FOs: oatmeal and ginger

These are both from two weeks ago but it took awhile for me to set up a tripod. But they're both done! The Ginger Skirt is done! Please excuse the wrinkled skirt and the extremely awkward poses (and don't look too closely at the seams); it's far from perfect but it's the first thing I sewed on my new sewing machine and I'm proud of it enough that I'll probably wear it in public and just hope no one stares at it too critically. 

My plan is to make a few more of this pattern as I get comfortable using the sewing machine - I love the high waist and the A line cut and would love to see how it looks in some more conventional fabrics (I used quilting cotton here, which probably wasn't the wisest choice.) And, also! While I didn't make the shoes, I did, sorta, design them in Vietnam, in that I picked the heels, colors and laces out at one of the many shoe-makers in Hoi An, so, yay for that! 

The second FO in this post is a return to much more familiar waters - the Oatmeal Pullover is a quick, satisfying knit that definitely restored my occasionally flagging knitting confidence. Like many other Ravelers, I knit it using Puffin by Quince & Co in Carrie's Yellow, and like many other Ravelrers, I added an extra row between the shoulder increases, and I'm pretty happy with both the color and the fit. I could definitely see myself making more of these in the future, because bulky yarn + nice loose gauge = crazy fast satisfying knitting.

Raveled here. 

happy happy valentines!

fo: p u r l s c a r f for maggie

Hooray, it's done! The congratulatory purl scarf for my sister is done! 

I used Malabrigo Worsted, madelinetosh merino light and Rowan kidsilk haze, and I love the way they look together. I stopped measuring it, though I suspect it's not quite as long as the pattern calls for - but it's still taller than me, and definitely long enough to loop comfortably around her neck. 

The photos don't really do the pretty yarns in this scarf justice. Not the most thrilling project to knit, but I could definitely see making one for myself in the future - perhaps with bigger needles and casting on a few more stitches, since this one is a lot skinnier than I pictured. So, yay scarf! Yay for managing to finish projects despite working round the clock!

Raveled here. 

blue skies

Saturday was all early morning drives up the PCH to Malibu and playing with this: 

... which came in the mail on Friday night. I knew how to sew years ago, before I left for Vietnam, but was never really good at it; I'm much worse now than I was back then, which is frustrating. My first foray back into sewing is a cute but very simple a-line skirt pattern: 

Simple as the pattern is, I still managed to make a dazzling array of stupid mistakes (see below for the perhaps the stupid-est one) - fortunately I still have my old seam ripper? 

Mostly I just love the sky blue fabric with its' birds, which reminds me of the big vast California skies from my early morning drive up the coast.  I've lived in Los Angeles for almost a year now and do not do this nearly enough. 

It was dark by the time I finished sewing (I took lots of breaks to avoid getting too frustrated - it's like the opposite of riding a bike, forgetting everything you used to know)  so I don't have any pictures of the skirt yet, but, yay for sewing and lazy sunny weekends!