teamkaty

The Age of Naptarius?

IMG_6025
Originally uploaded by teamkaty

Stop the presses: my child napped long enough for me to COMPLETE A PROJECT.  And now he might be napping long enough for me to blog about it.  Heady stuff. And it only took 5 months!*

Granted, it wasn't much of a project.  I had sacrificed a pair of old J. Crew jeans to patch some of Alex's (they always wear through at the crotch--[insert your own joke here]).  They never did much for me as pants, but perhaps they'd make a better skirt?  I won't bother telling you what I did, because I think we all tackled this one when we were in high school. I had to re-do the seams a few times to eliminate some unflattering bulges, but otherwise it was a quick and dirty job.

After Pete woke up I noticed that the thread in the machine was just the right color for his new smocked romper from Grammie, and he was gracious enough to allow me to make buttonholes and sew the buttons on.  So here we both are in our FOs, me and my obliging co-pilot.  I might whack the skirt off a bit; gotta give it a test-walk.

 

Choo!  Choo!

*Note to the Gods: I have no illusions about this ever happening again.  Please do not strike me napless.

Flora and fauna FOs

Here are two projects that definitely came from the "long-term" files, aka, "hey, you ever going to finish that?"  First, fauna: Kathy's adorable Sheldon reminded me that I finally gifted mine to my father-in-law, packed in a cardboard box punched with air holes.  For versimilitude, y'know.  Amazingly, he seemed genuinely delighted to be the recipient of a knitted stuffed animal.  But then, the man really, really likes turtles--he has two or three enormous, ancient creatures in his basement who he tends as lovingly as one would...well, something snugglier, with fur and/or opinions.  Turtles probably do have opinions, but I don't think they care to share them.

Anyway, here's my Sheldon!  Originally this was going to be a birthday present, back in July, but I got bogged down somewhere around assembly time. I just don't like to stuff things, for some reason.  Which is unfortunate, as I now have an enormous bag of Polyfil taking up some primo storage space.  And in my distaste for stuffing--or perhaps in bid to use it up faster--I overfilled the critter, so his Shel doesn't don very easily.  It's OK.  My father in law can live without the dress-up aspect.

The flora project has an even longer track record.  I bought some Amy Butler fabric from Purl Patchwork to make curtains...eh, over a year ago?  Then I got bogged down by the challenge of buying the appropriate hardware--I kept telling myself that this is New York, there's probably some funky little store that sells nothing but drapery hooks, but said emporium never materialized and it took me months to get off my dreaming arse and just order off the internet.  Oh, and there was a trip to Lowes involved--you see how these things can get ugly. Once I finally got everything assembled, though, they came together in just a day of vacation.  I used some instructions from an old issue of Living, which I realized midway throght involved several more steps than strictly necessary--oddly, sometimes the simplest way to explain something is not always the simplest way to do it.   

What else can I tell you about these?  Using my walking foot attachment was a must.  They block an awful lot of light--more than I would like now, but it will doubtless be a good thing come summer.  Hank and Minny like to screw with the cords.  Should have seen that one coming!

And finally, neither flora nor fauna, just plain cute: behold, young Master B. in his Pushover Pullover!  What did I tell you about those eyes? They're even bluer in real life.  His dad tells me that this sweater makes him irresistible cafe chick bait, but I doubt he needs any props.

Week of FOs: Of the tent-y, floral variety

  large, floral 
  Originally uploaded by teamkaty

OK, let's see if I can get this up in 17 minutes and still hit Thursday... 

So I have made one maternity top.  This is some Japanese cotton gauze that I couldn't resist at Purl Patchwork this summer, using Simplicity pattern 4022.  Mods: I added a couple of inches to the bottom half and left a longer hem to accommodate the belly, and kind of created my own sleeve option. 

