Update: See me on Wordpress

I've decided that it was pretty silly to keep my personal and commission projects separate on two blogs, so I've migrated all of my posts to my WP blog on my website.  http://www.adournements.com/blog/

A week of baby stitching

Dorothea and I got a lot done this week (baby-wearing rocks!).  Mostly, I spent the last 5 days cutting out projects.  There are still a lot of projects left, but I've completed an epic baby seal bunting from Ottobre Magazine's Winter 2010 issue.

I've also grown tired of my Moby wrap--it's too much trouble to fold and unfold and get into and out of.  So, I made a Hood to Headrest Mei Tai.  Eventually, I'll put together the matching diaper bag I cut out.

And one last necessary item, a swaddle blanket that the baby couldn't wriggle her arms free of, was on my agenda.  Unfortunately, the baby seems to have decided, between cutting out and stitching, that swaddling is a great affront to her dignity.  Nevertheless, it's finished, and quite fashionable.

Knitting in the NICU

I had hoped I'd be able to squeeze in a little morning or afternoon sewing for the baby while she was in the hospital, but it turns out I'm too anxious to see her each morning and have too many other more necessary things to attend to while dinner cooks to get much done in the way of crafting.  And, while quiet for a sewing machine, the Viking is a little too hefty to cart back and forth from the hospital each day.

It's good that my carpal tunnel did go away after the birth like they assured me it would.  This means that I can knit while I sit and stare at my beautiful baby.  Of course, now that she's eating and she's not inside the incubator doing phototherapy, there's less time spent just staring.  Nevertheless, I am able to get a few baby preparations done while I'm here.  I've been knitting wool soakers, mostly because I don't want to pay $30+ for them.

The Little Seedling Soaker in newborn size turned out pretty nicely, despite some pretty unclear pattern writing, and looks like it'll fit my ever-plumper preemie when we spring her from the NICU:

I'm working on the WHW Plain Wrap now.  I think I like the look of the former a bit better, but this one is stitching up much more quickly.  I may play fast and loose with the Seedling pattern next time to make it a bit more user friendly.





I've also made a couple of hats.  The pink one she outgrew within 48 hours, and the green one, my attempt to accomodate her growing noggin, ended up being about 6 inches too big.  She'll grow into it.

June de-railment

Just when I thought I'd escaped the most debilitating of pregnancy symptoms, I started getting dizzy, nauseous, etc.  Please pardon the radio silence.  I'm still stitching, but most of my personal projects have taken a back seat to naps.  Between the bouts of exhaustion, I'm squeezing in commissions.  My commission work is here, in case you're wondering, and I'm working on three projects as a seamstress for hire, one miniature, one 16th century gentleman's wardrobe, and an early 19th century girl's dress and accessories.  Once those are done, I may take on a couple of small for-profit jobs between now and my due date, but I've got a gnome-themed nursery to quilt, embroider, and paint before February.  As such, my monthly goals are likely to change drastically. 

Also, I need to make a "corset for a suffering woman," because, well, when will I have a better excuse to make a maternity corset? 

May Day

May is underway, and I'm making progress!
Goals:


0 of 1 item(s) for Etsy

1779 of 800 knit stitches (The completion of my mini sweater with 427 stitches and made a 1352 stitch start on a pixie cap to match the pink booties)

1 of 4 items for myself, my friends & family, or my dolls

Without further ado, my first finished sweater!!!  It's a 1/3 scale Abrazo from Knitty.  I stitched it on size 2 needles with Knitpicks Essential Sock Yarn, moving the cables a bit farther apart.  It's my first garment, and now I'm pretty confident I could make a human sized something-or-other. 

Booties!

I successfully made two booties.  And they're the same size!

Add 1334 more stitches to my monthly goal of 800.  I think I may need to reevaluate my goal.

April Showers and Stitch Update

With one week to go in the month of April, I figured an update was in order.  It's raining today, so I'm hoping to get a great deal of stitching done before braving the elements to deposit a check and grab a few materials for next month's knitting projects and my summer commission (16th century fencing duds for a gentleman in Ohio).

My cabled mini sweater vest is coming along nicely.  I'm to the underarms, where I'll cease to work in the round and split onto straight needles for the front and back:

I've begun a set of booties for my cousin Gretchen's little girl, who's due soon.  I started them at 7am, and they're coming together very quickly.  I may have them done by the end of the day, and then I can make a matching hooded capelet.  I don't have a pattern, though, so maybe I'll make a blanket instead.

And I'm going to gather materials very soon for Odile & Ulfr's baby gifts, which will take a while, since the perfect knitting pattern requires intarsia and other techniques that I've never tackled before.

Goal Update for April:
0 of 1 item(s) for Etsy
3420! of 800 knit stitches  (2880 of my mini sweater and 540 of baby booties as of 9:30am on 4/26)

8 of 4 items for myself, my friends & family, or my dolls (one 15th century Spanish Kirtle completed and worn to Three Saints, seven eco-friendly washable pantyliners)

Mid-March Stitchin'

Here's how the goals are going:


Etsy:  1 made / 1 projected
Knitting: 668 / 800 knit stitches.  I've done 3 rows of tiny sweater (192), and 8 rows of dishtowel (392) since my last post (84).

Sewing:  3 / 4 items complete.  The husband's doublet is done.  I really need to take a photo.  My kirtle is hemmed (by hand!) and awaiting buttonholes.

