30 Days of Lists: Days 2 and 3

Day 2: This Month's Goals

List reads: Complete 2 Sew Weekly challenges, 2 add'l dresses for an end of the month vacation. Lost 5lbs. Practice! My St. Patrick's Day dances and avoid embarassing mistakes. Do Dailey Method 18x in March - get swimsuit ready!

The last one isn't too crazy, I promise... I went 16x in February.

Day 3: Recipe for a Perfect Weekend

List reads: Take one weekend of March 2nd-4th. Add a Friday opening night of Cirque du Soleil. Combine with a Saturday birthday celebration for a friend and an evening crab feed.  Mix with a Sunday of birthday festivities for a dance teacher.... which means there will be dancing!  Bake to perfection!

Sew Weekly UFO: Dress Challenge

This dress fulfills a few purposes:

1. A summer dress with a lightweight fabric that I've had in my stash for a while
2. A completed garment as part of the Summer Sewalong, and finally
3. A UFO off my shelf!
4. Gives me space back on my ironing board.

I started this dress over a month ago but could never get past cutting all of the pieces.  You may remember when I returned to the craft room at the beginning of June, my cat was in love with this project.  That made one of us.  I had cut all of the outer fabric pieces, but couldn't decide if I would do the lining in the same fabric or another.  The dress was so light that I didn't want to weigh it down.  So I did what I have a tendency to do... folded everything up and let it live on my ironing board.  This spot is where my projects go to die.  Or at least, a long hibernation.

When I saw Sew Weekly's UFO challenge, I knew just the project that I could use.  So I did inventory to figure out where I had left off, dusted off the rest of the fabric and started assembling the dress.  I used Simplicity 2579 in version B.

I really enjoyed this pattern, especially the upper bodice assembly.  It made finishing all of the seams on the rest of the dress really easy.  In the end, I was left with a very tidy, light, summer dress.

So readers, did any of you participate in this challenge? Or do you have something tucked away that is itching to be finished? Tell me about it!

This post will be participating in the following Linky parties:

Tatertots & Jello * Think Pink Sundays * Sundae Scoop * Sunday Showcase Party *Watcha Got Weekend * Nifty Thrifty Sunday * Making the World Cuter * Just Something I Whipped Up * Made by You Mondays *Sew Cute Tuesday * Talent Tuesday * We Did It Wednesday * Hoo’s Got Talent * Look What I Made * The Trendy Treehouse * Thrilling Thursday * It’s a Hodgepodge

Spring Palette Challenge

Now that I've started sewing again, I decided to set some goals for upcoming projects, starting with the Colette Patterns Spring Palette Challenge.  I thought it would be a good way to focus my sewing energy and upcoming projects by putting together the next round of garments that I want to make, as well as picking out the palette to work with.

Originally I had planned to stay with grey as the main color and then add accents such as green or pink.  Once I started pulling together the patterns that I wanted to make, I found that certain fabrics and patterns seemed to better suit them.  So, below I unveil my Spring challenge!  I am aiming for the 5 items, but depending on the difficulty level and time involved, I want to at least make 4.

I liked the idea of just doing two colors but possibly incorporate the grey through them.  That's where the floral prints come in.  Aside from that, stripes and polka dots are always a favorite and instantly made me think of Spring.

What do you think? What are your Spring craft or sewing plans?

Unfinished projects challenge: Complete!

The scarf that never ends is now done! Fia Lotta Jansson's challenge was just what I needed to push me to finish it.  That and the wise advice of a co-worker/knitting guru who helped me to get back on track with the pattern.

It turns out that my biggest problem was just figuring out which side I was working from.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember where I left off when I set the scarf down.  My friend tink'd it back and wisely placed a stitch-marker so I wouldn't forget.  Duh!

Happy hubby with his new scarf

From there it was just tedious knitting, but a super easy pattern and repeat.  I knit until I ran out of yarn, then happily binded off the edge and told my husband that he better wear it constantly; including in his sleep!  I don't know if he'll follow my orders that much but I'm glad it's done, and I think it turned out nicely.

Pay attention when I'm taking a picture of you!

Unfinished projects challenge

With all of the crafting that I set my sights on, a lot can tend to fall by the wayside.  I learned to knit last year and went on a rampage... until the weather started to warm up.  This has left me with quite a few knitting projects.  One in particular has been nagging me: a scarf for my husband. 

He likes to wander around the house saying 'woe is me' to all of the projects I'm putting together for myself, my dancing or others, yet aside for some fingerless gloves, he isn't the recipient of many.  I promised him that I would make him a scarf... last November... as it has now been a year since I started, I think it's time to finish it.  Maybe in time for his birthday at the end of the month?  We'll see. Just in time, Fia Lotta Jansson blog has come to the rescue!  Sofie has posted a blog challenge to finish your knitting projects.  I have a few I'd like to enlist, but for now, I'm going to stick with his scarf. 

Here's a picture of the scarf in progress. 

I'd say I'm currently about 20% done (it's now a bit longer than the picture, but still a ways away).  It's a super easy knit, and a pattern I've done before, but if you get distracted it can be easy to do a weird repeat in the pattern, thus making you tink back to your mistake.  I will not let this scarf get the best of me!

I accept this challenge and will start working on this pattern again! Just as soon as I finish a couple of additional projects I was already working on....