Tales of Trial and Terror: Going Insane A.K.A. Brooke's Column of Leaves

AAARGH!

A wonderful group of people have inspired me to think about the upcoming new year, which made me ponder how many people actually go through with their resolutions... and I know I haven't; hell this is the second, maybe third time in my life I have ever really made a new years resolution list.

I digress. As I made the list I put a particular emphasis on crafting a little more than I game; my time is very biased towards gaming currently...
In order to remedy this, I decided I'd start the new year with a project that took more effort, which I concluded to being needle crafts; knitting to be more specific.

In all honesty, I was already knee deep in thought towards needle crafts; I am making a (very belated) Christmas present for my best friend. I was going to embroider her a koi on a loop, and make her an heirloom scarf; the pattern of which, this post is dedicated to...

Brooke's Column of Leaves

Source of Photo / Source for Pattern

 Or should I say Brooke's Nightmare Column of Leaves...

Hindsight tells me I bit off more than I could chew with this pattern, but whispers tell tale that this was a particularly fun and challenging step towards a knitter's education; it made sense, it's not like it was a pair of socks or a sweater! Making a more elaborate scarf seemed liked the best step to take.

The pattern calls for 39 stitches to be cast on. Ok...

Then it says to "Knit about 1 inch of garter stitch edging as follows: (WS) p1, knit across until last stitch, p1
(RS) slip 1, knit across until last stitch, slip 1
Repeat for about 8 rows, or until it is as long as you like. End on a WS row."

Right...

The problem I have does not lie with the majority... mine is so baffling that my mind simply whirls with insane frustration. It begins with the first row of the pattern:
Row 1 (RS): slip 1, k2, SKP, yo, k2, p2, K7, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, p1, yo, k1, yo, SKP, k7, p2, SKP, yo, k4, slip 1 
(You will have 41 stitches on your needle at the end of this row, and at the end of all RS rows.)

And so I begin, until I come to the last SKP of the first row (every damn time), and realize I do not have enough stitches to complete yo, k4, slip 1... the most puzzling of all this is that I end up with 41 stitches, just like the pattern said I would... what what?!

Believing that despite missing more than a couple stitches, but still having 41 I should still continue. Alas, as my swatch grew it was apparent that it wasn't going to work.

So, then I figured what the hell, I'll work on 45 stitches CO, and I completed the first and second row seamlessly and it seemed at then that the pattern was wrong... but nope, the third till eighth had too many remaining stitches.

After clearing my needle and starting over numerous times, I am losing a little hope each time...
I really want to make this scarf; it is not going to triumph over me like the cable knit has!

P.S. I am a English style knitter... so the continental video directions bewilder me.

Will our hero make it out?! Stay tuned till the next episode of...

Tales of Trial and Terror!

Rest In Peace, Little Taz

Three days ago today, my husband's beloved cat of 14 years passed away.

The holidays came round and we had to make the tough decision to leave our cats in someone else's care. It was very tragic, but we felt his time was very close, since he lost his apetite and lost weight rapidly the week before; we suspected he had cancer.
When we came home we found he had passed on snuggled in his favorite spot where he lay faithfully every day by my husband's feet. We deducted that he simply went to sleep and didn't wake up. Their care-taker during our weekend told us that he was alive the day before we returned home-- it was our only regret that we could not say goodbye properly.

Mortem's Tricks or Treats: Sewing Machine Cover

This is dedicated to seamsters who have, or ever has had a kitten.
Cute... cuddly... destructive, kittens.

Sweet and nice; always posing as you audibly gush.
Until you pan your eyes over and discover why they're buttering you up...

Suddenly you're not amused.

Yep. Poe has discovered how to jump, and has acquainted himself with my serger's plethora of provocative threads. This is just the beginning; I can see it now, rethreading my serger every morning... the horror... the horror!

Before he was able to jump, he would continually gnaw on all the cords; being tech lovers, we have plenty of those in every nook and cranny of our home. Our neighbor suggested threading the cords through toilet and paper towel rolls to prevent him from doing it. Its worked perfectly!

