May 2016 in Review

My creative focus last month was dominated by Me-Made-May. In addition to sewing three garments, I also managed to finish a knit cowl and made progress on several WIPs. June is always a busy month at work, but I hope to have more time for my creative pursuits in July.

Finished

Gleeful Akita Blouse: After redrafting the pattern a bit, I made my first successful Akita Blouse early on in May. It is now one of my go-to tops and I am so glad I gave the pattern another shot.

Midnight Gust Akita Blouse: Sadly, my next Akita Blouse was a failure, not because of the pattern, but because of the fabric. Lesson learned: rayon will bleed if washed in the washing machine, even on the cold setting.

Lil' Snood Dog Cowl: For Mother's Day, I received a Wool and the Gang Lil' Snood Dog Cowl kit. I immediately fell in love with the oversized needles and super soft yarn. I whipped this up in a week and look forward to wearing it in the fall.

Mini Pearl Bracelet Bettine Dress: Part of my Me-Made-May pledge was to make something new for the Lizzy House Dress Contest. I chose to make the Bettine Dress by Tilly and the Buttons out of Mini Pearl Bracelet Double Gauze fabric. The end result is a super comfy dress. I hope to make more Bettine Dresses and double gauze garments in the future.

Started

Baltic Boneyard Shawl: This April, my family vacationed in Chelan, WA and we visited a yarn store called Twisted, where I bought some Madeline Tosh yarn in Baltic for the free Boneyard Shawl pattern by West Knits. So far, I've found it extremely enjoyable. The yarn is divine and the pattern is easy enough for a beginner, but I feel challenged by the new-to-me "make one" stitches. 

Two pairs of City Gym Shorts: Lately I've been feeling a little overwhelmed by both my WIPs and my scrap pile. My daughter wants to wear shorts daily now, so I thought I'd knock out a couple pairs of City Gym Shorts for her and use up some apparel scraps at the same time. 

Existing WIPs

River Song Honey Cowl: I'm still plugging along at the Honey Cowl that I started in April. It's my travel knitting project, so I only work on it while riding the bus, when my husband is driving, etc. I added the second skein of yarn this month, so that means I’m halfway done. I estimate that I'll finish this in July.

Temperature Blanket: I made good progress on my temperature blanket this month. Even though I started a few months late, I'm already done with January and February's rows and was halfway through March’s rows by the end of May. This is by far my easiest project and I work on it when I'm too tired to work on anything more challenging.

Unvalentine Quilt: It bothers me that although I've finished several sewing, knitting and crocheting projects this year, I haven't yet finished a quilt. I decided to work on my WIP that is closest to completion, my Unvalentine Quilt that I started at QuiltCon in February 2015. I finished the quilting at a Seattle Modern Quilt Guild sew-in. My goal for June is to bind it.