FO - Soleil

Pattern: Soleil by Alexandra Virgiel
Yarn: Elann Sonata in color 6960 (Victorian Grape)
I started knitting this top for my sister in Dec of 2006 and put it aside until late Sep next year. Once I resumed it went really fast and I gifted it to her for her birthday in Oct 2007. The fit was perfect and she really liked it. This little top is rather special because it is my very first finished garment.
Notes: I knit size M with a slightly tighter gauge and modifications to raise the V neck. Once finished I blocked it to size using another well-fitting top of hers for measurements. I've had several requests to share my modifications for the raised V neck, so here they are - Soleil Mods (coming soon). Keep in mind that these modifications are for size M only, but with a little thought you can easily crunch the numbers for other sizes.
In addition to the low V neck, the top is slightly on the short side. If you're taller than 5'2" I recommend adding a couple of inches to the body.
I found the yarn easy to work with, but not very soft. Also I wouldn't make anything big out of it because it can get pretty heavy and stretch. I thought I was running out of yarn but it turned out I would have been ok with just 5 balls if I had thought to split the last ball.

Resurrected by the love of wool and words!

It always amazes me how long you can put off a thing. Over 3 months isn't that long. Not in the scheme of things. But it was made up of single hours and days when I thought to myself, "Hmm.. that should go on the blog. Maybe in the afternoon." I managed to come up with the most wonderful reasons why posting a new entry should wait until morning. The ability of the human mind to procrastinate so creatively is fascinating, don't you think? That's why I do it, of course.

Speaking of creative, the voice of the wool speaks some nights and is silent on others. This one fairly yelled at me minutes before yanking my credit card and jumping into my mailbox. With a name like November Muse, it wasn't too hard to forgive him though.




There were many others but we won't go there right now. The one exception is this plump but gorgeous merino-silk blend that wound itself into a ball, cut itself into 3½ yd threads and tied itself onto a weaving loom! I couldn't just let it sit there, could I? So, I got myself some instructions and a shuttle and started weaving a sampler shawl. Many adventures later, it is close to being finished. Here, see for yourself.



Much as I love the act of knitting, I think I love the look of woven fabric more. Not to mention the loom. It is such a fantastic piece of machinery. The sounds of weaving are hypnotic I think. But not to worry, one look at the price tag of that handsome Schacht you see above will snap ya right out of it. Here's the little pup I'd like to call mine *gulp*

Lest I be labeled a traitor to the Empire of the PointySticks, let me show you a little something. The luscious Marine Malabrigo morphing into a squishy cabled scarf for Mr.P (Oh, and this time I take credit. It didn't do a damn thing by itself)



And some Swish DK heading towards sock doom.



The coffee cup is empty and the Budder looks hungry so. Until next post.