Dress Re-Fashion

Over the past couple of summers, I documented here my attempts at learning how to solve my fitting issues.  I thought I had it figured out last summer and was looking forward to making more clothes this year.....and then I went and lost weight!  Many of the dresses were princess seams and just don't alter easily in the bust.  I haven't had much time for sewing this year, but I did have a couple dresses I bought to be refashioned.  Even though I had two in pieces already, I grabbed a third to work on, thinking it would be an easy change up.  Some of it was, some, not so much.

 These two pictures are the before pictures, from last summer.   I don't have the collar done up in that picture, sorry.  Really, except for the neckline and the sleeves, it doesn't look a whole lot different.  Since the dress pretty much fit me last summer (the upper bodice was a bit too long), taking it in to fit the new me doesn't make the new pictures look radically different, LOL.

First I took off the neck and opened the shoulder seams.  I did that because I thought I might not need to take the back and the front in different amounts---last year I seemed to need to adjust my shoulder seam location a lot.  Turns out I could take it in evenly, and it was mostly the outer part of the shoulder--but since I was narrowing the shoulders and moving the armhole inwards, the bodice length adjustment wasn't really needed.

I altered the side seams and princess seams next.  The button band was straining just a smidge, so I let the princess seams out just a touch on both sides (1/8 of an inch on each side of two princess seams adds up to an additional 1/2" across the bust, and I was able to leave the serging on the edge--it had been serged with a 4 thread, so I did my new seam along the right thread and clipped out the left thread). 

The neckline was the next thing that needed changing.  I wasn't sure what I was doing, so I started by re-topstitching the collar stand.  However, that left a button at the top, on the stand, and below it, a peek a boo hole.  A little too fussy for me.  I tried leaving it open, but it looked messy.  Eventually, I ripped out the stitching, folded it in and topstitched the facing and front to make a V neck.  I couldn't figure out how to work the stand in though.  So I took it off and used it sort of like bias binding around the back of the neck where there was no facing to use.  Much better.

Okay, I know I look miserable here, but I wasn't, honest.  Next I had to tackle the sleeves.  I had to re-open the top of the side seams a little since I thought sewing the sleeves in flat would work easiest.  I didn't know what to do with the newly created extra ease at the top of the sleeve head.  I stitched the sleeve in, matching the armhole up to where the notches would be on a commercial pattern.  Then I gathered the top.  That was 1980s icky.  I took out the gathered section and made an inverted pleat.  It's okay, but too pouffy.  I need the width at the hem of the sleeve, but not at the top.  I might just make a seam up the middle. 

On to the back.  I wanted to keep the details, but the elastic under the doubled ....loops needed replacing to pull the back in more.  I didn't want to remove the four buttons and the loops to take in the back seams, but I do think that would have really improved the back fit.

I kept the length and slits.  I like how I look all school teacherish when I'm standing still and then shazam!  Some leg pops out.  It's not quite a floor duster maxi (which I don't like anyway), but still long.  Maybe next summer I'll hem it shorter.

It's not my most favourite dress, but it fits.  That's the priority right now when it's been super hot and most of my shorts don't fit either!  Sorry I don't have any more pictures, but I wore it to "Movie in the Park" and that's not somewhere I really want to take pictures at, LOL.  Next time I wear it I'll get more pictures :)

Squared Again

Yup, it's another square crocheted blanket.  Again, in the Giselle yarn from Sears.  This one had two different dye lots, but I don't think you can tell.  Not much to say about these now, LOL.  Used a 10mm hook for the whole thing.  Machine washed it, even though the label says handwash.  However, there was a lot of shedding!

  It's a lot darker than this picture shows, rich shades of pinks.

Yarn In:  13 966gr
Yarn Out:  259gr + 12 008= 12 267gr
Balance:  1699 gr more In than Out
Costs:  $306.30/213 days = $1.44/day

Another Water Bottle Holder

I thought I'd give making another water bottle holder a try, again to be reversible, and this time to use some aluminum backed foam sheeting I got at JYSK (a cheap, smaller version of IKEA).  The aluminum mat is showed as a sleep pad, it's like what's inside lunch boxes.  The pattern called for batting, which I hadn't used in the first few, and I thought I could use it instead.  I wasn't sure about sewing through it, but the pattern doesn't have you sew through the batting on the side seam anyway.  It's thin, but I didn't want the bulk.

I used some left over scraps from a dress I made a few years ago when I was learning how to do the FBA.  The dark turquoise is from a pair of girls' pants that came from a friend of my MIL.  It's not actually as dark as in the picture; it's quite bright.  I used the pant hem around the top and didn't want to stitch through it  when joining the print, so that's why there's a border.  I had to do a seam in the strap, but oh well.  I keep having this issue where I cut the strap the full width, instead of cutting two straps, each 1/2 the width.

In the end, I couldn't get my aluminum backed foam in between the layers.  I didn't think about needing more ease to allow for that.  Then, I used the foam to wrap hot dogs in Lucy's camp lunch and she says they weren't warm at lunch time.  So, I don't hold much  hope for it.  And anyway, the aluminum is on one side only; once reversed, then the foil is on the other side (hidden between the layers).  One way it would be reflecting the outside heat, the other way it would be reflecting the bottle's temperature.  Would that matter?  I also like how these holders are squishable for packing.  With the foam in them they wouldn't be quite so squishy.

