Christmas Sewing and Knitting 2010

This year, I kept my Christmas crafting to a minimal. And then I forgot to take photos of a bunch of things. But nobody had to open an unfinished gift, so I still consider the whole endeavor a success.

First, I made five scarves for people I love. I used the Misti Chunky Ribs and Ruffles pattern and Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca from my local yarn shop. And I managed to take photos of Dana's purple scarf and Nora's blue scarf. I did not block these though it's now clear that I should have.

Dana wore hers outside today and Nora didn't. They both came inside thoroughly saturated, and, as you can see in the photo, Dana's scarf grew. Frankly, the added length is welcome, and I plan to soak them both tomorrow and block them properly.

I have to say two things: this pattern is fantastic, and the yarn is super plush and soft. I am thinking of making just one more of these for myself. But we'll see. I just cast on for my first pair of mittens. They are for me, and I wish they were already done because I don't own mittens. I only own gloves, and they just don't do it for me when it's really cold out. My fingers need to mingle to keep warm.

I also made pajamas for my three loves. I have been sewing long enough and regularly enough that I already had all of the necessary patterns in my stash, and I had the right colors of thread, plenty of 1" elastic, and a roll of Wonder Under. And I am dorky enough that all of that made me incredibly happy.

First up: Kevin's flannel frog pajamas. My lovely neighborhood fabric store has a large selection of gorgeous flannel, but most of it is pretty girly. This was as manly as I could get.

I bought a brown tee at Target, then turned it into a pajama top. I found frog clipart online, printed it onto regular paper, traced it onto Wonder Under, fused the Wonder Under onto leftover froggy fabric, cut it out, fused it onto the tee, then stitched all around the perimeter to secure it. I have learned through trial and error that Wonder Under alone will hold fabric on for a while, but eventually it starts to peel off. The stitching looks cute and holds the decal on securely.

I totally lucked out with this gorgeous flannel. Nora's favorite color is turquoise. Dana's favorite color is purple. This fabric has both turquoise and purple, and my girls are still young enough that they get a kick out of wearing matching pajamas.

I found the long sleeved tees at Target and found flower clipart online. Same process with Wonder Under and stitching.

I added ornamental bows on the fronts of the girls' jammies. The ribbon is turquoise with chocolate brown stripes and it matches perfectly.

I also made 2 flannel kimono tops for my niece, Elsa, but I forgot to take photos of them. And we made these handy coasters as gifts for some special people, too. The girls had a lot of fun sifting through my scrap boxes, looking for fabrics that appealed to them. And then I forgot to take pictures. Oh well.

I hope you had a lovely, relaxing holiday!

Pickles and Hats

I always forget how busy life gets in August. I have been busy making jam, picking and freezing quart after quart of raspberries, making pickles (over 50 quarts so far!)... Last week, Kevin's parents bought me a pressure cooker, which has me over the moon! Jerry, my father in law, picked me an entire grocery sack of green beans from his garden, and I canned 14 pints, including a bunch of hot dilly beans.

My friend Charity and I each bought half a bushel of pickling cucumbers from a local farm and spent a day making 44 quarts of dills. I have also been picking tons of cucumbers from my dad's gardens, and have so far made 9 quarts of hamburger dills and dill spears. I have a bag of 8 cukes sitting on my counter right now, meaning tomorrow I will make another batch.

Today I threw a baby shower for Liz, my sister in law, along with my sister Alyx and Liz's sister Cassie.

It's a girl!

Baby is due at the end of September, so I made her two hats:

The first one is the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap. It's a nod to my dad and his Norwegian heritage. Plus it's so cute!

Here it is on Dana's baby, Dizzy. It will actually fit like a little pilot cap, framing New Baby's face, but Dizzy is the best model I could come up with. Since we know Baby is a girl, I did a yarn over rather than a make one because I thought the eyelets would look sweet, which they do. I also made the stripes 4 rounds tall rather than 2 rounds tall. I like the wider stripes.

Since our winters get pretty ugly, I also made a Meathead to keep her warm. It's 2 strands of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Bulky held together, so it will be really super cozy. The flower accent is just polar fleece from my stash. I sort of freehanded with my scissors, then found a suitable button in my button box.

Meathead and Cucumber

I have been busy with various knitting, sewing and gardening projects this summer. I have finished 3 hats and am working on a gift for my soon-to-be-born niece.