Making this was the weirdest experience, because after 20 years of sewing for myself I have a pretty good eye for what kind of piece is going to fit...but that's the pre-pregnant me.  Basically, I always, always have to heavily adjust the bust--even on small sizes they will be ludicrously too full for me.  For this top, I made the size 12, because that gave a finished bust of 37" and--I had to check this three times before I'd believe it--that's the measurement at my fullest point right now.  As I pieced the upper bodice together, I kept looking at it and thinking, "Crap, no way, that's enormous, that curve is too full, this isn't going to work."  And then I'd try it on, and...whaddya know, it pretty much fit.  Huh.  I mean, granted this is no Octoberfest rack.  We're still talking sub-B.  But at least I'm making a creditable showing, in a style of top I would NEVER wear normally.

The pattern on this fabric has a bit of a direction, almost a border print, and like many Japanese prints it runs perpendicular to the selvage.  So I cut the whole thing against the grain, which always feels wildly transgressive to me.  I also did some semi-fancy cutting to try and get the floral clumps balanced, which was only semi-successful.  But here's the big boner, which I didn't notice until I was seaming these pieces:

Ooops.  Maybe it's like leaving a designer label out on purpose?

Bonus FOs: my contribution to the Thanksgiving dinner--

I threw tradition to the winds this year and made what I thought people might actually like.  Ditched the pumpkin pie, as no one in Alex's family seems to eat it (but what am I supposed to have for breakfast tomorrow???) and just made apple, the perennial favorite.  The chocolate pound cake was a gamble to see if I could please the kids.  Per Jacob K, age 8: "You made a good cake."  Score!

Week of FOs: Late-Night Needle Case

  Folded shut 
  Originally uploaded by teamkaty

A couple of months ago, I had some lofty ideas about making maternity clothes.  That didn't pan out quite as I envisioned--basically, the options are stretchy or tenty, and I don't do knits well.  But I did have my machine out for about a month, hogging space and getting dusty.  When Alex was working an overnight last week, I actually took the cover off and zipped something up--a pillowcase for my other husband, that is, the ridiculous "body pillow" that I finally caved in and bought (yeah, worth every penny).

And then, because it was 10 pm--that's often when I'm just tired enough to think starting a new project is a good idea--I decided it was finally time to get to the needle case I'd been meaning to make for months.  I had some fabric, I had some batting, I had a vague idea of what I wanted from some Etsy browsing way back when--what more does a girl need?  I cut some strips, turned some hems, whap-whap-whap, by midnight or so it was done.  I couldn't wait to take a picture and load it up the next morning.

 

Some of you might note that this sequence does not involve much in the way of, oh, say, planning or measuring.  You might catch a whiff of  "winging it." And you would be correct.  Not a fatal whiff, just a... subtle aroma.  As a result, the pockets are all a little shallow.  If I were to make another one of these babies as a gift, there would be some refinements.  But for me, it works just fine.  And it's a vast improvement over my old "system," which involved tossing all my needles into a large plastic bag--except for the ones that were floating around AWOL.

Now look!  So tidy!  I even contemplated embroidering an assigned size to each pocket, but that was a bourn too far even for post-midnight delirium.

Bonus: Alex and I spent the weekend shifting the furniture and turning the apartment completely on end, and in the process I found not one but TWO dpns, which are now nestled in the case with their brethren.  Whee!

What I did on my summer vacation

  IMG_4186 
  Originally uploaded by teamkaty

So now you know why production was low around here this summer. (Oh, come on--why have kids if you can't blame them for your own shortcomings?)  Between June and September I grew to dread the casual, "So, what have you guys been up to?"  Because really, is there a more boring answer on earth than, "Well, I spend a lot of time on the couch, trying not to think about chicken or vegetables?"  No, no there is not.

Not a lot of crafting got done, but of blogging there was even less, so I find I do have a couple of FOs to catch up on.  Like the Sporty Shorties up there.  This one little orphan skein of Froehlich Wolle self-striping kept calling to me every time I stopped by Brooklyn General--I think I had a Gloria Vanderbilt polo shirt in similar colors, circa 1982.  Finally I broke down and picked it up on sale.  There wasn't quite enough for the pair--see how the toes are different?

