The Muse of The Day

Granny Boots & Granny Grey

FINALLY - I finished the whole outfit. You guys have been sooo patient. I appreciate your patience and also the comments on my hair from the last post. I am very proud of this outfit because for once, I thought of the WHOLE outfit, not just the skirt, which was originally what got me going on this project. I now have a version for when the days are chilly and another for when the days are still warm. Here is the skirt:

I altered a Vogue pattern ( #2958) to make it work with the jersey knit fabric. I changed the waistline by removing the zipper, that the pattern called for, and using an encased elastic. I used Maggie and pinned all the muslin pieces right on her so I new it would work. I didn't line it and I stitched the seems down by hand a-la-Alabama-Chanin.

This is the winter top I made for it. I made the pattern by using another top I already own and guesstimating the whole thing on muslin. I pinned and cut on Maggie to get it exact. I obviously recognize that I am not trained in pattern making, but I had no patience to go through that long book on draping. They didn't get to shirts until much later in the book and I am still on the first chapter. I figured ... it is only fabric and I will learn from the mistakes on the muslin instead of the expensive jersey ($18 per yard thru Alabama Chanin)

Although I used a straight stitch decoration and edge detailing on the skirt, for this top I tried my best to make little x's so it would have some stretch.

 

The little sweater top, called a shrug, is my saving grace to deal with the ugly grey color. It was made using pattern #1662,  by Plymouth Yarn Company, as a guideline. It knits up using only 4 skeins of wool and is perfect for those of us whose brains shut off immediately after dinner is done with. If you want to know how it is made let me know. I'll give a quick how to if there is interest.

As you saw on the last post, I made two tops for this skirt. Here is the one for warmer days:

It all looks like a different color, I know, but it is actually the setting sun which alters the color. I have to tell you getting my picture taken is not high on my list of fun things to do, but worse is having to plaster them all over the internet big enough for you to be able to see what is going on with the outfit. As I write this I am truly regretting scarfing down that Kit Kat bar I took from my girls (OK - I have 2 girls, to be fair and not feed into sibling issues, I had to eat a Kit Kat from each one of them. Fair is fair. No?)

We have been enjoying awesome Fall days were it oscillates from feeling like summer to needing to get the fire going in the chimneys. This top took me longer to finish. I didn't use any pattern - just Maggie and muslin. What took so long, though, was the hand stitch detailing all along the edges of the top. There is quite a bit of fabric covering my ... mmm ... bottom. I realized just how much with every little stitch. 

This stitch also has give to it. The neckline and the armholes are big enough to easily slip on so I didn't have to zig-zag the stitch heavily. This meant my little "petals" could be more elongated and" viney" looking. Had the zig-zag really needed to come in to play, for stretch purposes, the ups and downs of the stitch would have had to be more pronounced and the leaves would have to have been made smaller and more rounded to not look odd. Because I hand finished the skirt seams, the edges on the long-sleeved top, AND all the edges on this summer top by hand, my glasses really came in handy.

 

Phew!

The beauty of this outfit, is that because it is made to my exact measurements and is made of easy-to-care for knit jersey, it gets thrown in the washer and dryer. When I put it on, it is really no more constricting than a T shirt and sweats. It certainly feels good to put on something that fits me to a T (especially after a life time of Kit Kat runs.)

I believe I have earned my granny grey. And the Granny boots? Well, you know me. Boots - I can't ever have enough of them.

I am glad to get this posted. I hope it gets you going to make something for yourself.

See you soon,

Carolina

Maggie Is Sick of Waiting

Poor Maggie. She came here around Christmas time and has been patiently waiting for me to get in shape. You should see how she longingly stares out the window as if contemplating moving on to someone else's home - perhaps a place were she might feel a bit more useful. I have visions of her stealing away and hopping through the woods as if propelled on a pogo stick.

I decided to make her wait no more and bought some fabric from Natalie Chanin. Those long time readers, here, who are quite sharp, are actually snickering whilst they remember some stupid remark I made regarding NOT buying any more supplies. That was a typo, wasn't it?

Anyways, I ordered grey jersey from Alabama Chanin.

