I've finished my first two knitting projects ever! As per Renee's suggestion, I picked up Twinkle's Town & Country Knits from the library (and finally got a library card!). I need to mention that the book is only $13 on Amazon because... srsly. That's a steal.

I knit up the New Haven Hat in Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, which was really not thick enough (although very quick, indeed). Yeah, I wasn't going to spend $20 on yarn for an experiment. I was supposed to use size 19 double-pointed needles, but couldn't find them anywhere in town which was a BIG bummer. I settled on size 19 circular needles knowing they'd be a giant pain, but resolved this by figuring that if my first knitting project turned out crazy, it could only get better from there.

And it did.
(Turn out crazy, that is.)

The stitches get super warped halfway up the hat, and the cables start at different heights (I still have no idea how that happened.) I doubt that any attempt to block/steam the stitches into being normal will succeed with this blend. If not, who am I kidding - I'll still wear it! I'll need to make up some fishy fashion lingo for this one to legitimize it... estate-grunge?

Now, I'm not so sure I can count this cowl as my official second knitting project. It was made of the absolute worst yarn possible I had lying around so I could practice with circular needles. Only halfway wearable because of questionable fiber content, but I like the open look of using size 19 needles with a sport weight yarn. I want to get some of those GIANT plastic needles I've seen in craft stores - I think they were size 25?! Something like this would be pretty awesome if it were bigger and made with hand-dyed yarn... oooooh  idea!

/jenny's birthday cake

My sister Jenny's birthday is nearing a month past now, but her birthday cake was just so good I couldn't forget to post it! As I mentioned before, I had her pick a cake from my new book Sky High. She went for the Southern Coconut Cake and it did not disappoint. I mean, there's coconut milk in the cake batter. And cream cheese buttercream frosting. Couldn't go wrong.

Since the coconut shavings sprinkled all over made it almost impossible to decorate, I made some lettered toothpicks. It's not a birthday cake if it doesn't say their name, amiright?

/put. a. bird. on. IT!

Fred Armisen & Carrie Brownstein's new show, Portlandia, has just been all the buzz recently around the Northwest (I guess). Like most sketch shows it's not terribly consistent on the funny, but definitely hits the nail on the head when it comes to satirizing stereotypes - most of them apply to Seattle just as well as Portland. Brilliant!

I haven't found a place to watch full episodes on the web, but there are some clips up on IFC's site and their youtube channel.

This is one of my favorites so far, poking a little fun at the crafty community. How did crafting get so uncreative?

I think these two are going to need to hang. some. bunting. on. IT!

/wilma dress

AHHH! I've been waiting (what seems like) ages to post this dress (and more), because of computer death. So thank you, dear FedEx man. I really should have baked you treats for bringing me a new computer today, but there's probably some law that would prevent you from taking them anyway.

On to the dress. Wilma Flintstone. She's the first and only thing that came to mind when I bought this cotton, so the resulting garment had to be equally as Bedrock. I loved Simplicity 2250  by Cynthia Rowley at first sight, and it's got a bit of the same retro flare as Mrs. Flintstone. The pattern does seem to run a bit big though. I bought the larger size set, tried a muslin according to my measurements, cut a size smaller in the fashion fabric (the smallest size), but still ended up having to take in quite a bit at the sides.

Now, the strap issue. I loved the idea of keeping it strapless but the top folds too easily from the gather in the center (see last photo), even though it's reinforced with two layers of interfacing. Eliminating that gather ruins the neckline, so I had a momentary predicament then decided to make it a tuck-in-able halter.
It does really need more structure, so I think I'll end up adding boning at the side seams. I can't get the sort I like around here though, so that'll have to wait.

The absolute best thing about this dress is that I already had everything to make it lying around in a drawer. And the pattern cost $1. I tend to measure my successes in thrifty-ness, so HOORAY, this dress succeeded in a major way!