Lots of things rhyme with hat for a silly headline, but I can't think of an appropriate one

Fat hat? No. Cat hat? No. Splat hat? Oh, forget it. I'll save my headline writing skills for when I get to work later.

I wrote before that I got a great newsboy cap pattern from McHats on etsy.com and was intrigued by the idea that one could whip up one's own hat, just like that. Ooh -- there's my headline: A hat, just like that!

I made my hat out of a tan corduroy with a funky lining. It was technically quite easy and fast, but I did have some problems with the fabric not feeding smoothly and getting little tucks all over. Also, it straight-up doesn't look good on me. I can't figure out if I'm just self-conscious in hats or if I just don't look good in it. I mush it this way and that, but I feel silly. It was a fun exercise in sewing, anyway.

If I don't get this monkey I'LL JUST DIE

I don't know if my mom remembers, but when I was a kid she said I could get a monkey, but I never got one. Christmas is right around the corner...

Above ground, please

It seems that when you die, you only have two options: burial or cremation. But, see, I don't care for either one of those. There's something about being underground or intentionally placed in a roaring fire that just gives me the willies. My ideal post-death situation: just leave me on a mesa somewhere in the middle of New Mexico and let me rot in peace. I don't care if the animals eat me. I just want to disappear and get it over with. I think there's some silly fear that I will wake up from death in one of two equally sucky situations: a) watching the flesh melt off my body or b) gasping for air and finding myself with a claustrophobia I never knew I had.

If I'm lying on the mesa in the middle of nowhere when I wake up from my pseudo-death, I can just hop up and be on my merry way. Of course, if this happens too long after death, I am aware I may be infested with maggots and missing my eyeballs. Maybe a coyote will have scampered off with a hand or two. I still feel that this is preferable to the other options. I also realize that other people find this strange, perhaps even revolting. Go ahead, wake up in that inferno, I don't care.

Most people also tell me that my way is illegal. I understand that it would be a health hazard to the still-living to have rotting corpses everywhere, but it's just me, right? Well, guess what else. It's not just me. You see, there's a place right here in the United States where they study decomposition of bodies. People donate their bodies to science, and then they are just placed neatly on lawns, like they are relaxing at the park on a summer afternoon. Only they are dead, and rotting. And people are looking at the stages of maggot larvae and bloating and how much goo had oozed from them as their organs liquify.

I'm sorry if you don't want to end up like this, but I do. And I'm putting it here in writing just in case something happens to me.

How do I know all this? I'm reading a fantastic and fascinating book. If you don't like reading about maggots and rotting corpses, "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach may not be the book for you. But if you always wanted to know -- I mean really know -- what happens to the human body after it dies, you're not alone. It's a New York Times best seller.

Fancy that!

Guess what I discovered today? It's a special place where you can borrow books! That's right, I got a library card for the first time in decades. I had to pay $1 for losing my card, which was a fine mustard yellow one from the 1980s which wouldn't have worked anyway.

I had to figure out how to use a library again. For one thing, forget those microfiche things. Now you just look on the computer. You can even reserve books from the comfort of your own home using the Internet.

This library thing is so awesome.

A little (dull) catching up

What have I been doing? Nothing particularly exciting. Knitting a lot. I've taken to starting multiple projects so that I don't get tired of working on things. I finished one of my fingerless mitts, only to find that although I adjusted the length well, it is too big around and has a doofy, loose thumb. So I am now less motivated to make the matching glove. I will do it, though. I'm going out of town for Thanksgiving, so I think it will make a nice, compact travel project.

I'm also working on some socks from a bright pink and purple yarn I dyed -- another good travel project.



I finished the front pieces of my Soldier's Sweater and started the back, but I just realized a few minutes ago that I used the wrong needles for the few rows I've done on the back and must start again.

Friday night, I went to the Sock Hop at Village Wools. I was surprised that they didn't have the store open for purchases, but I had a good time because I got to see the magic loop 2-at-a-time socks method in action. It's something that I've tried to follow instructions for online, only to feel like my brain is exploding. It's really not bad at all when you can have it shown to you.

Last night, I went to the grocery store and bought some food, finding lots of good deals and buying mostly healthy stuff. I then went home and prepared several meals for the next few days, which I'm quite proud of.

I also worked on making a hat -- a sewn, not knitted, hat -- which is a first for me. It's working well, so far, but I can't tell the finished result yet.

I found a fun swap on Ravelry in the Selfish Knitters group where you could let go of some of your unwanted yarn and receive a box of goodies in exchange. I got rid of some stuff I didn't want and I also got this cute cotton yarn:



Finally, for our trip, I decided to make little travel blankets. I have heard that with the cutbacks airlines are making, more of them are charging for blankets and then just letting you keep them -- in other words, you are to supply your own. So I thought it would be cheaper to buy some fleece at the store and make my own. Fleece is pretty much always on sale.

