PR Wardrobe - Tops #2 & #3

I'm off to New Brunswick again tomorrow...Mom took a fall and broke her hip...finally had surgery after 3 days of waiting. So far, all is ok. I think my sisters are probably ready for a break though, so I'm taking my knitting (Air Canada says needles are ok, we'll see) and spending the next 3-4 days sitting in the hospital.

But before I go, I have FINISHED OBJECTS to show !!!!!

The storyboard changed yet again...I made 2 BWOF 04-2009-112 tops instead of one.




Now, before you click on any of these pictures and scare yourself - in my defence, I'm sewing today in my comfy yoga pants and a VERY loose & oversized tee. The yoga pants do nothing to hold in the tummy !

I was in a rush to get these pics done and only had DH take one of each for me so I could do this post.

I made and reviewed this top before - this time I just changed up the necklines and the sleeve cuffs.

Since they're for the Wardrobe contest I did have to update my previous review. You can follow the link to the PR review on the sidebar.

PR Wardrobe - Revised Storyboard

Edit for Faye - For my first couple of storyboards I used 'Paint', this time I used Sigrid's Powerpoint Storyboard Tutorial - it worked great !


I've made a change already. Top #2 on the storyboard has been changed from a no-sleeve t-shirt (WHAT was I thinking ???) to a new version of 04-2009-112, same blue knit.

I made a straight 42 with a few changes. Raised the neck 1", lengthened the body 1-1/2", lengthened the sleeves 2" and did not add the cuffs.

It's a regular, plain t-shirt.

Almost done, I did the neck binding tonight. All that's left is the hemming (sleeves & hem). No pictures til the weekend.

Almost done - stuck on button choice

I'm almost done the blouse. The collar is on and I've tested some buttonholes on both machines to get the hang of them. The instructions did not call for interfacing the button placket and 3 layers of slippery fabric made the buttonholes really difficult. I tested a couple then added some wash away stabilizer to the back and they seem fine.


THEN while reading my Reader's Digest book on buttonholes, I thought the shirt buttons I'd picked were too small. I dug out my FabricMart buttons and tried to find another button to fit.



Below are 2 choices.

I decided on the dark ones to blend in. My dad thought the ligher ones since they stood out.

So, knowing I have a hard time picking things to match or complement, I'm looking for opinions.

There's a poll on the sidebar til Saturday morning. I'll make a decision by then. In the meantime, I'm going to let myself start on a PR Wardrobe piece even though this isn't done yet.

Please feel free to weigh in with your thoughts.

PR Wardrobe - Storyboard

A quick update to add a picture of the completed baby afghan - this is baby-sized, much smaller than I usually make. I like to make them big enough to move onto their beds once the babies have outgrown the crib.


I flitted around 6 or 7 different things on the 'to-do' list this weekend and didn't manage to finish the blouse yet - working on the collar now.

I did finish a baby afghan for a friend - which also takes a UFO off my list :-), or it will once I weave in the two ends and take the picture to post.


LOL - only as I was editing the picture to post, did I realize Alex snuck into the bottom of the picture :-)

Today was spent on my storyboard for the PR Wardrobe Contest. The fabrics were decided last weekend. This morning I dragged out all of my patterns and my BWOFs and started juggling them around.

Here is the result**



Three weeks ago, I started a new job in my company. It's temporary and I'll go back to my own desk in about 18 months but, hey, it's a good excuse for a new wardrobe !

** all subject to change of course :-)

FO's ! and a plan

I didn't (and won't) finish my 3 objectives this weekend, but I did get some things done and already know I'm going to ramble on - this is either going to be very long or I'll split it into multiple posts. (update - it's really long)

Let's go...

1) Update on J's sundresses

J loved her sundresses and it finally got warm enough for her to wear them sometime in August ! Mommy sent me some pics mid-month.

She's a sweetie pie - I'm glad she liked them :-)



2) Socks - objective 1, complete

Wendy Johnson's, Toe Up Socks with a Difference - Blue Bamboo

The 'difference' is the gusset is on the bottom of the foot rather than up each side. The stockinette stitch was too plain so when I started these for the 2nd time, I added a k2p2 pattern.

These were finished before we went on vacation at the beginning of August but the first one I cast off was way too tight. They were put aside until I could figure out how to do a stretchy-enough bind off.

