What to do without a thumb?

Well, I do still have both thumbs.  It's just that my lifetime of knitting (well, 20+ years) has given me thumb and wrist problems on my left hand.  So I've learned how to knit without using my left thumb and it's slooooow going.

I am so close to finishing Husband's City Lights blanket and that's what I'll focus on for, um, I guess this year.

So more time will go into sewing, which does not (yet) hurt me.  That's slow going too, as I can only do it when Baby naps.

Dress Muslins

I've made 3 muslins (no, not Muslims, autocorrect) from Stylish Dress Book. None of them have worked out quite right yet but I'm going to try making a dress -length Tunic O with some cotton voile I ordered from Fabric.com.  

Part of the problem with ordering on-line is that there's no sense of scale.  It turns out the flowers on the fabric are 8 inches across. That's just too big for me, but at least making another dress from it will let me know how voile's hand works with the pattern. 

If it still doesn't work, I'm going to move onto another pattern.  Maybe the Claire Cami tank dress from Sew Serendipity.

In doing an image search on the dress, I came across the Patty the Snug Bug blog.  She's made several of these dresses and looks really cute in them, so that's a good sign.  

I Made a Dress! and what I'm watching on TV

This is the Crepe pattern from Colette.  It's a wrap dress that wraps in the back, so no zippers.  I used some white quilting cotton that had on hand and then used scarlet RIT dye.

Then the first time I wore it, it tore at the underarm.  Not the seam, the actual fabric. Also, the bodice doesn't fit so well. I don't know that I'll wear it much or make it again.  If I do, next time I'll use a patterned fabric so any wonkiness and wrinkles will be camouflaged. 

Still, I'm encouraged to keep sewing.  I've ordered 2 Japanese sewing books (translated into English)

 

And in other topics, I'm really enjoying the show Continuum on Syfy.  I think it's the best science fiction show on US TV right now.  Here's a review in the New York Times that explains why.

I'm really digging Scandal.  Each episode is packed with twists and it's over the top. Here's an article about what makes it so watchable.  On the one hand, it's so soapy and over the top. On the other hand, US politics is so full of back office dealing and so gonzo nuts that the stuff on Scandal is believable.

And last but not least, The Walking Dead returns tonight!

Blanket or sweater?

This is all my bulky weight wool yarn.  It's a mix of Manos del Uraguay, Lamb's Pride Bulky, Lion Brand, and 2 balls of Misty Alpaca.

I want to make a sweater, but I don't think I have enough of any one color for it.

Because the wool's not the softest stuff (oh Malabrigo, how you've spoiled me), I may make a Mitered Crosses blanket out of it. Maybe use the reds as the backgrounds for the crosses?  Or I should mix it all up and make the background some neutral color instead.  I'll have to play around with it.

However, I need to finish Husband's bulky weight wool blanket first.  I am on the last of the 9 colored strips, then there's the all black strips that join the colored strips....

But the end is in sight!