Emma Rose's Muppet Blankie

I confess: I am not much of a knitter. Oh, I know -- people who don't know how to knit at all think that I am wildly talented. My daughters are not in that group. [see:http://katiekadiddlehopper.blogspot.com/ and http://varinascostume.blogspot.com]

My pitiful knitting efforts are mostly confined to blankets, scarves, and flat things without fit or shape. very. basic. knitting.

Once in a while, however, I see a yarn that must be made into a baby's blankie. Such was the case with this lovely, feathery, brightly-coloured yarn. I saw it last June, when my youngest granddaughter, Emma Rose, was still a grandfetus; but I knew the blankie had to be.

Why do I call it the Muppet blankie??? There's a story: when I first spied the yarn, it was its paler, more dignified pastel cousin that I intended to use. However, my daughter, Varina was shopping with me, and she preferred the bright one, claiming that it would bring favor with Emma Rose's dad, as it represented the colors of Muppets Sesame Street characters. A spirited (read: knock-down, drag-out) conversation ensued, culminating in my calling my son for his opinion. Daniel did, in fact, prefer the Muppet colours.

Only after starting the blankie was Varina's diabolical long-term plan revealed: she intends to wait 4 - 5 years, when Emma Rose is thoroughly enthralled with all things Sesame Street, and tell her that the blankie is made of actual Muppets. The yellow is Big Bird's feathers, the red is Elmo fur, the green is Oscar the Grouch hairs . . . Poor, poor Emma Rose.

My concerns may turn out to be moot. As you can see, when I laid the blankie out to take its picture, Fergus jumped on, and immediately settled in for some serious pur-r-r-r-r-ing.















I may need to get some more yarn for Emma Rose.

It will be genteel pastels.

Black Friday deals

I must admit -- I am not generally a Black Friday shopper. There is hardly any bargain in the world worth getting up (or staying up) to stand in line in the dark, and fight crowds that will induce me to such behaviors. [I discourse in slightly greater length on this subject in my weekly column in the Panola Watchmen {http://panolawatchman.com/index121.htm}]
This year, however, I no longer live in a city that has ready access to all things retail, and I found myself visiting my daughter, and her family in Temple, TX. Hancock fabrics had a great sale on Vogue patterns that neither of us could resist (as, when have we tried?? OR: why would we????), so we braved Friday morning crowds, both of her little angels in tow to snap up some bargains. I got these:





The first two I bought because in the lines I saw many wearable art possibilities, and the others I liked pretty much as designed.


















Then, when Mitchell finished rounds and came home to watch the kids for us, we headed to Austin, because neither of us had yet visited The Domain; and we rightly assumed that most of the ultra-high-end stores there would not have Black Friday deals that would attract huge crowds. We were half right: no deals, huge crowds anyway.
En Route to The Domain we spotted a Jo-Ann's, and, as I was looking for corduroy to make a jumper for Emma Rose to match a particular calico, we braved the crowds.
I found the fabric I wanted, and some velour for leggings to match. The velour is so wide that Myra will also get leggings out of the cut, and the corduroy was such a steal that I bought what remained on the bolt, giving me enough fabric for overalls for Brody out of them.





Wasn't this supposed to be the year that Sarahbelle sewed for Sarah?????

s * i * g * h

Work in Progress

I've been outside of the sewing loop lately. Other aspects of my life have commanded my attention.
For the skirt I recently made (post of 17 Sept 2010), I sewed a casual bamboo knit top to go with it for casual/business casual events (post of 19 Sept 2010), but I wanted something more dressy also. A beautiful coral silk habutai that I bought from Thai Silks (http://thaisilks.com) at Expo this past March (post of 9 March 2010) is just the thing. It's not finished yet, but there is some progress:






It is all cut out of Vogue 8322, and interfacing - a medium-weight knit - is fused.










Buttons have been purchased that are so attractive as to serve for jewelry. [What was the thinking, here? I love getting new jewelry! Maybe it was that the coral-coloured stones on the buttons are fake. I should never wear real coral, as its production necessitates the destruction of a delicate biome, and I never wear fake jewelry, as -- why should I? -- my husband buys me the real stuff.]




Both machines are cleaned, oiled, have new needles and are threaded. Wait a minute -- both machines???? Since I am sewing a fine, drapey silk, oughtn't I construct with French seams instead of the serger???
















Review post of 27 Sept 2009 for the answer.