swallowtail

I finished my first lace knit this weekend. I knitted the Swallowtail Shawl for my mother's birthday. I'm happy with how it turned out but unsure how much lace knitting is in my future. I used Rowan Felted Tweed in Grey Mist, which turned out to have a light blue tint to it, and doesn't really look grey. I might have liked the shawl to be a little bigger, but was ready for it to be done too. Blocking this project was fun. You can call me Captain Knitting Dork.

find of the year

what are the odds? my favorite sweater is a tunic length, oversized cowl by sleeping in snow that i bought at anthropologie 3 or 4 years ago. it's seen better days and i often look at it and wonder how i can revive it, or most often, whether i can knit myself a new one.

well i was in brooklyn this past weekend and stepped into monk (among many thrift stores i browsed that day) and what did i find?!? the exact same sweater, same size, in light grey! what?!?! i couldn't believe it. what are the odds of finding a brand new (it's in new condition) version of your favorite sweater years after you bought the first one? years ago i won a trip to jamaica. i think my luck has to have run out at this point.

old:

new:

i think this also validates my decision to do the majority of my shopping second-hand (socks and underwear aside), which will be a post for another day.

knitting disciple

a few weeks ago i taught my best friend to knit. this was very thrilling for me, probably more so than it should have been, but i've always been dying to teach someone to knit. being this excited, or maybe because i think i'm the jesus of knitting, i erroneously started to call her my knitting "disciple" one day. i'm quite full of myself. that should probably be something more like "pupil" or maybe "scholar."

nonetheless, the fruit of her labors:




i'm very proud. 2x2 rib in the round for a first time knit. not bad. (actually, i'm also a little embarassed - she is much better than i was when i started).

given and to be given

a few more from the christmas season (one of which still needs to be given. a christmas present finished in november and given in february. of course.)

i really loved making this bag. i woke up one sunday morning and i decided i wanted to make this for one of my best friends and put it together in a couple hours, which is a record for me. it's gigantic and the pictures don't really show it; when i put it on the bottom falls below my hip, and i'm 5'10". i love gigantic bags. the hat is an unslouchy version of slouchy mama and looks better on my blonde friends with smaller heads (so hopefully it will look good on the recipient, who fits the bill).

get your act together

well, i'll probably never really do that. but i might try to revive this blog now that it's been good and dead for so long. there have been no shortage of projects to post, so i'll work on catching those up. above is the family christmas list (given, not received).

next post will be the friend christmas list and pretty soon that might bring us to the present tense.

bags for the bride

Not only was I lucky enough to attend a beautiful wedding this weekend and watch a good friend begin a beautiful marriage, I had my first commissioned "job" for this very wedding! Someone liked my "bucket bag" enough to ask me to make three as gifts for her bridal party, and it was such an exciting project!

A close-up of the fabrics:
The pattern was the same as the one I used for the Great Little Bag, with some new fabrics added in, all of which I purchased in the remnants at Osgood's and G Street. On the inside, the initials of each bridesmaid are embroidered, which was a 2-hour project per bag alone.

The bride and her bridal party seemed really happy with the results, and a lot of people have suggested I sell them. I'm not sure if it makes sense, particularly because I'm still pretty slow and each bag takes about 6 hours without the embroidery. I also don't know if they stand out enough to make someone actually purchase one; I mean I think they are a cool gift, but would you buy one? And how much would you pay for a bag like this?

(I haven't figured out the best way to photograph the inside besides turning them completely inside out).

demi is finally here

It's done! And I think I like it. I realize that yet another Demi sweater in undyed Fisherman's Wool is the least interesting thing on Ravelry now, but I'm excited to have made it, AND this is the first time ever that once I finished knitting something, I missed knitting it. Usually I want to throw it out the window when I'm done. This was fun and always kept my attention.

Modifications:

• I added length to the hem and the overall length of the body.
• And I added like 4 inches or something to the arms because I have long arms and I like the sleeves extra-long.
• I did a 3-stitch bobble instead of 5-stitch.

Things I Learned:

• I love cabling without a cable needle! I am unlikely to use a cable needle again.
• Definitely preferred working in the round, and using dpn's on the sleeves, if for nothing else but to be able to try on repeatedly.

Finally, I found these deep cherry-red buttons at What Cheer? (DAMN I love this store) and was psyched because cream and deep cherry-red is one of my favorite color combinations.

This is why I can't model: