The Katniss Wrap - Progress

Last night, I raided my local Jo-Ann's and got to work on my Katniss Wrap! I got two pretty greys that I felt comfortable with (and they matched!), a larger cable hook (for my stash) and started planning out my stitches. The needles are a set that I'm borrowing (going on a few years now) from Oni. She brought them back with her from England while she was there and they are quite possibly my favorite set of needles to work with!
Anyways - I got my sketchpad out, turned on the TV and wrote out my stitch key. I think you can see in the third photo to cast on 36 stitches.  That's all I feel comfortable with sharing at the moment because I don't feel too confident in the amount of rows to twist the cable just yet.  I twisted it too soon in the first few rows (just to get it started) and I think in the second twist, I twisted it too soon, STILL - even though I waited twice the amount of rows than the first time!  I think the longer it gets, the easier it will be to figure out when to twist it.  With that being said, the area I'm working on is for the arm hole / strap and it will be on the back of the finished piece!
I'm holding a strand of Lion Brand Chicago Charcoal and Bernat Softee Chunky True Grey at the same time and it's a lot thicker that I thought it would be - which is great because I was afraid it was going to be too loose / thin!  I love the combination of these two yarns!
I know Katniss's piece isn't cabled but I think this might turn out to be a more stylized version of it (and not a direct copy - which would be nice but...)

   

1. Yarn stash - I have 5 balls of Lion Brand and only 2 of the Bernat / 2. Yarn color names / 3. Needles / 4. 36 stitches cast on / 5. The first cable twist (to the front) on the 5th row (too soon!) / 6. Progress after 2 twists and 15-ish rows finished

What do you think?  I probably should've made the cowl first since I don't know how long it's going to fall from the neck to the shoulders - which would probably determine how long the arm strap is but oh well!  At least with this, I know that the cowl neck might be too bulky as a cable so I might just make a 2x2 rib OR maybe I'll try some bobbles?  Or maybe this pattern I saw while looking for a link to the bobble stitch: the Purl Twist.  So pretty!  Or maybe the Belt Welt!  That might match a little more to the arm strap design.  I feel since the arm strap is going to be embellished some, so should the cowl - but not too much and maybe the Belt Welt pattern is the right mix for this?  There's only one way to find out!

PS - my aunt would be so proud that I'm putting all the knitting skills she taught me to good use.  She would probably be happy that I'm using my Post-Apocalyptic Talent.  What's that: Post-Apocalyptic Talent?  While she was here, we were talking about if an apocalyptic event happened, what skill or skills do you have that would be useful in a large group - if you survived?  I told her I can cook the basics but I can knit up some stuff for the harsh Winter months and she said that with my knittings skills combined with hers, we'd make a pretty good team.  I'm glad she'll have me in her group!  Do you have any Post-Apocalyptic Talents?

Happy Wednesday!

Mom's Birthday Weekend Fun!

This past weekend was a whirlwind!  Well...what weekend isn't?  It was my Mom's birthday weekend and I realized after I put my outfit together that I like to get extra fashionista for her birthday.  Why?  I have no idea.  I also realized that it's been a year since I dyed my hair back to black...
Last weekend, I kindly called my aunt to see if she could sneak a peek at my Mom's shoe size in Converse sneakers so I could get her a very special pair she said she wanted and my aunt had me on speaker phone when I asked the very specific question!  Oops.  My Mom heard everything (of course) so I knew that she knew what her present was going to be so I had to dress it up MAJOR.  Enter this cute bag from good ol' Target



AND a tiara and scepter!  I picked up the metallic grey and black from the wedding section and the tiara and scepter from the kids section.  Cute!  But what was lurking under all that tissue paper?
These!

My Mom had off-handedly mentioned she wanted these shoes and somehow, I remembered to get them for her even though they're not too comfortable for her but I'm sure she'll wear them out anyway.  Cute!

I was in a "makin'" kinda mood this weekend since my old man recovered my spikes for me.  Here's what I started with:



I took this pink belt (that came with a black dress) that wasn't really doing anything for me and I started poking holes in it by the buckle. After arranging my spikes and cutting the belt to the right length, I had a hot pink spiky bracelet!  So I had to make another - with snap buttons for the closures this time.  I was able to successfully use the mini anorak snaps I've had in my craft drawer FOREVER!  Sweet!
And after all that sweet anorak snap action, I finally got down to the most important craft - my shoes.  I had the second pair purchased.  I found the spikes.  All I needed was the awl.  Done.
After LOTS of poking and a few Real Housewives of New Jersey episodes, I did it. I had my dream shoes.


And you KNOW I wore them to my Mom's birthday dinner - which happened to be at the Bone Garden Cantina.  
 
I think the best part about that place (besides the drink menu) is the decor.

My old man pointed out to me that my outfit matched my Mom's present:
 
The background for the bracelets is actually my new pair of pink pants! And the geometic print belongs to my shirt.  So yes, I kept it in the pink, black and white family but I liked my outfit!  Funny coincidence!

How was your weekend?

DIY Detachable Collars

I've been seeing quite a few tutorials online for detatchable collars for a while now and after I liked one on Pinterest the other day, I decided I would finally try my hand at making one!

