pants, etc.

I finished everything on yesterday's To Do list but the mending. Ah, well.

Today I really want to finish the corduroy pants. The modern clothes, they get so boring after a while!  And, since my HB found that the price of readymade organic cotton jeans was about twice what I could make them for, we found a new source for organic denim (this one is 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton) and he bought 10 yards.  Once it arrives and I start working with it I'll post about whether it's nice or not.

I have mixed feelings about agreeing to sew all those pairs of pants, because they get so dull after a while, but at least I think I've finally gotten to a point where I could sew them in my sleep, which is nice.  Plus this is one rare occasion where sewing is actually more economical than buying readymade, so my inner cheapskate finds it hard to resist.

I plan to trace off a new copy of the pattern, and I want to make some changes, like using a fly lining that is cut in one with the pants front.  The fewer small fussy pieces I have to deal with, the better, plus I think the cut-in-one method will make a nicer, smoother fly.

But the denim isn't even here yet and I'm not starting on the jeans for a while.  Today I just want to finish the cords.  I also want to put a couple hours into knitting my mitten and sweater.  And my floors need sweeping.  Maybe I'll even make some time to do the mending.

yarns and patterns

Instead of working on today's To Do list, I'm loafing and looking at knitting patterns!

I'm knitting my current sweater in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, a yarn I am so in love with that every time I've been in a yarn store in the past few months I gravitate toward it, touch it, and think "ooh! What's this?!" before I read the label and realize it's what I'm currently working with. And the more I read labels, the more I realize I am in love with almost all of Berroco's yarns (and they didn't even need to pay me to say that!).

Now I think I want to make my next sweater in the slightly heavier Ultra Alpaca. I was looking at their website, and I started perusing Berroco's free patterns. They have some nice-looking patterns! March is pretty much everything I want in a basic cardigan, and there are some with nice cables, too.

I know that yarn manufacturers publish free patterns in order to sell more yarn, so I should probably be cautious about their accuracy, but even so, it's hard for me to resist something that's both free and exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. 

Ok, it's probably time for me to actually go do some knitting now, instead of just making more plans.