Gypsy Circles

The Sweater Project

I have had the great pleasure of being asked to join a wonderful group of women who meet twice a month at our local Wegman's in the cafe upstairs from the grocery store. We meet for an informal dinner or coffee and share our lives, projects and inspiration. It is quite an electric group with different ladies simultaneously working on quilting projects, embroidery, sewing, knitting or crocheting. How might you ask have a managed to get involved in a knitting project on the It's Sew Lorine blog. Well my Mother was a wonderful knitter and I have always been intrigued with knitting having made scarves, mittens for my children and even started a coat sweater after learning I was pregnant and not wanting to purchase a coat to fit over my changing figure. Awww! My Mother had to finish the coat sweater as my dear Jocelyn would have been in college before I finished it and it was a cool the Spring before she was born. Don't you just love Mom's. Anyway long story - to a slightly shorter story. I was inspired by a pattern I found in the KNIT ' n STYLE April 2012 issue called Swirls Cardigan designed by Joan McGowan-Michael and set to work. When I arrived at Wegman's that fateful evening I had my brand new Clover knitting needles, my yarn and my enthusiasm for the project. I quickly cast on my 194 stitches and set to work. I must confess I am not a knitter who can easily talk, breathe or anything else and knit. This became a problem quite quickly as I like to engage with the other ladies. I joked about the project, told the story about my mother and left the meeting with the ladies doubting that I would come back with the project at any stage past what I left with.... I too had my doubts but was determined to move forward after reading a humorous post about their doubts. I took the project out and looked at it numerous times and realized that is was the yarn that I was not happy with not my most basic of skills. Soo..... I changed out the yarn to something very colorful that I was drawn to and here is the start of a sleeve. I decided that perhaps 194 stitches was too many to start with and perhaps I should start with a sleeve. Ta Da! I believe that is a finished sleeve all blocked out and ready to stitch to the body of the sweater. Oh Yeah and I also lengthened the sleeve to cover my Mother's arms which have somehow ended up above my elbows. Stay tuned......

Thank you Sue for spurring me on.......

Fabric Post Cards

Creating one of a kind postcards from scraps of fabric is fast and fun when using a die cut machine and a wide assortment of die images. With fusible web, fabric, felt and variegated thread I was able to whip up three postcards to use as Thank You cards in no time. Spellbinders has a wonderfully intricate line of dies to choose from so your options are almost limitless. I always keep leftover scraps of fabric with fusible web backing around for just this kind of last minute project. After fusing things together, I add some decorative stitching and spray the back of the fabric piece with some adhesive and then add a piece of card stock. This allows for me to write the address as well as a short Thank You note. They are always received with a smile, I am told.
For complete instructions and more photos check out my latest newsletter. Simply tap on the Sewing Savvy newsletter button along the right side of my blog and it will direct you straight to the latest newsletter. I would love to hear back from you so please leave a note.

Lorine