I think I've been in this position before

If the position we're discussing is the night before Halloween. 

Maybe next year I'll get my act together earlier? Don't hold your breath. 

Last minute crafting

Right, this is going to be a quick drive by posting to show you that the wee walrus for my wee nephew is proceeding well.

I've finished all the brown pieces, and now need to dig out some white sport weight for the tusks. I might just use the white I used for the potholders/baby blanket now that I think about it...next step after the tusks is to sew the whole thing together. It should be done by the beginning of next week. Hooray!

However, the tusks will not be done tonight. Because tonight is all about digging out my sewing machine and the cutest dog fabric ever, and making Boo a birthday pillowcase.

Oy. As if Halloween weren't bad enough, now I've moved on to last minute birthday gift crafting? Someone shoot me now.

Wool + 28 degrees = never mind

After loads of grey, wet weather, the sun finally burst on to the scene here in southeast England, bringing with it steamy temperatures and vast fields of newly exposed pale skin. The weather also made working with wool something of a trial, so my crafty energies have been redirected for the moment. After a trip to Dorney Lake in the sweltering sun, I decided that the girls needed new hats for the summer. Enter a bunch of cotton scraps and a lovely free hat pattern (link will download the pdf).

I managed to whip up a couple of these, including the cutting (which I hate with the firey passion of Mount Doom) in an evening. They were so quick and easy, that I've cut out pieces for three more, two for friends of the girls, and one for an impending baby addition to our circle.

Getting photos was a bit tough. First, the bad nighttime shots (I love that these are reversible, and that frog fabric gets me every time).

Then, the unwilling children shot.

And finally, a few candid shots.

Of course, having finished these, the past four days have been grey clouds interspersed with pouring rain. Just the thing for new sun hats and the half-term holiday!

Phew!

Time stamp: 09:14:34 am 30 October. Wiktory!

Bollocks, I did it again

The Pros: I only have to make one costume (Snow White), because Boo is vacillating back and forth between going as Ariel or Cinderella, both of which we already have.

The Cons: it's Friday, costume needs to be done by teatime tomorrow when we go to M and T's house to carve pumpkins, eat sugar, and imbibe copious amounts of adult beverages (with their parents that is, not the girls), and I am absolutely shattered by several days of ~6 hrs sleep, getting up before dawn* and getting everyone back on to the whole school/work continuum. This ought to be an interesting evening night.

I have been doing a wee bit of spinning as well - onto the second bobbin of merino/silk for a Christmas present, but my stellar walking skills*** have made the wheel a less appealing tool. However, I need to get this yarn done ASAP (like, by the end of next week), so I may have to SIUC**** and treadle through the pain. Ahhhh...the sacrifices I make for my family and my wool!

* which, to be fair, is pretty late** these days. But it still sucks to have to get out of bed when it's dark.
** 7:48 am this morning. Crap. We're practically leaving the house before dawn! WTF is up with that?
*** I turned my ankle walking down a perfectly reasonable sidewalk two weeks ago today, and it's still swollen and bugging me*****. Ehem.
**** Suck it up, cupcake. Or buttercup, if you prefer.
***** Speaking of which, anyone irritated by excessive footnoting yet?

Sewing FO: Devil's cupcake skort

After a massive shopping expedition to the fabric store with the girls, I came back and promptly cut out the pieces for this skirt. Which then sat for most of a week before they actually got put together.

Pattern: Simplicity 5531
Fabric: ??? Some cotton with cupcakes that Herself fell in love with. I bought 0.8 m of fabric, and had plenty left over.

This pattern was super easy. Two back pieces, two front pieces, one skirt flap. Sew together, hem, put in some elastic and you're good to go. There's supposed to be a button on the front, at the top of the skirt panel, but I couldn't find my button jar, and Dev was quite insistent that she put it on Right. Now. So...no button, but all is well.

I made the size 6, and there's plenty of room in there, both length and width-wise. If I'm really lucky, she can maybe wear this next summer too. Provided it isn't too devastated that is. And after such a quick and easy project, I got inspired to do this:

Cutting the pieces is always the toughest part of sewing for me - it takes so damn long! But after three hours hard work yesterday morning, I now have all the pieces cut out for their dresses. Expect more sewing FOs in the next little while!

Growing

There are definitely lots of things growing around here at the moment. Camellias,

Magnolias,

Tulips,

Laptop bags,

Cherry blossoms,

Pitcher plants,

Handspun sweaters,

and children.

Given the last, I'm embarking on another craft for a few days - sewing new summer dresses for the girls.

You'll be glad to know, however, that there are some things that are shrinking around here, i.e. my massive ball of purple top.

I'm now down to only 4.5 ounces to go. And since I'm imposing a moratorium on knitting for the next few days (my wrist is acting up again), I'm hoping against hope that it will get finished this week. Then I'll take a week or so before embarking on Neverending Plying.

Make do and mend

I've been catching up on the latest Cast-On series, the focus of which is reusing and recycling stuff you already have. In that spirit (and because if I buy any more yarn I will move dangerously closer to SABLE territory), I've been doing a bit of recycling myself.

First up is a (gasp!) sewing project. There are a number of clothes lurking in my closet that have not been worn in a shameful period of time, because they don't fit anymore or the style isn't quite right or whatever. One of these was a nice skirt that I've had for years, 100% silk with buttons down the front, which I haven't worn in eons because it was a very unfortunate mid-calf dowdy length. I've been meaning to shorten it for a long time, and last week while Boo ventured off to daycare and it was just me and the Wee Devil, I did just that.

Much better. The picture is courtesy of Devil, who is showing unholy fascination with my new camera. Methinks she'll need one for Christmas so she can fulfill her destiny of being the next Ansel Adams.

The other repurposing project ongoing is the reclamation of 11 skeins of GMS Mountain Mohair from a sweater I knit long ago, and really enjoyed for a while, but put away when we got to Houston. And then I pulled it out and discovered this:

So last week I also turned that sweater into a pile of yarn cakes, which were then washed, dried and are in the process of being reknitted into Indigo Playmate, from one of my recent book purchases.

Blue spaghetti!

I finished the yoke Monday morning while both of my children were at (gulp!) school, and am making good progress on the body. It's stockinette with occasional increasing/decreasing, so it's perfect for TV knitting. So far it's seen "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Oceans Eleven". Quality cinema at its best!