Knitted Knockers

These are Knitted Knockers.  They are breast prostheses that are given free to women who have had mastectomies, and who request them.  I have no actual experience with that side of the equation, but there are quite a few seeming advantages to these over some other non-implant options.  Here's what they say on their website:

Knitted Knockers are special handmade breast prostheses for women who have undergone mastectomies or other procedures to the breast. Traditional breast prosthetics are usually expensive, heavy, sweaty and uncomfortable. They typically require special bras or camisoles with pockets and can’t be worn for weeks after surgery. Knitted Knockers on the other hand are soft, comfortable, beautiful and when placed in a regular bra they take the shape and feel of a real breast. Our special volunteer knitters provide these FREE to those requesting them.  KnittedKnockers.org

This has been a departure for me, but I've been knitting prayer shawls for quite a while, and I have to say, I'm a little tired of them.  A friend told me about these.  Her mother asked her to knit some for her, and she's been doing them since.  They're a fun project, quick, and interesting knitting, yet not requiring total attention.  A really good travel or television project.  You can choose which size to make from their pattern.

I am using Paton's Grace, one of the approved yarns.  They have a long list of yarns that have been tested to remain soft after washing, etc.  I've had no problem finding it at Michael's.

You can see that mine are not stuffed yet.  I will send them in for distribution without stuffing them, as it's easier to mail them flat, and they are adjustable with a drawstring at the center hole on the back, and the recipient can personalize them with the amount and type of stuffing, including adding weight if desired.

Here's what I've done so far.

Top This! DMC Toddler Giraffe Hat

I bought this kit the other day at Hancock Fabric, and it turned out to be a very quick project (a couple of hours) and very cute.

You knit the hat and the topper is tied on with the attached ribbons, through a rubbery "washer" on the inside of the hat.

I had enough yarn to do almost 2 toddler-size hats, and I finished the second one with a cabled cotton yarn I had on  hand from a Prada style handbag I made several years ago.  I use a pompon on the top of it, and will donate it.

American Girl Sweater Sets

I really enjoyed knitting these sweater and  hat sets.  A friend asked me to make them for her granddaughters, and I thought I might try.

The pattern is free.  Mochi Plus 18" Doll Sweater & Hat.

 It's also available on Ravelry. 

Instead of the specified yarn, she chose Lion Brand's Amazing.  I thought it was a good choice, and it worked beautifully for this pattern.  I like the colors too.  The color of the top set is Arcadia, the lower one is Wildflowers.

One skein made both the sweater and hat in each colorway with only a yard or two left over.





I did the Wildflowers set first, and used the specified needle sizes of 5 and 9.  The Arcadia set was done second, and I changed to size 4 and 8 needles, although I did the hat with the original sizes in both cases.

Each set took about 3 days, and was a lot of fun to knit.  I may try other doll clothes, as these were so much fun to knit.

I

July 4th Knitting

I finished these in time for the 4th, just didn't get them posted.   I'm especially loving the little round scrubbies. (Scrubby pattern here.)  They are so quick and fun to make.   The dishcloth and matching scrubby are Sugar&Cream.  (Dishcloth pattern here.)  The all over blue and red is Blue Sugar&Cream knitted along with Red/White twist Baker's Cord by Aunt Martha. 

These are my nails right now.   Annie at Sicillia does the best designs for me!  It's about time to go see her again.

 

Plane Knitting

From Drop Box

Of course I had to come up with something to knit while on the plane, and thank goodness I came up with a good project since I ended up spending a couple of extra hours in Phoenix's airport. I 'finished' the Verena sweater last week, but decided that although it looks exactly like the photo in the magazine, I want it longer. Since there's only the 3 ridges at the bottom instead of 3 ridges, 2 basketweave repeats, and 3 more ridges like on the sleeves and collar, I'm going to pick up stitches around the bottom edge and add the basketweave band and the 3 ridges. However, this was not a project I wanted to do on an airplane or in an airport. I wanted mindless knitting, if you know what I mean.

