Hot Summer!

After an on-again, off-again winter, and a spring that never happened, summer finally came to Ontario in a BIG way.  This has been an exceptionally hot and dry and humid July.  Recently I had to go to Fabricland (our version of Joanne's, I guess) for thread and red satin cord (for that Santa stocking I posted last time).  I got the thread, forgot the cord, and walked out with 1.5m of fiery hot smocked polyester.

My idea was simple.  To recreate this dress.  Four years ago?! I love this dress still, and get lots of compliments.  I figured once I cut the length down, that portion will be enough for the top part.  I started with that--cutting the bottom length off.  Then I decided to use the free Sorbetto pattern by Colette. I printed it out, taped it together and got it cut out.  As I was laying it on my fabric, I thought...mmm...I chose the size for my 44" bust, but really, that's not 22"+22", it's more like 20" + 24", I wonder if the front piece is going to fit me! I measured the pattern piece, and with the pleat not folded in, the front piece measured 25" (I think).  I opted to not sew the pleat!  I also took a little wedge out of the front strap, shortening the armhole by about 1/2".  I cut it out, sewed it together and to the smocked portion of the fabric and tried it on.

For larger pictures, just click on one, and it should take you to the Blogger picture viewer.

 
It wasn't right.  Somehow, the front was not really long enough, and the smocked portion was too long, and since it was a smidge smaller than it should have been, it clung to my muffin top.  I pulled up the bottom to a better fit, and marked it.  I decided to make the darts a bit shorter and narrower to get a bit more length in the top portion, and use a narrower seam allowance. I also unpicked the first row of smocking--where I was joining the top and smocking--to reduce the gathering  and hope it blended in with the top better.  I think I also unpicked the first row that showed.  The fabric still gathers into the seam, but it's not as dramatic so it's still smoother under my bust.

The fit isn't perfect still.  Now there is a bit of gaping on the armholes, and it rides up a bit under my bust, but I just keep tugging it down.  I'm not going to get all fussy with it.  Maybe try a different bra next time.  It's longer and less full than the original inspiration, but that's okay.  The big issue is that it's polyester, and clings to me!! 

I did a rolled edge for the bottom of the skirt, and it was fun playing with the colours in the serger to get it just right.  It's done in orange and looks great.  I toyed with doing that around the neck and arms too, but felt it might look a little unfinished.  Instead, I took my scrap from cutting the top pieces, found the bias in a section that still had the bottom selvage, started making 1" lines from the widest portion.  My rotary cutter is dull, my scissors were pretty dull, so this process was aggravating!  Then I sewed all the pieces together, alternating shorter and longer pieces. 

Then, it was time to use my bias binding tool and iron.  Well.  It didn't take long to conclude that was a waste of time.  I ditched the iron and just started sewing the binding on, as per the Sorbetto instructions.  It actually went a lot better than I expected, though I wish it was a bit wider.  I was worried about not having enough of the binding, but it was amazing how much it made just from the left over piece!!  And, I was even able to plan out each edge so that the seams of the tape were at the start or shoulder seam spots, with having just a little bit of waste from doing so.

Now, all I need is a little cotton slip.  And time to make the next one, in blues.....with a different top design....

Five Months Until Christmas

Yesterday I had a sweet lady pick up another Christmas stocking, to match the other four I made last summer.  It's for her daughter-in-law, the last of the adults to get one.  Hopefully they will want more for the kids! 

 If the picture is too large for your screen, you can click on it and look via the Picture Viewer.

I got started on this earlier this spring once my wrist was healed and was making good time.  But something was nagging me.  I still had the charts, though there were a few spots where I wasn't sure (I had erased one colour and gone over with another and I couldn't tell which was the "real" colour), and I didn't have much info for between the charts, or the heel/toe.  So I emailed Jason, the original client, and asked if it was possible to get one of his so I could make sure I had all the info.  He was happy to drop it off and immediately I knew I was in trouble.

It was knit at a smaller gauge!  Melissa's looked sloppy and loose all of a sudden.  So...early July...I ripped it back to the top of the Merry Christmas banner!  Ugh.  I then focused all my attention on it and got it done in record time.

 Here is the new one side by side with one from last summer. 

 The beards are slightly different because I wasn't following the chart too closely, LOL, and anyway, I think a little bit of uniqueness for each one is good.

Hi Santa!  Several times I started knitting your nose in white, only to realize it was supposed to be red.   I need to update the chart and make that clearer!

Connor's used 76gr and Melissa's used 74gr.  I think Connor's had one more row in the red top edge.  I couldn't get any of them to match the original cast on exactly.

Yarn In: 1586gr

Yarn Out:  4519gr + 80gr = 4599gr
Balance:  3013gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/197 days = $0.36/day

Functional

I needed new dishcloths.  I don't know what happened, but the pretty ones I crocheted up this spring (or maybe it was last spring actually), they got moldy and stained :( That never happens with my knitted ones!  I grabbed a bin that had what I thought was some ends of cones of cotton yarns, but it had only a green and a white, I think size 10 Handicrafter Cotton.  I wanted to do the circular one I usually do, on the LK150, and thought it would be cool to plate it (plait).  That's putting one colour in feeder 1 and one in feeder 2, so the knit side shows one colour and the purl side shows the other.  They do both show on both sides, but one is much more prominent.

