Ravelry

I've been playing about on Ravelry a bit more, mainly looking through patterns and adding things to my queue and works in progress sections. There are quite a few 'works in progress' just because I can't add pictures to my queue and some of the patterns are ones in my collection, not on Ravelry. So far Ravelry has been a useful tool as an online notebook. It's nice to see the pattern next to yarns I'm thinking about so I can see colors and descriptions and all that stuff. So much better than what I had before which was just a bunch of bookmarks on my computer if I even got that far.

Such a Debonair Little Jumper pt. 1

Yea! New yarn, new project. Once again, I am totally digging my yarn from Knit Picks (courtesty of my grandmother for Christmas). It's a magenta-ish pink, nice and vibrant and slightly heathered though you can't really tell; it's pretty subtle. Holidays and vacation are right around the corner so there's no telling how much will get done before the new year.

I'd like to be able to knit on the plane to Jamaica and according to the TSA website, knitting needles are allowed, technically, but it's up to the officers' individual discretion. I'm just gonna assume that's a no-go.

Coming up next.....

By necessity, I am forced into being economical. I've never been super extravagent but I can't say I'm necessarily thrifty. There are a couple of projects I'd like to start but I will have to be more picky about price....which is why I'm really liking Knitpicks.com more and more. They have a really nice variety at very friendly prices and after my good experience with the last yarn I bought from them, I'm definitely going back. So here are the projects and the yarns:

From A Stitch in Time:

I really like the lace pattern and love the ribbon. While I'm not typically a pink person, I do enjoy the contrast of colors, but I think I'm going to do a navy ribbon. The suggested yarn is Filatura di Cross but at $10-$20 per skein, that's a big no.

Passion Heather - 100% Wool and $2.19/skein
I think this shade of pink will look nice with a medium navy ribbon too.

A new pattern book I bought on Etsy and just got last night!

I really like this dress. I know myself and my procrastinating ways and it would take me FOREVER to make this dress....but I love it and I want it. The book recommends Turquoise (in Beehive Opaleen - you know those books that yarn stores have that lists old yarns from companies and gives you a description and equivalent....yeah, where do they get those because I want one). Love the color option so I chose some turquoise yarns that I love and one light green that exactly reminds me of a Crayola marker I had when I was little. The dress is called "Apple Blossom" (all the patterns are named after some sort of flowering tree) so I immediately thought of apple trees in the spring. They are so pretty with their white and pink blossoms and green leaves. I may do something along those lines but I don't have any turquoise clothes and I love the color! So here we are:

Seafoam - cotton/acrylic $2.79

Marlin - cotton/acrylic $2.79

Whirpool - 100% wool $1.99

Kenai - merino/silk $3.99

Facing Reality

This post is really about a dress not anything deep or serious. I have decided that I will never (and I mean never) fit into this dress, no matter how cute it is or how much I'd like to. For the briefest moments a couple years ago, I convinced myself that I was a 32 bust but I'm pretty sure I rounded down on that one. Anyway, decided to list it on Ebay. It's so cute. It has its flaws but really not anything I couldn't live with. Size, however, I don't have much control over and if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit. Too bad. It didn't even fit my dress form properly. Then I really felt fat!

Fall Cleaning

I've been thinking for a while now that I wanted to clean out my closet via Ebay or Etsy but I finally got the push I needed from my husband. He has some vintage car parts he found he didn't need and his dad has a ton of things that he doesn't need....so I opened an Ebay account to sell some of those things and an Etsy account to sell some of mine. Hopefully it goes well. I feel a bit wobbly as far as naming a shipping price without actually knowing what it's going to end up being so I'm going with the easiest route - USPS flat rate boxes. Also easier because the boxes are free, but my mom is going to procure some boxes from where she works so hopefully I'll have some regular boxes soon as well. Sometimes you really don't get your money's worth with flat rate boxes. After a couple things get shipped out, I hope I have a better idea of all that.

My Etsy shop is joiedevintage.etsy.com and my Ebay id is joiedevintage as well. Lame? Maybe a bit, but I like how joie de vivre rolls off the tongue. That was taken so why not joie de vintage? After all, that's what I'm selling ;P.

