.

Spinning!

2008-07-14T20:23:00.004-04:00

My first handspun!

I am taking a class and learning to spin on a wheel. The class was a little torturous, but I have already knit those teeny little skeins (about 35 yards total) as stripes in a hat. The hat came out a bit larger than I intended, but I fulled it a bit and like it quite a lot. (The handspun is Romney wool and the other yarn is Mostly Merino.) Now, if the hat would only dry out and the temperature drop 60 degrees, I could wear it out of the house...

3 more spinning classes to go. Can my feet take it? Will I stop getting a frigging headache while spinning? Will I end up getting sucked into buying a wheel? Stay tuned, and perhaps I will promptly update my blog again sometime this fall...

Eggs and other good things

2008-04-13T17:10:00.003-04:00

We admired our eggs this week. The little kids thought they looked like Easter eggs. I'm sure we will never go back to "regular" eggs from the grocery store.

My Rowan Calmer arrived. It is a little darker than I thought it would be, but still a nice color, for a khaki, anyway! I've dithered a bit about what to knit with it-- however, here's what I'm going with, except with long or 3/4 sleeves: "girly 1" from Rowan Studio 9. (It's the pink one in the pictures from the mag at this link.) I've actually had to take a break from knitting on it today, because I was so OCD about it yesterday that my hands feel really tired today. I'd really like to have it done before our week at the Cape at the end of June. I know that sounds like tons of time to some knitters, but I think it usually takes me at least 3 months to actually finish an entire sweater... otherwise, I'd give myself a goal like having it done before Maryland Sheep and Wool.

And now that I've made such a smooth transition-- how much do you plan ahead what you are going to buy at these big festivals? This will be my 3rd time going. The first time, I didn't find the yarn in the buildings until we were heading out (I'm not kidding!). Last year, I went with the intention of buying sock yarn that caught my eye. This year, I don't know. I feel like I've slowly been replacing my quick to knit yarns with fingering and lace weights, which, while they don't take up much room, certainly have made the amount of yardage in my possession quite scarily high. So, while I find those appealing, I want to also find some interesting worsted or chunky weight yarns this year. Any suggestions for vendors to search out? Any tried and true strategies for deciding what (and how much!) to buy?

Ridunculous afghan

2008-04-06T20:14:00.004-04:00

Hey, I did what I said I would! I finished the garter stitch afghan. It just took watching a few too many America's Next Top Model re-runs this afternoon to get it sewn up and the ends more or less woven in. I know this is probably the tackiest home decor ever, but honestly, I love how it came out-- so nice to be able to see the bits and pieces left over from earlier projects all here in one spot together. And Captain Jack didn't even need to be coaxed into position :).

sweaters and garter stitch madness

2008-03-30T18:27:00.007-04:00

Yay! I just finished the Vine Lace cardi (with a couple mods) from The Knitter's Book of Yarn this weekend. I was mostly knitting it just to use up stash, so am really pleased that I actually like the end result and find it very wearable. I am also so glad to have mostly used up my Debbie Bliss merino dk, since it is so splitty for me that I have to watch my knitting constantly even when just doing plain stockinette.

I've also got a picture here of my Salina. Sorry I am not wearing it, but it was a little too damp. This was its first real washing, but it has had a month or two of wear (and has the pills to show
for it, which is a shame since the yarn itself is just lovely for knitting and wearing -- Rowan Cashsoft). Salina is a great, easy to wear pattern, and flattering enough that I may use it as a template for other sweaters in the future.

I've finished some kids' knits here too: a rainbow cardi (own design) for my daughter made from Noro Silk Garden (stash again!). It certainly got much softer after washing.

And here we have an "old" Tomten (Mission Falls 1824 superwash) I made for my little girl two years ago that has been worn pretty constantly ever since and has grown with her just as EZ said it would. So, I have pulled out the needles and the yarn (Noro Kureyon-- from stash, go me :) ) to make her little brother one as well-- it certainly becomes clear how much knitting is in store when you lay a just cast on project next to a finished one-- yikes.

