Okay, so I finally emptied my camera. Before, it would take me forever to drop a few rolls of film off (remember those days?), but now with digital cameras, I can literally store thousands of pictures & just forget about them. Bear with me, I have quite a bit of knitting to share :-).
Little Audrey was born to a friend just a few weeks ago. I went a little crazy with the cutesy girl stuff. Of course, there were the requisite pink booties (do babies still wear them?), a light sweater with color work, ribbon-tie sleeves, and side open collar (I made this up), and a hooded Victorian coat. The coat was a plain pattern and I added the pink embellishments, skirt flowers, and the hood. I wanted something other than buttons so I used some pretty jewelry clasps. The picture doesn't show it, but each clasp is different and looks like a charm: one is a heart, another is a bouquet, and I forget what the last one is. The whole time I was making this coat, I kept thinking of old-fashioned ball gowns.
My purse was falling apart, but I've been refusing to buy a new one. I was determined to make my own purse, and I happened upon this Lily Chin pattern. I think the book was called
Knitting with Beads, and I checked it out of the library. The pattern is called "Mosaic Madness Bag." I hung it on Butch's perch, and he decided to pose with it (actually, he wasn't particularly pleased with my use of his space, but he was a good sport). The picture shows the colors, but there are also beads worked into my version of the bag. Lily did something very clever: you string your beads on nylon beading thread. You carry the beaded thread on the back and only bring it forward with the bead when you mean to have the bead in front. It's a great way to use beads with holes that are much smaller than your yarn. For my bag, I used a hemp/cotton/synthetic mix. I really wanted a hemp/linen mix, but this was the best I could do. I made a lining and lined the interior with stiff facing. The only thing I'd change would be my choice of handles. With the handles pictured (the closest I could find to the original pattern's handles), the material slips & slides. To prevent this, I had one of the guys at work drill small holes into the handle & Jim used fishing line (10-lb test!) to secure the material. It works fine. Next time, I'd probably get round bamboo or wooden handles. Anyway, it's fully functional, and I love it. Now that I know how to do this, I can also expand the bottom and make the purse bigger (as Jim would say, expand the bottomless pit).
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I made myself a top! It's an Iris Schreier pattern and I believe the book title was Lacy Little Knits. Again, I checked this book out of the library. The pictures are bad, but on the front, there's a lacy knit pattern that graces the wide V-neck that mimics crochet. I didn't like her back version, so I changed it for a higher V-neck, with just a small eyelet. I wear it alone with jeans, but for work, I wear a tank top underneath and pair it inside a jacket--it works both ways! I don't usually like orange but for some reason this fine wool "Haiku" yarn became a must-have for me. The color is lightly variegated. The only thing about this wool is that if I rub against anything--a jacket, a seat belt, etc.--it pills, and I've already had to shave off some fiber. Iris used a silk blend, and I'll have to try that next time (or maybe a linen would work?). Anyway, it was fun to knit (modular) and it's fun to wear.
Until next time...
