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Restingmotion

Time to start dreaming of fall sweaterrs

It was over a week ago that a friend mentioned getting the new Vogue Knitting. I started to check my mailbox with an eager hand. I bet you’ve heard this story before. As the week progressed, my forays into the Hyde Park Post Office became an increasingly intense experience, filled with anticipation, and always ending in frustration.

Need I say that the fabled Vogue Knitting has not yet arrived, much to my chagrin.

Thursday night at group there were copies on the table. I had managed to avoid looking at copies at every drugstore and newsstand in town, but I could not resist the pull of that magazine lying right in front of me, taunting me. I am still awaiting my own copy, one that I can pore over and slowly savor the contents. Also at knitting was a copy of the new Interweave Knits, but on that front at least my prayers have been answered. The Interweave Knits was at home waiting for me as I walked into the kitchen in the wee wee hours of Friday morning.

I haven’t really read it yet, I am saving it for my trip to Tennessee next week, but I have looked at the patterns and there are several that have caught my eye. I suppose you are not surprised. I probably have a lifetime’s worth of projects to knit and I am still seduced by the promise of the new.

I love these:

There is some Rowan Felted Tweed hiding somewhere in this house that I *know* will be perfect for that wonderful cardigan by Eunny Jang (middle photo) and the others are high on my list also. But we know how I am with lists, what is high on my list is only as high as the next magazine or knitting book, when my thoughts and dreams become completely reorganized.

There are several other sweaters of which I like particular details, but they are not jumping to the top of the list, and there are that I love but about which I have serious reservations about how they will look ON ME, so they may in fact just remain dream sweaters and never be seen on my needles:

Both of these really intrigue me. The Teva Durham (on the right) is something I could have worn when I was younger and I am not sure if it will flatter my now bustier figure.

The little jacket by Wenlan Chia just intrigues and there is a part of me that thinks it may be more flattering than one might think. But then again, I have been wrong before…..

There is one more sweater that I just *must* knit. I saw it on the back cover, and it is not a pattern from this magazine, but I have always said that I find the magazines just as valuable for the advertising as I sometimes do for their featured designs.

This sweater by Classic Elite has simply taken my breath away with its simple classic elegance. The book is already on order.

August 3, 2007
Still Here

I am still here, but I seem to be existing in a lull state of late. It is not just sewing that is suffering due to my general state of ennui; knitting, reading, even cooking have basically ceased.

This is unusual. Typically my great stress-reliever is time spent in the kitchen whipping up a meal for someone, or a batch of cookies. Cooking got me through college and grad school, finals and orals are literally a piece of cake after a night spent baking. I know that my stress-relieving techniques fed many a happy dorm-mate during my college years. But now, nothing. Even when I venture into the kitchen the inspiration is gone and the results may not be particularly appealing. It reminds me how much of what we do is more than just following directions. There is a bit of soul that goes into making things.

I know this too will pass. The one-seam pants that have been languishing for weeks will be conquered (they are not the problem) and I will find where I left my creative side (is it under the living room sofa?) and snap it back in place.

Things may already be looking up.

I actually sewed a button on my pants rather than safety pin them together yesterday: They weren’t the buttons that came with the pants. I know I saved the button when it fell off. I know I put it in my pants pocket. But I washed the pants — no button. It may be lurking in the bowels of the washing machine, or it may have fallen out anywhere — when I changed to swim?. These are the kinds of things that happen when one is not oneself.

I love that phrase, "not oneself". Who might I be?

I also turned out a pretty decent dinner tonight. Simple, but decent. Pork chops, broccoli, baked potatoes. All-American right?

A lovely bit of salad was fabricated from a few things I found in the pantry:

A local peach. A tomato. The tops to some local onions. Belgian endive, a navel orange, and a little olive oil round it all out.

I think I’ll be back soon.

July 30, 2007
Knitting and non-knitting

Despite all my complex plans, multiple sweaters were not begun.

My transient life was just too complicated, and I was too tired to knit, or too hot to knit, or too something anyway. I did get all the yarn wound for the Kaffe Fassett Summer Tweed sweater and then did nothing except rearrange yarn storage facilities, moving the pending project pile to the hassock which used to contain the various odd balls and leftovers, and making a new bag for odd-balls. Anything to actually avoid knitting I suppose.

There was no translation from the French.

I did spend some time reading, often arriving at the hotel too tired to knit, especially to knit fine cotton in a dark room with uncomfortable chairs. Instead I read.

