T is for..., Socks finished and other stuff

T is for....
Tailor's thimble, the only kind I use. As a seamstress, a thimble is used everyday at work. The picture is a little blurry, but you can see that there is a hole at the top. The side is used to push the needle through the fabric.

The leaves are so pretty this time of year, I have taken lots of pictures. Here are a few. I rarely see oak leaves that are red, usually they are brown.

Sewing
I've been sewing dresses for customers. There have been a lot of them recently. I like that! It brings in cash. One of my customers is a young violinist who need performance clothes suitable for a teenager. The dress with the blue skirt is new, but I've been storing the fabric in my shop for 2 years. It's taffeta with black velvet flowers. The top is stretch velvet.

I also altered a dress from a couple of years ago. It had gotten too short. I show before and after pictures. The skirt on this is silk duipioni. She needs dresses for less formal performances too. I showed a short dress with a ruffle last post. This one now has a bubble skirt. Finally, the camera was held straight. I have a leaning dress form, but this one isn't it!

Knitting
We have finished socks. LE's birthday socks are finished. They're a stealth project, because I hope to sell the pattern. but I can show enough to see that they're done! I show all the leftover red yarn. Really didn't think I'd make it. You can see the feet and the ribbing. Yes, the pattern is black.

Popping up for air!

October in NE Ohio means leaf color is starting. I love to walk the dog and shuffle through the leaves. The mornings are crisp and I get to start wearing my sweaters.

My Noro cardigan is growing square by square, but looks much as it did a week ago. I'm past the bottom of the armholes, but it's hard to see that.

The Mystery sock hit a snag, when I didn't read the directions properly. It's back on track now, and farther than the 2nd picture shows. That picture better shows the color. The deadline for this one is Oct. 31, so I might make it.

Luci's socks are making good progress, but I think I want to sell the pattern to a magazine, so it's turned into a stealth project.You see a finished sock and the toe of the 2nd sock. The black patterning doesn't show.

JB's birthday socks have most of a foot now, but here's the latest picture. Aall 3 pairs need to be finished by the end of the month!

I've also been sewing new dresses for people. The only one I have to show is for my little violinist to wear for performances that don't require a long formal dress. It's stretch velvet and taffeta.

I got ambitious and decorated the shop for Halloween. This banner was made a number of years ago, not my design, but I like it a lot. I may show more decorations later this month. .

I'm sewing, knitting and cooking - ABC along

In the past 2 weeks or so, I have filled my freezer with soups. I've made corn chowder, beef stew with barley, split pea soup, and hamburger soup with cabbage. I've also dusted off my bread maker and made 2 loaves. I know how to do it the old fashioned way, but the machine can cook while I'm at work!

Work has gotten much busier. I'm getting lots of dressmaking jobs. Luckily I can delegate much of the alterations work. This black dress is a homecoming dress. The top is knit fabric, actually I made a short knit dress and sewed the skirt and vest to it. The skirt is many layers of tulle, with one layer of knit with shiny dots in the sandwich. I'll try to get more pictures in the next week or so.

I have a lot of knitting on the needles right now, a lot for me that is! I finished one pair of Christmas gift socks. Yarn is Grundl Four seasons Cotton Stretch, and I used every inch.This is the 3rd pair of socks in the gift pile.

I'm working on socks for couple of birthdays this month. A granddaughter wants red and black. I'm using my new Japanese books for these. The red yarn is Regia 4 ply. There will be black on the cuffs. A daughter has a birthday this month also. I just stared socks for her. The pattern again is from a Japanese book. Yarn is Four Seasons sockenwolle.

Lastly, I'm knitting September Mystery Socks from a Ravelry group. I bought the yarn at the TKGA convention last month. The socks need to be orange for the challenge. I bought Yarn Place Chaussant, but the yardage is short. I used Oasis Yarns Aussi Sock for the toe. The picture shows the sock sole.

I also started a sweater that's been on my wish list since I bought the pattern about 5 years ago. This year I was able to buy the yarn. I bought 10 balls of Noro Silk Garden at Knitter's Fantasy in April, only to come home as find out that I needed 5 balls of a contrast color. August was the month for that purchase, and I started the sweater the end of September. The body is knit in one piece, show folded here. Each mitered square is knit separtely, picked up from the row below.

I also finally planted my mother's day rose bush. It came in a pot, so was relatively happy until I could figure out where to put it. I also planted some daffodils. I usually forget to plant bulbs in the fall.

S is for....my sock drawer. this drawer holds most of my hand knit socks. I seem to be addicted ot sock knitting and have some socks in another drawer. I really need 2 drawers in the summer when all the socks are clean at the same time.