Compromise never felt so good. Day 47.

Not getting to bed until fairly late last night I slept in until 8 today. Shocker, I know! I then started on a few little things, though my main goal was to get some patterns drafted today. So, since that was my goal, we can assume—correctly—that this didn't happen.

I decided to get my gauge swatch a little further along for my blue McQueen Sweater Dress.




I also started to work on knitting lace, which I have never done before.




The amazing Malabrigo I found the other day is just too stunning a color not to use. The blue is bright. Really bright. I know that this is also not part of Project Hallway, but I just keep finding these amazing textures that I can't keep my mitts off of. The sweater that I want to make with this lace yarn requires more than I bought, so I looked up a place to get more. Turns out one of the few places that have (had) it is in SF., ImagiKnit. So, thinking on my tippy toes, I called a girl-friend, asked her if she wanted to have lunch and starting driving to the city.

After having a lovely lunch, I realized that I just don't get to see this good friend nearly enough, and I started feeling a little blue. So what better than to help my mood than more lovely blue yarn. I bought the only two hanks that the store had and was utterly overwhelmed by their immense selection of yarn—best selection of yarn yet. Drool.

Sadly, with my mood still not improved, I hit up another discount fabric place in San Francisco, and low-and-behold, what did I find? My houndstooth! It's not wool, it is polyester, but it feels soft, the black and white is clean, graphic, and large, and the best part it was $9. Wait, it gets better, turns out it was also 30% off!

I know it is not as nice as the fabric that McQueen used, but I simply can't afford the wool/alpaca blend at Britex. I think that this is part of the challenge of the project, creatively problem solving the materials dilemma. This project isn't supposed to be easy, it is intended to get me thinking outside of my normal ways. So, the fabric may not be "ideal," but to me it is. I had the reaction, the moment that I saw it, that THIS IS THE FABRIC, which is the desired reaction to making any project. As diligently explained by Michael Kors on Project Runway this season, you have to let the fabric speak to you, and understand how you can work with it, and not have it work against you. I can tell that this will drape nicely, and work well for the project. Maybe sometime, when I can afford it again I can go back to Britex and re-do this one with the wool, but I don't know if I will stand to learn enough by doing it a second time to make the effort worth the investment. Again, with the 80/20 principal. Will the outcome really outweigh the effort by enough to make it a valuable use of time and resources? This is a question that is often asked in our kitchen when looking at making something the way that Thomas Keller would, versus the way that will be 80% as good as the Thomas Keller version while taking 20% of the time. So, While I may have compromised the wool, I feel really good about the fabric that I chose.

The woman at the cutting counter said that it had just come in today, and I was the first one to get it. I bough 6 yards for about 40 bucks, and finally my blue mood was lifted, unlike the San Francisco Fog which kept me cool for my drive home on this unusually hot October day.

It shouldn't be called "Finishing." Day 46.

At the end of each project for which a pattern already exists, there is a small blurb about the "finishing" of the garment. Be it knitting, sewing, crochet, anyone who has worked on one of these sorts of projects knows. "Make button holes and sew on buttons." "Sew arms together and sew to body." "Block to size." etc. Standard with the 80/20 principle, the last 20 percent, or even last 10 percent take 80 percent of the time.

After cleaning up cat yarn-ball emergency #854, I spent, literally, all day completing the "finishing" of the Sweater I Hope Ramon Will Wear. Finally at 6:30 I completed it. I'd like to vote to make a move to change definition of "finishing" to "making." Something that takes 8 hours, when the entire sweater took 40 to make should be included as construction, not "finishing" where you get the false feeling that your juuuuuuuuust about done.

The finishing should be: "Put on. Wear. Feel Fabulous."

That being said, I found this pattern a bit frustrating, with a few small errors which lead to lard corrections. The ribbing of the neck? There is no way that this instruction can be followed as designated in the size 40 chest, smallest gauge pattern. I also found that the math in the sleeve increase was wrong, and the saddle for the left hand sleeve is also specified incorrectly. The right one is fine, so if it is simply switched/mirrored, it all works out fine. All in all I am happy with it, but I am not sold on the colors that I chose. I tried to play it safe, like the book says, but I think that two blues or two greens, or even the gray and charcoal that I thought I'd picked might have been better. I think he is really going to like the overall styling though. It is strong and masculine while still refined, just like my Ramon!

I also learned how to crochet today!

Big plans for the the weekend ... a lot of pattern drafting, and a lot of sewing! I can't wait.

Ramon's sweater, appropriatly hung on an AlpineStars hanger, left over from my photoshoots last January.


My first little crochet piece!


And the yarn emergency. Please note how both cats are actively involved in the emergency.

Two Wool Skirts. Day 45.

