gloriastitches

Technology doesn't always make things easier. The Sony camera is approximately from 2000 purchased by my mother-in-law. It was one of the first digital cameras out. Yes, it takes floppies (which always causes a laugh when I mention that; in fact, some think I'm joking.) When she purchased a newer one she gave this one to us. We didn't use it for a few years as we were quite happy with our one-step-down-from-a-pro-model Minolta. The Sony is so easy to use: it is pretty much aim and press the shutter button. It isn't difficult getting the pics on our p.c. as we have a tower with a floppy drive, on of the last ones built with one. The pics aren't always the clearest but it could be because we are using old discs. It does get a little time consuming when trying to send a pic from my laptop because I have to get it on the p.c., then send it to myself in an e-mail, the save it to my laptop computer. A few months ago we bought the Canon Power Shot ELPH 100 HS. The pictures...

This is a simple fun stitch pattern designed by dfr http://sewingmissadventure.blogspot.com/2012/01/variegated-washcloth-pattern-and.html who is not a professional designer. She's done some very nice items. Dfr made this as a washcloth. Since I wanted a dishcloth I chained 2 more and did more rows as I get fewer rows per inch. Since I noticed that half way through the directions, I wasn't halfway in the size, I added two more rows of the hdc rows in the center. I used an H hook and Peaches & Creme in Shaded Pastels. The finished size is 9 1/2" x 10" including one border round. Give it a try. I would have posted this earlier this week, but I was having trouble with the new digital camera--well, not with the camera, but the operation of.

My first top-down pullover raglan, a crew neck. (Does anybody wear these any more?) In my previous post I gave a brief description of how a top-down raglan is developed. The picture above shows the beginning from the point of view of the knitter. The picture above shows the beginning of the sweater as if you were looking at a sweater. The yarn was a gift and I had plenty of it--good thing--because two of the three colors didn't match each other even though they are "no dye lot" yarns! Yeah, right. Because of this I had to separate the colors because the two non matching skeins would be quite obvious. I will definitely make more of top down raglans. Besides being fun to do, there are a lot of new techniques to learn. Why top downs over the traditional bottom up and seamed sweaters: --they are seamless --will know if are running short of yarn and can adjust --can try it on to check for fit as you go along --they are fun! The basis of this brown sweater is The Complete Boo...

When I was writing about my top-down raglan cardigan a lot of non-knitters were confused. http://gloriastitches.blogspot.com/2011/07/light-rose-sweater-re-do.html So, to make the process as basic as possible, picture or sketch a cape. Most likely you began at the top and went downward. A bottom-up (traditional) seamed sweater has several parts: front, back, sleeves and all are seamed (as well as the shoulders.) The top-down raglans can be seamless and the entire sweater is made at the same time. The cape is made just like the top-down raglan until the shoulders. The neckline is begun and stitches are added to increase. On the sketch of the cape I indicate two seams (plus are two seams in the same locations on the back). When you drew or pictured the cape, your increasing came at the side; on a sweater the increases are at the "seams", one stitch on each side of four "seams". That is how the sweater gets larger. Note that they are not seams in the sense that they ar...

To those of you who have an aversion to pink--and you know who you are--I apologize for what I have done to your brain. To those of you who love, love, love, pink--and you know who you are--enjoy! I said that this was the brightest pink on earth. It doesn't look all that bright in this photo, but trust me, it is bright. It was a good price at an estate sale and enough for a sweater. Worn on a rainy day, it could just brighten someone's day.

This is one of the nearly completed sweaters I discovered in a closet a few months ago. All that was left to do was the bottom half of the sleeves. I bought this yarn before some of you were born! I had knitted it in an all over rib but made the stitches too loose so it was too large. I undid it and later made it into a different pattern but similar to the one in the photo. I undid that one because I didn't like the way it was turning out. Thus, this version. I began it about ten years ago, which explains the style. I didn't want to start over , once again, as this acrylic mohair wannabe is not easy to take apart. It is Fluffy by Unger and was manufactured for years and years. It is supposed to have a lot of ease but not 47" worth! Those drop shoulders shouldn't be that wide either. Guess I didn't measure! The V-neck should be a lot smaller. Old style or not I love this very soft yarn and I love red. I knitted a garter stitch strip to sew in the V to make it somew...

These items are not something that I plan to crochet in the near future, but they were the style in 1917. I obtained this booklet for 10 cents, the price it was in 1917. It is #9 of 18. Other booklets contain scarves, pillows, corset covers, knitted and crocheted sweaters for the entire family, aprons, etc. The directions for the items on the cover and on the pages above are included, but not for all of the items in the booklet. Some of the directions for the caps are in issue #10. We do encounter articles where they continue it in the next issue. So this practice is nothing new--they used it in 1917! The print is extremely small, reminding me of the "small print" at the bottom of pages. It is quite difficult to follow. Information which is not provided: thread size, hook size, gauge, finished size. This certainly makes me appreciate what we have now even more.

