Salve Bellas! Photos from Italia

Clockwise from top left: Us on the terrace in Vernazza; Horse by the Spanish Steps with a crocheted head dress; M basking in the sun in Vernazza harbor; Vernazza from above; Me & Mishka at Trevi Fountain; Me in Venice; the Colosseum; Us in the Bardini Gardens of Florence; M at Trevi Fountain; Florence's Duomo; My baby belly at Trasimeno lake in Umbria; Vernazza Harbor; Stoic Cats in the Bardini Gardens.
Most photos are clickable, but the ones of Moxie aren't.

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We're back! Both tired and happy. It was a wonderful romantic trip and a great way to steal some time for ourselves before the little bundle of joy hijacks our lives. Many knits were worn, and some were photographed. The little snippet of pink in the first photo is the River Stole, Mishka made it to the Trevi Fountain and Rome, the Daktari Skirt strolled through Florence, and several sweaters kept me warm in chilly Venice.

I had originally hoped to finish the Bubble Pullover prior to our trip, thinking that at least Venice would be sweater-worthy. When that didn't happen, I realized knitting memories are created on trips even more than before, and that I would probably enjoy making the Bubble Pullover in Italy more than I would enjoy rushing through it to wear it there. I'm still not quite done. I have about five and a half inches of collar left to knit, two sleeves to seam together and buttons to sew on. I'm going to savor the process and finish when I do. I won't be able to actually wear this big alpaca sweater until late fall, regardless. It has been a lovely journey as well - my first Norah Gaughan pattern after years of admiring her work. And the Misty Alpaca yarn is heaven. I'll try to get some decent progress shots so that you can enjoy it, too.

The Bubble Pullover may well be the only knit just for me this year (gasp!). I have several projects for publication that I'm working on this summer and I'm going to sneak in some baby knits where I can before D-day. I have a feeling that the end of the year will get swallowed up by a screaming, pooping, boob-wrecking baby who has already stolen my heart.

Knits for an Italian Honeymoon

Well, a pregnant Italian honeymoon. If you've known me since the early days of blogging, you know that our honeymoon was supposed to happen four years ago in Italy. Time and money have gotten in the way, but as soon as I got knocked up I was determined to go to Italy this spring, even if it meant waddling through Rome! Happily, I am not nearly as large as I envisioned at this point, so if the kid can manage not to balloon me out for another month, it should be a pretty easy trip, pregnancy-wise. In preparation for the trip I've been going through my closet to find things that fit with room to spare, because I have a feeling that all that wonderful Italian food will aid in the expansion campaign. Happily, I have much more than I thought because, wonderful things that they are, knits stretch! I'm so glad I tried things on rather than assuming I didn't have anything. The shopping can be confined to Italian shopping - the best kind.

Knits In Action!
Top to Bottom, Left to Right: River, Birch, After Dark Nightie, Pia (top) & Daktari (skirt), Japanese Motif Skirt (Marnie), Nautical, Deciduous (Marnie), After Dark Nightie ('cause it shows off the bump)

Now I realize that it's no big shocker that the shawls fit, but it is nice to have them to accessorize the cute little empire waist dresses that have over-run my closet. (This one is from J-Crew, and may technically be a beach cover-up. Ask me if I care.) I have a little snippet of lingerie that I've been stuffing myself into, but it's short, so the belly makes it looks ever more ridiculous. The after dark nightie is much more forgiving. The skirts were a bit of a surprise. Marnie lent me the Japanese motif skirt when I visited her in March, and lamented the 40 inch waistline - how fortuitous was that? Fabulous and tons of room. The Daktari skirt still has a lot of play, too. The tops were probably the biggest surprise. Pia is still a little big on me without a blouse underneath it - a testament to how off the sizing was in the first place - and nautical fits perfectly with the aid of that fabulous invention, the yoga skirt. (Seriously back-ordered, but worth the wait if it appeals to you. I have two!) Deciduous is probably pushing it, but with a bella band I could probably manage that, too. Absolutely nothing I'm wearing is maternity. (And I'm showing more than in these pictures - my waist is 7" greater in circumference than it was when this all started.) Between yoga-wear and those adorable waistless dresses everyone is wearing, I've only gone to maternity for things like jeans and shorts. Normally I can't get anywhere near one of those empire waist dresses that pouf out below the bust because they make me look pregnant. Now that I am pregnant, they rock. Comfy, too.

The next time you see these knits of yesteryear they'll be in front of Italian architecture. Yay!

What I'm Wearing Today

No time to pontificate on knitting today, so instead I bring you another "knits in action" photo.

I. Love. This. Skirt.

Warshrag in Action: Pattern Notes?

I am so channeling my mother in this photo!
I am even washing her 1970's mushroom bowl.
I love the mushroom bowl!I know you guys must be sick of me prancing around the internets in my nightgown, but I can't help it - it's cute! And I just have to share how versatile it is. You really can wear it all classed up with jeans and a sash, or sleep in it and just pull on some shearling booties to do the morning dishes. (So California, so not fabulous. The Manolo, he would cringe.) It is that great.

As you may remember, the whole nightie thing began with an innocent little warshrag. I am not one to follow the trends in the knitting blogosphere, unless I can follow way behind. (In 2010, I will be making STR Jaywalkers.) I just can't do it when everyone else is doing it, because then I'm not sure if it was my idea. But afterwards? Sure! I'll always follow a trend after it's ridden itself out.

Takes a lickin', keeps on tickin.'So I'm knitting warshrags. Just two - enough to happily use up my Lily cotton and jettison the funky sponge that has been living at the edge of my sink.

