Drago[knit]fly

(I'm just going to ignore the fact that this is my first post in nearly a year an a half...) With just under a month past its Christmas due date, I cast off on my niece’s Christmas sweater.  After tearing up the internets for the perfect pattern, my sister send me some links to sweaters she liked, including this one .  Something about the simplicity called out to me and so I checked out my yarn stash to see what would work.  I gravitated to the little hearts, but when I remembered I had this shocking pink just itching to be used, visions of colorblocking danced in my head (sorry, it is a Christmas sweater, though, people! And I am a big, giant dork.)  Anyway, as is the standard, I went back and forth between shocking pink and winter white and shocking pink and oatmeal...winter white… shocking pink.  I eventually decided on the pink/oatmeal combo, only to soon doubt whether or not I could pull off using two fiber types.  Surely it’s been done. ...

I’ve been obsessed with all things AMH these days.  Pretty much anything that pops up on her site, I have to make.  So, when I saw this dress on her website a few months back, it wasn’t long before I had some Little Folks Dobby in my cart.  I’d been eyeing this particular fabric, but didn’t pull the trigger because I couldn’t think of a pattern worthy of the fabric.  I did end up modifying the pattern a bit to make it more wearable for me.  I don’t own a slip and knowing me, it would take me a year before I actually bought one.  To remedy that, I lined the dress with some straw lining material.  In a perfect world, I would have lined it with some coordinating solid voile, but that’s a little rich for my budget, so I opted for some regular ol’ lining material from Joann.  I also shirred the waistline instead of zig-zag stitching elastic just because I thought it would be easier.  Lining and Shirring I didn’t intend to wear this dress whi...

February 2009 – buy fabric. February to Summer – pet fabric, envision gorgeous quilts, remain paralyzed in fear of cutting beautiful fabrics.  Scour flickr for quilt inspiration. Summer – Select quilt pattern.  Engineer how to make quilt.  Cut bazillions upon bazillions of little triangles. Get sick of cutting. Fall to Winter – Forget about quilt. Spring – remember fabric half cut for quilt.  Dig out pieces.  Remember plan.  Finish cutting other bazillion triangles.  Start piecing.  Interest in other projects surpasses interest in quilt.  June/July – In fit of motivation, finish piecing quilt.  July – Momentum continues! Quilt top finished, sandwiched, bound, and quilted.  Now the real question is how do all you flickrites manage to post freshly finished quilts on a weekly (or less!) basis?  Pattern:   No real pattern. I found a couple photos of kaleidoscope quilts on flickr and fell in love.  I bought a 45 degree ...

Thanks so much for all the comments on the Weekender Bag! My mom just received it yesterday and is really happy with it (or so she says!). The weekender isn't the only FO in these parts... Over the past year or so, I’ve developed a bad habit of finishing a handknit, wearing it a bunch, but never managing time (or motivation) for a FO shoot. Even my ravelry project list is crowded with FOs that show only half finished project pictures. I’m going to blame it on the fact that my knitting picks up when it’s cold and dark out and I’m loathe to photograph a FO in bad lighting. I swear, I used to be able to button it all the way! Now that the temps are cooling off in New England, I’ve been pulling out my handknits, most notably one of my favorite knits from earlier in the year, 28 Thirty. I reach for this one not just because it’s cute and comfy, but because it (sort of) works with my belly. Who knew when I finished this project, the FO shoot would feature a pregnant me? Not me, that’s fo...

I've waited a year to write this post - Demi is done and I couldn't be happier. I stalled out on this sweater after lingering doubt about sizing got the best of me. Way back when I was first questioning the size, a couple of you gave me some sage advice that warned of Yorkshire Tweed's growing power and so I pushed on - well, after letting the WIP collect dust for several months. And, hell yeah, I'm wearing it today (now yesterday by the time I'm posting this!) despite the balmy temps. Warning: I went a teensy bit overboard with pictures. Pattern: Demi by Kim Hargreaves Source: Rowan Vintage Style Yarn: Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran in Thorny purchased here Needles: Size 6 & 7 Addis - down a size from the pattern. Buttons: From Joann's Dates Knitted: January 2007 - February 17, 2008. Sad and Pathetic. Mods: For me, a sweater's length is directly related to its wearability. I added three whole inches to the body of this sweater and a couple extra in...

