A Leg Up

2 Things:
1. I finished Anouk!

2. I made a Leg!

I got inspired this weekend after seeing a tutorial on how to make a custom dress form (which I'm totally going to do) and thought it might work for other body parts as well. I got to thinking about how I've really wanted mannequin legs/arms for the modeling of socks & mittens and wondered if I could apply this technique.

So, if you want to make your own model leg, here's what I did...

First, wrap your foot & leg in plastic wrap:

Then, wrap your leg with duct tape. I recommend using strips & not simply winding the roll around your leg. This will give you smoother lines and will prevent you wrapping your leg too tightly & cutting off circulation. The smaller/thinner strips will allow you to create greater definition on the heel & toes as well. I did 3 layers of tape.

Once you have finished taping, gently tease the tape & plastic wrap away from your leg and cut down the side using very sharp scissors.


The plastic wrap I used (Glad Press 'n' Seal) adhered to my leg a little too well, so you may want to use something not so sticky. The tape allows for a good bit of flexibility so removing the form isn't too difficult, however the getting your foot out can be a bit tricky... Like a pair of boots that are a size too small!

After you've removed the form, tape the cut edges back together and stuff the form with newspaper. Viola!


I plan on playing with paper maché and decoupage to try and pretty it up a bit and add extra stiffness. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Busy As A Bee

That's what I've been the past few days. Honey was actually home this weekend, so that meant we needed to catch up on projects around the house & what-not.

The big project was that we finally got round to striping and staining the deck! It was 3 days of work, but it's finally done and looks pretty good considering we are rank amateurs! :)

Here are some project pics

Before

During

After

The last photo shows the stain as darker than it actually is. I believe that's because the sun isn't quite as bright today.

I did get some knitting done as well. I've just finished the gusset and am a 1/4 of the way through the foot of the second Sockapalooza sock. I'm still on the first skein of yarn too, which means I may have enough left over to make a 2nd pair!
I also finally decided to rip out the Folk Jacket that I had started knitting for my mom back in February of last year. I had finished the back and 1 front piece, then I lost the pattern. I ended up purchasing a second copy of the pattern a few months ago, but realized that my mom has gained weight since I started the sweater and it will no longer fit her. And I don't have enough yarn for a larger size.

However, the beautiful yarn will not go to waste. I will be taking the main color yarn...
And knitting this for my niece.

Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke from
Summer 2007 Interweave Knits

Considering that she is only 9 and, surprisingly, smaller than the model, I am going to have to do a fair bit of math to convert the pattern to her size. It looks like the pattern is sized in increments of 5", so it should be fairly easy to size it down. She is tall for age and very slender, so I think this will suit her perfectly!

Lastly, my dearest friends had their baby yesterday! I'm so insanely happy for them!
Welcome to the world, Declan!

Cutest Sock Ever!

I finished the stripey socks for my mum and still have quite a bit of yarn left over. I decided to knit up a pair of baby socks for Joanne, who could go into labor at any time now!

I'm so thrilled with how it turned out! So cute!! Will have to make more of these!!

Baby Blanket - DONE!

Front

Front with Back showing

As you can see, once the back was sewn on the edging ruffled a bit. But overall I am happy. It turned out a little more feminine than I had wanted.. let's just hope Joanne has a girl! :)

For those who are interested, the top of the blanket was knit on size 6 needles in 100% cotton. The alphabet border was taken from a chart in the book Nursery Knits (great book!) by Debbie Bliss. The body was knit in stockinette stitch, with the stripes knit in garter for textural interest. The back of the blanket is a piece of non-pilling fleece purchased from JoAnn Fabrics, and is a very close match to the lilac yarn.

Now I need to figure out what to do with the excess fleece. I'm torn between making a nesting bed for the kitties and making a baby jacket.