falling a little out of love ...

Well, this is my vintage love summer top so far. I've got the torso of it about 2/3's or 3/4's done, and the sleeves each about half done.

Quite frankly, I'm a little annoyed with this whole top - I've started this back in March, and was hoping to make both a blue one and a black one to wear at my brother's wedding in August.

My first issue is with the yarn - I ordered a bunch of Knit Picks Cotlin yarn, and it's already starting to pill on me. :(

Secondly, the actual structure of the pattern is so weirdly written that parts of it was difficult to decode and follow. I'm a bit torn in complaining about a pattern too much, because I know how much work goes in to designing and writing one out, plus I can see on ravelry that this has been test knit a few times. But, on the other hand, despite this being test knit, and the designer claiming to have been published in magazines, I've found mistakes that hadn't been corrected - small ones, mind you, but still - and there are glaring parts of the pattern that are very hard to understand because it's so awkwardly written, and am surprised that none of the test knitters had pointed these out to correct it.

Because of those confusing, weirdly written parts, I've had to put knitting the top on hold for as much as 2 weeks at a time to get replies from the designer to help me understand what I'm knitting. I must admit, that the designer has made an effort to help, but there were times that even the math in her helping was wrong, and it took a lot of back-and-forth to even decode some of what she explained. But she was nonetheless helpful.

I can honestly say that despite my intention of knitting 2 of this top (and I have bought the yarn with the intention of knitting this twice) I'm absolutely not going to bother making it again. I think, if I do ever get around to finishing this top - and at this point, I guess I may as well - the black yarn I bought will be used towards a different top. I'm not sure if it'll get done before the wedding, but I'll try. I think, had I not paid for the pattern or had the yarn start pilling on me mid-knitting, then I would've frogged the whole thing and started over with a completely different design.

Overall I do think it'll turn out alright, I'm just not in love with this pattern any more. But it will make a unique enough top to wear this summer, for sure.

going on a diet...

Well, this summer (August) my brother's getting married. (yay!) I've decided that what I want to do is knit a top - or more specifically, knit 2 versions of the same top - to wear to the wedding. DH has been asked to be one of the groomsmen, and I've been designated as a greeter.

The problem is, I'm larger than the largest size available for the top I want to make, even though the largest size is a 3x. I am 3x sized, but that really varies from one brand to another. Bustwise, I'm actually 1.5" larger than what's asked for in the pattern. It wouldn't be difficult to just add a few stitches to accomodate my size, I've done that before. But what good would that be, really?

I've always been overweight, ever since I was little. My weight has never really been an issue for me, I've never been teased for being fat or anything like that. I was always fine with what size I was. Because I was never really one of those 'girly' kind of girls (obsessed with clothes, make up, etc) then fitting into little cute outfits was never much of a concern for me.

What made my weight an issue was when I started knitting for myself, and wanting to knit sweaters. Even though a lot of great patterns come in my size, buying enough yarn to make these largest sizes can get expensive, even if I go the more economical route.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to knit a sweater for myself and not have to buy more than 10 balls of yarn?!?

So, I've decided to put myself back on Weight Watchers, I've still got all of the points calculators and work books from when I last did it a few years ago, but didn't stick to it for too long. I've joined the weight watchers group on ravelry. My goal is to knit this top (ravelry link) twice, and I've ordered some knitpicks yarn in two colours.

The top two sizes are for a 48" bust and a 52" bust, and it looks like it's a negative ease top... so I want to fit in the 52" bust size comfortably. If I can get myself down to a 50" bust or so, that would be great. That's my goal for August.

DH wants to lose a little too, although he really doesn't need to lose a lot, but he's going to do WW with me for a bit. :) We'll officially start on Monday, which will give us plenty of time to lose the weight we want to for August!

I'll be (hopefully) blogging and knitting to help me keep on track with this diet. It'll motivate me to stay on track, get my projects done, and blog on a more regular basis!

Prizes for those who've signed up for my yarn swap!

Alright, I've decided to join the bandwagon in rewarding some of the people who've signed up for my first organized swap with some prizes. I initially decided to do this via email rather than blogging it to make sure that it gets read, but then I changed my mind and thought I'd post it here too!!

There is actually a chance to win 2 - yes, two! - prizes!

Here's the deal: The FIRST person to RECEIVE their yarn swap package in the mail, please email me at purplespirit (at) hotmail (dot) com letting me know the name and address of the person who's sent it to you, as well as (if you can read it) the postmarked date on the package. If the date is ON or BEFORE June 30th, as stipulated in the swap on the blog when packages ought to have been mailed out, then the person who has sent it to you will win a knitting-related prize of some sort. (It's not a million dollars or anything, but I'll try to keep it a decent enough little prize nonetheless.)

Second prize: once everyone has received their packages, even if it's postmarked after the 30th, please notify me then as well (your sender's name + address). I'll do a random draw and send a little gift for that person too, but that draw won't be done until I know for sure that ALL swap packages have been received.

Oh, and by the way, I won't do the draw either until everyone has posted on their blogs that they've received and have thanked their swaps too, so be sure to include YOUR blog info, for me to double check! It'll ensure your name in the draw as well.

As I wrote recently, all packages SHOULD HAVE been mailed/postmarked by last saturday, but for those of you whom are still straggling, please make it a point to have your boxes mailed BY THE END OF THIS WEEK please! There are people relying on you to have sent out your stuff! (and yes, I said please twice, I want you to sense my urgency!)

Please email me with any questions or concerns asap! Thanks again, you guys, for participating! This was a lot of fun!

Be sure to check back at my blog during the summer - due to the success of this swap, I'll be organizing another swap to my fellow knitters, crocheters, and bloggers!