LaBella/Fiore and Other General Progress

Here's the back of the LaBella/Fiore cardigan so far. The same Fiore stripe will be across the front pieces, but I don't believe I'll do it on the sleeves. I may add some toward the top or around the neck too. I don't want too much, but I do want it to coordinate with the Fiore shell I'll be making.

The color in the top photo is a little more vivid than the actual yarn, and the next photo is somewhat duller than the actual colors. This is a close up of the knitted fabric, with the stripe.



My music fraternity, Mu Phi Epsilon, is having a fundraiser in November, and I thought I'd try making some of the quick, easy knitted scarves for it, that seem to be so popular. The guard cat is The Peeper, who's my sewing/knitting cat. He's very helpful, and this is actually his ironing board cover. It's an elasticized one that I leave on top of the real one, so he can sit on it, as it's become one of his favorite perches, because of the window.

All I got done on my skirt yesterday was staystitching the panels, and I've decided that I will attach the panels to the yoke, and then miter the corners rather than the other way around.

I forgot to mention that my fabric from EmmaOneSock came Monday! It's really gorgeous, and the Oscar de la Renta wool is, as she always says, "much brighter and more vivid in real life." The more I look at it, the more I see a swingback jacket suit, or something similar. Doris Day's suits from different roles keep popping into my head. I'd never thought of her as a fashion leader, but I realize that I always liked the shapes she wore, so guess I should start watching old movies. The organza is lovely too, so I'm pretty pleased all around.

Correct Skirt Progress (This Time)

You may remember that last time I started on the Marfy skirt that matches the Resort Tweed jacket I'm doing, I had "The Yoke Disaster." Since I got to the point where I needed to decide what I'm lining the jacket with, I had to begin again on the skirt, so I could see how much silk I would have left to work with.

Yesterday I had a sudden flash of how to do the contrast (silk) binding/facing of the skirt hem. I've been worried that trying to do a wide edge of the silk might not work well because of the great difference in fabric weight between it and the tweed. I had been thinking of facing the entire lower-skirt panels, and realized that what I really should do is make tweed panels and silk panels separately, and attach them to the yoke, with the silk panels being a little longer. That will give me the flash of color I want, and still allow the movement of the fabrics to be independent, which I think is important.

I tore the silk to get a nice, straight hem edge, and allowed 4" extra, including hem, so I think that will be plenty. I also cut out the yokes again, correctly this time, interfaced them, stitched the darts and installed the zipper. I checked it against my test yoke, and it appears to be just fine. (Sigh of relief!) I just finished cutting out the tweed panels. I made them 3" longer than the pattern piece to allow for hemming, etc. I need to decide exactly how I want to finish the edges, as they will be single layer, and both sides will probably show. Right now I'm thinking of just a twice turned and stitched edge on the side edge that's loose, and maybe a nice, plain hem, invisibly stitched for the hem edge.

I hope to get back to this tonight, as tomorrow I won't have much time, and Friday is the Linda Lee sewing seminar in Omaha that I'm going to with Jane.

The other really good news is that I have about 2 yards of silk left. I must have had more than I thought to start with or something. Anyway, I'll have plenty to line the jacket, and maybe even enough to do a little shell top, or the front of one anyway.

Marfy Resort Tweed in Progress

Here's the progress so far on my Marfy jacket in Resort Tweed. There's no lining as yet, and the collar/facings are only attached at the outer edges and preliminarily pressed, and the shoulder pads are just pinned in. The fringy looking stuff around the collar edges are tailor tacks that haven't yet been removed. You can see them along the hem crease too, and probably other places. I always hate to take them out until I'm absolutely sure that I won't be needing them any more. I like the way the contrast silk looks with the tweed. The cuffs were somewhat of an afterthought, but I think they look quite nice.

I decided to hand-overcast the seam allowances, as it's such a ravelly fabric, and the individual yarns/threads in it are quite large, so if you lose one, it's very noticeable. I worked on that yesterday afternoon and am almost done. One sleeve yet to go. I have to stop and switch gears now, and work on the skirt, as I need the same silk to trim and face the skirt hem, and I may line the jacket with what's left, if there's enough.

Last night I began the cardigan with the LaBella and Fiore yarns, and it's going very well. It's going to be like wearing a cloud I think, it's just so weightless. It's knitting along nicely now, but it was a little tough to tell where I was at the beginning. The LaBella hides the stitch construction quite handily. I did my Fiore stripe near the hem, so that's already done.