This is a very small version of the Meathead hat that I made as a first birthday gift. I added the optional pocket and filled it with crayons. It's nice and warm for our hideous winters.

The season's first cucumber. I have picked 2 more since, with another waiting on the vine. There are 2 tomatoes that I had planned to pick today, but it's been storming since I woke up. Not worth risking my life over. I've been harvesting 6-8 pounds of raspberries every other day at my parents' house. I have made jam and frozen a bunch. I totally missed out on strawberries this year, as they were ripe very early. I heard from friends that the crop left something to be desired, so my disappointment didn't last that long. I did buy strawberries and blackberries at the grocery store for a jam-making evening.

The project that has been keeping me busy for the past few weeks: curtains for the girls' room. I have been working on them a bit here and there, on days when the weather is bad and I don't feel guilty for being inside, and they are almost done. I'll share when I am done-they are pretty cute!

Apologies for the long absence. We've had out of town visitors, daily swimming lessons, daily sailing lessons, more visitors, etc. Summer's kept us hopping!

Sheep and Wool Hat

Way back in February, I brought Nora shopping for yarn. She selected two skeins of Mirasol Tupa in her favorite colors: turquoise and pink (well, magenta in this case). I had a pattern in mind and she found it agreeable, so I went to work.

She asked about it regularly for 3 months. She was so anxious to get her hat!

Well...Nora was at a birthday party this afternoon and I sat down and finished it. When she got home, I tried to put it on her sweet blond head, and it refused. This hat was way too small! My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. The thing is, I KNOW I knit really tightly! But I did a gauge swatch and this was right on.

Nora is so sweet. She told me to give it to Dana, which I did. And Dana loves it. Loves it!

I don't know what's going on with the mouse.

The pattern is called Sheep and Wool Hat, but I cannot find it anywhere! I mean, I know I found it on Ravelry, but I can't find the blog where the pattern actually is. If you want the pattern, you can sure leave a comment and I will look harder. It's out there somewhere!

It's a great pattern with a lovely secret: it's double thickness around the ears! My whole goal was to knit a nice, cozy hat for our horrific winter weather. Nora's other hat is pretty, but it's not super warm and it sure doesn't cover her ears. She asked me to knit this hat again, only bigger, in the same colorways. And so I will. It was a simple pattern, easy to memorize, and the yarn is pretty swell to work with. So watch for another post of the exact same hat in about 3 months. That's the pace I work at nowadays.

Central Park Hoodie

Wow-I haven't posted since February 15!

Well...let me fill you in the Ravelympics: I failed. I didn't finish either of my projects. In fact, I didn't even start the hat. However, I was thisclose on the sweater. All I had left was seaming and the front band.

I finished a week late, on March 7. On the one hand, I didn't meet my deadline. On the other hand my hoodie is done! And months earlier than I thought! I was certain it would take me an entire year to knit, and it ended up taking 4 months.

Here are a few photos, with the warning that I have not blocked it. The front band is ribbed and sort of shrinks up the length of the sweater. Blocking will help that. I just need to do it. Also, I can't decide on buttons. I am still trying to find the perfect ones.

Also: photography is not a talent of mine. I tried. Sorry.

Here's the back. Some people continued the cable pattern all the way up the hood. I opted not to. I was already trying to keep track of where I was on the cabling around the front of the hood, and I was NOT on the same row on both sides of the hood. I didn't feel like I could throw in a third cable to keep track of and keep my sanity.

Here's a close-up of the cabling on the back.

The only change I made: I went up one size for the sleeves. I read time and time again that the sleeves were tight. Thank goodness for Ravelry! Mine are perfect!

The verdict:
Yarn- I absolutely love this yarn! It's Manos de Uruguay Rittenhouse.

Pattern- So easy to follow. If I ever knit it again, I will do the body in one piece, not 3. Seaming is fine, but why bother if you don't have to?

Ravelympics- Mixed feelings about this. It was helpful to have a deadline in mind to urge me to keep going. However, towards the end, it was stressing me out. I knit to de-stress, so it seemed counterproductive. I will sign up again next year, but with more realistic goals so it's challenging AND fun.

