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Autumn is just around the corner (yay, I love autumn!) and with it my schedule is changing up as well. The world of academia is calling me into a season of prolonged busyness, which means less time to craft and participate in the crafty blog realm. :(

I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep up with most of my favorite blogs, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write posts. Hopefully some random words or photos every once in awhile, but not much beyond that.

Oh, I really wanted to post about the McCall's 5523 pencil skirt, but I never got to hem it! Hemming a skirt is a lot more time consuming than I expected! But I really loved the pattern, very easy to sew and really cute. My skirt is just a little big on me (the wool I sewed it with had more stretch than the muslin I used to test the pattern) but it fits my sister quite well, so that worked out nicely. Will definitely be sewing another one of these soon, I love all options for the back panel, it'll be a lot fun to try them out!

A new haunt of mine

BurdaStyle

I recently started reading The Selfish Seamstress blog (check it out if you have a bit of time, her sewing is just fantastic; here's a link directly to her finished objects category) and since she sews using a lot of Burda patterns I became quite curious about Burda. After a bit of googling I found the pattern magazines and the BurdaStyle community website. After a bit of looking around last night I made an account. My username is The Moebius Sock if you want to look at my (currently empty) page.

Basically this is a sewing site that appears to me to have similarities to Ravelry and even a bit of Facebook. It's a Burda site however, so it doesn't have a pattern library like Ravelry (just Burda and user patterns it appears) and it isn't purely a community sewing site. It also has some annoying ads. I'm still learning the format, but so far I've discovered a lot of things that appeal to me. I've already added several projects to my favorites and a few tutorials to my "toolkit" to try out in the future.

I'm still keeping up with knitting of course, but for now I've hit the point where I really want to improve my sewing skills (and production levels for that matter!) so I'll probably be focusing on that for a little while.

Have fun looking around :)

Pay it Forward!

A while back I got the chance to sign up on Celeste's blog for a Pay it Forward event. I'd wanted to try something like this for awhile so when Celeste posted about this event I jumped at the chance to join in. Just a few days ago I received this gorgeous hand-knit scarf from Celeste.

You can find her official blog post on it here, but here is one of her photos (used with permission of course!)

It's so so so soft and pretty.

I've gotten a bit spoiled through this gorgeous weather we've been having and I'll admit that up until I received this scarf I was pretty much dreading winter. After receiving this scarf though, I've changed my tune. I'm now excited for the chance to pair this up with my wool coat. :)

I also received two of these paper garlands. I read the blog post about these and thought they were wonderful, and now I get to have some too! (photo Celeste's)

Now for the Pay it Forward part:

I need three people to sign up to receive a gift from me and be willing to "pay it forward" to three of their friends as well.

I will probably be selecting one of the people from among my "in real life" friends, but if several of you sign up I think it'd be fun to choose you all from my blog. Also, if there's more than three I'll do a random drawing.

I'm pretty excited about this. It's always fun receiving gifts, but I love giving even more, and getting to give something handmade? Oh yes, even better!

Here's the details if you would like to join in!

Pay it Forward Details (main points stolen from Celeste)

1 - You must be willing to Pay it Forward to at least 3 other people.

2 - Those people must be willing to continue the Pay it Forward event.

3 - What you give needs to be something from you. It's technically a 'deed', so what it is depends on you. It could be something knit, sewn, baked, even a huge pot of stew, be creative.

4 - I have 6 months to send something to you. Once you receive it you have 6 months to send it on again. (I consider the 6 months a guideline...I know I'll be quite busy in the next several months so my projects may take a bit longer to arrive!)

5- If you want to join in, you have until next Monday (July 19th) to comment here to sign up.

Today

It's raining and I love it when it rains. It's just so refreshing.

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I'm currently reading Little Dorrit (Dickens) and have just finished watching (for the third time) the Masterpiece Theater adaptation. Since I still have about 300pgs of the book to finish and I've already got the story resolved in my head from finishing the movie I can't decide whether to keep reading or switch to a different book. Hm.

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I'm extremely excited about Alicia Paulson's new book on embroidery. I rarely pre-order books, but this may very well be an exception.

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My craft table. It is quite messy. And I really really need to use it. But cleaning? Err, we'll see if it happens.

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I have recently accumulated quite a bit of fabric for apparel sewing and am now seeing the need to actually begin sewing it, rather than just thinking about doing so. Again, the messy table comes to mind.

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I recently began knitting another Featherweight cardigan. This time I'm planning a longer cardigan with feather and fan edging for the collar and sleeves. Pretty excited about this one. Downside? I'm ripping the sleeve of my Arisag cardigan and using that yarn for Featherweight instead. I hope to try Arisag again eventually, but the simpler Featherweight is just a better fit for me right now.

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I'm very excited for Saturday. I don't really have anywhere to be, which means I can spend the entire day crafting if I wish, and I think I do. :)

Little Visitors

Duckies.

Poor things lost their mother and were wandering across the yard. Watched them for sometime, but didn't see them meet up with their mom. I'm sure the noises of twelve little babies alerted her eventually though!

This one had a bit of a strut going on ;)

And then there's this bird. A bit of an unusual sight for my area, but I'm pretty sure it's a type of flycatcher.

As you can see, he perched on a quilt that was airing out outside.

random

Thanks for your help with my Ravelympics patterns! I think I've almost decided, I just need to measure my swatches and double check pattern specs.

