Eden Got New Shoes

On the left is my foot. (size 7.5) On the right are Eden's new shoes. I am so glad Eden has no desire for hand made socks!


These are Monkey socks from Knitty by Cookie A. The yarn is Merino Wool hand painted, Flame colorway by Yummee Yarn.
Loved the pattern, loved the yarn, not crazy about the pattern in this yarn. BTW, the 2 socks really are the same size - not sure why they don't look it in the photo.

After weighing it, I didn't think there was enough to make the both socks entirely from this yarn, so I used the contrasting cuff and toe trick. There would have been plenty, as it turned out, so I made a pair of baby socks but the photo is too blurry to share.

The yarn is lovely, soft and spongy, very much like Socks That Rock. It's just that the colors are so busy that the Monkey stitch pattern is lost.

I am making another pair with a nearly solid yarn and am much happier with the result. Will post a photo when completed.

I made 3 new sweaters in the last couple of weeks but am waiting for someone to take my picture wearing them so I can show you.

Only a few more days of school and then summer officially starts!

eBay: Ellene Warren Sexy Black Jersey Dress Back Out size s (item 330120723270 end time May-23-07 14:37:26 PDT)

Every once in a while, my e-bay search comes up with a listing for one of my old designs. This one was a big seller for me back in the day. Here is the story of it's conception:

I was a workaholic - 6 days a week, from early morning till after 7 every night, I would be at the store, doing the work of at least 3 people - designing, making the patterns, cutting and sewing the first samples, buying the fabric, doing every fitting myself, managing the production staff, and whatever else needed to be done. I never took a day off - in fact, in the entire 18 and a half years I had a store (or stores), I only took 2 two week vacations.

But on this one particular day, I couldn't get myself going and decided to stay home. I can't remember why, but it probably had to do with heartbreak over the romance (that's another story - a book in fact)

While watching an old movie - can't remember what - I had the idea for this dress with a contoured collar and a low v in front and a v to the waist in the back. I got up, got dressed, hopped in my black Corvette, and tooled down Benedict Canyon to West Hollywood. And this dress was born - made from matte jersey, slinky, sexy, and I knew it was a winner before anyone ever tried it on. It had a matching belt that closed with a rhinestone frog - must have been lost on this one here, but it cinched in the waist and the jersey draped beautifully above and below. Nothing drapes as nicely as matte jersey. I went through bolts and bolts of it. In fact, I probably still have part of a bolt in my storage.

I also made this design as a top in matte jersey with individually applied sequins with a plain skirt, belt and neckband.


eBay: Ellene Warren Sexy Black Jersey Dress Back Out size s (item 330120723270 end time May-23-07 14:37:26 PDT)

All Knitting, All the Time

This last week I didn't have to drive one single person to one single doctor's appointment. (Reese did go to the dentist but he took himself) so I got a lot of work done!

Violetta is finished! It didn't take 2 1/2 weeks to crochet the violets, after all. But it did take a LOT of time - didn't time myself but I would estimate 15 - 20 hours? I plan to make a swingy little tank tunic to go under it. Am trying to figure out the pattern in my head as I work on other things. Maybe will try a mock-up this afternoon after my chauffeur duties are over.

Here is the pattern for the violet edging:
On base of sc sts, multiple of 7.
*Ch6, skip next 4 sts, sc in next st, ch4, skip next st, sc in next st; turn. [Ch4, sc in ch-4 lp] 3 times, sl st in last ch-6 lp, [sc, hdc, dc, trc, remove hook, insert from front to back in 2nd trc of last petal of last flower made, return hook and pull thru, trc, dc, hdc, sc] in first ch-4 lp, [sc, hdc, dc, 5trc, dc, hdc, sc] in next ch-4 lp, [sc, hdc, dc, 2trdc, dc, hdc, sc] on next ch-4 lp; rep from * around.