Last week, I was on the bus and plugged into the 'ole IPod ! Lo and behold the most current Lets Knit 2gether podcast that I hadn't yet listened to (I'm way behind) was about binding off toe up socks - how freaky is that ?

So, my credit for finishing these socks is two-fold - 1) for Cat for the podcast and 2) for Peggy of socknitters.com for her stretchy bind off for toe up socks tutorial which was the one I used.

Now they fit and the bamboo is so soft, I can't wait to wear them !





3) Socks (SFTTU) - objective 2, complete

I bought a copy of Wendy Johnson's, Socks from the Toe Up (from now on SFTTU) -
this is a good link with a blurb of the contents of the book. This isn't where I bought it, but I thought it'd be better to post a link rather than copy/paste anything from the book

There are 23 patterns in this book, which include 3 'plain vanilla' patterns you can use to get started or change the toe/gusset/heel to your own preference or just to use if your yarn is too busy for a pattern.

I couldn't decide which one to start with. I like ALL of them. So, the decision was to start at the beginning and make them all, one at a time (yeah, then I started seeing commercials for 'Julie & Julia' LOL )

I cast on the first pair (Dead Simple Lace Socks) in the car about 15 minutes after we left on vacation, Aug 2 - I finished them today - never said I was quick. My swatch was fine but the end socks seem to be just a tad snug. They feel ok but the pattern is stretched more on me than on the picture in the book. S'ok, I'll wear them, but maybe size up the needle for the next pair.





4) May Mini Wardrobe - BWOF 02-2009-125 - objective 3, not completed :-(

This blouse is still not done. Progress has been made since my last update about it. The fronts, back & sleeves have been sewn together, the cuffs are on the sleeves, it's hemmed.

The front placket is pressed, needs to be stitched down and buttonholes added.
The collar needs to be done.

Not much, but could take forever ! I'm working on it.
The problem is, when I bought the fabric I saw the blue in it and really likd it. Now, all I see is the black and don't like it as well as I thought I would. Maybe once it's done, it'll grow on me.

Here it is as it sits waiting for me to get back to it.



I MUST get this shirt done, because................

5) PR Wardrobe Contest - I really want to do this, but I have to get the shirt finished or I never will.

The requirement for the contest are:
- 5 tops
- 4 bottoms
- 1 topper

Rules - one fabric must be a print, all tops must go with all bottoms, topper must go with everything

Timeline - Sep 1 to Nov 30

This afternoon I went through the collection, pulled a bunch out and took them out to the deck to match up. (I'm going to miss the deck once it gets too cold to do this, the natural light makes this part soooo much easier)

After a bit of rearranging, adding and taking away pieces that didn't 'fit' and mumbling to myself, this is what I've got so far (ignore the stickies, I had to mark them so I could put the ones I won't use back in their storage space) :



Technically, although there are the right number of fabrics, there is one missing and one extra :-)
There is no fabric yet for the topper. Probably going to have to be black.
The extra is either the blue or green knit on the top right.

The bottoms, from top to bottom -
- black tone on tone stripe - Fabricville
- black tone on tone check - Fabricmart, mystery bundle
- grey/olive stretch denim - Fabricmart stretch bundle (doesn't look olive to me, and it goes with all the others, so...)
- black/grey textured wool - Bouclair (I wrote boucle on my excel sheet, but don't know how to tell for sure - it wasn't labelled)



Tops, clockwise from the green -
- green cotton rib knit - fabric.com
- sky blue cotton rib knit - fabric.com
- burgandy interlock - Wazoodle
- red/grey poly knit - Fabricville
- red broadcloth - Fabricville
- black/blue print cotton jersey - World Sewing Center (Toronto)



Now, I need to do 3 things,
- decide on the patterns
- decide on a fabric for the topper
- decide between the green & the sky blue knit (I think they both go with the bottom pieces, but I REALLY like the green better even though it seems really out of place with the other colors) - opinions anyone ?

More Collecting...

I had time to kill yesterday. In my world, that means 'Fabricville' . I CAN browse without buying, really I can ! :-)

But not yesterday LOL.

The sale, ending yesterday, was 4-season, 100% wools for $2.99/meter. They were all marked at least $12.99 regular price !

