splityarn

we really ARE the jetset

We're home from Norwich, CT for three minutes before we fly out tomorrow to Vancouver. I've been looking forward to this last wedding stop on the tour not only because of the family we'll see, but  because it's my old hometown. We'll be busy, but it will be easy. No directions to look up, no worries about where to eat or stay, just kickin' back in a city where we can walk everywhere and where we (mostly) know where everything is. Familiar haunts, good Canadian beer and the best sushi, I can't ask for much more.

oui, c'est bon

I'm thinking it will be easier to pretend that I'm away for a month instead of saying that I'm away most weekends in June and July. I'm really only home two days out of the week until mid month. It's just enough time at home to kiss the kitties hello, upload pictures to flickr, do the laundry, pack and head back out to the airport. Posts over the next month may be all pictures and lists. Might as well start now, right?

Here's what I loved about Montreal:

- Going to a beautiful wedding in a lovely chapel at McGill. (That's #2 for the summer if you're keeping track at home.)

- 2.5 meals a day and late night hours. Eat brunch when you roll out of bed in the early afternoon, dinner at 10, and a snack before bed at 5am.

- The W. It's akin to staying in a hipster nightclub, but well worth it. You won't find a cranky tourist anywhere inside.

- I'm still fluent in french. (My slang sucks but I can still speak the language. Hey Mum, the early immersion program worked!)

like the sign says

In the dead of night, we're home from wedding #2 in Montreal. I can't decide which is tomorrow's top priority: downloading pictures from the trip or doing the laundry so we can pack to leave again for wedding #3? Only a good nights sleep in my own bed can sort this one out.

away games

TV alert: The third episode of Uncommon Threads we taped last summer is going to air on HGTV tomorrow morning! (Old Cover, New Trick. I'm going to make a CD case in the same way that I make my needlecases.) Set the DVR, cheer me on and then please go easy on me if I say something goofy. (Or god forbid, high-five on national TV like I did in the first episode. Sheesh. I'm such a dork.)

I've been bustin' a hump all weekend to put together a fat splityarn shop update before we leave town to go to the next set of weddings. First it was Vegas, now Montreal, Connecticut, Vancouver and finally Cape Cod. We've been calling it the Great Wedding Tour of Aught Seven. I'll only have one or two days at home between each trip so I wanted to make sure the shop was full of needle cases because I won't have any time to sew over the next month. The bonus of the travel will definitely be some good solid knitting time on each of those flights. I could even get Hanami finished before the end of the summer if I don't catch startitis...

under over under

The Hanami stole appealed to me for a few reasons, the primary being it's not a static pattern. Because it's asymmetrical, the charts change and you're rarely knitting the same thing twice. You knit through a chart and you're on to a different one. There's no time to get bored. The exception in this pattern is the basketweave section at the beginning. It's a 32 row chart, repeated 7 times. I just finished the 5th and I'm at that stage where I start to bargain with myself. What would happen if I only knit 6 repeats? Could I get away with 5? How long does it really need to be?

I'll suck it up, I'll be good and I will knit all 7 (because this stole is going to be GORGEOUS,) but I have to admit I'm already thinking about the next set of charts.

stash in, stash out

When I moved to Vancouver from Pemberton and Whistler, I downsized to 700 square feet of living with no storage space. I had to develop a rule: one item coming into the house meant two items had to go out. If I bought new noodle bowls, then it was time to take the old IKEA frames to the Sally Ann. A new skirt meant two pairs of snowboard pants went to consignment. I was good about preserving negative growth for almost two years.

Having thoroughly documented my stash over the last few weeks reminded me of this old rule. I know, I know, you're laughing that I don't have any stash to speak of, but unused yarn weighs on me. (If I haven't bought yarn for a project yet, I can change the project and colours at will. I'm never bound by guilt to start something that doesn't sing to me anymore.) So when I impulsively bought some Yarn Pirate two weeks ago, I harboured a little guilt. How can I bring in sock yarn when I have 3 or 4 projects queued ahead of it?

