Summer Knits

I want to share 2 knits that I made for last summer. I love them both.

One is a sweater that I made from a pattern in The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for All Seasons

I used my favorite color in two slightly different shades. The yarn is Bella by Numei. It's a blend of rayon and cotton. It has great drape and is really cool, which makes it suitable for summer projects. The only problem is that it pills easily (as with all cotton yarn) but the price is right. I pretty much followed the pattern except I made a row of single crochet around all edges to prevent it from curling. Blocking with a steamer also helped with that.
I loved making this, and love wearing it. It's what I wear when I really want to be comfortable, like when I travel.

The next project was this fabulous skirt from Greetings from Knit Cafe.

It's a popular pattern and it was the first time I knit lace. It turned out OK, apart from one mistake that I wasn't able to correct. Oh well... I equally loved making this and wearing it. I used the same yarn as above and the drape is fabulous.

Another radical knitter

I am always excited when I find out that someone super cool is a knitter. Imagine my surprise when I found out while watching La Vie en Rose, that Edith Piaf was an avid knitter. I was frogging something with the help of my husband while watching the movie and we both chuckled...

It's funny when you think about it. At a time that knitting was mostly associated with domesticity someone like Edith Piaf, who was everything but domestic, loved to knit. I guess knitting was subversive much earlier than we think. It makes sense that someone like her would knit though. She went through so much in her life, I am sure knitting was a refuge where she could just be.

I loved the scene where she knits on the beach while being interviewed by a journalist. When the journalist asks her who she knits for, she answers: "Anyone who will wear my sweater". And this bit of the interview was beautiful:

Journalist: If you were to give advice to a woman, what would it be?
EP: Love.
Journalist: To a young girl?
EP: Love.
Journalist: To a child?
EP: Love.

The Last knit

This is where I see myself a few years from now...



If this isn't radical, I don't know what is...

Last FO for 2008

I spent most of New Year's Eve felting the bag that I had been knitting lately. The pattern is called Pony Express and it's a very roomy saddle bag from Pursenality Plus. I wanted a messenger bag but this design is much more interesting and easy enough. I knit it over a few nights while watching movies.

I used my hand dyed Ecuadorian yarn double throughout. Felting went well, I had to run it through the washing machine a few times and I am happy with the result. However, this yarn is very hairy and there is hair all over my apartment now! The bag is very roomy and has a nice round shape. I don’t think I will use any of the decorations (feathers etc) for now. I like it just the way it is. The hand dyed yarn already makes is busy enough for my taste…