Ball Band Warshrags
The Folks at Peaches 'n Cream
Mason Dixon Knitting
Lily Sugar 'n Cream Cotton, Colors 1712 (Chartreuse) & 1742 (Turquoise)

As free as I can normally be with the verbage, I can't bring myself to do real pattern notes on a warshrag, so instead I'll just say that I used cheapo Lily cotton from Michael's, and knit it on size 6 needles.

Click for exciting close-up.It was fun and I have a good enough attention span that I can probably finish the second one. I could not bring myself to knit thirty. That takes the kind of focus that can only be cultivated on the East Coast. As Garrison Keillor would say, such fortitude and industriousness can only be the product of harsh weather. I bet Minnesotans know from warshrags.

I am happy report that two skeins of Lily cotton create two coordinating warshrags, plus a smidge of another, which is all I need. They stand up to my dirty dishes, still look good, and seem to dry rather quickly as well. They are most excellent warshrags.

Lookie Kay!

I can wear my nightie with jeans!

After I wrote Kay to let her know that I had finished the after dark nightie she commented that as soon as she saw it over jeans her work would be done. I was loathe to disappoint, but given the snugness of the nightie, I felt it was best to warn Kay that this wasn't a happening proposition. There just didn't seem to be any good way to get both myself and a pair of Levi's under this thing at the same time. Then this morning, while I was working from the home office and wearing the nightie, I caught a little chill that even my shearling booties couldn't shake off. So I figured there was no harm in at least trying to get the nightie over a pair of jeans. If it was ugly, only I would know, and then there were Kay's feelings to consider - I should at least make an attempt. And then a miracle happened - it fit! A few minutes later, with the aid of a strapless bra and a tight-as-hell yoga top for added coverage, I was ready to roll. Then I remembered something the ladies at Marie Claire told me earlier this spring - never go out in your tunic without a belt (or sash). I think they may be right!

I loved this as a nightie, but as a nightie and a tunic I like it even better. I can see all sorts of uses for it - nights out with the girls, romantic evenings with Moxie, maybe I could even wear it as a cover-up at the beach. We're going to be inseparable, this nightie and I.

And its not even dark yet...

Ooooo La La! This is the candid shot I took at ye olde crack of dawn this morning. The After Dark Nightie still needs straps, but otherwise she's ready to go - too cool!

MDK's ADK is so hot it can transform the glasses and "morning" face - impressive!

The weekend was great, though not as relaxing as the Moxie and the Hoolia needed it to be. Photo montage soon. Once again, work has got me chasing my tail like a silly pup!

Knits in Action: Bond

I really love the idea of knits in action posts, but here's the thing: It's really hard to make them look more candid than my photo shoots, because typically I take my shots early in the morning and I am dressed exactly as I will be for the day. Although I have occasionally dolled it up a little more for you guys, for the most part I try to look as I really will. Moxie and I love to take photos, as well, so our "candid" shots aren't much more candid than our staged ones. I'm pretty practiced with the self-timer, so unless we get fancy with the location, I usually take my own pictures, as well.

Bond is a great layering basic. I let a little orange frill peek out from underneath.

I decided the best way to give you a really candid photo would be to take pictures of myself getting ready for work (I have a very casual office). So here I am, freshly showered in my hair turban. If you don't have one of these, you need one. It's the best method I know for keeping wet hair up and making it dry naturally faster. You gotta love the turban.

Knits In "Action": River

I recently found out about the handknit street style flickr pool that Lolly started. (Via Kodachrome - thanks girl! I live under a rock!) I love to see knitters wear their handknits to places other than the yarn shop. One of my favorite moments was in an airport about a year ago when I spotted a woman wearing Kim Hargreaves' First Aid from an older Rowan - how often do you get such a cool sighting? Over the last few weeks I've taken random shots on the days when I wear my knits.

Zosia napped, too. She opted for fur.Last Sunday was a wonderful day to wear River. Moxie and I sat on the porch and it was warm enough to enjoy, but cool enough that a shawl was perfect. I found myself getting sleepy, so I grabbed one of my big outdoor pillows (also handmade!) and said "Moxie, I'm taking a nap. Can you take a few shots of me after I fall asleep?" Voila! River in Action!

New Life for an Old Knit

Pia makes her fall debut.Those of you who have been reading my blog for a really, really long time, might just remember that I knit Pia from Rowan's Magazine 35. I loved knitting Pia, but once it was all done it was a bit roomy. I always intended to do something about this - either rip and revise or attempt to shrink it a bit in the dryer - but for some reason it never happened, which was quite sad given how much I had enjoyed making this top.

Then fall rolled around this year and I really, really wanted a cool vest to layer over tops and blouses. I have one vest prototype in the works and another in sketches and in my head, but both of those have been shelved to make way for Christmas items and a few things for publication, so it will be a while before those vests take woolen form.

Pia loves Townes.Just by chance I was straightening up my closet and ran across Pia, which is knit in a wonderfully autumnal shade of green called "Fern". It was like a lightbulb went off in my head and I wondered aloud how it would look over one of my blouses with jeans. Viola! What a great combination! I am loving it, and suddenly a knit that has only rarely seen the light of day is getting worn about once a week. It's a favorite!

The best part is that I think there are several summer tops in my closet that can probably be worn this way. My citrus moon is more fitted, but the colors are the right palette, and I think it could work well over a more fitted long-sleeved shirt. I just had to share, because I'm guessing that many of you have made a knitted summer top that is just a little too big - it's almost a rite of passage in the knitting world. Why not re-purpose it and get something you really love?