyway, back she comes with a 32DD - nope. I figure we're going back up to a 34 at least. NO ! next one - 32E - I'm now pretty much freaking out. It didn't fit either ! Now she explains where the underwire is supposed to sit in order to cup everything. We're still not there yet. Next up ? 32F - O.M.G. it's snug, well, tight, but it's sooooo comfortable. She assured me that it is supposed to be this snug and it WILL loosen up over time.

After all that (I must've tried on a dozen bras) I narrowed my choices down to three. The ones at home were never going to be worn again, so I needed a couple - got talked into the matching underwear - and left with a new bag of goodies, feeling pretty amazed. I guess mom passed me a few more of those genes than I thought :-).

The goodies ?...

Yes, there's a bra missing, I'm wearing it and the Internet is NOT getting a picture of that !
I also just realized I'm not stocked up yet - I can't wear black and red under my light colored tops. Gonna have to go get a white one. More shopping, what a shame.

And the sewing part of the post - I'm going to have to learn how to do an FBA ... LOL

It's been 2 weeks...

2010-02-12T16:19:00.005-05:00

and so, there's a long ramble to follow...............

I haven't done any more sewing since the invisible zip drama production in the last post ! LOL
I got the zip in, the lining attached and the sides sewn up. And stopped.

Last weekend I went to New Brunswick for the weekend. One of my brothers is moving to England (long story) this Sunday and last weekend was the get-together. I wasn't home for Christmas and so hadn't seen DB since LAST Christmas !

It was a great couple of days - 6 of the 8 siblings were there & I got to spend time with all of them, a couple nieces & nephews and my BFF (we met in grade 1 and are now trying to ignore the fact that that was 40 years ago)

Friday afternoon, I made a point of spending a few hours with my Mom. So, do you want to know ? It's tougher each time. She is now in the physical care unit as she can't do for herself at all anymore. I know this, I know she must be fed, I know she can't move herself, I know she doesn't know me. What I didn't picture is that while they do have her sitting up in a chair, it is a geriatric chair that she is seatbelted into. You know, the mental picture you have of residents in a nursing home restrained in chairs to keep them sitting upright because they can't hold themselves up - sitting in groups but no real mental activity happening ? That's where Mom is at now. She still has some response but not a lot. My sister & I were able to make her smile a couple of times. That's it, that's all I can type about it.

The visit with everyone on Saturday was wonderful, although bittersweet. There are so many of us and we live in different cities and live our own lives, but we would all say we are close. It's hard to imagine DB moving so far away. Up to now, my eldest brother & I lived the furthest and we're only in Montreal.

Sunday, I got a 2nd visit with my BFF. We met for coffee but it turned out neither of us had any plans for the afternoon (other than me needing to be at the airport on time LOL). We went to visit her parents, who I haven't seen in about 4 years.

It turns out that Mom (BFF's mom) quilts. I can't believe I didn't know that, considering I spent as much time at their house as at my own when we were growing up.
Anyway, during our visit, it came up somehow and Mom asked if I wanted to see her quilts. Well, yeah !!! 1 on her bed, 1 on the bed in the spare room and 11 - yes, 11 ! in her cupboard !

I almost cried - I didn't have my camera.

Here's a sample though. Every bit of this is hand-quilted.

The top is machine-pieced though...

See this bed ? It's MY spare room bed - Mom GIFTED this amazing quilt to me ! While oohing and aahing over all of her quilts, I mentioned that this one was my favorite and she GAVE it to me.
I'm stunned ...

Since I make stuff, I'm not usually the recipient of such wonderful gifts. BFF though, was very happy. Some time down the road, she's going to have to find loving, appreciative homes for all of these quilts. Well, it will be well loved and I can truly appreciate all of the work that went into this quilt.

I've been home now 3 times with socks on the needles and this visit I only packed my own socks. I have just 4 pairs made and that was enough for a weekend trip.

Today's update - Being on a short workweek, I'm generally off on Fridays, but we were really busy this week and I offered to go in today (not a freebie, the time will be added to my banked time)
Afterwards, I walked to a "NEW LYS" !

