I’m not panicking, you’re panicking!

So my anxiety has been escalating as each day passes. My engagement party is on Sunday, which will be the first real time my family and my fiance’s family will be together for any period of time. So the thought of all that is very stressful (I don’t have the greatest relationship with my family, so spending time with them in any manner is stressful, and when they’ll be invading in my personal safe space… well it’s kind of a mental bomb right now)

So this has lead to a lot of executive dysfunction for me. I haven’t been able to get any sewing projects finished. And as for knitting, I’ve been picking up and putting down every project I have on the needles and doings a few rows, putting it down, picking up a different project, knitting a few rows, repeat.

Though I am nearly finished with my “skimmer socks” they’re socks designed to be worn with flats or ballet flats. I just thought they’d be fun to have in my sock drawer. I’m not following any specific pattern, I’ve been looking at quite a few and just picking up little bits from each and incorporating it into my pair, but for the most part I’m following my own sock recipe and doing things as I think they should be done. I’m looking to create a pattern for these and possibly use it to sell some finished ones in the shop. I’ll probably use a sport weight yarn for any that I sell, just so that I can get them finished a lot faster than the light fingering weight yarn that I’m currently using for this prototype pair.
So yes, I’m on the ribbing on those and should be finished with them in the next day or two, with the way things are going. I’ve made a little progress on the two hats I’m working on (the Brioche Cable Hat and the Tied Knots Hat).

I’ve gotten a decent amount worked up on my Afetos Shawl. I’m working one of the garter sections right now in a variegated Linen/Tencel yarn I picked up from a local shop while in California in June, the lace sections I’ve been using the same base of yarn but it’s a light teal color that complements the variegated yarn but isn’t the same color as any of the ones in the variegated. They’re all a light mid-tone color in various shades of blue and grey, so the light tealish blue matches well while also being different enough to make the lace pop just a bit more.

The Color Me Kale Cowl that I’m working on for my Fiance’s Sister’s Husband is chugging along slow and steady. It’s going pretty slow because it’s pretty much entirely purling, and I’m not a fan of purling. The pattern design is worth it though, it looks great and isn’t too feminine or too bold, but just a nice texture that also squishes up the yarn a bit which will be nice when wearing as it’ll be a bit warmer. I’m hoping by the end of this cowl, I’ll be better and quicker at purling, and maybe I’ll find a way to do the motion without it hurting my hand.

And I really want to cast on another sweater for myself, this time in some DK weight yarn I have but I want to get at least another project off the needles before I start another one.

As for Sunday, I have everything planned out in my little planner of what I’m cooking/baking/prepping on what days. SO I just need to take a lot of deep breathes, and maybe a xanax or two, and just do it. I’ll be preparing the full menu, minus the meat dish. So my menu will look a little like this:

Arugula fruit and berry salad with sunflower seeds and homemade blueberry balsamic dressing
Blanched Green Beans
Oven Roasted Potatoes
Warm Chickpea and Artichoke Salad with Italian Seasonings
Gluten Free Vegan Baked Ziti
(Apricot Chicken)

Gluten Free/Vegan Chocolate cookies
Gluten Free/Vegan Chocolate chip Cookies
3 Variations of Homemade Vegan Ice Cream (to make ice cream sandwiches with the cookies or as a dessert itself)
Coconut Whipped Cream (for a topping and/or for whoopie pies with the cookies)
Gluten Free Chocolate chip Cookie Crust Vegan Cheesecake Bites
Gluten Free/Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting

So I have my work cut out for me since all of this, minus the chicken, will be made by me. So Friday will be making the cheesecakes, cupcakes, and the buttercream (though the cupcakes won’t be frosting until Sunday). Saturday will be prepping the sauce for the ziti, prepping the chickpea/artichoke salad, prepping the salad and the dressing, and baking/making all the desserts. Sunday Morning will be spent getting ready and prepping and baking the ziti, prepping and cooking the potatoes, blanching the green beans, cooking the chickpea/artichoke salad, and the fiance’s mom will be making the chicken in the crockpot and frosting the cupcakes with my future sister in law decorates the house.

