9 months and some change

In the time it takes most people to make a baby, I finished a sweater!

The pattern is the infamous Aidez by Cirilia Rose. It's not for the faint of heart, especially when you choose it as your first sweater pattern, but I have to say that it was a pretty fun make, and I'm fairly pleased with the results.

I knit the size M and didn't make any pattern adjustments (mostly because I don't know how, oops). I tried to block it out so that you could get more of the detail on the front sides, but the yarn is synthetic and has already made up its mind about how to behave.

I decided on the medium because I was going through a fitted sweater phase, but now that it's done, I think I'd like it a teeny bit more if it were a teeny bit bigger. The next sweater's already on the needles, though, this time in a size L. I'm using some more synthetic yarn, but this one is much softer (and maybe a little too fuzzy? We'll see, I hardly paid anything for the yarn - beggars can't be choosers). 

I wore it during our recent cold snap, and it is WARM, let me tell you. If we do end up having the polar vortex they're forecasting, I think I'll be all set in this sweater.

I'm also considering this a stash-busting win! Even though my blog title has changed, that will always be a bit of a goal in the back of my mind. I used about 2 skeins of the yarn I swapped with Emma Jayne for this make. Now to figure out what to do with the other 3 skeins!

Have you got any winter knitting queued? I'd love to hear about it!

Fourth-quarter resolution checkup

I thought it might be interesting to look in and see how far I have (or haven't) come with my resolutions...I originally started writing this post somewhere around June, but it's taken me this long to get around to publishing it...which probably doesn't bode well for my resolutions, does it? This means I consider it accomplished, and this means I don't. 

Scrapbooking:

• Get pictures printed! This is step #1 in completing all of those pages I need to finish, obviously. 
• Get to work for the first time in years! Once I'm in the zone, I can usually crank out quite a few pages a night, but it's hard to get started without a dedicated table/place where I can leave my mess out, so my goal is to keep my coffee table clear of everything but scrapbooking stuff and allow myself to live with the mess when I'm in the middle of pages. I have made quite a few pages so far, although, since the move, it's all been packed back up again.
• Most of my supplies are organized by theme, but not quite everything. I need to finish this task, so I can grab the theme I want when I'm ready to work on that page. [This might have to wait a while longer, actually.]
• I'm not allowed to buy anything new, unless it's something absolutely necessary to finishing a page (which, let's be honest, shouldn't ever really happen with paper and stickers and accessories). I think I'll only be allowing myself to buy adhesives and solid-colored cardstock. Done and done! I've been very faithfully putting back things that I've picked up at JoAnn, returned one Disney-themed paper pack my mom bought, and have only filled a couple of solid-colored cardstock holes.

(Garment) Sewing:

• Again, I can't buy anything unless it is absolutely necessary to finishing a project. I know that great linings, the right zipper, perfect buttons, etc. can really finish up the look, but let's be honest - I am a complete novice at sewing and it's unlikely that replacing stash pieces with store-bought perfection would actually perfect my garments. For now I just need to sew, and learn as I go and refine skills, and then I can worry about perfection once I feel more comfortable. [Realllly failed on this one. My stash has grown significantly, but that's mostly because I can't resist a good garage sale or estate sale. Or the clearance racks. Oops. However, in my defense, I've been using some of the fabrics up very quickly, and have sewn more this year than all previous years combined.]
  
  
  
  [I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that this is only a small portion of what I've bought this year, sewing-wise.]
• Just start cutting. Again, if I'm being honest with myself, none of my fabrics are pieces that I should be afraid to cut into, as they're not vintage beauties, and they hardly cost me anything. I've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by cutting up so-so fabrics as muslins and practice pieces. Best-case scenario: I have a wearable muslin! Worst-case: I learned better for the next time. The four pairs of shorts I ruined should attest to that. Pair #5 might be make-it-or-break it (it also helps if I use the right size pattern when cutting out my pieces - that was my mistake with #4!). I do have some great success stories, though!

• Use the patterns I have (and make a list so I stop buying copies of the same patterns!). Most of them only cost me $1 each - if I screw them up that badly, I can buy them again, but they really just need to be used! This was maybe half-accomplished. I did finally cut into three commercial patterns, but I have realized I have a few gaps in my collection (meaning, my collection is almost entirely made up of dresses and nothing else. Oops).
• Refashion the things I've been meaning to refashion, and if they're not done by the end of the year, give them away! I did a decent closet purge a few months ago and took things to the resale shops, but as my items were out-of-season, the stores had no space for them. They suggested bringing them back in the spring, and since half of these items have never been worn, I'm reluctant to just give them away. So I'll make one more trip in early March, and whatever isn't bought is going straight to the Goodwill! Well, the year's not over, but I have managed to refashion 4 things so far, and I gave away the stuff I couldn't sell. There are still several more things sitting around to be refashioned, but I have faith.

Quilting:

• Whoa, what? I do not need to start another hobby, but I feel like this might be easier for me to accomplish than fiddling with hems and darts and fit and such. I recently came across this beauty and I know I have a million things in my stash that I could use to get a similar look.  The quilt I linked to is now DONE! It's so far from perfect that it's laughable, but I still like it. I'll be showing that off in an upcoming post, don't you worry. 

• Make my friend's T-shirt quilt. I probably won't see her again for ages, but I have to stop letting that be an excuse to keep her t-shirts hanging around and haunting me. I've made one of these before, and it's pretty simple, if a bit time-consuming, so it might be just the kick-start I need. Plus, I can always mail it to her when I'm done.  Done and done! It's not perfect, but she loves it, and I got some practice binding, so this is definitely a win. 

