Waz happenin'

I decided to go ahead and blog since my posts overall have been so scanty. I love to read what everyone else is up to, but just dobn't have the time or motivation to do it much anymore.
I was knitting "Romance" and my attention got swayed....I've been frantically knitting "Forecast" which has been in my personal queue forever. I gotta say, it's a great pattern, and I can't wait to finish it. I still have 2 sleeves and the button bands to do.
On another note, when I was on vacation 2 weeks ago, I visited a thrift store I had never been to, and I scored 15 skeins of vintage yarn. All were 100% wool in a variety of colors and I can't wait to use some of it.
I also found some fabric at another thrift store...with reasonable pricing, and came home and whipped up a little top in just a few hours. Gee, I have soooo many projects, and no time to work on them. I've got a quilt I am machine quilting, too but it takes forever! Hopefully I will have pics to post next time.

My "Self" Design

Remember my last post regarding the cocoon vest? Well, I was able to finish the sweater and here it is! I found a pattern in the latest VK that I fell in love with, but didn't have the $ to buy the pattern, so I decided to "copy" it. I have named her "Envy".

It's made in Lion Brand "Kool Wool" in the color grass-wish they hadn't discontinued this. I thought I was going to have to buy some from another Raveler, but luckily, all's well that ends well. I found 2 more balls in my stash in order to make it a longer length. Unfortunately, when I originally bought the yarn I was unable to get all the same dye lot, and yes, it's noticable. I considered overdying it, but haven't really had the time. It took about 8-9 balls, and I used size 10 circs. It is done top down.
Sorry for the sideways pic, but I uploaded it this way. I wanted you to be able to see the side cabling. I am unhappy that the increases are so sloppy looking, but i couldn't decide if I should p1fb or k1fb. In the end I did p1fb. Also, I should have started the waist shaping sooner. Live and learn. I definitely like the fit and would like to try it agin....maybe in another yarn. Who knows? I'm already working on "Remember", and have 2 others in the line up. Too many projects.....not enough time.

What I'm up to

Again, a month has whooshed by, and I haven't blogged. Nor have I photographed my FO. Is it me, or are the days getting shorter???

I've been having knitter's add...seriously. First, I pulled out an old project-Monkey socks, and almost completed the first sock. Then I decided to start the Spring Forward socks from Knitty. That wasn't good enough, so I FINALLY knit and finished the Leaf t in a mere 4 days! Then I saw a pattern from Stitch Diva that I totally fell in love with, and decided to knock it off. I ripped up an old FO, and started knitting like a maniac....sadly, I ran out of yarn, and haven't been able to find anymore. This really dampered my mojo. I resorted to using a different color yarn for the ribbing and sleeves, and it just isn't turning out to be the creation that I so desired. I can always recreate it, but my interest is waning especially after seeing some other patterns for fall that have caught my eye. Oh my gosh! My head is spinning from all this!! I need to chill out and decide to do one thing at a time. I'm on overload!

Psst...here's the project I ripped in order to do my knock off. It was the cocoon vest that I don't think I ever posted. I knew I'd never wear it again, and hey...it was like finding free yarn.

Happy 4th of July!

This really is one of my fave holidays...but this year it's even more special...I'm on vacation and my plans are for sewing, sewing, and more sewing. For about a month all I could think about were maxi dresses, and after letting a vintage pattern go on ebay, the search was even more urgent and impossible. One morning before work, I googled and somehow stumbled upon a video tutorial to make a maxi without a pattern.....I did it in one day and believe you me, it fits! I just want to send a super thanks out thre to Mimi for her excellent vid and sharing it with the world. Here's where you can find this fantastic sewist....http://myraida.blogspot.com/.
You're probably wondering where the photo is.....yeah. Bad news. Tonight my washing machine decided to eat it.....one of the straps, so now I have to figure out how to repair it. :(
In other sewing news, I finished 2 more dresses and a 3rd today. I Love Being On Vacation!!!!

A Rant and a Rave

Maybe I better start with the rave since the rant might drive you crazy. While perusing Ravelry, I happened upon someone's project from the new Paton's Spring Style book. When I find something I like it becomes a mission. I went to the Paton's website and found the stores in my area which had the book. My experience hasn't been too good with websites saying certain stores have their products only to find after driving all over town that they don't. So, I phoned, and Michael's had it. I raced over to get it, and I LOVE this pattern book. There are 4 patterns that I fell in love with, and I've already started the first one. Of course, I didn't have the required amount of yarn, so that led me to an online shopping spree. But, all's well that ends well with that mission.

