KnitWits

Last week, we went to Las Vegas for a concert. While we were there, we stopped in at FAO Schwarz in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. Take a guess at what they are selling. Yep, stupid sock monsters. I couldn't believe it. They are called KnitWits and cost $25 apiece. At first, I was disappointed to see that the sock monsters were being mass produced and sold in a retail store, but then I got excited by the many ideas they inspired. I am particularly excited about how these sock monsters were given eyes and lips. I am also going to make my ears or horns longer like the KnitWits, and I think displaying them from a clothes line with a clothes pin is so cute and a fabulous idea. I am excited to incorporate these ideas into my monsters. I wish I had the same source of socks that the KnitWit makers have. They have fun socks and great ideas for their monsters.

Temporary Delay in Construction

When the package said razor edge, it meant it. I bought a new pair of scissors, and they are wonderful. I have had no trouble cutting anything including my finger. I had cut a small piece of fleece and left some fussies on the scissors, so I just slid the blade between my two pinched fingers. With that little move, I filet my finger open, luckily on my left hand, unluckily right on the pad of the finger. So, for a little while, I am functioning with one less finger.

The Tiered Dress

Two or Three tiers? I saw a little girl wearing a cute three tiered knit dress, and decided I wanted to make one. I figured it would not be too hard to modify the t-shirt knit dress pattern that I have made before. It did take a lot of thought, but I finally came up a pattern. Pictured is my end result. In the construction process, I decided to try just two tiers instead of three, but after seeing the finished result, I want to make another dress with three tiers. With just two tiers, the tiers are too long, but it turned out cute anyway. Just to show that I can't follow good advise, I did not try the ribbon idea on the gathers. I did the gathers the old way with large stitches and pulling the threads. I am going try the ribbon idea on the three tier dress. I believe it will be easier to keep the gathers gathered. I will be able to pin the ribbon in place and hopefully have a little more control of the gathers. I will let you know how it goes. By the way, I was just told last night, that Alec has made another sock monster. Good Job, Alec!

Sew News

I enjoy reading this magazine. I have subscribed to it for several years now. It is full of tips and ideas. This last issue showed up just in time to answer some sewing questions, how to determine the right side of a piece of interlock knit, (stretch the fabric and it will roll to the right side), and a great tip on gathering (zig zag 1/8 inch ribbons to your piece and use the ribbon to gather instead of a thread). The section on the basics is always informative, and even the advertisement are fun, a way to keep up with the latest and greatest. When I first subscribed to Sew News, I did not keep the magazine after I read it. I know now that that was a mistake. Now I post-it mark the pages that I think I will need to refer back to at a later date for help or an idea.