I decided to make myself a couple of stress-free summer sweaters from other people's patterns. This one is by Jill Vosburg and I just love her patterns! It is called Heartbeat Sweater and I would have finished it but I ran out of yarn and had to order more. This much knitting took less than 8 hours! Of course, I couldn't just order more of one yarn, so I had to order enough to get the discount! The BIG discount! (those clever yarn retailers)

So while waiting for the yarn to come, I started another sweater for myself from the newest Knitter's. I so loved the yarn the sample was shown in that I had already ordered it and am planning on finishing it this weekend.
This yarn is very nice to work with on the Addi's, which I had all but abandoned, much preferring the Knitpicks Options. But the duller tip is better, since the yarn splits very easily. It seems pricey, but the balls are bigger, and the long repeats are really nice for modules.

I am too ashamed to show you pictures of all the yarn and books I bought to get me through the Fake Brain Tumor Crisis, but I will just mention that I am still expecting 5 more shipments next week! My workroom, which had been reorganized several months ago with a lot of yarn moved down to the storeroom behind the garage, is once again bulging. I'm knitting as fast as I can! But my imagination works much faster than my fingers can ever hope to keep up. At least there are no calories in yarn!

Fiber News

I have managed to work a little throughout this past episode. I finished my second BMFA design and hope you will be able to see both soon. And I made this shawl on the 970 and have been working on the crocheted border as my carry along project. It is named "Miss Violetta" and took only 2 1/2 hours to knit on the machine but will take approximately 2 1/2 weeks to trim. Tiny, lace weight yarn with a size 2 crochet hook! The style of the shawl is like this one, which appears on the homepage of my website.


I also finished one of my Kitri socks. The yarn for the cuff broke twice and I would have just finished the sock in ribbing if it hadn't been so darned cute (and the lace with the beads was very hard to frog) One more to go before I can start another sock.



Although I have about 17 projocts in the works, I try not to ever have 2 of the same type going at once. In that way, I don't feel so promiscuous.

Good News!

I took Eden to Reese's neurologist on Thursday and we got the good news that he seems to be improving after just one week without any meds. No pharmaceutical or surgical intervention seems needed. We are all so relieved.

I feel so sorry that he had to go through this. I even offered to buy him a puppy. He declined, much to the relief of Figaro, who was fearing that life, as she knows it, would end and she would lose her status as Queen of the House.

He still says it is all my fault, but is a little less angry with me now that he feels better. I really don't blame him. He went from having zits, to having clear skin, to having bipolar disease, to maybe having a brain tumor, to having a fake brain tumor and maybe going blind, all in the space of 4 months.

His skin is still clear, too. I noticed he is using more washcloths than he used to. Maybe he is actually washing his face now?

Rooster Rock Handbag (in Progress)

The scarf for BMFA is finished! As I told you, I adore the yarn! I had a lot left over, having calculated that it would take 2 skeins of Lupe and having forgotten that there would be a stretch factor once the scarf had some weight to it, I only ended up needing one skein.

Walking through my dining room last night, I realized that the colors of my rug are the same as the colors of the Rooster Rock. I can never be accused of having inconsistent taste in color.
While working on the scarf, inspiration struck for a handbag from the same yarns plus some others that were lying around. Probably 20% of the yarn in my stash could coordinate with Rooster Rock.
At first I thought I might submit the design to Tina but as I progress in actually making up the bag, I am thinking there are too many outsource materials and too much sewing construction to make it a marketable pattern.

Here is the bag in progress.
Suffice it to say I am much better at knitting than photography! I really admire bloggers whose photos are beautiful works of art. In particular, Cara (just scroll through her photos at the top of the blog if you want to be thrilled) and Yarnstorm (her photos have a unique style that just delight me)

I Just Love This Yarn

Even though it is a total PIA to wind (the skein is too big for my swift and I had to resort to the wide open knees method and it keeps knotting) and a PIA to work with (hard to see the stitches).

But the yarn (100% nylon) gleams like jewels and the colors take my breath away. Both the intensity and the color changes.

