Sewing lessons

bucket hat in progress

Note to self:
Remember to check the bobbin for adequate thread *before* starting the topstitching!

Maybe one of these days I'll manage to remember this repeating lesson.

And why is it that I only run out of thread when the topstitching is going really well for a change?


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Quilting Rough Draft

I am finally making some progress on my quilting project! 

I'm currently trying to decide which block combinations I like the best.  Probably won't be making a scrap quilt again any time soon - too much agonizing over the different pattern and color combinations!

An experienced quilter friend encouraged me to just go with the first combination that looks good and then move on to the next block without agonizing over it and I'm really trying, but each time I try to decide on a block layout it ends up being more like a visit to the ophthalmologist...except with even more choices.  Number one or number two?  Number three or number four?  Number five or...?

Here's the first trial layout:

 test block #1

Mend-O-Rama

(Or:  possibly the most boring blog post ever...)

Since the weather was somewhat less than inspiring Saturday as far as gardening was concerned, I decided I would spend the day sewing.

My original plan was to work on my current quilting project but in order to set up my sewing space I needed to move the mending piled in my sewing chair.  I started to move the rather large pile to the sofa but in the process decided that instead I just needed to just sit down and get this task done and out of the way.  Besides, I was tired of looking at the clutter piled up by my sewing desk every day and feeling guilty for not getting it done.

So I set up my trusty Singer 403 and got to work.

My Singer Slant-O-Matic 403 (check out the groovy '60s styling!)

I started in with the plain darning mending so I could avoid learning how to replace a jeans zipper for just a while longer...

I located a pair of donor jeans that I'd saved for just this purpose (these were too far gone for even me to consider mending), cut some patches, fused them on to the shredded tears in my son's jeans and used the darning stitch to reinforce the area with thread.

inside with patch (pre-trimming)

outside with thread darning

Using the same process (but with plain cotton fabric instead of denim) I mended Mr. CPA's favorite pair of garden work shorts and a pair of khakis he wears for doing chores.

mended shorts and khakis - this is some exciting stuff, right?

At some point with the khakis, I clearly wasn't paying close attention, because I managed not to notice when I turned the pants around on my sewing machine that the pocket flipped down and got under the needle.

oops.

I started to undo it with my seam ripper but I had very enthusiastically sewn back and forth over the same spot with a closely spaced darning stitch (a three part zigzag stitch) and that task was clearly going to take more time than it was worth.  So I performed some surgery on the pocket instead.

let's just consider this extra-strength patching, shall we?

Yes, the pocket is crooked.  I suppose I could have taken a bit more time to do it nicely but these are very old work pants so I decided not to really stress over it.

All that was left at this point was the two pairs of jeans needing new zippers.  I'd never replaced a zipper before and I suspect that this was the reason I'd been avoiding this mending task all this time.  I followed the instructions from the Threads Magazine tutorial (with no small amount of trepidation) and, surprisingly, it wasn't all that difficult!  I can't believe I'd put it off for so long.  Interestingly enough, the first zipper was the best one.  I'm not sure what I did differently on the second pair but the zipper just isn't quite as nice looking.

well, that was easy!

I know most people don't mend much any more, but here at casa del chaos, we seem to have a regular need for clothing that is suitable for hard, dirty work and mended old clothes that are no longer suitable for polite society are just the ticket.  It just seems so wasteful to throw out clothes that are perfectly functional with the addition of just a small repair. 

And let's face it, I need to justify the accumulation of all these old sewing machines somehow (besides taking Mr. CPA to the sewing shop to see the price of new ones that is).

Mending

This has been a really busy time for the garden so there hasn't been a lot of crafty activity going on.

I haven't really felt motivated to work on my knitting projects so the Sommelier sweater remains in it's 'to be sewn up' state.

I have been doing a bit of work on my ongoing quilting project, mostly cutting out the remaining squares for piecing. I did take some photos but I was using my little Canon point-n-shoot instead of my larger Nikon and the battery died. Unfortunately, the charger has gone missing so I can't upload them.

Mr. CPA reminded me the other day that I had promised to mend his backpack quite some time ago, so yesterday I set up my newest vintage sewing machine find and got it back in working order.

