Lil' House on the Prarie

I love shopping 'vintage.' While I prefer a 50's  and early 60's style, I love tidbits from every era (IE: my hideous 90's mom sweater with big purple roses. So ugly). If I like it, I buy it, and I am not picky.

One of my favorite vintage stores in Athens is Minx Vintage. In the back corner, they have a kiddie pool overflowing with misfit clothes that have yet to find a loving owner. Everything in it is $5! If there are two things I love, they're digging for treasure and a bargain.

Most recently, I fished out this hideous dress. I saw something in it. Maybe it was the lace collar, or the colors in the plaid, but I had a vision. It wasn't even that bad to begin with - okay, it was pretty fugly, but I could have worn it proudly anyway.

Yuck

The shop owner said it was a prarie dress, circa late 60's, early 70's.

I figured for $5, I could afford to buy the dress, chop it up and potentially destroy it.

The most hideous thing about the dress was the sleeves. I wish I had a before picture of me IN the dress, so you could see the horror that I am talking about. They were the first things to come off. Next, I decided I wanted it shorter, because I am short. The second ruffle of fabric got chopped at the lace, which I used to make a matching belt since the elastic in the waist is a little shot.

Lame cellphone picture :(

Lastly, I did some repair work - there were multiple popped seams  - and voila. I'm quite pleased with myself, and I would say my $5 was well spent. Does it still count as vintage?

Back to our regularly scheduled programming..

Yeah, I made some Christmas hats. I forgot to post about them (that's the drop't part of drop'tstitch). Everyone seemed to like them okay.

hats

Handmade gifts are hit-or-miss I reckon, but if they like them half as much as I like the one my friend Sheila made me 2 years ago, then I did well.

and more hats

Speaking of that hat Sheila made me, I'll tell you a secret. I thought (for a WHOLE MONTH) that I had lost it. I had no idea where it was. I searched everywhere. One day it was on the couch, and the next, gone. I thought a cat had destroyed it and John was covering for them. Conspiracy.

A month later, it was found in the dark depths our stoneware butter churn behind the couch. Phew.

I wasn't going to tell Sheila; I was just going to make myself a replacement in the same color and pretend nothing had ever happened. It wouldn't have been the same - glad it didn't come to that. It IS my favorite hat. I wear it everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

Knitting is a great field life activity. When you're travelling, its pretty easy to pack up your knitting needles and a few balls of yarn. I'm out of town on another project, and I keep telling myself I'm starting this next:

Maryse's braidy cowl

This pattern seems perfect to learn cable knitting, which is something I've been wanting to try. Big cables must be less complex. I guess. We shall see. 

I picked up some plastic needles for the project - they were a compromise between the expensive bamboo ones that I now love and the cheap aluminum ones that I now hate. Each size is a different rainbow color, so now I feel like I must buy them all. They are rather bendy - I'm not sure if this is a boon or not.

Now I just need to, you know, knit it.

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving! Blueberries from our backyard. Pie crust from the store.

PIE

 

 

The Christmas Hat

I haven't bothered to write in a few weeks, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. I was preparing for my trip and doing non-crafting things. Now I'm stuck at the KY/TN border for aprox. 2 months. This means a lot of knitting, and 'tis the season! I have Christmas presents to produce en mass.

This year will be the year of hats. Last year, my friend Sheila knit me this fabulous hat (see blue hat in previous post). It is so awesome and warm and snugly that I slept in it the first night she gave it to me. Really. I love it so much. I love it enough that I want to churn out 10 clones of it to give away, so that others may love it.

The thing about this hat is that it uses super chunky yarn and is an easy pattern. That means even a simpleton like me can produce one pretty quick. Sheila gave me the pattern a couple weeks ago, and after tracking down the right knitting needles (a story in itself) I've been hard at work.

Here's the pattern if you're interested - it's available for purchase on etsy.com.

An aside on knitting needles - I ended up buying 3 different needles for this project, because I am dumb. I've never knitted in the round before. I needed a size 11 (8mm) needle. First I bought a size 8 because I forgot the difference. Then, I bought a size 11, 29" circular needle - not knowing (or thinking) that you have to use a needle shorter then the piece you're working on if you intend to connect the ends. So I had to go buy another.
The only size 11 I could find that was the proper length was bamboo, which is of course twice as expensive as the cheapo metal ones I typically buy. So I begrudgingly made my purchase and grumbled to the cashier about how I was getting reamed (he ignored me).

I LOVE THIS NEEDLE. Bamboo is so much nicer to work with. Lighter, no awful clacking sound, warm, soft.. I feel like I'm knitting with air. So, if you really want the knitting experience of a lifetime, go with the expensive needle.

I won't mention the fact that I still have to go buy another needle because I didn't notice the pattern requires two different sizes.

So anyway, here's my progress on the first hat - this is after about 45 minutes. I had to stop because I don't have the right needle to continue.

In other news, I've made progress on my top secret present. I'll probably finish this piece today, since I can't finish the hat.

I guess its not so secret anymore.

Its a Secret...

Somebody's getting a wedding present! What could it be? WHAT COULD IT BE?!

Hint: No hints.

I couldn't find cozy grey, but I hope this palette will suit.

P.S. Yes, I do love sharpies, thank you very much.

Victory is mine! Victory and coffee!

So, my first project is getting the big fat finished stamp. The magical moment happened on Sunday, but I've been reveling in the glory of completion and (only slightly) warmer coffee for the past few days and avoided blogging about such a miniscule success. On a side note, I do not understand this concept of casting off "in pattern."

Here's the proof:

Those cute lil' buttons came from the treasure trove of notions that were stashed in the sewing machine table I rescued a few weeks ago. But you don't know about that yet, do you? That's a whole different blog post, just waiting to happen. But I'll give you a tantalizing sneak preview.

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 I know, I know. You're on the edge of your seats now.

Pengiun Sweaters

In recent global knitting news (the only global knitting news in the past 3 years), a request by a New Zealand yarn shop has exploded into a viral sensation.

After posting a request for a few penguin jumpers on their website, the store has received adorable frocks from around the world. The sweaters' purpose, they say, is to keep penguins affected by a recent oil spill from preening and ingesting the oil on their feathers. Also, its to make them look even cuter than they already are. Or something. I'm not really sure which is more important.

Their goal has been met, but you probably need to see the picture anyway.

It is exactly as it seems.

If you want to read more, check the blog for Skeinz, the yarn store responsible for all of this nonsense.