Marie pic

I finally took a not-so-great pic of Marie. Hopefully I get to take a pic of me actually wearing the dress. This picture really does not justify how nice it is :D I think this dress might be the best thing I ever knitted in my life.

The ribbon is a vintage German velvet. I bought both a gray kind and this blue-gray one. I think the one I chose enhance this yarn's hint of blue. Until I went to get some ribbon at a local antique store, I was planning to buy a charcoal gray ribbon. However, I didn't see any dark colored ribbon at Gilding the Lily (except burgundy. No black either), so I got a medium gray ribbon and this one. I am very happy with my choice.

Louisa Harding frenzy

A while ago, I finished Louisa Harding dress, Marie. I am absolutely in love. I don't have a great pic of it yet, but I wore it to work with a black turtle underneath the other day, and I got lots of compliment. I used Kona Bay Knitting Camel-Alpaca in color #16, which I found in LYS, since I didn't think it would be easy to sew the seams with Thalia. The color #16 is really really close to Thalia #1. I am very pleased with the result. Hopefully I can post a pic soon....

After Marie, I am now so addicted to anything Louisa Harding. I started to work on a twin set using her Kimono Angora in color # 8. I first saw this yarn used for a twin set in her book ‘Modern Classic’, but I could not find enough projects that I absolutely love in the book to justify buying another (rather expensive) book, so I decided to use this free Japanese pattern instead.


I currently have total of 14 skeins of this yarn, which I bought from three ravelry members as well as from a store in Seattle via online. I ended up two dye lot with quite different hues. One knits up like a camo (and the hue is darker and cooler), the other like a watercolor paint or Monet’s water lilies. However, I didn't realize how different the colors (as well as the impression of the fabric) look until I used one skein from one of the two dye lot and one skein in the other dye lot together for the back of the shell. I had to re-start the project.....*sigh*

I decided to use the ‘watercolor’ dye lot for my twin set, since that is what I originally envisioned. Plus, I need 13 skeins for the project anyway, and I already have 10 skeins in this dye lot and 3 more in the same dye lot are on their way from the same Seattle store. The only problem is that the store only accept orders more than $25, I had to buy something else. I chose Malabrigo lace yarn in Burgandy, which I am planning to use to make Misty Blossom Stole as a gift for this special person, who is my friend/colleague/mentor. I am actually in love with the stole. I am definitely going to knit one for myself too with the same yarn in damask rose (my friend is not really a pink person, plus pink might not be the best color for her strawberry blonde hair.)


I decided to use the rest of the skeins to make something for my sister in law, since she is more of a tom boy than I am, so the camo pattern would not be too bad. I am going to use 2 for this scarf and 2 for a hat from knitty. Hope she'd like them....