At 12:07 last night Ramon woke me up as he was coming to bed by saying that there was a "Yarn Emergency." I groggily asked him what happened, and he said, "I don't know, but it's bad." I'd been blocking his sweater—which I am almost done with, just have the neck-band left, surprise!—and dumbly left it out on my new sewing desk in my new sewing room. Big kitty was already asleep on the blocked pieces because she was so exhausted from attacking a yarn-ball that was attached to a sleeve and wound up all over the living room. I lost a few rows, but luckily that was all. The project now rests in a drawer, safely stored away from my four-legged-fur-balls.

With the sweater almost done I patiently await the yarn I ordered a-week-and-a-half ago, but alas it has not yet arrived! I called them today to ask if they knew anything. They do! It got returned, as the post-office indicated that my address doesn't exist. Hrmp. Well, now it is on it's way to Ramon's shop, and as he gets hordes of deliveries there I have a hard time for-seeing a delivery problem.

Yesterday I went out and had a fabulous lunch in Half Moon Bay with a fabulous girlfriend I haven't seen in forever. And, OMG, she knits! How did I forget this fantastic fact. I remember her telling me long ago, but we don't see each-other very much, and I only started knitting a few months ago. It slipped my mind.

I think I might be going about this all wrong. I am finding that through working on this project I am making more connections with people than before, which is great, but I am learning the skills on my own. Michelle and I went to a yarn shop near where she lives after having lunch, and there were 4 ladies knitting away in a circle, telling stories about the DeYoung and modern art. They were learning from each-other while socializing. When I need to learn something new, I look it up online. It would be great to learn these skills with people, like in a knitting group, or a sewing club, and then translate them into projects. I think I should get out more.

Before lunch I finished wool skirt #2. I pegged this one, because that is how it looked to me in the picture. It is also a little longer, and has two darts in the front, as opposed to one, like the black wool skirt I completed with the peacock lining. My mom and I searched and searched for wool the same color as in the Alexander McQueen Cape Suit, but no luck. I decided on the light grey because it is similar in color density, while a few actual colors away. I didn't want olive, or forest green. I like the grey, and I feel happy with it as an alternative, but if I do find the right color, I will probably be inclined to get it, and make the skirt again. With pegging the skirt it has a little less ease in the hip than the straight black skirt, but I really like the way that it fits, and I really like the texture of the wool, and the lining—which is of a more standard variety than the peacock print. So, I still have the cape to start for this look, and this will require finding some trims, something else I haven't ever really done before!




The McQueen original pegged skirt:


I know, it has been a millennium, but here, finally, is the black-wool skirt. I put the peacock print in the kick-pleat, but I am having a really hard time getting pictures of that. So, at some point, I will post that, too.


The McQueen original straight skirt:

Ready to turn my houndstooth into checkers. Day 42.

I haven't even had one moment to sit down since Wednesday afternoon. I know I say this all the time, but I just can't believe how busy I am, even without a job! With last Tuesday being my sister's birthday, this weekend was packed with fun family time from Thursday until about 30 minutes ago. It was so busy, that even though my mom and sister were staying with Ramon and I, I never even got the chance to demonstrate the wonders of my new Bernina! Well, this was, of course, complicated by the fact that I have no where to put my Bernina, and every time I tried to get it out we had something else going on at our tiny kitchen table. This morning I was feeling a little like the flavor of my jelly on my gluten-free toast: sour cheery.

As mentioned a few weeks back, I was to start working on my sewing room. Alas, busy schedules and pessimism got in the way. My mother, not in-tune with my apparent daily drama, threw the negativity to the way-side, and commanded that we get to work on my sewing room—aka our guest room, aka my mom's room—immediately. By day's end everything had moved, and after a trip to busy IKEA—thanks for not paying attention IKEA check-out person—below budget my sewing room is (almost) complete. It still needs some cleaning and tidying:





But, even though it wasn't ALL running around (OK, maybe it was) I did get to take my mom up to San Francisco to go to the exclusive Britex, and then I also took her to the discount fabric place. Amazing, beautiful textiles at Britex, but not so cheap. I found the exact houndstooth wool that I want, but at $70 a yard, on sale, I just can't justify it right now. That place is utterly overwhelming with the amount of great fabric they have, and even more astounding, the prices. $300 a yard remnant silk? Really? We left with only our still intact wallets in-hand. At the discount fabric place my mother observed the disparity between the two, noting that we have not one single great fabric store in the bay-area. Despite this, I found the most amazing purple and gold sequin fabric I have ever seen. I honestly never, ever, ever thought I would buy anything with sequins but this was just too fabulous to resist. On sale it was $32 a yard, and with only one yard left on the bold, I bought it. I have something in mind for it, and hope to turn it out quickly, even though it is not one of my Alexander McQueen looks.