Singer 301A shortbed

This is quite the sturdy little machine and didn't have any trouble stitching through the zipper tape and backpack material. I used some hand quilting thread and a jeans needle and now Mr. CPA's backpack should be able to be useful for awhile longer.

Time to redecorate

I realized the other day that I'm kind of bored with my current blog template but I haven't been able to decide on a new one. Blogger only seems to offer a few in the dashboard design tool and they were okay but after previewing all of them several times I had to admit that none of them really grabbed me.

I looked at some free and allegedly 'new Blogger compatible' templates (like those here, here or here*, for example) but wasn't sure if I was up to the project of installing and configuring a third-party template right now (oh sure, it could be fast trouble free...or not). Plus? Some of the free template sites I found have hundreds of samples to go through - too many choices for a data/research type person who is also indecisive (because, of course, I'd have to look at *all* of them before choosing to the 'best' one).

Which of course, puts me back to square one. ::sigh::

If anyone has any tips or resources for templates I'd love to hear them.
thanks!

*for some reason I kind of like this orange template, but wowza, is it bright or what? I think it might be hard to read for more than a paragraph

The Finishing Faeries Have Been Delayed

The knitting portion of my Sommelier sweater is finally complete.

I had to tweak the back neck band a bit to get it to fit better. In spite of my experience with the specified stitch pickup counts for the front bands, I went ahead and picked up the designated number of stitches for the neck band. Readers Reader Internet, I'm not sure why I was surprised that the stated 136 stitches were too many. The band bowed/sagged out out in back so I ripped them out and picked up 12 fewer stitches. It's still not quite right but it is definitely in the 'good enough' range at this point.

This project has certainly dragged on well past my interest level, in large part due to initial irritations with the pattern but subsequently from the suspicion that the sweater is not really flattering for me*. It's challenging to feel excited about finishing a sweater that one likely won't wear.

The pattern only specifies steam blocking but I wet blocked everything since the steam blocking didn't give the result I wanted (i.e., removing the stockinette curling at tops of sleeves and edges of armholes and really opening up the lace pattern).

There's no mention in the pattern of sewing in the sleeves, the pattern simply ends with completing the shoulder seams, neck/front bands and the armhole bindings (not present on the sweater version of this pattern and apparently just a repeated section from the vest portion of the pattern).

I left the blocked pieces out for the faeries to complete in the night, however they seem to have been delayed as the sweater parts have been laying about for two evenings now with no finishing activity at all. Perhaps the blatant disregard for the dictated steam blocking has violated some faerie union working conditions clause?

I suppose at this point I need to assume they aren't coming and move forward on my own. Darn.



*Yes, I know I tried on the sample sweater and thought it looked fine. I now suspect that I may have been under the influence of the excitement of Madrona , yarn and fiber fumes in the marketplace and the exuberant encouragement of enabling knitter friends.

No Talent Required

Or "What was I thinking?"

I'm off to a beginning watercolor workshop shortly. I'm not sure what possessed me to sign up for this - I think I may have gotten a bit too caught up in the excitement of Artswalk last month.

The brochure states "no drawing experience or talent required" so theoretically I should do just fine, especially since I definitely have no drawing or artistic talent.

I'm going with two friends who both have a art/graphic design background so, you know, no pressure, lol.

But don't worry, I have very managed expectations for myself. A friend of mine asked me what we'd be painting and I told her I didn't know but whatever it was supposed to be I was pretty sure what I'd be painting was colorful blobs.

The workshop is given by Melody Cottongim, a talented local artist whose work I've admired for many years.

It's that time of year again

Allegedly, it's Springtime here in the Pacific Northwest*, a time when a young man's thoughts turn to flights of fancy and a knitter casts aside recalcitrant sweaters in progress in order to muck around in the mud and rain, planting seeds and carefully tending the dream of fresh organic summer vegetables.

In a rather impressive triumph of hope over experience, I'm planning to keep up both blogs this summer. (What? Yes, I typed that with a straight face, why do you ask?)
However if things seem really quiet here at Yin and Yarn then click over to Suburban Sodbusters and look for me there. Who knows, maybe I can finally persuade Mr. CPA to actually write a blog post over there for a change...


*Mind you, that's strictly according to the calendar. Our contrary weather sure isn't going to let some know-it-all calendar boss it around so it's doing a pretty good impression of Winter right now. Because, you know, it can. So there.

