Wednesday, September 17, 2008

knitting


vintage buttons
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery
the February Lady Sweater, a great grown-up sized adaptation of Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater, has been my latest "big" knitting project. It's my second cardigan, first real lace project. But I haven't been working on a whole lot lately. All of my waking at-home time has been spent on teaching prep. Everything else has fallen by the wayside. I am 70% finished (maybe more!)- I have a sleeve and a half left, plus blocking so that the lace portion will stand out nicely.
Last week I went through the vintage button stash that a friend inherited from her mother then donated to our church's craft room. These are what I came up with. I LOVE the black and ivory swirly plastic (or bakelite?) buttons. They just don't work well with the variegation in the kettle-dyed yarn (it's arucania nature wool, if that means much of anything to you). I also picked out these snaggle-toothed shell squares. I think I'll end up using these, because I just think they're charming. I love shabby-chic, lived in, time-worn, comfortable things that have a history. At the same time, I'm a very "linear" person- I like clean lines, clear spaces, symmetry. These buttons don't say that, but then neither does the yarn. I'm keeping my eye open for more choices, but honestly, if I have time to be looking, I think I'd rather be knitting.

Two weeks ago I threw some pieces and thankfully wrapped them up well. This afternoon was the first day I've been up to the studio to check on them- life has been a three-ring circus lately (sometimes good, sometimes trying, all the time busy). I may just be able to trim them on Thursday. And I still hope I'll bisque fire this weekend.

Happy mid-week, everyone!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you for embarking on such a lovely and challenging sweater! Have you though of making some buttons? I have some lovely handmade ceramic buttons that I love. I bet you could glaze them just the way you like.

Leila said...

I like the square buttons! They're a good color with the yarn and the square-ness is fairly linear/geometric. The swirly ones are cool too though. I bet they'll find a great project to go on someday.

calicodaisy said...

That sweater is awesome! I wish I knitted. I wish I was thinner so that if I did knit, it would look as darling on me as it does on the author of the sweater!
-- Michele

April said...

I've got this sweater in my que, it's so pretty. I love the blue you picked and I like the square shell buttons the best.