I struggled with tension.  I struggled with just getting the carriage to move.  I dusted, I lubed, I upped the tension.  And after doing six wedges it was not going to be a circle like it should.  I decided on a couple more wedges.  Then I realized I had cast on twice as many stitches as needed.  Ooops.  Picture on Instagram!

Started up again, and it went a lot better, even though at this point, all I changed was the number of stitches.  I should have listened to my machine earlier on!  I did a second one, reversing the yarns in the feeder.  Then I opted for a rectangular one in tuck but it gave me headaches too, so half way thru I changed it to single strand.

Then I decided to move to the standard gauge and try single strand and some punch cards.  A few issues, but I just wanted dishcloths, so I just did what ever necessary to get the yarn used up.  Ended up with more green than white.  Whatever.  A few are nice enough for when company comes.

This one was supposed to be a slipped stitch pattern, with the card locked on row 1.  It didn't work.  It worked when the card wasn't locked, but of course, made a different design.

I weighed them with the waste yarn because it was truly waste yarn this time.

This was another one, I think card 3 (Singer), that was to have the card locked on row 1 to create vertical columns of tucking.  I use card 3 a lot, it's so versatile.  I liked the vertical look to it, but again, it didn't work.  The card was not rotating, it was definitely locked.  So I don't know what the issue was.

Yarn In: 1586gr

Yarn Out: 159gr + 4360gr = 4519gr
Balance:  2933gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/197 days = $0.38/day

Quick Knit?

I've talked before about listening to your yarn and your project.  Knowing when to keep going and when to throw in the towel.  It's not easy to decide sometimes.

I waited so long to get a ribber for my bulky SK155 knitting machine.  I imagined knitting up lots of projects with my hand knitting yarns in my stash.  Going through all my KnitWords and other machine knitting magazines though, I could find only ONE pattern that really used the ribber to it's full potential.  Most used it just for the ribbing edges.  And there were no patterns for knitting circularly.  I know I can adapt hand knitting patterns, but I just don't want to sometimes.

I tried a yarn for that one pattern, and it didn't meet gauge close enough to even consider and due to the unusual construction, it would take a bit of paper work to figure it out.  So I shelved it, and thought perhaps a baby pattern would be a good place to start.  I found one in Machine Knitting Monthly that used a very similar weight yarn to one I had.  I didn't even swatch.  I just plunged in.

And started scratching my head.  The pattern is written with so many "Repeat from * as for sweater" (I was doing the cardigan) and "Follow chart for your size" but there were so many charts for the different pieces of the sweater and cardigan, different sizes had different charts....so many abbreviations.  The cast on was different than anything I've done before so I ditched it and then found out the pattern uses the ribber for only FOUR rows of ribbing.  The texture in the sweater was done by converting stitches.

I decided I wasn't going to convert all those stitches (especially ones on the edges), and opted to keep the ribber in use.  However, every TWO rows, I had to transfer stitches back and forth between beds.  And keep track of shaping, button holes, etc.   I got the back done (with a few holes), and both fronts.  It was NOT fun. I got busy with other things while I pondered how badly I wanted the texture on the sleeves.  Maybe they could be just stockinette.

My oldest daughter's teacher's wife had a baby boy towards the end of school.  She didn't really like the teacher (though because of his high standards she really had to push herself--she's quite capable but has been coasting along for a few years, getting away with minimal work for decent marks.  Because of this I think she's going to be much better prepared for high school next fall!), and we hadn't really planned to get him a year end gift, but she thought something for his baby would be a good idea and not make her look ....ungrateful?  I thought maybe I could finish up this sweater.  But when I looked at the pattern again, and the machine...I just knew I couldn't finish.

I opted for the "All in One" pattern.  I've made it before. I used the gauge I had gotten on the first sweater attempt and got going.  The nice thing about this pattern is that the way it's done, the lower part is all one piece so striping yarns end up matching at the opening.  The two thing most people don't like is the seaming across the chest (I kitchener stitched and you can't see it at all--casted on and off with waste yarn instead of e wraps), and the width/shortness of the sleeves.

 I tried a couple things to finish off the sleeves.  I wasn't thrilled with any of them, although my final attempt was okay.  This one seemed really long and narrow in the body, and very short and wide sleeves.  I suspect my gauge ratio was just not a good one for this pattern.  I steamed the sleeves to pull them longer.  The bottom is 2x2 ribbing.

I knew I had to finish off the neck somehow.  I picked up around the neck, and down to almost the first button hole.  Then I did short rows, taking up the length of the straight section.  I think I started with knitting three stitches more (at the top of the button band), twice on each side, then doing one more stitch each row, each side since it wasn't growing fast enough.  Then a row or two over all stitches to finish it off.  Amazingly, it worked on the very first attempt, though I highly doubt I can ever recreate it!!
The buttons are from my button bin.  They were on a very old looking card and luckily weren't "too red".

