I've started a new portable project. This is the Anne scarf by MK Caroll. I saw the one made by Hello Yarn a while ago and thought it was very pretty. My other crochet project is stalled due to a lack of yarn and I wanted to keep in practice. I really like the curvy nubby look of this pattern. I was originally planning to use some handspun for this, to get those quick colour changes, but I didn't have anything that suited the project. This is birthday yarn from last year (thanks Joyce) and it is looking great. The colour blocks are really short so everything gets beautifully mixed together.

The pattern is really easy. By the time I was doing the third motif I wasn't having to check the instructions anymore and I can just pick it up and do a few stitches whenever I think of it. It's going pretty quickly too.

Why a new portable project? Didn't I already have one of those? Yeah ... Ummm ... I left my sock bag on the couch on Monday night (I was tired and in a rush to go out again). When I got home Rob was trying to find me replacement yarn ... Abby had pulled the whole of the remaining ball apart and eaten the needles (oddly enough most of the sock is still intact I just don't have any usable yarn or anything to knit it with). We figure she actually consumed about three inches of bamboo.

Pattern: Hemp Lace Tank (#329) by LanaKnits
Yarn: allhemp3 in Dusty Rose
Yardage: 3 skeins
Needles: 2.00 and 2.5 mm AddiTurbos

It's so exciting to be finally finished this project. I started this just after our wedding last summer (so about the end of July) when the weather was really hot. Hard to believe right now - it will be a few months before it is warm enough for me to wear this outside without a sweater. I found the AddiTurbos a bit slick for this yarn and will probably try to find either some bamboo or AddiLace the right size for next time.

It was a close finish yarn-wize. I stopped knitting about half an inch earlier than called for before adding the straps. My waist is a little higher and shorter than a dressmakers "standard" so this put the centre of my waist shaping in the right spot. I think if I had knit that extra half inch I'd have run out of yarn half way through the cast off. The underarm (body and strap) is grafted together with kitchener stitch. It's not too bad to do but it was a lot of stitches and I ended up with an extra one on the first side. I never figured out where my mistake was - I couldn't find any dropped stitches - so I jut threaded my yarn through it and bound it off with everything else.

There are actually quite a few spots like that in this top. Places where I was sure I had counted each and every stitch at least twice but when I got to the next shaping step discovered I was off. It was a lot of little stitches to count. I couldn't see any of the mistakes so I decided not to go back and fix them.

I tried the top on as soon as it was off the needles but it really needs a bath and blocking to soften up and loose some bias; when I first tried it on the centre lace panel slanted sharply to the left. I gave it a bit of a pressing too (mostly in an attempt to make it dry faster) and it made the fern lace pattern look so crisp.

We got married on Saturday, July 14th at 3:00 pm. It was a lovely sunny day and we were surrounded by friends and family. The ceremony was short and had everything important and meaningful without being flowery or wordy. This was very good since I was impatient to see Rob; Saturday morning wasincredibly long from my point of view (I’m sure the people setting things up will say differently). Right after the ceremony we went and got slushies (it was hot) and then drove back for pictures with family.
 
The reception was great. Rob had set up all the music and we had lots of fun things to dance to, including a few tangos. The food was delicious and the wines were the perfect compliment. Our cake decorator did a fantastic job and everyone enjoyed eating the cake after it had been cut.
 
Our goal was to have a wedding where everything was enjoyable and comfortable with a bit of a family barbeque atmosphere and I think we managed it. Very special thanks need to go to our parents and attendants for taking care of all the details and miscellaneous things that came up. I’ll put some pictures up here as soon as I’ve got some.
 
The picture above shows my shawl and purse. The are both patterns from Romantic Style by Jennie Atkinson. The Lace Shawl was made with two skeins of Rowan: Kid Silk Haze and 7.00 mm needles. The Buttoned Bag used about one and a half skeins of Rowan: Pure Wool DK and 3.75 mm needles (3.25 mm for the handles); the bag is decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons and glass beads and lined with fabric left over from my mother’s wedding dress.