I had the most fabulous weekend at my friend Kara’s place, complete with chickens, a new puppy, home-cooked meals (including homemade pasta and shortbread), silly romantic comedies and lots and lots of outside time.  I returned home content but feeling rather under the weather, however.  I’m still a little foggy in the brain but it’s been a while since I posted and I want to share a couple things with you.

Kara and I went to the infamous Alameda Flea Market on Sunday.  It is HUGE.  Almost too big in my opinion as it was a bit overwhelming.  About halfway through the booths (we were bent on walking down every aisle), I looked down the center towards the remaining booths and said “Are you kidding me?”  (Actually, I also used an expletive or two.  What can I say, my feet were killing me!)  That being said, Kara totally scored some house stuff that she needed and I got a few things as well.

The Anthropologie-esque bird and dogwood plate (above) only set me back $1!  Isn’t it pretty?  I’m sure the vendor regretted quoting me the low price since my response was to gasp and then whip out my wallet.

This is not the greatest picture of an adorable granny sweater I also found there.  The color is a little more turquoise-y than in the photo.  Vintage sweaters never fit me but this one does surprisingly.   Plus I’ve been on the lookout for a wool lace cardigan so I had to get it!  I also picked up some silver-plated teaspoons (all with different patterns, naturally) since my husband and I always run out of those first, and a silver-plated cake server that I’ve been “needing” for a while.

Anyway I’m still drinking lots of tea today, trying to take it easy and enjoying the gloom while I get back into work.  I hope you all have a lovely Wednesday!

I’m now the proud owner of a dickie.  I never thought I’d say that so feel free to laugh with me.  But this is not a silly polyester/cotton blend faux turtleneck sweater.   I don’t know how old this one is but it’s so pretty and, despite how delicate it is, it’s in such good condition.  I particularly love the bow/ruffle at the neck.  I’m either going to leave it as a dickie or somehow incorporate it in to a dress, perhaps as a bib.  Wouldn’t that be lovely?

I’m also adding to my collection of millinery flowers and rayon fabric.  Everything has a purpose; not that I’ve necessarily figured out the future lives of these treasure but I will – someday!

Last weekend a friend and I went to the Vintage Clothing & Textile Show in  Burbank.  It was a relatively small gathering of vendors but there were a ton of people there, so much so I felt a little overwhelmed at times.  Nonetheless I found some pretty things.  Some of the fabric I picked up is cute but kind of malodorous.  (Something I did not realize until I got home, of course.)  I spent some time searching online for remedies because, assuming the fabric in question was 60+ year old rayon, I wasn’t confident I could handwash it without suffering terrible consequences.

I posted a question in Etsy forums and lo and behold, answers!   The black fabric is now non-smelly and ready to be made into a little dress thanks to 1 part cheap vodka to 1 part water in a spray bottle.  But I have to tell you, the vodka/water solution I used on both pieces did not work out so well for the nutmeg-colored one.  Initially it toned down the funk but after several sessions the stench simply evolved into another smell, which reminded me of old crayons.  Pungent old crayons.  That led me to wonder if 1. The smell will ever leave, and 2. Is this even rayon?  Because, does rayon smell like smelly old crayons?  I’m no textile expert so I really don’t know.  But the smell was annoying enough that I took a chance and washed it.  First, I hand-washed it.  Now, it’s in the washing machine.  Yup, in the machine.  I mean, if it’s going to smell then it’s useless to me and I’m not going to pay a fortune at a fancy dry cleaner.  I’m just not.   (We’ll see what happens!)

UPDATE:  After washing the rayon in the machine, using the delicate cycle (which included a good, long soak in OxyClean and Arm & Hammer detergent) and tossing it in the dryer on low, the fabric has come out smelling good and not worse for wear!  Yay!

I also started two sewing projects this weekend: a 50s sundress in a kitschy Hawaiian print and a pair of shorts.  Shorts!  I’m excited about making a pair of shorts.  (I only have one pair, from the Gap Kids clearance section.)  I even made a muslin since fitting pants can be tricky.

Oh, and I’m working on the 2 Hour Sweater. So far I’ve logged WAY more than 2 hours for this project but it has been a breeze so far.

Stay tuned and Happy Week to you!

Forget the 3-Hour Sweater, how about the 2-HOUR SWEATER?! This lovely 1930s model (seriously, isn’t she adorable?) is wearing a little pullover that the pattern claims will only take you a mere two hours; visit hardrockzombie for the pattern (via Ravelry).  You know I’m going to have to try this out (and it looks like it’s going to cut in line in front of most of my knitting projects).

Also, via Ravelry, I found this wonderful doll shop: Little Black Crow Studio.

