FO: Estela, Mi Amor

Here she is...me encanta a Estela.

Estela Dress
Pattern: Estela, from Debbie Bliss Prima
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Prima, 13.5 balls in Emerald
Needles: US 5 and 6 circs
Modifications: Eliminated side vents, shortened torso after sleeve shaping.

Apologies for the overexposed photo, but even after learning how to deal with the timer, I am still at a loss as to how to take a good self-portrait without a lot of luck on my side. I also apologize for the cleavage...I guess I just have to buy a slip that rises a little higher in the front.

First off, I needed more yarn than the pattern called for. I made the 36" bust size, which calls for 13 balls but I needed to go into a 14th. I think this is due to the fact that the yarn had many knots in it, which brought out my anal-retentive side and forced me to abandon long lengths of yarn to the side seams.

Aside from the knotty issues, this is really beautiful yarn. I don't mind knots so much as long as the yarn makes up for it and this stuff sure does. It's got a beautiful sheen (from the 80% bamboo) and great squeezability (from the 20% wool). It snags if you're not careful, so be extra cautious if you wear jewelry on your hands (my ring caught some of the plies a few times). Steam blocking the dress made the stitches bloom and the fabric gain extra drape.

I eliminated the side vents b/c I thought it would be too swingy and I'm glad I did. I think the dress would fly all over the place if I'd made it as written. I also shortened the torso a teeny bit after the horizontal garter stripes. I waited until the armhole shaping was complete and then did a few less "straight" rows than the pattern specified.

All in all, it was a terribly satisfying knit. The fishbone lace panels are super easy and broke up the endless monotony of stockinette. My only complaint is that despite being a mostly bamboo yarn, this is NOT a dress for the heat o' summer. It should serve when the weather only reaches about 75 degrees, but not a single degree hotter. I plan to wear it as a layering piece when the weather transitions in the spring and autumn.

And would you look at that...all this FO'ing got me to start up with Norah Gaughan's cabled coat again. But new knits are still out there, calling to meeeeeee.

Un vestido azul para el verano

I confess. I gave up on the Roped Shell. I realized at a certain point that the project was going to be of the slogging variety. You know, I could finish it if I really really made myself, but my knitting time of late has been limited and I can't bear to spend that valuable knitting time making something that I might enjoy wearing but is not pleasing to, you know, knit, actually.

I just watched "Painting with Words," a half-hour David McCullough interview on HBO. He is so eloquent and earnest that I found myself looking up his speeches and lectures. At Boston College's commencement this spring, he gave a speech in which he implored the graduating class:

"And please, please, do what you can to cure the verbal virus that seems increasingly rampant among your generation. I’m talking about the relentless, wearisome use of the words, “like,” and “you know,” and “awesome,” and “actually.” Listen to yourselves as you speak.

Just imagine if in his inaugural address John F. Kennedy had said, “Ask not what your country can, you know, do for you, but what you can, like, do for your country actually.”"

Ahem. Point taken, Mr. McCullough.

Moving on, I knew I needed some other type of soothing summer knitting that was interesting enough to keep me from poking my eyes out with the needles but easy enough that I could work on it with only half my brain present.

Enter Debbie Bliss's Estela:

One of my Spanish professors in college was this crazy language genius. She had been born in Iran, spoke Farsi and Arabic since childhood, went to school in Paris and then Madrid, and immigrated to the U.S. She was fluent in five languages right there. And then she started taking Mandarin Chinese courses.

I only mention her because she used to say that of all the Spanish cities, "Me encanta a Barcelona." I know "me encanta" is a very common Spanish expression, but for me, it is always tied up with the way she said it. "Me encanta" seemed to denote something alluring and positively delightful.

And that is the only way I can explain my reaction to Estela. Me encanta a Estela.

But not without modifications. I couldn't imagine donning a "waistcoat," so I eliminated the slits on the sides. I'm debating about whether to keep the full button bands for the front. I was thinking I could perhaps just make it solid with a placket at the bust, but I'm pleasantly making headway with the back, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there.