New Dress!

I needed a dress with a twirly skirt for this summer, but was unable to find one. So I made my own!

I was a little concerned that the fabric was too loud, but I love it and I'm so glad I picked it!

The skirt goes down past my knees by about 4 inches.

Now I just need a sweet little shrug to go with it!

Done!

Ah, Friday! Kicking back and putting my feet up....on my desk.

The ruffle was a last-minute inspiration at knit group, I think it just tops off the sock perfectly!

Go ahead, ASK me how I got this picture.

It shows how far I've gotten on my socks, anyway.

I haven't had much time to knit yet so I haven't really posted due to lack of progress.

I have about 3 more inches to go on my pink socks. I also have another project going; the Exchange Bag from S&B's Happy Hooker book. The nylon cord is QUITE uncomfortable to work with, and thus I get maybe 4 rows done at a time before my hand hurts. It is very cute but I am reserving judgment until it's done.

Other than that I have been sewing a bit; a sundress with a swingy skirt in a very loud 70's fabric. It looks just lovely but I got stalled because I need to baste in the zipper a second time, as I didn't get it quite right the first time. And we all know that sometimes stalls us more than necessary, doesn't it?

*****
My house is slowly being put back together after having everything moved around for the window guy. The siding is done, the windows are almost done, and my house looks SO nice! Once I get a new bracket for the dining room curtains, those can go back up and I can have my craft room back. Right now it's got piles of junk everywhere which is not particularly conducive to creative crafting.

Mine.

2 whole skeins of 100% hand dyed silk.

Mine.

After a whole month of visiting it at the yarn shop, I decided it MUST come home with me.

It is destined to become a stole or shawl. Once I am done carrying it around and hearing people go "Ooooh".

:-)

I turned the heel!

Yes, I did take this picture at work.
No, no one else was in the office seeing me hold one foot aloft in front of my computer.

I must say I am really loving the toe-up sock method, and the Magic Loop. How nice not to have to worry about losing or breaking a dpn. How nice to be able to try it on without worry of losing stitches. How nice to have two socks at once and know a) they are the same size, and b) I am completely avoiding Second Sock Syndrome. And how nice not to have to pick up a jillion tiny stitches on the heel flap!! I never really had a problem with traditional heel-flap construction, but short-row heels are SO much easier, quicker, and straightforward, I am in love!

I did do the heels one at a time, hence only one turned heel not two, because it was late and I was tired. But it really didn't take me very long. I did have to go back a few rows to correct a screwup, but without that time spent it was a quick & painless process.

I must also say I am in love with Lorna's Laces. It is so very nice to work with and so pretty and soft. I love the subtle color variations that exist even in the solid. While I *do* like self striping yarn for simple socks, now that I want to branch out into patterned socks solids are really the way to go, I think.

The Benefits of Procrastination

Last October, I cleared out my closet. Let me tell you indeed that it felt wonderful. I was about 10-15 lbs. heavier than I wanted to be, and trying on skirt after skirt after skirt in the morning and finding none of them fitting was rather depressing; a constant reminder that my weight had crept up a little more than I liked.

So I took everything out of my closet and dresser and tried it all on, and the only things that went back in the closet were things that fit well. I was left with three boxes of too-small, shabby, and unfashionable garments. At the time, we had recently moved into our new house and our living room was a mess, so the boxes got stacked in the living room with the intention of sending them off to charity.

Well, somehow they ended up in the crawl space instead of the charity box. And due to a ghastly string of illnesses this Febrary and March, I am now back at my more ordinary weight. Yesterday morning I pulled one of them out and found a whole new wardrobe smiling up at me. 3 pairs of jeans that fit.....and just when I had only one pair that fit! 2 skirts that I had enjoyed wearing that fit comfortably again! A pair of black summer pants! And a couple of blouses, too!

I have happily rehung these garments in my closet and I can't be more delighted. I still have only things that fit in my closet......I just have way more things now!

I can't say I'm not glad that I did the purge--2 of the boxes held things that were still too shabby or out of style or not fitting. I think in the future, when I purge my closet, I will make a box of things that are just "no way" clothes, and a separate box of things that *might* fit in the future, with the change of perhaps one size.

Yay for a new purse!

I am again SO proud of myself for my newly rediscovered sewing skills.

I had this fabric for a skirt, but there was not enough there. It was so cute, I wanted to use it, and suddenly it hit me it would be great for a tote/purse.

So I set to working on it. The first time it was too wide and too tall, so I had to rip seams and start over. The second time it was perfect! It is fully lined with the same fabric. All of the seams are right; nothing is hanging out or not sewn properly. And the strap is a creative reuse of 2 belts that came with shorts I bought last summer. I never wear belts. I had had them lying around and almost tossed them when we moved, but then I decided that they would come in useful someday.

I even reused the d-rings off of one of them to make the strap look more professional. The belt design just looks kind of punky with the brown corduroy!

There *is* a closure, but I didn't get a chance to set the snap in it yet, so I have it safety pinned to the inside (just because I couldn't wait to use my bag!)

Confession

Miss 13 wants to know how far I am on my socks. So here's an extra special second post just for her :-)

I'm really liking how this pattern comes out, and also loving working two at the same time!

Look! A plant!

I'm sure everyone knows that all I have to do is walk into a room with a plant and it screams and dies horribly, right?

A few years ago I bought an adorable little fuzzy purple plant. My general approach with plants is the "Enjoy it while it lasts" approach, as SOMETHING I do will kill it very soon. For whatever reason, this one hung on.

When I got my job I brought it to work and put it on my windowsill. It was cute and purple and fuzzy. Well, I overwatered it and it started to get moldy, and so I asked my aunt for some help. She's the Plant Doctor. The purple plant went over for some rehab. After a month it came back; propagted enough to fill a huge pot I could barely lift, and fed so that it was positively bursting with new growth.

Unfortunately, now it didn't fit on the windowsill. And it had such long tendrils it was climbing creepily up the window. And last spring I had my bosses searching high and low for a dead mouse in my office.....it turned out the plant's response to being fed was to bloom. And it bloomed ugly, shrivelly, and STINKY yellow flowers. Dead mouse smelling flowers.

I was about sick of this so I asked a coworker if there was something I could do to make it a small little fuzzy plant again. She told me to take some cuttings and put them in a glass of water until they formed roots.

Doubtful, I did this, and sure enough, in 2 weeks it had a good root system (according to the coworker) going. She told me to put it in a pot with some potting soil and I was done! Last night I set it in its new little terra cotta pot with a cute saucer, and it is cute and little and fuzzy again :-)

Off the Bus! Off the Bus!

I feel awful, chasing everyone over to the new one and then coming back here. But I really like this one much better, and since the firewall blockage was apparently temporary, I'm coming back here.

On the off chance this becomes blocked again, I will probably just stay here, because I miss having everyone able to comment. I dislike how Yahoo says that the 'public' can comment, but 'public' only includes yahoo 360 members. :-P And what *I* see on the blog is different from what other people can see, and so I never know whether personal information, like my last name, is being displayed to the public or not--I feel exposed!

Hopefully no one deleted the old link ;-)

/your ever confused Knitty