There was a problem, though. Yes it was grey, but it was ugly. It has sort of a greenish tinge to it. Perhaps my "phone photo" doesn't quite portray just how green it is, but trust me ... it is ugly. Since the above purchase I have become considerably more intelligent and am now the proud owner of all of Alabama Chanin's color cards.

Had I had those color cards from the beginning I would have realized that there are lots of greys to choose from.

The grey I ended up with is nothing like the lovely Pewter or the soft colored Dove. The green grey that I have makes me look like I am much closer to the last stage of life (in fact, I look like death is only moments away). I had to liven it up. This meant an immediate one and a half our drive to Nashville to remedy the situation through the purchase of more yarn.

Hopefully this color yarn will liven things up a bit near my face. Halloween is more than a month away, I don't want to start scaring people too early.

With Maggie's "firm" assistance I have been draping and pinning, and redrapping. I don't think I could have gotten as far as I have without her help. I will post when I am closer to "Runway Status" ... hopefully in another week.

Here is a sneak peak of Maggie's best feature sporting the beginnings of the outfit:

So far I am really pleased with the bottom half - I am feeling quite proud. Together, Maggie and are feeling like we could conquer the world. We are going to start out, though, just getting this one outfit completed.

Hopefully this outfit will help her see that she really is loved and needed here.

See you next time.

Carolina

 

When Is Color Too much Color?

My knitting chair is a BRIGHT, acidic yellow color - a color that I hated as a child, but can't get enough of as an adult. Seeing it here, next to my blog banner, I notice that the very same yellow color is in my apron. It is a color that goes with nothing, but a color that I love to see, especially when it is next to something all natural in tones like the wood floor and walls.

I see now that I even have that acidic yellow color on my favorite tea cup.

 

I have spent the better part of the last few weeks dealing with internet issues and the needs of my children. This work in progress, the multicolored knitting, has taken a back seat to everyone else's needs. In the peppered few spare minutes that I have had, Maggie has been a true blue friend to let me pin my project into her as if she were a voodoo doll. I tried it many ways. One of my favorite ways, below, required a knitted panel to cover the backside. When I was done with the panel, it only served to accentuate my backside - something I would rather hide instead.

 

I pinned, unpinned, and re-pinned. All the while trying to assess if I had enough yarn to complete the project. I have to say that having Maggie there to actually see my ideas in a three dimensional way is heaven. Right away I could tell if placing a square, here or there, had a reasonable expectation of working out or not. 

 

It has been WICKED cold here, but for you I went outside to model the finished product. It needs a little something, but I am not yet quite sure what it is. I considered stitching up the middle, under the sides, and making sleeves in another color all together.

 

I think I decided against adding all that simply because I want this project over with. I probably should have never told all of you that I was going to finish all my WIP before buying any more supplies. With winter still hanging around, I am dying to work on something that will more quickly usher Lady Spring in like I did last year.

Can you see just how cold I am feeling? Don't I look like I need some glorious sun?

 

Anyways, my one big beef that I want your thoughts on is it seems that I get enticed with a particular yarn or fabric at a store. I get this overwhelming feeling that it just has to go home with me. The vibrant colors usually draw me in. My problem comes when I am finally all done with the project (even if it is much, much later) that I can't pull it off with what I already have. Either I don't have the right shoes, the right blouse, or something falls short of the "look" that had been so crystal clear in my brain as I had passed the checkout lady my American Express card. Does this also happen to you?

Below I have paired this multi-colored concoction with all black. I even pulled my Dad's old medical bag to act as a purse for this picture to illustrate my point of the consequences of not having a good enough plan for the final look from the beginning.

 

I am going to try to be more aware of that when I return to being able to shop for supplies. I think that fashion designers have a story board or something to follow as they come up with their designs. It is a smart idea - that way they can see not only their inspirations and the final look, but also every part of the puzzle in between. I DO love color, but if I am going to continue to use such vivid colors, I am going to have be patient enough to have a full blown plan sketched out before my credit card crosses the no-going-back line. If I don't I will only continue to add to my stash until it chokes me into the inability to see where I was headed, therefore leaving me at a dead end of sorts.

