Monday, March 23, 2009

Knit endeavors, what's old is new again




I’m currently working on cataloging some of the projects I completed before I joined Ravelry, when there wasn't the division of time between keyboard and needles! I've decided that every time I post a newly completed project or new work-in-progress, I will also catalog a 'Pre-Rav' finished object too, as long as I still have the yarn and pattern specs handy.

Pictured is "Paloma", out of Handknit Skirts from Tricoter. I'm all for having at least a few mindless projects that I can go to. If it's straight stockinette, I can usually catch up on some reading while I knit. Still, the fun of alternating several different yarns at once kept the skirt from becoming too tedious.
Yarns used: All from Blue Moon Fiber Arts- Geisha, Lupe, Silk Mo, and Twisted. All in color: Carbon.
The shaping occurs with needle size changes; beginning at the hem with a US 8 or 5mm, then 7, and ending with a 6 at the waist band--- so the stitch count remains the same from start to finish: another crucial 'knit while doing something else' quality. :) The fringe is also automatically created as yarn/color changes happen— and so the best part: no finishing except adding elastic to the waist, which I skipped.
A relaxing, gratifying piece to knit. I’ve worn this skirt with a tee and flops in warmer weather, and with tights and boots in the cold.




Recession style: I also refurbished an old pair of ballet flats this weekend by resurrecting and re-purposing some of my gi-normous pearl beads from twenty years ago and crocheting the roses from this pattern by Kalurah. I smile at the irony of re-fashioning 80's excess.



And these were my inspiration: $538 (***??!!) Tsumori Chisato's that I'd spied in one of Wicked Pen's polyvores. ;) Lequel est meilleur?




Next in the knit queue are these:



Now if only I could look as cool as Giovanna wearing them:






















*sigh* Considering there are few wardrobes like a certain Italian Vogue editor's, and so many more women that like me--- who could never wear over-the-knee boots without looking like complete ho's/tarts, I think I'd best content myself with new fingerless gloves... and old blue jeans.

(Photos: Garance Dore, Scott Schuman)

10 comments:

  1. I love the skirt! So cute... As are the fingerless gloves, what colour will you make them?

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is super stylish. I love the shoes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great skirt! And the shoes are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my goodness, yours are even prettier than the originals...how awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That skirt is awesome, and what a great way to refashion an old pair of shoes. There is no way I would pay $538 for a pair of shoes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. the ballet pumps are fantastic.. what a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! You can knit! I don't know much about knitting (my friend started to teach me, and then moved away before I got very far. That was 20 years ago!)

    I would like to point out that I was wearing fingerless gloves when no one else was, over 20 years ago. High school. Late '80s. I bought a pair of gloves that were layered-- colored gloves with fingerless black gloves over the top of them. I soon detached the fingerless gloves and wore them alone with my oversized jean jacket. My mother hated it. She said I looked like a street person. I loved them! No one else was wearing them, and I thought I was so cool and different!

    I'll point out that my fingerless gloves looked NOTHING like the ones in the pic above. They only came to my wrists-- not my elbows. I wasn't that classy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. mommy your so fab with all your crafty accesories.. :)

    ReplyDelete