As for the hat, I am working on it. About 3 weeks ago, my right arm started to ache, and then it started to get numb. I finally went to the doctor and she took some x-rays and it looks like 2 of the vertebrae in my neck are compressed, and they're pinching a nerve. For about 2 weeks, my wrist hurt so much that I couldn't really use my fingers. Which meant knitting was out. I start PT on Monday, so hopefully this will get sorted out so I can get back to life.

Meanwhile, I have some old stuff to post in the next few days.

Ravelympics 2010

I signed up to participate in the Ravelympics this year.

What, you ask, is the Ravelympics? Basically, you set a knitting goal for yourself. You cast on during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and must be completely finished by the end of the closing ceremonies. Most local yarn stores have teams. I am on my LYS's team.

I am competing in two events: eventhathalfpipe:

This will be a hat for Nora.


And eventwipdancing.

Eventwipdancing is where you complete a WIP, also known as a work in progress. I plan to complete my Central Park Hoodie.

That photo is what I have completed as of this morning. The back and the right front are done, and I have about an inch more of ribbing to do, plus the rest of the left front. And then I have the sleeves and the hood, plus the border thingy on the whole front of the sweater. I spent the opening ceremonies working on the right front and got almost all of it done then. Very gratifying.

The whole point of Ravelympics is to challenge yourself. I am not sure I can finish these projects in 17 days, but I am sure going to try! I sure would like to wear my hoodie before it gets too warm, around about July.

Knitting Bag-Ta Da!

I finished up my knitting bag last night!

From the outside, it looks pretty much like every other tote I've ever made. It's about 17 inches wide by 11 inches tall, with a 5 inch bottom. Did I mention before that it's Amy Butler home decor weight fabric? It is. And it's awesome because I didn't have to use any interfacing. I am not in love with interfacing.

But this time I added a zip top to keep all of my knitting stuff safe. Nobody needs to lose their scissors or darning needles, right?

The zip panels-they almost killed me. It's not that they were hard-it's that I had to make up how to do it. I am certain directions exist in abundance on the world wide web, but it seemed so easy until I got into it. And by then, it was too late. There were details I should have worked out in advance, but I didn't know about them until I got to them. So the two ends of the zipper aren't identical, but it's my bag and I sure don't care.

Here's the inside (I know-you needed me to clarify what you were looking at). I sewed pockets in so I can keep stuff organized. So the pocket you see here is for a pattern. Right now, it has a magnetic board with my Central Park Hoodie chart and pattern. I made the pocket big enough to fit 8 1/2 by 11 papers.

And on the other side, there are tool pockets. I have my cable needles, a gauge check/ruler thing, scissors, my circular needle bag, a tape measure, etc. I also sewed a few pockets to accommodate a pair of straight needles, a set of double pointed needles, and my cell phone.

I feel like I need to sew a matching tiny bag to hold things like stitch markers and darning needles. They would fit in the pockets, but it seems that, if I need one of these tools in the middle of my knitting, it would be easier to grab a little coin purse thingy than to root around in various pockets for something so small. So I will probably whip that up next.

I love how I can put extra yarn and my project in the middle and they are safe there.

I want to use this for a few weeks to see if there is anything I would change, and then I told my mother in law I would make her a knitting bag, too.

Meathead

Sunday means family dinner in this neck of the woods. Literally, considering I pretty much live in a commune.

This Sunday we're celebrating my brother in law's birthday. His name, coincidentally, is Kevin.

Family dinner is potluck, and I made birthday cupcakes. Keenan, my nephew, told me his dad's favorite color is blue, so I went with it. Why not?

Our gift to him? A hat, of course. Meathead, to be specific.

As soon as I saw this hat, I knew I had to make it for him. He is a social worker and he enjoys entertaining his clients with his crazy hats. This one fits the bill.

The yarn is Mirasol Sulka, a blend of merino, alpaca and silk. It's incredible-so soft and warm. I am in love with every Mirasol yarn I have touched. Hope Kevin likes it, too.

Busy Times

Oh, this fall. This fall has been so busy, I have hardly had a chance to breathe. It seems like there is something going on every single day, and many days, there are multiple things. Which is why I haven't posted anything in 2 weeks.

I have been working on this leaf beret for a long time-maybe two months! See how it's finished here? What you can't tell is that it is gigantic. I tried it on and it was at least 2 inches too big around. It fell into my eyes and looked so ridiculous.