After going back to San Francisco for a second time yesterday, for my sister's law-school drink-a-thon, I felt exhausted. I think that is why I was a sour cherry this morning. But I must say, that, even though I completed no actual sewing this weekend, I still feel like I accomplished a lot. Ramon has been amazingly generous over the past few months. Since I was a senior in high-school I have always been working. Upon graduating from college I did everything that I could to make sure that I was able to financially sustain myself, while having my own apartment. It is really hard to let-go of your independence, but it isn't as much of letting go as it is letting-in. Ramon and I have been living together for almost three years, and yet it is still hard for me to accept help. Though, if the tables were turned I would be doing the same thing for him, without question or doubt, and it would mean the world to me. So, now that Ramon has bought me a new sewing machine—yes, i did create a new website for his business, and Nicole bought the sewing machine for me, too—and he has bought me a new work-area, I am starting to let go—of, course only a little—of the guilt of contributing so much less than before, and opening up to the idea of really doing all of this together. How many men in the world would do what he does for me? It is time to take a step back and count my blessings.

I have been taking more steps to help other people recently, to continue the feelings that I have about what Ramon is doing for me. On Thursday, after leaving my hair appointment to correct my naturally not real color back to platinum, and no-roots, I stopped by a market to grab an apple to drive home with. As I was pulling out of the store's driveway, I saw a woman pulling her mother's wheel-chair out of the same market, and then her mother accidentally dropped her sunglasses case. I couldn't stop right then and there to say something, as there was traffic right behind me, so I spent the next 10 minutes driving around, parking the car, running back to get the case—only to notice it was hand-made, chasing them down the street and returning it. It just made me sad to think of the cute old lady not able to find her case, and upon seeing that it was hand-made, I realized that it probably held some significance to her. I am glad I could find them and return it. If I still had a job, would I have taken the time to do this?

On Friday Ramon and I took my sister and my mom to the Mountain Winery to see Cheap Trick, which, during the 80's was my mother's favorite bad. Two margaritas in, we had a really great time. After seeing Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, and Chris Issak there in August, Cheap Trick was the best show we saw this "summer." They have a very prevalent checker motif running throughout their gear and fan-wear. I had sort-of forgotten about it over the years, but upon seeing it, and hearing them live again I realized what a great visual texture it is. I am glad that I bought the tickets with my tax-refund while I still had a job, because it was worth every penny, and even better to share it with my Mom and sister who really, really enjoyed it. Alas, I didn't see any checkered wool at Britex, so I think that project, along with the budget, are going to have to wait for a while.

So, taking a cue from my checkered friends regarding my current situation an feeling at a lack of control:

"Surrender, surrender, but don't give yourself away."

All dressed up and nothing to sew. Day 38.

So, now that I have the amazing sewing machine, I don't have anything ready to sew. How is that possible? I think I was slacking off while the sewing machine was out of commission, and finishing knitting the in-between sweater, which, i was very excited to gift last night.

Yesterday was my sister's birthday, and Ramon and I picked her up in San Francisco, and then went out to dinner to celebrate. I am so proud, I even informed the restaurant ahead of time, so they snag Happy Birthday to her. Hehe, oh, I am evil. The second I saw the pattern on ravelry.com of the in-between sweater, I knew my sister would love it. This project was a really good challenged and I learned a lot doing it. It was my first time to cable-knit, and it was amazingly easy, though making sure that I had the exact number of stitches wasn't. One inch in and two inches out equals three inches of progress.

In the end it was a little big on me, and fits my sister perfectly, and even better, she likes it!







So, because I have nothing ready to sew, I drafted two skirt patterns tonight. I used the momentum from my patternmaking class and powered through them. I will make muslins, to make sure that they are going to work, as I am doing some different things in them. I don't have the right McQueen fabric for either of them, but I am looking, and looking. Perhaps I can find what I need for these two skirts this weekend.

Don't drop your yarn ball in the coffee. Day 36.

Luckily it was only a little nubbin of a ball left anyway. Can't complain though. I am on cloud nine because of my new Aurora, I finished a McQueen garment, and I made huge amounts of progress on Ramon's Christmas sweater. Almost done with the front side, and half-way done with the back, I am really happy that I frogged it last week. I can tell it is going to be really nice when it is done, and it would have been a shame to have it turn out the wrong size.

Several friends have been quite appalled to hear that I un-did all of that progress. Dalyn went over ever reason she could think of about how to fix it and why I shouldn't have frogged it as we drove to Nieman's last Thursday for a boot party. Jeff wished I'd left it intact for him—maybe wouldn't have been a bad idea, but I certainly couldn't have Ramon and Jeff matching! I think that by the end of the week his sweater may be done—see, trying not to set expectations too high—and I have more yarn on the way for yet another project. I have been searching for this particular yarn that is hand-painted and hard to get your paws on. I found enough of it in Oregon, and was about to order online when I decided to call, just in-case. Sure enough they did have it, but oh how I love yarn people.

