My goal is to get a lot of things second hand or "found" in nature. I've come across things like hat boxes, interesting dress forms, some cool artwork, or even pieces that speak to me. I a battered suitcase for decoration, a metal milk jug, and plenty of baskets. My mother is also giving me a lot of her old baskets that she used to make when I was younger!In the mean time, I've been knitting like crazy for both Sock Madness and what is to be the first knit along. Round 1 for sock madness started out with a pair of socks that require a set of dice to choose at random whether or not you will C2F every 4th row. The result is a pair of "mismatched" socks with cables randomly happening along the instep and leg. I took (bad) progress pictures along the way and to submit at the end of the round.
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| I dyed the sock yarn with Black Cherry Kool-Aid! |
At the end of each day of frantic sock knitting, I'd spend my evenings "resting" by starting the All the Stops dress, a great pattern in Juniper Moon Farm's Findley Dappled booklet. I'll be able to post a few pictures in a few days, as we've got terrible lighting in the house and pictures are not turning out quite right. I want to be able to do this yarn justice because the variegated Findley Dappled is breathtaking, no matter what colorway you're using! It feels like pure silk as I knit (it should, it's 50% silk and 50% merino wool).
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| Peanut, my son, checks out the shelves I plan to use for Juniper Moon Farm yarns. :) |
It was first hard to imagine how this dress was going to turn out, but it became apparent quickly that the two stitches surrounded by stitch markers are where the shoulder seam is to be. From there, you work your way down in three sections - left front, back, and right front. I am now to where dart decreases are made. I've sewn darts before, but have never knit darts, an interesting concept, but they serve the same purpose - to tailor the bust line. So far, it appears that I may be the only one who's documented doing this pattern (other than the tester), so I hope someone joins me in this project soon. My dress, once complete, will be displayed in the shop and I'll also be wearing it on a cruise in January 2013, assuming I don't gain a massive amount of weight before then.
