The Big Reveal

We finally moved into our new house last Monday and are still unpacking.  But, of course, the first space I had to set up is my new knitting/craft room!

I love it!  (though I've only spent a couple of hours in it (so far) while I waited for Habitat for Humanity to come and pick up my husband's old recliner).  I still need to hang some artwork, but I think all the elements have come together just as I had hoped :)

Surprisingly, only a couple of items in this room are new.  All of the furniture I've had for at least 10-15 years (yikes!).  This green chair (with the finished front of my Sakura Top draped over the arm) and I have been together for many years.  I love it, and really built the room around it.  Only the ottoman and carpet are new. 

The ottoman I bought at Target for $55 (but I used a gift card).  I wasn't really sure that this ottoman went with my chair, but now that I've got the rug, I think it looks great together.

I went over budget on the rug.  I realized I had to go up in size to fit the room, then, well, things change.  My husband liked the rug and agreed that we could up the budget to buy it.  It is perfect for the room and we're happy.

I was hoping that these shelves would look neater once I got all my supplies on them, but it was not to be.  Oh well, its a working space.  And its my space :) 

What do you think?  Any suggestions?  I'd love to hear about and see photos of your work spaces!!



Worth the Wait!!

Well, it has taken a while, much longer than I expected, but I finally finished (almost) my modified version of the Modern Lace Henley from Knitty.

As you may recall, I wanted to make a lace crewneck pullover similar to this sweater from the J Crew website (it no longer seems to be available), using some Knitpicks Comfy I had from a previously frogged project. 

So here's the deal - my gauge was no where near the gauge for the pattern.  Doing some math, I figured that I could cast on for the x-small size with a #7 needle and get the size I needed for my hips.  I followed the decreases laid out in the pattern, but switched to a #6 needle at the waist to tighten up the width for my chest measurement.  I changed the top to a crewneck, lengthened the body to 22 inches, and made the sleeves 3/4 length.  If I were to re-think this project, I might try to figure out the math to knit the body of the sweater in the round (though the decreases would be a nightmare).  If this was knitted in the round, the finished sweater might have more of a bias fit, more like to J Crew sweater.  But I'm NOT planning to re-knit this whole sweater.  Not now, not ever :)

I followed another Raveller's suggestion and deleted 1 pattern repeat for the cast on for the sleeves, starting with 50 stitches.  Big mistake for me - my sleeves are too tight and are pulling, particularly at the shoulders.  Sometime (not now, but hopefully before summer is over) I'm going to re-knit the sleeves, following the cast on stitches as suggested by the pattern.  I'm also going to fiddle with the top of the sleeve - I don't like how its fitting into the sweater.

Overall, very happy :)  This sweater is very comfy and soft.  (And I still love the color!!!) 

Confessions of a Wife Left Behind

So we closed on our new house last Friday.  And this past Tuesday, my husband left for an 8 day business trip.  This is the second time he's left me to do all the packing and unpacking from a move all by myself!  This time, I decided to get some retail compensation.

I've bought two knit-related items, though neither is a big splurge.

Purchase #1 -  I finally hunted down a knit-novel that I had been searching for.  I found Unravelled by Robyn Harding on ebay for $2.31.  I find these knit genre books are all pretty similar and a bit hokey.  That aside, this book is a light read, a great distraction from the stress of moving, and I am enjoying it :)

Purchase #2 - I bought a mini-skein of hand-dyed merino sock yarn from Wullenstudio off of esty.  I have a plan to make a necklace, similar to one on saw on Anthropologie, from this yarn.  Once I'm done, I'll share my notes on this blog.  Stay tuned!!

Although I'm miffed about my husband's absence, I can't complain completely.  I've managed to make great headway on my lace pullover. 

I've completed the back piece and I am almost done with the front!!  Just the sleeves, blocking, and joining to go!  I might actually finish this sweater by the end of June.  (And I still love the color!)

Its A Start

We closed on our new house today.  Here's a photo of a rose from the yard of our new house, sitting on our new windowsill!

For a little while, at least, this blog might focus on decorating and setting up the house.  But I will still be knitting along the way :)  Stay tuned!

Coffee Tables, Coasters, and Ottomans (Oh My!)

More about the new house, decorating and knitting...

We will be buying new furniture for the living/family room.  Everything we have now is stuff my husband or I bought after college and have been hauling around with us for years.  I'm particularly excited about getting a nice(ish) coffee table, something like this beauty from Macy's.

from Macy's website

(Actually I can't see paying this much for a coffee table, but I like the glass top and the medium wood color, and I think we can find something similar at other stores).

