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I am actually sewing! Look at this:

It’s a vintage blouse pattern and what I believe is vintage fabric. I still need to seam the sides, and you can see the ties that will help add waist shaping. It’s actually not supposed to have the sides seamed together, and you’re supposed to slip it over your head and tie it closed. I’m entirely paranoid about it coming open, though, so I think I should seam the sides. It’s coming out quite well so far, even if it is a bit slippery to sew with.

I’ve also made some progress on the Tackasterpiece Throw.

I’ve finished 10 of each of the small circles, in the beige. And two (and a bit) out of five of the large circles in teal. Each of the large circles takes a whole skein of yarn! I have one more set of five large circles to do in the dark brown, then I can start piecing and getting rid of those ends. I would say I am about 1/2 done, going by how much yarn I have left to work up.

And just because I am really enjoying the sewing, another picture of my soon-to-be-complete blouse, gathers that need to be pressed flat.

I have a lot of sock yarn in my stash, and to be honest I do not like a whole lot of it. Some of it was gifted to me and isn’t really my thing. Some of it I bought as it was a good deal on sale even though it didn’t speak to me. Some of it just lost its luster, and the rest of it I treasure more than my internal organs.

Because I have so much sock yarn, when I tend to not actually feel like knitting anything in particular I just reach for my least favourite sock yarn of the minute and knit up a plain pair. Plain pairs of socks come in awfully handy at Christmas as my mother and grandmother just can’t get enough of them. Except I am not so sure of the usefulness of my most recent “meh” pair.

No matter what I did, the picture came out blurry. I think it’s more of an effect of the yarn rather than lack of camera skills, although…

Okay, it’s definitely the yarn. It’s a mix between camouflage and a seizure. I would compare it to vomit, but vomit was once beautiful, tasty food so that might be insulting to the vomit. This hideous effect was created with a cheap sale yarn buy of Plymouth Happy Feet. I didn’t actually hate knitting with the yarn, but I really dislike this colourway. In a colourway like this I don’t think you can do much as far as pattern or texture to make it do anything more interesting or even in any way remotely attractive.

Maybe my mom will love them! Oh, wait. They actually came out a really funny shape, long and narrow, so that isn’t going to work either. Booooooo socks, boooooo.

Something else that happened before my vacation was a shipment from Knitpicks to stock up on more Cotlin for my Tacky Afghan. I also ordered some sock needle holders, a new set of sock blockers (modeling the hideous things above) and some City Tweed DK out of curiosity.

The sock blockers were a pleasant surprise as I was uncertain of the sizing. Turns out they are PERFECT for my size seven feet. I ordered a medium and am glad I did.

Compared to my old sock blockers, which are the beautiful wooden ones, they are not much to look at. However I am really glad they don’t leave splinters in the socks that later surprise me by stabbing deep into the sole of my feet. So, they are a definite win! My old blockers will make a great decoration for my craft room as I really do love how they look. Perhaps one day someone will marry form and function to create the perfect sock blocker.

As for the yarn? It’s pretty good. I ordered it because I have a fetish when it comes to Rowan Felted Tweed. I’m like a hamster in a corn field with the stuff, it’s so great. When this was originally released by Knitpicks quite some time ago a girl in my knitting group told me I should definitely try it out and I have been putting it off ever since.

So it’s nice looking. I like the colours. It certainly looks more pricey than the normal Knitpicks fare. I like the texture, the nub colour, and the softness. Let’s hope it knits up as well as the ball shows. Is it a replacement for my beloved Felted Tweed? Uhhh, no.

Not because it’s not very lovely, but more because it’s so different. Felted Tweed is fuzzy and dense yet light. City Tweed is distinctly plied and full of alpaca. It’s a lot smoother, and in looking at it I wouldn’t be surprised to see it knit up thicker than Felted Tweed either. I like it and think it will knit up well, but am happy to know that Felted Tweed still has a solid place in my stash (and heart).

Sorry for the absence! I just spent the week on a last minute vacation to Canada! I missed my homeland, and I definitely made good use of it. I had two days in Montreal, a day in Ottawa, and several days in Toronto. I’m now all the more excited to get back to the even more native land of British Columbia this summer.

I managed to squeeze in Poutine twice in the week. Yay!

Normal blog entries with actual content will commence shortly

I am a slobby cook. I clean up afer myself as I go, I don’t make splatters all over the counter, and I like to have my kitchen organized. So what makes me slobby? I wipe everything that gets on my hands all over my clothes. The solution - a really cute apron!

The pattern is from Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing. I found the fun fabric as a printed panel from Moda Fabrics. They had matching brown and cream florals, so I got some of those as well to add to the side panels and make the apron reversible.

Ideally the pattern would have some sort of bust shaping, but I realized that after I sewed it together. Because it’s reversible it would have been too much of a pain to undo and add some shaping, but it’s still pretty cute as it is.

Now I can cook away and not have to keep stopping to wash my hands - or my clothes!

Last weekend the boyfriend and I went to New York City to check out a boxing match. I’ve been to NYC several times, but have never done the touristy things like the Statue of Liberty. We thought we might as well check out the sites while we were there so we took the boat to Ellis Island and even went all the way up the Empire State Building. It was very enjoyable!

But of course, the best part of any ANY trip is always Habu Textiles. Yes, the boyfriend came. He just sat near the door and played on his phone. People coming in kept assuming he worked there, which I thought was hilarious. The little trooper! Of course, I did buy a few things for myself, including two lovely superfine merino cones in beige and brown, some laceweight bamboo, and this glorious silk:

Mmmmm. Pretty colours…

Habu has some exquisite items; while shopping online can give you your fix, it’s nothing like visiting their odd little studio in person. I feel like I always find better deals actually going into their shop. It’s definitely worth a visit the next time any of you are in NYC.

But like I said, we were there for the boxing.

And knitting! These socks were also knit on at a Red Sox game, but I didn’t manage to take a pic then. No matter now, they are complete and awaiting their photo session.

So what am I working on now that those socks are done? Well, I did start a new pair of socks but that isn’t the exciting project. The one that is really keeping my attention is a throw I am CROCHETING out of KNITPICKS COTTON using a LION BRAND PATTERN. Doesn’t that just sound like a recipe for disaster? Yet, somehow, when you combine those three magically tacky things into one, you get something that I think will be pretty.

My first set of crocheted circles, waiting to be joined to their cottony brethren (once they are all crocheted):

There are four different types of circles made of different patterns and sizes. I’m working it in three colours - beige shown above, “harbour” which is a dark teal, and “bison” which is a chocolate brown. I did neep a lap blanket so I am excited to get this one going. I can’t wait for the tackasterpiece (that’s Tacky Masterpiece) to be complete! For those who are dying to know what the awesome pattern is, it’s the Temair Throw (rav link).