The happy solution? I offered up a few leftovers for sale and before you could say "First Class International Mail," I was down one skein of Lorna's Laces and a half ball of Kidsilk Haze. Welcome lovely Yarn Pirate (in Sweet Magnolia,) snuggle up to the Scout's Swag yarn, you're here to stay for a while.

sew a zippered wristlet (tutorial)

I've been making wristlets for ages now and I thought I'd share my recipe since they're appearing with less frequency in the Splityarn shop (that'll happen after you make 80 gazillion of something.) I wasn't really thinking about it when I started, but choosing (notoriously hard to photograph) red as a key component to the project made for some challenging photo edits. My apologies that the pics aren't quite up to snuff. I'm only posting the basic pictures here, but there's more detailed photos and notes in the accompanying flickr tutorial set.

For this project you'll need:
7" zipper
2 pieces of fabric (an outer fabric and one for the lining)
zipper foot (optional, but worth the investment)
1" bias tape maker (optional)

From the outer fabric cut 2 pieces 8" x 6.5" and one piece 10.5" x 1.25"
From the inner fabric cut 2 pieces 8" x 6.5"

1.  Starting with the lining, pin the zipper to one of the lining pieces both with right sides up. Stitch across the top from end to end, fairly close to the zipper (if you have a zipper foot, now is a good time to use it.) when you're approaching the slider and pull tab, stop with the needle down, lift the presser foot and open the zipper past the foot up into where you've already sewn. This is key to getting a nice, straight line.

Repeat with the 2nd piece of lining and the other half of the zipper. I don't usually bother with pressing until after the next step.

2.  To sew the outer pieces to the zipper and lining, place the right side of the zipper on top of the right side of an outer piece and pin. With a pencil or chalk mark in about .5" from the edge (right about where the metal pieces at the end of the zipper are). This time you're not going to sew all the way across. You're going to sew over top of the previous stitching but between the two points you just marked. Repeat with the remaining outer piece.

3.  Press the fabric away from the zipper, just like how it will be when it's finished. Press! Press! Press! This is critical to a nice looking piece. This is the difference between homemade and handmade. You won't get a chance to redo it after you stitch it down, so take please take time to do it right.

4.  Now you're going to top stitch the zipper down. When I do this I like to top stitch only the outer piece down onto the zipper, keeping the lining out of the way. I also like to double my thread when I top stitch in a contrasting colour; it makes the stitching pop a little more and look deliberate. Just thread your machine like you normally would, but use two pieces of thread for your needle.

Leave the zipper foot on and stitch between the metal ends of the zipper. Do this on both pieces.

5.  Next up is the wrist strap. Run the long skinny strip through your bias tape maker and press the whole thing lengthwise again. If you don't have a bias tape maker, you can simply press the edges in towards the middle, then fold in half again and press. Top stitch along the length of the strap to close it (about an eighth of an inch seam allowance)

6.  Open up the zipper at least 2/3rds of the way and flip both pieces of the lining out of the way to sew later. Fold the wrist strap in half pin it to itself, then pin it onto one side of one of the outer pieces, about .5" down, raw edges together, parallel to the zipper.  Pin the outer pieces right sides together and sew from the top edge of the outer piece around 3 sides to the other top edge (1/3 - 1/2" seam allowance.) Be careful not to catch the lining in the seam. The half inch you left unsewn when installing the zipper allows you to fold the lining out of the way.

7.  Pin the right sides of the lining pieces together. Mark off an opening of at least 2 inches. I like to do this along one of the sides so when I close the seam at the end it's less noticeable. Sew the lining together all the way around the three sides, leaving the opening (of course)  This time you'll catch a little of the tops of the outer pieces as you start and finish.

8.  Clip your corners and turn right side out through the opening you left in the lining. Wiggle the corners out and then all that's left is to close up the hole in the lining. You can do this by hand, but I detest hand-sewing anything so I do it by machine. It leaves a wee ridge, but because it's on the inside, you won't really notice it.

9.  The very last thing is, you guessed it...
Press! Press! press!

You can vary the size easily if you have a different length of zipper. Simply measure the full length of the zipper tape and that's how long to cut out your fabric. (A 7" zipper usually has 8" of tape.)

If you have any questions, please feel free to ping me. If you make one, be sure to send along a photo for the gallery!