The Sleeves are Finally In.

I fiddled with the sleeves on my Resort Tweed Marfy jacket some more last night, and finally got them to look alike. If the one hadn't been so absolutely perfect to start with, it wouldn't have been so maddening to try and get the other one to match. I have one high shoulder and usually put an extra bit of pad on the low side, but this time, I took a little out of the pad on the high side, and Ta Da! It looks just fine. Amazing what just a little something will do. So, on to the next thing.

Ordered Yarn

I just ordered the second yarn I need for the cardigan and shell I'm planning. It's the SRKertzer Fiore in spiced Coral. It will be the accent yarn for the cardigan, and the sole yarn in the shell.



I also ordered some Peruvian Collection Spiced Wine worsted weight yarn for the Lace Scarf pattern in VK that's shown in the previous post.I liked the color shown in the magazine, but didn't want burgundy, so I've been looking for something with the same feel. Of course, green always appeals to me, but I've been afraid I'm stuck in a color rut, so felt I should do something different. This is a great color, and I think this will be just lovely.

Finished Socks

Here is the finished pair of Lacy Arrow Socks. I'm not unhappy with them, but they're not the greatest pair of socks I've ever knitted either. I like them, they're comfortable and warm, and pretty, but they're a little big. I used to knit very loosely, and routinely went down 2 needle sizes on just about everything, with fine results. Since I have returned to knitting after a several years hiatus, I'd been knitting truer to size, but am now apparently "relaxed" enough again that it's back to smaller needles all the time. Glad this happened on a pair of socks rather than a whole sweater or something.

The new Vogue Knitting came Saturday, and it's quite an interesting issue. There is almost nothing in it that is below Experienced level. I wonder if this is because they came out with a new magazine aimed at young, neophyte knitters, and so they're putting the Easy and Intermediate level patterns there? Anyway, there are some lovely patterns. A scarf and belt especially, caught my eye.

I've decided that I need to get back to some wardrobe planning. The SWAP contest always gets me in gear for that, but there's no reason I can't make a list and a plan on my own. At least, I don't think there is. It's hard attempt to be organized when you're really not.

Sewing Again

Well, I'm back at it after becoming discouraged with my skirt yoke problem. I've been knitting since then, and am almost done with the second lacy arrow sock. I guess I did the faux suede skirt too, so that's something. But, I started in again on the Marfy jacket in Resort Tweed with the silk print lapels/collar. The sleeves are in provisionally, and only need a little tweaking to look great. The silk collar, etc. is on, and I decided not to use a center front zipper closure, but will instead use some decorative gold hooks, and perhaps attach them in a decorative manner. Anyway, it's going well, and I'm excited about it again.

I ordered some gorgeous new fabric from EmmaOneSock this morning. To celebrate, apparently.

This gorgeous Oscar de la Renta foiled printed wool which should become a suit,
and this Nanette Lepore silk organza brocade. I've been looking at it for a while, but couldn't decide what to do with it. I finally ordered it when I saw the wool this morning. Not that they'll be worn together, but I knew I had to get the wool. The silk will be a blouse I think, since blouses seem to be back in a big way now.

I've also been ordering yarn, and after playing with the Elann swatches (shown in a recent post,) I've decided to order the top yarn for a cardigan, and the second yarn for a shell, and one stripe in the cardigan. I want to get some of the third one too, for a shell in Indian Cross Stitch. The original is in a ribbon yarn, and I hope this won't be too see through, but I like the stitch and the pattern. It's from an old Vogue Knitting magazine.

All Appendages Will Be Covered

Here's the first half of my pair of Lacy Arrow Socks. I finished it the other night, and immediately put it on while I started the next one. My feet were cold, so half a pair seemed better than none. It's a larger sock than I usually make, but I wanted it to be really cushy and comfy. The heel is taller than usual, but in making this type of lacy socks before, I have noticed that where the lace stitches end at the top of the heel is a real wear point with some shoes, so I decided to just make the heel taller. I think this will work well.

My title deals with the next photos in conjunction with the sock photo. I love gloves, and have quite a few pair, but it's difficult to find really nice ones, with a great fit. So, when I ran across 3 pairs (!!!) yesterday, in my size even, I bought them immediately. These are all from Italy, in actual sizes not just S/M/L, and gorgeous soft leather with silk lining. The fingers are so nicely shaped, and so different from the Made in China type. The black ones are classic,

as are the pale yellow,

but the Pucci print gloves are simply for fun.

