knitting school dropout

it was a beautiful day here. we woke up at 5:30 and scrambled to get the last few things together, buy coffees and head to the local outdoor flea market. when you amass large collections of various old things, there comes a time when you must either let some things go, or stop accumulating new ones. we chose the former.
in only a few hours, we managed to unload at least half of what we came with. i even crammed in a few rows of knitting early on. then it was suddenly 90 degrees.

now i have a nasty sunburn.
my new knit isn't going as planned. i may have to frog the whole thing in the end. nevertheless, i knit on.

Posted by melissa at 06:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

i love knitting lace. i love summer knits (no sleeves=fast!). after the leaf t-shirt, i now love cathay. i don't think i have to tell you again, but i REALLY love Barbara Walker. so after swatching a few different lace patterns, i'm working on a new summer somethin'-somethin'.

over and out.

Posted by melissa at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

last night, my upstairs neighbor's shower curtain indiscretion resulted in a downpour of warm water through our bathroom ceiling (it was a long shower, apparently). we were so pissed off, we went straight to bed after stuffing towels in the holes in our ceiling, and emptying the trashcans of water. the really aggravating thing is that it wasn't the first time it's happened.
friday night knitting ruined!
today was a far better day, and it's not even over yet. i found the missing dpns this morning, and finished the minisweater:

and on:

after finishing that up, i headed out to a few yard sales.
my friend used to say there was always an item of the day when you go to a bunch of tag sales. something you absolutely don't want, but you find everywhere you go. last summer was the summer of the small percolator, i must have seen 700 of them in five months of scavenging, but never did i buy one.
today's theme was most certainly "molded cake pan". more specifically, "cabbage patch kid molded cake pan" day. six. i saw six cabbage patch kid shaped cake pans in 14 tag sales. too bad i didn't want one. too bad there were no elves.
i did have one good find today. i almost drove by this tiny sale, a sweet elderly couple with one small table and 2 cardboard boxes of items. in the boxes, vintage aprons. oh yes, mint, unused, vintage aprons. this is my favorite one, with original tags, pink, with cherries. swoon.

here are 2 others:

those are reserved for cirilia, who was wearing her great noro apron at the webs tent sale, that i also went to today.
i'll be posting the leaf t-shirt pattern within the next few days.

Posted by melissa at 07:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

that pile is bugging me.
in it:
-partial notes from leaf t-shirt
-loop-d-loopbook (considered knitting lace-leaf pullover again, but decided to wait)
-4 inches of a grey vest i started knitting, only because i wanted a use for a really great vintage button i have. the neck of this will close on the side with said button.
-the green minisweater. i was so sure i would knit that one last sleeve tonight, but i'm missing 2 of the frickin' dpns i need, so forget it.
-fun with artyarns ultramerino. it's fun to play with, but i'm pretty sure the yarn will self-destruct at some point, as i keep knitting random shapes, ripping out, and reknitting.
- i also have 2 other secret gift projects in my bag i'm carrying around.
i just can't seem to focus on one thing for the last few days.
i will be writing out a pattern for the leaf t-shirt soon. thanks so much for all the positive comments. i wore it to work the other day over a little vintage button down shirt, and now i like it even more. unfortunately i snagged it a bit on a 3-ring binder i was carrying around, so i'll have to fix that.
it was a beautiful day today. wanna see?

Posted by melissa at 07:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

here's the pattern in pdf format

it seems as if it is never going to stop raining here, so i took some pictures anyway.
here it is,the leaf tee

a close-up of the center panel:

yarn: 4 balls of debbie bliss cathay
needles: size us6 denise circulars
time spent knitting: 9 days
pattern: none, just a top down raglan with a panel of the vine stripe pattern found on page 272 of barbara walker's 2nd knitting treasury
i have to say it again, i love working with cathay. i've already purchased more, for a similar project in a teal color.
after wearing the t-shirt for the last few hours, i have to say the fit is just right. i'm delving back into my barbara walkers tonight to see what i can add to the next one.

Posted by melissa at 07:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

i'm done!
i'm still recovering from some mystery stomach ailment, which kept me from knitting yesterday, but i'm anxious to cast on for something else.
full t-shirt details, as well as daylight photos of me wearing it, tomorrow morning.
/end transmission

Posted by melissa at 07:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

well, it fits, albeit snugly. i couldn't resist the urge any longer, so i moved the bugger on to scrap yarn, and crammed myself into it. mind you, i'm pms-ing, and my chest seems huge right now, so i'm relatively confident that it will be a tad less snug in about a week. either way, i'll wear it. i'm especially happy with the neckline. i like wearing layers and i like them to show, so the neckline is great for that. i'm a bit further along than the photo.

the back is pretty boring. i'm thinking of knitting this in another color eventually, but repeating the center panel down the back also.

in other news, i've joined project spectrum, which works out perfectly this month, because my t-shirt happens to be green.
well, in the spirit of project spectrum, i'll leave you with a photo of my favorite kitschy green item, the lettuce potholder-holder.

Posted by melissa at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

the minisweater and i are taking a break. i know it's just one sleeve, but i was distracted. i have these 5 balls of debbie bliss cathay, in an olive green color, just begging to be used. so i've started something new. just a wide neck knitted raglan t-shirt, with a simple lace pattern down the center of the front. i'm just winging it at the moment, taking notes, and hoping it all works out in the end.

Posted by melissa at 07:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

the minisweater is so close to being done. one sleeve away to be precise. the fit is perfect, but after finishing one sleeve, i'm losing steam, and thinking ahead to other projects. here it is, in all it's unfinished glory:

please excuse hanging scrap yarn and unwoven ends.
i'll finish the other sleeve tomorrow. tonight i'll be swatching with barbara walker.

Posted by melissa at 07:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)