xmas card for stan

my brother is in the hospital right now. according to the doctor, he caught some virus. he's okay now, but will have to stay in the hospital for a week. what a disappointing way to spend the winter vacation...

our family doesn't really celebrate christmas. but i thought i should still make him a card, especially since i haven't visited him at all (yet) at the hospital.

i had bought some felt for a previous project. i cut out a few pieces, and quickly stitched together something resembling a gift, and tacked it onto a quarter-folded computer paper, just to mimic a card.

front cover:


detail on the 'gift'. notice the poor stitching...

petal notebook

while procrastinating from studying for final exams, i made another book.

it is quarter-page in size, with 128 blank pages. the covers were made with cardboard and scrapbooking papers. the textblock was made with blank computer paper. i found some fuschia thread in the sewing box, and coptic-stitched the spine.

i already have too many blank notebooks. i think i'll give this one away as part of a gift.



after i finish my pack of scrapbooking paper, i should learn to make my own paper. it would be interesting.

knitted mittens in dark burgundy

another attempt at knitting mittens, following the tutorial here:
http://www.needlenook.on.ca/free/nn106.pdf

i was following the instructions for the ladies' size. halfway through the first mitten, i realized that it was too big on me. probably because i have small hands, and i was using 4.5mm needles instead of the 3.25mm as indicated in the instructions. so i had to start over again. i hate unravelling projects.

second try: i followed the number of stitches for the children's medium size, while keeping all the lengths of the ladies' size. i followed the instructions until the end, and saw that it resulted in a weirdly shaped mitten, very pointy pyramid at the tip. more unravelling had to be done.

i re-did the shape at the tip. i decreased until 16 stitches remain, before finishing. for the thumb, i decreased until 10 stitches remain.

now that the pair is knitted, i see that the tip is still a bit pointy. for a rounder shape, i probably should have decreased until 20 stitches only. bah, i'll try that next time.

yellow recipe book

mom wanted a notebook to collect her recipes. so i decided to make her one. another attempt at coptic binding.

the covers were made with cardboard i found in the recycling bin, covered with scrapbooking paper i got at the dollar store. i put too much glue; it seeped through and stained the back cover... inside are 128 blank pages, a quarter of letter-sized paper. the stitching turned out better this time.

convocation dress

again, using simplicity 5112, mom made my convocation dress, with a heavier print fabric. i quite like the way it turned out.



the shrug was made following a fitz pattern, with some stretchy lacy material.

striped halter dress

when mom and i went shopping for a dress to wear at convocation, it was disappointing. we saw some nice dresses, but those were pricey. we found some simpler dresses, but the material looked and felt cheap. finally, we bought a pattern instead: simplicity 5112. it is a simple halter dress.

but before making the convocation dress with nice material, mom found some cheaper material in her sewing closet. it is a cotton, with a striped print; it makes me think of bedsheets. we tried the pattern with the cotton, to make sure that the sizing is correct, and that the style would suit me.

i was happy enough with the result, but found the dress a bit too short. so mom added a lace trim at the hemline. i find that this added detail makes the dress nicer.

i hadn't planned on actually wearing the dress; it was more just to try out the pattern. but i love it so much now; it is perfect for summer. i can't wait until the temperature rises so that i can wear it.

bad quality pic taken with camera-phone:

knitted mittens

following the tutorial found here:
http://www.needlenook.on.ca/free/nn106.pdf.

this was my first knitting project. i'm not completely satisfied, since the stitches are not even. and on the tip of the left mitten, the shape looks kind of weird...