Sommelier

Inspired by the most recent period of Mercury retrograde*, I organized my hoarder's corner spinning area and the gathered up the various 'knitting in progress' projects scattered throughout the house to assess the situation and possibly actually finish up some projects. In the process, Sommelier managed to float to the top of the heap and make a bid for my attention.

The more detailed project narrative will have to wait for another post (i.e., when it's not 10:18 on a work night), but here's where I am so far:


The remaining original front band is on the right and as you can see, there are too many stitches in the band and it's curved up and out beyond the sweater body. The band has fewer stitches than specified in the pattern but it's still too many.

I ripped out the other side and re-worked it with fewer stitches. I re-calculated the number of stitches for the band using the gauge from the first band and the length of the sweater front. The new band has 64 stitches instead of 76 and fits much better.

Just need to rip out the remaining band and reknit, sew in the sleeves (also re-worked from the original pattern) and finish the back neck.


*I'm seriously not into astrology all that much, but Mercury Retrograde always seems to result in a flurry of organizational activity for me. In fact that unexpected and irresistible urge to organize yarn and clean the basement typically has me consulting the Google to see what that darn Mercury is up to.

Hats!

I went to the Madrona Fiber Arts winter retreat and had a lovely time (as always) visiting with friends and shopping the market.

One of the things I bought at the market were some hat kits from Butternut Woolens.

When I got home from the retreat I got one of these kits out 'just to try it' and couldn't put it down. I had forgotten about the instant gratification aspect of bulky yarn and size 11 needles! Before I knew it, I'd finished all three hats (though the last two still need their angora liners).

Snowshoe Hats

These hats are really flattering too. I don't really have a 'hat head' and most hats are rather universally unflattering on me, but this one looks really good (if I do say so myself). The angora felt lining is amazingly soft and cozy on the ears.

Plus? A portion of the proceeds from each kit is donated to the Glacier Park Fund for research on hare and other small animal populations. Here's an excerpt from the pattern sheet:

Snowshoe hare populations in the greater Glacier National Park ecosystem are under threat due to climate change. Snows are melting earlier than normal. This places white hares, who change coat color with the seasons, on brown earth, making htem easier prey for lynx, owls and other animals. As the hare population plummets, lynx populations in particular seem to be plummeting as well. Glacier National Park scientists and University of Montana researchers are gathering DNA data on the Park's hares in an effort to more fully understand their needs.

I bought a few more kits because these hats are going to make excellent gifts. Gift knitting *and* a donation to wildlife research?
I'm practically saint-like while knitting these!
;-)

September Spinning

As a result of the rather late (and some would say 'non-existent') summer this year, canning season has been a bit extended and has dragged on through most of September. This is what my spinning time looks like lately:

Mmm, Spicy Garlic Dills! We will enjoy you.

I probably have a bit more to go in October when I eventually completely give up on the notion of having any ripened tomatoes and decide to try out all of the interesting looking green tomato recipes and canning ideas that my friends have so helpfully sent me. (11 tomato plants = a lot of green tomatoes)

So anyway, that extended intro is all by way of explanation as to why there really hasn't been much knitting or spinning going on here on the blog of late.

I have been sort of poking away at a second batch of Dicentra Designs Merino/Silk/Angora blend here and there between gardening and canning sessions.

Label Info

Singles spun for a 3-ply fingering weight

The color is actually much more attractive in real life - the photo was taken at night in rather challenged lighting conditions. I really must learn how to use my new Photoshop software so I can color correct my bad photos. Sorry about the sideways label. Blogger absolutely refused to load the picture (which, by the way is actually oriented correctly). I tried to outsmart the photo loader and rotate the photo 90 degrees but then, of course, it loaded it correctly. I give up.

This is some fiber that I bought at Black Sheep several years ago (I haven't been to that festival in at least 3 years so it's older than that). I'm hoping to have enough to make some stranded fingerless mitts in conjunction with the off-white angora blend that I spun for Tour de Fleece.

I have big plans to set aside time to finally learn how to use my new loom and also venture into learning how to sew for myself this winter, once the garden is finally put to bed for the season (ha ha, a little bad garden humor there for you!).