Autumnal Goodness

I love fall...possibly more than spring. I know, I'm probably a rare breed. The sky is blue and the leaves change into the most brilliant colors you see all year. The hot mugginess of August disappears with the cool winds of fall and I can finally don a pair of jeans, a sweater and a light scarf and be sooooo comfortable. I think part of the appeal of autumn is rooted in the good memories I associate with the season. I've always enjoyed cool weather - I can't stand being overheated. Autumn also meant the start of a new school year, even if you were going back to the same school with the same people, it was still a new year with new teachers and new books and new classes. I know, I'm such a nerd. In college it meant catching up with friends you might not have seen all summer. Autumn meant band and football games and parades and some of my all time favorite foods. I love apples and food made with apples and I love pumpkins and food made with pumpkins. The best holidays and breaks from school happen in the fall (or right after in the case of Christmas and New Year's Day). Autumn is great!

New Patterns....again

Little Scotty Dog buttons. They were just too cute to pass up. I don't have any use for them right now, but something will come up someday.......
from Atomicveggie

I really like the youthful look to these patterns. From sixsexsix on Etsy.

Not pregnant....just jumping the gun a little I guess. Someday I'll need vintage maternity clothes so I figure I may as well pick up a couple in the mean time. Hopefully I don't need them for a few years yet!

Last two patterns from sandritrocat on Etsy. I've been on Etsy quite a lot lately. I really should start saving money instead of spending it....

Weekend in Gettysburg

I spent the weekend at Ike's Farm in Gettysburg for a WWII living history event! It was super warm during the day and freezing cold at night! It was hard to know what to wear so there was a lot of changing going on during the day. Saturday morning was a long convoy through the countryside starting at 8. It was so cold I decided I just couldn't wear a dress; not on a convoy in a Jeep.

Pants: wool flannel, made from an early 40's pattern

Shirt: JCrew, Purse: vintage

Sunglasses: vintage from ebay

Earrings: plastic red flowers from Urban Outfitters

I also wore the brown jacket I bought off Etsy but I didn't get any good pics of that.

Later it got so warm I threw on a brown herringbone skirt I made from a McCall's pattern. Again, no pics.

Saturday, really cold in the morning (as in I couldn't stand the thought of taking off my clothes to change) but by 9:00 it was already starting to warm up so I threw on a dress:

My hair was a little lacking on the second day but oh well. This dress was made from some cotton fabric I found on sale at Joanne Fabrics. There was just enough to make the dress so it worked out great! The buttons and buckle are vintage. They aren't a set but you can't tell. Unfortunately one of my buttons fell off so I safety pinned the the top together. I did find the button as I was packing up at the end of the day for which I am very very grateful! The bike is my father-in-law's Harley WLA and the Jeep in the background is his as well, as is the WC in the first pic.

It was the first event my husband had been to in 2 years what with all the mobilization and deployment business going on so he had an absolute blast! He rode the WLA in the convoy and helped with traffic control; blocking off intersections, etc. He was like a kid in a candy shop! I'm so glad he had a good time!

I need to restrain myself!

1940s jacket from Vessangel on Etsy

1940s blouse from MFVintage on Etsy

As all true women do, I rationalized my way into these purchases quite nicely! I bought the jacket so that now I don't have to make one. It saves me the time I would have to hunt down fabric to make one and it saves me all the frustration too. The blouse has a collar that is cut as one with the front which I like. I hate doing collars. They usually turn out ok, but I just get annoyed with them.

Current Wishlist

Patterns and one random cottage on the coast of Ireland:

I love the pleats in the skirt

Love the tie at the neck!

I would love it if a beach and the ocean were my front yard.

I adore the tie up the side and the pleats in the front.

Nice variation on the collar.

Again, liking the ties on the skirt.

So many things to like about this pattern! Love love love the pleats in the back, the darts along the bust and the longish puff sleeves, and the cape.

City Tweed

Got my yarn in the mail already! I hadn't expected it quite so soon. First impression: Love this yarn. It is so so so soft and such a pretty color. And of course, it's tweed which could forgive any number of sins. I need to buy a circular needle and I have some stitch markers coming in the mail. I'm trying very hard to concentrate on my current project before I dive into another and it's not easy.

Raglan Sweater

Raglan Sweater from 'America at Work and Play'

City Tweed Dk in Plum Wine

I initially pictured this sweater in like an olive green or brown but decided that I wanted some real color and as I was already knitting a green sweater, I thought I'd go for something else. I ordered the yarn from KnitPicks.com as well as blocking mats and pins. I'm very excited for the mats since I'll be able to make whatever shape I want to accomodate the project. I'm putting off blocking my beret until the mats get here.

