FO's, current WIPs, more ranting

All righty, pictures of the recent FO's (although unfortunately I neglected to take a photo of the finished Monkey socks before I sent them off as a 5 months belated birthday gift):

Pale blue sweater.
pattern: "Casual Sweater" from Classic Knits
yarn: 7.5 balls of Rowan Cork
needles: size 10 and 10.5
time: July to August 2007

Ribbed socks for husband.
pattern: 76 sts, top down 3-1 rib with heel flap and standard toe
yarn: 1 skein Misty Mountain Farm sock yarn
needles: 2.25 mm dpns
time: July to August 2007

Monkey socks for SIL.

pattern: the ubiquitous Monkey
mods: 4 leg repeats, slip stitch heel flap
yarn: 2 skeins bright pink Koigu KPM (pretty, pretty)
needles: 2.25 mm dpns
time: July to August 2007

Oh gosh, I almost forgot this one! A sewing project!

Tote Bag for me.
pattern: Lotta Jansdotter's Simply Sewing tote bag
mods: didn't really measure, just cut on the stripes :)
fabric: misc. medium-weight cottons
time: a ridiculously long evening, all that steam-ironing and unpicking...
notes: if make again, should line bag


And, what am I working on now? I need to sew together the parts for the Alpaca-Silk Shrug so
I can do the ribbed border. I'd hoped to have the shrug completely done by this weekend which naturally meant that I stopped working on it altogether.

I cast on for a new pair of socks for the husband (for the bag of manly socks, really :) ). It is the most hideous colorway. I was really quite disappointed, even though I do adore this yarn for socks for hubby. He likes a squishy sock and Socks that Rock Heavyweight does not disappoint. And I like very much that it makes knitting socks for him the equivalent of knitting socks for me (cast on 60ish stitches and go!). However, the "Thistle" colorway was not at all what I hoped it would be. The green is truly neon and just awful, not the spring green I pictured on my monitor. Not knowing what to do with it really, I browsed my Japanese "250 Knitting Patterns" book and picked a funky (mildly lacy, but he's not insecure about his masculinity, so that's okay!) pattern and I'm calling it a Don Quixote sock.


I also started a week or two ago, I think without mentioning it here, a cotton tee: Jenny from Rowan 37 with Debbie Bliss Cotton dk. I am knitting it in the round with purl bumps instead of beads. I had intended to lengthen it but the yarn really hurts my wrists, so we'll just have to see. It will be nice to get the yarn out of stash, even if I don't gain a wearable top.


I wonder what proportion of wearable to unwearable tops other knitters generate? I've been on a good run knitting for myself these past couple of years. I believe that I am now, way more often than not, actually knitting for the size that I am. I started knitting in the 80's, a time of enormous ease (8, 10 inches?) and sweaters drooping halfway to the knees which fact compounded with my utter lack of understanding of gauge at the time means it took me almost 20 years to plunge again into knitting sweaters for myself. I think I still prefer knitting mittens, scarves, hats, socks and little kid things, but pine for more handknit sweaters for myself and am trying now to rectify that.

To tie in a bit to my last post, it occurred to me how much the current recalls on toys from China made with lead paint feel like the same problem as getting our food and other necessities from far-away places made (or grown) under heaven only knows what sorts of conditions. It's crazy to me how many toys my kids have. How is it that I had a bike and wooden blocks and Lego and a couple of dolls and each of my kids have all of that times 10, even with me trying hard not to let it get too out of hand? Why is Lego now mostly sold as kits to build a specific thing? Why are tricycles color-coded by gender? Why do we accept that our children's toys are made by exploited workers? How did so many of us parents get sucked into buying so much plastic crap?

I need to take stock of what we have and keep figuring out how to limit what comes into our home. I hope that letting more of my "Waldorfian" side emerge helps in this. I may as well accept my fundamental kookiness...