The shoes are a hybrid of http://thatssewnina.blogspot.ca/2013/10/cloth-baby-shoe-tutorial.html and http://stardustshoes.blogspot.ca/2006/10/cloth-shoe-pattern.html.  I had made the Stardust ones before, and didn't like how the back is folded over to make the casing.  The other pattern, I didn't like the pattern pieces but liked how she did the heel.  I did heavy iron on interfacing for the back piece (one side only) because I thought that would make them easier to get on, but wasn't necessary.  And medium weight on the toe portions.  I don't think I did any on the sole, they're just two layers of thick twill.  I did use the serger, but next time, I would stitch the toe and heels on with the sewing machine and then go around the whole piece with the serger.  I didnt' want any fraying on the inside to catch on toes.  I had a hard time finding boy fabrics in my stash.  At least, boy fabrics that went with this sweater and make it look like a set.  I even tried a couple different attempts at doing a hat, but time was running out.  That's why the pictures are a little dull--I took them after we came home from Lucy's grade 8 grad ceremony LOL.

My kids have grown up on this blog.  It'll be 10 years this August.  I didn't have too many pictures of Lucy and Hugh in the early months though, and my computer just froze up so I won't try to find one. But here she is on grad night:

So pretty!

Yarn In: 1586gr

Yarn Out: 160gr +  4470gr = 4360gr
Balance:  2774gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/190 days = $0.39/day

Slippers are Still Needed in the Summer!

I've had a good 18 month span with my slippers that my mom gave me, so it's been probably two years since I've knit slippers.  But it was time.

 

The tops looked fine, though a bit matted.

But the bottoms?

So, I got out my bags of felting wool and selected some.  I ended up with "Sean's Sheep" Armitage and Lopi.  I had originally thought they'd need more yarn and I'd have to turn to scraps for the cuff or "bumper".  I ended up not doing the bumper and I finished the soles with barely anything to spare.

I posted the before picture on Instagram, early June, if you want to see.  www.instagram.com/tracykmdesigns :)

It's the same FiberTrends felted clog pattern I make all the time.  I made the largest of the lady's sizes, but my needles are only 8mm.  At least....that's what I think I did.  I've already put away the pattern.  Maybe I made the medium size.  Whateves.  After a month of wearing them, they weigh in at 229gr, but I know there was a lot of fuzz during the felting, so I'm going to be generous and say 240gr.

Yarn In: 1586gr

Yarn Out:  240gr + 4230gr = 4470gr
Balance:  2884gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/186 days = $0.40/day

Get Baking!

Our wonderful school has a "Spring Fling" every June.  The highlight, for me, is always the raffle table.  For $5, you get 20 tickets.  There are usually baskets put together by classes, and LOTS of miscellaneous items--the types of things you re-gift to a raffle.  But awesome stuff that other people would love.  I've even put things in, like the year I did the red and white basket with my water bottle holders and a few other items. These past two years, I haven't won anything (but I make up for it at other contests!), but in the past I've gotten a lot of great stuff that I've been able to gift to others!  This year though, every class did a theme basket and there were only a few other items.  I'm not sure why, though last year (or maybe the year before?), they had a LOT of items, and then right at the start of the fling, it started to pour rain so it all had to be moved inside quickly.  And, well, last year, there was a group of moms from the parent committee who had been involved for a long, long time and their kids all graduated.  Anyway.

My older daughter's class got "Baking".  What could I contribute?  What could I create?  What could TracyKM Designs create?  I thought about an apron.  A bit boring, but necessary.  Then, I remembered I had a couple "Snowbird" patches I had bought from the previous conductor of our community band, who is involved with Air Cadets, and one squadron is called the Snowbirds--named after the Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, an acrobatic team.  Our school is named after one Snowbird member from our town who was killed in a crash.  I knew him in high school, and am so proud my kids go to "his" school.  I found a large piece of plain white twill (what the heck did I plan to do with 2m of white twill?!).  I even found some adequately sized red bias tape.  I have a scary looking old apron that is just a piece of twill with bias tape for the straps and tie.  I copied the shape onto the twill, cut, hemmed the sides and bottom and put the bias tape on.

Wow.  Pretty darn quick!  I had to stop myself from making one for myself!

I sewed the patch on, and it was ready to go!

I was disappointed at the fling, when I saw the basket, it was folded in such a way you couldn't see the patch.  Oh well.  The winner ended up standing next to me, so I let her know.

I can totally see making more of these aprons.  I have one more patch, I think, but now I know an embroider who happens to live across the field from the school and her oldest is starting JK in the fall, so I'm sure she'll be motivated to get the image digitized!!

Cinch Sack and Grip Bag

My youngest, has a good friend who is a competitive gymnast.  For her birthday gift, Megan really wanted to make her a "grip bag".  I knew what the wrist grips were, but my daughter's skills at describing a grip bag left a lot to my imagination.  I couldn't figure out why you'd need a specialized bag and how I could sew one.  Finally I looked it up.   All it is, is an aprox. 9x11" bag with a drawstring.  Okey-dokey.  I could sew that.

Of course, I wanted it to be reversible, or at least, lined.  No exposed seams to get covered in chalk dust. I couldn't find a pattern that had the drawstring at the top but since it was pretty much like the cinch sacks, I just went with that.  A message to my embroidery lady and an image was found and wham! a quick (and affordable) gift.  Two fat quarters!  The embroidery cost more than the rest of the supplies.

 I loved the fabric Megan picked for the inside, though I really wanted it on the outside since it matched the fabrics she picked for the backpack.  I did sneak it into the design of the water bottle holder.  I simply used the scraps from trimming the fat quarters down to size.  They were perfect.  Originally, I thought the pocket was going on the outside, so I put the solid grey on the edge, to set it apart from the zig zag pattern.

