The Morning Sweater

While at the Design Outside The Lines workshop in June, a few people came to mind who would really enjoy a similar experience.  Shams was one of them. And now she's there and blogging about it and I can feel all the energy in her words that I felt in the workshop. It's been three months and I'm still vibrating. My mind still swirls. Ideas are lined up waiting to emerge and be explored. I can hardly wait to go again. It was a fabulous hands on, fully engaged, experience and that's the way I work best. I'm a see and touch and feel and pour over kind of girl.

Last Friday, when I was driving back from Calgary, I stopped in Salmon Arm for lunch, fabric, and a visit to my favourite shop Crazy River Clothing. A while back I mentioned that I almost never buy fashion magazines. I almost never buy fabric on-line either. I've realized with both that I want to feel the fabric and with fashions, I want to see the details up close and figure out how they did that. A picture doesn't work for me.

Unfortunately, when I was in the shop, the two staff members didn't seem to understand that I just wanted to look and did not want to be interrupted every two minutes with their opinion. When my polite replies didn't work, I left rather than be rude. There's another shop in Vernon that I really like within walking distance of my friend Lorraine's house. I'm hoping to visit it end of October and touch more details.

Yesterday was a move slow, do very little, kind of day. I cleaned. I knit. I traced and cut out a pattern. I didn't sew. In the afternoon, Lyn, my realtor, dropped by. She hadn't received my earlier messages and didn't know that her bag was ready. As soon as she heard, she came right away. While we visited, I customized the strap length and - as you can tell - she likes it!

The pattern I traced is Vogue 8780 - the longer version. It's not well fitted so I didn't bother with the full bust adjustment but I did make the narrow back adjustment and shortened center back and center front length. It's a test of sorts to see what I think of the armhole at the end. I also added 2" to the bicep because...

... the pattern calls for moderate stretch knits only and I'm using a soft woven. When I Googled exchanging one for the other, there were several patterns that interchanged them so it seemed possible and other than the sleeve, the pattern is not close fitting. The sleeve is very slim hence the bicep adjustment.

The fabric is an orange and black check that I picked up in the bargain center for $3.00 a meter. If I remember correctly, it was closer to $30.00 on the floor. Technically the brighter side is the right side. I'm going to use the darker one with the brighter side folded back at the collar and visible underneath. This piece was bought in town but I saw the same fabric in several colors in the two bargain centers in Calgary. The expensive fabric often ends up in the bargain center because no one is willing to pay those prices. Works for me. I'm willing to pay the bargain price. The pattern takes 2.5 meters so the cardigan is under $7.50 if it works out and no great loss if it doesn't.

Speaking of cardigans.... my neighbour gave me this one. She was out working in her garden when I went to get the mail and when I asked if she had knit her sweater,  we got into a discussion of old sweaters that last forever and are too comfortable to throw out. When I commented that I prefer a comfy sweater to a housecoat and that I was looking for a replacement for the one I absolutely could not keep any longer, she went into the house and brought this out - my new morning sweater. It's very cozy.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a break from t-shirts