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This is going to look a little familiar.
It’s another embroidered binder cover.
But it’s for my knitting patterns!
It’s about time I liberated them from the plastic folders they were living in because I rediscovered a lot of forgotten gems.
Once again I followed instructions from Stitched in Time and used embroidery designs from Cute Embroidery Designs Volume Two.
I had a mini meltdown at the end of last week but I’m feeling much better so, in celebration, some random things that make me happy:
- David Sedaris’s impression of Billie Holiday
- Cadbury Cream and Mini Eggs
- My Arazni Aronzo Kohitsuji-chan mug
- The new season of Big Love
- Martha Stewart Living, which I read for the first time last week
- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and I don’t care who knows it
Drum roll please………………………………….
Two months from today we are moving to:
We’re pretty disappointed as it was our dead last choice but it’s out of our hands. We’ll find out next week where exactly we’ll be. *please not Churchill, please not Churchill*
I’ll have some finished projects to show you next week but in the meantime here’s a half assed book review:
This week I checked The Body Shape Bible out of the library. I don’t typically watch all those wear what we tell you to shows because I feel physical embarrasment for the middle aged women getting their boobs fondled in the middle of Marks and Spencer. But, I thought I could handle a little direction in picking out patterns so I gave Trinny and Suzanna’s newest book a go.
With an excessive use of the term “tits” the book describes a dozen or so bodyshapes and gives wardrobe do’s and don’ts for that particular figure. I fell into the hourglass category and I found that I was doing better than expected at dressing myself. Here’s what I should be wearing.
I always go for V-necks and puffed sleeves, I’ve been wearing more and more skirts and dresses and those shoes are pretty similar to the ones I got from Zappos a few months back. There were also some revelations, such as the fact that I should be wearing very fitted pencil skirts rather than flared A-line or fuller designs. Now the only question is where do I get the patterns for the skirt and dress pictured above?
The most surprising section of the book was the last one. It is entirely devoted to remaking existing clothing in your closet. It starts out with an intro discouraging people from heading to the mall and shows some vintage and outmoded pieces updated.
So timely and handy for my refashioning pledge!
P.S. Fluevog is having another great sale and I received these last week. They’re a great price but be aware that they are a full size smaller than marked.
And she’s not quite sure how to use them.
I was most looking forward to receiving the Japanese patterned pair but now that they’re here I actually prefer the gold ones. They’re more comfortable and the green on the second pair is more green that they appeared online. I like them both a whole lot though and I can’t wait to wear them to work.
I don’t think I would normally wear these with nylons (it’s not advisable with open toed shoes – right?) but I had to give props to these new ones I bought to wear at Chris’s party (thanks to everyone who came and helped out – we really, really appreciated it). They’re Filodoro Classic, they’re made in Italy and I got them at Fancy Socks. I’m now convinced that legwear is one of those things where price equals quality. These fit really well, they feel great and I’ve worn them twice and they are still without holes or runs which is more than I can say for regular department store nylons.
Tomorrow I will be spending approximately eighteen hours in a rented car so I thought a new sock was just the thing to keep me awake and calm while other drivers did stupid things on snowy roads. At first I thought a plain sock would be my best bet. No pattern to keep track of so it would be easy to pick up and work on. But I strongly feel that the beautiful sock yarns in my stash deserve better. I sifted through all the patterns I have in my Ravelry queue and saved to my desktop and settled on Nutkin. I’m really glad I did.
This pattern reminds me of Monkeys (the socks, not the mammal) because it’s easy to remember and addictive. I’d love to try these again in a solid or semi-solid yarn that would show off the pattern more. I’m using the Pony Pearl DPNs that Michelle sent me. At first I hated them because they’re a bit dull but now I think they’re great. They’re really lightweight unlike Addi Turbos and they have a bit of bend. The dullness actually works well with the splitty Paca Peds yarn.
I’ve realized that I’m never going to feel like putting on tights, my new boots, and the skirt I’ve made, let alone brushing my hair and putting on mascara to get a picture to post. But I’m rather proud of the skirt I finished a few weeks back so my bed was kind enough to model it.
The pattern called for wool crepe or gabardine, which seems to cost about thity dollars a yard, so it was polyester blend suiting for me. Unfortunately it weighs six pounds looks a bit like upholstery on me but I’m really happy with how the pleats, zipper and curves came out considering I’m still a beginner sewer.
The Duo Boots came last week and once the bitterness of having to turn seventy bucks over to customs subsided I took them for a walk around The Glebe. It was not a pleasant trip. Apparently the boots are not as waterproof as one might imagine. I got a waterproofing spray and that seems to have done the trick. They do fit very well in the calve, although they bunch up a bit around the ankles and are quite big in the foot. I wear a size 9 which, according to their site, translates to a 40 European. I probably should have gotten a 39 or 38. They are really comfortable, however, and I have no qualms about wearing them all day.