It's been a very busy last couple of weeks, and it shows no sign of letting up. I feel really bad I haven't gotten photos of Audrey up yet, but I've just been way too busy to try to work out another photo shoot. Sigh...anyway, I'm going to publish one of the less then superior photos from the last try so you can at least get an idea how Audrey turned out. I will get some better photos eventually!

You can tell the light was fading fast, the noise in this pic is rather incredible ;)

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So I just found out that Ravelry added a "sort by color" option for stashed yarn. I love this site.

http://www.ravelry.com/people/RivendelLN/stash

I don't have the "closest color" box filled in for all my yarns, so there is a little group at the end of my stash page with some random skeins, but for the most part it looks pretty darn cool.

I find it a little ironic that a method of organization that would annoy me in a yarn store looks so charming on Ravelry. I may change it back sometime, but for now I'm rather enjoying it.

Oh, and my plans for photos today were dashed by a mild (but still potentially camera-damaging) snowstorm. I did finish those Selbuvotter mittens though! I just have to weave in ends! So happy.

A Short Update

It's been a while since my last blog. I've been crazy-busy and have been able to squeeze in just enough time to work on knitting some Christmas presents. Unfortunately keeping up with blogging has fallen by the wayside. My schedule this week though is already more open and I'm hoping that trend will continue!

Here's a few thoughts, until I can get some photos of everything I've been working on.

1. I'm still finishing up NHM#7. I'm praying these fit the recipient. So nerve-wracking.
I currently have a thumb and a half to finish. Oh, and knitting thumbs in colorwork? Not fun. But these mittens are due next Wednesday so I better hurry and finish!

2. I knit a slouch hat about a month ago and never got around to blogging it. Wasn't sure how I'd like the slouch look, but it's actually a really cute hat. Pattern details and photos will commence eventually.

3. Finished knitting the February Baby Sweater. SO CUTE. I sewed the buttons on and couldn't stop holding it up to admire it. Baby clothes are the best. This will be gifted sometime in the next few weeks.

4. Working on some secret Christmas knitting. To be revealed after Christmas.

5. I can't wait to be done with Christmas knitting. I have so many sweaters I want to knit and I miss spinning on my wheel. Admittedly I've been spending some of my precious free-time browsing hand-dyed fiber on etsy and making a little wish list in my head. Oops.

6. Black Friday Shopping...I went to Joanns this year to take advantage of the 50% off button sale, plus the additional 20% off coupon. I got some great buttons, can't wait to show you! The check-out line was loooooong but it went pretty quickly. I felt bad for people who came to buy fabric though, the line was longer than the check-out line, and moving far more slowly.

6. I'm excited about all the gifts I'm giving this year. Being a knitter and being able to give beautiful handknits (even if knitting the thumbs on one particular gift is driving me crazy!) is wonderful. :)

7. Photos eventually. It's currently freezing outside so I've been a bit reluctant to photo knits and other projects out there, but I'll try to get to it later today or tomorrow!

My Google Reader is broken. I'm rather depressed about it.
I came home this weekend after a short trip to find 40 unread blogs sitting in it (yes, my blog roll is quite substantial). I wasn't too daunted by this as I had some time on my hands, but as soon as I tried opening a post, Google Reader told me that the feed could not be accessed at this time and to try again in a few seconds. Well I've been "trying again" for the last two days, but to no avail.
Today I finally resigned myself, and added all blogs I read to "blogs I'm following" in my Blogger account. After doing so, I opened every single post in a new tab (I love tabs by the way, so much better than opening new windows) and at this point in time I'm about to start reading.

Wish me luck. I have a lot of tabs to conquer.

Blown Away

Apparently I'm the last to know about the Kim Hargreaves pattern book, Precious (unless I unwittingly faved a pattern on Ravelry without realizing where it originated). But oh my, now I that know...I'm utterly blown away.

I was intrigued by my LYS noting that a new Kim Hargreaves book came into the shop, so I googled Kim and immediately found her gorgeous website and patterns. The knits in her latest collection are just fantastic, and the photography and styling? Stunning.

http://www.kimhargreaves.co.uk/acatalog/Precious_Book.html

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/precious

I love love love the cabled dresses, but this model seems to be a lot slimmer than I'll ever be. Yeah, I work out and I'm definitely in shape, but unfortunately "in shape" and "skinny enough to wear a cabled dress that will add at least a few pounds to one's frame especially to any parts of one's frame that are in constant rebellion against slimming down" aren't exactly synonyms.

Bah. I want me a cabled dress ;(

I won't post the photos directly on this post, but seriously, check these links out if you haven't seen them yet. The photography alone is worth it.

Dusty: http://www.kimhargreaves.co.uk/acatalog/DUSTY.html
I think I gave a little squeak when I saw this one. Can you get cuter than that? I think this one would be a little more forgiving to the hips than the other option: Aaren

http://www.kimhargreaves.co.uk/acatalog/AAREN.html

Roko on Ravelry is currently knitting one of these though and I'm eagerly awaiting the result: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/roko/aaren

Of course either of these dresses would of course take A LOT of yarn to complete. As in, I'd have to starve my stash for a good six months to compensate.

Honestly, I could go on and on. I think I love every piece in this book. Sigh. Off to dream dreams of gorgeous knitwear and completely ignore the reality of my non-selfish Christmas gift knitting experiment.