Persephone Shell

So here is the post-it note, as I shall now call it. (Veronica says I look like I have a blue post-it note over my chest area. I know why I hired that one…so helpful she is.)  Here is the pattern from the latest issue of Interweave Knits. I had to go out and buy a shirt to wear with this darn thing. I really hate projects that require clothing purchases. It seems counterproductive. The last project that I had to purchase a shirt for was that dress. The one that Cameronne made me knit. yeah, you heard me. I called you out CAMERONNE.

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During my Sunday morning run, I realized that a long run is kinda like a knit or crochet project. There is a point at which you will finish, and you know you will finish. For me, at about 1/3 of the way through a run, I could stop. I hate life. My knees pretend to be broken, I can’t breath, everything falls to pieces. About half way through the run, I feel great. Then at the 3/4 point, usually around a mile or two miles from the finish, I want to die. But I can finish, and I know that I can because I have passed that half way point. On a knitting project, it is entirely possible (and often likely) that I will abandon the project in the first one third. For a sweater, I have to reach the sleeves, complete the front and back, or it could fall victim to the pile of unfinished projects. But there is that second point, like in my runs, where the sweater could also be dropped…somewhere right around the “finishing” section of the pattern.

For this project, that point has been reached three or four times now, and I am absolutely stunned that I have continued to work on this thing. It is the Persephone Shell from the latest issue of Interweave Knits. I thought this would be a quick one week project to get me through before I start on the next knitalong project. (preview here) But NOOOO, this pattern had other ideas. First, I failed to read the part that specified to do the left and right front increases on the NECK edge and worked them instead on the armhole edge. This caused them to slant out instead of inwards toward the neck. So I frogged them back and reworked them. Then I seamed up the tops of the shoulders and worked the applied icord edging and then decided to try on the sweater. This was a brilliant plan on my part, since having already worked the applied icord edging on the armholes means that I could not easily shorten the top of the garment. Sure enough, it was a full three inches too tall on top. The bottom of the blue “busty” section hit my waist, not my bra line. oh, and I should mention that I had not only done the applied icord but had also woven in all of my tails!

So I frogged the armhole edging, reworked the fronts and back to make them shorter and then started the three needle bind off on the shoulders. Above is my first one. Anyone notice the problem with the photo? Yeah, I worked it on the outside instead of the inside. At this point, it is mile 11 of a 13 mile run. I should have called it a day. But no, I forged onward. So now I am working on the front bust section that is worked in teal silk. The pattern has you pick up stitches around the edges and bottom but not around the entire front, for some reason. Three or four inches into this section, I decided that I wanted the entire front picked up so that there wasn’t a noticeable portion where the top parts had been seamed. I can see the spot that it changes from pick ups to seams in the project photos. Here is how far I got (of course) before I made this brilliant decision.

So frog it went. I have now reworked the front, reworked the armhole edging and need to finish the applied icord neck edging, weave in tails and block. I put the sweater on last night and decided that I absolutely hate it. It requires a seriously good shirt to wear under it to “stage” the whole mess so that I don’t look like I am wearing a giant teal post it note over the chest area. We shall see. I will post finished photos with it on, and you all can help me decide whether it will be frogged entirely. But I feel like I ran a marathon. I need Gatorade and a bacon filled sandwich (ie a stockinette stitch mindless project)!

So perhaps driving down I-95 to the beach wasn’t at the top of your list of activities for the weekend. Stop on in and see us. We are open regular hours:
Sunday 11-5 pm
Monday 10 am – 7 pm

On Monday we will serve up breakfast and coffee in the morning, so come on over and join our day long Stitch in Space.

Last night was “Stitch in Space” and I saw another Lilas Cardigan on its way to completion as part of our knitalong. Younah is working on her raglan increases, reaching the point of taking off the sleeves and working on the body of the sweater.

She also discovered the new Mad Tosh Sock colors and may have ended up going home with a few.

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Lots of news to report! First, we are open all weekend. Come on out to hot hot Old Town this weekend and see us.

Holiday weekend hours

Saturday: 10 am – 7 pm

Sunday: 11 am – 5 pm

Monday: 10 am – 7 pm (come in for a day long “Stitch in Space” featuring treats!)

New workshop added

Want to learn to dye your own yarn? Join Rosemary for one of two afternoon dye workshops. Read more and register here.

Summer Class Schedule

This Summer’s classes will focus on one session workshops to get you rolling on holiday knitting! In addition, we will have two Sweater Modification classes and several advanced sweater classes, in addition to another session of the beaded scarf class, an intermediate crochet sweater course, and new things for babies. You can view them all on our registration page.

I love finishing things, especially knitting projects. It gives me the perfect excuse to acquire more yarn and start something else. Last week, I finished the Lilas Cardigan – our knitalong for this month. This makes my May sweater complete, a full ten days before the end of May! It definitely can not be worn open. It hangs off of my shoulders in a very odd way, but it is awesome closed! I threw a shawl pin in it, and it was adorable. You may have caught me wearing it over the weekend. Check out the Inspiration page for details on the pattern and photos of others participating in the knitalong.
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We had asked that you all send us photos of your fibre space totes traveling the world this summer. In August we will vote for the best photo (right here!) so I thought I would start sharing the albums that we have received thus far:

Renae traveled to Florida with her tote and the little guy visited NASA. fibre space tote goes to space! (almost)

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Susan E. traveled all the way to Paris, France and took these gorgeous photos:

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Kel found a video of a sheep surfing. You may remember the video of the surfing alpaca from a few weeks ago…well this sheep is much much more skilled than the alpaca was. He actually looks like he is enjoying himself!