Howdy and crafty photos

So much has been going on! Oh the craftiness. My fingers have been extremely busy lately working on all kinds of stuff (and I remembered to take pictures!). Will wonders never cease?

First, I did a little bit of clothes shopping. Now those of you who have known me for more than 93 seconds know that I am NOT fond of clothes shopping, because I'm....well, let's call it frugal. Because I am a seamstress, I HATE buying overpriced, poorly made clothing that doesn't fit me well. If I'm going to buy poorly made clothing that doesn't fit me well, it can AT LEAST be cheap. Let's hear it for the Goodwill!

I went there last week to buy a few pairs of jeans and whatever else I could find that was inspiring. I ended up buying 3 shirts and 2 pairs of jeans (at $2.50 each. wow.) Not bad. I'm having to do some work on one of the pairs of jeans, but they're Tommy Hilfiger, and also, did I mention they cost $2.50? Yeah.

I also picked up a cool shirt/sweater thing. It's really colorful and fun, and matches everything (nothing?) so it's very versatile. And the shape is flattering. I think I might use this shirt as a template for sweaters and other things I make for myself, to get the same fit. Here's what the fabric looks like:

Funky, no?

I've also been channeling my inner HGTV host and bought a $10 chair for my newly revamped sewing/writing desk. Here it is in its Old Floridian Beige glory:


I took off the cushion and started painting the frame a lovely teal color, because that's the way I roll.

Woo hoo! And because I refuse to let someone's retinas NOT sear while in my house, I covered the cushion in chartreuse velour. Voila:




Now one funny thing that came from overthinking (as many of my mistakes do): I was meticulous about not putting paint on the top of the seat of the chair, so that the fabric wouldn't stick and the paint potentially chip if I ever wanted to recover the cushion. I got into the corners and around all the visible areas well, leaving the beigy color showing on the top of the seat pieces (see above photo of the chair for clarification, or if you're bored enough).

So! Imagine my surprise when I put the cushion on, and realized that the seat cushion doesn't cover ALL of the wood of the seat pieces! Huh. For a second or 3, I actually thought somehow the paint had gotten wiped off of the back seat, and looked over my person to make sure I didn't have a big teal streak on my leg. Then I thought that it must have been sabotage. Perhaps gnomes, or evil fairies, or poltergeists (paintergeists?). Then I realized that no, I'm just a moron and didn't paint that spot.

But it's not noticeable! Really! See?


Yeah. Needless to say, that got fixed. The chair is now finished and has been used by everyone in the house, particularly Poe, who enjoys leaving black fur all over the green cushion.

I've been sewing a lot too lately - fixing Noel's work pants, modifying some jeans of mine, and making a fun baby hat for some friends who were moving (and are going to miss the SEC a LOT there in Nebraska). No pics of sewing...yet!

Next in our cavalcade of craftiness, we have knitting. I've been a sock knitting machine lately, and also terrible at the photo thing because I have a beautiful pair of new socks sitting in the drawer at home, unphotographed for posterity. Here's another pair that I'm almost finished with. This yarn is Berroco Sox, and was a birthday gift from my sister (she gave me a gift certificate to http://www.supercrafty.com/ - great site! Go buy some yarn! Or another gift certificate for me and I'll go buy some yarn!)

I'm almost finished with them, and then I need to get to work on holiday knitting, because as far as knitting timelines go, the holidays are virtually around the corner!

Speaking of holiday knitting, my sister's birthday was last week and I'm crocheting her a sweater. This yarn is gorgeous! It's some kind of eco yarn (I am so bad about yarn names!) and it's got a great luster to it. Rachel, I hope you like the color (it's a bit lighter than in this picture). The pattern is Aruna from Berroco.

I did my gauge swatch and was so pleasantly surprised to get the same gauge as the pattern. That never happens! So I happily started away, and got about 4 inches of the back (pictured above) done, when I held it up and thought "My sister is not ginormous, and yet this sweater is." The back piece, which was supposed to measure 24 inches, was coming out at around 30 inches. Um....that won't work. So I had to frog the whole thing and crochet the sweater that's 2 sizes smaller, to get the right measurements. OY. I don't know what voodoo happened between the gauge swatch and the actual sweater but WOW it was a doozy.

So!

It's coming along nicely now and measures exactly 24 inches. Go team!

Also? I like the wrong side of the fabric better so far. I asked Noel for his opinion, and he chose the wrong side as well. So I may just make that change in the pattern. :)

p.s. That's my ergonomic crochet hook, a christmas gift from a coworker. This thing is wonderful, and cuts down tremendously on the tendonitis, which severely interferes with my drinking and eating of homemade bread.