What is it? Blue Moon Fiber Arts Lupe, 100% nylon boucle, color Rooster Rock. I am finishing up my 2nd design for BMFA. It is a crocheted scarf which uses Lupe in combination with Silkmo, both the same colorway but an interesting contrast since the Silkmo takes the same colors and dulls them way down.



Wish I could show you the scarf, but you will have to wait to see it at Blue Moon.

Fish For Days and Hair for Months

I have been knitting fish for days, in my spare time. Which as you can see, has not been much.

A few years ago I saw the Tessellating Fish blanket somewhere on the web. I can't find a photo but the pattern is here. I was interested in it, but never mind.

The other day I got the idea to create a modular sweater , using the tessellating fish concept, alternating with strips or something. I haven't quite worked it out yet, but came up with my yarn pallette and have been making fish instead of socks as my carry-around, waiting at Dr. office project.
I had to change the pattern. Mine is much easier to knit and the tail is more 'anatomically correct'. There are 6 connected fish I was experimenting with a technique of crocheting together. The major bummer of this fishy idea is there are MANY ends to weave in. When I knit modularly, I like to weave in ends as you go, but this one doesn't lend itself to that technique.

Many have been asking, "How is the WIG WIP?" Well, it is almost done! Here you see the back:
And here is the top. There is just this small patch remaining unfinished:
After I fill that in, there is the finishing! No small job, it involves coating the inner edge about 1" deep with 3 layers of a brush-on liquid that dries into a firm and flexible latex-like surface where the tape tabs can be applied and easily removed with solvent. If the wearer has any hair of his own, it can be braided into a tiny horizontal cornrow and the center of the wig can be stitched onto the braid for extreme stability, but the outer perimeter still needs to be secured.

After that, you must ventilate the edge. Imagine a row of fringe, double knotted, made of individual hairs, side by side with no space between each hair. This must be ventilated through 3 layers of net and the latex edge! The hairs are very brittle, despite the fact that you soak them in water with oil (I am using olive oil) before ventilating which softens them up and makes the knots grip tighter. I imagine that this edge row will be quite challenging, with much breakage and lots of do-overs (and overs).

Since under ideal circumstances, I can ventilate about 84-87 hairs in 15 minutes, I am certain that the number will be half that or less for the edge. I calculate that it takes about an hour to do a square inch, but my guess is that the edge will take 8 - 12 hours.

Then comes the part I am looking forward to! Styling! I will spray in some oil and pick out the afro, then rough trim it to get an idea if there are areas that need more hair or different colors. The colors are looking much more contrasty in the photo than in real life. This worries me.

The final styling is done by the hairdresser on the set.

You could film, edit and score a complete movie in the time it has taken me to make this wig! Good thing it wasn't for a specific movie. Vicki is just going to add it to her stock and see if someday someone wants to buy it for an extra or background character. Or maybe I will keep it as a reminder of my first wig.

Will there ever be a second? I don't know. It's pretty tedious work. Today's understatement!

Stash Reduction

For sale: 7 balls of GGH Cadiz, 51% cotton, 33%acrylic, 16% rayon. 50 g/67 m per ball. Recommended needle size: 4-5 US. Originally $9.30/each. You can have it for $30 plus postage and I'll throw in an 8th ball and the swatch I knitted from it.

M I Nutz?

I finished the tank top for Blue Moon Fiber Arts yesterday! Actually, it was finished a few weeks ago, it was the pattern that wasn't finished till yesterday. Always my least favorite thing about designing - writing up the pattern. This time, instead of just taking notes, I actually wrote the pattern out as I worked, so it was really very easy (relatively speaking) to actually write the pattern.

Wish I could share a photo but I want Blue Moon to be the ones to reveal it, since it is theirs, so I will just show you this little tease.


Then, to celebrate, I went to Target and shopped! Going through the check-out line, I realized I had forgotten my 10% off discount card. I had spent over an hour going through EVERY isle, and rather than put things back, I just paid full price! (ouch)

My favorite purchase was this handbag! $17!!! Such a deal, even without the discount coupon.


