Haruni and Fashion

About a week or so ago, I finished my Haruni!

I loved the way this came out, though I’m not in love with the pattern itself. I believe I discussed this before, but the “choose your own adventure” approach to knitting is both liberating and frustrating. However, I do greatly appreciate that Emily Ross provided a hint as to how to knit this using any amount of yarn. My skein of Fresh from the Cauldron MCN Fingering only had about 365 yards, and I used 95% of the skein to get a good sized shawlette.

And as much as I love the little crocheted loops on the edge of the shawlette, blocking out this shawl was such a headache. I have to admit my part in that headache, as I brilliantly thought to block it out before I went to work on Friday morning. Anyone with sense in their head knows that half an hour before you have to leave for work is not the time to start trying to block a shawl. As I have never claimed to be one of those folk, you can see where this is going. I also didn’t have enough pins to do all of the shawl at one time. Nonetheless, it turned out well and the lace portions really opened up and I was able to block and define all of those bloody crochet loops.

In other crafty news, last night was the grand opening of Mama Said Sew, Fort Collins newest fabric supply store.

The store has been open for a couple of weeks, and I stopped in last weekend while I was cycling about Old Town, but for their celebration, they put on a fashion show. A few local designers were featured, having used fabrics that seem to all be available at the show, and everything they showed was absolutely amazing. There was a green halter dress that is going to haunt my dreams for a while. I really need to get better at sewing.

Angela, the owner, already has an amazing selection of fabrics, including Amy Butler and Michael Miller, and when I spoke with her last Sunday, she mentioned that what she had in stock was only 25% of what she hoped to have total.

My credit card may have chosen that moment to fake a heart attack. It revived itself long enough to allow me to buy some fabric to make a skirt, I just have to actually make the thing now.

The store is amazing, Angela and her staff are wonderfully sweet and helpful (I’ve only met Susan, who also showcased some designs last night, but I’m making assumptions about the rest based on my experiences so far), and hopefully soon they’re going to have sewing classes, which I desperately need. If you happen to find yourself in Fort Collins and need some snazzy fabric or sweet ribbons (they had this awesome knitting-instruction ribbon; I haven’t bought any yet, but I will soon), you should definitely check them out.