Christian Jungersen’s The Exception was a good, gripping story, something to look forward to and wrap myself up in, and it completely took me by surprise. It was farm more interesting than gauge swatches and knitting translations, and I found myself going back over sections and passages, trying to determine if I had missed something along the way.

But of course I did start some knitting, I just didn’t get very far with it. It took me a few tries to get gauge, but I did start the Anny Blatt sweater, Passel.

This seemed like the easiest sweater with which to begin. I don’t believe it needs much alteration in the shaping. I like the length of the sweater, but 22" is shorter on me than on the model, ending up about hip bone height. I needed to alter the waist shaping accordingly. Even so I only got about 20 rows knitted during the two weeks the air-conditioning was out at the house and we were commuting from hotel to house daily. I knitted more last Thursday at knitting class/group than in the entire previous two week period. Still, I do need to check the armhole, shoulder and neckline shaping before I progress too far, lest I regret not having done so.

I am enjoying knitting the sweater, it is not that I don’t enjoy actually knitting it, more that life has been full and busy and I just haven’t found the time to sit down and relish the process. Mango is really a lovely yarn to knit, and the intermittent rows of Muguet occur just frequently enough to keep the rows and rows of stockinette from becoming tedious.

July 30, 2007
Decadent Shell

Decadent ~~Shell~~ Cowl is done.

Photo of cowl collar sitting or flopping, depending on how you look at it, with the sweater flat on a table. I have no idea how I will fold this.

Yarn: Decadent Fibers Creme Puff, slightly less than 2 skeins

Pattern: I used the pattern for the Anna Sleeveless cowl, sweater # 3, from Adrienne Vittadini book 17. It wasn’t the pattern I originally had in mind. I was thinking of a sweater by Colinette for a fitted funnel-neck shell. But the day this idea took hold of me, I scoured the house for that pattern, upending boxes and drawers of patterns, and generally creating mayhem with little success. I found this Vittadini pattern, which worked in a pinch. It was the right basic shape after all, and happened to work out to the same gauge as the the Decadent Fibers yarn so I didn’t have to do any math.

Of course, when I went to put the blocking board away, two days ago, there was the Colinette pattern I originally wanted sitting right where it was supposed to be, silently mocking me.

This sweater was worked from front to back in one continuous piece.

The Vittadini pattern did not call for any kind of edge stitching or finishing at the armholes but I found that unattractive so I finished them as follows:

Knit One Row; Purl One Row, Cast Off knitwise.

I like that finish much better.

As for the cowl, I decided a cowl was fine, and preferable to a funnel neck in this bulky of a yarn. The Vittadini cowl is a big floppy thing, you knit around the neckline, increasingly evenly, knitting a bit and increasing again. I didn’t like this neckline and ripped it out.

I wanted a shaped cowl, that did not stand up too tall in the back, and fit close to the back neck, and then was fuller in the front.

Here is what I ended up with:

The back neckline is on the right and does not stand up very high. I increased the height and fullness of the front by adding a series of short rows to shape the cowl. I really like the end result, (photographed with less than stellar results in the hotel room mirror).

July 20, 2007
New Vogues

Well, the new patterns have been up at Vogue for a few days now, and as anticipated, there are quite a few I like. I haven’t finalized my order yet, but here are the contenders that are moving in and out of my shopping cart depending on my moods and thoughts:

Well, now I have loved this since I first saw it posted online, before I even got the Vogue Patterns magazine. I will not make it in the same kind of fabric. And yes it is true that the off the shoulder styling is not practical for many things, but I love it anyway and I can see myself wearing it for dressier evening events. I also love the skirt, so this one goes into my cart.

On this pattern it is the jacket which calls to me. The top is nice, the pants are nice, the jacket is wonderful, especially if one looks at the seaming on the back (which I did not copy to post here). Great jacket, and I think I have exactly the perfect thing for it waiting in my closet.

This pattern is much more versatile. It can really span a wide range from very dressy to somewhat casual depending on the fabrication, and I love the jacket as shown both in its closed versions and worn open. I also love every other garment included in the pattern so it has great potential for multiple uses.

Two other jackets appeal to me, the lovely short coat or jacket with the angled tucks in the back, and the the Anne Klein jacket which is shown belted here but I think would be just as lovely unbelted. It has a lovely curved peplum type shape in the back that I think would be quite flattering.

As I said before, I am a great sucker for blouses, and these really appeal even with their strong shoulder emphasis and strong sleeve shapes, or perhaps it is because of their statement making possibilities that they attract.