Mo-Jo Maybe? Sewing has been done!

So I did manage to get a little bit of sewing and things done this past week. Finally! I worked on my capsule, really planned it out, and started getting some things worked on for it. I made a cardigan that was a huge success, and another (different) cardigan is cut out and pinned, all ready to be sewn up. We also had my cousin’s 6th birthday party, which I made some beautiful cupcakes for.

I decided to clean out my dresser drawers to really see what I have and to organize what has turned into a mess of unfolded clothes. I started another bag of donation items and threw out a few items. I have 2 stacks of shirts that if they don’t get worn by winter, I need to donate them, they’ve all just been sitting in my drawer, untouched for a long time. So I’m working on creating items and outfits that involve them, now it’s just about actually putting them on! Mainly they are smaller shirts with nerdy/geeky graphics on them (think The Avengers, Power Rangers, Pokemon, etc.) so I usually wear them as a crop top as they are shorter (read: kid’s size) but I don’t often wear high waist bottoms in order to wear these tops with. So I have 2 pairs of high waist pants and have another pair planned (with fabric for it on the way).

Other than that, my drawers are looking much emptier than they were. Though this will definitely change once my sweaters come back out of storage.

Shop Progress:

I have been working on a mermaid bra order. So I’ve been hand stitching a ton of seashell sequins onto the cups. One cup is finished and I will be doing all the finishing touches to that side today and starting the sequins on the other cup. I’m hoping to have it done this weekend to go out for monday. 

I also have a red velvet body suit order that I’m waiting on more fabric to come in for that. So I haven’t worked on that one yet.

Speaking of ordering fabric… I may have purchased some more (from fabric.com)… Like I don’t have enough in my stash already, right? But I needed to order some fabrics for the shop and I figured I might as well get a few things to make the shipping cost more worth it. (Always an excuse, right?)

So I picked out some Olive Ponte Roma fabric for another pair of the Sew Over It Mia Jeans, since I love that pair so much and I love olive colored things but don’t seem to own anything olive anymore. Plus that’s within my Fall Capsule Sewing Plans and color schemes.

I picked up some Burgundy/Wine Double Brushed Poly for a pair of leggings. Again, within my fall capsule plans and color scheme. Plus with everyone on the P4P facebook group raving about how awesome DBP is for leggings, I figured I should give it a shot!

Next on the list was some fleece. I picked some inexpensive Burgundy Fleece for an Oslo Cardigan/Coat. I’m really excited about this one. I’m all for comfy cozy outerwear that I can wear around the house and just head out to run errands in without having to switch jackets out. I can already see myself wearing this to death.

Last up was some grey Chambray for a button down shirt for my Fiance. He has an awesome button down that’s grey chambray and I want to recreate it. I love the way it looks and the little details and he’s been wearing it a lot and I love the way it looks on him. But it’s pretty old at this point and starting to fray at some of the seams. So I want to try to recreate it. This will probably be his birthday present, since I have already knit him a sweater for Christmas. (and I’m working on a hat with the leftover yarn from the sweater)

So I have a lot of fabric and a lot of plans. Now I just need to get my butt moving to start sewing it all!

Now for what you’ve all been waiting for: The Cardigan I finished! I made the Oslo Cardigan by Seamwork Magazine by Colette Patterns. I used a cheap very lightweight black sweater knit (it was one of those $1 knits from Walmart). I figured I would test the pattern with something cheap before digging into my nicer sweater knits.

I made a straight size xsmall with no adjustments! And it fit wonderfully. I might size up for the fleece version, just because the fleece doesn’t stretch and is much thicker. But so far I will definitely be making more of this size as is in my other sweater knits. I may add some pockets to my next version too.

