Yay Me!

I finished the tank top and I am SO pleased. It's lovely! Amanda, at Delicious Stitches did such a great job writing her pattern in layman's terms and it was super thoughtful of her to share for free.

~*~Pardon the leopard-fleece PJ bottoms~*~

I probably could have gone with a size bigger, but I was worried about it being too loose around the underarms (pet peeve). Believe it or not, this top concealed a black bra! I'd like to do it in a light worsted size small, but I'm tempted by Amanda's Cabled Hobo Bag because I've never done cables before and if I can knit a top with her help...I'm feeling brave. I'm very excited to have finished my first clothing pattern. Yay me! And Yay to Amanda too for this great pattern. Highly recommended A+

My First Try @ a Tank Pattern

I've been trying to do aneedle tatting pattern with a clover motif by Sharon Albers. It's simply written, with *, -, and + symbols. I'm just having a rough time getting my tension right. I just need more practice.

After weeks of staring, I started doing the Pretty In Pink Tank Top from Delicious Stitches. Talk about talent! That chick is amazing. This is my first clothing pattern because I find sleeves intimidating. I think, 'If I can do a blanket, I can do a tank top.' I did about 8" of ribbing in the bowling alley lol. The scouts went clandlepin bowling and Austin bowled a 29, hehe. I used a size 5 circular for the top. The xs might be a little too small for me, but she says it stretches a lot, so I'm hoping it'll give 3" in the waist. If it doesn't, I'll just give it to my neace and make another. It's so easy, so far. I went over all of the directions with no prob. We'll see how it goes :-D

My 1st Time Tatting

I did, I did...Well, I know how to do a ring and a picot (pronounced pee-co, hehe). I'm so proud! At first, I could make an chain, but I couldn't figure out how to make a ring. Somebody was being sparing with her $3 giant spool of cheap thread and therefore didn't even begin to understand how to close a ring until someone showed her. Maybe that'll teach me to make acrylic fun fur out of Red heart yarn tails haha.

I asked a friend in my knitting group, Rebecca, if she'd teach me and it turns out she's actually a tatting instructor in Canada. She also has a very pretty website http://www.tatmom.com/ That's so catchy. She's a great teacher. I'm so lucky to have so many people in my life that are gifted with special craft talents that they're willing to teach to me. She taught me how to make a joined chain by doing 5-5-5 for the chain and 5-5-5-5 for the ring on a size 7 needle and 10 crochet cotton. Of course, I messed up as soon as I was out of her sight and had to attempt to restart about 8 times or so before I was satisfied with my loosely knit boarder of knots and picots.

I felt self-assured, so I did a butterfly pattern, FLOWER AND BUTTERFLY BOOKMARK(Sharon Albers - 1999). I didn't do the flowers though. I wasn't that confident in my picot sizes. Just like with my first knitting pattern, I read over the terms, made sure I knew what they ment and went at it. I still don't know when to turn over my work, but I'm pretty sure that's done just to keep the work out of my way...I think. Practice, practice.

Top left was the one Rebecca showed me how to do. You can see when I left her sight lol. Top right is the umpteenth effort to copy her pattern. Lower right is that cute little butterfly from the Wonderful World of Tatting. Bottom left is just a ring with too-tiny picots.

http://www.geocities.com/skalbers52/ <-butterfly

http://www.geocities.com/pamela+devries/part-2-chain-join.html <-abbreviations and how-to's

How to Knit a Poem - By Gwyneth Lewis

Ok, I did a google search for "how to knit a" just to see if I could pick up some impressive new skills. I saw this link for, "How to knit a poem" and I'm thinking 'intarsia or fair isle?' Neither. It was a poem about knitting. Definately blog-worthy...with respects to the creator of course:

Gwyneth Lewis'
How To Knit A Poem

The whole thing starts with a single knot
and needles. A word and pen. Tie a loop
in nothing. Look at it. Cast on, repeat
the procedure till you have a line
that you can work with.

It’s a pattern made of relation alone,
my patience, my rhythm, till empty bights
create a fabric that can be worn,
if you’re lucky and practised. It’s never too late
to pick up dropped stitches, each hole a clue
to something that might be bothering you,
though I link mine with ribbons and pretend
I meant them to happen. I make a net
of meaning that I carry round
portable, to work on sound
in trains and terrible waiting rooms.

It’s thought in action. It redeems
odd corners of disposable time,
making them fashion. It’s the kind of work
that keeps you together. The neck’s too tight,
but tell me honestly: How do I look?

By Gwyneth Lewis
From: How To Knit A Poem