Weekend Pictures

Just to prove we actually completed something this weekend.

Here is the curtain looking so visually complex for such a simple shibori technique. It only took Mark two days to notice it.

I suspected that Iris was looking for a pink dress much like her beloved "blue Princess Aurora dress" which she wore to tatters; she still wears it today as a nightgown. She was very fond of telling everyone that it had three different colors of blue! Here she is wearing it at her 4th birthday party. That's "the bug lady" and her travelling zoo beside Iris. The original dress was Simplicity 5827 in size 4. Her "heart dress" was also in the same size.

The "pink Princess Aurora dress" is size 6. The dye job on the large skirt yardage was not very even. I told her that an uneven dye job makes the dress look that much more luxurious. She didn't look convinced.

Some people plan their sewing. I pick my next sewing project by the color of thread that is already in the serger. Iris' cousin got two pairs of Kwik Sew's "Sewing for Babies" pants in pink (size L to fit 12 mo).

Recognize the fabric?

Iris loved our new bed so much, she tried to sleep UNDER it. She moved the middle row of bins out of the way, dragged pillows, a blanket and a yoga mat in with her, and fell asleep in "her cave". I told her not to sleep under my bed. She reluctantly went back to her room. Later, I could hear her snoring, but she wasn't in her bed. She was way under her own bed! I managed to pull her out partway without waking her up.

Yesterday, we saw this car on our walk. Who knew that duct tape came in so many colors?

Cable Cardigan Update

I finished the Norah Gaughan cabled cardigan body and decided to start on the long scarf piece. Because the Patons Classic Wool was a bit scratchy and I am wool sensitive, I decided to use Art Fibers Golden Siam (silk tussah) for the scarf. However, working cables in the Golden Siam, which is loosely spun thin and thick single-ply, turned out to be quite tricky. Worse yet, the hard work doesn't show against the variegated yarn.

So now, I am thinking of using Classic Wool for the whole thing. My skin is so sensitive, that the wool scratches my left index finger because I control tension by winding yarn around that finger. Yet, the wool seems to be less scratchy as I work with it. Maybe it is wishful thinking?

I couldn't make up my mind last night, so I decided to sleep on it and cast on for the first sleeve.

In other news, we have the perfect storm of Halloween, Iris' birthday and a satellite launch all in the same week. She had told me that she wanted to be a bathtub/shower combo and I had collected a white box, white fabric, a shower head, silver duct tape and bamboo stakes (for the shower curtain surround) to make the costume. Then she changed her mind (T-3 days!) and wanted to be the pink Princess Aurora.

I decided that strangling her would take up more time to explain to the authorities than making the d**n dress. She also quickly said that, it didn't have to be perfect, I could use whatever I had, even if it had other stuff besides straight pink, as long as it was predominantly pink. Then she gave a well-rehearsed pleading look.

In the spirit of making do with what I have instead of rushing out to buy stuff, I pulled out all my pink knits from the stash. The stuff I had is on the bottom. From left to right, 1 might work; 2 is a french terry and too heavy, though the color is great; 3 is too coral, and 4 is too neon.

I then remembered the white/blue print cotton/lycra that I bought when she was a baby. We had a dye session this morning. The top three fabrics were the cotton/lycra overdyed with varying amounts of Fuchsia Red. Can you see the beach theme print?


Iris asked to dye her art apron in a swirly pattern.

The plain white IKEA curtain in the bedroom was treated with 2 teaspoons of "Plum Blossom" dye. First, I took out the hem and sewed the curtain into a tube. Then, I ruched and twisted it over a bucket. I put the dissolved dye and half a gallon of soda ash and rock salt solution into a Sterilite 66 quart bin and rolled the bucket/drape around a bit. After a couple of hours in a sunny window, I washed it. The drape is in the dryer right now so I can't show it. Stay tuned. It looks great IMHO.

See the Dharma Trading Procion color card; isn't plum blossom lovely?

Stick a fork in it
The dress is done. Iris loves it so much, she is wearing it to bed tonight. The curtain is rehemmed and hung. It looks like ripples of water in a stream. It is only with great restraint that I do not repeat this shibori technique on every other large piece of fabric in this house.

Here we go again, another wildfire

I was wondering why I had upper respiratory problems today. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. But one did ask me today if I noticed any effects of the fire upon my asthma. Another duh. Why hadn't that occurred to me?

The NASA Aqua satellite's MODIS instrument took a spectacular image of the Cabazon fire in Riverside county, near Palm Springs, this afternoon. Check out this and other images at the MODIS rapid response system website.

More about southern California wildfires here and here.