The pictures that Seamwork has of the oslo don’t show much of the actual fit, they focus on the little details. The details are great and I want to see them, but I want to see the actually fit and shape of the item too! But overall the pattern ended up working out and being what I was looking for in a longer cardigan. It’s loose but not super oversized, it has a nice shawl collar, the sleeves are long, but I’m only 5’0″ so that’s to be expected. I did find that the cuffs were extraordinarily long, to the point where I thought I was sewing it wrong, but nope, I got it right. So, I’ll be keeping the cuffs folded up in half, or even folded up twice. But I do like thick cuffs and I tend to fold my sweatshirt cuffs up anyway, so this isn’t a deal breaker by any means. Though I will be cutting down the length of the cuffs for the fleece version as it’ll be a lot harder to fold up with the already double thickness of the fleece.

Other than that, I’ve been knitting on the socks for my friend, they’re slowly progressing. I also started working on a hat for my fiance with the leftover yarn from his sweater. I’m using the “Brioche Cable Hat” by Marilynn Blacketer. My main color is the dark navy and my contrasting color is the turquoise. And after many tried of casting on an intricately cabled cowl, I gave up and decided on my 2nd option of the Color Me Kale Cowl by Nichole Call  this cowl will hopefully be finished by the end of September for my Fiance’s brother in law’s birthday. I’m using a sage green yarn from loops and threads woolike. I’ve done a few rounds on it, but I only started it last night.

So I have a lot of projects to keep me busy over the next month or so. Now hopefully I can get them done!

Sew-Jo has been a No-Go

I’ve seemed to slid into an unmotivated sewing state. My depression has snuck up on me lately and has zapped me of my motivation. On the plus side, I’ve been doing a lot of planning and prepping and a ton of mindless knitting.

I’ve managed to complete my orders, only one more left to make for now. The first was a silky cream and grey floral print with sheer white mesh bra. The second was a lovely set of a bra and high waist underwear using a blue floral fabric with black mesh and picot elastic.

I picked up some cheap, $1 knit fabrics from a Walmart on my way home from a cardiologist appointment on friday. I figured if they had anything decent I’d pick some up to use as wearable muslin fabrics. I ended up with 14 yards of fabric! 2 yards of a mauve/blush tone jersey knit, 3 yd light grey jersey knit, 4 yards of green sweater knit, and 5 yards of black sweater knit. All are very lightweight and a bit sheer, but usable for wearable muslins for all the cardigans and things I’d like to make.

I washed all but the green sweater knit so far, but I’m hoping to get that in the wash tonight. And I printed out the Seamwork Oslo Cardigan pattern and managed to tape and cut that out. I’m working on cutting the oslo out of the black sweater knit today. I’m planning on printing the Seamwork Wembley cardigan out tonight or tomorrow.

Otherwise I have a few plantain tees planned for the new jersey knits, a linden sweatshirt out of one of the sweater knits, an oslo from the sweater knit, a wembley from the sweater knit, a Lola Coat possibly lined with one of the sweater knits, a hemlock tee. Plus I’m going to try to squeeze out another 2 pairs of leggings from some athletic fabric I have in my stash plus some fun stretch fabric for a contrasting side panel.  A few more Linden sweatshirts are also in the plans.

Though I’m trying to think of any other knit patterns I wanted to try. I’m drawing a blank to anything other than maybe the tshirt from the Sew Over It City Break Capsule ebook. I can’t try any dress patterns due to the lightweight and sheerness of the fabric.

As for knitting, I’ve finished the Drangey Sweater for my Fiance! It looks gorgeous and I really really hope he likes it and actually wears it. He won’t get it until Christmas, but still. I’ve also been working on the socks for a friend and my Tied Knots cabled hat (which is almost finished). In fact, I’ve been doing so much knitting, I’ve hurt my arm from stressing the muscles out. So I need to dial it back with the knitting and such for now.

This weekend is pretty busy, tomorrow the Fiance has a very full day, but I’ll be home the whole day to get some things done. Saturday we will be going house hunting, so we’ll be out the whole day. Sunday is my Cousins 6th birthday party, I’m not very excited about going, but I haven’t seen my “Extended” family in over a year so I should go. I need to work on a gift tomorrow, I’m thinking of some simple slippers or something small and quick like that. However, I don’t know his shoe size, so I’ll just be guessing. He’s on the smaller size for his age, so if I pick the average shoe size for a 6 year old boy it should be fine. So overall, a pretty busy weekend.

