Jerome has clothes now

Jerome the sock monkey has clothes now
Originally uploaded by batoral.

Here is Jerome in his stripey shirt.

One out of two ain't bad

Well we made it to the sheep show but not the car race.

It was very hot on Saturday for Lambtown but we had a good time. The sheep were a hoot to watch and I was impressed by the skill of the shearers. It was also fun to watch the border collies do their thing - boy those dogs seem to love to work. The vendor part was a mix between usual fair-fare and fiber. It was interesting to watch the spinning and the wheels they sell are gorgeous, but I have no interest in adding another hobby to my already too long list. Well, maybe weaving. I was in love with the beautiful woven scarves and blankets.

We had pretty much already made up our minds Saturday night that we wouldn't go to the car race. Being that this was the first year for this race, there were too many unknowns: would there be too many people to see anything, would we be able to see anything anyway, would it be too hot (temps were forecasted in the 90's), did we want to pay $90 for the ability to stand in the hot sun for hours? I also knew that we'd be constantly comparing it to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This race was less than 2 hours long and probably wouldn't give us time to get to different parts of the track to see the race from different angles, something we were able to do during the 24 hour race in Le Mans. So we watched it on TV in the relative cool of our ceiling fan. And I'm glad. The race was more of a parade since the course was too tight to let cars pass. If the driver's car didn't disintegrate going over the trolley tracks (yes, the tracks ran right through the course - twice!) , his pit crew worked fast and furious, and he avoided the concrete walls, then he placed pretty much in the order he started in. Sebastien Bourdais started first, pretty much stayed first (except for a few cars who "pitted" later) and finished first. Exciting.

But enough about car races, this is supposed to be a sewing, knitting and crafting blog! I've been working on a sock monkey for the July Month of Softies. With a blog site title of "Monkeyroom", how could I not participate?

Here is my sock monkey Jerome. Ella wanted to get in on the photoshoot too. But that's okay because she's a little monkey too.



I made him from a couple of child-size socks so that he'd be a bit smaller. I used instructions from a sock monkey kit I have, but they are similar to the instructions on this site. Jerome's hat is made from a sock and I have almost completed a matching sweater. The stitch size in socks make them perfectly sized for doll sweaters too, which is where I got the idea.

Sheep and fast cars

This weekend will be all about yarn, sheep, and fast cars. And heat. It's going to be HOT and we are probably nuts for planning to do outdoors things. But hey, the sheep and certainly the fast cars won't be around every weekend.

I've never been to a wool and sheep festival but I've read other knitting bloggers accounts of the big festivals in New York and Maryland and it sounds like fun. It'd probably be loads of fun to go with fellow knitters but alas I am not so social and don't have any knitting friends to go with. My husband will do. Just joking. He's being a sweetheart to go to this sheepy fair with me...and he knows it's going to be hot. I've told him maybe he'd rather stay home and I'll go by myself but I'm happy that he's going to go with me. Besides, he's my best friend and I love doing stuff with him.

And on Sunday I'll go to the race with him. He's not a race fanatic, so it's not like I'm doing him a favor in exchange for his going to the fair with me on Saturday. I'm interested in the race too. If you recall we flew all the way to France last month to see a big car race (among other things). We both enjoy the engineering of fast cars and the races are certainly thrilling but just like we enjoy music but don't go to concerts (the ticket costs, the crowds, the parking...) we usually don't make plans to go to car races. It's just that these races are opportunities that don't come around often. Last month it was all about seeing France, friends and a big-time race that goes on for 24 hours. This month it's a rare Grand Prix through the streets of the city I live in. We'll be able to hop on the light rail and ride a few stops to the event. Unless the crowds are totally outrageous or the heat is just too unbearable we'll buy the cheaper general admission tickets and go check out the race.

So a weekend of yarn, sheep, and fast cars. The only thing that would make the weekend better would be to include some cheese, chocolate and wine and I'm sure we'll manage to fit those in as well.

The fitting woes return

I thought I had found a New Look blouse pattern that fit without alterations, but I was sadly mistaken. I made up the muslin last week and it seemed to fit, so either my body suddenly changed or I was in fitting-denial when I tried it on. Somehow I fear the latter. I tried it on again last night (after it had cooled down into the 90s) and with the front hidden placket sewn up the truth was immediately visible. The blouse is too small. Well, too small from the bust down that is. I added to the pattern, grading to the next largest size just under the arm and it was sort of ok, but still not right in the bust. If I increase to the next largest size overall, it will be too baggy across the chest and in the shoulders. So now I'm consulting Sandra Betzina, alas not in person but via Fast Fit, to see how to increase the bust darts.