Next time, hopefully I will have a FO to show for my recent spate of garter stitch madness. I have been obsessed with using up my scraps and odds and ends since last I posted and have been making squares for an afghan holding together lots of bits and pieces and working on size 13 needles. Luckily, those hurt my wrists or the darn thing would soon be too heavy to pick up.
But, boy, does this churn through all those little bits one never knows how to use and I find it really interesting to see how the different yarns change the appearance of the whole. And you can see that Captain appreciates their squishiness and was a great help in figuring out the layout.

I've also got some Rowan Calmer shipping my direction. Anyone have any recommendations for a summer cardigan? I have only knit one summery thing EVER and want to begin to fix that situation...

My first ever FO

2008-01-27T12:15:00.000-05:00

I saw at The nerd and the needles a photo of her first knitted sweater (wow!) in response to a challenge on Petunia's blog.

I still have my first ever knitted object and took a snapshot today. I made it probably 19 or 20 years ago when I lived in Chicago and was never warm enough all winter. All my bought scarves were skimpy, useless things and I decided to learn to knit so I could make a scarf big enough to wrap around my head and face, just as in the photo. I wore it all the time in those Chicago winters, tucked under the hood of my ankle-length coat. Here in New Jersey, I only need to wear it maybe once or twice a year. It's warmer here and I have a car, so am not constantly out walking or waiting for the bus.

I lucked out with this as a first project, I think. It's 100% alpaca and warm and soft. I ordered it from Pueblo to People (anybody else remember them fondly?) as I didn't know of anywhere else to buy yarn! How lucky was I to begin my knitting journey with yummy, soft, and warm natural fiber... Although if someone had warned me how obsessed I would become, I like to believe I would have thought twice :).

16 pairs for 16 years

2008-01-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

The bag o' socks has become a basket o' socks (and 1 pair of mittens because I just could not make myself knit another pair of socks). This was a pretty good idea for an anniversary present, if I do say so myself, although I personally don't think I can repeat this feat, even cheating with so many sport-weight socks in the bunch! Thanks to my patient husband for letting me take pictures before he wore the items and thanks to Captain Jack and M for "assisting", both of whose socks you will spy in the pictures below.

M showing you his dinosaur socks

Laila's Socks from Folk Knitting in Estonia
modified for 8 stitch repeat
Opal 6-ply in blue and gold

D-zined 55% wool/ 45% hemp

Dead Calm socks with twisted stitches
Ellen's Halfpint Farm 100% merino
the camera really washed out the depth of the colors, but this is beautiful yarn

Cabled Socks
Dream in Color Smooshy "Dusky Aurora"
gorgeous, subtle color variation

Hideous Socks (With a Cute Kitty to Keep You From Feeling Nauseous)
stitch pattern #107 from Japanese "250 Knitting Patterns"
Socks That Rock Heavyweight in Thistle (ha-ha)

K3 P1 rib socks
Misty Mountain Farm superwash merino

top-down cable and rib socks
Nature's Palette Odd Duck #4

toe-up socks with garter heel
Socks that Rock Heavyweight in Beryl

Gentleman's Fancy Sock from "Knitting Vintage Socks"
Online Supersocke 100 Sierra

K3P2 rib
Socks that Rock Heavyweight in Ruby Slippers

Priscilla's Dream Socks from "Favorite Socks"
Morehouse Merino 2-ply and local alpaca stripes
and
Braid-Relation Mittens
Dale Heilo

cuff-down heel-flap socks
Mirasol Hacho shade 305 (2.1 skeins)

generic toe-up socks
6-ply Opal in black and melon

generic socks
Online Supersocke 100 Tropic Color

And, if anyone is keeping track, somehow I missed taking a photo of:

Ribbed Lace Socks from "Sensational Knitted Socks"
Socks that Rock Mediumweight Smoky Topaz

Favorite Thing on the First

2008-01-01T19:45:00.000-05:00

In an effort to write a little more frequently here-- I introduce my favorite thing on the first for January, 2008...

The book "Small Sweaters" by Takle and Kolstad. I have yet to knit anything large from the book, only mittens, but lust after the luscious and intricate colorwork. Maybe this will be the year in which I knit the squirrel sweater or am inspired to spend the time on an all-over stranded knitting project of my own design?

Happy New Year!

2008 Knitting Intentions

2007-12-31T18:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've been getting a crazy bunch of knitting done, but clearly no blogging about it, so oh well...