I’ve been thinking about doing another me made month challenge this fall, to get a better feel for what I have and what I still need in my me made wardrobe. I know “Self Sewn September” is a thing, but I was thinking about doing October. Anyone else doing another me made wardrobe challenge?

Knitting Away

I haven’t been sewing nearly as much as I thought I would have over the past week. I did do a lot of Fall/Autumn wardrobe planning though. I’m starting to pair patterns I have that I’d like to wear this fall with fabric I have in my stash. I have a pretty good tentative list going, but I’d like to refine it and list it out in an order I’d like to get them done in. I know that I probably won’t do them exactly in that order, but at least it’s somewhere to start.

I’m planning:

• 3 long sleeve Grainline Studio Linden sweatshirts, 2 in sweatshirt fleece (one black, one grey; given that I have enough fabric for that, I haven’t checked), one in sweater knit
• 1 Sew Over It City Break Capsule Ebook Lola Coat (The Shorter version, but I’m going to add pockets) and I have some mystery fabric in my stash, it feels like a lightweight windbreaker fabric in black, so I’m going to test the pattern in that and use it as a wearable muslin.
• 1 pair of Patterns 4 Pirates Peg Legs leggings, I have black athletic fabric for this. I need to get more fabric to make more leggings, just about all my rtw ones need replacing and I just busted through another pair this week :,(
• 1 or 2 Seamwork Oslo Cardigans, I have some sweater knits for this
• 1 Seamwork Wembley Cardigan, again in a sweater knit
• 3 Button down shirts, I have some crepe chiffon that I’m going to use for wearable a muslin. I have various shirting fabric in my stash that I’ll use once I perfect the fit of the patterns
• I’d also like some more Sew Over It City Break Capsule Ebook Mia Jeans, but I don’t have any more fabric in my stash for that.
• Same goes for more tshirts, I need to pick up more fabric in order to make more
• If I have the chance, I’d also like to make 2 blazers, a cropped one and a full length standard one. But those aren’t a priority

As you can see, it’s a lot of layering pieces mainly. Once the cold weather hits, I just throw an oversized sweatshirts on top of my baggy tshirt and leggings. So I’d like to look and feel a bit more put together and have nicer layering pieces. I’m hoping the button down shirts can also be used as a layering piece to throw on with a tshirt for something lighter than a sweater knit cardigan.

I’m also thinking about my knitting plans, I’m thinking about sweater knitting a lot. I have one started and just need to knit the sleeves and it’s finished, but I’m just not motivated to work on it, probably because the sleeve chart is confusing and doesn’t quite add up to where I left off when I separated the sleeves from the body. My probably is that most of the patterns I lean towards are fingering weight sweaters, which take forever and I lose motivation on working on it before it’s finished. However, I don’t have a sweaters quantity of worsted weight yarn in my stash to use, so I’d need to purchase some, and I’m on a really tight budget. So for now I might stick to shawl and sock knitting for myself and save up for some sweater quantities of yarn.

Speaking (or rather, writing) of sweater knitting. I’ve made significant progress on my Fiance’s sweater. I’ve finished the body and the bottom ribbing of the sweater and am almost halfway down the first sleeve. So that’s going really well and I should have it finished in plenty of time for Christmas. (I’ve made even more progress on the sleeve since I took this picture this morning!)

I think I also mentioned that I wanted to knit a sweater for my cousins 6th birthday… Well I was almost at the point of separating the sleeves when I was told he doesn’t like anything that he has to put over his head…. So I’m ripping that sweater out now and have zero ideas as to what to do for his birthday. I hate cardigan knitting because I don’t like purling continuously, the motion hurts my hands. So I’m stumped! Any suggestions on what to make for a 6 year old boys birthday?