Knitting/crochet

• I actually don't have much of a yarn stash anymore, and it needs to stay that way. I want to try to use up most of the rest of what I have by year's-end.
• Make a case for my knitting needles, and maybe do some kind of swap to get rid of duplicates and fill in the sizes I'm missing. [This has been placed on the back-burner for now...]
  
• Start taking projects to my boyfriend's place. That way I can feel like I've accomplished something while he's playing video games. Although he's no longer in the picture, my finished cowl can attest to my success with this one! My sweater has been lingering, but I've only got about a sleeve and a half left to go on that one. Maybe I'll actually be able to wear it by the time the winter gets here!
  
• Figure out how to finish the project I started using leftover yarn from my granny square quilt. I...have no idea at this point. It's not long enough to be a scarf, and not quite halfway to being a decent sized blanket, so we'll see.
• Finally knit an infinity cowl. I wanted one last year, but never got around to it. I still want one, and may just have enough matching yarn to make one this year. If I keep it simple (no fancy patterns), it should come together pretty quickly.  

Well, there you have it, folks. Not a total win yet, but I've still got a few more months, right? How are you coming with your resolutions?

What's happening

Unfortunately, I don't have too much to share right now. Between the move, unpacking/getting settled, having a million and one friends in town, and my parents almost constantly being here to help with house stuff, I haven't had a whole lot of time to create. 

Luckily, I did manage to get a couple of blurry cell phone sneak peaks of my craft space and a quick new project, though!

This was my first attempt at embroidery, and it sure looks a whole lot better than the crappy paper I had in these frames before, doesn't it?

I promise I'll get better pictures of these for my craft room reveal, but I'm very pleased with how they're turning out. These little pieces allow me to accomplish a little something crafty even though the rest of the room isn't ready for me to get back to sewing.

But speaking of sewing, look at all (okay, half) of my lovely fabric stash! It's nice to not have to store things in 14 different places anymore...

Hopefully I'll be able to start posting more regularly soon, but for now, I'll take what I can get. Is anyone else as overwhelmed with how quickly this summer is flying by?

A win and a lose

First up, the win: another pair of Tania culottes, of course!

Honestly, though, these were almost not a win at all. This fabric (picked up at the Textile Discount Outlet for $3.50/yard) is suuuuuper slippery, and since I can't find a blind hem foot for my machine to save my life, I had to stitch that slippery sucker down twice and hope for the best. Thankfully, I think it worked out in the end.

Cute print, no? Unfortunately, it wrinkles more easily than I thought, but...eh. Good enough for who it's for.

Now for the fail: 

This is the bodice of Simplicity 4070, with some adjustments made after fitting it the last time, and a little self-drafted gathered peplum flounce added on in place of a skirt. It's not terrible or anything, but why oh why did I think that sewing a peplum top would be a good idea when I've hated literally every other peplum everything that I've ever tried on? Don't get me wrong, they look good on some people but I...am not one of those people.

I was inspired by ModCloth's Third Street Promenade top and couldn't resist giving it a go myself: 
 

 

I think the Simplicity bodice is a really great match for this, don't you? Too bad it's not my style.

I made this out of some quilting cotton stolen from my mom's stash, so yay for a semi-successful stash bust on this one at least, right?

I got really tired of the straps on the other one falling down, so I decided to make these crossover straps to avoid that (and also provide a little visual interest). 

I'm not ready to throw this completely into the fail pile - I'm still hoping to make it into something slightly more wearable, probably by removing all of the gathers and making the whole top a bit more streamlined. Time will tell if I can get around to that, though - I've got a crazy-busy month coming up!

What do you think of the peplum trend? Temporary fad, or here to stay? And would you/do you wear them?

Breaking resolutions

I'm thinking I might need to change the name of this blog, and my commitment to Stash Diet 2014...while I think I've used more of my fabric stash during the first half of this year than all previous years combined, I have also not stayed very true to my "no-buying" rule. Hancock Fabrics is my downfall, but I've also bought a few things here and there at JoAnn (it's much easier for me to put things back there, though!). In my defense, I've already used quite a bit of the fabrics I've bought at Hancock and at the Textile Discount Outlet (and I used restraint when purchasing there!), but still.

This weekend, however, I just couldn't help myself. I occasionally browse Craigslist looking for patterns, fabric, and various other sewing accoutrements, and this weekend I stumbled across what was billed as a GIANT fabric (/estate) sale, with things going for rock-bottom prices. I briefly debated not going, but in the end, the pull was just too strong. 

Giddy with anticipation, I pulled up to the house, got out of my car, walked into the yard...and stumbled upon probably 20 boxes PACKED with fabric...and this was halfway through the second day of the sale! I quickly filled up two bags of odds and ends, mostly quilting-weight cotton (we all know I don't have a problem making clothes from it at this point). The people running it said they'd give me a price when I was ready, so I wandered into the very chaotic house. Inside, I found loads of bias binding, zippers, and some brand new rolls of quilt batting. (I realized after I left that they also billed that there were sewing machines for sale, but I forgot to ask/didn't see them while I was there. Kicking myself for that now!) Once I was ready, I asked for a price, hoping I had enough cash to cover it...And he told me $10! For all of this (and then some)!

Needless to say, I will be busy/stocked for the foreseeable future. 

I have been working on things, but have not quite gotten the motivation to photograph them yet. I've got another pair of culottes that, for some reason, are a bit too tight in the crotch, and yesterday I finished a Modcloth-inspired peplum top. However, once I tried it on, I realized that there's a reason I don't wear peplum, so now I need to figure out how to modify it. Them's the breaks, I guess...

I'll try to post more regularly in the next month or so, before my big move disrupts all of my crafty pursuits.