Sick day

Today was a sick day. I've been dancing around the sore-throat-bush for quite some time and it finally took hold of me and whacked me over the head with its thorny branches Sunday night. I had to go to work Monday morning, but took leave as soon as I could. And this morning, it was worse. Anyway, enough woo-is-me. I had slept a total of 17 hours yesterday and even though I feel like I'm under water, I couldn't just lay in bed staring at the imperfections in my ceiling paint. No no, I had to do something. Anything.

Boredom + Restlessness + BIG reprodepot.com order


+ Betsy Ross Pattern = One For All Shoulder Bag.

Some days...

are just better than others. For me, birthdays usually pass without much hoopla. I'm not a fan of celebrating myself. When we're little, they're just short of a national holiday. It progresses to an excuse to go out and celebrate HARD. But now... in my mid-30's? Not so much.

But this year's birthday was special. I guess it's this time in your life when there's very little drama, and the friends you have are the friends you'll keep. I felt blessed with every birthday wish, every celebratory birthday meal and every generous gift. The stars were definitely aligned as I received two "gifts" that I was not expecting (and both pertinent here.)

First, I finally got my ravelry invite! YES!!! Finally. I can start keeping track of my stash proactively, as opposed to reactively when the plastic bags fall onto my head everytime I open the closet door and think, "Oh... I forgot about this yarn. Must make mental note."

Secondly, I have NO qualms about spoiling myself every once in awhile. Life's short, and we work hard, don't we? So for my birthday this year I upgraded my sewing machine. I haven't been sewing long, but am loving patchwork and quilting more and more every day. I traded in my great little Bernina 230PE for the Bernina 640E. It's a little out of my league and I'm a wee bit intimidated by the touchscreen and its beeping, which I'm sure I can turn off, but I'm excited by its possibilities. I had ordered it weeks ago, and with some delays I was finally able to pick it up on my birthday. Now, that's a great little surprise.



(More pics to come of mine in its newly organized Atelier de mishi2x, hee hee... just one last Container Store visit!)

This birthday was just better than others.

Gifts to give

Completed the sets of Quilted Coasters I set out to make out of the fabric I had leftover from the Pinwheel Quilt.

I'll keep a set for myself even though my Target coffee table doesn't really need much protection. It's pretty beat up.

Quilted Coasters

Like a child on Xmas morning, I ran over to Purl Patchwork on Monday after staying up all night (exaggeration) waiting for Santa to deliver the latest book from Joelle, Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. Although the weather was warm and sticky, I grabbed my pug Brigitte and headed down to Purl Patchwork. I was so single-minded, that I walked right by Joelle outside her store and announced that I was here for the "New Book".

After paying for the book, Joelle was kind enough to sign it for me and mentioned how sweet Brigitte was. Aw.

I ran (exaggeration) home, not stopping at the dog run in Washington Square Park despite Brigitte's pleading looks (not an exaggeration).

I flipped through the book, completely UNdisappointed at its beauty and charm and started mentally making a list of what I was going to make. Although these coasters were not on the original mental list, I wanted something quick and easy and also something to use my Heather Bailey Freshcut fabric that I had leftover from my mother's Pinwheel Quilt. I've sent the quilt off to her, and I miss seeing the fabric laying around. So, here are the first two. Twenty (slight exaggeration?) to come!




Here's a quick "tip". (Nothing you wouldn't already know.)

Quilt for Mom

I'm so happy to be done with this quilt. Not only am I pretty satisfied with it, but the damn freemotion quilting was giving me quite the workout. I'm still a newbie at this quilting business, not to mention this freemotion business, so it was trying at times. I know it's not supposed to be that difficult, but I don't really have adequate space (I've covered this territory, I know) and without the quilt's ability to lay flat, I struggled with keeping it where I wanted under the needle. And, since my piecing technique for the pinwheels was not textbook, the centerpoint of all the pinwheels were stacked high with fabric and I broke about 4 needles trying to quilt over those stacks. Not too bright. Took me 4 needles to stop fighting it. Duh.



In any case, it's ready to be sent off to mom as a little get well present. And now, I'm a huge fan of freemotion quilting as you really feel like you're drawing with the needle and thread onto the fabric.

(More pics off the link on the right under Completed.)