In other knitting news, I’ve been working on a pair of socks for a friend. She asked if I could make a pair of white ankle socks with a frilly top and I said sure. So I picked up the yarn this past weekend and cast on. I’m a little past the toes now, but it’s slow going as I’m using a light fingering weight yarn, so it’s teeny tiny itsy bitsy teeny weeny stitches. But I’m enjoying having a pair of socks to work on again.

Wedding Planning! I’ve managed to get a base idea of the different things I want for my wedding, like bridesmaid dresses and shoe colors and flowers for the decor and bouquet. I’m thinking about what I’ll do for my bridal shower dress, because of course I want to make that too. I’m thinking of something with lace applique too so I can get some extra practice for the dress itself. My parents have also paired with the Fiance’s parents and they’re planning an engagement party for us next month. So I’m debating if I have time to make something for that. I have some nice off white chiffon that I could make a button down out of, but I’m not sure yet. I kind of want a dress, but I’m lost as to what pattern or style I would do for it.

Jason helped put everything in perspective though about my need to have every detail planned out even before we start planning: I have the basics, I know what I need, and I won’t know the rest until we pick a venue when the time comes. So there’s no point in fretting over these things that I can’t finalize anyway. I have everything else for now and besides, we need to start looking for houses because we ARE moving first, wedding comes later. So I’m trying to calm down about it all and just focus on looking for houses in good neighborhoods and figuring out how to construct my wedding dress for when the time comes. I’m also looking at lace options that all match and pricing for the fabric to find the best deal, but I still think that’s a necessity for figuring out before the planning starts.

(We also went to the beach, finally, as you can see in the photos. It was gorgeous! We arrived to explore just before sunset and managed to catch some amazing photos)

So what is your favorite pattern or piece of clothing for fall?

Trudging Through the Slump

Due to my health being all over the place, I’ve been in a bit of a sewing slump. But I’ve been working through it, getting orders done and working on a few small things.

I finished a bra that I had made with a modified version of my standard pattern for myself. This one is more of a plunge style and I narrowed the bridge a bit. But I forgot to add a little bit of width to the sides from taking width out of the bridge and also to account for the not so stretchy stretch lace that I used for the full bra. So it’s a little too snug for me to wear; I can get it on, but it’s not comfortable at all especially since I like a slightly looser band. Plus I used the underwires I had sitting in my drawer since I first started making bras for myself and before I really gauged which wire size was right for me and my shape. So the underwire is a size 30, which should fit the size 30 B bra (which is my size) but I need a 32 wire because my breast root is a bit wider than a 30 wire accounts for.

 

So all in all, I have a pretty new bra that I made in an evening, but can’t wear it. Oh well. It’s up in the shop but I’m not very hopefully of it selling due to the tiny size that it is.

I also whipped up a quick little thong as a model to show to a potential customer. It’s pretty cute and I hadn’t actually made one with the fold over elastic for the shop, it’s mainly been either stretch lace edging or picot underwear elastic. But I like the look and will be making more for the shop in the near future.

Other than that, I have finished 2 orders: a classic Harley Quinn bra and a Slave Leia bra. I also managed to finish a pair of socks, which I might have talked about last week (using Badwolfgirlstudios yarn in the mermish colorway) but I have a picture this time! They’re gloriously soft and I can’t wait to wear them. I’ve been doing too many messy things (like baking) to feel comfortable wearing these and not ruining them. Hopefully I’ll be able to wear them soon though!

Vanilla Socks (BadWolfGirlStudios Mermish, Loops&Threads Woolike Ice Blue)

I finished the bright blue circle skirt that I’ve had cut out for a few weeks now. I can’t wait to get to making the top that I’d like to pair with it.

I finally got around to washing and blocking the socks I made for my fiance, which I had knit quite a while before we got engaged. Haha oops, but the good thing is that they’re ready for him to wear now. And while I was at it, I washed and blocked my Tennessee souvenir shawl, so now the lace is more open and the picot bind off is actually visible. I can’t wait to wear it in the fall! I love the color of it.

