Monthly Archives: February 2006

I have a bone to pick. I strongly believe that people who work at specialty stores should be experts in their field. That way they can ACTUALLY HELP YOU. The people who work at Joann Fabrics are often annoyed. I believe this may have something to do with the fact that they are always severly under-staffed. Secondly, they rarely know an answer to any of my questions.

Just this afternoon, I went in to get some muslin for a toille I’m making. A toille is a muslin mock up of a formal gown for fitting purposes. I asked where the muslin was. It’s with the quilting fabric I’m told. This seems arbitrary, but oh well. There was a sign on that said “Muslin, 99 cents/yard” so I found what I wanted & took it up to the cutting counter. The lady says, this is $3.99/yard. I told her about the sign & she says “this is not muslin”. Seriously, I think I know what muslin is. It’s unbleached, loose-weave cotton, often with telling little brown specks in it. It was muslin. So she proceeds to roll her eyes (yes, she actually did this) & told me it was quilting cotton. I FLIPPING KNOW WHAT MUSLIN IS. So I went back & found something suitable for $1.99 a yard (the 99 cent stuff was un-usable) & she askes me what I’m making. I think it’s in their employee contract that they have to ask you this. I don’t know why that gets up my craw everytime I’m trying to check out that I have to explain myself, but it does. I told her it was for a fitting. She said “you mean lining?”. I said, “no, a fitting”. She said “you mean a pattern?”. Really, am I not supposed to be alarmed that an attandant at a fabric store has no idea what a muslin fitting is?

I’m so lame. I sliced open the outside edge of the tip of my right index finger. It is incredibly hard to knit with a bandaid on the tip of your finger. With what dangerous cutting impliment did I wreak such havoc upon myself?…..a butter knife. Wait a minute, did you hear my right? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a butter knife. I’m so lame.

This is the sweater I’ve only been working on since last summer. It’s actually my first knitting project, so I’m giving myself some slack. I got a book from Joann’s on how to teach yourself to knit and, in typical Alisa style, jumped right to the last project in the book, skipping all the beginner scarves, etc. It only had one size for the sweater. Not my size, natch. So I got out the handy-dandy calculator and changed almost every row. I really wish I had thought out the stripe effect at the joining a little better. Because it’s full-fashioned, the stripes meet at odd places and I don’t like the visual effect. The underside of the sleeves looks as if it’s “twisting” around to the front, but it’s just where the cable rows meet and it gives it that “wobble” effect. When I tried it on, I discovered that it’s not long enough, so I scoured the internet to find a free lace pattern that would mimmic the scallop lace at the top. I ran across www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/lace/scallop.htm

In the picture of the pattern it really looks scallopped, but when I made it up it looks more like a pineapple design at the bottom. I’m going with it anyway. It’s not such a bad match and I really would like to get this sweater finished before it’s too hot to wear it!

This is a picture of the neck lace. Thanks Liesel for the help, I would have been trying to figure out the YO forever by myself! I can’t believe how differently the colors look. The one with the lace on it is the closest to the real “cookie monster” color. This is a microspun yarn, so it feels delicious!

I make things. I make clothes…everything from mending holes in underwear to couture bridal gowns. I make crafts. I’m make scrapbooks of stuff my kids did 5 years ago. I make budgets. I make banana muffins out of all the yucky bananas nobody will eat. I make piles of laundry all over the house. I make babies. I make job charts. I apparently can make tomato plants grow (this has come as a complete shock both to me and to everyone who has previously come into contact with my vast and limitless abilities to kill all plants left in my care!). I make lists. I make money selling everything in our basement on E-bay. I knit and crochet all manner of things that can be made with yarn. I make decisions…both good and bad. I make sock puppets. I make a chocolate pound cake you would sell your grandma for.

This blog is a record of the things I make. How the process is going. Why I’m making it. Who it’s for. Where I screwed up and had to backtrack. What the FO (finished object) looks like as well as shots of the UFO (un-finished object).

Enjoy. I do.