Sommer Designs

Agenda for a lazy Sunday

Waiting to be packaged...

Waiting to be stuffed...

Waiting to be dyed & refashioned...

 
 

On the worktable

I have one of my largest craft fairs of the year this weekend, and as is typical of me, I'm scrambling around trying to finish projects and ideas that germinated months ago. Those voile flowers (which aspire to become pins) were started in July. J.U.L.Y. when Kelley & I took a little trip downtown and wandered around Michael Levine for an hour. Or so.

I was fondling the voile when she walked up with bolts of beautiful quilters cotton. "I think I'll make some poofy flowers" I said. "I'm making yo-yo's!" she said. I looked over and she had a big old grin on her face, "Knock yourself out" I said (I don't like making yo-yo's!). And then we tell each other how cute the other ones project will be. That's how we roll. I've made these flowers one step at a time, each step taking a month. If I can get the pin backs on them today, I'll break my record.

Packaging aprons doesn't take too much time, but I have to press them first and fold them pretty, and oh, these are new, so I'll need to get one of the Betty's to model them for a photo first too.

The magnetic snaps and purse feet I was waiting for last week finally arrived and these bags are ready to be sewn. There are only 4 here, but I'm thinking they will take the backseat to everything else that needs to be done. There's a lot of 'if, then' that goes on when I'm under the gun and I'm thinking that 'if' I can get those flowers finished, 'then' I'll try to crank out the bags.

On top of all that, the weather finally broke and it has been deliciously cool & overcast. Time to hunker down. I can do this.

Finished: Hedgerow SOCKS!

 

Oh Lord. I just had to finish these before I blew my brains out. Okay, that's a little drastic overstatement. But have you ever gotten so sick and tired of something that you actually didn't want to finish it?

They started with such...eagerness. Such zest. What went wrong? It's all my fault, and I take full responsibility. I'm so angry with myself for deviating from the pattern on the instep and going to plain ribbing. I was nervous and unsure of myself, and took, what I thought to be the easy way out. While it was the easy way out, it completely changed the sock. This was a monumental lesson to me.

Also, I will probably never use ShiBui again for socks. While I think the yarn is beyond gorgeous, it knit up super dense for me. I'm sure it will be fine, and I actually wore them all day yesterday and they felt fine (they actually felt quite good).

So there you have it. Carrie actually finished a pair of socks. Woot!

ALSO!! I want to thank my friends over at Rare Bird Finds for the shout out on my Lavender Liners yesterday! Thanks kids!

The Unknitting, my favorite part of knitting

I've had these big blocks of time lately; waiting at the dentist while one boy gets a crack filled; waiting at the oral surgeon while both big boys get their wisdom teeth yanked, enduring bad movies at home and only having to watch the sceen periodically - it's a knitters dream, and I've made great progress on the second sleeve of my Deep Breath Sweater.

So when it looked like my second sleeve was nearing the correct length, and I would take out my little tape measure, laying it across my lap in those terribly cramped waiting room chairs, it always looked like I had inches to go. So I continued, row after row after row. And when Drew insisted that I watch War of the Worlds yesterday, I continued, row after row after row - speeding up during the gross parts because who can stand to look at that crap (don't answer that)?

Finally, the movie ended and I laid the sweater flat on the table and got out the measuring tape. I had to measure from 4 different points to be sure, but, (you saw this coming from the beginning, didn't you?) I had overknit the sleeve. For about 2 seconds I wondered if it would matter if one sleeve was 2 inches longer than the other. Would anyone notice? But it would be ridiculous. And this is all knit in a straight stitch, and if I can't fix that, then I reasoned, I had no business knitting to begin with.

I placed a stitch marker where I was supposed to have done a row of purl, took my own deep breath, and started unknitting. After 4 stitches, I dropped a stitch, couldn't remember what I had done 1 second earlier, cursed, and then took the sleeve off the needles and started unraveling.

The unraveling goes well. It's easy to just pull that yarn. And luckily, since this is knit on size 8 needles, the loops are fairly large so I was able to get them back on the needles, albeit with a couple of dropped stitches.