I got bitten by some sort of hat bug this fall (initially inspired to use up stash with the Yarn Harlot's unoriginal hat) and after churning out 6 or 7 hats of various sorts for family members and 1 for a friend (who doesn't wear hats but requested one years ago :) ), I have knit at last count 10 hats for Afghans for Afghans. I'm using up tons of leftovers and am really enjoying mixing and matching all those little odds and ends, to quite good effect, I think.

My more usual knitting has suffered as a result. I am stuck halfway through pair number 15 for the "bag o' socks", even though I adore the yarn (Dream in Color Smooshy sock in the Dusky Aurora colorway bought on impulse at one of my LYS's this past month, despite them having reorganized part of their store by color, which I am utterly irritated by).

I am working on Salina from Vintage Knits for myself out of black Rowan Cashsoft and want to finish it up before Valentine's day. The front and back are both done, so it really shouldn't take too long to finish it if I focus on it. I also have a vest for myself and a sweater for a daughter on the needles that would be good to get done this winter. There are 4 or 5 other things I've started lately, but haven't been sticking with anything really besides the hats. I feel like I go through really pronounced phases with my knitting and just need to remember that I eventually will be back on a finishing-up kick. It's okay to just knit hats right now and let the other things wait!

Anyway, now to some of my knitting intentions for 2008:

1. knit from stash when possible, making an effort to use up odd bits
2. when buying new yarn, make sure it is well-considered, not just getting it because the price is right
3. knit sweaters for me, hubby, younger children
4. knit some lace again
5. knit a baby surprise jacket just because
6. knit for Afghans for Afghans
7. knit more washcloths (yeah, I know, dear, just take me out and shoot me now that things have come to this...)

Okay, since I publicly revealed that last item: I also just discovered knitted washcloths. I was working through those odd bits and pieces I keep mentioning and needed to do something with the Blue Sky Cotton, so washcloths it was (from Knitting for Baby). They are so nice! I don't even use washcloths (just the little kids do in the bath), but I want some for myself now too.
Tell me I'm not alone in knitting something I swore I never would :).

I need to take a new picture of the kitty, too. He has gotten bigger already and is still sweet as ever. At the vet on Saturday, when we brought him for his shots, they said they could neuter him right then (and did we want to watch? erp), so he had a rough couple of days, but seems fine again already. Oh yeah, and we finally agreed on a name: "Captain Jack Whiskers".

New Putty Tat!

2007-10-13T13:42:00.001-04:00

20 years after having gotten Mr. BooBoo kittens for his birthday, we got a kitty again. He's playful and skittish, purry and smelly, and we are happy to have a cat in the house again (it's been about a year and a half since we lost our Annabel). He's adjusting pretty well; there has been only one bad "pee incident" (in a bed- yuck).

I've been on a good knitting roll. I have been chugging away at the Tangled Yoke Cardigan and have done the body up to the armpit and one sleeve. My row gauge is a little funky, so I may have to figure out how much I should really knit of the yoke before beginning the cable or I may just hope for the best and follow the pattern as written.

The Black is Back sweater is stalled. I knit it too long and snipped off some length at the bottom of the back and the front, but was a bit too careless, so it will take some work to repair and it is far too dark in the house in the evening for me to see what I'm doing on it. Oh well, someday I'll get back to it. Since I failed to finish that quick knit (ha ha) for Mr. BooBoo's birthday, I hauled out the Striped Raglan sweater that I began for him last spring and finished that up only one day late. (It will look a little tidier once washed, but he seems to like it, and, maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't actually think it looks too goofy!)

I'm still working on the soft kid mittens from last month. They have been my P.T. project and I have met some other knitters there as a result, so that is kind of nice. 2 pairs are done except for thumbs :) and the ribbing is done for one of the 3rd pair.

Sock knitting has stalled a bit. I have 2 pairs on the needles, both for the bag o' socks:
1."Dead Calm" socks with Ellen's halfpint farm merino sock yarn in a lovely variegated deep blue and a twisted cable running down the sides and 2. plain DK weight stockinette socks out of Mirasol Hacho in a funky gold, brown, and green colorway.

