Earlier this week, I finished New Girl. I don’t have proper photos yet, so that post will have to wait, but it is finished, and I am very excited to wear it.
Sneak peek.
Part of what I liked so much about New Girl was that I was knitting it along with Cassy. It wasn’t a formal KAL, but we both liked the pattern and when I said I was planning to knit it she decided to cast on too. Without any real plans of itinerary, we knit kept pretty good pace and I’m pretty sure she’s finished (or just about finished) now too. It was great! I’d never knit a skirt before, so it was fun to talk with back and forth as we progressed — talking over colours, fit, style, etc.
Because of my work hours, I’ve never been able to really be part of a knit night. There is an amazing knitting community in Toronto, but I’m kind of on the edge of it — I blog/do web things for my LYS, but don’t really get a chance to meet the regulars, for example. I really like my job, so I’m mostly okay with the way it shapes my social time, but sometimes I get a little pang when there’s a great event or author coming to town and I know I won’t make it.
All of which is to say that that’s one of the reasons blogging is so much fun. It’s such a great way to interact with all of you — people who share an interest in making (whether knitting, sewing, or whatever). Knitting New Girl alongside Cassy was fun because it was communal. I would have knit the skirt anyway, but I really enjoyed being able to talk about it with someone besides L (who will listen, but can’t make a lot of suggestions). I also think knitting together motivated me to keep going. For a project I thought would be relatively quick, this felt like it took a while, and I might have been tempted to put it down in favour of something else if I didn’t know she was knitting it too.
Considering Grace was shoved in a bag for nearly a year, it doesn’t look so bad.
So, it was perfect timing when Andrea pinged me on Instagram earlier this week. She is knitting Grace, and ages ago I mentioned that if she let me know when she separated the arms, I’d pick up my Grace and knit along with her. It took me a few days (I wanted all my ends woven in and the waistband done before I moved on from New Girl) but last night I picked up Grace, worked out where I was in the pattern, and started up again. It’s a casual knitting-at-the-same-time kind of thing, with no plans or deadlines, but if my last FO is any indication, knitting with Andrea may just mean Grace gets finished sooner rather than later.
Pans & Needles 
You do beautiful work!!!
Thank you so much!
Wow, it looks great! I’ve been eyeing that pattern for a little while now… I might just have to give it a go myself!
I love that we can knit along virtually with so many wonderful peeps. Can’t wait to see your lovely skirt. Knowing you, it will be beautiful!
Thank you! That is such a lovely thing to say 🙂
Every time I see “New Girl”, the New Girl TV show theme song plays in my head. Perhaps it is fitting that the skirt has a theme song to go along with it.
And I’m super duper excited that you are working on Grace again. Once you have finished, we can be Grace buddies! I’ve been wearing mine quite a bit recently, and it is so comfy.
I can’t wait to be Grace buddies! Now that I’m back to knitting on it, I don’t know what I was thinking waiting so long to pick it up again.
I’ve only seen New Girl (the show) a couple of times, but maybe I should go watch the intro. I always end up with My Girl stuck in my head when I’m typing the name, so I guess either way this is a skirt with its own theme song.
Your skirt is so beautiful! I really enjoyed our little KAL too. I too love the community feeling that blogging and interacting with other bloggers brings. I am finished with the skirt, as of this morning at 3 am when I finished weaving in ends because I couldn’t sleep. Technically, I should still block it, so I will probably steam it tomorrow and see if that’s enough for now. Looking at yours, I wish I had done less increases after the band, because I like the way yours seems to be full, but still somewhat sleek. Hooray for knitalongs! Thanks so much for doing this one with me. 🙂
I can’t wait to see yours! I don’t think the extra fullness will be bad (it kind of hides the pockets, for example).
I kept trying it on with different tops yesterday, and I’m not so sure I love it… I’m not quite sure how to style it. It’s a bit thicker than I expected, especially having done all of the increases, so the waistband sticks out a bit. I will post finished pics sometime this week, maybe with a couple of different tops. My original styling idea made me look like a crazy person, so I need to revise a bit.
Hmm. Have you tried it with a belt? I have to say that I didn’t love mine until then. I also pushed the fabric around to make the pleats/extra fabric sit where I wanted it. I’m wearing mine to work today with very different colours than in my FO shots, and I think it still works, but it is definitely something I knew I needed to wear immediately or it was destined to be something I thought about a lot but always changed out of at the last minute.
I love the skirt! Really want to knit it as well now 🙂
So glad you picked up your Grace! I’ve had out of town visitors over the last few days and have found it the perfect project for social knitting. I know you have a challenging work schedule, but maybe we can figure out a way to get together and knit along IRL.
Definitely! I’m going to email you so we can make a plan 🙂
I think those are the KALs I like the best. Being able to talk to a fellow knitter and share thoughts, even if it’s just on line. I’m similar to you – I can’t get to many events at all, and therefore really value the community on my blog too. Thank you so much for your comments! Your skirt looks awesome!!
Thank you! And I totally agree. I love how blogging creates communities you might not otherwise find, and it’s endlessly inspiring to see what other people are working on and offer/receive feedback.