I really like this holder, though I do think the wool ones keep the water  colder!

Bill King Bolero #2

Finally, I'm giving up on getting a good picture of my Bill King Bolero that I made for myself.  I'm not sure what the issue is!  The first pictures I took were over a light beige dress.  I thought it looked good, until I looked at the pictures.  Too much contrast (though it showed the design details).  Then I tried over a brown top.  Hid the stains on the t-shirt well, but not very good for getting photos of.

I used two strands...one of the Forsell 2ply that I got at the Peterborough seminar I went to in early May, and one strand of probably the oldest cone I have in my stash (well, the one that I've had the longest), of a 1ply boucle.  The boucle is a cool dark brown, and the Forsell is a warm brown which really fuzzed up when washed.  I think I got gauge with this combo.

 I started the sleeves with 20 groups of 3, I think, but the sleeves are still quite floppy and loose.  That's why when I did the next one--the white one I gave to my niece--I started with even fewer.

 Yes, that's my man hiding behind the cardi.

I knew I had taken a close up of the original swatch, to show how the colours blended and the texture, but I can't find it.  The sun washed this photo out too much.  The cardi is quite warm, despite weighing nothing, due to the 2ply wool.

I'm not getting any more machine knitting done, since the machines are in the basement and the kids haven't been down there in the past couple weeks.  I have been doing some sewing--refashioning some dresses I bought last summer.  And another crochet square baby blanket, and a pair of handknit socks are on the needles.  I really need to plow through both my fabric and my yarn stash!

Yarn In:  13 966gr
Yarn Out:  11 821+ 187gr = 12 008gr
Balance:  1958 gr more In than Out
Costs:  $306.30/209 days = $1.46/day

"True Tracy Design"

First off, is anyone having trouble coming to my blog?  I added a thingy for the MKing web ring, and sometimes when I click on my blog, it's coming up with the webring page instead.  Let me know.

I decided I wanted a water bottle holder.  I'm tired of carrying my big purse just so I can jam my bottle in.  I'm tired of carrying the other kids' bottles.  I'm tired of not having my water because I had no way to carry it easily.  I saw on www.resweater.blogspot.com that she had made a water bottle cozy from a sweater sleeve.  I had somewhat forgotten this when I embarked on my design, but I did use a sleeve.  The sweater had a weird folded back cuff that I had to deal with.  I just used my limited design skills to design a cylinder with a folded down, to the outside, casing for a strap.  I cut a strip off the bottom of the sweater because it had a nice design, folded it over, and also added two additional plain sections that I thought I needed for length, and I thought they'd be hidden in the casing.  Then I made a second one, using the other sleeve.

Well.  Issues galore.  I worried about the strap stretching, and it did.  Big time.  It also pulled up over the bottle, and just looked bad.  You can see that I had just knotted the straps because I wasn't sure about length, stretching, and if maybe sometimes we'd want to tie them to something, or if someone of a different size was using it.
I went back to the Resweater blog and looked at her's.  Well, she didn't have a strap.  Meg then asked for her own, but didn't like any of the sweaters available.  I knew I had to do some googling.  I found a tutorial for a reversible holder.  That would work with sweaters, although I started with sweatshirt material and hot pink fleece for Meg's.
Things started out great.  Then I went to sew the circle on the bottom.  On mine, I had kept the sleeve seam, so I just had to sew the circle on.  I just traced around the bottom of the bottle to figure out the size.  This tutorial has you do (easy) math to make the circle, which worked well.  But then you sew the circle to the flat rectangle before the side seam.  It doesn't really explain how to do this well.  You have to leave 1/4" flap at each end, of the rectangle.  Yeah, not the easiest thing to line up.  As I was almost done sewing on the circle, I had a thought...did I sew it to the right edge of the rectangle--one side was 9", one was 9 3/4", and which was which?  Luckily I had sewn it to the right end!  I made a mental note to always check that.  Then it came time for the straps.  I was skipping the steps with the batting, so I got a little confused...I really don't think the tutorial is written well.  I had this white webbing from a "SSC" (soft structured baby carrier) I was going to sew.  Perfect for this project.  But the tutorial doesn't say how long to make the strap!

 I wasn't sure how it would be reversible, but it worked!  So, I set about trying to re-work the sweater ones  I made.  This was a bit more challenging, since I didn't want to/couldn't undo the sleeve seam.  I also snipped a small hole in the sleeve on the left, so I did a little applique from a piece of the sleevehead--I wouldn't be able to use that part of the sleeve for other projects since it's a set in sleeve.  And, when I was trying to figure out the size of the inner piece, I snipped it, instead of getting a marker, and it turned out to be in the wrong spot.  Just a little snip, once I had it all together, I put some Fray Check on it.

