no idle hands.
i can never, ever keep still. always doing, dabbling with this, that.
***
for starters, i decorated the front and back cover of my sketchbook/croquisbook:
***
i’m taking a sweater design class at downtown yarns, a local yarn shop. i kind of know what i’m doing in that arena, but my knitting and crochet design legs are still wobbly, so i figured i’d take a class. it gives me something to do in this limbo period i find myself in of late. i like taking classes. if i could, i’d be a perpetual student. okay, maybe not… 
anyhow…here’s my preliminary sketch:
the sweater i’ve designed, which i’ve nicknamed “the age of acid empires” sweater (due to it’s acid-green color and shape), is the one on the far left in this sketch (with the front and back views). it’s a tent-shaped, empire-waist affair, with a lace panel down center front. it’s also got a loose low neck and small, short sleeves which shall also be a little on the loose side. i’m thinking floaty and comfortable. something worn over a brightly colored cotton camisole, whose printed fabric can peep out of the yarn-over lace holes in front and back.
i made some swatches, one with the leaf motif lace pattern i plan to put up the center front of the sweater:
i had originally intended for the sweater to be white. unfortunately, the white was sold out when i went back to get more, so i ended up with a quite lovely acid-green. the yarn is blue sky yarn’s 100% cotton worsted.
i’m a little more than halfway through the back of the sweater. i had to make some increases on the back as i was approaching the armholes, and the class instructor suggested doing them in a different manner (with one increase in from the edge, and others 14 stitches in), but i thought paired yarn-over increases looked more interesting and achieved the same end, while sort of echoing all the lace and yarn-overs that i intend to have in the front of the sweater.
***
and lastly:
i’ve decided to test my mettle as a newly-minted “designer” and have given myself the task of making a small capsule collection based on my own measurements, using almost all recycled (read: vintage, thrifted fabrics) from my own collection. in the end, each piece will be something that i can actually wear, and will be representative of what my design sense is all about. which is, in a nutshell, “cute”. 
above are some of the fabrics i am intending to use.
July 25 2006 | Posted in creative dabblings.
July 25 2006 at 12:57 pm
madam0wlOoo, eye candy during my lunch hour! It is all lovely. For my reading today during my library shift I snagged the Aug/Sept of Threads off of the shelf… there is a write-up on pintucks & patchwork although I get the impression their target market it a bit older and not as cute as say Adorn type target market.
July 25 2006 at 1:00 pm
AnnikaI love the sweater. Can’t wait to see it done. Will you be offering the pattern for sale?
July 25 2006 at 1:06 pm
triciaannika: i am not sure if i’ll be offering the pattern for sale, but probably not. i don’t really know anything about pattern vetting/sizing, and as it stands, this model only fits me and my idiosycracies, which wouldn’t work for most other folks!
maybe down the road, but not this sweater, probably…i have too much to learn before i let loose complicated patterns on the world!
July 25 2006 at 1:59 pm
valerietricia i cannot wait for the day that you make your sweaters (and other lovelies) available to the rest of us! if ever you feel like knitting one for someone else and would like to take part in a trade (eh???), just drop me a line!
July 25 2006 at 4:54 pm
DeborahI LOVE the sketches.I nly dream of having my chicken scratched drawings look like those,that would surely motivate me to actually make the item wouldnt it?!
July 25 2006 at 7:42 pm
AndreaI can’t wait to see your collection! The swatches you’ve picked are really cute.
July 25 2006 at 8:17 pm
Joi (stereoette)Hi! I’m new to your blog… found it through Danielle at Final Fashion! I’m loving it so far though… I’ll be a faithful reader!
July 29 2006 at 2:18 am
jill danyellecan’t wait to see the recycled collection!! do you mind if I post on it when you are done?
July 29 2006 at 9:22 am
triciajill: you can certainly post on it when i’m done. it may be a little while, with the move and whatnot, but i’ll keep you posted on the progress.
i’m planning on giving myself several months to ponder it and get it together. it will be a spring collection. if some of the pieces work out, who knows? maybe i’ll do a small one of a kind run in a few other standard-ish sizes… it all remains to be seen. just in the beginning stages now.
September 11 2006 at 2:33 pm
bits and bobbins » archives » bits and bobs…[...] -some wool/mohair crocheted bonnets for the fall (i might sell them, if anyone is interested in buying anything from me anymore!) -a giant mutli-colored stole/scarf made from noro’s “blossom” -a small raglan swing coat made from a rainbow palette of leftover bits of chunky wool/mohair yarn -a granny square afghan for a baby arriving later this year, in white and canary yellow -that completely self-designed acid green sweater i posted about back in july, which i am waiting to put together until after i take a class at artfibers next weekend about sweater finishing (i can’t wait! nicely finished knitwear beats the pants off nicely knitted but crappily constructed knitwear any day!) [...]
October 23 2006 at 11:33 pm
bits and bobbins » archives » age of acid empires sweaterdress (finally finished!)[...] so, i finally finished the age of empires sweaterdress i started literally ages ago, back in july, when we were still living in brooklyn. i blogged about it here, actually. to be honest, i actually finished it about a month ago, but it wasn’t until today that i got around to taking a photo of it. it still needs to be blocked. i’m a bad girl. *grins and sighs sheepishly* [...]