Quick Question

What would be a good yarn for a chemo cap? For a pattern, I was thinking Shedir, or does anyone have a better suggestion? If you are sending good thoughts into the world today, could you please send some to a girl named Sarah, who is 29, a mother and wife, and undergoing treatment for AML (leukemia)? Thank you so much.

Souffle, demystified

I need to remind myself more often that when I started this blog, I meant it to be a log for all the things I love to do. My creativity needs are constantly in a state of flux. Sometimes, it's all about the knitting, then the sewing, baking, cooking,reading, bookbinding, jewelry making etc,. But I usually just post about my knitting and sewing projects, and when I don't do any of these, you guys think I've fallen of the earth yet again. So, I'm going to post more about the many other things I enjoy doing besides stuff with needles and thread. Since the beginning of the year I've been really into trying new things in the baking department. I bake almost every weekend, mostly recipes I've been making for years already. It was time for something new, something a little challenging. I decided to make a souffle. The first time I've ever had a souffle was at a wonderful restaurant not far from SF called Manka's (which unfortunately burned down a year ago) and I still dream about it. It was savory with little bits of fresh asparagus throughout. Now, If you like to cook and read cooking mags and books, you've probably heard how difficult it is to make a souffle, how a drafty kitchen or opening your oven door can immediatley ruin it, or that it'll probably deflate the second you remove it from the oven before your guests have a chance to see it. I decided not to think about what could go wrong and just go for it. I made it for myself, so if it did turn out badly, it could just go straight to the green bin, no stress involved. I used this recipe from Gourmet magazine.

I opened the oven door twice to check on its progress, because the parchment paper collar was too high to see anything.

After I took it out of the oven, it stayed nice and fluffy for a photostuff until I attacked it with a spoon. It was light and fresh and airy, just perfect. The only change I made was using regular lemons instead of Meyers (to be honest, I'm not a big fan of Meyers...they have a peculiar taste. I prefer the tartness of regular lemons).
Btw, I'm blogging long distance. A week ago I decided spring break would be a fabulous time to go to Europe for cheap, so I'm enjoying Bavaria's cold and snowy capital right now, going to museums, eating, and eating some more. I'll be back in April, then I'll show you the sparkly skirt I made.

The Sophia Carry-All

Maybe some of you have worked on a project with this tiny gnawing feeling in your tummy that something is not going to work out, and that you really should do it the way YOU think is the right way, but you don't. Then you finish, and you look at it and think: "I wish I had "insert solution here". See, back when I made my Weekender Bag, I also fell for its little companion in this photo. There was no pattern for it yet, and I wasn't feeling the need to just figure it out on my own. A year and a half later, the pattern for the Sophia Carry-All becomes available and I'm super excited. It's the bag! I've got some gorgeous vintage linen in my stash, lining too and I'm hitting JoAnn's to get the interfacing. Here's my first problem. Both JoAnn's and another fabric store I check have Thermolam Plus, but it's not fusible (like the pattern says). The product called fusible fleece is not fleecy at all, it's more like a very thin version of Timtex. I ended up using the non-fusible Thermolam, only to find out later that there are two types of this stuff. 970 is what I'm using, 971F is what I should be using. But the whole time this little thought is gnawing away, saying, you really should be using Timtex (that heavy stuff that makes my Weekender Bag looking so sturdy and neat), because really, I want that crisp bowling-ball bag look from the picture, not the squishy smooshy look of the bag that is staring at me from the pattern envelope. But of course I'm so wrapped up in sewing, I'm not listening. But I wish I had. So here's the bag,


and before you say that it's fine, here's a better picture to illustrate the smoosh:



Not at all what I wanted, and I just have myself to thank for that. I just have to put it away right now, because I'm not in love. Unlike my Messenger Bag, which, despite its lack of cuteness, loves me right back by being so sturdy and useful. Or maybe I just need to get rid of the initial expectation, and accept it for what it is, and not what I wanted it to be (man, I think all those self-help books are finally paying off!)

Pattern: Sophia Carry-All by Amy Butler
Fabric: vintage midweight decorator's linen from my stash. It was a bit smaller than the suggested yardage, but I've found that if you use your own pattern arrangement, you can often get away with getting less yardage. The lining came from some scraps of silk wool. I cut the fabric for the piping on the half bias to save some more fabric, it worked just fine. Sewing this took almost as long as the weekender, the piping on the bottom part is difficult to handle.
Mods: I used a regular zipper instead of a purse zipper (which I couldn't find anywhere and didn't feel like ordering.

Let the sun shine on me

In the past few weeks, life has thrown me some of the bad, the ugly and the just plain weird, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and mine is slowly getting brighter by the day. Yesterday was my birthday, and though I'm usually a bit mum about it, I decided to fully enjoy myself, with all the bells and whistles. I haven't done much crafting lately, but there are still a couple of things that got done a while ago, but haven't been blogged about yet. First off my sunhat:
I don't even remember anymore when I actually finished this (a year ago?more?). But it was even longer from conception to completion. It all started out with Vogue pattern 7600, version A. Looks simple enough. But the crown part of the hat ended up having this ridiculous shape, sort of like a shortened bishops hat maybe. I couldn't figure out how to fix the existing pattern piece, and designing a new crown seemed to be a little over my not so math loving head. Enter my best crafting buddy yaiAnn and her wonderful mom. As we were fidgeting around with elongated triangular shapes after realizing that six individual sections (sort of like a beach ball) would make a better fit, y's mom donated one of her gardening hats for us to take apart. After making individual adjustments, each of us managed to get a perfect fitting and nicely looking crown for our noggins. I truly love this hat. Its wide brim, which is lowered in the back, is perfect for keeping my face and shoulders from getting sunburned and for making me feel like a Bloomsbury Lady and Paddington Bear at the same time. It's perfect for travelling, you can just smoosh it into a bag, and remold it into desired shape when you put it on.





