This morning I read an email from a dear friend who lives in Vancouver. She wrote to me last night, long after I was asleep, so I got to read it with my coffee this morning.
She always checks my blog to see what I have been up to before she emails. And it served to remind me that I haven't posted in quite some time. So here is a bit of a catch up, for me and for you, to show what I have been up to.
On the knitting front, I finished Elton, which turned out exactly as promised. The problem is that it far too hot to even think about putting on a sweater, but when I get the chance, it is the perfect summer evening cardigan.
It is the perfect companion for this new linen skirt. A skirt with a big story. I ordered it online, along with a top that I thought would complete my hot-weather-too-hot-for-jeans wardrobe. One small problem when it arrived - I had ordered the wrong size. I ordered the right size top, but a small in the skirt which may have fit me 20 years ago, but not now.
Returning it appeared to be ridiculously complicated and expensive - not like Lands End or LL Bean, so I decided to see if it could be altered. I have discovered a wonderful dress maker not far from me, who performed magic on a winter jacket that I hadn't worn for years. I knew she could help. There were a couple of pleats in the front by the pockets, which when taken out gave the right amount of waist circumference. And her cost to do the work was less than half the cost of returning the skirt and getting a replacement!!
One sweater off the needles, another sweater on the needles. That is my routine, and has been for over 50 years. New one is SS&A, a summer sweater that I am knitting in a cotton/bamboo yarn. A friend was wearing it at the OHCG Annual in London and I fell in love. It has a very interesting side detail and a high-low hem, which keeps the knitting interesting. I am still debating short sleeves vs bracelet length.
This is not a picture of my sweater, but a good image of the under-arm detail. My yarn is a pale sage colour, so not much different from this. I figure it will go with everything. I am about 4" down the side detail.
On the hooking front, I finished the two "value portraits" for my workshop in October. In the last post, I shared my results of using the sublimation markers, but since I forgot to flip the image for one, the flesh tone one is a mirror image (and different crop) from the black and white one. These were fun to do and I think they will be great teaching tools. I also hooked a swatch for each one.
And to round out all the needlework activities, I have been doing a little sewing. Haven't made anything in a while, and I really don't need anything, but do need to do something about my immense STASH. So I got a fun pattern from Matchy Matchy Sewing Club. It is the one called Collage and I used two linen pieces that I bought in Barbados long before the pandemic sent us home last time. https://matchymatchysewingclub.com/collections/pdf-sewing-patterns
Light and airy, perfect for Barbados - which is why I originally bought the fabric - but also great for the upcoming scorcher of a summer they are predicting. Here's a little image that I filled in with colour to figure out placement. I will share an image of the real top later.
So while the weather is too hot to do outdoor things, all my comfort fibre activities will continue - hopefully busting some of their respective stashes.
