being a diva is great…except for the mostly negative connotation

Jim was gone this weekend so I was able to fill it with completely selfish activities (well, that isn’t entirely true…all of the laundry is done). His niece is getting married August 1 and I was hoping to make a new dress for the occasion. I though Simplicity 3877 would be perfect. We looked for fabric while were were out in Arizona last time and I found this great polyester? print for only 2.99 a yard at SAS Fabric.1 I finally got to work on it yesterday. After reading the comments at patternreview.com I thought I should probably do a muslin of the bodice…I NEVER do that and I *thought* I was glad I did. I cut the 14 pattern with the D cup and it seemed pretty loose (I wanted it to be close fitting) so I decided to cut the 12 with the C cup instead. DUH. Should you really do TWO adjustments without checking? The answer would be no. The answer to whether one should forego the wraptop and just sew the flap into the seam would also be no. I kind of suspected early on there were issues, which is why I didn’t do the arm facing. I figured I should just whip out the skirt part so I could see if the bodice was as short as I thought it was.2 The only thing that made me happy about the whole debaucle is that the collar looks freaking fantastic.

Long story shorter, the bodice is too short, the front facing is incredibly fussy with this fabric (would maybe line the whole thing instead) and I’m not sure I even like the print when it is all chopped up like this. I put the disheveled, unfinished dress on my form so you can get an idea of what happened. It looks way better on the form than it does on me! I’m not sure what my plan is yet. I’ll either try this pattern again with a solid fabric and research how to line the bodice or just choose another one entirely and try again. Or I may just go shopping.

1. If you’re ever out there be sure to go…huge warehouse , all kinds of fabric remnants, great prices. [↩]
2. Like I couldn’t tell there was a problem when it was inches above my bellybutton. [↩]

I mentioned a while back that I have been helping a friend update her bedroom with some new valances. They have finally been hung and look great in her master bedroom. We still needed to deal with the bathroom though and finally decided only another valance would do. Her husband generously offered agreed to build another one. Unfortunately, the only printed fabric we had left to use were pillow shams, so I had to rip those out and sew them together. Once we had them on there we weren’t loving the way the seams looked so we decided to hide them with pieces of fabric. The end result looks great and the additional fabric totally looks like a design feature. We were obviously quite pleased with ourselves, so of course, celebrated.

Her many pillows are getting a face lift too. There is plenty of the plain fabric left so I should be able to cover all of them. So far I’ve only done two, including one that I embellished with embroidery from my new machine (pattern here)! She is a wine drinker, but ONLY of the Kendall Jackson Chardonnay variety so this motif seemed appropriate.

The winners have been chosen through the magic of a  random number generator!  Thanks so much to everyone who played.  Most of the contest entrants and their blogs were totally new to me so it was really fun to see what everyone is up to!  I now have some new blogs for my list   Now for what you’ve all been patiently waiting for…

Loopykd is getting the 5 oz of hand dyed optim merino

Sandie Russo and Hanna each receive a skein of Tofutsies sock yarn

Sara is getting a $5 Diva Knitting gift certificate

And the “grand” prize of a Namaste Newport Bag goes to PlazaJen If you’re one of the winners, please send me your mailing address using the contact form.

I haven’t gotten *any* knitting done (WHAT??????) I know.  Pitiful.  But there has been sewing!  I have to admit I’m a little disappointed with my new fancy machine.  It has already gone back to the shop for a problem (I just bought it May 11ish) and it’s not handling the multiple layers of jean material very well.  I’ll have to do a little research to see if most people are able to sew jeans fairly easy or if this is a common issue (yes, I’m using a brand new jean needle).  As for the jeans themselves, they’re coming along.  I’m using Jalie 2908…many of the women on the jean sew along recommend it as a great modern looking pattern.  After I saw the pictures at Erica B’s blog I knew this was “the one”!  I’m using  Gutermann top-stitch thread in color 561 and the pocket embroidery pattern is here done with Metro embroidery thread in a coordinating color.  Unfortunately, I ran out of the top-stitch thread (maybe because I had to rip so %&*#! much) so progress is at a stand still until I can get more.  I’m going to try to coerce Jim into a field trip tonight for dinner and thread.

It’s a terrible title for a post and yet descriptive of the current state of my eyes!  Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE trying to adjust back to eastern time?  Last night was my second one home and although I didn’t have any trouble getting to sleep at a relatively respectable time of 11:20 p.m. (that’s 8:20 in AZ) I did wake up at 3 a.m. unable to get back to sleep.  The good news is that if I can make it the rest of the day now without napping I should be tired enough to go to bed tonight at my normal time of 10 p.m.  I’m thinking a Dunkin Donuts coffee run might be in order as soon as Jim is up for work.  Jet lag is a small price to pay for all the fun we had in Arizona.  We had a fantastic trip and wonderful time celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary.  Where DOES the time go?  It’s such a cliche but it really does seem like yesterday that we were flying out to Tahoe to get married and driving around California for our honeymoon.