I love a good blouse that can stand alone with a simple pair of pants or a skirt, not just a blouse that plays a secondary role, and these blouses show good potential.

I suppose it is the drama of the collar on this dress that appeals to me more than anything else, but I keep waffling on the decision. I like the sleeveless version better than the long sleeve version, for no particular reason that I can put my finger on. I had a knit dress that looked like the long sleeve version once and it was incredibly warm, almost too warm to wear anywhere except perhaps a drafty castle in Scotland, not one of my normal haunts. I suppose that memory could be haunting my thoughts. But the dress did look good, and there is no reason I need to make this dress out of densely knitted alpaca.

I also love this look. I think of the jacket and skirt as a dress like look more than as a suit and I adore the tunic over pants for its sporty simplicity without being too casual. This could be lovely and elegant in a beautiful wool crepe, or nicely casual in a tweed or other fabric to wear running arund town or perhaps even as a light jacket over simple pants and flats for coming home from the gym.

And while I am on the subject of dressing to go to and from the gym, I
love the tunic in this pattern. It would be perfect over leggings or
slim stretchy pants and flats to wear as a transitional piece when
stopping in at the store, gas-station, or post-office. It could look
casual but still pulled-together.

July 19, 2007
What’s Next?

Well, now that the Decadent Fibers Shell is on the blocking board, and therefore nearing completion, it is time to think of what projects are destined to be on the needles next.

I really want to start this project:

The shrug pattern is from the Bergere de France 2007/2008 CD and I am hoping to use this lovely pale green cotton tencel yarn, Premiere by Classic Elite. The original goal was that this would be my "hotel project" and I would have another "home project" but at the moment this is my "translation project". I didn’t get started on the translation last night as I was just too tired. It has been moved to the hotel, hopefully I can translate it there without frequent reference trips home to the world-wide web. If not it will be delayed even further.

Needing something to start right away if the urge for night-time knitting struck, I also took this Anny Blatt project with me to our "home away from home".

It is stockinette but there is a little bit of a color pattern so it is not completely boring. I meant to start a gauge swatch last night, and did, only to realize that I had completely lost my head and taken the wrong size needles (size 9 UK is not the same as size 9 US) I really do know the difference, and the pattern stated size 4 US and size 9 UK but I must have been more tired than I realized when I packed up my knitting bag. This hauling of stuff back and forth will be the death of me yet I fear.

And for a home project, if I do any knitting at home, will be this sweater from the summer 2006 Rowan magazine:

I haven’t gotten very far on this one either, in fact I am still winding the yarn into balls, but I should finish that today and be ready to start knitting tomorrow. It doesn’t look like it is going to be a particularly portable project anyway, best to leave it in the family room near my favorite chair and the TV.

But aside from all these plans, Decadent Shell is now dry and I really should sew it up and put it together.

Tomorrow.

July 16, 2007
New McCalls Patterns

Although I can’t exactly say that I never met a pattern I didn’t like, because there are tons of bad patterns out there. I also cannot say that I am not easily seduced by the promise of new patterns. I have an extensive pattern collection, far more extensive than either my fabric or yarn collection, and I am completely unrepentant about it. Well, except for occasional periods where I fret about storing the ever-growing collection and keeping it well enough organized that I can actually find things.

And I don’t necessarily wait for pattern sales. There are several reasons for this.

* There is no Hancock Fabrics near me.
* My local JoAnn puts the patterns out weeks after they arrive and there is nothing more frustrating than driving 40 minutes to buy a pattern that isn’t there..
* My collection is large enough that I don’t necessarily remember what I have and by shopping online I can compare line drawings to my own personal pattern catalog and make a much more informed decision. This doesn’t keep me from buying very similar patterns for subtle changes or differences, or sometimes just buying them for comparison purposes. Nor does it keep me from buying a pattern I will probably never sew if I am intrigued enough by the design details or potential.

By the time I have gotten online, looked at my own catalog and decided to buy a pattern it makes no sense to get in the car and drive to buy the pattern when I can just click a button and have the pattern find its way to me.

I do realize that this is probably the lazy way out. But it works for me.

Therefore it should come as no surprise that I went shopping on the McCall’s Pattern website last week. My purchases arrived today.

This isn’t really that complicated of a dress and I have several basic patterns in similar shapes, but this particular pattern is being added to the collection because of the neckline pleats. Of course, I could do my own, but I probably won’t. And although I may end up working on these pleats and moving them around to fit me, I would rather see how someone else does it and work from there rather than draft my own.

