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Restingmotion

  • Pinks

    My fabric order from Thai Silks arrived, including the proposed fabric for the contrast fronts on the spring coat.  Of course since, I was placing an order for one piece of fabric, it seemed such a shame not to order more, so three pieces actually wended their way cross country to my house:

    Springcoatfabric

    The pink piece on the far left is for the coat.  The rose fabric in the middle will either be a dress or skirt and blouse, and the plaid dupioni is intended to be a spring/summer dress.

    After reading all the discussions on SewingWorld and Stitcher’s Guild about sewing with silk thread, I decided that this would be the perfect test project.  I had previously ordered a sample booklet for Tire silk threads and I ordered threads for this project.  I ordered silk topstitching thread as well, to give it a try.

    Then, I went to S&S to pick up some more Mettler thread, my normal sewing thread, because there were a couple of colors I needed for the stuffed creatures.  While I was there they were very happy to show me the new embroidery threads they were carrying, including this lovely top-stitching thread:

    Springcoatfabricthread

    I was, of course, tempted.  So now I will have to play with topstitching and see which one I like best.    Well, actually, I have to test the pattern first…

  • Introducing Pointy Kitty

    Hello Kitty!

    Pointykitty1final1

    The first Pointy Kitty is done!

    Pattern:  Pointy Kitty from Wee Wonderfuls  by Hillary Lang
    Fabric:  Kaffe Fassett’s Cool Dahlia Blooms cotton, purchased from Glorious Color Shop

    In my mental peregrinations about this kitty, I never imagined it with the felt appliques at the back and top of head.  But as I was making this I had second thoughts and put them on in a deep red felt to coordinate with the red parts of the dahlias.  After sewing the piece on the head, I decided it distracted from Kitty’s charm so it was removed.

    Since I am planning on giving this to a new baby in September (which means I get to keep it for over three months) I decided that button eyes were risky and used felt.

    I really enjoyed sewing this kitty, which surprised me somewhat.  I have never been fond of home dec sewing or quilting, perhaps it is all the square shapes and straight lines, but putting kitty together was fun and interesting.  With tiny 1/4 inch seams and interesting curves and bits it was a fun sew.

    I did not find it difficult to turn, despite the warnings, but perhaps all my practice sewing garments has given me ample opportunity to practice turning small narrow objects.  Stuffing was more of a challenge for me, it takes a little skill to get the batting in so that kitty’s limbs are evenly filled out without creating a misshapen creature. 

    I will enjoy making a few more and will certainly hold on to the pattern as it will make a cute gift that I am sure will prove popular.  Since the entire figure takes only a 1/4 yard of fabric or so, it is also economical and encourages one to save bits of fabric.

    Here are more pics:
    Pointykitty1final3

    and a back view:

    Pointykitty1final4

  • Presenting spring…knitting

    The sun finally emerged today although it remained unsettlingly cold.  The Azaleas took the newfound light as a promise of warmth and finally opened from what had begun to seem like a permanent budding state:

    Yaku_princess_azalea

    And I have managed to create a swatch for my next project although I have made no progress sewing up the two waiting in the wings.

    I offer a photo simply because I thought the swatch was so pretty sitting in the sun:

    Albany

    The yarn is Jaeger’s Albany cotton ribbon in shade # 262.  It is destined to be this sweater  from Jaeger brochure JB11.

  • Carolyn accused me of being a tease, and she is right, I am a tease, but I have been teasing myself as well, with all these lovely fabrics stacked up, waiting to be cut and me running around like a loon all week.  It is as if the promise of sewing is taunting me, but I can’t quite grab hold of the time to delve in.

    I hadn’t really expected much sewing time on the weekend.  It was G’s birthday and we spread the celebration out over a couple of days.  Our favorite local restaurant, Café Tamayo opened on Thursday after six months of renovation and we were there on Friday night for an absolutely fabulous dinner including our favorite duck confit and a wonderful bottle of Cotes du Rhone.

    Saturday afternoon we attended a benefit concert for a local chamber music group.  The concert and reception were held in a home up in Rhinebeck, the next town north of us, and it was absolutely lovely.  The American String Quartet played a concert of Shostakovich, quartet #11, and Haydn (I should remember which one but I don’t, you can tell where my loyalties lie).  The living room was L-shaped and the quartet played at the base of the L.  We ended up sitting in the narrower, shorter, foot of the L, just behind the cellist, which was marvelous.  It felt like we were in the middle of the music, and I, for one, was absolutely thrilled to be sitting right behind the cellist’s left shoulder and able to read his music as he played.  Heaven. 

    Sunday has become a food oriented day since the local farmer’s market opened on Mother’s Day.  I stop at the farmer’s market first to select the produce around which I plan the week’s menus. We get a special order of yogurt from Old Chatham Sheepherding Company every week and it comes in Saturday morning usually.  Now instead of picking it up on Saturday I just do all the menu planning and as much shopping as possible on Sunday. The whole process takes a good bit of time, but it is such a pleasure, spreading the days "catch" out on the kitchen Island and planning the week’s culinary adventures.