Tennessee Souvenir Shawl

Tennessee shawl pre-blocking

New cast on! I started a big project for my fiance for Christmas. I’d been thinking about it for a while and bought all the yarn for it, so I finally got around to purchasing the pattern and casting on. It’s so exciting and I hope he loves it! I’m making the Drangey Pullover by Stephen West in a dark navy that looks almost black for the main color and a bright turquoise blue for the contrast. It’s a little hard to photograph at this point because it’s grown considerably and is now bunched up on the needles. But I’m nearly done with the yoke part, so I’m assuming the progress on it will slow down quite a bit as it turns to just solid dark colored yarn.

I’m in a bit of a bra making mood, so I may whip up a few new ones this week. I have quite a bit of fabric in my stash to choose from and I’ve definitely got my eye on one in particular. I’ll give you a little hint: it’ll be floral and lace with rich colors.

What projects are you most looking forward to working on next?

Process

It has been a lot more difficult getting back into the swing of things after that vacation to California. My body and health have been poorly since returning, so even though I was fine during the trip, I can tell now that I definitely over exerted myself. This is the life of the chronically ill though. I’ve been doing very well this year so it’s very difficult to deal with it suddenly being pretty bad again. So that’s why I’ve been MIA for a bit. But I’m persisting. This is the process after all.

With all that said I’m getting back to trying to write regular posts and sewing things regularly again. I’ve been working on orders for the shop since I arrived home, and hardly sewn anything else for myself or for the shop. I’ve started a few things: a purple short sleeved Grainline Linden shirt, a circle skirt, a few pairs of underwear, plus I left quite a few things started before I left for the trip. But I have been knitting quite a bit. My Zostera Shawl is finished and blocked, I just need to finished weaving in the ends. I started and am almost finished with my Stephen West Exploration Station. I finished a pair of socks out of Crazy Zauberball yarn. And I started another pair of socks out of some Bad Wolf Girl Studios “Mermish” yarn.

So I have been getting things done and have been pretty busy despite my health issues. I’ve also been baking quite a bit as the fiance and I went blueberry picking with his sister and her husband on Saturday. So I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with 11 1/2 lbs of blueberries before they go bad. So far it’s been blueberry balsamic salad dressing, 2 dozen blueberry muffins, blueberry cinnamon rolls, 1 dozen blueberry chocolate chunk cookies, blueberry scones, blueberry jam, and soon I’ll be making blueberry cheesecake and blueberry ice cream. All gluten free and vegan.

I’ve finished 4 pairs of underwear and a thong for orders for the shop and will be finished a custom bikini bottom order tonight. And then I have 2 more orders to finish within the next week, both are bras. And the fiance and I as well as a friend of ours went to see Spider-man on Tuesday (It was great, highly recommend). And this weekend both the fiance and I will be getting our hair done and house hunting. So I’m continuing to stay quite busy.

Hopefully next week I’ll have my exploration station shawl to show you as well as a hand sewn outfit, along with the remaining orders for my shop.

What have you been working on lately? How do you deal with crafting while not feeling well?

 

Packing and Prepping

My boyfriend and I leave for California tomorrow. We will be there until the 25th, so I’m not sure what my posting schedule will be like while I’m there. But in the mean time I’ve been working on more projects.

I finished 2 pairs of leggings, using the Patterns 4 Pirates Peg Legs pattern with the contoured waistband. I had to take some length out of the leg and the waistband because they were clearly made for a much taller person than I (being only 5’0″ that isn’t that surprising).

The first pair is a black mystery knit that I found at a church destash for free. It’s nice and thick and has a similar feel to athletic leggings and has quite a bit of stretch in both directions. My second pair is a grey and black chevron print fabric I purchased not long ago from Denverfabrics.com, it’s a double knit 58% Polyester 30% Rayon 10% Nylon 2% Lycra blend. They feel very nice and thick, they have a good amount of stretch, though I almost feel like I should/could have sized up for this pair as there’s a bit of a wiggle dance to get them on over my hips.

