Adventures in Lace

So, it's been a while! This seems to be my blog pattern: I am very gung-ho at the beginning of the year, and I write a lot, happily posting pictures and committing to my documentation, and then around April or May my resolve crumbles (or I simply become distracted by actual knitting) and it slows down or stops entirely. Doesn't make for a very interesting blog to follow! So I'm going to try and remedy that and shoot for at least once a week. I've got a couple of Etsy Corners coming up, too - but for now, let's talk about lace.

For the past week or so I've been endeavouring to make my own lace kerchief pattern. I found one that I love - a very simple mesh that requires no chart, just a simple memorisation; and when it's blocked it looks amazing in its simplicity - but, I want something I can call my own. Something original I wouldn't feel bad about selling in my store. (I tweaked the aforementioned pattern to fit my preferences but am still coming up against an ethical wall.) So I got out the graph paper and looked through all of my stitchionaries and settled upon a leaf lace motif. Converting it to a tip-up triangular shape was a little tricky at first, but once I could see the pattern taking shape on the paper (and could see where my increases matched my decreases) - and I had begun knitting it at least six or seven times - I found my rhythm. I used a DK weight wool, and when I blocked it I used my brand new blocking wires. What a godsend these things are - it was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to thread them through the edge of the knitting, but once I had a wire in all three edges, it took minimal pinning to keep everything in place. So much simpler than trying to get everything straight on the blocking mat with about a zillion and one pins!

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product (minus ribbon ties). I still have a couple of things to tweak within the chart itself but I'm still sort of patting myself on the back for converting a stitch pattern I thought was nice into an actual item (now - to try and do the same with a stitch pattern for a hat... eek).

Secret Projects & Cardigans

I've definitely been more into my knitting lately - kind of hit a bump in the road there. It wasn't that I didn't want to knit; I was overwhelmed by the scope and number of projects I had to finish up. Some of them, though past their due date, are now back into the realm of winter knitting. I hope to work on them during the summer and have them finished and ready to go for the start of autumn, but I have allowed myself to let go of the pressure. Once you begin forgiving yourself for all the UFOs in your knitting basket, the stress associated with them dissolves, and it's easier to jumpstart the creative spark. It also helps to switch to incredibly low-pressure projects! I am working on one such project now - it's a secret, but I promise that all will be revealed in due time... but a small taste can be seen to your left!

As for cardigans, I've decided it's high time that I learn the art of top-down construction. I've read that it's incredibly easy, relatively speaking, and that the best part is that there's no seams, and you can try on garments as you go. SOLD! I mean, I do an ok mattress stitch now, but for me piecing an item together and sewing seams is a definite mental hurdle that can make the difference between having a cardigan a month or two from now, or five months. (I am, of course, basing this on the ONE [1] cardigan I've made, haha.) Right now I'd like to make a cropped cardigan - a little shrug-like something I can pop on over a sleeveless top while I'm knitting at night, or over a dress to ward off a chill, and the beauty of top-down construction is that you can stop it wherever you'd like: cropped, short, mid-length, hip-length, longer than that... I suppose you could even make a full-on duster if you're so inclined!

As far as patterns go, I am seriously considering Margot by Linden Heflin as a fall knit. Though I do prefer cardigans to pullovers, this one is just so pretty! For right now, I am going to trust in the brilliant Laura Chau and start out with her Easy Top-Down Raglan. I have a couple of big ol' skeins of yarn leftover from Rachel's cardigan, so I've got a place to start. Updates will, of course, be forthcoming when I begin the project! Stay tuned!

Happy 100th Blog Post To Me!

And with that milestone, a bit of knitterly fluff courtesy of Bust magazine (the best mag on the "women's interest" rack, ever): This Just In, Truckers Take Up Knitting/Quilting. What a cool trend :)

Another recent fluffy fave is this clip, titled "Knitting's a Privilege", featuring comedian/journalist Mo Rocca being schooled in how cool knitting really is. I actually set my DVR for that one - thanks to a heads-up from Bust. Again!

I'll be back to post about my own knitting soon - I'm going through a knitting funk right now. It's kind of got me down. I'm still enjoying yarn and even knit a few swatches on my birthday last Saturday (we went to Tulsa mostly just to go to JoAnn's Fabric and buy some Debbie Stoller Stitch Nation yarn - and it's really good, review coming soon!), but there's this disconnect between me and my craft. I don't like it. I'm trying to conquer it... I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Goodnight internets!

FO: "Kimono Classic" by Vicki Square

...aka, Rachel's Cardigan!

The pattern can be found in Ann Budd's "Simple Style". The recommended fibre is Berocco Softwist (a blend of rayon and wool), but working with a limited budget, we decided on "I Love This Yarn" acrylic (the Hobby Lobby house brand). I worked gauge swatches in both the recommended needle size for both the yarn and the pattern (size 8), but went up to 10s to get the drape required.

Skills learned: how to pick up stitches along the vertical (for doing the sleeves), seaming (mattress stitch - which I knew how to do, I just got a smidge more practice ;) ), adjusting a pattern for the wearer's personal preference, and... though this part took me a little longer... working through my skill-blocks to actually finish the project! (See previous entry and the bit about the Procrastination Wall.)

