Lace vest

I finished my lace vest. Cotton Classic, 5 skeins, size 6(5,4) needles. Very fun to knit, and comfortable to wear. Good thing, as the weather is heating up. I enjoyed designing this, and now am planning my next concoction.

Playing with lace

I became intrigued by a Japanese book I bought recently, of patterned lace, and wondered if I could use a pattern in the book to make an interesting summer tank top/vest thingie. So, I swatched ( in leftover blue Cotton Classic, no.6 US needles, which I had on hand) , calculated and cast on provisionally, for a bottom-up circular tank, figuring I'd knit till long enough, divide for armholes, plug in a V-neck and bind off sloping shoulders, and decide on the edge treatments later..
Of course, after about 4 inches, the pattern seemed way too busy, so I simplified it and decided the bottom was a border, and continued in pattern up the trunk. I'm liking the effect, and having fun seeing what comes next. I'm also going down some needle sizes( 5 then 4, then 5 and 6 again) to create waist shaping. I hope it comes out as I envision, but the journey is sometimes more interesting than the destination...

Wedding Dress Memories

After reading an article in Interweave Knits Summer 2007, pg 16 about the knitted wedding dress, I was reminded of the confection I concocted for my own wedding in 1983. I was doing my internship in Internal Medicine, and didn't have much money, but decided to design and make my dress. I was into crochet at the time, and thought it would be fun to design the lace for the dress. This was prior to digital cameras, of course, and unfortunately the dress won't fit over my decidedly more muscular upper arms these days, so here are some photos of the gown anyway. I'm most amused by the shoes, which were created on a pair of clogs with the tops removed. Those still fit, and are still white, while the dress has yellowed some with age. Fond memories...