knot another hat

my very own february lady

You can't begrudge a sweater that's been done to death when it's simply a good sweater. That's the case with the February Lady Sweater.

My path to the February Lady was an indirect one. It started with the most beautiful handspun merino spun by Paula Webb, a dear customer and friend. I had the perfect sweater for that yarn (or so I thought) - and it turned into an absolute disaster. (If you missed the disaster, you can catch up here.) But sweet redemption lay in that silver lining of the disaster - my re-purposed yarn blossomed into the most comfy-cozy February Lady ever.

• Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynn of Flint Knits
• Yarn: 100% merino handspun by Webbspun (Paula Webb, AKA Auntla)
• Size: 37.5", fits with zero ease
• Buttons: vintage set from Button Emporium & Ribbonry

I am so pleased with this project. The style is flattering, it can be worn casual or dressy, the yarn is delicious...there's not really a lot to say!

I found these buttons years ago at the Portland Button Emporium - it was a set of three vintage, clear plastic buttons, similar but each a bit different. I had them in my button stash and they were absolutely perfect for this project!

This is another WIP that I cleared up off the list in hopes of earning a free drink and a cast-on credit from Nichole and Julia. To be fair, the body was finished at the time we made the agreement, and I only had the sleeves left to go. But still - I finished it!

olympic resolution

No - I'm not about to make some sort of resolution of olympic-sized proportions. I'm going to tell you about how my 2010 Winter Knitting Olympic project turned out! I've been putting it off for too long due to poor photography, but what the hell...

If you remember, I chose my Knitting Olympics project from the 2009/2010 Winter Vogue Knitting. I started off with a bang, but I lost a lot of steam about 2/3 of the way in...

...I didn't win Gold. Or even Silver or Bronze. But I did finish my project, and I finished it in time to wear it to dinner at the 2010 YMN Smart Biz Conference in Seattle, which was my ultimate goal anyway.

• Pattern: #29, Wrap with Belt by Shiri Mor, from the 2009/2010 Winter VK
• Yarn: 4 skeins Handmaiden Fine Yarns Great Big Sea in Pewter
• Needles: US 7 (4,5mm)
• Time to complete: 4 weeks

Personally, I think Shiri Mor is a design genius. This was my second time knitting one of her designs, and both times were highly entertaining. She has a knack for creating the most interesting combinations of stitch patterns, and often uses the varying gauges of different stitches to achieve shaping that defies the laws of mathematics. The only thing that slowed me down on this one was the 60-some inches of the wrap panel - basically one big scarf.

But it was worth it!

(I didn't talk about the yarn. It's Handmaiden - what do I need to say? It speaks for itself, and it's worth every penny of its high price tag.)