We took a side trip to Prescott this time and discovered a great trail that is part of the rails to trails system.  If you’re ever in the Prescott area, the Peavine and Watson Lake are definitely worth checking out.  I won’t bore you with all of them (if you MUST see all of them, go here) but here are a couple of the best shots…gorgeous, isn’t it?  The best part is it’s only about an hour and 15 minute drive for us.

I did only a little knitting while we were away, all on the travel socks that have been on the needles an inordinately long time.  I’ve now carried the Vivian sweater back and forth to Arizona three times without touching it.  I’m modifying it a bit at the waist shaping which explains my lack of progress.  I was able to get some spinning done though so more on that tomorrow.  In the meantime, don’t forget that today at midnight is the deadline for my 4 year blogiversary giveaway.  Make sure you’re signed up for a chance to win a Namaste bag and other fiber goodies!

And because no day is complete without some cuteness (from our back yard in AZ):

More here.

How time flies…my first post here on Diva Knitting was May 24, 2005!  Little did I know at the time the places to which knitting would lead.  In honor of this “momentous” occasion I’m having a contest!  I’ll be giving away at least a Namaste Bag, 5 oz of hand dyed merino spinning fiber and maybe some more goodies depending on how many entrants there are.

How to enter (you get one entry in the drawing for each step completed below):

1.  Subscibe to Diva Knitting blog at <– that link or by using the feed url in your favorite reader http://feeds.feedburner.com/divaknitting (Already subscribed?  Give yourself an entry.)

2.  Create an account at the Diva Knitting Store and subscribe to the newsletter (I only do a few per year, and it usually includes a SALE.   If you’re already a customer, you get an entry for that.)

3.  Post about the contest on your blog using the permalink:  http://www.divaknitting.com/blog/2009/05/15/4-year-blogiversary-must-be-time-for-a-contest

4.  Post about the contest at your favorite knitting site (in an appropriate spot, please, only one entry no matter how many places you post) such as Ravelry, Knitting Help, etc.

5.  Tell me one thing you know about me/my life from reading the blog

So if you do all of those, you’ll have 5 chances to win!  When you’re finished, leave a comment on this post telling me which steps you completed and give the links to where you posted in steps 3&4.  The deadline for entry is midnight EDT May 28th, 2009.  Relatives (ahem, ERICA) are not eligible to win.  Now go tell your friends!  The more entries there are the more stuff I am likely to give away.  :)

ETA:  Want to win chocolate too (and really, who DOESN’T)?  Go visit Just Shakin’ My Bon Bons.

As I mentioned yesterday, the sewing has been prolific since I’ve been home. It partially started with a trip to a super cute quilt shop in Arizona where I found this Amy Butler Kimberly pattern and some clearance fabric.  I’m pretty happy with the bag but it’s really just too big for me.  I’m a die hard small purse girl so I think this might find a new home with the baby sister.  You know, she has a pretty good gig that one!  I seem to remember I did have one little issue with understanding part of the pattern, but of course I didn’t write down what that was.  Whatever it was I’m sure it was user error.

Then I decided to make something for my mother in law for Mother’s day.  I decided on a storage type thing from Simplicity 3776.  It was very easy and straightforward up until the time I had to sew on the bottom.  That was no fun at all!   For some reason I seem to have trouble with my linings being a bit off which results in the exterior wanting to bunch a bit at the final inch or so of sewing…so it took a few tries to get in finished but overall I’m happy with the result.

She also got a little lined makeup bag and crocheted hot pad from the sample of Falkland I spun and Navajo plied.  I knew there was something I could do with that small amount of yarn!

Next I moved on to an apron, McCall’s 5643 view C.  I’m not sure what it is but there seems to be a lot of interest in retro style aprons right now.  I ran into this author on Twitter who has a whole book of/about aprons, Lime and Violet have been buying them (not sure which episode they talked about that) and there are a boatload for sale on etsy.  Now that I’ve made one I can see why.  I may even try to design one myself.  They’re fun and quick and you can really play around with color…although I maybe played around with color a little too much on this one.  I’m not wild about the way the skirt fabric works with the rest.

Finally, I’ve been experimenting with some prototypes for bags I may sell at Diva Knitting.  I haven’t perfected any of them yet, so I’ll be playing around with them some more before I decide.  The boxy bag is really cute but the way it’s made makes it very hard to be precise.  There is probably an easier way, I just have to figure out what it is!

Spring must have put me more in the mood than usual because it has been craft central around here!  Not only have I been knitting and spinning as usual, but now that the upstairs has been cleared out (got rid of some old excess furniture) my sewing machine has a permanent home.  I suggest if you don’t sew as often as you’d like, try to carve out a little spot in your home where you can leave your machine set up and have easy access to your tools.  It makes a huge difference when you can just walk in and get started rather than having to drag out the machine and try to find a place to work.  Oh, and getting a new machine *might* have something to do with the resurgence as well.  More on that tomorrow!

