Another Performance

AnnaBeth was in a play this weekend.

She had a fairly large role, and did a pretty good job. She's never done anything like this before so we really had no clue how it would turn out. I mean, we knew she had all of her lines memorized, but would she rush through them? freeze up and forget them?



The woman who directed suggested that we make sure AnnaBeth has more opportunities to perform. AnnaBeth agrees -- she had a great time up on stage.



And I doubt anyone else noticed that her socks were crooked and that she should've used sock glue (this is how Irish Dance warps your mind -- you start focussing on weird details).

Work in Progress Wednesday

Here's what we've got going on this week:

Hey, Teach, knit in Lion Brand Cotton-Ease.



It's going together very quickly.

Tracing out the Feis Dress pattern onto Pattern Ease prior to tissue fitting and messing with the design in order to make a dropped waist.



This is not coming together quickly. Also, see that roll of paper? That's all bodice pieces. The skirt has an even bigger roll.

Finally, dressing up the cat in baby clothes.



I'm not sure what this is accomplishing, but much time has been spent on it.

So, what are you up to this week?

Ottobre skirt

From issue 2/2006, skirt number 9. Made in some sort of quilting cotton from Hancock's. The underskirt is an eyelet with a border (that isn't what the pattern called for -- the underskirt is supposed to be batiste and then have an eyelet trim sewn on).



She's wearing a yellow tank top and white sweater with it, by the way -- that yellow bit in the photo isn't part of the waistband.


It took nearly a week to make this. Her previous garment sewing experience was 1 elastic waist Kwik Sew skirt that had 3 tiers (involved gathering ruffles, in other words) and 1 pair of capri pajama pants from Kwik Sew. I have new insight into the often-asked question, "Can a beginner sew Ottobre patterns?" It really depends on the beginner's personality. Is this a person willing to puzzle things out, and decide what is an appropriate course of action? Does this person have access to books or people who can answer questions? Is it a person who can visualize from the written word?

Then again, you could sew many garments, and if you blindly follow directions without ever stopping to ponder "why" you do things a certain way, Ottobre could throw you for a loop. So could the need for diagrams.

Overall, I think she learned a lot, both about sewing and about tackling something that's a little bit difficult. And she's very pleased with the end result.



Younger sister is wearing a dress I made a couple of year ago. She still likes it and it still fits -- at least for the moment.

Slices of Life

If I twittered (which I don't) this is the sort of thing you'd have seen in the past day:

Morning -- AnnaBeth and Thalia have been listening to Ballet Shoes on CD. AnnaBeth is now wearing her hair in a chignon at the nape of her neck, and declares that she wants to take ballet lessons. In between school lessons she retreats to the couch to read our copy of DK Ballet Superguide.

Noon -- I can eat food! Woohoo! First time in days I've felt hungry and/or haven't felt sick after eating something.

Afternoon -- Thalia is working on her skirt. AnnaBeth is reading a Sister's Grimm book aloud to her. Thalia tells me in an aside that she thinks this should count for school for AnnaBeth (reading aloud well is really a skill that takes practice), but probably not for her (the book isn't adding anything to her edification, although she occasionally helps AnnaBeth with pronunciation -- for instance, "chasm" doesn't have a /ch/ as in "change").

Evening -- Rick is on the phone with a friend, kids are entertaining a bored cat with clicker training. The treat du jour is Purina One. The cat is very excited to earn the treats. Afterwards she goes behind the chair and noisily upchucks all of the Purina One.

Later evening -- Rick continues reading Percy Jackson Lightning Thief aloud to the kids.

Very late evening -- Phone rings with news about tornadoes in Arkansas. Wow.

Friday morning -- Zipper is in skirt, hem is begun, Sisters Grimm book is finished, Rick is on phone constantly about tornado damage, cat is asleep on couch.

Work in Progress Wednesday

Thalia is working on a skirt for Easter:



It will have an underskirt made of eyelet. New things she's done so far: interfacing and topstitching. New things still to come: invisible zipper, the whole "underskirt" concept. Also, we had a brief lesson in what to do when you break off the prong of the iron's plug in the outlet (which is sort of an inauspicious beginning to a sewing project, but she has forged ahead none the less).

As for me, I'm taking the yarn recovered from deciding to ditch Trellis, and started Hey, Teach for myself:



It's wonderfully mindless stockinette stitch at the beginning. Which is good, since one of our family Easter traditions is that I get sick for the holiday. This year I'm mixing it up a little and doing a stomach virus instead of the usual sinus thing. Either way, "mindless" is the preferred mode this week, as is the feeling that I'm accomplishing something even when I'm just sort of staring out into space while droning through 8 inches of plain ol' knits and purls, interrupted only to answer questions about sparks flying out of electrical outlets, what is this thing called "interfacing", why do these 2 curved pieces appear to be different sizes, is it okay if this piece is cut out 3 degrees off of the grainline (which I pointed out was an incredibly nerdy way to ask that, and indicates way too much math is going on here), etc. etc.

Freedom

I've been enjoying the Trellis baby sweater I've been knitting for the auction . Love the color! The yarn is so squishy! The pattern is so cute!

And ... there's a wonking huge mistake that must be corrected by ripping a bunch out and having a massive do-over (as opposed to the type of mistake that can be glossed over with judicious increases and/or decreases, application of steam, use of sewing needle and thread, or other low key fiddling around). Which would mean spending the next day or so re-knitting it.

I stared at it for about a minute, pondered the fact that no one asked me to knit this, no one has any expectations about this sweater. And there are other things I'd rather be doing right now, frankly.

So it has been set aside. Instead, I've been making Latin flashcards, reading a library book, and trying to take pictures of the falling snow (because it's snowing in April!). AnnaBeth pointed out that someday I can finish Trellis at a leisurely pace and donate it to a charity. Which was my intention for it anyway.

Now that I have freedom to start a new knitting project, what next?

Work in Progress Wednesday

First, a finished product that appeared in WIP Wednesday a couple of weeks ago -- a cabled baby sweater in Knit Picks Shine Sport, knit in size 0-3 months.



I finally finished it up a couple of days ago. I wasn't sure how I wanted to block it; finally I just sewed it all up and threw it in the washing machine. Partially dried in the drier. Sewed on some buttons, and it's done. It's been donated to an auction, where it will probably appear in a basket of baby goods.

And over the weekend, some doll knitting occurred:



American Girl cabled cardigan, knit in Bernat Satin Sport Solids. The yarn was cheap at Michael's. It was okay to knit with, but picking up that first row of crochet for the edge was a nightmare -- the yarn kept splitting.



I don't know if the auction will have a basket of American Girl-type goods. If not, someone here would like to own it (although I've been told it looks better on Kit).

And, the latest project: Trellis from Knitty, knit in Lion Brand CottonEase. I thought I could bang this out quickly. This is how far I've gotten in the past 24 hours:



I cast on for size 12 months, and it looked HUGE on the needles. So I ripped it out and started over in a smaller size. We'll see how far I get in the next few days. If all goes well, this will be for the auction. But I might ditch it and knit a couple of pairs of baby booties, then call it quits on the auction knitting.

As usual,Mrs. H is the inspiration for WIP Wednesday. More people need to link to her, so go start making something now!