Silk Shawl - Say WHAT??!!!

Ladies and gents, I introduce you to my first-ever shawl - the Beithe by Susanna IC on Ravelry.

ME????  How did I make it into a blog post???

This yarn is definitely a stash yarn - something I picked up years ago in Seattle at The Weaving Works.  It was the first silk I'd ever purchased (since then, I've only purchased silk blends), and it's a single ply....which is something NOW I'd never buy, as single ply is basically against my religion.  Single ply unto itself can be grabby/splitty, and the fact that it's SILK single ply...????  Yikes.

All turned out well, though.  I knew going into the pattern that this yarn wouldn't best represent, so to speak.  But I wanted something easy for my first shawl, and I didn't have a yarn that would work well for any pattern I could find in the right yardage.  I used Colinette Tao in colorway Marble, and it's lovely, though I'm not sure the photos capture it as well as they could (well, and my CRAZY GENIUS photography skills do NOT come into play, naturally).

The pattern is super easy to follow, and starts out with the lace edging then moves up through the stockinette with short row shaping.  I have NO idea how, but i miscounted at some point (I can only assume) and didn't have my short rows correct.  NO WAY/NO HOW was I going to rip out and figure out where I'd messed up - so, I fudged it and figured nobody would notice ;)

One SUPER SCORE from a weekend or so ago was a set of rubber mats to use as blocking mats.  I naturally printed out some Joann Fabric coupons and sprinted with the kids yesterday to buy T pins (and D rings...well...and a square of chocolate) for blocking.  I soaked the silk in plain water and blocked it out as best as my lazy self felt like doing....you can tell I'm no expert, and I don't own blocking wires, but I figured I was fine without those at this time, anyway.

I do have to say that I might wear this one a few times, but as it's white-ish and 100% silk, it might also be something I save for a special occasion for Camden down the road.  I'm glad I did it - and in record time:  12 days!  I am nervous to think about how long it'll take me to do the Bryce Canyon shawl, pictured below, for the marigoldjen KAL over July and August....as I also would like to join the KAL in Lete's Knits in August...lawds.  Too much to knit!

Source

Some Dresses Just Look Better the Second Time Around - A Dotted Scirocco!

Sooooo happy with this version of the Figgy's Scirocco!  I have NO idea what happened with the silk dupioni version I made during the summer of 2012, but it turned into a hot mess when I started attaching skirt pieces together; one section refused to line up, and I ended up calling it quits on trying to fix it - long story short, if you DON'T look underneath the top skirt flounce, you'd never know ;)  It was for Camden's aunt's wedding, though, so, I was a bit miffed at the whole situation.

Also, please love on the only decent shot I happen to have of the dress, aha!  One where she is eating....

Anyway, the chance to sew today was bestowed upon me like a fine gift - and I full finished this lovely number in Moda quilting cotton:

Testing the direction of the wind

Don't mind the mediocre photos - my life story revolves around taking pictures SUPER fast so I can get back inside to a sad baby.

The pattern itself is quite lovely, and it does have errata - the skirt lining doesn't include the seam allowance, and you need to make sure to add it on the piece, which I thankfully remembered to do BEFORE cutting the fabric - though after tracing the pattern.

The bodice is fiddly, only in that you have to do the sewing in parts because of the way the back attaches and how the shoulders are sew - which is okay for the effect, in my humble opinion!

After that, the skirt goes together semi-quickly....depends on how you hem the skirt - rolled hem or regular hem.  As with the first time I sewed this pattern, I did a rolled hem for the skirt pieces, as there are four of them to hem, and I was working with the time I had today (of course, because it's ME, I hemmed all SIX pieces before remembering I made that same mistake the last time I sewed the dress, LOL).

Stray threads, of course!

I like how the casing for the elastic is hidden underneath the top flounce, so, you get the lovely gathered look, but you don't see the casing for it:

The lining side

Also, don't mind if I pretty much copied the version I had seen at Bolt, my favorite fabric store in Portland.  I used the same fabric and then white trim at the bodice, which is quite lovely.

Just have to say, though - so happy to sew today, as it had been quite a while, it seems - well....since the last blog post, aha!  Camden loves the dress but clearly wasn't enthused about photos, as always lately.

And these crazy kids chilled with their dad today - thanks soooooo much to him!  I have been telling him our daughter will soon be nekkid if I don't get to sew!