Hello all, have been afk and at the needles for the past few days. Here is what I have been up to.
I have received the fabric stash in the mail. Both Amazon and Walmart have been good to me. The dresses and other lovelies are swimming through my head. Sighs. I’m wearing my first frankenshift, and I’m stoked!
Yesterday, in 5 hours, the frankenshift was born. I’d picked apart my favorite house smock, and used it for a pattern on muslin. Yes, it is freakishly long, yes it is cotton, and yes I made mistakes. I don’t care. I’m tickled pink, and whether I wear it as a nightgown, chemise or day dress, I’m happy! Cue strange Happy song from whatsisname here.
Emily’s Pi Shawl is on Chiaogoo knitting needles with freakishly long cords now. The interchangeable cords are a lifesaver. The perimeter of the shawl is now over 200 inches. So, having the shawl on freakishly long extended cables… Sighs. It’s also no longer on a Octopus of knitting needles, getting bound up and trapped every which way but loose.
My knitter’s library is increasing again. Okay, it’s doubling like a Pi shawl on steroids. I have Meg Swanson and Elizabeth Zimmerman coming. Some Annie Modesitt (RIP) is on the way. In the queue, is some Barbara Walker and some Cat Bordhi. I’m mostly replacing books that were lost in many moves back and forth from the farm, and in purges that I was forced into at this time.
The yarn stash. For many years, I haven’t had a yarn stash, let alone a fabric stash. The reasons being money and room. The room situation still hasn’t improved, but it is what it is. I’m borrowing from Brenda Dayne’s idea of using old clothes as stash for sewing, however I’m also using a tote.
The main part of the stash, well that’s the current project. The Pi Shawl. The secondary are the not a socks. The third, cotton yarn for cloths. The fabric stash is literally my wardrobe for the next few years.
The reason for buying fabric instead of buying ready made clothes. I’m fricking fat. I’m 5’8″ tall, over 300 pounds. That means that clothes that I like cost upwards of 50$ each. Yuck. I did the math. I’ve done the thrift shopping for decades. I’m sick of having to buy clothes and not just altering them, but making do with what I don’t want to wear to cover my skin.
So, Walmart and Amazon to the rescue. For 200$, versus 700 at the mega fabric stores online, I have cottons and muslins that I love. Pretty browns and blues, and a lovely checked red. The white or cream muslin is tough, and will likely outlast me. Yes, I need to iron the clothes, but you know what – I don’t mind. Just a quick run through the washer and dryer for the bolts of fabric, and an iron, and I’m ready to go.
Ravelry and I have had a hate/hate relationship over the years. When they went political, I left Ravelry behind. I’d already downloaded and printed all of my patterns, and was just done. It doesn’t matter what my political leanings are, I just don’t want them in my knitting stash. I don’t want them in my yarn bag, and I certainly don’t want them in my go to website for knitterly and crochet goodness.
So, I said “bite me” to Ravelry. However, slowly over the last few months, I’ve made peace with the site. I went back to the oldest account I’d had with them, and began working again. Today, for the first time in forever ago, I put my knitting library back into Ravelry.
I had missed the ability to search via stitch pattern or type, and have the patterns already in my library show up. Sighs. I’d really missed that ability. So, I have work to do.
That said, I wish that there was a Ravelry type of site for Recovery. I know, I know. There is in the rooms. However, it is missing out on the books section and blog sharability section of Ravelry.
Life goes on I guess.
-L
AnonymousKnitter 