Some things

Well, I'm officially full term with all this pregnancy business. That's a big deal. We only have 14 days until the due date. So, there's that going on...just waiting. So much waiting.

To pass the time, we took some belly shots. Here are a few of my favorites:



These were taken at 37 Weeks, 4 Days. :)

I have been sewing diapers. Here they are:




I used the Rita's Rump Pocket pattern for them. The first four (dogs and monsters) are "stuffable" and the other two (frogs) are "done stuffed and ready." I'm going to keep making the "done stuffed and ready" variety, but I think I'm going to try out a different pattern to see what I like the most. Another thing I am hoping to change is the material that I use to make the soaker pads. I have a ton of polyester fleece fabric and that is what I used, but I think I'd rather use a few layers of thin cotton batting and flannel. I just have to find some. I'm not sure that 100% cotton batting is something I can easily find at Joann's. Not being a quilter, I've never looked at the batting they carry.

I hear pregnant women can be crazy. I guess I am no different. On a whim, I decided to start two shawls. One of which is of the beaded lace variety: Aeolian. It's actually moving along quite quickly. I am surprised because it looks like it should be really complicated. Of course, I'm only on the first chart. I might be singing a different tune in a week or so when I'm juggling a complicated lace pattern and a newborn on close to zero sleep. Yeah, didn't really think that through...because I also bought needles to start a Shipwreck Shawl...and hope to get it started as soon as said needles arrive.

Here's the Aeolian in progress. I've done a few more repeats since the photo was taken:


The second shawl I started is less crazy making and I'm loving it because I'm using my handspun! It's the Citron shawl, but my yarn is much thicker and I'm using size 8s instead of the 6s called for in the pattern. It's also working up quickly...but I'm going to have to spin up the rest of the yarn soon or it will be stalled indefinitely!


See? It looks good in my handspun! :) I don't knit with handspun very much, but I really should make more of an effort to do so. I'm so much more proud of the results when I know I made the yarn myself.

Well, I don't know what else to say. That's about it. Maybe next time I blog, I'll have a baby to show you. I'm really hoping he comes sooner rather than later. :)

Asuka Cosplay

Well, it took me long enough to get this posted, but I've finally got myself off my butt to do it. At ACEN in May of this year, I cosplayed as Asuka from Evangelion. Here is a picture of her:

Here are some pictures of me cosplaying as her:



I made the dress myself (you might recognize it from a previous post. I'm super happy with it. It fit me perfectly and is altogether cute. My husband made the sync nodes (the little red things in my hair). I made the baby blue choker. I bought the wig. I already had the shoes. I love the costume. There you have it. Asuka. Yay.

I have a lot to catch up on here. I've finished a few knitting projects and I really need to share them with the blogosphere. So, up next: Leyburn Socks FO!

Lucy's Progress

She's coming along quite nicely:


Ok. For those of you readers who aren't familiar with anime...or the special brand of crazy that is cosplay...all shall be revealed in a later post. Basically, I am dressing up as characters that I like at a convention devoted to anime. Yes, sort of like those Star Wars geeks...Trekkies too. I will post photos of the characters I'm cosplaying as well as pictures of myself in the finished costumes as soon as the costumes are finished, which will be soon!

There you go, a very basic and undetailed explanation of "cosplay."

Tatting.

This is the result of my first tatting! I used a pattern in a book called "Tatted Snowflakes" by Vida Sunderman.

1 shuttle, red size 10 crochet thread


My second tatted piece: "Bejewelled Snowflake," also from the book, "Tatted Snowflakes" by Vida Sunderman. I made a silly mistake in the starting ring: I made seven picots instead of six. I didn't realize my mistake until the last stitch of the piece, so I just left it alone. Ooops! lol

I'm really loving tatting. It's super fast and easy (so far, anyway!)

I have been sewing. I have two dresses for cosplays which both need the hems finished (one of which is the yellow number from my last post) before I call them "finished!" I'm really excited about Anime Central! And I LOVE the characters I'm cosplaying! Nerd squees all over the place.

On quitting

I am quitting. QUITTING. Two of my projects are just plain finished as far as I'm concerned...never to be touched again...I hate them both.

One is the cabled cardigan. I just never want to pick it up again. The other is that stupid dress. What a waste of gorgeous fabric. I wonder if I can salvage any and make a skirt. Probably not, though.


I'm so upset over the dress too. I worked on that damn zipper again today and I don't know what my problem is...I must not be good at sewing, which is a shame because I spent a huge chunk of my life dreaming of being some sort of fashion designer (wait, I still dream about that from time to time). Maybe all hope is not lost...but it sure as hell feels like it. What kind of designer can't sew a zipper?? Seriously. It looks like utter shit:


See? Who's gonna wear something like that?? Not me, that's for sure. This dress was supposed to be easy. Whatever...it wasn't. Let's not even talk about THIS drawstring casing:


Yeah, it looks nice, but I won't even begin to tell you how hard it was or how many times I had to tear it apart and start over. To hell with it. I just want to move on to the next sewing project...which is another dress...with another zipper. Sheesh...there really is no escape from it, is there? Maybe it doesn't require a zipper...maybe it's a button up the back number. Maybe?? ((she runs and takes a look at the pattern specs)) No, it's definitely a zipper.

Whatever.

Here's a sock:


Here's my next project:


That's my little brother, Scooter...I'm babysitting while my mom is in Florida. As for the pattern, it is from the beautiful Romantic Knits. Oh, you actually want to be able to see the pattern, do you? Here, you can (sort of) see it in more definition in this shot:


The required Rowan 4-ply cotton has been ordered online and will hopefully arrive soon...the sooner, the better with the way things are going in my craft life. Ugh.

Oh, and look at this. Isn't it pretty?? That's just some mistake rib in silk yarn...to be on sale on Etsy.com hopefully within a few weeks.