Now, for the rant. Oh my gawd! Do you ever have the most impossible experience locating supplies for that special project? Well, I do, and I just wanted to bang my head against the wall. A year ago, I purchased some beads from a local store. Well, along comes the Spring Style book, and one of the projects is beaded. (I've never knit or crochet with beads before) I dig out the beads I bought, and I don't have enough. Fine, I think, I'll just check their website and find out their store hours. Hmmm...they've moved. No problem. I'll go on my next day off. So, I go to the location listed on their website, and they moved again. I find the new place, but now the name has changed, too. When I went inside , I was extremely disappointed. Their inventory was only about 1/8th of what they used to have. I had to wait 30 minutes to ask if they had these beads.(they don't). While waiting, I watched as a paying customer waited at the register for what seemed like forever, was never acknowledged, and she walked out. Then I go to another bead store in town. They have similar ones, but not enough. The clerk says she'll check their website and see if she can order more. (much better customer service at this store). No, they don't have it anymore. My last resort was to go to Joann's. Amazingly, they had a similar bead and I was able to meet the bead requirement. Now the excitement to start the new project is at an all time high. I thread the yarn on a needle-no easy feat, mind you-and prepare all the beads. The beads from Joann's have a smaller hole!!!! I can't get them threaded at all!!!! I could kill someone...but it wouldn't do me any good. I am back to square one and I can't even return the beads because I unthreaded them all, and mixed them in with the original beads. This is the part where the head banging could have taken place. Now I have the perfect yarn, and not the perfect beads. I could cry.

Ok enough....I will leave you with a pic of one of my latest projects....Lapa from the Caron website. If you want to learn to crochet, I think this a great starting point. Very well written and easy to execute. I probably could have used a smaller hook since this yarn tends to grow, but all in all I'm pretty happy with it. Well, I'm off to crochet some more!

My current ramblings

Sorry, folks...no pictures this post. Work has been a bit frantic with loss of help, new management, and new employees. The stress level is high. What's one to do with all this stress? Create.
Still no Rebecca dress. It's wool, and I'm not motivated. Then, I caught the fever to knit Owls. I am doing the second sleeve, and stalled. Then, out of the blue, the sewing bug manifested itself. Joann's has been having pattern sales, and I've bought a few. I finished a blouse and a dress, and both have been worn to work already. I am in the process of another dress, but have had many fits and starts, and jamming of the fabric and thread. Grrr...all that cussing you hear is me. It is a fairly simple design, but with the tiredness from work, I've been unable to do more than one or two steps on it---oh, and making dumb mistakes. I found a vintage pattern on ebay, and that will be my next sewing project, but unfortunately, the fabric stash doesn't have what I need.
To complicate matters further, I suddenly got the reading bug, too, and have finished 4 books in a matter of three weeks. With my schedule, that's pretty quick. I have one left, and another one in transit. Shall I make matters worse? I want to machine quilt, and bought a book to learn how. I bought a quilting foot for my machine-oh my gawd, 2 years ago....and have yet to try it out. I'm too busy, and why oh why aren't there at least 40 hours in a day for everything I want to do?

I Haven't Forgotten

this little ole blog. I have to be honest and say that 2009 hasn't been treating this household too well. My job seemed to be in danger for awhile, but now things have leveled off, and all they have done is reduce my hours. Still hurts the pocketbook, if ya know what I mean. The stress level has been high, and I haven't felt like knitting any of my projects. I decided to take a few vacation days before that got loused up, too. What's a person to do?

I've been sewing and knitting doll clothes as a form of therapy, and have tried unsuccessfully to win some dolls on ebay. Now that I have a new laptop, I haven't quite figured out all the kinks with uploading photos from my camera. Here's one for ya...but I can't guarantee the quality. My fave is the Hello Kitty sweater. I'm probably going to join the doll clothes group on Ravelry and post more photos there. Would love to see and hear about other bloggers who make and knit doll clothes. There aren't a lot of people who blog about Vogue Ginny dolls.

For now, this is it. I hope to come out of my funk soon. That Rebecca dress needs to be done!