Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Snowy White ... and Seven

Wow! I won a blog award! That's never happened to me before ... and makes me feel pretty darn special. I will do the seven random things about me at the end [actually, this whole thing was supposed to go at the end but my brain got addled re: photo posting order, and, well, it turned into one of those 'ah, never mind' kind of moments] ... but thank you Ruth Anne for the nomination! It was really sweet of you.


I'm getting really backed up in my posting. Not that I've made anything new recently, but I actually finished both these projects in early March. Eek!

Here's the doll quilt I sent out for DQS8. My partner mentioned she likes simple and modern ... which ... is an aesthetic I've never really done before. But I scoped out her blog and found some inspiration quilts, dug into the stash, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.


Hm. You couldn't expect me to not put a tad bit of quirkiness into it, could you? I tried to keep the hand quilting simple though. The floral is Lecien, the solids are linen or cotton, and there's some Robert Kaufman and Denise Schmidt thrown in for fun as well.


Experimented with the patchwork strip on the back. The aqua binding was also my penchant for complementary colors showing through, but I think it turned out OK. I like the one little blue square ... I hope it doesn't bother my partner!

Here's that second Ingenue I was talking about, a.k.a. the white sweater I've been missing for years now. This time around I lengthened the sweater sleeves to full length, though admittedly I was knitting up to the very last yard of yarn and so they're a couple rows shorter than they could be! Or maybe I'm so used to sleeves that are too long that they're actually the right length.


Everyone who sees this sweater asks about the stitch for the collar. It's really simple! Just p2tog, then kfb for the following row, then 2 rows of stockinette, and repeat. I have to say, I wear this sweater a lot and a lot. In fact, I'm wearing it this very second.


And the back. It's funny. These past two years in school, I've noticed that every Fall I stress out and lose weight because I don't eat due to stress, and then every Spring I stress out and eat chocolate like crazy and gain the weight back. Not terribly healthy. My friend commented there was probably something seasonal going on, which at first I wasn't sure about because the timing seemed off ... and then I remembered that I'm kind of a late bloomer, so it would totally make sense that, come January or February, I would feel this incredible need to store up fat reserves for hibernation. Yes.

OK! We should make that random fact #1 about me. 6 more to go.

2. I primarily cook vegetarian meals, though I often eat meat when I'm eating out [very rarely, like twice/week unless I'm totally submerged in school work, in which case I may buy lunch at school 3-4 days that week]
3. I have a younger brother who is my best friend, brother, and sometimes twin [i.e. I try to strong arm him into close friendship with me, to varying degrees of success]. My parents are pretty cool, too.
4. I looooooooooooove to read. Even more than watching movies.
5. I do love watching foreign films though. It satisfies my inner anthropologist.
6. I didn't start wearing sweaters until college, because I thought they made me look fat. I was very sensitive about my body during high school. You could say I had food/exercise control issues. I'm much better now.
7. I did a lot of dancing in college and really miss it. I'm hoping to pick it up again once I graduate! [Stephanie, you're inspiring me!] I'm thinking ... Brazilian capoeria? Bellydancing? Or maybe swing, which I've always wanted to learn.

OK! That's it from me. I don't think I'm going to tag anybody, but if you'd like to play along please leave me a message cuz I love to read random lists about people!

5 comments:

Antoinette said...

You make the knitting thing sound so easy! I love foreign films, too. Totally down with the subtitles.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you were happy with the award.
After reading your seven things, I think we have a lot in common except for the age thing.
I love your sweater and thanks for including the pattern. And I just love your doll quilt and the patchwork on the back. Your design is so appealing and well laid out.
I love to read, too. Just finished Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See, which was very powerful. It made me want to wait at least a few days before starting something new so that I can digest it.

Stephanie N. said...

Hooray for returning to dancing! I'm so happy to have it back in my life. It makes me feel wonderful both physically and emotionally, and I think I can credit it for keeping me sane.

That sweater is really impressive. The neckline is so pretty.

Sigrid said...

The quilt is a great mix of quirky and spare.

Although we don't share the ability to finish sweaters, I guess we do share some things I am addicted to reading and I love to dance, although I am having to take a year off for an injury.

Ritapizza said...

Congrats on the blog award! You're sucha beautiful talented person! And your quirks make you even more special! Your sweater is gorgeously knit and I adore your DQS8! Love the simple hand quilting! Ooo I love to read too but I tend to stick to fantasy fiction. Send me some book recommendations please~! Thanks for our chat the other day! Best wishes to you and have a Happy Easter!