And so I ripped it out. I unraveled the whole thing and wound the yarn into a ball so I could start over. And now I am almost done with take 2. And it is so much better! It fits like it should, which is lovely.

If you click on the photo, you can see it much larger. Which you should do, so you can see the leaf pattern. This was my very first time knitting from a chart! And while it was a little weird at first, I kind of love it now. It makes sense for something like this, where every round is different than the one before it. My mother in law bought me a really cool metal board and magnet set, so I can put the chart on the board and hold it in place with the magnets. There's one really long magnet to mark your spot with. So great, this set. I am not in love with the leaf pattern, but I do like knitting it and I love the yarn. So much. It's Mirasol Tupa, and it's half merino and half silk. It is so soft and it has this sheen to it. I love it.

And this is my new yarn for my new project, which I will begin as soon as the beret is done. It's Manos Del Uruguay Rittenhouse, which is a plied merino. It is incredible! So soft, so lovely, and the tag for every skein has the name of the woman who spun it written on it.

I am about to embark on the biggest knitting adventure I have had: my first sweater. Well, technically my second sweater, but my first sweater was size 6-12 months and was for Baby Dana. It took me 9 months to knit that tiny thing! This sweater is for me, and it will be significantly larger and more complicated. It's the Central Park Hoodie, and if you look at the pattern you will notice it is cabled. I am both terrified and excited to be starting this. Thank you to Tracy, who invited me and Dana over to wind my skeins into cakes on her swift. THAT was fun!

And a little bit of sewing has happened, too. Just a bit. I made Dana a skirt out of scraps. She loves it! Even though it isn't pink or purple, her two approved colors. She had no shirts to go with it, so I found a tank and a long sleeved shirt at Old Navy and spiced them up with the Amy Butler print and some Wonder Under.

Clearly she has had her photo taken before. Little ham!

Socks: Ta-da!

I finished my second pair of socks yesterday! And it's even more exciting because I made this pair for myself. Meaning I get to enjoy them for many moons.

It's not that easy to take a photo of your own feet, but I did it anyway. I really love how this yarn makes its own stripes. I didn't know it was going to do this. I know, I know-self-striping yarn isn't a brand new phenomenon. I just didn't realize this yarn was self-striping until I got into the pattern a bit. I am very pleased.

I just added these photos to Ravelry and realized that I started them on April 20 and I finished them on July 20. Isn't that fun?

Now I understand why Smart Wool socks are so expensive: All that soft, wool yarn and all that time! Then again, it isn't the same to just buy socks and put them on. I like to believe I will love these more because I have three months of my life invested in them.

My mom was teasing me about finishing up wool socks in July. Sadly, it's about 60 degrees and rainy today, and wool socks really are a good idea.

I have a recipe to post later, when I have more time. Also, a sewing project is winding down. I have been busy inside during this cold spell!

Scarf+Ice Cream=Climate Confusion

Did I mention that I finished my scarf on Sunday? I did! I have just been busy blocking it, so I couldn't post a photo until now.

I do not have great photography skills, so it was hard for me to capture the zigzag kind of pattern and the wavy edges. Especially because it has been raining all day, and there weren't any clear surfaces in my house except for this small piece of kitchen floor. The girls were in fort-building mode.

Hopefully, better photos of me exist somewhere. If you click to enlarge, I am pretty sure you will see strawberry splattered on my face and soup on my shirt. Nice accessorizing, right?

Really, though, I am very happy with this scarf. It is so soft and squishy, and it is about the perfect shade of green. And I do enjoy the wavy edges and the lacy holes, even though they made the actual knitting sort of a headache.

And here is why there is strawberry splattered on my face: I made delicious strawberry ice cream today! It involved the blender, freshly picked strawberries, and much dairy. Maybe some sugar, too. The girls enjoyed watching it swirl around and become ice cream.

Doesn't it look yummy? And pretty, too?

I threw the ice cream canister back into the freezer because I remembered how much I love homemade ice cream. Nora asked if we can make sherbet next, so I am on the hunt for a recipe. She wants lime. Any ideas?

Summer Shimmer Scarf

Well, it's summer, so I can usually be found in Mom and Dad's gazebo, either reading or knitting, while the kids swim. I just finished reading this. It was entertaining, in a sitcom kind of way. I enjoy those characters, but the storyline? Eh. But you know what? It's summer. It's a good time for sitcom reading.

