Not-So-Epic Fail

Recently, Cassandra entertained you with a the story of a project that was not as successful as she'd hoped. Of course, all failures teach us something and, in this case, Cassandra learned about accurate measuring and the value of knowing someone who is a size or two smaller than you who would really love that handmade "mistake". 

I'm here today to share my not-so-epic failure (of which there have been many but this is the most recent.)

As you may know, I've been knitting a lot of Yoda hats recently. And, because I'm a person who prefers to finish one project before I start another, I waited WAY too long to get going on a scarf for a friend's birthday. So, at his party on Saturday, I showed up with a 1/3 knitted piece and the promise that it would be finished soon. He seemed to like the color (it's his favorite) and, I'm pretty sure he'll be happy with the finished project. 

So... how is this a failure, you may ask?

Well, what happens when you rush is that you really don't think things through all the way. And here's where I failed (and learned stuff):

I didn't have enough yardage in the skein of choice to do the entire scarf so I decided to embellish with some stripes of a coordinating color. However, while I chose a great color in a complementary yarn type - the main part is alpaca and the stripes are merino - I allowed myself to believe that the sport-weight alpaca and the DK weight merino were close enough to "blend".

As I was working on the piece, I started to question the decision of using two different weights. But, as I mentioned, I was in a hurry and I thought, "hell, who's going to notice??"

Also, because I was in a hurry, and I wanted to show it to my friend at his party, I wove in all the ends at the stripes. *facepalm*  I can never take it apart now... 

My dear friend, D, who will always be honest, looked at it and said, "This doesn't look like something you'd knit. It's just not as good as your usual work." Ugh. And, of course, the alpaca is long discontinued so it's not like I can just go out and buy more.

Needless to say, I'm going to finish what I started and hope that my friend sees the love that I knit it with and will graciously overlook the failure in my work.

Keep calm and knit on, friends.

- Alex

Baby Quilt

One of my daughter Cammy's close friends recently had a gorgeous baby girl. She was so excited about her first friend ever to have a baby that she wanted to give her a gift that was really special.

We decided that we would make her a scrappy baby quilt with some hand quilting...together. You know, a mother-daughter bonding experience for us.

We joyfully started out at the fabric store. I let Cammy pick out the fat quarters (with a little guidance from me on how to choose your fabrics to get the scrappy look we wanted). It was fun to let her choose the fabrics because she picked patterns I wouldn't have chosen, and yet I loved how they worked together in the end. The teacher was the student!

The fabric was washed and pressed and we started cutting our strips. As I hovered over her cutting it was really becoming clear that my control freak tendencies were rearing their ugly head. I know cutting quilt fabric can be tricky, and I mean well...but I'm pretty sure my daughter wasn't having a good time.

After I came up with a simple design, we moved on to piecing the blocks. 1/4" seams are pretty exacting work for someone who never touched a sewing machine before. Bless her heart, the one block I let her piece looked great but came out about an inch too small. I set it in the pile of "soon to be potholders" and she looked really, really, sad. And I felt like some kind of quilting bully.

When school started up again (she's a college senior this year!), she was too busy to work together on this anymore. I pressed on and finished it in time for the baby shower. As disappointing of an experience this may have been for Cammy, she ended up adoring the quilt. And I did too. For a week before it was gifted, it rested on the back of a chair in the living room. Both of us had to pick it up and admire it every time we walked by. I hope this means there is still a little inspiration to be a sewist in her...somewhere. Maybe we can try again with a simpler project? Let's hope!

Every quilt has a story, doesn't it?

–Cassandra

Muffatee, 1838

I have had a lot of "have-to" knitting in the past year and a half. A LOT. It is both a blessing and a curse to design knitting patterns. On one hand it's creative and wonderful, on the other hand it's a ton of knitting, and re-knitting, and re-knitting. Add into that list the holiday sweaters I like to knit for my boys and next thing you know there is no time for selfish knitting.

That being said, the day after Christmas I was blissfully aware of my unusually empty knitting bag. It was time for a "me project" on the needles. Rummaging around in my stash I found an adorable knitting gift that was given to me a while ago. My sweet little cousin Levi bought me a kit to make fingerless mitts from Suzy the Shepardess.

If you go poke around at her site you will see that Suzy is both a knitter and historian. She began her yarn company to create fiber that was appropriate for vintage patterns. I got lost on her site for a while actually.

One of the adorable things about her wool is that the sheep who supplied it is pictured on the yarn band. How cute is that? Levi went out of his way to pick out just the right lamb for my wool, his name was Left Ear. Love! This fiber was gorgeous and knitted up beautifully.

The pattern included in the kit was vintage from a book called The Workwoman's Guide, by A Lady. Um-hm..."A Lady". Originally published in 1838 this book is (in it's own words): instructions to the inexperienced in cutting out and completing those articles of wearing apparel which are usually made at home; also explanations on upholstery, straw-platting, bonnet-making, knitting, etc. Go check this out on Google Books. I know Ma Ingalls had a copy of this on the Prairie. She may have knit these for milking cows...but we can still use them today for typing in cold offices!

I wound up the yarn and knitted these simple little treasures in a day. And then I had a thought. My daughter often complains of how cold it is in the student newspaper office where she works. Ugh. Being the good mommy that I am, I let her have my mitts. I will knit myself another pair...when I get a chance :)

–Cassandra

Friday Finds: Comfortable and Cute

Yeah,  yeah. I know we're supposed to be shopping for gifts for other people right now but, even if you decide that one of these awesome skirts is perfect for someone's holiday gift, you are TOTALLY going to want one (or more) for yourself.  Embarrasingly, I now own four of them and have my eye on two more. And I bought one (guess which) for Cassandra for her birthday. :)

Ladies (and gentlemen who buy gifts for ladies), I present the Best.Skirt.Ever. from RecreativeCrafts.

Okay... the pictures don't really do them justice. I picked the top photo because it shows the "waistband" (which is just a wide piece of elastic). But, trust me when I tell you, once you put one of these on, you'll never want to wear anything else. Made from t-shirt material, with aforementioned elastic waistband, these comfy-cute skirts are hand silk-screened with original designs. And, they wash up beautifully. I get so many compliments when I wear them too!

I've worn my bare-legged with flip flops, with tights and boots, and over a pair of leggings. They come in XS to XL (I'm a solid size 12 and wear a large comfortably). If I had one modification, it would be to add a lining. When I wear them with tights, they tend to stick so I've been wearing a 1/2 slip with them. I may just grab some material from Joann Fabrics and pop a lining in them at some point.

The next time I have one on - probably tomorrow - I'll take a pic and update the post. :)

Happy shopping!

- Alex