Fiber Fool

I’m closing in on having lost a total of 95 pounds now. It has been a very slow year, but I think it has allowed my body to catch up a bit because there have still been significant clothes-fitting changes even though the scale has only budged a little bit. I am hoping to cross that 100 pound mark before DH gets home and would love to cross into the “Normal” category as well, but that could be a tad bit unrealistic. We’ll have to see if all the yardwork, gardening and rejoining the gym pick up my pace :-)

I did hold back some of my large clothes. There were a few things where I just really loved the item or the print and didn’t want to part with them. Before DH left I did some alterations on a few things. First up was a black and white linen sheath that was one of the first pieces of clothing I bought when I moved here to Fort Collins Memorial Day Weekend of 1999. When I bought the dress I was at my then smallest size as an adult. I remember being so excited to be buying an XL piece of clothing and not something plus-sized.

The beauty of sheaths is that they are classic so I decided to finally jump in and alter it to fit better. I used an existing woven shirt dress to guide me on where to put my new seam lines. The shirt dress has some stretch so I was generous in drawing my new seam lines. Though in retrospect a shirt dress is less fitted than a sheath so I really didn’t need to worry about that. I didn’t cut the fabric, instead I tried it on inside out after putting in the new seam lines and decided some areas needed brought in more so I put pins in to rough out the changes. I applied the changes to one side, then used it to match the other side. Again I didn’t cut, I just put the new seams in to the inside of my previous ones in case I needed make more changes. It was good, so I cut, pressed and finished the seam allowances. Overall I took out about 4-6″ in circumference depending on the area.

Here I am wearing it with a light weight cardigan, tights and boots. It was a cool spring day, but the white of the dress made the outfit still feel spring-like. I’ve since worn it with and without the cardigan but with heeled black sandals when the temps have been more summer-like. I’m so glad I hung onto this dress. It was always a favorite. Plus, for just a few yards of thread and less than an hour I have a new dress in my wardrobe!

This new button up tank top was from a short sleeve 1X shirt my mom had bought but never worn before she shrunk out of it. The sleeves were puffed, which isn’t a good look on me, so I cut them off and turned it into a tank. I used the above dress as a pattern for taking this in. This shirt also has some stretch like the shirt dress so I knew it could handle the more fitted silhouette of the top part of the sheath. I had originally planned to use the sleeves to make bias tape to encase the armholes. There was so little fabric in those short sleeves that I ended up with lots of seams in the bias tape so I scrapped that idea. Instead, I used used some 1/4″ double fold white bias tape to face the armholes on the inside.

This one isn’t quite as thrilling as the dress. Boy am I glad I did the dress first so I was enthused about altering/refashion! This one being a 1X resulted in the existing bust darts landing too low for me now (a little less so if I wear my “wow” bra). It is still totally wearable and I have a nice little red cardigan I can layer over it on cool nights or in AC which totally disguises the issue. Here I’m wearing it with my dark skinny jeans (which aren’t so skinny anymore and require a belt), but I could see wearing it with my navy pencil skirt and skinny red belt too.

Have you ever made drastic alterations to your clothing or thrift store finds? I may be a bit more motivated to troll the thrift stores now after these successes! I have a 4X linen big shirt from J. Jill that was always too big but I loved the striped fabric. I want to turn it into a sleeveless tunic of sorts. Because it is a big shirt it was meant to have generous ease so there are no existing bust darts to worry about. But, I don’t want the tunic quite that shapeless so I’m pondering if I could add in bust darts. That would make the front side seams shorter than the back though… :-/ Although maybe I can put in a bit of a split at the side seams and have the back be longer than the front? Anyone know of any good tutorials on making a split side seam on shirts?

I have another dress I want to take in, but the fabric is kind of slippery and it is another favorite from about the same time period as the sheath so I’m procrastinating on that for fear of ruining it. I have two knit skirts I need to hem yet and two - three other handmade skirts I want to try taking in at the side seams. Then I have fabric and supplies for two Laurels I want to dive in and do as well. Though I keep waffling a ton on what size is the right one to cut and procrastinating on making a non-wearable muslin. I also have a couple top ideas (and have the fabric for them), and the fabric and pattern for a fun tank top too. Now if I can figure out how to set up my space so I don’t have to take down my computer set-up to sew and my sewing stuff to work and I’ll be golden! I’m looking forward to having a refresh of my wardrobe for summer!

While living through one natural disaster is never the same as another, I know some things are universal whether you survived a devastating flood that covered more than 3/4 of a town like I did, a hurricane or a tornado like that the hit Moore, OK yesterday:

• It is upsetting to not know how friends and loved ones are faring
• It is stressful not knowing where your next meal is going to come from
• Or where you are going to sleep and when you might get sleep again
• While help may be coming it never seems like quite enough or fast enough or last long enough to find some sort of new normalcy

I am not in a position right now to make the kind of difference I’d like, but every little bit helps. Especially a lot of little bits. I’ve experienced it. And while it won’t be super timely, I know the citizens of Moore will need help for a while. I’d like you to help me help the tornado victims. I’ll be donating 10% of my Ravelry pattern profits through June 20th to the American Red Cross Oklahoma Tornado Relief Fund.

I’ve you’ve been procrastinating on buying Nourishing Knits now would be a great time! I also have a lot of really great patterns for summer knitting, some as economic as $3 - Towel Trio, Stellar Facecloth, Cirrus Shrug, Ganache Shawl, Kate Shawl and of course tons of sock patterns.