My serger is back home. Yeah! It's been cleaned and oiled and adjusted and is ready to do its serging duties once again.

Fickle Serger

My Babylock Evolvé, beloved serger of all sergers, is behaving poorly. I'll be serging along all fine and happy and then suddenly it wants to serge a lot faster...and then slower...and then faster. My serger is surging. So I took it in to the dealer, who was quite surprised when he saw me there with my machine. This is a reaction similar to when I brought my Honda to the mechanic. They (Hondas and Babylocks) don't break. I agree. They are both well-made and reliable machines. And just like sometimes your car no longer makes that "clanking noise" in front of the mechanic and you have to resort to trying to imitate the sound, so too was the situation with the serger. It behaved like an angel. It hummed and serged just fine while I stood there saying "it goes "rrrrrRRRRRrrrrrRRRRRrrrrr." He said it could be the foot pedal control and offered to swap it out. And knowing that this 3-year old serger has not been cleaned in...oh, 3 years...I asked for a cleaning and oiling. I do sometimes give it blasts of canned air between projects or I drag out the vacuum and mini tools, but it's never had a good cleaning and oiling and perhaps that is causing the problem (it's not like a sewing machine - Babylock only wants authorized repair people to oil it, so they don't tell you where or how to apply oil). Or it's the footpedal. At any rate I'll be serger-less for about a week. Fortunately I'm starting a new project so it'll be a while until I need to serge. And I always need to serge. If you don' t own a serger and you sew clothes, then you must get one. Why? Knits. Hems. Seam finishes. Even finishing the edge of fabric before you wash it so it doesn't unravel in the wash. That's why.

Shopping

I found the Vogue pattern I wanted last night. Hancocks has a 75% off sale on Vogue patterns right now. I was prepared to drive a few more miles to another Hancocks in hopes that they had it in stock but first I re-checked the store that is only a mile or so from my house and yipee, they had it! I picked up the buttons for the dress...and later discovered already had the exact same ones at home. I will probably use them on another project so I'll keep them. $2.10 for buttons isn't worth the trip back to return them - even if the store is nearby.

Went to exchange something at Costco and realized I didn't have my card with me. Doh!

But the evening was young so I headed to the mall where Macy's once again disappointed me. The shoe department was woefully understaffed and there as no way I was going to get any help, so Macys? You lose. I went to Kohls instead. I really wanted a pair of Keds canvas sneakers or slip-ons because they'd look great with my cropped pants and well, I can always use another pair of shoes, right? It is quite funny to me that 30 years ago I would not have been caught dead in girl's sneakers and thumbed my nose at the Keds-like sneakers. Ah, but now that look is retro, so it's different. Anyway, I wanted a pair of the canvas ones, but unfortunately they just didn't fit. The arch was too far forward. I didn't want to believe this and even tried on every one in my size. Nope. But just as I was about to give up, I saw a different version of Keds in a microfiber instead of canvas. Not exactly what I came for but I like them. Mine are a khaki color. And they were on sale.

All in all, a good shopping evening.

Moving right along

Sorry, still no pictures of my latest creations. I finished the Kwik Sew 3337 skirt and I'm moving on to a matching shirt. I decided on New Look 6952. I considered New Look 6598 but I seem to have a fitting problem with this one. You would think that two similar looking shirt patterns from the same pattern company should fit the same way, but this is not the case. About 6 months ago I made two muslins of 6598 and gave up trying to get the bust to fit. I noticed that 6952 has a side bust dart in addition to the vertical dart of 6598 and thought that might just be what I need. So I traced off the pattern and made up a muslin and lo and behold, it fits. Fortunately the pattern has been reviewed by others over at patternreview.com and I'm forewarned about there being lousy instructions for the front hidden placket (and this pattern is specifically labeled as an easy pattern). Good to know in advance before I cut this out of my fashion fabric in case I need to add fabric or change something. I think I'll play around with the muslin as a test case, which will also make sure it fits completely when buttoned.

No knitting or other crafting. I looked at my blue Cotton-Ease yarn before I put it away, does that count?