Sewing space

Was gonna blog before I had my teeth removed, but ran out of time. However, I'm not doing too badly at all, which is a pleasant relief. I took painkillers at midnight and haven't taken any since. My face hasn't swelled up to the size of a balloon. The hospital staff were nice, putting on the hospital gown wasn't that bad, and the surgery apparently only took half an hour. So yeah, I got off pretty well! But enough of my teeth! I had a biscuit as soon as I got home, in the spirit of Auntie Cookie!

We recently set up a table in the loungeroom, which I have promptly covered with crap, or rather, the makings of an outfit for a three-year-old whose birthday is this weekend. I'm loving having a space to leave my sewing lying around - means I can do ten minutes at a time, if that's all the time I can get. (I'm going to milk these teeth for a bit more time from my hubby, haha)

I'm making this Burda pattern - a tunic and pants with matching little bag.

Here's the pile of fabric awaiting transformation into (quick, easy and) cute baby bibs, once I finish the bday gift.

And look, here's the disdressed tote bag I bought ages ago, that I still haven't gotten to making. But I will! Before December, I will!

In terms of my other main medium, knitting, I've been working on this short-row hat (IK pattern). I love the effect, enjoyed working with the Noro yarn, but it is totally the wrong shape for my head - those skin tight hats just don't work for me - so that was a bit disappointing. I've yet to knit up the crown, but will get to that, and will feel more motivated when I can think of someone who might enjoy it! (It would have helped if I'd checked the final size and discovered that my head circumference was 10cm bigger! Does that mean I have a big head?? It said "to fit an adult"! But dunno if it would have made a difference, given the overall shape is close-fitting, which isn't my style...)

I've been enjoying having this straightforward piece on the go - a hoodie for one of Piper's friends. I love the mindlessness of stocking stitch, especially when I was having to concentrate so hard on the other hat - well, counting stitches, mainly... This gift needs to be finished by November, so I think I'll make that deadline...
So yeah... gonna have some lunch and crawl back into bed, not cos I feel like crap, but cos it's so delicious to be able to lie in bed in the middle of the day!

And now for some pleasant mail!

Wow, look what arrived in the post today! (albeit while I was lying down attempting to take a nap - really must remember to abstain from coffee in the morning if I'm planning to hit the sack in the arvo - let's just say I was rather wired! However, I had a whole lot of creative ideas while horizontal, so it wasn't a total loss)

So yeah, some lush fabric from Matatabi that I bought totally on a whim (late at night!), but man, I love them all! No excuse not to drag out the sewing machine now!

Some super cute character prints: the little gingerbread man (in the foreground), pink with hedgehogs, Sleeping Beauty(!), and characters from a Japanese fairy tale (that one was a bonus for forking out my cash!)...

Mice with apples (not that you can make them out too well in this shot!), pink cats, and squirrels on linen - what's not to love?!

Elephants and mushrooms, mmmm green...

And lookey here, she was willing to face the flash today - here's Piper in the cardigan that took me forever to finish (not that the pattern was hard or anything; in fact, it's a great pattern, I highly recommend it, and as I've said before, I love the wool. Both pattern and wool are by Vero).

And guess where I'm off to in about ten minutes???

STITCHING NIGHT AT MEET ME AT MIKES!!!! My first ever proper attempt at embroidery, except for this...

Two items out the door

I've been trying to finish off a few bit and pieces lately. Spent an hour or two one evening with a friend which passed VERY quickly, but I did manage to sew the buttons on to this cardie which I started knitting before Jasper was even conceived! I haven't ever had to do loops for buttons before, and at the moment they're just literally a loop of wool. Dunno how long these will last - is there a proper/better way of creating a loop for a button. (Crochet?) Wouldn't you know it, he's almost too big for it already!

I also finished this (late!) present for a niece. I printed out the face on transfer paper and ironed it on, and then embroidered the text underneath - my first attempt at embroidery, so I'm pretty happy about that. The overall effect, though, makes for a rather quirky gift, not your usual Target or Pumpkin Patch purchase, or should I say Gap and Old Navy purchase, seeing as it will be making its way to Canada as soon as I manage to write a letter to go with it, and make it to the post office! Not sure how the mother of the recipient will take it (and really, that's who baby clothes are for, eh!) but oh well. Sending homemade gifts across the other side of the world is one of the few ways I can physically demonstrate my love... And they know I'm quirky already...

And I have finished one mitten! I remain hopeful that I will complete the second sometime soon, that this won't be a lonely single mitten for the rest of its life! The honeycomb pattern is interesting - makes for quite a thick glove. I haven't attempted any kind of blocking yet... It is also very warm, which is a good thing! I used waste yarn to knit an opening for the thumb hole, and even though I have never knitted a sock/mitten/glove before (the only extremities I've covered are heads), the pattern makes total sense to me. I realise I'm often able to visualise the finished outcome from reading through the pattern, which is helpful.

So yeaahhh, that's been it, lately, attempting to squeeze some crafting in, here and there, handballing my child at social events so I can pick up sticks... Feels bitsy and slow, but that's what I've got to work with at the moment. (Although, to my chagrin, I just discovered Auntie Cookie has two kids and still manages to create a prolific amount of things which are always gorgeous - how DOES she do it?? And what's my excuse going to be now??)