A realization:

I have an abundance of the following

• yarn
• knitting patterns
  
• sewing books with patterns in them
  
• knitting books
  
• knitting needles
  
• fabric
  

And I really don't need to buy any more for a long time. Seriously. The only thing I could really use right now is a French Curve (a sewing tool for drawing curved lines).

Self, this is an intervention. Stop buying stuff.

Anda fail

I have been crafting a lot lately, but since nothing has really come of it, I haven't been blogging about it. I've been messing up dresses, sewing muslins, modifying skirt patterns, knitting socks, and neglecting the two cardigans I started in February.

I really wish I could tell you that I'd completed my first dress, Burda Style's Anda #7969.



This dress is really simple, but I keep messing up the finishing on the neckline. Despite the fact that I made a successful muslin for this dress, I have literally started making it three times:

Anda #1. Made from a drapy olive green linen-cotton blend. I followed the directions and finished the neckline and armholes with bias tape, even though it felt horrible and gave the dress a 70s ringer-T-shirt kind of look. The weave of the fabric was too loose, though, and the bias tape pulled off it. I freaked out, threw the half-sewn dress in a box, and called my mom. She promised to help me salvage the dress next time I visited, as well as show me alternate methods of finishing a raw edge.

Anda #2. I was too impatient to wait until I visited my parents again, so I read about finishing edges with a facing. I bought a thin green cotton covered in white dots. You know what the floor looks like when you accidentally tilt a three-hole punch and all the little white circles scatter everywhere? That's what this fabric looks like. It was cheap, but cute, and I didn't realize that I didn't have enough until I'd already cut out half the dress.

Anda #3. I bought a brilliant textured teal cotton from Fabricana in Richmond. I carefully drafted and cut out pieces of facing and interfacing for the neckline and armhole. Then I screwed the neckline up terribly when I sewed it. My mom happened to be in town for an afternoon, so I showed it to her. She declared it salvagable, but also declared that learning sewing and pattern modifying at the same time was a little ambitious. She recommends that I try some smaller things first. I thought the Anda pattern was a smaller thing! But she's probably right.

The smart thing to do would be to pull back, and make few smaller projects: bags, maybe a top, another A-line skirt. But I'm not sure I can leave the Andas alone!

sockenwolle!

So the other day I was taking the bus to work and musing idly about the amount of sock yarn I own. Some of it is destined to become light, (comparatively) floaty cardigans, but the rest is just hanging out. I should get someone to show me how to knit socks, I thought, with no great conviction.

Then I got to work and found this link from CRAFT zine sitting in my email inbox. It's a pdf of very basic top-down sock instructions. My idle musing was answered.

So I bought a set of Hiya Hiya bamboo sock needles from Three Bags Full, and now I'm ready to go. First up: the skein of Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio Sock that my sister mailed me for Christmas.



I started to make a Milkweed shawl out of it, but I realized pretty early on that the variegated colourway was a little wild for me (I loved the shawl pattern though -- it's really fun to knit!). So instead, I'm going to make LeDroit Park socks.

The island of misfit toys

What do you do when you just don't like something that you've made by hand?

Usually, I don't have much trouble getting rid of things I've made. In fact, I find this process has gotten easier over the years as my apartment slowly fills up with the flotsam and jetsam of my creative life. For example, I have more scarfs than one person could possibly use, so it's not difficult to dispose of a few that aren't my favourites.

But I have to admit, I find it harder to throw something away when it has a face.



I made this tooth because I wanted to play with my new sewing machine. The pattern is from Softies by Therese Laskey. I figured that if it looked cute I could give it to my friend Dave, who recently has had both dental trouble and a birthday. But it didn't turn out as I had intended. It's lopsided, blank-faced and just not cute enough to give as a gift. I don't want to keep it. But I can't quite bring myself to throw it away. What do you do with a toy that no one wants?

Spring knits

In my Creative Resolutions for 2010, I declared that I wanted to knit some sweaters that were "lighter-weight and more suitable for year-round wearing." Also, I decided that I would try to knit something that was not teal.

I'm pleased to say that I have actually stuck to this resolution:

1. "Accidentally on Purpose Drop-Stitch Vest" from Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation by Debbie Stoller.

Knit in Rowan Pure Life Cotton DK.

This organic, "naturally dyed" cotton is a warm, silvery grey, the exact colour of a weathered log on a beach. It's called "logwood", so I'm clearly not the only person to think this. This project is essentially a big stockinette tube, so it's incredibly boring to knit, and also kind of hard on my hands (cotton has no elasticity). But I'm powering through for three reasons:

i) I would really like to own another sweater vest. I only have one, and it's a pilly cheap thing from the mall. I'm really fond of wearing it over long sleeve t-shirts though.

ii) I keep seeing lovely bags and shoes made from light grey leather. It seems like a nice neutral for spring -- lighter than black or brown and fresher than white or khaki. Basically, I really want something in this colour, and since I can't afford a new Marc Jacobs bag, I'm going to knit something.

iii) I've never actually knit anything from the Stitch 'n' Bitch knitting books, even though I own two of them, and used the first one to elarn how to knit. I'm afraid some of the patterns are starting to look a little dated now, but these books were important--to me personally, as well as the knitting world--so I feel compelled to make at least one thing from them!

I'm slightly afraid that the end result is going to look more like "wacky 70s macrame" than "interestingly deconstructed." But I am continuing despite this, because it was a cheap and easy knit, and because I should experiment every once in a while.

2. Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan from Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel
Knit in Filatura Di Crosa Zara Solid (discontinued)

I have much less to say about this, except that I've wanted to knit it for a long time, and I really hope that it turns out well. I made some pretty signifigant modifications to it, including raising the bust darts, shortening the raglans, and adding a little length in the body. The yarn is soft and beautiful. The mandrin collar might have some issues -- it seems a little floppy -- but it's way too late to fix that now (unless there's a way to frog from the cast-on edge ...).