Pattern: The brim from Vogue 7600, the crown from 6 individual segments.
Fabric: Plain medium weight cotton from my stash, interfaced brim, crown is lined with lightweight cotton.

On the knitting front, I just got the new Rowan Studio 8 booklet. There are some beautiful designs, my favorites being the textured cardigan, long waistcoat, flared jacket and double yoke jacket. Just until a few days ago it was still very cold here, and despite the welcome warmth and sunshine I still feel like knitting warm stuff.

Also, I wanted to thank the wonderful crafters queenofthefroggers, yaiAnn, a Mingled Yarn, knits, notes, etc., poshyarns and Nonnahs who have given me a "you made my day award". Thank you so much for enjoying my blog and putting up with my irregular posting. I'm not good with the mushy stuff, but I also wanted to say thank you to all my readers, you all make my day and inspire me. I will pass this award on, but if I tried today this post would never get posted. Next time :-)

Retro Redux Shrug

Mmmmmmmalabrigo. Not much needs to be said. If you haven't treated yourself to a skein or two or ten of this stuff, you really should. This shrug is supersoft and perfect over a tank top for a San Francisco summer.





Pattern: Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style, Interweave Press
Size: Second (42")
Yarn: Two skeins of Malabrigo worsted in Polar Morn
Needles: US 8, 9, 10, 10.5
Mods: I lengthened the shrug so the ribbing of the sleeves would start/end below my elbow.

Herringbone Handwarmers

The little garageside office I'm currently blogging from is freezing most of the time. I needed something to keep my hands toasty, but not obstruct finger movement, so I converted Elliphantom's cute herringbone mitts pattern into simple handwarmers.



Pattern: Herringbone mitts by elliphantom, available free on her blog
Yarn: 2 skeins of Koigu, in lilac and brown (lost the tags). I used a bit more than half a skein of the brown, and a third of a skein lilac.
Needles: US 1 dpn's
Mods: I converted the pattern from mittens to fingerless gloves, and cast on 66 sts to make up for the smaller gauge (I added 16 sts to the pattern, which is two of the herringbone repeats).

My crafty goals for the new year are to get better at sewing. I'm pretty happy with the accessories I've made this year, but garments still make me freeze up with fear. The problem is that I have high expectations of craftsmanship, and my enthusiasm starts to crumble as soon as the pieces don't quite match up. So, first, I'm gonna lighten up, because I'm not planning to become a dressmaker at the house of Chanel, and second, I'm gonna learn as much as I can and start off with a (hopefully) easy project. Also, I'd like to use up all the odd balls of yarn I have. Some are leftovers from projects, others just single skeins to 'try out' the yarn, so there will be more hoppelpoppel projects. Once I've got 50% used up, I'll get to reward myself with yarn for a planned project. That should be motivation enough ;-)

High Street Messenger Bag (the craftoholic edition)

What happened?? Wasn't it just the middle of December a few days ago? Well, happy New Year then, I hope you all survived the holidays as well as I did. There was lots of crafting, albeit little blogging, but I'll make it up to you. I've got quite a few fo's to show you, but it's gonna be bit by bit.
On my last trip to Europe I realized that I needed a new purse/bag, one that could hold my camera, maybe a laptop, and all the other stuff I like to drag around, and still have enough room for me to squish in an extra jacket or sweater. Regular purse and tote doesn't work when you're transiting Heathrow, trying to shove the former into the latter because you're allowed only one thing to take onto the plane. Which I'm not really complaining about, it's much easier now getting on and off the plane without everyone wrestling loads of plastic and shopping bags.
I didn't feel up to creating my own pattern, so I used this one by Amy Butler, adding lots of mods to turn it into the bag I need and actually use.
Here's the action shot, taken on a hike around Bodega Bay:

here you can sort of see the inside:

the back:

and one more, just so:


Pattern: parts of High Street Messenger Bag by Amy Butler, plus my own
Fabric: Denim for the exterior, heavy cotton twill for the lining
Changes:
I made the bag twice as wide, it now measures 6" instead of 3".
I eliminated the pocket on the inside flap (I didn't think I'd really use it, besides, it seemed awkward to access), instead, I put a pocket on the outside flap.
Instead of making an exposed the zipper on the outside back of the bag, I opted for a lapped one.
I changed the tool pocket in the inside to my specs (special compartments for lipbalm, phone and iPod) and attached it to the body side (not the opposite side as the pattern states). I also added an adjustable water bottle holder.
Didn't use canvas as an interlining, as my fabric for the bag and lining is already heavy enough. I just ironed medium interfacing onto some parts I wanted to have a little more structure (front and back main panel, outside pockets).
It made no sense to me to have a messenger bag with a strap you can't adjust (if I do ride a bike with this bag, I want it snug against my back!), so I used the hardware from an old bag to make an adjustable strap.
I'm really happy with how this bag turned out, I'm using it all the time.

My Jana tunic (from Rowan Studio 3), hasn't been going quite as well. I've reknit it now for the second time, and I'm still not happy. It just seems so....big. It'll hibernate for a little until I can look at it with semi fresh eyes.