    It is still early for most produce here in the Northeast and the farmer’s market is heavy on greens, including these lovely mustard greens that we picked up this Sunday:

    Mustard

    We had them sauteed with black olives and blood orange juice as a side dish to lovely fried soft-shell crabs.  I think I finally mastered a nice gluten-free breading by combining rice flour and peanuts with crushed red pepper in a blender and grinding it all to a fine powder.  It crisps up nicely on the crabs.  Mmmmm good!

    And yes, there was finally a little sewing last night, although not garment sewing.  I have had softies and stuffed animals of various kinds on the brain and so I am indulging in a little sewing play.

    I took this fabric (the one in the center)

    Pointykitty11fabric

    to use as my first softie, the Pointy Kitty from Wee Wonderfuls .  This is actually a test run for the softie I need to make for Back-Tack .  I was originally determined to make Pointy Kitty but now I am considering Wee Bunny as well, as I think my fabric choice might make a better bunny.  The final back-tack softie will be made with the black and white fabrics shown in the post from May 18th.

    At any rate, I was beginning to have doubts about my choice of fabrics.  I am not sure my ideas for brightly colored creatures are all that sound.  But the kitty looks cute all cut out:

    Pointykitty_002

    It is possible that it will be too bright and garish, something more frightening than charming, a softie that only its mother could love.  We’ll see.

    I have started sewing but am low on thread in appropriate colors so I must run out to S&S today as well as to JoAnn for felt.  I went to the JoAnn in Kingston last week but the felt supply there was very limited.  Poughkeepsie will have more options.

    Meanwhile, Monday morning has been busy.  Two trees blew down across the driveway and two solar panels blew off the roof (for the pool heater).  They were, of course, the two the mason had to loosen to move out of the way while he rebuilds the chimneys.   The masonry work has held however and there are no leaks in the house. There was little other damage from the winds last night, with the exception of the irises, which are lying on the grass like a line of slain soldiers, a sad reminder that nature will always have her way.

  • The Yarn has spoken

    Nearly a week after finishing the knitting portion, the last sleeve of Rogue is on the blocking board:

    Rogue5

    And the "smile" scarf, made from, you guessed it,  Reynolds Smile is also done:

    Smile

    G  thinks I should knit another, with two skeins for myself, and I still think it would make a lovely coat, but this scarf has satisfied my knitting craving with this yarn.  I think too much of a good thing is not wise and I am quite satisfied with the results. Of course this is no guarantee that some of this yarn will not end up in my basket someday.  It is always dangerous to make proclamations about what one will and will not knit.   A pile of smile might yet leap up and attack me, determined to be my next fall coat.

    As for the lovely violet Zephyr yarn, it has spoken and informed me that it wants to be a shawl.  Now, I know that those of you who are wiser than I may smile to yourselves right now and think that you knew all along that it was destined to be a shawl.  But I am not always so wise.  I still think it would make a lovely sweater.  The swatching effort yielded a most satisfactory result at 10 stitches/inch, much too small of a guage to yield a sweater with a mere 1200 yards.  This is also much too fussy for my currently adlepated state of mind.  Besides this fabric is so light and drapey that one would not want the garment to be too snug and close-fitting; the results would be much to suggestive of undergarments.  You would need some drape to experience the full beauty of the fabric.  I can imagine it in some Zoran inspired garment, or in a basic top inspired by the light as air and luxurious sweaters knitted for Hermes.  Of course, those are machine knits, but there is no reason I cannot aspire to similar luxury in a hand knit.  Nonetheless, such dreams will not be met with the yarn at hand and other alternatives beckon.

    Now I just have to find the right shawl pattern.

  • Colorful Stitching

    I’ve been pulling out piles of fabric from the cotton stash for a few upcoming projects:

    Softies

    These are all for sewing related to the arrival of impending grandchild.  I have had fun looking at bright cheerful prints and these all make me quite happy.   

    Since this photo was taken the fabrics have all been washed and pressed and are now waiting for a happy woman with scissors to have at them.

    More to come.

  • Just a peek

    Just a peek at what is in the works for back-tack:

    Backtack2

  • Addiction

    I will admit it.  I am addicted to sugar and to Diet Coke.

    I stopped drinking diet soda, in fact almost all soda, a year ago, in April or May 2005.  I thought the diet stuff was upsetting my tummy and I can’t stand the sweetness of the non-diet stuff.  Corn syrup is a terrible thing in a beverage, it makes it almost unpalatable.  All you taste is sweet.

    I drank lots of water.  Still I missed the fizz and the sweet, and that steady little stream of caffeine.

    The past week or so I have been stressed.  I have had tremendous cravings for a diet coke.  Yesterday I gave in and my fate was sealed.  Life is too short not to indulge a few minor vices.