Now, for the spinning.  I got quite a bit of it done when I was in Arizona last time.  First, I spun this great Lazy River colorway from fiberoptic…who incidentally is based right here in Cincinnati!  It’s approximately sock weight and I can’t believe how much easier it was to spin for socks from a pencil roving.  No splitting, just draft and go!  I also had some merino I had mostly spun quite a while back.  When I started again I did nothing but fight with this fiber.  It looked so terrible I decided to try my first “art” yarn.  I plied it with a coordinating thread and it actually turned out pretty well (could have been better but was limited by my orifice).  I’m thinking my scarf queen sister might be able to turn this funky yarn into something cool.  Since I returned home,  I spun some more sock yarn using roving from one of my online friends, Silver.  The colorway is called “Firewood” and I would say it is quite aptly named!  I think she sent along some of her good spinning mojo with it too because I swear this is some of the nicest sock yarn I’ve spun.

Another project I took on recently was working on some valances for my friend Terri.  She bought a new bedspread that she absolutely loves and is redecorating her bedroom around it.  We were talking about what she should do and of course when she said valances/cornice I said “We can do that!”  And so…we did.  Fortunately her husband is handy with a table saw and made the valances out of 1″ think board.  Then it was our tun.

The comforter was on sale at Target so for coordinating fabric she just bought another set.  Then we got to work with some seam rippers and seperated back from the front and at the occasional tacking throughout the comforter.   Once we were finished we had plenty of fabric and a nice big sheet of batting.  Then we (and when I say “we”, I mean she) ironed all of the fabric.  Next we laid out the cornices on top of the batting, cut to size and stapled.  Repeat for the fabric and VOILA!  Beautiful professional looking cornices for a fraction of the cost.  I can hardly wait to see whole effect when it’s finished!  I’ll make sure to post more pictures.

Cute sewing projects tomorrow…I’ve been experimenting with some prototypes for bags I might sell at Diva Knitting.

I’ve been loathe to post about the Bauhaus Fair Isle.  It was finally finished April 16th.  Unfortunately, it does not fit Jim!  Well, actually, he can get it ON, it’s just way too tight.  Yes, I vigorously wet blocked as is my usual habit.  It did actually grow a bit from that process which is probably the only thing that allowed him to get it on.  I can’t begin to tell you how depressing this is.  Jim swears he’ll wear it around the house, which I guess is ok since he is always cold.  It doesn’t look good on me either…huge in all the wrong places.  Sigh.

I’m not quite sure what the lesson is here (except maybe don’t make fair isle sweaters for huge men).  I had him try it on while it was in progress.  One of his requests was that it not be bulky around the middle…I guess if I were trying to be a bright side type person at least I did accomplish that!  It also is a little tight under the arms.  I would suggest if you make a fair isle style sweater that instead of just going with the measurements given for the armhole that you actually measure something you already own and/or the person to get a better number.

In an effort to end on a positive note, I’ll share a knitting success.  This is Sahara made in Southwest Trading Company Twize.  I made it to wear to Maryland Sheep and Wool last year and never did get a modeled shot, until now.  I wore it out to dinner a this spring and got a couple of compliments on it.  My only complaint is that Twize tends to stretch with wear so I now definitely need a tank underneath when I wear it.  Since it’s seamed up the front I could dig out some of the matching yarn and bring it together a bit, but I didn’t have time to do it before wearing that night.

I have quite a backlog of knitting and spinning to share but I’m not really ready to do a full post at the moment.  In the meantime, I’ll share something I just finished with you…a cute little accessory bag.  I’ve been bitten by the sewing bug again.  It’s partly the emergence of spring and partly that we got rid of some furniture upstairs making room for me to set up a permanent sewing area!  This was quick and easy although I need to work on the way the lining and zipper work together.  I’ll be making another version shortly.

It seems that I am on a bit of a bender with the spinning.  Since I’ve been home the last three days, I’ve spun about seven ounces of fiber.  These little gems were all dyed by BeeMiceElf.  First up, Pansy two-ply in merino.  I’d say this ended up worsted to aran weight and is approximately 115 yards.

Next I spun the lovely sample of Falkland wool she sent in the Prism colorway.  This wool seriously just spun itself!  It was so easy to spin, even very thin.  This would be a great fiber for a beginning spinner.  I did my first serious attempt at navajo plying…to this point I had only tried it on even smaller samples than this.  I ended up with about 25 yards.

Today I spun two ounces of Night Sky which is composed of 80% merino and 20% silk.  It really has a lovely sheen.  I have two more ounces to go and I’m thinking this will be around DK/sport 2-ply.

In BIG news, Jim’s Bauhaus fair isle is off the needles!  Someone please remind me never to knit a color work sweater for him again.  I can’t believe how long this thing took.  He tried it on last night and it’s very tight.  I’ll seriously cry a river if the thing ends up not fitting.  We all know how blocking works wonders though, so I have my fingers crossed.  As soon as the 765 thousand ends are woven in, I’ll give it a bath and we’ll hope for the best!