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Restingmotion

A week has passed. Intended progress has not been made. Perhaps, my plans were a bit ambitious, although they did not seem at all so. I have not finished the gray sweater although I do intend to finish it before I leave for Knoxville. Little progress has been made on the striped cardigan because little time has been spent with it.

Yet I don't feel particularly frustrated by my lack of progress. There has been much singing of Christmas carols to myself, even as I worked on non-holiday inspired projects like sewing. Snow on the ground only serves to brighten my spirits more. The tree is up and lit, although not fully decorated yet this year. It has been put on the sun porch, which is not heated but is protected by sliding glass doors from the rest of the house. It is a safe place to leave a tree with a young cat in the house who feels it his mission to climb every mountain. Since we will be away Christmas week, it seems like the best coarse, and I am content to see the sparkling lights twinkling in multiple iterations as they are reflected between the windows and sliding doors, sparkling in the dark winter night.

Cookies have been baked and distributed and, if I have not been knittng, I have at least finally been assessing the state of the yarns stash which is piled up behind closed doors in the library, safe from young kitten claws. The process of sorting, indexing, and putting away has begun, and although I am somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of yarn in residence, I am also very much enamored of every skein, eager to start every project "right now" as I pick up the yarn and put it away. New projects are tempting, but the projects that are here waiting are calling to me strongly now; egging me on to finish the piles and mountains that are dragging me down.

I don't think the UFOs will be finished this year, aside from the grey cardigan. I have other priorities at the moment but that mountain of sewing and finishing as well as unravelling and remaking must begin soon after the new year begins. In the meantime, I hope to make progress with the yarn stash, organizing and putting away, and although I don't think I finish that either in a week, significant progress can be made.

December 13, 2009
Update: Elaine Striped Cardi

The Elaine Striped Cardigan is moving along nicely. I started the back last night and here it is shown with the two blocked front pieces. The sweater is not really wider than it is long. That's just me trying to get it all in the picture in a rush.

Maybe I'll even have it ready for Christmas, but I have several other sweaters waiting to be finished as well. I seem to better at starting things than I am at finishing them lately but I do intend to get a handle on that. My plan is to finish the gray cardigan this coming week and also finish the body of this sweater. I suppose I am pushing it to think I will also finish the sleeves and assemble the sweater before we leave for Tennessee on the 23rd. But I am considering the possibilities for a travel project as well, just in case.

I also installed the new stitch count app on my iTouch. I'm already using it and quite happy as I can keep count of total rows and also a counter for shaping.

December 6, 2009
Princes Shirt Drafts: Front

I promised a recap of what has been done and what still needs to be accomplished with the front of the princess shirt.

I mentioned in yesterday's post, about the back pieces that I added a little width at the side seam over the hips, but not as much as I added to the back side seam. No additional width was needed at the front princess seam over the tummy.

However, as previously mentioned, I did need to make an FBA.

I needed to add 3/4 " in length over the bust. And I needed a bit of width as well.

Since this is princess-seamed shirt, I lengthened the center front piece by the entire 3/4 inch. And I added almost 1/2 inch at the seam over the bustline, tapering to the shoulder and waist.

On the side front piece, I angled the lengthwise addition from 3/4" at the seam with the center front and tapered to nothing at the side seam. I also added more width to the side front (7/8") than I added to the center front pattern piece at the bust so that the seams would line up correctly. If I had divided the increase evenly the seam would have fallen too far outside the bust points and this would have been matronly looking and less flattering.

I also added a tiny bit, 1/4 " at the shoulder seam, adding it in the center where the two front pieces met.

I'm sorry the photos aren't as clear as they should be, a problem with documenting things after the fact, and the ruler hides the paper that was added to provide length, but I did want to show the difference in the increases at the seam line.

As for what is next, the front is pretty much set now except for that same twisting problem that I have in the back of the shirt.

I am going to cut the shirt in half along the black horizontal line and move the upper portion to the right about 3/4" and the lower portion to the left the same amount. Then I am going to true up the seam lines and recut the pattern.

If you recall, I moved the back in a corresponding fashion. The upper portion moved left, which balances the rightward move of the front, and the lower portion moved right, just as the lower front will move left.

