Pink Cashmere

Earlier this month, we had a yard sale.  The whole Fishhawk Ranch community had one.  So you can put your stuff out, sell some of it, and then go around and buy other people's stuff.  Ha.

Anyway, Vince always goes around and I don't.  This time, my friend Cathy came over and we worked the yard sale for several hours, then put Vince in charge for a bit.

We went to one where I bought a pretty pink Anne Klein 100% cashmere sweater for $2.  I later saw that the back of the lower arm had a tiny food stain on it.  No big deal, the sleeves were too long (as usual) so I wanted to try shortening them.  This is going to be called my:

"$2 Experiment"

I read that this is possible, but have not officially tried it myself.  I am going to attempt to unravel the sweater sleeve and pick-up the live stitches on my straight knitting needles and knitting with the unraveled yarn, a new edging.  I tried it on to see how long the sleeves really were.

It was / still is a pretty sweater:

I first measured the sleeve length and figured I would want it about 7" shorter.

I then opened the sleeve at the seam.  I then made a cut a little lower than where I wanted the new edging to be.  I cut one strand along the edging.  I held my breath; I really didn't know what I was doing.  And then to be doing it on a nice cashmere sweater.  I must be nuts!

The one cut allowed be to unhook this end of the strand from each loop by pulling gently at each stitch until I made it across the row.  The bottom of the sleeve has been separated from the rest of the sweater.

In the above pic, I have already started to unwind the lower portion of the sleeve and ball it up.  Yes, that ball of yarn is the bottom portion of the sleeve.  Cool, huh?

That pic also shows the rest of the sleeve, if you look closely, you can see the loops of the live stitches.  These are the loops that I will pick-up on my straight needles.  I chose a size 2 needle, because this was a fine knit sweater, so I estimated the needle size.

The live loops have been picked-up.  This was not as bad as I thought it would be; the stitches stayed open so I could easily insert the tip of the needle through them.  I made sure that the strand that I took out was near the last stitch I picked-up.  I need that to make sure I'm on the correct side. 

I then took that ball of yarn that I wound from the bottom portion of the sweater and did 1 purl row and then 3 rows of k1, p1 ribbing edge.  I then bound off.

I seamed the sleeve back up and it was done!  

It worked!

I was so stoked that I did not ruin the sweater.  I was getting nervous while I was unraveling that first row to separate the sleeve from the sweater.  I repeated this for the other sleeve.

I now have two small balls of cashmere yarn to do with as I please.  How nice!

Here is me modeling how lovely this sweater fits now.

I have another sweater to do this with.  I bought that a while back and now feel the confidence to go ahead an try this technique on it.  Another set of close-ups of the sleeve edging.

I love it!  I'm going to do this to everything now.  A long sleeve will not prevent me from buying a garment now.  Awesome!

Headbands-A-Plenty

Happy Mother's Day!

I was surfing the web of my favorite websites and blogs for some inspiration and I found some on P.S.-I Made This.  Today's project idea came from the braided headband all the way down the bottom of the page.

It is making headbands with covered elastic hair ties, scraps of fabric and odds and ends.  I not only braided some headbands but also made some from a bag of old neck ties I bought at a yard sale for a buck.

My odds and ends

Here is my collection of odds and ends: it includes neck ties, ribbon, yarn, lace and strips of fabric.  Yes, there is some feather boa in there, but it ended up being a bit too elaborate for a headband this time around.  I know, I'm no fun!

Good ol' Goody

First, I did the neck tie headbands first.  I used the skinny portion of the tie and cut a length that fit my head.

Making use of ugly neck ties

I knew these ties would come in handy!  I sewed one end around the elastic and pinned the other end to the elastic so I could fit it to my head perfectly.  I have a small head, so many elastic headbands slip off because they are too big.

Half done already

Once I got it where it fit the best, I sewed that end down.  Viola!  I'm done!

Ugly ties = chic headband

I made a few neck tie headbands, because they took no time to whip up.  I then made a few braided ones.  For the first one, I took a strip of denim, a green and white polka dot ribbon and a strip of black lace.  I sewed them around the elastic like I did the ties.

Neon is back!  Really!

