A New Year

I can appreciate the whole "New Year's Resolution" idea. I'm all for goals but what I have found out about myself is that goal's are really worthless unless there is some form of commitment behind them. And for me to be committed to a change, means that something meaningful has to happen for me to want to change.

For instance, over the past 5 years I have changed my eating and exercise habits all after a friend was diagnosed with cancer (she's doing well, thank you for asking). It wasn't a huge, overnight change. It was very small changes (the Japanese refer to this as Kaizen or baby steps) implemented over time. First I totally cut out soda from my diet (they are fattening and totally devoid of any nutritional value but you can bet that there will be a 2 liter of ice cold Pepsi at my last meal) and I started walking. About 3 months later I added ankle and hand weights. Another couple of months later I added interval weight training. I went quite a long time without doing anything new. Then I had a friend challenge me to a boot camp. For six weeks I got up at 5 am (no easy feat for a die-hard night owl) in the Texas summer heat (trust me, it's not that much cooler at 5 am) and worked out. I was amazed at the energy and strength I gained and didn't want to lose that so I started running. That was 2 years ago. So change happens, goals get met, when you are committed to them and when you don't overwhelm yourself.

This year I am not making any resolutions, per se, instead I choose to call it a "rededication". For me, 2010 is going to be The Year of my Art. I have always enjoyed art and design but this year I am rededicating myself to my creativity. I have already signed up for one art class and I have a wonderful, scary but exciting big project that I am launching in 2010 that is dedicated to my love of creating fashion (knitting, crochet, sewing). The website is being worked on as I write this. This is going to be the year that I take my creativity seriously and finally overthrow those demons (in my head as well as well-meaning people) that told me that being "crafty" was a good hobby but not suitable as a career.

It's been awhile

I have been trying to fill in the holes in my wardrobe and one of the things I have been lacking is a neutral, all purpose (winter) sweater. So I knitted this one out of Lion Brand's Wool-Ease, which is a middle of the road kind of yarn, mostly acrylic with a touch of wool. I orginally made a cardigan out of it but was disappointed with the fit so I unraveled it. This sweater, however, turned out PERFECT. It is exactly what I wanted, a drapey, yet shapely knit that I can wear with jeans or belted with my black beaded skirt.

I did something you are "never" suppose to do with yarn. I ironed it. I stuck the iron right on the sweater (those of you who are "by the rules" - not that we know who actually made up these "rules"- might want to stop reading now) and steamed it till it the yarn gave out it's last dying breath (otherwise referred to as "killing" the yarn).

For those of you who don't knit, generally you don't put the weight of an iron on the knit for the very reason that I did it. It takes all the elasticity out of the yarn. The steam and weight of the iron gets rid of all the stretch, generally something you want to keep in, especially for those body hugging curves.

But I did it on purpose for several reasons. First of all, (and I am kicking myself for not getting a "before" picture), the yarn was a little kinky from the previous sweater I had knit with it. Ironing it evened out all of the stitching. Second, less expensive acrylic yarn tends to be a little bit on the scratchy side. Killing the yarn can create a soft fabric (now if you have a REALLY cheap acrylic, sometimes no amount of steam ironing will get rid of the scratch. It's just best to use that yarn for something else). Finally, I didn't want to create a second skin, I wanted it to be on the drapey side so that it would have a more elegant look and killing the fabric created a beautiful drape in this yarn.

When I tried this sweater on before I ironed it, it fit just fine but it wasn't exactly flattering. The ribbing pulled in (especially on the sleeves at the cuff) and the kinky stitches looked sloppy. It looked like a ho-hum, "homemade" sweater. After I ironed it, the cuffs flared out nicely (doesn't it look like I have monkey arms?) and the sweater skims my body, giving me some definition in the waist (I did build in darts) but not squeezing me like a stuffed sausage.

Overall, very pleased with my effort.

The September Issue

If you have any interest in fashion, I suggest you go see "The September Issue", a documentary about putting together the September 2008 issue of Vogue (the BIG fashion issue). You think the movie is going to be more about Anna Wintour, Vogue's famous editor but Wintour, while a fashion genius in her own right, really doesn't have the personality for film. She remains guarded and elusive throughout the whole movie (and while the Vogue offices look very much like the offices in "The Devil Wears Prada", the vibe of the actual Vogue office and it's staff seems more laid back - well as laid back as you can get under constant publishing deadlines.)
The real star of this movie is Vogue's creative director Grace Coddington. The woman is a wonderful storyteller. Her photo shoots and styling are phenomenal. She's one of those people I want at my fantasy dinner party.
Also, Andre Leon Talley is hoot playing tennis with more diamonds around his wrist and Louis Vuitton luggage than you can shake a stick at!

New Obsession

I found this book titled "Stella" in the fashion section at Half Price Books. I originally thought it would be about Stella McCartney but found out it was about a model named Stella Maret who did a lot of work for Jacques Fath. Now, I had heard of Fath, but after looking at this book, which is primarily photos of his clothes, I was obsessed.

The book has some amazing examples of his designs as well as other well-known designers from that era (the suit with the bow is a Lanvin)

I have a whole new appreciation for 50's fashion and for Fath, who was obviously underrated in his day.

Look Familiar?

I'm not one to make the same thing twice, but I had the yarn in white and decided to make another one of these tops. I made it a little shorter this time around.

The dress is the one I was debating whether to go navy or use this deep olive green. I thought navy would win but I had way more yardage of the navy so I decided to save it for another pattern.

This dress is actually from the same pattern as the blue dress I made last month. I still have to put in the zipper and hem the sleeves and bottom.

Day 27

I am wearing the pink blouse from Saturday's post today with a cute black/white/pink/green print skirt. I think it looks cute but the males in my household don't notice these things.

I also finished knitting the armbands on this tank top. It fits well, the ribbing is very flattering. It will be very versatile - I can wear it alone in the summer or under a jacket in the winter.

I did a major reorganizing of my fabrics. Well, it wasn't so much a reorganizing as it was digging up the piles of fabric to see what I actually have. I started matching up fabric to actual patterns I could sew with them. I have some wonderful black wool that I am going to make a gored skirt with and then I have a very cute dress but can't decide if I want to make it in this very dark olive green or navy. I think the navy is going to win.

I also have two knitting projects that I haven't finished and decided before I start anything new I have to finish them. One is a pink cardigan (I spent a lot of money on the wool for it - it is soft and luxurious and beautiful). It's practically done, all I have to do is knit the bands, collar and pocket and sew in one sleeve (the other is already sewn). The other project is a blue cardigan that has wonderful texture to it with cable and bobble stitches. I need to finsh the back and sleeves on that one.

Day 5

This is a tank top that I started knitting to go with the brown skirt that is in yesterday's post. The flowers on the skirt are actually an aqua color and this yarn just happened to match perfectly.