BLOOMINGTON - Angela Weaser knit a silk corset top, silk wrap and mohair skirt to marry Dan Yandel. About 4.9 miles of yarn later and 350,000 stitches later, it was done - the evening before the wedding.

"It was the only 'Bridezilla" thing I was going to do," said Angela.

"Everything else was simple," said Dan.

Dan, 45, and Angela, 41, were married May 16 at Timber Pointe Outdoor Center, Lake Bloomington. The wedding was relatively small - 120 guests - and cost well under $10,000.

Wedding guests were pleasantly surprised. "I think they were expecting an argyle sweater or something," said Angela.

"Before the ceremony, she was twirling like a 2-year-old. You know you feel good when you can twirl," said Jennifer Jacobs, a wedding guest.

Back in April 2008, Angela first thought "it would be cool if I could knit a top." Then she saw the skirt of her dreams on a knitting Web site. "I just thought it was stunning." After she began knitting the first top, she decided it didn't work and reused the yarn to make a wrap, finished this May.

In early February, she began knitting the top and finished it in March. But it was the skirt she began knitting in mid-July 2008 that took on a life of its own. With 162 knitting rows and a circumference of 80 to 100 feet around the bottom (it's stretchy), it took 314,550 stitches using very lightweight lace weight yarn to create the tea-length skirt. The largest needle she used was a circular 5-footer.

"It felt like a pet," said Angela of the skirt. "I've carried it around eight months. You treat it like a little baby."

She never named the skirt, but said, "It's a her."

And her husband? Does he have a name for it? "I can't think of a nice one" was his droll reply.

Jacobs works with her mom, Mary Lynn Mullins, at Mary Lynn's Yard Garden, 102 S. East St., in downtown Bloomington. They tell their customers "if you buy your yarn here, we'll help you finish any project."

With the wedding about a week away, Angela said she was pretty happy when the yarn shop ladies donated several dozen hours over eight days before the wedding to get the skirt done - they'd even pick it up at her office and knit on it and then Angela would pick it up at day's end to knit some more.

"Oh, it was fantastic. They helped me make it perfect," said Angela, who said the skirt would've ended up a couple of inches shorter than she wanted if she did not have the help.

In the month before the wedding, Angela knitted on the skirt on her lunch break at the yarn shop at least once a week.

About 12 years ago Angela and a girlfriend, both passengers in a car on a trip to Michigan, decided to buy cheap yarn at a big box store and the book "Knitting For Dummies." No more cheap yarn for her now; she even enjoys seeking out yarn shops while on vacation.

"It looks all the same to me - although I do understand there are different kinds of yarn," said Dan.

Angela is a computer programmer for the City of Bloomington. Dan is a superintendent of commercial construction. They enjoy cooking, gardening, concerts, etc. - which they have more time for now that the knitting marathon is over. She's knitting small projects like baby presents.

But if she had to do it over, would she do ALL that knitting again for her wedding?

The answer was a resounding yes - it was worth the work to wear her creation. "It was wonderful. It was fantastic."

"I love the fiber, the feel, and the colors, hand-dyed."

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Real yarn

Here are some details about Angela Yandel's wedding outfit:

The skirt

• 314,550 stitches

• 162 knitting rows

• 4.35 miles of yarn (7,655 yards)

• 80-100 feet around the bottom (it's stretchy)

The top

• 652 yards

The wrap

• 500 yards

Overview

• Knitting started early April 2008

• Knitting finished May 15, the night before the wedding

• Time to create: 400 hours (that's the equivalent of 10 40-hour work weeks)

• Total yarn: about 5 miles

• Total stitches: about 350,000

SOURCE: Angela Yandel