For the bottle on the left, I used a polyester top that I had sewn and never liked so I hadn't really finished it.  For the strap, I cut the neck ties off the shirt, and top stitched them on the original wool strap (shortened).  For the middle bottle, I used some blue/beige seersucker from the stash.  For the strap, I made a tube and thread the original wool strap into it (thereby obscuring the details that were on the original).  These two are not reversible...well they are, but they won't fit onto my water bottle if I reverse them.  It was hard to get the sizing right.  If I were doing this again, I'd slice open the sweater sleeve to ensure the two body pieces are the same size.  These carriers are much better than my original carriers, and I envision more to come.

The reason for the title....often when I make things, plan things, do things, I don't start with the easiest way.  I dive in.  Rob (my husband) often says "....in true Tracy design....." (or "fashion" or "style") when I'm doing something like this, in a way different than how he'd do it with his engineer brain.  Yet, even he acknowledges that it turns out in the end.  I'm thinking of this as my new "business" name  :)

Bill King Bolero #3

I'm going to show you the third Bill King Bolero that I made, before showing the second.  I haven't been able to get good photos of the second one yet :(  A while ago, I found two matching pillowcases at Value Village.  I knew one would make a nice pillowcase dress for Meg, and I knew Lucy would not want one to match, LOL.  But they have a cousin in the US who is about 7 months younger than Meg, and nearly as big as her.  Perfect!  They could be matchy, but they don't have to worry about showing up at the same time in the same outfit!  To go with it, a little girl needs a lightweight little white cardi!
This is the same (annoying) yarn that I made the "Kill Me Shawl" in.  I know every time I use it, I say I'm never using it again, but it is a HUGE cone.  I did do a swatch, not so much to accurately match gauge, but just to get an idea, LOL, and to see how it behaved.  Well, it biased.  I decided to throw caution to the wind anyway.  All I knew was that it would turn out smaller.  Not sure how much smaller....

 I had Lucy try on the Bolero to see how big it was, and she really liked it, and wants one for herself.  The cone is huge, so no problem (except for how much I hate the yarn).  Then, a few hours later, she asks if she can have it in any colour...

 Sewing this together was horrible.  The slubs in the yarn made using it impossible.  I had a white sock yarn, but it looked horrible next to the sweater.  I ended up using serger thread, doubled.  A tip for using thread to sew---double the thread, and tie a knot about 6" from the end.  Go into the first stitch, and take the needle back between the strands and pull tight so it pulls up to the knot...sorry, no picture...but then there's a 6" tail from the knot to the end to get woven in.  For the first seam, I had done the knot near the end, and I started the seam, and of course the knot pulled through...and then I had a little tiny tail that couldn't be woven in.
One thing I did to alter it was to start with 16 groups of stitches, knit 10 rows, then increase on the left side (the seam side) every other row until up to the 24 groups of sts, then knit 10 rows to get to the 70 rows.  On the last section, remember to knit 10 rows, then decrease on every other row, and end with 10 rows.

 I added some rick rack I found in my sewing desk, along the bottom and along the hem stitching line.  I had hoped to do more with the trim, but the satin ribbon I used for the straps....took up nearly the entire roll (for the two dresses).  I had some really narrow satin ribbon in the same colour, but I couldn't figure how I would sew it on.  For the rick rack, I did it the slow way...following the path of the zigs and zags, stopping at every point and raising the presser food and pivoting...took awhile, but I hope it stays looking nice!

 I didn't want to make the pillowcase dress that uses bias binding on the armholes and elastic on the neckline.  Something about them didn't sit right with me.  Plus, I would have had to go back to get bias binding.  However, I am having trouble when trying the shoulder straps.  I stitched the ribbon down at the center points of the front and back casings, so it won't pull out, but it makes it tricky to get both sides the same.

 I hope the bottom hem hangs straight in the back.  On the one I made for me, it dips upwards at the seam.

 Meg wore her dress to Grandma's today, and it got rave reviews.  I hope her cousin loves hers too!

Yarn In:  13 966gr
Yarn Out:  11 684gr+ 137gr =  11 821gr
Balance:  2145 gr more In than Out
Costs:  $306.30/196 days = $1.56/day

Squared

Yes, another square crocheted baby blanket to donate.  I wrote back in the winter about getting bags of yarn and fabric from my mother in law's friend.  I used quite a bit when I made hats/scarves to donate.  There was quite a bit of a bulky acrylic (70%)-mohair (15%)-wool (15%) from Sears, in different colours.  The yarn is called Giselle and was made in Canada, probably by Patons.  It actually feels pretty good and the colours are nice, but a fuzzy, bulky yarn in pastel colours is not high on my list of desired yarn for garments.  I do have a pattern for a cute vest, which I think the girls would like, but I doubt they'd actually wear it.

 Anyway, it was a perfect choice for more of these crocheted square blankets.

This one is pale green, blue, and white.  I started with a 9mm hook but switched to a 10mm hook near the end.  I still have more of this yarn, I just stopped because it seemed big enough.

Yarn In:  13 966gr
Yarn Out:  11 361+ 323gr = 11 684gr
Balance:  2282 gr more In than Out
Cost:  $306.30/191 days = $1.60/day

Some Ideas

I've been musing about the Bill King Bolero; about the issue with large armholes, but width and length are closely connected.  Most women don't like to wear square shaped tops, it's rarely flattering.  This isn't quite square, but close.  It could use a little length.  But adding length meant adding width.  And sometimes, we want more width but not more length.  How to do these adjustments?

