It's been so long...

...but a lot has been going on. I submitted three designs to Interweave Knits last month, and one to Interweave Crochet, which was immensly pleasurable. I like knitting on a deadline sometimes, only when the things actually get done, not so much when they linger on and not so much if I f*&k them up over and over and over again. I also took the oppurtunity to get all creative with the layout, it made me feel like I was in fact a creative person

Sorry for the glare, I don't have a tripod (Oh! I want one so bad!) so I had to use the flash. However, it is a crocheted vest from a Columbia Yarns pattern book circa 1920. I changed the gauge to use Reynold's Whisky, which is my new favorite yarn. I am also changing some of the proportions, though I am NOT making an updated version a la the horrible Lion Brand Vintage book. That book is a vile, vile thing. It really shouldn't be discussed in polite company.

In a recent conversation with Carol (really recent. like today) I was listing all the qualities that my "dream yarn" would have. Sport weight--a totally underrepresented gauge, heathered, two ply, loosely plied, and soft. Carol's response? "Your dream yarn is Whisky." My response? "Oh. yeah."

This is just a swatch of the top left of the vest, it really will go all the way to the waist.

And this is the pretty pretty layout, even if it is a horrible horrible photo (but look at my cool tights in the lower left of the frame!).

And in the knitting corner we have:

the beautiful box with all the goods

A little swatch of a sweater out of Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool with pompons, I love pompons.
and again with the Cascade 220! This is a super nifty thing that is knit like a scarf and then wrapped around and buttoned to be a little vest...sweater...wrap...thing. How's that for marketing? It's cool, I promise, and so ridiculously easy I was embarassed to work on it at the shop.

This is a tiny version of what will one day become a bigger shawl. It's from a book of patterns from the rare book collection of the Winterthur Museum and the pattern is ridiculous and hilarious in it's vagueness. I love deciphering the mysteries of the old patterns, I like to pretend I am a heroine in some sort of bizarre knitting Masterpeice Theatre.

On a different note:

What are the ethical questions involved when you have to decide whether to spend your time knitting things that may or may not further your knitting career or for your best friend who is pregnant. Can we do both? Which knitting takes precedence? Would one pose this question to a blog just to buy time before casting on a tiny sweater? Discuss.