finished object: wedding bolero

My dear friends K and J got married two weeks ago – it was a wonderful, happy day.

I was flattered to be asked to make a shrug for K’s wedding outfit. Here are the details:

Pattern: Bolero Jacket, by Debbie Bliss

Yarn: Rowan RYC Silk Wool DK, colour Milk

Modifications: I knit the body in one piece, and made the sleeves top-down to get the length right. I cast off with a picot edging. Otherwise I just followed the pattern as set.

Ravelled: Here

Notes: I must admit that I’m not the hugest fan of Debbie Bliss’s designs. I used this patterns as it was the closest to the sketch that my friend had made, and I didn’t want to spend any time working out a design of my own as the schedule was quite tight on this project. If I was going to make a similar shrug again, I would make the fronts slightly smaller, leaving room for much more ribbing, which I think would make it look more glamorous.

K  also asked me to read a poem at the wedding. I chose one one that I came across quite recently; it’s fairly long, but I thought I would share it with you here.

The Invitation

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon…
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Published on November 8, 2009. 23 Comments Tags: , , .

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