Once the temperature dips below 80°, it's time to start wistfully stockpiling/making warm cozy things for the nippy weather that's sure to come soon. Only then the temperature jumps right back up and see-saws for two more months. Ugh.
The purple vest is finished! My first non-scarf garment, I feel quite accomplished. Starting with a new medium leads to some nice instant gratification.
Little cable around the neck. Dunno if I need to block it really, the silk just sort of hangs nicely.
Laid flat, you can see how simple the shape is, it's really just a big old rectangle with arm holes.
I made a "Fetching" fingerless mitt from Knitty to get the hang of putting in a thumb. Was much easier than I anticipated. I knew the gauge was wrong from the start, so they are huge, but no problem, my boyfriend
Seamus has much bigger hands then me. Now to make the other, and move on to mittens and full gloves.
He's also getting a scarf for his birthday! I actually had to go out and buy yarn (usually I scour for appropriate sweaters to unravel) because I needed specific colors. This stuff is a little fuzzy for the colorwork I wanna do, but it'll work.
The body of the scarf will be black and white check, worked in the round, and then one of each symbol at the end. The designs are both symbols of the Holy Royal Arch, the masonic group that he's joining this fall. Considering how tacky a lot of the masonic stuff (rings, ties, shirts) is today, I think it's pretty classy.
Sample of the checkerboard pattern (also my gauge swatch)
In non-knitting news, I've picked back up my double-four-patch quilt. I put it away for a bit in frustration. I had sewn it with one seam allowance for one part, and a different one for the next step, so I had to pick out a lot of seams and re-sew.
Now I've got 2 more colors to go, then I can start putting it together. Two possible orientations:
I'm leaning towards the first, it looks a bit like plaid. Thoughts?
And finally, I scored a pretty incredible thrift find this week.
Yes, it is a child's bed comforter in a completely awesome moon-and-stars celestial print, something that's been rather trendy in the last year or so.
A la Christopher Kane Resort '11. But I've always loved astronomical imagery, I have more than one of those cheesy "Universe" picture books you find on sale at Borders. So I think it's going to have to become something cozy and warm. I'm debating about the shape now--drapey blanket coat, peacoat-ish style, cape? Not sure yet.
The keystone for Seamus's scarf is taking shape. I really do not dig this yarn, it's so poofy, and I feel like it's always getting in my mouth, but it was soft enough for him to like it, and not acrylic, so I won't get that squeaky feeling when I work with it.
Back, with the checkerboard that looks a bit more like houndstooth in the knit. This is going to be one thick, warm scarf.
The quilt is pieced. Came out much smaller than I had hoped--only about 50 by 40 inches. I'll put a little border on it, I suppose, but not much, I'll just keep it small. Whatever I do next, I'm going to plan out to get a queen size. On this one, I was just winging it with chunks of fabric I dyed.
And something new, something art-related, hurray! Breaking out my Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Fashion in Detail (an awesome book) inspired me to get back to exploring old embellishment techniques, in this case, tape lace, or Battenburg lace. I pulled apart one of the few linen mumu's I've picked up from the thriftstore. The bottom half is remaining as yardage, the front top became thread (as the bright white of cotton thread would look weird) and the back was cut into bias strips to make the tape. We'll see how it goes...
