What's Keeping Me Warm

This Project Runway pattern is great. My only regret is that the fabric I chose--a corduroy print-- does not highlight the details of the pattern. Instead of cuffs, the sleeves have delicate tucks to reduce the fabric at the wrist. The center front does not overlap but joins with bias cut loops sewn into the edge seam on one side to buttons on the opposite side. The raglan sleeves are roomy enough to accommodate a light weight sweater underneath without seeming too big with just a tee shirt. A solid corduroy or lightweight wool tweed would show off the details nicely.

Deciding that perhaps the cropped jacket look should be left to a younger generation, I tried this Butterick pattern with some 60" fabric I found on JoAnn's Red Tag shelf. The fabric, a silk/nylon blend, was $2.00/yard and I used some left-over velvet for the collar and pocket trim. Turns out, it's my favorite jacket so far. The back is the best part, with the inverted center back pleat.

Two things about this pattern, which limits fabric selection: the fabric must be 60" wide and fairly lightweight to accommodate the four layers produced by the inverted pleat and back flap.

I Heart Fall

Nancy's gate is one of my fall favorites,

along with our vine maples

and fall sunshine.

Another fall favorite is apple pie. I have made three in the past few weeks, one for Ben's birthday, one because Peter ate the birthday leftovers and Ben was more than a little annoyed, and one because Winco has local, new crop Jonagold apples for 78 cents a pound and who can resist that? I know, many people (and recipe books) swear that Granny Smith apples make the perfect apple pie, but I disagree. For years I sought to make the perfect apple pie with Granny Smith apples. No luck. The apples were always too hard, no matter how long I baked the pie or pre-cooked the apples, and too dry, no matter how much sugar or apple juice or syrup I added. I finally found a kindred spirit in Dean, who confirmed my suspicions: forgo the Granny Smith . Liberated, I started to experiment and found that Newton Pippin and Jonagold both make excellent pies. I also picked up the perfect pie plate at a garage sale. It's ceramic and the bottom crust browns perfectly.

While I prefer a two crust apple pie, the boys want a streusel topping with lots of brown sugar and cinnamon. No nutmeg. I also tried a new recipe for apple cinnamon ice cream, but I was not impressed. I'll have my apples and cinnamon in a pie, thank you.

Halloween Reflections

I'm feeling a bit sad this year: the boys have outgrown Halloween. We didn't carve a pumpkin, I didn't sew even one costume, and I'm certainly not walking around the neighborhood making sure they are protected from ... ghosts? I loved Halloween as a child and anxiously awaited the trick-or-treat experience. Although, in my time, the rules were different: 1) You had to wait until it was dark (we had our first trick-or-treater at 4:30 this afternoon); 2) You had to wait until after "the dinner hour" as it would be rude to interrupt anyone's dinner (I don't even get home from my lengthy commute until 6:00 pm, at the earliest). Life was different in the sixties, that's for sure.

For the kindergarten Halloween parade, Peter was Pikachu and best friend Nick was Ash.

The Pokemon years continued, Ben inheriting the Pikachu costume and Peter evolving to Charmander.

There were a few years where Harry Potter ruled.

We also went through the Star Wars years until Obi-Wan's and Anakin's lightsabers were confiscated after one too many reenactments of the duel on Mustafar.

My all time favorite was Peter's portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow. While at the WASFAA conference in Anaheim, Andrea and I went to Disneyland and I bought Peter a Jack Sparrow hat at the Pirates of the Caribbean shop. Peter then decided that he needed the rest of the costume. I was just going to make the shirt and vest, but the pattern for the coat was so cool. The pants, however, are still a UFO in my sewing basket.
Very fun times!

Fall Leaves

Our next door neighbor, Nancy, has a fabulous yard. And I love that Nancy's yard spills over into our yard. The fence between our properties is covered with a tangle of vines and ivies and the fall colors are simply lovely. The fence has a trellis along the top and the sun shines through the hanging vines, casting a yellow glow in the late afternoon.

Happy Birthday My Sweet Benjamin

Fourteen years ago, at 2:11 am, Ben was born. Always the cooperative child, he was born on his due date after a very brief--albeit intense-- labor. So brief, in fact, that the attending staff doctor insisted that there was no time for any intervention of the pain-relieving kind, i.e. drugs. I remember questioning that particular doctor's credentials at the time.

Like Peter, Ben has entered a major growth spurt in his 14th year and is currently 5'8 1/2" ... only 1/2 inch from being as tall as his mom. And I now join all parents in asking that rhetorical question, "Where did the time go?"

A Jacket for Under $10.00

I bought this pattern, Kwik Sew 3460, on last week's trip to Fabric Depot with Andrea. I did not plan to make it right away, having plenty of other projects to keep me occupied. But I was wandering though JoAnn's Columbus Day sale this weekend and spotted a shelf of 100% cotton fabric on sale for $2.50 a yard. I used five different cuts of coordinating fabric for this jacket. The sleeves are a bit too long, but the cuffs turn back nicely and the whole casual effect goes well with jeans.

Surprisingly, I often find fabrics I like in JoAnn's Red Tag collection. This week, the Red Tag fabrics were 50% off and I picked up several pieces of beautiful summer cotton for $2.00 a yard. My fabric stash is growing faster than my yarn stash these days.

Finally Finished!

I started this One Button Cardigan in July and no, I haven't been working on any other knitting projects. I'm just slow. And I have been addicted to sewing lately. I love this sweater. The pattern was very easy, knit in one piece until dividing for the armholes. I generally refuse to knit sweaters that are not knit in the round, mainly because I'm so bad at sewing knitted pieces together. I had a breakthrough, however, when I set in the sleeves of this sweater. The Best Knitting Book Ever-- aka When Bad Things Happen to Good Knitters--has a chapter on finishing. Even though I've studied other finishing techniques, I have never quite got it. I was skeptical when I read what seemed to be different instructions for joining reverse stockinette ... but I diligently followed the instructions and achieved near perfect results.

The edges are finished with an I-Cord stitch, making the edges so much nicer than a plain slipped stitch edge. The last six stitches needed to be graphed together, and I confess to having never mastered the Kitchener Stitch. So I brought the sweater with me on Friday night and Katy graciously graphed those last few stitches together while drinking beer at the Corner Saloon. I don't think that bar sees many knitters.