W I P Wednesday - Voluminous Vest!!

I am so glad to report that with very little effort this week, I was able to finish my dear mother's birthday socks. Why they're only seven months late and winter's over but oh aren't they lovely to look at?















Now to wrap them up and get them in the mail. Oh I hope they fit!

This has really been so good for me, these W I P Wednesdays. I really feel like I'm making progress in my pile of UFOs. Why if I can complete one project a week, I'll be free of them in no time. I can actually justify casting on for something new. So here's what I'm anxious to get off my plate this week.


















VEST FOR DAD from the Summer 2008 issue of Living Crafts Magazine.

I purchased the yarn, which is Brown Sheep Lanaloft, at a deep discount because the color was royal blue and so not right for my man. So I decided to over-dye it navy blue. Easy right? Wrong! I used a dye I was unfamiliar with and was very unhappy with the results. After two attempts, I gave up and settled for a mottled dark blue yarn. It actually looks rather interesting, sort of a kettle-dyed effect. This pattern has a bit of patterning across the chest which I do not like so I am ripping it out and doing a garter stitch not unlike the Cobblestone Pullover.

It is knit in the round from the bottom up and I have completed up to the underarms on the front and nearly to the neck in the back.
I have to confess my tardiness yet again. I wrapped up this yarn along with the magazine and gave it to my husband for his last birthday...uh, his last birthday was in May. Now let me just tell you two things about this project. Number 1: The yarn is DARK! You cannot knit this in low light or at night. This really puts a damper on your knitting times and locations. How can you possibly make progress when you can only knit when most people would be seeking out heavy shade? Now if that reason didn't sway you to feel just a little sympathetic to my belatedness, here's reason Number 2: My husband is an EXTRA LARGE! Now he's not fat, mind you, he's just a big man. Little did I realize when I began this project, what knitting an EXTRA LARGE garment really meant. I should have gotten a clue when for his previous birthday gift, I wrapped up some sock yarn and promised him socks for his birthday present. Did I mention he is a large man? Did you know large men have large feet? Did I mention the yarn was dark brown? He did end up with those in his Christmas stocking, though. (Do you see a pattern here?) It's obvious I did not learn my lesson with the socks but I can assure you that the vest has cured me. I will only be knitting for my EXTRA LARGE husband in pastels from now on.

And let me throw out a word of caution to those knitters out there who find themselves currently unattached.
When considering a life mate, think small to medium. If you must choose extra large, which my husband reminded me is awfully nice to have around in a dark alley, then may I suggest as part of your vows, you state that you will not be knitting anything but hats and scarves for your man "as long as you so shall knit". (In case you're wondering, I became a knitter post vows and my man looks like a goober in hats and scarves.).

Consider this fair warning!

Did I Mention I Was Published?

So one of my students was talking one day about an ornament exchange in which they had become involved with Living Crafts Magazine. Word had gone out on a craft list that I belong to looking for 12 crafters to participate. She mentioned she had just squeezed in to the last spot. I literally ran home and got on the list. Fortunately for me, they were accepting 6 alternates and fortunately again for me, I knew the woman coordinating the exchange. Fiona Duthie had been in my home a few months before leading a natural dyeing workshop that I had coordinated. Ok, let me back up a little. One of the first issues of Living Crafts Magazine had included an adorable pattern for a handspun child's sweater. I had spun this gorgeous Cherry Tree Hill roving into a thick and thin single and began knitting this cute little raglan sweater when I ran into a part of the pattern that made no sense. I did a little detective work and found the email address of Fiona Duthie who had written the pattern and was also a contributing editor of the magazine. When I wrote her with the problem, she was

so sweet and so appologetic and promptly sent me the corrections.
We struck up an internet freindship and a few months later, she contacted me to say she was flying into LA from New Zealand where she had been on a wool sebatical for the last 2 years (How does one get a gig like that?) and would I like to help coordinate some workshops for her. I, of course, jumped at the chance and voila! There she was in my home dying wool and silks with Austrailian Flax, Cochineal Bugs, Indigo and Osage. I was in heaven!

So here I was a few months later, desperate to be a part of an ornament exchange for one of my favorite magazines and she was the coordinator. Needless to say, I got on as an alternate. She outlined the theme and the medium we should use and I started submitting ideas.

A filet crochet pouch...

Three different Scherrenschnitte designs...

and some hand-dipped pine cones.

All such simple ideas which I was almost embarrased to submit but I thought simple might be better since not everyone who reads the magazine is an experienced craftsperson. Surprisingly, two of my ideas were chosen, the Scherrenschnitte angels and the dipped pine cones. We each had to make multiple ornaments, (I had to make multiples of both) and have them turned in by the end of summer so they could be distributed to the other participants along with all instructions and photographs. When the magazine hit the stands in late fall, I was thrilled to see that my Sherrenschnitte angels had made it in the issue while so many others had not. I was also told that my pine cones would be featured in a future issue! So why the heck did it take me so long to tell anyone? Well, life is so full that I just put it aside and relished it within my own little circle. So I'm putting it out there folks...Let's Celebrate!