Carmen lives!

I don't know whether to kiss or curse Holly for introducing me to Craft magazine. Now I will never get any work done!!

I fell in love with the mag after seeing this:

Homage to Carmen Miranda!

How can I not love a magazine where a burlesque entertainer (Angie Pontani) shows you how to make fancy headdresses! I don't any more have the body to wear thecute short sparkly outfit, but the headgear will go so well with this dress:

(The photo does not do it justice. I really need to buy a scanner. However, it is very sparkly, covered in sequins... I scored it for $20 at Thrift Villa in Parkdale to wear to my "I finally managed to become a lawyer" party. (Wanted to wear it to my actual call to the Bar, but figured they wouldn't call me then and I would have blown $35,000 for nothing. I refuse to show you the photos of me wearing the robes and tabs and looking very, very goofy. I have not had occasion to have to wear robes since, thankfully).

So - now I'm off to the Dollarama ASAP to find cheap fake fruit and maybe even a glue gun! I plan to make several for the first performance of the Club 425 Dance troupe (we have lessons at my workplace at lunchtime led by the fabulous Madame Jennie, who will not let me show a picture of her). The performance is at yet unscheduled, mostly because yours truly is a great dancer who can't follow set steps, unlike her equally talented co-workers in the troupe.

One of the dance tunes featured, I'm hoping, will come from one of these CDs which I finally scored yesterday after hunting high and low:



I should mention that my musical tastes after date back 50 or so years. I suspect that in a past life I was meant to be part of the Rat Pack, but was instead stuck inside the house in some Greek village with permission to leave once a year for church with my head covered in a kerchief.

But really, how can you not love a guy who actually recorded "Hair Goes Latin"???? (and if anyone finds this, I'll knit you a Tuscany in exchange.

I have to go now to upload 3 CDs worth of Edmundo Ros onto my iPod. It is a happy day indeed in the JK household (and JJ will surely be happy to stop listening to the caterwauling Greek selections I've been into for the last while!).

I will, however, leave you with a parting cheesecake shot of me doing the Wedding Samba decked out in my Tuscany and Montego Bay scarf (warning: if you don't like burlesque or nude back with love handles, skip this one...). This is my response to a dare/bet - the person who dared/bet me (who, by request, shall remain nameless) now owes me a skein of sea silk. Heh heh heh.

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Just holding my head because I don't have the towering fruit headpiece yet.

weekend warrior

1. Victory over the Goddess

Bowed and bloodied, I present to you... the Goddess by Stitch Diva!

Front:

Back:

Detail: neckline:

Detail: border and hem:

Cannot say I enjoyed knitting this too much, largely because of the very slippery yarn. This caused me to tune out and make silly mistakes, which then of course were virtually impossible to rip. Verdict: liked the pattern, hated the yarn. This was on commision from a fellow co-worker. I am modelling it although it is a tad bit small for me. As yet unblocked.

I will likely make one for myself using Handmaiden Sea Silk...

Specs:
Yarn - Lang Opal Maxi, Chestnut (nylon blend) - 6 50 g skeins
Needles - 3.75 mm and 3.0 mm
Time spent - way too long (2-3 weeks)

Notes: do not use the yarn called for (Lang Opal) unless you are a far better knitter than I and not prone to booboos. I modified this pattern slightly by using a different stitch pattern on the hem (because I was sick and tired of an instruction that said "knit through the back loop twice" for every 2 stitches...

2. Morrigan - beware!

So, I decided, having just finished battle with one goddess to take up the sword (my trusted Addi Turbo lace needles) against another one... the Morrigan by Jenna Wilson in No Sheep for You.

Despite all enthusiasm, I lost Battle Number 1 when I misread the first pattern sequence:



... but, thanks to Laura's kind help (from the NSFY blog) I finally got on the right path:





I suspect this will actually be quite fun, in the masochistic sense of the word, to knit. I have started with sleeve #1 because (a) it is smaller than the body; and (b) having seen Laura's body of Morrigan completed, I suspect I would be tempted to just leave it as a vest otherwise! ;-) I also think I'll finally have to teach myself that "cabling without a needle techniqu.

This will most certainly not be a "TV knitting" project. As such, it will likely take me several months.

I'm using Rowan Calmer in blush colour, Addi lace needles 3.25 mm size and Clover bamboo 3.0 mm size.

3. Kristina's First Lace!



This is the beginning of the Montego Bay Scarf by Amy Singer in IK Summer 2007 issue. About 10 minutes worth of knitting. Started this at about 9 last night but it took me about 45 min. to cut 200 strands of yarn off for the fringe. My personal challenge (as posted on the Do Something New blog) is to have this finished by Sunday.

It has also helped me realise that I've been knitting YOs wrong all these years! SIGH...

Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk - one skein - Paris colourway (I think)
Needle Size: 5 mm