Kat of All Trades

I purchased Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing ages ago; I suppose it was around the time I got my sewing machine. I was drawn to the clean designs, the beautiful fabrics, and the idea of sewing lovely gifts for my family and friends.

As you can guess, that didn’t happen. I bought fabric to make some things, and then for whatever reason, like happens so often, life and other hobbies got in the way. The book sat on my shelf; the fabric stayed in a plastic bin under my bed. And I went for years without an apron, cute potholders, and charming totes.

I had my first free weekend post-yoga teacher training over Easter, and out of nowhere, I had an overwhelming desire to sew. I think it’s the time of year; the warmer weather often seems to have me wanting to work with fabric. Things that are not good when I’m itching to sew: a project that takes forever, like the quilt I started…a while ago. I pulled out Simple Sewing and started flipping through – and I remembered that I could really use a yoga mat bag.

Easy pattern? Check.
Heavier-weight cotton? Check.
Several hours of sewing time? Check.
Sold!

I made a few changes to the pattern to make it a little more finished – and thus, a little less simple. (Note: I am not an advanced sewist by any means, so my changes were still within the realm of fairly basic.)

First, I changed the pocket to make the outside and the inside of it two different fabrics; the original pattern called for one longer piece of matching fabric folded over and sewed onto the bag. To do this, I halved the size of the pocket fabric called for by the pattern, then added a 1/2-inch seam allowance to that number. Placing the two pocket fabrics right side together, I first sewed my extra seam, and then I followed the pattern for the rest.

Next, I added a lining to the inside of the bag. I’m not completely thrilled with how I did it, as I mistakenly assembled it so that the seam allowance isn’t hidden, but then again, who’s really looking inside the bag that closely anyway? My approach was to cut the lining fabric the same size as the outer fabric, and then sew the bag together as if the two pieces were one. It worked out quite well except for that pesky seam allowance issue.

Finally, rather than use a cord of some type for the tie closure at the top, I sewed my own from the pocket and lining fabric. I cut a piece of fabric the suggested length of the cord and about 1-1/2 inches wide. I folded the two lengthwise cut edges so that they met at the center, and then folded the whole length in half (hiding the cut edges) and stitched it all together. Once I threaded it through the top, I tied a knot in each end.

I’ll definitely be using this book again – and the bag all the time!

I am not the world’s fastest knitter – far from it, in fact. Knitting is about process for me: the feel of yarn between my fingers, the repetitive motion of the needles, the time spent with friends talking over projects in progress, the meditative state of knitting alone. Even though I feel like I finish so few projects, I really do love to knit.

On Ravelry, a website that is a mix of social networking and knitting/crocheting resources, there is a community for people who are participating in IntSweMoDo – the International Sweater-a-Month Dodecathon. In other words, it’s a group of people who are planning on knitting at least 12 sweaters in a year. One of the girls from my knitting group participated in this last year, and somehow, over the course of discussing it at knitting and looking through many, many photos of 2010′s completed sweaters, I decided that it would be a good idea for me to join as well.

As you may or may not know, I’ve spent the past two months completing my yoga teacher training (aka one of the best ways I’ve ever spent my time and money), which has left me with minimal free time. So far, I’ve completed one sweater, and as you can see here, I have two more in progress. That puts me at 3.5 months in with about 2.5 completed sweaters. The sweater at the top, Through the Keyhole, is about 90% there since mine will have short sleeves; the one to the right, Lace Leaf Pullover, is somewhere around 50-60% done.

I certainly still have a chance of hitting 12, though if I’m being realistic, I won’t make enough time to knit to get there. So why participate at all, then?

Because every stitch gets me closer to a completed sweater. Even if the goal is lofty, I’ll still end up with at least a few lovely, handmade garments by December 31, 2011. Because I love playing with colors and textures. Because it’s fun to learn how to adapt patterns so that they fit the way I like. I’m thin and have absurdly long arms, so every sweater I knit means another sweater that will fit my torso and have sleeves that reach my wrists.

And, most importantly, because in the end, it’s about the process, and I love that.

Okay, it hasn’t been quite one year, but I’m fast approaching the time when I switched to using homemade deodorant exclusively. After going through all four seasons with this mixture of four simple ingredients, I can safely say that this is the single most effective deodorant I’ve ever used. Though I still sweat when I wear it, it also blocks odors better than any antiperspirant I’ve tried – and I’ve tried a lot.

Let me backtrack. A while ago, I discovered Amy Karol’s deodorant recipe. I finally purchased all of the ingredients and made it last spring. It worked well, but I wasn’t in love. Due to the mixture of the shea butter, cocoa butter, and essential oils, the smell was a bit…odd*, though not strange enough to stop me from using it. The deciding factor that it wasn’t right for me was that it kept leaving white stains in the armpits of my black and charcoal shirts after I’d washed them. Since I wear mostly dark colors, that wasn’t going to fly.

