Good Morning Everyone!
What can I say? My projects are all progessing without incident, the weather has been beautiful, and I finished another sweater. I sewed the buttons on my Valeria last night, I'm super impressed lol. Cardigans with buttonholes always make me nervous, especially when I decide to throw caution to the wind and do things my way. I had no idea which buttons I would be using, yet I deemed it quite necessary to ignore the written instuctions of YO, SSK for my button holes. I haven't ever had much success using that method of button hole construction, except on baby sweaters which this clearly was not. Lady Luck was on my side, not only did my button holes come out perfectly, they accomodate the button. What's even more impressive, the buttons completely match my sweater. I wasn't sure how I felt about this monochromatic union, but it really was meant to be. Reds are always so tricky to work with, they rarely get along and often clash. The buttons are absolutely PERFECT!! I'm still in complete shock just how good they look. I'll be posting a picture so you can see what I mean.
I received my summer shop samples in Berroco's Isola and Vivo, FINALLY!! I can say it was worth the wait, I only wish I'd had them earlier of course, they are STUNNING. I have an adorable cardigan called Sapphire knit up in Vivo. I've blocked it and will be changing the buttons on it to make it even cuter. As we all know, the right button completes the garment, almost as important as the right shoes finishing the outfit. I would be lying if I said I LOVED the color, it does fall into the category of Easter Vomit, but it's worth mentioning it does match a couple pairs of my shorts. What does that say about me? That said, despite my initial reaction to this color, it looks really cute on and the color just sings SUMMER. It's bright, pastels, completely out of my wheel house, but honestly a welcome change to my wardrobe and best yet, I didn't have to knit this one. Beggars shouldn't be choosers, but then there's me. I did tease Merri at Berroco by asking her if I could get a different color. The Isola garment is a beautiful shawl called Keshi, which didn't thrill me initially. I'm not a shawl wearer by nature, but this one is GORGEOUS! I finally understand the benefit of having an 84" shawl, WOW, what a fashion statement it makes. The construction of this shawl is what's most interesting, it's knit in the round and cut open at the end. The cut stitches are then dropped and knotted to form fringe. How cool is that? This would be the perfect introduction to Steeking, don't you agree?
If you don't know what steeking is, it's a technique that scares the crap out of US knitters. We had a discussion this past Saturday during KAL that addressed this very topic. We are trying to figure out what our next KAL will be, it's leaning heavily towards Icelandic cardigans. The genius of their construction is you get to knit the sweater in the round, including all that color work and then reinforce the front on a sewing machine and cut it up the middle, YIKES!!! For those of you who have been doing the KALS from the beginning likely remember our first project, The Tech Square Afghan. One of the squares was color work, knit in the round and steeked. We all had heart palpitations the day I brought in my sewing machine and special "fabric only" scissors to perform the surgery. We all survived and learned that safety in numbers is extremely important. Barb has actually steeked a cardigan and did it so long ago she didn't realize it was scary. Sometimes the ignorance of youth plays to your advantage, you don't seem to focus on just how wrong something can go, you just do it. So, if you want to completely go outside of your comfort zone, learn a new technique AND HAVE A GREAT TIME, join us for our next KAL, I promise it will be educational and entertaining for sure. KAL meets the 4th Saturday of the month from 9-11:00, we won't be casting on wool sweaters until August, maybe September, stay tuned...
I can't believe that July 4th weekend is THIS WEEKEND! I'll be open my regular hours although I'll likely be watching the driveway from my glider lol. The Great Northern Yarn Haul starts on July 8th-31st, I HAVE THE PROJECT BAGS!!! There is a limited supply, once they're gone, they're gone. You can still participate, you just won't have the cool bag, they are generous this year, perfect for shopping. We will be meeting tomorrow evening from 6-7:30 for Stitch and Bitch, I hope you can join in the fun. Make it a great day and I'll see you soon! Painting credit: Catherine Montstream
Katy