Knit In Public Week

Happy Knit In Public Week!

That's right its KIP Week.  Get out and knit in a public space.  That's exactly what I did last night at the bar after our softball game.  We lost, and nothing soothes a lose like a pint and some knitting.

This is a week dedicated to showing off your knitting skills, and because of that I will be having a week of knitting related posts.  Today I challenge you to grab your knitting find a sunny spot out in the world and show off your knitting chops!

For the Love of Philly: Headhouse Farmers' Market

Growing up in a small town we always got seasonal produce from local farmers.  Some of them are family friends and other times you just find a veggie stand at the side or the road at the corn of a field that would be filled with good things like tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and later in the summer corn.  Living in Philly my options are a lot different from that of my childhood, but this brings me to my new favorite place to visit on Sunday morning, the Headhouse Farmers' Market.  It's the best of both, located between Lombard St. and South St. on 2nd St.

There are tons of vendors to choose from and I love chatting with the farmers about there produce and farms.  Last week I saw radishes, peas, three varieties or turnips, beets, zucchini, squash, apples, tomatoes, strawberries, all sorts of varieties of lettuce.  My market bag is always full when I leave the market.

Along with produce that farmers bring there are a few other vendors that sell there goods.  You can find two farmers to by fresh cage free eggs from. there are too different cheese vendors one is cows milk cheese the other is goat milk cheese (my fave), there are bakers and florists, and a a few plant nurseries too.

The Market opens bright ans early on Sunday morning at 10am and goes to 2pm.  I suggest going early to get the best pick of the produce.

Stitch Guide: Mini Basket Weave

Mini basket weave is traditional basket weave's little sibling.  This stitch is reversible which makes it great for any item where you may see both sides, an example would be a scarf or baby blanket.  The small squares of knits and purls give this knit stitch a lovely texture.

Mini Basket Weave (Worked Flat)
Multi of 4 Sts
R1: *K2, P2*
R2: *P2, K2*
R3: *P2, K2*
R4: *K2, P3*

Mini Basket Weave (Worked in the Round)
Multi of 4 Sts
R1 & R2: *K2, P2*
R3 & R4: *P2, K2*

My Love Affair with Dresses

I love dresses.  My closet is filled with dresses, about 15 and counting.  Dresses are also one of my favorite things to sew.  Some may see this as a problem, but I think it's one of the best things ever.  Dresses are the perfect wardrobe staple, and I say this being a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl.  

They are easy, there is no figuring out what top to wear, you just throw a dress on and move on to picking out cute accessories.  You can dress them up or down.  They can be multi-seasonal, leggings and boots in the colder months, sandals and sunnies for the warmer ones.  The best part is that a good dress that fits you well can make you feel like a million bucks.  When you feel good in what you wear it instills a confidence in you like nothing else. 

This is why I am in love with dresses.  I enjoy being able to just throw one one, slip on my ballet flats and head out the door.  Do I feel guilty that I own close to 20 different dresses, no.  I plan on making a few more for the summer.  My job this summer will not require me to wear closed toe shoes everyday, or wear paint clothes so my dresses will get lots of use in the coming months.

Gift Knitting Advice Needed

I have decided to knit/sew/embroider/make most of my Christmas gifts this year.  I am usually the knitter who says "I only gift knit once in awhile, for truly special recipients"  or something along those lines, maybe not as elegantly put, but you get the idea.  This year is different for a lot of reasons, where we will be spending Christmas is a first for us, some gifts will need to be completed earlier than December to make it to their recipients and some of the gifts will have to be easy to travel with.

I am asking for any and all advice on gift knitting, from strategies to patterns, to quick gifts that you maybe don't actually knit, but use yarn.  Leave your gift knitting/crafting advice in the comments it will be truly appreciated.  

Me Made Wardrobe: Summer Edition

I loved Me Made May '12 so much I didn't want it to end, but as soon as I said that statement I realized that wearing my me made wardrobe didn't stop because May was over.  I do wear my hand made items the rest of the year mixed and matched with my ready made items.  The whole point of this processes for me is to slowly have more handmade items in my closet and less ready made clothes.  That means planing a head a bit and looking at what I really love and want to sew.

Me Made May '12 Day 1

A few things happened this weekend.  First off my closet got another overhaul when I pulled out all my ready made clothes from the suitcase I had stored them in.  Anything that didn't fit, that I don't wear, or just isn't really my style will be donated.  This second cull wasn't as large as my first, but I got rid of a good chunk of clothes.  There are still a lot of clothes in the closet, and I have the feeling that I will be able to let go of even more as the summer moves on.  

Me Made May '12 Day 15

The second thing that happened is that I decided on how I am going to keep the Me Made May spirit alive this summer.  I am going to wear a outfit put together totally from my handmade items twice a week.  On top of that I am also going to wear a dress twice a week (handmade or ready made).  This way my dresses will get more action this summer and I won't feel guilty about making more (or about the three cotton jersey ones I bought).  Like Me Made May '12 I will photo document all of my me made outfits for the summer here on the blog and on my facebook page.  This will officially start today and go through to labor day.  It might go on longer than that, we'll just have to wait and see.   