And besides, I am back to knitting already. I am about halfway through the Summer Shimmer Scarf, which I am making for Finny and Donk's Craft: Along.

I started this at Knit Night on Monday and I have to say-it was a rough beginning. Now, I am not sure if it had anything to do with the fact that I was busy talking and eating while knitting, or with the presence of Heidi and her newborn son Wil, who is too cute not to stare at, but I had to rip this thing out THREE TIMES before I could get it right. I kept losing two stitches somewhere. And by the time I figured it out each time, it was not worth trying to un-knit. I just frogged it. The third time I counted and came up with 18 stitches instead of 20, I had to close my eyes and s-l-o-w-l-y count to ten. But it is all OK now. I have had 20 stitches for a long time and am halfway done.

The yarn I chose is a bamboo and silk blend and it is so incredibly soft! Clearly this will require some blocking when I am finished. Oh, and please disregard the cigarette box. Please! I reached that point in my yarn cake where everything fell apart. My dad looked over at me and said, "How do you knit when your yarn is in a big snarl like that?"

SO...I began The Great Untangling of '09. Except that this yarn is slippery. VERY slippery. So while I was trying to wind the untangled portion into a nice ball, it kept slipping off and tangling back up. I convinced my dad that it wouldn't be such a big deal if he just took his cigarettes outta the pack so I could use it for my yarn. He's a helpful guy, and pretty reasonable, so he complied with my wishes.

If this heat keeps up, I should be done with the scarf by the end of the weekend.

Works in Progress

I am working on many things right now. I am not finishing much. But that's fine with me. I am (mostly) enjoying working on all of these things.

The paint is not exactly the hue I had envisioned. But after working with it for hours, it has really grown on me. Which is good, because I have so many hours left of working with it. It's the scraping that's doing me in. For one thing, I'm not very good at scraping, and for another, I am accident prone. The bloodshed has been minimal thus far, thankfully.

Yarn. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wool is self-striping! I've had this project on the needles for over a month and am itching to finish up.

Mending. Lots of it. Requires a functional sewing machine. Which is actually within grasp. But more on that tomorrow.

Fabric. Flannel fabric, to be precise. All washed and ready to be cut.

In the coming days, I hope to have photos of finished projects. They're all getting close!

Dreaming of Dresses

I am almost done reworking Nora's fairy dress. I ended up copying the bodice of a dress that fits her really well. It is awfully cute, and I will post photos tomorrow. I just have to do the buttonholes. The problem is that I dropped my button hole attachment so long ago I forgot it happened. I tried to duct tape it back together, but I can't get it tight enough for the gears to catch. So my plan tonight is to relearn how to use the buttonhole foot on my machine to manually sew a buttonhole. (Have you ever seen the word "buttonhole" so many times in one paragraph?) Anyhoo, I will do that tonight and have Nora pose for some photos tomorrow. Dana is already asking where hers is. So I guess we will be going to the fabric store, too, in hopes that I can sew a second dress before Tara and Dan's wedding next Saturday (eight days from now).

In the meantime, I am already concocting ideas for more dresses. I found a bunch of posts on various blogs about how to repurpose mens button up shirts into little girl dresses. My girls are head over heels for Daddy, and they would get the biggest kick out of wearing dresses made from his shirts.

Also, I absolutely love this fabric! I want to buy it and knit the bodice and use most of one fabric for one dress, with a contrasting ruffle from the other fabric, making the girls mirror-image space dresses. Why, you ask? Well, Dana loves space. She talks about astronauts, space suits, space ships, and planets all the time. And Nora is studying outer space at school right now and is also fascinated. She paints watercolors of the planets, in order, with the astroid belt in the appropriate location. She loves to talk about planets, the sun, constellations and many other spacey things. So I thought this fabric was perfect. Also, I am ready to sew something cute and girly but not pink, purple or too frilly. I think a little ruffle at the hem would add just enough frill to make the girls fall in love. We'll see.

Isn't it funny how, two weeks ago, I was cursing the day I thought sewing garments was a good idea, and now I am dreaming of new things to make for the girls? And how the object I most covet at this point in my life is a serger? Life takes funny turns. Sorry for the lack of photos. I guess I just had some ranting to do. Big surprise.

