I used the same Lazy Daisy Jones pattern as for Birdie's namesday shirt, and she loves it! I even found a yellow skort on ThredUp that will match the yellow of the shirt, so I think she'll get a nice late summer/early fall outfit out of this! (It is exactly the same style as the blue skirt below and I had enough credits to pay for it. Win).
The shirt was fast to make and I reused all the bias tape I'd used on my blouse, so it was easy peasy. I think it took all of 45 minutes to cut and sew it. (It took maybe 20 minutes to unpick all the original stitching, but I had a friend over yesterday, so I sat with my seam ripper while she and I talked and our kids played together).
I also got Birdie's birthday dress sewn up at the same time--I had cut it out several weeks ago and the clock is ticking to get that thing finished! I ended up rolling all the hems to finish rather than using bias, and I rather like it in the rayon challis. I'll take more pictures once she wears it for her birthday.
Welp, it only took me four years, but I finally finished my Gemini! Whew!! I cannot believe it took me this long to get this sweater off needles. Wait, I can. Here's why.
REASON NUMMER 1: fingering weight linen yarn. 'nuff said. I had a pretty hard time getting gauge with this yarn. I think I ended up on size 2 needles.
REASON NUMMER 2! That bleepety bleep lace panel. I was so confident that I could manage it--it is 17 stitches wide, by 16 rows, and it was written out in addition to charted. Yeah, I can totally do that. *snort* I mean, yes, I did actually do it, but I realized that most of my knitting projects are things I can do while doing something else. Not this one. I literally had to sit in a quiet place, with my pattern and a pen and something to mark lines, and keep track of every.freaking.line. Since it is all knit in one, until the sleeves come off the needles, it is a lot of stitches. Tiny tiny stitches in unpleasant yarn. Even once the sleeves were off it was still a lot. Plus the button band was knit in one with the sweater, so I had to keep track of button hole rows too.
Sometimes I thought my brain might explode. I nearly frogged it several times, only to realize I was further than I thought and I just needed to soldier on already. By this summer, I was like, enough already, I HAVE to finish this sucker. I was concerned about the raglan sleeves, since I now know that they don't fit me that well, but I was pleasantly surprised by this pattern.
This sweater is designed to be worn front or back (so the lace in the front or back. I like it both ways). My two complaints are that the fabric is looser than is ideal (obviously I need to wear a different bra!) and it doesn't look that good on me untucked.
I also had to reknit the sleeves because they came out too short and oddly bell shaped at the bottom on the first go. I added 6 more 6-row decreases before starting the edge and that was about right. They are maybe slightly too long now, but I tried them on as I went and it seemed right before I blocked it.
I am pleased with how the lace panel came out, but man. So much brain exploding.
The "wrong" side rows were at least super easy to keep track of, and honestly, I've seen worse lace panels. This one wasn't super hard, I just never memorized the pattern, and couldn't "read" where I was in it at any given point, so I was always nervous about losing my place. I did mark everything, but if I set it aside for longer than a day, I had to spend some time figuring out where I was again.
As I said, it looks better tucked in, and I do like the closely spaced buttons on the back (although one or two holes are slightly too big and the buttons want to slide out. I may need to cinch a couple of them). I blocked it in the washer and laid it flat to dry, and when it was mostly dry, I chucked it in the dryer on medium for about 10 minutes to soften it, because it was pretty crispy feeling. The dryer helped, but some of my woven ends didn't like that. It was super hard to weave in the ends neatly because of the way the fiber behaved. I still have a couple of skeins left, and I honestly don't know what to do with them. The color is so pretty, but the fiber, man. Maybe a simple shawl or scarf.
That said, I might like to try this pattern (sans lace panel) in a lightweight wool, because I do actually like the fit of it quite a bit. It would be easy to modify that panel for a different stitch pattern or leave it off all together. I'm glad I made it, because it was a challenge for me on many different levels, and I learned a lot.
