This blog is pretty much abandoned, huh?

I haven't posted here in ages. I've been kicking around the idea of whether I should try to revive this one or start over from scratch. I'll probably restart blogging in some form or another soon, but I figured I'd make a little post about it since I've been using this profile to comment lately.

Wardrobe Refashion - the Pledge

I don't have time for a proper post right now, but here's my pledge:

I Starr, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 / 4 / 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings!

Signed Starr.
XOXO

The plan fizzled out...

but I've done a lot of sewing between my last post and now.

I sewed my son's Halloween costume (he was the Wolf Man):



I started out working on the SWAP plan, but as the end of my pregnancy got closer and closer I was less and less motivated to sew maternity stuff, so I found myself tinkering with what I should sew rather than actually sewing. I made the Burda maternity pants, which came out great, but the fabric I used did not hold up well and ripped at the seam. I did manage to get some not-so-great pictures before they went into the rag bin:




And numerous other projects: curtains, crib sheets, cloth diapers, soft toys, Christmas gifts, etc. I really should have posted pics to my blog as soon as I finished each project, but instead I posted some to forums, others I didn't even photograph. I'm definitely going to make an effort to post more about the stuff I make - I've also applied to join the Wardrobe Refashion blog which will hopefully serve as a bit of a reminder that I need to post more.

I'm going to Sew With a Plan!

Well, a plan of sorts. I need a winter maternity wardrobe, as in pretty much a complete wardrobe - once the weather turns cold and I get very round I'll have very little to wear outside the house.

Some people on a message board I'm on were talking the other day about how they were intrigued by Timmel Fabrics' SWAP contest, but thought that sewing 11 garments on a deadline was a bit daunting. Others (like me) needed clothes sooner than the rules of the contest would allow them to start sewing. So we came up with an informal, pared-down version of SWAP where you make 8 garments and have enough combinations to wear a different outfit every day for a month (more or less).

Here's my "SWAP storyboard" so far:



I'm using a couple of patterns that are basically free online tutorials: the Thai Fisherman's pants and One Seam Dress with the modification of an attached tube top replacing the waistband for more coverage discussed in the comments and in this gargantuan thread on Craftster.

I resized the line drawings so that they are very roughly proportioned to my shape to get an idea of how they'll look. I also changed the drawings on some to change details where I want to alter the pattern, such as the third top from the left, where I want to add ruching in the front of a regular (non-maternity) drape-neck shirt pattern. Some of the drawings were pretty small to begin with, so they look a little distorted now.

My sticking point is the last top/jacket (it's not even in the storyboard). A "requirement" for the smaller SWAP I'm doing is that the jacket should be able to do dual duty as a top on its own. At first I was just going to do a maternity button-down shirt, but I don't think it will layer well with some of the more flowy tops I've chosen. So I was looking at this Vogue cardigan that can be worn as a wrap top:



The other choice is a jacket from Burda - I already have the magazine, while I would have to buy the Vogue pattern:



The problem is that it can't exactly be worn on its own without anything under it. I'm tempted to make it anyway because I could just throw it over a maternity tank and wear it anywhere, and I have a ton of tank tops.

Who knows if I'll actually get this all sewn before the baby arrives? That's not really the point, anyway - a lot of this stuff can still be worn afterward.

Peer Pressure

Well, this past weekend I took a semi-private spinning lesson (it was me and a friend and the instructor) with the lovely Barbara Clorite. We learned all sorts of stuff about plying, and basically anything we could think of to ask her. We plied some (stale) sample singles we had brought with us then wet them to see if they were balanced, and I was delighted to find that my sample was almost perfectly balanced!

I immediately came home and put some more plying twist into some yarn I had under-plied a week or so ago

She may do a larger workshop later this summer for some of the ladies in the spinning group I go to, but it looks like it will be on a Saturday, so I will be working and unable to attend.

During and after our lesson, my friend clued me in on something that, in her words "all the cool kids are knitting." I finally succumbed to her prodding and joined the Mystery Stole 3 group. What convinced me was that the pattern is designed by Melanie of Pink Lemon Twist, whose Hanami shawl I lusted after blogged about not very long ago. Her Leda's Dream and Scheherazade stoles were the previous two mystery stoles (both final patterns are available for purchase here).

Of course, I will be way behind the majority of the group because I just joined yesterday and the first "clue" (i.e. first part of the pattern) comes out Friday. I'm still deciding which yarn I'll use and whether I'll use beads (they are, apparently, optional).

Buy, 'bye.

I've stalled on my fabric organization and my room looks worse than ever. I've been neglecting the blog, as well as basically every craft/fiber project in my mental list.

I found out I'm pregnant with bambino #2 a little while ago, and I'm suffering from major energy and motivation drain.

Anyway, in fiber news, last weekend I attended an alpaca shearing day at Parker River Farm! I only got to see two animals get shorn, because the weather didn't cooperate and it began to drizzle (they can't be shorn with wet fleece). Those animals are unbelieveably cute, especially a white Suri alpaca named Diego, who is due for his first shearing this season, and looks a little like a cartoon character with his underbite and floppy mop-top haircut that falls over his eyes. Unfortunately I didn't bring a camera with me this time.

Then this Wednesday I went to the Newburyport spinning group, but not before stopping off at Three Bags Full, a yarn shop that is, unfortunately, closing its doors. I picked up a couple skeins of Malabrigo Aquarella in a beautiful teal and green colorway called Solis, and three skeins of Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal with a vague idea of knitting something baby-sized out of it.

the Malabrigo:


and the Andean Alpaca (I got it in black and #28):


I may have to go back and get more of the aplaca in different colors to knit this:



In fact, upon closer inspection of the pattern I think I can make it in black with white ears using materials I already have!

Daydream believer

Well, I used the fact that the baby took a nap this morning to absolutely waste my time web-surfing. I'm a bad SAHM. Of course, as soon as I began to type, the sound of keys clacking woke the baby, which only proves that I should have been more idle.

Anyway, I found the most beautiful shawl when I arbitrarily clicked someone's blog link on the Spindler's email list:



(The shawl pattern is for sale here.) I need a new project like I need a hole in the head, and I actually spent a moment contemplating handspinning some alpaca for this. Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself. I can't even finish mattress-stitching a sweater that's already half sewn up!

The blogger I found is Taueret, who I have now added to my RSS feed. I need to be careful about finding interesting knitting blogs though, I used to have quite a habit. She also cracked me up with a "look at the hideous/funny photos from my vintage pattern books" post. I think the picture speaks for itself:



Pure wool softened with a mist of mohair, then hardened with a double barrel of buckshot! The sweater's not bad, but the pose is priceless.

There must be something of the eternal optimist in me, because even in these "hideous old pattern" books, I always seem to find something I think would look nice knitted up in a color I like, etc.

When I saved that picture to post it here, I titled it "shotgun handknits," which is ironic because having a shotgun pointed at me is probably the only way I'm ever going to finish any of my WIPs. Maybe I'll post a copy of this pic in my craft room as motivation, and psych myself up that this chick will come after me if I don't have a sweater done SOON.

Looking at that picture made me think of buckshot jeans. I don't recall where I heard about them, probably some kind of "weird news" story or something.

That's it for today, the baby is getting cranky.