Nothing To Do With Sewing or Knitting/R.I.P. Mike

Look, I don't pretend to really know Micheal Jackson, but being a 30-year-old whose earliest musical memories were saturated with his glittery gloves and moonwalk and mega hits, it does feel some kind of way to have an icon this big gone.

I don't know what plagued Mike. I don't know why he chose to live his life as he did. As a result, I can't really speak with any type of authority on his motivations. I do feel safe, however, in saying that he seemed to be plagued by what our Judeo-Christian society usually identifies as "demons." Hell, his life certainly looked painful and lonely from the outside. All I can do is say "skip it" (edited for the children) and prance through this trying life with a beatific smile on my face just because. If I look like Charlie during the denouement of Flowers for Algernon, so be it. I'm not letting this world drive me to an early grave.

So what am I saying? I know my message-y post screams incoherent through the six pack of eisbocks I'm drinking. Well, I suppose I'm saying a little selfishness isn't so bad all the time. And I suppose that if you're a cross-dressing fella with a penchant for shiny black Louboutins, you shouldn't be ashamed of that. I'm a heathen. I don't believe in reboots, reincarnation or heavenly rewards. Enjoy what you can now cuz living for other folks won't make you any happier; it'll just give you a heart attack and allow people you probably don't like to spout some comforting lies at your funeral.

Now, to my musical appreciation. Some of Mike's finest moments. (And yes, I did buy the Invincible album; i got the orange cover, so there! I'm a bigger fan than you.)

"I Can't Help It"


"Baby Be Mine" -- My favorite song by him ever!


"Butterflies"


"Man in the Mirror" Monica and I wrote a parody of this in 5th grade.


"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" The fam and I used to dance like hell to this 12" in the crib.


"Big Boy" The beginning.

Quick Projects

You know those convertible dresses? The ones that double as both skirt and dress? I wanted one and didn't want to spend millions on it. So ...

It's much cuter in person, but I can't get it to flare out on the dress form.

Also, I wanted to try my hand at the tiered skirt. They're pretty easy. Use the tutorial here, and you'll be set. (Thanks Chica and Jo.)

Curiously, I had to hit up the quilting department to find such cute prints. I call it my Monica skirt. (There, Monica, is that enough of a plug?)

Chunky and in Need of Gear

Yep, your girl's been in the house eating and expanding. Now that it's necessary for me to leave the house AND look presentable, I can no longer rely on the three pairs of jeans that still fit. Nope, I had to hit up the Vogue Fabrics for materials to fashion some funky duds for the chunky. In all, I've done some pretty quick and easy stuff, a circle skirt here, a convertible dress there. My dresses are still in progress, as they require a bit more concentration and effort.

An as yet un-hemmed circle skirt made from what Schmoses called,
"your ugliest fabric yet." Clearly, I disagree.

Another circle skirt from cotton damask. The high waistband allows me
to mask my gut.

The first circle skirt I made this summer.
A bit too short, but I'm sure my need for Spanx will
provide some additional insurance.

This is actually a relic from one or two summers ago.
Originally, it had an elastic waist and no net overlay.
The waist band is much better. If you recall, I was trying to
emulate a Martin Margiela skirt:



I think it worked out well. I may even do another is silk.

All styled and pretty.

So ... yeah ... knitting

Let's just say I've been on hiatus, a very lazy and unproductive hiatus. It's not that I don't want things and that I don't want to make them, I just don't feel like making them. To help overcome this laziness, I've been easing back with some stylish and quick-to-knit cowls. Check it.

But I Have Been Knitting

Well, I was knitting before I went back to work this past Tuesday. School is in and I'm busy as eff. The Saturday before the holiday, though, I sat in bed and almost knit an entire cardigan; all I needed were sleeves and a collar. Unfortunately, I realized it did not, could not fit once I tried it on. That joint wasn't even trying to pretend to work. It was looking pretty cute too. See:



It's knit from that Rowan Big Wool I got on sale. Good thing I have balls and balls cuz it's gonna take a couple more to actually fit. After I took it apart (and I didn't feel too bad about this; it only took one day's work), it looked like this (and yes, that is an Ebony, so what?):



So, I've started the process all over again. I guess I should note it's Twinkle's Best Friend Cardigan, but I re-wrote the pattern to have raglan sleeves cuz I hate the idea of knitting an entire body and then having to go back to do sleeves. Oh, and I also eliminated the reverse stockinette. I think I like the regular stockinette better. The alterations seem to be working out well. I just need to decide which buttons to use. What do you think?

New FO + New Yarns = Excitement

My title's terribly corny.

