Flower City Knits

I’d like to introduce you to my shrug, also know as the “first apparel item to make it out of the house on my person.” Yay!

Monotone Shrug

Pattern: Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug by Stefanie Japel

Source: Fitted Knits

Materials: Paton’s Classic Wool Merino (100% Merino Wool) in Olive, 2 skeins; Size 5 and 7 24″ circs

Started: August 2007

Completed: June 2008

Procrastination is the devil, man. I started this at the tail end of last summer and put it down once Christmas knitting commenced. Or, actually I believe I put it down because I was putting off seaming the sleeves and picking up stitches. I finally did this in May and the thing magically finished itself. I then waited two (2!) months to weave in ends and block it. I’m officially the laziest knitter ever.

Anyhoo, now that it’s all done and pretty, I absolutely love it. See I have this problem in the evenings where just the back of my arms get chilled (a little weird, I know). This solves it. So despite the fact that the other night my friend kept teasing me that I was missing the rest of my sweater, and then going on to suggest all the things I could do to earn the money to get the yarn to finish the sweater….ahem….this is my first knitted apparel success story. See, I’m trying this new thing where I actually wear the things I spend hours upon hours knitting. A novel concept, I know.

So here’s the other stuff I’m working on.

Prairie Tunic

This is now all seamed up; I just have to figure out how to make a twisted cord. Which I’ve heard is a lot trickier than the instructions might suggest. Difficult or no, the first step is to figure out how to measure out 48 feet (feet!) in fingering weight yarn without getting my dog completely entangled in it, since he rarely wanders more than two feet away from me when I’m home. This could definitely be interesting.

Alsoooooo…..on the conspicuous consumption side of things, I want to show you my new loverly carnelian ring, which I bought from Jenna ’s Etsy shop Small Bird. Go there immediately and buy her beautiful and well-made designs! Go on!

I’d like to add that I totally forgot the point of my title, but have decided to keep it there anyway. Cuz it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want. So there.

Is anyone still reading this?

Hellooo?Yeah, I know it’s been a while. More than six months is a ridiculous amount of time to expect your readership to hang in there, but if anyone is still there…hi there!

Due to some personal issues, which I’m not really comfortable getting into in this forum, my knitting and blogging mojo has been noticably absent these last few months. It’s a little difficult to focus, even on the things you love doing, when your entire life has gone topsy-turvy. But luckily for me, I have an incredibly supportive family and wonderful friends, and with their help I seem to be back on a path to health and happiness. It’s never too late to change the road you’re on.

So with this renewed sense of purpose, I’ve come once again to knitting. I’m happy to report that my return means that those WIPs that have been languishing at the bottom of my knitting basket are now finally getting their day in the sun. My shrug from Fitted Knits is happily blocking as I type, and the Hourglass sweater is all prepped and ready for seaming and blocking tonight. I’ve also rededicated myself to finishing my Prairie Tunic—I don’t quite understand why I ever put it down. It’s such a nice pattern to knit, and the yarn, Rowan Cotton 4-Ply, is really lovely on the fingers for 100% cotton. And the color…oh, how I love Rowan colorways. Pretty-Pretty.

Hello old friend, it’s really nice to see you once again…

So welcome back to my knitting blog—your patience and continued reading will hopefully now be rewarded by many finished objects as I get back on track with my favorite pastime…ah, knitting.