Yay! Knee Socks are Back in Style!

I admit right now that I'm not blogging today about any needle work I actually did myself. But I am thrilled to be the owner of six new pairs of knee socks. When they went "out" in the 80s, I just did what I had to, wore crew socks. But there are a bunch of great things about knee socks that crew socks just can't do.

They keep more of your leg warm when it's freezing.

They hide more of your leg when you haven't shaved in a while.

They feel more comfortable when one wears boots.

They provide a secret stash location for stuff you just don't want to carry back and forth to the restroom, if you get my meaning.

So you see that this is just a little post, with no great news to report.



However, I did buy the knee socks for the trip we leave on tomorrow, visiting the National Parks in the American Southwest. We are doing the same trip I've been on many times, with 7th graders, and most of the same teachers on this trip are returning, as are our fearless guides from Academic Expeditions. I'm pretty sure the biggies will be there too, like Grand Canyon, Bryce National Park, and Monument Valley, not to mention Zion, the last and never least of the trip stops.

To fully prepare I bought some "convertible" gloves. We never need them here at home, but when we're in snow country, I want to be able to do what I need to with fingers, not mittens! I remember as a child (in Ohio) trying to do things with my hands, and pretty much all mittens make possible is holding someone's hand (BO-ring! when you're seven) and making snowballs. Gloves weren't much better.

In this digital age, the fingerless gloves and variants are getting quite popular, because people want to have their Blackberry and press its keys too, but I mostly just want to be able to dig through a backpack without taking off the mittens/gloves to do it.
Cute, huh? In WWI, women even knitted "doddies" for soldiers. If I remember correctly, the doddy was a glove with no thumb or index finger, and the pullover cover for times when one wasn't killing enemy soldiers.

Upon what a horrible vision I end this post!

Happy knitting and sewing (and perhaps knee sock purchasing--or knitting!)

More Pillow Shams!!

Second pillow sham came about because I found a vintage Hawaiian shirt at whimsiedots while browsing through her vintage fabrics. At the time, I just thought it would make great material for some of the bags I'm making lately. Then DD#3, an amazing, spontaneous and inspired thrifter/crafter, suggested I take advantage of the shirt's placket to make it into a pillow for DS, since I'm already working on pillow shams for her condo in Palm Springs, decorated in 60s era furnishings. This fills the bill! (Rhetorical question: Did any man actually wear this heinous shirt at one time? Answer: based on the fuzzies found inside the seam I cut through, Yes, and washed it many times too! Vomitrocious.)

So I decided to try out this idea. I popped the pillow insert inside the buttoned shirt and found I had a little extra room, but it was essentially 19" square below the sleeves. Wa-hoo!

Some trimming and pinning and sewing ensued, and now I have finished another sham. And the fabric is thick and almost upholstery-feeling in its texture.

So the back of the pillow was once the front of a shirt! See the pocket in the top right corner? I could have taken it off, but it seemed whimsical.
Oh, and while I had far fewer seams to sew, I totally improved in my straightness of line on those I did do.

Hope you like it, Kate, as it's winging its way to you tomorrow with DD#3!

Pillow Shamming

Made a pillow sham for my sister, who has requested two for their groovy new pad in Palm Springs (smaller than the campus college apartment my husband and I had eons ago), and though I'm going to get to the best fabrics in good time, I thought I should make the prototype and get familiar with the pattern, so that when i actually do sew the ones that really matter, I won't futz it.
The edges of the envelope opening are not my best sewing, and that's the main thing I have to do better next time. Sew straight? What besides my marriage do I ever do straight? ;^) I also learned that the Velcro needs to be placed in four spots, not three, as this one will have perpetual gaposis.
Mr. Kerm was barely tolerating my efforts to get him to look my way and grace the darned thing. He wants his dinner.

Anyway, Pillow Sham #1 is complete! PRET-ty exciting times around here on a Sunday afternoon!
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