Temporary Hiatus

Casa del Chaos has been busy living up to its name, I have been rather understandably distracted caring for Mr. CPA after his bladder cancer surgery, a subsequent post-surgical infection requiring IV antibiotics and hospitalization for possible heart attack (fortunately this turned out to be Pericarditis with Pericardial effusion and not a heart attack, for which we are both exceedingly grateful). Accordingly, things have been a wee bit too busy for blogging or gardening of late.

With all the waiting room, urgent care, ER and hospital time, I did manage to get some productive knitting in on the second Cedar Creek sock, that is right up until the time that I actually became too overwhelmed to even knit. (note to self: it might be good planning to always have a straightforward stockinette sock at the ready for times such as this!)

Let's just say that this was a week that I'd rather not repeat anytime soon.

Mr. CPA is home recuperating now and things look on track to be back to normal soon.

Grandkids say the darndest things

Setting:
7:00 pm Wednesday evening. Mr. CPA and I have both arrived home from our 10 hour workday and have taken delivery of the three G-kids who have been in Portland for the last week visiting their dad (otherwise known as the oldest son). Three of the five people in the room are overflowing with energy, the other two? Not so much.

The energetic people in the room have just floated several suggestions about what fun activities we should go and do RIGHT! NOW! All involve leaving the house and require much more energy and enthusiasm than either of the potential activity directors can muster at that particular moment.

Grandpa: Well, Grandma and I are pretty tired from being at work all day; maybe we can do some of that stuff tomorrow.

Oldest Grandson: What? You still work? But you’re OLD!!!

(Very Young) Grandma: How old do you think we are?

Oldest Grandson: At least 60!

(Very Young) Grandma: … ::blink, blink:: …*

Gee, thanks a lot kid. Stay tuned for your super special birthday gift next month.

That is, if I get a chance to go shopping for it before they come to take me off to the home.



* I suppose this is some sort of karmic payback for my 8 or 9 year-old self asking my grandmother what it was like coming over in the covered wagons. She was probably around 42 at the time and really didn’t care for being called Grandma in public (at one point she actually requested that I refer to her as ‘Auntie GiGi’ whenever anyone else was around). The fact that I can still clearly remember this incident over forty years later may give you some insight as to how she responded to that ‘I think you’re old enough to have been a pioneer’ question!

Tour de Fleece - Day 10

first bobbin completed

pretty much the same boring off-white yarn as before...

I Navajo plyed* (or Chain plyed) my completed TdF bobbin on Saturday evening.

Finished Yarn Info
Spinning notes:
I usually ply at two-thirds of original spinning twist, but I followed Fleegle's tip on Navajo Plying and plied a bit more firmly - about three-fourths of original spinning twist. (I didn't bother intentionally underspinning because I don't spin a super firmly twisted single as it is).

Plies: 3 ply
WPI: ~16-18
Plied twist angle: between 21 - 27 degrees
Yardage: ~ 300 yards

If I recall my basic math correctly, since the yarn is a 3 ply that means I spun approximately 900 yards since the beginning of Tour de Fleece, or only a little over 100 yards per day. But I did manage to spin every day so I suppose that's considerably more than I would usually manage this time of year (spinning is usually primarily a winter activity for me since we're usually working in the garden and canning in the summer), especially given that we've been otherwise engaged with a minor home-improvement project.

plied yarn - before and after washing

Before going to bed I started on the remaining batts:

Second verse, same as the first

Non-Tour de Fleece happenings
My spinning time has been a bit limited due to seasonal jam making and the most current household project here at Casa del Chaos.

This is what I was doing Saturday morning:

Goodbye old 'dirty vanilla' colored tile - you won't be missed!
(note original mid century wallpaper behind the tiles!)

Late Saturday afternoon:

It actually looks better without the tile

*is it 'plied' or 'plyed'? Neither one looks right to me this afternoon, but Blogger spell check really doesn't like 'plyed'. Do you ever have those days where regular words that you use all the time just don't look correct? I'm having one.

Tour de Fleece - day 8

So far I've spun every day ( although only the tiniest bit this morning since we were busy working on a home renovation project today).
There's quite a bit more yarn on the bobbin since my last update, but it's hard to tell from the photo:



I'm getting ready to ply this up tonight.