I was so pleased to find the Mirasol yarns at my LYS when I escaped the house (and in-laws)
last weekend. They all looked really nice to me-- and the ones with alpaca were soooo soft.
I also picked up some Claudia Handpainted silk lace to make a stole or shawl for one of my friends. It is gorgeous and I hope not too busy for lace. I'm thinking of making the melon shawl from Victorian Lace Today, but I want to finish up some of these other WIPs so that I can concentrate on the shawl once I begin (if I don't just chug straight through on projects that require some attentiveness, they likely get too messed up to continue and I don't want that to happen this time.)

September update

2007-09-24T18:04:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems a month has gone by. I always forget how busy we get when the school year begins. Even with all the evening activities, I have been knitting, even finishing the occasional thing, and I as well made another tote bag and finished up a Waldorf-style baby doll. Yay, me.

First, the tote bag. This one is a ballet bag for one of my daughters since I got on a bit of a kooky crafty mom kick-- my little girl certainly shouldn't head off to her first ballet class with a mass-produced ballet bag (oh, the horror). It was a good idea to follow the same pattern again (Lotta Jansdotter): I learned some things to watch out for when I made the first one (all "duh" things really, like making sure the bottom part of the bag would line up on each side this time) and I felt confident enough to make and install a lining. All in all, I think it came out quite beautifully, and I've got some fabric lined up to sew yet another one shortly (squirrels!).

Last spring, I began and nearly completed this Waldorf baby, and didn't get back to it, even though all I had left to do was sew the sleeves to the arms. Why the wait??? I don't know-- even though I am a slow and terrible seamstress, it couldn't have taken me more than 20 minutes to do this last bit, and now we have a much loved new addition :).

On the knitting front, I started and completed the Back to School vest from Fitted Knits with stash Karabella Aurora 8. This was a quick and enjoyable knit. I added some extra inches to the ribbed portion which were much needed, so it took a bit more yardage than stated in the pattern, but other than that, made no (purposeful!) modifications.

I should have just kept working on the Striped Raglan Sweater for my husband and it would be a FO by now, but, no... I've cast on for a different one. I'm following the directions for the Set-In Sleeve Sweater from the Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, but modifying for additional length through the arms and torso. He wants a plain black sweater to replace a store-bought one of 15 or 20 years ago that wore out long ago. It's a boring knit, but I am liking the yarn (Cascade Pastaza) and it does knit up fast at 4 stitches to the inch. I hope it won't be so hot that it doesn't get worn.

And, finally, for me, I succumbed to the lure of the Tangled Yoke cardigan from the latest IK. I initially swatched for it in stash yarn, but was unhappy, so I went ahead and ordered some Rowan Felted Tweed in a greyish-pinkish-purplish color (142) that should work well with most of the more neutral parts of my wardrobe. It's exactly this kind of decision that I have been finding Ravelry so useful for-- the ability to see what yarns others used/ are using all together and see how happy they are with the pattern as written. So far, it's coming along well, albeit slowly. (Note to self: you have never once liked knitting garter rib, so even though you like the way it looks, you ought to just admit you will not be willing to knit inches and inches of it.)

Oh, and I almost forgot, in order to avoid these sweater projects and the stagnating afghan projects, over the past week, I made some birthday legwarmers for one of my girls and one mitten each for my 2 littlest kids out of a wonderful yarn-- Cascade Cloud 9-- it's so soft and squooshy and I only wish all our upholstered furniture were covered in it, imagine the lovely naps on the couch if that were so... The mittens are again based on the schema in the Small Sweaters book, but have my own designs, and I will take photos when finished.

Shrug finished and shrug about WIPs

2007-08-24T18:39:00.000-04:00

I am pleased to have finished my mocha-colored alpaca-silk shrug (from Classic Knits) this week. I loved working with this yarn (Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk). The pattern was easy enough and at a better gauge for me than the shrug pattern that I had initially started out to make with this yarn (the Blue Sky Alpacas shrug). This, of course, results in me having 3.5 skeins of this yarn left to add to my copious collection of leftovers. It was so unusual for me to buy yarn and pattern together the way that I did and quite discouraging that I didn't end up knitting what I had planned, since I would honestly like to buy yarn for specific purposes some of the time rather than just because I liked it or it was on sale... Anyhow, I do think the shrug looks okay, even if not quite my usual thing, since I got my 12 year old to pass judgment on it for me and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't just let me go out in public in it if I were mistaken in my own assessment of its appearance.