I’m truly inspired by all of her deliciously spooky, vintage-looking handmade dolls – they have so much personality.   You can see the love and attention Blackcrow has put into them and I really appreciate that.  They are seriously making me want to revisit my bag of forlorn patterned doll parts (a.k.a. “graveyard of souls”) and try my hand at doll-making again.   I mean, I’ve collected more than enough fabric for them!

a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/2294483840/” title=”Modeling Violette – Detail (sorta) by faeriefurballs, on Flickr”img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2294483840_ae54b06c37_o.jpg” alt=”Modeling Violette – Detail (sorta)” height=”457″ width=”400″ //abr /br /I wore my new a href=”http://thefabledneedle.blogspot.com/2008/01/two-sleeves.html”groovy sweater/a out to sushi last night. It’s so warm, I didn’t even need a coat! It is kind of like a coat, only with no opening in the front.br /br /I’m not sure what it does for my figure as it’s so bulky and not fitted in the waist (on me). But I do like the modern-ness and whimsy of the huge stitches and bulbous bobbles.br /br /Here’s a full length view (for scale):br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/2294457808/” title=”Modeling Violette by faeriefurballs, on Flickr”img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2294457808_df8cdcc82c_o.jpg” alt=”Modeling Violette” height=”760″ width=”400″ //abr /br /span style=”font-weight: bold;”The following are my modifications and errata that I found in the pattern. (It’s kinda a lot – you’ve been warned!)/spanbr /br /I made the Small. I subtracted 2 rounds from the waist ribbing b/c I’m short. (I’m 5’2″ on a good day.) I made the sleeves 1/2″ shorter as well. It’s a little big in the waist area – you’ll see why below. While I was blocking this I got really impatient waiting for it to dry so I stuck it in the dryer on low for about 5 minutes. It did shrink a little without getting stiff so it worked out for me but I can’t say I recommend doing that because you can’t undo it.br /br /I only used 5 (actually, more like 4 1/2) skeins, not 6. It’s Twinkle Soft Chunky in Urchin. The stuff is expensive and I wish I could have saved the extra $20!br /br /SPECIAL STITCHESbr /This is just a tiny error, but “Sl” in “T3L” and “T3R” is written as “S1.” I’m sure no one else noticed but I did probably because I’ve never done cables and I was concentrating on the text really hard!br /br /DRESSbr /Lattice Patternbr /The lattice pattern in the photos cross at the hem of the skirt but if you follow the pattern as is, the diagonals will meet in a “v” instead of overlap.br /br /So I added this:br /Round 00: K2, p8, *k4, p8; rep from *, k2br /Round 0: rep Round 00br /(Actually, you could rep Round 00 again to make the crossing more noticeable.)br /br /Then start Round 1 of pattern and follow the rest of the rounds.br /br /In Round 1, the C4R is what creates the overlap. But in the pattern, the round ends and begins with k2, which means that the left side seam will not cross. (I assumed.) SO, at the end of Round 1 with 2 sts rem: sl 2 rem sts on cn and hold in front, pm (right needle), sl 2 sts from left needle (beg of round) onto the right needle, k2 from cn. I’m pretty sure this is how I did it — If you plan to do this, please make sure it looks right before proceeding!br /br /Note that Round 26 is marked as 24 in the book. (Round 24 is in there twice.)br /br /Last paragraph in column 1 on page 86: says to cont through Round 28. NOW you have 28 rounds if you include 00 and 0.br /br /Regarding getting the ribbing to match the lattice. I tried to dec 28 times per the pattern, but it’s hard to do when you are supposed to just dec the purls. I gave up on that after 3 or 4 tries. I also only dec 24 times and I dec every knit stitch (k2tog) so the tops of the lattice were 2 sts across instead of 4. (The waist is a little looser but I think that’s ok for me. ) The knit rib comes directly out of the top of the lattice tops. I also made sure that the front would have 2 knit sts in the very middle, for the bobble vine to come out of. Sometimes I disregarded the pattern to make that work.br /br /I counted sts to find out where the middle of the booble vine should be. (On top of the middle knit rib.) I counted 16 centered on the front and pm at either end so I knew where the pattern falls.br /br /FRONT NECK SHAPINGbr /br /In the second paragraph of this section, I end with 14 sts instead of 12 for the back. I did the math and 14 is how many you should have. (If I’m wrong, let me know.) But 14 sts does not make an even 2×2 rib. But I left it at 14 sts b/c I thought a neck that is too loose is better than one that is too tight. I made 3 purls (instead of 2) on each side of the neck to make up for the 2 extra sts.br /br /I added 3 rounds to the neck. Because this sweater is so bulky, the neck as is looked out of balance. Anyway, with a sweater this warm you might as well go all the way and snuggle up the neck too!