Yarn, Sewing, and Other Boring Things

Several years ago, a male friend said he read my blog but that all the sewing stuff was boring.  So non-sewing people can be warned.

As predicted, I was not able to keep my mind on even one week of a sewing challenge and deviated a little bit to repairing and knitting, which, I guess, count as sewing.

These pants that I tapered and hemmed for Elise were a big hit because they were twice as wide as they needed to be and pretty much unwearable outside the house.  They're old and very comfortable, and now she might be able to wear them at least to walk and to the grocery store.

She was also given a silky striped shirt that was not her style, but she liked something about it, so she asked if I could make a pony tail tie.  I cut the back and pieced the ends together and made a pretty nice tie - if you don't look too closely.  It's hard to hem that slippery fabric. 

I saved a row of buttons and enough to make the girls hair things or something for their dolls from the sleeves.

Now to the knitting.  I finished that purple spa cloth and am really happy with the pattern.

It's pretty easy, and even if you make a mistake here and there, it doesn't stand out.  I especially like the way it looks folded!

It's huge though.  I'm not sure how much I'll like it for washing dishes.  It might be a good bathcloth.

This is compared to my normal dish cloth that I've been knitting for years (which I think is almost too small after it's washed and dried many times). 

The smaller one is around 40 stitches, and the larger one is 53, so I think I need to play around with both of them and figure out a good size.

I plan to do more of the Spa Day Facecloth.  It's a free download from Ravelry.  I think I'll do the next one about 43 to 45 stitches and see how that works.

My old favorite is here, Grandma's Favorite Dish Cloth.  I've made so many of these, but I have a hard time keeping them square.  Not that it matters for a dish cloth, but I think I'm ready to venture out a little and try some different things, especially since I'm addicted to audio books now and can't listen without having something to do.

My goal is to go through all my cotton yarn before I buy more.

I have these that will make a full Spa Day cloth.

And this collection of ends of rolls and leftovers that I can maybe do some stripes.

There's no excuse for washing dishes with those holey and shrunken cloths in my drawer!  I can't wait to see what new colors I can find - but only after I use up all this yarn.

I did find these and have to read about what I might can do with them.  It looks really nice, but I can't remember why I bought it.

And here's a tiny version of the cotton yarn I've been using.

Ravelry is a good knitting website for seeing what other people have done with the same yarns and for finding free patterns and just seeing all those beautiful things that people make.  A lot of them share the pros and cons of certain patterns and yarns and keep you from making the same mistakes they made.  You can do searches for yarns and patterns, and there is a nice community page too.  I haven't used it in years since I've gotten away from knitting, but I think it's one of the best. 

Graysen has wanted me to teach her to sew for so long, including knitting and crocheting.  I had planned to get her a little sewing machine for her birthday in February, and I guess I'm glad I put it off now.  It's just not the right time for sitting close and teaching and learning.  It breaks my heart that we're missing so much of this.  She sat beside me on the bench at the playground Friday, watching me knit, and begged me to show her how to sew.

I got out the sewing kit I gave her, and as soon as we can, I'll get that started again. 

It's full of so many exciting things, and I've added some too.  Back when Katherine was still taking naps, Graysen and I did a few lessons.  It might be that she'd rather pick out the colors and fabrics and trims and let me do the actual sewing, but we'll find out.

This are the two projects I've set up for them when we can get close enough together again.  They sew on these patches and choose their trim and then have a backing that they sew on and stuff.

Meanwhile, over on Steller, Ryan and Emily have been working their heads off to make their back yard more beautiful.

I didn't ask Ryan if he wanted me to share this picture, but he should be proud of what he's done.  That wall!  I'm looking for before pictures, but it used to be just a pile of dirt that started at the fence and came down almost to the patio with just a row of stones around the edge.  This is amazing.  The girls played with their neighbors across the street yesterday, and Emily and Ryan worked all day.

The dying cherry tree in the front yard is now gone.

A little sand art was done too from the kit I gave Katherine for her birthday.

And then there was a little hammock time.  I love, love, love this picture. 

Two pictures that Elise sent me this week.