Enough bibbling - now for pics! Excuse the shonkiness of my carpet, my overuse of flash, and overall inability to take a good candid pic!

From top to bottom: the cardigan laid out flat to see its shape; a close-up of the neckband at the top of the collar (I was especially pleased with this; sewing the neckband to the body of the cardigan didn't get tricky until the bound-off edge at the top of the back piece); and Rachel enjoying her cardi! She said that it was very snuggly and loves the feel of the finished product :)

A Much More Detailed Post...

...will be forthcoming, with pictures, even! But I had to put this out into the ether...

I JUST FINISHED MY FIRST CARDIGAN.

The cardigan. Eet ees feeeneeshed. Finally. Five months and five days after I began. Note that it didn't take me that long to knit the thing - I'd say at least three months were moments of self-doubt and lack of faith in my abilities causing the Procrastination Wall, every time I came to a place where I needed to acquire a new skill. But last night I finally managed to start sewing the neckband in place, and lo and behold, the darn thing worked. I'm not sure it's 100% how I'd like it to be (it's acrylic... the little things can't be blocked out. Sob), but... we'll see how the recipient feels. Hopefully she'll lurve it!

Pictures coming soon, as well as Tips for Newbs: The Beginner's Knitting Toolkit, Part II (Electric Boogaloo)!

Etsy Corner: Ruby Mountain Dyeworks

From Friday's Etsy Finds Newsletter - this one entitled "All In Stitches", about quilting/sewing crafts - I came across Ruby Mountain DyeWorks . The featured item was a quilted journal cover that utterly struck my fancy. I have been thinking of designing a similar knit item, and the concept is right up my alley - I like to have a decorated notebook, and a place to discreetly tuck a pen is a brilliant idea!

The more I looked at Karen's store, the more I loved what I saw there - the hand-dyed fabric is magnificent, the colours lush and bright, brilliantly arranged to show off the colour wheel and different sets of hues. It's an inspiration just to visit and window-shop a while! I don't sew (yet), but there is plenty there for the non-quilter, as well - premade items like bookmarks, the aforementioned journal covers, and some incredibly lovely Christmas stockings are offered for sale, too.

Do pay this lovely store a visit - you'll fall in love with the colours just as surely as I did!

Etsy Corner: Flourish Bath & Body Review

My much-anticipated perfume oil samples, purchased from Flourish Bath & Body, arrived on Saturday! As you might recall from my first excited post on this Etsy store, I chose "Woodsmoke & Vanilla", "Saltwater", and "Grapefruit Ginger" as my samples. I am not disappointed! They are amazing scents. It can be difficult to attempt scent-description, but allow me to try:

Woodsmoke & Vanilla is, as the name suggests, smoky - very much like a fireplace or a campside bonfire, yet subtle. The vanilla isn't overpowering, but complementary - as the scent wears down, more of the vanilla comes to the front, but it is soft and sweet. I applied it to the inside of my right wrist and could not stop sniffing it as the hours passed! Just ask my husband how many times I shoved my wrist at his face and exclaimed, "BABE! I smell like a BONFIRE, but PRETTIER!" (...I think he lost count.) It also smells to me of yuletide holidays - not how they actually smell, of course, but more the memory and sense of winter nights and fires and delicious things baking in the oven. I think this would smell great on either a woman or a man - it's not gendered one way or the other, it's simply delicious.

"Saltwater" is almost exactly how Brooke describes - from the item description: "But I wouldn't say it smells exactly like the ocean. (Would you even want it to? Dead fish, seaweed, and all?)" And she's right - it doesn't smell exactly like the ocean, yet it recalls it perfectly. It is slightly spicy and salty, very fresh and watery. It is a crisp, clean scent that wears beautifully. I like that there are spice notes in the fragrance - I even got a whiff of licorice in there, though that might just be my own nose. It isn't overpowering but it stays with you as you wear it. This is another one that I have been eagerly showcasing to my friends - "Seriously, smell this, it's like the beach". One friend said it reminded her of the lake she liked to visit. When I wore "Woodsmoke & Vanilla" on one wrist and "Saltwater" on the other, it smelled like a bonfire... at the beach! This is another very unisex scent. It's what dude cologne should smell like (and not like, say, Davidoff "Coolwater", which beats one over the head with imagined olfactory masculinity).

Of the three scents, I haven't really worn "Grapefruit Ginger" yet - I've been too preoccupied with these nature-inspired wonders - but I am pleased to report that it smells mouthwateringly lovely - sparkly, bright, and genuine (not sort of plastic-y, the way some fruit scents can come off). It's sweet with a delicious tang, and as my favourite grapefruit scent was discontinued (from one of those big-chain bath & body stores), I am pleased to have found a most satisfactory replacement!

Do visit Flourish Bath & Body today - don't forget, as well as perfume oil samples, you can also purchase a set of four mini-soaps to try out, too!

(And Karina, the proprietor of my other favourite bath-and-body Etsy store, Soaps that Make Scents, was featured in the Etsy "Quit Your Day Job" series today! It's a great interview, I highly recommend you check it out.)