Pure Silliness

OK, before I get a zillion emails that say 'congratulations,' let me just say I AM NOT PREGNANT! But, my best friend is! I have so much knitting and sewing mojo going on right now, I thought I would attempt to make her some maternity clothes as well as a few baby things. So, first up are the maternity clothes. I found this nice pink jersey at Affordable Fabrics ($3 total!), so I whipped up Butterick 5196 on Sunday. I had to take the pic before I finished the hems, because we had to leave to go to dinner, but you get the point:

(My favorite salad bowl is substituting as a baby bump). I could not stop giggling when Joe was taking the picture; you should have seen the look of horror on his face! I really hope she likes this because I think it's ADORABLE. The knot part drove me a little batty, but I think I have the hang of it now. She and I are basically the same size, but she is nearly a foot taller than I am, so hopefully the length will work for her.
In knitting news, I finished sleeve #1 on Anniversary, and am on to knit the back now. I fear running out of yarn on this one, so I figure if I knit the back + one sleeve, I will have knit exactly half of the sweater and will know if I need to order more yarn.
I can't wait for next weekend because Joe & I have a Harley trip planned to go to this fabric store in Massachusetts. Yay! So, how was your weekend?

FO: Labyrinth

Well, we can thank the Yankees and the basketball playoffs for another FO! Actually two FO's! Friday night, as Labyrinth finished blocking, I cut out the fabric for another cute skirt, and Saturday afternoon, I HAD another cute skirt!

I searched high and low for the identical fabric from the pattern sleeve (Amy Butler something-or-other):

But, since I couldn't find it, the Michael Miller water lily print had to substitute. I think I actually like it better than the Amy Butler fabric!
And then, Labyrinth was done blocking:

(I was squinting in the picture, so I cropped my head out). I need to get a different bra to wear with it though; If you look closely, you can see my current "everyday" bra peeking out of the corner of the neckline. The neckline is very low, but since it's square, it's not what I'd consider even remotely trashy.
The details:
Pattern: Labyrinth
Yarn: Ella Rae Bamboo Silk 7 Skeins of Velvet, One skein of Baby Mauve
Size: 36
Needles: Knitpicks 7's for everything except the neckline, which were Knitpicks 6's
Mods: Only did 4 rounds of ribbing on the neckline, then bound off.

In other news, I found the match to my sock in progress, so they are finally together again! (I don't know if I mentioned this on the blog, but I lost one of them for a few months. It turned up in my pool bag over the weekend. Yay, and also, DUH!)
Then, I couldn't possibly sit still for 5 whole seconds, so I wound the yarn for Joe's anniversary sweater, which happens to be Knitty's Anniversary Sweater. I figured with all those cables, I better start early, even though our actual anniversary isn't until November.

The yarn is Blue Sky cotton in black, and there will be an orange stripe on the chest only (he doesn't like the arm stripes for some reason).

Road Trip!

Joe & I made our annual road trip to Dover this year for the NASCAR race this past weekend. Last year, we got there way early on Saturday (the race is Sunday), and we were so bored that we went to the movies. This year, I went with a list of fabric shops that were less than 3 miles off the highway so that wouldn't happen again! Our first stop was in Norwalk, CT at Banksville Designer Fabrics. I REALLY liked this shop, as they have a great selection and are super friendly. Plus, they're an easy motorcycle trip from our house, so I will definitely be visiting again soon. My haul from there are two lycra/cotton blends; the first one is to make a bathing suit bottom to go with a bathing suit top I already have and LOVE (but the bottoms, not so much):

And the second is to make the new Jalie Empire Crossover Top:

Then, we stopped in NY at Hartsdale Fabrics. This place was crazy busy. Anyone that thinks sewing is dead needs to go here. They had a lot of apparel fabrics, and to my surprise, a LOT of swimsuit fabric. Since I'm on the crazy swimsuit kick, I bought this to make another bikini, Jalie's Choice of Bikini's Pattern, view A:
Since it was $22 a yard, that's all I got there. Our last stop was at J&O Fabrics in Pennsauken, NJ. I was completely overwhelmed in this one. I even got a little lightheaded the way I do at Rhinebeck. They had a zillion cotton prints to choose from, but I finally narrowed it down to this Michael Miller one to make another Cute Skirt:

More swimsuit fabric; I maybe have little spandex obsession now (all purchases must be sniffed by Rocco for his approval):
And some more lycra for another Empire top perhaps:

Now, don't go feeling bad for Joe for all this fabric shopping. There was a Harley Dealership (they also sell t-shirts & other various crap), as well as a leather shop along the way for him. Then we were off to the races!

Our guy came in 7th, so we were pretty happy!