This is the back of the matching skirt, so far. I cast on after I got to the airport in Omaha, and all in all, I was very pleased with my progress. I love the stockinette stitch stripes, which will save the skirt from looking too wide with all that diamond patterning. It is such a fun stitch pattern to knit, too.

My other choice for plane knitting was to start another counterpane square, but I just couldn't see juggling the pages with the pattern, etc. I think I made the right choice.

Lisa and I are going with Kathi and possibly DrSue to the Fashion District on Friday. Lisa and I will also be going to Mood and the Westside on the 28th. We're hoping to meet anyone in the area for lunch or whatever on a different day. Let me know if you are interested, and what works for you.

Counterpane Pattern Finalized

I talked about wanting to knit a counterpane recently, and I decided to swatch a little to at least see if it was something I enjoyed enough that I could see myself doing all that knitting. I first did a swatch of a pattern from Mary Thomas's Knitted Counterpanes book.

From Counterpane

I used J&P Coats' Royale Fashion Crochet Thread in Size 3, because that's what I had on hand. I like the size of the block: bigger than I'd expected, but still nice looking, I think. The color is not what I want, of course. I'd like to finish the block as a pillow top if I can find another ball of thread to match.

I next tried a variegated swatch (below left, very small) of Megan's Counterpane, the pattern I showed in the previous post (link above) in a Size 5 thread, again because it was on hand.

From Counterpane

I liked the pattern better, but the variegated color was awful, and made it difficult to 'see' the pattern itself. I went and bought some thread in the same size (5) in Natural to see how I liked it. I also got it in a Size 3, to see how I liked that size thread. I would rather use the larger gauge, as the results will be quicker. Perhaps really slow rather than glacial. In between I also tried a swatch in size 10 thread, which was not good, and I just ripped it right out.

I like the size (3), the color (Natural) and the pattern Megan's Counterpane), so I began in earnest, but haven't gotten very far, as I decided I'd better finally finish up the Verena sweater before I got completely away from it. I only had the front collar to do, and I have struggled. Perhaps it knew it was being cast aside for a new project, but I think I knitted and ripped that thing at least 5 times before I got it going correctly. I counted wrong, I was confused about how many repeats of the pattern I had to get my increases in, I did too many, I did too few, I seemed to have lost my mind in general Everything went beautifully on the whole thing, and suddenly it was the project from hell, I'm in two minds about whether to start on the skirt after this. Probably not immediately anyway. I'm going to block and make up the sweater right away, and see how resilient the yarn is. It may not be terribly suitable for a skirt, and I'd just as soon know now

I've since ripped out the square I'd begun with Natural Size 3 on a 0 needle, and started again on a Size 1 needle, which seems to make all the difference. Since I've been so slow posting all of this (most of it was written on the 5th) I've actually finished the first 'real' square, and here it is!

From Counterpane

It takes a little over 1 ball to make a square, and now I need to figure about how many I need, and order them. They are a no-dye-lot item, which is nice, but I'm not sure that's very trustworthy really, and I'd like to get all of them at once.

Toe-Up Socks and Possible Knitting Adventures

There's a chapter of the Knitting Guild here in Lincoln, and although I've been going to one of their monthly Sit-and-Knit afternoons for probably a year off and on, I'd never made it to one of their 'actual meetings' until Saturday. They're doing several Knit-Alongs this year, and the first is for a Toe-Up sock. Well, I'd tried a toe-up pattern once, and although it worked okay, it wasn't as much fun to knit as the regular top-down variety. However, I was willing to try again, especially since there would be expert advice on which techniques really do work the best.

We're doing The Traveler, A Toe-Up House Sock with Traveling Cables by d-made.com.

