It's amazing

In all the many years I have been knitting it never, ever, ceases to amaze me that in a few short days I can move from this:



the very beginning of the Silk Corset, to this:



the finished article.

I got lovely buttons:



from Nicky at Shipston Needlecraft. They were jolly pricey - I paid almost as much for 21 buttons as I did for the yarn for this project but spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar simply wasn't an option.

Yes, I am wearing a hat and here I am wearing another one:



Photos courtesy of 'im indoors, so consider yourselves lucky that you are seeing anything at all.

All in all, I am very pleased with this project - when I took it into work to show off they all insisted on my putting it on. There was a definite "Wow" from the assembled company when I appeared. It feels great and it fits a treat. I would encourage anyone to try making this - just watch yourself on the armholes. Shall I make another in 100% silk?

Amidst all of that - the sewing on of 21 buttons was accomplished at 1.30am this morning - I also managed to do a bit of work on the Mystery Shawl Swatch (the what?). Here I am considering which needles to use:



The circular needle is a 3mm with very sharp points. I call it my "lace needle". It's my needle of choice for most lace projects, particularly if I'm using Zephyr. I'm not so sure about it for this yarn though, so the straight needles in the picture are 2.25mm, 2.5mm and 2.75mm. I have not had a chance to swatch with any of them yet and I don't know if I'll have time today, since I have to go back to work and feed the starving masses. The first "clue" will be posted tomorrow, so I really need to get a move on.

Here's a close, close-up of the swatch



The yarn is delightful.

The Corset she is off the needles.

Yes, indeed. Here she is:



Literally just off the needles. I need to sew on buttons. In fact, I need to find buttons to sew on. I need to do the crochet up the front, round the neck and down the other side.

Verdict - Nice result, no thanks to the pattern, which has various mistakes - there is nothing that anyone with half a knitting brain couldn't fathom but it is irritating. Some of the corrections. posted on Annie's site, had, in fact, already been corrected in my version of the pattern. That could have caused confusion.

I might have made the next size up, though if I had, I don't know if the hip shaping wouldn't have been too ample.



This is a detail of the pattern over the hips. When I tried it on, it is a little loose over the hips. Not terribly, just a little. The next size up would almost certainly have been looser. See that cast-off there? This was the third attempt. First, I cast off on the right side, in pattern. No good. Then, I cast off, on the right side, in knit only. Also no good. Third and final time - I cast off on the wrong side, in knit only. Bingo! I think it looks good. I don't know about you, or the knitting police.

The yarn (Debbie Bliss Cathay) - I used almost all of three balls in the main colour and one ball, with some left over, in the contrast colour. I have not done the edging yet, though, so time will tell. The fabric is very slinky, with a wonderful drape. There is some slight evidence of pilling already, so I cannot speak to how it will hold up in wear. I used a 3.5mm needle and 3.75 is recommended. That's not unusual for me, being the loose knitter I am. This yarn shows great stitch definition. Here's a detail of the waist shaping:



All in all, I'm very pleased with the corset, though it really showed me why I tend to knit lace shawls. There is no question of "to fit, or not to fit?" with a shawl and when a shawl is off the needles it is very nearly done. Yes, lace usually needs to be blocked but I love that bit - it brings out the magic. Who knows how long the corset will lounge around the knitting basket, looking sultry, and waiting for buttons?

It was a relief to put a round on Rosy Fingers this morning. I'm on round 130, just creating a few "mountains in the rain". I had thought this would be finished by now and I'd be cleared for take off on the Mystery shawl but the corset put me back. Why do I always do this? I like to slip a small project into the middle of a larger one.

Anyway, I've started a swatch(!) for the Mystery. Using the Artisan Merino and 3mm needles. This yarn is very skinny (technical term) and I think I'll need to use an even smaller needle. I'm pleased to see that Renee, the designer of the Mystery, mindful of the great variation in yarns chosen for the project, is going to give a version for skinny yarn, too. Pictures tomorrow - it's so skinny that 8 rows is not really enough to photograph.

I'm a virgin

There are no photographs here. If you are looking for eye-candy, look away now.