Ariadne Knits - I recently found out that a coworker also knits and she mentioned this shop last week when I was hyperventilating (LOL) over the possibility of my metal Addi's with my 1/2 done socks being confiscated at the airport. FYI - they were fine, both ways, thank goodness. Since I finished at about noon today and I was bundled up, I decided to walk down and check it out. I should know better, right ? Yeah, bought a ball of sock yarn. The burgandy-ish ball on the left - "Trekking XXL"

The pattern and the Opal 'Orange' are my purchases from Cricket Cove in Saint John last weekend.

I must say, so far this is my favorite yarn store in Montreal. VERY friendly and helpful. A while back I posted about another one close to work. On my first visit they were also very friendly, but I've been back 3 or 4 times since and although I buy something every time, I've not encountered any welcoming personality at all - I admit to being somewhat disappointed.

Anyway, I'll give Ariadne Knits a few more tries and see if it keeps up the welcome. For some reason, I think they will. And in the meantime, I need to keep knitting or I'll soon have a stash to measure against my fabric stash !
Anyone want to take bets on whether the skirt actually gets finished this weekend ? If you paid attention to the first paragraph, you know the only thing left is the hem. Can anyone tell me why it takes so long to psyche myself up to do a hem ?

AAARGH !

2010-01-31T20:04:00.005-05:00

Oh, I am SO not impressed !!!

I haven't sewn a stitch since November and have a skirt and a pair of pants underway and waiting patiently.

This morning the mojo showed up out of the blue and before I went out for the afternoon, I got the skirt backs prepped for the invisible zipper. Interfaced the seam allowances and pinned the zip on so that when I came home this evening I would be able to sit right down and sew it in.

I CAN'T FIND THE LITTLE BAG OF FEET AND GOODIES THAT GOES WITH MY SINGER !

You know, the little bag that has the invisible zipper foot in it !!!

Now, the room is not that big, there are only so many place the d**m bag can be and on top of that I've spent the last 1/2 hour searching frantically for it. You can all understand this, I'm sure - the bag is in the room and I can guarantee I've looked straight at it at least once during the search and can't see it...

I am SOOOOOO not impressed :-(

Edit 10 minutes later - Aha, apparently I had to stop searching frantically and search 'Systematically' :-)
How it ended up in the middle of a stack of fabric that I haven't moved in months is beyond me...Bah

Weekend Progress - The 3-month socks

2010-01-24T22:02:00.011-05:00

Yes, they're finished. The socks I started way back in October are finally done ! The time frame of course, had nothing to do with the difficulty of the pattern. They were actually quite easy. But, instead of being a main on-the-go project, they became a filler project. No sooner did I get them started than I put them down to do the afghan for my colleague, then I was in the midst of Christmas baking and then December was practically over. Since we were away over Christmas, I got quite a bit done but it took 3 weeks of picking up and putting down to get them off the needles :-)

On the plus side, I finished them Friday and wore them yesterday. They are the favorite pair so far ! They fit perfectly !

I must learn to keep an eye out when DH is wandering around with the camera, pictures of me are not improved by virtue of them being 'candid shots' - I was talking to him but not looking at him LOL ...

And that is how I knit, one furry creature (Skippy) flaked out beside me with his head hanging off the couch and the other (Alex) curled up in the afghan. They just need to be next to Mommy, I guess. Looking at them, you'd think they'd had an exhausting day wouldn't you - they certainly have a hard life !

And...the finished socks. Not on me though, this was a quick pic the minute I finished weaving in the ends. It was late, I went right to bed and the next morning when I put them on, I FORGOT to take another one. Must've been still sleeping.

Once the socks were done, I moved on to the Bristow Cardigan. I needed to split the fronts from the back, add a ball of yarn for each section and it's been waiting since Christmas.

All split now (still on one circular needle) and the armhole decreases are almost done. It's no longer a portable project. With 3 balls on the go, I don't want to deal with tangles so it sits on the coffee table and when I work on it, I turn from front to back VERY carefully. This was the best pic I could get. It wasn't laid out 'just so' so it's looking pretty wonky at the moment.

What else did I do ? I have yarn to make a winter hat. It is January after all and our -30C weather is coming. I even have a pattern picked out and it was scheduled in the queue (sp?) right after the socks were done. Here is the cast on....

