dianacouture.com

Just in time as the wedding is today, yes, Friday 13th.  Their first date was on Friday 13th and they chose that date, on purpose, for the wedding.  I hope it brings my daughter and her new hubby lots of luck and good things. 

Today I am finishing up a very easy apron for the beautiful flower girl to carry her petals in.  I will have pics of that and tell you how I made it as well.   Overall it has been a very busy summer. I am excited about the wedding but will also be very happy to get back to “normal” life.

Moving 2 times in less than 2 years is definitely not my idea of fun, but here I am, getting situated again in a new place and woefully behind on the blog.

The good news is the new place is great and hopefully I can stay here for a while. What I have learned is that renting from individuals who do not rent as a business can be precarious…they want to move back into their homes or lose their homes and you are out of a place to live. Enough said.

College is almost over for the semester, and after the grading is all finished, I am looking forward to a lot of new additions to my Etsy shop, as well as updates to the website and this blog, of course.

The Serena bag has just been enlarged to an 8″ x 10″ size and 10″ tall. It is available with or without a divider inside.  Visit my Etsy shop for more info on this exciting new addition to the Diana Couture line!

Margaret Nock of Knit 1 for the Road has a great idea.  She wrote a knitting book for projects that all use the same size needle and eco-friendly yarns.   The projects help the knitter “develop speed, rhythm and tension skills.”  And she provides knitting tips, resources and charities who accept your knitting overflow.  (In the DFW area, I recommend Halfknits.com.)

I found out about Marg’s book when she bought 2 Owls from my Etsy shop.   I visited her shop Marg Knitting Around when I left feedback and was delighted to find that it looked like my Owls would be very busy in their new home (they like that). 

I believe my products, designed to make it easier for busy knitters to  increase portability of projects, spend less time untangling or chasing after yarn and have easier access to projects when on the go, were a perfect match for Marg’s concept.  When she asked if she could interview me for her website, I was delighted!  Not only is Marg a talented knitwear designer, she also asked journalist-worthy, thought-provoking questions.   I enjoyed the interview and hope you will too!  http://knit1fortheroad.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/diana-couture-interview-day/

As a Kindle owner, I was very intrigued that Marg’s book was available on the Kindle.   When taking a trip, I always carry my Kindle, so by knitting up a project from the book, I wouldn’t have loose papers or an extra book to carry.  The unfortunate thing about the Kindle is there are no color pictures.   I wouldn’t buy many knitting books  in this format, but I think the simplicity of these projects and the easy portability made it well worth the $5.99 price for the digital version (which can be downloaded to I-Pods or I-Phones too where the photos would be in color.)   There are several projects in the book that I am interested in for myself and some quick projects that would make very useful donations to charities.   Overall a solid, well-rounded  selection.    My first project will be the felted coffee-cup cozies.  I have had this project on my to-do list for a while.  I thought they would make great stocking stuffers for my daughters at Christmas but that project didn’t get any further than an idea.  

One of the best things about selling on Etsy is the people I meet.  My customers have enriched my life in so many ways with their talent, love of knitting, nice e-mails, love of my products and occasionally gifts too (K. thanks again for the awesome audiobook I was dying to listen to!)

This year I wanted to make some felted pincushions to give as gifts.  I decided to try the Little Cotton Rabbits cupcake pattern for the project.  This pattern is not knitted in the round and has a separate base, but it knits up very quickly, and the piecing doesn’t take long either.  

Now these cupcakes are super cute, but I think felting is much better for a pincushion.   I didn’t make any changes to the pattern, other than the yarn and needles.  I used Pattons Classic Wool and US size 9 needles.    I did softly stuff the cupcake, as I wanted the shrinkage to compact the stuffing.  This is what it looked like prefelted.  

I put my washing machine on hot temperature, low water setting, placed the cupcake in a pillow case, washed it and then dried it in the dryer. 

 It came out really looking more like a ball than a cupcake, but there is no need to panic — you can always rewet and refelt to get it even smaller. 

I did this, and while it was still wet, I shaped it and  placed the cupcake in a muffin pan…

and put the muffin in the oven.  I preheated the oven to 350, turned the oven OFF and placed the cupcake in.  Note, I used a clay baking pan as opposed to metal.  If using metal, you should use lower temperatures, I would think. 

This helped to mold the cupcake into a more pleasing cupcake shape.  

I completely dried the cupcake by repeating the heating process for the oven and then finishing up in the dryer. 

No one wants a fuzzy cupcake, so I shaved it with a disposable razor.  You can use a sweater pill remover too. 

Now for the decorating!  I chose a fabric strip with gathered lace placed across the top.  I hand sewed this to the cupcake, added pins for “beads” around the strip and around the center of the frosting and topped it off with a vintage lace flower and sparkly rhinestone button! 

I am delighted with the way it turned out!  I like the neutral colors enhanced by a little bit of embellishment.  But I also want to try some with more color in the yarn, maybe some pink or blue frosting. 

This cupcake pincushion is for Chelsea,  my wonderful teaching assistant who helped in the Intro to Fashion Design Class this semester.  Not only did she do an incredible job but she is very talented and  a lot of fun to work with too. 

Of course I used my Yarn Owls to hold the yarns while I worked!  The medium/small project size Owl holds the Patons Classic Wool with no room to spare. 

My Yarn Owls are a featured product in the Crochet Today magazine! 

I confess I don’t crochet…I can’t keep my tension even.  I made a baby blanket one time that was so wavy it made my poor child seasick.  Maybe I am being a little over dramatic, but you get the picture.    Anyway, this magazine definitely puts the cool in Crochet and I am delighted that they love the Owls. 

