At loose ends

The anklets are done! Finally!

I gave them to my grandmother yesterday, and she liked them very much, although she felt she had to give me a hard time about not getting them at Christmastime.

They were finished Wednesday, five days ago, and I haven't been knitting since then. Not because I didn't want to, but because I wasn't sure what to do. I mean, I really want to get started on my Cardigan for Arwen, but I'm not certain how I feel about the construction that the pattern calls for. Basically, you knit a square for the back. Then each of the fronts are knit from the bottom up, with the sleeve stitches cast on as part of and extending from the front, then bound off after the entire sleeve is knit horizontally, then half the hood is knit. All in one continuous piece for each front. The way I made Rose's version was much simpler (to me): bottom up seamless yoke construction with the hood growing organically out of the neck. The only problem with doing it that way is that the cabled cuffs can't be knit in line with the sleeve. I left the cuffs out of Rose's sweater -- they would have gone up to her elbow in the gauge her sweater was in. I guess I will knit the cuff, then pick up stitches for the sleeve from the side of the cable. I was also toying with the idea of a drop-shoulder construction.

So while I was playing around with ideas for an alternate construction for my sweater, I started playing around with the blog design. I don't think I like it as much as my old design, but I'm going to keep trying some other things. Then I thought I might like a quick little project to tide me over in the meantime. I have a handful of hats in my queue, and thought one of those might be nice. But I didn't have anything in my stash that would work with any of them, so I tabled that idea and wound this up.

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in colorway "Water." I think just a pair of plain socks to show off all the colors. For me. Then maybe I'll be ready for the sweater.

Baby cardi

It's the Audrey Hoodie from Vintage Baby Knits. What a fun little project. Machine washable and dryable, too, for the new mom's convenience. I found the button in my button box. This is the exact shade of red/dark pink I had envisioned, and I can't tell you how excited I was to find it, and that it actually fits through the stitches. Most of the sweater is knit, but the scalloped border is crochet. I just put the button between the double crochet - chain 1 - double crochet that makes up the center of the scallop instead of creating a buttonhole. I love having a button box.

I got about an inch of my Nana's second sock done this morning. I am going to knit nothing else until this pair of socks is done! Hmph!

Tonight my church music department is celebrating the eve of St. Patrick's day with a prelude of traditional Irish music and a Mass. We've practiced well and I'm getting excited about it. I was hoping to record some of it, but now I'm thinking that's something I should have delegated. We'll see how busy I get, getting ready. If I remember to push "record," then it'll happen.

Knitting Olympics: Results

A Cardigan for Rose




I started this during the opening ceremonies on February 12, then ended up unraveling a week's worth of work and starting over again on February 20. I'm really glad I just bit the bullet and re-started it in the smaller size on larger needles, not only because I then had just enough yarn to finish it, but also because the resulting fabric was much more wearable, with a much better feel and drape.

I finished the knitting and grafted the hood and underarms and wove in all the ends on March 3. I had to go out and buy a single wooden toggle and knit an i-cord loop to fasten the cardigan at the neck and I finally did that on Saturday the 6th.

So yeah, if I had started out at the beginning of the Olympics with the needles and size I ended up with, I would have certainly had this thing done by the closing and had my medal. Lesson learned: swatching is good.

Now I really can't wait to start one for myself!

Vest, dishtowel, new projects

So, I finished Andy's vest (finally).

He says he likes it a lot. I wish I had divided for the v-neck a few rows lower, and I'm not crazy about how the left seam turned out, but otherwise, I'm satisfied with it.

(There's wee Jamie playing with cups in his crib.)

Look what else I did!

My mom is teaching me to use a sewing machine, and how to prep and measure and cut and press cloth and follow a pattern. This was my first project, a cute dishtowel. It only took six hours. :\ But I like it, and surely I'll get better and faster at all the prep work. I hope.

I also started the Audrey Hoodie (Ravelry link)from Vintage Baby Knits. My cousin is due in April. I'm hoping to be done with this by the time she has her shower in March.

