halloween 15

Ok. So at this time of year, I usually take much needed sewing breaks from my making of halloween costumes to blog about sewing on said costumes. This year? Ok this year was both easier and harder.

It was easier because one girl decided to be sadness from Inside Out. And if you follow that link you'll understand the ease of this. We found some blue leggings at Kohl's for $7 and a fleece blue cowl necked shirt at the thrift store ($3!) and I bought some blue and white face paint and a blue wig. Due to my policy on not showing kids faces on the blog, I may not actually post the finished photo here. In essence this costume is more about the face, than the clothes.

But it was harder because the other girl had trouble making up her mind. First she wanted to be a three headed monster, than a princess, then finally a minion. But not just any minion--A cute minion. She declared a need for goggles, a tutu and overalls. I'd love to say that hey I have all that done and am basking slightly in the glow of the tealights in the pumpkins.

No

I have in fact purchased at thrift store a shirt the right color and was told it a) smelled like old man (Before I washed it--I wanted her to try it on so I could return it! if it didn't fit) and b) had a turtleneck. So I washed it and removed turtleneck. Then she said she wanted to wear her blue leggings so ok. But then she wanted a tutu that "stuck out" and overalls with a Grue symbol.

This is what I have come up with:

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Oct 29, 2015 at 11:11am PDT

I created the overall part, managed a buttonhole! and used fusible web to create a Grue eymbol. She thinks the tutu is too long but eh.

Goggles might be the end of me. I saw a tutorial on Pinterest that used canning lids and wiffle balls, but I thought I'd use very large googly eyes instead. BIG MISTAKE. Those googly eyes are too big for ANYTHING. and nothing I've been able to work out has satisfied her.

So basically I am waiting for her to come home from school and approve the latest incarnation which is a wide mouth canning lid and said eye. She can go as one eye or I can glue a second one on. Maybe. I don't have the rivet tool from the pinterest tutorial I found, and so I bought elmers brand super glue and I'm hoping there is enough surface between two lids to glue.

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Oct 29, 2015 at 11:11am PDT

So here I am basically last minute (wearing these to school Friday) throwing stuff together. I hate that feeling! But I have a coffee date planned for after everyone is off and I plan on sleeping that extra hour out over the weekend, and come back with more knitting in November!

fall

I used to really love fall, the leaves turning, the apples, the digging out of handknits. This year I find myself hating it: the mornings are darker, the days are colder and I put off digging out the handknits. I'm trying really hard and the days lately have been helping. Spectacular days with colorful leaves are making the morning exercise go much smoother, but still, I'd rather go back to summer. A lot of people hate knitting in the summer, but I love it in part because when you finish something you can put it away almost like a Christmas present to yourself when colder weather gets here. Which I guess is a long way of saying, I pulled me new socks out of the drawer the other day and it made it a little easier to get going on a cold morning.

I finished the last of the "summer socks" and will take a picture later when the recipient can model them. I was very close to finishing them last week right before we decided to go on a short trip. I didn't want to take them along and finish them on the road and not have anything else to knit, so I decided to do that really stupid thing that always gets me into trouble and bring yarn, needles, and pattern and start a new project.

I picked this yarn that my mother in law gave me. She had bought it and a pattern at her quilters lock in. And someone told her they went together. The yarn is Linaza and the pattern is Dragon Hide Mitts. The pattern calls for a DK weight yarn and as I discovered 1/2 hour down the road, Linaza is not DK weight.

So I swatched. And I swatched again. I ended up never getting guage, never even getting close, but getting to the point where if I made a bigger size, i could stand the fabric I was making on size 1.5 US and even then, it was a little airy for mittens. But I started anyway. About 4 rows in, I realized I was doing seed stitch instead of 1X1 ribbing and I just gave up. Perhaps this yarn is not going to be THIS pattern.

But it does leave me at loose ends.

I have the socks that were on the needles done. I have, I think, gotten a little tired of socks, and I'm not wanting to dive into the other sock project I have. The girls have not decided on colors for the sweaters I want to make them--which is getting old. So what should I make?

While I decide, here is a picture of me on a turtle from our trip. My handknit sock is sort of peeking out.

progress

Still moving along on socks. Not much to show, except I'm working on the ribbing of what might be the last of the summer socks.

Not much to say about halloween costumes, blue face paint and blue leggings have been aquired. One trip to Goodwill, and one short trip to Salvation Army have not turned up an appropriate sweater. Still waiting on the other child to stop changing her mind every 10 minutes.

Last week the weather turned slightly nippy (and yesterday decidedly nippy) and when it was highs in the upper 60s low 70s I decided to bust out the shrugs. I often don't really know how to wear them, or which ones look best. But I remembered to take selfies with 3 out of the four I wore. It turned a bit colder before I could get the fifth one worn, and I have no idea why I didn't selfie the other, probably because I wore it first.

A photo posted by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Oct 2, 2015 at 10:47am PDT

I love shrugs, and I always feel like I never get to wear them, and I guess given that I had exactly one week in which they were weather appropriate, there might be something to that. We may still see some warmer temps, but the key may be to dig them out in the spring.

Progress has been made in these areas!

I finally figured out how to keep the cocoons in the garage wfor the winter, protecting them from mice, but still allowing air circulation. I have a used fish tank and today I bought a wire mesh cover like you'd have if you wanted to keep mice in. I bought it at the pet store and probably paid more than I would had I made something myself, but this fits perfectly. I have moved out all the birch eating ones, and will be moving the lilac ones after the girls have had a chance to help me "arrange" them.

Also! I have yarn and patterns all picked out for sweaters for the girls! Now all I have to do is buy the yarn. And since my LYS closed I don't feel at all guilty about online shopping. Whereas before I might try to order it from the store (because they never had enough of one color) and maybe wait forever.

So, am hoping that next week sees me complete the sadness costume by acquiring a sweater, and pinning down the other girl, ordering the yarn, finishing the sock and moving the rest of the cocoons.