At this point, I weighed my options. I could either a) call someone, b) pack it up and run to the closest knitting shop (the one with the old ladies that I can't stand), or c) fix it myself.

My table soon looked like a surgi-center, with every sized crochet hook available laid out in front of me, together with smaller needles, stitch markers and this book opened to a section called 'fixing mistakes'.

It didn't look right when I was doing it, and it didn't really look right when they were put back on the needles, but I think I did indeed fix those dropped stitches! And by the time I finished that sleeve (Yes! I finished that sleeve!) I really don't think you can tell that all that emotional drama actually happened.

In fact, this morning, I can hardly even remember it.

Fabric Sale!

 

I'm in organizing and cleaning out mode again - and have reduced some great designer fabrics over at my fabric Etsy store, Fabric Carnival. Check it out, if you're in the market to grow your stash. They are priced by the yard; if you are interested in more than 1 yard, shoot me a convo and I'll see if I have the yardage!

Super easy fabric covered bulletin board

 

So, I made the flowers; loved them, a few of you loved them (thank you!), but after I finished, I was stumped about how to display them. I didn't want to just put them in a basket to be rifled through, no. I wanted to display them properly, giving them the attention they deserved. So off I went to Michael's for inspiration (disclaimer: I am not usually inspired by Michael's. Instead, often bored.)

I found a round bulletin board there (I think it was $15?) and bought it, and some simple spray adhesive (I'm sure we had spray adhesive, but didn't want to risk coming home and not being able to find it. Ever been there?) I decided to cover the bulletin board with fabric for my display - simple. So simple, anyone can do this, and how cute would it be hung up in a kitchen message center, office or even teenagers room? I'm sure there are tutorial galore out there on doing this; I'm not reinventing the wheel here, but this is what I did:

 

Gathered my materials - bulletin board, fabric, spray adhesive, pencil and glue gun.

 

On the wrong side of the fabric, making sure there was enough room all around it, I traced the shape onto the fabric.

 

Giving myself about a 2" border, I cut the circle. I didn't measure this, just eyeballed it - it doesn't have to be perfect, nobody will see it.

 

Then I cut about 1" slits all around it, about 2" apart (note: if it turns out the slits aren't deep enough, it's easy to go back during the glue gun step to cut more).

 

Wonderful spray adhesive - underrated. Make sure you have enough ventilation.

 

Spray the top of the bulletin board all over; flip it over, center it on your marked circle, and press it down. Flip it over to the right side, and smooth with your fingers to get rid of any bubbles or wrinkles. Then, flip it back over to the underside.

 

Starting anywhere, apply hot glue to the tabs (I did in a 'U' shape around the tips) and then press them individually to the back of the board.

 

Continue all around, pressing down and toward the center. Let dry - which takes minutes.

 

Done. I was thinking of using a heavy duty stapler to staple a piece of ribbon to the back to hang it. I might later, but for now am going to go with a tabletop easel (but how cute would that ribbon be?).

I used a very boring and understated fabric for my board because I didn't want to draw attention to the board, only what was on it. I think it would look so cute with a bold and fun fabric, don't you? Also, I use a heavier weight home dec fabric, which I would recommend for this project.

Pretty easy.

When life gives you fabric scraps, make flowers.

 

I hope everyone had a fabulous Mother's Day! I got a the most fantastic Mother's Day gift in the world: a new handtruck. You're jealous. I know. Believe it or not, it was exactly what I wanted.

I always have my sewing house save the cut fabric scraps for me. I have tons of scraps because of this; most are too small to make anything substantial with.

 

But while going through some small bins last week, I came across some fabric flowers I had made a few years ago, and that's when the proverbial light bult went off. I sat on the couch for a good portion of the weekend (I was tired from my event + I had gotten too much sun = tired, achy Carrie) watching old episodes of House (hello, why haven't I figured out what a cool show that is before now?).

 

While Greg (he said I could call him that) pissed off doctors and patients alike, I pieced together linen blooms.