They feel nice on, but definitely feel closer to athletic/compression leggings due to the thickness and how fitted they are. I lined the front waistband with the same fabric and this might have been a mistake as it has made it thicker and less stretchy. I knew it would lessen the stretch some, but I guess I didn’t realize by how much.

So for my next pair, which I’ll be using a black athletic “performance” fabric from Joann’s. I think I’ll size up for those and take a bit more length off the leg around the knee area (As it’s a tad loose there) and a tad more off the height of the waistband since they still sit high on my waist.

the cat being my sewing buddy

playing with scrap paper until she collapses haha

I’ve spent the day packing and folding laundry. My boyfriend has decided he was going to get his hair cut and dyed blue and save packing all for tomorrow morning before we have to go to the airport for our flight. We have an evening flight, but still, that’s cutting it pretty close. My clothes are packed, I’m taking my favorite 2 handmade tshirts: my seafoam plantain and my purple hemlock; and my maroon wren dress, my charcoal high waist shorts from the Mia Jeans pattern, and some handmade undies and bras. Everything else is rtw.

I’m packing a pair of socks to knit on and my current shawl WIP, the Zostera shawl in Loops & threads woolike ice blue and denim blue. I plan to visit a local yarn shop while in California, so I may start something new while I’m there, or on the flight home.

What do you usually pack for vacations? Do you have a me made vacation capsule? If you did, what would you include in your vacation capsule wardrobe?

Productivity

May was a surprisingly productive month for me. I finished a lot of orders for the shop as well as a few new things for the shop and quite a few things for myself.

I don’t think June will be anywhere near as productive, just because I won’t be home for half of it.

In 2 weeks my boyfriend and I will be making our way to California for a vacation and VidCon. I’m nervous and anxious and excited. I know the boyfriend is very excited, he’s never been to California and he’s very excited for VidCon and meeting a lot of the people he’s been talking to online over the past year and a half. I’m not sure what to expect from the trip, but I’m just trying to be calm and excited about it. I assume we’ll spend most of the time wandering the area, going to downtown Disney and meeting up with people.

I’m planning on taking about 50% me made and 50% rtw clothing with me. In hot weather I tend to stick to dresses or leggings with chiffon tops. I’ll be taking my knitting, but I’m probably only going to take one pair of metal needles and any others will be bamboo, just in case they try to take my needles at the air port. I also know there is a yarn store about 2.5 miles from where we’ll be staying, so I know I’ll be picking up some souvenir yarn there!

As for this week. I finished my Platintain Tee tank top. I don’t know how I feel about it right now. I have been having a lot of bad body image days so I’m not loving how it looks on me. But it’s finished at least. I did my normal curved hem and I added armhole binding to finish the armholes. It looks nice on the table, but I’m not sure. Then again, it’s not my color, so that might also be swaying my opinion towards the negative.

I finished a pair of socks that I started on monday evening, and they were off the needles by friday evening. I used Loops and Threads Woolike yarn in the Ice Blue colorway for the heels, toes, and cuffs, and I used the leftovers of my Knit Picks Felici yarn in the Slumber Party colorway. I had made my boyfriends mom a pair of socks with the felici for her birthday and had about 20 grams leftover, and knew I could probably squeeze a pair of shorty socks with contrasting heels/toes/cuffs out of it for myself. I love the felici yarn and as soon as they are back in stock I need to buy a ton of it.

And I’m knitting away at my Wendy’s Fern Shawl, it’s getting there. I’m almost done with the 3rd garter section. I’ve also started another shawl, using the Woolike yarn from my socks, and I’ll be adding in the Woolike in Denim Blue as the contrasting color for the Zostera Shawl . This shawl is so pretty and so different from anything I’ve knitted before that I can’t wait to see how it turns out. I’m still on the first section, but I love the texture the stitch pattern is creating right now. It’s very… popcorny? I just keep saying “just one more repeat” whenever I pick this up to knit on.

I’m planning on casting on another pair of socks. probably another vanilla pair right now, but I haven’t decided. I have a crazy zaberball that I want to start, but I also have 2 other yarns caked up and ready to go that I want to use Mina’s NYC sock club patterns for. So I feel like I should save the vanilla crazy socks for the airplane ride, and work on a pair of the patterned socks right now.

