For A Paris Evening...

My friend Angel made this soft capelet several times and when I tried it on I was mesmerized with
how sweet it was.  Although she knitted hers in a yummy, more wintry yarn, I thought it would be perfect for a summer "Evening in Paris". The pattern is called "LuLu"...so French - the designer says it's her alter ego.

The model even looks like Brigitte Bardot...

I found a white cotton and acrylic blend - easy to work, forgiving. The lace pattern is not difficult (as lace goes) and it works up very quickly. What I love most are the little flowerettes around the yoke - so feminine.  The "sleeves" are added to the bottom of the capelet, and it is mildly restrictive for movement...but since I wasn't planning on doing anything too athletic other than lifting my wine glass, it should be perfect!

Finished and ready to wash and block. 

I use a large fiberboard coated with Contact paper to block my knitted garments.

I set them outdoors under a fan to hasten the drying process.

Because of the cotton blend (I hardly EVER knit with acrylic) I am hoping that it will remain soft and cozy...but not too hot!

My little French coquette, Colette, is right at home in my new LuLu. She is thinking that it will pair beautifully with some of my linen crop pants or soft maxi skirts. It would look awesome with any of  Suzan's travel pants, but alas, Zan, like the fringed linen skirt, I'm not making you a LuLu sweater. LOL!  In truth, I love to knit, but I don't get how women can be so selfless making knitted garments for friends and family - it's sooooo much work...I can barely get anything completed for myself!!

But hey, Zan, you can borrow it anytime:)

Speaking of SYW projects (that's "Slit Your Wrist") projects, I'm back to the Habu shawl...was thinking of giving up (and I still may) but I switched to wood needles, and it's working better. I haven't cried for an hour. Colette will love this one too and it also would be perfect for Paris evenings.

We'll see...sewing is so much easier!
 

Laurel. Selfish Knitter.

Hanging with the Big Dogs (of knitting, that is!)

Last week several of my knitting friends and I took a little road trip to a yarn shop in Petaluma, Knitterly. Among my knitting friends her in Sacramento, Knitterly is considered a Mecca for all things Yarn, and well worth the 100 mile drive across the Valley.  Two of us making the outing were Knitterly newbies and anxious to see what the fuss was all about.

Knitterly is a lovely shop in the old section of Petaluma.  The streets are lined with every manner of restaurant and retail shop, enough to make the trip worthwhile, even if there wasn't a yarn shop. Knitterly is known for its fine yarns and fibers, many of which I have heard my friends rave about and which, I might add, have never seen the bottom of my shopping bag.  Suffice it to say, it's like a candy shop that caters to sugar-holics.

I should back up and explain the level of expertise that comprised my traveling companions: one has never shied away from any pattern or expensive yarn, knitting in the most gorgeous uniform stitches that would make a knitting machine jealous...another friend IS a knitting machine, putting out more sweaters and shawls in a month than the rest of us could knit in a year...another dyes, spins, knits and weaves her own fibers, even spinning raw organic cotton from the plant.  These are not your basic potholder-making queens - these are the Big Dogs.

I don't consider myself a novice knitter, so when one of the group suggested we all choose some Habu yarn to make a shawl together, it seemed like a cool idea.  The shawl sample was absolutely luscious on the mannequin - I wrapped it around my shoulders, dreaming of a Paris evening.

You can do this, Laurel, I reasoned to myself. Though I have never knitted with such a fine yarn, I noted that the pattern was not that complex...just one single page of instructions. The yarn came on a cone, instead of a skein, so right away you feel like you've joined the Big Dogs. I even created a chart in Excel (I am the spreadsheet queen, remember!) so that I could visually "see" the pattern unfold.

And that, my friends, was the end of my usual "I can do anything" mindset. In three short days since I have possessed these cones from hell, I have ripped my work off the needles four (count them!) four times. Like I said, it isn't like the pattern is complicated - basically twelve repeating rows of 182 stitched yarn overs, knit togethers, etc. However, counting (endless counting!) has proven to be my Achilles heel, and this project depends on it. I remember hearing the sales associate from the shop tell one of the Big Dogs to create a lifeline along the way...in CASE you make a mistake.

Lifeline, Schmifeline!