Yup - 'nuther pair of socks - I'll get to the hat ... one of these days LOL :-)

My Knitting History

2010-01-12T20:40:00.004-05:00

Warning - this turned into quite a long trip down memory lane for me. I enjoyed it, but I won't take offense if you get bored and give up LOL :-)

Since I haven't made much progress on anything, I really didn't have a reason to post.

Thanks, Marjie, for the compliment on my knitting and an idea for something to ramble on about.

While I do consider myself a beginner sewist, I've been knitting for quite some time now. My maternal grandmother was a seamstress and my Mom sewed. She also did a lot of needlework and taught me how to knit, crochet & embroider when I was very young.

As the story was told to me, my absolute favorite present from Santa the year I was 5 was a small, red, plastic basket filled with a couple balls of yarn and those plastic tube thingies with 4 tabs at the top. You know, you wrap the yarn around the tube, loop the wraps over the tabs and a tube of knitted fabric magically appears from the center of the tube.

Apparently, Mom picked the basket off of a sale table for next to nothing at the local five & dime on Christmas Eve - on the chance that I might like it. I have very few childhood memories but I do remember that basket and running in to wake up Mom to show her what Santa brought :-)

When I was 6, Mom showed me how to knit with regular needles & embroidery & crochet came soon after. During the learning process, cast on, bind off, increase, decrease, reading patterns, reading charts, using straights, dpn's and circulars. I guess it covered all the basics. I don't much like embroidery, but knowing how came in handy when I started cross-stitching. All my baby afghans are crochet - much faster than knitting.

In the early 80's the Lopi sweaters were very popular. The schoolkids wore them under puffy vests instead of wearing winter jackets. This link shows a pic of the types we all wore. My first finished project was a Lopi sweater. I was maybe 15 and up to then had not ever finished a project. I really wanted to finish this sweater and show it to Mom all done. Nope, I got stuck when it came time to join the body and the arms. You knit the body in the round to the underarm, put it aside, do each sleeve on dpn's, join them all together and continue the yoke pattern in the round right up to the neck. The only sewing is to graft the underarms when you're done. I just couldn't figure out how to join the sleeves and the body all on one circular needle. Mom showed me how and I finished the project ! I wore that sweater out ! Hmm, wonder if I can find a pic ???

After that, some of my Mom's friends asked if she would make some for their kids but she was busy making them for all the family so she passed them onto me. I think I made over 20 in those 3 years of high school. After the first couple, the parents came directly to me. $20 plus the yarn - good lord, they got them for practically nothing :-)

DH has a couple of sweaters (v-neck cardigans, w/cables, colorwork, etc) I made and he likes and wears them - maybe I should take pics. I've done mitts - but not gloves, scarves - but not hats, afghans - big and small.

This past year I learned quite a few new techniques (Ravelry is pretty awesome !) and made my first tentative attempt at socks. Top down, on dpn's, one at a time - they fit, I love them and wear them all the time. For the second pair (and every pair since) I used Toe-up, 2 at a time on one long circular using magic loop.

I'm still learning, but it's mostly about fitting rather than the actual knitting (for anything new or confusing, you can probably find a demonstration on You Tube). Lopi's are bulky, not much fitting involved. Socks, on the other hand, need to fit the foot and my 'bristow' cardigan has a fitted waist and set in sleeves so I have to pay attention to the fitting on that, too.

My biggest accomplishment lately ? Having enough nerve/confidence to knit on the bus - in public and not worry if someone 'looks' at me !

Now, for those of you who made it this far ... the socks - the leg has about 3" done. there's probably enough yarn to do another 3" of pattern and a 1" cuff.

2010

2010-01-01T02:48:00.001-05:00

Last post of 2009

2009-12-31T08:48:00.006-05:00

It's been another busy week...

This year DH & I packed up the furbabies and headed to Toronto to spend the holidays with friends. We arrived Christmas Eve and will make our way home on Saturday after we recuperate from tonights' New Years Eve party. :-)

As is usual when we visit here, it has been all about the food (with a bit of shopping !) and the company. We've even managed some exercise - so to speak ! The new toy in this house is a Wii and it has been put to good use by all of us. Bowling & golf. It's amazing how much you actually do move ;-) *I think I want one*

Of course, my knitting projects came along with me.