It's a worsted-weight sock, which makes for quick results; very suitable for a knit-along. The photo below is my progress so far.
Traveler Sock Progress - Photo Link
We're supposed to do the heel next month at the meeting, so I will probably just do the second one up to this point, and then wait on both of them.

I should say that we didn't do the crochet-chain provisional cast-on called for in the pattern. Instead, we did a Figure-8 cast on, which worked well for me. I'd done the Turkish cast-on before, and it's quite similar, but this seems easier, or maybe I just don't remember the Turkish as well as I should.

I've also suddenly gotten the urge to knit a counterpane, or cotton coverlet. The photo below is something like what I'm thinking of. It shows 4 squares which total about 14" across, so there would be many more before I was done.
Megan's Counterpane
I'm planning to swatch a little bit to see if I really want to use tiny yarn (thread) and very fine needles, or if I want to use a larger yarn for faster results and a very different look (and a different pattern). I've thought about knitting one of these for years. Ever since reading an article in Piecework in about 1996, and would now need a pair for the twin beds in my guest room. So, not only a lot of work once, but twice. You can see why I'm a little hesitant at jumping right in.

I was wearing my Graceful Pullover yesterday, and have often thought the stitch pattern (Frost Flower) is so pretty that I should use it for something else. Well, maybe a coverlet would be a fine place.
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The sweater is worsted, which is very pretty, and if I did the coverlet in worsted, it would go fairly fast, and I could do the main pattern once down the middle with cables and eyelets at the sides, or more probably twice down the top, with one or two of the sleeve cables in the center. Then for the 'fall' on each side I could either do another pattern repeat, or something much simpler. I would seam it at each edge of the top, and I can see putting ribbons through the eyelet rows (columns). Anyway, I need to finish the Verena sweater I'm knitting now before I begin anything major. I'm on the back collar now, so it will soon be done. I was going to make a matching skirt though, and I suppose I still can. We shall see.

It was a beautiful day here today, and I hope the weatherman is completely wrong about tomorrow, and they're saying it's going to be bitterly cold, with possible freezing rain, etc. I'm probably driving to Omaha tomorrow, so I'm hoping for another 45 degree day like today.

Knitting Progress - Verena Veronique

You may remember that before Christmas, I was beginning to knit the Veronique top from the Fall 2010 Verena knitting magazine. I'm still working on it, and I'm now finished with the main sweater pieces, and am working on the collar. It's done a little differently than any other sweater I've made. Usually you sew the pieces together, and then pick up the stitches for the collar and knit it in the round. Well, in this case, you do the front and back collar on the front and back before you stitch everything together. I can only think this must be because of the shaping of the collar since it has to fit down around the shoulders, and there's a lot of shaping to it as you knit. Anyway, it's different, and we shall see. Here is the front with the collar started.

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Since it's only taken me about 2 months to mostly finish the top, I'm fairly sure I can get the skirt done as well. I hope so anyway, although now that I've read the skirt pattern seriously, I see that it's done on much smaller needles than the top, so that means more stitches, and longer to do it. Oh well, I need a project, I guess. I do seem to be doing more knitting than sewing though, and I'd like to change that.

I did alter some older turtleneck tops the first of the month. Quick and easy, but nice to have them to wear. These were much too big, and not even ones I'd made, and I had been not wearing them unless I needed something for scooping snow, etc. I'm glad to be able to wear them 'for real' now, as they're great for layering under things, and the colors are ones I like (Surprise!) I just put them on and pinned in the sides, and under the arms, then took them off, marked on the inside, trued things up, stitched and cut off the excess. I didn't even use my serger, just a very narrow, longish zigzag. 0.5 x 3.0 is what my machine shows. Pfaff's IDF system really is a wonder on knits.

Veronique In-Progress

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I've been working on the Veronique pullover from the Fall 2010 Verena magazine. I found some lovely gray yarn that was just what I was looking for. Almost anyway, as it was spun by a friend with 2 plies. I have been taking the plies apart and using a single to knit this to get the gauge I needed. I like the way it's turning out, and it's been a fun pattern to knit so far. This is the back. I'm not sure I'll ever get the skirt done to match it, but I'd like to try, and I think I have plenty of yarn to do both the pullover and the skirt.

