In May of 2010 I decided to make this cute pattern (Rav link), the Two Summer Sundress by Natalie Larson, involving a quick knit top and sewn skirt, to be exact I decided to make three of them.  I managed to finish two of the three tops last summer, but only finish one completely, which worked just fine since that little girl lives in the tropics, but once September hit I put the other two away since sundresses are no good in Nebraska falls, winters or springs.  But I tackled them and sent them off before this summer was over, thank goodness they are sized to fit for more than one year (though it is yet to be seen if they will fit the girls for a second summer due to my procrastination).

The first completed Two Summer Dress.  The 18 moth size was made with one skein of Cascade Pima Tencel (a lovely soft yarn), dot fabric (Robert Kaufman IIRC) and some heart lace trim I’ve had around forever.  I finished the inside with ribbon per the original pattern, but I followed my own sewing-sense for the skirt construction.

The second Two Summer Dress. Another 18 month size was made with one skein of Knit Picks Shine Worsted, a yard of quilting cotton (I’ve forgotten the line, I bought it summer of 2010 though), and I finished the hem with a fabric ruffle.  I made the ruffle 2x’s the skirt width.  I also used straight grain strips instead of ribbon to finish the inside.  I hand stitched the strips in place, but machine stitched the skirt to the bodice since I could hide that line of stitching between garter ridges.

And the final Two Summer Dress.  This is the 8 year old size and it took 2 skeins of Knit Picks Shine Worsted, the skirt is made from a Robert Kaufman print I found at Jo-Ann’s at least 4 years ago, the inside is again finished with straight grain strips and the rick rack was picked up recently to finish the skirt.  The rick rack is larger than average, but not jumbo rick rack.  As you can see the straps look significantly longer than the 18 month size.  This is the bodice that required re-knitting since my first version ended up not following within pattern schematic measurements and the top originally would have fit me and I don’t fit in girls size 8 tops.  I found the back fastening on this bodice to be problematic.  I think the physical weight of the bodice was too much for the simple buttonholes and buttons so I added a hidden snap to hopefully mitigate gaping in back.

I wish I could further explain my skirt modifications, but all I remember is this: 1) I attached the skirt to the bodice while it was flat and sewed the final back center seam just before hemming and 2) I followed the pattern’s finished measurements but not the sewing instructions.  A few more pictures are in my flickr account and perhaps a wee bit more information in my Ravelry Project Notes.  And while I enjoyed these projects overall I think I will probably try another knit bodice+sewn skirt=dress pattern that a knitting buddy told me about next time since that pattern uses raglan shaping for a pullover with little cap sleeves instead of long skinny garter stitch straps.  Though that will probably only make a one summer dress.

So this is the result of my most recent pain in the back!

Details
Pattern: Springtime Bandit by Kate Gagnon Osborne.  A very nice, easy lace shawl (and also free!).  Originally done in worsted weight yarn, but as I used fingering/4ply, I did extra repeats – it is very easy to add extra repeats, no need to do any recalculations for the edging or anything, just add the repeats until you are done, and start the edging.  A very good feature of shawl patterns I think, is the ease of adding extra repeats.  In this case, the pattern calls for 4 repeats of the body charts, while I did 7.  And ended up with a shawl about the size of the original, heh!

Blobby pre-blocking lace

Yarn:  Wollmeise 100% Merino, in Admiral.  Yes, another Week of Wollmeise project done!  (hmm, that makes 2 out of 7 complete.  Not really that much cause to celebrate, heh!).  I tried to use as much of the skein as possible, but found I had 32g left after binding off.  But not to worry, I don’t think I could have gotten an extra repeat out of that much anyway.  Maybe it’ll be enough for a wee pair of socks…

This is a gorgeous navy/black colour, it works so well for lace because it is so dark, but you still get a gorgeous depth of colour.  It’s just hard to photograph well!

Time:  1 September 2009 (heh!) – 9 June 2011.  Despite this, it’s actually a lovely quick knit!

Modifications:  Only the extra repeats, noted above. 

Inspired by Al, I took some lovely “Victorian Lace Today” style photos at the WWKIP on Saturday.  Love how the sun shines through the lace.  Nothing like it to make you feel like a clever knitter! 

And that’s another long-term wip I can cross off the list! I started the year with 17 WIPS, and of those, I have 12 left – so that’s nearly 1 per month done.  Let’s hope I can keep it up for the rest of the year!

and we also did a gift exchange, so I thought I’d make one of these:

And it was fun – mostly!

