A picture says a thousand words

I think you need to see it on me to really know why I knit it twice.

ahem, looks a lot better on Maude, eh? But not this one….

So. Worth. It.

A Tale of Two Camellias

Last year, around this time, I stumbled across Stefanie Japel’s gorgeous Camellia pattern. Man, is it pretty or what? My family was set to spend Christmas in Southern California and I thought this would be the perfect thing to wear to Christmas dinner. Stylish, easy to knit and as a bonus, might hide some of the post baby flab I was still sporting last year. So I dove into my stash for some knit picks Sierra I’d squirreled away, and after about 20 hours in the car on the way to SoCal, I had this…

You’re probably thinking “Oh pretty”, just like I did when I finished the seams. However, this model and I share very little in the way of body shape. The bodice fit great but the sleeves were too short and too stiff (can you say bat girl?), and the body was way too short. I wore it at Christmas then shoved it into the closet with my stash.

But I couldn’t get the pattern out of me head. Before Ravelry came into my life, I tried looking for other people who had knit it, I found a couple who had made it with KnitPicks Sierra, and were also disappointed. Then, while shopping at Elann, I came across a great deal on Schaenmeyer Princess. It’s a microfibre tape yarn, that I originally thought I’d use to make a Red Carpet Convertible to wear to a friend’s wedding. When the yarn arrived I saw that it was very airy (i.e. little holes throughout the tape) and way different in texture than I assumed it would be when I saw it online. It would have made an awful RCC. But it was just perfect for a lighter, drapey-er Camellia. So I knit it up.

SOOOOO much better. This time I made the sleeves and the body pieces longer. Maude doesn’t do the softer sleeves justice but she’s pretty lacking in the arm department. This is a sweater I will wear. The other one? A visit to the frog pond and a makeover via Mondo Cable should mean two red sweaters in rotation this fall.

This is Halloween!

Thank you Mr. Skellington, for making my three year old leap with joy.  Thank you for putting yourself together so quickly (you are quite dashing I must admit).  And thank you for adding to the holiday spirit in our home.

Regards,
Mrs. Slippers

Swift Kick in the…

Ravelry.

Yep, that’s what it took to get me back here after oh I don’t know nearly TWO MONTHS.  Cripes.

I guess I haven’t given much thought to this creative space because I’ve had lots of other projects on the fire and well, it’s not like anyone reads this thing.

Except now maybe someone might, so  hi, hello, I’ll TRY to write more (AFTER I upload all the project thingies and start finding my way around that place).