Creativity check & Summer of Basics 2018

It's been awhile since my last "creative check in." I've finished quite a lot in that time and I have a lot of future plans for both knitting and sewing. If you're new to reading my blog, I do these check-ins periodically to log and plan my sewing, knitting, and crafty projects.

Knitting

Finished:

There are some you've already seen in posts of their own:

• Scrappy socks
• Bandera shawl
• Ninilchik Swoncho

And a few that are done, but I haven't written a full post about:

• a finished gift for a friend's first baby: Mavis baby sweater
• finished and blocked, but drying Milena Shawl. I'll give this project it's own post soon

Works in progress:

A freshly cast-on pair of Cyril socks, in the prettiest pink speckled yarn I had in my stash.

And there's a new cozy sweater to be cast on which I'll talk about more below!

Future:

• a DK-weight two-color brioche cowl, with gold/ivory yarn
• a DK-weight hat, maybe More Honey
• another stranded colorwork project with yarn leftover from my Swoncho, maybe a hat?
• a few more baby knits

Ideally, I'd like to make most of my upcoming projects with stash yarn. I have beautiful yarn that I already own, and I'd love to use it!

Sewing

Finished:

• My Toaster 2 sweater
• Two Ebony Tee Tunics—one in a striped/polka dot double knit and one in a tree print. For both, I made a size four and used both my serger and sewing machine. I love the fit, although there is a lot of volume, so maybe I'd cut a size 2 next time? And unfortunately, the fabric for the first polka dot version is very fragile and ripped/tore beyond repair after one wear. I can still wear it, but the holes at the seams which are too big to fix will just continue to get larger. It's a bummer, but as a beginner, you win some, you lose some. And I still learned a lot while making it.
• a few baby blankets for friends expecting babies

Summer of Basics (& future sewing plans)

There is a summer make-a-long that Karen Templer of Fringe Association (one of my favorite sewing/knitting/handmade wardrobe blogs) facilitates, called Summer of Basics. The premise of a make-a-long is that it's like a knit-a-long that encompasses both sewing and knitting or crocheting or whatever is that is within a framework of camaraderie. You stretch yourself to make three projects for you wardrobe that fit your own definition of "basic." I plan to knit one garment and sew two.

The jury is still out, but I have a tentative short list of things I want to make in the time span of June to August, three garments in three months.

• The Weekender sweater in O-wool Balance in the travertine colorway, see above photo
• an Ogden cami—perhaps in double gauze?
• Luna pants—I've never made pants before, so these would be a stretch, but practically, they wouldn't be difficult to assemble. I will want to choose my fabric carefully so they don't look frumpy ;)

As you can see, the details are still somewhat fuzzy, but I love the idea of making a sweater (of course) but also the two sewing projects which would be a stretch for me, in terms of fitting and new sewing skills. And at a future date (or sometime this summer, but not specifically for the make-a-long), I'd like to make these:

• the Klein dress by Cali Faye in double gauze
• the Cleo Skirt (made as long as my red skirt that I love)
• another Metamorphic dress, in grey/green fabric, just needs to be cut out and sewn
• another blackwoods cardigan in light grey cotton jersey to replace a ready-to-wear cardigan that's looking a bit worn
• more baby items for friends
• a tote bag

And there we have it: my "making" plans for the next few months, with the full expectation that new things will crop up and I'll change my mind about others, but that's part of the freedom in making. I'm excited about sewing again after a long hiatus away, so I want to ride that out, while also being mindful not to buy too many materials and overwhelm myself. It's hard to anticipate when I'll be in a sewing mood vs a knitting mood. But I'm happily hoping to do a good amount of both. Do you have any summer projects planned? :)