salut!

for my inaugural post, i present knitty's mon petit chou hipsters. i did (not?) enjoy making these! i am in love with the design, it is truly elegant. i strongly recommend kate gilbert's chart. following the instructions line-by-line made me want to stab my eyes out with my knitting needles, and i normally prefer to do it that way. this pattern gave me a new appreciation for charts; this is my first knitted lace piece, though.



the picot edging is so beautiful, as is the lace. i intend to start logging my hours on projects; this one i estimate that i spent about 30 hours knitting, most of which was spent frogging... ehem... i mean, admiring the design of everything. it truly is clever.

i used the recommended yarn and needle sizes, though i must admit that i did my gauge swatch with the wrong size needles. however, i did it with the yarn relaxed (it is elasticized), and i figured that by having the tight tension for which the pattern called, i would be okay. i also knit a size smaller than what is suggested for my size. i knew to do this because i had to start over so many times.

what is so nice about these hipsters is that i really get the sense that they can be made to fit anyone. just add/subtract repeats as necessary, and the pattern does give good instructions for adjusting how high they rise, and what to do to get the perfect fit.

the laces finish it off so well, and combined with the stretchiness of lace and the yarn itself, these are some comfy undies. really. i wouldn't wear them under any thin fabric, because even after washing, they are pretty bumpy. under jeans, thick corduroys, or a loose skirt i think they'll be fine. i haven't truly test-driven them yet because i've been wanting to show them off to all of my friends without actually pulling my skirt up or dropping my pants.

i made them for burning man, so i could have a little something to wear if i don't feel like being completely sky-clad.


i wasn't going to have an action shot, but the masses in the livejournal knitting community kept asking for one, and after taking many different shots, this was one that i don't mind sharing. you know how sometimes stuffing shows through a stuffed toy when a picture is taken of it? without divulging way too much information, i will just say that there will be no frontal photos shown of this item.

i already have started another pair, much smaller, for my roommate emily. i am making hers in a variegated colorway, so this should be interesting.

there will probably be a frenzy of posting over the next several weeks because, you know, i just started this thing, so i have a lot to show you! i tend to free-form crochet, and use patterns to knit, but i'm branching out. i will eventually have patterns of my own creation available, but i'm keeping what they are a secret for right now, because i'm going to submit them to different sites first. i guess this entry is not too much by way of introduction, but i'll get to that sometime very soon. i also will be adding a lot more content in the links, because there are so many wonderful resources out there!