I mentioned yesterday about doing a straight section to get more body length.  What I'm finding when looking at pictures of this being worn, is that the armhole is really long, especially on larger busted women.  But how to get extra width without extra length?  And how to get the width where we need it?  In another version of the bolero that I haven't posted yet, I did start the arm with fewer stitches and increased during the 70 rows, and that helps the arms.  But the armhole....

Then I couldn't sleep last night and started thinking.  The pattern calls for 4 rows for each group of needles.  The first version (which didn't live, since I had half the amount of yarn needed), I tried the suggestion of 6 rows, since Cheryl is a bit taller than me.  I felt the holes were a little large.  But what if you start out that first turn, doing two rows for each group, and when you get about 2/3 way across, switch to 4 rows.  THen, maybe for the last few groups, do 6 rows, but wrap the first two, so the hole is the same as the 4 row one.  This will mean there's fewer rows over near the armhole, and more rows going over the fuller part of the bust.  For the 2nd and 3rd turns, you can keep it at 4 rows.  Then, for the upper back, decide if you need more for the upper back too--some women have some padding on the upper back (often related to thyroid issues).  If you stick with the 4 rows, you might have to ease that shoulder seam...I'd have to take another look at mine.

I haven't swatched this yet; the kids are having a "spa day" and I'm quickly typing this while Meg has a mask on her face, LOL. I just wanted to get my idea out there and documented :)

Bill King Bolero

Ever had one of those weeks where you save money on something, and you're so happy, but then turn around and pay more than you should on something else?  It's been that sort of week.  Oh well.  I was at Michaels, and they had a new lot of that Starbella yarn so I picked up one ball in the turquoise colours so I could make that shawl I showed awhile ago.  How that affects my totals is at the bottom.

I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a "trend" knitter.  I've never knit a Clapotis, a Wingspan, a Koolhaus, or even a garter stitch dishcloth.  Early this spring, some knitters in a yahoo group were talking about a machine knit pattern and a picture was posted.  The pattern is "Bolero" by Bill King, and was in MKM Dec 2011 (MKM stands for Machine Knitting Monthly).  I decided to order the issue. 

NOTE--That issue sold out!  It was reprinted in April 2014 because there was such a demand!

There was lots of talk about the pattern, how to do it, how to adjust it, etc.  I was a little miffed that some of the basic info wasn't in the pattern.  There wasn't a good shot of the actual item.  The sizing?  "One size fits more, but can adjust with tension" etc.  There wasn't even a schematic.  The pattern called for 3ply yarn, but the other knitters had used 4ply.  Well, I'm not too familiar with 3 vs 4 ply yarns, although I do have some cones to compare.  I kept hesitating on starting--there was always something else more urgent.

Back on June 10 I held a big birthday party for my older brother.  It was so great to have nearly everyone together.  My just-turned-14 year old niece made herself right at home, leaving her clothes laying around after being in the hot tub.  My younger brother's girlfriend started chiding her and taking the clothes and putting them on.  She really liked a grey shrug that our niece had been wearing.  Bigger than a shrug, but not a cardi.  She asked me; jokingly but in a serious tone, if I could make her one, but "oh, I wouldn't need to since she had found this nice one just laying on the chair"...

 Of course, it took me about two days to realize that I HAD to knit her something.  In grey.  A little cardi for in her air conditioned office.  I thought instantly of this pattern, and dug in my yarn.  I found a darling charcoal grey alpaca that looked like it would fit the gauge.  I didn't swatch.  Yes, Diana, this was also before that striped top in the Panama :)  I thought I might do 6 rows between each group of short rows, as per a suggestion in the pattern, and got to work.  My first ball ran out before I had completed the first wedge.  I had 4 balls.  I thought, okay, I'll go back to the 4 rows, that should mean one ball per wedge (more on "wedge" later) would be enough.  It took me until laying in bed that night to realize that 4 wedges is only HALF the sweater.  You make it in two halves and seam it up the back (and under arms).
So, back to the basement.  I dug around, I searched the 'net.  I looked at other patterns and had nearly convinced myself to make one on the LK150 that was rated intermediate/advanced, but I'd have to order yarn, and had almost picked out some from knitpicks.....then I shook my head, reminded myself that this was an unsolicited, non-occasion, gift from me because I happen to be able to do things like this :)  I had this cone of the grey yarn, used it for the Eileen Montgomery shawl in my scarf project.  I wondered how many ends of it (2/24) would I need to equal 3 ply. 

 Well, wouldn't you know, I found the answer on Diana Sullivan's site (through Google), and then I found a chart in the back of MKM that also gave me the answer. LOL.  It would take two ends.  I wound off two cones, and rigged up a system with a coffee can so one cone was fed through the lid and up through the middle of the other cone, then the two yarns were thread through the mast together.  This spun the yarns together really nicely.  I made a swatch.  Washed it, steamed it, etc.  But um....I didn't write the info down....and I want to knit one for myself....I think it was T6....

