I'm back for reals, with pictures - Lisa

 Its been a very long 6 months.  We had an exciting adventure to China and Mongolia.  We photographed eagle hunters (yes, just like the movie).  We both got hurt.  Robin jacked her knee hiking on the Great Wall of China.  It was a shockingly hard hike for us.  After we were safely home, I slipped on fabric on my hardwood floor.  Shattered my femur.  This happened on 10-22.  Today is the first day I've been able to sit in my desk chair for longer than 20 minutes.  During the 3 months that I was required to lay around in bed, I did a lot of knitting and tried some embroidery.

Here are fun pictures since I've been away for, well, forever:
Eagle and Eagle Hunter, phone pics only so resolution is meh...

My leg both broken and bolted together.


The dreaded peri-prosthetic fracture.

In sympathy, my cat broke his femur head and had to have it removed.

I am confident I will set off alarms in every airport, everywhere.






And now, back to business.  I said I knitted and made many things.  Most of them twice due to mistakes.  I made a shawl from cashmere, camel and yak yarn that I got in Mongolia.  I also embroidered an 18c pocket.  I had lots of bright colors that belonged to my grandmother and I used them all.  I call it the 'clown vomit pocket'.  I got to the end of Netflix.
In no particular order:

shawl and mitts from Mongol yarn

Hat from leftovers

cowl from 10 year old yarn

large throw that the cats LOVE

The mitts were a big hit.  I made a pair for Robin and for my niece. And did my first knit-a-long.
The Tess D'Ubervilles shawl or Sontag, inspired by Outlander.  I added a knitted lace edge because why not?  Its not like I was going anywhere.

had to use short rows

my walker is showing!

And finally, the clown vomit pocket plus BONUS TIARA.  Exactly what you buy online when you're laying around taking oxycontin and knitting.

no words describe the horror

giant tiara modeled by Ed the cat

That's all for this post.  I'll be back, literally, in about 10 minutes with my first garment for the HSM.

Holiday avoidance sewing, knitting, cosplay - Lisa

In the midst of all the holiday fun with my family I did some avoidance knitting and started a couple of cosplays for 2016.

Also, my Bluebird Dress got a 3rd in the Shear Madness Single Fabric Challenge!  I'm a happy girl.

Avoidance knitting is wonderful.  It's soothing and repetitive, AND you can pretend you're accomplishing something when you're really just avoiding what you are supposed to be doing.  Like bills and laundry and decorating the Xmas tree.  I actually knit an entire sweater. Admittedly, I
started back in September, but I actually DID the whole thing.  I forgot all about negative ease and ended up knitting that baggy sweater that you leave at the office for when the A/C is too high.  I love it.  I also started a large scarf copied from a Xmas gift one of the offspring received last year.  It's practically a mini-blanket.  It's made from fingering weight black yarn with a little sparkle.  I found a comparable yarn and asked the girl for a description of the stitch.  She told me 'basket weave'. There are two kinds.  I did a large sample of both and while the diagonal stitch looks very nice, it's slow and dense.  Traditional basket weave is light and fluffy and makes a more comfortable scarf.  

raglan shoulder seam

both kinds of basket weave

On the sewing front, I'm working on two cosplays.  I love Missy from Dr Who so that's been in planning for a little while.  I plan to put a full construction post up when I get it done.  So far I have the skirt and the blouse and the basic hat.  I'm getting a cameo from a friend who makes them, and I'm thinking hard about how much more I will be doing.  The umbrella/parasol is really calling to me.

And a last minute throw down....  Lady Catherine DeBourgh from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

petticoat

Someone mentions cosplay for the opening weekend and then next thing I know it's on.  This was a really quick build.  I used the Simplicity Regency pattern in black shirting (super cheap <$3 per yard) for the dress.  I could have just made a skirt but maybe I'll have a use for a black Regency dress someday?  The jacket is too long for a spencer and I made it using a McCalls blouse pattern with the sleeves from the Regency dress.  I bought a couple yards of wide silver metallic lace on eBay and some horrid scratchy polyester lace around the neck.  The only thing particularly difficult was getting the flat silver lace to go over my chest.  I need an eyepatch and a cheap toy katana from Chinatown (spray painted) and I'm ready.

And that is good because Robin and I leaving tonight for Burma.  We are going to the tribal region to do some photography.  It's going to be a very exciting time since they just had a successful election.  So goodbye house men, cats, reliable internet and El Niño!  Back in February