Me Made May '12 Day 16

Thirdly I worked my tail off this weekendand am super sleepy.  I sewed new project bags for Alchemy Hour, went to the farmers market, cooked lots of food (roasted radishes are delicious, who knew), had an unexpected but awesome house guest on Friday, baby sat late on Saturday, started knitting a sample for my good knitter friend Nicole over on NoTwoSnowflakes  (I can't say much about the project other than it's green and black and 100% silk), and finally finished off the the weekend with a softball game at 9pm.  I am going to pour myself some more java and plant my self on the couch with my knitting until it's time to go to work.    

New project bags for Alchemy Hour.  These bags are reversible.

Me Made May '12: Day 29 - Day 31 & Wrap Up

The last few days of Me Made May were exciting and a bit sad.  I am excited to pull my ready made clothes out of there storage space, and I'm excited to wear my favorite t-shirt.  I'm a bit sad as I really enjoyed this month me made May.  It was great to wear something I had made and when someone asked about it say "I made it".  It felt good to show off my handmade items.  My plan for the rest of the summer is to figure out a way to keep the me made momentum going.  I'm thinking about pledging to wear my me made wardrobe on the weekends this summer or to pick a few days a week and plan my wardrobe from my me made items.  I'm not sure what the summer pledge will be, but I will have it figured out by the end of the weekend.  So here are my last three outfits for Me Made May '12:

Day 29

Set Sail hand knit top

Cuffed Denim Shorts

Day 30

Teal and Brown Batik Dress

Day 31

Favorite black tank

Cuffed denim shorts

I learned a lot about my style and my wardrobe this month, and I learned more this year than I did last year. A lot of that had to do with the fact that this year I could only wear me made items while last year I had to wear one me made item a day.  The nature of this years pledge really made me look at what I loved wearing and what I avoided wearing.  Here's what I found:

1. I do not wear skirts.
I own about 5 skirts that I have sewn over the past two years.  I wore one of those skirts durring the month of may.  Now a few of the skirts I own I will admit are not really my style, while two of them I absolutly love and I have worn them in the past and plan on wearing them sometime in the future.  This however is not enough for me to justify making any more skirts.  So good by skirts sewning.  (I actually feel really good saying that.)

2. I LOVE dresses.
I only wore a dress 4 days out of 31 for Me Made May, but I love dresses and if I had to choose between dresses and skirts, dresses will always win.  This is because with a dress I don't really have to think too much about it.  There's no deciding which top to wear, you just put the dress on and pick some cute shoes.  It's almost as good as jeans and t-shirts, which brings me to my next point.

3. My go to outfit is jeans or shorts and a tee or tank.
I'll admit it.  As much as I want to be fab and wear dresses everyday If I am in a hurry, have to work, or just can't make a decision I will go with my old stand by.  Jeans and top.  This is fine with me, although I think I am going to attempt to wear dresses two to three times a week.  Lord knows I have like 15 dresses.  This sounds like an exageration, but between my ready made dresses and my hand made dresses I probably have close to 15. (Yup 15 I just counted in my head and that is how many I have, and I'm planing on making 3 more this month.  Maybe I should do a month where all I wear is skirts and dresses....hmmmm.)

4. I really enjoyed sewing my own jeans.
This goes along with #3.  It was such a great learning experience making my own jeans.  I will definatly be making another pair, maybe 2 pairs closer to the fall.  I've never had jeans fit me as well as the ones I made.  They are relitivly easy once you figure out your stitch tension, and find good directions on sewing a flat front fly.

5.  I like a very ecclectic mix of styles.
I love vintage 40's, 50's, and 60's although you may see more 70's influences in my wardrobe (this is including my ready made items).  Ultimatly my favorite thing is beach style with a dash of fab vintage.  I want to incorporate this more into my wardrobe.  I am going to be more thoughtful about the items I purchase and the items I make.  I feel that in the past I am making things with out a clear idea of what my style truly is.  Lately I have been finding myself envying certain fashion bloggers, not because I want their style, but because their style is so well defined.  I have an idea in my head of what I like, it is now time to make that happen.

So now that I know all of these great things about my wardrobe and my style what am I going to do with it?
-Stop making skirts.
-Wear my dresses more often, and make a few more.
-Never buy jeans again, OK maybe never ever, but my me made jeans fit me better than any ready made jeans ever have.
-Figure out a way to keep the Me Made Momentum going this summer.  I will figure this out over the weekend and will give an update sometime next week.
-Spend the summer really figuring out what my style is.
-Start thinking about fall in terms of what I have, what I need, what I want and what am I going to make.

Summer Sewing Plans
-Make red rodeo dress (I love quirky prints, It's time to embrace that)
-Make gold shirt dress
-Sew "girlie" dress
-Sew another pair of jeans
(That should keep me busy till about August)