I know in my head that this is correct. It corresponds perfectly to the twist in my torso caused by the scoliosis. Even after corrective surgery I am not completely straight. And I know that the s-shaped curve of my spine is such that the upper spine curved to my right and the lower spine curved to my left.

I haven't done it yet, Thursdays are always very busy, but I am just amazed by the simplicity of this approach. I hope it works out as well as I think it will, although I am in fact a little nervous about posting all this before I have actually done it and sewn it up to make sure it is right. But I have faith.

December 3, 2009
Winter Interweave

Three seems to be the magic number for sweaters in new knitting publications this past month. There are three sweaters I like in the Winter 2009 Interweave Knits, and just as in my last post, two are textured and one is colorwork.

I adore this jacket. I loved it when I saw the first picture. The second picture, of the back (below) sealed the deal. I'm not sure I want it in alpaca, but that is not really an issue. I want to start it now, tonight, yesterday even. But I seem to say that about every project I see and I do have projects in the queue that I definitely want to wear soon, projects that are higher in priority than this.

But still, it is really lovely isn't it?

I also like this lovely Braided Riding Jacket. I love the texture and the combination of patterns. I think it would be really fun to knit.

The pattern is written fro Tahki's Tweedy Alpaca yarn, but I think it would also work beautifully with some Tahki Donegal Tweed, some of which I have in my stash, and some of which is currently existing in the form of Rogue, which is getting a good bit too large and will probably be frogged and repurposed at the end of this winter if not before.

And I mentioned that there was one color-work sweater I liked as well. I was referring to Miss Michele's Jacket which is stranded color work at almost 9 stitches to the inch. Not a fast project, but oh so lovely.

There are a couple of other projects that I think are pretty, but they are not for me, and there is a hat I like as well. There seem to be a lot of hats I like floating around and one of these days I might decide to knit myself one, but I haven't reached that stage yet. There are a lot of higher priorities in my life.

December 2, 2009
Princess Shirt drafts: Back

Last week was a non-starter as far as sewing was concerned. Routines were interrupted and we no longer weather interruptions to the routines well.

But I finally took a look at the princess shirt muslin. I separated the back from the front and started looking at the changes to be made when I realized that never recorded, either here or in my little notebook the changes that had already been made. I do want to reproduce what I have learned and although I have the final version of the pattern, understanding how I got there is also beneficial.

Generally, my initial choices with cutting the pattern were not a bad start, and the changes to be made were minor. To re-iterate, I cut a size 16 at the neckline, a 12 at the shoulders and back armscye, and an 8 through the front upper chest and armsyce tapering back to a 12 at the shoulder and side seam. I did not do an FBA even though I knew I would need it, and I did not add extra fabric at the hips although I needed that as well.

Next for the changes I have made, and those I need to make, beginning with the back.

The initial changes that Kenneth King made to my first muslin were pretty simple.

The neckline was too low in the back, so I raised it 3/4" at the center, tapering to nothing at the armscye seam. I realize that all shirts, blouses, tees, and tops ride too low, and I guess I knew that in my head, just as I know that my neck is forward compared to the "ideal" but I never thought about adding the extra fabric. Previous fitting seminars have had me lengthen the shoulder seam from the base of the neckline, but not raise the entire upper back and shoulders. I think this may work better and be more accurate. In order to do this I had to change the center back line which was to be cut on the fold to a seamline, which of course now has a curve in it. We did flatten that curve somewhat as I didn't need quite as much curve as the 3/4" provided by I did need some to accommodate the forward neck. The upper part of the back seam acts as a kind of dart, shaping the back to the body.

I also made the side back piece wider at the lower armscye, increasing it about 3/8 of an inch. If you click on the photo above you can see the paper added below the pattern to increase the length to the neck, as well as the redrawn armscye seam. I am sorry that I did not take pictures of this as I went along, and these photos do not show great detail, but I think you get the idea. I also added about 1/2" at the hip where the side back meets the center back piece (although not in the center back seam) and 1 1/4 inch at the side seam on the back piece. I did not widen the front side seam by the same amount, only 1/2 inch at the hips on the front side seam. I needed the extra fabric in the rear, not the front.

Now before I move to the front piece I will show you what I need to do next to the back. I have not made these changes yet, they are still marked only on the muslin:

I've tried to explain these markings directly on the photo, and if you click on the picture it should enlarge enough for you to see the changes to be made.

