Pink elephants on parade

Wow, I'm so excited to see that there is some interest in a vintage sweater knit-along!  I will definitely do this.

It sounds like several people could use the motivation of working together that an 'along' brings, want to finally dabble their toe in the vintage knitting waters, need a bit of extra help with the details or just want to work on their first garment. I'll think about the best way to go about all this, so expect to hear more about it and perhaps some questions for you soonish. The beauty of a knit-along that's blogged is even if you don't keep pace (because let's face it, starting other projects can be alluring...), it's all permalinked so you'll have the resources at your fingertips whenever you need them.

Anyway, I'm determined to make some progress on my Miss Laverty's Motoring Hood. I sat down to do a little bit of knitting on it yesterday. It's slow going since it's 1x1 ribbing the entiiiire way, but I'm about a third done with the scarf part. Then I'll have to do the hood part. I think I want to line the hood with something warm and soft—what do you think would be appropriate, warm, yet still have a vintage feel to it when I don't feel like wearing the hood up?

Then I got a little silly. I'm always trying to fit my knitting into vintage purses, and unless I'm knitting a sock, it's a futile endeavor. The yarn may fit...

...but certainly not the actual knitting.

Nada. Nope. Never. You don't know how many times this scene has played out even though I know the ending. I sit there with knitting in one hand, a purse in another, knowing full well the knitting is way bigger than the purse. Yet still I try. Because oh, I do love little vintage purses so.

This is one that I think is particularly cute. I just got from Etsy. It's totally not appropriate for winter use, with little painted gold, white and pink shells encased behind laminate on a glittery woven straw background (there's a lot going on for one little purse!). So I've just been content with walking around the house with it, dressed up, like Sophia from the Golden Girls. (Remember how Estelle Getty always carried her wicker purse around the house?)

In case you're wondering, yes, I did knit that pink elephants sweater. Incidentally, if you're a fan of pink elephants like I am (and why wouldn't you be?), I highly recommend looking up "Pink Elephants on Parade" by Lee Press-On and the Nails on iTunes, it's an amazing version of the tune from Walt Disney's Dumbo. Mel found it for me last week and I practically jumped out of my skin with excitement when I first heard it.

(And I was about to apologize again for my messy hair, so let's just put it out there: my hair is frequently messy. I have a bit too much lazy tomboy in me to be that good of a fancy dame!)

So now please tell me I'm not the only one fantasizing about beachy things like seashell purses and open-toed shoes when it's 3° F outside?