What Next?

While it's still May, this is not a Me Made May post.  I'm planning a wrap up/overview post for next week.

No, this is me rambling about what to do next.  This month has given me a bit of a boost in terms of getting stuff done and I'd like to keep that momentum.  In the past I've tried to use "alongs" as a motivator, but my record with that is really, really poor.  Still, I've been thinking of how I might adapt things to actually make them work for me.  I'm wondering if it would be better to participate a little less formally.  Sort of like I did here with MMM '19.  I officially signed up, but without a Instagram account, my participation was limited to this blog, so mostly for me.

All of this is leading up to something of course.  I'm considering joining the Outfit Along hosted by Andi Satterlund of  Untagling Knots and Lauren Taylor of Lladybird.  I've signed up for this annual challenge twice before now and dropped out about 1/2 way in, both times (for various and mostly bullshit reasons).

This year the set up is a little different.  Instead of working on new items specific patterns (one knit and one sewn) participants are encouraged to finish up any UFO's they have from previous years. The rules being that the knit and sewn items work together as an outfit and at least one of the pieces is a UFO/WIP.

As I've bombed on this effort twice now, I have UFO's/WIP to be getting on with.  One set I  actually blogged about here before (hmmm, the link for the sewing pattern image is broken, will try to fix).  The sweater was started, then frogged due to technical difficulties.  I restarted in the second week of the challenge period, but something else must have happened, 'cause it's only partially done.  The coordinating dress never, ever happened.  I'm not sure I even bought the pattern.  Still like that pattern, but wasn't all that thrilled with my fabric choice.

The second (actually first) attempt at this along is only recorded in my project notebook on Ravelry.   That time I ran into issues with both the knitting project and the sewing project.  Knitting was an issue with the pattern sizing and the project was frogged and restarted.  The coordinating dress was an issue with my choices.  The fabric and pattern didn't want to play together.  I could have maybe worked around that, if I wasn't also fighting with having to do a full bust adjustment as well.

All that said, I think my only choice is the sweater from the 2015 challenge.  That I actually know where it is!  However, I won't even think about doing the dress I'd originally chosen.  I have been planning to try out a pair of  capris from Gertie Sews Vintage Casual.  I have some pale pink bottom weight twill in my stash that I was planning on using for these.  No idea why I want that, I just do.  It's a fairly sturdy fabric with absolutely no stretch, so I'll need to play about with it.

The challenge starts tomorrow, so I'll need to make a decision today.  Maybe I should flip a coin

Next time, MMM '19 wrap up with actual pictures.  And, I guess, my decision.

Me Made May Week Four

Almost to the end of the month and the end of Me Made May 2019.  It's gone very, very quickly!

This past week was an odd one, I'm not used to having a 4 day weekend that extends to Tuesday (why I didn't post week three until Wednesday).  Didn't quite know what to do with myself. Mostly I stayed home and puttered about.

I did go out on Friday and I took advantage of the nicer weather to wear this outfit. It's my version of Baby Cocktail's Vodka Lemonade.  I used Blue Sky Fibre's Baby Alpaca in Citron.  I made mine a bit longer than the original pattern, as I had a specific outfit planned for this.  Which, BTW, is not this outfit, but I was going for more causal, so my Vodka Limeade is paired with a RTW t-shirt and capris.

Some day I'll revisit this pattern and make it as written, I do love it so.

And here is one of the reasons, see this, fantastic back detail?  I appreciate the thought that goes into this sort of detail in a pattern.

One note, this is as close to the right colour as I could get, most of the photos washed it out until it looked almost white, while a couple made it nearly neon!


I'm still working on my wardrobe assessment.  I've decided to just focus on the Spring/Summer stuff.  I'll do the Fall/Winter assessment later in the year.  I know the smart thing to do would be to work opposite the season we're in, but I've never been able to work that way.  Just can't get enthused about woolly knits and heavier fabrics as the weather heats up.  I think I have at least the beginnings of a plan, so that's good.

As for finishing up my 3 WIP and/or UFO's, well yeah.  Not so much.  I've run into a real issue with one of my projects and I've gotten stuck on it.  This weekend I sat down and really worked on it and have finally decided that no matter what, I will have to give this one a pass.  The pattern and the fabric are just not working together.  Now I have to decide if I should find either a different fabric or a different pattern OR give the whole thing up as a bad idea and move onto something else entirely.

I did get the chance to wash and block the pieces for a knitted UFO (started two summers ago) so there's still a possibility that I'll finish ONE of my outstanding projects within the time frame. We'll see.

I'm planning one last post before I call Me Made May 2019 done so expect something next Tuesday.  Who knows, I'm sorta on a roll here, maybe I'll keep this blogging thing up. Maybe.

Until then, happy making.

Liza

Me Made Week 3

 

Posting late this week.  My work schedule got re-arranged due to the long weekend (I do final edits on the work computer~shhhh!).   That's okay though because it gave me a chance to retake my photos.  The originals were crap.  The weather last week was grim and dreary and it showed in the photos (poor lighting and poor attitude on part of the photographer).