But I had some blue left over from my Snowflakes, and darned if it wasn't almost an exact match!  Just for fun, I gave these socks a dedicated right and left toe...but not only can you not tell that from these pictures, but I actually had them on the wrong feet anyway.  Oh well.

OK, and remember all the droning about the Debbie Bliss Lace and Bobble cardigan?
Well, I finished it.  It's OK.  Maybe not quite worth all the trouble (bobbles really are like running in place: a lot of effort, zero mileage) but wearable.  It's a little small--I wish I had made a bigger size, or maybe used Shine worsted instead of the sport.  I do have one pattern modification I would recommend--after you cast on all those stitches for the sleeves, they tell you to jump right back into the pattern for the first row.  That makes the edge really unstable and a bitch to seam.  If I were doing it again, I'd knit at least the first return row even.  It's your inner arm, no one sees it!  Here's a back view:

Now, a very long time ago, I made this dress to wear to a spring wedding in New Orleans:

I was never very happy with it, even when it wasn't crumpled (as above) from being balled up in my closet.  Great fabric (Liberty!), classy batiste lining, nice ribbon treatment--oh, a photo is required--
...but the neckline gaped in an unsightly manner despite repeated adjustments.  And the pleating was uneven, thanks to being a last-minute rip-and-redo when the original gathered skirt proved too unflattering for words.  I wore it maybe four or five times, always thinking what a waste of nice Tana Lawn it was.

Early this spring, I bought some cute polka-dotted linen from Purl Patchwork, ostensibly to make myself a dress.  Enter First Trimester: the dress never got made.  But the fabric sat around in a pile, as things tend to do around here, and at one point the bum dress got stacked on top of it, and I thought, "huh, cute."   Then our niece Emma Rose's first birthday rolled around, and chop-chop-chop, this:

...became a little reversible crossback sundress.  And bloomers.

The pattern is Butterick 5439.  I'd come to think of our Emma as one chubbalicious baby, so I made the largest size--of course, it was waaay too big for her.  Next summer!  She can tear around in it and give the monkeybaby all kinds of big ideas about mobility.

I'd forgotten how much fun it is to sew for babies.  The finer points of fit are pretty much a non-issue, it's fast (this was cut and sewn in oh, maybe two hours?), it's cute, and the recipients can't complain. Perfection.

Roads to hell, etc.

Oh, I had such grand plans for this past weekend.  The knitting and sewing that was going to go on!  The photographing of FO's and Renegade loot! Suddenly, I have several crafting deadlines upon me, but never fear, I was going to Make Progress.

Yeah.  Not so much.  I did work some more on my so-far smashing Raspberry Ripple socks, and stuffed a secret softie I'm working on.  I went to Renegade and spent a bunch of money, we cleaned the (thoroughly filthy) apartment and made dinner for some friends.  Wound a ball of yarn for my Sockapalooza socks...only to remember that #2s are the one set of dpns I don't have.  But I got absolutely no traction on the sewing.

Why?  I've been buying fabric and patterns lately, I have a long list of things I want to make, but when free time presents itself, it's usually knitting that wins out.  I blame the city.  If I want to knit, I grab the project and plunk down, wherever.  If I want to sew...well.  The first and perhaps biggest barrier is the laundromat.  I have strong opinions about pre-washing, you see.  But I can't put my fabric in the bag for the wash n' fold, because I don't want it dried, and yeah the laundromat is just around the corner, but it's so...gnarly.  And wait, I really should zig-zag the edges first, but that would entail dragging out the machine...

Which brings us to the second problem.  The machine, it's heavy, and it lives in the closet.  I dream of the day when it can have a dedicated table and bask in the open air, but for now this is where it goes (note my tiny stash in the lower left!):

Yep, on the main desk/computer table, and it's just not practical to leave it there, even if I had the confidence that the fiends cats would not fuck with it (did I mention the foot-long piece of twine that came out of Minny's butt on Sunday?  No?  Just as well.)  And no, there's not a better place to plug it in, and yesssss the cord gets in the way.  Bonus irritant: putting it on the high table means I can't use the knee-lift, which is especially missed when I'm quilting.