Since May, "anonymous" has been doing a lot of commenting. It was something Blogger was supposed to fix, in May, they said. Umm, not yet done. Having read the pages of what we can do--and finally semi-understanding it---I can offer some advice. My offering computer advice is a joke in itself, so, if you prefer, you can go to the pages I read and decifer it for yourself. You will need to click on all the links provided, and each one offers more links. http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=598fff8a262de49b&hl=en Not having figured out the difference between Blogger and Blogspot, I will problaby interchange them incorrectly, but the info itself will work. You start out with your Dashboard and all looks good, including your e-mail address at the upper right. You click on the latest entry from someone you are following, read it and want to comment. For some blogs you will see your name as one of the options, so you click on that, your comment is published an...

This is a repeat of the entry which I accidently deleted last week. I discovered that you cannot delete a photo without deleting the blog entry, or at least I couldn't. I am putting it here again in case I need to refer back to it and there will actually be a post here. The comments will be included but I'll have to put them in myself. Friday, August 5, 2011 It's done. I had to un-do about a total of 1/4 of it, either because there was a stitch problem or I didn't like the way it looked. I really didn't mind as this was my first knitted top-down raglan (crocheted ones are so much easier). I see that I went too deep with the raglan, thus making the sleeves too large above the elbow. This sweater was a good choice as the neckline rib is done at the beginning. I can use the measurements of this sweater as reference for future sweaters. http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/70111.html?r=1 Edited to add: you may have to be a member of Lionbrand to view this pattern. If you ...

I did manage to accidently delete my previous post and will re-post it later. A few at Ravelry have commented on my afghan so am posting it here so the stitch pattern can be seen better. For a larger view, click on the photo. I made it for my inlaws a few years ago. It is from McCalls Crochet, Book 4, 1970. November 3, 2012--editing to add photo of the magazine cover.

This is the Light Rose sweater re-do so far. There were a few things which delayed my progress. I tried the neck ribbing until I felt it looked like the pattern photo. I undid a few rows because I found an extra yo (eyelet) a few rows down. Do you have any idea how much time is involved in taking out over 1,000 stitches? Answer: longer than it takes to knit them. This first pic shows the yoke part of a top-down raglan cardigan. This is after separating the sleeves from the body. I don't care to seam pieces but I dislike using dpns (double pointed needles) more, so the sleeves need to be done first if not doing seamless top-down raglans. I like to do both sleeves at the same time which creates quite a mess of yarn until a few inches are knitted. It was a bit confusing when I began the sleeves but got easier. From photo left to photo right: the right front, right sleeve, back ("circle" in center), left sleeve, and left front. The final pic makes it easier to see how a to...

The Light Rose sweater is no more. I was unraveling it when I got all of these strands of yarn and couldn't figure out why. I checked the sketch and yup, was undoing it in the direction it had been done. Except I wasn't. After I turned the sketch around a few times, I realized that I was trying to undo it in the opposite way that I should have been. Doh. Yes, it was made across, cuff to cuff. I was thinking the right front was the last part knitted. Doh. Had I continued and begun to unravel it from the right cuff up--the correct way--I would have undone more than 3/4 of the sweater. It was doomed from the start. My yarn wasn't quite to gauge so I used larger sized needles. Then I discovered that I knitted with a looser tension when working on the part with the circular needles. I wound up using four different sized needles. At the same time I was trying to knit to two sizes, one for where I was narrower and one for where I wasn't. There is no sense of giving up, frustra...

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/multi-directional-striped-cardigan For those of you asking to see the cardigan I'm doing in Light Rose--and you know who you are--there will be a wait. Why? Because I didn't heed my own advice of measure, measure, measure. I was knitting the front bands when I realized that the two upper front portions weren't the same length! How in the world did that happen? This sweater is knitted from the left cuff over to the right cuff (basically), so the upper right front is the last knitted for that portion. Usually I do compare and don't know why I didn't this time. For some reason I was knitting more loosely than I normally do; usually, I tend to knit more tightly as I progress. There might have been a way to knit the band and ease in the right side but it probably would be obvious, plus I would know that it was not right. The bottom portion is done by "picking up stitches" and knitting them to the upper portion. For you non-...

Knowing that I need to thin out my yarn stash, I've been doing some knitting. I'm more of a crocheter so my knitting won't win any awards. A lot of my stash is just one or two of the same yarns, but I have some yarns which are enough for sweaters. I'm currently working on a sweater--and even remembered to take progress pics--with yarn I bought at a yard sale. It is Caron Gold Sayelle in Light Rose. It is almost summer, so why am I making sweaters? Because 1) I need to use some of this collection of yarn, 2) they will be ready for the cooler weather when it comes (actually it's been on the cool side for this time of year), and, most importantly 3) because I am in the mood to knit sweaters. This mood doesn't come that often and I need to take advantage of it. The Caron yarn in the pic was a gift for XMas 2009 and I forgot I had it. It is Simply Soft, and it is. The person who gave it to me is not a knitter so didn't know how much to get. Well, she got plenty: ...

