This week has been crap. I can say I'm lucky that nobody died, or that I've experienced any serious life threatening issues, I'm still healthy, yada yada yada, but it's still been crap. My AC in the house broke down in the midst of our extremely crazy heat wave (near 100F with the humidity, which is NOT normal for us here in Ontario at any time of year, especially when its technically Fall), the brakes needed to be done on my car ($$$), I had a rock almost come through the windshield of the car I was borrowing while said brakes were being done (it was my son-in-law's car, and I've offered to pay to get it fixed - it's not technically my fault, but one of those shitty things that happen and I don't want him to have to foot the bill for my bad luck), this is an extra mortgage payment month (I get paid monthly, and have accelerated bi-weekly payments and while I plan for this, it's still not easy to make it all work), and I've had to pay my annual house insurance this month as well. Oh, and I broke my baby toe while cleaning up the yarn room earlier this week. Yes, an actual yarn related injury. I can almost wear regular shoes again. No pointy toe heels for a while though.
And that was all this past week!
Anyways, you didn't come here to listen to me whine.
For the observant of you who are avidly awaiting my posts, particularly those where I list out my goals for public consumption, you will notice that I've actually skipped a month of goals and checking in. I'm not sure how that happened, because I must have thought about this blog post a million times over the past two months. Well, now that I've listed everything out above, I can actually see a pattern as to why I didn't get around to blogging. In any event, for my many, many faithful followers (haha) out there who haven't noticed, ignore my previous sentence and without further ado, here's my monthly goal check-in post!
Knitting
1. Do the heels on the Tulip Socks and one other pair that are WIPs negatory good buddy, this didn't happen. I did however finish another two pairs of heel-less socks. One of these day soon, I'll have to sit down with a glass of wine and just work on heel after heel after heel. Granted, it will feel good to have a new pile of socks to wear!
2.
3. Start the sleeves of M'Agitha sweater for Melissa I finished one sleeve, so I guess I've technically completed this goal. The sweater is currently hanging on my dress form in my yarn room, as a reminder to NOT start another sweater and finish this one instead. One factor that is holding me up on finishing this is that Melissa doesn't think she wants this sweater anymore - the cropped nature of it is...well...too cropped for her taste. It's an alpaca blend, so it will stretch out particularly in length quite a bit. I will wear it (great colour, great pattern, goes nicely with my sense of style and current wardrobe choices) but I'm currently working on another sweater that has more interest for me, so it's taken a bit of a back seat.
Sewing
1. Finish Sew Over It Penny Dress this is still hanging in my sewing room. It needs buttons. C'est tout (that is all).
2. Sew a Jean Jacket Nope. Haven't done this either, though I've been eyeing all the jean jacket patterns out there...
3. Sew Chicago travel wardrobe I've made a ton of progress on this - which is good because I leave on early Sunday morning for this trip.
jacket - shrunken boyfriend style, with faux suede collar and pocket flaps - the fabric for this one is constantly evolving since I've discovered that I don't have enough of the fabric for the coordinating narrow trousers. I'm hoping for a herringbone wool of some type - it must coordinate with all my trousers and skirts.Done! I chose a brown and cream silk & wool suiting, with a brown faux suede collar. I'll have to do a review - I used a Vogue Tamotsu designer pattern from the early 2000s that I slightly modified. Read more about Tamotsu here Actually, I finished two jackets, both of which would work with this wardrobe and my travel.- drapey cardigan - mustard yellow crepe knit I haven't done this one yet, but know it will work really well with the wardrobe garments I have finished, so it's still on the list to complete.
wide leg trousers - brown pinstripe woolDone! I used a Burda magazine pattern (so many less fitting issues for me), and they're lovely.narrow legged trousers - navy ?? I've done a trial version of these in a poly/rayon blend gab and they turned out lovely!I made two pairs from another Burda magazine pattern - a lovely aubergine/eggplant version and a tiny houndtooth version in a beige and brown. I'm still thinking I need a pair in navy and another one grey for fall/winter. Oh, I also have a great olive green that would work...- pencil skirt - brown pinstripe wool I didn't finish this one, but I did finish two skirts, one that matches one of the aforementioned jackets, and another one in lightweight brown wool suiting that coordinates with both jackets.
- 6 gore skirt - brown Prince of Wales suiting I haven't gotten to this one yet, but still want to because the finished object I can see in my mind is amazing.
