Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Me-Made-May '16: Week 3

This week was rather wet and cold, and reinforced my desire to sew more cardigans soon. I've got my eye on Grainline Studio's Driftless Cardigan pattern. My me-made wardrobe leans heavily towards spring/summer, and I'm hoping to change that come fall and winter this year.



Sunday, May 15, 2016: Simply Style Belcarra Blouse
Monday, May 16, 2016: Button Down Belcarra Blouse and Navy Julia Cardigan
Tuesday, May 17, 2016: Basic Black Aberdeen Tunic
Wednesday, May 18, 2016: Midnight Gust Akita Blouse (unblogged)
Thursday, May 19, 2016: Triangle Tokens Belcarra Blouse
Friday, May 20, 2016: Cattitude Wiksten Tank and Basic Black Julia Cardigan
Saturday, May 21, 2016: Flannel Akita Blouse and Navy Julia Cardigan



Wednesday, May 18, 2016

April 2016 in Review

Here we are halfway through May and I haven’t recapped April yet! Life has been extra busy lately, but I managed to accomplish a number of things last month on various creative fronts:


Finishes

Finished my first knit cowl! I used one of the skeins of "yarn in a jar" that I dyed last December, and just knit garter stitch back and forth on size 8 needles. I was going to use both skeins and make it longer, but my daughter claimed it for herself, so I ended up making it child-sized.

Finished a simple half double crochet cowl made from indie dyed yarn from House of a la Mode. The gray wasn't terribly exciting to knit, but the yarn is super soft and squishy. I know I will wear this scarf a ton next fall and winter. Last winter, I kept reaching for it and then realizing that I hadn't finished it yet, which is a good sign.



New Projects

Started my second knit project, using the free Honey Cowl pattern from Madeline Tosh and "River Song" indie dyed yarn from Knitsomniac Designs. I messed up on the first four rows and am struggling with the purl stitch, but made good progress while on vacation.

Started a crocheted temperature blanket. I blame Instagram for introducing me to conceptual knitting/crocheting. Each color represents a five degree temperature range and each row represents one day. After a year, I will have a crocheted blanket that is a visual representation of the daily high temperatures for 2016. Thanks to a road trip, I've already finished January's rows and a good chunk of February's.

Adapted the Akita Blouse pattern to eliminate the clipped seam allowance issue I had with previous versions and started a new Akita blouse with Gleeful voile by Caroline Hulse.

Took the Glam Clam II class from Latifah Saafir and started a classic Glam Clam lap quilt for myself. I finished the top before the end of the month. I love how quick this pattern is!


Existing WIPs

Finally finished my Seattle Modern Quilt Guild 2015 Block of the Month quilt top! I have batting purchased and need to decide on a backing.

Wow! When I write it all out, that's quite a lot! Since this month is Me-Made-May, so far I’ve focused my creative energy on garment sewing, photography and social media/blogging. I’ll be writing another of these month in review posts before you know it. Stay tuned!

Monday, May 16, 2016

Me-Made-May ’16: Week 2

Week 2 of Me-Made-May has come and gone, and what a weird week it was. The weather was all over the place! It started out drizzly and in the low sixties, was dry and in the seventies and eighties for a few days, then went back to being cold and wet. In fact, Saturday I had dressed for nice weather in the morning, based on the previous day's heat, and didn’t realize how cold and wet it was until I went outside to take an outfit photo. Needless to say, I spent most of the day inside, where it was warm and dry. Next week's forecast is less volatile, thankfully.


Sunday, May 8, 2016: Chasing Butterflies Myrtle Dress and White Wembley Cardigan
Monday, May 9, 2016: Basic Black Aberdeen Tunic
Tuesday, May 10, 2016: Gridlocked Wiksten Tank and Basic Black Julia Cardigan
Wednesday, May 11, 2016: Basic Gray Aurora Tank
Thursday, May 12, 2016: Pearl Bracelet Wiksten Tank and Navy Julia Cardigan
Friday, May 13, 2016: Crimson Poppies Aberdeen Tunic (I also wore my Domino Staple Dress as a swimsuit cover, but didn't take a picture.)
Saturday, May 14, 2016: Gleeful Akita Blouse (not yet blogged)

Monday, May 9, 2016

Me-Made-May ’16: Week 1


Wow! The first week of Me-Made-May is already over! I had a busy week at work and barely managed to squeeze in daily outfit photos. Luckily Sunday was a sewing day at my mom’s house, so I finished up a new Akita blouse before things got hectic. I redrafted it to avoid the issues I had with my last two versions, and I am super happy with it. In fact, I feel like I’m regaining my garment sewjo, which has been missing for quite some time. I credit Me-Made-May with giving me the jump-start I needed. Here’s hoping that I can keep up the momentum!


Sunday, May 1, 2016: Gemstone Staple Dress and Heather Gray Wembley Cardigan
Monday, May 2, 2016: Basic Black Aberdeen Tunic and XOXO Clémence Skirt
Tuesday, May 3, 2016: Gleeful Akita Blouse (not yet blogged)
Wednesday, May 4, 2016: Triangle Tokens Belcarra Blouse and Basic Black Julia Cardigan
Thursday, May 5, 2016: Pearl Bracelet Wiksten Tank
Friday, May 6, 2016: Blue Hemlock Tee
Saturday, May 7, 2016: Button-Up Belcarra Blouse