Hopefully, I have it figured out. I got the information, not from Google---and shame on them---but from doing a search and reading blogs of those who also have had problems commenting this week and/or have temporarily lost their Followers. If you are signed in every blog you go to should show your e-mail address at the upper right, but this week it has shown Create a Blog and Sign In. When I went to comment, instead of showing my name, it said to select a profile. When doing that, a page came up asking me to Sign In. I quit there but I guess some got caught in the loop of this. Bloggers suggestions were to Sign In and uncheck the Keep me Signed in box (not certain of the exact wording). I heard some had trouble signing in in the first place, but since I was already signed in, this second signing in should not sign me out when I left the site. Confused yet? It did work because when I went to comment on a blog my name did show up. It's crazy when trying to comment on my own blog my n...

First of all, I am still alive--and kicking, although not quite as high as I used to. I've been doing a bit of sewing. I finished two UFOs and did some minor stitching so the garments could go in my bedroom closet and out of the sewing room closet. There isn't anything exciting enough to take pics of, but just wanted to mention that there is some progress. Right now I am knitting and crocheting some potholders and dishcloths as I do need those.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-24/entertainment/ct-talk-small-talk-0325-20110324_1_muffin-oxford-english-dictionary-symbol OMG--"Muffin Top" has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. LOL No need to tell women what "muffin top" means. Edited to add: It looks like a clickable link, as did the other pages I tried. However, it doesn't go to any page. Please let me know if you are able to get to that page by just clicking. I could copy and paste it and it would go, but not by clicking. Any advice would be appreciated. Edited to add: thank you, Maggie, for the correction. It works now.

It was supposed to be the Tonight Show, but instead it was videos of the earthquake and aftershocks in Japan. They are saying it was 8.9. That is huge. Because the earthquake was underwater, it really stirred up the water, so much so that there are tsunami warnings all around the Pacific rim. Hawaii should be hit in just a few short hours. Hopefully, it won't be the six feet that they are predicting. A few minutes ago they announced that the warning (which means imminent as opposed to a watch) has been extended to the Pacific coast areas of California and Oregon. That's just a little too close for my tastes. I've been in an earthquake but don't remember being included in a tsunami warning. There have been just too many earthquakes recently-- New Zealand, a few smaller ones in Japan, then China a few days ago, and now Japan.

This is another what I call filler post. It's what newspapers do when they have a little space left. It's what I do when I can't think of a topic or should be writing one. (Updating the red dotted outfit *cough, cough*). In my November 10 entry I listed two sites to read when you wanted a good laugh. Well, the authors took down the WhatNottoKnit site. Thanks to Jilly Be ( http://jillybejoyful.blogspot.com ) we have another one to check out. The blog is not current, but the posts, as well as the comments, are entertaining. It is http://youknitwhat.blogspot.com

I wore this vest Saturday and thought I show post about another type of craft which I do. I don't do patchwork quilting, but do like Seminole patchwork. This was made in '97, but I did see the pattern still available a few years ago, so it still may be. The smallest pieces are 1/4 " by 3/4" finished. I worked with something that small? Yes, I did and I loved it. It is 100% cotton. I lined it with the same eggshell which I used in the pieces. I put on these purchased pants for the photo, and I see that that was a bad idea, as the fit is, well, bad. The front of the vest overlaps the back piece. A layer of batting is in between and to determine how I wanted the placement of the Seminole bands, I put the batting on a board, and laid the bands on the batting. This is view b, with a variation they offered although it is not shown on the envelope. Editing to add: Someone just asked me what a vest like this would cost. I really don't know, but I read ...

Thank you to all who commented on my blog entries. I don't blog as much as some do, but do quite a bit of reading of others' blogs. I understand that it takes time to read blogs, and more time to comment on them, so I really appreciate it when readers do. I try to also post a comment so show my appreciation of the person's time. Someone mentioned that people are commenting less which could be as some people have dozens of Followers or even over a hundred and I notice that they may get only 2 or 3 comments. This makes me value it even more when you comment on my blogs. I'll try to post more entries in 2011 than I did this year as I have been asked quite often about when my next entry will be. (Glad you're interested.) Thanks again. Edited to add: I just thanked my readers, (Followers and others) and those who comment and all the pics of my Followers disappeared! Yikes. I then checked and it appears that pics of Followers on others' pages are also gone. I hope...