Tilly and the Buttons Agnes topsmustard yellow crepe knit (long sleeves, ruching at centre front) finished in Julyburgundy heathered jersey (puffed sleeve version) Finished in Julyleopard print mesh knit with blue and cream (long sleeves, scoop neck)Finished in Julytextured cream lightweight sweater knit (short sleeves, scoop neck)Finished in July- shirts
self drafted mustard yellow georgetteDone! This was a bear - it was going along swimmingly until I decided to trim some seams and hacked a giant hole in the middle of the outside back yoke right above the pleat. I didn't have enough to recut the yoke either. Le Sigh. I fudged it a bit, and managed to make it work. It is a great working piece in this wardrobe.Sew Over It Alex in navy with white polka dots (previously sewn)self drafted black rayon challis with small floral print in barn red and mustard yellowDone - this is gorgeous. The fabric is so fluid and goes so well with all sorts of existing clothes. This was deep, deep stash. Maybe 20 years old?? One of those pieces of fabric I just didn't want to cut into for fear of ruining it. It turned out perfectly!self drafted snake skin print in shades of brown and cream Done, this has already become a staple for me, I've worn it a number of times in a number of different outfits!knit wrap dress - burgundy heathered jersey Done, in a morning I might add!
- shirt in olive green cotton shirting
- shirt in barn red, mustard yellow, olive green print on cream background in cotton
- short sleeve blouse in brown silky with white circle print
- faux wrap dress in geometric print (navy, coral, olive) knit
- cropped trousers in lightweight brown wool suiting
- pleated front cropped trousers with pockets in brown and cream stripe
- sleeveless blouse in mustard yellow
- sleeveless blouse in navy blue silk
- sleeveless sheath dress in navy blue lightweight wool suiting
- wide legged trousers in navy blue lightweight wool suiting
Wow! Apparently, I've actually been really busy and productive with my sewing in August and September! It's funny that I had to write out the list to see how productive I've been!
Reading
1.
2. Finish People over Profit Bwahahaha. I'm working my way through this. It's not hard to read, but I only read it if I get to the office early, which hasn't been happening lately!
3. Finish Inspired Destiny by Dr. John Demartini I'm working my way through this one too, but I really want to do the exercises to make it really effective, so that's making it take some time to get through.
4.
Alright-y, October is going to be a super busy month at work with a number of trips in my future (locally in Ontario, but still away from home), so I'll try to be realistic about what I can accomplish.
Knitting
1. Finish the heels in at least two pairs of socks. Christmas is coming and these would make perfect gifts.
2. Finish the Armande cardigan sweater I'm currently working. It goes really well with my Chicago wardrobe mentioned above. And who can resist being wrapped in Malabrigo Rios?!
3. Make a list of Christmas gifts and start working on them. How's that for a specific goal? LOL This will consist of slippers, socks, hats and mittens, but I have to figure out which patterns, which yarn and which recipients.
4. This is a spinning goal, but I'll include it here as it is yarn related. I have two braids that I've spun for two separate coordinating two ply yarns that I'd like to finish plying. These won't likely see any knitting action until the new year when all my Christmas knitting has been finished, but I've been using my spinning time as my meditation in the mornings lately.
Sewing/Wardrobe
1. Update my casual wardrobe for fall/winter
- go through my closet and toss/donate old, dated/aged or unworn items
- make a list of "holes" that need to be filled
- start sewing these holes
- I already know that one of them is a jean jacket
- another is casual pants
- and a hooded vest
3. Make a dress for work/office wear, wool crepe
4. Make a pair of trousers for work/office wear, wool suiting
Reading
1. Finish reading The Highland Witch by Susan Fletcher. This is a historical fiction novel about a woman in Scotland in the late 1600s. It is completely opposite of the saccharine book I read last month. I'm finding it well written, very engaging and I'm totally absorbed into the story. I highly recommend it so far! You can find it here: The Highland Witch at Amazon.ca
2. Finish reading Knight's Cross by Christine Kling, the third book in The Shipwreck Adventures trilogy I've enjoyed this series as well, easy to read yet enough believable plot twists to keep me interested
3. Chose the next fiction book to read.
There you have it. I'd really like to catch you up on some of my finished objects mentioned above, but I've been spending my spare moments actually knitting and sewing instead of photographing and blogging. I have a few cell phone photos that could work - I'll take a look over the next few weeks to see what I can do. I also blog through my laptop, but have finally downloaded the app onto my iPad, so hopefully this will make it easier to post as well. I really love reading what others are up to, and only hope I can provide similar inspiration.
Katherine Govier. Its a bit tough to get into at first, but I'm really starting to enjoy the character development. It takes place in Banff, where I visited this past spring, and where my brother lives. I'm planning on passing the book along to him when I'm done with it.