Dana's Spring Hat

I finished Dana's spring hat today! Which is kind of funny since we are supposed to get about ten inches of snow. But that's all right because, when it finally turns into spring, we will be ready.

Dana selected this yarn after much consideration. It reminds me of an Easter egg because of the swirling pastels. She passed right over the yarn that matches her spring jacket, which is a salmon kind of hue. But that's OK, too, because life is not about matching.

She was in such a silly mood and insisted on posing in many different positions, both still and in motion.

See that cool button? I recently started a button jar, recently like two months ago or so. There are not many buttons in it. But, like most of us, I remember going through my mother's button tin as a child and admiring the many colors, textures and patterns. So I started my own and already it has come in handy! This button was just waiting for this hat.

The hat pattern is called Pi Topper and is based on a shawl pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Do you see the sort of snail-like swirling on the crown? The variegated yarn enhances the swirliness, but it is visible on the solid colored hats I saw on Ravelry, too.

The yarn is Cascade Fixation, which is cotton and elastic. It is super stretchy, which is so wonderful for a growing head. Or really, for a growing anything. It is DK weight, I think, which is very nice for spring. Or, so I have heard. What is this "spring" I keep talking about?

Getting Past the Tantrum

I am sorry for my tantrum post last time. You could probably guess that I was very frustrated with the circumstances of my crafting life. Things are better now. For one thing, my sewing machine is fixed! I brought it to a local sewing machine repairman named Jim, who was incredibly friendly and oh so quick. I dropped the machine off on Friday afternoon and he called Tuesday morning to tell me it was done! I thought it was going to be a big deal. It turned out I was wrong. The whole thing was only $59-he was able to fix it by giving it a standard servicing. I am thrilled!

I also got some knitting done. I ordered yarn so I can finish my Odessa hat. While I wait for it to get here, I knit a hat for my aunt's birthday gift.

I found a pattern on Ravelry that I absolutely love, and then Dana helped me pick out yarn for it. It's Malabrigo, which has quite the fan club in the knitting world, and now I know why. It is lovely to work with and the colors are amazing. We picked a warm red called Sealing Wax and are keeping our fingers crossed that it matches something in my aunt's winter wardrobe. Nora helped select the buttons, though she was disappointed I wouldn't spring for rhinestones.

I also got a bit of mending done. Nothing too crazy, but I did get to test out my repaired sewing machine. See, for a while our dryer was acting completely nuts. It was leaving weird marks on things that I initally thought were burns but eventually realized was gunk of some sort. I did a major online search and finally figured out what was wrong: this piece of felt between the frame and the drum was worn out. This meant that pieces of clothing would get caught in the gap. Sometimes they would get stains, sometimes they would tear and, on special days, they would get stains and tears. I found a fantastic website explaining how to fix it. I ordered up the required parts and Kevin spent an hour or two taking out the old and installing the new. And now it works! No rips, no stains, no weirdness.

This skirt was a victim. I really love this skirt, as it is super soft and super simple. I am not a shorts kind of girl, so I spend the summer in skirts and dresses. This skirt was lucky enough to get the dryer double whammy of stain/rip. While Nora and I were selecting buttons for the aforementioned hat, I found a bunch of patches for sale. When I saw this owl, I knew it was meant to be.

I didn't think to take a "before" picture, but the owl covered everything but one spot. I was most concerned with covering the multitude of little holes, and I did accomplish that. It isn't a perfect match, but I think it is pretty cute.

I am also working on a spring hat for Dana, but it is not ready for photographing yet. Hopefully later this week! I am not in a huge rush to finish it since it is currently 27 degrees and is clearly not spring hat weather yet.

Projects Gone Awry

I feel like my life is one big stalled project right now. It seems like every time I get almost done with something, there is a problem. And I have to say, it is starting to get to me. Spring is a time of new beginnings, but I can't start anything because I have too many things waiting to be completed. Not to whine or anything.

A couple of weeks ago, I FINALLY cast on this hat. It is MY hat. It is the very first thing I have knit for myself. I have had the yarn for months, but I kept finding other projects to work on and I never got around to making it. I selected the yarn because it matches the lining in my parka. Sadly, I recently noticed that the fabric around the entire zipper is starting to wear through and I can see tears getting ready to emerge. I have had that parka for about five winters, so it isn't like it is brand new. But it is sad that it took me five winters to make a matching hat, and I won't even get to wear them together.