Nights

I just had a pretty fun night. It was very casual hang-out time in the city, at a cute little coffee shop called Blend. It was nice. Then I came home and found a package waiting for me. IT'S MY YARN!! That came very quickly. Now, I can get rolling again on the wrap jacket.

I didn't knit a single stitch today and I probably won't (since it's already 10:45 and we're supposed to try and get tickets for the Ninja Turtles movie tonight...how excited am I?? Pretty excited, actually). I work tomorrow afternoon...so maybe I'll knit before that...after I finish the dress.

Speaking of the dress...I think it will either a)fit me or b) be too big, not too small at all. We'll see. I have to finish the shoulders, seam up the back...then tackle that zipper. That's it...jet set...tomorrow I'm looking at a finished dress (as long as it fits and I don't have to rip and trim)!

No pictures, my lovelies...not enough time...and a bit of a headache.

Sewing!

I've found the cutest linen fabric for the dress pattern. I've already cut out the pieces. I'm just taking a break now before all of that sewing. Really, the washing, blocking, and cutting is the hard stuff. It wears a person out. From here on out, it should be smooth sailing...up until I need to tailor it to actually fit me.

Ok, about that. It says that the smallest size (the size I cut out) is a size 6. I'm normally a size 0-2, depending on the garment/brand/what-have-you. I think it might be a European size 6...if that's the case, it will be smaller and I may not have to fix anything. What would really suck is if it ended up too small. I really wouldn't know how to fix that whopper, but I have a yucky feeling about the whole thing. BUT I'M MAKING IT ANYWAY. The pieces are cut...there's no turning back.

Here's a picture of my cut out pieces:


Here's a close-up of the fabric (adorable):


I've finished the cables section on the back of the cabled cardigan and am working my way through the armholes now. But damn...it's small. I am knitting the smallest size, but I think I should have knit the next size up. I am NOT starting over. Those cables were tedious. I don't want to work backwards on this thing. Here's my plan. When I block it, I'm going to block it to the specifications of the next size up. Hopefully, it will work...and stay that way through wear and tear. I don't want to have to block it every time I wear it, you know? Here's the glamour shot:


I haven't knit on the other thing because I'm too lazy to sew in the new tape yarn. It seriously only takes a few minutes, but I'm not interested. Maybe when I get the yarn to finish it, I'll be more excited.

The weather has been gorgeous lately. I hope it stays this way.

Yarning

Well...the time has come. I'm on to my last ball for the wrap jacket thingy. Today, I have ordered some online. I've (thanks Kara) found a place online that is selling three balls. I wonder if three will be enough. I really don't think so. I think I need four...but I can't find any more. I guess I can shorten the sleeves a little bit, but I'd rather not have to do that. I like the look of the long sleeves with the bell shaping. It will look stupid if I make them short. I don't know.

I guess you'd like to see the progress on the wrap jacket? Here you go:


A completed front, all pinned-out there for ya.


The beginning of front no. 2.

I really want to finish this thing. I think I'll really like it...if only I could get it done.

I finally got around to buying that needle I needed. So, tonight...or tomorrow (probably tomorrow) I will get back to work on the cable cardigan. This is another one that I just really want to finish because I know that I will like it once it's done. I know that all the pain involved in making those cables will end up being worth it.

Speaking of cables....


I love this. It is in the latest issue of Knit.1 magazine. It calls for nine balls of Lion wool (which is an affordable option, btw. Thanks Knit.1). I want to make it in this color. It's called "lemongrass." Won't it look cool with all those cables and bobbles?? I think so...definitely.

Let's see, what else? Here's a hint at what my scarf is like:

Like? Can't tell? Good. It's sort of like a secret. :) I'll show it when it's finished!! (mainly because I don't know how it will turn out and I don't want to look like a Bozo when I decide it's garbage. This way it can just drift softly away without anyone noticing...if it comes to that)

I got the new Vogue Knitting for spring/summer. I love the lace stuff. While I was at Wal-mart buying a new needle, I also picked up a huge skein of this:


Baby soft acrylic yarn. I usually don't get the acrylic stuff, but this was just too soft to resist.

Oh, and why is it that yarn companies feel only babies would enjoy a yarn so soft and insist that they only make it in pastels?? Huh?? Why?? While I like the minty green color...and will wear pastels without hesitation...I am still more of an earth tone kind of girl when it comes right down to it...more of a neutral. (I'm reminded of the classic Futurama episode. "Tell my wife I said...hello." dies...so funny) But, what are you going to do? As long as babies keep liking pastels (and I'm not so sure they do), yarn companies will make their softest yarns in those appealing Easter egg colors (I like Easter eggs, too). Whatever.

Anyway...with that yarn I am thinking that I will try my hand at this:


Sorry about the "sideways-ness" of the image. I don't know how to rotate it...kind of bothering me, actually. I'm not sure if acrylic yarn will work in a lace pattern simply because of the blocking needs, but I'm going to try. Seriously, the yarn was $2.97! How could I pass it up? If it works, I will have one INCREDIBLY cheap shirt! Wish me luck!

Oh gawd...as if this post were not long enough already! I was at Joann's for the purpose of looking through sewing pattern books and the Butterick patterns were on sale for $1.97! So, I bought 4!!!! Look, look!:


((The dress, not the other stuff))




((The one with the HUGE bow, of COURSE))

I'm going to make them...in the order shown above. When I pick up my tip money tonight, I'm going to run and buy the fabric for that first dress. It's the easiest of all of them. I wonder what fabric I will choose. It calls for a lightweight linen, I think...I just hope they have some in a nice pattern or color. I don't want to make it in that classic linen khaki color, but I will if I have to. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow (by tomorrow, I mean whenever I get around to posting again).