Everything on my Etsy site and everything on my website, free shipping! This is automatically calculated in my Etsy site. If you buy from the website, I will refund the shipping charges after payment.

Many thanks to Sweaterbabe.com for her great review of the Skeini-T’s. Good luck to all of you who commented for a chance to win!

Yes, the Skeini-T is open at both ends, but the yarn doesn’t fall out. I am not guaranteeing you that it will never happen, but it has never happened to me. The yarn kind of sticks to the jersey knit. I use these in my bag and outside of my bag and have never had the yarn even think about slipping out. I like the look of it open on both ends and left it that way.

Also, having both ends open allows for carrying 2 cakes or skeins of yarn when working with 2 colors. How convenient!

The T’s are inexpensive, cute and very practical. They will make great stocking stuffers!

See all 3 sizes and styles of the T’s at http://dianacouture.com/skeini.html

Look at this Owl…isn’t it cuter than the money you could be saving with that insurance company?

Here are a few of the new owls

After finishing them I realized they remind me of the colors of my 2 favorite Bath and Bodyworks home scents, Leaves and Winter.  

I did get moved into the new place.  My studio is more organized.  I am working on more owls, T’s and knitting bags.   Check my Etsy site often for updates!

I normally am content to follow other people’s knitting patterns, but a few weeks ago I found a H&M ad with a beautiful mobius shawl, and I fell in love.  It looked easy and quick, so I decided to give it a try!

I found a beautiful synthetic yarn by Deborah Norville, Serenity Chunky, at Hobby Lobby.  This yarn was perfect for my scarf.  I decided to add a little interest by knitting 7 rows, purling 1, knitting 5, purling 1 and repeating.   I used 3 skeins of the Premier chunky on size 11 needles.   I cast on 41 stitches, and the completed scarf is 47″ long.    I cast off, added the twist and joined my circle. 

To make the scarf comlpete, I want to add a very big pin, or multiple small pins.  I have a vintage 50’s sweater that is pretty moth-eaten.  I have washed it several times and am going to make flowerettes, add beads and brown silk ribbon flowers. 

I used the Skeini-T to hold the yarn for this project.  I started out using the yarn without a holder, as I knew it would make up quickly.  It didn’t make up quick enough to prevent my yarn from getting completely tangled!  I then put the yarn in the Skeini-T and no more tangled yarn for the rest of the project.   The Skeini-T is $10.00 but knitting without having to stop to untangle yarn is priceless!

Unfortunately, I am having to move this weekend (actually just across the street)!  I rent and the lady who owns the house is moving back to town.   Fortunately for me the house across the street came up for rent.  I love my location and am excited to be staying in the neighborhood, but I HATE to move!  I hope to get back to this project next weekend, but that may be optimistic.  As soon as I complete the pin(s), though, I will post a photo of the completed look.

I have moved most of my posts to this new address and have given my blog a new look to fit in with the updated website.   I will be removing the old blog page (dianacouture.com/pensandneedles) in a few weeks.  If you have subscribed to the blog, please update the feed address. 

Thanks for following my blog!  I am looking forward to good things to come.

I have wanted to try sewing one of those flowy, luciously textured ribbon scarves but never got around to it.  Last weekend while I was with my daughter on a yarn-buying trip, I found 2 beautiful yarns, a fiery orange eyelash type yarn and another ribbon yarn in lush burgundies, and the scarf project was suddenly a priority.

I had vaguely read directions on how to do this.  I did an Internet search and didn’t really find any quick info.  Probably bad searching on my part.  Really there are 2 principals to keep in mind.  Straight stitching works to create stitches once the wash-away stabilizer is removed.  Zigzag stitching also works IF it is sewn over a cord or thread. 

I started with the 2 yarns and raided my collection.  I am determined to remove the term “special” from my vocabulary when I pick items for a project.  If it is too special it will just sit there unused.  I hate that.  I think you should use the things you like.  Interestingly, the Fashionista blog had a post last week that said  “It’s like, your life is a pair of amazing limited-edition Louboutins.  You can either wear them, or just look at them.”  Faran  

So maybe my stash can’t be compared to Louboutins, but you get the point. 

I laid out a piece of the dissolvable stabilizer and placed the ribbons and such lengthwise on the stabilizer.  I added some gold threads to give it some added sunny brilliance and then some earthy green to ground it.  After I was happy with the look, I covered with another piece of stabilizer, pinned relatively close together, about every 3″ to keep things from shifting (and then I did adjust some during sewing too, but that was a pain.) 

I wanted to add beads, so I threaded my selected beads onto some colored beading thread.  I put the cording foot on my sewing machine and zigzag stitched over the beaded thread, as well as a piece of metallic pink for luster.  I positioned the beads at random on the string.  I like the trim I created with this technique and want to add it to other projects as well.  I had read somewhere that this can be done with the serger too, but my serger is sick.  I am sure the sewing machine gives a finer thread than the serger, and I am very pleased with the result.   I then couched the beaded thread crosswise on the scarf.   All but the largest beads, a little bigger than an E seed bead, fed very easily under the cording food.   

At this point, I was a little worried, as I didn’t know for sure what to expect.  I cheated and dissolved some of the stabilizer.  What a relief, it looks like I had hoped it would!  I was also able to decide that I was satisfied with the distance between my rows of stitching. 

I then finished stitching.  I stitched using several techniques, couching, straight stitch and then 3 rows of meandering straight stitch.  I had planned to add some other colors of thread to my crosswise stitching, but upon seeing the sample above, I liked the simplicity of the single color of stitching.  

I think the hardest part of the scarf was clipping all the thread ends from the crosswise stitching.