Phew! I need a vacation!

…Cause I am pooped! I went a little crazy on the crafting last week and the funny part is that I have more to show you but the pictures will have to wait until after Hawaii. I didn’t get around to the Amy Butler Cafe Wrap Skirt, and didn’t want to start a potential big girl disaster with the shirt, so I substituted another skirt and some Frenchy Bags. I gotta say Crack has nothing on Craft Thank goodness obsessive crafting is not illegal.

Thank you everyone who joined me in the FO parade last week and left comments. I truly loved and appreciated all of them and all of you.

So what am I doing now? Preparing the vacation knitting of course. What you see in the picture is an almost finished Montego Bay Scarf that was supposed to be my vacation knitting project, coincidently it will be anyway because it was ripped last night. It was a sad parting as I was going so quickly I was worried that I would finish it before the vacation. It was only when I reached 60″ of the 80″ that I realized that I would rather have a wider scarf/stole size finished object, especially with so much yarn left. The pattern calls for 440 yards and I have 550, plus I don’t need it to be so big. So Montego Bay will once again make the vacation knitting cut, along with the Drop Stitch Lace Tank from Fitted Knits.

There will be no blogging until my return, not that it should be truly noticed as this blog is pretty sporatic anyway. But have a wonderful week and I will see you later with Hawaii shots and FO in the wild pics

Finished Object – Noro Butterfly

I figured I would end the FO parade with a bang or maybe a flutter with the debut of the long awaited (or maybe not) Noro Butterfly sweater. I loved this sweater since I saw one of my knit group members sporting it. I knew I had to have it but due to yarn cost I postponed until the time was right (i.e. the yarn was on sale). This sweater knit up extremely fast and I have been finished for almost a month before today’s final reveal (eek!) Anyhoo on to the details…

Yarn: Noro Kureyon
Inspiration: Noro Butterfly
Needles: Size 8
Yardage: 13 balls
Modifications: Reduced the sleeve length to 17.5″ instead of 20.75″
Enjoyment Factor: 9
Knit Time: 5/24/07 – 7/1/07

The Good:

• Can’t beat sale yarn! Got the yarn for a steal so it made the knitting that much more enjoyable
• I kept saying that this knit itself and it really did! This is one of the fastest and most addictive sweaters I have knit. Too bad it is 80+ degrees outside. But I just couldn’t stop!
• This thing is warm but not heavy. It floats like a butterfly and the colors sting like a bee. Ok the colors are not that much of a zinger but the Muhammed Ali reference had to be through in there somewhere.
• I was worried about fit, because the sweater, if knit in the wrong size looked like it would swallow you whole, but my size proved be the right size after all. Sleeves were another story….
• Kureyon, although not soft in nature, does soften up with a good wash in Soak or other woolwash. Plus I don’t mind a little scratchiness and for me this is not really scratchy at all.
• Damn, my finishing skills are improving immensely. I used to be afraid of the finishing on sweaters but now its not so bad, even looks kinda good in the end.

The Bad:

• I had some collar issues. Also, despite my pinning and steaming, it still tends to roll a little bit unless I wear it with a little bit of a high collar in the back. I don’t think that will ever go away.

• Matching those stripes. I was not obsessive about it, but it was a concern so I at least made an effort at getting them to match. I did pretty good all around. The sleeves were a little off, but nothing that you would immediately notice. In the end I was left with some of the uglier color bits, which if spit spliced together, equals about 3/4 of a ball of Kureyon. Hmmm….guys like ugly colors right

The Ugly:

• What the hell type of monkey arms does the models at Noro have that they would suggest a 20.75″ sleeve on this!! I reduced the length to 17.5″, that is a 3.25″ reduction, and it still came out on the long side. Long is what I wanted, but Noro was going for octopus extensions with those measurements.
• Trying not to follow the painful odyssey of other Butterfly knitters, I seamed the fronts and backs and then safety pinning the sleeve in to try it on. Good thing, because I ended up having to reknit the sleeve cap on the second one to match my new 17.5″ measurements. All in all I got some really cuddly and beautiful sleeves out of the deal but I repeat, what was Noro thinking!