That one had a very retro 80's feeling to it.  Very Debbie Gibson.  The second braided one, I took some brown chenille yarn, navy blue nylon cord and baby blue cotton yarn.

Skinny headbands are cool, too

That one is very skinny.  The chenille gives it texture that holds to your hair a bit.  The blue and brown together reminds me of Holly Hobby with her brown field boots and blue bonnet.

Love Holly Hobby! <3

So, all-in-all I made six headbands in the course of about an hour.  This was an easy project and you really don't even need a sewing machine.  You can just needle and thread the neck tie ones and then knot the braided ones.

Busy bee, I was

Show me some blog love and send me some pics or comments to let me know what your thinking!  I would love to see your WIPs or finished projects!

Books - Quarter 1

I'm off to a steady start with my reading list.  Even though the quarter isn't technically over yet, I am only half-way through my current read, so I won't be finishing it this week because I'm putting in a lot of time knitting the Seafoam Lace Scarf from last week's post.

Here is what I have so far....

1.  I started reading this in December and only just finished it in February.  This is the second book in the yarn series by DM (first book was The Shop on Blossom Street).  In a nutshell, women who have something going on in their lives (divorce, reluctant reunion with an ex-husband, overweight teen starting in a new high school & a bad break-up) join a knitting class at the yarn store on Blossom Street.  This class brings these unlike women together to form a lasting friendship.  I chose this book because I had read the first one and because the class they took was a sock knitting class.  Remember, I was knitting my own socks about the time I started this book (which, I still need to finish...)
It was enjoyable, but a bit slow.  I give it 2.5 thumbs up.

2.  I bought this book at the library sale because it looked interesting; I had never heard of this author before.  Apparently in 2008, this was a best seller.  The author wrote this book while he was in medical school, during his residency.  You quickly see the sort of thing they teach you in med school/working in the ER, in the first few pages of the book.  It goes into detail about how he dislocates a mugger's elbow in the parking garage.  Basically, the doctor in this book is an intern at a hospital in New York and his past reveals that he used to be a hit man for the mob, where he is now in Witness Protection.  He runs into a patient who knew him in his past life and now the intern must outrun the mob guys that are now trying to kill him.  This novel is very graphic with blood and body-related medical tricks that he uses to get him out of precarious situations.  I would say this is a high intensity read and I recommend it.  It even has it's own website with a game (BeatTheReaper).  I give it 3 thumbs up.

3. Here is a book that I came across at a yard sale and I couldn't not buy.  The Nancy Drew series is what got me into loving reading in the first place.  Originally published in November 1930, this book has sold over 2.7 million copies as of 2001.  Rereading this book as an adult, I still find it stimulating.  Yeah, it is written for young readers, but so was Harry Potter and Twilight.
This book introduces Nancy as an 18 year old that gets interested in a case that her hometown of River Heights is upset over when an inheritance of a recently deceased townsman was willed to a very snobby and social-climbing family.  Nancy and others do not believe that the heirs are truly these people and goes in search of a newer will that must exist.  I really did not remember any of the details from when I read this book at the age of 10, so it was very nostalgic to reread it again.  I will always love my Nancy Drew stories.  Fun-fact: Carolyn Keene was just a pen name given to the variety of ghostwriters that wrote the stories.  There was up to 11 different writers.  I give it 4 thumbs up.

4. This is the first book in a mystery series.  It takes place in the year 1900 in Indiana, when houses still had servants and maids.  The head maid, who is the main character, Hilda, finds a dead body in the lilac bushes.  The person is unrecognizable due to the gruesomeness of the crime.  You soon learn that it was an affluent neighbor's sister who has just returned from China.  This novel takes you back to a time where servants were not seen as equal, so Hilda has to sneak around to solve this murder.  The police are corrupt and her friends and family thinks she is crazy for trying to help.  She gets herself into several sticky situations but eventually solves the murder and is able to keep her job.  I thought that the ending and conclusion were rushed.  I was on the last two pages of the book where the conclusion came together, then the book just ended.  It was still enjoyable, though.  I have the third book in the series so I might as well read it to get it off my bookshelf.  A funny note about this book: it takes place in a section of IN called South Bend and that was a crossword clue in my daily newspaper the other day.  It said to name the school in South Bend; which there is a scene where Hilda walks across town to Notre Dame to gather clues.  If I was not reading this novel, I would not have known that!  I give it 2.5 thumbs up.