Good news! If any of you decide to collapse in a heap in my presence, I can help!



I'm official (again). This certification was through work, and lasts for 2 years, which is really nice. (The last time I got certified it was a yearly renewal, which is just...a lot to remember).

But please don't collapse on my behalf, just so I can have practice. Really.

We're watching out for Hurricane Bill down here, hoping he doesn't come for a visit. Will keep you posted!

Back to the birthday sweater now! Maybe there's some CSI or Poirot on....

Cranking and Coughing

Hello all.

Much going on here lately in the craftiness world! But alas I have no photos. I'm planning on taking some tonight!

Here's a quick rundown:

(1) First, and most exciting, I finished my Textured Circle Shrug on the Lion Brand knit-along. Very lovely pattern and it turned out quite well, if not a little big. I think I'll take in the arms a bit, since they're a bit bell-ish for my taste.

(2) Entry into a hat competition for a knitted hats book. Need some nice photos of the hat. Funny, to take pics of a winter hat when it's hotter than Dante's oven out there, but hey.

(3) I started last night on a crocheted wrap for my darling Grandmother. It's a nice sage green color and is open and airy, so she can wear it now if she feels like it, or throughout cooler weather. I love crochet because it goes SO FAST. Mom's wrap took 2 months or so to finish. This wrap might be done by tomorrow. Depending on how much I do tonight. But I already have about 2 feet of it done. Wow!

(4) Mystery Project X, which I want to keep secret for now because I don't know how it will turn out! It's a freeform crochet garment for myself. Check out what freeform crochet is at: http://www.freeformcrochet.com/

(No, I'm not making a wearable coral reef, but that would be an AWESOME halloween costume for Neptune? SCHWEET.)

(5) Slipcovers for the living room furniture, which are in stylin' fabrics. Woo hoo, let's here it for purple!

(6) Sundresses for myself. I still have the 6' 3" dress that needs to be shortened dramatically. I also have enough fabric for about 5 more dresses, and want to get going on those.

(7) Amigurumi project for the kitties - a family of crocheted octopi. Fun stuff!

Speaking of the kitties, I had to take Loki to the vet this morning because he's been sniffling a lot lately and has runny eyes and nose and sneezing fits. So apparently he has a respiratory infection (and a fever) but they hopped him up on antibiotics, so he'll be back to his playful self soon.

Interesting note though - we thought Loki was either trying to throw up or cough up a hairball. You know, that sorta painful looking neck-out body spasm thing that cats do? Except nothing ever came up and he was making kind of a weird sound with it. Apparently that's how cats cough as well. Huh.

Anyway, after his trip to the vet, I got him some new toys (since that's exactly what the cats need) and some Greenie treats, which he loves. Recovery is assured!

(2)

The Kittens Are So Stoic!

Good news on the kitten front:

They're free of tapeworms (eew), their respiratory & eye infections are cleared up, and they've started receiving their vaccinations. They were such champs last night! They sat in their carrier without whining (which is a small miracle in and of itself) and didn't claw or pitch a fit. I was so proud!

Also, Loki has gained half a pound. In a week. Which seemed like a lot, until they weighed Poe, who gained almost a full pound. They're growing like little furry clawing weeds!

Other than that, I am SO glad it's Friday. This weekend will be the Start On Reupholstering The Goodwill Furniture Extravaganza, starting tonight with 3 hours of making piping for the wingback chair that's scheduled to go from old-Floridian-retiree-pastel-upholstery to pimpy-burgundy-crushed-velvet-upholstery. Sweet. The piping is a gold stripe with blue & red in it. Should look fantastic. I'm making the piping myself though, which generally takes a few hours to get the yardage I need (15 yards for this chair, I believe). I did it for the other chair I did, and it turned out nicely. I only slipcovered that chair though, I didn't upholster it, even though upholstery would've been easier probably!

Just to remind you, here are some pictures of the old chair before and after the slipcovering:

The new chair is a wingback chair with wooden legs - even the legs need to be sanded and refinished! But it was only $10 at the goodwill. You can't pass that up! And yes, I promise I will take photos of the upholstery projects as they move along. I take photos if for no other reason than to remind me of what it looks like so I can put it back together!

I'm excited about learning upholstery techniques - I know a little, but don't really feel like I know enough to tackle just about anything yet. It's one of my new year's resolutions to learn upholstery (as well as lose back down to 140 lbs, even though I sit here eating a Snickers - sigh).

Time to finish up a few things here and then head out for the weekend!