Knitting and the Past

Or Knitting IN the Past? You decide!

Yesterday, I had an interview for a farmer/historical interpreter position at this historic farm outside of DC. I'm super excited about it... it seems like all of my favorite interests and hobbies into one job, and then PAYS ME to do it. Really. Effing. Exciting.

It did get me thinking though: If I actually get this job, I'm going to have to cover the tattoo on my forearm. You know what that means?

KNITTING PROJECT!!

I found a pattern on Ravelry for 18th century mitts (ie fingerless gloves), which were apparently very popular back in the day. They kept your hands warm in the winter, and protected from the sun in the summer. They also cover tattoos nicely. And so, the knitting began!

The pattern is really easy, and I modified it a bit, but not too much.

 

Kind of looks like some sort of torturous medical device at this point.

 There's a really neat "seam" detail on the outside edge.

 The whole arm

 Hand detail

 Inside out gives you a good view of all of the shaping in the forearm that makes it fit nicely.

 Palm side

 And finally, the thumb side!

I really like them, they fit nicely, and they should keep my hands toasty (and tattoo covered) nicely. It definitely is going to take another skein to finish the second one, so I stopped by Michael's today! For some reason, this one took me like 6 days to finish. Since I wrote down what I did on the first one, and I'm in the groove, the second one might not take is long!

So, my deal with the universe is that I will actually finish the second one, and so will get the job! Wish me luck!

New Knitting Goods

Well, it's been a busy weekend, folks! I spent 3 days in Bowling Green, in western Kentucky, finally selling my roosters! Hurray! I love roosters, but I sure won't miss being woken up at 5 am.

While I was there, my friend, Jordan, gifted me a set of Denise interchangeable needles, which had previously been given to her. She didn't like working with them, but I am *thrilled*.

My excitement knows no bounds.

I did decide that its 1980's cover needed some updating.

Mmm, taupe marble!

So, if I lived in a country where it was legal to marry and inanimate object, I would certainly marry Mod-Podge. It has never let me down. I had a cool vintage-y looking piece of fabric laying around that actually matched the inside of the case (which is kind of beige), so I went to town!

Getting glued!

I put down a pretty good layer of Mod-Podge on the surface, smoothed the fabric over it, and then did a coat on the outside. I trimmed the fabric to fit, and did one last coat on the edges to keep it from fraying.

And here it is all dry! And I've already got a project cast on!



And here you can see that it doesn't entirely clash! YAAAY!!

Really not bad for 30 minutes of effort.

But of course, I couldn't stop there! I had a little tin that I had gotten from work (it used to hold staples) that I wanted to use as a new notions case. Soo...

I made it match too.

It has magnetic tape in the lid to hold all of my yarn needles. All of my fancy stitch markers are hooked on to my cable needle, so I can stop losing them. Even my x-acto fits when I take the blade off, so not razor vs finger accidents!

Hopefully I'll be able to stop myself from Mod-Podging EVERYTHING THAT MOVES.

Watch out ;-)