Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Wildcard

Just for fun!  I know it's way after the end of the knit-along, but as I am just about finished with this particular sweater (finally!) and it fit with the wildcard topic, I decided to use it as a jumping-off point.

Wildcard – Embellish the story

Embellishments come in all types and forms. Some are more than purely decorative and form a practical function – pretty buttons are as much part of holding a garment together as mere decoration, and some are just there to give a piece an extra ‘something’. Blog about an embellishment, be it a zipper, amigurumi eyes or applique patch which you are either saving to use or have in the past used to decorate a project with. Write about whether you are a very  minimalist kind of knitter with classic lines and timeless plain knits or whether you love all the bells and whistles or sticking sewing and otherwise attaching decoration to your pieces.

 For embellishments, I'm  rather simple.   Nicky Epstein inspires me, but at the same time can be so totally over-the-top bobble heavy that... I cringe, for lack of a better explanation of my reaction.

The embellishments that I do like are pretty classic.  I love clean lines in a sweater, with more subtle design elements than all-over color or bobbles or similar.  Within a piece (as opposed to added-on zippers or buttons or patches or whatever), I like trims at the cuffs or on facings on a cardigan; or accent elements like a well-placed cable or lace or intarsia panel.  Those are the reasons I like Nicky Epstein - her "edge" series of books is a great inspiration for edging ideas to give something more classic a more personal touch.  Norah Gaughan is a favorite designer for that reason - a lot of her designs are pretty classic pieces, but reinterpreted to give them something a little more.

For added-on embellishments, I like buttons.  Buttons can be such a tiny touch of personality to a piece, or a a show-stopping focal point.  Which is where I bring in the sweater I have almost finished:  Cumulus.  I know I started this one way back in November, and the knitting did just about all get done in the KniSweMoNo time frame, but I want to re-work the pockets in a lighter yarn (let's face it, my hips don't need any more bulk) and I also had to search for a good set of buttons for this piece.  So, a few little things preventing it from being a totally FO.  The buttons are proving quite a challenge - the color of the yarn is Pewter, but it's a soft grey color with blue and purple undertones.  In other words, an impossible color to match!  If I use a solid color, it gives the yarn a soft tinge in that color.  Black or purple buttons made it look much more purple than grey, and grey buttons just plain didn't match.  White didn't seem to work either, too stark a contrast, and I couldn't find metal buttons I liked in the right size.  Being a super bulky yarn, the pattern calls for enormous buttons!  So I needed to find 2 inch buttons that worked with a completely unusual color!  It was quite a challenge until I found a set of big enough shell buttons at the LYS in Apple Valley.  The shell buttons have so many subtle colors swirled together that they work beautifully with the crazy yarn.  Score!  Now I just need to figure out how to do those pockets, then attach the buttons, and this piece'll be all done!