I didn't post any details about this last time so here are they are:
Singles twist angle: 27-30 degrees
Grist/size: 25-30 wpi
(my Mable Ross tool only goes to 25 wpi and the single is smaller than that so I'm guestimating)

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Tour de Fleece - Day 5

Progress as of bedtime on day 5:



White fiber, finer grist - it's a bit like watching solid color stockinette grow as far as blogging goes.

Also, kind of slow going now that the holiday is over and I'm back to my regular work schedule.

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July Already?

I can't believe it's been nearly two months since I last posted. June was a very busy month here at Casa del Chaos! I'm not going to try to catch up in one post because it will be too much.

Tour de Fleece
I'm doing Tour de Fleece this year. Here's my progress as of yesterday morning (day 3):

Tour de Fleece - Day 3

That's more of the angora blend (actually a Dorset/kid Mohair/Satin Angora mix) that I've been spinning to match the Dicentra Designs roving I was working on here . This is actually some of the oldest stash I have in the Basement of Wool since the Dorset component is from when I was a brand new spinner nearly 20 years ago (and with an interesting story around its acquisition but that's a story for another blog post).

Non-Tour de Fleece
I finished spinning the Dicentra Design BRIGHT rainbow:

two tiny balls of handspun

Unfortunately, there's only about 80 yards or so, maybe around 100 yards when combined with the yarn used for the initial test swatch. So I'm not sure if my initial plan to make myself a pair of mittens will work out here.

The natural angora skein next to it is from the batts I'm currently spinning for TdF, but this batch had a higher percentage of angora than the other batts, giving it a more definite grey color (the satin angora I used was silver). The grey angora skein only has around 120 yards in it.

I quickly swatched a bit with the initial run of matching Dorset/mohair/angora blend to see how the grey worked with the colored yarn (nicely I think). I have to say that my purling in two colors technique is something I need to work on.

I've nearly finished my handspun Spring Forward socks:

Yes, Vanessa, I still have my bad habit of waiting to graft the toes!

And I've started another pair of socks:

Pattern: Cedar Creek Socks
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Colorway: Rainforest Jasper

I know, I know, I said I wasn't starting any new knitting projects until the sweater was done, but I have been rethinking that approach (not really working for me - more on that later). Besides I used the well-known "Traveling to son's college commencement" exception. What, you haven't heard of that one? It's right there in chapter 12 of Denise's Book of Knitting Rationalizations.

Quilting!
I also started a quilting project. It's a gift but I think it's safe to assume the intended recipient doesn't read this blog (and if they do, they wouldn't necessarily know it's for them) so I think I can blog my progress on it here.

I think it should be noted that I am a very beginning quilter. Very. Beginning. A lot.

My previous quilting projects have consisted of some seriously simple nine patch blocks in table runners and precisely two baby quilts (one nine patch and one printed panel type quilt). I do have some sampler blocks from a beginning quilting class I took more than 8 years ago, but I got the flu and didn't manage to finish the class so the sampler wall hanging was never finished. And, unless buying fabric and patterns counts, I haven't really done any quilting in years.

I mention all of that so that it's clear just how ambitious this project is for me. And also to show that I may not be completely clear on the difference between optimism and insanity.

So far I've pieced the 'leaf' units and now I'm working on the base units. The base units involve using templates, which I've never used before. I can't really say I'm wild about them at this point. I think I prefer shapes that are rotary cut. The second batch got a bit easier after I starched the fabric and switched to a narrow (.5 mm) mechanical pencil for outlining the template shapes on the fabric. Here they are in progress:

And here's the initial test block (to make sure the templates were cut correctly):

Untrimmed block I guess I should have tidied it up before its photoshoot
(leaf units are to the side)

And here's part of the reason I don't think I'll be doing too many template-based patterns in the future:

Maybe if your post-cut out pattern piece 'adjustments' consist of one or two
thread-widths it was probably close enough to begin with...

Yeah, like I really need something that works to enhance my abilities in the 'obsess about the tiny details' department...

Spinning is the new avoidance

I was sick with an ill-timed, weekend stomach virus and after a not-too-successful attempt at getting some gardening done Saturday, I retreated into the house to suffer in silence* and total non-productivity for the remainder of the afternoon.

By late afternoon Sunday my new diet of delicious extra-dry saltines and ginger ale had restored me to a point that I wanted to do something that felt productive but didn't offer too much in the way of personal exertion. I didn't feel like knitting on either of my current projects (and frankly, wasn't up to working on either of them), but my current personal growth rules prevent me from starting a new knitting project. What to do...?