All you need is one yard. When you unfold it, it's the perfect length. you really don't want it too unwieldy and big in an airplane seat.

Fleece is great because it doesn't unravel, so technically, you don't have to finish the edges. That means that even someone who doesn't sew can do this. I chose to serge my edges because I thought it would look nicer.




Now, if you've read my previous posts about fleece, I'm usually not a fan of silly prints. But I thought for this situation, it was acceptable. So I selected a cat fabric for me and a Bengals football fabric for Mark. He is really embarrassed by it, and not just because his favorite team bites. He went out of town today, and I asked if he wanted his blanket for the plane ride. He responded, "I'm not going to walk around the airport lookin' like damn Linus."



Now, for Mark's print, because it's directional, I bought a little extra. Otherwise, the print would face sideways. Not that it would matter, really, but I just didn't want that. So keep in mind that the one yard is the width and that the length is the "width" of the bolt, when you unfold it. If you're going to have to turn your fabric because of the print, you need to buy a bit more than a yard. I have a bad feeling that this made no sense.

Always have a bag

If you're one of those nerds like me who like to use reusable bags at stores yet always seem to forget yours, here's a great little solution. It's called Envirosax. This one is a waterproof, lightweight polyester in a very cute print that rolls up into a tiny little thing that takes up no room in your purse. And when you get to the checkout at Target with three items and think, "Oh crap! I forgot my bag in the trunk," you'll let out a sigh of relief when you remember you've got a bag right there -- and a cute one, to boot!





Best of all, it's just under $10!

Nicholas' Fingerless Gloves

Guess what I'm making? Gloves! It seems so scary, but I'm taking it one round at a time, like always. And it's not scary at all! It's fun. They are so pretty, with tiny cables running all the way up. These are fingerless gloves, and the pattern is for a man's hand or a large woman's hand, which I didn't notice at first. So I'm looking for modifications to make it smaller.
When I finish them, I'll post a new post with pics and those modifications for anyone else who wants to try them.

Here is the right glove, about to mid-hand:



Because it's black, it's hard to see the detail. The yarn is wonderful -- Elsebeth Lavold Angora. It's so soft, and I got it on the sale shelf at Village Wools for $8 a skein. I think I'll get away with just one skein per glove, but I have an extra on hold just in case.

This yarn is so wonderful that when I found more at Tuesday Morning (what are the chances!?), I had to buy it. I got this brown for only $5 a skein, which is at least half price. So, in other words, gloves that could have cost me $30 to make will only cost $15, and that ain't half bad!




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The weather has most certainly taken a turn from the unusually balmy October we had. It's pretty cold, and I hate the cold. But the plus side is that I can make use of all this wool stuff I'm knitting. Yesterday I wore my long ivory wool coat with the waist tie (no, I didn't knit that. It's just a regular coat). I wore it with my bright purple crocheted scarf and felted flower brooch, and I must say that I felt well-accessorized. It put a wee bounce in my step.



(By the way, Mark thinks this is the most hideous color combo in existence, but I don't care. I like it anyway. He also says that pink and gray should not come in contact (like another scarf/flower brooch combo I made). But wait -- as I just typed that, I remembered that he recently bought gray and pink madras shorts. Ha! Proof, on my side!)

Now, I'm trying to convince myself to go for a walk, all bundled up, of course. But I hear wind howling through my window right now, and I don't think I can do it.

What!? Is it possible?

I was scrolling through Twitter updates and came across this Web site called Spoonflower where you can, excuse me, I must yell this: DESIGN YOUR OWN FABRIC!!!!!!!!!

I can't think of any actual reason I need to do this, since it's not like I have an idea for a fabric that I just must have and can't find anywhere, but the very idea that a lowlife, home sewer like me could DESIGN MY OWN FABRIC!!!!!!!!!! is just too much. You know what else is too much? The price per yard. That's just me and my budget; I understand where they are coming from and why it can't be $8 a yard.

I just paused in my writing to do more exploring, and it does say there is no minimum. I can't see how they could print just one yard, though. It might be fun to create a design and make some really cool bag that nobody else on Earth could have.

Here's an example of one I love. It's by Laurie Wisbrun. I mean, I can't imagine what I'd make with chair fabric, but it's so cool. What if you had a really funky house and you upholstered your chair with this? Or what if you upholstered your couch with chair fabric and your chair with couch fabric and confuse the heck out of visitors when you say, "please, have a seat on the couch"?

More hats

I loved my button hat so much that I decided to make one that was more neutral in color. I used Cascade 220 in a tan color. OK, so I messed this project up, too. I seem to be on a roll. First, the yarn was too small for these needles. I didn't go down a needle size because I didn't want to buy more DPNs, and I only had them in the size the pattern called for, but not the next size down.

