Knitting

I’ve been working on three sweaters this week. I started them at different times – the first one in August. It’s been relaxing to clear the machines off my work table for a bit. I was sewing more pants from my favorite jeans pattern last weekend and made another practically complete pair of gray pants with elaborate pockets before I discovered that they’re too small. This was the first time I used that pattern with fabric that has no stretch. I didn’t realize how badly I needed it. I wore them for an hour, hoping for a little give and tore a hole at the base of the fly, not in the seam, but in the fabric itself. Knitting is becoming my therapy for sewing.

I started this sweater with the intention of keeping the whole thing dark gray. It was really looking like a man’s sweater from the Boston Store – maybe made by Dockers, so I decided to add some color. I’m trying out a combination of Faire Isle and Intarsia. Basically, I’m just changing color without a design –responding to what’s there. It’s like painting which is probably why I’m really excited about the process. I think I’m going to be very happy with the sweater. Of course this morning instead of picking up my sweater and knitting more, I spent an hour online shopping for more yarn so I have a broader palette. I found one brand of yarn called “Lamb’s Pride.” I don’t believe lambs feel pride, and if they did it probably wouldn’t be about having such great hair that it compels people to continue stealing it from them. Still, I’m just as much of a sucker for marketing as anyone else. I can’t get the picture of smiling, satisfied, naked little lambs handing out baskets of fur to eager knitters.

Blue Turtleneck

Sock Cuffs return in this ribbed turtleneck. I’m running low on worn out socks, so I will have to start knitting my own cuffs soon, or solicit donations.

I dyed this fabric from pale blue to medium blue. I realized when I was cutting an extra piece for the hem that the fabric has faded dramatically where it was exposed to the sun. In addition to the enormous inconvenience of dyeing fabric, it also becomes high maintenance for the rest of its life, just like dyed hair.

Sweatshirt

If I were five, I would probably be really happy with this sweatshirt. It was supposed to be a zipper hoodie, but the zipper went in wrong and the hood was too heavy and uncomfortable. So I sewed up the front and then put this stupid floral ribbon on. At that point, the fabric was really stretched out and hung open unattractively, so I added a zipper. Then I realized that the zipper had a metal stop at both ends (made for a pocket) instead of just the bottom. Fortunately, the whole thing fits over my head. I vow to stop adding decoration to conceal bad sewing. This always happens when I sew while I’m in a bad mood. I’ve got to stop being such an expressionist.

Small Talk

At a party last weekend I was introduced to a nice man who started our conversation with, “Are you an architect?” Immediately I felt flattered. In my mind, an architect looks like the opposite of a home-sewer, so I must really be getting somewhere with my clothing. Then I started wondering if he makes a guess about people’s occupations every time he meets someone, and has found that opening with a specific question gets things going better than, “And what do you do?” My next mental question was – is he really making guesses based on what people look like, or does he simply ask everyone if they’re an architect. Who wouldn’t be flattered by being mistaken for an architect? Maybe he has a few backup professions, but nothing else is so completely free from negative connotations.

A few minutes into the conversation I learned that he is an architect.


Clothing notes – the two turtlenecks are new. I consider the shiny one long-underwear, and will probably always wear them together because the navy top is incredibly itchy.