One of my basic rules of life is just DO IT - pick the project you want to do regardless of your skill level and just go for it. Well, consider me humbled, beaten into submission by Habu yarn cones. I woke up in the middle of a scourging nightmare of some dog chasing me last night to a revelation. I figured out why my stitches would not come out correctly. Instead of knitting two together after my yarn overs, I was knitting one. Hel-lo! Doesn't sound like much, but knitters will tell you it's huge.  I got up and set out to fix my error at 4:00 a.m. and was ecstatic that my counting became perfect.

Nirvana...right up until my stitches slipped off the needles, hanging in the air! After 15 minutes of trying to get the lost sheep back in the pen, in a fit of rage I ripped the whole thing back off the needles. By this time, I'm thinking that the Big Dogs will have to go on without me, and my Paris wardrobe will be devoid of a luscious Habu shawl.

But the sun always rises on a new day and armed with a hour of prayer, I wrestled the Habu into submission. I actually USED markers this time (I'm not fond of them, but the Big Dogs claim it's the secret to accurate counting). I also changed needles to help pick up this fine yarn. And I took my time. Sitting in the morning sun, I finally got past Row 5.

My shawl is going to rock and I am David defeating Goliath! I am Neil Armstrong walking on the moon! I am ready for battle and the Arc de Triomphe awaits my victorious entry!

Today, I AM A BIG DOG!

 

 

Laurel. Yeah right...talk to me in another day, grasshopper.

Climbing out...

It started with a kiss,

a tender peck on the cheek

filled with hidden danger.

Scrubbing hands,

endless drops of sanitizer

could not alter its course.

Coughing, dripping

sweaty nights of sleeplessness

his cold engulfed me...

Hacking...

Enough already! I think my pity party is ending and I am climbing out of a month long hole. It's funny how sickness overwhelms our souls and we are immobilized, even to the point of depression. I haven't done much in the past month, but Spring is calling and I don't want to be found wanting.
 

But it's not like I haven't done anything...from my couch.

I'm addicted to the creativity on Polyvore and have been creating sets.
It feeds my artsy right brain...

Between the coughing fits, I finished my leaf shawl...   

Yesterday I sewed...We had a nice dinner at home...I did some wardrobe planning with Suzan (Fabric Lady) on her blog...I'm taking my princess out to lunch today for her birthday...Tomorrow I'm headed to Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics to have some serious wardrobe enhancements...

Basically, I'm climbing out.

Laurel. On the other side.

Life's Simple Pleasures...

It's Sunday morning...a beautiful crisp Fall day about to awake...looking back on my week, I am reminded that it is the simple things that give me pleasure...I see them through the lens of my ubiquitous iphone...

Shopping... for tart pans in Sur La Table...

For a Ruby port to go with a Marscarpone and Berry tart...

Afternoon baking of aforementioned Tart...

Sharing a meal with friends...

Driving to Tahoe, enjoying the aspen...

Celebrating a friend's special anniversary with dinner at Jake's...

Finishing a sweater...finally...

 Staying home with my hubby watching the Boys of Fall...

And just enjoying the changes in my yard...

The last roses of Fall...

Laurel. Enjoying the Simple Things.

Colette earns her keep...

Purchasing a dress form may seem like an extravagance if you don't sew like a professional dress designer.  To get a good quality form you will be emptying your wallet to say the least. Hence, some might say that you need to sew "a lot" to make it worth the price tag.

Even though I consider myself to be a pretty dedicated seamstress, I have to admit that Colette languishes in the corner way too much.  I keep her outfitted at all times...she is after all, my mini-me and I don't even like to see myself in the buff, much less look at her lumps and bulges.  When she's not working, she does make a great giant Barbie that I can dress with sweaters, shawls and scarves.

But when Colette is needed, I can not deny how important she is to creating a great fit, whether I'm sewing a garment or knitting a sweater.  Just this morning, I pinned a knitted lace tunic front to her form, just to make sure it was going to fit me.

This is what owning a good dress form is all about. I was at the armhole stage of the top and needed to ensure that the top was going to fit over Colette's chest and still fit properly at the shoulders.

By fitting it on Colette, I could see that how many more stitches I would have to decrease around the armholes. And I was able to see how many more rows I could knit before I started creating the neckline. 

