Saturday, May 25, 2013

Inspiration Saturday: Summer marked in threes

It may be soaking wet outside, but I still think it's summer time.

It's been four years since I had a 'real' summer.  It's not fair, really, after spending the first twenty-two years of life with three whole months off a year, to fling unsuspecting students into a real world where three weeks off at a time would be a minor miracle.  Now all that comes with the scary realization that May is nearly over is the relief of knowing that school traffic will disappear, shortening my morning commute by at least ten minutes, and, to complete the trilogy, the three-day weekend of Memorial Day.

I am so glad we've finally passed through the desert of corporate holidays that is January through May. There are no three-day weekends at my company, unless you take your own time off, before this one.  Now at least I can look forward to the 4th of July, and then Labor Day.  A summer slate of days off.

Another sign of summer: yesterday another batch of Sarah Lawrence College seniors turned into alumni.  I didn't see the commencement live, but I'm tempted to watch Vera Wang's speech.  I have no idea what I would say to a tentful of students, but I think I'm pretty safe from being asked to do such a thing until I do something a little more impressive.

Anyway, summer inspiration.  I'm still just knitting my cardigan, which isn't really seasonal unless you consider that I wear long sleeves every day to work, rain or shine.  But I am thinking about warmer weather knits, like my Up for Anything Cami I've already showed you.  Once that's done, I'd like to tackle a few more.  These are two I already have in my favorites:

Sunflowers Cami by Heather Dixon
Photo credit: Army of Knitters
This is a seamless knit from the cabled straps down, I just think it looks so pretty.

Isabella Camisole by Tara Miller
Photo credit: Tara Miller
I just find the construction of this fascinating, and I like the idea of knitting the 'cups', but replacing the body of the top with some pretty flowing fabric.  Plus, this is a free pattern, even better!

Going with my theme of being inspired by things I already have, I have a few yarns that are more summer-appropriate than merino and alpaca (much as I love those).  I bought this Dizzy Lettuce Sheen in the last Crawl:


It's 100% bamboo, which I like for its shine and drape.  I tend not to be as much of a fan of cotton, but maybe I just haven't tried the right one yet.  I'm not sure what this skein is going to be yet.  It makes me think of the Chrysler Building, though, so I'd like to reference that somehow.

How about you?  What does summer make you want to knit?  Does it even feel like summer with you yet, what makes you realize the season is here?

And for more inspiration, check out Alicia at Woolen Diversions:


2 comments:

  1. I like that first cami... not as much the second one. I think I would like it more if the boobs were a solid color. As it is now, it's got a bit of a gladiator/Xena warrior princess feel going on... or maybe that's just me, haha. Fabric would be interesting to incorporate, though!

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    1. I was thinking a solid color for the second cami as well. Mostly I was looking for a top with a defined empire waist so the top could be fitted while the fabric be more flowy.

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