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Cloisonne Jacket

Finally an FO that fits!  (I'm not tilting; Kate is taking "arty shots").

Pattern: Cloisonne Jacket

Designer: Deborah Helmke

Source: Interweave Knits, Fall 2010

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca

I made one purposeful modification, never mind the accidental ones.  If knit as per the chart directions, the entire body, minus the lace border, would be black and the leaf design would be white.  However, I knew my brain would not process the black squares as white and the white squares as black, so I knit them as they looked for the reverse image.  

The black and white alpaca blend is a little annoying as the white fibers shed all over the black.  Also, the blouse in the photo is sleeveless and collarless, so I was itchy, and will need to wear something with long sleeves and collar underneath. 

Here is the second reversible mug rug, front and back.  Both are blocked now and look good.  These make quick and useful gifts.

We had a nice Thanksgiving at my sister El's.  My little grandnieces were both wearing sweaters I'd made- Ella in Nankin and Lily in the Debbie Bliss baby shrug.  I wish I'd had my camera!  

 I'm getting back to my dad's long-neglected Evergreen Vest.  Crumbs, I hope I'm picking up at the right spot, it's been so long.  

Picture post

Catching up-

Above is the Braided Wrap made with Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair in a tigery color.  I love the kitschy yarn, though it shed like crazy pre-washing.  I'm going to undo the back seam, which was a 3-needle bind off of the provisional cast on and the last row, and rip out a few rows either side.  The wrap is a little too big and doesn't sit right.  Modeled photos when it's fixed.

Last week I took my friend Karen out for a birthday breakfast, then we went to a holiday bazaar that guild member Kathy has volunteered at for years, and that other guild members have raved about.  I didn't walk away empty-handed.  One thing I bought, for me, is a pretty red and gold fabric shawl, a simple fringed length of fabric.  I may also have picked one up, in another design, for K...

The quilters group decided to exchange mug rugs of any sort this year.  I chose this linen stitch pattern  and used good ol' Peaches and Creme from the stash (shown unblocked).  I'm making a second one in blue tones for a twofer, as I'm afraid the mystery recipient might not be enamored of these black/white/gray tones.

I ordered a couple of bargain items from Bea Ellis's eBay store.  (I didn't realize she only sells on eBay now.)  There are lots of adorable Christmasy patterns in the booklet.  I also ordered 10 pewter buttons with the Peer Gynt trademark reindeer rider.  Apparently I don't know the story of Peer Gynt- I thought it was an elf riding a reindeer but after a cursory googling learned it's PG himself.  I'll have to go back to learn who he is and why he's riding a reindeer.  Here's a sampling of patterns, plus the buttons:

Yesterday I went into work for a field trip to the zoo with the Lifeskills class.  I hadn't been for years and enjoyed it (as long as you don't think about the poor animals deprived of their natural environment) and the kids had a great time.  Since the trip was on my day off, I got to take today off (though it was only a half day at school).  So today I made the pies to bring to my sister's for Thanksgiving  tomorrow, and I just have to make corn pudding in the morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

11-11-11

An auspicious date for Veterans Day.  I echo Sherill's sentiments.

At the November guild meeting, experienced knitter Lorraine gave an informational talk filled with tips on fitting your knits.  The beautifully fitted Jean Frost jacket she was wearing proves she walks the walk.

Since I had the holiday off today, I was able to go to Eneri's monthly Stitch and Tell for the first time.  There was a good turnout, including several guild members I'd seen at last night's meeting.  I had bought the Berroco Ultra Alpaca for the Cloisonne Jacket here, and worked on its second sleeve while chatting with old and new faces.  I also jumped at the chance to buy Interweave Knits special publication, Jane Austen Knits (at a discount, too).  I had just seen this on I forget which website yesterday, and thought Kate would actually want me to knit at least one of the historically inspired garments for her.

Early this morning I looked out in the backyard and was surprised to see a deer under the pear tree, munching on fallen pears.  In the 22 years we've lived here, I've never seen a deer in the yard, though I've seen them all over the surrounding area (and had my car hit by one a few years ago).  Then tonight that deer must have told the rest of his family about the free pears, as four deer were out there at dusk.  D. commented that they are hungry this year because it's been a bad year for acorns.  This fuzzy picture is the best I got this morning before scaring the young deer away.

The first Cloisonne sleeve is shown at top.  It is 3/4 length so goes quickly, and I've started the second.  I sewed the first one in but will redo it because it looks messy.  I should have thought to loosely baste it in first.

I've become a fan of Bette Davis and am working my way through her movies on Netflix.  I'm reading a biography by Charlotte Chandler, which contains a great knitting-related quote by BD:  "An actress's life is one of such utter dependency.  Others must write what you do, and others have to make the gamble that pays for it, or you knit.  Or worse, you have so much time on your hands, you learn how to crochet."  Ha!Ha!  I wonder if she actually did knit (or crochet)?

ETA:  Yes, she did!  Off to google some more...

Now November

I wanted to use a colorful and inspiring quote for November as a title, but after searching for such quotes it appears November is the most despised of the 12 months.  Dark, gloomy, cold, dismal, sorrowful, treacherous, dreary...the list of negative adjectives goes on and on.  No wonder 'they' decided to stick Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, in the month of November, to give the naysayers something to be cheerful about.

The little layer of snow pictured was all we got from the October snowstorm which other areas experienced by the foot.  Ours had disappeared by mid-afternoon.

John arrived in Alaska yesterday to start his new job.  Here he is eating a last piece of Mom's apple pie before heading for the airport.  Cow, knowing something was going on, stuck to him like glue as he slept over the last night.

Kate went to a Halloween party last night and ended up raiding my closets to become a Jane Austen heroine.  I wore the dress at age 16 as my sister El's bridesmaid; the shawl is the recently completed Citron (doing double duty as a period piece as well as to hide the fact that the zipper would not zip all the way up); the cameo was bought by my dad in Italy in WWII for my grandmother; and the turtleneck is just my turtleneck.

I finally fixed another error on the socks and am halfway through the cabled ladies with their bead hearts.

The body of the Cloissone Jacket is blocking and soon I'll start the sleeves.