Somewhere to Knit

I love to knit in beautiful places... 

This is a baby blanket I made for my dear sister's new baby... what a sweet baby he is.  He is worthy of every stitch. 

Maple Leaf Cloisters Wrap

Though I began this wrap long ago... right before my trip to New York with my husband in March of 2012, I've finally finished it this month. I have knitted it on and off since that March, spending months NOT knitting it, because it was intricate and required constant consultation with a series of charts. It was not a knitting project for tv watching, or talking to friends or family... it was a project designed for long audio books and car rides; solitary labor. Lace is a luxury item, expensive in terms of cost of labor or hours spent knitting, and impractical for most occasions. Lace shawls aren't exactly made for working in the kitchen or taking hikes in the great outdoors.  One doesn't wear them to the grocery store or the park with your kids, usually.  So knitting lace is something I feel a little guilty about. It's not useful, not necessary for the family, it doesn't benefit anyone I love in any way... except me.  It's the epitome of selfish knitting because when I knit it, I have to be focused completely on my knitting, and because it's making a garment I'll wear only a few times a year, at most.

But, oh, it's such an accomplishment!  It's a work of art; an example of something made just for the sake of beauty.  Impractical, yes, but that's part of why it's such a treasure!  Something this glorious has to bring joy to the heart of God.

So, without further ado:

Pattern: Cloisters Wrap

Materials: Knit Picks Shadow Yarn, 3 skeins, in Clementine (orange), overdyed in pink... blogged here

Cost:  $15

Time: 20 months, off an on again

Note to Self: Wear as much as possible, preferably in photographs!  Also, never buy orange lace yarn again... seriously, Girl. 

Something Wonderful

I've finished something astonishingly wonderful. The pride I feel in this sweater is akin, though less than, admittedly, to writing a book, or raising a child! It's a fair isle vest, knit in the round on size 3 needles in fingering weight yarn. It is gorgeous, no... absolutely breathtaking.

The hardest part was the waist shaping combined with the fair isle color work. A straight sided men's vest would have been much less difficult to execute. I DO have one of those in my queue, too. I also have another stranded vest on the needles, but it's a two color damask pattern and much more tedious to knit than this was.  As I said, I knit it in the round, using steeks to dilineate the decreases, and then I cut them with some scissors, picked up the neck and button bands, and knit 10 rows in two by two ribbing to finish it off... I just washed and blocked it yesterday and it's gonna sit on my model for quite a while, I think, till I NEED her for marking a hem or fall comes and I'm wearing it, whichever comes first.

Pattern: Corrie Fair Isle Vest, from Knit Picks

Cost: I can't exactly remember, because I bought this kit years ago, but I think it was in the $30 range... Palette yarn is only about $3.50 per ball, SUPER reasonable.

Time: Hours and hours of time, probably into the mid 40's for hours... but really it was a joy, every row was slightly different and the color changes were fascinating, the patterns wasn't nearly as difficult as it looks.

Note to self: Fair isle is fun, not hard, so do it more often!

Watermelon Blouse

I love watermelon. I love the whole bright, sweet, juicy, messy lot... Here is a blouse, made in lovely watermelon chiffon. It's a simple blouse that I made as a practice garment for chiffon, before I started the pindot blouse, with sweet little aqua buttons on the placket.

And here is is styled with my White Market skirt and a pretty pale aqua Land's End cardigan.

 I'm wearing it tomorrow night to dinner with my sister and her NEW fiancee!!

Pattern: Simplicity 2211

Cost: $6

Time: 6 hours

Note to Self: You need to make more CASUAL clothes, that's what you usually wear!

Black Pindot Chiffon Blouse Day 1

So... four words: What Was I Thinking????

This chiffon is fiddly, hard to cut out, difficult to sew, and the pindots make it kind of op art ish... it's hard to focus my eyes when looking at it! Here are the two front pieces, and a difficult curved seam to fit over the ladies... this pattern is a difficult one, as well, I should have chosen a loose, flowy top to use with this fabric. BUT, I love the idea of this blouse in the chiffon with my plaid jumper, or my white market skirt, or my bright teal coco chanel inspired skirt, or my black and cream lace skirt, or my burnt orange skirt, or even a pair of jeans!! 

Here it is with all but the hardest part pinned. How do I pin these two pieces together? Well... it's mostly just matching edges and tons of pins along the seam line. Then I baste the seam before I sew, just in case I have trouble with the curve.

Here is the result, the seam is a bit puckered, even after pressing, not sure what to do about that... I think it happened when I was zigzagging the seam to finish the edge.

 I've already clocked 3 hours on this blouse and I've only got the two fronts sewn!

However, there is a bonus to this difficult fabric, I can only work on it in daylight, which means lots of picture opportunities... so get ready for a play by play on the pindot blouse!!

Experiment Dress

A cheetah print, teal and grey and cream, satin mumu? A slinky cocktail dress? It's for a vacation with my man in September, and I hope it looks good on me with heels!

It can also be worn up on the hips, maybe belted, as a mini dress... which is kinda risque, which means, only on Hub's arm, yes?

Pattern: Burda Style magazine June 2012, pattern

Cost: $6, this fabric was $3 a yard and I've got over half a yard left... what to do with it?

Time: 6 hours, 2 of which were patternmaking

Note to Self: Bargain fabric is fun to make unusual styles in, such a small outlay of money to experiment! I may never wear this dress, but it was fun to make!

Black Ribbon Necklace

The necklace was not expensive, perhaps $10, but it was difficult to string the beads onto the ribbon. I copied a necklace I saw Zooey Deschanel wear in a Cotton ad recently that I really liked. Then, the next day, I dropped into my local Wally World and found similar necklace/earring set for $8. Well, I bought them, too so I'd have matching earrings and another layer of black faceted beads in case I felt MORE IS BETTER!


Project: Black Ribbon Necklace
Cost: $10
Project Time: 2 hours
Note to Self: Next time check Walmart first?? Nah!