    I came home, bottle of contraband in hand.  I put ice in a glass, poured the soda, put the bottle in the refrigerator, sat down and had a sip, then another, then another.  Before I knew it the glass was empty.  A huge sigh escaped my lips.  I could feel myself beginning to relax, the tension slipping away with a million tiny little bubbles and sweet chaser.  I know it must all be in my head; I am not sure that diet soda is truly addictive, but I felt more myself.  I felt light and sparkly, bright and cheerful.  I felt like a burden had just fizzled away in a carbonated haze.

    After half an hour I picked up some knitting again.  Nothing special.  Nothing requiring thought.  A ball of yarn meant to be a scarf previously knitted and unknitted.  Simple garter stitch.  Bright yarn running through the fingers.  Happiness.

    Stripescarf

    I like the colors of the yarn.  I like the way it looks in garter stitch.  I think it would be a lovely jacket, but it would have to be pieced in strips because I like the way the color changes form wide stripes on the scarf-width; they would be too narrow as a jacket front, much more so even if I knit it in the round.  No matter.  I don’t know the name of the yarn.  I have no idea how to get more.  If I see it, the jacket is planned in my mind.  If I don’t it will hover in the mist like all dreams, providing endless entertainment.

    The diet soda will remain in my life.  I know a good thing when I see it (or drink it).

  • Sodden

    Note, this post was actually written yesterday (Wednesday), but due to telephone and internet problems it could not be posted.  In fact, both the telephone and cable lines were underwater as the protective shielding had cracked and filled with water, requiring the lines to be replaced from street to house. It was actually interesting to see how much water can come pouring out of 275 feet of shielded cable.

    It seems that the world has been inexorably changed, soaked, sodden, from the recent rains.  Or at least it seems that inundation has been the frame of reference which shapes my world of late.

    Work has been overwhelming, crazy even, with impossible demands on all fronts, grumpy patients, impatient clients and general stress and frustration all around.  I generally consider myself lucky that my job allows me pretty much to work on my own schedule, and mostly from home, this week excepted.  Internet service has been erratic at best and totally down most of the time.  Phone service is barely functioning.  Lines drops unexpectedly.  When I am connected, static is the order of the day and everyone sounds like they are talking under water.  Perhaps the phones are flooded…who knows.  Dealing with demanding clients while struggling with a virtually non-existent phone system does not make for a happy office manager. 

    At least cell service seems unaffected.  Good thing that.  After years of getting no, or very little wireless signal at our house, only reliably in the yellow bathroom, or the South east corner of the driveway, we have had consistent wireless connections for about two months now, on any phone, whereas before, only my ancient Star-Tac, the one that dates prior to new shielding requirements and fancy new features, could reliably pick up a signal, and even that was variable.  Every phone company in the area told me no phone would get a signal if that one couldn’t so until recently there was no reason to replace it.

    The construction front has been similarly plagued by chaos.  Weather stoppages, missing information, mis-communication, more changes to the plans, contractors that want to work even though the plans aren’t done and we are still waiting for approval from the building inspector. Everyone has an opinion and it is at odds with everyone else’s opinion.  Past surveys are inadequate.  Headaches abound.

    Needless to say knitting has been stalled as well.  I did finish the last sleeve of Rogue, but nothing has been sewn together yet.  I am not one of those people who can sew sweaters while chatting at knitting group or watching TV.  I need a quiet place where I can pay attention to my work.  There has been no such place or time of late.  Even when the world seems quiet my mind is agitated.  Assembly issues must wait.

    The thought of starting another project has been overwhelming, not because I don’t want to knit but more because I don’t want to swatch and calculate.  Nothing can be started without adequate preparation or heartache will ensue.  I have enough of projects that go wrong for now.  In fact I have had enough of calculations and math and anything that seems remotely like work.  Instead I lose myself in fiction whenever the chance for a momentary reprieve finds me: Julian Barnes, Elizabeth George, and Iain Pears have provided my escapes and helped me to maintain my sanity. 

    Hopefully, calm will follow.

  • Lilacs, Mother’s Day and Dreams of Sewing

    I have mostly been sewing in my head, planning out future projects, fiddling about with this and that in the sewing room.  Otherwise too much going on here.

    Miriam sent a lovely small bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day and the heady perfume of lilacs greets me whenever I manage to escape to my special room:

    May15_002

    The coat fabric is still on the end of the cutting table, next to the flowers, and a ball of yarn for a scarf for next year’s donation box to Morse School.  The baby sweater still awaits being sewn together.  So much for gran plans.

    Still, the flowers make me happy.  I never minded becoming a step-mom, I figured all along the kids came with the territory and never resented that.  I never expected however that I would come to love these people, adults now really, but still more child than adult when they came into my life, so fiercely.  Not having children of my own, I feel lucky to have these step-children, and I think how luckily I am to have them to love.

    The pattern for the Balenciaga coat arrived:

    May15_004

    The pattern is pretty intriguing and I think it would be nice in
    several different fabrications.  I do not think it is what I want for
    the multicolor organza coat however, not that I was counting on this
    pattern anyway.  I need to make a muslin, and I am still undecided
    about the contrast fabric, but it will all sort itself out.

    More sewing this week:  actual rather than virtual.