I don't know if I have it in me to stay on this campaign where I keep working my way through my in-progress projects. I should really work on my summer tee (which is now in the
utter winging-it phase as I modify all sorts of bits at the top). It's now only loosely based on
Jenny from Rowan 37, although I luckily noticed quite quickly when I cast off for the front neck on the left sleeve :). If I don't cast on for something new this weekend (oh, the lure of socks and mittens), I'm down to just the tee, the striped sweater, the poncho?, and the 2 afghans to choose among. Not too bad.

We're starting to gear up for school this week. Kids now have lunchboxes and school supplies and, as of today, after a marathon stint at our favorite little shoe store (2 hours! many came and went and we stayed and stayed and stayed), most of the necessary shoes and sneakers and ballet paraphernalia. 2 more weeks. It'll be nice in some ways to have the kids off to school, but I'll miss them too, and I know I'm not looking forward to the resumption of music lessons and orchestra rehearsals and the complications of scheduling those with other activities (a new ballerina and a new football player this year). Someone please remind me that I told the other kids they can do soccer or track in the spring when I won't have to worry about the football schedule...

FO's, current WIPs, more ranting

2007-08-18T17:46:00.000-04:00

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...

Volver and rambling thoughts about sustainability

2007-08-13T18:05:00.000-04:00

With all this time spent with my feet up this summer, I got a Netflix subscription. Well worth it, IMO, and I will probably upgrade to 2 at a time next month. Last night, I watched "Volver" while working on the first sleeve of the Alpaca-Silk Shrug and I now understand people who copy movie sweaters. The green cardigan Penelope Cruz is wearing in the last 10 minutes or so is gorgeous (and she is definitely wearing it at least one size too small!). I think it would be eminently knitable (is that a word?) and look very attractive, not at all dowdy... I wish I could get a good picture of the neckline edging as it seems to have a nice wave to it and I am not sure how I would knit that. This is so geeky, isn't it? We'll see if I ever give this a shot. It will need some time devoted to really planning pattern and dimensions that I usually don't have, but it is quite tempting.

I've also been reading a bit of non-fiction lately about the sustainability of the American way of growing and eating food and thinking quite a lot about whether and how I want to change the ways my family consumes those resources and whether we want to apply those ideas to other types of consumer goods: emphasizing locally produced products and goods which give back a decent earning to the people who produced them and do no or minimal damage to the environment. The kids are clearly beginning to be concerned that their dad and I are going to be utterly wacko about it, but I'm sure we won't be as neither of us has the energy at the moment to add many more tasks or complications to our lives. It is interesting to contemplate, and I will probably try to research it at some point, whether it would even be possible to just consume American union-made items and eat only food grown nearby (this latter I am pretty sure we could do as we live only a mile from our CSA and have several other sources very close by for eggs- and free-range meat, if we weren't vegetarians). Localharvest.org is searchable by zip code and really useful, I've found. Anyway, I can highly recommend both books, and despite linking to Amazon for convenience as always, it's probably better to buy them locally or get them out of the library like I did, blah-blah-blah:

The Omnivore's Dilemma

and

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Pictureless Post

2007-08-08T12:52:00.000-04:00

My poor finished objects-- how do other people manage to take so many pictures once they have finished their knitted items? I am usually too tired of the darn things to bother! I got a bunch done lately; after some weird weeks where I was starting many, many things all at once, I decided to try to work my way through them one at a time to have some actual finished projects-- woo-hoo.

I finished the casual sweater from Classic Knits. It's possibly a little snug, but I think wearable.
It's difficult to make oneself keep such a warm sweater on long enough in August for more than a cursory glance in the mirror. Unfortunately I still have 5 more balls of Cork yarn to use up somehow. Any ideas? I also finished the Monkey Socks for my SIL. They are very pretty in the pink Koigu. I did only 4 repeats on the leg and like that length. I also liked the look of the twisted rib at the edge but it really doesn't have much stretchiness... And yesterday I finished the mittens from the Raumagarn pattern. I have to say I really do love these and am (almost) looking forward to the cold weather. Right now I am trying to chug away on the ribbed socks for my husband. I did find the ballband and they are from Misty Mountain Farms-- 100% superwash merino. It is very soft and pleasant to work with, although I do wish I liked the colors more. Mea culpa, I know, since I did pick it out myself, in person, no less! The first sock is almost to the tip of the toe, but I ran out of yarn and have to wait until I can scavenge yarn from the other (slightly larger) ball.

