mayflower

Remember my lovely knitted tube of pinky silky wool goodness that was destined to become a sweater of some sort? I had decided it would be knit bottom-up raglan style, perhaps with a double V neck (front and back) with belled sleeves....but after awhile it just didn't feel quite right...and in the usual Mayflower style, I abandoned it and started on something else.

mmm, silky wool!

That is until I saw this in the latest Interweave knits...

hah! not the most fitted, feminine sweater ever....but I love it! (or maybe it's the model's artsy glasses and nose piercing?) On top of that, the 'Retrograde Pullover' is a top-down knitted on 9s, while my little number is a bottom-up on 4s. With a little math and a lot of tweakage, I'm determined to transform this potato-sacky sweater into a super cute, feminine number....

So here she is! Almost ready for a whole crapload of grafting (yikes!)

knitting a sweater on 4s takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r

Speaking of grafting.... someone HELP!!! My dear Mariah is almost done, minus the zipper, and hood grafting. I tweaked the pattern a lot, and the arm cables continue through the hood. I have NO idea how to graft cables, and all the info I could find made very little sense.

After some browsing and poking around, I realized that this is the exact cable on Rogue's hood! And since almost EVERYONE has knit Rogue, there's gotta be someone who can explain it to me! help!

Oh! and I now have an 8-5 job....as a secretary! Yes, that's what a studio art degree will do for ya ;) After 5 1/2 years of art school (plus work for 4 1/2 of those years), I needed a BREAK and a total change of pace....so I'm a secretary on campus! :D This is of course not my career goal in life, but it's a nice breather for a couple years.

Happy knitting!

Knitting a sweater on size 4 needles takes FOREVER! I've knit my way through these movies/ documentaries....

1. Frida
2. Naked World
3. Love, Ludlow
4. Stupidity
5. the First Amendment Project
6. Supersize me (wow!)
7. Wal Mart, the High Cost of Low Price (Lubbock with a population of 200,000 has 3 Walmarts...seems a little excessive doncha think?!!)
8. Closer (Natalie Portman and Jude Law were spectacular in it)
9. Big Fish (one of my favorite Tim Burton movies!!)

Hehe, I'm sure this makes me sound like a VERY slow knitter! In my defense, I didn't knit the WHOLE time, plus it's on 4s...4s!! The sleeves which I'll be knitting on dpns will take even longer....but I am enjoying the silky wool, so I don't mind.

The yarn came in for my next project!! It'll definitely NOT be a mindless knit, and there'll be tons of  fun fair-isle/ steeking action. It's Knit Pick's telemark in Aubergine and Navy Blue. Yes! ...that's the least blue Navy Blue I've ever seen in my life. In fact, it's black.... if you squint really hard you see a faint bluish halo....but it's most likely just my imagination. Yep, Knit Picks definitely messed this dye-lot up! It's PURE BLACK! :( I've decided to just go with it. So black and Aubergine it is!

I dropped by our yarn store this morning looking for 12" circs, and of course left with a magazine and 10 balls of this lovely rayon/acrylic blend. It's Plymouth's Sunsette and is incredibly soft and silky!

mmm, dreamy stuff! ...and at 40% off!!

Gotta run, studio starts in 25 minutes! It's actually my FINAL class as an undergrad...I'll be graduating in December! woohoo!

Diamonique is finished! Well, finished enough....there is some edge stitching left to be done on the neckband...but it's complete enough for a quick photo shoot!

Pattern: Diamonique by Sauniell
Yarn: Paton's Brilliant in Blue Shimmer, 3 1/2 ish balls
Needles: Addi 6s

This was an easy, mellow knit and I'm quite pleased with the finished product!  I changed most of the measurements/ shaping to fit me

It's rained all weekend and the temperature has hung out in the 60s and 70s....Fall is coming!! I immediately started something wonderful out of the Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool I've had sitting in my stash for a few months.

The accurate color is a mix between these two!

I love the texture and fabric created by this wool/ silk mix, and have decided to knit a very simple, classy bottom up raglan. It'll likely have a low(er) boat-like neck and belled sleeves (of course!)

Rows and rows of mindless stockinette! Perfect for lazy rainy days.... I spent my Sunday drinking hot chocolate, knitting away and watching Frida (must see!) Naked World (documentary on artist Spencer Kunick....image google his work!) and Love, Ludlow (a quirky, indie flick) I'm sure I'll start something less mindless soon!

And for something completely un-knitting bloggish and UTTERLY un-May.....

watch out!!

Yes, I'm a bad ass...

My friend James took me to an outdoor range in a small canyon a short drive outside the city to shoot his college graduation present, an AR-15 (yes, this is Texas!) If you haven't picked it up, I'm a very mellow, artsy-fartsy, non-violent sort of chick, and shooting an assault rifle is most definitely NOT my style! The first shot scared. the. hell. out of me. Even with ear protection is was SOO loud and it kicked pretty hard (notice the sandbag I have over my shoulder!). After the initial "OMG!!!" moment (or moments) I was on a roll and shot off about 50 rounds! yikes! It was definitely an experience :D

There were bullet shells of all different sizes, some of which were beautifully rusty from being there for years. I was MUCH more interested in shooting photos than the rifle! ;)

it made a wonderful clinky noise when you walked over them!

I'm off to work in the metals studio....Happy Labor Day!