I made it just as the pattern says, but with 4 "turns".  Doing a 5th turn creates points on the sides.   Some people like it, some people don't.  I sewed it all up, gave it a wash and steam to tame the curl.  I'm not sure how well that worked; the front edges roll in, but not like fresh stockinette.  The sleeves are very loose and do roll some.
But the jacket is so light and airy!  180 grams!  I actually got out of bed and went downstairs since Rob was dropping it off in the morning and I had forgotten to weigh it.  I also forgot to re-measure the gauge.  I have since made one in brown, and half of one in white....with modifications :)

So, my SIL loved it, and wore it to work, where her co-workers loved it.  It's a very simple piece, perhaps not too figure flattering to thin gals, but as long as you don't make it too big, it's actually not bad (and don't wear it over schlumpy clothes!). 
Something to keep in mind, there are no seaming sts accounted for.  In a pale, or smooth yarn, you might notice this.
I'm also wondering if it can be done with wrapping the last st, so you don't get the holes.  I like them on the front, but not as much on the back.
I also have plans to bead it along the sleeve edges, front edges, and lower edge.
I also realize that this is a nearly square gauge, so the same needle set up might work well for making a mitered square blanket that actually turns out more square.  So many thoughts going through my head after this one...

Yarn Out:  11 181+ 180gr = 11 361gr
Yarn In:  13866gr + 100gr = 13 966gr
Balance:  2605gr more In than Out
Costs:  $6.09 + $300.21 = $306.30/189 days =  $1.62/day

New Swimsuit

I'm not sure how I feel about sewing swimsuits.  The suit I used to have (store bought) lasted a long time.  Last spring (2011) I bought a new one since the old one was worn out and I was cutting it up to make a pattern and I wasn't sure how that would work.  That store bought suit lasted only about six months!  The one I made at that time, with fabric from FabricLand, is still going strong, although I didn't wear it a whole lot.  Then I sewed two suits in October.  One has worn out!  It was fabric I bought at Value Village, so I guess I can't complain too much.  And it's too big now. 

Meg needed a new suit, since she's in the hot tub a lot and her old suits were hand me downs that were really worn out.  She wanted a tankini, and I used the same Kwik Sew pattern that I used for Lucy's suit (I don't think I've used it as intended yet).  Her measurements are all over the chart though.  I had to lengthen, widen some, narrow the shoulders....when it came time for adding elastic to the arm and necklines...I had no idea what to do.  I compared the original amount to the original pattern, and it used about 1 1/2" less elastic then the measurement.  That did not work.  I took elastic out.  I added elastic. I ripped and re-sewed.  Finally, it seemed okay.  I hope no one ever unpicks it and sees how I added in and cut out bits of the elastic!  LOL.

Another big issue I had...when I cut the front, I added two inches to the length...but I didn't mark it on the pattern.  When I cut the back...I forgot to add that extra....yeah.  I've done that before, and still haven't learned.  So, I ended up cutting a strip to make a ruffle.  The length wasn't bad before, but she did want it to cover her belly completely.

The fabric was from Spandex World, last summer.  I ordered two yards, and was very disappointed when it came and there was a white line between each yard.   But it was cheap, compared to what I can buy here (and they don't have the swim suit material "mill ends" bin anymore!).

I Hate This Yarn

I bought this yarn at Wal-Mart or Zeller's...one of those pre-bagged deals, but not "1lb Unknown Fiber".  These had labels...Promo-Fil?  Okay, a quick search on Ravelry and I did find it.  Made by the "Easy Knit" company.  LOL.   I did keep a label, but can't find it at the moment.  It's a cotton, rayon, acrylic blend.  It feels like crap.  Plastic.  Dry.  I suppose it's "soft" in a sense, but I would hate to wear something made of it.  OMG.  I was just looking at the projects on Ravelry with this yarn....and there's my "W" tank.  That I've never worn cause the yarn sucked and didn't dye right.  As I was working this blanket, it reminded me of that vest, but I thought I had used something different (and that perhaps it had been the dye that made it feel awful). 

So, it's just another crochet granny square blanket.  Not too big.  I still have quite a bit of the third ball left but I just didn't want to work on it anymore.  It weighs 236 gr.  I'm sure it's fine for a baby, it's not like it's stiff like cardboard...but it's about as snuggly as cardboard, LOL.  My opinion only, of course.

Looks pretty enough.

Yarn In:  13 866gr
Yarn Out:  236gr + 10 945= 11 181gr
Balance:  2685 gr more In than Out
Costs:  $300.21/182 days = $1.65/day

Productive Week

It's been a rather busy, and productive, week.  In some ways.  In other ways, I feel like I've gone backwards.  That striped top in the Panama?  All those little operator errors that were driving me crazy...I finally got the back off the machine and let it sit.  Mmmm.  Looked a little big!  A pre-wash measure showed that indeed, I got a different gauge than the pattern.  You know the saying, "To save time, take time to check your gauge"?  I'm not sure how my machine could be so different from other machines :(  The back is almost large enough to be the front...except that it's two inches too long below the armhole, and about two inches too long above the armhole.  I did wash it, as the yarn fluffs up, but haven't re-checked it.  I don't think it would have shrunk 2-3", if anything, it would be bigger.  So that project is on hold.

