Monday, April 07, 2008

Martha Bottlecap

Can I cast on something new yet???? All of this finishing is killing me!

So, here's Martha, from Rowan Studio, in the new Manos Silk Blend. I call her Martha Bottlecap because the buttons remind me of bottlecaps - love them! If I hadn't used them on this little cardigan, I may have built a project around them.
This was an easy knit, and a not so easy finish - blocking was a bitch. Thanks for that schematic Rowan - not!

The schematic had all of two measurements - width and height. Last time I looked, that made a rectangle. Hmm - there's an armhole there people. So, I did the best I could. Sewing in the cap sleeve was no fun. Kind of like putting a square peg in a round hole. I messed up the buttonholes - thanks again Rowan for writing instructions like "begin front neck shaping 39 rows from the beginning of neck shaping of back." I guess my row gauge was off, because when I followed the instructions for the buttonholes - p54, make button hole - I ended up with a buttonhole on the lower half of the garment. Oopsy. So, I sewed that hole up, and went with 2 buttons on the top half, and since they're pretty big, showy buttons, it worked out ok.

And, I'm so glad I took this picture outside - what's up with my crazy two-toned hair!?! I immediately made an appointment for a color - friends - how did you let me walk around like this??? Can I just whine for a moment - something has happened to my hair. It's not growing. Well, it must be, since you can clearly see the color line in the above pictures. But, where is it going? I don't have a lot of breakage at the bottom. I thought that perhaps it was just curling up, and curling up, but when I blow it dry, it's not significantly longer (see pics with Tangled Yoke). I have the amazing disappearing hair. I guess what goes around comes around - I've spent a lifetime with thick, curly hair - and all I've ever wanted was straight hair. When I would clean out the drain in my shower after washing my hair, I would secretly, and evilly, chuckle at my bald male friends - if they only new how much hair I had to spare! And now . . . ok, I'm not going bald, but I've definitely reached one of those age milestones where you're body changes in a not so good way.

I'm ok with turning 40 (not this summer, next summer - we'll see how ok I am then). I'm ok with the lines appearing on my face. I'm ok with feeling tired and a little sore after playing tennis on Wii. I'm ok with my metabolism slowing down, and not being able to drop five pounds by simply upping my water intake, and chopping out alcohol and sweets. But my hair! Sigh. It's all downhill, I know it - I might as well go to the wigmaker now.

17 comments:

Nancy said...

I LOVE the color of that sweater (and the one in your "Yoke untangled" post). Your talent is incredible.
I had a friend in college with curly hair like yours - it grew out sideways, not down. It cracked us up, but not her. I have straight but incredibly thick hair and probably have enough on the floor at the end of the week to make a wig for someone. I have to dustbuster the floor after every blow dry.

AmyDe said...

WOW - that's gorgeous. You are cranking out the sweaters and projects so fast you could run out of stash yarn - eeeek!

Mariss said...

The sweater looks great! You are a knitting machine.

Your hair also looks great--don't sweat it too much. I like the different colors!

Macoco said...

The sweater is so beautiful. I wish I could see a close-up of those bottle cap buttons! I am such a sucker for buttons.

Bridget said...

Oh I *really* like the sweater!

Hair. Mine is pretty much my nemesis, and was long before I turned 40. Every once in a while, it tricks me into thinking we are getting along ...

EmilyG said...

I'm tellin' ya, get the Curly Girls book by Lorraine Massey. Also, naturallycurly.com is good.

Love the sweater!

Two Cables and a Frapp said...

Oh, this cardi is very nice. I love the color and style. Stop by for a visit.

Karin said...

I love, love, love this sweater. It really becomes you and green is one of my favorite colors. So now who is the finishing queen? You are my hero because you are knitting and finishing so many sweaters.

Karin

Emily said...

Great cardigan - I especially love those cabled elements.

My hair's mega thick, but not sure if it's curly or wavy, varies. Yours looks pretty thick still - and you're only young! (41 last month, over here).

Anonymous said...

Martha is beautiful. And maybe you're in one of the times when the hair is doing it's shedding thing instead of growing?

That sounded so much better when I thought of it.

Sunset Knitter said...

I love the sweater! That is definitely a great color for you.
Don't worry about 40...40 is the new 30.

WandaWoman said...

Whoa, that sweater is gorgeous. I don't think I've even seen this one. I really like the design on you. And of course, that's a great color.

I dunno about the hair. Not sure what's going on with it. I just cut my hair short recently and I'm loving it!

Gauss said...

Beautiful sweater! You are cranking through them... what's next?

Curly hair is tricky. Nah, make that "hair is tricky". My theory is that hair breaks at the tips, so you need to get regular trims to make it keep its length better...

Carol said...

Looks fantastic. I may have to add this one to the queue again!

Wendy said...

Nah, hair looks good. And I love the sweater! Hope you're doing well ... are you heading down to MDSW?

Anonymous said...

Great sweater! I love the color - mmmm, green! Very very nice!

gem said...

Can you help me?
I'm in the middle of my 2nd MARTHA and I lost the last page of my pattern. The Rowan Studio 2 is out of print. Is there any way you can help me?? I've done an exhaustive Google search and no luck.
Thanks for your time.
Gloria