In any case, here is a sample of my most recent projects:  Placemats!  The pattern is my own design.  The fabric is Alexander Henry’s the “Ghastlies.”  I had seen a former co-worker use the same fabric for placemats, and wanted something similar, but a with a unique style.  The pink, black, and grey makes for a unique take on Halloween colors.

My store hosts a monthly Knit Along for our customers. Twelve projects were chosen from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders and we knit one up each month. Normally, yarn isn’t really my department, but a coworker had a previous commitment and drafted me to fill in. She gave me her sample for the spiral hat worked in varigated Paton’s Soy Wool Stripes, which turned out nicely. Since I thought it would be wise to actually work into the project a bit, I picked up some yarn and cast on for a hat for myself.

Here’s what I came up with
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I love the way this worked up in a solid color even better. I really think it shows off the stitch pattern, and the gorgeous spiral is even more front-and-center.

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I used Louisa Harding, Grace Silk-Wool for my version. I wanted something just a bit softer that Paton’s which is what we recommended to the KAL members. I also wanted something just a bit thinner than the Paton’s as well. I have a relatively small head, and short hair, so not much to fill up a bigger hat. The guage worked out nicely in the alternative yarn I would say.

More knitting and sewing coming soon! I have stepped off the deep end and started a sweater. It’s finally to the point where pictures will do it justice, so I’ll take some pictures.

So enough of my fun times, here is one of my latest projects. I used this cute little pattern to create an apron. I’m thinking I might try using this pattern to teach a class at work. The French Flea Market Apron calls for four contrasting fabrics to create a tiered effect. The ties are extra long to wrap around to the front. This is my version

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I used a couple of asian quilting cottons, and a fairy frost to create my version. I really loved the sushi print. I’m not really a quilter, but I do see some of these cute fabrics that I would love to work with, so this lets me put them to use. I did decide to just use the sushi print as the ties as well. I think it’s just fine for my purposes.

Here is a picture from a further distance. As you can see it’s quite long.

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All in all a cute little pattern. I found the instructions to be quite easy to follow, and really pretty uneccesary for myelf….but I’m also checking on the quality of the instructions for teaching purposes. A great way to introduce gathering, and tube-turning to a new sewing audience.

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The dress pattern is from Portabello Pixie’s Claire pattern. It’s the Round Apron Dress. The fabric is a newer fairy fabric that my employer carries. We have been selling out of it like crazy, and I just managed to snag enough to complete this little dress.

I must say, after making the pattern up, I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of the pattern and instructions. The actual pattern pieces themselves are commercially printed on tissue. I noticed no errors, and all the pieces fit together beautifully. The instructions were included in a little book, and the author really took the time to lay them out well. She devoted a section at the back of the instructions devoted to tips and tricks for the more complicated aspects of the techniques required to complete the 4 versions of dresses included in the pattern. While, I wouldn’t recommend this as a first sewing project for someone, the pattern was definitely easy to follow with lots of easy to understand instructions. Pair all of this up with a liberal copyright policy (the author allows folks to make up garments for resale using her pattern, provided its not an assembly line) and you have a great pattern.

I was really pleasantly surprised over the success with this, since I have had some bad experiences with badly drafted independent patterns. The photographed dresses on the pattern are definitely not to my taste (to patchworky) but I think this turned out pretty cute for a little kid.

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Since I don’t have an embroidery machine, one of my coworkers did the little flower motif on the apron for me. Turned out cute didn’t it !

I have used a piece of the jersey knit that I picked up on my travels to San Diego this summer. I have to say, I am so pleased with this pattern. Kwik Sew 3616 has been a fun one to work with. It is a Misses size, but I was able to enlarge it to a plus size using my tee-shirt sloper that my mom and I have developed.

Here are my results :

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and

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The top is definitely quite low cut, so I use a cami to layer underneath so I don’t scare off small children (or scandalize my family). The layered look is actually fairly current fashion-wise anyway. It also adds a little contrast and extra color to the look.

Despite this being a poly jersey, its a breathable breezy summer top. However, I wear summer tops just about year round anyway since I generally get fairly warm hefting heavy bolts of fabric around.