I have a sundress I bought last summer that had a flaw in it.  It was too big, and a maxi dress, and because of where the flaw was, it needed a complete re-fashioning.  My first vision didn't work, so it's been like cut and paste trying to get it to fit.  Not quite finished.  All that SHOULD be left to do is sew the straps on, but I like having a helper place them for me.  I have another sundress that is a maxi, and even in my highest heels is too long, so it needs a hem on the serger.  Well, I'm hesitating to do it, even though I know it SHOULD go fine....

I finished weaving in ends and washing the pink granny square blanket that I hated, and I did get that diagonal garter stitch sweater taken apart and a new version started.  Even though it's garter stitch, it feels really great to have that going on.

On June 10 I had a big family party, and my SIL had a silly little "argument" with our niece about her leaving her clothes laying around my house (she had been dressed up when she came, then went in the hot tub, then changed again....).   SIL put on her grey cardi/shrug/bolero sweater and we "Oooh-ed and Aaaww-ed" over it, her asking if I could make one, me pretending to check it out.  Yes, grey is a fabulous and versatile colour....We were doing it to annoy our niece, but I thought, I really could make her something.  More on that later!  LOL.  I'm waiting for pictures.  The first attempt didn't work (yarn shortage) but the end result was worth it.  So worth it that I made one for myself in a different yarn, and started another for another niece.  And there's plans for even more of them!

Earlier in this week, I realized that I didn't have any black shorts for an outdoor concert last night, and we've been having super hot weather.  I did have a black skirt, but it just wasn't "right".  So I had to go to Value Village where I found a great skort (my first!).  Only to find out, on the way to the concert (in the middle of a horrendous thunderstorm which ended up cancelling the concert), that the mark I thought was dust was actually a change in the texture of the fabric.  Argh.

While there, I did get some more yarn!  I don't understand how they bag up yarn.

One bag--two balls--of Lopi for $2.99, one bag of three balls of Patons Decor for $3.99, one bag of one ball Decor and one ball Classic Wool for $1.99 (someone must have thought wool from Iceland was worth more?), and one bag with two balls Classic Wool and one ball Impeccable, for $3.99.  So, according to the bag with Decor and Clasic Wool, the yarn should be $1/ball.  According to the Lopi, it's $1.50/ball.  According to the 3 ball bags, it's $1.33/ball.  And it's not like I'm comparing Red Heart to Classic Wool.  And why couldn't they just pack the Decor (4 balls of bright pink) in one bag, and the Classic Wool (3 balls of the jewels colours) in another bag?  And toss that Impeccable (a weird bright green) into it's own bag.  I'll use that for more charity hats.  The Decor will probably go to charity hats and scarves (but not mitts).  I think it's too bright to use in one item though, LOL.  The Classic Wool and Lopi will probably become felted slippers; I was thinking the other day I need to handknit a pair of the Fiber Trends clogs again; the machine knit ones are a good substitute, but don't last too long.  All this yarn was 30% off with my Summer Saving card.  I also bought a dress for re-fashioning.  Can't buy fabric for a dress for $6.66!

Yarn In:  1028gr + 12 838r = 13 866gr
Yarn Out:  10 945gr
Balance:  2921 gr more In than Out
Costs:  $10.25 + $289.96 = $300.21/179 days = $1.68/day

What's Coming Up

Just a little post to keep track of what's coming up in the projects, and I found a bag of yarn I bought at Value Village that I haven't counted for yet.  I've got a new swimsuit for Meg to show later, and a pink granny square blanket that still needs ends worked in.  I really hated the yarn, so I'm not in a rush.  I've got another granny square afghan happening as well.  I still haven't steamed out Omelet, or finished re-fashioning a sundress I started earlier this month.  But onwards!

 I always liked this t-shirt (I think I have another one that's similar too).  Yes, it's horizontal stripes, but the varying thicknesses and fabulous placement of the dark stripes keeps the eyes moving.  I don't feel fat when I wear this, at all.  It's also a lightweight t-shirt (though not as light as some I'm seeing now!), and stretchy.  However, when I put it on recently, I caught a glimpse in the mirror that the upper back was all baggy!  So, I got to work to using up all those cones of Yeoman Panama that I've gotten.  I chose "Linen Mix", a short sleeve cardi from Knitwords (#45, I think, Summer 2008).  I'm not going to do it as a cardi though.

 Seven different colours!  Note that this is still on the machine, so you're looking at the "wrong" (purl) side.  I'm carrying the white up the left side, and the beige up the right side.  The beige is the only colour that is repeated within the colour sequence (other than the two rows of white between each colour).  I picked beige because I thought the extra beige would tone it down, but I'm worried about how much I have.  I'm paranoid I'm going to run out of white.  Although there's no blocks of white, doing two rows between each colour means I'll probably use more of it than the other colours.  What I have left on the cone doesn't look like much--but then again, two rows don't take much either.  I had a rough time getting going on this (after trying a different project on this machine that didn't work either), but now I'm up to the neck shaping of the back.  Stopped for lunch.