First, I need to take 3/4" of length out at the center back tapering to the nothing at the sides. Wait. Didn't I just add 3/4"?

Ahh, but it is not in the same place. I needed 3/4" at the neckline, in the upper back, to have the neckline fall at the proper place. But I had excess fabric lower down, below the bra-line but above the waist. This is not surprising, as I have learned to take this amount out of the back of my sweaters, using a short-row dart technique to remove extra length from the center back without changing the side seams. So I am not actually adding length to the pattern, I am just repositioning its distribution.

Then the fun begins. Please click on the photo as I think it will be much more clear. My shirt twists on my torso. I am going to cut the back on the black line, cutting all the way across. Then I am going to move the upper piece to the left and the lower piece to the right by the amount marked by the two vertical lines with the arrows between them. After everything is lined up I am going to redraw and true up my seam lines creating 4 new back pattern pieces.

At the moment my pattern pieces are symmetrical and are cut double. I will need to trace off two more pattern pieces before I do this, as the final result will yield pattern pieces that are no longer symmetrical on paper, but they will look symmetrical on me.

Tomorrow I will show you the front pattern pieces.

December 2, 2009
Twist Collective: New Patterns

I've been very bad about paying attention to the various online sources for new knitting designs and I was unaware that the new collection of Twist Collective was up until I saw this gorgeous sweater that Linda posted on Stitcher's Guild. When I saw this I was in NYC and I just could not focus on my knitting projects, either actual (I had two with me) or virtual so I knew that I would need to spend some time with the new issue when I got home.

Needless to say I still love this pattern and it has made it to my shopping cart and onto my computer.

It was not the only pattern I purchased. I know, I know, my dream sweaters always knit up faster than my actual fingers can every dream of moving. But still.

I love this one, also, although truthfully I cannot tell you if I actually love the design without any consideration of the colors used by the designer. Obviously these are my colors, and I want this sweater just as it is; well I want it knitted for me. And I think I would like it just as much in different colors, but I might go out of my way to make just as illustrated.

Those are the only two sweaters that caught my fancy although there are some mittens as well. I am increasingly attracted to mittens but I haven't made the leap to actually knitting them yet so I am a little cautious about stockpiling a bunch of mitten patterns.

I love the cable and texture of Véronik Avery's mitten pattern and I am intrigued by the idea of double mittens. I wonder if they work to keep the hands warmer. They might. I have been known to double my mittens and gloves in the winter time as my hands are always cold and not much works. I've tried almost everything. I do know that thinsulate liners don't help keep the heat in if the hands are cold to begin with. The closest I have come to warm hands is by wearing two pairs of gloves or mittens, well with the exception of a pair of neoprene gloves I had once, now unfortunately worn out, as they were the only gloves that kept my hands warm.

So I am very intrigued by these doubled mittens that are meant to be worn together. They are certainly worth a try.

November 30, 2009
Home Again, Home Again

Marji reminded me how much I enjoyed being "Sew Distracted".

I always knew I would sew again. But I believed, erroneously, that I would not get "it" back. I'm not there yet but I may have been wrong. In many ways I was the backward member of this class, even though I once thought I could sew pretty well. Even then I never had confidence. Working on muslins and learning a lot about fitting me, and watching experienced people working on their projects was very inspiring and motivating. It was a perfect opportunity to begin getting myself back into some kind of sewing shape. Sometimes I felt panicky and doubted my abilities, sometimes however my doubts were proved wrong and I learned to trust my judgements. Sometimes I learned that I really need more practice, but I know I'll get there — perhaps not sewing as beautifully as Marji, who will always be leagues ahead of me, but I will get better.

Kenneth King made fitting and pattern alteration seem perfectly logical, whereas I used to think it was some kind of voodoo black magic. Susan gave me confidence to take my time and take control.

Anyway. This blog is back. And I have linked to the missing sewing posts to provide continuity.

More to come.

November 24, 2009
Lovely Stripes

Here is the first piece of the Elaine Striped Sweater. I finished it a few days before I went to New York for the sit and sew seminar. Unfortunately, despite having hauled the sweater with me to New York with grand plans for knitting in the evenings and making great progress, I only knitted one row.