Atelier de mishi2x

I've been obsessively browsing through Flickr and blogs for pictures of studios, workspaces, crafting areas... any space people were using to create. It was becoming a bad habit, like searching the NY Times Real Estate section for multi-million dollar apartments I would never live in. Or filling up imaginary shopping carts on the Bergdorf Goodman site only to cancel when I was to submit my order. Passively clicking away at these random photos of how people were setting up their goodies was starting to fill up all of my spare time. I didn't really know why or how I had developed this new compulsion until I decided that I should take some photos of my "workspace", I use that term lightly, and snapped these photos.



More here.

Mr. Migglesworth and I are always referring to our "east wing", or ponder whether we should have lunch on our "terrace". Of course, we have neither of these things. (The "east wing" is our bathroom, and our "terrace" is the fire escape.) We have a one room studio. So what you see is the kitchen, my office, the corner of our king-size bed (which takes up 25% of the square footage) and part of Mr. Migglesworth's office (that my sewing machine has commandeered.) So, I need to reorganize, and thus the compulsion. Desperately. Mr. Migglesworth and I are venturing to the Container Store this Sunday for their Elfa shelving sale. 30% off. I need it. He needs it. The apartment needs it. It's going to collapse onto itself and create some sort of crafting black hole.

(I'm not even showing you the bad half of the apartment.)

Wish me luck.

A Milestone

I finally completed my first adult sweater!


Pattern: Rowan's Tapestry Collection - Marsh Sweater
Yarn: Rowan's Tapestry; Color - Country
Time to complete: Random hours during 4 weeks time.

Both yarn and pattern purchased from Purl Soho, both were on sale!

Many more pictures on my Flickr site - click the link under Completed to the right.

I'm happy with this sweater! I'm actually going to wear it!! It actually fits!!! That was definitely my biggest concern, but I kept holding it up to me during the whole process. I kept hearing these nightmare stories of swatching, and knitting, and measuring and the sweater coming out way too big or small. So PHEW. I'm glad.

I made a funky choice though... I decided (with absolutely no reason or from any previous experience) that I was going to do the decreases around the armhole and on the sleeves, three stitches in from the ends. So there's a very visible ridge/hump. It's not HORRIBLE, but remind me of this the next time I try to just throw in some design detail I've never done. It's such a nice simple design, and I kind of f'ed it up with that. To quote Mr. Migglesworth, "What the hell are wrong with the sleeves?"

Surprising myself

I don't often surprise myself. I'm pretty realistic about my abilities and my likes and dislikes. I really thought I would hate finishing my very first adult-sized sweater. But, I gotta say... it ain't so bad. I had fun sewing up the shoulders and neck. I still have a long way to go, but it was very meditative. And most of all, very satisfying. After knitting all those stitches, and having these rolled up pieces that amounted to nothing, I was more than unsatisfied. So I decided to start sewing it up.


Not such a bad job, if I do say so myself! I think my foray into quilting and sewing warmed up my fingers and calmed my mind to this meticulous task. I used Nancie Wiseman's book to help me. Her instructions and illustrations really do help.

I've also done a little exploration on the quilting side. I tried free-motion (I kept saying freeform at first - always a knitter at heart) quilting for the first time. First of all, what a workout. My arms got really tired, really quickly. So I've only finished about half of the quilt. And I think I'll end up using more than a spool of thread. But, it's fun! Surprised again. And, I tried spray basting this quilt instead of hand basting with safety pins or basting stitches. It's so fast and easy, I felt like I was cheating. I feel like it's one of those hidden secrets - no one ever really talks about. Or maybe I'm missing something. Or maybe it's one of those things "real" quilters don't do. *Shrug*


And yes, I started from an outside corner. A big no-no. But I was nervous about the spray basting at first, not thinking it was going to be secure enough and didn't want to fiddle with rolling it up under the machine's arm, and scrunching it all up just to start in the middle. Surprised again - spray basting stayed very intact!

Boot Boot Booties!

Damn it, these are cute.



Thanks for the free pattern, Saartje!

Less than one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in Black Purl.
Size 2 needles.
4 shirt buttons.

A Quickie

Quick update.

QUILTING:
Progress on the quilt for my mom. Finished the quilt top:


KNITTING:
Am onto the sleeves of the Tapestry Marsh Sweater. Finished the front and back while my mom was in the hospital. Great mindless project as it's straight stockinette.

