Ethylwelt's Dilemma

For the love of Tom Baker...

2009-03-30T09:57:00.003-04:00

...and a geeky, super sweet husband. I have knitted 51.25% of the scarf! Measuring in at a little over 48" in length and 10.5" in width with a total of 534 rows of garter stitch completed, I am over halfway done with the knitting! It is well ahead of schedule, too.

I'm hoping that once I finish it, add tassels, and block it (and with the natural stretching from the weight over time) it will achieve its goal length of 11'-12'.

Must Have Knitting Books

2009-03-29T12:39:00.004-04:00

Last night, insomnia got the best of me. To entertain myself, I made a little poll on knitting books using Google Docs. It is based on a thread from the Knitting Book Talk group on Ravelry.

Please feel free to respond with your "Must Have Knitting" books.

Survey: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=p5_eWd0glqHPUNvDRLW4VUQ

Results Summary: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewanalytics?formkey=cDVfZVdkMGdscUhQVU52RFJMVzRWVVE6MA

Making a home for dirty cloth napkins…

2009-03-24T12:00:00.004-04:00

We have a problem, a *serious* problem, in our house. I started making cloth napkins out of spare cotton fabric a little over a year ago to cut down on our paper towel usage, but once they have been used they seem to run amuck—rarely actually making it to the laundry hamper (and even then there they do not have their own slot). I find them squatting in the most unusual places--under the couch, under the bookcase in the kitchen, in a corner of the dining room, even under books in the office, everywhere…

When I first started making the napkins I knew I would eventually need to make a small little laundry bag for them in the kitchen, and now it is finally completed.

Fabric Used:
1.Random red linen-like cotton fabric that once were curtains that belonged to a friend
2.Netting from the bottom of our laundry hamper’s stand (never could figure out if I was supposed to use it in some way or not—it certainly wasn’t useful there)

Total Cost: $0.05 for electricity to power the sewing machine and the amount of thread I used (I buy thread in bulk).

Sewing in Celebration of the Fact that I Can Finally Knit

2009-02-11T08:27:00.006-05:00

After years of attempts, last week I finally figured out knitting. I discovered that one can knit backwards (apparently the style is called Eastern European--what else would it be called with my love of all things Eastern European ;) ), and I just went with it because it felt more natural. I was actually able to get past the second row stitches without it taking forever!!! I am now working on switching my style to Continental, and it is going extremely well.

Of course, to celebrate I had to make a new knitting bag, needle roll, and accessories pouch:

I wanted the fabric to be different from what I have been working with (Amy Butler and a variety of Japanese imports), but still really colorful and graphic. I stumbled across this fabric at Joann's and I thought it would make a fun knitting bag.

The bag is just a simple design that uses two rectangles sewn together and the bottom corners seamed to make a bottom. It is fully lined in pale green fabric. The handles were created sewing together two 1" single fold bindings--one from the main body fabric and the other from a coordinating orange solid.

After I had completed the bag and needle case, I had one small scrap of fabric that was the perfect size for making a coordinating accessories pouch. It is also fully lined in the pale green fabric, and the opening is reinforced with some double fold binding in orange that I machine stitched on. The accessories pouch is the perfect size for an Altoids tin, measuring tape, stitch holders, cabling needles and anything else you might need.

Last but not least, my needle case. I *love* my new needle case. I based the design on a pattern I found from lupinbunny's blog (Her tutorial can be found here.)

Below is the inside of my case:

As you can see, it can hold *a lot* of needles (straights, dpns, etc.) plus my crochet hooks and a few circulars.

The major alterations I made to the pattern was that I increased the width (so I would have room for even more needles) and the pocket lengths were readjusted to provide a greater amount of diversity in how they could be used (the second pocket, as well as the bottom pocket, can now easily hold sock length dpns or short crochet hooks).

While sewing the pockets together, I had a bit of a problem with my fabric stretching and shifting slightly even with my walking foot (yep, I need a sewing machine with an adjustable pressure foot). So I had to resquare the entire needle case which caused me to lose a little on the overall length. Because of this, I could not top stitch the flap down across the top and the case still hold 14" straights. I decided my best option would be to stitch the sides of the flap down, which I think I like a little better.

Oh, the edge stitching on the needle case broke my sewing machine (I was sewing on it *a lot* last week, and the needle case just sent it over the deep end...)thus the edge stitching is a little ruff on the needle case and accessories pouch. Maybe I will redo the stitching on the accessories pouch later...

The machine is now back in working order.

So many kumquats in the winter, so little time...

2009-01-29T11:01:00.002-05:00

More Kumquat Stuff (and Pomegranate too)
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

My parents have always grown a large variety of fruits and vegetables, among my favorites are the kumquats and satsumas. There is nothing like eating a satsuma fresh off the tree on a chilly winter night (well maybe sitting in a fig tree on a summer day and eating sweet, juicy figs!!! ). However, every winter I end up with a fridge filled with more of them than we can possibly eat fresh.