I've never been tagged before(except in the schoolyard) but never one to do things by halves, I've been tagged twice. Once by Lixie (aka the Cyberstalker) and once by Annie. Since I'm a virgin, please forgive me if this all goes up the shoot.

id·i·o·syn·cra·sy
pl. id·i·o·syn·cra·sies
A structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group.

Write down five of your own personal idiosyncracies. Then, if you wish, tag five people from your friendslist to do the same.

1 - I get a "p" and a "b" mixed up. Not in speech, in writing. Trying to write, with a pen and paper, the word "public" is a nightmare. I have to sound out the letters each time. This difficulty extends to using a keyboard, too, which I find very odd. I can understand the difficulty in handwriting, where the letters are similar, but on the keyboard?

2 - All the cups in the cupboard (another hard word) at work have to be stacked in fours and have to have their handles pointing to the right. I had thought of taking a photograph here, but then I realised it was a step too far.

3 - I have to read about it before I do it. Sometimes, I actually read about it as I am doing it. Not looking at St Mark's Square when I'm in it but reading the Blue Guide instead.

4 - I hate the "greengrocer's apostrophe". If you don't know what that is, you need to go and read Lynne Truss' book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves". It might be to do with the English teacher in me, it might be to do with having half a brain. You choose.

and at that point, I ran out of idiosyncrasies. I never thought I had any idiosyncrasies, anyway. It's perfectly normal to have two sharp sticks and a bit of string in your hands, day and night, isn't it?

So, I asked "'im indoors" and he said, "Well, you wear hats, and not so many people do that."

5 - Every single time I step out of the house (even if I'm only going down to the gate), I wear a hat. I have about 47 hats - those are the ones in the living room, which is where the hats live. There may be other, rogue, hats scattered around the house. That's not idiosyncratic, is it?

If anyone is bothered about the knitting (which is what this is all about, right?), I am up/down to the hip shaping on the corset from Hades; I have not done a single stitch on RFD (work it out); and I cannot wait for the start of the Mystery Shawl, though I have not had time to do a swatch ( a what??), nor wind the yarn.

The Cursed Corset

If this thing is ever finished and if it fits me, it will be some sort of miracle. I do not normally make items that need to fit. This is the reason why. It is still a nightmare.

Someone (and I'm sorry I can't remember who you are, but I think you will probably remember who you are) asked about the one row buttonhole. Google is your friend, my dear. I googled and found lots of hits including this from Esther Bozak, who had to do with the Aran I knitted that you haven't even seen yet. There was also this, which includes a variety of good tips, the one row buttonhole is the second one, I think. Also included was this gem "Don't start over or rip out at night; it may look fine to you in the morning. Or you may come up with a
creative solution to your "mistake". - Maggie Baldwin"

I should be so lucky that the horror that is the corset might look "fine" in the morning, or the evening or at any time, day or night. I ripped out Madam Modesitt's i-cord cast off and on buttonhole, which someone described as "unnecessarily complicated" - couldn't have put it better myself. I re-knitted using the one row buttonhole, discussed above. It looked neat, it looked a heck of a lot better than the first attempt. It also looked far too small. I know it's a corset and it's meant to fit. I know I don't have huge, great fat arms. But I just couldn't stop myself thinking that the armhole was going to strangle my arm. So I put the stitches on the good old red crochet cotton and tried it on. I looked a wonderful vision as the corset was about three inches long at this point and covered nothing that it should. Yes, I could get my arm in the buttonhole, no, I couldn't move my arm. When the arm started to turn blue and feel numb, I realised that the armhole was too small.

This presented a dilemma. Should I do it again, same technique but use more stitches? Should I do it again, using different technique, more stretchy, same number of stitches, more stitches? Should I sling the whole thing in the bin? Should I run myself through with a pair of knitting needles and be done with it?

I ripped (again), I re-knitted (again), I used the reinforced buttonhole, detailed in Montse Stanley and no, I can't find it online - I may just not be using the right search terms, you may have better success. I carried on with the ribbing. I started to worry (again). I put it on the red crochet cotton (again):



Sorry about the poxy picture - it was dead of night, I had just got back from work.

I tried it on and it fits, it fits, it fits:



There is no picture of me in it - I have spared you that.

I am now hoping to sail serenely on, down the body, out over the hips and have it on my body before the winter sets in.