And thanks to Crazy Aunt Purl, Figaro is now the proud owner of a Kitty Krinkle Kave! I filled it with catnip and after standing at the opening for a good 15 minutes to make sure it wasn't a trap to get her to the vet, Figaro went in and spent the rest of the day in stoned out kitty bliss.

Eden calls it the Kitty Krack House. I will spare you the picture. There are enough knitting blogs with adorable cat pictures already.

Then, my nutty shopomania really kicked in as I drove to A Mano, my favorite LYS! I really needed just one ball of Kidsilk Haze to complete this shawl from Victorian Knitting Today. They say you need 3 balls, but they lie - it is definitely 4! Although A Mano had the same color, it was not the same dyelot, and although I could see the difference, I bought it anyway, and although I knew I would not be happy with the contrast, I went ahead and knit with it anyway.


I am going to stop now and see if perhaps Knitter's Studio has one more ball in the same dyelot. I am not too optimistic, as I purchased this yarn quite a few months ago, but we will see. they don't open till 11AM, so there is just enough time to complete this posting.

And here is the nutty part. A Mano was FILLED with new yarn. I mean, it was all over the floor and the table and every flat surface of the store as they were marking the prices and reorganizing the shelves.

Something overcame my senses MUST. BUY. YARN. took over.

Someday, I will be strong enough to override this brain glitch I have. The yarn starts telling me what it must become and I can only agree. Get out the plastic. I know I am not alone. I know many, many people make a living because of this yarn thing so many of us have. My darling doesn't mind. I think he finds it amusing and plays along with my obsession, saying it is important to keep my creativity fueled.

I fell in love with these adorable little ebony sock needles from Lantern Moon. Maybe it was the little silk bag they came in. I completely forgot that I already bought a set of these in the same size and that one broke the minute I started knitting with it.


And some new sock yarn to go with it. If all I did was knit socks from now until I turn 93, I don't think I would run out of sock yarn. But the creative possibilities! And the yummy colors!

And then I fell for this beautiful Rio de la Plata Kettle Dyed wool from Uruguay. Forget that anything I make from it will be too expensive to sell and too warm to wear in Los Angeles. I bought 5 balls. And 3 of the Kid Seta. The color looked so yummy with the Rio.

And later that evening, I decided I should really have the other 5 balls of the Rio. Remembering what happened with the green Kidsilk, I don't want to be caught short in 2009 when I finally use this yarn.

I made a little game with myself. If I remember A Mano's number by heart and if they are still there at 7:30 PM, it means I should buy the rest of the bag.

Their number is 310-397-7170. I still know it by heart. They were having Knit Night. I was already out, picking up Eden and his buddy from the Promenade. Just by changing my route, I had to drive by their store on the way home.

And that is why I have 10 skeins in the photo!

And the little spool of ribbon just begged to come along with the rest!

3 Days' Work

For the last 3 days, I have been packaging bead paks for the Beaded Garden Party Scarf pattern. It is a long and strenuous activity that involves a lot of reorganizing of my workroom to get to the supplies. When I do it, I think about how little profit there is in it, and yet, how pricey the pattern is. When a strand of beads explodes as I am separating a bundle, I am SURE there is not enough profit in it and wonder why I persist.

This is a finished Beaded Garden Party Scarf. You can buy it here.

I decided to sell the pattern with beads because for someone without a big stash of beads, it would be very much more expensive (and time-consuming) to gather up the right color combinations and novelty beads.

This is a picture of the contents of one pak.
The colors in the paks coordinate with the basic seed bead color, with a little tonal variation. Whenever possible, I use AB (aurora borealis) or irridescent or luster beads. They are always more beautiful to me.

When choosing the yarn for the scarf, I like there to be a slight contrast between the beads and the yarn color, so the beads really stand out. The pink and red scarf pictured above has red beads, which blend in with the yarn.

This one has more contrast and the beads really stand out better.

