She's Crafty...

and she's just my type!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Update, long overdue

It's been over a week since I've posted and tons of knitting action has happened! First, I'm almost finished knitting the body of my Deep V. When I get there, I promise some pictures of steeking, pre and post. Second, I finished a Dream Swatch! Take a look:

Up close


Around the neck


In repose


I love it no matter how I'm looking at it! I knit it with Fleece Artist 100% silk and used vintage Phildar metal needles. They were a bad combo (slippy as all get out), but the Phildar's were all I had in 3.75 mm so I chose to go all out on the yarn rather than splurge on another set of needles. It's packed away in a little envelope now to become the most overdue Mother's Day present evs!

Third, I got a box of goodies from Elann!


I've had a hot pink Ribby Cardi chilling out in the big Rubbermaid container filled with yarn in my spare room for a while. I hated it. It's a terrific pattern, but it's just a tad (or maybe a truckload) sporty for my taste. So over the weekend, I ripped it and then sat and stared at it to try and get some divine inspiration. Finally I figured out that it needed to become a yoked fair isle pullover with motifs of my own design. So I ordered up some more Peruvian Highland Wool and managed to throw a couple of books into my shopping cart in the process. Riiiight. The Vintage Knits book is missing the chart keys, so I'm a little disappointed, but the patterns are pretty enough to assuage whatever anger and resentment I have. I'm also stoked to dig into The Art of Fair Isle Knitting. It comes highly recommended and on a quick flip through, I can see why. This is definitely going to become my primary resource for fair isle from now on.

Phew! Update done! Time to get back to the knitting...

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Deep V progress!



I've passed the start of the neck steek! I love these colours and I love the shaping. BUT (and this is a big BUT), I'm a little nervous about the gauge. I knit, washed and blocked a swatch on 4 mm needles (the pattern calls for 3.5 mm) and hit gauge almost exactly. This baby, in its unblocked state, is measuring half a stitch more over four inches and is coming out to the small measurements instead of the medium. I'm thinking I should trust my swatch, right? But is this sucker really going to block out a whole size bigger?

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Fake Vans skully style redux



As mentioned below, I had a bit of a problem with the original incarnation of my new summer kicks. The sharpie made a big silver blob where my pant legs rubbed and generally ended up looking hideous. So I had to reassess, which resulted in a fresh coat of white fabric paint and skulls handpainted with a 3 mm brush and silver fabric paint. My hand isn't totally steady, so they aren't as uniform as the sharpied ones, but they dang well will hold up a lot better. Chalk it up to a crafty learning experience.

Friday, May 05, 2006

Finished Fad-Classic!



My Fad-Classic has been finished for a couple of days, but my photographer didn't get back until two days ago, so I had to wait until now to post a pic. I love this vest - I feel like I'll be able to wear it forever, and you can dress it up trendy or casual and it looks great. It ate up two+ skeins of Butterfly Super 10 for the 36" size, so ended up being pretty economical too. You can't argue with a cute vest for under $30!

Monday, May 01, 2006

UPDATE: Fake skully Vans



I covet those cool patterned Vans slip-ons but totally can't afford them (or rather I prefer to spend my money on other things like beer and expensive jeans.) So I made some myself! Hideous beige things from Zellers + 3 coats of white fabric paint + silver fabric paint (for the elastic) + freehand skull-and-crossbones drawn on with a silver sharpie = better-than-the-original knockoffs!!!



UPDATE: The sharpie made a big silver blob where my pants rubbed!!! So I had to do some damage control - I painted over the silver blob with another layer of white then handpainted the skulls with a little brush and the same silver paint I used to paint the elastic. I've worn them, and no more silver blobs! Success!