the rumpelstiltskin condition

some of my recent drop spinning. the larger skein is paco-vicuna cria, a breed of alpaca. it is so very soft, a warm cream with a tiny bit of tawny variation (which was easier to see as a single). it spun up fairly well, with some nubby spots where i hadn't combed it well enough. i had gotten 1 oz of raw fleece, and after removing the guard hairs and vegetable matter it came to about .9 oz, 165 yds plied. the name of this alpaca is vesper. though the undercoat is a nice warm cream, the guard hairs were a reddish blonde, so it made it easy to pick them out.

the other skein is a three-ply pakucho color grown cotton, with two strands of rich cinnamon chocolate and one strand moka chocolate. this is my first three ply, mostly because these were two left over balls of singles and i had more of one than the other so i figured the best use of them was to triple ply. i haven't boiled it in baking soda water yet, so the colors aren't as deep as they can be.

i still have no clue what i'm going to use all this yarn for. for now, i'm just happy spinning it.

not another skirt this time

even with hurting my lower back i've managed to sew something. albeit slowly. and painstakingly. but still, it takes ones mind off the pain every movement creates.

i've had a yard and half or so of some really soft organic cotton grey jersey laying in my yardage pile for a bit of time now. while surfing around the internet i came across a really cute jumperon a child's clothing store. and thought perhaps i should tackle something a little harder than a skirt.

i started out with the jumper in mind and drew up some patterns; front, back, and sleeves. i made some corrections as i cut my four pieces of fabric, adding a bit more width to the back. pinned and sewed it all together, and was a little "eh" underwhelmed about the piece while trying it on. off it went, and so i added some of my precious nani iro binder's tape around the sleeve hems, and gathered them with elastic. still not entirely loving it. the front just seemed all encompassing. too much grey. but i was really liking the back.

as i was pondering the fit of the front my eyes started following the lines of the pockets. if i cut the front out a bit, so that it opens, and curve the sides around to the length of the back, that would be more flattering.

out came the scissors, off went the very broad front, and a much better silhouette was born. i wanted to add kooky details to this top; fancy bits and buttons. in an array of pinks and golds i sewed scales around the pockets and lined the inside edge with antique gold and pink trim to give it some weight.

overall i like this piece, it's soft, eclectic, and not a complete screw up in the sewing category.