I always do end up just squeezing these in at the end of the month, despite good intentions of having this up earlier this month. Ah well, here it is- the final installment.

August's Neutrals

This is the final sari I wore during our marriage ceremony. The matching blouse piece is the lying on top. The embroidery work is some of my favorite, sprinkled with little multi-colored jewels here and there.

The Boy's outfit

Silk so incredibly fine it wrinkles if you graze it, let alone goes through international travel in a stuffed suitcase.
It's a long kurta like top and dhoti. These were worn for the end of the ceremony as well (the rest of the ceremony he wore a western suit).

Detail close up
You may notice the discoloration on these in places, that would be due to the pounds of turmeric stained rice that you dump over each other as part of the ceremony. Great fun, though not so good for light colored garments unfortunately.

I've really enjoyed Project Spectrum and the chance to share these saris. Thank you again to Lolly for such a great idea and project! May we all be more aware of the hues around us.

See all Project Spectrum entries here.

Posted by Jen at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

I realize I'm squeezing this in on the very last day but of all the many colored saris I possess, the one shade I don't have is purple. Just the purple border and accents on this pink one from March is the closest thing. Although coincidently, next month will be the grand finale for Sari Style. My final and finest wedding sari is conviently a "neutral color" for August. In addition, I have the Boy's traditional outfit- so a little extra something as well.


So I was thinking what more can one do with these besides gazing at them, specifically in a craftier vein. Obviously, the sari's I've been sharing have tremendous sentimental value and I wouldn't dream of cutting them up but there our so many beautiful saris to be had for a pittance for that very purpose.



You can make some great looking pillow covers like these. Or fashion a whole bed set- like this one on Craftster

Even simpler, draping saris as curtains is very effective- like here.

They also make really neat looking fabrics for remaking into western-style clothing. If you possess more sewing talent than I, you can do this yourself or check out this really cool site. Who's sari now? I particularly love this Gypsy Skirt.

So why not go out and find your local asian market and browse through all the textiles? This site - www.eknazar.com has tons of local listings for different areas. In Dallas, there are over 60 apparel yellow page listings. Of course, there's also always eBay, which has lots of inexpensive options too.

With all this sari talk, that of course brings me to the lovely recycled sari yarn.



I was lucky enough to procure this from Cookie's stash sale after much coveting of said yarn. I love this yarn. I love the idea behind it, the ingenuity and good cause, love the randomness and vivid colors. If you haven't seen this yarn in person yet I encourage you to pick up a skein- it's way cooler looking than the photos. I've had to restrain myself with my self-imposed binds of project limiting on this. I have bag idea in a starburst pattern all worked out in my head and rearin' to go.

In another, somewhat, related topic- I finally got to recoloring my henna inspired bleach design shoes.



They're better, at least close enough for me to be happy. Fabric paint pens are what I first checked out but they all seemed to be in really vivid reds that I was wary I wouldn't be able to blend to a more subtler shade. Next I compared some different fabric dyes and ended up with good ol' RIT dye as the most versatile. I just mixed up a little bit and painted it on with a regular paintbrush until it reached the closet shade I could get. Viola!

ETA: I forgot that I uploaded a scan of my dorky doodles for these bleach shoes for anyone who's intrested in making a pair. What I ended up doing is a more simplified version then the sketches but it could serve as a jumping off point. Click the image for the full-size version.

Posted by Jen at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Well if my camera didn't obliterate purple this would be much less blue looking anyway.

My first Noro experience and I must say it's lived up to everything others have said. This is the Silk Garden in the #8 colorway, lots of purples with blues and fucia. It really is addictive. Each color section falls almost perfectly in one pattern repeat, so I keep thinking, "Ok one more repeat to see what the next color is like" and it keeps going and going from there. I played with some different stitches and settled on this fairly simple diagonal spanish lace pattern with a slipped stitch diagonal ribbing for the edging. The strong lines of the SSK's and YO's hold up to the complexities of the yarn well I think. A shot with it in the light shows the openness a bit more here, albeit unblocked.
Now I'll just go back to petting the pretty colors...