But! I have to put it on hold starting tomorrow night, because I've decided to challenge myself in the Knitting Olympics!

My event will be a hooded cardigan for Rose, modeled after A Cardigan for Arwen and A Cardigan for Merry. She's too small for the one and too big for the other, so I'm going to use my Ann Budd book and the cable chart as a jumping-off point and see how it goes!

This is the yarn I'm going to use.

I bought it at Zeilinger's Wool in Frankenmuth. It had no label, but I think it's a wool/alpaca blend. Pretty bulky, 4 stitches per inch, so it should work up quickly enough for me to finish by the time the torch is extinguished.

Whoo hoo! Let's hear that John Williams theme!

Did it!

Cast on yesterday during coffee time, finished i-cord ties last night around 9pm.

Given to expectant mommy, along with the Baby Mine sweater and a box of diapers this morning!

Here's the little heart on the back -- isn't it adorable?

Baby Mine and a hat

So I finished up the Baby Mine sweater. What a quick, cute little knit!

It looks a lot more complicated than it really is.

I decided at the very last minute to knit a bonnet out of the rest of the yarn.

It's Elizabeth Zimmerman's Heart Hat. By last minute, I mean that I decided last night to knit it, I cast on this morning, and I hope to give it to our friend tomorrow. morning.

So I'm going to stop typing and start knitting. Wish me luck!

What have I been doing?

Working and making merry, mostly. But also knitting.

Apparently after my last post (from mid-November, sheesh, what have I been doing?) I was about to bind-off and block my Kiri shawlette. Well, here she is, unblocked:
Drying on the blocking board:

And finished!You may want to note that the decorations changed from fall finery in the first pic to Christmas greenery in the last. I have nothing to say about that.

Work proceeds slowly on the Rugged Vest. I have to say, I'm not really loving working with this wool. And I love wool. But this is some crunchy wool. It ought to be a handsome vest, though, if I ever knit more than an inch per week.

And here are my Nana's anklets. This project really should have taken 2 weeks, 3 at the most. But really. I hit a snag and immediately the project goes on the back burner. The snag, in this case, is that I'm trying to get a pair of anklets out of one skein of Koigu. So in my eagerness to save yarn, I started the toe of the first a little early. Nana and I have about the same size feet, even so, when I tried it on and it was a tad uncomfortable in the toe area, I thought, "It's very possible that her feet are, in fact, smaller than mine by just enough for this to feel okay for her." I clung to that until she tried it on herself and confirmed that yes, it was too small. Then it sat in my knitting bag until I finally, weeks later, picked out the grafting and ripped back the toe to just before the increases started. First toe is now being re-knit on dpns, second sock (on magic loop) is currently just past the heel turn. Please, please, please the yarn will last until both socks are done.

These, however, were a quick and delightful little knit. A little-girl-sized version of the Easy Legwarmers from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, a Christmas gift for my niece.

This is a beret for my mom, kind of a gag gift since I intend to put a pom-pom on top. I'm going to knit one for Rose, too.For some reason, Mom and Rose have a running joke about pom-poms. I can't explain it, because I don't understand it.

And last but not least, Baby Mine by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. A sweet little lace baby cardigan for a new girl, soon to be born to a dear friend. I love this sweater, and the pattern is very well written. I'm not crazy about the yarn. It's a cotton and acrylic blend, so it's quite inelastic, and it also happens to be very splitty. However, it's knitting up nicely, and the fabric feels good, and it's machine washable and dryable, so that is also a good thing.

So that's what I've been doing, knitting-wise! I hope I've learned my lesson: if I post more often, I won't have to upload umpteen pics and write and edit for an hour!

I can't believe

I finally finished them.

This pair of socks, pattern Charade, took me a year to knit. Seriously, I started them on June 9, 2008. Usually socks take me about a month. I guess I've been a little busy.

A little story about these socks. I wanted to knit a pair of socks for my lovely mother-in-law. I let Andy know that I planned to do this, and he seemed to think it was a great idea. He helped me pick out a colorway she would like, and when I showed him this pattern, he agreed she'd probably like it very much.

