FO: Socks for a Lumberjack

 

My poor Lumberjack-y companion. We've been married for a year and change, and together for over four, and still he is woefully short on knitted things. I mean, that's supposed to be the advantage of entering a legally binding commitment with a knitter, right? You might have to put up with skeins of yarn jumping out of unexpected cabinets like tribbles, but in return, they keep you decked out in sweet, sweet woolens. (It's a pretty fair trade, if you ask me.)

Until recently, I have been positively remiss in my duties as Knitter on Call. But what's this? Wham, bam, pair of custom-made socks? Hello, new bargaining chip!

Uh, Cory, why is there a stack of pink laceweight on top of my video games?

Shhhh... I knit you socks, remember?

Har. I'm the worst.

(Details on Ravelry here.)

<3

Cory

Ballgown Styling

  

On Tuesday evening of this week, I had a makeup test for my ballgown styling with a coworker of my friend Sooz, who kindly offered to do the makeup for my presentation. We played with some dramatic layers of eye color, but in the end, we decided that an understated smokey eye with a pop of dark green was just the ticket. To keep things simple but polished, we threw in a nude lip and some soft blush. I love it - it's the exact amount of subtle prettiness that I wanted to complement the dress.

Plus, it picks up just a little bit of the color from my delicious Chie Mihara pumps! (Clearly, matching the shoes is the most important.) Overall, styling this gown has been a bit more of a challenge for me; I usually like to pair vibrant colors together, but the aesthetic of the dress is so soft and romantic that I have to be careful of upstaging it with fancy accessories and overpowering colors.

Good thing I've got Monsieur Pooper to help me out!

Happy Friday!

Pattern Release: Salt Creek Cowl

At long last, I'm happy to announce that the Salt Creek Cowl is available for purchase on Ravelry! This cowl has become a cold-weather staple in my wardrobe - worked in just one skein of buttery-soft alpaca, it's a quick knit and a slouchy, warm little thing, perfect for tucking into your jacket on a chilly morning.

  

I was originally inspired by the yarn, Juniper Moon Farm Herriot, for its incredible hand and lovely natural shades. When I saw that they had introduced a selection of soft, sophisticated colors to the Herriot lineup, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to knit up another sample for Lumberjack in a warm green. I enjoy the challenge of designing pieces that appeal to all genders, and I'm super happy with the Salt Creek Cowl in this area - the softness of the yarn is balanced by the lines of the design, which lends itself nicely to a variety of personal styles.

  

To that end, I couldn't leave out Sparklepants - she's been on a grey kick lately, so I knit one up for her in a deep charcoal color. We have very different styles usually, but for fun we switched it up a bit for this photoshoot - she was wearing a Cory outfit (blouse, cozy sweater with sweet details, vintage skirt, ) and I was wearing a Melody outfit (draped top, skinny jeans, combat boots). It was a windy, bright day yesterday, and we had so much fun taking photos after getting some brunch and walking through the farmers market!

So there you have it! I hope you enjoy knitting this one as much as I enjoyed designing it.

Details

Yarn: Juniper Moon Farm Herriot, 1 skein each cowl - shown in Travertine (light grey), Moss (green) and Charcoal (dark grey).

Recommended Needles: Size 8 US (5 mm) 16" circulars.

Pattern Details: Salt Creek Cowl, available for $4 on Ravelry. Pattern is both written and charted. Additional information about gauge, yarn substitution, etc. is also listed on Ravelry.

Christmas 2012

This Christmas, as is tradition, I went to the beach with Lumberjack, my brother, my parents, and our obnoxious wonderful dogs.  In years past, it's been a little stressful, but this year I think we all just sorta went with it.  We opened presents two days early.  We went on walks on the beach with the dogs.  We hung out in the hotel pool, and ate macaroni and cheese with snap peas and bacon.  My mom and I knit.  We watched the dogs chase each other in circles around the hotel room.

It was a really nice way to end out the year before jumping into school again.

Hope you and yours had a merry Christmas and a happy Chanukah.  Here's to another year gone by!

Outfit Post: Linen and Llamas

 

Saturday was a glorious Seattle day - and I didn't have class! - so Lumberjack and I went on an adventure to the Ballard locks.  And I figured that I hadn't done an outfit post in a while, so I persuaded him to take some pictures while families and dudes with bikes walked by and stared.  Sorry, everybody.

I got dressed with the intention of trying out the casual-menswear-inspired look that I've seen and admired on others, but never done before myself.  I went overboard a little and ended up feeling a little like a cliché - oversized shirt, tight pants, long necklace, and oxfords, complete with a DSLR slung over my shoulder - but a fun cliché, at least!

 

By the end of the walk, my feet had gone on strike... turns out, I need to break these shoes in a lot more before I can wear them to walk 2-3 miles at a time!  Good thing I brought band-aids with me.

Plum skinny jeans: d1961

Linen shirt: thrifted

Llama necklace: Madewell

Pink oxfords: Fluevog Amandas

And, as a bonus...

I got to turn the camera around on Lumberjack.  

FO: Mojave

  

Mojave is one of the first of the projects that I recently pulled out of deep hibernation to finish.  It languished for months after I realized that I needed to get an alternate skein of handspun to finish it - even after I had picked up the skein, the thought of ripping back and re-joining the yarn was unappealing in the face of the addictive shawlette.

But then I started wanting to finish all the things, and this scarf seemed like a logical choice.  It took me something like two days of off-and-on knitting to finish up, which is sort of embarrassing considering the time it took to pick it back up again.  Ah well, the joys of being a non-monogamous knitter!

Now Lumberjack has his very own wide, squishy red scarf.  For uh, next winter.  Okay so maybe the timing isn't great (the weather has been in the eighties!) but let's just call it a win anyhow.

Rav project page: Mojave

Pattern: Blake, by me

Yarn: Four-Footed Fibers (local handspun) in colorway Mojave

Yardage: All of 3 skeins - 450 yards

Needles: Size 9 US

Modifications: I did 40 stitches wide instead of 35.

Barn Sale

Last Saturday, Lumberjack, his family and I went out to his grandparents' house in rural Washington.  His grandfather passed away a few years ago, and this last weekend the family got together to have a barn sale of his old tools.  It was a pretty emotional day, but I felt really lucky to be included.  I never met his grandfather, but seeing so many things that he made or used - carpentry tools, fishing licenses, tractor, boat, tackle boxes - made me feel like I got a little glimpse of who he was.

I brought my camera with, and took a whole mess of pictures, of pretty much anything that I thought was beautiful, meaningful, or interesting.  I could say so much more, but I think for now I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Lumberjack, his mom, and I also went to a nearby yarn store, and I found some beautiful handspun, but that's a story for another day.  I'm really happy with a lot of these photos, and I hope that his family likes them too.