in which there is a cat with a twitching tail and an unamused zebra

Benjamin is my muse.



For Illustration Friday "Safari"

it's a bird, it's a plane

it's sweatermonkey!!


Hello.

Just hanging out.

Relaxing.

Being a monkey with a sweater.

He's a sock monkey made of squishable knit cotton fabric, who was just calling for a handknit sweater of his very own (simple top-down raglan, designed just for him, made of upcycled sweateryarn).

supersocks

Hi there. I finished these socks today.

They are
super quick (worsted weight wool, size 4 needles)
super simple (toe-up magic cast-on, short row heel, stockinette to top 3x1 rib)
super long (knee socks are the best socks)

supersocks.

in which someone is mischievous

A me-made May Day:


and yesterday:




Today, I wore another one of my upcycled t-shirt tops. This one has teeny tiny mother-of-pearl buttons from my vintage stash, and a pintucked placket. It's one of several tank top variations I made last summer from my own patterns. Dave's closet clean-out inspired a refashioning frenzy. I try to be picky fabric-wise, but I still have bags of his old clothing waiting for the scissors. . . snippety-snip!

Yesterday, I pulled out Burda 1-2009-125, as well as a me-made-necklace.

Have you noticed the mischief in one of the above photos yet? I won't mention any names, but SOMEONE with furry black pointy ears and a half-and-half face poked out a picket in my fence. The nerve!

Thankfully, I am handy with a hammer as well as a sewing machine.

I wore pants today, me-made pants

These are pants, made-by-me pants. Simplicity 4110, a Built By Wendy pattern. They are comfy and so get a reasonable amount of wear. Maybe I will wear them again this month, and take a pic that actually shows some details. They have a lovely large mother of pearl button closure from my button stash. You'll have to take my word for it. Sorry.

Also note the border-collie-on-a-rope. Apparently, (imaginary) squirrels were more interesting than I was today. Hence, the rope.

Please enjoy this self-indulgent video of my dog playing fetch.

say hello to my little friend

Me-Made-May, day 2:



This was one of Dave's old t-shirts, and I couldn't just let it fall by the wayside. I refashioned it into a long sleeved t using fabric from a couple of other old t's.

It fits the bill for my glamorous day of cleaning out closets and playing with dogs.



Say hello to my other new little friend, a vintage Italian-made Necchi Bu Nova from the 40s. The craigslist gods have been smiling on me lately. I grabbed this lovely machine for a steal, assuming it would need some work, but after a liberal application of sewing machine oil, it was up and running. It's smooth, quiet, and makes perfect, even stitching to die for. Lucky me!

it's may day!!!

No, not that May! (our horse buddy, May, at the therapeutic riding center where we volunteer). Although she is awfully cute.

It's the first day of Me-Made-May. As you can see from the comprehensive list of Me-Made-May-er's, I'm in with the cool kids. How did that happen?

Me-Made-May, what I wore today, May 1:



The long sleeve t is made by me, from a pattern I created to accommodate my octopus arms. The cuffs and collar are finished with cotton ribbing, part of a gigantic bolt of ribbing I recently purchased. One can never have too much ribbing, can one?

And here is Sparrow to dazzle you with her prettiness.