This year I decided that I wanted to can up some whole kumquats (especially to eat with herbed pork roasts--yum!!!).

Recipe:
Spiced Whole Kumquats
Makes 4 Pints (approximately)

4 quarts Kumquats
2 ¼ cups Water
¾ cup White Vinegar
3 cups Sugar
2 Cinnamon Sticks (broken in half)
1 ½ tbsp of Whole Allspice
1 ½ tbsp of Whole Coves

1. Wash and remove stems from kumquats. Cut ½ inch slits at 90° angles on blossom end.

2. Place kumquats into a pot, cover with water, and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain.

3. In a large pot, combine 2 ¼ cups of water with vinegar, sugar, cinnamon sticks, allspice, and cloves. Heat until boiling over medium high heat. Reduce heat, and boil gently for 5 minutes.

4. Add kumquats to syrup, simmer covered for 20 minutes. Turn burner off, and allow kumquats to cool (keep covered) for 10-15 minutes. Kumquats should now be translucent.

5. Place hot fruit in jars (make sure to get a piece of cinnamon in each jar along with the other spices), fill with hot syrup, check for trapped air, and leave ¼ inch headspace in jars. Can in a hot water bath canner as normal. Process pint jars for 15 minutes.

A pillow to go with the quilt

2009-01-27T11:27:00.004-05:00

A pillow to go with the quilt
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

The back of the pillow can be viewed on Flickr

Made out of scraps leftover from the quilt and a couple of other projects that used the same fabric. The pillow form was made from a bed pillow my heavy head had squished unrecoverably flat and I recycled into a smaller, significantly plumper, pillow.

Measurements: 18" x 14"

Just in time for spring

2009-01-22T11:18:00.006-05:00

Spring Quilt
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

Finally, I have completed a sewing project!

I have an enormous pile of projects sitting in the middle of my office floor, and it is well past time for me to start clearing things out. This past weekend my spring quilt was calling my name and begging to be finished.

Yay! It is done! I am quite happy with it; however, the pictures do not show just how vibrant the fabric is.

Final Dimensions: 75” x 75”
Fabric: from the Amy Butler Lotus Collection
Design: Brick Path

The Saga of Emmeline #2

2008-09-20T15:17:00.005-04:00

Emmeline #2
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

Last night I finished my second Emmeline apron-- just in time for my trip to my parents house tomorrow. This one is an early birthday present for my mother.

I have had my doubts as to whether or not this one would be finished in time for my trip. The first Emmeline Apron was a breeze to make (except for my addition of the crazy pleated pockets), but this time around everything went wrong.

I have been working on it off and on for about two weeks (every time I hit a snag I had to put it away for a couple of days). The first issue I had happened while doing the gathers on the bodice---after years of practice with gathering stitches and suddenly I was having the same problems I did when I was in elementary school with my mom teaching me how to do them. Thread was snapping, stitches were snagging in the fabric that prevent my ability to gather the fabric, and then they just did not want to look right...

Then I could not get the top stitching straight on the simple patch pockets I had originally planned on adding. When I got fed up with that and removed the pockets, I ripped a hole in the skirt with my seam ripper on the last pocket I removed. After patching and some impromptu appliqué and hand embroidery to cover up the patching, I thought I was in the clear. But....

When I stitched the two sides together one of the waist straps managed to contort itself despite being pinned, and when I turned it right side out half the strap end was sticking out of the seam. A seam ripper, topstitching, and then a little hand sewing fixed that without too much additional work or redo...

And then my machine decided it did not want to do the final topstitching around the skirt.... The seams were no more bulky then the last time I made this apron. Luckily, I had a walking foot that I had bought a while back but hadn't used yet that seemed to do the trick.

Arg!!! So frustrating, but in the end it is really cute. I hope my mom likes it. On the brighter side, I am know interested in embroidery-- even got a library book on it to take on the plane tomorrow.

Details of the Apron:

Accent Fabric: Full Moon Polka Dot in Lime from Amy Butler's Lotus Collection

Side A Fabric: Lacework in Olive from the Lotus Collection

Side B: Honeycomb in Linen from the Midwest Modern Collection

Pattern Mods: Changed the neck straps to be used with D rings instead of tying them. This makes it significantly more comfortable, and I will be changing my first apron to a D ring closure. Added a little Mod style flower shaped appliqué to the second side. Applied with a satin stitch on the border and used a back stitch in a circular pattern to fill the flower center. The backstitch gave a really neat looking texture to the flower center.

Happy Birthday J.!

2008-09-19T11:47:00.002-04:00

Birthday Cake!
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! The day will be spent playing video games (He opened one of his presents from me this morning, and he has been playing Endless Ocean constantly for at least 4.5 hours), eating birthday cake, ice cream, and pizza, and doing anything else he wants.

I just finished making his cake an hour ago, and it seems to have turned out fine. This is the first birthday since I found out I am gluten intolerant, and so everything, including the cake, is gluten free. The cake itself is from a mix which makes me sad (I was raised with amazing homemade cakes for birthdays and holidays, and I have always enjoyed making them myself for J's birthday.) However, I decided that J.'s birthday cake was not the time to experiment with a homemade gluten free cake recipe.

