a long time back on this blog, i took a few old pants of mine and made them into skirts. remember that? probably not, but i did! and it inspired me to do the same thing with a few pair of maternity pants i had that i knew i would never wear again. this is definitely my last pregnancy and, though i could hand down these pants to someone else, i could also use a few more skirts for the summer.

here’s the link to the tutorial to get you started: http://whipup.net/2006/04/13/ask-and-ye-shall-receive/

this was a very nice pair of light, soft corduroys that i didn’t want to let go of, especially since the maternity panel wasn’t all huge like some of my other pants.

and i also turned a pair of maternity jeans into a skirt!

i’m sure i’ll wear both a lot once the weather stays above 75 degrees everyday!

one tip for those of you thinking about doing this: if your pants are tight in the butt or upper thigh, they will continue to be tight there even turning it into a skirt. this tutorial/repurposing is best used with pants that fit just right or are too big but maybe are too short.

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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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according to movabletype, i started on this post at 11AM and am only now getting around to actually writing it. i long for the days when i had a lighter workload (and an actual living, breathing staff to help me) because it is just not as much fun when i can’t compose a blog posting

anyway, as some of you may have guessed by the photo in the sidebar (check out that new feature! i love the new gallery.. and it’s square thumbnails.. they’re so chic!) i’ve finished green gable.

green gable at last!

yarn: brown sheep cotton fleece in avocado (just under 3 skeins)

needles: US6 for the body, US5 for the ribbing

pattern: green gable by zephyrstyle

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yesterday, i finally served my jury duty like the good citizen that i am. remember when i was complaining about it back in january and then i ended up postponing it? yep, those few months really flew and the summons hit my mailbox again a few weeks ago. my suggestion to anyone who gets served is to postpone it and then give the date to be called again for a monday. i don’t think that people like to schedule their court dates for mondays so there’s bound to be a small case load, at least that’s how it was for me.

of course, it was raining and windy over in downtown brooklyn and i was stuck with the wimpiest umbrella around. it snapped in half and got blown inside out the minute i stepped out of the station. piece of crap. then i went to the wrong courthouse and had to walk an extra three blocks in the sideways rain. i got to court soaking wet and sweating and generally grumpy. not happy!! but the rest of the day went smoothly. i casted on for green gables the friday before (but then i screwed up the lace on sunday night and ripped and re-casted back on again) and had it with me along with a good book and something to eat so once i was dry, i was happily relaxing in the comfy juror chairs.

the courthouse at 320 jay street is brand new according to KP and it showed. the chairs were black fake leather and comfortable, comfortable enough to sleep in as demonstrated by several potential jurors throughout the day. they had a nice lounge area with tons of stuff in the vending machines. i knit almost the entire time while listening to my ipod turned on way low. everytime they got on the loudspeaker to call new jurors, i put away all of my belongings figuring it would be my time to be called but each time i was not. after lunch, i sat there again and read and then at 3:45 they dismissed us all due to a small case load for the day! i don’t have to go back for SIX years!

i got a lot done on my green gable.

green gable progress

i’ve been following the KAL which i’m a member of and now i have serious questions about a few items.

(edited in the extended post to correct my stupid and illiterate self)

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