Joyce Makes Art

Progress

Title says it all. Progress on Dream in Color. Dreamy cashmere. Not much time to knit lately, but I've made it into the sixth repeat. Three more after this, then the cuff

Best Knitting Party Idea Ever

Design*Sponge had this post with ideas for the best knitting party ever -- a party to teach non-knitting friends to knit.  It seems like it could just as easily be a party for all of your knitting friends.

The pictures are beautiful, with lots of greenery and daffodils and neutral colored yarn.  What about it Birmingham people?  Do we need a knitting party?

Ellie's Laar

I'm knitting a summer sweater called Laar for Ellie.  I'm using the pattern yarn, a Zephyr silk-wool blend.

My swatch was, miraculously, dead on gauge.

Then I started casting on: a knitted on cast on, cast on 5 and cast off 2, for some 200 plus stitches.  Yes, this will make a beautiful picot edging at the bottom of the sweater, but I'm afraid it may also leave me blind.  And, the yarn likes to split.  Casting on alone may be a long term project.  I wonder if Laar will be worth it?

Afghan Love

My Afghan is done.

I am very happy with it.  Very.

I started this project after falling in love with a cheap acryllic afghan in a high-end design store, and thinking, "I can knit that.  And not in acryllic either!"

I could not have done it without the help of my Cousin Ann, who turned me on to a wonderful book about cables, that made it possible for me to write a simple pattern that gave me exactly what I wanted.

Sitting on this chair, it reminds me that I've always wanted to knit this.

It would be just perfect in our bedroom!  Perhaps my next big project.

This yarn did everything I expected of it.  It's soft, it's warm, it holds its shape.  I love the combination of silk, alpaca, and merino.  There is definitely an advantage to dyeing your own yarn, writing the pattern,  and getting exactly what you wanted --  a sort of soup to nuts approach to knitting. 

 

 

A Little Bit of Interior Decorating

I haven't blogged much about the conversion of our house from World War III battleground (where small children, dogs, and cats fought for territory) to a decently presentable, comfortable living space since last summer.  But, work has been progressing.  What started as a new floor in the kitchen turned into a kitchen redo, with living room and study updates done to on the ground floor.

We then turned our attention to a much needed basement redo.  This involved removing a whole wall of windows, because the temperature in our "playroom" was about 25 degrees for much of the winter, and absolutely unuseable.  Now replaced with thicker, double glass and with windows repaired, our intrepid decorator, the wonderful Miss Sarah, has begun installing all of her wonderful finds, after turning the walls from a sickly shade of terra cotta to a perfect oyster white.

I am so sorry I didn't take before pictures.  Suffice it to say, it was hideous.  The difference is so incredible that it's as though we added a whole new room to the house.  I'll have to add in more detailed photos when the work is complete, but will leave you with this snap of the cute shelves outside the door to my studio, which is just off of the playroom.  I decided to fill them with yarn and knitting projects in progress, as a little taste of what is inside the door.

Dreamy Knit Shrug

This is the Dream in Color Shrug I'm knitting for my Mom out of Jade Sapphire Cashmere, exactly halfway done.

I seem to spend a lot of time spreading it out and looking at it.  I like the lacy pattern very much.  I love how the Cashmere feels.  Knitting this pattern in this yarn reinforces my belief that life is too short to knit with cheap yarn.

This is a surprisingly easy pattern -- the repeats are short and quickly remembered.  I've inserted markers to make it easy to keep up with where I am, so I can knit this in lectures or while talking with friends over coffee.  It looks a bit long, or perhaps that's just wishful thinking on my part, as my Mom is smaller than I am, so if it's too large, well, um, we all know how that one goes.