 I made this sweater pre-blog, I think just before I got pregnant with Meg.  It's a yarn called "Mexican Wave DK", and I used a blue version in a crocheted sweater recently.  The body of the sweater is knit in garter stitch on the diagonal.  The back is a rectangle, and the front has a V neck.  The sleeves were done in stockinette because I was tired of the extra time for garter stitch and I worried about running out of yarn.  Once I had it done, I thought it was a smidge too snug for what I wanted.  I knit garter stitch panels and sewed them up the side (maybe I did this before the sleeves).  I made them a bit shorter than the front and back for extra detail.  I loved the way the colours seem to glow against the black, and I always got compliments when I wore it.  After Meg was born though, it just seemed too sloppy.  I've always thought about ripping it out and re-knitting it, and I think the time is now.  It'll be a good "sit in the park" project.  I think I might even be able to keep the sleeves intact...

And the recent acquisition from Value Village.  They had all the knitting and sewing items 1/2 off, so this bag cost me only $2.  There's some pink chunky (the colours are a little washed out in the sun), Bernat Mosaic (an acrylic version of Noro), and brown and green worsted.  The Mosaic is 134gr, which means there's a knot in there somewhere, LOL.  It'll be enough for another potato chip scarf, and the total weight is 264gr.

Total In:  264gr + 12 574gr = 12 838gr
Total Out:  10 945gr
Balance:  1893gr more In than Out
Costs:  $287.71 + $2.25 = $289.96/172 days = $1.69/day

Butterick 4018

I've been wearing the same dress for band concerts for a long time.  I bought the dress when I was at my old weight, and I knew it was too big, but it was stretchy, layered, etc, and didn't look too big.  Then I gained weight and the dress was the "right" size.  Now I'm back down to the old weight (almost; 2lbs more....but really, I need to go another 12 pounds at least) but I'm a little tired of the dress.  So, I thought I'd make a simple dress.

(I'm so tired of trying to get photos in the right spot!  Both the photos say they're in the center, but neither appear to be while I'm working, and I can't move them!)

This is Butterick 4018, I'm guessing it's out of print, and I don't want to link to eBay or somewhere like that.  It's a "Fast and Easy" pattern, particularly if you don't need adjustments...but who doesn't?  I started out with taking my measurements.  I don't know what was up, but my measurements seemed to be exactly the same as last year.  Then, the next day I tried again, and my bust was 2" smaller.  My other measurements don't seem to have changed much, but I know I am thinner! 

I made the pattern adjustments based on the first measurements and then  made a muslin out of a grey knit bedsheet.  Not a great look, LOL.  Blah.  Sort of like something the Duggar kids would wear, except that it was grey knit instead of blue denim.  Anyway, I knew it would make a good nightgown at least.  I did have to shrink my FBA quite a bit, but something was going on under the arms.  I thought maybe I should trim the armhole down to where the pattern would normally be, but wasn't sure what that would do to the sleeves.  I realized I needed a bit more material actually between the neck and the armhole.  However, I also decided to start with the next size down for the shoulders, and in the end, you  can see the wrinkles right above my bust--it still needs a bit more width there.  Or, is it length?  I shortened it up there because I usually get a fold of fabric above the bust, but these look more like tugging lines. 

I'm also wondering if the empire waist is in the right spot.  It curves downwards at the sides, and I don't think that's flattering, and some of the gathers towards the sides were a little pouffy.  However, it does sit right below my bust nicely.  Perhaps too many gathers?

I'm not thrilled to see how my belly looks in the photos.  It's a thick knit fabric, and I think I could have used a bit more width, and a better undergarment!

I had to make quite a bit of adjustment for the back.  There is a center back seam for a zipper, which I didn't use, but I kept the seam so I could adjust it easier.  At the back neck, I had to take it in quite a bit, and also the lower back.  Since there's no photo of the back of the dress on the envelope, it's hard to know where exactly that waist seam should fall.  I don't mind it where it is, but it seems odd to be empire in the front but not the back.

I added a bit of black lace trim around the neck, and severely underestimated the time it would take to sew that on!

I'm not sure I'd sew this again.  I don't like how the front empire seam points downwards.  I didn't know how to add more width across the abdomen but keep the empire waist the same...

Oh well, it's not like I'll be wearing it much, or like I don't have other patterns to choose from.  Best part though, I bought the fabric at Value Village for $7.99 and there is still lots left!

Fuzzy Blue Blankie

I was excited by how quickly I crocheted the yellow granny square baby blanket, so I dug into my bins and came up with Patons "Be Mine" (Discontinued).  This is the softest, dreamiest yarn you can imagine.  A combination of a subtle eyelash/faux fur and a velvety chenille.  I caught every kid snuggling with it on the couch while I worked on it. 

I would have liked to use up all the yarn I had, but it gets to a point where one ball doesn't go very far, so I stopped at the end of a round, with only a few feet left of that ball!  I'm not sure what I'll do with the rest; it might make a nice baby sweater--I'll have to weigh what's left.

Yarn In:  12 574gr

Yarn Out:  231gr + 10 714gr= 10 945gr

Yarn Balance:  1629 gr more In than Out

Costs:  $287.71/168 days = $1.71/day

Beaded Bleeding Heart Scarf

This is actually the tuck lace scarf from Machine Knitting Fun, the small version using 16-0-15 stitches, T8, and the same yarn as the purple scarf.  I meant to weigh it as the ball felt a little light, but forgot.  It's plenty long though.

