Virginia bound

Wedneday is finally here and as you read this, Mom and I are somewhere between Southern Ontario and Williamsburg, Virginia.

We're taking turns driving - and when I'm not at the wheel, I'm knitting. Mom dyed up this gorgeous Jungle Cat (colour is Egglplant)...

...and I knew it had to be a pair of Undines - the perfect travel project! I've got my lap top, so when ever I can get a connection, I'll be keeping you abreast of all the fun we are having south of the border!

While we're away, the shop it closed. But we'll be back soon with some new yarns.

Dyeing to cast on

Sunday, after finishing my dress, I headed up to Mom's to do a little dyeing. I had a custom order to do, and I wanted to dye something up for myself for a new project. With my Cygnus cardi off the needles, I was looking for a new cardigan. I found it in the Queen Street Cardigan.

A full-length lace cardigan? Challenge accepted!

See that gorgeous red Continental Cat on the left? As soon as it's dry it will be caked and cast on! I can't wait!

All sewn up

I've been sewing again... I have to say... I like the idea of sewing a lot better than I actually like sewing. But I'm determined to persevere.

I love dresses (if you look at any of my modeled cardigan shots, that's easy to see), but I have an odd body type (wide hips, short and narrow waist, and a wee bit busty) so it can be tricky finding store-bought dresses that fit properly. An empire waist is most flattering on me, but finding one to properly accommodate my top deck can be difficult.When they upsize a dress for a larger girl, they make it wider, but not deeper - and I end up with the seam mid-bust. So I thought - why not make a dress?

I found the perfect pattern that had lots of options

I fell in love with the long pink version (I'm a sucker for full length dresses - and they are even harder to find!) I bought some lovely cream eyelet material (I'm a sucker for eyelet too) and Saturday morning after Dave left for work I set to it.

 I had to make several adjustments. I added some length to the bodice to help with eh aforementioned bust problem. I also had to add a full liner. The pattern only lines the bodice, but the eyelet material was too thin (not to mention full of holes...) to be appropriate for the skirt without something underneath it. I also added some width to the skirt as well - just to give my hips a little more room.

Not being a fantastic sewer, I took my time. When Saturday evening rolled around, all I had left was to attach the liner to the shell, and insert the zipper... but I put it away, ready to start fresh the next morning. By early afternoon today - I had a new dress!

 

Admittedly, the full liner makes it a little heavy for a really hot summer day (like today).

 I love the matching edging I found for the bottom ruffle.

And look at that zipper! No puckers!

I learned quite a few things making this - and the next one will be better - a more appropriate material - and probably some french seams for a more finished product!

Super-sized

Apparently I have a thing for children's cardigans.First, there was the upsizing of the Silver Cardigan....

And now, remember Rowan's Birthday Shrug?

 

Well a couple skeins of Slinky Cat, a change of stitch pattern, and a whole lot of math later.... 

... meet Cygnus. A brand new design just for me! I'm working on a few other sizes, and then I'll be getting some test knitters. Hopefully this one will be ready for the fall.

I know I can't wait till it's dry so I can wear it!

The first harvest

Dave ate the very first bean out of the garden the other day, but today I went out and brought in the first harvest of the season....

Yup  - a bug-eaten strawberry, four beans and the tiniest cutest purple pepper ever...

Seriously - how cute is this pepper?????

There's a few more white strawberries, lots of beans still growing, and with a couple of days of  good sun, I'm going to have a nice haul of cherry tomatoes. Gardening is fun!

Sew Canadian!

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks. I hope you all had a great long weekend (though it's never long enough, is it?!)

This weekend was my first weekend without plans or activities that had to be accomplished. Dave was working Saturday and Sunday, and this morning he was participating in a parade in his home town, Port Credit.I've never been much of a parade person, so I was content to kick around the house on my own. 

The past three days have been filled with mostly knitting, cleaning and a little puttering in the yard. But today, was devoted to sewing. I actually have plans to sew myself a sundress or two, but since my sewing skills are not all that advanced, I thought I'd reaquaint myself with my machine on a couple of smaller projects. 

First up was curtains. In the old place, most of the windows already had blinds. This place, there was nothing - not even curtain rods! I had some curtains that worked for the major windows (living room and our bedroom) but the other windows are all currently covered with sheets. Normally, I'd just buy some panels at Giant Tiger - at $10 a panel, I can't really make them much cheaper. 

But for Dave's studio, I wanted to do something a little special. A few weeks back, I went in search of fabric. I was looking for music notes, but instead, I found this;

Guitars on fire - even better! It didn't take long to make up some simple curtains.

I also whipped together some pillows for the downstairs couch - pictures will have to wait, as I still have to hand sew the final seams, but I'll some share pictures of the kids and the cat nip bags I made with some leftover fabric. One of the things I love about cats and cat nip, is that each cat has their own reaction to it. 

Tux likes to rub and roll

Then pass out.

 Peno goes absolutely crazy

Which is hilarious to watch, because she normally so subdued.

Rocky.... well Rocky picked his up and took off....

I found it later, in the middle of my bed, covered in cat slobber and soaking through the sheets. *Sigh*

I also made a little something for myself. 

I saw the ones Araignee made a while back, and have been meaning to make one ever since. I think I'll be making a few more for some of my crafty friends.

So -now I think I'm ready to tackle that sundress. It would be nice to have done for Virginia!

Have passport, will travel

As a child, I always thought I'd be a traveller - i had all these exotic trips planned. But life, as it often does, had other plans. Here are am at 33 years old, and the furthest I've been out of my country is Buffalo, NY - it was a work trip, and we went to the post office. Not exactly the grand adventure I planned as a child.

I haven't even been all that far in my own province. The furthest I've been is Ottawa (and I didn't visit the parliment buildings - just the subdivision my aunt was living in). The furthest out of Ontario was on the same trip - I spent a night with another aunt who was living an hour away in Quebec.

So that's why I'm so excited to finally be going somewhere. As mentioned earlier, Mom and I are off to Virginia in less than two weeks. We are going to the 2013 CSM Eastern Conference in Williamsburg. We've been planning it for several months now, but it finally became real when my very first passport came in the mail.

Tux, as you can see, is not that amused however. With me gone, it means he's stuck with just Dave for five whole days.

Rocky and Peno I'm not worried about - they get along with Dave just fine. Tux, however, has a complete and utter disdain for my guy.  I've never left them alone together for that long before... it could get... interesting....