Waaay back when we went to Maine, my dear friend talked me into trying lost-wax casting. I thought I would give it a try since I had studied it but never done it and she produced such great results. Buttons seemed like the best idea, given my yarny obsession. Since I'm also currently infatuated with birds, silhouettes, and elegant graphics, this came out. I wish I had a photo of the wax version, since the contrasts in form and material were quite striking. While there are lots of little imperfections (due to my being overly prissy with design in some areas and lack of expertise in others...note to self: clean up edges better), I don't think it totally sucks. When I learned how much it would cost to have them cast in silver, however, I had to abandon fond hopes of my little birds gracing a sweater any time soon. My sweet gf, however, had the mold made just in case. As an early graduation present (read: incentive to finish the diss), my friend cast six of them for me in silver and surprised me with them a couple of weekends ago. I cannot express how much my little magpie heart adores them. I have to stop myself from holding the entire set in my hands just to feel their smooth weight and to see their matte surfaces winking gently back at me. Thanks again to my sweetheart and my lovely amiga.
Now I just have to design an appropriate sweater.
In other news, I've finished a few things but have been quite lax about posting. So in no apparent order, here are:
Glitterati, a scarf based on Crazy Aunt Purl's design. It helped me use up all sorts of odds and ends with what I think is a quite fun result. Fringe is awesome!
Wrought, a cowl-necked sweater with leafy detailing at cuffs and collar that I came up with on the fly. Cascade Eco-wool on size 8 needles. The yarn was a gift from my mum. It makes me think of fresh wrought iron, hence the name.
Finally, meet Hazy, a small shoulder shawl I designed as a costume piece based on Kiri and Icarus, two shawls I adore. Knit from Rowan Kidsilk Haze (name derived from said yarn and the lovely halo it produces in the finished object that always makes me think of soft-focus 1960s home movies) that I bought in Chester this past summer. I wore this all winter as a neck warmer.
Now I just have to design an appropriate sweater. 
Glitterati, a scarf based on Crazy Aunt Purl's design. It helped me use up all sorts of odds and ends with what I think is a quite fun result. Fringe is awesome!
Wrought, a cowl-necked sweater with leafy detailing at cuffs and collar that I came up with on the fly. Cascade Eco-wool on size 8 needles. The yarn was a gift from my mum. It makes me think of fresh wrought iron, hence the name.
I had been waiting to post about this sweater because I just could not find the right buttons. They couldn't be too shiny, too bright, too anything that would distract from the fabulousness of the collar and the yarn...mmmmmmm debbie bliss silk alpaca...mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Ahem. Right, so I waited for nearly a month, looking, looking, and finally found the PERFECT buttons while shopping for buttons for the Olympic sweater. It took trips to three stores before I gave up and went to JoAnns. I'm so glad I did. They were having a 50% off sale and I got these for a song. And they are Goldilocks buttons: juuuuust right.
See what I mean? Matte copper, simple, craftsman-like pseudo handmade detailing (i.e. fake hammering marks and scribing), not perfectly round. I think they match the aesthetic of this pattern. It is my urban fairytale sweater. I wear it constantly, usually with jeans and boots, and feel really quite stupendous in it. All thanks to my sister, who gave me this delicious yarn for the holidays. Thanks Sis, you made this possible!!!!!
So I AM the luckiest girl in the world. She even let me get away with mac & cheese with left-over pot roast for dinner last night to let me try and finish the sweater. The reason I got so close and didn't get the gold was the damn steek. It was my first steek ever and I may never do this again. Ok, I'm lying. It's pretty damn cool as a process. But you have to get the crochet stitches much, much tighter than I did to make it work. I crocheted, I took several deep breaths, I put the sweater down for an hour, and then I cut. Everything looked great (no pictures b/c I was working too fast at this point to stop and find the camera), and then I tried to pick up stitches for the I-cord button band. All went well until we got to the yoke. Then stitches started popping out of the steek. My heart almost stopped. Seriously, all that work and this is how it was going to go down?!!? After much crying and several failed attempts to stop the yarn bleeding I gave up. I put the sweater down and went to bed (it was 3 am on Saturday night). The next morning, filled with bright enthusiasm and four cups of coffee, I had a plan and some dpns. I would knit a separate binding that I would then sew over the steek to seal it, stabilize it and act as a button band, all in one. Garment construction 101, right? More than 50 inches of stockinette later I was ready to start sewing. I made two attempts to knit the neck band on to the active stitches still on a holder but experienced massive fail. The problem with knitted-on Icord on size 8 needles: it's freaking ugly. I mean frankenknit ugly. So I ripped, and knit, and ripped and knit and finally realized I would have to do the entire band separately. I did. I was ready to sew it on at 6:45 last night. Yeah. Which was why I was only two button-holes away from finishing when Neil Young finished his "song." Do you feel my pain, knitters of the world? 17 days of constant knitting (ok, a few hours each night in front of Bob Costas, but still!) and I'm two buttonholes away from glory. Is this how Plushenko felt? This colorwork felt like my quad, I tell you what. So the band is on, I will probably rip out the crocheted button-holes and re-do them since they are slightly off.