A funny thing about this scarf. I have had not one, but TWO of them stolen. One from a yarn store I loaned it to and the other, from my Knitter's Night Out meeting.

What do you think that means?

Contest Winners!

Wow! I am so pleased that so many people visited my blog and liked the camisole. I wish I could send everyone a magazine!

The two winners are Deb in Massachusetts and Maggie Burkell in Chesterfield, VA. I used a Random Number Generator to pick the winners. I left a comment in Deb's blog, but Maggie has a private blog so this is the only way I know to contact her.

Both ladies, please send me your addresses and I will get the magazines right out to you.

Creative Knitting Magazine

The new issue of Creative Knitting Magazine with my Flower Camisole is now out! They are calling it Sublime Camisole and here is the picture!

This was the original camisole, done in Twisted Sister's Voodoo.
This was my own photo, taken before sending in the finished piece, which I should be getting back, now that the magazine has been published. The yarn they sent me was Fantasy Naturale, by Plymouth. I love the way the colors worked into an 'x' in the center, but the hand was a little stiff for my taste, especially compared to the Voodoo.

Leave me a comment and I will put your name in a drawing for one of 2 extra copies I have of this magazine. The drawing will be Sunday night and I'll pick up the postage!

Repeat Post

This is an abbreviated repeat of a very long and linked post I wrote yesterday that somehow just...disappeared.

I don't know what happened, but my little rainbow wheel started spinning and never stopped and I had to force my computer to shut down. When I rebooted, my post, which no kidding, took me an hour and a half to create, had vanished, all except the title.

It was traumatic and I have moved on. But here are a couple of things I have been working on.


This is the Melon Shawl from the cover of Victorian Knitting Today, a book which makes me want to stop everything and just knit the entire book from cover to cover, in the same exact yarns. Like I could stay focused that long!

I am using the same yarn as the book, Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Jelly, but it doesn't look so great in my photo. Also, it's not blocked yet. In real life, Reese says the color reminds him of some horrid carpeting in a hotel in Hawaii where we stayed about 25 years ago that gave us both serious rug burns! Well, I'll be sure not to wave this shawl in front of him if I have amorous plans!



This is Kitri, an amazing sock pattern by Tsarina. The turquoise yarn at the top is a provisional cast on. When you finish the sock, you pick up the stitches at the top of the cuff and knit on a little black beaded lace cuff. The pattern is about 29 pages, with charts and photos, and came with yarn and also the black yarn was pre-strung with the beads! All this for only $32! How do you do this, Tsarina?

I received a complaint that my Flower Sock was too expensive. I replied that I think other designers undervalue their work. But anyway, the Flower Sock and the Adult Pansy are finally up on my website and I think that's about all the info that was in my lost post, except I wrote it much more charmingly yesterday.

Wip and Fo

I finished a pair of socks for Vikki, the wonderful woman who is teaching me wig making. She was really happy with them and thought I had made a perfect choice of design and fiber. I used Bare superwash Donegal yarn from Knitpicks and the Aran Braided Sock Pattern by Susan Lawerence. I really enjoyed making these and was so happy that Vikki was pleased.



Last Saturday I took a class at Black Sheep Knittery on 2-handed Fairisle. It was 'taught' by the owners of Philosopher's Wool, Eugene and Ann Bourgeois. I use the word 'taught' loosely because I could have learned this amazing technique in 5 minutes. The 3 hour class was mostly a long rambling autobiographical sketch, a'la Will Rogers. of Eugene's amazing success as a sheep farmer, carpenter and wool processor. I would have enjoyed it much more if I had brought my knitting!

The class write up said we would be given yarn and needles and didn't need to bring anything, but this didn't happen for nearly 2 hours so I sat there, stewing over the fact that I was wasting valuable knitting time. The rest of the class was basically a pitch to buy their kits, which are beautiful and colorful, but their wool is so coarse and scratchy, just knitting on the swatch made me fear my fingers would start bleeding.