 But no, Megan said the bottle holder had to be on the inside so no matter which way she wore it, the pocket could still be used.  Smart!

 A sort of faded zig zag pattern.

The outside is the same zig zag I used for my niece's back pack, a few posts ago.  I was hesitant.  Megan originally said one side would be solid grey, but I told her that was boring.  I thought the two zig zag patterns were very close in colour and style that there wasn't any need to have a reversible bag.  But it was a gift for Megan to give, so she got final say.

I hope it gets lots of use!

The Little Things

The nice thing about crafting your own items is you can make it how you want it.  Got longer legs?  Doesn't matter! Prefer side-thumbs instead of palm-thumbs on your mitts?  No problem!  Thick arches? Do more stitches for the heel!

Sometimes though, it's easy to say "Why bother?" when it comes to tweaking a pattern.  But why not?  Often, it doesn't take much (if any) more time, material, or expense.  And the results can be stunning.

I've recently made three sunhats from a free pattern.  It came in one size, yet each of my hats were slightly different sizes.  Most of them (there's really two "hats" per hat, as they're reversible) had some assembly issues.  I wasn't sure how to fix these problems.  Hats are circles, and circle math is complicated.

Yesterday I was going through my bookmarked patterns again, trying to decide which hat pattern to do this time for an order.   She wanted a flat top hat, rather than the "beach ball" style I had been doing.  I found Martha Stewarts' pattern for a reversible bucket hat, though I thought the brim was a bit narrow and angled down quite a bit, so I kept looking.  I kept thinking about a hat drafting tutorial I had saved.

It looked so complicated!  So much math and drawing!  I was considering just doing the Martha Stewart one, but thinking maybe I could use the brim of the one I had already done.  Then I started reading the comments, since there weren't too many.  One caught my eye:  "Thank you for acknowledging that heads aren't circular shaped, and the tapered side panels makes the hat look more professionally made." 

Wait! What!  Heads aren't circular, didn't I know that?  I mean, I knit hats that are "circular" though earflaps are always off center.  Mmmm.  Cowboy hats, and fedoras, and Tilley hats aren't circular!  Why was I sewing circular sun hats?  And why would Martha endorse this fallacy?  I mean, it says right on her site--take time every day to learn something new!  Martha!  News flash!  Heads aren't perfectly round!  Knitted fabric can shape to the head, but woven fabric doesn't!  Maybe this is why my sun hats flew off too easily!  Slipped around!  Even though they should technically fit!

(It's the same thing with sizing knit sweaters.  Designers just take the chest circumference and divide by two.  Look at your self in the mirror.  See something sticking out on your chest that isn't there on your back?  Is your front width the same as your back width?  Unlikely!  If it's a small difference, the knit fabric can stretch, but more than a few inches and you end up with a sweater that sags in the back and is too tight across the chest!  But it's the "right" size!  Really?).

I'm all for the little details that make my items unique and "better" than others.  I don't like the word "better".  I'd prefer, "enlightened".  Why make a hat a circle when it should really be an oval?

Okay, got the crown figured out, next came the side pieces.  Melly Sews shapes them, so the top is slightly smaller than the bottom.  I wouldn't know how much smaller to do this.  In fact, the template for the crown piece confused me--if I was doing this on my own, I would have just drawn a circle with the head circumference plus seam allowance, then squished it to an oval.  But this would result in a very boxy look. Think of a pill box hat.  Very straight sides.  It was a bit of work to do the side pieces, but actually, not a whole lot.  It turns out though that my piece is too big for a fat quarter (unless done on the bias), so I split it in two, and even remembered to add seam allowances!

The brim....how do you draw that?!  Can't use a compass, since heads aren't circular!  I just made many, many marks at the length I wanted.  Though I'm a little confused since the crown template is a bit smaller than the bottom of the side band....I'm just going to follow the instructions.  I cut a little pie slice out, then realized that I will lose another 1/2" on each side for the seam allowance.  Keep this in mind.  I also can not figure out how, if you cut the wedge all the way through the width, it will fit with the side piece.  You've made the seam line smaller by what ever you take out with the wedge.  Don't you need to keep this seam line the same as before?  Uh oh.  Just keep working...

I`ve got all my pieces cut out, and we`ll see how it goes!  I have realized that although it took a while to draft this, sewing it will be quicker because there won`t be all the crown pieces (six wedges) to sew togther and topstitch.  So once the template is done, making multiple hats will be so quick!  Put a little more into prep, and reap the benefits in the assembly and the finished results!

Sweet Vintage

We were heading out for a day, and there was a 45 minute drive, so I needed something easy to work on.  Keeping with the vintage feel of the Baby Surprise Jacket, I thought I'd whip up another "5 Hour Sweater".  Looking at the pattern though, it didn't really work with my  yarn, so I went with "Quick Baby Sweater" by Lorriane Major.  This is an oldie but goodie that I've done before.  The date on my print out is February 19, 2002.  Just days before I would have found out I was pregnant with Lucy!  On the back of the pattern is a doodle, by Rob, of how he pictured the awkward corner in our basement that he was renovating at that time.  I've made this sweater before and remember having a few issues with keeping track of right side/wrong side, and that happened again.  I also used smaller needles, I think 6mm with worsted weight yarn (on the smaller side of today's worsted).  I think the 6.5mm makes it just a little too loosey-goosey.  I've used this yarn for lots of other baby items, and I think I still have some left!!

