Almost!

The corset is nearly complete! I love it already. All I need is to add buttons and do the crochet edging, which I've not yet done because I just know I'm going to run out of yarn. I need to find some great buttons for this top. I really like it right now, though, even with the safety pins holding it closed.

Once I started over on the final two charts, it was really easy and came out great.

Yay!

Knitting annoyances

I haven't messed with the corset in a few days. I was working charts E and F, somehow managed to drop a couple of stitches, somehow managed to get horrible stitch counts, and decided I needed to rip back to chart D. Now, I don't mind ripping. The problem? Oh, I forgot to mark where chart D ended and charts E and F start! So now I have no idea how far back to rip (I know it can't be very). Ugh!

So then, I tossed it aside (ok, fine... carefully laid aside) and picked up the Fish Bag. I've never claimed to be a needlework genius, but I figured I could at least pick up the couple of embroidery stitches required for this bag. WRONG again! I messed with it for hours, and my stitches still looked crappy. So, I improvised for now, but I'm not entirely happy with the way it looks, and really need to figure out how to do the embroidery. It looks cute for now, and at least I can wear it around, but it's not 100%.

Still not wanting to try the corset top again, I thought I'd try swatching the big, fat cable for the Delphine sweater again. I'm starting to get a better idea of what to do for this, but so far my cable sucks. Someone from Livejournal figured out a beautiful version of it, but I'm still not doing so well, even with her instructions, which are really good. I figure a couple more tries, and I may have it.

I haven't had time to knit in a couple of days at all... school comes first and I have two exams on Wed - Organic Chem and Bacterial Genetics.

I really need to do something with my webpage. I think it's been almost a year since I updated. I need to link this blog to it also.

And, my pick for knit of the day is this



Rambling Rose, from Rowan 39. Beautiful! Rowan doesn't always do right, but when they actually do, they do it BIG. I love everything about this design.

Now, for some "I can't believe they did that!" I generally try to avoid this, but well, I just can't this time!



I have nooooo freaking idea what the photographer for this photo shoot was thinking... or smoking for that matter. All I know is that when I want to look at knitting designs, I should not feel like I'm looking at "barely legal porn." Honestly, I can't tell whether any of the knitwear is good or bad, because I'm too disturbed by the feeling of being a creepy pervert when I look at these pictures. See what I'm talking about here.

Ok, that's it for now!

Dear Phildar,

Dear Phildar,

I love you so! Your patterns are just beautiful! I don't think I've seen nicer knits anywhere. Everytime I look at your designs, I love them even more. Please, please, please create a working English version of your site, so I can actually navigate it. Additionally, selling your patterns and yarns in the US would be so kind.

Love,
Crystal

Silk Corset Top update.

Sorry to disappoint my readers (haha... I'm pretty sure no one reads this!), but no, it's not complete. It IS coming along very nicely! My birthday was on the 16th, and I had to wear something else, something I didn't make. Oh well! I'm really enjoying working on this. The only reason now I'd like to hurry and finish it is that I'm a bit worried I'll run short of yarn. I'm down to having less than 1.5 skeins left, with still two charts to work! I really hope I have enough. Another problem is that it fits, but it's really tight. I mean skin-tight. I know it's supposed to be tight, but I think I needed mine a bit larger. I'm making the 32" size. The only other option was the 35", and my bust is 32.5" or 33", so I thought that would be too big, considering that I've been told my cotton blend yarn is going to STRETCH. I just had an idea about a possibility if I run out of yarn and can't find anymore in the right colorway. I have fat, red, cotton crochet thread I may be able to work with. It's thinner than the DK weight Brilla, but I may at least be able to use it for the crochet edging, if I need to. Hopefully, I'll have enough yarn to finish.

I've not had much time for knitting, so I'm not really working on any other projects. I really want to finish my fish bag! I've found several other bags in the book I'd love to make, too... but first, I need to get back to the Delphine sweater. Too many beautiful things to knit, with too little time to devote to them!

I do have another project in mind, although I'm not really sure yet about all the details. I'm seeing a light, lacy stole/wrap-with-sleeves (similar to the one from Rebecca, but much lighter). Maybe something like Eunny Jang's Print O' the Wave stole, with sleeves. Basically, a long, lacy rectangle, with two armholes worked in, and then sleeves grafted. I believe the Rebecca one is worked in halves and then grafted together. I think it would be really neat to find a lace pattern that looks pretty with the stitch used on the Pomatomus socks from knitty, and use that stitch pattern for the sleeves (my arms always get cold!). Or something like that, anyway. I just realized the Rebecca wrap looks soft and romantic and flattering on the model, but on me, it would just look bulky. It would not flatter my figure at all. I've seen wraps on Stitch Diva similar to what I'm planning, but they are too "modern," and not really soft or romantic. Maybe that's just the way they have them on the models. I also haven't been able to find anyone on Google who has made one of those wraps.

I'm really excited about Eunny Jang's brocade jacket plans. That is just going to be amazing; I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Long time, no see.

Well, it's been awhile since I have updated. I've been on quarter break, been to Mardi Gras, got a new kitty, and done some knitting, of course. Over the break, I also made this:



Here's a close up of the ribbon used:


Isn't it cute?!

I also got quite a bit done with my Folk Bags chinese fish bag; in fact, I have only to do the embroidery and I'll be done. Since I don't really know how to embroider, I'm a little nervous about messing with it. It looks so cute thus far, though! I took it into Knitwits knit shop when I was in Mandeville, and everyone just loved it. The people there are so nice, friendly, and helpful; I really recommend their shop. They also gave me some advice on needle felting, which I've never done, but was thinking of trying instead of the embroidery to make the designs on the bag.

I also finished the ribbon shrug from Knit.1 Spring/Summer '05... well, almost. It is a little big for me, so I am trying to find a way to remedy that without ripping it out... it's not so bad that I can't wear it now, but I would love it so much if it fit just the way I want. I was thinking maybe elastic would do the trick. It's adorable though; I haven't taken any photos yet of it, but I will soon and post them here.

Also, here's a link to a kitty picture and story, if anyone is interested. It's a photo of Butters! See my kitty!

No more work on the Delphine sweater yet, thanks to all the distractions I have had lately. I started on the silk corset top instead of working more on my sweater. Bad Crystal. Bad, bad Crystal. I'd love to finish it by my b-day on Mar 16, but I seriously doubt that will happen! It's lovely though, and going quite well after I got my confusion about yarn overs straight. This is my first project using lace! The Brilla is wonderful, and I'm currently wondering what else I can make from this yarn. I have a feeling it's going to be fab against the skin, and nice for Louisiana's almost eternal warm weather.

Alright, that was the short update. I'm going to work on my corset top some more. And then study. Stay tuned for pics of Mardi Gras; I'm going to scan them and post. We got some great pictures of all the costumes from the contests!