Well, spinning certainly doesn't count as a project as far as I can see.

In fact, it's practically a house chore since I have all this stored fiber cluttering up the house that needs to be processed and gotten out of the way. And I wouldn't be spinning any new fiber! Heavens no, this is old, old fiber from a Black Sheep Fiber Gathering event several years ago and I'm sure it should be spun up before the expiration date. Did I mention it's old?
::cough::

Moving on...

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking either.
I think I was trying to 'buy something different than I usually buy'.
I succeeded.

The fiber:
2 oz of 50% Merino/30% silk/20% angora blend dyed by Dicentra Designs

The colorway:
BRIGHT Rainbow
Official name is currently unknown. (The label has wandered off. I'm hoping it surfaces at some point.)

The goal:
light fingering weight 3 ply (Navajo plied)


I had already spun a healthy sized sample and knit up a swatch with it a few months ago in order to check the length of the color repeats:

extra large swatch

My plan is to use this yarn in a stranded knitting project in the future and the swatch had the length of the color repeats I was looking for, but there's a slight problem. The swatch is knitted flat and the project I have in mind would be in the round so it would have double the fabric and, as a result, the current color repeats would be half the length.

To solve this, instead of splitting the roving I should just spin it as is and problem solved. Unfortunately, I had proactively split all the roving already. (note to self: next time, maybe wait until *after* sampling to make decisions about the roving).

Of course I can still spin it with the longer repeats by splitting out the color sequences, it just would have been easier to do if I'd left the roving as-is until the sample was finished.

Did I say I only wanted to *feel* productive? Well mission accomplished!
Not much to see here.

*my motto is 'I don't mind suffering in silence as long as everyone knows about it first.'

Hobbies are like potato chips

What's the best solution to not having enough time to devote to one's current hobbies? Why to get a new one of course!

I am the proud owner of a Schacht Mighty Wolf 8 harness loom!

Here's a photo from the sale listing:


I don't actually have it in my possession yet since there are some logistical issues involved in picking it up (like a 456 mile one-way drive for one thing and dog-sitting arrangements for another) so I'll be driving down to get it in a couple of weeks.

Well, *I* won't actually be driving, Mr. CPA will since it's his truck and I don't like to drive it (big truck + short person = not a good match*). Have I mentioned lately that I have the best husband ever?


*for me, YMMV of course, I realize lots of other short people drive big vehicles with no problems whatsoever. I am just not one of them, unfortunately.

Sample Sweaters

I'm a sucker for shop samples. The opportunity to try on a sweater to see that it fits and flatters me is reassuring and alleviates the anxiety that I usually have when knitting a sweater (I fret the whole time that I'm spending weeks (or months) knitting something that in the end will make me look frumpy/lumpy/dumpy).

So, yeah, shop samples seem to practically propel my credit card out of my wallet to buy the pattern and yarn! Which brings me to my current project: Sommelier (Raveled here)

Black Water Abbey Yarns was at Madrona this year and, as usual, had a nice selection of sample sweaters to try on. The Sommelier sweater was there and several of us tried it on and liked it. I bought the pattern and, since BWA was out of the color I wanted, bought the yarn for the sweater from Shelly at Butternut Woolens.

I cast on right away and have made good progress (it's relative - I'm a slow-ish knitter)

Not shown but also done: the sleeves

There are a couple of minor errors in the pattern but easy enough to spot and work around, I've listed all the details on my Ravelry project page.

I finished up the sleeves and prepared to sew them in but there was a slight problem.


Worked as written, the sleeve cap is several inches smaller than the armscye. Mary Scott Huff (the designer) has been quite helpful. We've compared photos and her sleeve and body both have the same number of lace repeats as mine but clearly the sleeves on mine need to be longer for this to work.

So the sweater is in project time out for just a bit.

Because I'm trying to work on my bad habits of procrastination and avoidance that have caused many a project to come to a dead-end in the past, I'm not allowing myself to start a new project until I sort this one out.

Socks don't really count as a project though, right? I had to have something to take on the plane and the sweater just wouldn't work. (That's my rationalization and I'm sticking with it).

Spring Forward Socks in my handspun BFL
(Raveled here)