The first source of inspiration - Marlena's tutorial at Rookie.  It was the first one I'd seen and I loved the Peter Pan candy collar! 

Source

The other source of inspiration - the sparkly Peter Pan collar and the pointy gold collar at Refinery 29.

Source / Source

The final source of inspiration - this cute pearl collar that I first saw on Pinterest. 

Source


After mulling over all the collars and assessing what materials I had available to me, I decided I would use up my white rhinestones on a black felt Peter Pan collar.  
I simply followed the directions to the pearl collar for the stencil and the rest just fell into place!  I just lined up my rhinestones along the edges and glued them down with some good ol' hot glue.  
    
It still needs one little piece and that's just a matter of me finding my grommet tool so I can put some grommets in to tie the ribbons to tie it on and I'll be finished!

The second collar was made the same way except instead of the Peter Pan curves, I added points.  I traced it onto some silver glitter vinyl, added jump rings, chain and a clasp and BAM!  Cute glitter collar!

I'll admit - my real source of inspiration for finally making the jump was a pair of shoes I've been wanting for a while but I finally bought them - these cute Oxfords from Target.  

Now to style them...what better accessory than a cute little collar to dress these shoes up or down!  This look might even fit into a Mondo-inspired look.  We'll see... 
I'm trying not to go too retro with this theme or too Lolita but the Peter Pan collar makes that a little hard to avoid.  Maybe it can turn into a not-too-preppy look for Spring?  I feel like the shoes need knee socks and pleated skirts but I'll turn this into a Make It Work moment and see if I can break that preppy barrier...

Do you have any favorite items that inspire you to design accessories around them?


Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.

Happy New Year to all!

Hello all!  I hope you all had a wonderful new year! Here is my first "Official" photo of the New Year:

I had every intention of putting that through Instagram after I had taken it with the default camera but then I realized that I've never taken a photo in the Instagram app - I've always taken it with the default and then I'd run it through Instagram later. Why not try something new on the New Year?! Here's my first in-app Instagram photo of the New Year:

How exciting!  I'm glad it turned out pretty.  I wanted to keep with the sparkly idea for the New Year.
Yes, I wore my sparkly heels but I altered the outfit a little...

I saved my "LOVE" shirt for our annual black eyed peas and greens dinner and I made my "Out with the old ghosts" t-shirt based on a few designs I had seen on the web.

The first inspiration was this shirt that I had seen on Pinterest:

And that post led me to this shirt:

I follow A LOT of DIY/Craft stuff on there and I'm constantly "liking" different things but keeping my "re-pins" to a minimum.  I could NOT pass this one up - especially since I saw some shirts like this at the mall.  I didn't do the glitter/glue combo since I already had glittery fabric paint that I LOVE to use.

The next inspiration was a post I remembered from a while back from my favorite DIY fashion blogger: Marlena at Self Constructed Freak.  Once I saw this shirt, I knew I HAD to do it.

Thank goodness she made a tutorial for it because I never would've had the patience to figure out on my own - even though it's quite easy. I'm just really impatient and if I can't visualize it on my own, I'm screwed.

Needless to say, I didn't do the crop-top version of this but because I bought a larger-than-normal shirt, I had enough fabric to cut off the the bottom to use for the ruffle sleeves - which I ended up having to take OFF since my sleeves ended up connecting, which I thought was awesome, but it added a lot of bulk to my armpit area.
While the ruffle sleeves were a cute addition, they just were not working and sadly, I cut the whole sleeve off and started over with the original sleeve of the t-shirt without the extra ruffle part.  Once I re-sewed the ruffled original sleeve back on, I felt a little better about it.  Especially since I brought the sleeve in a little more when I cut the sleeves off.  I think that was the main problem.  I guess I hadn't factored in that I was working with a larger-than-normal t-shirt, so there was going to be some bulk.  I ended up taking it in an inch on each side.  I wanted to take it in more but I didn't think it would be ready by New Year's Eve and I didn't want to risk messing it up by accident.

Yeah, so all that talk about my skeleton shirt and guess what - I only have ONE photo of it and that's with the OLD sleeves!  I with all the holiday hoopla, I totally forgot to take photos of my holiday outfits!  Gah!!  Oh well, here it is in it's bulky sleeve glory:



And that's BEFORE I tacked down the ruffles to connect at the armholes...
At least there's proof that I did do it but I had to make it my own!
The outfit still looked like this on the bottom:


But because I knew I was going to be running around (which I did A LOT), I brought a sparkly pair of flats with me. But you'll be happy to know that I was wearing my heels at midnight and I wore them during the midnight rituals:

• The Midnight Kiss
• Eating 12 grapes (one for each month - if you get a sour one, that month will be "sour" but all mine were sweet!)
• "Crossing over" into the new year with: a backpack (to travel in the new year), money in your hand (for prosperity) and making noise (to chase the "old ghosts" out)

It was very noisy, extremely hectic but ridiculously fun!  The only ritual we didn't do was going down to a four way intersection and throwing pennies while making a wish for the new year in each direction.  Come to think of it, we haven't done that one in a while.  Oh well.  Maybe next year?

Are there any traditions you do for New Year's?

Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.