29 March 2006

Finishing is fun

I have finished another project that was cast aside last summer! My satisfaction with Soleil led to my finishing of this: It started out as Tempting from Knitty but quickly morphed into something different. I hate knitting ribbing so I chose a cabled rib pattern to jazz it up. I don't know if it was because of the cables or if I miscalculated last summer but when I picked it up a few months ago, I realized that I didn't have nearly enough yarn to knit the sleeves. I looked in all the Portland yarn stores but couldn't find the yarn. Of course I no longer had the labels and I don't remember what brand I bought. All I know is that it's 100% merino. I narrowed it down to 2 brands and considered ordering the closest color of each to see which is the match but it all seemed like too much work, so back in the basket it went. I finally decided to just finish it as is, which means it's a tube top! I wove some brown ribbon around the top to make it prettier and I really like it! I also really like that it's no longer in my knitting basket haunting me. I wan't super excited about a tube top because I've never worn one before but I have 2 strapless dresses that I like so this shouldn't be any different.

I am now knitting the "modern bustier" from Alterknits with Main Line from Knitpicks. It's a new yarn from them and it's 75% pima cotton, 25% merino and it feels lovely! I don't have any pictures yet but it seems to be a quick knit so check back soon for an update.

In non-knitting news, I present my letter G for the ABC-along. G is for Garden, and since my vegetable garden isn't growing yet, I am showing you my cactus and succulent garden. I used to think that crowing cacti was a stupid idea because they're all prickly and not very touchable. Then my great-aunt Amy died. I couldnt go to Colorado for her service but my mom told me that she had a huge cactus garden in her yard and that at her memorial service, all her friends brought a plant to add to the garden. My mom was telling me about all the interesting plants people brought and it made me look at them in a new light. Then in May, Mike and I bought a house and it has a great enclosed front porch with huge windows and we wanted to fill it with plants. I decided to make the porch my cactus garden and that expanded into a cactus and succulent garden because there are some cool succulents out there! It makes me think of Aunt Amy and, in a way, my grandma, who was her sister. This one reminds me of seaweed, though it also looks exactly like the things that come off the heads of the Snorks. This is a string-of-pearls and is my most special plant in this collection. My grandma (other one-not Amy's sis) gave my mom a lot of plants when she moved into a smaller home. My grandma had a lot of really unique plants and the string of pearls was one of my mom's favorites that she got from her but my mom wasn't able to keep it alive. This was all before I was old enough to remember but I heard the story. I saw the plant in a nursery while I was on vacation and really wanted to buy it but I couldn't. Two Christmases ago, Mike found some at a nursery and bought me 2 little plants. It's not thriving the way I would like it to but it's a really slow-growing plant so I'm being patient. It reminds me of my grandma and I love it.


Some of you may have noticed (although you probably didn't) that I skipped the letter F. I just wasn't feeling inspired so I skipped it. Maybe it'll make a surprise appearance later but don't hold your breath. Blogging should be fun, not forced.

9 comments:

Stacey said...

I love both your tube top & Soleil - I'm working on Tempting II and I'm with you on the ribbing. Soliel is my next project too :)

Agnes said...

Woo ... you must be praying that summer comes tomorrow! Another lovely FO!

chris said...

Your tube top looks amazing!! You look fantastic in green and the cables and rib look wonderful. Such a great fit, too- it's so flattering on you! Beautiful work! Thanks for the review on Main Line... I've been wondering how well it knits up. I've been so tempted to order some and now I think I definitely will. I love your cactus garden and moreso, the inspiration behind it- gorgeous! Take care, Casey! :-)

Anonymous said...

Look at you! You are a finishing machiene. Rub some of that off on me! I updated my blog but nothing interesting :) Just my Yarn Shop by MAX thing I wrote for the SnB list.
I'm really liking the tube top. It's beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I love the tube top! It looks great on you. :o)

AmyArtisan said...

The tube top looks great!

What a great post about your garden! I especially like the family aspect of it - my parents have plants from Dad's parents last home (from 20 years ago) & when we moved my Mom's mom to GA (from CA) we FedEx-ed 2 boxes of plants from her house & garden.

Now that spring is coming it's time to get out the green thumb again! :)

P.S. Pink Martini...huge fan since I saw them in '02 @ Hollywood Bowl - can't wait or them to come back to Chicago! :)

kathy b said...

Casey,

You look so wonderful in your morphed temtpting. I have arm envy. You have lovely arms.

THe cacti? are wonderful and the connection to your grandmother is so sweet. I have never seen the pearl cactus. It is soooo pretty.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I just stumbled across your blog :o)

Wow, I think the tube top is super cool...and soliel could very well
turn into my new project...

Cheers,
Randi in Denmark

Anonymous said...

Love your succulent garden and your knitting! You are tre talented and have a lovely blog.