So, apparently, you can learn life lessons reading fictional stories.  Let's go over what I have learned:

1. I can make friends by joining a knit class.  Well, not always true.  Some women that visit yarn stores on a regular basis tend to form a clique and not welcome you right away.  I don't want to offend anyone by saying that, but I find that to be true in my neck of the woods.  In MA, the Wool Patch was very open to my friend and I when we went a few times to the Thursday Sit N Knit.  So, not every shop is like that.  Take away lesson:  you can't be shy when you go in...just act like you know yarn and talk to those ladies about their projects and you'll do fine.
2. I can make weapons out of my own bones, if I do not pass out from the pain first.  Yes, in the Reaper novel, that is just what the main character had to do to save his life.  I would pass out at the sight of my own blood, never mind having to actually cut myself deep enough.  So, that lesson is not that practical.
3. That riding around in a convertible is way cooler than a regular car and it does not cause any extra attention to you when you are tailing bad guys.  Hmmm, I always found this funny that an 18 year old drives a convertible and nobody thinks this would stick out.  Yes, Nancy Drew's father is a lawyer, but back in 1930, wasn't convertibles really expensive?  I also learned that a closet clothing rod can be used as a lever to pry a locked door from it's hinges when you are trapped inside.  I will try to remember that the next time I break into an old house to find a clock. (psst, the will was hidden in the clock)
4. Finally, I can pick a lock with the stays in my corset.  Well, I wear an underwire bra these days, so I guess that would be the next best thing.  Picking locks sounds fun, but I'm not sure if I have the patience to do it under pressure.  I will rip apart one of my old bras and try breaking into my own house.  I'll report back later.

These are valuable lessons that I may need to reflect on in the future.  So don't ever think that reading novels is a waste of time.  If you are reading anything now or have just finished one, please share what it is you have learned, however unpractical.

Unbiased Cardi

I've read that you can convert a sweater into a cardigan with some bias tape.  So, on one of my trips to Goodwill, I bought this cute Aeropostale, cabled, lime green sweater, with the intention of converting it.

I figured this would be a cute one because it was a bit snug on me.  I took the scissors, bias tape and chose a pink button to sew to the top to match the pink embroidered butterfly on the front.

I cut up the middle and got my biased tape prepared (ironed it).  I pinned the bias tape to the raw edge of the sweater.

I started sewing the bias tape to the sweater edge.  I only got a few inches in and I already was seeing crooked sewing and even the biased tape was off the sweater.  Not good.  I hate bias tape.  I never liked it.  I had a project once where I was sewing bias tape around the entire perimeter of this baby bathrobe.  Ugh!  I couldn't do it; I had to have my friend Kj finish it.

This project is not coming out any better (and I don't have Kj near me to finish this for me)!  I just cut off a little more of the sweater to cut off the bad bias sew job.

I then decided to chuck the bias tape and just fold over the raw edge and sew.

This came out much better.  Next was the arms.  They were so long and monkey-like.  I figured I would shorten them, similar to what I did for the Silk Tissue Tee a few weeks ago.

I cut a section out from the arms, keeping the wrist cuff portion.  I used the same technique where I reattached the cuff to the arm.  This was about where the elbow was.

It does not lay smooth like it was seamless, but when I have it on, it is at my elbow, so the crook of my elbow bunches it up; you can't tell something is amiss.

Yeah, I took this pic on Saturday morning, please excuse my bed-head.  Anyway, here it is, my unbiased cardi.  It is a cute little thing to just throw on when you're feeling a bit chilled.  I did not use the pink button because this is way snugger than I remembered.  It would not have looked nice with the button.  I can't close this cardi any more than you see in the pic.

That's fine by me...I like it for the arms and a splash of color.  I feel good about rescuing something from Goodwill or a yard sale and putting my own pizazz into it.

5K Shrug

This weekend I ran my first official 5K in Fishhawk Ranch in Lithia, FL (where I live).  It was called the 15th Annual Fishhawk Ranch Road Race.  There were just under 800 total runners either participating in the 5K or the 10K. 

