Knitting Once Again!

Almost a year has past and I've been busy with life. Since taking on a job as a resident actress and costume shop manager with Masquerade Theatre, my life has been a bit more full than I would like. I've taken a stand to find balance in my life though and one of the first steps is to renew my love of knitting. I had forgotten how the mere feel of yard soothes my spirit. The excitement of looking for a project, the fun of choosing the colors, etc. I was excited to finish two projects that have been going for over a year while waiting backstage in our production of MUSIC MAN. A pair of adorable pink socks which I think I will gift to a co-worker, and an easy, adorable little shrug which I think I might also gift. I'll get pictures of them here soon. I've also whipped out a couple pairs of fingerless gloves (Fetching on Knitty.com). They feed my spirit of needing to see something accomplished quickly. A purple pair, and a requested black pair modeled by my daughter below. I know, she requested black. What a boring color to knit with. But her smile says it all.



I've now decided that I want a pair of leggings that I can wear over jeans and down over clogs. I actually found a picture of what I would like on Knitpicks.com, but when I tried to knit up the gauge I couldn't figure out why the pattern came out so wonky. Drove me crazy. I know it can't be a difficult pattern but for some reason I just couldn't seem to get the ribbed cable pattern to work. So instead of giving up and since I can't find exactly what I am looking for, I've decided to create my own design using my knowledge of knitting socks and a cables pattern sample book. If they come out I will certainly post the pattern here.

I have been swamped, as I mentioned, with Music Man costume building which received rave reviews in the paper I must admit. Although I am very proud of the work my staff and I were able to accomplished as we built nearly the entire show, I am looking forward to a much smaller show in the future. Here is a scene that shows a bunch of the costumes I designed.



I'm starting with smallish projects to get my feet wet, but I hope to move on to some Fair Isle Knitting soon. I really want to knit a Fair Isle sweater. It is just such an expensive endeavor. ESPECIALLY when you live in Houston where it is rarely cold enough to pull out a sweater. And ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY when you are going through pre-menopause. You ladies know what I'm talking about. Oh well. I can dream, can't I?

I want to leave this post with just an adorable picture of my daughter in her Halloween costume. Here I am, a professional costume builder, and my kids would rather have store-bought costumes! Well you can imagine my excitement when my youngest daughter asked me to make her and her friend's Halloween costume. At least, I was excited till I heard she wanted to be a cupcake. A CUPCAKE??? Couldn't it just be an adorable costume from Simplicity or Butterick? I really have to figure out how to make a cupcake? Well, here it is...