A Little Yarn On The Side

The pirate costume pants required MORE buttons than the pattern said it would. I know, quite shocking, wasn't it?  Who would EVER have seen that coming? Since I am listening to Christmas music in spite of it still being October, so I have decided to be charitable.  Perhaps the folks at Simplicity have decided on some sort of new outreach program where they employ those who cannot read, or perhaps they are working with those suffering from drug addictions, which I could admire.  Of course, I might have saved the actual pattern-writing jobs for those NOT taking drugs, but that's just me.....

Be honest now.  Is there anyone who didn't see that one coming? This one was so predictable that even I saw it coming--and you know, that's saying something.  Last night when I was sewing on THE NUMBER OF BUTTONS THE PATTERN ACTUALLY SAID IT WOULD USE, I made sure to do a little spacing on the cuffs so that the new buttons--which would never match the old buttons--would make a design of sorts.  Of course, as it turns out, there were exactly two choices for buttons in gold and the right size, so I'm not even close to matching here, but I think it will be dark at the party anyway.  The old buttons and the new buttons If anyone asks, we're going for authenticity, because at the time that this sort of thing would have been worn, buttons would have been seriously unlikely to match anyway.  Fair enough, they wouldn't have been all shiny & gold either, but that's another story.  At any rate, I think they'll work.  And he who complains can make...

Andy's FINISHED pirate costume coat complete with the 28 buttons that the pattern envelope said it would need.  I'm off to the store tomorrow to track down the remaining 6 buttons that the coat actually requires.   What is it with designers???????????????

...but I am immensely proud of myself today. There, I've said it.  I know I will probably bring down the wrath of the sewing gods upon my boastful little head, but maybe they're not as vengeful as the knitting gods.  I'll burn a little summer cotton tonight in sacrifice to the just to be on the safe side.  In the meantime TA-DA! My first attempt at continuous quilting with the embroidery machine! Okay, to be fair, it wasn't an intentional attempt.  My intention was to do a few unconnected pieces of design on each side--basically enough to keep the batting from going crazy in the washing machine but nothing too "involved."  That was before I discovered this:  The design I had just embroidered onto the quilt that has taken THREE AND A HALF YEARS to make was only made for continuous design.  Not that there were any directions with the software--which I will point out is the only embroidery software I bought from Husqvarna (the company that ma...

....that lately a lot of my posts have been about knitting but not so much about MY knitting.  That would be because there has not so much been a lot of "my" knitting happening.  Granted, the dratted yoke pullover is finally done, and when we are back on speaking terms I will have Andy take a picture of us together in what I hope will be a new, warm, loving relationship.  Right now the best I can manage is to NOT give it a raspberry every time I pass it, but then again, I have never really been known for my maturity.... Having learned a few lessons (and a few new swear words) on the ribbed yoke pullover, I decided to do a little pinning and double-checking on the alpaca cardigan BEFORE sewing any seams and it's looking good, so when I get some knitting time, I'll be finishing up the second sleeve and MAYBE knocking off another WIP before the end of the month.  The first priority is Andy's pirate costume started two years ago and which my very patient husb...

*  Mr. Rogers would have had more than one sweater *  An "I Love Lucy" episode would have shown Lucy tied helplessly to a chair after her attempt to knit straight from an unwound hank of lace yarn. *  We would have seen Dumb Donald's face on "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" because his stocking cap would not have been the size of a garbage sack. *  On "Bewitched," Samantha could have twitched her nose and actually knit as fast as the rest of us only think we can. *  Pee Wee Herman might have been caught knitting in the movie theater, and might still be on the air......

As you may remember, the Double Dog Dare Challenge is to get down to 10 WIPS (which is sort of amazing when you think about it.  I mean, there are people who could get all the way down to NO WIPS, but to even get close to single digits is a challenge for me), and so far one has been frogged and three have been finished.  Theo is guarding the last one as it dries, just to make sure it's safe.   That puts me at 14 WIPS left--4 more.  OR, if I get really motivated, 5 more and I could have less than 10 WIPS, which would, of course, be amazing, astounding, and possibly a first for me.  A braver person would aspire to NO WIPS, but let's not get crazy here. And on the sewing front, I have started the October Project of the Month! It's just a simple flannel baby blanket, and now that the blocks are together, I think I might add one more row as it's a bit smaller than I think would be useful.  I mean, sure, babies are small but they grow at an astonishing rate...