So That Happened

Click On This NOW

I'm not kidding.  Stop what you are doing and go here right now this second.  It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE with its absolute GREATNESS, I promise.  Then come back here and tell me what you think.

You're welcome.

Desperately Seeking Sewing Advice

Last week I bit the bullet and bought something I've always wanted: a sewing machine.  Specifically, this one.  I personally blame the weekly Target ad for telling me it was on sale.  Damn you and your money-sucking ways, Target!  Y'all know what I mean.  Anyway.  I haven't even taken the machine out of the box yet (I need to declutter, like, EVERYTHING in order to make room for it), but before I do that I'd like to ask the internets for any suggestions as to good sewing resources to add to my crafty coffers.

I haven't touched a sewing machine ever since I took Home Ec in junior high (and still have the chocolate chip cookie pillow to prove it) so I would definitely call myself a novice.  I'd like to start small and fix the hems on some shirts that have been in need of some TLC for forever and eventually work my way up to simple bags and hopefully garments and quilts.  Which books or blogs do you, my sewing inspirations (and you know who you are) as well as anyone else, recommend for a beginner like me?  What should I be bookmarking or adding to my Amazon shopping cart right now?  Is there anything I should avoid at all costs?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Muchisimas gracias in advance!  

Edit: I wanted to add Frank as another one of my sewing and all-around life inspirations.  Read his blog and prepare to be inspired yourself.  Love you, Frank!

Mii, Myself and I

I got to make a Mii last week!  Thanks, Heather!

Here's my Mii hanging out in the plaza.  Check out Michael Jackson in the lower left corner, and...is that James Lipton on my right?  

Manga Mia, Here I Go Again

 

Look - it's me in manga form!   You too can make one of yourself for free at Face Your Manga!

Cannot. Stop. Laughing.

No, really - I haven't stopped laughing ever since I saw this.

Old-School Olympics Style

I'm kind of obsessed with the Olympics.  I'm recording the prime-time broadcasts AND staying up late to watch various matches.  Is it because I'm watching them in HD this year?  Is it because Michael Phelps is just that awesome?  Or is it because I'm having too much fun casting the TV movie version of the U.S. men's gymnastics team with Dr. No?  (You should hear what we came up with, by the way.)

Proof that I've been loving the Olympics long time: here I am (thanks to Mac Photo Booth) in a 1984 Los Angeles Olympics baseball cap that has managed to not get thrown out of the house.  It's made of foam and mesh and everything carcinogenic, I'm sure, and just look at that pom-pom on top!  Westside REPRESENT!  (Just so you know, I'm wearing the sunglasses not to look cool, but because I took this picture in the morning and I wasn't exactly camera-ready.)

The Modified Moderne Baby Blanket

So!  I've been really, really busy the past two weeks, and not just because I've been gearing up for the Olympics (which I'm a total geek about).  I have been knitting up a storm!  Now that the big gift has been given, I can write about it.  

My dear friend Jen is having her first baby (a girl!), and I decided to make her the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting (click on the link and you will find another link to a free pattern for the blanket).  It's made in the style known as log cabin knitting, a simple technique which requires no purling (great for beginners) yet produces stunning results.  I thought this was the best opportunity to tackle log cabin knitting for the first time.  Come along on my tour, won't you?

July 28: This date fell on a Monday.  Jen's shower was to be held on Saturday, August 9, which meant I had just under two weeks to knit a BLANKET.  I.  KNOW.  I changed my gifting plans at the very last minute to make her the blanket in the colors of the nursery - taupe, green and white.  I bought the yarn above on my lunch break: it's Vanna's Choice yarn from Lion Brand (yes, Vanna White has a yarn line - did you know that?)  The colors are (L-R): Taupe, Dusty Green, Linen and White.  I really like this yarn; it's 100% acrylic but doesn't feel crunchy.  It feels quite light when knitted, and all of the colors are very pleasing.  Go get some at your local Michaels or Joann if you need some nice blanket yarn.

July 31: Not bad for three or so days' work, right?  The thing about log cabin knitting is that you knit one block at a time and when you start the next block, you pick up stitches from the previous block so that they all are knitted together; there's no seaming of a bunch of individual blocks.  Knit, pick up stitches, and knit again.  That's it!  It looks more complicated than it actually is.  The first block I knit was the white one, followed by the tan one and then the green.  If you look closely you'll see that I've picked up stitches for the fourth block to be knitted with the taupe yarn.

 

August 2: I've finished the first four blocks of the blanket - woo!  Just so you know, I knit a portion of the top block while watching the X-Files movie.  My hands were just starting to get sore right around now.  Sigh.

August 3: As you can see, I picked up stitches for and knitted all of block #5, the white block on the left of the piece.  

August 5: Progress, progress, progress.  The blanket is now six blocks in size; the sixth block is at the top of the piece and is also made of the white yarn.  Look to the left of the piece and you will see that I picked up stitches to knit block #7 in the tan yarn.  You'll need a long circular needle to make a blanket as you will be picking up more and more stitches; my weapons of choice were a Clover US #8 24-inch circular and later an Addi Turbo US #8 40-inch circ.

August 6: Yes, I knit the tan block on the left in one day.  Did I mention I deprived myself of much sleep to finish this in time?  This photo was taken last Wednesday at my LYS of choice, A Mano Yarn Center.  I was in serious Panic Mode at this point and was certain I wouldn't finish the blanket in time (it had to be done by Friday as I had other plans), so I made the executive decision to not knit blocks #8-10 per the pattern and instead just knit two more blocks in the size of my choice using the green and taupe yarns.  

August 7: There's the finished block #8 at the very top of the piece; it is knit with the green yarn. I made it eight garter ridges (or 16 knitted rows) wide.  My hands and arms were KILLING me by this point.  Oy.  

August 8: This photo was taken late Friday morning.  After getting only a couple hours of sleep I finally FINALLY finished the blanket.  I never thought that would happen.  I knit block #9 in the same size as block #8 only in taupe yarn; you'll see it at the bottom of the piece.  I crocheted a border around the blanket using single crochet and each of the yarns from lightest to darkest shade.  Now I just had to weave in the ends and wash the thing.

August 9: The day of the shower and the blanket is done!  In this picture it is washed and blocked; it measured 34 x 44 inches, FYI.  I LOVE how it turned out!  It was worth all the sleepless nights.

A close-up of the single crochet border.

Garter ridges are pretty.

 

And here is Jen after opening her present!  She loved it.  Yay!

I Only Stopped Laughing Long Enough to Write This Post

Dear God, what fresh hell is this?  Or this?  Or this?  Or THIS?!

Seriously, guys.  Her face.

Dolly Parton Is the HBIC

I went to my first Dolly Parton concert last night!  She was AMAZING and sparkly and shiny and charming as all get out.  I now want to wear big wigs and high heels 24/7 and also Bedazzle the crap out of everything I own.  Seriously.

And now, a list of instruments Dolly played last night, in no particular order:

1. Acoustic guitar
2. Electric guitar 
3. Banjo 
4. Fiddle 
5. Harmonica 
6. Recorder (!!!!) 
7. Autoharp 
8. Dulcimer 
9. Tambourine 
10. Piano   

So. Awesome.  Dolly is the BEST.

Go see her if you can!  You haven't lived until you have sung "9 to 5" with a venue full of people!

A Knitting Preview

The needles, they have been moving here in Chez Moi.

More on all of these projects when they're finished!