I probably will be deviating from the pattern to ensure that the "scoop" neckline comes to the most flattering place on my chest. 

I say about 16 more rows before I start the neck.

Colette's completed tunic will need a pretty cami underneath - 

I love the way this lace pattern has turned out, but I sure don't want to see my underbelly through it.

This Louisa Harding Merletto yarn is a royal pain to knit - it splits.  But I have to admit, the finished product might be worth the effort. And because it has linen fiber in it, it should drape (hang) well.

One more panel, two short sleeves and it will be ready for the Red Carpet...

okay, maybe the Mall.

Laurel. I love you, Colette.

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Pacing myself...

Just like New Year's resolutions, I hate committing myself to a year long "goal" that I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to honor.  When the local knitting guild announced in January that we were all to commit to some year long project, I can admit that I was less than enthused.  We were to dream up this project idea (and commitment) right away.  At each subsequent monthly meeting we would all "Show and Tell" our progress on our project. Yay!

Just listening to this grandiose plan, I started sweating and squirming in my seat. We were already a couple of weeks into January, so I am NOW behind on any commitment that I might make to this year long project. That annoying little man with the pitchfork that sits on my right shoulder lets out a quiet but evil laugh.  He knows I'm not good at finishing squat - I start well, but I get bogged down and downright bored if I know I HAVE TO complete something under duress. I leave the meeting uncommitted and depressed.

Knitting requires finishing, Laurel. Especially if you want to wear it.

I ponder the whole year-long debacle for a few more days and decide that perhaps I can just commit to FINISHING. Something. Anything.  I look through my stash of unfinished projects. The hubby passes by while I am sorting through the multitude of zip-lock bags filled with all manner of pretty yarns on needles.

"How many projects do you have going, honey?" he asks innocently.

"Maybe 3 or 4", I venture, kicking several zip-lock bags under the couch as he approaches the carnage.

You know what they say about addiction disorders, Laurel...when you start lying??

Not wishing to betray the knitting world and other addicts out there, I won't fess up how many UFOs I counted.  Suffice it to say the number would satisfy the year-long project commitment of the Guild.

You can do this, Laurel...just pace yourself. Don't get all up tight...it's not like they're keeping a hit list for knitters who fail to honor their commitment or that the gates of Knitter's Heaven will be locked for you...

 

So, here we go...here's January's FINISHED project - this cowl was on the needles for a couple of weeks, but I've had this lovely beaded Art yarn for months.

 

 

And here is February's FINISHED project - a cozy wool cowl that is patterned after a Gap scarf.

 

So as not to get bored FINISHING, I made this little scarf pin for the heck of it. One must have several irons in the fire at all times.

 

And finally, just so you don't get to thinking that I'm on a roll FINISHING, I started another sweater (I have three of them already in the UFO zip-locks that I kicked under the couch - oopsy!).

 





Maybe I will FINISH it by December....

Laurel. Pacing myself.

UFO Sightings

Lost a "Follower" today...don't know who or why...and I'm figuring this post title may freak out a couple more.  But in my world, UFOs are not flying objects bouncing through space, they are unfinished objects that have grown mold in my knitting basket.  They are neglected projects that either bored me to tears, were too complex for my pea-brain, or I had decided that I hated them before they were ever finished. 

For knitters and other crafters, our drawers and closets are full of UFOs. We hide them from our husbands so we can justify buying more stuff for our stash, whether it be yarn, fabric, beads...whatever. Occasionally we trot them out of their resting places for a fresh look.  If we are lucky, we become inspired all over again, put our pedal to the medal and finally finish them.  There is nothing more gratifying than finishing a 900 page book that you have been reading for a year, binding off a sweater that can actually be worn THIS season, or sewing that fabric that you got on vacation two years ago.

This week, I finished two projects. Yay!

1.)  A small knitted purse that I plan to use for shopping at Stitches West in Santa Clara this month.  It goes over the shoulder so that my hands will be free to pick through skeins and skeins of beautiful yarn. I actually "felted" it to give it a little more stability and lined it with a pretty pink batik fabric. Big enough for my wallet, some lip gloss and my iPhone. Very hippie, don't ya think???