Posted by Jen at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

What do you mean it's the last day of June? This month swept by so fast I'm still spinning in it's wake. Mostly due to the vacation, so I can't complain but I'm squeaking in Project Spectrum at the very end again. So here is this month's Sari Style in Blue - one of my favorites.

Blue June

This first sari is probably my favorite, or very close to it. The hand embroidery and embellishment is just amazing. Most of it is done with zari thread, which is actually spun gold or silver. This adds a surprising amount of weight and makes the georgette fabric drape beautifully.

I've had this shot on here before but it's one of my favorites of the wedding. This was taken during the large day-before ceremonies called Nalugu, which is a blessing for each the bride and groom. Usually this is done at the respective homes of each family but in our case we had one big one, first Mr. PieKnits then me. :)

And the modeling shot

This sari was also worn for more pre-wedding ceremonies in the home. In addition to the embroidery, it uses a really neat technique of resist dying called Bandhni. Tiny knots are made on the cloth in various designs creating a resist for the dye.

This last photo isn't a sari obviously but I love the blues so much I included it. It's another traditional type of outfit called a Salwar Kameez. I got this shopping in India with my MIL and SIL. Just the top (Kameez) part is shown, a long tunic like shirt that goes to the knees and has side slits. It is worn with loose pants underneath (Salwar) and a coordinating scarf (dupatta or chuni in Telugu).

Knitting Content

There is actual knitting going on too. I had been playing with several mini scarf ideas to use up the rest of the blue Blue Sky Alpaca Hand Dye leftover from the Newsboy cap. Alas, nothing was meant to be and have nothing blue to show after much ripping.
I have however, started a new hat from this lovely Beaufort pattern by Knititude. I'm using Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran Cotton in green. Yes I know, another green- I can't help it. Progress shots to be up soon along with an Amazing Lace entry.

Posted by Jen at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Almost didn't make this one for May's Project Spectrum Sari Style- been a crazy month! This sari however is one of my favorites. I love the detail and embroidery work. This was the sari I wore for the first part of my wedding. My MIL did a fabulous job of finding even the perfectly matching bangles. The body section is a goldish/green and the border and end piece that hangs down your back (pallu) is a more solid green with extra embellishments. The colors have beautiful subtle changes in the light. The choli (blouse piece) is also pictured.




Right before the ceremony all dolled up. You really feel like a princess in an Indian wedding. :)

Posted by Jen at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

A big Thank You to everyone who's left such awesome comments about the new site! It is always cool of course to see that there are people actually reading your blog. And not just people, Aejaz is a real fan of the new site too!

Ok actually, he's just become fascinated with the on-screen mouse pointer. Excuse the crappily lit photo, but just had to snap this after he was nodding his head along with the mouse and trying to bite at the screen. I think he believes it's a very illusive bug.
Reminder that you can still enter the contest for some lovely Inca Alpaca up until midnight tonight!

Project Spectrum Green
So even I'm getting a little tired of seeing photos of this but it fits for May's green so nicely. The celtic cable purse, which I am now dubbing 'Aileen', with most of the double knit section complete.

I'm liking the double knit. It's one of those things while relatively simple to do you feel pretty clever once you get it going. The downside being since you're knitting both sides as once, the visual progress isn't so much. I did however switch to a two-handed method which is going much quicker after getting the hang of it one-handed. I plan to explain both methods in the pattern.

That's it for now. Contest winner announced tomorrow!

Posted by Jen at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Looky what I got from my spectacular Project Spectrum Postcard Swap Pal!!


What a sweet surprise package! Not just a beautiful hand stamped card, she wrote a lovely note and included a very nice poem along with cute cute socks(!) and a package marigold seeds. I have the perfect little window pot for them (since my curry leaf plant didn't survive the 2 week out of country drought). Now I can look forward to more yellow and orange for months to come!
A big thank you to my pal Adelle of Hankering for Yarn! Go check out her site- she writes for b5 Media and has all kinds of interesting knitterly and crochet things on her blog.