Verena Fall Knitting

I think I mentioned before that I subscribed to the digital version of Verena Knitting beginning with this issue, simply because I loved Pattern #1, a pullover and skirt. The link will take you to their Flash Player, and this should be the first one, it's in gray with a diamond-lattice pattern. I've been sort of looking for some yarn for this, and found some lovely stuff that a friend had. She was donating it to the church knitting group, so I traded them for some nice yarn I had that I wasn't going to make up, so we're all happy. This is a 2-strand yarn, and I'm splitting it into a single strand. So far, I've done the lower edge on the back, so there's a ways to go yet, but it's interesting. I'm hoping to get it all done before gray is no longer an 'in' color.

That's my progress so far, and as you can see, it's pretty meager. This is a size 4 needle, but I'm about to change to a 2 for the body of it. The pattern calls for a 6 and a 4, so this is my usual go-down-two-sizes change. I'm always surprised about this, as I don't think I really knit that loosely, and I can't imagine knitting so tightly that I could go up 2 needle sizes and get the right gauge. I guess I'm a relaxed knitter.

I took a photo of the latest Ruffled Shawl too. It's a mystery content yarn from Mangelson's. I'd bet on a high cotton content though. It's more of a DK weight than a worsted, so it's very drapey. The ruffle doesn't stand quite as well as the worsted yarns have. I love the colors.



I woke up at 4am this morning out of a sound sleep and was instantly alert and getting an early start on my worrying. You know what those kind of nights are like. I got up and decided to sew after about 45 minutes. I cut out and did the first step of the pockets on 2 pairs of narrow pants last week and then stalled. I finished them both this morning except for the elastic, which I will try to do tonight. I'm excited to have them in my wardrobe. I'm a little short on casual pants, and these are going to be nice. Photos when they're done.

Lots of Knitting

I've been knitting lately with a group at my church. We do prayer shawls for those going through a rough patch, and afghans. The shawls are distributed by the Stephen Ministry there, and the afghans are given to each high school graduate in the spring. I did one afghan a few years ago, and really hated the enormity of the project, but I really am enjoying doing prayer shawls.

This is a 2x3 rib pattern, very plain, but I love the way the yarn patterned itself because of the ribs. This is really long (about 7 feet) because everyone immediately decided it could be for a man since it was more masculine than many of them turn out to be.



It seemed like it took forever to knit, although I don't know why it should have. It was just a slow project.

I then came up with my own pattern that I really like doing, and I like the result as well. I've made 5 of these now, and I keep thinking I'm going to do one to keep.





You can see in the photo of it on me that the ruffled edging makes a really nice neckline when you wear it. The black and white version is a mohair/cotton/nylon that I'd had around for a while. I hated to give it away, and may try to find something of a similar yarn in a color that's more me, and do one for me.

The others shown here are all in just Red Heart acrylic yarn. Since they're donated, you don't know how someone will care for it, and the decision was made to try to use easy care yarns unless someone donates some other nice yarn, and then an attempt will be made to make sure the recipient understands the care requirements.




Here are 3 more, and I didn't get a photo yet of the last one. I'll give you my pattern for the ruffle-edged ones. It is a knit and crochet combination.


Ruffle Shawl in Knit & Crochet

3 skeins Red Heart Super Saver yarn, or equivalent worsted weight yarn.
Size 11 knitting needles
Size 11 (L) crochet hook

CO 42 stitches
Row 1: K10, (yo, K2tog) 3 times. Repeat sequence twice, end K10.
Row 2: K3, P to last 3 st., K3.

Repeat these 2 rows for desired length of shawl body.
BO on Row 2.

Without breaking yarn, begin to crochet edging around shawl.