It doesn't look like the knitting will continue tonight as it looks like blog maintenance is the plan for the evening. It seems that once again I have moved the blogs, changed the plan, and then decided that the original plan really was the best. I should have known better. I figured I would never get back to the sewing, that I would sew, but that I would abandon the reveries on the whole process. I misjudged myself. I was wrong.

So I have copied the the sewing posts back to the other blog to provide some sense of continuity, and I have finally cross posted the knitting posts from a year ago, the last time I changed blogs, so that I can index and find things that I wish to find.

Sew Distracted is up and running again and all the recent posts about sewing and the sit and sew seminar are available on both blogs. . If you are interested in sewing and not knitting, you will henceforth find me there. If you are interested in knitting please hang around. I've also finally imported the knitting posts from the previous attempt at blog-combing so that all my knitting projects are available in one place. As to other mumurs and musings, they will just end up wherever they end up.

And you know what? I'm happy to be sew distracted again.

November 24, 2009
Sunday night, Penn Station

I'm sitting in Penn Station waiting for the train to Boston. My head is still reeling from the fabulous time I have had over the last four days.

Of course there was the dinner, and the photo you've probably seen by now.

Then there was the entire muslin process which was entertaining and incredibly informative. I finished the pant muslin yesterday, and last night in the hotel room Marji and I continued sewing and I started altering my original shirt pattern so that I could produce a second shirt muslin today. It was a busy busy day as there were several fabulous lessons and demonstrations as well.

But I did get the shirt muslin finished. I will need a third, but I believe I understand what needs to be done, it is something related to what I had to do on the pants, moving the center fronts so that they don't twist and I look all straight and even. I am tremendously excited.

I have so much to thank Kenneth King and Susan Khalje for: I learned so much, their enthusiasm was infectious, and I cannot wait to keep sewing and learning and finally producing all the things that are floating around in my head.

November 22, 2009
The second pant muslin

Once again I am here in my hotel room in NYC with a big happy grin on my face and my poor tired feet propped up on the bed following another fabulous day.

I've just come in from a wonderful dinner that Marji arranged with a group of charming and very talented sewing bloggers. Marji has a great group photo so you really need to go over there and check it out. Of course Marji and I were both there as were Carolyn, Robin, Claudine, LindsayT, and NancyK.

T he sewing class has been also been very productive and a lot of fun. We were the first of the students to arrive in the classroom this morning and we got right to work. I finally threaded up a machine and started stitching up my second pants muslin, and Marji continued to work on her jacket. There were also brief lessons from both Susan Khalje and Kenneth King. Then I got my second fitting by Kenneth, which was very interesting.

On the first pant fitting Kenneth had only marked changes to the right leg, and on the second fitting there were more changes to the right leg as well as a few changes to the left, but not necessarily the same changes on the right and the left. A second fairly good size tuck was folded out of the right rear pant piece, and you can see the two folded pieces in the photo at right and again below. The second tuck folded another 1 1/2 inches out of the inner seam just below the crotch curve as you can see in this close up of the same area.

On the right front pattern piece, where a significant tuck had also been previously taken in on the first fitting, Kenneth had pinned out another small dart, this one shown with the red line formed by a tracing wheel . This little dart was translated into an equivalent move in the shaping of the front crotch curve and seam as shown in this picture.

The center back seam was also moved to the right at the waist. Shown in this picture is the corresponding left back piece which had to be extended the center back waist to accommodate the move, after which the darts were repositioned so they are balanced on either side of the new center back.

Very few changes were made to the left leg of the pants muslin. A large tuck was taken out of the back, similar to the one on the right, and a small tuck was taken out of the front, but not nearly as significant as the corresponding tucks on the right. The hip curve on the left was pretty much left alone, unlike the one on the right, where the front hip was pretty much redrawn as a straight line down from the waist (the straight black line in this photo).

T hen the curve of the corresponding back piece was extended at the hip making a much more pronounced hip curve on the back piece, which you can see in this last picture. Of course the point is not how the final pattern pieces look, but that the final garment looks straight and balanced and symmetrical on me when I am wearing it and we seem to be making good progress in that direction.

Tomorrow, pant muslin number 3. I hadn't anticiapted that the pants would take so long. Do I mind? No. Getting a great muslin is worth the effort. Once that has been accomplished, the pants are easy.

Perhaps with luck I will even get started on that second blouse muslin.

November 21, 2009