La Fée Verte

One of the nicest compliments I have ever received was when someone left a comment on this blog saying she thought I had good taste. I can't tell you how flattered I was. Unfortunately, now, I seem to be blowing to bits whatever truth there was in that statement. Because for the past two weeks I have been hard at work knitting something that bears a strong resemblance to a giant granny square in the most hideous shade of green, and I am absolutely in love with it. It is all I can think about.



It all started back in March, when I developed an oddly intense crush on Kelly Green when I started seeing it in the stores. I'm not sure where it came from, but it hit me hard. First I had to have some shoes.



Then some shoes and a scarf.



Then some shoes, a scarf, and a long-sleeved tee from the Gap marked down to $5 because no one else was crazy enough to buy it.



Then some shoes, a scarf, the long-sleeved tee, and some...underpinnings. You get the idea.



Then when I almost bought this Diane von Furstenberg number because all those yards of green fabric made me weak in the knees (giving little heed to the fact that it was way outside my budget, it did not fit me, and that I had nowhere to wear it besides my own house)...



I knew I had a problem.

I don't know where it came from, but every single time I see something in this color I must either buy it, stare at it, fondle it, or take a picture. I've been able to resist a lot, but not the Cascade 220 I bought for this current project. I couldn't walk out of the store with it, but I'll admit that it's awful. The colorway is called "Christmas Green" for goodness' sake! Emerald Green? Pretty. Christmas Green? Tacky. I could see the look on Sophy and Erica's faces when they first saw it. It was that "You're my friend so I'm not going to say anything mean, but that is the ugliest thing I have ever seen and I'm going to gently suggest some helpful alternatives" look.



And the granny-square-ness? Well, my original inspiration was a little cardigan from Anthropologie made with various open and textured stitch motifs. In an attempt to mimic it from memory after it had been taken off the Anthro website I settled on the Roman Stripe pattern, thinking it would give me the lacey look I was going for. I didn't mean for the thing to look quite so crocheted...but it does...and I still love it.

It remains to be seen whether this cropped cardi will turn out anything at all like the cute, trendy Anthropologie original, or if it will scream "100 year-old bag lady". Either way, I'll probably still make it a central piece of my wardrobe.