I really don't have much to say, except the pink doesn't show up too well in the picture.  I made the seamless version.  There's no instructions for button holes, so I crocheted two ties (4 chains) and made bows.  This will go in the "In Stock" box as apparently my extended family is popping out boys only.

According to the first post written about this yarn, I had 70gr left.  Yet this one took 89gr, and there's the cat Lucy made, which took 20gr.  This truly is one of those never ending balls of yarn!!

Yarn In: 1586gr

Yarn Out:  4141gr + 89gr = 4230gr
Balance:  2644gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/162days = $0.46/day

Still Knitting!

Yes, I'm still knitting!  While letting the wrist heal, I was doing a lot more sewing, but I still snuck in short blocks of knitting--can't really take the sewing machine in the truck!  I had the urge to get back to basics and do some baby items (and then found out there are babies coming in the family!  Since then though, they found out they're having boys).  First up, a Baby Surprise Jacket!

 Not much to say.  I started with no plan, except to use up the purple.  Which I did--had barely a few yards left over.  I stuck with the pattern, but did my decreases and increases so they'd be more decorative.

I ran out of the purple earlier than I thought I would.  If I had realized, then I would have done more grey sooner, or did a waste yarn cast on--which makes for nicer sewing up too.  I think the purple was "Vanna's Choice" or "Impeccable".  The grey I think was left over from the Rude Robot hat and the purple from the mermaid blankets.  All together, it weighs in at 184gr, and I used either 5mm or 5.5mm needles.  I have a bit of purple fabric from that first hobo bag  and I might make a little pair of baby shoes.  Trouble is, figuring what size to make.  I think this is about a size six months-12months, but most baby shoe patterns only come in newborn.

I even created a little slideshow to explain how to fold this sweater.  I know, there are other videos and tutorials out there, but I can't resist. 

Yarn In: 1586gr
Yarn Out:  184gr + 3957gr = 4141gr
Balance:  2555gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/160days = $0.47/day

Silent Auction!

I decided to make another drawstring backpack to donate to the silent auction at the big fundraiser dinner for the jazz bands my daughter is in.  I wasn't going to do red satin again though LOL!

I had some of this texture-striped black, just enough to do the outer bag.  I had this fun musical instrument fabric, but it wasn't quite enough for the inside.  I also had some black twill--not really enough for the entire bag either.  I've really been using up fabric lately!!  So, I pieced the black twill onto the bottom of the instrument fabric--very pleased with  myself for remembering to add the seam allowance to each piece to make it the right length.  I placed the pocket so one side is in the side seam and one side was sewn down.  However, due to the elastic around the top, it kind of pulls the side of the inner bag inwards.  I think from now on, the water bottle pocket goes dead centre.  Either inside or outside. 

This is the bag that gave a concussion on Victoria Day (May 23).  I thought I'd try do photos in my basement, since there was some natural light, and a pot light directly overhead, and I could sit on the stairs, and lean over the stairs (no railing).  I was coming back up the stairs after laying it out, and went to lean out over the side of the stairs.  I hadn't gone high enough, and headbutted the I-beam in the ceiling.  Full throttle.  My scalp is still a little tender to the touch, but I'm not getting the headaches and nausea anymore.  That was a rough long weekend for injuries, but since then, I seem to be doing okay!

Another Hat!

I wanted to make another sunhat and this time really pay attention to how I laid the pieces on the fabric to cut out.  I was at Michaels and saw their fat quarters.  I was drawn to reds.  I looked at one but felt it had too much white and the black I intended for the other side would show through.  I looked at another one but it was "too" red.  I settled on a red with small white polka dots.  Cute, but not "baby".  I had some black with beige flower embroidery on it for the other side.

I carefully laid out the pieces of the crown so the "stretch" would be going across.  One piece of the red fat quarter seemed a little stretchier than the other.  The black had less stretch because of the embroidery.  I also cut the interfacing in two pieces, with a small overlap.  I wanted to see if this worked on my own hat before doing it on one for someone else!  I totally think it worked.

 

I sewed the red brim on first.  I had pinned the 1/4 marks, and it went fine until the last 1/4 section.  I ended up with more than an inch extra brim.  Instead of panicking and ripping it out immediately, I set it aside and sewed the black brim on.  It went on almost entirely perfect, maybe 1/2" brim left over.  So I ripped off the red brimmed and tried again, had to try a few times and I think in the end I did have to take in the brim seam a little bit--1/4" from each side of the brim seam? (I left the outer edge the same, but tapered the seam towards the crown).  The brim looks a little pulled in a few places.  I didn't have a red thread that matched close enough, so I used white. 

 I did the first round of brim top stitching really close to the edge to make it easier to close the gap I left for turning.  I also clipped the seam in that opening to make it lay flatter while I top stitched.  I think I trimmed the entire brim edge seam before I turned it.  When I went to do the second row of top stitching, I couldn't find a marking on my machine at the right distance, so the distance from the edge to the 2nd row is the same as between the 2nd and 3rd, and 3rd and 4th, etc, but the edge top stitching in between the edge and 2nd row.  If that makes sense.  I opted to top stitch on the crown this time instead of the brim.  I thought this might look a bit smoother and prevent any tiny pleating if the brims were slightly off size.  I think it looks fine.  I think this might also be contributing to the smaller size.  Then I remembered to add a ribbon, so I had to unpick a bit and hand stitch it in, etc.  Whatever.  It's done.

