...and so it begins again

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 !)

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

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

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.