1st Round: DC in corner stitch, chain 2 (or 3 depending on what looks best, and is not tight), skip one, DC in next stitch. Repeat around, making 3 st at corners with ch1 between, to make a nice turning. Slip st to join to beginning. **Be sure to make ch spaces match the yo columns of the knitting, with DC matching the K2tog columns for the best look.**

2nd Round: Single crochet into the spaces created by the chain 2 (or 3) stitches, making 3 in each space between the DC in the previous row. Space them nicely, making more or fewer as is called for by your yarn. This will give you a nice solid edge to work your ruffle.

3rd Round: (Ruffle Round) Triple crochet into each SC in previous round, ch3 between each triple. Join to first tr. when you get around, and fasten off.

This makes a fairly wide edge, and does use a fair amount of yarn, so be prepared.

Vacation Knitting

I've been doing some knitting while I've been visiting in California. After finishing up the third pair of heavy socks for my brother which I began on the plane out here, I began a Birds Nest Smoke Ring. You can see the pattern photo below.

It's almost finished, and I think I may be able to finish it tomorrow on the plane, and during a layover. I'm using Peruvian Baby Silk from elann. It's baby alpaca and silk, and really soft. It's been fun to knit so far. You can see the provisional cast-on at the right. There will be a picot edge there when it's done.

Cosmos Knit/Crochet Shell

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I finished the knitting and crocheting on this shell earlier this summer, but needed to do a fix on the armholes which were showing too much of me in the front. I like armholes which are pretty trimly fitted around the shoulder joint, and when they're not, it's just unattractive. I've had this happen on tanks/shells before, and the easiest fix is to just crochet a few rows where you need it. On this shell, since there are crocheted motifs in front, and all the edges are crocheted, that's no problem. I started about halfway between the side and shoulder seams on the back, and went to the same height in the front, then back to the side seam, so basically I added a wider 'slice' in the front than the back. It seems to fit in a much nicer way now, and I really like it.

The yarn is Cosmos by S. Charles Collezione, and the pattern is theirs as well. I got both the yarn and pattern from elann.com.

You crochet the 3 square motifs, then knit 2 side fronts and the back, stitch them all together, then crochet in the round at the bottom, making a 'beading' row to run your belt through. Very simple really, but I think it's cute.



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Concertina Socks & A Dress in Progress

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Here's the finished pair of Concertina Lace socks. They were done several days ago, and so are probably the fastest pair of socks I've ever made, because I've had plenty of time to just sit and knit. I think they're kind of cute, and they'll be fine this winter when it's cold.

My big thing right now is that I'm working on a dress. It's a re-make for me of a Marfy pattern (#1128) that I've made once before. You can see the pattern below. It's basically a really nice sheath dress, and I've thought it might be a TNT for me.



No pictures of the new version yet, but this time I'm doing it in a gorgeous and fairly beefy cotton matelasse (Valentino Atelier) print that was a very kind gift from a dear sewing friend. She'd made a skirt of it, and gave me what was left, which was a generous amount, and plenty to make the dress. I'm always amazed at how little fabric Marfy patterns take compared to the Big4. This was 60" fabric, and it took only one dress length, plus facings I think. I had planned to use self bias to turn the edges, but now I'm thinking of facing it, so we'll see. I'm doing it without the sleeves, and apparently (after the first try-on) without the collar. I'm going to do one of those trendy gathered/pleated necklines that just fold under. It's a print, so it's got plenty going on without a contrast collar. I found some jute-like ribbon that I'm hoping to incorporate somehow, possibly as a bow (big surprise there), but a flat one. I bought a longer zipper yesterday than is called for. It asks for a side zip, about 9" long, but it's a chore getting into and out of it, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and put in a 20". That should do the trick.

This is the first real garment project I've done for a long time, and I'm getting excited about it. It's nice to feel like sewing again.