I should have doubled the yarn, but I was too lazy after winding from skein to ball to then divide that into two.

Finally, I accidentally dropped some stitches off the needle in the front, and I somehow didn't notice till I skipped a round. Again, laziness prevailed and I just put them back on and continued. So right in the front there are about a half-dozen stitches that are extra long slipped stitches instead of regular knit stitches. I don't think it's TOOOO noticeable.

I got the really cool button at Village Wools, the local yarn shop. I didn't notice before that there is a section of really cool buttons.



My next project I like a bit more. I had hand-spun and hand-dyed this yarn a while back, but I only had 59 yards and that was not enough to make anything I came across. But then I found this pattern called Lyra's Knitted Hood. It made a cute little baby hat, which I'm giving to my friend. The yarn is a chunky, thick-thin wool in browns and blues. I didn't have enough for the braided ties, so I bought some grosgrain ribbon in blue and brown stripes. I think it's pretty darn cute.



I'm also continuing slowly on my Soldier's Sweater from "Runway Knits," but again, I keep screwing up. Last night I tried to do the right front, after having completed the left front. But after 31 rows, I realized I did something wrong the entire way, and therefore was short about 16 stitches. This was after starting the piece about six times last night because I was messing up. So I'm at square one with that one.

Sometimes things you make suck

I sewed and sewed and all I have to show for it is this lousy bag. It was one of the hardest things I ever sewed, and it's ugly.

What my end goal was, but in black:


What I ended up with:


There were part of this bag where the layers are so thick that I couldn't get it under my presser foot. It was an incredible battle to sew, what with the thick cotton duck fabric, interfacing and fusible fleece. Add in another layer of all those plus some piping, and you've got yourself one thick seam. I steamed and steamed, but I couldn't get it too look smooth.

I think of all bags to make in a solid, this might have been a bad pattern choice. It just looks like a little piece of bland luggage instead of a purse.

I also decided to add an outer zipper pocket where I could keep my keys. (You can see how to do this here.) In hindsight, I would have done this before sewing the straps on, because they just got in the way and made everything way too thick. I also was sloppy with my zipper opening, since I was just guessing at how big a centimeter is. Turns out, it needs to be pretty specific or you could end up with a hole that's as wide as your zipper tape, and you need the zipper tape to sew the two together. Also, I used lining fabric to make my pocket, and when I flipped it inwards, I couldn't completely hide the colored fabric, so it shows a bit. I should have used the black fabric to avoid this.

When it came time to sew the front panels to the part that goes in between (with the zipper), it said to ease it together, but it doesn't have you do any basting stitches to even distribute any extra. But there is a little extra, and I ended up with unwanted tucks along my seam. I would recommend just making it smooth and trimming from the bottom.

As for the internal pockets, it says to sew a line in the center, thereby creating two equal pockets on each side. On one side, I put a pen slot in the center by sewing two lines about an inch apart. On the other side, I opted to not do any divider so I'd have a big place to stick papers and such.

You're supposed to hand stitch the lining in along the zipper. I just sewed along the previous seamline on the outside where I sewed the zipper in to the main fabric. I was unable to get all the way around the ends of the zipper, so that left a gap that should be finished by hand, but I don't care enough to do that. While I normally don't mind semi-short handles, these are a bit too short. I have a hard time carrying this on my shoulder, though I have small arms. With the bulk of a coat, there's no way.

In the end, I'd say that as much as I love Amy Butler designs, this one was not worth the difficulty.

Pretty Kitty

I love how they always locate a sun beam for optimal cozy napping.

A little late

In honor of Halloween, I wanted to share this Halloween 2000 photo of me and Chickenbone Jones. In case you can't guess, we're two blind mice, duh. And I remember feeling especially attractive with a big pillow stuffed in my shirt to make a nice mouse belly.

I also remember hot-gluing Amy's hair to her mouse ears. Sorry, Amy.

And nice, too!

Lately, I've been raving about Amy Butler.

Well, I was a wee bit frustrated because I had used the supply list on her Web site to get my supplies before I received my pattern in the mail. Turns out the supply lists are different, and I spent a little more than I needed to. I e-mailed the company just to let them know. I wasn't mad and didn't want anything from them, but they were so unbelievably gracious and nice. They sent me a free pattern, which turned out to be two free patterns.





Just wanted to give a shout out to a company that still values great customer service. Go Amy Butler!

Amy Butler Madison Bag

Sooooo. Or should I say seeeewwwwww? I'm just a little ga-ga over the Amy Butler thing. So when local shop Hip Stitch started its Amy Butler trunk sale, I was definitely there the first day. I was able to see and touch and love real-life samples of her bags and clothes.

I decided my next project will be the Madison bag in the Gold/Morning Glory fabric. I chose a solid light blue for my lining. I have been wanting this fabric for months and months.



