Crafting Chavs

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Ruffle Dress

Butterick 5320
Fabric from ebay

I almost trashed this halfway through. Not because the pattern was that hard but because the collar looked so weird. All round and ruffly. I thought it was going to look like a clown collar. But when I sewed it onto the dress, it became more feminine and less carny. I like that part of sewing-- when the piece goes from wtf? to awesome.
And I learned something about wrap dresses today. A little wind at the wrong angle and the public gets a view of the zebra-print lining and a lot of leg. I safety-pinned the skirt down for the rest of the day and put a snap on when I got home to prevent it from opening again.
I probably have time for one more summer dress before the season's over!

Monday, August 03, 2009

Airy Scarf

Airy Scarf
Yarn used: Rowan Kidsilk Haze: Super Kid Mohair/Silk
You may recognize this yarn from my botched attempt at a sweater a couple years ago. I remember when I first started to knit, I couldn't wait to get past scarves and make sweaters and socks and complicated projects. But lately I've been enjoying the simplicity of knitting scarves: no long time commitments, one or two balls of yarn is sufficient and it travels well. Try carrying around in-progress socks and you, too, will wish you were making a scarf.
I needed a project to work on while on the road to Yellowstone. I looked at my stash of scarf patterns and found this simple pattern that actually matched one of my items in the yarn stash.
I like how skinny yarn + big needles= big, holey loops. The mohair and silk feels just fabulous.


Model shot! It's more of an accessory scarf than a warmth-creator. Ignore the unmade bed in the background. I'll be buying more scarf yarn for my upcoming trip. Then I might go back to being a little more ambitious with my knitting.