Draping a Top

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I decided it would be interesting to try draping a top on my dressform. I see so many things that appear to be done without a pattern (probably not really, but you know what I mean) and although this quickly changed into something very different than what I'd originally had in mind, it's still been a fun project. The check is a crinkled woven, and the solid is a knit. I decided to just 'go for it' and have been cutting and pinning with abandon. I've been basting since I took the photo yesterday, but it will be awhile before I can actually try it on and get a feel for how it's going to look, since I still have some 'things' I'm wearing around me since the surgery. But, since it's on my form, it's probably going to be close enough to make the fit tweak-able.

I'm not sure I'm crazy about it, especially now that I've seen the photo. It definitely needs something at the neckline, which I had planned from the beginning. I wanted an asymmetric neckline, but I'm not sure about the angle of this. I will have to see. The sleeves are a definite experiment, and may change a lot before they're done. I have to get it basted before I can take it off the form though. I started it a couple weeks ago, and now I'm not able to do much on it at a time, as I still have no stamina whatsoever. That is the most annoying part of this whole thing.



I have been doing some knitting, and finished a pair of socks. I used Serenity Sock Yarn from JoAnn's, and the Lacy Arrow pattern from SpinOff's Socks book. I have used this pattern several times, (it's the center photo on the cover) and it always turns out nicely, and is interesting to knit. I have to say that I think it would be better in a solid color, or at least one not so wildly striped, but it's a fun yarn. I've started another pair in the Concertina Lace Socks
pattern by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer.


I'm up to the heel flap on the first one, and I have to say her heel method seems nice, but is kind of fiddly. It looks like it will be nice and cushy, though.

I want to thank you all for the very nice wishes and comments after my last post. I am attempting to find out what part of Sweden my ancestors are from. I am Swedish on both sides, and I know I used to hear about Malmö(?) as being a place in family history, but I never paid enough attention to know just what it had to do with things. There are relatives who've done extensive genealogy research though, and there's a big family reunion every August, so I may have to find out a few things this year. I do remember finding it very interesting several years ago when a sewer from Sweden posted some things on PatternReview, and her figure was almost exactly like mine. Aha! I thought. My alteration/figure problems aren't what I usually read about people dealing with, or at least not all of them at once, but she seemed to be doing all the things I have to do. Somehow, that seemed encouraging or something.

Some Activity

There has been some sewing and needlework activity occurring, which is good. It's nothing wonderful, but I hope that will change too.

I did make up one of the knits I got in Chicago, the blue/green animal print. I used Jalie #2682 Here's my result after a test version, and a little more alteration. I did an FBA, and lowered the seam a bit. I like it raised some, but even the girl in the pattern photo has the seam a little high for comfort, IMO.


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I also knitted a Prayer Shawl for my church to give to someone. We've noticed that some people are wearing them as scarves, so I thought I'd just make one that was very scarf-like. It was from some pale pink donated mohair, and a blue novelty yarn. I made two of the little bows, and attached them on opposite sides of the same spot so there's no front or back.


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I also finished a couple pairs of socks, and am working on another one that's a really different pattern from Knitty. I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, and I don't know if my yarn is too great, but at least it will be a good test. I'm going to visit a dear friend in Maryland tomorrow for a while, and I need to get some projects together to take along, although she's promised me that the yarn shopping is very good, so I'm taking a couple of patterns in anticipation.

Alex's Drops Cabled Pullover

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Yes, I did finally finish Alex's Xmas sweater in time. I had the knitting done a month or so early, but I didn't finish the sewing-together until a week before the 25th. There was very minimal sewing and finishing so I don't know what took me so long, but there it was. I was awfully pleased when he opened it, as he really seemed very thrilled with it. I hadn't been sure if he really was looking forward to having it, or was lukewarm about the whole thing. Well, he seemed genuinely pleased, which pleased me of course. Now the three men in that family all have matching sweaters.