My 'bristow' cardigan was started on Dec 2 using the brown Cascade 220 wool I bought this summer. The body was done on a circular needle and it is ready to be split for the armholes. I brought an extra ball to be ready for this but I decided, rather than doing the back and each front separately, I would do them all at once. Since I have to work on 3 parts of the sweater, only have 2 balls of yarn and don't want to use both ends of one ball, I need another ball to continue. It will wait til I get home, but here it is as it looks now...the shaping looks quite good if I do say so myself (first sweater I ever made with waist shaping)

My socks, though, have moved along quite nicely. These are the 'Lacy Rib Socks' from Socks from the Toe Up book. I've finished the foot, done the gusset, the slip-stitch heel and this morning, started up the legs.

It should go quickly enough now, that they could be finished before the end of next week.

Shopping this week - only 3 balls of yarn...

Arequipa - 65% superwash wool, 20% alpaca, 15% nylon, 100gm, the color below would be accurate if it weren't shiny.

2 -50gm balls of Patons Kroy, Cobalt Jacquard, 75% wool, 25% nylon

As 2009 comes to a close, I would like to say thanks for reading everyone. I appreciate all of your comments and encouragement.

I wish you all a safe, enjoyable New Years Eve !

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T08:06:00.002-05:00

I wish you all the merriest of holidays and a healthy, happy New Year !

New Friends :-)

2009-12-03T16:27:00.009-05:00

L to R - Mahler, KayY, Rhonda & Margaret

I should have (and meant to) had this post done up on Sunday, but, well, you know.....here I am finally and the week's almost done. (Ha ! I started this Thursday afternoon and it is now officially, Sunday 1 am)

On my last post, I mentioned that I was going to spend Saturday with some PR members who are brainstorming the PR Weekend coming up in Montreal next June.

WELL, it was a fabulous day !!!

I got myself up to St Hubert Street in plenty of time to meet the ladies, to find that Rhonda was already there waiting.

As an aside, I'm not sure that I've mentioned this or not, but Canada has a route all the way across Canada with a branch to the northern territories called the Trans Canada Trail. It is basically a non-motorized (walking, biking, horseback riding, skiing, etc) trail that is still in the process of being built - the plan is to have this trail connecting right across the country. I have been lucky enough to have walked some of the trail in real life. BUT, on the website www.tctrail.ca (I just cannot get the link to work !) there is an interactive map where you can log in, use a pedometer to track your daily steps and post them. The map starts in British Columbia and as you post your steps/mileage the line turns green and you walk across the country.

Rhonda and 2 other ladies on PR and I are attempting to walk this trail - It's 21,500km long - we figure it should take about 7 years ! LOL

Having said all that, Rhonda & I had no problem jumping right in to chat as it seemed like we already knew each other from the PR thread - Walk across Canada. In about 1/2 hour the other ladies had arrived.

We met in a great little fabric shop and spent a couple hours browsing - well, Rhonda & I browsed. The others all bought some amazing pieces of fabric and I can't wait to see their finished projects !

After that, we had a bite to eat and walked the street taking notes of eating spots & fabric stores.

And me ? Well, I was good, very good actually. One of the stores specialized in zippers, elastic, trim, etc and I found invisible zips 8" for 75 cents each. I bought about a dozen - and that was my entire purchase for the day.

It was a busy week

2009-11-27T17:26:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe a week can pass so quickly.

Because of MIL's funeral Wednesday and family obligations, I had the whole week off except for Monday. Monday, DBIL and 2 of his kids arrived from Alberta. The kids left yesterday morning and today after the burial DBIL went to DSIL's place to stay for a few days. He's only leaving for home on Dec 15 so we'll have him with us for our Christmas Dinner on the 12th ! :-)

As far as projects go, my skirt and pants are pretty much where I left them last Sunday. In fits and starts I did manage to cut the lining pieces for the skirt and attach the faced yokes to the lining.

Knitting - we've spent a fair amount of time in the car so I put a bit more length on my Lacy Ribs Socks - still have a ways to go before I start on the gusset though.