Now that that's out of the way, let us view my latest triumph over boredom. Remember that Stephanie Japel Bold & Bulky Mini Cardi from Fitted Knits? Yeah, well I finally finished it. The knitting of the body took no time. It was the picking up of stitches for the button band and actually finding the right sized buttons that was a problem.

Le Front


Le Back


Knit in Lion Brand Thick N' Quick (Pumpkin [MC] & Cranberry [CC])

I do love the shaping in the back and on the sleeves (sorry, no picture of the sleeves), but there is this terrible extra bulk right above the chest area that bothers me. It's not really noticeable when the cardigan's worn open, so that just may be my solution. Cute item, but I doubt I'll make another one.


New Yarn!!!!!!

As a beginning knitter, I've been awfully fond of Lion Brand's Wool-Ease Thick & Quick because it's aptly named and it's cheap. This is kinda funny, as I learned to knit in a store that carries nothing cheap and my first project was knit in 100% alpaca (that stuff was like 13 bucks a skein, whew!). Well, now that I'm convinced that I know what I'm doing, I'm moving up the scale of economy a bit. I like nice things. Why not pay for them? My recent purchases from Jimmy Bean's Wool and Roxy Yarns are moving me along. I'll be purchasing cashmere yarn in no time.



Good ole Big Wool from Rowan. Before, this stuff was out of my league. I bought Thick N' Quick if I wanted to make Twinkle knits without the Twinkle price, but I came upon a load of this stuff markeddown 50%(thank you Jimmy Bean's) and figured the knitting gods wanted me to have something that isn't mostly acrylic. I bought seven balls of this and plan on making them into the Groovy Sweater Dress. Apparently, this color is being discontinued. Too bad, I think it's quite nice.

















This is a brand I hadn't heard of until I found it in the store. This is Limari Multy by Araucania, and I love it. It's a blend of merino wool (soft), alpaca (warm), and silk (smooth), which means, of course, that it feels fantastic. I wanted to make Teva Durhams's Bobble U Neck out of this, but my bobble game is beyond sorry, so this'll probably be in the stash for a minute. There's no way that I'm using $17.00 a skein yarn for any ole mess. No, I must wait. Got this from my not-so-local yarn shop, a place called Knitting Workshop on Lincoln & Webster (right next to the Orange Julius/DQ, on the Lincoln side). If you're in Chicago, definitely go; they have a really nice selection of yarns.





Finally, there's my Cascade Lana Grande in colors I call Cookie Monster and Grouch. The first really is the exact color of Cookie Monster, but Grouch is actually a bit more vibrant (like the color of a perfect lawn). These, too, were on sale at well below their regular price ($3.50 a ball at Roxy Yarns), so I had to get them. These colors are a bit much, so they'll probably end up as vests or striped with something; I don't know.

Plans and More Plans

So I've finally amassed a list of must-have items from my premier fall knitting magazines.

First up is the Kangaroo Tunic (a Wenlan Chia [Twinkle] design) from Vogue Knitting's 25th Anniversary fall issue. It's pretty much a shopping tunic with a buttoned collar and a kangaroo pocket, and I LOVE IT! I'm working on this now in Lion Brand Thick n' Quick.



From Interweave Knits I've selected another Twinkle pattern, the gorgeous Belle Cardigan. It has a cute little peplum and a v front. I love it.



I've also chosen a Teva Durham design, the Concentric Vest. I know for a fact I will be substituting yarn here; I hope it turns out okay.



There's also the Luna Dress. We all know I started knitting strictly for the sweater dresses; however, this is a maybe. There's still the Groovy Sweater Dress waiting in line.



I went to my LYS (Local Yarn Store), Nina, yesterday and picked up two Rowan magazines. One, entitled Newshapes, features patterns knit exclusively on their Big Wool and Little Big Wool, which means (yay!) big needles and fast finishing. The other is the fall issue, number 42. Unfortunately, their Britishness makes the patterns a little harder to understand than the ones I'm used to. They use different terms and insist on knitting portions of garments separately and seaming them together. I hate seaming, so I'll be taking a chance and re-writing them for simple one piece knitting. Anyway ... from fall issue 42.

Dude, I wish I could find a close up. The pattern on this baby is gawgeous.








A cute little cardigan.

















I MUST learn to crochet because this shrug has to be mine.

There was also a dress in the magazine that I can't find a picture of, but I may be embarking on a small-needle project. It's just that darn cute.










From Newshapes (They all are named after spices cuz they got mad flavor yo.)













As you can see I'm going to be hella busy upping my sweater game. Stay tuned, I have new yarn coming in, new buttons to show, and a finshed object to photograph.