a quick post before i get back to work! it's work work work around here lately even though i was unceremoniously cut off from the internet over the weekend (time warner bastards!) gotta make up for those lost days of productivity.

during the internet outage i got a lot done though! here's sophie the cat.

up to no good

she was actually supposed to be sophie the bunny but i was feeling "cat" while looking at her so i changed it up. i added some quick toe-like ears to the top of her head and an i-cord tail to her bum. she's ready to chase the mice away in sharon's new apartment.

here she is getting into the plants. why do all cats like to chew on spider plants? i had roommates who had cats and they always destroyed each and every plant that we had. ugh.

anyway, all the deets are on ravelry. cheers!

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i have many memories of computers and they all revolve around apple, including that one PC i had that i immediately wished i had saved for a mac. my first real computer? an apple IIe. i played oregon trail on it constantly (we did have a TI-86 before the IIe but i couldn't really do anything on it but a few lines of BASIC.) my high school graduation present? an apple performa 450 (the last bunch of computers before steve jobs came back and rescued apple from the brink.) then there was the flirtation with windows that lasted all of 6 months and then i got one of the first imacs and it was all over. i was hooked forever. i even managed to hook some friends.

so yeah, i've wanted an iphone since there were rumors of its development.. and finally i have one!

it's here!

can you see the excitement? i'm taking it slow and savoring every moment! but i already sat down today and sewed up two cozies for it (the first one didn't work out so well.)

this is the winner (the loser is here.) one seam to lessen bulkiness. tight but not too tight. the lining is flannel to protect the screen (i have a screen covering protector on its way.)

the lining

can you believe that i actually have two different skull and cross bones prints in my stash? how fortuitous of me! here's the quick stats in case you want to make one.

two pieces of fabric, 6" tall by 6.75" wide. the lining should be cut with pinking shears to 5" tall (it will not be seamed on the bottom. seam up both the outer fabric and the lining on the shorter side the rectangles using a 0.5" seam allowance. pink off the excess fabric on the seams and press them open with the seam in the back. sew across the bottom of the outer lining with a 0.5" seam. put the lining inside the outer fabric, right sides together, and seam up the top opening at 0.5" seam allowance. press open that seam and turn right side out. tuck the lining in and press again. done.

works great.

and here's some other crafty news. i started the frock camisole! (ravelry) i'm using the artfibers zodiac (now called zoe) that i bought in san francisco last year. so far i'm chugging along. i didn't do a gauge swatch but i think that it's going to work out ok based on what i've already knit.

and i also have a knitted toy in progress (ravelry). this one is for sharon's newly birthed bean.

it's coming along SLOWLY. all those limbs are becoming tiresome. i'm thinking about making it a cat instead of a bunny. smaller ears and a tail! will be cute, me thinks.

and remember this?

this is going to be my summer olympics project (ravelry). gods help me, i'm going to finish it, i swear.

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you may have noticed that my twitter feed lately has been filled with the doom and gloom of apartment hunting in NYC. it's probably the WORST time to be looking to move (what with all the recent college grads coming to make their way in the world) and i was feeling pretty low last week. it's a long story which i can't get into here, but the good news is that we've worked something out to let us stay here till october. looking for a new place in fall will be much easier especially with all of this advanced notice. i feel so relieved! i also think that i may have lost about 5 pounds with all the worrying. now i can get back to my regularly scheduled program.

i have two FO updates to clue you in on. first is a skirt that i finished two weeks ago.

madras skirt

i've had this madras print in my stash for almost 8 years now! i remember buying it when i first moved here and i was living with my grandparents in new jersey. now you remember my last skirt and the issues i had with it? here's what i did differently.

• redrafted the pattern bringing in the waist an inch, the hem up two inches, and the rise the same both front and back. i also drafted another piece to make facings for the waist (sorry i don't have pics of those. i will do better next time!)
• i used this tutorial (via green kitchen) to sew the whole thing together (minus the darts bit.)
• yes, i even did the glue stick zipper thing and it was awesome. worked like a charm.
• the only thing that i'll do differently next time is to rip out some of the seam on the zipper before sewing because i could not move the zipper down to sew around it without doing that. ripping while in the midst of sewing is near impossible. i'll do it before hand.
• i did end up using this technique to sew the hem and it also worked like a charm!

all in all, i love it! i'm going to do the exact same thing on my next skirt, whenever i get around to it.

so i'll confess that there was a little bit of secret knitting going on which is why my updates were pretty sparse last month. i participated in the circle of friends blanket for our fellow spider, amanda.

amanda's baby blanket

she really loves it and we were so happy to make it for her!

amanda loves the blanket!

katie has a funny picture of us weaving in the ends before the party. i think that i'm saying "no pictures please!"

progress on flair continues! it's really my only active project right now and i'm almost done with sleeve #1. i should be done with this thing before we go on vacation june 7. can't wait to get south and enjoy some beach and reading time!

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