Oh Hi

Oh Hi blog.  How are you?  It's been a while... I started a new Job at the beginning of June and I can't believe I've been there a month now.  waking up at 6:45 every morning is not fun, but the job is good and the work can be fun.  The real reason I've been derelict in my posting is because I moved in the last two weeks of June and I'm still trying to settle into my new place.  The packing up and getting out of the old place wasn't so bad, I had lots of help from Ryan and Adam.  It's the unpacking and trying to get the new place set back up that's killing me.  Have to find a new place for everything, have to figure out how this place wants to be set up, ugh.

I did finish a knitting project in the midst of all the tumult.  A friend of mine got married last weekend, and the invitation suggested that "cocktail attire" would be most appropriate... So I went shopping, found a dress, found some shoes, found some earrings, and a necklace.  The dress was strapless, the wedding was in the evening, and the "summer" that Portland has been dishing up lately hasn't been very warm.  This was my solution:





The pattern is Lacy Hug Me Tight from the Knit2Together book.  I managed to finish it in just under a month (and on the night before the wedding.)

The pattern is exceedingly boring to knit.  First you knit a giant block of 2x2 ribbing, 21" worth of ribbing to be exact.  Then you knit three strips of lace, two to go around the sleeves and one to go around the body.  The strips are about 20 stitches wide.  The lace is not charted, so you either have to chart it yourself (which I did after the first repeat) or try to follow written lace instructions.  Then you fold the body and add a little seam.  Then you sew the strips of lace around the edges.  It's a lot of finishing work.  I do like the result though.



At the wedding there was a sort of photo booth set up and everyone there got the password to access the photos.  The company is located in WA but I guess they do shoots in Portland too.  I'm holding a cardboard cut out top hat and Ryan is holding cardboard bright red lips.

The yarn is Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy.  41% Cotton, 34% Hemp, and 25% Modal.  I love the finished project, but this yarn is hell to work with.  It's so rough on your hands, there is no give at all, it's not at all soft before it's washed.  After it's washed it blooms like mad and becomes super drape-y and soft.



Here's the back view.  Excuse the wet hair.  I thought it might be a bad idea to ask the professional wedding photographer to focus on the knitwear rather than the wedding guests...  And a close up of the sleeve lace:



I focused my knitting attention on this pretty exclusively to get it done in time for the wedding and now I'm feeling the backlash in the form of some major knitting ADD.  I can't settle down to any one project I do a few stitches on one a few on another.  I'm super tempted to start something new but I'm trying to finish my old project.  I have a few that have been lingering for far too long.  I'm working on the finish two to start one system.  Now that this is finished I have to finish one more before I can cast something else on.