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Making … Love!

Posted on March 29, 2011March 29, 2011 by Annie
Atelier Amanda

It’s been SUCH a busy week – lots of work combined with lots of family time (kids were off school last week), throw in a road trip to Chicago (12 hours of driving in 2 days) and the resurgence of the Chest Infection Of Death, and you have a small idea of why I haven’t blogged for a week.

Oy.

Some cosmic gig-switch seems to have been flipped and in the past week I’ve received more invitations to teach around the country, and sold more designs to publications than I did in the previous three months.

Why?  Well, Spring is here, there’s always a bit of buzz in the Spring.  And I feel the knitting / fiber world is having another swell of interest (happy to ride that wave!)

I’ve also been putting myself out there more, letting folks know that I’d like to teach again and that I’d like to design more – it doesn’t hurt to let folks know I’m open for business!

Short Row Garter Collar

I just finished up a garment I’m calling a “Multidirectional Kimono” which is put together almost like a puzzle.  I’m hoping the instructions I’ve written will be clear, and will also inspire folks to work through the garment step by step.

The yarn I received for the project was a bit thinner than I’d anticipated (I swatched in a worsted/aran weight) and it proved to be one of the more unforgiving yarns I’ve worked with (any misstep and the yarn let me KNOW how unhappy it was!)

I did a good amount of ripping out before I realized that no matter HOW carefully I set my tension, the yarn was just going to pout every now and then.  And garter can be unforgiving sometimes…

But now that pattern’s been written, I’ve emerged from “math hell” (oh, crap, I have an article on “Math Hell” that I need to write!) and I wanted to poke my head up just long enough to post about a cool dress I’m creating.

Amanda finds her fabric in Minnesota

Wedding Bright

Last October my friend Kathleen was married, and I made her dress.  It was my gift to her, because I like to sew and because I like weddings.  When I learned my friend Amanda (of Lorna’s Laces fame) was going to be married, I offered to make her dress, too!

Here’s my blog post about it.

En Route, Pinned Together

Amanda’s a singular woman, individual and unlike any other person, and she loves green.  SO her dress will be individual, one-of-a-kind, and it will be GREEN!

It’s going to be in two parts; A sleek, fitted under dress, very “Mad Men”, with a square neckline and curve accenting darts.  When I fit the dress on Amanda this weekend (that was the reason for the Chicago road trip) I squealed with delight – it fit, and it fit WELL!

The second part of the dress is a very full partial over skirt with a few layers of rich, deep PURPLE tulle to give it oomph.  Amanda can wear the over skirt, or take it off – she has that option throughout her big day.

Hannah accompanied me to Chicago and while I sewed she and Amanda did touristy things and had a great time running around.

Tulle-a-pa-looza

Derek, Amanda’s squeeze, is currently in a play but although I seriously wanted to go, I was just TOO exhausted (the onset of the cold?) so I stayed home and knit while the kids ran wild and visited a diner.  Go on, I’ll be fine here…

While I wait for yarn to arrive for my new projects I’ll be working up a mitered stole for my own purposes.  Hmmm, what could those be?

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12 thoughts on “Making … Love!”

  1. Mercedes says:
    March 29, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    SO. LOVELY. Amanda showed me the sketches way back in autumn, and it looks SO good in real life. Amanda will wear it beautifully!

    Reply
  2. Thea says:
    March 30, 2011 at 5:09 am

    The dress looks super lovely!
    That would be awesome if knitting had another wave of interest, and continue to grow in popularity until every single person is knitting! Hopefully you’ll be coming to the UK!?

    Reply
  3. Susanne says:
    March 30, 2011 at 8:13 am

    Oh that green dress is yummy! Since you mentioned the hell that is math…I thought I would challenge you in how long since you posted…(trust me I check every day!).Since your last post was Mar 15 and your new post was Mar 29, my math tells me that is 14 days=2 weeks! Gotcha!!!!! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Gretchen says:
    March 30, 2011 at 10:43 am

    What a glamorous dress (in either configuration). That fabric is fantastic, too.

    Reply
  5. amanda says:
    March 30, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    clap clap clap!!

    yay!!!

    i can not wait to get to wear this. 🙂

    Reply
  6. mary mcmahon says:
    March 30, 2011 at 5:18 pm

    Annie, you are always doing the most interesting things. I love mitered knitting…is it going to be a public project?

    Reply
    1. Annie says:
      March 30, 2011 at 5:39 pm

      I’m intending it to be public, we’ll see…

      Reply
  7. Paula says:
    March 30, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    Very Lovely – especially nice that the gorgeous fabric came from S.R. Harris, home of the Frank’s Nursery & Crafts shopping carts, and the warehouse where I cut my fabric-shopping teeth – those wheels look a little more free of thread clods than usual, must have been time for Sid’s spring cleaning!

    Reply
    1. Annie says:
      March 30, 2011 at 7:08 pm

      It’s where I got the fabric for Kathleen’s dress, too! It’s a great store!

      Reply
  8. JustGail says:
    March 31, 2011 at 10:23 am

    Great dress! And she can wear it again for another special occasion, even if “only” going out for anniversary dinners. *Sometimes* I think it’s a bit daft to spend $$$$ on a dress that’s worn once, and stuffed in a box. My Mom still wears her wedding suit for special occasions. Not that I could do that now, no matter what I wore for my wedding.

    And I’m glad things are picking up on the knitting business side for you, Annie.

    Reply
  9. Michelle says:
    April 3, 2011 at 8:59 am

    I adore the dress! I especially LOVE the purple tulle! Perfect!

    Reply
  10. freddie says:
    April 3, 2011 at 9:23 am

    What a gorgeous dress! It only increases my urge to sew!

    Reply

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