 

Let me know, if you have a spare minute, how you go about this dilemma. I really would like to ponder it for a while. Having your thoughts also in my mind might give me a light bulb moment - something that in the dreary endless days of winter I could really use.   Carolina

A Little Forgiveness Goes A Long Way

Last weekend we took our girls to see the The University of The South. (when you click on it's name and go to the link, make sure you watch the little video on the right). It is a fantastic university set in a breathtaking part of Tennessee. Locally they say that if you don't want to "cross the pond" to go to Oxford University, then The University of The South is for you. Everyone there affectionately calls it Sewanee, for the town that it is located in.

The pictures you see here are of the Episcopal church that is on campus. Not only the church, but the entire campus is quite amazing. I don't think that even an atheist could keep thoughts of God out of their head upon entering the church on campus. I will have to return to do a bit more staring. The stained glass windows were so beautiful that my husband and I had to keep reminding the girls to look down and watch their step. If you sit there, by yourself, for a few moments, pondering life, perhaps you, like I did, would think of forgiveness and what it means to you.

The other day my youngest was pulling one of the oldest tricks in the book, the student book that is. She was dragging her feet on the math work she needed to complete. I am surprised you didn't hear the whining. I became very cross with her and read her the riot act. When she was completely engulfed in my spouting of said riot act, she finally got down to business and finished her math. Before she was done, though, about two thirds of the way into it she asked me (in the sweetest voice) for forgiveness. I denied it. Don't click ... hold on. You see I have been privy to her antics before. She can whine about having to do the math, we go through the whole charade, she asks for forgiveness, I give it to her, and the next day we are right back at it playing our well-versed parts like hired Broadway actors. So this time I didn't forgive, I waited instead. She spent a full 24 hours in the dog house. Every glance of hers towards me was full of begging-for-forgiveness-puppy-dog-eyes. The next time we were facing the math she went to it - no whining. As she did her math I pretended not to notice her compliance. As she was putting her books away she brought up the fact that math was so much easier without her dragging her feet or us arguing. The hug she got from me after that said it all - total forgiveness. Now, why am I bringing this up here? Because I filled out Maggie yesterday.

I added in all the pads of forgiveness, EACH AND EVERY LAST ONE. I was beginning to feel a little light headed from the realization of just how far I have to go to reach Maggie's size - especially when I kept stuffing and stuffing all the booty-forgiveness Maggie came with.

She is not so "svelte" any more, is she Alicia? So I felt like I needed a bit of forgiveness for getting to this size. In the past I have just simply... forgiven. Forgiven myself, that is. Then, like my daughter, just kept on with the status quo and changed nothing. The results I have gotten have been the same as always. In order for real forgiveness to come about, there has to be real change FIRST. My daughter taught me that. Since my last post, I have been eating like a health nut and exercising like a jock - sweating profusely and all that icky stuff. I have been getting up at 5 and spending the first 20 minutes convincing myself that if I want to be forgiven for all my previous FFP's (Fatness Faux Pas) then I must follow through on the change. In other words, I have been a good girl, too, and I can finally begin forgiving myself.

This brings me to why I put Maggie's forgiveness pads on. In order to finish another project lurking in my knitting bin, I needed to put it on the dress form. It had been so long since I started the project that I couldn't remember where I was going with it - no pattern, no book, no handwritten notes, no idea. In order to get a better fit when the project is done, Maggie needed to be maxed out. When I had been at the University of the South's church I kept looking at all the stained glass and remembering my multicolored yarn. I guess I had knit up a couple of panels and then ... I don't know...life?

Here is what I had done so far:

I don't exactly know where I was going with all these little crocheted pieces done in the same yarn, but now I have to figure out what to do with them.

 

These 3 little balls is all the yarn I have left. Whatever I do, there is no more where that came from, so I will have to have a bit of a brain squeeze for a few days. Having Maggie there to pin all the pieces in every combination possible is total forgiveness for not finishing the project within the first month of buying the yarn. Having realized that I need to really change my ways before being able to truly forgive myself and move on is a gift from above. A gift that I am not taking lightly. See you soon.   Carolina

 

 

Wool Is Not Flammable

Wool is not flammable, if it was, I would have put a match to this project a long, long time ago. It all started out well enough. Enticed by Norah Gaughan's fabulous book Knitting Nature, I was well on my way to knitting heaven. 