Enter this recipe. It contains four easily purchased ingredients: coconut oil, baking soda, arrowroot starch, and essential oil. One batch lasts me over four months; it doesn’t stain my clothing; and I don’t get any odor during the day. (I do reapply daily after I shower in the morning, as when I wake up, it’s a good idea.)

I have had a few friends try it and say that they’ve found it abrasive and/or irritating, though I’ve not really experienced this. I know that when I had some irritation with Amy Karol’s recipe, it was after I reapplied multiple times in one day, on a day that I’d shaved my armpits. In that instance, I washed my armpits and coated them with baby powder before heading to bed. It may be worth noting that I only shave my armpits about once a week, so my skin may be less sensitive.

In terms of essential oils, I use half grapefruit and half lavender; otherwise, I follow the amounts as written. I tried adding more coconut oil once and it was runny and generally not so great. After I mix the ingredients, I put them in a half-pint mason jar (a quarter-pint jar would probably be sufficient), chill the deodorant in the fridge for a few hours, and then store at room temperature. In the summer, it tends to separate with the heat, so I’ll mix it up again before applying.

If you’ve been curious to try homemade deodorant, there’s no time like the present! If you give it a go, I’d be curious to hear whether it worked for you.

*I used grapefruit and lavender rather than the orange and ylang ylang she recommended, so that may have been a contributing factor.

I don’t recall where I first saw the pattern for the Storm cardigan by Kim Hargreaves; I only know that when I found it, I knew I needed to make it. Would I have changed my mind if I’d known how…interesting Rowan patterns can be? Probably not. I did, however, have to write out entire sections of the pattern where the pattern merely stated “complete to match other side.”

My notes – at least, the ones that I can figure out from when I first started knitting the pattern two years ago – are here. Hopefully they will help some other people feel like they can more easily complete this cute cardigan! I made the medium size (36″ bust), so the stitch counts in my notes reflect that. Also worth noting is that I didn’t follow any sort of counts for the chart per se; I did for the first row, and then based the placement of the other YOs and decs on that.

Pattern Notes

Under Right Front:
Where it says “Complete to match left front, reversing shaping, and ending with a RS row,” I did the following:

(RS row) K6, P2tog tbl, work in pattern, inc in last st (24 sts).
Work 1 row.
Inc 1 st at side edge on next 2 rows.
(RS) K6 for collar, work in patt, PM, CO 8 sts at side edge.
P to marker (armhole), patt to marker, K6.
K6, P2tog tbl, patt to marker, P8.
K8, patt, K6.
Work 4 rows.
Work dec near collar as marked (P2tog tbl)(29 sts.)
Work 5 rows, ending with a WS row.
PM at the armhole edge on the last row to indicate the shoulder line.
Work next WS row (K6, patt, P8).
Work RS row to last 6 sts and put last 6 sts on holder.
Inc 1 st (pfb) at neck edge on next row.
Work 1 row.
Inc 1 st at neck edge (pfb or kfb) on next 2 rows (26 sts).
Work 1 row.
Leave sts on needle to join fronts.

After Joining Fronts:
As I mentioned above, I didn’t really follow the counts on the chart as to where the YOs needed to be placed; I looked at where the YO was and then placed the next one according to where it was on the chart. This way, I was able to continue following that method onto the back, since that wasn’t charted.

Back Next Edging:
The pattern said to slip 8 sts from the needle where I had 6, so I slipped 6 and worked with those 6 sts. Rather than seaming two cast-off edges together, I worked each side of the collar to the middle of the back neck and then grafted them together. I think it was a much neater finish.

I hope that these notes are helpful for you if you’ve been puzzling your way through this pattern! Feel free to comment or email if you have any questions, and I’ll see if I can clarify.

A little while back, I showed you a photo of a knitted garment in progress. I’ve now given that item to its recipient, so I can tell you more about it and introduce you to my amazing little cousin!

The pattern that I followed for most of the dress is Little Liza Jane from the fabulous twist collective. When twist published that pattern, I knew I had to make it for someone. Then my cousin had a beautiful little girl…perfect timing!

I’d intended to make the pattern as written when I purchased the yarn ages ago. When I was ready to start knitting, however, I realized it would make more sense to knit a larger size (2T instead of 12 mo.). I was certain I’d still have enough yarn. I followed the pattern to the letter – it’s written incredibly well, and is very clear – until I got partway through the bodice and realized there was no way I’d have enough yarn to finish.

