Go West, Knitter!

EDITED UPDATE! Steve took one look at the apron I made for Stitches and said "you better have a pattern!" I didn't feel right writing one, but here are the details:

The pattern is the Rose Again Bag by Bags by Mags. The purse was cute, but it was that impractical size that you only use on Hot Dates when you are hoping to fool the guy to into believing that you don't usual carry Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, 3 days of the Wall Street Journal, design notebooks, measuring tapes, 19 lip glosses, bags of trail mix, 6 works in progress and other necessities in a giant, (though adorable) backbreaking satchel. No, you're the type of girl who only needs cash, gum and a fancy compact, all in a sparkly, postage stamp sized trinket of a bag.

I cut it up and converted it into this:

If you have the pattern and want to make an apron from the get go, I'd say only make the front and back panels. The aprong "strings" could be anything, fabric, i-cord, ribbon or narrow lengths of garter stitch.

I edged it with Cash Iroha left over from my Clapotis, using shoddy blanket stitch. It sort of ruffles and flares which I'm going to not iron because it seems apros pros for an apron..on (hah). I suck at embellishing, but I am working on it! I sewed two sets of large snaps on the handles, and also put a ribbon inside that I could hang pens on or put my little notepad in, to keep everything from settling at the bottom. The flower has some bead pollen, which I love.

It holds my knitter's helper arsenal! And Dena, you'll love this, the Hello Kitty thing is a calculator! Very necessary.

Now, I'm off to Santa Clara! Can't wait to meet West Coast knitters!

CIRILIA

BONUS POST!

The first snow storm of the year hit and it was a fun one. Eric and I had to venture out to get groceries and between us we wore a LOT of knitted things. I decided this warranted a photoshoot. I said "Give me debonair!"


He said, "Give me crazed knitter!" Not pictured: handknit socks and fingerless gloves hidden by massive sleevage.

Lastly, I've been trying to recreate (read: knock-off) a really lovely top from Anthropologie. I'm using Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran on size 10 needles, and I'm pretty sure I've captured the same lace pattern used in the original, Candle Flames (found in B. Walker Vol. 1)

I actually have even MORE to post about, but I'll save something for later!

CR

This is for Amy Greeman.

They totally want to go on a double date!

Olympians, I picked the right project. The Lace Leaf Pullover is zipping right along! I think the only hurdle will be the grafting and seaming of the sleeves. My yarn is proving troublesome, it runs out of steam at the 49 yard mark, and there is no easy way to join in new yarn invisibly. The many, many plies are unsplice-able and what's worse, snagging on lots of things! I really considered using something else, something decadent, but I already had this in my stash and couldn't bear to not use it up once and for all.

I've even met a few Olympians at work recently, good luck to Danielle and Stephanie (didn't catch your blog name, but I know she's working on a baby sweater!).

Oh, last thing. Eric and I are knitting a scrap blanket in an attempt to stave off winter boredom/my yarn taking over the house. His focus and inate knitter sense really impress me. He's been doing most of the work so far. THIS blanket from the Mason-Dixon Knitting ladies is right up my alley.


Hah, check out my faux-'bump' in that picture. I guess I forgot to suck it in. Over and out,

CR

Go Team Western Massachusetts!

So I joined the Harlot's Olympics, about an hour before the deadline. I wasn't going to do it, because I will be in California working at Stitches West from February 15th to the 21st, but I realized that this presents the perfect challenge, which is the whole point of the exercise. I think it's amazing that there are more knitters participating in this event than there are actual Olympians.

My challenge will be Teva Durham's Lace Leaf Pullover. I'm using Berroco X-Press which was about 2 bucks a ball at Webs several months ago. I've been meaning to knit this sweater for a very long time, and the gauge is so large that it should knit up quickly...maybe even before I leave for California? I'm kind of hoping so, because I want to pack VERY lightly, and this 2 sts/inch yarn doesn't fit the bill...

Other than that, I'm totally busting at the seams with design ideas and things I want to knit. I'm also having some sort of palette shift...perhaps because I colored my hair black, which it hasn't been since I was a little girl:

I usually reach for the greens, browns, rusts, etc. and now I'm really getting into blues and greys, clear pinks...it's weird, but makes sense I suppose. My co-workers and I give each other a hard time for always reaching for the same shades, but if that's what you find wearable, I don't see a problem with sticking to what you like.

So anyhow, it's actually pretty frustrating working at Yarn Mecca day in and day out. So many people tell me how jealous they are of my job there, but it's actually kind of torturous, it's totally "water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink". I'm just tempted all the live long day, and whenever RISD students come in it makes me wish I'd had the ovaries to go to design school.

Poor, poor pitiful me.

Cirilia ;)