Again, sorry for my absence, the big holidays are still going on and I am fully occupied with... oh, you mothers out there know what it's like when the children are around all day.
I saw so many postings of you via Bloglines I felt I had to comment on but am still waiting for the day I am not torn between actually doing so and crafting, in which case crafting mostly wins, so I remain mute for most of the times... sorry, really sorry for that!
Here, because it is just past midnight which means even after writing this posting there will still be some time be left for making first contact with what is in here, my report of what's been happening craft wise in the meantime:
[Insert here a carefully written, long post about me knitting my first Hourglass Sweater, following the pattern in this book, aiming for a fitted garment and actually ending up with a piece very close to what I pictured. Finding it a very nice pattern, easy to follow and modify - I added about two repeats to the yoke for a higher neckline. Discovering the blessing of stitch markers (no, they are not of decorative nature as I always implied, not at all!), getting acquainted with the Kitchener Stitch, enjoying knitting in the round (no seams!!!) with long circulars, doubting that anybody actually can knit with 30 cm circulars... being covered with mo-hairs all over because the yarn (Diasilkombrer, Japanese yarn, 70% wool, 20% silk, 10% mohair) is generously giving away lots of those while being knitted up... me taking showers to get rid of those hairs in between - not liking air conditioned rooms in Japanese summers means heavily sweating at 34 degrees Celsius / 92 degrees Fahrenheit (at night!), getting sticky, being covered with a thin layer of mohair all the time...
Oh, and there was the discovery of the highly developed inclination of the used yarn to get felted, almost by the pure look at it. I found out about that when I had to carefully separate the threads from each other when I wanted to weave in the loose ends...
And there was the story of how my teapot inspired me to make a pinnacle cozy and why I hope my Hourglass Sweater will stay with me some time before it auto felts itself into a tiny, unwearable piece... but in the end the point of the whole affair might simply have been to finally find that perfect yarn to make a Buttonhole Bag anyway... who knows]
But what ever I have been writing, it was eaten by whomever.
The post is gone, my time, too, I have to go to bed now there will be no crafting this night, I had to take a really deep breath and thought for a brief moment of rewriting that posting but I couldn't. A long posting that has been vanishing (yes, I forgot to save it as a draft) is just too frustrating.
I will leave you with some photos of the finished sweater which has, by the way, already survived being washed for the first time - wanted to see if I could get rid of some loose mo-hairs and am happy that it worked!
Hope you are all well!
I will be back next week, with more time, and something crocheted for my neck, and hopefully the declaration that my craft room has been taken care of and is ready to let me in to finally sew something again!
Till then!
Take care.
Edit: The data...
Pattern: Hourglass Sweater, Last Minute Knitted Gifts , second smallest size
Yarn: Diasilkombrer (Diamondo, diakeito.co.jp), col. 509, 70% wool, 20% silk, 10% mohair, 238 g
Needles: Clover, circular/bamboo/Japanese size 8, 4.5 mm (recommended for the yarn: 5-6 / 3.6-3.9)
Started: August 12, 2007
Finished: August 26, 2007
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