I have always torted J's birthday cakes, and put all sorts of fillings between the layers (his first cake from me was devil's food with chocolate mousse and raspberry jam filling--so tasty). This cake however, refused to be torted this morning or even leveled. At least it is a chocolate cake with maple frosting like he requested this year.

As usual, I made up the frosting recipe as I went along...

In this one I used:

1 stick of butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup of maple syrup
approx. 3 cups of confectioner's sugar

I creamed together the butter and syrup first, and then slowly added the confectioner's sugar till it was the right consistency.

The texture and taste is a lot like a buttercream without having to cook it like a traditional French buttercream.

At least the worst is over...

2008-09-11T19:52:00.002-04:00

Prewashed and Pressed
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

So what happens when you have a project that requires yards of fabric, another one that has to be done by September 21st, and silly toys you can't wait to make? You end up spending all your free time for a week prewashing and pressing fabric.

Ack! I pressed and did at least the first cuts on over 12 yards of fabric this week. Plus I made 15 yards of double fold "bias" tape out of fabric I swore I never would make it out of again.

I used Amy Butler's Full moon Polka Dot for the tape. I am so obsessed with evenly spaced polka dots remaining parallel to the fabric edges that this fabric just kills me to use in narrow strips due to fabric warping during the prewash. For some reason that dot pattern obviously gets warped while washing and drying. Not a big deal when you only need a yard or less, but 12 yards and the slight warping becomes an issue with me.

Oh, my obsessions with straight lines...

And now the fun begins! :)

It has FINALLY arrived!!!

2008-09-06T17:00:00.003-04:00

My Folklore
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

So last week I finally got around to ordering some of the My Folklore fabric by Lecien. I have been in love with it since it came out, and it seems to be in the process of being discontinued.

According to the post office it was delivered to my house last Thursday, but of course it wasn't--because the mailman who is filling in for our regular guy can't seem to get all of the mail to the correct house. I called and talked to the supervisor yesterday, because I was afraid all would be lost (the fabric isn't exactly cheap and it is hard to file a claim when the tracking system says it was delivered to your house). Well, apparently he found it! It was delivered today!

Blog Design

2008-09-06T15:42:00.002-04:00

So I finally decided to finish the layout of this blog. I am not completely happy with it, but it is good enough for now. Now if only I could decide on what to do about the title image....

Puzzle Ball and Birds

2008-09-05T14:35:00.004-04:00

Pattern Tests
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

The past couple of days I have been testing out a few of the patterns from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. The book has some really neat patterns ranging from simple pin cushions to more complex quilts, and I have fallen in love with a number of them. Plus the book has beautiful photography.

The primary reason I got this book was for Peanut the Wee Elephant, but the puzzle ball and bird ornaments caught my attention this week.

I used some cheap fat quarters I had lying around for the purpose of testing patterns out (thus the fairly unattractive fabric), but they still turned out really cute. I will be making these guys again soon with some nicer fabrics.

Unlike Hoverson's directions, I put the puzzle ball together in three components so that it can be taken apart and put together like traditional puzzle balls. From Hoverson's directions it does not look like you can take her's apart like a puzzle.

Also, in the future I will use an ease stitch(like you would use to attach a sleeve on a shirt) on the belly fabric for the birds so that it is easier to attach the fabric for the belly to the body fabric. All the pinning on such a small guy is a bit much to sew on a sewing machine.

Brick Path Quilt Top

2008-09-02T18:07:00.000-04:00

Quilt Top
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

Today I finished the Brick Path quilt top. It is a fast and easy pattern to cut and piece together. Since the design is so simple I wanted to use bright fabrics with large prints (plus it is no secret that I am in love with Amy Butler fabrics). It really is a great pattern to get into quilting with because it large enough that it is usable but not so much work that you get too bogged down and never finish.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with about the backing. I am going to machine quilt it and then do a hand binding so hopefully in the next two weeks it will be finished.

Final size will be 70-75 inches square.

Emmeline Apron

2008-05-30T13:20:00.002-04:00

Emmeline Apron Side B
Originally uploaded by ethylwelt

Yay! It is done! This apron is my first sewing project in eight years. Overall, it turned out well with a few minor mistakes in top stitching and a couple of other areas.

I made it using the Emmeline Apron pattern from Montessori by Hand (now Sew Liberated) and fabric from Amy Butler's Lotus Collection. The apron is a reversible design, and the accent fabric on both sides is Full Moon in Cherry. The main body fabric in the photograph is Morning Glory in Linen, and the main body fabric on the other side is Geisha Fans in Olive.

I added two fully lined patch pockets featuring 2 inverted pleats with contrasting underlay on each side of the apron (for a total of four pockets). The lining, binding, and pleat underlay for the pockets are in the contrasting polka dot fabric I used for the straps and accents on the main body of the apron.

Additional photos over at Flickr