Revised Asana

I actually love it so much I'm thinking about revising the pattern and making another one.

Please excuse the middle of the night hair and mirror smudging . :)

The death of Asana

I completed all the fasteners and got the straps positioned on Asana last night. At that point I looked at it and decided I would never wear it. It just didn't fit me right. The back, right where the top band connected was buckling, the center band didn't really do much, and the lowest band was just too low and would constantly either be showing my underwear or the top of my pants above it. The sides in the back didn't come far enough around and made me look pudgy. I looked at the possibility of putting another fabric in the back--something strechy that would cover the hole, and decided I should take off the center tabs and see what that looked like. I took off the tabs and determined NOTHING would make this shirt work on me, and I would have to pretty much re-do the entire thing if I wanted this pattern to work.

SO...all is not lost. I took off the center tabs and began playing with the remaining I-shaped fabric. My bottom band was a lot longer and more loosely knit than my top band, and ties quite nicely into a knot, and the garter ribbing of the top band is really quite nice and has an interesting drape. I ended up making the piece into a kind of halter with a draping neckline. Think something like this, but not quite as low cut or tight. It's actually quite flattering on me that way, but the open back is pretty revealing, and I might wear a tank under it most of the time.

I actually like the fit of my "new" piece so much I'm thinking of ways to improve it, and purposefully make a pattern for it.
I'm planning on wearing it tonight, I'll post some pics later.

So as Asana nears completion I needed a new project to start... And I've found one! I think it is always a good sign when you see that a few dozen people have all done the project and you've seen them, and they've had fantastic results. The Picovoli seems to have a high success rate (as shown here) I can't wait to get started and bought some yarn from Knit Picks last night in a lovely turquoise-->

Now I know it looks a lot like the yarn I used for Asana, but it IS darker, and besides, that color looks great on me :)

While shopping I also picked up some laceweight alpaca and am hoping to make a lacy shrug that will be suprisingly warm (if it lives up to alpaca reputation). ...I'm excited to be wearing llama fur, and am thinking I might let my mom borrow something made in alpaca to see if it bothers her (she's allergic to sheep's wool, but most people say she should be fine with alpaca). If she's alpaca tolerant I might be able to make her something that's actually warm and not just decorative this winter.

In Asana news: I've bought the ribbon for the straps and some small snaps that will accompany flat pant hooks in helping keep the back closed and somewhat neat looking. I'd probably be finishing it up today at work except I brought everything else I needed and forgot the yarn (d'oh). Plan to see finished pictures within the week.

Asana near completion

All the pieces are finished and just need assembling and for me to decide about straps...I'm thinking of doing an attached I-Cord that would tie behind my back, but I'm also going to check out some fabric stores to see if I might find some nice matching tape to make my straps out of.

Here are all the pieces

A detail of the cable cast-on edge


Detail of top panel of garter rib

Too busy to knit?

Okay, So I've been busy doing other things and haven't had a huge urge to knit away in garter rib to finish the Asana top. I did however start to crochet a very, very soft, light yellow animal-like form for a friend's soon-to-be baby. It started off as a bear until I realized that there was no way my friend would expect anything that traditional out of me anyhow, and so it will be a weird, round deally with little stump feet and pointy arms and some sort of a head (I haven't gotten that far yet). I think it will be cute and a looking a little like Pom Pom (character-www.homestarrunner.com)

In other news...

I just returned from a wonderful weekend of dancing and fun in Montreal. I was actually so prolific with my photo-taking that I've already filled my flickr account for the month. Photos can be seen here. My own personal theme for the weekend's photoshoot was "Grrr" and I made a host of unsuspecting friends play along. It's my favorite collection of pictures ever, and I'm thinking of doing a few more similar photo series. There are more pictures that I took in Montreal, but they'll probably wait until the beginning of next month to be posted.

One of my favorites things about travelling to Lindy Exchanges (see here for definition) is meeting people. Some whom I have met through forums and other online pages, and some with whom I am housed, and others who I meet during the course of the weekend. This weekend I met a bunch of people who I had conversed with on the Canadian lindyhopper's board (where I post regularly)--including not only some of the Canadians who post there, but some of the Australians as well, and I met a LOT of americans who were attending the exchange, and I was housed with a group of diverse people including an attendee from Korea, and one from Paris.

I don't often get to use my French (despite all of the classes I took up through my junior year of college), so it was really kind of interesting for me to pick up after all these years and try to force out my thoughts in the little vocabulary I can still reach in my brain. I could listen to people speaking and understand about 1/4 of what they said (more if they spoke slowly TO me, and I wasn't just listening in) and the majority of the time I could say 80% of what I wanted to in some manner before running across words that I just couldn't remember or never knew. What I found really exciting was that when I asked Sylvain (our Parisian roomie) about my accent, and whether I sounded American when I spoke French he told me he thought I had no real accent at all! I don't completely believe him, but it was Such a compliment!!! ...He also tried to convince me that I should move to Paris, that I could easily find a job there, and that I could "Practice your French all day, and I will introduce you to French men, so you can practice your French all night." :) LOL
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My crochet work did accompany me to Montreal, though it almost got left on the plane....okay, it DID get left on the plane, but a guy from across the aisle caught up with me on the walkway and got it back to me. The only work I got done with it was a small amount in O'Hare before leaving, and then it was neglected for the rest of the trip.
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The other thing I've been up to lately is looking for a new job. The longer I stay at this one, the more aware I am of how MUCH I need to leave it. I don't enjoy it as much as I used to, even though I'm at the top of my game and selling as much as ever. I also have growing problems with my boss, and find some of the things he does incredibly hypocritical and unethical. He controls scheduling and I've been working with an employee who not only creates more work for me, but will actually close the store and leave for hours at a time. If this is what the company is willing to put up with, I don't want to be a part of it. Plus they say you should leave while still at the highest point in your current company, and I don't think I'll be able to move up right now, and am getting frustrated enough to want to move DOWN and not be management any more. Hopefully the right opportunity will come along soon, and I'll recognize it when it does.
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Still "in progress"

I'm still garter ribbing away at my ASANA. I'm almost finished with the upper part and then have to do the two tabs for the center back. It should be done in the next week or two and then I have to make some real decisions about straps and closures. Yuck.

I need a side project.

Felted Buttonhole Bag

I finally uploaded a few pictures of the buttonhole bag I finished in March. The pattern for the bag can be found on Mason-Dixon Knitting (see links list)