New clothes

Over the past couple of weeks I've been working some shifts at the treehouse. In case you were wondering, no, I haven't been able to come home empty handed. I found the loveliest old fashioned under things to wear!!! The first is this beautiful Edwardian piece...




I love the perfect tatting on it's sleeve/collar and the tiny eyelets!
so much detail!!!

The one thing I worry about is the number of hook and eye clousures. The eyes are just wrapped thread, so I'm afraid with even a little force might rip them. I was thinking about replacing them with snaps... but the original work is so beautiful! Upon wearing it now, I'm able to dress without undoing them, which will reduce the strain. Pheeeewww!

My thought was to wear it with a high skirt. This is another vintage piece, some sort of petticoat that I already have. It's definitely too costumey and white to wear, but gives an idea of the line. I'm going to keep my eye out for more modern skirts with a high waist, or one I could adapt. Not to long or I'll like look an old fashioned school teacher, which, while hot, is not quite what I want to go for. I think a simple wool a line would be nice. No black or grey. Perhaps plaid. I would also consider something I could crochet some straps too. Maybe a looser piece. I'll keep you posted!

The next item is this corset

I was trying it over the blouse, but don't think it works. I've worn it out alone (!!!) on a hot summer like day and then with a cutie polka dot shirt underneath. Both were ok. Still looking for more under- options.

Saturday Morning

Warm coffee, cool September breezes, maybe a little mess, banana muffins baking, summer's basil that needs to be used up and a tiny hot pepper plant....

What's worse?

Ok, what worse than finding a mouse stuck on a glue trap???
(our exterminator gave some to us for another kind of problem...)

Answer: finding the glue board with mouse attached to your cats face.

Recognize anything?

Yup! That's my room on the lower left. I entered it into Domino's Decorating Contest. I guess later people will be able to go online and vote for their favorite and the winner gets a shopping spree!

I doubt my room involves enough 'design' to actually win, but maybe it's a good sign that they picked mine as one of the four photos this week?

Maybe voters will have a soft spot for cute knitted bunnies!

In good company

Check out the batch of new patterns from Blue Sky Alpacas!
I'm honored to be included in such good company!!

My Second Zimmermann

Yeah, so I'm already almost done with #2!

The yarn choice is pretty much a result of an archaeological-esque dig through my yarn stash. I'm probably one of few knitters out there with a dwindling collection of yarn that is in legitimate need of replenishing! I have plenty of bits and pieces, but not a lot of full skeins for larger projects, but that's why baby sweaters are so great! Rarely is a whole skein needed and you can easily split it up over body and edge to make the best of what you've got.

The darker color here is actually left over Koigu from my first sweater back in 2003! Koigu dyes their yarn in very small dyelots, so once you buy, chances are you'll never see that exact color again. I think it's a good idea to buy an extra skein and hang on to it. That way you'll have the right yarn should anything happen to your sweater, like a hole or buttons falling off. Actually, this is a good idea for all sweaters, not just Koigu ones! You could get really Martha about it and keep a little log book of all your projects with a bit of yarn and an extra buttons for each. I've done this when given a sweater as a gift, because buttons dropping off is kind of inevitable... if people are using their sweaters correctly!

Blog Ring

Yeah! I'm now part of the blog ring called NY knitters! I didn't really know what a blog ring was when I signed up, but have since figured it out. All the members are New Yorkers with blogs about knitting. We all have the little icon below and all you have to do is hit next to cycle through all the blogs! It's kinda fun!

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My first Zimmermann

For those of you who don't know, Elizabeth Zimmerman is a bit of a knitting guru, rule breaker and beloved inspiration to knitters everywhere. I personaly love her writing style because it's blunt, humorous and open ended. She expects the reader to do their own thing and writes her "patterns" in a way that demands this. I write the word patterns in quotations because you really won't find your typical buy this much of this type of yarn and use this needle and it will be this size kind of directions. You have to read her instructions, witty paragraphs full of tangents, then think about what you want to do and make your own adjustments.

This pattern is from "Knitters Almanac" published in 1974, which has projects for every month of the year. February = Some Babies Things and since I've got 'some babies' soon entering my life I thought a little sweater might be fun.

It's been a while since I've followed a pattern. I forgot how much fun it is to knit!!! Seriously, I do it all the time, but usually just my own ideas, so it's fun to follow directions and witness what happens without having to really think about it. I get really excited about accomplishing the next task in the pattern and then finishing, just so I can start again.

So for this sweater I used Blue Sky Alpacas Royal. I love the color, called cameo, because it reminds me of a vintage slip. As I got started, following away, I realized my first mistake. The button holes needed to have been made from the very beginning and not half way in which is when Mrs. Zimmermann finally decided to mention them. oh well, no qualms, sometimes mistakes become the best design choices. I could have started over, but instead I just kept knitting away, figuring I'd crochet some loops later.

When I finished though, it occurred to me that the sweaters garter stitch yoke would look cute accented by brown... so I embroidered a little line and made ties instead. Who really wants to take time to button up a wriggly baby anyway??

Photo post

I've been scanning through my photos and found some old ones I wanted to share

Thank you Mom & Starbucks

In a recent package from Mom, I received a starbucks card. I love the coffee treats, but since I spend most of my time in the parts of bklyn with nary a starbuck in sight, I decided to get a new travel mug:

This one is cool because the bottom twists off so I can add my own liner! I love it because now I have a travel mug like no one else, I can change it whenever I want and it doesn't say starbucks all over it!