Thanks to Firephrase for introducing me to these sites. When you want a good laugh or are just plain bored: http://whatnottocrochet.wordpress.com/ http://whatnottoknit.wordpress.com/

Aren't all pants pullon? LOL. TNT pair? Tried and true. Are these the elusive well-fitting pants I've been stalking for years? These are not the way I would have wanted my pants to fit years ago. About thirty years ago a middle-aged friend of mine told me that pants should hang straight down in the back from the fullest part. I thought Hey, that's for old people and I'm not old. I want some definition in the back! Well, I had my definition and probably many fit wrinkles. At that time I don't think I checked for wrinkling; I checked for fit. Time has passed. I have made my pattern larger over the years for three reasons: 1) I have expanded 2) pants got looser fitting (although slim again in the last few years) 3) I have aged--I have aged?!--and want a little more ease, especially to hide the "bumps". numbered this pattern 92508, the day I made them. I'm guessing it is a poly linen blend, possibly with some silk. It was part of a stack of fabric purchase...

This is the first one I cut out--the one where I cut too much from the corners (see previous entry); thus, making it too snug when the darts were sewn in. I needed a wedge (guess it could qualify as a godet). To make it as simple as possible, I: --stitched about 1 1/2" of each "dart"; it would be more difficult to turn under the part near the point --turned under the rest of the sides of the "dart" --placed the piece which was the original cut-out square and pinned it in place --topstitched the "dart" sides, catching the wedge piece Then hemmed it and it's done.

Others doing Home Dec got me to pull out my fabric for two ottomans. The spots and one large burn hole need to be covered. I bought the fabric two years ago when a Hancock's was closing. It was an unplanned purchase so I got a color I thought was close. I wanted two yards. The clerk said the minimum was five yards. I hesitated but got the five yards---good thing. I had a plan as to how I wanted to do them, then went to Plan B and Plan C. I wound up with Plan A. Plan B was to stitch the bottom part to the top. Problem: would involve too much excess fabric of the top part at the corners. Plan C was to make the cover in one piece. Problems: fabric wasn't wide enough. (Though I am good at estimating the fabric width of those folded on a bolt, I am not so good at ones not folded on a tube.) I thought this fabric was 60"; nope, it's 54". (But that wouldn't have caused me to buy more.) Thus, it would have to be seamed. Another problem with a one-piece top falling str...

Ah, see, I have been sewing. I cut out this large cosmetic bag over a year ago. (darn internet). It certainly was time to complete it. I made many, many pieces to my set of travel bags: the bags, smaller bags to go inside, lingerie bags, lingerie laundry bags, and a variety of others, including cases for my purse. I first began them in the 80s, a large cosmetic bag being the first. It certainly had shown its age, so badly that I wouldn't even dream of picturing it here! Good thing I purchased a lot of fabric and trims at the time as this color combo isn't very popular now. There are quite a few pattern pieces to this: the front/back, sides and bottom, top, zipper pull, tabs, plastic pockets on the inside with bias bindings, plus the bias binding around the outer edges. The layers include the fabric, backing, batting, and plastic. The original size is 2 1/2" x 12 1/4" x 9 1/2", a good sized one. However, I found that items fall to the bottom and give it a fat loo...

Remember this outfit? It's from my first blog. I wanted to update it because it screams the 80s. I do like it but didn't wear it often, so it is still in very good condition. I haven't done anything with it, but I did have good intentions. I had asked for suggestions and many were given, here and in e-mails. Sew(very)Creative and FirePhrase said that the 80s were back and I might want to think twice about this. Last week I found proof of this. Here is a blog entry showing a new McCall's pattern which has similarities. Note that one view on the pattern I used even has a tie collar. Note that this McCall's top is also in red! http://theslapdashsewist.blogspot.com/2010/05/mccall-5708-hilary-duff-tie-neck-blouse.html

Finally got some sewing done! I couldn't get my sewing mojo going, so I stole some from another sewer. I prefer to say that she is sharing hers with me. It is a simple pair of elasticized pants in a lightweight denim in black. Nothing exciting, but I am in need of pants, especially casual ones. I won't be posting a pic of it since it is black and will not show up well. You're just going to have to trust me that I am sewing.

As promised---months ago--a little more detail on the doll clothes. I had to wait to borrow someone's camera in order to have a macro capability. These aren't the best, but the photographer wasn't paid. It's not too easy to describe my exact steps in making the clothes because once you get "her" diminsions down, you "just work" and try the garment on the doll every so often or measure to make certain it will fit. Once you know your stitch and row gauge you can calculate how many stitches to chain or cast on based on the necessary dimensions. This is just like any item from yarn. All the directions are doing for you is saving all the calculations (which is a good thing). The knitted sweater and skirt outfit is made from a Bucilla yarn on size 3 needles. I love the stitch pattern. I tried several color combinations until I found one I liked. One thing I did was to make certain that the stripes match across the sweater when the sleeves are down. ...