~reading~
I finished Volatile Bodies, and started Purity and Danger. I expected to like P&D a lot more than I am--so far she seems to be having an argument with 19th century anthropologists. I keep waiting for the real meat to arrive at the table, because it's all been fizzy drinks to now.
I'm still noodling that essay on bodies and women, aging, expectations, etc, so these books are proving helpful, but they are also dense. I'm nearly there on the essay. I need to make another pass or two at it before I share it here.
I'm also re-reading MOBY when I can't handle anything else. Jamie and Claire just make it all better.
I bought Nora Ephron's two books of essays for some down time reading later this month and am looking forward to them.
~sewing~
Not much, to be honest. Birdie's godmother came down for two days in July for a sewing workshop with me, and we made a ton of garments in two days' time. It took me a bit to recover from the intensity of drafting, cutting, fitting, and sewing all those things! (For the record, we made her newly ordained deacon husband a linen kombu, three skirts (one was a refashion and just needed a new waistband), five simple shirts, as well as refitting a few of my Dottie Angel frocks for her. I have no photographic evidence of this sewing intensive, because there wasn't any time to stop and take a picture! It was the best stash diving experience ever, as we only used stuff from my bin for her clothes (wide linen selvages, remnants, some gifted fabric, and other odds and ends I had to cut down for something else or use up)
I did squeeze out a shirt for Birdie's namesday last month, and cut down one of my Birch dresses for her birthday dress later this month (but haven't sewn it up yet).
I used the Lazy Daisy Jones pattern and just cut it shorter for a shirt. I really like this as a shirt pattern (less as a dress), and will probably make more of them, as Birdie is starting to want to wear separates more often. The fabric was a remnant gifted to me, so I only had enough for the shirt. It was a quick 30 minute sew.
I cut down my grey flannel dress into a pencil skirt. It just okay. I lined it with some dark gray bemberg I had in the bin, which wasn't too bad. The skirt was a pain to fit because my skirt pattern needs to be redrafted, I think. I'm not totally happy with the result (for a variety of reasons), but we'll see how it feels come December. It was a good exercise in using what fabric I have on hand rather than buying new.
Sometime in early July, I also changed the pleats on my chambray everyday skirt to a center box pleat like my other summer skirts and am much happier with the result. It was a bit pesky to do, but I got way more wear out of it that way. I also replaced the back elastics (again!) with 12" ones, since that seems a better fit at the moment. I think my basic issue with this skirt is not sizing but fabric. I loved this fabric as a dress, but it just doesn't behave that well as a skirt. I should try again next summer with a different chambray. I have several candidates in mind, starting with the Kaufman Essex line.
~watching~
Finally caught up on a bunch of movies I've been meaning to see this year. Early Man is the latest Aardman production (think Wallace and Gromit) and it is so cute and hilariously funny. Just what you'd expect from Nick Park.
I also (FINALLY!) saw Black Panther and it totally lived up to the hype (although I was about 15 or 20 minutes in before I thought that).
I finished both seasons of Berlin Station and it was pretty intense, but Richard Armitage was worth the ride. My main complaint about the show is the language is pretty over the top, and I also didn't appreciate some of the grittier aspects of it, but the writing was superb, and I really enjoyed the ensemble cast.
Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel was interesting. I've never really gotten into Woody Allen's films, so I wasn't prepared to like this as much as I did. It felt like a play, and I liked Justin Timberlake's narrator speaking to the camera in the 4th wall. Kate Winslet was amazing in it.
I also finished season two of The Path (also excellent, but taking a break before finishing season 3). I also finished season five of The Americans, and am eager for the final season. I may even pony up for it instead of waiting to next summer for it to go prime.
I went back to NYPD Blue's first season this week and it holds up quite well. I loved that show when it was on, but I don't think I watched the last two or three seasons because I was overseas and then didn't have a television when I got back.
On another note, speaking of women and the conflicted messages we get about our bodies (see under reading), I ran across this yesterday and fist bumped the air. Yes, yes, yes.
