Saturday, February 28, 2009

Wardrobe Refashion







I love doing refashions! With the state of the economy, this is essential for me to feel like I have a "new" wardrobe. Most of my ideas have been seen elsewhere on the net (lots of surfing). Sometimes at work there are used scrubs that people are tired of or are not the right size anymore. A while back there was quite a large pile of x-large and 2XL tops. I like the prints and figured I could just size them down to fit and be a little more flattering.
Here are 2 that I did using a uniform top pattern I had already. The purple one had set-in sleeves so I cut them off and reattached at the appropriate size after removing the excess fabric. I also added a piece of elastic on the back to bring is in at the waist to make a more flattering shape. The floral one I just took in the sides all the way up and into the sleeve as it was all one piece. Then I took some bias tape and attached it for an empire waist and also put a couple tucks underneath it to take in a little more of the fabric. These tops were FREE and took very little time to resize. They are some of my favorites as they have more of a shape than my store bought uniform tops. I have made a couple of scrub tops using the Ellinor pattern from Burdastyle.com. I added inseam pockets and sewed the front center seam a little higher at the neckline. I used elastic at the empire waist. I really like these tops except that the upper sleeves are little restrictive. Does anyone have a tip to fix this problem? The darker one is my favorite as it is Tinker Bell. Fun scrubs are allowed at work and we do not have to match each other as I am the only tech in my area. Gotta love Tink! Hope this inspires someone else to do a little wardrobe refashioning.

Alpaca



I hope you can see this yarn. It is my handspun alpaca/silk blend. It took a little net surfing to figure out how to spin this soft fiber. As I've said, I'm a fairly new spinner and had only worked with wool until I acquired this fiber. It was a whole different experience. At first I was a little frustrated and wasn't sure I'd made a good purchase. Then I found a some info and spinning from the fold. That was the trick. I was still a little unsure of the end product I was achieving. Well, after I plyed it and gave it a quick soak, it bloomed and plumped and I love it. I was pretty proud of the end product. I got approximately 145 yards of 2ply out of 4 oz. I'd guess it is between a sport weight and a worsted weight. I haven't done a wpi yet, but i did make my own yardage measure that doubles as a "spool" holder for plying. I only have a drop spindle right now and then I wrap my fiber onto empty toilet paper rolls. One full wrap around the outside pegs is one yard. When I want to ply, I place each roll on a peg then they spin freely so I can ply. I have only done 2 ply so far, but I hope to acquire some more fiber soon and I will work on trying to spin finer so I can maybe try 3 ply or if I'm feeling brave, maybe Navajo ply for some sock yarn. We'll see what happens, but I need to finish the alpaca and am planning on knitting a wrap with it. Did I say I was proud of myself? I soooooo am. This could become a major obsession. It is so transportable to take to work to do during downtime.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Socks

I have sock yarn in my carry around bag that has been there for 2 weeks and they still aren't started. I have been obsessed with spinning. If I could afford to buy a spinning wheel I would have one, much to my husbands regret I'm sure. He's already cranky about the yarn stuff laying buy my chair as it is. I have only been spinning since Christmas and it is all I can think about. It just amazes me how I can do this and I'm getting happier with my results.


Back to socks.
These 2 pair actually both fit me. The green pair is very stretchy and are very cushy and comfy. The other pair was supposed to be superwash but seem to have felted and shrunk a little since I took this picture. I guess I will have to hand wash them in the future. I hope they still fit. I really love wearing my own homemade socks and need to get busy and knit a few more pairs. I only have 5 pair with one being a bulky slipper pair that I am wearing right now. They were the first pair I knit using kitchen cotton. Unfortunately my husband doesn't understand my pride and is embarrased of the colorful socks. Maybe I will knit him a pair and then he will understand. Not sure I'm ready to put the effort in not knowing if he will appreciate them. We'll see. My times up since I have to share the computer. More later.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Going digital

Well, we hooked up our digital converter box, which only cost $9.95 after the government rebate. It was the amped up antenna that cost $40 that was the kicker. But, I tell you what, it really makes a difference, even if it looks like something from outer space. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A0642818&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=39715&lid=1003762We get several PBS channels and I'm hoping that one of them will have Knitting Daily TV on other than at 3am. I would really like to catch an episode. Tonight I plied some of the alpaca/silk blend I have been spinning. I love how it turned out. It is so light and soft. I did some research today and found out a little about having a balanced twist. I think I did a better job than the wool I plied this weekend, though I am very happy with it also. I need to get some more so I have enough yardage to actually knit something with it. I should have enough of the alpaca/silk for at least a small wrap. I can't wait. It will probably be warming up before I get it done. I'm not even finished with the first 4 oz. yet. I'm really enjoying spinning it. I promise to get pictures posted as soon as Technoboy helps me with the hard drive.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Finally!

Finally it's friday. It seems like this week took forever. i had 3 very late nights and I am feeling so fried. I don't know how much I will get done today. I would like to just go back to bed, but I'm going to try real hard to not do that. I do have to go out and fill the horses water tank, but someone left the hose out so it was all froze. Do you know how heavy hoses that are frozen are? It was a workout just to get it rolled up and hauled into the house to thaw. I think it is thawed enough so I should probably go do that. One of the boys is having a friend over tonight so it will probably just be a pizza night. I want to construct a piece so I can measure out my handspun yarn and also be able to put my toilet paper wrapped rolls on to attempt to do some plying. I have the dowels cute thanks to Hathead, but I need to find an appropriate length of 2x4 to drill holes in to insert the dowels. I will post a picture when I get it constructed. Unfortunately I am having issues accessing my back-up drive so I can't post any pictures right now. i will have to wait for one of the boys to help me out after school. I'll just leave it at this for now.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Socks- Finished

1 more pair of socks finished. Since I can't surf the net at work as much as I used to, I knit during downtime. That makes a total of 5 pairs. I know it's not very many, but I love them. I have 2 more pairs in the que. I hope I can get at least one more pair done before it is sandal weather. I also finished the last pair of 4 sleep pants I promised the boys from Christmas. I'm not sure what took so long. It wasn't like it takes very long to sew up sweatpants. I'm glad they're done because that means I can sew something for me next. I do have a couple of presents to get sewn, but I think It's my turn next so I can keep up the momentum. I think this jacket is next. I have a blue linen look material with yellow and maroon floral pint to use. I wanted to get it done today, but I don't have it cut out yet and it is already 3pm. We'll see how much gets accomplished. Not much if I don't move away from the computer. I'll post a finished picture soon.