BFF Cowl Complete!

Evelyn and I are going live with our completed BFF Cowls today!  Here's mine:

I actually finished it almost 2 months ago, in early October, and I put it on as soon as I did.  Hubby said, "That's really cool, the way those two pieces link together!"  He's a man of taste and discretion, I tell you!

I'm very happy with the way this turned out, and I've still got one more skein of the Lupin Cascade Cloud.  I'm planning on turning it into some matching mitts or a hat.  Despite a couple bumps in the road (my own fault, for not reading the directions through) this was a joy to knit.  Definitely recommended!

Here it is in my powder room mirror, as I was on my way out the door the day I finished it.  The light isn't great in there; the color is much more accurate in the above photo.

On that day I had to take it off after about a half hour - we were having unseasonably warm weather.  But now winter has begun, so I can start actually wearing it!

Better Late than Never!

Remember back in June when Alicia and I went to Vogue and ended up each getting a remnant of the same border print?  We promised a co-blog project, each of us making a different project with our fabric.  We've both finally finished, and yesterday we had a nice outing to a yarn shop and then lunch, and we both wore our new garments.  Niecey-poo was kind enough to snap a couple of pictures for us.

We were laughing because we'd had a couple of funny outtakes before we got this picture!

I love Alicia's skirt so much, and I'm not the only one - when we were in the yarn shop, a girl actually came up to her and asked her how she made it!  So flattering.

I ended up making the Lisette Portfolio top, and I must say, I'm kind of in love with it!  Much more than I was expecting to be.  I had hoped to make the tunic length, but the fabric wasn't wide enough to make the print work, so I had to go with the top.  I was worried that it would be too cropped, but with a narrow hem, I think it came out just right.  I wore it with my red Clover pants, but I also like it with jeans.

I made this over 2 days right before Niecey-poo came, and took a bunch of great in-progress shots.  But somehow, they all got lost in the demise of my old computer.  I tried to take a few shots of the blouse itself yesterday morning, but it was very cloudy so they're not great.

 

 

front

back

I spent a long time on this top, and was very careful with all my details.  Consequently, I think it's one of the best things I've ever made.  I finished all the seams except the center back by serging both layers together.  But I'm most proud of my stitch-in-the-ditch around the neck.  That's a technique I find really difficult, so I did it very slowly, sometimes even hand-cranking at the curves, and got a result I'm very pleased with.  I decided to go with a machine-stitched hem because my thread was a good match, and I didn't think it would detract from the overall look.

finished seam and hem

front inset

This fabric was so nice to work with.  It's very lightweight - I'd call it a lawn.  The label just said cotton, but Alicia thinks there might be a little silk in it, and I agree with her.  It has a very nice drape that's almost floaty, and it doesn't press as crisply as a cotton would.  I love it so much, when I found three more remnants of it at another location of Vogue, I bought them!

For details on Alicia's skirt, head on over to Iron-On Maiden!