princess world

I promised a pic of my first sweater. What I didn't admit is that it's my first of... two. I made this sweater two years ago for P. #2, and here it is hanging in her room. She did wear it a couple of times, once when we went to the snow. You can see this pic on my Flickr page too (thanks, Sylvie!) I even put one of those cool flashin Flickr thingies in the sidebar, see?!
A closer shot reveals the terrible job I did on this. The yarn here is cotton, something thick and kind of wiggly. After I washed it I noticed it kind of felted itself, becoming heavy and unyielding. Complicating matters was the fact that in my beginner's enthusiasm I somehow managed to twist every stitch.

It was probably a mistake to attempt intarsia so early in my career. I didn't really get the concept of joining the yarns, and you can see the gaping holes that left. I distinctly remember going back over with my darning needle and trying to close each one from the back. Can you say lumpy?

Oh, but I was proud.... so proud. And I don't think it looks too bad as an objet here in the room I call Princess World.
I sewed this sweet little dress yesterday in about three hours. Thrifted fabric and vintage ric rac (I really should take a closer picture - the match is incredible) Total cost: $2.25. Now I feel better about all that fabric piling up; since it's cooler, I may attempt a dress a day (or two).
My magazine swap partner from New Zealand, Sarah, sent me these great pool reads. Get Creative covers just about any craft you'd want to try - from beading to beyond, with great articles about projects to do with kids. And Healthy Food is packed with interesting stuff, along with some recipes I've clipped and pasted into my "to try" notebook. Thanks so much Sarah!

It's fun to read her blog, since it's winter there, and she writes about how coooold it's been, and she's there knitting warm woolies while we all sweat. I'm glad things are finally cooling off...but I'm sure not ready for winter yet!