novamade

a crush on orange

 
I am a little sad about pushing Babette/Happy Squares down on the blog; but, I finished something else (that is not an afghan and not crocheted); and, it's actually for me!  I started this shawl, which I am calling Orange Crush (but you can call it Mara, if you want--the MadelineTosh folks do, after all) before the crochet bug bit me.  I was able to pick it up again last week and finished in over the weekend.  It's actually a pretty quick and easy knit.  The body is mostly garter stitch and the edges are two borders of ribbing.  I didn't have enough yarn to make the last edge four inches as called for in the pattern, but I think my two inches of border is sufficient.

 
My favorite part about making this shawl was working with this yarn.  I bought the Peruvian Highland Silk three years ago from Elann--I am not sure for what purpose (I was in my "buy with purpose" phase, so it had to be for something specific--what, I don't know).  I wish that I had bought more...in other colors.  Elann has discontinued this yarn; but, you could probably find people on Ravelry willing to sell or trade it.  I only had 5 skeins (so about 610 yards) of this DK-ish yarn to work with, and when I saw the Mara pattern, I thought it would be a good pairing.

 
The silk content in the yarn gives a nice bit of shine to the knit fabric and it also lends itself to some nice draping.  Also, the heavier weight of the shawl is nice, there is a little heft, but the fabric breathes so I don't feel like I am suffocating...which is probably a good thing.

 
Specs in Ravelry and the gallery, though I have put most of the info into the post.  Okay, back to crocheting, I have another afghan to finish (though I do have a vest on the the needles that would like to get done before the end of the month...yeah, you'll probably see the vest first.  Hopefully.

happy squares, or babette 1.0

 
I usually have a modicum of modest pride when I finish any crafty venture with a certain degree of success.

 
But I am not going to lie, I am really proud of this.  I think this might be one of the most beautiful things I have ever made.

 
And I say that knowing there is as much pink as there is in it.  I purposefully used all that pink in the blanket to make it easier for me to give away.  Y'all know how I feel about pink (the pictures are not there--I don't know why, I need to work on that, but the text is still there).

 
However, in the process of making this, I may have come around on the whole "pink makes me want to vomit" perspective I originally had.  Because sometimes, pink just works.

 
I had a lot of fun making this blanket, I had more fun taking the pictures after it was done.  Why yes, I did move a white couch into my yard to take these pictures.  And yes, my neighbors do, indeed, think I am cracked.

 
Babette is not a difficult pattern to crochet, it's just a tad time consuming ( I finished it in a little over a month--it was the only thing I worked on in the evenings).  I would say that it is actually a good pattern for a beginner because the block that you are crocheting is pretty basic and you are just adding rounds for larger squares (seaming all the squares may make you want to cry; but, the crocheting, that part is easy).  The pattern is well written and easy to understand, and there are gobs of people who have made this, and crafters are pretty generous about sharing information and helping out if you have questions--at least, that has been my experience.

 
I could see making this again, which is for the best since Little Sir decided that he needs one for himself at some point..."when [I] have time."  Sigh.

 
I will put my notes and modifications in the gallery and on ravelry, in case you are interested.

what's on my plate

 
Were you aware that November has been renamed Vestvember?  If you weren't, please now consider yourself duly informed.   While some may argue that the vest is experiencing something of a resurgence, I don't think they ever really went anywhere.  My mother has always worn vests, more as a matter of practicality than style (if we are being honest here).  Her arms always get hot in sweaters (I don't understand it; but, there you are).   I have never really thought about it, perse, but I guess a vest is a good venture to undertake as a knitter for no other reason than the lack of sleeves. 

Given my enthusiasm for the vest knitting (as surely that is what I am expressing), one would think I could manage to finish a vest in a reasonable amount of time; but, no, one would be wrong.

 
So I am using Vestvember as an opportunity to finish up Special K's specially requested vest that I have been working on since March (MARCH!).  It's not difficult, I just find the knitting uninspiring.  But he requested it, and it's almost done, so I just need to make the effort.  I have four hours of train travel tomorrow for a one day conference in Boston, I think that will probably help.

 
Most of my crafting hours, of late, have been taken up with crochet.  I am putting the edging on the Babette blanket.  It'll be done this weekend, because it has to be, my friend Lori is going to Costa Rica next week and plans on taking the blanket with her, so, yeah.  Gotta love a real deadline.

 
Other things that have been occupying my time...baking.  I know some of you miss the pies, quite frankly, so do I.  But the best pie (real pie) has butter in the pie crust (especially if it's a shortbread crust...) and I can not imagine eating fake pie crust, which is what I would have to do with my new dairy-free lifestyle. 

I will be honest.  I have missed bake goods.  A lot.  So I finally decided to read up on dairy-free baking, which basically amounts to vegan baking (which I used think was an oxymoron...oh the hubris). 

But thanks to Vegan Cupcakes Takeover the World, there are now baked goods on my menu again.  And they are, delicious.  Who knew?  I just made the "sexy lowfat vanilla cupcakes with fresh berries" last night, and I am not ashamed to admit that I ate one for breakfast this morning.  I guess I might be willing to rethink my stance on the real versus fake pie crust thing...eventually, but I will just stick with the cupcakes for now.  Happiness is a cupcake!