Just DO IT

So much for my NY's resolution to blog every week...January was a whirlwind! I spent one busy weekend in Seattle for Nihon Vogue. For Level I we are finishing our first two projects--a roundneck vest and a top-down raglan. We learned how to do the sewn bindoff for straight pieces and how to work the sleeves for the raglan. Swatches were reviewed for the roundneck pullover, the next project. I am so excited to be using Madelinetosh DK for the pullover and was happy to have my lace panel swatch approved. Jean's approval process seems to be somewhat arbitrary at times, resulting in much swatching (its good for the soul) and some frustration.





I can't recall the name of this colorway right now but it is foresty green with little peeks of lavender. My cable swatch was rejected as the row gauge is tighter than stockinette, but the lace on the right was approved. Not a great picture for the details but it reminds me of climbing leaves. I will use it for either a single panel up the center front, or two panels, one on either side of the front reaching up to the shoulder.

These swatches are some of my handspun for the sleeveless vest. The whole project is turning out alarmingly small but I am trying not to think about it. (Ah, denial.)






The Level II class was a bit more intense. Our first two projects are a dolman sweater and a 'puffy-sleeved' sweater. My dolman is in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light. This is a great yarn and I am loving working with it, so much so that I bought another sweater's worth in a different color.





My dolman is going to be a zip cardigan with a cable running up the fronts of the cardigan and up the tops of the sleeves and shoulders. We learned how to graft the pieces together so I have most of the finishing to do for this project.

All this to do, and I am not even working on any of it. More soon about the bottom-up raglan for Level two--this is what I have been working on. Catherine Lowe yarn...YUM!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mess?

I am not sure why my husband thinks I've trashed his office...






Looks good to me!

Beginning again

This is my first real post from my Ipad and I think I am going to find this easier than posting from my main computer. Up until this last week I have been working primarily on assignments for Nihon Vogue. Our next class is next weekend. After knitting, frogging and reknitting, I finally finished most of the homework and have been free to work on other things. One of my New Year's resolutions is to spin up all of the fiber I purchased at SOAR this year.
The first fiber is an unknown wool from an unknown vender. Okay, I lost the tag. I started spinning this on my drop spindle while still at SOAR and the tag is nowhere to be found. It is from a vender who was from the area surrounding Delavan WI where SOAR was held. There was a small sample of this blend in my welcome pack and I knew I had to get some. Four ounces, spun on two bobbins and then plied together. No regard for trying to orient the color sequence in a particular way. I love the colors and the way they blend. It reminds me of the complexity of color you see in yarns like the tweedy Jamieson and Smith colors, or the Alice Starmore Hebrides yarns.








The resulting yarn is about 300 yds of DK-to-worsted weight yarn destined to be some mitts and who knows what else. It is still slightly damp but I intend to get it on the needles before the next Nihon Vogue class--great airplane knitting.

In other news, E had her third presentation in preparation for getting her black belt in May. There have been a lot of changes at our Dojo and the new karate Master is trying to raise the standards. Consequently the kids last night came in for a lot of criticism, all in a good way though. I am so proud of E for keeping a good attitude despite this.


I was definitely inspired to practice at home myself after this presentation!



More about Nihon Vogue coming soon!

Baptism dress

100_2352, originally uploaded by drlafall.

Here is the back of the dress, I have just started the patterning for the bodice. This star pattern is a bit of a slog but I really like the way it looks. I got the back blocked yesterday and am hoping to block the front and sleeves on Friday for assembly saturday. Then I will finish right on time!

Also blocked is the February Fitted Sweater. When assembled it will be my first FO for the IntKnSweMoDo, if I don't count the Baptism Dress. Im on a roll!

I missed a few other resolutions in my last post, nothing very exciting. The most important is that I will waste no more time on computer games. I probably used up hours of my life last year playing mind-numbing games. I don't feel too bad about it though because I think that time helped my brain process some of the emotional issues I have been trying to work through. Anyway, this resolution has freed up a lot of time, and I am going to make my goal of a knitted dress for E's baptism on Jan 10.

I started her dress on Dec 26. The pattern is not well written--for example, the schematic does not match the shaping of the pattern. I added extra length so that the dress will fall to her knees. I also added more shaping at the armhole and neck. The yarn is luscious--Blue Sky Alpaca Sport in a hot pink. Pic is in the next post

It is the beginning of a new year and a full six months since my last post. At the begnning of each new year I do set some resolutions. It is sad to think that we make these resolutions and within months we have forgotten them and slipped back into our old patterns. Perhaps we set our sights too high.

This year I am going to try and stick to some realistic, achievable goals (at least I think they are achievable).

1. I will participate in the International Knit a Sweater a Month Dodecathalon AKA IntKnSweMoDo. When I think about my stash of yarns and patterns as well as my WIPs, I could probably participate for two years and not exhaust my supplies. Anyway, it is a great motivator to get some things done.

2. I will get my candidate blue belt in jiu jitsu. This is going to take more consistent attendance in class and overcoming my discomfort. I am not quite sure why I want this so much. It seems the opposite of everything I am. Somehow though, when I am through with a class, I am charged and excited.

3. Find the joy in life every day. THis is my personal challenge. Living with a husband who frequently drinks to excess and is not much of a participant in our family or in our marriage is difficult. In order to get through it, my only choice is to focus on the good things and try to limit the impact on my daughter.

Okay, so I throw the last one in there, sort of out of the blue going from light-hearted to deadly serious. The thing is, I'm just trying to figure out how to survive this. It is certainly not the journey I thought I was on.

The last thing I need to figure out how to cope with is how I feel about K. Boy this really came from out of the blue and it took me a long time to realize what was going on. At first I just thought it was a case of hero worship. Then last summer I recognized the feeling. It has been over 20 years since I had felt this feeling. I never wanted to feel this again. It is too insane. Perhaps there is really no figuring to do. There is nothing to do about this, but try to let it fade away over time...yeah, like about 20 years!!

Recycling

I really should change the title of this blog at this point because I have completely abandoned all things fiber in favor of all things fabric. I am loving! the sewing! True to my usual obsessive, need to know self, I have signed up for four on-line sewing classes. Three are through www.quiltuniversity.com and the fourth is through www.patternreview.com. Three are obviously quilting techniques--time for some formal education in this. One is basic garment sewing, also time to stop winging it on my own and learn the proper way to do things...
I am currently working through the lessons of "Starting from Scratch", a class on basic patchwork techniques. The precision with which you have to do everything is almost unbearable! It never occurred to me to square-up my blocks before assembly and right now, as I quilt my log cabin quilt, I am suffering the outcome of this knowledge deficit. I don't know if it will be worth trying to struggle through quilting this extremely poorly constructed quilt top, or if I should just abandon it as a teaching experience. Perhaps it can be hacked up for some other use. Reduce, reuse, recycle...