Third payment on Jessica.

[I love PayPal!] $605 out of $784; now to update Iplehouse and my signature on DoA. Jessica should be home around the end of November, if they continue to ship with such blinding speed.

And next payday little Ms. Beyla will also be 75% mine, though I don’t expect to see her before V-Day at the earliest.

I need to hurry up and finish the Noro sweater so I can start playing with the Hempathy.

Skirting the Issue

I finished the waistband casing for the skirt yesterday. On the drive home from work, as I was pondering how to clean-finish the upper edge of the hem facing, I remembered a product I once bought from Clotilde’s catalogue: Seams Great. It is a bias-cut sheer nylon tricot that is wonderful for putting a Hong Kong Finish on one’s seam allowance.

I went to Clotilde’s website, and apparently Dritz is no longer making Seams Great in multiple colors. I drove to JoAnn’s intending to buy half a yard or so of tricot and cut a mess of bias strips, but apparently they no longer carry nylon tricot. So I bought a package of Seams Great in white and the remaining spool of narrow (1/4”) double-faced satin ribbon in dusty plum.



I spent five or ten minutes meticulously taping together the pattern sections from the tie skirt into two larger sections. I will trace around them, later, onto a fresh sheet of paper for future reference. And I may very well shorten these pieces and use them to cut out the upper portion of the tulle underskirt.



In the meantime, I’ve sorted through snippets of silk leftover from cutting out the skirt, thrown away (!) the pieces too small to use, secured the remnants in two sandwich bags for short-term storage, and put the bags into the bin which holds miscellaneous sewing stuff in my studio.

In my studio. Where they belong. [I know!!!]

The inevitable tidying-up as a project winds down, has begun. I put away all embroidery floss but the one strand needed to stitch the casing closed once I’ve inserted the elastic. Also the snaps leftover from the plaid skirt for Cuprit. In doing so, I noticed a small clear box had one of those click-erasers in it. I noticed this because I had just put away another one in the living room.

So I opened up that box to get it out and discovered the sheath which is supposed to hold my Ginghers shears when they are not in use, and the chatelaine for my tiny scissors; it has needed a new jump ring for at least two years (done). And a t@mp°n, which I gleefully threw away because I will never, ever need another one. And a half-used package of hooks and eyes, which are now residing with the snaps.

The jewelry-making supplies are put away, although I did pull out the small strand of amber-colored glass leaves and put them with the buttonhole twist to serve as inspiration. And to spur me to search more diligently for my tatting shuttle.

I cut out the hem facings while the tub filled, and they [along with the Seams Great] are in my work bag, ready for me to head out the door. I think it’s going to be a terrific day.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s ribbon.

But if you ask her nicely, she just might give it to you. My friend the receptionist had a length of ribbon, maybe a yard long and knotted into a loop, over by the scanner. It was leftover from a baby shower and had been there for a week or two: the palest rose, sheer, about a quarter of an inch wide, with a miniature plastic pacifier dangling from it. I kept thinking how nicely that ribbon would go with the necktie skirt, and I kept forgetting to ask her if she had a use for it.

But yesterday afternoon, when I went up to cover her break, I asked. And I received. Sometimes it really is that easy.

What have we here?

That funny-looking shape is the first side panel on the Noro sweater, which may or may not end up as a kimono or haori jacket. I picked up stitches along the fuchsia side, cast on 20 for the underarm edge, picked up stitches down the plum side, and used a combination of decreases and short rows to work in toward the center of the panel and have the bottom edge narrower than the top. I used a three needle bind-off down what would be the side seam, and once this has been steam-blocked I think it will be pretty amazing. At this writing, I have the second panel cast on and am knitting it slowly, writing down the instructions as I go.

The black band of garter stitch which you see through the armscye and along one edge of the sweater, is the neckband.

No sewing, to speak of, all weekend. But lots of happy knitting, both people-scale and doll scale.

New yarn, successfully resisted!

But noted for future reference. Elsebeth Lavolds Hempathy, a marled yarn where one strand is pale dusty rose and the other is pale caramel. It will knit up much like that brown and cream flecked sweater of mine, only more subtle. Vaguely tweedish. And it is just that much lighter than the lighter of the two ties which I cannibalized for the tie skirt. The name of the color is #23 Fauve [translation: tawny, but I always thought of tawny as more golden, and this is very rosy; I guess this is fauve in the sense that jade the fashion color bears no resemblance to jade the stone].

It looks like a light fingering weight, so it might be perfect for an Aran sweater or a gansey. The recommended gauge is 5.5 sts/inch, which puts it in sport yarn territory; I think I can force the gauge downward. It’s 41% cotton, 34% hemp, and 25% modal, so it may be no fun at all to knit. But I think I will pick up a ball or two next time I’m in the shop and cast on and see what happens.

I find it interesting in the box-opening photo shoots when people apologize for using flash. No capice. You know me; the great outdoors is lovely to behold but best beheld, behind plate glass windows, and with air conditioning.

Nothing worth photographing, quite yet.

Three out of fourteen seams embellished on the silk necktie skirt. Wishing I could just stay home from work today and play with needle and thread. Sometimes the need to eat and sleep and earn a living is such a hindrance to what I laughingly and lovingly call real life.

Tulle time!

From left to right: pale butter yellow, pale celadon, smoky plum, and a rich cocoa brown. The trim is for a jacket [or something] to go with the skirt. Even though it looks like a true pink with that aqua, it is a slightly dusty pink, and it is several tones lighter than the lighter silk in the necktie skirt. It’s as if the Trim Factory Fairy woke up one morning and said, “Oh goodness, there is a woman in Texas who will want to make a jacket for a BJD to go with a skirt she will whip up from two silk neckties. I must please her!”

Thank you, Trim Factory Fairy. Thank you.

The yellow thread and tulle are for a yellow tie with teddy bears on it, which will become a dress or skirt for Beyla.

I have hauled all of my DMC and Anchor floss out of the studio and onto the coffee table. Barring the unexpected, I will gleefully stitch away tonight. At this point I’m not sure if the tulle underskirt will be plum or brown; both look great against the skirt. I suppose I could make one of each?