A new arrival

Well, so far so good. I'm keeping up on my resolution to blog more. That doesn't mean that this site is getting any more traffic, but hey. It's a start.

The biggest news of the past week is that a new arrival has entered my home. No, no babies, but a new sewing machine! Woohoo! It's a Bernina Aurora 430 and I'm totally in love with it. I had forgotten how nice and smooth and pretty and sleek Bernina's were. But now? My memory is happily jogged. I've already made a few things on it--a bellydance choli, and a skirt I've been hacking at for ages on. That, at long last, is now down to the final bits--the gathering and sewing. And it's a lot of gathering. Photos to follow as they get taken!

New Year's and all that

Well, it's 2008, and that means, at least for most everyone, resolutions. I usually don't make them, but for some reason, this year they are showing up in abundance. Some way to improve every part of life. I want to get my thesis done (before the end of the year!), get to my WW goal weight, finish up projects I've had stashed away and make a dent in my scrapbook supplies...which kind of fits in with the projects stashed away. I also want to update this blog more. I've had it forever and never seem to do anything with it..I feel like I should either do it or not. So, I'm going to make an honest effort to do it.

Happy news: I'm finally about to get my sewing machine! I'm so excited. Since my machine was stolen, I've been handsewing what I need or borrowing machines as I need them. No more! I'm going to be the proud owner of a Bernina Aurora 440 QEE. It's a refurbished model, so I'm getting it at a deep discount (the previous owner traded up to an insanely expensive machine for Xmas)...the QEE part means Quilting Edition + Embroidery. It's got an embroidery unit, which will be fun to experiment with, and the quilting part just means that it has a lot of overhead and a nice big sewing platform. And lots of fun decorative stitches. I'll have a good time playing with this new toy. Visions of dresses and bellydancing clothes are dancing through my head right now.

Knitting news: I started a new project--Clapotis. I've seen hundreds of these things online, and there's probably hundreds more that are undocumented in the world. I was sold on it after seeing one in the flesh and trying it on. It's so elegant and makes use of such beautiful sock yarn that I just couldn't resist. Mine's in colinette jitterbug, colorway Gaugin (I love how they use artists names for their colorways!) Here's what it looks like so far:

More to come as I make progress. I hope to finish this soon, so I can wear it while it's still actually chilly outside. Given how long it's taken others, though, I have my doubts. I can still wear it into the spring, though. Once the AC is turned back on in school, I'm sure I'll be cold again!

Onward ho, back to the needles!

Alrighty..so I finally joined the Fitted Knits Along (link here). Woohoo! I didn't want to join until I had something to show for it. And I do. About 2/3 of the textured tunic. I went until I ran out of yarn. Now I'm stopped until the LYS pulls some from their other stores and gets it over to me. Wed, perhaps? Then I can do the back flap and the sleeves. Right now I can't get over how LONG it is. I feel like I'm wearing a dress. But I'll be trendy! I'm not sure what I'll do next. Probably something smaller. Maybe that little shrug? I need to do something for Mr. Froggie, as he has so sweetly earned it by wearing the ugly scarf I made for him last year for xmas and LIKING it. That earns a sweater. Or at least a vest.

I promise..pictures soon!

Resurrection, perhaps?

Hello out there to everyone (all 2 of you). I'm going to try to resurrect this blog, as I do want to join some of the KALs that are floating around out there as well as show off what I'm doing. The status of the sweet sweater? I finished it! It's cute and everything, and I put it on and.....yeah. Too small. Well, too narrow. It would be utterly cute if I lost 15 lbs. I'm working on that anyway, but I hate to not have a sweater that fits! I'm still deciding what to do about it. I think what happened was that I used the wrong material. Cotton fleece just wasn't stretchy enough...well, it stretches but it clearly doesn't want to or like it. I should have done it in wool of some variety. Acrylic probably would have worked too. I may frog the thing and do something else with the yarn. Don't know.

So what have I been doing these past months? Well, in fiber-land, I taught myself to knit and it really caught my eye, moreso that crochet. So I've been a knitting fool, making my DH some things, and a baby sweater for a new addition to the family (on DH's side) and I'm currently working on the Rogue sweater. It's turning out great, though I think when I'm done I'm going to put the cable needle down for a while! I'm also surprised that none of the people who make it have been accosted by some crazed Lord of the Rings or Dungeons and Dragons fan..it's kinda fantasy-ish. I suppose, if I ever run into those problems, I'll let you know!

Sweet!

Okay...so I frogged it. The sweater was just TOO big. But now? oh, now it fits like a dream. :)
I swear I'll get this picture thing figured out soon! I've done about 6 or 7 inches below the armseye..it's starting to look like a real sweater now. Or maybe a sweater-vest.

I also found a knitting circle! I found them on the internet, and their day to meet is Thursday, so I'm going to head out and see what I can find.

This sweater is starting to look SWEET!
I think it will need some embellishment when it's done....I'll be looking for ideas....

Sweater Sense

Okay, I've been negligent about posting my progress because I've been making so much..well, progress! I got my neckline issues figured out and have even gotten so far as to join up under the arms...which is where I sit now. As I look in the mirror, I realize...it's loose. Really loose. Now, it fits through and around my arms comfortably, but the size around the back? Huge! That negative ease is just that...gone somewhere else. Now, since I signed up to crochet my favorite sweater, not my favorite sweatshirt, we might have something of an issue. If it tightens up in the next row or two, it should be okay...so for now, I'm going to switch to a smaller hook, which I planned to do anyway, and start decreasing by two stitches under the arms instead of just one. If this doesn't help, I may try and put in some decreases down the back as well...so for that, I have two questions.:
1-does the decreasing show the way the raglan increases do? and
2- is there such a thing as a princess-seamed sweater?

'cause if I can save it through some creative decreasing, I will...I really really don't want to frog it!

And I will post pictures soon, I promise. I know this site looks really dull without them. :)