My collection has wools...mostly heavier weights. The 2 pieces I picked up are lighter - suitweight/pantweight.

1st up - 6 meters - black wool - the weave is a tone-on-tone narrow pinstripe. I think you can see it in the picture. Couldn't get an accurate picture, we all know how hard it is to photograph black.


Next up - 5 meters - black pinstripe - this looked navy in the store & I carried it around with me to make sure it wasn't snapped up. It is a Super 120 wool & I've NEVER seen this in Fabricville. If they carry it regularly, they hide it :-). This morning when I took them out to prep them (and to take the requisite pics), I noticed it's actually black - that's ok, it's still a basic.


I think I done good - I 'should' be able to get 5 pairs of pants (worst case, 4 pairs) from what was less than $40 !

NOW - everyone cross their fingers.

A couple of days ago I read this post from Pam of Off the Cuff - Sewing Style. Her preshrinking wool routine consisting of steam drying your yardage with a couple of hot towels on hot heat is about the easiest and shortest method I've seen so far. So, with confidence in all of Pam's experience, both of these pieces were carefully measured and put in the dryer. It buzzed about 2 minutes ago and I have to go lay them out to fully dry. If this works for me, I see a few dryer loads of wool in my upcoming week.

Quick update - they still look and feel the same. They are laying out cooling and in a while I'll remeasure. BTW - I may be in the minority but I LOVE the smell of wool ! :-)

Picture Update

Thanks for the wishes everyone...I feel much better today, it has been a nasty week. Antibiotics are a wonderful thing when they're necessary.

So, I finally got around to taking a set of the promised pics.

Socks - still at the same point as last week, about 2 inches above the heel. Didn't even feel like knitting these past few days. If I had, I'd probably have 'em done by now.



Yarn - this is the brown, Cascade 220 I picked up at Creative Yarns in Toronto. I really need a new sweater at work, I freeze all the time. This yarn came in hanks. When I mentioned having to learn to deal with the hanks, the owner very kindly offered to ball them up for me. Took him about 45 minutes (3 gave him a rough time !) It would have taken me forever. I'd never seen a Swift and Ball Winder in action before...it was pretty cool.




Fabric - Been considering the Wardrobe Contest at PR - have basics, need a print. Went out today, got this - it was not labelled for content (it was on the discount wall). It's poly/spandex, I think. Approx 50% stretch, good recovery. It does NOT wrinkle. Still need a print - LOL !



Furniture - we bought 2 pieces in Toronto.

a china cabinet - we finished our china set and it all now has a home. We just got the last few pieces in July and they never came out of the bag til now, no place to put them.



an armoire for the spare room - my kitchen does not have enough cupboards, I want to use my linen closet as a pantry. New armoire is now home to sheets, table linens, etc. Linen closet is now a pantry.



As you can see, Skippy very graciously stayed still long enough for me to get a pic. My first attempt wasn't good. He wandered through, just as I took the picture, so I put him on a 'down' which he did very nicely, dont'cha think :-) and snapped another one.

I love this piece. The shelves are cedar lined and the mirror on the inside door will be very handy. No pic, but the drawers were lined with some really old stuff. Well, that's gone. I picked up some new liner today, just have to cut out a piece for each of the drawers.



These are old pieces but I'm not sure how old. They're solid wood and really heavy, the armoire especially. Even after taking out the drawers, it was heavy ! DH spent quite some time cleaning these up and we're quite happy with them both.

Sick again - accomplishing nothing

So, practically the minute we got back from vacation - I got sick. 2 good days then on Sunday it started. I was hoping it wouldn't develop (optimism or dreaming, I'm not sure) but on Wednesday at a regularly scheduled Dr. appointment he checked my throat & chest and informed me I had a chest/lung infection, was contagious and should NOT be in an office ! My boss agreed and since then I've been home moving only from the bed to the couch - sleeping mostly.

The antibiotics kicked in pretty quickly and by yesterday I felt better - today I feel human again. Energy is low but it'll show up in a few days.

Now I'm bored and want to DO something. What a waste, home for 4 days and no sewing. I've only just been keeping up with my blog reading & pattern review. Yesterday I found the Wardrobe Contest on PR and am thinking about it. Like the mini wardrobe, I may not finish on time but I would have a few new coordinating pieces, The collection has all kinds of basics...if I could find a print to go with a few of them, this could be doable. My local fabric store has their 75% off sale on now. Think I'll check it out, see if anything jumps out at me. :-)

BTW - the mini wardrobe is 'this' close - I just have to finish the darn blouse.