Each of the foam squares is about 2 ft long.

I knit the 6 rows in hold, then one row, then put the beads on the 3 tucked stitches, then knit the second plain row.  This centered the bead over the tucks.  At first, I knit the two plain rows and put the bed on, which made it sit on the really long stitch that forms the open back-to-back triangles.  That was nice too, but it was more obvious.  Either way is fine.  I didn't know how many beads I had, or how many rows this would take, so I just did the first 6 or so repeats, then knitted until I seemed to be low on yarn.

Then I started the beading again.  As it was, I probably had enough beads to do the whole thing!  Next time, I might divide the beads equally before starting.  I also didn't want to have happen what happened with the purple one--started beading the second end and realized I still had lots of yarn left.  I didn't want to run out of yarn before doing the same number of beaded rows either.  This time though, the beads are really subtle, so I said "oh well, one end has more beads than the other" rather than rip it back and re-knit some without the beads.  It's such a fast knit though that I really should have knit the whole yarn (doing the second end beadless), then rip back to match the number of beaded rows I had at the start, and re-knit them with the beads.

I opted to block it so the sides formed scallops.  The blocking wires really helped with this!  In fact, I don't think it would have looked right if it had been blocked with straight sides, unless you did more plain stitches on the edges.

I really like this yarn.  It's light and airy and the colours were very saturated, with just a little bit of difference in shade between the fibers of the two plies.

I've tried many times to upload the picture of the scarf in my bleeding heart plant, but it won't load.  My SIL says bleeding hearts are one of her favourite  flowers and they grow wild and crazy in Alberta where she used to live.  The yarn is the exact colour.  I had a hard time giving this one away, but not as hard of time as what she's going through :)

Yarn In:  12 574gr

Yarn Out:  10 664+ 50gr = 10 714gr

Balance:  1860 gr more In than Out

Costs:  $287.71/164 days = $1.75/day

Beading on the Knitting Machine

I've seen many patterns for beaded items made on the various knitting machines.  I had sort of passed them over, since I knew that beading while handknitting involves pre-stringing all the beads and I had no idea what would be involved with machine knitting and beading.  I had seen sketches of beads going over the heads of stitches, but just how does one do that?

When I went to the seminar, beading was one of the topics.  Eileen Montgomery has written many patterns for beaded items, so she was the perfect instructor!  And oh my, it is easy.  Really, you are basically slipping the bead over the head of the stitch.  But how?

She uses a 0.6mm crochet hook, and usually 4mm cube beads.  Michaels' sells 4mm cubes beads by Toho, but there weren't very many colours.   She usually uses a different brand, sold at a beadstore.  I'm scared to go into the bead store that is located way too close to my house.  I got some clear cubes by Toho, and a bag of assorted colours, round beads that looked like the holes were big enough for the 1mm hook, which was the smallest I could get.  I used blue beads from the assorted pack on the pale blue scarf for my sister in law.  I had no problem with the crochet hook and beads; the hard part was deciding how to fit the beads into the pattern.

I wanted to do more with beads, and thought the purple scarf I was doing at the club meeting would be a good option, since there were purple beads in the assorted pack.  However, I had two issues.  I thought there was just one shade of purple bead, but there turned out to be two different ones in the pack.  That's okay.  The other problem was that the yarn was quite a bit thicker, and I had difficulty getting it pulled through some of the beads.  At the beading, I just put those ones aside and tried a different bead.  But then I was running low on the purple beads by the time I got to the end.

I had just read a tip by a MKer who used dental flossers designed for people with braces, instead of a crochet hook.  I haven't seen them, but it sounded like a short length of floss, and a plastic tip.  He placed several beads at a time on it, then bent the tip into a hook shape.  For a tutorial on this, check out THIS blog.  I'm going to take a look for these flossers the next time I'm in the store.  Previously when I had tried HK beading, I had used floss to make a loop that pulled the yarn through the bead.   I wondered if I could do something like that.  I grabbed a bit of beading wire that Lucy had abandoned since it was kinked and tangled, and cut off about 8 inches.  I bent it in half.

  I slipped one end through the stitch on the needle, up to the bend, and slipped the stitch off.  Then I slid the bead over the two ends of the wire,

 and pulled the ends of the wire so the stitch (in the bend of the wire), is pulled through the bead.

 I pulled it through far enough to get enough of a loop to slip back on the needle.

 Some of the beads took a bit of muscle, but worked REALLY well. 

One good thing about this is that the yarn is contained by the wire, so textured yarns, or loosely plied yarns, are no trouble, like they were with trying to hook it all on an itsy bitsy crochet hook.  You can probably also use smaller holed beads, but not too small  :)  Expect to see more beaded items here!

If you don't have beading wire, you can try a twist tie, fishing line, or probably even dental floss.  The beading wire was stiff enough to poke through the stitch on the needle, but you could lift the stitch off with a transfer tool.  Lucy has these neat J shaped, doubled wire "needles" for using in the bead spinner.  You could snip open the top of the J  (not the scoop part) and use it too.  In fact, I think I'll pick up a pack the next time I'm at Michaels....