And because there's nothing sadder than a Tropical Goth...

... I have decided to sink into the very depths of despair by crocheting a gigantic wool blanket during the most hellish time of the year. There is no sign of rain and you can fry an egg on the sidewalk.


Also stopped all sewing because I remembered it was Mother's Day in a couple of weeks. So this blanket will be hers. Happy Mother's Day, Mommy! <3

Black, red and the multi-dimensional shade of innards. (Knitpick's Wool of the Andes in Coal, Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Iron Ore and Noro Kureyon Shade #124)

Downton Progress!

Last weekend and my Monday and Tuesday have been busy busy busy! I cut the bodice fabrics for the 1910s Tea Gown, basted, crazily decided to do the whole thing by hand (just needle and thread, no machines)and all this happened while I rewatched Downton Abbey and American Horror story.

Baste baste baste!

I'm especially proud of the sleeves. I overcasted the side of the bodice by hand.

A closer look at the lace. The solid black fabric is the Italian Satin I bought on the whim with no clear idea what to do with it. So glad I finally found a use for it.

Then tomorrow, I'm going to be marking and cutting all those skirts and overskirts.


The next part of my progress is this:

My husband and I on our wedding day, April 15, 2005

I bought the dress from David's Bridal. It was on a sale rack with the other bridesmaid gowns, the last piece of that style and wonderfully marked down. It was the only champagne colored, historically inspired and slim dress in the whole jumble of stark white strapless voluminous A-lines. It had an overskirt, yo. Then I tried it on and it fit PERFECTLY. 


While the silhouette of the dress was gorgeous, it lacked in embellishment. So off I went to Joanns and Hobby Lobby to find beads that matched the sparse beading that was already on the dress. I only had two weeks to embellish my wedding dress. (Yeah, two weeks. That's another long story) So off my inept self went. I was able to bead only what was needed, but nothing beyond that. It took me forever, I have never sewn or beaded anything before. Then I got married and put the dress away. I only had a small amount of regret for not being able to finish the embroidery and beading.


Seven years and loads of sewing and beading experience later, I decided to pick it up again. 

This is the dress before I beaded anything on it. Photo taken in late March, 2005

My Work In Progress. I really would like to fill the whole bodice with pretty pretty silver beads.
Photo taken today, January 31, 2012.

 I am quite happy with how it turned out. I had no set pattern to follow and it was so much fun to do. I cannot wait to finish both these dresses.


I am thinking of beading the black 1910s Tea Gown with black beads and crystals. What do you think?

Dressing Downton, Sewing Downton

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I fell head over heels in love with Downton Abbey. I watched it for the clothes at first, then got sucked in by the drama less than two second later. To celebrate my obsession with this show, I have decided to sew up some Edwardian pieces (also, garments that can be styled as such) I am so excited!


To prepare for all this sewing, I downloaded several patterns from Sense and Sensibility Patterns. I spent the better part of the weekend printing everything out and taping the first pattern I'm going to work on. I decided to work on the 1910s Tea Gown Pattern first. I am going to do it in black fabrics: black lace, black italian satin, black chiffon etc. Kind of fitting since Downtown Abbey started with a tragedy and a memorial (I also have mostly black fabric in my large stash that I have to get rid of before I justify buying any more fabric *cough*)

And of course, I have been collecting pots of inspiration from different places. The possibilities for embellishment and construction are endless. Here's hoping I come up with something fairly cohesive that is also fairly historically accurate.

NOTE: I was on a right-click-save binge, so all the images (except the one from Sense and Sensibility Patterns) are of semi-unknown origin. If you want credit for these pictures or want me to take them down, let me know, 'kay?

EMBROIDERY IS DONE!

Mwahahaha!

And here's a couple of mostly unflattering behind the scenes photos. No makeup, hair unbrushed, no dignity:

Stitching while watching North by Northwest. Yahoo.

Taking a Connor break!

He is the one I love the most.

Sewing the tunic is gonna happen tomorrow, bright and early. Hurray! Can't wait.

Almost DONE!

The embroidery for Mom's summer tunic is almost DONE! I can't wait to see this thing on an actual body (before summer ends too) I do miss the sound of my industrial machine. While I am enjoying doing all this hand embroidery, I also want to get some actual sewing done. I have so many projects in line and I want to finish them all before the 20th of June (my birthday). I just want CLOTHES, demmet! 