 

 

2.)  I also finished a poncho that I started several months ago.  I got this soft tweedy yarn from the stash of one of my fellow knitters who had passed away last year and whose daughter kindly invited us all over to take some yarn home. This is Sweet Sue's poncho.

 



With hippie purse in hand and rockin' my new poncho, I will be ready for the Stitches convention.  And since a girl can never have too much yarn in her stash, I fabricated this cute little rolling market cart for the day.  I purchased a small collapsible luggage cart at Target and the fabric basket at Lowes.  I bent the top rim of the basket (heavy wire of some kind) into a square and then velcro'd it to the luggage carrier.  Voila...a mini-shopping cart I can drag behind me.  I can also use it to take to the Saturday Farmer's market this summer. Bonus!

 

Laurel. Procrastination is crushed!!

Some good...some not so much...

I am trying to figure out how I get so busy.  When I was working, I used to wait longingly for the weekends to do all my crafty stuff, never getting to half of it and waking up Monday morning trying to figure out why I never got anything done.  Five years later the dilemma is still there. This morning I woke up sorting through my endless list of to-dos, have-tos, ought-tos and want-to-dos.

Among the list of neglected projects is blogging. I get so busy with other stuff, I postpone writing until I actually finish something. I have totally lost that "multi-tasking" mojo in the midst of all my half-finished projects, not-started projects, and the "%@# - canned" projects that went by the wayside.

When you take on too many things, some of them go well, some don't. This little dress went well.

 Little girls love lady bugs....

"Tinking" is the opposite of knitting.  It means that you basically screwed up your pattern somewhere and you have to rip it out...one stitch at a time. I didn't like the way this sweater pattern was headed, so I put it on Colette and she agreed.  She hated it ("It makes me look fat, Laurel").  I'm not much of a "tink-er", so I just yanked the stitches off the needle...about 10 rows. I'd say this one didn't go so well.

After hand painting my two stools last month, I decided that this 30 year old end table with two little round nesting tables needed a face lift too.  I'm thinking this project get's a 9 on the 10 point scale.

Besides being guilty about neglecting my blog, I've also been carrying on a running argument with myself about my poor lonely art quilt hanging on the project wall.  I was going to try to finish it before the Super Bowl party, so I did clock some hours in January stitching away on several areas of the landscape.  The thing about an art quilt that you are thread painting, you can not rush the process.  It is painstakingly slow...stitching, changing threads, winding bobbins, breaking needles, designing as you go...etc. This project is a procrastinator's dream.

Like I need another project, I am having fabric withdrawal and need to get down to Stone Mountain and Daughters in Berkeley for some spring knits.  Colette needs some new tops.  But she will have to wait until I get back from Stitches West in Santa Clara....the Knitter's Mecca, I understand.  I can't wait to add more yummy yarn to my stash!!

Meanwhile, I brought back a little gift for Colette from my Mom's yesterday.  I knitted this cute little sweater for her last year, and yesterday she gave it back to me. According to my very wise mother, little wrinkled 88 year old arms should never see the light of day.  Sorry Mom...Ill have to make you something with long sleeves. Another project to start.

Yippee for me... if I can get it off Colette!

Laurel. Think I'll go shopping.

Two More Shopping Days 'til Doomsday...

You gotta love the Internet...I get some of my best belly laughs and worst frustrations reading some of the nonsense in the social media. Despite the hoopla surrounding the Winter Solstice and the impending end of the world, my more rational and spiritual sides say I'm still going to be around for 2013.

I'm not much of a resolution kind of girl, but in light of the fact that the Mayan Calender WILL just keep plugging along, I asked the hubby what he wanted to do in 2013.  I always ask these kinds of deep questions when he's trapped in the car, driving somewhere, as every woman knows that's when you get your best responses. Despite their pretense of concentrating on the jerk who just cut them off, they ARE thinking about what you said and trying to figure out a way to answer without getting in a full scale assault. This time, my question was rather banal, so for him, it was easy: 'build the outdoor cabinet around my Green Egg". He didn't say 'golf more' or fish more', as that is a given.


"What about you?", he asks. Yeah Baby, that's what I'm talking about. We all know that we women ask those kinds of questions because what we really want is to answer our own questions. But even as I asked him, I wasn't really sure if I knew what I wanted to do in 2013.  After a mile or two down the street, I said 'I guess I want more of the same.'  Yeah, more of the same, but more of it. And maybe more "better" too...

