Knitty in the city

{  Blocked and folded!  |  22 June 2013  }

Over the last month I've shared little glimpses my "big project"—both starting and (sigh) restarting it and now I'm so, so happy (and shocked) to say that it's (finally) done!

{  Finishing up!  |  22 June 2013  }

I used to knit / crochet / cross-stitch / sew / and wield a glue gun as a little girl, but gave it up when I hit middle school. As a career girl (woman) I work at a computer all day and (used to) spend my evenings fiddling around online. A few years ago I decided this was insane, so I made it my mission to pick up handcrafts again to give myself something productive and non-screen-requiring to do after work (and before snuggling down with my book before bed).

In the last 3.5 years I've made socks, ties, pocket squares, washcloths, dinner napkins, scarves, cowls, armwarmers / wristers, baby booties / hats and blankets. Even though I've gotten better (and made less mistakes) with each project, I was still too nervous to make actual clothes for myself. I was scared it'd be a waste of time and money, that I would hate whatever I made and feel like I "had" to wear it after all the effort it took to knit. I also worried that the monotony of a "big" project would be too boring and that it would would never fit me correctly (knitting clothes is harder than sewing, not so easy to fix mistakes or "redo").

{  In progress  |  22 June 2013  }

{  All done!  |  22 June 2013 }

Which are all just ways of saying I was scared to do a big project and felt safer in my smaller ones. But, when I saw this sweet little top (with a wee hint of risqué-ness) on Purl Bee, Purl Soho's craft blog, I forced myself to go out and buy some fancy yarn and one month later, I can finally wear my first "bespoke" piece!

It's definitely not "perfect", but it's completely wearable (and I'm probably the only one who notices that it's maybe a smidgen too long and that I should have perhaps worked in one less decrease at the hips to make it lay better). But, despite the 91F temps earlier this week, I donned this little guy with (schvitzy) pride!

 Now comes the fun part—deciding what to make next!

{ Wore it to work...despite 90F temps  |  24 June 2013 }