 

It was a good weekend project for me, and I am so glad to be using some of those scraps (that I have seriously thought many times of just dumping them in the garbage). This is such an easy project (even for someone who hates hand sewing)(like me), and there are tons of fabric flower tutorials all over the net.

  

Sweet linen-love.

RIP Rowenta

 

This is a crop from last weeks' picture. My iron in happier times, before it decided to go kaput in the middle of a tote production. Before it decided, with no warning whatsoever, to just not heat beyond lukewarm.

I've had a love-hate relationship with that iron for about 3 years. It was my second Rowenta, and when the last one died, I came this close to getting an industrial gravity feed iron. In fact, I bought one, and promptly returned it after it arrived because I got completely intimidated by the maintenance and sheer heft of the beast.

Rowenta wants you to believe that their irons are the best, and you would think so looking at the price. But it has leaked and it has spit. It also gets hot on a dime, reheats quickly and steams the hell out of anything. *sigh*

So when Rowenta up and died yesterday (RIP), I stopped my production immediately and ran to Target. I bypassed the Rowenta and found a SHARK. The SHARK sounded tough and it sounded strong, and looked to be mainly stainless steel instead of plastic. Oh joy. And then we went home, the SHARK and I.

 

And I was gravely disappointed. Yes, the SHARK is nice and heavy, big and strong, and has a steamy plate. But the damn thing takes forever to heat up; then every time I turn it on [it doesn't return the favor, and] I have to reset it to my temperature! [she's shaking her head and rolling her eyes] WTF?

I'm contemplating a quickie divorce. They probably haven't even filed the papers yet, so maybe an Annulment? I dunno - I was able to finish my production, so obviously, the relationship has been consummated; but the performance left a lot to be desired, if you know what I mean...

So I ask, dear friends...do you have an iron recommendation?

[Trying to] Do something creative everyday

It's no secret, Flickr is a huge source of creative inspiration. My list of groups grows and grows, and it takes longer and longer to peruse and scrutinize (plus, my eyes are going; see February 5 post).

A couple of years ago I noticed a lot of self portraits and '365' tags, and it really made me curious. How could people take photos of themselves everyday, and post them online?

It seemed so narcassistic; but they were always done very creatively and really well. I sort of became addicted and intrigued with the idea.

Just before the end of the year, I decided to try it.

Only, for me, it was less about a full-on face shot and more about doing something creative everyday, and somehow documenting my day.

I've done the full-on face shot, and it still makes me uncomfortable.

But I've also learned that that uncomfortableness is called stepping out of your comfort zone, and when you do it, the universe rewards you.

 

Today is Day 71 for me. Want to join me? Here are a couple of the groups - here is my Flickr set. There are many more groups, just do a group search for '365', '365 days' or 'YIP' (year in pictures).

Inspiration is good for the soul.

My new Interchangeable needles & their new home

I splurged last week on a set of Knit Picks Interchangeable Needles. They are decadent and wonderful and I know I'll use them for years to come. They came with an atrocious plastic zip bag, that they didn't even fit into. I don't know what the purpose of that bag is, except that it's totally useless. They do sell a binder for the needles, but, [I'm sorry dear Knit Picks people] it's downright ugly, and us knitters [I love that I call myself that] are pretty visual peeps.

Even still, I crave organization, and in my mind, my whole life is neatly organized. I've been thinking of how I could go about making my own needle case for these needles and yesterday, after I finished some pouches, set to work. A couple of hours later, I had my neat little case.

I didn't mind the cardboard backing that the needles were packaged with because they were neatly contained with elastic, so I decided to keep them in that for now, and didn't make the needle tip part with dividers. The needles slip into the section on the left, and there are two zippered compartments.

 

The cables fit perfectly in the first zippered portion (which goes to the bottom of the yellow martini fabric), and the smaller portion holds the end caps & little screwy thing (and other smaller items, like stitch markers, etc). The whole case folds up like a little binder, and closes with a zelcro strip down to a neat 8" x 9". I'm thinking about a tutorial for this, but I really winged it - it's that easy.

I'm so happy. Now I can get on with my life.