Some progress is being made, but I wish I had a bit more time to stitch.

Goals, making up for the incendiary dress fiasco...

So, I replaced the dress with 2 dresses!


My goals are:
1 completed item for Etsy each month (single pieces or outfits)
800 knit stitches per month.  My current project is an itsy-bitsy sweater, and that equates to 3-4 rows per week.
4 completed items for myself, my friends & family, or my dolls per month.


March status so far:

• Regency gown made and sold on Etsy
• 2 easter dresses made for Olivia, so Linda can take her pick.
• 1 fencing doublet nearing completion (needs closures)
• 1 15th century kirtly nearing completion (needs closures)
• 4 plain mid-19th c. day dresses for 1/3 BJD cut out
• 1/3 of a row since March started on Penelope's cabled vest

Negative completions...

I was going to make Olivia an easter dress.  I put it together in a couple of hours, and somehow, along the way, it got stained.  It was a sort of orangy rust -type stain.  And, I'm one of those ridiculous people who iron as I go, so before I knew it, the stain was set in. 

But, wait!  It gets better!  I tried numerous stain removal tactics, to no avail, and then decided the only way to salvage this otherwise perfectly adorable item was to tea-dye it. 

Well, I don't have to worry about that stain anymore.


I got stuff all ready to tea-dye the dress, laid it on a cookie sheet alongside the dish it'd be dunked in. Then I set the kettle up, turned the burner on high, and then wandered away waiting for the kettle to whistle. I saw steam in the kitchen, huge puffs of steam, but no whistling.

I turned the wrong burner on. The dress burned up.
 

A long-awaited finish, and a new start

Sunday and today were very productive.  On Sunday, the Barony hosted a sewing day, at which I managed to cut and piece together the first of many new late-15th C. Spanish gowns and cut out the DH's new doublet for rapier fighting.

I also managed today to do all the handwork on a 1/3 scale piece I figured I'd frog, finish all the machined stitching on the aforementioned gown, and begin a 1/3 scale cowl neckwarmer. 

Here's what I've been up to:

Regency for Elfdoll, cut out over 6 months ago, finally finished today.  I'm not a fan of Regency, so it's going up on Etsy.

We're planning on attending Pennsic this year, so I've begun the annual sewing-like-mad. I'm trying to be more focused on my SCAdian persona, who is a late 15th/early 16th century Spaniard.  On my to-do list is perfecting my tranzado and cofia (head dress) so they'll stay on my head, and making at least 3 new outfits.  I'm also going to be helping the hubby with his new clothes, and making blackworked shifts of flannel and loose gowns of wool for us both to wear while sleeping and to fight the morning chill. 

While I love to dabble in other periods, I'm really very fascinated by the unique nature of Spanish period clothing. Here's a little sampling of the inspiration: 

And my in-progress gown, modeled on the black dresses above (next up, a few partlets in varying levels of sheerness with red stripe patterns, and black stripe patterns, and perhaps a matron's headcovering like Queen Isabella's above):

Owl Things

So after creating a little owl cup cozy, I'm a little obsessed with owl cables.  I've decided to make myself a set of owl accessories for winter, starting with Owlings.  I've finished the left, and I'm starting the right.  I've got some gray-blue glass seed pearls to use for their eyes.  Once finished, my plan is to make a cowl and perhaps a hat.

I found this neat bamboo-wool blend from Moda Dea on clearance and I'm loving the way it just barely clings to my bamboo needles.  Plus, it's fairly warm and has the slightest sheen.  The color is "coffee," and I think the ruddy undertones will match my bright red wool coat nicely.

A few holiday WIPs

Yes, it's after Christmas.  But I don't have to be in VA for another day or two, and since my gifts are hand-delivered, I have wiggle room.  Just finished a set of armwarmers for my mother-in-law:

And I'm still working on a felt tea set and tea fare for our god-daughters.  I'm modifying the patterns from Umecrafts to get classic cucumber sandwiches, and I made Moravian cookies. 

Urban Threads, I love you!

In my continuing saga of holiday stitching, I have to profess my love for Urban Threads.  I've been making Buttercup bags for the holidays, in a huge array of prints for various people.  But for Nycole, I had some trouble getting edgy enough.   

Enter Urban Threads.  The result, a black velvet Buttercup lined in blood red, with skeletons:

And for our buddies with a slightly twisted sense of humor, I stitched out this great set of ornaments, also from UrbanThreads:

On my to-do list from Urban Threads is this nifty fabric thaumatrope and a set of thumb-wrestling puppets.

The designs stitch out beautifully, and the price is incredibly reasonable. 

New Beginnings

I've decided I need a new blog, to keep my stitching lives separated.  So, from now on, all the random personal projects I've got going will be here. 

Thanks to E--, I've taken up knitting.  I'm still learning, but I'm doing pretty well.  For the holidays, I took on the challenge of making most, if not all, of the gifts for family and friends.  This was a slightly selfish challenge, as it meant I could practice knitting in the process.  Here's where I've gotten thus far:

I decided to learn to cable with an owl, and then made sure that I understood the process by making a coffee cup sweater for my mother.  I was pretty shocked at how easy it is.

A cowl for my hubby.

And a needle case for me.  This also has a matching circular needle case and bag.  I also made a circular case for my friend Emily.

A lovely eggplant for Tina.

Oh, and a set of cotton balls for our niece.