Haven't forgot the promised pics of the socks, new yarn, new cabinets but haven't taken 'em yet...soon.

It's good to be home

Just a post, no pics today.

We stayed in Toronto for 12 days. I had a great time but was really glad to get home. There was one more purchase yet to be photographed. I found a cardigan pattern on Ravelry that I want to try and picked up 10 hanks of a brown Cascade 200. I'm hoping it will replace the ratty sweater on the back of my chair at work :-)

I didn't have any sewing time after all before I went back to work today. After arriving home on Thursday, we played tourist in Montreal on Friday and had another 6-7 hours in the car on Saturday.

Friday, DH & I took the metro (subway) to the east side of Mont Royal (pretty much the whole middle of Montreal is taken up by 'the Mountain') and walked all afternoon. I had been on different parts of the mountain before but never this particular bit. We had a great afternoon, no plans, no time frame, it was pretty hot though, it hit 30°, I think. Actually, I believe we've hit 30 every day since Thursday.

Saturday, we had to drive halfway back to Toronto ! We'd picked up two pieces of furniture while we were there - an armoire and a china cabinet. One came home in the van with us. The other piece stayed in Toronto and our friends drove it halfway to Montreal on Sat morning. We met them, transferred the cabinet to our van, had a great breakfast (truck stops have the best breakfast) and were back home by mid-afternoon by way of the scenic route.

Yesterday, the sore throat and the cough started and the energy flagged. I'm hoping it doesn't develop, but I don't know. It's not looking good. I pretty much flaked out today after work. I really hate being sick - yuck !!!

Oh, I had the foot of the 'dead simple lace socks' done before we left Toronto, the heels were done by the time we got home and I'm now about 1-1/2" up the leg.

Not so interesting without pics, will try to take some soon.

Mid-Vacation

I was starting to feel a bit disconnected, so decided to do a mid-vacation post.

We're into week 2 of our vacation and we're are still in Toronto. I think we're going to be here til Thursday. It's our longest visit here with our friends and it's been great. I've been on the run since we arrived !

Antique stores, yarn stores, the garment district...yes, I've picked up a few things, pics later.

Saturday we went to the 'Taste of the Danforth" - a food festival on Danforth St and I'd no idea what to expect except LOTS of people. Oh, yes, LOTS of people !!

Projects / Shopping ?

Well, I did finish the blue bamboo socks before we left last Sunday, but I haven't cast off. One is cast off but it is too tight. I need to put those stitches back on the needles (a bigger needle, I think) and cast off again. I'm hoping that that will be enough to loosen the cuff. First thing on the 'to-do' list once we get home.

Next pair of socks - DH bought me Wendy Johnson's book Socks from the Toe Up. Where to start ? Which to choose ? I couldn't choose. The current plan is to start at the beginning and work my way through the book.

I cast on the first pattern 'Dead Simple Lace Socks' in the car on Sunday. Magic Loop, 2 at once, 64 stitch foot, 32 stitch Turkish cast on, 2.5 mm / 40" needle, Regia 4-ply Solid in green.

This pic was taken Sunday. Today I have only a couple rows to go before I increase for the gusset.

Wednesday, the girls gave the guys a break and went to Queen Street West, Toronto's garment district. I was very restrained. What I really wanted were knits and I bought just that. And only 3 pieces :-)

First up - (darn receipt doesn't have the store on it and I forgot to take note, I "think" it was World Sewing Center) - 2 meters, lightweight jersey, not poly, I think it's cotton.

Next purchases @ Affordable Textiles, Inc., 2 pieces

1 meter - poly/spandex

2 meters - bamboo. I petted this one for a while before I bought it, and if they had other colors, I'd have bought more. None left, unfortunately.

Moving on to the yarn - Romni Wools

More restraint, I only bought one ball. It would be really easy to accumulate a yarn 'collection' to go with my fabric collection, but I think one ball (or so) at a time is best.

That's it for this trip, I don't think there are any more purchases coming up. We'll be home in a couple of days and I hope to have 3-4 days in the sewing room before going back to work.