Next on my queue is series two of The Hollow Crown (the second set of Henry plays by Shakespeare). I adored the first series; I think we've established how much I like the Henry IV//V triology and the cast of series two looks equally amazing.
My sewing goal in March was to get through most of the stack of fabric I had set aside for the girls. Most of it was for Birdie's summer wardrobe, but I had a few things that I was going to make for Ponchik as well. I'm nearly through the stack (I have two more matching dresses to make for them for Ascension/Transfiguration and a surprise birthday dress for Ponchik, but otherwise, I'm done).
Yesterday was Palm Sunday, and the girls wore the matching dresses I made for the day. (I will try to write a bit about the pattern soon because I like it) They will work nicely for Pentecost as well, sans the black undershirts. They ended up taking them off in the afternoon because it was so warm. We went to Bridegroom Matins at one of the cathedrals in town and they had a nice Lenten meal afterward. I'm pleased to report that I successfully ate Russian-style pierogi last night!! I haven't had bread in more than two years because of all my swallowing woes, so this was a major treat for me. I don't think I'll be eating sandwiches any time soon, but it was so nice to eat something I love so much (and makes me miss Russia!) and not have too much trouble with getting it down. (I did make sure to have plenty to drink with it, and ate carefully with tiny bites).
And finally: the Foxglove Dress. I nearly took this one out of my rotation (in fact, it was sitting in a pile until last night, when I decided to give it a shot and got out the steamer). It was one of those "what was I thinking?" dresses. I bought the fabric in February when I was wishing for something bright and cheerful. I liked it when it arrived, but it washed up oddly--instead of softening nicely, it stayed kind of papery and stiff. And oh, the static!!
Every time I tried it on, it made me crazy. I was disappointed a) because I was looking forward to having an orange dress in my spring rotation and b) because I've bought from Cloud 9 before and had a great experience. My First Light dress remains a well-worn favorite of spring. Cloud 9 fabric isn't exactly cheap either, so I was sorry to potentially lose the investment as well. I washed it a second time and hung it to dry and hoped that would help some. It did soften slightly, and most of the static has gone out of it, so I think it is okay. I think the factory used a bit too much sizing on this particular bolt, so it will just take some more washing to get it nice and soft.
I also think I needed warmer weather to want to wear it. I just couldn't get excited about a thinnish orange dress when I was shivering in my Uggs in early March. But the next two days are supposed to hit 80, and it is quite pleasant this morning, so I think I'm going to say this one can stay in my closet.
The fit is good, I think the color is decent on me (sunburned cheeks and lips from standing outside after church yesterday notwithstanding!) and I feel comfortable in it. I even have on stockings today instead of full tights! I can't believe the crazy weather we are having. But that is spring around here, I've found--it is cold, it is warm, it is cold, it is cold some more, then it is warm, then cool, then it gets super hot and stays hot for the rest of the summer.
I like the print--it is interesting. I think a taupe cardigan would look nice with this dress too. I did have to pay attention when I was cutting to make sure the flowers were heading in the right direction. I realized as I was laying out the pattern that it was a directional print! Thank goodness for small mercies.
I'm leaving my sewing machine in the cabinet this week. It is Holy Week, and we are in the middle of 12 days of morning-and-night services. Since Old Calendar Annunciation fell on Friday (4/7), it added a few more days of services to the intensity that is Holy Week. I'm also pretty tired right now and my last couple of makes have had some mishaps. I was able to rescue them, but I think I need a break now. I still have a few things to make for my summer, plus the girls' dresses, and I think it will be good for me to have those to look forward to after Bright Week. I sometimes get a bit of letdown after big feasts, and I find it is helpful to have a project at the ready.
I plan to make Pashka on Saturday sometime (my recipe is very quick and doesn't require cooking or draining) and I'm considering making kulich for the first time this year. I have two small soup-size cans saved and I want to make a half-recipe. Kulich kind of scares me (even though I've made plenty of yeasted breads before), but I think I just need to do it. A good friend gave me her tried and true recipe, so hopefully it will all turn out okay.