Details
Pattern: Celestine Crochet ball by Betsy Myles – a free pattern, yay!  A few people complain on Ravelry that this is a bit of a confusing pattern, or not well written.  I think it’s written fine – you start off with a chain loop and steadily decrease to the point, then add another point building on the last one (got to love a join-as-you-go project!), but I did have trouble starting off each new point, more because I kept forgetting how I got it started the last time.  I think I managed to get it right after I’d made about 8 or 9 of the points!  Oh dear!



Half done!

 So I took some pictures, so hopefully I will remember next time, because I would like to make another one, they are pretty fun, and unusual looking – it’s a 12 pointed star, a sort-of dodecahedron!  I just like saying dodecahedron, really!

Foundation row for new point

Yarn: Opal 4ply sock yarn col 1232.  Only 32g, so you can easily get 3 of these from a ball of sock yarn.  Or possibly from leftovers, if you’d already made socks!  You can use any size yarn, it will just affect the size of the end product.

Hook: 3mm

Time: 20 May 2011 – 27 May 2011 – a week, not bad!  I think it took me around an hour for each point, with all the unpulling every time I started a new point and forgot how to join the darn thing so it didn’t twist and was facing the right direction!

Modifications: I made the pattern as written, but rather than doing the chain first and then the crochet into the previous point(s), I did the crochet into the previous points first, then the chain.  For some reason, this was easier to work out the joining. 

There’s also a small error in the pattern when starting the 11th point, you only do 7 chain, the rest are all crochet into previous points.

The last point was very fiddly, but I managed it ok.  When stuffing the ball, I also put in a cat toy to give the ball a “rattle”.  I was worried the stuffing might muffle the noise, but it comes out nice and clear, without being annoying loud like some (many?!) kids toys!

Did You Know 4.0 focuses on how the webscape has changed: the rise of mobile and social media, the impact of the decline of print and unofficial downloads, and the risks of having a digital identity.

I work in a stakeholder support role and so I help to provide support for teachers and learners. More and more teaching and learning happens online and the teachers, in particular, require support and guidance on how best to deliver content and facilitate online communities. The more I can find out about this topic the more I can contribute effectively to creating that guidance. It’s really interesting for me to hear other people’s opinions on the topic too.

In addition to my role at work I am hoping to begin some research in September. This will be an action research project and I’m hoping to set up an online community to facilitate this.

Clive’s video describing what virtual classrooms are and they role they play in blended learning programmes is really interesting and easy to understand. Most people have no problem with using asynchronous communication tools (and it certainly overcomes the issue of timezones!) but I know from experience of studying online that synchronous communication is a great help in building relationships and fostering community.

• What do I want to learn to facilitate?

My priority is to gain some insight into learning how to establish a community for my research project. I think this is quite tricky. Even if you get the initial response to then maintain interest and encourage participation.

• What are I’m doing now in terms of online facilitation?

Day to day I do very little but I do have some experience from my post-grad course and a previous role.

• What I would like to achieve, change or do more of?

I have no expectations of this course. I’m happy to hear other people’s opinions and connect with like-minded people but it would be useful to consolidate what I know and improve my skills in online facilitation.

• What do I need to do or make happen to achieve your goal?

I need to contribute to the course every week by reading and commenting on all our amazing blogs, I need to follow the twitter stream and I need to post to my blog at least once a week specifically about #fo2011.

I didn’t make the first meeting and I’m not likely to make the second I’m afraid. The timing is really bad for me but the one on the 23rd is a better.

So… hello to my new classmates. I’m an e-learning enthusiast, currently working in ESOL, with a particular interest in e-portfolios, m-learning and social learning (online). I have a background in teaching (ESOL) and training and got into e-learning a few years ago after discovering how engaged children were when I integrated technology into their lessons. I went back to University to study for a Masters in Interactive Teaching Technologies which I have nearly completed (just a Research study to do!!) and since the beginning of last year I’ve worked in a specific e-learning role. I’m also on Twitter, LinkedIn and I have an e-portfolio.

I have to admit to not being completely new to the topic having completed a ‘Learning In Networked Communities’ module as part of University of Ulster’s MSc (Interactive Teaching Technologies). In saying that it was only the briefest of introductions and I’m really looking forward to building on what I learned. I’m also looking forward to discovering some new blogs and following some new people on Twitter – any excuse to connect with like-minded people

I finally decided on which trim (at the top is a ruffle trim that looked too much like toes, then a scallop trim that ended up being too big, and the pinwheel trim from the stitch dictionary at the back of Crochet Adorned, but only doing half of it for half circles) ultimately I decided on the half-circle pinwheels which look like smaller scallops. Today I hand stitched the trim to the underside of the flaps and then stitched the flaps onto the slippers. I also played with yellow versus peacock colored yarn to sew the flap and button on and settled on the peacock.

It feels so good to have this project done.