Posting only FO reports has estranged me from this here blog. Sure it's dandy to sit on this side of the blog in a big pile of handknits, but it can't be interesting to learn how many balls of yarn (If I even remember back that far) I used for a project you didn't know was on my needles. It's sure not interesting to me to write about projects that I finished weeks, even months ago. To free myself from the looming pile of FOs (who knew I would ever complain about that?), I'm going to take a page from Ashley 's book and run through them in one huge FO extravaganza! Sara's Swedish Hat My sister first requested a newboy-style cap with a Swedish Flag (we're 50% Swedish) oh, about a year ago. I dragged my heels not only out of intarsia-related distress, but because I couldn't for the life of me envision how this hat would look and how the hell would a Swedish flag fit on a newboy hat? Fastforward to this Fall-- I'm not exactly sure if her hat objective...

Thanks for the comments on the Birdie Mittens! I finally added Haloscan to my blog, so replying to comments will be SO much easier now. I feel like this blog is quickly becoming a collection of FO reports, but I still have a pile to get through, so let's keep it moving... Hourglass can you find all the pets in this picture? Pattern: Hourglass Sweater, Last Minute Knitted Gifts I don't know what I love more, the sweater or the wall Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha from Webs (I have no idea how many skeins). Knitting with Cash Iroha was a bit "eh" for me. Sure it's soft, but the silk content eliminates all flex and the weight ranges from fingering to chunky in places. Wearing Cash Iroha? Totally different story. I still haven't blocked this sweater because I can't bear to think of it wet and unwearable for a few days. While it feels like a sweatshirt, it's almost work appropriate and I slipped it into my daytime wardrobe for a bit. It's rustic look makes it m...

Happy New Year! I guess I'm a few days behind, but oh well. I've seen all of blogland laying out their resolutions for the coming year, which got me to thinking about mine. After throwing some ideas around, I'm not making any. I have trouble mustering up momentum on demand, I'm much better with fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants ambition. So, if on March 1 I decide I will start blogging more or finally stick to that diet, I'm going to go for it. Because New Years isn't just about looking ahead, but also contemplating the previous year I dug up my crafty resolutions from last year. Let's see if I actually stuck to any of them... 1. Get comfy with making my own mods for a better fit. I think I made some progress with this one, but only minimally. I started adding some extra length and increases/decreases, but nothing as ambitious as adding short rows, etc. So, still room for improvement. 2. Only make projects that I know I will wear. Of all my resolutions, this one I...

Thanks, everyone, for the Cherry / Unripe Banana love! I'm smiling, you just can't see. Turns out I much needed all your happy, smiley comments because I've had a rough couple days. I was supposed to run the NYC Marathon on Sunday, but injured my foot a few weeks back. I thought I could push through, but finally resigned to the fact that I could permanently mess up my foot and might not even finish. And it only took two sports medicine doctors strongly advising me not to run to reach this conclusion. 5 months of training down the tubes:( There's always next year, though! And I know this is nothing in the whole scheme of things. Anyway, Happy Halloween! Check out our pumpkins: Mine's the scary one with fangs, J's has the buck teeth. I love mine. Tee hee. This is our first year in cookie-cutter suburbia, so we've got high hopes of trick-or-treaters trailing in and out of house all night (as long as my pumpkin doesn't scare them away). Otherwise, we'll ...

It's been so long since I've written an FO report, I forget how! Yikes. After months of toil on this project, it's finally complete. UNRIPE BANANA AKA CHERRY Pattern. Cherry by Anna Bell. Yarn. Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton in Freesia. 7 and a smidge balls bought dirt cheap at Webs last spring. Size. 36 Needles. Size 3 and 6 Addis Time to Knit. July ?? to October 15. I knit the swatch last summer, though. Other materials. 5 dark red buttons, chocolate brown velvet ribbon. Comments on Pattern. Well written and clear. You have to keep track of the stitch pattern as you decrease and increase, which might cause trouble for beginners. Overall, the stitch pattern keeps things interesting, but not overwhelming. It kept me engaged the duration of the project, which is quite a feat! If you decide to make this definitely spring for an extra ball of yarn. For the size I made (and the size above, in fact), the pattern calls for 7 balls of yarn and I used a bit of an 1/8. Adn I...