Cotton Silk Blend (70/30) from Fabric Warehouse in Natural, DMC Rayon Floss in different colors, my largest embroidery hoop and size 26 DMC Tapestry needles.

This is why I'm taking a while. Try doing some hand-embroidery with this cheeky monkey on your back. Hee.


In other news, I really need to do something about my hair. Hmm.

Mom's Embroidered Summer Tunic

The embroidery bug bit me recently and I have also been thinking of what to give my mom for mother's day. So I decided on making a nice summery tunic for her. She had hinted several times that she wanted several tunics to wear now that the temperature has risen in this country. And because I currently want to embroider until my fingers fall off, this tunic is the perfect excuse to kill two birds with one stone.

It's FAAAAR from perfect, but I'm quite happy with it.

I am using a cotton/silk (70/30) blend fabric and DMC Rayon Embroidery Floss. I WISH I could use 100% silk on this project. Sadly. it's not available in this country and this project was planned on such short notice that I wasn't able to order pure silk embroidery floss ahead of time. Perhaps for another embroidery project, we'll see.  

Still working...

Taken with my Blackberry. Ahh, I love the contrast of technology and old-fashioned crochet.

Work on my grandmother's unfinished Marguerite bedspread continues. I had taken a break from it when Connor was born and worked on it a little bit at a time when he started walking. I recently rediscovered it and now find joy in following it's puzzle-like written directions. In my mind, it's like a crossword puzzle, or sudoku, only I have a small hook and very thin cotton yarn. It's complicated for sure, but very fun and satisfying.


I am nowhere near finished though. This bedspread may take a lifetime for me to do, but I'm not worried. I just hope that the person I will hand this down to (my son, a future daughter or a grandchild) will love it and look after it long after I'm gone. 

Finished Object, Work in Progress and My Growing Addiction

This was a fun knit. Though you do get apprehensive that you would run out of yarn one inch away from finishing the last sleeve. But I had none of those problems. In fact, instead of using a button and loop for closure, I crocheted two ties instead.

Pattern:
Malabrigo One Skein Baby Sweater
Size:
0-3 Months
Yarn Used:
Malabrigo Worsted in Verdes
Needles:
US Size 9

And I'm working on another one! I originally wanted to make a hat out of the skein I had of Malabrigo Cypress, but I changed my mind. I'm not really a hat person anyway.

And dude, Ravelry is seriously like crack.

SQUEE.

I had a wonderful time yesterday knitting with Chris, Royale, Erin and Barbara at Panera yesterday. It was absolutely inspiring to see what those lovely ladies had on their needles. It really helps to be in the company of people who know what you're talking about and want to talk about. No more glazed looks from my long-suffering husband when I talk about how soft and vividly dyed my new cake of Malabrigo is. These ladies know and its veneration is like a naughty yarn lover secret. Hee.

Speaking of Malabrigo, I bought my first two hanks of it last Monday. I was desperate enough to ask Royale to take me to a yarn store so I could get the emerald yarn I was craving for. Now I'm pacified and absolutely in love with what I have.

The Current Work In Progress.

I am working on a One Skein Malabrigo Baby Cardigan in Verdes. I also bought Cypress, it is dyed such a deep green, it's almost black. Don't let the picture on the website fool you, it's much much more vivid in real life and so so so so soft! I have worked with wool, and most (if not all) of the wool I worked with felt scratchy or icky regardless of how expensive or popular it was. But this one feels like butter in your hands. If I had loads of cash to burn I would drown myself in this stuff.

I love it so much that I even scanned it. I'm so lame. Hahaha.

I had a doctor's appointment after the Panera Knitting session and an already wonderful day was made perfect when we were able to get to see his face clearly for the first time:



We couldn't believe it. The first sonograms showed that Connor looked like his dad and now with this, he looks exactly like me: nose, eyes and all (I just hope he gets his dad's height). We're so happy and excited. Now I'm even more inspired.

Say hello to my baby!