I don’t yet know if I will make this as is, or use it as a jumping-off point for several other ideas that are mulling around in my brain.

I really like this look: the strapless jumper with a blouse, and although I have tons of patterns I don’t have anything like this. Strapless was not my thing during my "dartless" years. I had trouble keeping everything in place.

I am intrigued by how one can wear this look without the blouse pulling out and bunching up under the arms, or the dress slipping around. But I saw a lot of this look last fall and into this year, both as a jumper and a dress with a jumper look so I am willing to dream about it, or at least save the pattern as a testament to the styles of the times. And I am actually intrigued enough I might give it a try. I am convinced that I could be far more successful now than I was in my younger days despite the lack of a youthful figure.

I have always been a sucker for a great blouse.

And there are two great, trendy jackets I picked up as well.

These jackets are both "of the moment" and they both have that gathered lower sleeve feature which I have seen in some things for this coming fall as well. I think they are still quite wearable, and they also have good "bones" . They are quite modern, but they also have a classic, ladylike appeal that is almost vintage in its inspiration. I think they have a timeless potential, or more exactly, they either fit one’s style or they don’t but neither one is boring and they could be more or less trendy, depending on the fabric and construction used.

July 16, 2007
Decadent Shell Progress

The Decadent Fibers Shell is on the blocking board. I finished it this morning sitting in my new chair looking out over the Hudson River. It is much more humid today than the last couple of days and I could only barely make out the Catskills in the distance, but there was a fair amount of boat traffic, both commercial and pleasure, on the river.

Here it is pinned to the blocking board but not not yet fully straightened (notice the wavy nature of the rows of reverse stockinette.) There is a thunderstorm rolling in and I wanted to be sure to get a photo while there is still enough light.

When I wet this down the sink looked like I had filled it with some kind of deep red Kool-aide, and although I did change the water a few times, hoping to get all the dye out, the towel I used was once pale peach and now looks kind of cherry colored. I hope it comes out of the wash fine, and I hope my blocking board does not end up with a red stain.

Notice the remnants of yarn. I knit from both balls simultaneously, alternating rows, but they are not equal. Obviously there was not exactly the same number of yards in each skein. It is OK, the larger ball is the one with more purple, and this will be the best one to have near my face when the cowl is finished.

July 15, 2007
A birthday gift to myself

As I was driving home from the hotel this morning I got a call from FedEx. They wanted to deliver a package and a signature was required.

This is what came:

My birthday present to myself: A Panton chair.

I have been harboring the idea that I would get at least one of these as long as we have been working on the deck, probably longer. Modern deck, modern furniture, no?

I sat in one in San Francisco one year and absolutely love it. It fits me perfectly: back support in just the right place for my odd back. That doesn’t of course mean that anyone else would like it. G thinks it is ok, but would not chose to sit in it. The neighbors were over and they side with G on this one. That is OK because it means there is no competition for this chair. It is MINE, all MINE. When I sit in this chair I feel like swinging my arms and legs and smiling, just like little grandson Owen does when he is in the swing. I can see that much knitting, dreaming, reading, and just contemplating the Hudson will be done from this movable perch.

But why yellow? The chair came in white (nah, too boring) and orange-red. But I had some canvas fabric that was originally purchased for some long forgotten project and is now destined to be used to make new seats and backs for a collection of director’s chairs that have been sitting around getting grubby while they were shoved out of the way during the construction process.

The yellows don’t quite match. But there is both red and orange in the stripe and I wasn’t sure red-orange would match either. Yellow will blend in, and G and I both love bright colors. With a cool gray house and cool gray deck, a little color is not a bad thing.

So as you can see, I have yet more sewing to do, and I haven’t even finished those one-seam pants yet. Too much back and forth is going on here for me to ever catch up.

And now that the deck is almost done those directors chairs need to be cleaned up, sanded down, repainted, and have new covers made as well.

The list goes on and on, but the temptation to sit in the chair and just stare at the river is also great: Even though there are fewer boats on the river, apparently due to the high price of fuel, the view is remains way to entrancing to ignore:

July 14, 2007
Linen Tank

Cool linen tank. Rumpled cotton pants. Tired Mardel.

The tank is really quite nice and I am very happy with it.

Pattern by Ram Wools
Euroflax sport weight linen

The evening is still young but I can hardly keep my eyes open. I have much to do but little energy. There isn’t even a movie in the house to sit and knit by… Something will turn up I am sure.

July 12, 2007