A Sweater to Knit, A Blouse to Sew

Knitty Magazine had a free pattern several years ago called "Iced", a sweater knit up mostly in stockinette stitch.  A free downloadable pattern can be found here.  It uses chunky yarn and is a quick knit.  Designer Carol Feller says of her pattern:

I knit this cardigan for my holiday. It was designed to be loose, casual and in a neutral color so that I could wear it with everything. I like to pack light and going to Florida, I didn’t want to bring more than one warm cover up.

However all did not go according to plan. I did bring this cardigan on holiday with me and I also took some very nice photos on the beach with it. What I wasn’t planning on, though, was my sister-in-law. Nicki came to visit, picked up the cardigan and tried it on. It was a perfect match and I just had to give it to her. 

Nice sister-in-law!

This is a picture of a completed Iced sweater from the designer's Ravelry page:

I am knitting it up in Lamb's Pride Chunky in the Ink Blue colorway.  Here is the cardigan in progress:

Next up on the sewing table is McCall's Pattern 6241.  Using jersey fabric, it will be a mainstay in the wardrobe.  And all those shawls and kerchiefs will have a nice under layer.

But there are people to see, places to go, things to see before I can get back to these projects. Enjoy your day!


"If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don’t do that by sitting around wondering about yourself.” Katherine Hepburn

The Beggar's Slippers

Abraham Verghese brought the story of the beggar's slippers to my attention in Cutting for Stone.  It is worth a reprise here.  (Chapter 29 is the reference point for this story.)

Abu Kassem, a miserly Baghdad merchant, had held on to his battered, much repaired pair of slippers even though they were objects of derision.  At last, even he couldn't stomach the sight of them.  But his every attempt to get rid of his slippers ended in disaster: when he tossed them out of his window they landed on the head of a pregnant woman who miscarried, and Abu Kassem was thrown in jail; when he dropped them in the canal, the slippers choked off the main drain and caused flooding.  Off Abu Kassem went to jail...Abu Kassem might as well build a special room for his slippers.. Why try to lose them? He'll never escape. The slippers in the story mean that everything you see and do and touch, every seed you sow, or don't sow, becomes part of your destiny.

Abraham Verghese has one of his characters say this regarding the topic of making up for absences:

I made up for...(father's)... absence by hoarding knowledge, skills, seeking praise.  What I finally understood ...is that neither my sister nor I realized that my father's absence is our slippers.  In order to start to get rid of your slippers, you have to admit they are yours, and if you do, then they will get rid of themselves...The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don't.  If you keep saying your slippers aren't yours, then your'll die searching, you'll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more.  Not only our actions, but our omissions, become our destiny. (Cutting for Stone, Chapter 29)

Over the years, I have tried to rid myself of many pairs of (emotional bondage) slippers: sorrow, grief and regrets are woven into the soles and fabric of my tattered slippers.

After I realized several pairs of "slippers" were mine for a lifetime, they wore better.  Even the calluses caused by the slippers have become part of me.  I look at them with curiosity and reluctant acceptance. Tough layers of skin... would I want to rid myself of those experiences that caused the calluses?   The slippers worn are not comfortable, yet have softened my heart and helped hardened my insecurities.  My own tattered slippers have helped mold me into one of God's loved, flawed, creations.

Hand Molded Hand Soaps: Hands Up!

When I saw these molded hand soaps, I knew they would make excellent gifts.  And paired with a hand knitted face cloth, a doubly nice present.

Cool?  You bet.

Plastic Foliage makes these soaps. They come individually packaged in bubble wrap in a cute little package.

Oh, and that is one of Grandma's Dishcloths that goes along with the little "hand soaps".  The dishcloths make excellent facial cloths because of the knitted fabric that gives just enough abrasion to remove makeup, but soft enough for a baby's skin as they are made from 100% cotton.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Mary, you will be receiving a couple of these next week!