And based on the photo above, you can probably guess why: Once again, I ran out of yarn. Do you have any idea how frustrating this is for me? I found this pattern on Ravelry. It is called Odessa. I read through more than a hundred posts about this hat, and I can't remember reading about anyone running out of yarn. Once again, my tight knitting has me in a pinch. I ordered this yarn online. The website has $6.99 shipping, which is fine if you are ordering a bunch of yarn, but I just need this one ball. And I can't find this color in stock at any other website. I am going to attempt to have a local yarn store order it for me. Until I can get around to doing that, I decided to start a sewing project, which leads me to...

this dress. A few weeks ago, I had both girls with me at the fabric store. I can't remember why I was there, which is sort of scary, but Nora saw this fairy fabric and fell for it. It has all of her favorite colors, and the fairy wings are sparkly silver. She asked me to make her a dress out of it. I told her, "Not today." A week ago, I was at the fabric store again, this time alone. I saw the fairy fabric and was reminded of her request. A close friend of ours is getting married in April and I thought a fairy dress would be the perfect wedding outfit. The store owner and her sister helped me pick out a really lovely pattern. They actually took out the instructions and walked me through them, and assured me I was capable of making this dress. I was crazy enough to believe them. See, I had visions of a giddy happy Nora whirling and twirling in the three-tiered skirt, and those visions sidetracked me from reality.

I started this project on Friday night (I know-party time!). By Saturday afternoon, the skirt was done in all of its whirly twirliness. The bodice was tiny and seemed so easy! When I got to the yoke, the directions and diagrams looked weird. They weren't making any sense to me. I read through them about ten times and made my pieces match the diagrams again and again. Still, it seemed off. But I decided that I was too focused on the details and couldn't see the big picture. If I just followed the directions one step at a time, it would come together. So I pinned the everloving daylights out of that yoke, stitched it up, followed the remaining few steps, and held the dress up.

It did not look like the finished photos.

I resisted the urge to cry or vomit. (You have no idea how many hours I had into it at this point-I am no good at sewing and I was determined to make a beautiful dress, so I took my sweet time with every step in an effort to avoid all errors.)

I tried to reason with myself: while it didn't look like the photo, it was still cute (not exactly true). Nora would like the ruffle yoke (probably true).

So Nora got home from Grandma and Grandpa's house Sunday afternoon and promptly tried the dress on. What did my lovely daughter say?

"Ouch!"

Wow-so not the response I had envisioned! Clearly the upside down piece (yup-that was the problem. I sewed the yoke on upside down, following the instructions EXACTLY. I swear!) made the bodice tight. It squeezed her arms. Which, when you think about it, it kind of crazy. Nora, after all, is 6 1/2 and weighs about 36 pounds. Her arms are not exactly beefy.

There was absolutely no way to fix this because (hold your breath here) I had already sewed in the buttonholes. Seriously.

After much thought, I happened to glance at a dress hanging in the closet that has a really cute bodice that fits Nora well. I have decided to copy it. After I have calmed down from this horrible experience, that is. A wise woman (hi, Tracy!) once told me she has no interest in making garments. Why, oh WHY did I not listen to her?!

So while I work up the nerve to attempt a new bodice, I decided to make a tote for my good friend Erica, who saw Dana's tote on this very blog and asked me to make her one, though with some modifications. Specifically, she wanted it bigger.

So Monday night I cut out the pieces for the tote. Tuesday I stitched it together. When I got to the final stages (specifically, the handles and the topstitching), my sewing machine started to do something funky: it would only sew in reverse! Do you have any idea how hard it is to sew in reverse, when you can't see what you are doing? It was not good. And it still isn't. I finished the tote and mailed it off to Iowa without saying too many swears, but my machine needs help. I heard it making some scary noises, so who knows what else is going on. The thing is, I can't finish Nora's dress until I get this machine fixed. So if you have a suggestion for where I can get it fixed, where the people will be nice to me (trust me-the local sewing machine repair people do not have friendly reputations), please direct me there! I have other sewing to do, too, and having my machine sitting in the closet is bumming me out.

So that's where I am at with projects. I am about to start another hat, but I realized today that I don't have double pointed or circular needles in remotely the right size. So I guess I am going shopping for needles first. I am sitting here shaking my head, eyes closed. Why is everything stalling on me?