As well as knitting, reading, finish-finish-finishing a sweater, spinning, and making something for MY NEW CAR, I’ve been working on several knitting project. Due to my rather unusual circumstances of moving my whole life back overseas, I finished most of my works in progress while I was in Zambia or shortly thereafter, so I found myself with a timely case of startitis. One of the main things I finished was my brother’s Cuthulu ski mask. I’m super not sold on the eyebrows; I’ll have to ask him what he thinks. It was a lot of finishing work, but my brother is worth it!
Another thing I finished was my collection of House star and stockings for my (someday) nerd tree. I didn’t have the burgundy or gold yarn, so I soon finished up Huffepuff and Ravenclaw, and now have the full set. Those projects (including the stars!) can retire…for now! I might start staring again next Christmas…
I’m making myself finish working on my Toronda hat before I cast on a shawl pattern I’ve been itching to start for some time now. I still love this pattern, it’s just a lot of stockinette in laceweight yarn now that the exciting pattern bit is finished! It’s living in my new Chickenboots bag; I’m so sorry she’s closing down the business!
The green, colorwork part of the hat is done with the lovely light fingering alpaca Lucy brought me from Bolivia a few years ago, and the incongruous orange and red is from a single skein of long discontinued Knitpicks Gossamer (laceweight) that much younger Lina bought. Since the hat is fully lined (yes, I realize how warm that will be!) (and yes, that means the orange and red doesn't show through!) I blocked it before making the magic of the top and starting the ribbing. I have become an absolute advocate for blocking, and I have to say it really made some magic with the colorwork section of this hat. Kids, don't skip the blocking! As we speak, I'm debating whether to do the lining of the ribbed section in rib as well, and if I should use some more of the Gossamer. Decisions, decisions...
The sewing project I have been working on is a car trash bag holder for my Matrix. I wanted something attractive and sturdy that would hold a plastic shopping bag that I could easily remove when needed. I used the tutorial here with a few mods; I used two fat quarters cut to 14” wide and as tall as the quarter. I meant to cut the front to 16,” but I totally forgot and cut them both the same width. So, I tore two inches off the back, and then proceeded as described. Mine Velcros at the side, not in the middle, because I didn’t want my passengers to have Velcro in the back of their neck. I love the boning to hold the bag open, and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out!
I'm trying to groups things as I've been doing several different types of crafting and have a few other things that I want to write posts about in the next few days, so to finish off I just want to extol the wonders of thread conditioner, like ThreadHeaven or beeswax such as this-
I have found that it makes a HUGE difference in hand-sewing endeavors; it almost totally keeps your thread from tangling, and it glides through the fabric in a very satisfying manner. Tonight I was sewing buttons onto the cuffs of this plaid shirt I bought to make it a 3/4 sleeve, as the buttoned cuffs made the sleeves a tad too short and rather tight, I wished my beeswax had arrived in time for the meticulous sweater finishing I worked on last week--pictures to follow! It feels so good to have time to make things, plan things, and be excited about being a maker...
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