I started knitting, and soon found that the yarn is quite splitty, and working the PSSOs that create the herringbone rib was such a headache that I thought I'd lose my mind. But I also quickly realized that I loved the colorway, and that the socks were quite handsome, despite all the troubles I was having.

And then I had a baby, two weeks early. So the whole house was in a bit of chaos for a few months, and I didn't get much knitting done.

When I got back into the socks, I was lucky if I got two rounds done at a sitting, but I was determined to get them done and present them to my MIL at Christmas. I kept asking Andy, "Are you sure she'll like them? Do you think she'll think they're too scratchy?" He kept reassuring me that she'd love them. Christmas came and went, and I only had one sock done, so I thought maybe they'd be a Mothers' Day gift. Also, I still wasn't convinced that she'd find them comfortable. I had put it on and worn it, and it felt fine to me, but I'm used to wearing wool.

As the second sock progressed, I started to think I might keep them for myself and knit her a pair from Koigu or some other super-super-soft wool. I mentioned this to Andy, and he hesitated a little, then said, "Well, she doesn't really wear socks, you know."

What?!

So now they are mine.

Daddy-Daughter Dance and an FO (finally)

As I mentioned on Friday, Andy and Rose were off that evening to their first Daddy-Daughter Dance. It was held at the school where Andy teaches. Rose was the littlest one there, which Andy just loved because lately it seems she's just so big. She told me exactly three things about it: First, "It was really loud music, Mommy!" Second, "There were blue lights, and lello lights, and green lights, and red lights!" And third, "I like the Chicken Dance!" And I finally finished the border on this Christmas gift. It was for Andy's parents. His mom had been hinting for a green granny square blanket for a while. Andy and I both worked on the squares. They were all done and seamed, and I had done one round of the border before we got together with them for Christmas, so we decided to give it to them as is, with the explanation that it wasn't quite done, but I'd finish the border pretty soon. "Pretty soon" turned out to be this past weekend, but at least it's finally done. I was just going to do a round of green half double and a round of single, a round of half double, and a round of single in black. Rachel suggested using Crab stitch instead of the final round of single crochet, and I tried it, and I'm so glad I did. I think it makes it look very finished. It looks almost like roping. I like how this project turned out. It's been a long time since I've crocheted, and it was fun. Grandma and Jamie

A wee aran sweater

This is the project I've been working on. "Baby Yours" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee in STR Mediumweight. It's for my newest Godson, who is due in March. His mom Heather is one of our oldest and dearest friends, and as soon as she asked me to be Gabriel's Godmother, I knew exactly what I wanted to knit for him. The shower was yesterday, and I wanted it to be a surprise. Knowing that Heather occasionally peeks in (Hi, if you're there!), I had to be quiet about this little project as it came together. It was so hard to wait to share this! I'm really pleased with the pattern, the way it was written, and the way it turned out. There's only one little thing I'd change if I could, and I might be able to. When I blocked the pieces, they blocked to measurements exactly. When I blocked the entire sweater after seaming (and what a lot of seaming, ugh! but it was worth it), I didn't have the schematics with me and blocked it too wide and too short. But, I should be able to fix that with another good blocking -- it just means I'll have to ask for it back for a couple of days. Now I've got the bug to knit sweaters for my other two Godsons!

I think she likes it.

My darling Rose, modeling her blue hat. It's about time I got around to it. She's had her little blue mittens and scarf for a year and a half (although the scarf is AWOL at the moment, grr). She'd been very patient with me during my pregnancy-induced aversion to knitting and the exhaustion that followed.

I wish the speckling had come out more random, but I think I know why it happened, and when I knit another, I think it'll turn out better. Yes, despite the wicked k3togs, I'm probably going to knit this pattern again. We both like it a lot.

7 Quick Takes

I finished a Christmas gift this morning.

***

I finished this a few weeks ago. Can you guess what it is? Is it a Batty Bat?

Nope, it's a cute little hat!