Alex's is big on him, but I purposely waited two years after I made the ones for his Dad and younger brother. I knew he was close enough to a likely major growth-spurt that it would be silly to do all that work for something he couldn't wear more than a year or two. He's shot up pretty well lately, and this is generously sized in all directions. He'll definitely get taller, and fill out some, so I think this will be good for a long time. With the cuffs rolled up, the sleeves are fine now, too. This is him opening his package. Yeah, I think he likes it.


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Details:
Pattern: Drops 59-6 Adult Sweater (child sizes available)
Yarn: Bendigo Rustic 8-ply in color #950 Delta
Size: Men's Small/Medium, took just under 6 balls (200g size)

Graceful Knitting

I still haven't done any real sewing yet, just a little mending, which I always think is a good 'gateway' back to full-sewing mode. However, I have been knitting. I finished a hemp lace shell before Pearle died, but I still haven't take photos of it. I have finished and have photos of another knitted top. It's called Graceful.
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This is from The Knitter magazine, a UK publication that I happened to see at the local Barnes&Noble. It doesn't have a lot of patterns, maybe about 10, but they are almost all something that I would consider making. I am very impressed with this issue anyway.

Here's my version.

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I used Bendigo Rustic in Agate, which is kind of a grayed purple. It's a DK/worsted weight, and the pattern calls for size 10 needles, so it goes very quickly. It took me about a month, not working too steadily. The thing I would emphasize is that it requires attention to the chart, because you will be doing pattern stitches on all rows. Most lace patterns have you just knit or purl back on the wrong side, but this is a little tougher. I made a larger chart, which helped a lot since otherwise I was having to really stare at it to make sure I was looking at the right place before I went on. The sleeves were a breeze since the more complex pattern is not on the sleeves.


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I love the way the sleeves come down over the back of your hand. It's the same thing that happens at the bottom of the sweater body, and it's just a function of the pattern stitches. I tried to make this longer than I usually do, and I like the length. I will definitely need to wear sometthing under it, as the lace holes are quite large.
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Here are a few more photos of the stitch pattern, with an envelope between the layers of the sweater so you can see more clearly.

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It's snowing here and very cold. We're up to about 8" and it continues. Soon the wind is supposed to pick up and blow it all around, and they're even giving us a blizzard warning. Unfortunately it's going to stay cold for at least a week now, so the snow will stay around a while.

Interesting Things

Lots of disparate things happening on the textile front around here. Fabric and yarn have been arriving from various points,and there's been knitting and even some sewing done. And for a finale, I fixed my washing machine's water level knob. That was highly satisfactory.

I got some Canapone hemp yarn from elann.com the other day, and am doing a remake of a pattern I really like. It's Louet's Lily shell, and I made it in Louet's Euroflax. This is a much more economical choice, and the feel seems to be just about the same. It's on size 0 (2mm) needles, in the round, and I'm about an inch and a half in.

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I also got some Filatura di Crosa Esotico from them.

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I finished the body on Alex's cabled sweater and now need to begin the sleeves, but I think I will have no trouble finishing before Christmas.
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I've ordered fabric from several places lately, and although I'm not doing anything with them yet, I have plans (of course) for them. First was the Indigo Floral and Taupe Modern Gab from Fashion Sewing Group.
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I'm planning a tunic with the floral, and pants with the gabardine.

Elliott Berman's is having a sale, and I snagged a lovely piece of rayon blend Chiffon. I'm always an easy mark for plaids, and I like this very much. I will probably become a blouse or even a dress since I have plenty.
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And finally, here's my progress on the Marfy 1949 Skirt.

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I think the fabric color shown is fairly true, at least on my monitor. I like the piping on the edge of the pocket, carried on to the waist seam. The waistband is only basted on, and nothing is really pressed yet. You can see the silk organza underlining showing at the hem edge. The basting stitches show the hemline. I'm really pleased with how this is turning out, but I'm not going to rush. It's been a fun project so far.