WIP Wednesday: Marion and Random Sewing

Well, I managed to get a decent chunk of knitting time this past weekend and now my Marion looks like this:

I'm halfway through the waist decreases, and I'm really loving how it's turning out :) The cables are becoming easier - I find if I don't question the stitches as I do them, it goes much smoother, lol. When I started the cables I would think, "I wonder what this stitch will look like," as I followed the chart and then I would lay out the work and double check to make sure they all looked ok, etc. This took a lot of time and caused a lot of stress. I've figured out I just need to follow the chart and not think about it too hard and making this become much more enjoyable. Speaking of more enjoyable, I have a tip to share with you...

This sweater requires 6 stitch markers to keep track of the patterns involved, all of which need to be labelled with a letter "U" through "Z". Until last night, I was keeping track of this using normal stitch markers that had small pieces of paper with the letters written on them. This did the job and all, but it was SO ANNOYING. It's a silly thing, but the papers would rustle and make noise, plus they made it harder to position my hands in the way I would usually hold my needles, making me not stitch as quickly. I saw this trick with "pony beads" a few years ago during a Mystery Crochet Along - one of the girls put letter beads on her stitch markers to keep track of the pieces as she made them. Suddenly the idea clicked and I decided to swing by my local Dollar Tree to see if they had the beads. No joke, I just bought 356 beads for $1. Could it get any better? The beads are nice and small so they fit right on the markers and still stay out of my way. It was an absolute joy to work on this sweater last night and it was all because of those stupid beads, lol. I'm now ready for whatever letter combination I may need in the future.

I've also done quite a bit of sewing lately. I was going to keep this one quiet until I finish it this weekend, but I'm just so excited I had to show it now, lol. I started this skirt back in 2012. I ran into problems over and over again, finally ending up with a really makeshift skirt that was way too big. I hung it up and forgot about it until this past weekend when I just decided to finally hash it out. I no joke pulled the ENTIRE thing apart (which took hours on its own just in the seam ripping), but I re-tooled it and made it something I will actually be able to wear. It's now just waiting for me to hem it and it's finished! Expect to see the finished project with all the gorey details soon.

Also, I just had to show these off. I've been on a self-imposed thrifting ban lately to save some money, so I haven't had anything to report. I gave in yesterday though and stepped into a store I hadn't visited in months only to find a mega score. The top left "travel" fabric is a nice cotton that has a mint green gingham print base with pastel planes and cameras and such. It's at least 3 or 4 yards. The rainbow striped fabric is some kind of outdoor furniture type fabric. It's the widest cut I've ever seen - like it's probably 100" wide - and it's about a 3 yard length that is only missing a 2' square. I'm sure this will be handy in the future. The red-based 70s quilted looking stuff in that stack is about a 1 yard piece, definitely from the 1970s. I wish there was more for a dress or something, but I'm excited to see what I can use it for. The other 70s quilted looking fabric in the bottom left is the piece I'm most excited about. It's some kind of heavy cotton, like a duck cloth or canvas, and all the little triangles have different ditsy floral prints in them. The most exciting part of this is fabric is that it's at least 5 yards long :) I will definitely be making some kind of awesome dress out of it. The final piece in the bottom right corner is a real piece of cotton feed sack cloth! I almost can't believe it myself. It's a pretty floral border print with a cream base and blue edge. The piece is between 2 and 3 yards long, but I know I will at least get a skirt out of that awesome border :)

The most exciting part of this haul - each of these pieces of fabric cost $1.00! Man, I love thrift stores :)

So that's it for me this week :) I'll be reporting on some finished items very soon though!