Anyway, let's say I haul it out, and finish off the raw edges, and scamper over to the laundromat and back, then what?  Well, I'm going to have to press the fabric before I start cutting.  Where does the ironing board live? Behind the door.  But when you open it up (with horrid screeching noise) it has to go here: and I guess you could leave it out, but then you can't really see the TV from the couch. 

Nevertheless!  The fabric!  It is now clean, and pressed!  Let us cut!  Ignoring the fact that my shears have desperately needed sharpening since I dropped them (bad!) five years ago (very bad!), we will proceed to the cutting table, aka where we eat:

Ouch. My back hurts just looking at it.  Wait, why do I cut here, when I actually have a 36" table I bought specifically for cutting?  Well, because that table is the one covered with computer crap, and clearing it would be a task of massive and dusty proportions.  Hey, did I mention that the light stinks in all of these places?

So it's a hassle to prep any of these surfaces, but the real problem is that when I'm using them we can't eat/watch TV/check the computer, or at least not very well.  And all the mess is right in my face, tempting the cats.  I look at pictures of people's craft rooms on flickr and I could just cry.

I know I'm not the only person whose space-challenged.  Other people live in closets and manage to produce (hell, I used to get more done in 400 square feet--pre-husband and cats). Tell me: how do you do it?

Small things

Two questions:

1) Any Regina Spektor fans out there?  If I can't get "Fidelity" out of my head (damn you, Veronica Mars!) will I like the rest of the her latest album?

2) Arrgh, darts.  That's not really a question, I guess.  Just: arrrgh.  I used to know how to adjust them for my AAA cup.  But I've forgotten.

Ooops, gotta go rescue my pattern pieces from the cats.

Math is hard

IMG_0923
Originally uploaded by teamkaty.

Pencils ready? OK, word problem:

You have two meters of cheap Provencal print bought in Paris on your honeymoon. You also have two windows, measuring roughly 1X and 1.5X. 1.5X requires at least 3/4 coverage, while 1X doesn't really admit any views. You would prefer not to fully cover either window, as the room is not super-sunny. How do you divide the one length of cloth between the two windows so as to ensure the correct % of privacy whilst creating pleasing proportions?

Answer: No idea, I messed it up. The apartment building behind us still has a fairly unobstructed view into the room, and the smaller window is more covered than it needs to be. But at least our neighbors can't look in from their garden anymore (though this was always theoretical--I've never seen them out there) and I think they're pretty cute.

The curtains, that is. Not the neighbors.

Accounting for Myself, Part I

Behold, a skirt sink, discreetly shielding the tampons and toilet paper.  It's made of scraps from the Liberty craft shower curtain, with half of a pillow print for the center ( I really didn't see why I'd need a pillow to match my shower curtain--at least not until we have a divan in the bathroom), and just ties to the legs.  It's also not straight, because I was in a hurry to get it done before a party and cut the whole thing freehand without measuring, but then again neither is anything else in the bathroom so who cares?

It Came From the Stash...

We had plans to go away for part of this weekend, but in the end it didn't seem worth driving 7 hours just to sleep in a strange bed.  So we stayed home and mostly farted around in the rainy gray funk, with a few home improvement projects thrown in for good measure.  I made a shower curtain.  That in itself is highly un-newsworthy, because sewing projects don't get much simpler than a shower curtain.  Seam two lengths, hem, make a dozen buttonholes. Ho-hum.  The real triumph here is this: I used something from my stash!  Instead of shopping! 

And thus the hundreds of dollars I have spent on fabric over the years are validated.  Sort of.

This is some Liberty craft fabric (a low-end line that was, I think, short-lived) that I bought in Boston ten years ago.  It's a little busy with our tile floor--

...but whatever.  Now we just need some matching, non-shredded towels and we'll be class-say.

Alex got busy too, installing a sensor on the light outside our door.  Let the squirrel spotlighting begin.