fo: by-your-birthday, better late than never

the floor is funny. laugh at the floor.

This was my stats project, back when I took stats in high school. And by stats project, I actually mean "the knitting project I worked on instead of taking notes". You can tell I was a very dedicated statistics student.

The idea was to finish it by my mommy's birthday that year. Um. I finished knitting it...I just didn't block it until a few weeks ago. Um. It's only a couple of years late. But I did block it and this is it in its loveliness. Can I still get credit?

Pattern: Live Oak Shawlette by Romi Hill
Yarn: Patons Stretch Socks in a colorway that I don't know the name of, but reminds me of mermaids :)
Time spent with needle in hands: Um. Let's put down an um.
Its ravelhome is here.

I really like this pattern, once again from the incomparable Knitscene Fall 2011. Only, I didn't size up the needle enough, so I wound up with a fairly small shawlette after one repeat. Another repeat made it feel more normal, but I still just wish the thing had wound up larger.

Fun fact: I originally bought this yarn to make this tank top (which I still love, because it's beautiful, and I will make it, despite the complete impracticality of knitted tank tops for me). But then I decided it was waaaay too stripey, so I stuck it in the yarn drawer and looked at it only when desperation started to loom. And then my mom mentioned a desire for a shawl and all the little lights in my brain (doesn't your imagined-picture-of-your-brain have lights all over it?) went bing! Perfect use for all the stripey mermaid color yarn.

There's not much I wish I had done differently with this. Maybe sized up that needle. Maybe another lace repeat. Maybe, um, blocked it sooner. As in before I graduated high school. But the lace still looks pretty and the stripes still look like a mermaid, and most importantly, my mommy loves it and got super excited about it. :D

lace closeup, 'cos when it's lace you gotta do a closeup

fo: wishing, wandering, flying? sweater

Warning: I'm apparently in a bit of a blue period. So far, three out of the four things I've made this summer are blue. It feels scarily/pleasantly monochromatic. Both ears are staying solidly attached to my head though! And I’m starting a black skirt, so it seems to be ending. :)

Pattern: Lepidoptera by Anne Kuo Lukito
Yarn: Knitpicks Gloss Lace in Winter Nights
Time spent with needles in hand: probably about 3 weeks; I’m not so good at time estimating
Its ravelhome is here.

The yarn was a dream to work with, especially after years of rough acrylic that wouldn't block well and that just basically fought me at every step. I felt so ridiculously spoiled by that oh-so-loverly silk content and the cushy merino wool. My mom and dad bought it for me as a birthday present, and I couldn’t be happier with the actual fiber.

closeup of that gorgeous lace (and my hands, being awkward)

I modified the sweater to have full-length sleeves, because as flattering as cute little three-quarters sleeves are, they are not the ideal length for keeping those wrists warm. Of course, it could always be a scheme to make you knit some wrist warmers or fingerless gloves, (Hmmm...I feel like I’m on to something. But if it’s a scheme, I’m okay with it. This chispita is always in favor of more knitting.) They wound up a little loose at the wrist, but otherwise they feel wonderful. And warm--far too warm for the middle of summer. But the midwest in winter is a completely different box of fish sticks (or fish fingers, with or without custard). I know I’m going to love this sweater once the temperature starts dropping. My only complaint is completely operator error--I have some nasty lines on one sleeve for dpn joins. Well, you win some, you lose some. (Okay, I’m actually pretty frustrated, but I’m trying to get over it and love my sweater.)

Overall, the pattern worked up wonderfully, even with me fretting at every turn that my three tiny balls of laceweight were going to run out while I was halfway through with a sleeve. Silly me. Of course the people know what they’re talking about. I really love this pattern. So far, everything I’ve knit up from Knitscene is amazingly well-designed and chispita-proof.

Oddly enough, my very not 1880s day dress sweater kept reminding me of this dress from Phantom of the Opera from "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" (possibly because I listened to Phantom on crazy repeat while I was making this).

Christine looks worried; I was trying to look like I was singing. And apparently scared.

And then when I actually finished it and started to trying to take pictures I realized it reminded me of something else.

It might just be the blue sweater and the white cami. But. It reminds me. It also reminds that I really have a limited mind--musicals and Titanic. Is this a bad thing?

Um,  I'm going to say no....but I'm also going to go listen to my reggaeton so I'm as diverse as a pile of college applications. :)

****Sad update: this somehow ended up in my second load of laundry of the year and the washing machine decided that it was too big for me. In other words, I forgot to take it out before throwing the wash in the machine and it felted to a just-this-side-of-unwearable size. Someday soon I'll be showing you what to do with a well-beloved sweater that you just accidentally and unevenly shrank. Once I stop sniffling when I look at it.****