* More good times with friends. I love my little social groups - the knitting ladies, the book club ladies, the foodie ladies, the sewing ladies. I love my Monday Night Friends, my spiritual rocks.

 

* More knitting. They say there's a hobby for every person depending on your personality type...over thinkers, like me should knit. It must be true, I read it on the Internet.  Seriously, it must be true, as it's pretty hard to worry about your IRA account when you're counting YOs, K1 P2s. More lace!

* Cheaper (and better) wine. Just knowing that I found a good cab in Costco for $8.99 brings a smile to my face. Who doesn't like the BevMo $.05 cent sale?

* More short day trips. Exploring our region is always gratifying...it pretty in Central California with lots of little towns left unvisited, country roads to be discovered, small shops to find.

 

* More lunches out. Eating good food is an important facet of my retirement life. Dave collects write-ups in the paper about restaurants and cuisines and saves them in a folder.  When we are looking for something to do, we go to the folder and pick a place to try.

* More (and better?) serving. I LOVE my sewing ministry for Dress a Girl Around the world, so more of that! Perhaps finding another way to serve in my community...

* More of the same things that made me smile in 2012. Sitting by the fire, watching good television programming (could we get some of that, please?), sewing a nice outfit for Colette, finishing a sweater, cooking a great meal, loving my grandchildren and enjoying our family traditions.

Yep, just more of the same in 2013. Okay, maybe I could lose some weight...and get more excerise...maybe we could re-do the hallway floor...what about new carpet? Finish the Art Quilt?? A trip to Europe?? Cruise????

If by chance the psychos are right about December 21st, my shopping IS done.

What are you doing in 2013???

Laurel. I'm still here.  You?

Inside Out...

You're making your way through a rack of clothes and you come upon a jacket labeled "Reversible".  Even though it's semi-ugly, the word triggers an automatic response - you can't resist taking it off the rack just to check out the inside. More than likely, if it's tacky on the outside, it's a given that the inside won't be much prettier. Perhaps it's the thriftiness in me, or the creativeness, I'm not sure, but I will always look at the inside, even though I have no intention of buying it. To me, "Reversible" usually means "bulky", "unattractive", or "I would NOT wear THAT on the outside!"

Some things are okay with their insides showing.  I spotted a knitted cowl in a yarn shop that I thought was kind of cute.

"It's reversible", the sales person said, like that fact alone was going to make me want to make it. I took a peak at the inside, and sure enough, the inside actually looked the same as the outside. Bonus! So I immediately purchased a nice soft turquoise wool and sure enough, it's going to be lovely...and reversible!

Some things are meant to be reversible...like a quilt.  When experts judge a quilt, they look at the back of it, just to see and judge the quality of the stitches. When you make a quilt for a bed, the back needs to be just as pretty as the front. I've only made one real bed quilt. I loved designing and sewing the quilt top, but hand quilting turned out to be not so much fun.  My Mom finished it for me. 

The back of an art quilt, on the other hand, doesn't usually show. It just hangs on the wall.  However, the art quilt aficionados will ALWAYS try to lift the quilt to see the back.  The intricacies of the quilted stitches and thread painting are what make art quilts "works of art".  I'm presently working on my second art quilt, inspired by the colors of New Mexico. I am using a multi colored thread in the bobbin, so the back of the quilt is quite interesting on it's own.  I have a long way to go!

Some things are not meant to show their insides...like drawers.

Certain things are sometimes prettier on the inside...like people.  Unfortunately - or maybe not - we often hide our "inside" self to the world, only trotting it out for special people. We are basically vulnerable people, exposing our underbelly to those whom we trust, those whom we love.  We live on the outside, editing our words and curbing our actions to fit in, to be liked, to be okay.

Often, who we are "on the inside" has far more value than we ourselves believe.  In truth, we are complex and messy creatures...a wonderful mish-mash of beauty and ugliness, intelligence and stupidity, grace and clumsiness, generosity and selfishness, creativity and indifference, calm and angst, confidence and insecurity. Inside and out, we are "fearfully and wonderfully made".

Praise the Lord...we are reversible!

Laurel.  Inside Out.

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