I also got so excited over my button hat, shown below, that I bought a tan colored wool and a pretty button for a more neutral version.


Guess what -- I never noticed that Village Wools has billions, or at least hundreds, of buttons. Beautiful unique buttons. Remember when I was making my "Runway Knits" A-Line Jacket and had a hard time finding humongous buttons? Well, they have them there, and I never even noticed that corner of the store.

I also would like to make a hat from this yarn I spun and dyed myself. I'm thinking of the Urchin pattern, a free pattern download available on Ravelry.com, if I have enough of it. This hat pattern was suggested since it looks nice with a thick-thin yarn.


Although I'm sure I won't look nearly as good as that lady does.

"Robin's Egg Blue" hat

So mine isn't robin's egg blue, but that's the name of the pattern, and it can be found here.

Today is Halloween, and it's strangely warm out, still, so I can't wear it yet.

I wanted to use this stash yarn I had dyed myself, so I made this incredibly bright pink and orange hat. I really like the pattern, and it knitted up in a day. I would like to make one in a more neutral color next, for those days where I don't want to stand out like a beacon.

Holy Chapeau!

I never wear hats. I never even think to. Recently, I've been knitting some caps for the winter. I always think I look terrible, but I hate being cold. Then I came across an etsy shop that sells hat patterns. What does this mean? Why, it means I can make one myself! A hat!

The shop is McHats, and she has gorgeous designs.

Here is the pattern I purchased. I used her picture, so I'll link it to her shop:

Amy Butler Weekender Bag

Remember that adorable bag I've been so excited about? Well, I finished it. It was indeed a lot of work, but not as much as I had read about on other blogs.

It's a very big, very stiff bag. It uses tons of stabilizer. When I was making bags for my business, I used Craft Fuse, but this is about 100 times stiffer than that. This makes it quite hard to work with, especially if you don't have a heavy duty machine. I used Pellon Peltex 72F, which turned out to be double-sided fusible. I didn't really know this, and she wanted sew-in, but it should have been about the same weight.

I think the reason the sew-in is best is because she recommends sewing it on the piece and then trimming the stabilizer so that it's not really in the seam allowances. As you can see on my bag, there are edges that are not very smooth. This is because that super-stiff stuff is in the seam allowances and won't lay flat, especially on the top of the bag. It also would have made sewing the bag much easier if I'd done it this way. Instead, I just fused my stabilizer on and didn't trim it out of the seam allowances.

The supplies for this bag were pretty pricey. The stabilizer is pretty expensive, and between the stabilizer, interfacing, lining and outer fabric, you need a lot of yards. Also, I found it annoying that the pattern didn't even include all the pieces. For the bottom, false bottom and straps, you are just given dimensions and have to make your own. The pattern itself costs more than most other patterns and only offers a pattern for one item, compared to three or four on many patterns. Seems like the least they could do is give you all the pieces.

All in all, I love this bag! It will be perfect as a carry-on for my next trip. It took several hours of cutting, then I worked on the piping one day before work and then a couple of days of sewing on my days off. The lining has to be hand sewn into the bag, so that took a little time, too. I would do it again, but with the suggestions above for smoother seams.






I also added interior pockets -- one flap pocket with velcro closure and one divided pocket for cell phone, iPod, pens, etc. The more pockets, the better, in my opinion!

I am not fond of "sopaipilla syrup."

No, I want real honey. Not something where "honey" is the third ingredient on the list.



Restaurants, quit being so cheap.

Knitting, purling, sewing

Well, there's a chill in the air, finally. Here in Albuquerque the weather has been very warm. I kept wondering where fall was. I remember that no matter how warm it is in October, even if you could sunbathe most of the month, it's always really cold at Halloween. Now, a week before Halloween, it's getting cold. I still don't have my heater turned on. I think my husband likes this because I huddle for warmth at night instead of telling him to quit squishing me and go to his own side.

I posted more pictures of my Tilted Duster two posts down, but in case you're happening on this post on its own, here's the link. The pictures I had before were on my dress form and the lighting was awful. I'm so happy with it. Please go check it out!

I also decided to make this ear warmer called Calorimetry. It appealed to me because sometimes you need something on your ears, but if your hair is up you can't wear a hat. Unfortunately, I stubbornly refused to check my guage, and my resulting headband is suitably sized for an elephant. I can work with it, though. Here, it is folded in half, width-wise.



I passed by Bath and Body Works at the mall and saw these incredibly plush sheep. Knitters love wool, and wool comes from sheep. Wool doesn't come from this polyester fellow, but I wanted it nonetheless.



Tomorrow, I have a date with my husband, and I can't wait. We live in the same house and watch some TV together each night, but rarely do we have time off to go do something.

I'm off now to work on my weekender bag and a bag for my stepmom.

Yes, this really exists (well, not under this name). It happened to me today.

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