The new dress form is courtesy of my mother in law who gave it to me while I was visiting this summer. Mr. Nemesis and I managed to get it wedged into the car along with all other Southern California booty. I have named her, since I understand all dress forms should have a name. I’ll admit it, its campy and cheesy….but Hellga (after my favorite American Gladiator). I loved that show as a kid when it first came out, and have enjoyed it again when it was revived last year. I don’t know if the dress-form is a Wolf form or not, it’s only labels are from Acme. It is however a plus size collapsibe form in the style of a Wolf form……so I am beyond thrilled to get it. I did have to do a little padding though.

In the first picture above, I gave Hellga a boob job. Or rather padded her up with one of my foundation garments and stuffed with a couple pair of socks to fill her out to my more robust proportions. The bottom picture is without the padding. I still need to adjust the padding a bit more….there is a bit of discrepancy with the chest being off-center.

I haven’t had a lot of time for projects since I got back.  I have been doing a lot of work to get my apartment cleaned out.  I got back and realized just how much junk I have sitting around, that I just don’t use.  Amazing what sitting in a (rather sparsely) furnished government issue apartment will teach you!   So I got back and realized just how much I have in crafty supplies.  In honor of a New Years resolution to use up some of my stash I bring you Tudora.

This little pattern was from Knitty’s Winter 2007 issue. This simple asymetrical neckwarmer made a great stashbusting project for me. As well as my first finshed project of 2009. I learned how to do cabling as well. I loved the Tudor theme of this project. As my family and friends can attest I am a history junkie with a particular interest in the Tudor and Elizabethan era’s of British history.

I found the perfect buttons for this in my stash, a stylized pewter rose fits with the Tudor theme perfectly. The pattern was designed with only one button, so this was my first time making substantial changes to a pattern. I added and extra button hole and also changed the stitch pattern of the button flap. I really feel that 2 buttons balances the look of the piece better anyway. I have seen other versions using a much larger single button or toggle type closure.

I will try to have a few more things to put up here soon. My work schedule has evened out a bit now, so I am having a bit more time to work on crafty pursuits…..plus I cleaned out my studio/guest room and rediscovered all my treasures

I just wanted to post and say Happy Thanksgiving everyone! My house smells like cinnamon from the home-made pecan caramel rolls (recipe on Breadworld.com, the Fleishmanns yeast website) and I’m just relaxing after dinner with friends and an afternoon spent at Mission Bay Park flying kites. I am thankful that I have had so long here in San Diego to explore so many new things with Mr. Nemesis. We have had a chance to visit so many fun places, and try out lots of new activities, as well as a few old favorites. I have been able to spend more time getting to know Mr. Nemesis’s family, especially my siblings-in-law, which has been great fun. I have also been fortunate enough to have several of our friends stationed down here, and to make several new ones.

Since my time is coming to a close, less than 3 weeks now! I have been feeling the time crunch and started cranking out knitting projects. I know when I get home I will have plenty to do with work and holidays, and getting back to my sewing.

So here are a few of my latest finished objects.

Here is Turn A Square from Brooklyn Tweed My super simple project used some scraps of Berroco Ultra Alpaca and Noro Silk Garden. I did use a smaller set of needles than called for, which was good, the hat is still a bit big on me, it would work better if I had longer hair to fit under there. This took about 8 hours to make, so I was done in 2 days.

This next one is a titch blurry and not quite as much of a close up as I wanted, but its the best I could do by myself in my living room mirror. At least you can get an idea of the fit.

Here is the view from the top. I really liked the raglan decreases on this pattern. They really give a tailored look to the hat.

Next up is the popular Chevron Scarf Pattern from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts I made my scarf with Socks that Rock Medium weight. Its an awesome yarn that I can’t say enough good things about. My version is made in the Lagoon and Algae colorways. This is a hugely long scarf…..mine turned out around 8-9 ft long. I don’t have a long enough tape measure to check it with. I do have to say there is no way that this qualifies as a last minute gift….It would have taken me probably 40-60 hours of knitting to do this, but since I have been working on it since last February, so I’m really not sure.