The background of the print is the palest grey-green, and just matches a group of knit coordinates I made a few years ago, and still wear. Anyway, with socks and gloves, all appendages will definitely be covered.

Cool Yarn Samples

I got my new yarn samples from Elann today,and I'm really thrilled with these. There are so many neat things I could do with them, and I can hardly wait to play. The four small skeins at the top are what I will be playing with, and the color card is at the bottom. I'm so pleased I signed up for these, as it's much nicer to have the yarns "in hand" before I make a decision.

I turned the heel on my lacy arrow sock last night (first heel in quite a few years, so that was a trip down Memory Lane) and am decreasing on the gusset now. There's something about socks that just makes you want to do one more row....

Scalloped Faux Suede Skirt

I saw this dark green faux suede fabric (very thin with a knit construction) with a laser-cut and scalloped edge on Thursday at Hancock's, and went back Saturday when I knew how much I needed. I immediately knew that I wanted to repeat the pink Mrs Stylebook skirt that I made in March. But, I wasn't sure how much it would take, since the border on the selvedge would dictate that it be cut on the crossgrain. I bought 2 yards, and it took most of that, since I made sure each of the 6 panels had a scallop centered. The cutting was the easy part, as this fabric was kind of difficult. It was almost flimsy, and yet there was no give to it at all. I really had to take a lot of pains with the fitting, and when I stand perfectly straight and still, it hangs quite nicely. Any movement brings draglines, but I guess that's the nature of the fabric. It might have been a little better on the lengthwise grain, but then you would lose the scallops, and there would be no point in using this at all. Anyway, I thought this would be a nice quickie for the weekend, and I'm kind of pleased. The hem is really darling, I think, and here is a close up.



I was thinking that I could sew this evening, since it's Monday Night Football, but I realized I have a Sewing Guild meeting to go to, so that's probably out. It's the first Guild meeting of the year, and has been a potluck for quite a few years, but this year, it's just going to be dessert, so that should be easier, and just as nice, or nicer! Last night, I was at another club's Open House, and there was a wonderful hors d'oeuvre buffet, so it's been a pretty good start to the week so far!

Lacy Arrow Sock So Far

Here is the beginning of the Lacy Arrow Sock that I began as a complete change from my latest sewing project, the Marfy skirt. I have made this pattern at least 3 times before, but it's been a long time. My sister brought me a pair I had given her with hopes of my repairing them, and I decided that the only way I could do it was to begin knitting the pattern again so I got familiar enough with it to be able to darn it into the pattern correctly.

It's a nice pattern, and really only has 4 pattern rounds, although it has a 16 round repeat. The 4th pattern row is repeated 5 times, so actually a pretty simple pattern, although it looks complex.

This yarn is some Phentex acrylic which I received from a friend when she learned I was knitting baby things for my nephews. This was some that I ended up not using, and it's very nice sock-weight yarn. I'm using 2.75mm needles and 64 stitches in a round. I didn't really realize it was acrylic until I had done the ribbing, but I like the color, and it seems very nice, so I'm going to go ahead. I don't see why it shouldn't be just fine.

I have decided that I will just recut the skirt yoke pieces and start over on it. I still don't have a zipper for the jacket, but I'm leaning toward using one I have, although it's not an ideal color, but apparently the ideal color does not exist, so I will just make sure it doesn't show much, and it won't matter. I am definitely going to wait until I'm feeling bright-eyed and clear-headed before tackling this again.

Are Mad....

Sorry, the title's an "in" joke. A very young relative used to ask his mother "Are mad, Mom?" and of course he knew she was. So; are mad, means it's really bad.

Everything was going along pretty well yesterday. I got my Resort Tweed Marfy jacket shell all together except the sleeves, started pinning the facings, and realized I needed a separating zipper. I have a lot of them, but the color I liked best was in a length that's too short. This only needs a 10" zipper, and I don't know where I got the shorter one, although I'm thinking Pendleton or Wazoodle, in a zipper bundle. It's a lovely taupey color, and all they have in YKK or Coats&Clarks (at the local fabric chains) are Beige, which is almost Natural, and really a little too light a color. So, I decided that if I had to go on a zipper hunt, I would just stop working on the jacket, and move on to the skirt for a while. About 10pm last night, I decided to cut out the skirt.