That said, I did get to wear this great hoodie.  It's a lovely snuggly thing, perfect for the shopping trip we needed to make in the middle of  a downpour.  Spring rain is cold! I either didn't make any notes on this project or they're a casualty of the massive attempt at getting rid of "stuff" that happened during the last move.  It got kinda crazy and I'm pretty sure I got rid of things I would rather have kept (and kept stuff I should have gotten rid of).  Never make decisions like that in a flat out panic.  The pattern I know is Knitting Pure & Simple's Neck Down Hooded Tunic for Women.  The best part of this pattern?  A hood that's functional, see:

 

I don't know why women's clothing manufacturers always want to make things like hoods and pockets "decorative".   If  my garment has such, I want to be able to use it, TYVM!    The yarn is, at the moment, a mystery.  I can't remember the company name for love nor money.  I do remember  that the yarn was a wool/silk blend, worsted weight and the company was naming their colour ways after famous women.  Besides that, I got nothing.   The rest of the outfit is just boring black RTW top and capris.                                                                                           

As for my other two goals, I have made a bit of progress.  We're moving into warmer weather (sorta, maybe, a bit) so I've been going through my summer stuff and I've come to a realization.  I have some decent things in terms of pants, skirts and capris but, I'm lacking decent tops.  Most of what I have are (increasingly ratty) RTW t-shirts and blouses. In typical fashion for me, I immediately (over) reacted, chose 4 summer weight/style  top patterns, went stash hunting and found yarn for all four (okay, originally there were 5 pattern/yarn combinations chosen, but a sanity {ha!} check had one rejected as it was just not going to work as a summer top).


Then I set to swatching (why is the tag line "one of these things is not like the others" running though my head?).  I couldn't get a good colour rendition on these.  They're all a bit more green that what it looks like (well except for that one on the upper right).  Only one I got gauge on was the lower left.  It will be the Loop Pullover from Knitscene Spring 2013.  Other might or might not go ahead depending on the results from more swatching.

Now I just need to see about my goal of finishing up 3 projects.  Guess that's the plan for this weekend.  We'll see.

Until next week, happy making.

Liza

Me Made May Week Two

Did a bit better this week and wore obvious me mades twice.  It helped that I had to fill in this weekend for a position that requires meeting the public. 

Haven't done anything with my other two goals though.  Working extra eats up too many of my available spoons.  This week should be a little calmer, so even if I don't get as much of a chance to show off my me mades, I might have more time for working on WIPs and/or UFOs.  Not to mention the wardrobe assessment I wanted to do.

This first outfit is a RTW t-shirt matched with a (slightly wrinkled) gored skirt made from Favorite Things Cute Skirt pattern.  The fabric is a quilting cotton that was in my stash for years before I decided to use it for this skirt.  I really like the pattern, should see if I can located it so I can make another one (a lot of my sewing stash-materials and patterns are still in storage - last move was a disaster!).

This second outfit is mostly RTW accessorized with a Clapotis. I have actually made this pattern twice. This was the first one, and I made it mostly because I had 3 skeins of this Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in the Black Purl colour way, that I absolutely had to make something from. And what do you know, the Clapotis was a very popular pattern right about then. The second was also in Lion and Lamb (Devon colour way), but I had splurged on four skeins so the second version is slightly larger. It might yet show up this month.

I have to admit, even though I tend not to wear them, I have made lot of shawls/wraps/scarves. In fact they out number the (finished) garments.  I really should make more of an effort to wear them, but some how accessorizing my usual t-shirt and jeans or yoga pants with a shawl seems, hmmm, a bit much.  I really have gotten into bad habits with not working in the public view any more.  It can be nice to know I could go to work in my jammies and it wouldn't matter, but I should work at looking a little more professional occasionally I guess.

That said, I'm heading out to the fabric store after work today to see if I can pick up some discounted stretch denim to make a trial pair of Ginger Jeans!

Me Made May Week One

So, I did it this week.  One hand made item worn on Friday.  This is my Cassis ( pattern by Baby Cocktails/Thea Colman).  It's one of my long term projects, started Feb., 2015 and finished March, 2017.  It's been worn often since then.

The wide collar is great for snugging up around my neck when the wind blows, but drapes nicely when open.  I really love the back detail, it kept the knitting interesting and it looks good in wearing.

Technically, I wore hand mades three other times this week, but I decided that my winter scarf and any knitted socks don't count towards my one per week.  Those I wear all the time (in the winter and apparently it's still winter here) and the intention is to stretch yourself.

It's supposed to get warmer here by the end of the week, so I hope to be able to wear one of my lighter weight me mades.

As to working on some of my WIP, well, yeah not so good on that.  I finished a shawl on April 30 and spent a couple of days trying to figure out what to work on next and ended up starting another shawl (same pattern, Spindrift Shawl).

I did start working on laying out and cutting a tunic top on Thursday, but it was annoying me (polyester is slippery!) so I've been ignoring it since.  I'm going to push myself to work on it tomorrow.  We'll see how far I get.

I haven't even looked at my wardrobe assessment. I remember seeing a guide to help with that somewhere, maybe it was the Collette blog?  I'll have to check.  Help would be good - hey, I just got rid of my high school grad t-shirt (and we won't say how long ago that was) so obviously I'm not good at getting rid of "excess" or "outdated" stuff.

'Till next week, happy making.