Had I not already started knitting the bodice, I would have used the yellow up to the bodice and then switched to another color. As it stood, I was a third of the way through the bodice, and I had no intention of tearing back those cables and lace. It wasn’t so difficult to knit, but I’m not the world’s fastest knitter, so it hadn’t gone particularly quickly.

After consulting with my knitting group, I decided to bind off the back when I split the garment for the armholes (I’d been knitting in the round), and then continue the front until I ran out of yarn. A note on binding off the back: I left stitches from two cable sections live so I could join the yarn for the straps and keep knitting in pattern. When I was reaching the end of my second – and final – skein, I knit three rows of garter stitch and bound off.

For the straps, I continued two of the cables in pattern until the straps were about six inches long, then added a buttonhole. After the first buttonhole, I knitted another inch, added a second buttonhole, finished the cable repeat, and bound off. I then blocked, stitched on the buttons, and here’s a baby dress!

Isn’t Gabriella the most beautiful model you’ve ever seen?

You Are My Sunshine aka Little Gabriella (based on Little Liza Jane)

Suggested needles: size 4
I used: size 3 (I knit loosely.)

Suggested yarn = 5 skeins Elann Callista (650 yards)
I used: 2.1 skeins Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (450 yards)

Size made: 2T

And since you made it all the way to the end of this post, here’s a bonus photo of Gabby working on her downward-facing dog, while also reading a book:

While I was out of town visiting my cousins in Pennsylvania, my first post at Brooklyn Homesteader went live! I’ll be contributing there fairly regularly, so check it out for more posts from me and other awesome Brooklyn folks who are gardening, beekeeping, cooking up a storm, and more. It’s shaping up to be a fantastic resource for urban homesteaders or anyone who’s interested in becoming more self-reliant.

My first contribution is a button mending/replacing tutorial. The photo to the right is my finished repair job. Looking good, right?

If you’ve ever wanted to give a sweater or jacket a new look, or if you have a pile of clothes that are wearable except for a missing button or two, head on over to learn how to get stitching!

These days it feels like I’m mostly cooking, baking, and gardening; however, I do have other hobbies, I swear! Some of these are new, and some are victims of my project ADD. When you’ve been working on a wool sweater for a while and summer is fast approaching, motivation definitely wanes. I really do knit and sew sometimes, though!

These are two of my winter projects that might be on hold for a while, though then again, as they are both pretty simple, mindless projects, I might keep one in my bag as Emergency Backup Knitting (tm Jaci). The fingerless mitt on the left is my own pattern, modeled loosely after a friend’s mitts that I loved. The yarn is Malabrigo Twist, and it is the softest EVER. These will be my “hurry up, autumn!” mitts.

The project on the right is a Mustard Scarf (which is available as a free pattern download on Ravelry) knitted in Malabrigo Worsted that I reclaimed from my failed Clapotis. I cast on a few more stitches than the pattern suggested, but otherwise, I’m following it as written. I’m still not sure this is the right pattern for this yarn. We’ll see.

Despite the fact that this heavy wool sweater is most definitely a fall/winter/early spring pattern, I think it has a greater chance of being finished sometime soon…if I can find an afternoon to sit and seam. This is Storm from the Kim Hargreaves’ Heartfelt: The Dark House Collection, and I love it now that I’m mostly done struggling through the poorly-charted and oddly-written pattern. Not for beginners, friends. I’ll give you the full details of my adjustments once it’s done; they will definitely need their own post.

Lest you think I am lying about the fact that I am currently knitting anything, these two projects are actually coming along nicely. On the left is some gift knitting that needs buttons and ribbon attached, and then it will be ready for its recipient! I’m not sure whether the recipient has been reading, though hopefully I will have some photos of her with the item soon. I think she’ll love it.

The sweater on the right has me wishing that I were a faster knitter. It’s ysolda‘s Through the Keyhole, and I think it’s going to be amazing once it’s done, if it fits. I’ve been having weird gauge and sizing issues, and I think I’ve finally got them worked out. I hope. Cross your fingers.

Last but not least, I wanted to show you the pretty fabrics that I’ve been cutting and pinning to eventually turn into a quilt top! I spotted p.s. i quilt’s pinwheel sampler quilt along on a blog a month or two ago, and the idea of a quilt along motivated me to make sure my sewing table was actually clean. Now, I haven’t really attempted to keep up with things at all – clearly – though I did start something, as you can see. I often have sewing guilt because I don’t pre-wash my quilting fabric, though I think it will be okay. I do need to drag out my iron so that I’m ready to press seams.

I think in May I will commit to sewing two blocks per week, as the quilt along is doing. Does anyone want to join me?