Of course, if we invest in a nice coffee table (i.e. something that hasn't had three previous owners and was bought at Goodwill), then we need to treat it well.  Do I hear coasters?

I just finished these babies last night.  Using the pattern for Pinwheel Coasters from Ravelry, I knitted these using some leftover Red Heart Fiesta from a previous project.  I made 6 coasters with a #8 needle, then used various scrap yarn to darn the center hole, adding the different colors.  I like how funky this set looks.  And very utilitarian, too! 

And on another decorating note, I think I may have found my ottoman:

I bought this ottoman at Target for around $55 (but I had a gift card).  It doesn't really "match" the chair, but I love the fabric and all the colors.  I think I'm going to keep it.  Heck, its my knitting room - I can have whatever furniture I want, right?

A (Knitting) Room of One's Own

Well, my lace pullover sweater is going about as well as possible.  Its been slow in knitting, but I've been having some wrist pain and trying to take it easy by cutting down on my knitting :(  This has been disappointing, but there has been some GREAT news:  My husband and I are in the process of buying a new home!  Best part - I am going to convert the formal dining room into a knitting/arts room of my very own!!! 

I've never had a dedicated arts room for my projects, but I think this room will be perfect. I really love it!! Its light and bright and just the right size (the photo above is from the real estate listing and features the sellers' dining room furniture).  To be honest - its one of the main reasons I wanted to buy the house :)

And I'm so excited to start decorating this room (and the rest of the house).  I've had this wonderful overstuffed green armchair for many, many years, but have never really used it or even sat in it.  I've always loved it so much that I put it in the dark corner of every living room I've had, fearing it might get faded by sunlight.  Well, now I'm going to use it.  It should be a very comfortable knitting chair.  Maybe I need an ottoman to go with it?

I love this one from the Anthropologie website, but it doesn't really go with my chair.

I have a couple of these small bookcase/storage units that I want to put in the room, probably under the windows.  I'll use these to store my books and art supplies.  And I want to put my small work table in there for blocking and other projects. 

Next step - I want to get a funky area rug for the room to make it cozy.  I've scoured many a website looking at area rugs.  There are some really beautiful ones out there, but I'd like to keep the cost under $150 (or much, much less). 

One of my favorites is this rug from World Market, but they're out of the size I need and the price is much higher than what I'd like to pay.

I've even found some interesting area rugs on Walmart's website (like this or this) at much better prices.  Luckily, I have some time to look around for something I really like at the right price.

I'm sure I'll have updates, but enough about decorating and shopping - back to knitting: who hasn't fallen in love with this top from the upcoming Summer 2012 issue of Interweave Knits?  I know I said I needed to take it slower with my knitting, but this beauty has made it's way to the top of my queue!!

A decision, finally (maybe)

Thank you to everyone for your kind words about my pink eyelet top, both here and on Ravelry.  A lot of you thought the finished top looked great, others supported my thoughts on frogging it and making something else.  After a couple of weeks of considering my options, I've (almost) decided to take it apart and make this beautful lace henley top from Knitty.  My plan is to change the neck to a crewneck and make the sleeves longer, maybe 3/4 length.

A couple of things have influenced my decision.  One, the eyelet top pattern called for way more yarn than I actually used, so I have 4 and half skeins of yarn left over. (I hate when a pattern calls for so much more yarn than you actually use - I mean, what's up with that?).  If I take apart the top and use the leftover yarn, I can knit up a full sweater with longer sleeves.

Two, the worsted weight yarn I used is very soft and comfortable, but still rather heavy for a sleeveless top.  It is unlikely that I could wear a heavy top in warmer weather, so a longer sleeved top for spring/fall might be a better use of this yarn.

from Banana Republic website

And three (most important), I've fallen in love with this sweater from Banana Republic.  I tried this sweater on in the store and loved it.  However, this pink color in person is more orangey (really, a bright coral color) and not great for my coloring.  Also the cotton of this sweater is a little scratchy on the skin.  If I change the Knitty lace henley to a crewneck and use my Knitpicks Comfy in that beautiful poesy color, I think I can create a very similar, if not more flattering, finished sweater.

So, that's the plan.  Maybe.  And unfortunately, my digital camera died just after I finished taking the photos of the eyelet top, so it might be a while until I can post any photos of this project.  If I decide to frog the eyelet top.  Which I think I will (probably) do.  Maybe.