During the process, a few people mentioned it looks like Minnie Mouse.  Then, when it was finished...I realized that I also have a red nightgown with white polka dots.  Yup.  My sun hat matches my nightgown.

Seven Months Till Christmas!

How about some knitting content for a change?  The overuse injury to my wrist in mid-March took much longer than I thought it would to fully resolve.  The discomfort with using it disappeared fairly quickly, but I was still finding that if I knit for the evening, the next day my wrist felt irritated.  It's feeling much better now, though there is still a lump, so I just try to vary what I'm doing.

I've been working on this stocking for awhile.  It started off well enough.  A bit of time with Google and Ravelry lead me to the pattern at Mary Maxim.  Yay!  I wouldn't have to chart it all out!  I waited for one of their weekly sales, and bought their four pack of stocking pattern books for $20Cdn.  This gives me a little over 50 Christmas stocking patterns!!  I had already gone yarn shopping and found great matches--especially the green.  The red is a bit off, but luckily, because they're done in "reverse", it's not a big issue.  I got started, knitting happily away with the chart.

Once I got to the kitty's eyes, I wanted to check something, so I looked at the original stocking.  Wait a minute!  It didn't match what I was knitting!  I looked at the chart and what I knitted--they matched.  I looked at the tiny picture on the back cover of the book, and it matched the original stocking, but not the chart!  WTF?!  There was a chunk of white missing on the right side of the hat!!

I emailed Mary Maxim and explained the issue.  My thinking was that the chart had been re-done when they entered the digital age but the pictures hadn't been updated.  But why would they use a different chart?  The answer came back--she didn't see any difference between the chart and the picture, and perhaps I was doing the knit rows from left to right instead of right to left.

I exhaled.  This customer service rep doesn't know me from Adam.  That is the number one issue new knitters make with charts.  However, that wouldn't result in a totally different picture, it would just be a mirror image.

I wrote back explaining that I had over 20 years experience knitting from charts, and also charting my own designs.  This was not a mirror image problem, but a totally different chart.  She wrote back saying she still didn't see a problem.

Ummm.  Okay.  I took a iPad photo of the chart, and used a colouring app to colour it in the correct colours.  Then I took a picture of the picture of the stocking on the back of the book, and I put the two in an email for customer service.  I heard back from someone different, who did confirm that the chart was changed after the first printing and I must have the newer printing.  Well, fat lot of good that does me, paying $20+ for something that isn't as advertised.  How many other charts don't match the pictures?  There was never any mention of say, a gift certificate or a refund for my troubles.  Not even a free box of mystery sock yarn.  I would have gladly taken a free box of mystery sock yarn, though that would through my "Yarn In" totals quite high.

See that white band above the right ear?  Missing from the chart!

I had to rip it back to the bottom of the off-white band, and knit from the original stocking.  It wasn't the greatest knitting, with twisted stitches and some wonky tension making it hard to count rows and stitches were the intarsia was.  I got past what I thought was the issue area and moved back to the charts.  Once done, I did see a couple of wayward stitches that I duplicate stitched over.

At some point in all of this, I took a break and mended all my handknit socks, and ended up with the wrist injury and had to stop knitting for a bit, then gradually work my way back up to long stretches.  I wanted to make sure this injury healed properly, not like my toes after I dropped the weight on them and then ignored the pain and swelling for several weeks.

Can you spot the couple stitches (on the right kitty) that I duplicate stitched over?

I finally got the stocking finished, and had to hunt for a pom pom.   I couldn't find any the right size so I went bigger, and replaced the original too, trimming them both down quite a bit.  I gave it some steam to smooth it out, arranged a pick up time for the next evening, and brought the two together to take a look.

And whoa. The new one was quite a bit shorter!!  I had had some tensions issues and had been alternating needle sizes to try to match, and sometimes it's hard to tell the final size before seaming, washing and blocking, but there was no denying.  They did not match.  Panic.  Exhale.  I am Tracy, and this is just the way these things are.  It's the True Tracy Way.  I would have to do surgery, as I didn't think I had time to reknit the lower leg, ankle, and entire foot.

I did not take any photos.  I know many knitters find images of cut apart knitting to be too graphic.  I undid the back seam above the ankle, snipped a stitch at the edge, and proceeded to try to pick out a row.  Apparently, I had been knitting from two ends since after finishing the picture, I wanted to use up the small amounts of the red that I had been already using for the background.  It was kind of messy, trying to get it ripped back to one row, and get the ankle side cleaned up to one row to be ready to be grafted back.

I had already put the needles away, thought I had the right size, knit for a while when my daughter was doing her skating tests, ripped it all out, picked out bigger needles, knit for a bit, then knit a few more rows, then grafted it to the original piece.  The new section was obviously bigger and looser, along the seamed edge.  I ended up tightening up stitches one by one, getting some slack, bringing it to the back, and knotting it tight.