In non-knitting news, I am nearly walking! It will be so good for me and the kids to have me mobile again. I will start PT in a week and a half (please let me find someone good!). Maybe soon I will be able to do some normal fun summer activities. What a change that will be. It has been quite the dullest summer ever! Thank goodness I discovered knitting podcasts-- a whole new avenue for the children to make fun of me...

I am feeling pretty bad for the mourning dove we spotted in our yard today. It can't really walk-- it looks like it has something tangled around its feet or parts of its body. Unfortunately, in terms of our ability to catch it, it can still fly away, although not far, poor thing. Hopefully my husband or kids can trap it and we can cut off the offending article and it will be okay. We were able to free one of the birds that got caught in our deer netting around our garden last year. (I don't use that plastic netting any more for that reason.) If we can catch the dove but not get the tangle off, we should be able to bring it to our county wildlife rescue. We brought a gosling there last year that had been mauled by a dog or fox or something and I assume they took good care of it.

My goodness, what a month...

2007-07-25T20:39:00.000-04:00

Well, sorry for the enormous time-lapse. The surgery went well (I guess), but the recovery has been a bear. I hope I can comfortably update the blog now with my foot elevated up on the desk next to the computer monitor. It's a shame I haven't bought a comfy desk chair instead of a zillion skeins of yarn this past month-- most of it has been purchased in the dead of night with the sole intention of trying to make myself feel a little better through yarn shopping. (Webs, Purl, and the Loopy Ewe-- yikes.) I suppose you all know how that ends-- hiding it away in old yarn stash, feeling queasy at the prospect of ever chugging through all those new yarn miles, vowing to go on a yarn diet till 1/2 the stash is knitted...

All this time sitting however has made for a lot of knitting time (even with a whole week in which I did none at all-- I absolutely hated the very thought of it that week and made my husband and eldest child cart all the yarn and books right back upstairs!). My mojo is back now, thankfully.

Here is the Noro Iro garter stitch scarf (exactly 2 skeins which worked out to have a lovely symmetry with one another when worked from opposite ends of the skeins) and, with a 3rd skein, an adult-sized adaptation of the "sweet baby hat". I plan on making more of these someday. It covers the ears perfectly and more snugly than any earflap hat I have knit in the past. The Iro was also enjoyable to knit and I'd like to get some more someday.

I also finished knitting the child's placket neck sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I mentioned it in my last post. The end result bears only a modest relationship to the published pattern. It is knitted in Debbie Bliss Merino dk. I did go back and undo the seed-stitch edge which was turning up like mad and put in a ribbed edge which is behaving nicely. I modified the raglan shaping somewhat and then was exasperated to discover that the reason the buttons on the placket neck look so small in the picture in the book is that they are beads and there are no buttonholes in the pattern. Anyway, I went ahead and added four buttonholes and hope I can find some turquoise football buttons or something similar once I can walk again.

I knit this scarf with some Wool in the Woods rayon I had in stash. I had 2 different colorways and held them together to make it a quicker knit. This was probably my 3rd attempt at making something with this yarn, so I'm pleased to be done with it.

That's it for actual finished projects, however. Mostly I ended up being quite aimless and started things and lost interest quite quickly. Here is the sorry state of affairs on that front:

The silk shrug and the casual sweater from Erika Knight's "Classic Knits". The brown shrug is in Blue Sky Alpaca Silk and I plan on making long sleeves instead of the short ones in the pattern. The casual sweater is in some long-discontinued Rowan Cork which has been in my stash quite a long time and it will be nice to use up a bunch of it.

I've also begun an as-yet-undecided knitted object (poncho, shawl, triangular scarf, afghan?) for one or more of my daughters. It is yarn from another twin-loss email friend who is moving overseas and it seems quite fitting to fashion it into something for my surviving twin. The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Biarritz and it is unlike the yarns I usually purchase myself, but the girls gasped at its beauty when it came in the mail (thanks, N!).