Connor Joshua. Or at least that's his name until his dad changes his mind again. ;p

My startitis strikes again. The idea of knitting Sahara doesn't really appeal to me right now. It's not because it's not fun to knit etc... but what's the point of knitting something you can't wear anyway? Hours and hours of work will be wasted. SOOOOOOO, I decided to to put the project on the backburner for a while (or completely frog it and use the yarn for something else) and concentrate on making baby sweaters etc.


So this project is what is on my needles right now: The Bunny Hop Side Wrap Kimono. I thought it was adorable and the pattern sounds super duper easy. I did want to do something like The Harvey Kimono from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding, but I'm too impatient and I want to do work on something RIGHT. THIS. MINUTE. But this baby sweater is a good substitute (and it's free!)

Hmm... is it strange of me to crave emerald colored yarn?

What I've been up to...

I had to quit my job a few months after I found out I was pregnant. My doctor told me that I have a heart-shaped uterus (also called bicornial... or something like that) and because of that little difference I am apparently more prone to miscarriage or early delivery. My job required me to stand up for long lengths of time and sometimes I would have eleven hour shifts. I would start spotting and cramping after the end of every work day. It was definitely scary during those few weeks of all that. My parents urged me to leave work and take it easy, so I am taking it easy and enjoying things I know I wouldn't be able to do or enjoy for a while after this baby is born. It sounds completely scary, but I am absolutely excited about having this little one.

Tea and crochet. (The infamous Marguerite pattern.)

The most basic baby jacket and hat ever. Done with two strands of number 10 crochet thread and US size 2 knitting needles. I mixed a variegated yellow with white and the color turned out to be a cute baby duck yellow. Thanks for sending the yellow thread from the Philippines, Mom!

Another variation of the super-duper-no-brainer basic baby jacket pattern, only I used acrylic baby yarn and US size 6 knitting needles (I think). I was also playing with some watercolors that day (if you notice my Sakura Koi paints on the upper right hand side of the picture), but that's another entry.

I'm currently working on Opptuna by Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton in her Noro Collection Book 2. I'm using Caron in Autumn Red and US Size 7 knitting needles. The pattern is also very very easy. I can't believe I had second thoughts about tackling this project.

I'm now five months along and I'm more than halfway done! The baby is very active, and from what we saw in the sonogram two days ago, very healthy. He gives me spin kicks a couple of times a day and absolutely wriggles in delight when I demolish Banana Cream Pie Blizzards. Hoh yeah. What more could I ask for?

Pfft.

Guess who just came out of the hospital? That's right. After two weeks of fainting, puking and generally feeling awful, I'm finally back to normal and looking forward to resuming my busy busy life. I want to go back to work, read, draw, crochet, knit and sew in my spare time (see, this is why I'm more tired during my off days than I am during my normal work week. I do more during the weekends, but it's a good kind of tired) My doctor did tell me to take it easy, take my meds and eat well. I don't ever want to go back to the hospital again. I don't think my nerves can take any more needle poking, blood letting, rather flavorless hospital food and middle-of-the-night nursing student rounds where nursing students think they have the right to shake you awake in the wee hours of the morning and ask you if you've pooped and peed today. Geh. That was the lesson, I'm not going to get sick, not if I can help it.

Anyway, this is what I was up to while I was waiting to get well. They fortunately did not have to stick me with an IV, so the left both my hands free to finish my friend's variegated green halter top. I unfortunately do not have pictures of the finished product because I already gave it to Ross. Perhaps she'll model it for me one day. It turned out great and it was the greatest feeling to see her really happy when she got it.

This is my first attempt at doing "Marguerite," my Grandmother's unfinished bedspread. The flower turned out pretty nice and I'm rather proud of it. I'm a real doofus when it comes to reading patterns, but I was able to figure it out and get it right the first time. Yahoo!

This is proof that I have the capability being innovative (heehee) I was having a hard time crocheting with a spool of thread in while I was laying down (reclined more like), so I used one of the hospital bed posts as a holder for my spool. No rolling around, no hard pulling, just a nice even feed when I need it. Lovely. The staff didn't mind that I did it and they were even nice enough to ask me questions about what I was doing. It was great to talk about it with nurses who also knew how to crochet, so that made my stay even more cheerful. Nevermind the cons I listed earlier.