There are 4 pieces to the skirt, a Front and Back Yoke, and a Front and Back Skirt. None of these are cut on the fold, as they're asymmetrical. They have to be cut with the fabric right side up, and I knew this. I cut the Textured Weft first, taking great care to make sure the fusible side would correspond with the wrong side of the fashion fabric. So far, so good. Then, I proceeded to cut the Tweed with the wrong side up, and didn't flip the pattern pieces! I just couldn't believe it. I went to bed.

So, now I'm trying to decide whether to start over and cut new yoke pieces, or should I just have the angle and skirt-drape on the Right instead of the Left. At this point, I can't even decide whether I can make a good decision, so I'm waiting for a little more reflection. These are the kinds of things that are just maddening, and they never seem to become obsolete.

Party Shell is Done

Here's the latest version of the Berroco Shell pattern I've used several times. I did this in Party yarn by Crystal Palace. This was a (successful, I think) experiment in sizing, as I used a Small for the Back, and a Large for the Front. I like the fit very much, and I used single crochet around the armholes for a more covered-up look than the pattern, and also to tighten them a little. Here's a side view of the shell.

The finishing on this went pretty smoothly last night, except I seem to have to sew the first seam on every sweater lately so that one right side and one wrong side face out. This was not a fun yarn to rip out either. It slides nicely, but it's hard to tell where it goes. Just a little more care and patience would probably work wonders, both in knitting and in life in general.

Lily Chin Class

I had a wonderful time yesterday taking a class on KnitWeaving with Lily Chin! She is just as delightful as many have said, and a great teacher with lots of wonderful ideas and great samples. We made swatches of quite a few of the techniques, and that's what you see here. The top swatch (the very top part) is probably my favorite, and the one I will likely use for a garment. I'm thinking a coat, although that may be just a little ambitious.
The second swatch is really a fun technique, and will make some great scarves very quickly. I'm thinking Christmas gifts here.
The third is not really a weaving technique, but a stitch pattern, which I've done before, but Lily has some interesting innovations which made me really take another look at it.
The last photo is of all my technique swatches.

As I said, I really enjoyed the class, but I don't think I could stand another very quickly, just beause when I got home, I was so tired and really achy all over from sitting (with a few nice breaks) for 8 hours. I was really surprised that it bothered me, but I guess my days are very varied, and I don't sit that long ever.

I want to make some extra notes before I forget what I learned, and what ideas I've had, as I know I will not get back to this right away, but WHAT A FUN TIME!!

Test for Marfy Skirt

Last night I tested the yoke section of the Marfy skirt (9420) that I'm making from the Resort Tweed. It's asymmetrical and fitted, and I thought it best to check it, even after flat-measuring produced good results. It fits beautifully, and I'm tempted to finish the trial skirt (made from black/white gingham rayon) and wear it. I think I'll restrain myself though. I'm planning to work on the jacket (9419) first, and cut out the silk jacket facings and fused them last night. Because of the diagonal print, I changed the grain to give a pleasing effect, and I hope that fusing them with TextureWeft cut on the correct grain will take care of any problems. We'll certainly see.

I'm off to a Lily Chin Weaving Techniques for Knitting class all day on Friday. I'm excited, as it is a topic I know nothing about, and it sounds very intriguing. She is said to be a great teacher, too. It's sponsored by Threads, my local yarn shop.

Party Shell Back is Done

This is a close up of the knitted fabric for the shell I'm making with Crystal Palace's Party yarn. The photo includes the right twist near the shoulder. I'm really pleased with this so far. I finished the back in a size Small this afternoon and started the front which is a Large. I'm trying my new sizing technique, and I hope it's going to work. I will end up with about a Medium in actual circumference, but with the space where I need it. The photo below is the back of the shell, before blocking of course. For some reason, all the photos except the close up above look like there is blue in the melange, but there definitely is not. The pattern I'm using is from Berroco, and the same as the Vrillee Shell I finished in May.

I also finally decided what the color and texture of this yarn really remind me of. Previously I had said "toasted meringue," but I suddenly realized that what it really is, is Nutmeg Logs. These are a log-shaped Christmas cookie with white/cream colored frosting, raked with a fork and sprinkled with nutmeg.




I didn't work on my Resort Tweed today, as my hip was really hurting, perhaps from leaning over a probably-too-low table to mark all those pattern pieces yesterday. It was a nice break anyway. This shell should be rather perfect in color for the tweed also.