I also got my wool tights from Tights Online this week. They are loooooong. But, they fit my thighs and hips and they’re warm, so I’m happy.
Now that all of my Christmas cards have been sent, and I’m assuming received, I can show you what I chose from Etsy. It was hard to narrow it down but these ones were my favourites.
A little bird told me from Mew Paper Arts.
Kobito Elves from Fugu Fugu Press.
I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas, or relaxing long weekend, as your background dictates. I will no doubt have some new yarn / knitting related goodies to show you when we get back from out East in a little over a week. So long!
I’ve worked a whole day today and I am tired. I know, so pathetic. But teaching and taking the bus and grocery shopping are tiring, especially after four months of barely leaving my apartment. I did get a lot of work done on my mom’s socks while the students watched videos and made homophobic comments (god I hate teenagers).
Anyway, the Interweave preview is up. While I think the cover looks like a 1983 Woman’s Day,
I do love the cover sweater as well as this
and this
I potentially love the Farrow Rib Cardigan, Ruched Shell and Gathered Pullover but I’ll have to wait to see bigger photos to see if they’ll be added to the queue.
I caught the second half of the second episode of Project Runway Canada and was sufficiently hooked to watch the first episode online this morning first thing (it’s a difficult life, this). I kind of love Carlie 
but that may just be because of her kick ass hair. I hadn’t seen the American version before so I was surprised that most of the participants were already fairly successful designers and therefore wickedly talented for the most part. Except Megan. You can’t sew? Really? You were aware that this was a show for people who want to make clothing right?
I want to hate Iman because she’s married to my boyfriend and, well, I do. It’s not all her fault. I’m sure she didn’t beg them to use “you just don’t measure up” ad nauseum and she sounds fine when every single word coming out of her mouth isn’t scripted but that isn’t often enough to make her bearable to listen to.
Regardless, it’s quite inspriational and I walked to the grocery store today critiqueing every lunch break office worker’s outfit. It wasn’t difficult. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who are supposed to be professionals dressing like they’re at a slumber party when they were twelve. Don’t even get me started.
This pre-dates my PRC period, but I skipped to Heavens to Betsy this weekend and got a cute hat.
I love it so much that it doesn’t bother me at all that I have no upward vision when wearing it.
In knitting news, I finished the back of Shetland on Thursday or Friday and blocked it a few minutes ago.
I would have liked to block it a little more aggressively but it was to measurement as is and I didn’t want to make it huge. I’m about half way through the front.
Question: When I meet Veronik Avery and possibly Kate Gilbert in Montreal on the 28th is it super cheesy to wear one of their patterns? Should I try to be all cool and wear a Eunny Jang?
That’s right, Robyn is organizing a get together on the day I get to Montreal and she’s invited the Montreal knitterati. Jealous?
The Fall issues of Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits both featured reviews of The Natural Knitter and the book immediately captured my interest. As a vegetarian who also tries to consume organic dairy products and purchase environmentally friendly products, I’m always interested in learning more about organic processes, especially when it comes to knitting. Frustratingly, I couldn’t find much on the content of The Natural Knitter online and my local independent book store and big box book store didn’t have copies of the book the multiple times I checked. So, I requested that the library purchase the book (I’m a library enthusiast but didn’t realize that this was possible at my local library until recently. If she’s reading, perhaps Shannon can weigh in on if this is a widespread practice). It arrived yesterday and I eagerly dashed to the library to pick it up and I sat down and read it cover to cover this evening.
The descriptions of cultivation processes of a wide array of fibers is very, very detailed. If you’re the curious sort you’ll love learning about where just about every non-petroleum based fiber comes from. If, like me, you hate acrylic yarn anyway but always felt like a bit of an elitist for shunning it, you can now say that you prefer natural fibers for environmental reasons. I found the descriptions of each fiber production company quite interesting also. I’m now inspired to buy a VW van and travel around the states visiting all the conscientious small scale operations covered in the book.
However, if you buy a knitting book strictly for the patterns, I would have to say this probably isn’t the book for you. There is only one pattern that I might consider making, The Quiviut Twinset
The other patterns range from boring to the offensive Chenille in the Morning housecoat, which features a pocket adorned with and assortment of buttons. But to be fair, I find chenille offensive in pretty much any form. I also found myself wishing that there was more than one picture of the patterns. Perhaps if I had seen the back of any of the projects they would have won me over.
In general, The Natural Knitter is a fascinating read and a real tribute to the late Barbara Albright’s commitment to thoroughly researching her subject, but a fresher take on patterns would have made it a must buy.
