theknittyvritti

nose to the grindstone

 

I thought I'd better start this off with something unequivocally pretty. My garden beds develop slowly because I want to design them aesthetically without understanding much about garden design. I do get these patches of things that are exactly what I want, at least for a few weeks. This purple on purple patch is one of those things. Garden design seems even more challenging than knit project design, since it is a moving target. At least with a sweater you don't have to worry about what it will be doing in three weeks. Presumable, the same thing it's doing now. Ahem....there are times when we wish this was not the case....more below....

 

When your sister gives you permission to post a photo like this, you put it up before she changes her mind. I was going to let the veg garden lie fallow this year, but Hightest convinced me to co-op grow it with her. And she promised her labor, and so it was on. Both Hightest and Operations Man are very good workers. They can attack a physical task with a kind of focus that I both envy and exploit. On a good day, I can be brought along and really put out as well, but just as often, I find myself drifting off and being pulled back when they realize I have been pulling the same weed for ten minutes. They know me well enough to know that I have probably been fantasizing about my alternate life as an Irish potato farmer (it's not always princesses with me). I don't think this is something that is easily changed......I have tried.

 

And so to the knitting. I've taken up the Pintuck Tee again. And I've been thinking about recent laments from Princesspea and SweetP as I try to soldier on in the face of what seems to be a hopeless situation. Somehow, I don't believe that this project (blobject?) will ever be wearable. It's not the pattern, which is both ingenious and fun, but this damn Louet Euroflax yarn. Why did I buy three projects worth? It's stiff and lumpy and while the colors are beautiful, I'm having trouble believeing that multiple rides in my dryer are going to relax this stuff into a beautful piece of textile as suggested. We shall see. In the meantime, I am trying to take inspiration from Hightest and Op's Man, and power through this thing without running off to get lost in my pattern books and fantasies of the next project.

let me sleep on it

KV wrote this at 11 p.m.:

So here is the picture of the t-twist tee shirt-finished, but not worth keeping. The yarn was expensive, so I wanted to love this one--instead, it felt like wearing sausage casing--too tight for comfort, especially at the top, which was just too small. To make matters worse, I can see that I really don't like the way this one finishes up enough to re-make it, so the tee goes to the frog pond. If I have the heart, I'll detail what I don't like about it in another post. And I'll start looking for something else to make with this lovely, lovely yarn. I'm going to go now, because I'm on the verge of whining.......

She slept. It rained.

KV wrote this at 11 a.m.:

What was I thinking? This is really not bad. The waist shaping and length are just right, and my arms look, well, pretty normal. And hey, there's some room to breathe.

And you know, that finishing  looks just fine. Isn't it funny how different things look after a good sleep?

Forgive the pictures, but I just couldn't prevail on Operations Man again. He was done in by the whining last night.  He says that he likes the sweater fine, though, and he's not afraid to call the disasters as he sees them.

the witching hour

It seems like every time I'm about to finish something, something goes wrong. Today is no exception. I've been knitting up the yoke of the tee I've been working on and I noticed this:

I know it's barely visible, but I jumped a stitch on the ssk's, way up at the top. Now that I know it's there, I'm going to have to tink back to before it happened, and re-do this bit. I had high hopes of finishing this tee today, but not now--maybe later this week?  Off to find out....

seeing is believing

First the good news:

I bought this rose on sale at the end of last year. It's more beautiful than I could even hope, and it's blooming prolifically.

And it's peony season again. Last year, there were June storms that really affected the peonies, and we kind of missed them. This year, they are being exposed to over ninety degree temps, but holding up pretty well. These plants are only a few years old, and are maturing quickly.

Now for the bad news:

Of course, I read the note that came with the Louet Euroflax, warning that this yarn is not the best for plain (stockinette) knitting. But the color was irresistible for the pin-tuck tee, and I saw some plain knit things on Rav in this yarn, and I decided to give it a try.

Meh. Not so good. I am usually quite proud of my even stitches, and this does't look like my knitting. I've done some research, and it seems that it might help to wash this yarn and dry it before using it, that is, just soak the hanks for 15-20 minutes, then dry. Some people report that this makes it easier to handle. My other option is to pick a lacier pattern for this yarn, and I'm considering the pattern called Bottoms Up , which is free on Ravelry. There's an example of it knit in this yarn on Ravelry.

Decisions, decisions. Wash the yarn and try again? I really like this pattern, and want it badly in this rather unique color. Or knit this other pattern, which I also like, but which seems a bit fussy for the skirt I want to wear it with.

When I was an adolescent, I wore jeans and a flannel shirt, or jeans and a pocket tee, every day. Life was so much simpler then......

the same, but different

A few years ago, I went to London, and found this skirt at the amazing Liberty department store. Man, I love that store. It's one of those places, along with Vivoli Gelateria in Florence, that I wish I could just beam myself to whenever I want. Instead, the long plane trip and ghastly exchange rate keep me away.

The picture doesn't do the skirt justice, but it's not easy to photograph a skirt, and it could use a pressing. Nevertheless, I have been in love with it ever since I bought it. But I have never had exactly the right top to go with it.

I love the skirt for it's easy fit (have I told you that my rule of thumb for clothing is that it should feel like wearing pajamas?), and for the detailing at the hips and hem.

Those details give me my cues for the colors I need. Hence my choices of the fuchsia pin-tuck tee, and the green sweater for my summer tee shirt projects.

The green sweater is coming along, so a word about it's provenance. It's a variation on the T-Twist Tee by Jennifer James Farrell, found on Knitty.com. I've chosen a different border stitch that the one she chose, a yarn with a different gauge, and a different shaping for the body of the sweater. Basically, I love the neck shaping and construction of her sweater, and I think of mine as a riff on hers. This is one of the playful parts of knitting: taking someone else's idea and making it your own. I'm not tackling writing my own patterns yet (altho' there is a fantasy brewing.....), so I'm very grateful to the wonderful knitters who share their hard work on Knitty and other sites. Thanks, Jennifer!