Stitches West goodies

I went to my third Stitches West on Friday. Being a Silicon Valley denizen, it's easy for me to just drop by and do a blitz shopping session at the marketplace. My first purchase was a Norah Gaughan booklet. I've never been a big Norah Gaughan fan, but for some reason, I LOVE the spring/summer designs in this booklet. I bought it at the WEBS booth, where they had a few of the patterns knitted up as sample garments. That really helped sell the booklet.

I bought myself some Berroco Pure Pima, which is used in several of the patterns. One of my favorites is parasola (ravelry link). I also purchased some Valley Yarns hand-dyed Northfield, but I have not idea what I will knit with it at this point.

I visited my favorite Buttons! booth and went a bit overboard on the buttons. I say overboard because I actually don't knit that many cardigans that have full front button bands because I don't like the button gaposis issue.

Finally, I got one of these shawl pins from Gita Maria. Mine is more of a silver color.
All in all, I thought I exercised great restraint. I only purchased a small bag of stuff. Others seemed to be trailing rolling carry-on bags stuffed with yarn.

An alternate giveaway winner

Renee never left me contact info and never returned with a comment, so I picked a new winner for my January giveaway. It's Gay over at gaysknits.... Congrats!

FO: The dress is done!

I've finished the Folded Mini Dress (ravelry link) from Reversible Knitting by Lynne Barr. I did mine in a nice lady-like above-the-knee length, and I love the finished result. Woo-hoo! My yarn is Berroco Lustra, which is a little thicker and the gauge a little higher than the pattern's specs. I knit the smallest size, and did some other little size adjustments on the bodice to make it fit me. I chose the lower V neck for the front and threw in a couple of short rows for bust shaping. The color on the 2nd photo is the closest to the real thing. It's a sort of burgundy red.

Technique wise, I just used 3-needle bind-off for the shoulders instead of grafting. I didn't see the need to bother with grafting since I decided to just always wear the reverse stockinette as the right side. For the edges, I did not slip the first stitch. Instead, I used a crochet hook to add a separate slip stitch edge. I think that gives it a more finished look. It also made the armholes tighter (good), and the neckline tighter (not as good). I made my V neck slightly higher than the pattern's because I wanted a neckline I could wear without a layering piece underneath. As it turns out, the crocheted slip stitches makes the neckline less stretchy so I should have just left it alone because the neckline came out a bit too high.

I'm really surprised so few ravelers have knitted and/or queued this dress. The pattern is actually very straightforward and it's easy to customize for size. If you do knit it, do go with a little negative ease on the skirt. It has quite a bit of thickness, and if you knit it with positive ease, it might look too heavy. It needs to be stretched a bit too look good.

I'm looking forward to shopping at Stitches West this coming weekend. I'm thinking I should wear it then.

Stuff

First off, Renee (not Renee G.), the January giveaway winner, has not gotten back to me by leaving a comment with some contact info. So, Renee, if you're out there, please leave a comment. If I don't hear from you by midnight, February 22, I will pick another winner.
On the WIP front, I'm almost done with the folded not-so-mini dress from Reversible Knitting (ravelry link). I just have the upper back to do, and some finishing work. It's looking good.

I've also made progress on my self-designed puffed sleeve raglan pullover which will have an attached scarf at the neckline.


Finally, if you've ever wondered what a package of Tuxedo cookies look like when it's been run over by a car, you need wonder no more! I find this image hilarious, for some odd reason. I think the cookies are some sort of Oreo knockoff. A friend ran over them (not on purpose) and they belonged to one of our neighbors.

Giveaway winner and a WIP

First off, the winner of the giveaway is Renee (not Renee G.)! Unfortunately, I cannot view your profile, so I don't how to contact you, so if you check back on this blog, please leave me a comment about how to contact you, and then you'll receive the goodies.
On the knitting front, I've been working on my folded not-so-mini dress, from Reversible Knitting. I
I've finished the lower folded skirt section. woo-hoo! It did not take as long as I thought it would. Using the higher gauge yarn helped a little. The skirt fits nicely, and the top should go pretty quickly, since it just knits up like a vest with minimal finishing.