Finished just Under the Wire

There's always lots to do just before a show - it seems that almost everything happens at once~despite hours of careful planning.
Every year I try to make new samples for our booth displays that show off the yarns. I work on these from October until June it seems :-) (and then start all over for the next year !)
For this year, I made a gazillion socks, a bamboo jacket, my magic sweater (from handspun Chasing Rainbows merino bombyx) a silk belt and now finally.... a Melody summer top:

This little lovely (and I do mean little... but we'll get to that in a minute) was knit from Southwest Trading's Melody yarn. It's a railroad-type yarn. Softer than many of its competitors with about 4 times the yardage in a ball - this is a fun novelty item. If you like it, hop on over and grab some (we were just informed by the wholesaler that it is being discontinued)

I used a pattern from Plymouth Yarn called "Drifters Shell" ~ knit up on size 6 and 7 needles. It took about 1 1/2 balls of Melody yarn... and miles and miles of stockingette stitch. The BEST news of all, is that I finished it just before this weekend's upcoming fiber fair. wooppieeeeeeee

Now to the "little" part - I made up the woman's medium size. I knit both the front and back at once. I thought I was clever, I giggled at my wise self... (that will teach me ! hah) Anyway, I was careful to count my stitches every few rows (since it's easy to add a stitch with this yarn) My measurements matched the pattern exactly...... BUT... the crucial trying-it-on moment came... gasp.... it was skin tight ! yee-gaadds (do people still say that?) It was tight enough that it might fit a small child of 11. Be forewarned... if you want it to 'drape' like the lovely model in the picture on the pattern, knit it at least 2 sizes bigger... sigh... it'll make a great booth display, and then maybe a gift for the young daughter of another blogger I know whose wee princess loves pink and purple (grins) but then again, she might not like it... we shall see!

So now, without further ado, we pack and load for our upcoming show. Anyone within driving distance of Gig Harbor Washington, please pop in and say hi. We'll be spending thursday-sunday at the Northwest Regional Spinners Association annual conference. It's long hours (we're there from around 8:30 am to 10 pm) There are classes, a formal dinner, fashion shows and open spin-ins on saturday. Come on down! (it's at UPS - no, not the men in brown, but the college)

The wizard has left the building.
See you next week !