We're a quirky bunch

Uh. My. Gawd.

A knitted, crocheted and embroidered FERRARI made in England. LOLOL!!!

Knitted Ferrari

I just had to share if y'all haven't seen it.

Long Summer

A few weeks ago it seemed my biggest problem was what to make next and why wasn't I finishing projects I started. I learned my mother has ovarian cancer, and that cancer had spread to my brother's lungs, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer last fall. It's hard to cope with things you don't normally have to deal with. I guess writing here will make me feel a little better. Sharing always makes me feel better. But, I've broken my personal rule of avoiding personal topics (which I've already done) on my blog that's dedicated to the handmade, so I apologize.

On the plane rides to see my mom, I've been able to wile away the hours with some knitting. I completed my Presto Chango Baby Sweater. I'm missing two buttons at the bottom, but figured I'd post the pics now otherwise it may never happen. I used 4 skeins of Lion Brand Organic Cotton in color Almond. And I made it in the largest size for a 2 year old. I'm going to bring it to Knitty City to display. I picked up the buttons, and the yarn, at Knitty City so it'll be nice to show it off to the customers.


So, I decided to make a quilt for my mom. She's not a huge fan of the "americana" style. And I'm not an expert quilter to make something appliqued with creative shapes, so I'm sticking to muted colors and simple shapes. I hope she'll like it. Here's the first block:


I'm using Heather Bailey's Fresh Cut fabrics. I'm really excited for it. It's so sweet and charming. I just hope it's not too pastel-y for my mom. I'm almost done putting the top together, and am trying to decide whether to border it or not. I'll keep you updated!

Finding my center

I'm feeling a bit erratic and split-personality about the crafting lately. I haven't knit in a long while. I've been crocheting, but only those silly blocks. And now that I've taken up sewing, the patchwork and quilting have come into play along with my dreams of making clothes that actually fit me right. Well, I was thrown back into the world of yarn a few weeks ago. I went to the TNNA Trade Show in Columbus, Ohio.

It was a grand 'ol time and I have NEVER seen so much yarn. So many different fibers, so many different dye-jobs and techniques used. And, I met some knitting/crafting celebrities... well celebrities in my book - Nicky Epstein, Lily Chin, Melanie Falick, Jenny Hart, Candi Jensen, Teva Durham, Jane Sowerby, Annie Modesitt, Takako from Habu and more. The best part - I got some free loot!

Autographed books by some of the above names:



Free yarn (not too much of that going around - understandable):


Yarn Place's lace weight yarn at the top, Malabrigo lace weight yarn in the middle and then some samples from O-Wool and Punta del Este (thanks Sharyn!)

Other goodies from embroiderers (Jenny Hart is SOOO sweet):



And lots of other random stuff... new Clover Takumi Velvet straights, some very strange teeny tiny needles from Unicorn books, a ton of totes. Great fun.

So all of this came at an incredibly pivotal point in my life. I've had to make some very hard decisions over the past months, regarding my future, and my future with yarn in particular. And all of this exposure to an incredibly welcoming industry and positive energy has reinvigorated me. And, I was at the TNNA show because I've been blessed to have crossed paths with Pearl Chin, the owner of Knitty City. She has been more than kind enough to have given me a weekend gig at Knitty City and to have let me tag along to the TNNA Show. I couldn't feel more blessed than I do now.

The only downer was that both flights, to and fro, were very much delayed. The bright side? I got some more crochet blocks for my afghan out of the way. I've got around 42 now.


Running low on the yarn, so I've got to get more. I've also got to start thinking about the color I'm going to use to attach and connect them all. I'm thinking of an additional color - totally separate from the blocks. But thank the heavens for the crochet I brought along. The 3 hour delay there and 2 hour delay back would have driven me mad if I didn't have that to do.

As I arrived home - dragging my 2-ton bag behind me - I had some packages waiting for me. "Oh crap, what the hell did I order now?!" My Yesasia.com order arrived:


The obvious stand-out item is the Setsuko Torii, Habu's designer, pattern book. It's absolutely riveting. I think my first piece from the book will be the Chinese Pullover:


Fortunately, a few days ago - I received an email from Takako at Habu regarding some workshops they're planning for the Fall. One is on japanese pattern reading. So, I signed up for it right away. I think you can figure it out, but with all the different numbers, I figured I'd play it safe and learn from the pros. The class is in September and it seems like years away!!

