Thursday, July 03, 2008

Is it summer already?

So the school year has whizzed by with a speed equaled only by the rate at which my daughter matures. I truly don't know where the days go, and I do wish they wouldn't speed by so quickly. Or that I could have a "do over." No such luck though.

My daughter has been lusting after some Noro wools ever since I opened the shop. She walks over to the display, pets the wool, heaves a deep sigh, pets it some more, and reluctantly walks away. She didn't really know what she wanted to do with it, but she adored the colours. Then this wonderful little book titled "Mini Knits" from Noro entered the shop. (And just as quickly exited I might add--if you see it, grab it 'cuz it's filled with wonderful patterns.) I managed to hold onto one book long enough to finish a design. Here, in its finished glory, you see:
This was knit with four skeins of Noro Iro, colour no. 19. The pattern specified Kochoron, but I switched out the yarn since Carrie loved the Iro better. Other than that, I followed the pattern religiously. It took less than a week to knit.

Home knitting has also been produced. Several years ago, I purchased some gorgeous cotton yarn from Knit Around in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The yarn matured in my stash, until I decided that (a) the yarn was ready to be knit and (b) the perfect project had been chosen.

So I cast on for the Cream Tea from Knit Net and featured in the 2007 Pattern-a-Day calendar. No go, the yarn was not right. Switched needles and tried again. Still not working.

Undaunted, I frogged the project one more time and put on my thinking cap. There had to be a reason why I had purchased the amount of yarn that I did. After all, in those days I hadn't graduated to random yarn purchases. Yes--in those days I only purchased yarn for which I had a pattern in mind. Ah, the good old days.

In an amazing feat of logic and memory, I recalled the time frame during which I purchased the yarn (not the difficult part since the yarn carried the name of the store on the price label). So then I just had to figure out what I might have been knitting or reading at that specific time to find the pattern.

Viola!! (If your name is Coris and you are married to my son Jason, please stop reading immediately!)

This is the Too-Cool! Halter Top from the 2005 Pattern-a-Day calendar, modeled by the delightful Carrie. This, too, was a super easy and quick knit project. I used one and a half skeins of ___________________, in a kelly green. Followed the pattern precisely as written, and this is what you get:

I don't know if the daughter-in-law will wear undergarments with the top ... in any event, it is a delightful summer fashion. Coris saw my version of this same top (knit in a white cotton blend) and loved it ... and when next I was near a yarn shop I acquired the yarn. Too bad it took 4 years to get around to it.

Carrie has completed her in-class portion of driver's training and is preparing for the G-2 test in August. Her driving skills are improving rapidly, which is a good thing. I fear my days of having sole control of my automobile are rapidly drawing to a close.

I do hope to have more finished objects to show you ... as soon as the camera batteries recharge!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You know how addictive Noro is. Knitting one thing will not be the end of it for Carrie. Luckily it's not illegal, immoral or bad for your health - just expensive. I hope to get to my little Noro cardi this fall. I'm currently playing with the Hempathy I bought from you and trying to get the skirt from Greetings from Knit Cafe sized for someone who doesn't go in at the waist as much as these younger designers!