I'm really loving the color of the yarn but at the same time I hope I didn't make a mistake going totally against what I initially thought of. I'm still having a hard time picturing the sweater in this color.

Purchased yesterday.

I have a pattern for a beret but it's more like a beanie than a beret. I also need a pair of gloves to go with a hat and decided that it will be easier to make them than find them. (We'll see)

I have finally managed to get my camera, the battery charger, and the usb cord all in the same place at the same time.

So here is the start of my Munrospun pattern. This picture is more accurate of the color of the yarn. I cast on an extra 30 sts to try and compensate for my tension and I think it will work out.

Munrospun Jumper....

...or 'sweater' for those of us in the former colonies. Behold ---- pattern no. 63:

Adorable! Love the yoke and buttons. I'm using Jojoland Ballad yarn in Peacock (color # 438, dye lot 001). It's a fingering weight 100% wool that is so soft and pretty. It's actually a deeper, darker green than it looks in this picture.

The pattern calls for 3.0 mm needles, which have no equivelant in US sizes (at least not in whole numbers but I have not seen half sizes in any store I have gone to) so I knit a swatch on #2 and it came out to 12 sts/inch (needs to be 8 1/2 sts), so I switched to #3. It's still a bit too many stitches but I don't want to go to larger needles because the yarn is so fine that I feel like my stitches look loose and sloppy. They're not as tight looking as I would like. Actually, the more I look at my stitches the more I want to go back to no 2's. I wonder what would happen if I tried to compensate by adding stitches. Maybe it's time for an experiment.

New pattern, like I needed one :P

I've really wanted a casual jacket that I could throw on over sportswear and I think this fits the bill. I can make it out of something light, just enough to keep the spring or autumn chill at bay or I could probably make it heavier for winter if I wanted to.

Just a quick one for today.....

Finally found my camera. It was stashed in my glove box under a pile of junk mail that I probably shoved in there just to get it off my passenger seat. So, now with a clean glove box and my camera retrieved, I vow to charge the battery and take some pictures.

I finished my beret. Yippee so now it's on to gloves. I have so much yarn left over from the beret that I can make a pair of gloves to go with it. I used Rowan Felted Tweed in Camel. It has black, white and light blue flecks. I heart tweed so much!!!

I chose camel because it would go with anything but I really want to make something with color so next up (aside from the gloves) are two sweaters and this cardigan:

From A Stitch in Time.

So, sad story, the Simplicity 3517 that I ordered was actually sold, but not marked as such on the website :( In other news, I have to stop being lazy and take some pictures of my projects.

I finished my scarf! Yea. I don't think I've ever actually finished a knitting project. I usually get really gung ho about it and fizzle out about half way through but I really zipped through this one. It's called 'Celia' and is from a pattern on Knit on the Net by Just Call Me Ruby. I just started the gloves last night! Yea! I've made gloves before (well, one glove, see above) but when I read through the pattern I got a little confused. Granted, I'm basically a novice at knitting. Hopefully it all works out!

Also from knitonthenet.com, I finally got my copy of A Stitch in Time! I'm so excited and I think it will be worth the cost. Stupid dollar being so weak. It's a great book with some really cute patterns. It's also a pretty book and I love that it includes copies of the original patterns. So cool! And it smells good. I don't know what it is but I like smelling things, especially new books and magazines, old books, and leather.

I don't remember mentioning this before but I'm making another skirt with suspenders. I had made this last year perhaps out of some navy linen and I made a white cotton shirt to go with it. Pretty sure it no longer fits so I made another...well, I'm making another. I should have shortened the pattern because it's much much longer than I remember, as in it falls to my ankles. Honestly, sometimes I could really stand to be about three inches taller.

Purchases and Projects

I just bought these today:

I was in need of a shirtwaist pattern when I realized that I didn't have any. I searched high and low through my apartment certain that I had one somewhere. Wishful thinking I guess.

Made a skirt from this pattern out of some dark brown herringbone cotton that I had laying around. I'm going to make a jacket as well so I have a casual suit.

Other projects in the works:

I'd like a pair of pants for fall/winter and I have some wool that I think will do nicely.

New Patterns