A Little Yarn On The Side

You might have noticed that there are two new projects on the side tally, and yet there are no subsequent pictures on the blog.  This is because I cleaned the sewing room this weekend, and as we all know, there is no faster way for me to lose things than to clean, and my camera is the latest casualty. So, what we DO have is: *  a moderately less-messy sewing room *  progress on the stretchy sock--I think I have 2 more rounds before starting the heel *  a new black peachskin tank-top sort-of shirt--basically exactly like the short paisley one but without the paisley part *  a missing camera *  two new embroidered towels, with Jeeves performing flawlessly *  90 days in which to complete 28 projects *  a subsequent realization that working on the Kauni cardigan rather than the sock might be...um......stupid, perhaps? *  an overwhelming desire to cast on something new--with cables *  two cats and a husband who strongly suspect I ...

Let's take a minute and refresh everyone's memories, shall we? Remember the ill-fated pajama top incident?  (For a refresher, see here , here , and here )  Remember how I had finally purchased some solid brown coordinating flannel to make a new top, and how I drew that bag for the Project of the Month for September? My trust sidekick and I decided we had better get cracking, so I cut out the back and the facing, then opened the material up to cut out the remaining pieces, only to discover...... I don't have enough material!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Can you believe it????  I think I got this material from Joanns (having not saved the info because I got as much material as the pattern said, so I assumed there was no reason and brown flannel is brown flannel), so I'm hoping to be able to match it and have a swatch stuffed in my purse for when I've calmed down enough to be reasonable and not come home with 14 bolts of the silly stuff.  Obviously, I w...

After a few days of rest, hot pads, hot tubbing, and serious humiliation, I have recovered from my recent fruit beating, and have finished one sock in the stretchy yarn which I think might actually work with this pattern.  I hope so--I have 4 more pairs of socks worth of this yarn.   Feeling thoroughly sorry for myself, I also started a new lace scarf which I like in theory, but will probably frog & restart because the pattern has a 1-stitch stockinette border on each side that I want to get rid of, and I think I'd like the scarf a bit thinner and with a little bit bigger bottom border.  I want it to be a little scarf to tie around my neck when I wear the new tan microsuede ensemble since the decorative stitching thing didn't work out, and I really can't wear tan without looking like some sort of faded banana.   Speaking of fruit, yesterday I was even able to successfully cut up 5 trays of apples to dehydrate without any apple arse-kicking, so later t...

You might have noticed there haven't been any posts recently.  Monday I decided it was time to use some of the apples we picked and make apple butter.  I think the last time I made it was about 7 years ago, so I had had sufficient time to forget the previous trauma. There are apple butter recipes that don't require you to core & peel the 6 pounds of apples--I know this now.  Unfortunately, I did NOT know this on Monday.  So I spent two hours standing at the sink peeling and coring apples.  I don't know if it's an age thing or the fact that I have never really used a paring knife for 2 hours nonstop, by the end of the day my hand was a claw.  I thought it would be a good idea to do some stretching, which strained my wrist.  Whether or not it was the stress of the claw, the wrist or the 6 hours of standing in the kitchen....but I then threw my back out.  Fingers aching, wrist throbbing, and now having to lay flat on my back...there has been NO...

Which is totally lacking the alliterative neatness of Finishing Friday, but some weeks I'll take what I can get.  What it is lacking in alliteration, however, it makes up for in productivity.  First up: The baby reefer jacket is done!!!!!!  Well, almost.  Those buttons aren't actually sewn on yet, but even though I can get distracted at almost any other point on a sweater, being distracted enough to not sew buttons on hasn't been a problem.  So, it is finished enough to make the list.  And secondly.... Now that the sewing room is overrun with machines, space is seriously at a premium, so I have decided to focus on space-saving projects for a while.  This is my first storage idea.  I think it will be a great place to store my seam rippers (notice the plural), embroidery scissors, screw drivers, and other things that I need to have on-hand while sewing.  It was really a quick project, too.  After measuring I decided I needed 2 pieces o...

.....that when I have very little crafting time, I get a wild urge to start new projects? With a party we're hosting tonight, salsa and pickles to can, and lots of apples to take care of, I have a mad desire to cast on a new lace scarf.  To placate myself, I dug out the ball winder and got this and this ready to be cast on, and so far that has placated me enough to return to this which is REALLY close to being finished.  I had made the two button bands a bit shorter than it called for because I was really concerned about running out of yarn, but I have finished the knitting and still have this much yarn left, so I'm adding the missing rows back on.  Then I just need to sew in the sleeves, add buttons, and weave in ends and it will be done!!!!!!!!!!!!  Which is good as it's a baby gift and the baby was born about a month ago.  Thankfully, it's for 12-18 months. I know better than to try to make anything for a "newborn."  That's just asking for one o...

After an 11 week absence , one is finally going to get their sewing machine back right at the time when one is too busy canning to be able to use it.