My one finished project was completed last Monday at work. The blue baby afghan for my colleague was done Sunday, but on Monday I brought it to work and weaved in all the loose ends. The shower was Wednesday, so I missed it. I really hope she like it.

The afghan 'Sweet Baby Blankie' by Roberta Maier was supposed to be fringed at each end but I didn't add the fringe. I like the clean edge of the single crochet rows better.

Now, I have a big day coming up tomorrow !!!

There is a PR Weekend - Montreal in the planning stages for next June, tomorrow a few of the ladies (Mahler, Kayy, Rhonda in Montreal & Margaret) are meeting to continue the planning and I'm meeting them ! I CAN'T WAIT ! Note to self - do NOT forget camera :-)

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T14:59:00.004-05:00

Wishing all our American neighbours a very Happy Thanksgiving !!!

PR Wardrobe - Assembly Line Sewing

2009-11-21T09:31:00.010-05:00

I was hoping to get much more done this weekend but life intervened and, well, sewing took a backseat after Saturday noon.

I started a pair of pants for my wardrobe - BWOF 04-2009-119.

Once the fabric was traced & cut, I measured what was left (just under 1m). Rather than fold up that bit and deal with it later, I decided to use it all up by cutting out my 'almost' TNT skirt M3341.

Question - How many time do you make something before it's a TNT ?

This pattern has been tweaked each time (4 so far) I've made it. This could be the first time to just cut & sew it. If all goes smoothly and it fits, I'll call it TNT.

At the end of Friday - both pants and skirt were cut out. Interfacings were fused to facings.

End of day Saturday -
More ravelly fabric - all pieces serged
Interfaced pants fly extensions
Inserted zipper in pants - using SB video

I think it turned out pretty well - the fabric is black, but with this grey, you can see the checked texture in the fabric

And the underlap (this particular piece of cotton got a lot of mileage - I also used it for the facings of the skirt as well as the skirt finished last week - not bad for a buck !)

End of day Sunday -
Insert zipper in skirt
Lay out and cut lining pieces, skirt will definitely be lined (decision - to line pants or not...)

Sunday - no sewing done. I was hoping to have the skirt done, or almost done.
Instead, my BFF came over and spent most of the day. I put her to work helping with part of her Christmas present - yes, more cookies ! LOL

on the right - Almond Balls - on the left - Christmas tree spritz (when he didn't see any of these in the spritz last week DH informed me 'we MUST have Christmas Trees' - so - we have Christmas trees ! :-)

I'll probably not get much chance to sew or post this coming week (although I WILL try) - my MIL passed away last week and the funeral is Wednesday. We just found out that we are having DBIL and 2 of his adult kids staying with us from Monday to Thursday. We're the only ones with enough space. I'm looking forward to having them but that meant that instead of puttering around in the sewing room, we did laundry & cleaned & stripped beds & did laundry & & & &....

I would love to have a house fit for company without a major cleaning but that would take much more effort than I put into it LOL !

Have a great week everybody :-)

Loads of Thanks !

2009-11-18T21:35:00.002-05:00

So many thanks to give...

Thanks to everyone who asked about and expressed concern about my Mom. We're dealing with it. Your comments were all appreciated so much ! I apologize for acknowledging them so late.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Yes, I worked yesterday, but a birthday in my department is great ! My boss is a practical joker and influences all of us. You gotta be able to 'take it' in this group LOL. Somehow, and he won't tell me how, my boss got hold of a pic of me. I was about 7 or so and it was actually a Christmas picture with all my brothers and sisters. He cropped me out and sent it to everyone in both of the departments I'm working in at the moment wishing me a Happy Birthday. OMG !!! One of my colleagues, was watching when I opened the email and laughed. She said the look on my face was priceless !!!

Now, in my department, we have a birthday breakfast each month that there is/are birthday(s). The boss used to bring in bagels every time and wouldn't let any of us contribute. This year, we ganged up on him and changed the plan. Now the birthday person(s) bring something in. Lucky me, I share my birthday month with 'the boss' - he's on the 23rd. Tomorrow, we're bringing in the treats. I told him I really wanted bagels (he makes a special detour to get the 'good' ones at St. Viateur Bagels) and I decided I'd bake something to contribute. My last thanks goes to Marjie - this is her Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I haven't tasted it, of course, but the batter was just mahvellos, dahlin, mahvellos ! I'm positive they'll be well-received.