When we woke up on Saturday morning, it was overcast, in the high 60's and a bit drizzily.  Normally, that would've been considered a dull day in Florida, but for a day that you will be running, it was a perfect day.

On a day like Saturday, you arrive at the race with a few layers of clothing on, like wind pants and/or long sleeve shirt or a fleece, but then you get to running and you definitely don't want to be wearing all those layers.  It's a pain to have to keep running back to your car (esp if the parking is not near where the race starts) or tying a bulky shirt to your waist.

That's where I got the idea of a 5K shrug.  Basically it is a long sleeved t-shirt cut up so you are wearing only the sleeves, like a regular shrug that you wear with tanks or dresses.  This means a lot less bulk when you are running.  Here's what I did:

Take an old long sleeved t-shirt or athletic nylon/quick-dry/whatever shirt you have.  This one came from my I-want-to-donate-but-I-might-wear-it-one-day pile.  Then cut the bottom straight off just below the armpits.

Cut it up the middle.  (Or not, it won't really be a shrug, but it can be your 5K I Love the 80's Half Shirt)

I then matched up the two fronts, wrong-sides together.

I took chalk and drew where I wanted to cut so that it is rounded in the front.

I did the same for the neck area.

Here we are...a 5K shrug.  This t-shirt was a loose one, so you can choose to add a button or a pin to the front to keep it closed, in case it is windy or you might actually want to run with it on.

It's now tied around my waist with very little bulk.  Since it's all cut up, you may even be able to place the shrug somewhere in the race start area or by a bush or something until the race is done.  The likelihood of a cut up t-shirt still being on the ground when you get back is pretty good.  I would advise doing this to a shirt that you won't be sad if someone else thought your idea was fabulous and really did take it (junk pile/Goodwill/yard sale/gift from old boyfriend that you forgot to burn).

Back to the race.  This was a chip-timed race, which is nice, but they still took the guntime as your official time, so I don't really see the point of the chip.  I also timed it with my heart rate monitor watch.

I did a thorough job of stretching out before the race.  Vince and I had been running at least 3 times a week for months now, and we recently added a boot camp style training workout 2 times a week (so awesome, its right after work and work pays for it - how can you say no?).  The boot camp has improved my running measurably.  I'm also sticking to the My Fitness Pal calorie counter and a healthy diet.  That has to be helping too.

My public goal was to run the 5K in under 33 minutes.  That is about an 11 minute mile.  During our practice runs, I would be able to run 2 miles at a 10 min/mile pace, then the last mile it would drop down to 13 minutes.  It just took practice and pushing to get a more steady pace.

My personal, more private goal was to run the 5K in under 30 minutes (less than 10 min/mile pace).  I have not run that distance in that amount of time since running a weekly 5K running series in Mass in 2005.  That's a long time ago!!

I was able to run the 5K in 30:12 (30 minutes and 12 seconds)!  I'm so excited.  My watch time was actually 29:32, but I will just stick with the official guntime of 30:12.  So, I can positively state that I beat my goal.  Whoo-hoo!

A perk of running the race, you get free stuff at the end.  They had hot dogs, bagels, pumpernickel rolls, chic-fil-a breakfast biscuit sandwiches, Gatorade, water, energy bars, granola bars, water bottles, towels, Beef O'Brady's refillable sippy cups and best of all...booze.  They had hard iced tea (Mike's Lite) and Sam Adam's beer.

Even though I did not win a medal for my running efforts (I came in 202nd overall out of 519 runners, 65th out of 285 women and lastly, 9th out of 40 women in my age group of 35-40 yo), I had a great time!

Knitting Needle Wrap

I'm visiting my sister and yes, I am making socks!  It is harder than I thought, but I'm managing.  I will cover my socks at a later date - it's too soon to show it off since I have not made it past the toes.

I will talk about what I made over Thanksgiving weekend.  Vince's eldest daughter has gotten into knitting and she doesn't really have that many knitting needles yet.  I decided to make her a Knitting Needle Wrap.  This wrap is a fabric roll-up case.

I first chose two different fabrics, one as a main color (MC) and the second as the contrast color (CC).

