WIP Wednesday: Cinnamon Stone Shawl

The boringness of my stockinette cardigan was getting me down, so I started something new. (As one does.)



This is the Cinnamon Stone Shawl by Verybusymonkey. I'm happy to say that this is something from my Stash Match Project that I started last year - sometimes I can stay on track!

The yarn is Old Maiden Aunt Superwash Merino 4 ply (aka my favourite yarn), in the Emerald City colourway. Cameras can't handle how green this yarn is, so I oversaturated the colour in an attempt to bring out the awesome greenness. It doesn't quite capture it, still. It is so green. It glows!

I'm at the stage where the rows are still short enough that they fly by, and I love watching the lace pattern develop.

Linking up with Stitch Along Wednesday

Outfit Along update

There are only a few days left in the official Outfit Along, and as expected I'm not going to finish my sweater on time. But it's cool - I got my skirt done!


Modeled shots to follow at some point. I swear I ironed it, but the hanger makes it bunch up more than it should.

The pattern is the Alder Skirt by Imagine Gnats. This is the first time in my adult life that I've made a garment from a pattern. I had a few false starts and my cutting/sewing accuracy could be better, but oh well.

Problem the First:

The first time I sewed it all together the pockets gaped horribly. I have a suspicion that the pockets are suppose to gape a bit in View A, but it is hard to tell how much since most of the pictures of that view include hands in the pockets. In all likelihood, slight errors in cutting and matching made mine even worse. I decided I didn't want balloon pockets, so I had to undo the side seams and move things around until they didn't gape so much.

Problem the Second:

When putting the elastic in for the waist, it seemed like I wouldn't be able to put it on over my hips. This was made worse by the rejigging I had to do for the pockets. I contemplated trying to install a zipper, but decided that might be too much for my tiny brain to handle at this stage. In the end, I can juuuust barely get it over my hips, so it's fine. I can always fall back on putting it over my head.

Here it is with my Cria cardigan in progress:



(strange shoulder lumps are from the skirt hanger)

I'm at the endless stockinette body stage, and it seems like it will last forever. Ah well - it'll be worth it in the end!

Yarn bowl!

Oh HAI blogosphere. I've been crafting, just not keeping up with pictures and writing about it. Never mind. I wanted to show off something I made a little while ago that is yarn-related, but not made of yarn.

I took a pottery class for 6 weeks ending last month, and it was incredibly fun. In my youth I did pottery for a few years at the local community centre, and I loved it - so when I found out there was a class on in my neighbourhood I was excited to try it again. And I still love it, and I'm anxious for the next session to start up! I kind of love the unpredictability of it - I'm sure some people plan well and create things according to their plans, but I found it kind of freeing not to. Especially with glazing - it was kind of fun not knowing exactly how the glazes would interact with each other and how it would all turn out. I made a bunch of things, including some wonky wheel-thrown bowls, and a few flower pots, but the thing I'm most proud of is my yarn bowl.



Yeah, it's teal. So sue me. (The glaze is a not-opaque blue-y green plus a thin layer of blue glaze, over top of a turquoise slip. It was kind of an experiment, but I love the colours that came through.)



And it works! I've been using it with my current project, as shown above - the Cria Cardigan - and it has kept my yarn contained nicely while looking awesome on my coffee table.

I'll be back with more soon: a knitted FO, plus an Outfit-Along update.