a little corduroy pouch

i made these little pouches - sort of a miniature version of this bag - and gave the one on the left to my brother's girlfriend for christmas (they are here visiting right now!) they kept coming out not-quite-right in my opinion. the one on the left was made first and i wasn't happy with the shape (too tall and narrow) so the second one was an attempt to fix that - i cut a polygon rather than a square, with the top longer than the bottom before pleating. i think the shape of the pleated section came out well, but i wish i had made the top panel thinner. maybe i'll try a third one.

i didn't take pictures of the linings, but used a vintage replica barkcloth-like fabric (that i also used for our stockings last year, which i guess i never blogged) for the smaller one, and a lightweight white cotton with turquoise dots for the larger one.

wrap me up

i've made myself a few things to wrap myself in... allow myself to introduce myself...

this is kaiju, a norah gaughan pattern from the same booklet as kaari. this was a nice, simple knit and i like the rustic quality the fishermen's wool adds to it. i actually like it better than i thought i would (why was i knitting something i didn't think i'd like?)

this was a quick scarf from that lovely vintage flannel i made my dad's heat wrap in. i don't have enough of it to make pajama pants or a top, and i wanted to put the softness to good use against skin, so a scarf it is!

more to come if i can keep taking a decent photograph.

a new tradition and some overdue pictures

this morning we watched a mindblowing sunrise, the first of 2011.

i think this is going to be our new tradition - i'm about as into getting drunk and screaming at midnight as i am into a turkey dinner. well maybe it's not as bad as a turkey dinner. so instead, we'll celebrate the dawn of day in the new year. i loved it! and we enjoyed these jelly donut cupcakes from veganomicon as well. two each at 7:00 am. oh many i love that cookbook. home-style potato roll dough rising as we speak. type.

oh yeah, and there are a slew of projects i hadn't photographed and posted. christmas presents:

basket rib bath mitt for a handmade comfort gift basket i made for a work raffle. forgot to photograph the basket for the second year in a row. another tradition too, i guess.

another pair of pajama pants, this time for my mom.

heat wrap for my dad, in the softest vintage flannel (more of this later) with lavender-scented rice.

and another heat wrap for a coworker for secret santa (along with some slippers i forgot to photograph. and a mug, hot chocolate, and a can of frosting. to each person's comfort their own).

more to come, including a long-awaited project.

Whoa! Look at this! What a beautiful drawing, even if it is of me! You'd never know what a stinky photo it's from too. So cool!

Long time since I've posted, but so many sewn and knit objects to post actually, hopefully I'll get my act together soon. Taking a good photo is always what trips me up.

tova top

hey, i made another wiksten pattern! these patterns are so incredibly well-made. the only modification i made was to adjust the pattern to use french seams because i don't have a serger. and i actually can't believe it turned out ok - it's just my second time doing french seams. the only thing i screwed up was not clipping the corners on the front placket, so the seam is thick and the gathers in front are a little funky. doing gathers with french seams was a little tricky.

i want this vintage fabric to be some kind of awesome wool blend, but truth be told, it's probably polyester. meh. and the save the day story? when all i had left was the collar, i burned the right shoulder with the iron! what?! i was a little heartbroken, but kept my cool and went straight to bed. the next day i cut out a piece of fabric for a yoke in back like a western-style shirt and i Saved The Shirt. and then i forgot to take picture of that. maybe i'll add it later.

look at this dorky picture. i need modeling lessons.

oh, i give in

i'm blog-crazy, i'm tired of it, i'm back. who knows what i want. but the tumblr thing wasn't working for me - i really don't know how it works and how to format it the way i want. although that's true for blogger too. which is why those two pictures above are actually supposed to be at the bottom but i can't seem to move them today. perhaps my return to blogging may again be short if it's as much of a pain in the $#5 as it always was. anyways, i've been busy knitting and sewing and never seem to want to keep my big mouth shut, so i'm back. and here's some of what i've been up to (thermis above):

manti size 3 but with a smaller gauge to turn out a size 2. she's so cute, it really doesn't matter what i knit. really happy that it fit and hope it can also be worn by a future sibling (or two?...)

i have more to take pictures of and post... among other things that make blogging difficult, is the fact that i really can't take a decent picture of myself wearing my creations. pictures of garments lying on my couch are only so interesting. some combination of crappy camera, uncomfortable model, no good backdrop and not home during daylight hours make it challenging. but i have a knit obi-style belt done, a tova top, and i'm closer to a humanoid knock-off...

tired of this blog.

that's it. so for now i'm justing posting pictures on tumblr: http://littlegraybird.tumblr.com/

pictures of my projects, photos i've taken, and other photos that inspire me one way or another.