Posted by Jen at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

April Project Spectrum Postcard done!
Was a little behind on this but I had fun making it and am pretty happy with how it turned out. Also managed to not cause bodily injury with the exacto knife and/or rubber cement. This shouldn't be as surprising as it is considering how much use these got through college but there it is.


A shiny happy spring flower in strips of yellow and paper hole punches of orange. Zoomed version here. I think the project fit well for the overall theme of PS for noticing the colors around you. Flipping through the stack of old catalogs/magazines for this really made me focus on seeing colors, shades and textures.

Had a great weekend, besides working on crafty things also went to the Ft. Worth Arts Festival on Saturday. Things I've taken from this: looking at the artists is as interesting as looking at the art. It's kinda like that people looking like their pets phenomenon. The Boy noted how it's a bit alarming how much some blended into the displays. Second- if you should happen to have the opportunity to try a deep fried twinkie- do. It's atrociously unhealthy sounding but surprising how little you care one you're happily eating it.

Then to cap off the weekend I had a fantastic time at the local Stitch 'n Bitch. Thanks to everyone for making me feel so welcome! I will definitely be back. :)

Posted by Jen at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A little orange for you in this month's Project Spectrum- Sari Style. The first one's even modeled. :)


This photo was taken after our American wedding ceremony in Hawaii. We're at the beach house we rented for it, check out the view! I want to go back! This was before we went to India and I have since learned how to wrap the sari a bit more effectively. Oh well, photos with people are more interesting in my humble opinion.


The non-modeled sari but it's a really pretty peach color and the softest silk. This was my first sari, gifted by my now MIL. Last month's March's pinks are here too.

Posted by Jen at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Looking through all the beautiful saris I was fortunate enough to get while in India for my marriage I realized I have pretty much the whole rainbow covered. Not surprising considering the wonderful riot of colors India has to offer. I find them a great source of inspiration. So with March coming to a close, I thought I'd squeeze in the kick off of Project Spectrum- Sari Style and feature some of my saris with the corresponding months colors.

March Pinks!



The top one was worn for some the the family ceremonies surrounding the wedding. On both these silk saris the designs are woven in. I just love the intricacy.

Posted by Jen at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Cherry Love



My first completed cross stitch in about 10 years. The pattern is from the little kit I picked up for Project Spectrum. It came with a small frame and mounting board I have yet to attach to it. While working on this I was happy to find everything pretty much came back to me. Not that it was very much in the difficulty department but I enjoyed doing something a little different. I'm thinking it might be keeping me company in my cubicle once it's mounted.

Knitting projects
After a few rippings and recalculations I've made some more progress on the Lace Leaf. 'Fairly confident' is what I'd have to say I am currently feeling about all further calculations being accurate.

The yarn I dyed is holding up to repeated swatching and ripping cycles as I work out the last of my celtic cable charts. Hoping to have something photo worthy here soon, I'm really pleased with the way they're coming out. The design sketches for them are a purse with a worked-in reinforced bottom that I'm eager to test out.

Posted by Jen at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My lovely notecard I just received for the Project Spectrum Postcard Swap. Thanks to Zarah at Beauty School Dropout for such a sweet card! I am definitely signing up for next month too. Who doesn't love getting (real) mail?

Also, I was photographing in Aejaz's "spot", so he decided to join the photo shoot too (again).

Posted by Jen at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

With the beginning of March comes the Project Spectrum kick off! Stay tuned for things of a Red and Pink nature. I'm also participating in the Postcard Swap and looking forward to playing with some print materials again.

ETA: I've put up a page on postcard specs/regulations to help out anyone participating in the swap. Click on the image or here to go to the page with full size template and other details.



Additionally, I've signed up for the Norwegian Knits-Along over at yummyyarn. It's great watching so many interesting patterns emerge. My wee little project quails in the face of so many impressive sweaters.

And also joining the gang over on the side bar is What's your skein? Great inspiration for using up those stray balls of yarn.

Posted by Jen at 05:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)