I don’t have much to show you at the moment so I thought I would tell you what I’m working on. It is a pattern from Wendy Bernard’s book Custom Knits. It’s a vest called Jewel. This is some yarn that I bought a few weeks ago with some birthday money. I’m not super fond of variegated yarn and the way it knits up but I’m really liking this so far. At least I think so. I am also enjoying the hourglass rib pattern as well. More on this in my next installment of Crafty Monday.
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We finally had a nice day last Sunday so Raf and I decided to walk around Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this past week and I’ve been so happy about that. Unfortunately, there is snow in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. WTF?
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Image via Wikipedia Snow in April for us.
Hurray for Progress!
A fun story about finding a message in a bottle from a hundred years ago.
LOL. A part of me wants to say, “good for them!”
This is absolutely horrific. My good thoughts are with the people of Italy.
I am so pleased with Obama. He’s doing an excellent job.
Hurray again for progress!
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I finished my Silk Garden Cardigan over the weekend, the final touch being the sewing on of the lovely wood buttons. This is probably my favorite knitting project to date. It was knitted from the top down using the method in Barbara Walker’s book, Knitting From the Top. I based the general design on my favorite cardigan (Bought from Banana Republic a billion years ago). Surprisingly, this favorite sweater is super simple. There is no body shaping whatsoever, as well as no fancy stitching. This made is easy for me to figure out how to go about knitting this one.Walker first asks you to measure your neck and then cast on based on your gauge and measurement. After this you begin increasing at the raglan seam every other row. I had no idea there were so many choices for double increases but Walker introduces several. I used one in which you knit into the stitch below in front and then knit into the stitch below in back (or something weird like that). The result is the increased stitches fanning out from the seam stitch. I didn’t take a picture of it. Sorry about that.
It’s interesting because she has you knitting along until you have to start working on the front. Then you have to decide what to do for the button band. So I had to pause here to do a bit of math to figure out how many rows in between each button, again based on my row gauge. Then she instructs the knitter to pick up and knit the collar. So I did. This is all very different from the other top-down sweaters I have ever made.
After I knitted the yoke I knitted the sleeves This is where I did my only shaping. I decreased every inch so that the sleeves wouldn’t be gaping-huge at my wrists. Because I HATE gaping sleeves at the wrist.
Then I knitted the body until it was the length I wanted. Tada! All done! No seaming required. And it fits perfectly! It’s a bit roomy, but that is what I wanted. So I’m happy!
The buttons I got a few years ago at Art on the Green. I bought them from an artist out of Sandpoint Idaho and I love them. I wanted to use them for a special sweater and this is the one. They are perfect for it.Here is the Ravelry page if you are interested.
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Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day GeorgeI picked up this wonderful book a few weeks ago. It was among some new books and I was intrigued by the cover (as I am quite often). I read the inside flap and saw that it was a retelling of the fairytale classic, “The Twelve Dancing Princess.” Well, that was the clincher. I love a good fairytale retelling!
This book did not disappoint. If you have read the fairytale you know the story. It pretty much follows it with a few little changes. One of those changes is that the princesses in the older versions that I have read want to go out at midnight and dance, while in this book they are compelled to dance and they hate every minute of it. Another thing that I love about this version is the soldier who comes to the palace to save princesses is a knitter! And knitting figures prominently in the story.I adored this lovely story. It was a really fun read. Definitely recommended.