And... how could I have forgotten... my package from eBay had arrived too. I "bought it now" some 4" squares of Liberty's Tana Lawn fabric. Ha... some. I bought around 300 of them.


I want to do something REAL nice with them. For now, they're stored away in my ziploc's.

So now officially drowning in not only yarn, but in fabric and sewing notions, I decided I had GOT TO finish my baby quilt for my friend. I'm kind of sad about it all. I love everything about this quilt except the quilting. Love the fabric, love the patchwork, love the binding, love the size and shape... HATE what I did with the quilting. I decided to use fuchsia thread to quilt with. I thought it would bring out more of the pink since the brown and oranges really dominated the fabric colors. I tried out the alphabet setting on my sewing machine. Super-goofy:


And then, I basically made straight lines following the diagonal blocks. I ended up with three diamonds. I think it looks so stupid. I tried some other quilting motifs - I even tried a dog pawprint in the middle and figured I could do smaller dog pawprints around the rest of the quilt. After completing the big dog pawprint in the middle. I realized it barely looked like a pawprint, but instead like five random puddles. So, I ripped that out. And figured I would just stop there.

Then, when it came to the binding - I was excited to try a new binder attachment I bought for my Bernina. The Bias Binding Attachment is for "easy " application of a strip of fabric onto your piece as binding. Not so easy. I realized that my quilt edges, not being basted down right to the edge, were a bit too thick for this attachment. I tried it about 5 times all the while cursing, sweating and seam ripping. I gave up. I put on the binding the old-fashioned way.


And here it is:


I'll probably just rip the embroidered signage out too. *deep sigh* Maybe I'll make a different one for my friend. I think I'm a little embarrassed to give this to her as her baby shower gift. I'm starting on a baby sweater that I've been eyeing, so that'll be my backup gift. The sweater is from Jimmy Beans Wool - the April 2007 Pattern Contest Winner. It's the Presto Chango Baby Sweater. It is the cutest darn thing I've seen in awhile. And very practical too!


I'm using Lion Brand's Organic Cotton instead. We'll see how it turns out as it doesn't have as much oomph as Blue Sky Alpaca's Organic Cotton.

It feels good to be knitting.

Simply inspiring

Something came over me when I stepped into the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Rockefeller Center. I was entranced, bewitched. I was in the neighborhood, and innocently thought I'd just check out their selection on crafts. Well, let me just say it's the closest thing to a black hole I will ever encounter. What was my lunch hour, turned into almost 3 hours of perusing, pondering, putting in basket, taking out of basket and settling on a shameful amount of books and periodicals.


Oh, that doesn't look like a shameful amount, does it? Well, I'm deceiving to you. This is only a mere portion of the books and periodicals I bought. I'm kind of ashamed. Not enough to change my ways, mind you. This also excludes the yesasia.com shipment that should be arriving any day now (which I forgot about it. bad bad sign.) Barnes & Noble was bad enough. Now, I've got Kinokuniya in my clutches, and ladies (and gents)... it's going to get ugly.

Like many of you, I find the japanese crafting books to be so inspiring. The layout of the books reminded me of flipping through graphic novels at the Forbidden Planet. It's the simplicity, and the lightness of touch. Lightness of touch is something that's always escaped me. All of my drawings and paintings are deep and bold. I go through charcoal like I'm feeding newsprint. Nothing inferred. I prefer to write in Sharpies as opposed to fine tip pens. Playing the piano - always allegro, never andante. When I run, it's like the earth shakes beneath my moose-like steps. I'm pretty much built like a Mack truck. But, enough about my hang-up's. These pages have me wistful and dreamy.

My favorite out of this last bunch is the 156 Original Patchwork Designs by Yoko Saito. Filled with patchwork blocks, I'm salivating at the thought of what I can make! The designs are whimsical, but not goofy. I love this little sewing machine block:


(ISBN# 4-529-04188-3)

Jewelry Pouch

Inspired by the Purl Bee...


Amy Butler's Belle Fabric

Mistaken notion

My piddly progress on my granny squares. I thought crocheting was supposed to be so much faster.



Not that I've been working on them day and night, but come on... 31 squares completed? Thirty. One.

