Operations on my sweater

I don't have a digital camera, so here is a drawing to show you what I've been doing. This is the pink sweater I started knitting in autumn 2005. It sat on the needles for a year before I took it up again this winter. The inspiration came in the fall, when the weather got cooler. The determination came in January, with New Year's resolutions. And the desperation keeps me going now, even though I feel less and less like knitting the warmer the weather gets. Finishing this sweater is part of my spring cleaning. As you can see, I've done the two fronts, the back, and about a third of a sleeve. Alicia at Posie has made whole blankets in the time it's taken me to worry out this little sweater. It's not a race, I have to tell myself. At least I get to watch lots of movies!

My mom gave me a little Singer sewing machine she had when she was my age, and for some time I confess I've been a little bit afraid of it. I grew up helping her sew, but I've never attempted much on my own. But when the piles of fabric I kept buying and never sewing mounted up, I pulled out the machine from its Jadeite green case. First, something simple: two café au lait colored squares to hide my pantry items from view. Next, two flowered slipcovers for the throw pillows in my room. They actually look much better than this. Think shabby chic rather than early nineties beach house.

I think this post was inspired by Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, which I just finished reading. He includes a number of black and white drawings, with detailed explanations of what is going on in each one. My hasty Illustrator scribbles are thanks to him.

Quote of the day: "Next week [I] shall begin my operations on my hat, on which you know my principal hopes of happiness depend."--Jane Austen