Our new camera arrived today! Once I get it all figured out, I will post some pictures. I was burning the midnight oil finishing the poncho. Did I mention that I started a poncho while waiting for The Vest to finish blocking? It is adorable and I think my niece will love it …. I decided against the fringe, but did make what can only be described as ‘mother-lode’ pom-poms for the I-cord drawstring at the neck. I also made a smaller version sans pom-poms for her American Girl doll.
This was a small project, but it taught me a lot:
- 1. I am losing my mind. I used leftover Stawberry Shortcake yarn for this. After getting three quarters of the way through the front panel, it occured to me that indeed I would not have enough yarn to finish. I was momentarily confused – how could this be? why did I think I would have enough in the first place? What to do? I bought more yarn. The yarn I was using LionBrand Woolspun has been discontinued, so I was not able to get the Strawberry Shortcake color and bought the white instead. I decided to do a white border around the bottom. Happy with this decision, feeling crafty I continued knitting. At some point during the knitting of the second panel, I noticed, sitting right on top of a basket of yarn that I keep in plain view next to favorite knitting chair two skeins of the Strawberry Shortcake! How I managed to go blind, I have no idea. I am 41 years old – am I too young for this?? scarily, I think not.
- 2. I have been seaming things together all wrong all these years! Thanks to the wonderful article in the spring issue of Knitty I have been set straight. All these years of knitting, I have approached seaming just like I would if I were sewing. Right sides together and away we go — wrong!! I see now that placing the pieces side by side and using the appropriate stitch, gives a beautiful, invisible seam! this old dog has learned a new trick!
- 3. pom-poms are fun to make
- 4. I am fully capable of not following the pattern exactly and having things turn out just fine! For this poncho I used a different neck than called for. I also reconfigured the pattern for the body somewhat. My first little stab at design.
- 5. doll clothes, while seemingly innocuous, are a pain in the ass
purlingswine 
can’t wait to see J’s bepompommed poncho. Love the blog and oh that graffiti on the bridge has already been sent to the husband unit with a few revisions…he is duely impessed. thanks ps.
41 is much too young to be losing your mind, so it must be somthing else. Perhaps an intrepid employee from your LYS sneaked into your house and hid those two skeins from you, so that you would buy more yarn? :)
I was so excited to see that article in knitty! I didn’t get to try it out yet (don’t even think of looking at the sleeve seams on the shrug–it’s embarrassing), but I’m cautiously optimistic.
I love reading your blog–you crack me up. thanks!
When I first learned how to seam correctly, I thought it was pure magic — and I still feel that way! It’s almost mesmerizing to watch those stitches pull together so beautifully and, to me, makes the finishing feel so much more a part of the knitting process. I still have to work myself up to do it sometimes, but once those first few stitches pull together, just try getting me to stop! –Hey, thanks for stopping by my blog the other day (so far, my girls call me MUCH more than I call them!).