Projects on the Go
Well, because of my New Year’s Resolution I have a lot of projects on the go! I’ve been trying to be good an not to start anything new but I have managed to find a few loop holes to wiggle through!
One of the projects I was hoping (very naively) to finish before Christmas was a red jumper with a lacy bottom and funky buttons on the top. I was basing it on a skirt pattern from a book I really like: Greetings From the Knit Cafe. The bottom starts out the same but I’m just kind of winging the top as I go. Of course when you are knitting on size US 5 needles it takes forever to create enough fabric to cover knee to neck.
Needless to say my adorable and trendy jumper was not completed for Christmas and it is still only half done today. I just keep plugging away knitting in stockinette stitch in the round. Knit every stitch for what seems like forever! Ah well, if it gets half the compliments my green skirt (of the same pattern) gets it will be worth it. The buttons I chose are black and white and have a cute bird on them. You will have to wait to take in the whole project to see the buttons.
One of my favorite parts of the skirt is the lacy bottom. It moves nicely when I walk or when I spin around (which I tend to find excuses to do in this skirt…..).
The first project that I found a loophole to work on was my orange floor cushion. A few years ago, when I first bought ‘Last Minute Knitted Gifts’ I made nice orange floor cushion out of Blue Sky Alpaca’s Bulky. It was really nice except that I couldn’t get the right sized piece of foam once I had finished all the knitting. How annoying. So I got 2 pieces of 2″ thick foam and put them together. Of course, this didn’t make it quite big enough so I also had to add a few skinny bits to the end. I sewed it up but I was never quite satisfied with it. The cushion was vibrant in color and very textural but there was always something about that lumpy foam that bothered me.
Finally last week I had had enough and I unravelled the whole thing. It took forever to take it apart and at first, I couldn’t decide whether to remake the cushion or to just make something else. I do quite like to have floor cushions, however, because I have a rather small living room and seating is limited to one (rather large) couch. So I finally decided to remake the cushion but a little differently this time. I wanted something a little smaller and I didn’t want to waste the foam and yarn I already had. So I made it 1/2 the size and it looks fabulous! I now have visions of a stack of colorful cushions in the corner. The project knitted up quick (gotta love that bulky yarn!) and it looks fab. This one is knitted in stockinette stitch but I think the next one will be made with the other side facing out.