I've also been occasionally working on some quite lovely mittens. The pattern is from the white Raumagarn pattern book found here. I am using more of the Harrisville yarn that I used for other mittens this spring. (Scroll down to the yarn variety pack.)

And, quite unsurprisingly, I have started some socks. Also, probably quite unsurprisingly given the current condition of my foot and my not wanting to think about feet, I have not finished them. The yellowish ribbed socks are for my husband with yarn from Maryland Sheep and Wool (I will try to find the ballband later). The pink is the start of a "Monkey" sock in Koigu from stash for my SIL who likes to sleep in socks and is owed a birthday present.

I am too ashamed to take pictures of all my new yarn, but I will show you the books I got from YesAsia. The Fair Isle book is full of beautiful sweaters with not a pattern among them (and many motifs may not be charted, either, as far as I could tell from a cursory look), but they should be inspiring to me someday. The Nordic Knitting book is an odd hodge-podge of techniques and I didn't really need that, but I am actually glad to have it just for the "Crown" pattern which meshes well with my "Waldorfian" side and I will certainly have a go on it soon.

Return of the stash-busting afghan

2007-06-18T12:31:00.002-04:00

In normal knitting news, I got the latest pair of men's socks done last night. Just in time for the end of father's day but of course he is not allowed to wear them yet. (I will try to get a picture soon.) So, not knowing what to work on, I plowed through the various projects on the needles, most of which I have been utterly uninspired to work on for months:

There is the child's placket neck pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts-- dull, dull, dull, and the seed stitch hem is rolling like crazy. I have begun one sleeve after getting up to the armpits of the sweater body. I don't know if I am going to frog it or not.

There is a drop stitch scarf out of Schaefer Anne, which was worked on steadily for 2 days or so after I planned the pattern back in February, and, while it is pretty, I have to force myself to even get a row or two done, so that may end up being frogged as well. I think the problem with that project mostly lies in the fact that it had been in a previous incarnation a basically complete lace shawl when it had a terrible accident far beyond my one and only pathetic little life line! Perhaps it is really destined to be socks.

There is also a striped men's sweater (good idea or folly?) done almost to the arm-shaping, so it awaits decisions-- how to stripe the arms, raglan or set-in sleeves-- before I can continue. And, again, it's been sitting around for ages while I don't make the decisions and don't feel like working on it. Yet it would be nice to get it done-- that would be a good quantity of stash used up and Mr. BooBoo (sorry, hon) does always wear his hand-knit sweaters without complaint, so it would be nice for him to have another before fall.

However, in the bottom of the tote, I pulled out my scrapghan pieces and decided to sew them together and then decide what to do next. You can see it is pretty wonky. I saw the pictures of Mason-Dixon's log cabin afghans back in September and gathered up lots of dribs and drabs and didn't worry about dimensions or stitch counts. It may indeed, as is mentioned in the book somewhere, just become an "interesting textile". Anyhoo, for whatever reason, I've started another piece to add to it. Even if it just hides away in the dress-up bucket when all is said and done, it's a good bit of brainless, no pressure knitting, which looks to be just what I need at the moment.

Good week

2007-06-16T17:59:00.000-04:00

It's been a good week here. I'd been worried about the big family excursion to the dentist, given how awful that had been for my youngest daughter last time, but we've been doing lots of reading of every "going to the dentist" book the library had (I bet her dad knows them by heart) and lots of playing dentist during the day for about a month now, and she ended up doing phenomenally well. The hygienist polished and gave her a fluoride treatment and the dentist double-checked everything as well. Yay, little G! It all looked so appealing to her little brother that he clambered right up on top of both of us for his turn!

We were also treated to a homemade apple pie by my eldest daughter. I didn't manage to get a picture of it till afterwards, but it was delicious. I was actually a bit jealous of her ability to make and roll out such a good pie crust-- her first solo time, no less-- when I am always having to piece it together in the bottom of the pan. She also baked some more cupcakes and decorated them with the help of her next younger sister. Yum-- we have been quite spoiled by all these home-baked goods since the kitchen remodel was finished.

