deceptively packaged

Also in the works

A second run at Something Red.

I would also like to take a moment and thank my father for my new digital camera. You would have never seen a picture like this coming out of the last one:

Do you see those beautiful stitches? Le sigh...

The dress on the dress form is something I found while I was at my parents' house helping to divest my childhood room of its belongings. This was a wrap dress I had gotten at a thrift store and never really wore. Looking at it again I think it's something handmade and never finished. So I'm going to attempt to attach the straps to the back where I think they're supposed to go and see how it looks. I figure it will make a lovely apron even if I don't use it as a dress.

Interlude

Some good old fashioned conference knitting.

Licorice Whip

Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca's cotton in expresso. 100g/150yds. I knit it off another sweater that I didn't catalog, so not sure how many skeins.

Needles: Size 8s from my Denise kit

Pattern: Licorice Whip

Notes: After Drunken Argyle I needed a nice quick easy project. Licorice Whip fit the bill. I started it right before I got on the plane to go home for Christmas and had it finished in time to wear on New Years Eve. I knit it straight off of the too big Something Brown. My gauge was a smidge off so I made the XXS (36" chest) aiming for the XXXS (34" chest) and it worked.

Lemonade

I sat down with dad and we had a serious discussion about Drunken Argyle. We decided that if I steeked it it would still be too broad in the shoulders and no way after all that work did I want to give him anything he didn't absolutely love. Steeking it would also make a big portion of the yarn un-reusable. We also agreed that if I'm going to reknit it there's no point in using the same yarn since it could mysteriously grow again when we get it wet, or, you know, look at it funny - since growing is this sweater's all time favorite thing to do despite the fact that I didn't find any complaints about the sweater or the yarn on Ravelry or the internet in general (we won't worry about the fact that my dad's crazy slow dial up plus incredibly overzealous* security software means I didn't really get to look all that hard). Any way you sliced it Drunken Argyle was a big lolcat FAIL.

So I'm going to make another one.

Yes.

Sure it took forever, but infinity times infinity is still infinity. I put two years (sure, interrupted by both traumatic and blissful life events, but still two years) into this thing, what's another go at it?

Dad's thinking a 70/30 wool acrylic blend. When I get back to the land of high speed internet I'll send him some choices. The good news is maybe he can have the deeper red and darker grey that he wanted if we're going broader with the yarn choices.

The other good news... It does happen to fit my incredibly awesome friend Scott. Scott held the undisputed hands down best guy friend status throughout junior high and high school. And even though I've moved all over the place, I visit every Christmas and we pick up just the same as if I were over every weekend. This visit included three rounds of Killer Bunnies some excellent conversation about the fossil record, the myth of race, the upcoming elections, changing perspectives of time (when did 50 years ago go from ancient history to damn near yesterday in my mind?), privacy, issues in librarianship, and, of course - Ninja Warrior.

*Seriously, why is it blocking the wikipedia page on steeking? Or half of my own blog posts, let alone Eunny's...

Arg!

So here's my dad's sweater dress:

You can't really tell how ungodly enormous it is in this picture, but trust me, he's swimming. We're going to try a hot bath. Wish us more luck. I really don't want to have to learn to steek. Any hints, tips or tricks would of course be welcome.

Oh, and dad just reminded me, "did you say the part about how really stretchy it is?" This is the most flippy floppy thing I've ever created. It's Dale of Norway baby Ull if anyone is familiar with it. It seemed perfectly normal until I hand washed it in cold water with shampoo. Now it's drapey and stretchy and huge!

Commentary

Drunken Argyle.

It's done. It's stunning. I knit the medium. My dad is a 2XL. I'm terrified that it's too big. I swear I got gauge. I held the back up to him last time I was home and it seemed to be the right size. But when I hold it up now it seems enormous. I washed it again to try to unblock it. Christmas will be the true test. Well, December 23rd. There's no way I'm waiting til Christmas morning to give it to him. It's already 2 years late. Or maybe just one. Two years in the making anyway. Wish me luck!

!

So what do you do for fun?

Me? I catch up on crafting while listening to the New York Public Library's webcasts - including DESTROYING THE COLOR LINE: John Hope Franklin and President Bill Clinton and PIERRE BAYARD & UMBERTO ECO with Paul Holdengraber: How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read. (I highly recommend the Clinton one.)

I'm off this week and lazing it up. I've finally started on my Yoshimi cross stitch (thanks a million plus Erin!) and I've been working on Drunken Argyle. Lord I hate picking up stitches! If I had any foresight I wouldn't have cast off across the back but just set them on another needle. It doesn't help that I can't find my size 1 addi turbos anywhere so I'm using some old ones that I think came from a friend's dumpster diving, or from my grandma's basement, which is pretty much the same thing. :)

Also a most wonderful and lovely member of my weaving guild gave me a quilting hoop! So I'm reevaluating how I'm going to finish my quilt. I was thinking of doing a tie off method, but now that I have a hoop maybe I'll look for a lasso kind of stitchwork. I think that would be fitting with my cowgirls.

...

Getting there...

See that? That's the beginning of a neckline!