Finished Object – Amy Butler Blue Sky Sun Hat

So the Finished Object parade continues with another Amy Butler original. My mom captured this ahhhh soookey sookey picture of me and it just epitomized the hat. I feel so classic when I wear it. It has that Fedora feel with the floppy, stick in your bag, everyday appeal. BTW my earring are courtesy of this lovely artist. I actually subscribe to her etsy store so that I can see all the lovely things she makes.

Fabric: Michael Miller Dandy Damask
Inspiration: Amy Butler Blue Sky Sun Hat
Modifications: 1/2″ shorter brim, Used a 5/8″ seam for the final crown construction seam, 3/8″ shorter crown
Difficulty: 4
Enjoyment Factor: 9
Sewing Time: Probably 3 hours

The Good:

• Speed baby, Spppeeed! This thing was done so quickly it was amazing. The most time consuming was figuring out what modifications I needed to make to tailor fit it to me.

• Love the fabric which is a heavier weight fabric. At first I thought it would be too busy, but then I thought about the fact that this is a huge brimmed hat so being incognito is kinda out of the question, therefore making the actual pattern heavy nature irrelevant.
• Did I mention speed? Also, Amy’s pattern directions really keep any confusion at bay, as usual.

The Bad:

• Not really a bad, but I did make some modifications to the pattern to custom make the hat to my liking. These were all mentioned by Amy in the pattern, but we all know we like for the project to finish up the first time through minus mods.
  • I reduced the last construction seam on the crown to make it fit a little more snug than the 1/2″ originally in the pattern.
  • For the crown I made it 3/8″ shorter because it was skimming my ears when it was only the crown and I tried it on. Good for a knitted cap, not so much for a sun hat. So I trimmed off a little, but the trimming also made it a little less snug slightly negating the first mod.
  • Lastly I reduced the brim by 1/2″ because I thought I was going to be swallowed in the overall size when done. I probably could have lived with the size, but thought this change would make the hat a little more manageable for me.

  

The Ugly:

• Pay attention to the directions of your seams. If you seam them together without care they will become bulky and make a ridge on the top of the hat instead of the really flat dome at the top. I got a little bit of that, but nothing horrible. You can’t tell unless you are running your fingers across my head, but it is a word to the wise.

Finished Object – Orangina

Ok, I know this is a knitting blog, despite the fact that my last 5 finished objects have been sewn and I have been talking about sewing for quite some time. They are just so addicting and quick to finish for the completed object euphoria. But knitting is always there when I need to relax or take something along when I am travelling about and have some time to kill. So as proof I figured make my next FO should a knitted one. Orangina was one of those “in between” projects that bore you to death but you want the end result so you trudge on. Everyone in knitting blogland has made this so once again I am a bandwagoneer, but man we knitter have such lovely bandwagons to jump on

Yarn: Rowan Cotton Glace
Inspiration: Orangina
Needles: Size 2
Yardage: 5.5 balls
Modifications: Knit completely in the round instead of as separate pieces. Also knit a size 36 even though I am a 38 bust…unless the girls are getting smaller
Enjoyment Factor: 6- Love the finished product, not so in love with the long process

The Good:

• I love the result of this sweater. It fits perfectly. Probably one of my best finished projects yet. I knit the 36″ bust, despite being a 38″, because I did not want all the ease accounted for in the pattern. If I remember correctly the 36″ knit up into a 41″ total diameter. This proved to work out well for me because the sweater even stretches a little with wear due to the all cotton content of the yarn.
• Love the color. It is just one of my favorites right now. Not quite pink, not quite purple but just right
• Knitting in the round. It was the best thing I could have done because this would have sat for quite a while if seaming was involved. Since I didn’t do anything to the pattern to account for the stitches allowed for seaming, I have a hand of stockinette right under the underarm pit that runs into the ribbing (sorry no pic, but you can see it a little in the bottom, right hand corner of the picture below). At first I thought this would be a bad thing, but I kinda like it after all.

• Love the lace. I wore a matching tank for these shots, but I also love it with the contrast of a white tank too.

The Bad:

• Size 2 needles! Yeah I have gotten over the shock of needle sizes but it sure did make for a long knit. I was sad when I didn’t get gauge at size 3 but what are you gonna do.
• Speaking of needles, what was I thinking when I thought I could get away with some using some cheapy needles from Michaels that had a HUGE join between the cable and the needle? It was a struggle every time I had to move the stitches. I was trying to be frugal and convince myself that I could struggle through with these piece of crap needles, but finally sanity won out and I bought some Addi Turbo Lace Needles. Can we say butter?! I have to say those needles save this shell from exile.
• I am impatient and time seems to always be my complaint, especially when it is such a repetitive pattern. It killed me on the Chevron Scarf and was no different on this one.
• This color is hard as hell to take a picture of. The picture with me in it is pretty much the color. All the rest are for detail only.