The last finished project I have to share now, is the Gust Scarf from Anne Hanson at Knitspot. I actually purchased the yarn and pattern together as a kit at Ball and Skein The yarn is a lace-weight 80/20 Alpaca and Silk blend called Arequipa. I was really pleased with how this yarn knitted up, and am just absolutely thrilled with my first lace project. The pattern was well written and easy to follow, with both a chart and written instructions.

I’m putting this picture in full size so you can see the lace pattern better. This lovely colorway was a fabulous combination of purples, lavendars, charcoal, and black.

So there you have it, my projects for the last 3 weeks. Oops, there go my cinnamon rolls. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, have a safe trip if you are travelling and otherwise may your pumpkin pie be spicy and your turkey be moist

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the fabric that I picked up at Michal Levine’s in the LA Garment district.

This is the whole stash together (well the garment fabrics anyway, I picked up 100 yds of muslin too)

It’s all jersey knit for shirts. The deals were incredible. All but one of the pieces were 3.99/yd except for the grey and black one which was 8.99/yd

Here are some close up pictures of the fabrics

This trip was clear back in August, so I have been a little late getting pictures up. On the same trip, my Mother-in Law also took my to another shop that specialized in flat pattern making supplies for the local college students.

I’m off to Disneyland for the weekend with Mr. Nemesis and his sister! One of the side benefits to living in California for 5 months is the opportunity to hit all the tourist attractions. I haven’t been to Disney since I was 11 or so which is further back there than I care to remember at the moment.

Hope all of you have an awesome weekend! I’ll be back with some pictures of my haul at Michael Levine’s (fabric Mecca in the LA garment district) next week.

I’m still in San Diego…..Its been a while since I have posted. I have had a bit of a roller-coaster of family things to do, so I have really been laying off my knitting for a bit. I’m still cranking along on my cedar creek socks and the scarf that I’m working on. It’s so hard to get in that groove when its 90 something in October. I’m definitely not used to this type of weather.

I have finally been to a couple knitting shops in the area. The Black Sheep in Encinitas was lovely with a wide variety of novelty yarns and a whole section devoted to cloth doll making, and using the yarns for wearable arts. The other shop was Knitting in La Jolla, which was another neat little shop. I saw my first Malabrigo in its natural habitat It was lovely, but I managed to get out without spending more than 10 bucks…..so I was happy. I may head back before I leave.

In other news I was privelaged to attend the baptism of my niece. It was a meaningful service, and I’m happy for her that she is progressing and growing up to be such a sweet girl. I had a great time with my sisters and brother in laws…..who are all great fun to be with.

I finally spent some time swimming our apartment. I can’t believe I haven’t spent more time doing it. Despite it being 98 degrees today, the pool was frigid…..They definitely don’t heat them down here.

To wind things up here is a shot I took recently. I have some more to download from my camera, and need to take a few more shots.

To wind things up, I was honored that my friend KissmyKnits nominated me for a blogger award…..Makes me feel so guilty for not blogging more lately! I do have new stuff coming….I promise

So the rules of this award are:

1. Please put the award on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. You must nominate at least 4 fellow bloggers for this award.
4. Add links to the recipients.
5. Leave a comment so the recipients know they have received an award.

So my favorites (this is hard to come up with, because I read so many, and so many have already been nominated)

Spindles and Spices Who has a real flair for dressing her pets that I can relate to!

Octopus Knits Who has lovely creative projects and appreciates a cephalopod as much as I do.

Dandelion Mama A mommy blogger who writes so incredibly well that I love to read all her posts. Also a creative soul who shares her lovely paintings occaisonally.

Scribbet Another mommy blogger who shares a little of her life in the last frontier. She has a lot of contests and give-aways and such. Also has a lot of fun recipes

The Pioneer Woman Who has an absolutely enormous blog with several sub-sections. She usually has a contest a week or so, and has an awesome recipe section. I can vouch for her recipes…..tested and approved. She can have upwards of 14000 comments on her contest posts.

So enjoy