Finishing an old project

As I am in the process of cleaning out the house and prepping it to put on the market for sale I have been slowly going through my yarn bins and reviewing old unfinished projects.  What to do with them?    They have two choices. . .finish them or sell the yarn . . .they can't live here anymore!

This project was started in 2009 according to my Ravelry log.  The Pattern is Vaila by Gudrun Johnston in Malabrigo (very yummy to knit with).  I started it.. . . put it down to work on something else and then couldn't find where I was.  GRRRRRR I hate that!  So I put it away in a bin until last week.

Here is the hard part:  I took it out and ripped it all the way down to the rib!  I was at the point photographed in the picture above too!  Very painful!   But I did it and now I am past that point and onto the sleeves!  Woohoo!  There is hope for this project yet!

Really enjoying this sweater now.  I am so glad I took the plunge and did it.  It's beautiful yarn and deserves to be worn and enjoyed not stuffed in a plastic tub!  Revisit your old unfinished projects because you never know what kind of excitement you might reignite :)

Runway Brooke: Uptown Jacket

And Finally. . .the first piece off Runway Brooke 2013.  The Uptown Jacket.  

Pattern:  Uptown Girl

Pattern by: Makeitperfect

Fabric:  Primrose by Joel Dewberry

Love this fabric.  Its so bright and fun.  I have never been much of a pink person until Brooke came along.  It's just her signature color.  Brings out the pink in her cheeks :) 

Pure happiness!

And the most impressive thing is that  . . .she LOVES it!  I had to talk her into taking it off since it was a little hot for a jacket.  I am thrilled that she likes it.  Will give me the inspiration I need for runway project #2.    

I think project #2 will be a skirt.

I highly recommend this pattern.  Easy to follow pieces and instructions.  I actually think this pattern is now downloadable.  Big Woohoo!  

The one change I made in constructing this jacket was to use a home decor weight for the outside layer and thus I did not need to interface the fabric.  The weight of the home decor fabric is just perfect with a light or mid weight cotton for a Vermont spring.  

Come fall I think I want to make another out of corduroy with a nice flannel lining.  

I am definitely interest in some of the other patterns listed on her site. . . . but need to finish a few other projects first.  

So if you haven't checked out the Uptown Girl Jacket pattern . . .I highly recommend it.  

Happy Sewing!

Homemade Finger Paints!!!!

Brooke and I decided to experiment with a homemade finger paint recipe today.  Truthfully she has been driving me buggy for the past week since her Melissa & Doug paint cups came in to paint but I just don't have the energy after work at night to take on this kind of project.  

I found a great recipe from Easiepeasie when surfing around the web.  The hardest part was finding containers to store the paint in.  Now these Melissa & Doug ones are really meant for regular paint but for now they are perfect once you take the spill proof lid off.  So in the end, they will grow with her as her artistic medium changes.  

You can get these on Amazon pretty cheap (at least I think) and they are well made.  I thought about some empty jars or plastic containers but for the price of these . . .not worth my time and these are dishwasher safe (yahoo!).

Recipe is simple:

3 tbs of Sugar
1/2 tsp of Salt
1/2 cup of Corn Starch
2 cups of Water
Food Coloring (add after you have made the paint)

Combine in a sauce pan and warm until it thickens, pour into containers and add the food coloring.

I made a complete batch of each color to fill the containers and had enough left over to fill some small containers for her to take to daycare on Monday.  Now you will have to let these cool before use which means they might drive you crazy asking .  . its now 1:30 pm and I think I have been asked 30 times if "we can paint now?".  Might want to make these late at night to keep you sane.

Imagine!

201 Stitch Cowl

I finally made one of these for me :)  Hooray!  And I love love love it!  Made out of two stunning colors of Madeline Tosh yarn that I picked up last fall at Rhinebeck sheep and wool.  I followed this yayayarn pattern (adapted from the Chickadee Cowl) on Ravelry.

This is a great stitch pattern as well.  Simple with an amazing illusion.  Looks woven doesn't it?  I highly recommend getting some special yarn (the kind you could never make a sweater out of because the price makes your heart palpitate) and make one of these.  A treat with out killing the yarn budget.

Also - runway Brooke has its first big project almost complete. . .just need to put on the button!  So exciting!!!!