I do still like the colors. I'm regretting not taking the picture in Fire Island. My half-a**ed lighting is for sh**.

Spring turns to Summer

The unofficial start to Summer began this past weekend here in NYC. Memorial Day weekend is when NYer's typically give a collective sigh of relief in anticipation of the slowing of the city. Even more typical of NYer's is that we leave. We get out of the city, and that's just what we did.

I was tempted to bring the sewing machine along, but the one thought that stopped me was that it might get wet on the ferry ride out to Fire Island - never mind its weight, bulkiness... the overall inappropriateness of a piece of machinery on an island that doesn't even allow cars during the high season. So, I packed my knitting (Swing Jacket, argh) and my crocheting (Granny Square Afghan) and forgot almost everything else. I'm a very bad packer. Pack light is my motto and to-hell-with-it if it doesn't fit. Well, I had plenty to keep me busy and that's all that mattered.


Once I got out to the house and the beach, my will softened and my motivation... well, I left it somewhere on the Long Island Expressway. I laid back and ate, napped in the sun, ate...


napped on the deck, ate some more. You get the picture. (I don't know how I managed to take the Rembrandt of all fruit pictures, but I had to share. Who knew a big bowl of fruit could look so serious. I think photography is next on my list of things to tackle.) I managed to eek out a few squares and a couple rows. What was really great was that I was able to appreciate the loveliness of the nature that surrounded us. And one thing I had almost forgotten all about... REAL sunlight. I got a whole bunch of it over the weekend. And it threw everything into a completely different light, in every way. I never noticed all the subtle variations in this beautiful hand-dyed yarn I've been using for the afghan. Pure prettiness.


Even my anxious city dog was able to stop and appreciate.

Springtime in NYC

Patchwork complete!

I just finished the quilt top to the baby quilt. I'm happy with the result, but it didn't come without a few hurdles. I feel a bit stupid saying this out loud, but I was using the wrong presser foot for about the first quarter of the top. I was assuming that the outside edge of the foot was 1/4". I was wrong. It was more like 3/8", or something more precise in metric. I realized I had a presser foot especially made for patchwork with a 1/4" edge, with a built-in a fabric guide. I mean duh. I did get the Patchwork Edition to a sewing machine afterall. After that, the sewing went much more smoothly and quickly. In the end the minor differences at each seam made the whole top a little crooked. I'll have to square it up before I quilt, I guess.


So, I think I'm going to just use the hot pink Amy Butler fabric for the binding edge. I just ordered a special presser foot from Bernina that can attach the binding in one go. We'll see if I'm coordinated enough to use it. I can't say that I minded the hand sewing to finish the binding. It was very soothing.

Quilt for Baby Girl

When I found out the date of a dear friend's baby shower, my mind started to race as to what I could knit her. That's right, a baby girl. The options were endless. I have over a month and, of course, the first idea was another Zimmermann jacket. They're so precious. Then, I got a newsletter from Jimmy Beans Wool and their contest winner's pattern was for a baby and so cute it is. But, I consulted a close friend and fellow crafter, and she suggested I continue on my quilting path and make her a quilt. Why yes! A quilt! It would last longer than a sweater which she'd outgrow. And, for a summer baby... well a quilt was the ticket.

I raced over to The City Quilter and bought some fabric I had seen on a previous trip there. Heather Ross' Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries for Free Spirit Fabrics. I just loved the dogs and who could resist the throwback to the VW Bus. The colors are more 70's, less baby and if you knew the couple you'd know how perfect it was. Less pristine, more quirky. They'd appreciate these "Little Darlings" colors.


I added some leftover Amy Butler Lotus fabric I had and think I'll use it for the binding. Give it a little oomph. But for the backing, I'm going to stick with pale pink. She is a girl afterall.

I set out to find the perfect pattern. I needed one a beginner like myself could handle. And after I buying about 5 quilting books and 6 quilting magazines (along with the rest of the sewing section at B&N), I found a really cute one in the latest Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. It's called Crossroads Baby Quilt, and since the pattern only had straight lines, I thought I'd take a stab.

I cut the pieces.


Pinned to sew.


And planned the layout.


It is SO 70's looking! I love it! I think I remember my mom's beaded flowers having this color range. A lot of yellows, oranges and browns.

I'll hopefully be finishing the patchwork this weekend, and then I'll have to figure out a quilt design.