I had chosen the book and the pattern as a way to relieve stress during the building project of our home. Knitting has a way of calming me down. Keeping me centered, it allows my thoughts to meander in and out of my brain in a way that lets me have time to ponder. I felt for sure it would be the perfect stress relief while I dealt with things like wall placements, window sizes, electrical lines, rough plumbing, and the myriad of other details to tend to during a large project. But I was wrong.

The stress won and the green project sat in a bag with barely ten inches of progress. The above picture shows the Tyvec clad project with the chicken walk as the only mode for accessing the house. I walked that chicken walk in every season, in rain, in snow, and in dripping humidity that made me grateful that I don't wear makeup, but fogged up my glasses none the less. I did that for four years.

The project was so stressful, that I have a full head of gray hair to prove just how much stress I had. The above picture shows me before the gray hair - I just had to include it. snif, snif. The sweater project got started, but it never got finished until this Growing Younger Plan of mine began. It had been so long I had forgotten what size I had started it in. It was ambitious of me to take it on in the first place, as I am a self-taught knitter without the skills to handle such a project, but it has been on my list of projects to finish so I have persevered. 

In the past few days I have put the pedal to the metal. I have been multitasking by knitting while listening to the course on Beethoven. He is actually pretty cool, it is too bad he isn't around today to talk to. I wonder if he had lived today if he would have been the kind of guy to wear worn out Levi's - the button fly kind. I wonder, too, if he would laugh at the fact that we are still listening to his music, and that some of us haven't moved on (talking to my Dad, here).

 

Well, it is officially complete, done, over with, history. It is not perfect, as there are little errors here and there. I didn't do the Kitchener stitch on the back neck area. I tried, but it turned out looking like a knitted version of swiss cheese. I would have tried again, but I had already knitted the neck area twice and the side fronts THREE $%#* times. 

At one point, while I sat by the fire knitting late into the night, with Ludwig wooing me, I did think about tossing the whole project in the fire place. I could just see my husband's face as he went to build another fire the next day. With tongs he would be pulling out the only slightly charred remains of the green devil itself and my failure would be the topic of many jokes in the next 23 years of our marriage. Not only that, but I would have to confess to you what I had done.

Pat, pat, pat on the back for me, then, because I went back at it and have reached my goal with the darn thing. I have to keep reminding myself to get back in the saddle and FINISH WHAT I STARTED. That is easier said than done as I am discovering with the entire Growing Younger Plan. Again I fell off the wagon and, this week, have started AGAIN with the diet and exercise. Both ChaCha and Alicia have been trying their best to keep me motivated ( they both are soooo good). I am more like the incorrigible child that is always late for class. Not this time, though, I am determined to graduate.

After sending this off to Blogland, I will have the great pleasure of taking my favorite black ink gel pen and putting one simple, straight line, through the words "green sweater" on my "Finishing List". Before I pick the next project, I will say a quick prayer to thank the Lord that the last four years are behind me and that the finished green sweater is a symbol of that. Until next time,   Carolina

 

 

Thanksgiving and The Beast

I hope that all of you that spent yesterday celebrating Thanksgiving by either cooking and eating or just eating had a wonderful day.

Up here, on the mountain, we had  a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. The air had that fall crispness to it, everybody was happy and in a good mood. The food turned out super tasty and that heirloom turkey I paid for by giving up a hefty chunk of our retirement for was absolutely yummy.

However much of a beast cooking a turkey may be, it is nothing like trying to pick up a complicated knitting project after a few weeks of abandonment.

This sweater has been a TRUE BEAST.

It is part of my "homework - bottle project" that I have been trying to finish and post. I thought the medallion on the front of the sweater looked like the bottom of the bottle.

I think it is gorgeous, but this beast has been difficult to tame. I thought over the Thanksgiving break I might just get to finish it, but perhaps I will have to tell all of you that "my dog ate my homework". One of the problems I have with this project is that it requires me to think. Since I only have snippets of time that I can devote to my creative stuff, I find myself rereading the instructions over and over again trying to locate the point where I last abandoned the project. I have had to hand write the instructions line by line so has not to repeat what I did the last time it was in my hands.

I will do my best to keep plugging away at it. I just wanted to let Karin know that I am still working on my homework. That is all there is, nothing more, just an update on where I am at. Enjoy Black Friday while I continue to tackle my beast.   Carolina