From UFO to FO - Part I - Socks

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

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

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

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 !

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

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 !

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...

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.

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

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...