Next knitting project

While I agonize about what to do with the front edges of the cardigan, I've started one pair of the sort of socks I've been meaning to get to before winter's over.

These are dark brown Sandnes Garn Perfect wool/nylon at around 6 stitches to the inch, so a medium weight for a sock in my opinion (though I have to say, it seems relatively difficult to find sock yarns in sport weight or thicker).

The stitch pattern will come from Gemma in Anna Zilboorg's Socks for Sandals and Clogs, but the overall structure and method will be based on Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, my favorite sock knitting book. These are cast right on, with no grafting and no ridge in the toe. I do find her socks default to having rather high arches compared to most, but she gives instructions for customizing that, along with many other things. To summarize my attitude about the book: it's a bit different from common sock knitting methods, so it isn't the easiest way to familiarize yourself with those in order to use other people's patterns and know instantly what you're looking at... but having done both, I find myself reworking other patterns to function more like Bordhi's.  (Zilboorg's are a whole other story — they have features, like removable soles, that I haven't dared try yet.)

Progress on leftover project 2 of 3

I have only been able to work on some things off and on, but I have sewn together this cardigan I knitted from Lion Brand Homespun. It isn't my favorite yarn to knit or to wear, but aside from the washability and the price, I couldn't resist this particular color. It's a far subtler tan, yellow, and steel-blue blend than it probably looks in this acid-greeny flash photo... winter solstice, eh?

Next I will have to decide what exactly I'm doing with the neckline and fronts, because I don't like the stockinette curl in the lower part. The simplest thing might be to add a separating zipper, but that may look terrible if worn open. I will research some edgings.

On the third of the leftover projects, the Kwik-Sew dress, I have hemmed the sleeves, and that's about it. It feels like more of a spring dress, so it's been hard to get motivated.

Happy holidays!

Bag done

The side without the pocket; you can see a bit of the exposed-zipper top closure

The side with the exterior pocket

The one appliquéd side seam that avoids cutting off the owl motifs

In comparison to the original bag from which I took the pattern,

aside from the obvious fabric and trim differences, this one is much more structured, the pocket and zipper placement is reversed, and the handles are shorter — partly intentionally and partly because given the length of fabric I had, I would have had to seam them not once but twice to make them as long. These address three things that annoy me about the original: it can't stand up by itself, but collapses if I put it on the floor, making it harder to grab the handles or reach into it; I prefer to wear it on my opposite side; and the handles tend to flop off my shoulder when worn. On this one the handles are actually a bit too short to conveniently wear with some of my heavier RTW coats, which have (too) deep armholes, not that I think this is really a wintry fabric anyway; still, I'd make slightly longer ones were I to sew another of these.

November results (or lack thereof) and new fabrics

I got a few projects close to being finished last month, but nothing completely done.

• The Kwik-Sew rayon georgette dress still needs hemming, and needs the bow piece attached assuming I'm using it (I probably am, though I may not do a bow as such... more on that later.)
• The copy of the black bag in tapestry fabric needs, at least, the shell and lining to be topstitched together around the upper edge. I may need to clean up some of the existing topstitching as well; I was fighting my machine a bit to get it to sew with the very heavy thread I used.
• A knit cardigan I've been working on for weeks; all the main pieces now exist and need to be sewn together, and after that I have to decide whether it needs any borders, closures, etc.

So the only things that count as coming out of my stash for that month are the two fabrics I used for the bag, for a mere 1.667 yards.

As for what's gone into stash, boy howdy. Here's a preview:


Fuzzy wool bouclé knit, Chinese brocade, the lining for the aforementioned bag, wool georgette, wool challis print, eight Bemberg linings, and embroidered organza. With the exception of the bag lining (from Dressew) all of these came from the apparently soon-to-close Gala Fabrics location on South Granville. The total is... uh... in excess of 31 yards. Maybe not quite, since I did use up some of that bag lining, but still, it's a net addition of nearly 30 yards, and there'll be more for December. I need to get going.

Gala Fabrics Vancouver location closing

I'm disappointed, but given what has to be a very expensive location, I'm not surprised. They are closing in two weeks and have 30-50% markdowns on most of the fabric. Last I heard, whatever is left will end up at the Victoria location. Some things definitely are disappearing, but there's still a varied selection and the store is well stocked — no empty shelves so far.

I've bought a lot; I'll need to update my inventory before I figure out my November fabric turnover, but suffice it to say it's definitely a net positive. I didn't get all that much sewn last month, though I have several projects that are either in progress or that I'm eager to get to. I've just lacked motivation and had other things taking up my time. I hope I'll get back to working faster soon.