Finally, Resort Tweed

I have been dithering about what to work on for quite a while now. I really want to get to Autumn things, but it's still in the 90's here, and I know I could wear some summer things yet. Anyway, I finally committed to working on the Marfy 9419 jacket in Resort Tweed

with silk crepe facings.

I plan to do 3/4 sleeves, but instead of a binding around the edges, I'm going to do turn-back cuffs with silk facings.

I'm also doing the Marfy 9420 skirt in the tweed, with the lower part of the skirt faced/lined in the silk. I may even have enough of the silk left for a matching blouse or at least a shell. It seems to be taking much less fabric than I originally thought, although I originally planned a much longer, bias Vogue skirt from this fabric, which would have taken about twice as much as this skirt, if not more.

This afternoon and evening, I got the tweed for the jacket thread traced and cut out. I will do the skirt tomorrow, and then the interfacing for the jacket, then the silk. Quite a production just to get it all prepared. Thank goodness for football season. It does give me time to work on this kind of project!

Working on my "Russian" Dress

I don't know if you remember a miniseries that was on TV probably 15+ years ago. It was either Peter the Great, or Catherine the Great, and I'm now leaning toward Peter, but it matters not. The costumes were wonderful, and I fell in love with the sleeves on the dresses. The dresses were layered of course, for warmth, and the sleeves were fairly tight-fitting, and from the elbow to the wrist, they looked like they were made about twice as long as necessary, and so had lots of wrinkles/folds there. The wrists were very tight.

So, since I had recently gone to a pattern-making seminar, I decided I could do this. I made a very plain, non-layered dress in a rust jacquard with tiny black diamonds, with tucks at the shoulders and buttons and loops closure at CB and at the wrists. The standing collar is quite high (6 buttons,) with an extra-depth bias piece for the outer collar, so it has folds like the sleeves. I wore this, usually belted, for several years, and it was especially nice on very cold evenings. I made it when I was a much larger size than I am now, and I tried it on the other day and decided I could remake it as a much more fitted dress. I took it all apart except the collar and about 1" of shoulder seam near the collar, and began pinning, etc. It's very interesting, and I'm finding that my now usual alteration taking length out above the bust is necessary on this too. I've put in fisheye darts below the bust, and horizontal darts too. In the back, I have shoulder darts, and fisheye darts, as well as a horizontal dart at the waist.

I was thinking of putting a half-belt at the waist to hide the waist dart, but since I've added the tuck above the bust, which looks like a really cute design detail, I'm thinking of using an exposed teeth zipper (gold) in the above bust (yoke) seam, and maybe I should do one at the back waist too. I think it would be kind of cute, but I suppose if I do that, I should get rid of the buttons and loops, and use a zipper as the back closure too. What would be very cute would be to use a zipper down the side of the collar and onto the shoulder seam. If I do that, I'll take the collar off and turn it so the opening is at the side. I'm planning to use an invisible zipper in the side seam as the actual closure. Anyway, I can't decide whether this is worth all the work, or if I'm just fooling around with it while I try to decide what else I want to do.

The Mailman's a Good Guy

Yesterday I got my birthday present (not too late) from my sister. A lovely pair of Kai Pinking Shears. I asked for a dressmaker's shears last year, and love them, and was hoping she might think I needed the pinkers this year. My very old Fiskars pinkers were dull beyond redemption, and I was making do with a left-handed Ginghers pair (anyone like them?) that came to rest here, and a cheapie pair as an interim solution. It can never be said enough: quality tools really do help make quality work. They certainly lower the frustration level anyway. I still pink things fairly often. Most projects get a touch of it at least, and some get quite extensive pinking.

I also got my first package of sample skeins from Elann yesterday. What fun!!! You get 5-10 yard samples of their new yarns for each month. This is enough to try needle sizes, stitches, yarn combinations, etc. In other words, you get to play. It also includes a free subscription to their monthly newsletter which includes yarn swatches of each colorway of each yarn, and suggested patterns, etc. I used to get the newsletter, but haven't for several years, but the sample skeins are all new to me, and it was such a treat to get them. Just what I need, more almost irresistible temptation. I can hardly wait for the next batch.

Today the new Threads came. It looks good. With Chanel jackets on the cover, how bad could it be?

True Colors of Wrap Blouse

Here is a much better photo of the actual color of the Vintage Wrap Blouse. You can also see the batik pattern in the fabric if you click on the photo to get a larger size. This is a pair of sage drawstring pants that I made earlier this summer. They are quite a perfect color with this.