The Ugly:

• This is made with cotton, the death fabric. It is called the death fabric because you are not suppose to wear it when doing any sort of water sports because it absorbs and retains water like a MoFo. Well, this puppy soaked up a gang load of water during blocking and then wanted to take forever to dry in 88F weather with a fan directly pointed at it. Good thing I don’t plan on going kayaking with this one.

Knit Time: April 24 – July 19

Finished Object – Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt

This is the week of finished objects cause I have a lot of them that have gone unblogged for quite some time….cough…butterfly. You may also notice that my blogging of said finished objects is going to be a little out of order over the next week because getting the pictures of these things is hard work. My mother was my personal photographer for the modelled shots and she is not so savvy with the digital camera so even these pictures were a lot of work. Can’t say I love them, but you will get the idea. Too bad I don’t have a personal trainer and a fabulous air brush artist like most models because I did quite a bit of editing to keep my self esteem in tack after seeing some of these pictures. Must get chub back to the gym…yesh!

Fabric: Amy Butler French Wallpaper in Mustard from the Belle Collection
Inspiration: Amy Butler Barcelona Skirts – Layered Version
Modifications: None
Difficulty: 7
Enjoyment Factor: 8
Sewing Time: Probably 6 hours over two days

The Good:

• Amy Butler Pattern + Time = Professional looking outcome. This always seems to be the right equation for her patterns. And this pattern doesn’t miss. I used bleached permanent press muslin for my lining. The lined skirt feels like I bought it at the store. In fact, this is my first lined skirt ever so I am feeling pretty FABULOUS!

• Amy Butler + Interfacing = Blood + Lots of Time also seems to hold true. Good thing these skirts don’t have any interfacing…phew!
• Me likey the invisible zipper. My advice…get the invisible zipper foot, it is worth the lack of heartache and yields a very professional look.

The Bad:

• Matching up the layered front and back pieces was kinda tricky. All those seams, if not done carefully, can lead to some cussing when you get to this part so all pay close attention cause it pays off in the end. I was not so careful on the last layer of my front pieces and had to rip and resew.

• All those damn pieces to cut and resew. Kinda made me long for the simple A-line, non-layered version which only have about 4 pieces instead of the 10 pieces for the layered version.
• Hems. I don’t like hems. I really need to follow Blossoms advise over at Whispering Pine and get me some more sewing machine feet, especially that narrow hem foot. I love her blog, so much inspiration to be had. For me, Whispering Pine is to sewing as Brooklyntweed is to knitting. I just love them!

The Ugly:

• Ok, don’t know if this will or will not be an ugly in the future, but looking at my skirt it is already fraying without being washed. I know you are saying, “Duh!! What did you expect would happen?” .  And I know this was the intentional design of Amy Butler, however, when I think about this a little more is it going to fray to the point of being unusable in the future?  I don’t worry about this so much because I rarely wear skirts so this one may last a lifetime based on my past history of skirt wearing It was just a question I had and a thought for future layered skirt sewer, but nothing to get in a tissy over.
  • Update: Valdorsha gave some good observations to my question over at Craftster where I also posted about the skirt for anyone interested.

Here Comes the Sun

Thank you gals for all the wonderful compliments on my Weekender Bag. For all those waiting for the courage to begin, I say just go for it! Once you do you will not regret it (although you may need a transfusion due to the loss of blood from pin pricks )

So now that my grand pièce de résistance is complete, I have moved on to the Amy Butler Blue Sky Sun hat.

I actually moved on last week and just completed it yesterday. It is in the queue for a photoshoot, hopefully this weekend.

In the meantime, I will work on finishing up the Orangina shell, which I am now on to the 6″ of ribbing, and start working on the next Amy Butler tribute item for Hawaii.