Very nice sweaters for skiers, fishermen, or wool farmers in Nova Scotia.

But I am glad I learned the technique. I also feel that I understand steeking now and can take a scissors to my handknitting (I have done cut and sew on Machine knitting, no problem.)

I bought some lovely, soft, merino/cashmere/microfiber blend to make my own fairisle pattern and cast on as soon as I got home. I am just making up the pattern as I go.
Of course, I am adding some texture along with the color. I am using a little mohair, a little ribbon and a little grassy looking stuff from Habu textiles. There will also be embroidery and beads. By the time I get to the armpits, I may just stop, knit the sleeves, and finish the whole thing in the round, which I think gives a better fit than drop shoulders. so maybe it will be a vegetarian sweater - no steek.

Another thing about their technique that I like is the way you weave in the floats every 2nd stitch, so the back looks really beautiful - almost reversible.

Trunk Show Last Sunday

Ellen Bloom did a great job reporting on the Trunk Show last Sunday at A Mano. Read about it here.

Valentine's Flowers

Yesterday, these came.


Today these came.
So now, it looks like this.

One is for Valentine's Day. The other is for giving birth on Valentine's Day, 15 years ago. Yes, Eden turned 15 this morning at 1:46 AM.

It Wasn't the Dress...

It was me!

I am so accustomed to designing clothing that looks good on me, I just assumed that since it didn't look good on me, it wasn't a good design.

I can't tell you what agonies I have been going through regarding my Adult Pansy - making it into a blouse, folding under a hem, seriously considering throwing it into the UFO pile and forgetting about the whole thing. Finally, I put it on the dress form and there was the truth - right in front of my face.

It looks adorable as a dress, just the way I designed it!

I am just not the model for it.

So there you go - I am not the lace mini dress type anymore. I am more the lace-tunic-with-lots-of extra-width-so-it-can-hang drapingly-from-my-shoulders-with-no-flashy-little-trim-around-my-hips type. Not quite Maude, but getting there...

Putting it more positively, I am trading youth and beauty for patience, wisdom and mastery.

So now that this is understood, all I need to do is write and edit the two patterns (flower sock, is the other), format and print them, and get everything ready for my trunk show and class at A Mano this coming weekend.

Also, it is Eden's birthday on Wednesday, with all the festivities that entails. Special dinner on Wednesday and party for his pals on Friday.

Patience, wisdom and mastery are really a better deal than youth and beauty, right?

Where Have I Been?

In the 3 weeks since I last posted, I have been having "disappointing knitting" and family illnesses.

To begin, my mother, who is basically healthy despite having leukemia, landed in the hospital at near death. A lifelong obsession with her weight (and she has never been more than just 'chubby') has made her, like millions of others, a target for every magazine and television ad promoting herbal diet products, especially if they promise to give you energy and restore your youth. This time it was super strong dosages of Green Tea Extract that thinned out her blood until she had no ability to clot at all.

Thank God she was rescued, transfused, lectured to, and has recovered, and is back home.

I am so angry when I think of how the media and consumerism have led us to believe we are fat, flabby and smelly. Multi-billions are spent to stay young, tight, and smell good.

And then my step-mother discovered that the breast cancer she had last year has returned, despite the mastectomy and chemo, and is in most of her ribs and various other bones and her lymph nodes.

Fuck Cancer. Just fuck, fuck, fuck.

She and my father, who just turned 80, are positive and upbeat. She is on a bridge binge this weekend, determined to earn the few points she still needs to become a life master.

Enough about the illnesses. I could go on awhile about Parkinson's, too, but I won't.

So for the knitting part.
I decided I don't like the beaded sock idea enough to finish the collection. I may still write the pattern for the yellow socks, since they're done.

I made a new design, called ??? Haven't decided yet. I like them much better, but am actually not sure if I like Koigu for socks, after all. Here is a photo:
They have a unique construction, from the toe up, using a seamless cast-on I 'unvented' myself, and knit flat from the ankle up.

