Sunday, May 4, 2008

Progress



Progress! I am done knitting all the pieces for S.'s jacket. They have been pressed, and are waiting to be seamed together.
I really loved the pattern (Sophia, Ella Rae Book 4). It was easy, and mistake free. The pattern could have been a little more explicit with how to continue the pattern as the sleeves were getting wider. I recommend drawing a chart of the stitch pattern as the sleeves get wider.
I now have to decide on an edging, because as I expected the pieces roll quite a bit, in particular the front panels, and the neck line will look unfinished without a little je ne sais quoi. I am torn between a knitted edge, and a crocheted edge. The advantange of the crocheted edge would be the speed. The knitted edge would look finer. What do you think?
If all goes well, I will be done on time for S. to take the jacket with her to France.

On the garden front there was very little progress this week as the weather was really ugly. I focused instead on a project which turned out to be the best thing I ever did. I had, up till now, been working on my colorways, and pretty much everything else (except actually dyeing the yarn) from the table in the dining room. The temporary set up pretty much claimed the whole table, and credenza, and I was starting to resent it. So I decided it was time to create a space just for me, and my knitting related work. I claimed the underutilized library room. I moved a lovely Louis XIII desk in it, a smart Louis XVI chair to accompany it, a hutch with glass doors. I moved all my works in progress, and supplies in the hutch. I also picked some great fabrics. I painted the walls a soft greyish blue.



I picked fabrics with a blue and yellow theme with a touch of black for punch.The soft buttery yellow fabric is for the book shelves. I have decided to make panels to cover the lower sections of the bookcases. That will become a perfect spot for office and school supplies, for the printer, and other less visually pleasing items. The top of the shelves will be for art books, our favorite novels, school books, and zillions of children's books.
The panels are already sewn,and just awaiting the tension rods.



The plaid fabric will be used to make a cover for the chair. That should be fun and an adventure as I have never made a cover for a chair!
The bold floral fabric will be for the windows. I will make simple roman shades. I have fallen very much in love with this simple type of window treatment, and it is so easy to make.
The hutch will have to be repainted. It is now red, and will become a lime green to match the green accents in the floral fabric.
Today I started using the room, and worked on my shop update at my desk. I felt so happy, and relaxed. Being there made my work feel so easy! It is amazing how having this space has already changed things for the better for me.

The room still needs some work, and I think I will have a busy week!

It's Off to Trouville...


This Sunday, SockPixie is taking you to Trouville. All my colorways are the fruit of cherished memories of my vacations spent in this little French ocean town on the coast of Normandie. The colors are really different, they reflect the softness of the air, and most of all the incredible light that I love so much. I have been thinking a lot about Trouville, as I do every spring. My children will be going there soon to spend time with my family, and I hope will create magical memories of their own. My family has been vacationing in Trouville since the 1930's when the Front Populaire gave all French workers paid vacations. It was a town close enough to Paris, just a few hours away by train or car, and it became a favorite for many families. My parents met there, I fell in love for the first time there, I learned to swim there, I learned to knit on the beach sitting at my grandmother's feet, I was a teenager there always forgetting it was time to go home...
I hope you will enjoy this trip to Trouville!