I made a trip down to my local yarn store on Friday, looking for a way to order this yarn. I wanted to try to get it through the local yarn-shop, because I adore them, and want to support their business. The yarn is made by Malabrigo, and while my yarn store carries some of their yarn, they don't carry the type I want. Upon asking if they could order it for me, they said yes, but that it might be up to 6 months before I get it and I'd be best off ordering it online. 6 months? Do we have to wait for spring for the sheep to be shorn?

While looking around the yarn store, I may have found the right yarn for the blue Alexander McQueen fuzzy (Angora?) blue dress. I bought a ball and will commence testing it out after I finish Ramon's sweater. What I found is Cascade Cloud 9. I love it, but not a lot comes in one ball, only 109 yards. I think that the dress may take around 2000 yards, and at eight bucks a pop that's $152. Ouch, though less than what just spent on the Malabrigo. Gauge swatch to come.

On Thursday, after posting the Kitten Eating Yogurt on Two Legs video, I decided to take some Jeff advice and get down to the store to buy my lining. Last weekend while pouring wine, I whinned to Jeff a lot about not having my sewing machine. After explaining that the sewing lab is available but only for an hour and a half here and two hours there, he said that I needed to look at it like Project Runway, and just go in there and "bust the shit out." Point taken.



My sewing helper. See how she is helping by sitting on my bag of sewing tools?


I got my wool and my lining cut, after agonizing in the store for an hour-an-a-half over the lining, and got into the sewing lab around 2. The machine I had made friends with, was of-course taken. I found my way to a little white Juki, and low-and-behold, it wanted to make friends, too! Feeling very happy and satisfied with my skirt and lining half-sewn and the brilliant greens and blues popping out from behind the black wool, I headed home at 4 to get ready to go to Nieman's with Dalyn.

Delightful as always, I had a great time visiting the store of many beautiful things I cannot afford right now. I found some Manolos that are so freaking good I almost started crying. (See picture of fabulous shoes below, with my little Stuart Weitzman toes peaking out.) There was also an incident with a thigh-high Chanel boot made out of scooba material, somehow listed as leather. FYI, stretch leather and denim are not two great tastes that taste great together. Dalyn's awesome personal shopper, Omid, know I will try ANYTHING on. He brought the boots to the ghost-town of a drink area where Dalyn and I were enjoying our cocktails. It took 5 minutes to get the thing half on, and another 10 to get it back off. Crying for help, Dalyn was literally crying from laughing. Best Nieman's moment yet.





Makes me think that I need to work harder to find a job. I miss being able to buy these things.

After tossing the small bit of yarn that is now caffeinated, back to work on my very busy day. I really hope that I can find some time to squeeze in some sewing on my beautiful new Bernina!

Serviced, but never made back home. Day 35.

Big Kitty, who loves shoes as much as I do, has been just as anxious to get my sewing machine back as I have. (Yes, I know that is Ramon's shoe, and not mine).



I was delighted when I got the call yesterday that my sewing machine was repaired and ready for pick-up. Ramon went with me today to bring that little puppy home. However, the sewing machine never made it.

I talked to Eddie for about two hours at Eddie's Quilting Bee in Sunnyvale, where my machine was being fixed. As Ramon recommend, I asked his opinion on if my current "Bernina" was qualified to meet my needs. I told him what I was doing, re-creating 30 Alexander McQueen looks in one year to learn how to sew. Wide-eyed, he asked, "how many?" in shock and disbelief.

He took some time to show me some other machines, and I got to try them all out. I really, really, really wish that I had known about this place before I bought the first machine. However, as Ramon says, if I hadn't have lost my job, I probably wouldn't have discovered until way down the road that it wasn't robust enough for my needs.

After testing numerous button holes, and asking a lot of questions I Ramon and I brought home this!





It may have cost more than my first and second cars, but it is less than Dalyn spent at Nieman's during the Green Party a few weeks ago.

OMG, I am so happy I could pee my pants. I am actually so happy that I finished the wool skirt! Too late and too tired tonight to put it on in the hallway, I will do it tomorrow, and post the pics.

For now I shall tease the lining, which I love. I didn't buy any in the city, which was a big mistake. I can only find acetate an polyester in the South Bay. So, I decided to go with something a bit more flirty and feathered because it tickled my fancy.





More to come on the beautiful Bernina Aurora 450 sewing machine and the many other goings on during the weekend soon. I'm pooped.