Then there was the thing with the publisher from London that wanted to purchase one of my designs for an upcoming book. Due to a short deadline, they were asking all their designers to purchase their own yarn, and wanted me to use Noro Silk Garden Light. They also want each designer to pay for the postage. I negotiated for a slightly higher fee, and they agreed, so I went out and purchased the yarn. Here is the beginning of the design on the needles.

Due to the long repeats in Noro, I decided I needed to buy 3 skeins in order to make the colors match on each hand.

To make a long story short, the person I was corresponding with was not prompt in her responses, waiting 2-3 days to reply to each e-mail, and then not responding to every question. Like why did I need to furnish my bank account info? Couldn't they just deposit my fee into my Paypal account? And could I please have a copy of the contract before I mailed the sample and pattern to them? (No response at all.) So after 3 more days, (5 days before the extended deadline) I dropped out. I have never done this before once agreeing to an acceptance. But I felt miserably frustrated without good communication, and didn't want to pay the huge amount it would cost for overnight delivery to England out of a small fee, made smaller by having to pay for the yarn myself. This would have netted me about $50 for knitting the sample and writing the pattern! Bahhh! Who needs it?

So out of frustration, I began a procrastination project, inspired by a design in Amazing Crochet Lace.
At first I was quite thrilled with this one. I started off with the pattern from the book, but could see the sizing wasn't going to be right after about an hour, so closed the book and worked it 'freeform' as I love to do, ending it at the hemline in a totally different way from the book.

As I said, at first I liked it. Then I wore it (over a black turtleneck sweater) for a day. Received many compliments, and felt good in it. But then the disappointing thing happened... it stretched waaay out, and WORMED!!! I thought chenille wouldn't worm when worked in crochet! The armholes, bound with a row of sc, drooped even lower than they look in the photo. The worming was slight, but noticeable (to me, anyway) Damn!

And here's the worst disappointment! the sweater I made Reese for his birthday, from Misti Cotton, (silk and cotton). He loved it and wore it for 2 days straight. It was so soft and fit just right. After 2 days, it was huge and shed all over.

Mea culpa! I should have used smaller needles, knitted at a tighter gauge it might not have stretched so much. The shedding? I don't know if that could have ever been remedied. Is this yarn good only for scarves???

Figuring I had nothing to lose, I threw it in the washer and dryer. After about 20 minutes, I checked it and discovered it was getting even longer in the dryer! so I took it out and dried it flat. I had temporarily forgotten that my dryer has a sweater rack.

It didn't shrink. All that happened was the fiber got worn out looking (you can't really tell from the photo). Now it looks like it has been worn for years. He'll never wear it again. He likes to look perfect at all times - even color coordinated clothes and shoes to wash the car! I guess I could wear it with jeans but the sleeves are at least 6" too long and I am so sick of it, I don't even want to work on it again!

And my last disaster(?) is this sweater I've been working on for my pattern line. Entitled "Adult Pansy Blouse", it is a derivative of this:

Child's Pansy Dress

I started and worked for days and then ripped this one twice before I finally decided on the correct gauge, stitch count and body style. One of the things I love about Koigu; it is a hearty yarn that can withstand multiple rippings and blockings.

But after all this, I'm still not sure if I like it. Most disappointing is that the crocheted pansies for the hemline look AWFUL! The hemline with no pansies looks TERRIBLE. The only thing that looks right is a folded hem (pinned in the photo) This is a technique I have never seen in a knitted pattern and yet - it really works on this design. It gives the hemline the body it needs to stand away from the hips slightly - which is falttering to the wearer, and at the same time, preserves the airy nature of the knitted lace.

As I was bemoaning this piece to my dearest, he responded, "Break new grounds! You are the decider!" or something to that effect, and he is right, I guess.

The only thing it needs besides the hem sewn in is the beading around the top. Please let me know if you think this one is worthy of completion and the hours of sweat and tears that go into writing, grading and printing a pattern.

WIG WIP (Work in Progress)