On a personal note, I’m slowly finding my new normal while DH is gone and things are improving now that I have some part time work, my hands are out in the garden, and I’m back to the gym thanks to Christmas and birthday money from my parents and grandparents. Thank you to those who took the time to send me e-mail or Rav mail. I really appreciate it and will get back to you soon. I’ll update you all on what I’ve been up to over the coming days and weeks I’m sure.

Things are not well here. Lost my job in mid-February. Seem to be simultaneously over and under qualified for everything. Have been sick for the past three weeks, including my birthday. Although, since it was forgotten I suppose that is okay.

My only human contact, DH, leaves in less than 2 weeks and will be gone for almost 3 months. He still doesn’t have housing lined up so that is even more stress.

I don’t have the energy to put on a happy, positive voice right now. So I really can’t say when I’ll be back with any regularity. I may pop in with some book reviews as I’ve been reading when I can find escape in a book. Likely occasional dog photos will pop up on Instagram as they are my lifeline right now.

This photo has nothing to do with 10 on Tuesday. Nor is even recent. I’m just reminding myself what is around the corner and why be tolerant of cold, gray days besides fire suppression.

Well, I’ve never been terribly big on the whole April Fool’s thing and before 8am yesterday I was pretty much done with looking at the Internet given all the false things appearing all over social media. I stand pretty much zero chance at listing ten things.

There were a lot of surprises in our household growing up. Most, if not all, the brain children of my mother. Many of then centered around birthdays, thus very positive and fun experiences and not really pranks.

The title of biggest prank in our household is shared by my sister and my mom. Hands down! It wasn’t an April Fool’s prank though. The sad part was that it shouldn’t have been as epic as it was.

It was my first term at UND in Grand Forks, ND, 4 hours away from home. I was always very attached to my family and having a rough time being away. I came home every other weekend for my sanity (and free laundry, I won’t lie). On one of those trips my mom and my sister kept ribbing me about my North Dakota accent. I couldn’t figure out what they were talking about. I didn’t find that most of the people at UND spoke any different than we did in west central Minnesota. A few of the people from really small towns on either side of the Canadian border may have had slight accents in comparison to the norm, but they didn’t strike me as particularly different than any of the really small towns in Minnesota either. It also seemed to me like I had been there an awful short amount of time to have picked up an accent.

Over the course of the weekend both mom and Amber would occasionally snicker and make a comment about my accent. I remember getting really flustered and frustrated a few times when I’d ask for examples and they would just release peels of laughter in response. In retrospect I suppose that should have tipped me off. Eventually the weekend came to an end and I headed back to school. They never bugged me about it again really, but it still popped to mind every once in a while.

Fast forward another 5 years or so and I was getting ready to move out to Colorado and made a stop at home. I finally asked them about this elusive North Dakota accent. I’m not certain if I was hoping to identify the offending parts of speech so I would avoid them when I arrived in Fort Collins or what. Regardless, when I asked them about it I was once again met with laughter. This time, the kind of laughter that causes tears to stream down your face. I was lost and couldn’t figure out what was so darn funny that they couldn’t talk. Eventually between gasps for air one of the two finally got out that they thought they had told me it was a joke before I headed back to school that very first weekend. They were dying of laughter because here I had been under the impression for more than 5 years that I had picked up a North Dakota accent! The joke ended up being 100 times funnier than they ever would have guessed!

If you are stopping by just for Ten on Tuesday, I do want to mention the announcement I made yesterday - to help me celebrate my birthday month you can save 15% on all my my knitting patterns sold on Ravelry in my store using the code HAPPY37. Plus, all purchases through midnight Mountain time on April 30th will be entered into a random drawing for a refund of the winning purchase.

I hope all of you who celebrated the holidays this weekend enjoyed lots of good food and quality time with friends and family! As usual around these parts lately we played it pretty low key, though we went for a nice 3+ mile walk to the grocery store and back.

This week I’m grateful for:

1. Good coffee and the accoutrement to brew it well. More specifically, the burr grinder DH gave me for our anniversary several years ago and my french press. Because you can’t get through a Monday morning (especially an overcast one like today) without a good cup of coffee!
2. DH who puts up with me and my PMS. Emma and Brandon too. I think they sense it because Emma uncharacteristically cuddled with me this morning and Brandon is pretty easily coaxed to act as a heating pad.



3. Nice, well kept and well equipped outdoor spaces. This week I took a run around the lake and then interval trained on an outdoor fitness course Fort Collins has at City Park. It was a fantastic way to get in some different exercise and enjoy the outdoors at the same time!
4. My homemade granola. It just elevates yogurt and fruit to have that bit of crunch. And right now, anything ready made and not requiring extra energy is especially wonderful.
5. Amanda, for helping me save a bit extra on some new compression workout wear. My old compression wear is now baggy and thus no longer compressing.

What are you grateful for this first week of April? Sunshine? Flowers? Green grass? We don’t have those last two quite yet.

Now, April is my birthday month and I want to celebrate! So, for the entire month of April you can save 15% on any of my patterns on Ravelry! Just use the code HAPPY37 on the code redemption page. No minimum purchase necessary and you may use it as many times are you wish. This discount also applies to Nourishing Knits!

As an added bonus, one lucky person who makes a purchase on Ravelry this month will get their purchase refunded. I’ll assign each purchase a number and let Random.org pick the winner on May 1st and issue a refund for the total of your purchase. If you make multiple purchases, you’ll be entered multiple times, but only the purchase that corresponds to winning number will be refunded.