My Mom

Doesn't my mom look pretty in her matron of honor dress? It will actually be sage green (and a size smaller-- thats why shes holding it in the back).

Mason Dixon's Teeny Project Runway Contest

A gal who shops at my LYS is a finalist in the Mason-Dixon Teeny Project Runway competition. You've got to see all the great entries. I love all of the finalists. So creative! The local girl's entry is the Mr. Potato Head sweater. Too cute-- go vote now!

Wedding Socks

I have given up on the two socks on two circs method. I just made too much of a mess with it. For one thing, the two balls of yarn kept getting twisted up on each other and making a huge mess. And second of all, I kept grabbing the wrong needle, or working in the wrong direction or something and getting off on the pattern (i.e. one sock would be one row ahead of the other). I like the idea of two socks at a time, a lot in fact, but I think I'd like to try it with one circular (magic loop). Less needles would, hopefully, mean less of a mess. And I wouldn't be able to grab the wrong needle as easily-- less options. So I'd like to try that sometime. But for this pair of socks I think I'll just switch to my old friend, DPNs. I'll just buy a second set of DPNs so I can keep both socks going at, more or less, the same time. My goal is to make them thigh high (or at least knee high), so having them both on the needles at the same time is important. Otherwise I am certain I'd get one done and not have the motivation to start on the second! I have until July 19th to finish these up since I want to wear them under my wedding dress. Thankfully the needles are size 5 (since its lace), so they are going much more quickly than socks on itty bitty needles. And now that I don't have to fiddle with all those circular needles and tangles of yarn things should speed up even more!

p.s. when I took this photo they were both up to the ankle (just an inch or so past the heel) but now one of them is about a third of the way up my calf!)

Short Rows: Picking up Wrapped Stitches

Short row shaping is great for tops that hug your curves. But if they aren't done correctly they can leave ugly holes. The trick is to pick up and knit the wrapped stitches on the last row, when you go back and knit up all the stitches you left behind on the short rows.





After you've finished your short rows you will have a line of wrapped stitches that looks like this. See those little necklaces around the neck of each stitch? Those are the wraps that you are going to pick up and knit.





When you get to a wrapped stitch (this might be every stitch, every other stitch or some other pattern), slip the point of your right needle under the wrap as shown.



Lift the wrap up and place it onto the tip of the left needle. It should be sitting beside the stitch it previously wrapped around as shown.





Next, knit through the back loop of BOTH stitches, knitting them together. Though it seems backwards to knit through the back, it will untwist the stitch you just picked up.





After being knit, your stitches should look fairly normal, like this.







As you can see, the finished short shows aren't invisible, but they don't leave huge, gaping holes like the first photo in this post.

Cute Valentines Day Contest

There is a cute "How we met each other" contest going on over at Bark n' Knit's blog. I just posted about how Chris and I met, now its your turn.

I want!

Too cool. Its a shame I don't really wear jewelry. Maybe I would start though if I had some of these.

I Must Have These

Too cute. And so practical. She tells you all you need to know to make your own here. I needed to go to the dollar store anyway (for mailing labels) and I'll have to pick up some pencil toppers while I'm there...

Crocheted Socks

Finally-- a non-wedding related post! Chris and I went by Yarns Etc in Carrboro today to find yarn for him to knit Rita Mae out of (hes swatching with Touche now) and I couldn't resist buying a ball of Panda Silk. Lately I haven't been knitting much with other people's yarns, not because I don't like them but because I don't have time, but I just couldn't say no to this one. I love silk and I love bamboo. And it has this gorgeous sheen, and pretty colors. In order to justify spending time on this contraband yarn, I am going to try a totally new technique. I am thinking about crocheting a pair of socks out of it. Thats right. Crocheted socks. I've seen some horrible crocheted socks but I've also seen some really nice ones. Because crochet tends to be bulkier, a really light weight yarn (like Panda Silk) looks best. This is the pattern I'm thinking of using. Any more experienced crocheters out there want to tell me I'm crazy to try this?

Wedding Blog

I've just created a blog for wedding stuff. I am going to include the web address on my save the date cards so that guests can have a place to go for important info. But I'm also using it to journal about this adventure of planning a wedding. So far I've got entries about the dress and the location, but as we get more planned I'll add information about the caterer, musicians, flowers, etc. If you're interested, it can all be found at www.chrisandlauraswedding.blogspot.com/.