butterfly 2 (yes yahaira, it's for me)

i started the hem frill for another butterfly vest. this time, i'm using jaggerspun zephyr. i love this wool-silk blend, despite the fact that it is slightly splitty for such a fine yarn. i've been using some leftover seed beads and then today, i received a package in the mail from my ace knitting buddy clairity123. not one, not two, but THREE tubes of gorgeous beads. i'm thinking of continuing in the seed beads on the hem frill then using one of these colors in the body of the vest. the question is, WHICH?



which would you use? the pink, the gold or the green? or save them for another project and continue in the seed beads seen above? (they're pretty small, but if you look closely, you can see them in the points along the bottom edge of the hem frill.)

falick vs. ferragamo

that bag again
Originally uploaded by hitbyabus.

here is that bag again, in the latest issue of bazaar. much bigger than i thought it was. which, i think, makes me even more besotted.
which is making me think of making another counterpane scallop bag from handknit holidays, with slight variations...like adding those adorable little curlicues and a wicker top.

knitters vs. nike

just came across this knit-petition. i'm probably late to the party (as usual, and not even fashionably.) i just love it when people take up their needles in protest!

gidget goes a-flyin

butterfly
Originally uploaded by hitbyabus.

here's my friend gidget in the (finally) completed butterfly! a mere slip of a girl, this XS vest could likely have been an XXS for her! i can't believe how much this thing stretches. but, i must say, i am quite happy with how it turned out. and so is she!

next up: a butterfly for ME!

say hello to my leetle friend

i still have to make the straps and block it, but for the most part, the butterfly has landed. phew. since i don't have a lot of time at the moment to blather on about the details, be warned that this is the first of what will likely be many shots and ramblings about this GDFO. hey, it's been on the needles since august. so sue me if i go on a bit.

knitpic o' the week

knitpic o' the week
Originally uploaded by hitbyabus.

tagged!

stripey sawyer

stripey sawyer
Originally uploaded by hitbyabus.

i just love it when something i've made ends up on such a cute little noggin. look at the little soyboy in stripey, pompom hat. and he is smiling, too... must be the debbie bliss cashmerino!

seeing butterflies

sometimes you look and you look and you look...but you never really see. in all my knitting and unknitting of the butterfly cami, all i ever saw was diamonds. or those misshapen things that were trying to be diamonds. but observant tanya was smart enough to look into the negative space the diamonds create and see there really are butterflies fluttering around in there. see? there they are where she outlined in green. thanks for sending that picture, tanya! now we know where this friggin thing got its name!

wip: return of the butterfly

i've yanked madame butterfly out of the cocoon, kicking and screaming. yep, this is the same one i started back in august. and put away in disgust in october or so. i just couldn't get the stitches to line up right. but then...illumination.

i found this great blog with all kinds of wonderful butterfly tips. it really inspired me to make it work. and suddenly, i saw it. the diamond pattern was finally emerging. you can really see the (ahem) metamorphosis in this shot.



notice at the bottom how the diamonds aren't really diamonds at all. they're not even cubic zirconias. they're gooey amoebas floating in the ether of my poor misguided kidsilk haze. but then...amazingly...dare i say miraculously...the diamonds begin to appear. it took me an entire back and about 10 rows of the front, but i think i finally GET this pattern. i can see where i need to do what--even when if the edge decreases throw me off.

here's an aerial view:



(sigh.) i think i'm in love.

first FO of 2006!

detail 2: mrs beeton
Originally uploaded by hitbyabus.

now mrs beeton has a clone.

the second one was just as fun as the first. coupla tips: mind the typo in the beginning of the directions where you're told to cast on with CC...you actually start with MC and work the bottom ruffle first. it's not that big of a deal if you don't...but it does make for a moment of confusion when you're ready to start the top ruffle. also, check out this awesome beading tutorial from deb. it's a miraculous technique for how to knit with beads without having to pre-thread them all onto your yarn.

these are even more frou frou than i imagined, in all their silky-hazy glory. yarn is rowan kid classic and rowan kidsilk haze in "swish."
thanks to whit for hosting this KAL, the fastest one i've ever participated in!