FAWMville

Welcome to FAWMville. The songs grow in just hours or days here for February Album Writing Month and fawmers only have 28 days to harvest 14.

This season, The Cow Exchange grazes the Wikipedia fields. My husband is gobbling up snippets of articles to write songs. I think this was meant to be an easy way to write lyrics. BUT these one-liners have to fit the topic (kinda), the beat (absolutely) and even rhyme (sometimes). Maybe it's not so easy to master these crops. Just check out all the citations and the resulting lyrics for his first song "It is designed to break your heart."

While you're on the site, you can check out the likes of other veteran fawmers: Charlie Cheney, Errol, John Crossman, Nancy Rost, Debs, Phil Norman, Helen and just tons more. Just keep clicking on names and listening to songs. Some of these talented folks collaborated with The Cow Exchange last year for the SugarKrew's first hit single "Pure Cane Lover."

All of this has left me a FAWMville widow, left to keep up the homestead. Or maybe I'll just go play more of that game of a similar name.

No moo-moos here

Just more than a month ago, I met a gal named Lucie. And my sewing machine met a can of air duster.

This is me, not Lucie. But I am wearing a shirt from her shop.

Lucie was getting ready to launch an online shop for plus-size clothing. My sister was doing some fit-modeling for her and found out that Lucie needed a sewer ASAP. I am no seamstress extraordinaire but the job was simple. Stitch in some labels. And it pays nice, too — just in time for Christmas.

Since the clothing was finished, the labels often had to be sewn over seams. But the raw look worked very well for her designs. The label and lace is soft against the skin, too.

I learned a couple things early on. First, sewing machines work much nicer after getting dusted and oiled. And hey, look at all the different needle sizes for different fabrics! That was pretty nifty. Second, I am a size 1x. I knew I was fitting into women's XL for some brands these days but didn't know that XL often equaled 1x in plus size. The second lesson proved to be a bonus because Lucie needed a fit model for that size. So the hours added up and overflowed into the new year.

I'm no model but that's ok. Fit modeling isn't for the camera. This is how Lucie decides if size labels need to be adjusted and what to write on the descriptions.

Now, let's fast-forward to last week. Lucie has soft-launched her shop. And I've picked up another job. I'm helping her do a little online PR. I would never promote a product on my blog that I didn't believe in. I have so far bought and worn two super-soft, flattering shirts. So here's my pitch:

With 10 years of experience in plus-size fashion, Lucie is opening a new online shop at http://lucielu.com. Her clothes are not the typical frumpy fashion you've seen before for plus sizes. These boutique styles fit all the right curves — and your budget. I recently wore the Romantica tee out and was showered with compliments. It's worth a peek so click the link!

Avalanche!

My Threadknits are finally falling into place. Woolly Woolly hat 2.0 just entered the contest. I learned a lot from my first Woolly hat and this one is even better.

I actually stuck myself in front of the camera to model this one.
The hat is just so much fun!!

So what did I change? Instead of adding his little blue hat later, I knit it into the main hat. Now he doesn't look like a crazy ice cream cone! I made his tusks a little smaller so he wouldn't smack your neighbor. And look, he has a trunk just like any woolly mammoth should! You can buy this crazy hat at my Etsy shop.

You can get creative when wearing this hat. Either swoop his trunk over a tusk and wrap it around your neck. Or wear it backwards and you'll get some doubletakes as people pass you by.

On the subject, my secret Threadknit is going faster than I thought. Sorry, I'm not sharing progress photos until it's all done. But if it keeps going this well, it is going to be amazing.

Off the subject, I'm finishing up my husband's fingerless mittens today. And they remind me that simple can very satisfying. So as soon as they leave the loom, I'm starting a new pair of stockinette mittens inspired by the Threadless tee "Yeah Attitude" by Yoann Plard. One green and one blue, both with smiley faces. I might try out that little thumb loom I have for these, too.

I'm on a mission to use my current yarn stash for most of my Threadknits. The mittens above will comply as will the Threadknit hat ideas below:

Child hat with Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn

Adult hat with Bernat Softee Chunky yarn

Child hat with Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn

Baby hat with Vanna's Choice red yarn

Then if I still have some time (March 1 deadline, people — eek!) and energy I'm gonna go double duty on contests in February. I'll make a hat inspired by RGB and then one based on the CMYK colors, too. Then I have one more secret Threadknit up my sleeve — OR are they on my hands? These projects require new yarn and I can submit them to a Knitting Olympics contest at my local yarn shop, Loops and Links.

Phew! Is that enough to do? This is what I mean by "Avalanche!"