Finished Object – Amy Butler Weekender Bag

UPDATE: Woo Hoo!!! My bag got featured on Sew Mama Sew Flickr Feature for Bag Month!! I don’t think I could be prouder of my bag than now! Go check out all the other wonderful bags for Bag Month here

So the Amy Butler Hawaii crafting fest begins with our first sewn object, the Weekender Bag. This pattern was my motivation for learning to sew. I loved this bag since I first saw it and was giddy the entire time I was putting it together. I felt like a proud mama when I finally got it done.

Fabric: Joann’s upholstery Fabric
Inspiration: Amy Butler Weekender Bag
Modifications: Added a sub par elastic pocket to the inside, used a separating zipper
Difficulty: 9
Enjoyment Factor:9
Sewing Time: Off and On for two weeks

The Good:

• The pattern is very well written and I was never lost during the process which resulted in a very professional looking finished bag. I love all the attention to detail despite the price I paid in blood…literally.

• The fabric! I loved this fabric and bought it quite a while ago when JoAnn’s had it on sale for the first time at 50% off. When I saw it again for 75% off, I bought two more yards. It is very durable despite its delicate look. I love the quilting on it. It just looks so fresh and so clean clean.
• The size of this bag is wonderful. When I saw the picture I thought that it might be a little small to handle a weekend worth of my stuff, but man can you really load this thing up. Not only did it hold a weekends worth of stuff

3 pairs of pants, three shirts, a pair of shoes and my toiletry bag with some room to spare

 

It also held my sewing machine with even more space for notions and accessories INSIDE, let along the outside pockets!!

The Bad:

• The cording! Although I love the way it looks, it was the most labor intensive detail I have sewn yet. I probably ripped enough seams to have made this bag three times over. It was like the Goldilocks rhythm set to the act of sewing. I sew…oops didn’t sew close enough…rip. Sew…oops sewed too close and over the cording….rip. Ahh, sew between where I was the first time and second time….just right!

• What is up with the closed bottom 30″ zipper!! This thing does not seem to exist as a common place item. I had to use a separating zipper in a cream color, then I sewed over the open end and made my opening a little smaller to make sure that it would never get to the point of separation. It works fine, but why make us jump the hurdle of finding this elusive 30″ zipper. This is where I wish the pattern gave alternatives. Next time I may use the dual zipper so that you can open it from either side because on one hand it is cool, on the other it comes in 30″!
• The layers on this bag are thick and murder on sewing pins. I had to throw away at least half the pins I had because they were so misshapen at the end of the project.
• The pins! Because of the layers they were like razor sharp daggers jutting out of the bag. Ouch, ouch, Sh*t, ouch, damn it, ouch was pretty much my mantra throughout the process. I got the scars to prove it!
• Although I LOVE the colors, I do realize that yellow is not the most practical and durable of colors when it comes to a travel bag. I will try to Scotch Guard it or something to help out the longevity a little
• The time involved in sewing this bag is just what one would have expected in such a wonderful bag but it is still hard to take in. I sewed this bag over a two week period. Each step taking longer due to the layers, daggers of death (pins), and the rip rip ripping of progress.

The Ugly:

• Although I didn’t show it I added a elastic pouch inside for holding my undergarments separate from the clothes. This was the first time I did this using the tutorial from here and it just didn’t come out right. It was just too loose in the end. It is starting to bother me a little since the rest of the bag came out so wonderfully. I will probably add some Velcro to achieve the effect I want.

 

 

Distraction

Quick Look!!! It’s yarn..

yummy yummy yarn

Noro Iro #63 (80% Wool, 20% Silk)

Now that you are passified with the beauty of new stash, I will launch into my excuses for not posting. Nah, I have just been lazy and unable to take pictures of my knitting due to heat or lack of adequate lighting. Wow, the excuses flow so freely. Anyway, this is the yarn I have been lusting after for a while and just decided to bite the bullet and get. Noro Iro which will become the two color Noro Bradshaw sweater below:

I have only seen one other people make this, probably due to the prohibitive cost, but since Little Knits had it for 58% off (Yeah Knitaholics R Us I know! I AM a sucker for a sale) and brooklyntweed gave it such a rave review, I thought it was finally time to bring this baby home. I do have a few knits to finish before I get to this.

Coming Soon….

• Finished Butterfly Sweater
• Finished Amy Butler Weekender Bag
• Probably will be finished by the next time I post, Amy Butler Blue Sky Sunhat

Currently Knitting….

• Orangina…..ssslllooowwly