Fabric on the Left is the Needle Wrap

The MC is the black with flower vines and the CC is the maroon.  Retail, these needle cases go for about $39-$50.  No way am I paying that if I got the skillz!  Here's a mini tutorial, so you can have the skillz, too!

Materials:

• Half yard of two different fabrics, MC & CC
• Matching Thread
• 1 yard of 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon
• Fusible Webbing (aka Interface)
• Iron & Ironing Board
• Pressing Cloth
• Straight Pins
• Chalk
• Ruler (to measure and as a straight edge)
• Scissors / Rotary Cutter & Mat

First, cut each fabric piece to a 21" x 18" rectangle.  This will accommodate both length of needles.

Measure Twice, Cut Once!

Cut a piece of fusible webbing the same size or larger as the CC fabric.  You may have to cut a few pieces to cover the entire area.  As long as it's covered, it will be fine.  This will give a bit of stability to the wrap.

Applying the Fusible Webbing

Lay out the CC fabric, right side down, on the ironing board or pressing area.  Cover the back of the CC with the fusible webbing, following the directions on the side that needs to be facing the fabric. 

Take the pressing cloth and wet it and wring it out good.  It just needs to be damp.  Place cloth down and then the iron (on the hottest setting for the fabric type) and lay it on the pressing cloth.  This is one of the only times you are allowed to put the iron down and leave it!  Follow the directions for the rest of the application.  Trim away the rest of the webbing that is extended beyond the fabric.

Time to sew:  Place the MC and the CC, right sides together.   Pin them together.  The webbing should be facing out.

Right Side Together

Sew a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving a space on one of the sides as a turning hole.  (I found that the webbing should face the dogfeed.  It made my foot all sticky when I did it with it facing up and therefore was not advancing well).  Trim any excess fabric (like if your fabric was not perfectly lined, you can now trim it to a 1/4" seam allowance).  Trim the corners off.

Turn it right side out and fix the corners so they are pointy.

Turning Hole

Iron the whole thing, making the edges even, pushing them out from the inside, if necessary.  Iron the fabric at the turning hole so they are 1/4" inside, lining up with the rest of the edge.

Perimeter Sewing...Zipper Foot Works Good!

Sew around the perimeter of the item, a 1/4" from the edge or less.  Sewing straight lines at the edges of things is definitely not my strong suit.  I tried to sew it so I sewed over a bit of the inside allowance.  Line up the fabric when going over the turning hole area.

Take the item and lay it out with the CC facing and longest part perpendicular to yourself (long side, going up and down).

Fold Up for Needle Pockets

Fold the bottom hem up about 5".  This will be the needle pockets.  Pin the sides and then sew them down to make one wide pocket.

Individual Pockets, Here We Come!

My width was about 17", so I figured I would make each pocket about 1.5" wide.  You can make more or less pockets.  I was able to get 11 pockets out of this scheme.

Take a ruler and measure out 1.5" and make a straight line down the pocket with chalk.  These will be the guidelines.  Make sure they are where you want them.

Sew up each chalk line, individually.  With the damp pressing cloth, wipe off the chalk.  Almost done, promise!

Ribbon, Where You At?

Take the ribbon and find the middle.  Pin the middle of the ribbon to the middle of the right outside edge.  (Can be the left side if you are a lefty).  Sew along where the stitching already is (aka, topstitch the ribbon in place).

Yeah, You Are Done!

Place your needles in the pockets and you are done!  The pockets are wide enough so that a few pairs of needles will fit in each one.  Now, roll the case from the left to the right towards the ribbon.

Non-Fruit Roll-Up!

The ribbon is long enough to wrap around a few times.  Then tie in a nice bow.  I suggested a yard so that the ribbon, when tied, hangs long.  My preference, so shorten to your liking. 

Once the length is set, take a lighter and burn the edges so they won't fray.  Be careful!!

How Does Saving $30 Feel??

Now go to your local knitting hangout and show off your new needle wrap.  I had gotten the needles shown at a yard sale for $3.  It was a set from size 1 to size 11.  It was missing a size 7, though.  Not bad!  I will go out and buy a pair of 7 bamboo needles to complete the set for the gift.

If you make one, send me a pic.  I would love to see it.

Happy Knitting!