I also cut open the toe, ripped back the toe and added some more rows.  It took me several tries to get the toe decreases right and the grafting.  I was grafting starting in the middle of the row like with real socks, but it was wrong, I needed to graft from the end....hard to explain, it's only been a week but I don't really remember exactly.

In the end, it was much improved.  I got a few photos, the customer came and was thrilled.  She doesn't need to know about all the issues.  She did give me a nice tip though, which was much appreciated since the original quote was on the lower end even if there hadn't been any issues.

This is something that is nice about doing custom work.  Every project has a story.  Not just who ordered it, and why, but rarely do the orders go entirely smoothly.  Usually I'm trying to copy something, or "wing it" or working with limited supplies or questionable measurements.  It keeps it interesting.  I don't know that I could crochet 20 owl hats for a craft show.  It might be less stress, but then what if they don't sell.  What if someone wanted blue eyes instead of pink?  What if...

Yarn In: 1586gr
Yarn Out:  3850gr + 107gr = 3957gr
Balance:  2371gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/102days = $0.73/day

Ultimate Cinch Sack

What's the "proper" name for these bags?  I've seen cinch sacks, drawstring backpacks, and I think a few other terms. 

After making my bag, and then my daughter's bag, I felt confident to get started on my niece's birthday bag.  I had gone to Wal-Mart and found they had fabric that came with two co-ordinating pieces that were quite large.  I first looked at one with wild animals that was a bit more childish, but then picked out this one because she's turning 10, so not a "child" but not a teen.  And, let's face it...how often do the parents end up being the one that carries the child's things?  I decided for this one, I was going to use one fabric on one side, and one on the other side, and a different one inside.  This way, although it's not inside-out reversible, it could be back-to-front reversible and a little more mature fabric could be shown.  As well as this awesomeness, I was going to enlarge the backpack by adding a 3" (or so) wide strip between the two sides.  Like a gusset.  I figured I would just cut one long strip and sew each side to it. 

But then I thought, how does it go around the corners?  So I cut out a piece for each side and the bottom, and sewed them together.  But they were too long somehow.  After staring at it for a bit of time, I got out my Singer "Sewing for the Home" book and looked up pillows.  Indeed, they used one long strip, cut a snip at what would be the corners, and "bent" it at the corners.  Since I had sewn seams, this wouldn't be easy, but since the strip was actually too long, I shifted it a bit.

On top of all that drama, I wanted a water bottle pocket on one side piece.  I wasn't going to do it like I did for the purse, which was based on the car seat organizer.  I was going to do it similar to what's on our "real" backpacks, except I didn't have stretchy mesh so I used a pleat.  Then I thought, much of this needs to be taken up to become the "bottom" of the holder, so it needs to be taller.  The scrap piece of fabric that I thought was perfect was suddenly too short.  No problem, I would use the brown of the gusset, and it would be more durable.  That also meant thicker though.

I went to sew it on.  Realized that if I put it up on the side, it would need to have the bottom edge folded up inside and top stitched on--a little thick (I realized after a slightly different way I could have done it).  Ideally, it should be sewn into that seam at the bottom corner.  Then I realized, as I was about to do this, that I needed the straps to come through that brown strip, in the middle, just above the bottom edge.  On the other cinch sacks, there is a seam running between the front and back and the hole for the strap is in the seam.  There was no vertical seam here.  I could use the vertical seam of either the front of back piece, but then would it still be reversible or would it feel funny?  So, I raised the pocket up again.

Then, it really hit me.  Just HOW was I gong to insert the straps into that strip?  I had done so much thinking about this bag before even starting, I thought I had figured out everything.  I can't believe I overlooked this detail!  I was tempted to take the strip off, cut it in half so each the front and back now had a narrow brown strip, and then sew them together again, creating a vertical seam mid-strip.  I realized I needed to go to bed before I started cutting!! 

I came up with the idea of a  button hole.  How to fasten the straps inside though?  I couldn't stitch the button hole slit closed like with the original bag when you sew over the straps along the seam line, on the inside. I could fold each end over to the side (inside), and stitch down, but then you would see that stitching on the outside.  I made buttonholes, and kept pondering if there was something better. 
After much thinking, I looked at my kids' cheapy cinch sacks, and some of them used loops sewn into the side seams, and the cords come through the loop and knotted below.  I've had to replace a few of these loops. Again, I had no seam to sew the ends of the loop through, and if I placed the loop on the outside with each side spread and sewn down (picture the breast cancer ribbon, put fold each leg out flat to the side), you'd see the ends of the loop and how to make that look finished?  I could put the loop through the buttonhole, and stitch down the ends...again, the stitching would show but maybe I could do it really close to the buttonhole.

I had to lengthen the buttonhole slits.  One side went fine, but on the other side, I couldn't get the buttonhole attachment to work properly because of the thickness of the water bottle pocket!!  If I had done the buttonholes before stitching the bag together, it would have worked fine.  Or if I had the pocket up just a bit higher.  At least I hadn't sewn both layers of the bag together yet!

I had found two scraps of the brown twill and sewed it into a tube, turned right side out, pressed with the seam in the middle and top stitched with a contrasting colour.  Mainly because I knew I was getting low on the brown thread and also because I just didn't feel like changing the thread in the machine.  After inserting the liner and stitching together, I added the straps.  Before closing the opening in the liner (which I had forget to leave when I stitched the liner together), I stitched the loops right along the buttonhole, and then "stitched in the ditch" of the side seams--by shear luck the strips were long enough to reach the side seams.  I also stitched the loop right next to the straps so that hopefully the knot never pulls through.

