I went to Mary Jo's in Gastonia this morning and found two different fabrics for the apron from my grandmother.

I think I'll chill on the knitting for a week and focus on sewing.  I have to complete a present for my favorite nephew's 2 year old birthday first!  We'll see how many sewing projects I can complete in the next five days!

I have completed and front and all of the back except the shoulder shaping.  I started it in the round, then realized that the intarsia would have less weaving in of ends if I went back and forth.  I split the back and front at the beginning of the initial.  It went well.  I ended up doing the Fair Isle technique with yarn in both hands.  That was fun!  When I taught myself to knit, I carryed the yarn in my left hand.  Then, after reading Stich N Bitch I tried knitting with the yarn in my right hand and that went a bit faster.  So I was already comfortable with the yarn in either hand. Here's the back of the initial:

I forgot to rotate the picture. Sorry.  The bottom of the B is on the left.  You can really tell I was getting the hang of it more and more as I worked on.  The top of the B looks much more consistent.

I've been trying to do the shoulder shaping the way that Elizabeth Zimmerman describes in Knitting Without Tears.  I just can't figure it out.  She says to work the last two stitches together.  I've done that now a few different ways and it never looks like the drawing in her book afterward.  If anyone can describe it in more detail I would really appreciate it.  Please email me at arm_3(AT)earthlink.net (replacing the (AT) with @) if you know how to do that.  Thanks!

So - now for the sleeves and then the collar!  If I keep on at this pace, maybe this will be ready before Thankgiving!

Actually, I finished this two days after my last post, but I could not find my digital camera anywhere.  I had to wait until we returned to my parents' house so that I could use my dad's camera.  His connection is faster too, so uploading the images is way easier here.  Here it is:

I haven't washed and blocked it yet.  I'm glad I added the green at the end of the sleeves.  WooHoo!!!  My first sweater is complete AND it fits!!!

The yarn for the Weasley sweater came in today's mail!  Now to check gauge and get started.  We'll be staying with my husband's father for the next few weeks.  His computer has not been well lately so it may be some time before I post again.  Hopefully I'll have some great pictures to show when I do!

All of the Kyoto pieces are complete.  Now for the weaving in of ends and the blocking!

Hooray!

I've finally gotten a picture of the first completed full circle skirt.  Check it out on my gallery page.  This one was cut with the grainline down the center of the pattern piece.  There are four pieces to this pattern, all exactly the same.  It's a very easy skirt to make.  It just takes forever to hem.  I ended up using about 5 yards of hem tape on it!  The other two full circle skirts each have different grainlines, which should make them hang differently.  I'm curious to see if that really is the case. 

In addition to the knitting, I've been working on some sewing projects lately.

I have and old apron of my grandmother's that I just love.  I've spent this week drafting a pattern from it.  It's great to have that done.  Now I can give the apron to my younger sister and make a new one for myself.  I always love having a reason to draft up and sew something fun.  Here are a couple pictures of my younger sister modeling the ApronDress. (Please excuse my parents basement!)

What really cool is that you could wear it as a dress. As you can see from the back photo, it wraps all the way around.I love the tabs at the waist that button it closed.  I can't wait to find some fabric and make one for myself!  I like to wear aprons when I cook.  I'm pretty messy.  I hope to get to a fabulous fabric store in Gastonia, NC called Mary Jo's before long.

 

Also on the sewing front, I have cut out two more circle skirts that I drafted in the spring.  My plan has been to make three circle skirts, each one with a different grainline, so that I can see the difference in how that fabric hangs with each one.  I completed one a couple of months ago.  It's great fun to wear!

Here are a couple pictures of the fabrics I cut for it the other two:

Yellow and green are my favorite colors so when I saw the top fabric I just had to have it.  I thought the apple fabric would look so cute in spring or late summer.  I found both of these fabrics at a wonderful secret store that still has fabrics from the 70s at super-dooper prices.  I love the patterns from the 70s and the 60s.

From the knitting side of things:

Halfway through sleeve 2 of Kyoto.

Still working up and around on the Ravenclaw scarf.

Waiting for the Harry Potter sweater kit to arrive.

I was checking out the 2004 Knitalongs website and saw a new button for a Weasley along.  At first I wanted to do it, but my plans for what I'll be knitting this fall and winter are getting a bit full as it is.  I kept going back to the site and decided that now was the time to do it.  I will only be able to dress Bruce in what I want him to wear for so long, so a Weasley sweater is bumping other projects down the line.  I ordered the yarn and pattern from Yarnwarehouse.com. I think I'm going to put a B on the sweater.  I would actually prefer the R, since Ron is my favorite character, but those I have discussed it with think otherwise.

I'm almost finished with the first sleeve of the Kyoto.

If you care to see my little guy, click here. 

Now I just have to sit and wait for the mailman.