a little inspiration

Oh, the story of this one... I started the Cottage Cardigan at the end of July and didn't finish until mid-September.  This is a very long time for me.  The pattern is simple and elegantly written.  The yarn was lovely once I got to know it.  It's Brooklyn Tweed Loft.  But my hands! When we got back from Spain my hands and wrists were really bothering me.  But it started much earlier.  In March of this year, I was on a dig site for the weekend and strained my wrists.  I didn't think about it then and just kept knitting... Then weeks went by and they were still sore.  So I took a break.  Not knitting is hard for me.  I do it in class, while watching tv in the evening with the family, waiting for kids in pick-up lines, and at events.  Pretty much always.  But now, my wrists were sore, my pinky and ring finger were often numb.  It's bi-lateral.  A nightmare in the making. It got better.  I tried to avoid holding things in certain ways, putting pressure on my wrists the wr

 Another successful Big Clothes, Small Clothes garment!  I made the muslin for these last summer after looking at the Tessuti blog about them and obsessing.  They weren't quite perfect and I felt unequal to the challenge of adjusting them (the problem was in the bum.  It is hard to see your bum in the garment and make adjustments without twisting and causing more problems.)  This year, I've gained a little weight, and when I finally decided to give it a go, the muslin fit pretty perfectly.   I'd seen them made in different printed fabrics and I felt like that might hide imperfections in the fit.  The volume of these pants is what drew me in, but I already feel self-conscious about having short, round legs.  Our relationships with our bodies are complicated.  While sewing gives us a certain amount of freedom, it also forces us to look at how our bodies don't fit pattern blocks.  Anyway- I digress, but this is a thing I know we are all confronted with as we sew and make

 I made this one over the summer.  When I ordered the pale pink I wasn't sure. Am I a pale pink kind of woman?  Apparently. This pattern calls for the front and back to be the same but lots of makers on Ravelry  mentioned changing it.  I did raise the back neck.  I did not take notes.  I hadn't used Caidree patterns before and found the instructions clear. The silk from Knitting for Olive is a dream.  So delightful to work with and even more wonderful to wear.  It has no bloom and so it is a little sheer.  I like the slightly sexy vibe of a loose silk blouse with the hint of a bra and tattoos underneath.  I don't have much to say about this one.  It speaks for itself.