The liner was not problem-free either.  The pocket went fine.  I was slightly more prepared for the water bottle pocket.  I thought "this time I won't put it along the strip so I won't have a problem with the straps".  Duh, the straps don't go through the liner.  I opted to put one side in the side seam, the bottom along the bottom seam, and the other side I could stitch it first with the pocket laid out, RS to RS, next to where it was going to end up, stitch the seam, then flip the pocket over the seam and do the side and bottom with those seams.  Otherwise, if I had centered it, I could do that with only one side of it, so you just top stitch pockets down. But wait a minute....looking at the pictures, the inside water bottle holder is also on the strip.  I think I changed my mind about doing it that way because I couldn't get it straight, or the bottom was funny, or maybe I am so sleep deprived I actually made something else recently and I'm confusing two projects...Oh yes!  I am working on another bag!  Please ignore my rambling.

 I also used some plain white fabric to line the liner because the zig zag side was a little see through.  I lined one side of the liner and one side of the outer.  Not sure why.  Maybe something to do with the inside zippered pocket, or the fussing with the pockets.  When I put the inner and outer layers together though, it hadn't worked out like I had planned.  Either the two water bottle pockets would be on the same side, or both pieces of lining were going to end up on the same side.  I can't tell from my pictures what the end result was.  If I do this again, I think I will center the inside water bottle pocket, regardless if there's one on the outside.  That way, it'll always be balanced.

In the end, I really like this bag.  It's roomy but not huge.  Functional.  Totally unique.  I like the fabrics I used, and I like how I turned the fabric sideways for the water bottle pockets.  I chose the fabrics for the hat in the last post to co-ordinate without being too matchy and I love how it all looks together.  I'm not sure I'd do it with the side pieces again.  The twill is heavier and more durable than the cotton, maybe I could do "patchwork" and use twill for the bottom 1/3 of front and back pieces.  Oh, just thought...what if I had sewn on strap end into each of the seams at the bottom side?  Still, adding the side piece did add to the work and I don't know if the cost would be worth it.  It does make a nice place for a water bottle though.  

Every once in a while something good happens....like running out of bobbin thread right at the end of a seam!

I wish I had a picture of the hat and the backpack together!  Maybe I can get one from my sister-in-law.

Summer!

Finally, it feels like we might have a summer.  If it stays just slightly warmer than it is now, I'll be happy.  Weather like this calls for a floppy sun hat!

 This was made for my niece's 10th birthday coming up.  She's very active, hiking and living in New Mexico, summer camp in Ontario.  A hat that travels well is perfect for her.  I chose this fabric because it was young but not childish and the colours work well with her blue eyes and with the other gift I made her that I'll blog about later.  It's two fat quarters from Wal-Mart!  I've never really looked at fat quarters, but I see how people get addicted to them!

 The inside of the hat is another fat quarter.  I'm not keen on green for the inside, I'm afraid it will reflect off the skin and make the wearer look odd.  But there's also pink in there.

 As soon as I laid out the first pattern piece on this fabric, I discovered a big issue.  The hearts were just slightly bigger than the pattern piece, and when you take into account the seam allowances, it would be hard to tell it 's a heart  :( I can "pattern match" at  the seams, right? 

 Well.  Apparently pattern matching works only for straight seams! 

 I did the best I could, trying to match up the top parts of the hearts.  I knew there would be no way I could match up piece six with piece one, so I didn't even try (below).  I had trouble sewing the pieces together--I had labelled each edge A/B, B/C, C/D, D/E, E/A.  Except....there are six pieces!!  I got that sorted out as best as I could.

 The sixth piece.  Well.  Due to the very large repeat, and the hearts being in rows of one row upright, one row upside down, I couldn't get the last piece to fit anywhere where it could match up with piece 5.  I couldn't even get it to fit somewhere so the heart would be at about the same level as the rest of the hat!  I decided to piece the last piece.  That took some trial and error, and the top of the section (below) worked better than the bottom corner (above).

 I was a little disappointed in how the top lined up.  It's not too noticeable with all the print, so I left it.

 The green gave me no troubles, in the cutting and sewing together.  Until it came time to sew the brim on.  The blue side went together pretty well, it was just off a little bit.  The green?

Ugh.  I eased it, I stretched it, I finally restitched the seam.  I was just too big.  The whole hat feels a bit smaller than mine.  I think what happened is that the green pieces were placed crosswise to what they should be.  There's no grain line on the pattern.  You'd think, small pieces, it's just a hat with cotton....it doesn't matter.  But one direction, the fabric has a bit of natural stretch.  And I guess I got it wrong!  Hopefully it still fits.  She has a big head, but much of that is hair, LOL!  I added a pink ribbon and the white slide lock from my hat.

I really like the pattern and the end result, though it really eats fabric for the brim!! I bought a meter of the stiff interfacing (maybe it should be woven interfacing instead of non-woven), and I'll be able to get only two hats (with some left over).  I wonder if I can cut the pattern piece in half, slightly overlapped, and do that.  I am going to take about 1/4" off the brim length (each side, so 1/2").  Three out of four brims have been too large, so I think it needs it.