MY LOST YEAR

Age of Acid Empires sketches by Tricia Royal

I know I’ve mentioned before that my biggest fashion influences is Trish Royal. Her discussion of fashion & original, personal design work are at the foundation of my own personal style & philosophy about clothes and crafts.

That’s not hyperbolic at all, right?

Anyway, I remember her posting design notes from the “Age of Acid Empires” dress, way back in TWO THOUSAND AND SIX. I was so excited to see how it would turn out. Tunics were not nearly as trendy then as they are today – nobody was wearing leggings as pants yet, including Trish. She was sewing her own pants into skinny jeans because you couldn’t even buy those back then.

Age of Acid Empires dress designed, knit, and photographed by Trish Royal

The finished project has been the stuff of daydreams ever since. I remember wishing for a pattern even though my knitting skills were in no way ready for sweaters. I have often found myself looking at tunic patterns on ravelry and wishing that they were more like this one. I visited Royal’s personal ravelry page, hoping that she would update to add a link to a pattern. Never happened.

But, today I found out that the pattern was released as the “Empire Strikes Back Dress” and is included in Stitch and Bitch Superstar Knitting, which has been out since NOVEMBER 2010.

Which means that there has been EIGHTEEN ENTIRE MONTHS when I could have knit this but didn’t. A whole year of sweater wearing that I have missed out on. Seeing the pattern in print, in my hands, was like travelling through a fashion blog time warp and coming back to the present with an awesome artefact.

Spring yarn selection at Needles in the Hay, photo by Bridget

That said, I am at this very moment planning to knit my first-ever sweater for myself. Bridget ordered some really awesome acid yellow/chartreuse worsted weight yarn that is just sitting at Needles in the Hay waiting for me. I’ve been on a collision course with this sweater for six years but finally sometime soon (as soon as my bank account will allow!) this thing is gonna happen.

My feelings about this whole situation are so big that maybe the significance will be lost on you non-knitters. But I am pretty excited about my first sweater that I make for myself being one that I have been wanting to wear for years! For about as long as “knit a sweater” has been something I’ve been meaning to do… I learned most of what I know from the first Stitch & Bitch book, so it will be fun to see what Debbie Stoller is up to with this more advanced book.

I gotta go though – I’m late for my knitting group because I just needed to get this out. Late for knitting because I’m blogging about knitting! None of my pals will be surprised, I’m sure.