I am about 3/4 done, I would say, with the latest pair of men's socks. They are a modification of "gentlemen's fancy dress socks" from Knitting Vintage Socks out of Online in one of the Sierra colorways. This is my second pair of these. They are a slightly boring knit, but look very nice once on, and I am told are comfortable as well. I would really like to finish them up this weekend but am not sure if I will be able to.

the pressure, the pressure

2007-06-12T19:50:00.000-04:00

Well, it is certainly surprising me just how much time this takes. My teenage son is pressuring me to add updates to keep this from being boring, so I, of course, need to point out that it is a knitting blog and thus by it's very nature going to be boring to him no matter how often I update...

I did have a bit of knitting needle mishap yesterday. I had stuffed the 5th of one of my double points in a ball of yarn and I guess it got stepped on at a weekend concert or recital or something, because it was mangled right in the middle and quite some trouble to get it out of the yarn without causing lots of damage to the yarn as well. This was my first broken bamboo needle, though, so pretty lucky, I guess. I don't know how come so many people use those birch dpn's because I can break those just while knitting. It is unfortunate that neither of my LYS's carries the Crystal Palace dpn's. I ended up shopping from Webs today to replace the broken needle and get a second set of 2.25 mm. dpn's while I was at it. I'm trying out the Pony Pearls. And, since I was paying for shipping anyway, I bought enough Noro Iro to make an easy scarf this summer-- planning ahead for some simple post-surgery knitting, so really there was no choice but to buy it!

We did have a nice visit from first cousins Sunday night into Monday on their way back from Connecticut. Small cousin F is chubby as ever and very nearly walking. His big sister E was a bit belligerent but still pretty cute-- she told me that the plastic kid's kitchen beans were "roast and tender".

I should get back to my knitting. Maybe next time I will start to figure out how to manage the side bars. Oy.

Socks ad nauseum

2007-06-10T16:04:00.000-04:00

I finished yet another pair in the socks for husband campaign. Here they are modeled on his feet, but they will soon be washed and tucked away in the bag. I imagine he thinks he is getting them for Father's Day... I personally am just glad they didn't get puked on by the toddler last night in what seems to be a pretty virulent but short-lived flu-like illness going through the family during our big concert and recital week.

Details:

yarn: Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Smoky Topaz colorway
pattern: ribbed lace from Sensational Knitted Socks
modifications: toe-up, garter stitch short row heel
needles: Crystal Palace 2.25 mm dpns
start to finish: June 1- June 10, 2007

Little things

2007-05-28T16:14:00.000-04:00

I am getting only little things done lately. I've put new plants into pots
and put in some annuals at the cemetery. With our weird winter, the
only perennials that made it through at the cemetery were the monarda
and the lavender. We're also trying to terrorize our fat and belligerent
squirrels away from the new bird feeder.

On the knitting front, I've completed some May mittens (per EZ's recommendations
in Knitter's Almanac). The 2 children's pairs are both made with Harrisville 2-ply. The kittens are from a Norsk Strikkedesign sweater. The stars arefrom a wonderful Small Sweaters mitten pattern. The adult ones were made with scrap yarns and based on 2 different designs in Magnificent Mittens.

I've also got one finished triangular scarfy thing made with Cherry Tree
Hill baby loop boucle in baby blue. It was kind of a pain to knit with, so I petered out on my shawl plans. This took 2 ounces out of what I believe to be approximately 40 ounces of this stuff in my possession. (Drat those January sales.) The other is a just-begun-today scarf out of Trendsetter's Superkid Seta (which seems just like KSH). It's humming along nicely. I do love a bit of garter stitch! These scarves are both intended as teacher gifts for the nursery teachers-- the last day is this coming Thursday, so I need to hustle a bit and delay working on
the current socks in progress... someday soon I will try to get good photos of the growing pile of handknit socks that my husband is not yet allowed to wear!

1st Post

2007-05-18T19:06:00.000-04:00

Here goes-- my own knitting blog, despite the children making fun...
I've got pictures to show of some of my recent acquisitions.

First up is Fyberspates "scrumptious", with thanks to my sweetie for getting it on a business trip-- it is indeed scrumptious and I'm not sure yet what to do with it.

Next, my first Socks that Rock sock yarns in 3 different weights and colorways। I'm knitting the heavyweight Beryl into socks for said sweetie right now.

And, third, some sock yarns from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farms. This was by no means all that I purchased at MDS&W, however I did stick with my game plan of purchasing only sock yarns.