Now it was my sewing machines turn to meet the wrath of Poe. To combat the forthcoming battle of the threads, I decided to make all new covers for my machines, though instead of using the plastic cover that came with only one of my sewing machines, I decided I'd tweak it and make a pattern from it to create matching covers for both machines. Since I have enough halloween fabric to go around a few projects, I decided I'd use it exclusively for the new motif of my craft room: Halloween kitsch!

While helping out with Community Club stuff, I was given tiny jack 'o lantern candy buckets; no bigger than a tangerine. I figured they'd make great pin pots near my machines; with Halloween stickers on their way from my stash back in Canada, I wanted to stick them all over my machines.

Stuff them with scrap felt (as shown) or just keep them hollow (like I will probably do)

Those two notions (zing!... a seamster would get it...) coupled with having that fabric laying around sparked together and created that wonderful idea!

Though it was aptly countered by Victorian Funeral Parlour....
Still, if (or when, I should say) the latter idea eventually becomes realized, someone will become the lucky owner of this one of a kind collection.
Ok ok... so I changed my mind about using the candy corn fabric on the cover... but you'll see where it'll fit in soon!

I wanted the applique skull to have a subtle detail, so I used the fabric-- it was going all fine and dandy until my machine decided in the middle of it that it didn't like the thickness of the heat-n-bond I was using and it jumped on the top left of the head.

All's well that ends well, it's a little ugly if you know where to look... but it does the trick!

Mortem's Tricks or Treats: Purple Pants Revamp

I love to revamp clothing almost as much as I love creating them from scratch. It's a fun little thing to do when I don't feel like drafting patterns and feel like having something new to me.

During my trip down to Phoenix, my boi and I stumbled upon a shop that was having a blowout sale of their summer clothing, and there in the window hung purple pants. We bought them, and I seriously debated keeping them just purple... but the urge for a good pair of stripe pants inevitably won. I've seen numerous tutorials, and suggestions on how to achieve these; so it won't be hard to google your favorite technique if you tried this yourself.

 In my zeal I purchased a bottle of fabric spray paint, not realizing that I picked up Stencil Spray over Simple Spray. If you've ever used either product you'll know the difference; if you've never used either; Stencil Spray goes on rather thick and stays rather patent even after a wash or two; Simple Spray conforms the softness of the material and is relatively matte; it is essentially a dye, but in spray form... pretty handy, albeit a bit spendy. I had coupons from Joann's, though.

Despite ending up with a stiff pair of pants, I still enjoy the shiny results; they add more character to a staple (trite?) idea.

I hope with a bit of time and lots of wear, they will soften up some; they may fade and that's fine; it might even look better when they're slightly distressed.

Skeleton Closet: Catching Up + Monthly Theme

It's barely the start of December and already things have been awful busy-- but at least they are fun.

The boi and I spent this past week in Phoenix, thanks to his work; he worked, while I got to explore parts of Phoenix I have never known about, and probably would never discover if it wasn't for the recently implemented light rail.
Anyway, it was still fair and warm down in the valley so while I couldn't really wear my more heavier outfits, it was still cool enough that I could sport all black without my parasol.

We arrived home yesterday, and I came online to find that I have fallen behind with all the blogs I follow!
Still, it's not as though there was any urgency... I just feel a little out of the loop.
I figured I'd kick off this week by participating in Sophistique Noir's monthly theme (which I haven't partaken in before).

Lucky enough, this is one theme I really enjoy! Long maxi style skirts are a staple element in my wardrobe; it's a shame I have switched to such drastic warm weather, and sadly as it's gone, I don't have my entire favorite collection present. I've already sported a couple in past posts, so this time I wanted to show one I haven't used yet;

I found it thrift, and it easily became a favorite. I am also wearing the new coffin purse I was in the midst of creating in my former post. I used it exclusively this past week, and it held up perfectly to all the bumps and scuffs public transit and walking dealt out.

What I am Wearing:

• Skirt: Thrift
• Jacket: Fairweather Co.
• Waist belt: Fairweather Co.
• Shoes: Flea Market
• Necklace: Self-made
• Purse: Self-made