IT"S MY BIRTHDAY !

2009-11-17T06:12:00.000-05:00

It's going to be a good day.

'nuff said :-)

BWOF 04-2009-119 - A Muslin

2009-11-15T17:05:00.001-05:00

Let me start by saying - NEVER, EVER, EVER in a million years would I ever have expected to ask my husband to take picture of my butt and THEN - POST THEM ONLINE !

My pants for the PR Wardrobe required a muslin. I haven't made pants in about 15 years and those were before I knew anything about fitting !

My muslin fabric was at the end (that's the explanation for the short front legs LOL) so this is one pattern tweaked a couple of times rather than cutting a new full pair of pants each time.

I started with a straight 42, no changes.
The front seems fine. My left side has a long vertical wrinkle that I didn't notice right away. The back - I need a swayback adj & there are those darn wrinkles under the butt ! Side seams and grainlines (very light pink chalk line, sorry) are straight.

I logged on to PR and spent quite some time searching and reading up on pants fitting - Woo Boy ! If you ever think you're the only one with a certain problem, just check PR - we have lots of company. It took a while, but I figure at least some of these wrinkles tell me I've got a flat butt.

In the first pic below, I made a 1/2" swayback adj and sewed the back crotch 1/4" deeper. The next 2 pics show what happens if I pull up the back and if I bend forward a bit. According to the forums, that means I should need either Debbie Cook's Fish Eye Dart or Ann Rowley's Flat Butt Adjusment.

Test #2 - Hoping this would allow some of those outside wrinkles fall, I let out each outside seam 1/2" at the waist tapering to nothing about 9" down. On the back left leg, I opened up the inseam a bit and basted out a 1/2" wedge tapering to 0" at the side seam. It helped some, but there is still wrinkling and there is alot of fabric at the top of the inseam. Back to the boards and the fitting books.

Test #3 - Maybe a size smaller at the back inseam would help. I opened out the crotch seam and each inseam down about 30cm. I folded out the 1/2" wedge across the right back leg to match the left leg. I took in 5/8" of each back inseam tapering out to the original side seam a bit before the 30cm mark.
Hmm, looking straight at the back, they look better. The side views, though, still show the fabric bunching just under the butt.

Now, not all the wrinkles are gone, but they feel like they fit well and would be wearable. I have no more muslin to try again. So, I'm going to cross my fingers and cut my fabric.

Parting Shot

This was my morning activity - one more type of cookie in the freezer.
Is it just me or does this NOT look like 28 dozen cookies ?!
Those stacks are all 4-high and thats what I counted but boy, they don't take up alot of space, do they ?

Spritz Cookies

Reviews are up

2009-11-10T22:01:00.008-05:00

It took forever, but I finally finished the May 2009 Mini Wardrobe.

I didn't think I'd ever finish the silly blouse.

BWOF 02-2009-125

This is what I wore to work today. The blouse, along with BWOF 07-2008-113, piece #3 for the PR Wardrobe Contest. Quite a few people commented on the blouse. It took so long to make that before I was done it, I didn't like it. I forced myself to finish it. By the end of today, though, I liked it again. It's not as dark as I feared and it fit really comfortably throughout the day.

Here's a closer view of the button placket. Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll. The large dark buttons won, but I also had the same buttons a bit smaller. Not quite as small as little shirt buttons. The smaller version seemed to sit better on the placket. I put 2 buttons on each sleeve band instead of one.

The PR review is here : and a link to more pics.

I also managed to finish and post the review for BWOF 07-2008-113

The PR review is here - and the link to the pics - but I just have to post one here. Check out that zipper ! I know, I know, it takes so little to amuse me and make me happy :-) LOL

DH was out bowling tonight. My plan was to upload and edit the pics, make this post, edit & post the PR reviews and cut out a muslin for my next wardrobe garment (one of the pairs of pants)

Nope, didn't get anywhere near the muslin ;-) - now it's bedtime.