What are your plans for this month?

#mmmay17 the final stretch!

I didn’t get a photo of my outfit yesterday, but I did wear me made items. I wore my periwinkle purple short sleeve hemlock tee with a me made bra and some rtw undies and rtw galaxy leggings. My boyfriend and I went down to his sister and her husbands house for a very chill game and grill day. I haven’t been feeling all that well since saturday, I think I’m catching something as I’ve been overly warm, so I must be running a fever. So I just sat around and knit and chatted a bit.

Today I wore a me made bra, my marled sweater knit plantain tee. and some rtw leggings and undies.

I finished my Tennessee souvenir socks. So now all of my Souvenir yarn (from that trip at least) has been used! It didn’t even have the change to be added to my stash. I’m very happy about that as I’m trying to use as much of my stash as possible this year. So the fact that I bought 2 skeins and they immediately were used is very satisfying.

Tennessee socks and a peek at my galaxy leggings and a bit of my hemlock tee

I also managed to finish my Sew Over City Break Mia Jeans in charcoal ponte as shorts. I love them! They ended up a tad shorter than I wanted, but they’re still wearable for me. I made a size 10 and graded down to a size 8 in the waist and for the waistband. They fit pretty darn well. I cut out a second pair with the remaining fabric but I cut a straight size 8 so I can compare the fit. Once I figure out which size I like better I plan to make a full length skinny jean in some black ponte I have in my stash.

For these shorts, I still need to iron the waistband and the leg cuffs, as well as do some top stitching to the seams. But they’re basically finished and wearable at this point. The fit on these is pretty spot on to the measurements stated in the pattern. They are higher waisted on me because I am short, only 5’0″ so they sit higher than stated. Next time I think I’ll take the waist in a tad so it sits closer to my actual waist, as it’s a tad loose.

Charcoal Ponte High Waist Shorts (Sew Over It Mia Jeans)

I definitely think these will be packed in my suitcase for my trip to California in a few weeks! I’ll probably be packing my hemlock tee, seafoam plantain tee, as well as my wren dresses and maybe my comic book sweetheart halter neck dress, along with some other rtw things.

I’ve started another pair of socks, I’m using the left over knit picks felici in the slumber party colorway and making myself a pair of shortie socks with contrasting heels, toes, and cuffs. I’m using Loops and Threads brand Woolike yarn in the Ice Blue colorway.

What me made items do you pack for vacations? Do you have any pattern recommendations for comfy travel wear?

#mmmay17 last full week recap!

Lots of repeats this week, but that just shows me the things I’ve made and love and obviously need to make more of!

SO here’s the recap:

Periwinkle Sweater Knit Hemlock (Grainline Studios Hemlock tee)

Periwinkle Sweater Knit Crop Top (Colette Patterns Moneta Dress)

Seafoam Rayon Tee (Plantain Tee)

Monday: Maroon/Mulberry Wren Dress in ITY knit from fabric.com

Tuesday: Cropped plantain tee with cap sleeves and vneck in a rayon knit from fabric.com

Wednesday: Short sleeved Hemlock tee in a periwinkle lightweight sweater knit that I got for free from a Church destash and a me made bra

Thursday: Moneta Crop top out of the same periwinkle sweater knit

Friday: Me made undies

Saturday: me made bra

Sunday: Seafoam plantain tee with vneck in a rayon knit from fabric.com

So a pretty successful week. I’ve finished a lot of sewing, finished knitting a shawl, and started a new shawl and am nearly finished with a pair of socks I’ve been knitting.

Tennessee Souvenir Shawl

I’ve started my Sew Over It Mia Jeans shorts in a charcoal ponte roma knit. I just need to hem them and make a button hole and stitch the button on. They’re just as I wanted them to be and are definitely a much better fitting version of the rtw ones that I loved. I’ll post more in depth about the pattern and the shorts once they’re finished.

How are you all feeling about me made may?