Unfortunately, everytime I've put it on him, it's made his eczema flare up. :( Maybe his skin will clear up by next winter, and he can wear it then. There's certainly enough room for growth.

***

It's a snow day today. I love being married to a teacher. We're supposed to go carolling downtown tonight, but if things don't clear up, well, I wouldn't complain if we got to have a night at home.

***

Rose had her very first Christmas program last night.

Her class did great! They recited a little piece about Mary and Joseph looking for a place to stay, and then they sang a song about Santa.

***

Some geek jokes:

How can you tell that a mathematician is an extrovert? When he talks to you, he looks at your shoes and not his own.

A neutron walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “How much for a martini?” The bartender says, “For you? No charge.”

If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.

***

I've been feeling very nostalgic lately. I don't know if it's the season, or if it's because I've reconnected with some good friends on Facebook that I never thought I'd be able to find again, but I've been thinking a lot about how I used to be, how my life was, and how my life has turned out. It's a strange sensation, not unpleasant, but strange.

***

I always seem to forget in December that there's another month and more activities to follow after the holidays. In the past it hasn't been such a big deal. But Rose's birthday is on January 3, and having the family over is something that I don't like to throw together at the last minute. Somehow this year I have to start getting ready for that sooner.

Done and done

So I finished both the Garter Mitts and the Chevron Scarf last week, Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, respectively. It took all weekend to get the pictures taken, and then this long to have a half an hour to myself at the computer. I'm disappointed by the color in this photo; it's not quite accurate. The photos in my last post show the purply-greeny-bluey blend a lot better.

They're lovely, mooshy, smooshy, comfy mitts and I can't wait until it's cool enough to wear them. Actually, I could have used them last night!

I did have to frog the scarf back a bit to finish up the mitts, but it still ended up being 70 inches long. The pattern called for a 77 1/2 inch scarf. I think it's quite long enough, though.

It really blocked out well. I love the changing waves of color. This pattern was an absolute pleasure to knit, especially in the current state of my life. It was just interesting enough to keep me coming back to it, but mindless enough so that I could set it down at anytime and come back to it at anytime. I could have kept knitting this for a while, which is really saying something for a scarf made from fingering weight yarn.

It's likely I'd use this pattern again; I liked knitting it that much.

So I've started swatching for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan -- so excited! And still slogging along on the Charade socks, sigh.

Hey, Happy October! I love the Fall!

Just don't feel like blogging

But I finished a little sweater last night, and I think I like it very much.


It's for Peanut, knit in a 6 month size (I hope). It's not blue because the baby is a boy -- we don't know that yet, and we don't want to -- it's blue because a) my favorite color is blue, b) I feel blue looks beautiful on a boy or a girl, and c) the other colors I noticed in this yarn were lime green and coral and other tropical colors, which I also like a lot, but not for Norwegian-style colorwork.

Wow, how was that for a run-on sentence?

The yarn is Schoeller + Stahl Baby Micro, a superwash wool and microfiber blend. It's fingering weight and very, very soft. I really loved knitting with it and I'm almost -- almost -- tempted to make myself something with it, except I just can't imagine knitting an adult sized sweater at 7 stitches to the inch.

I bought it at a new yarn store in Wyandotte. Yes, a yarn store here in my own town! I didn't have to drive 30 minutes to buy a #3 16" circular needle when I needed it, I just headed downtown and had it in my hand! The store is fairly small and the selection is still limited to mostly basic "workhorse" yarns (and sock yarn, yay!), but the owner is very friendly and open to requests from her customers. She's getting more yarns in this August (one is a camel/merino blend, yum!), so here's to hoping the shop will keep growing.

In the meantime, I'm getting bigger and tireder, and haven't felt much like blogging. Andy's home for summer vacation now; that is such a blessing. We have 3-4 weeks to get the baby's room done. I hope it happens sooner than later.

Alrighty then...

I'm going to give it a go, and we'll see what happens. I thought to myself, it's 12 1/2 weeks until my due date; I may not be able to do much for a few weeks after that, but I'll try to get back into the swing of blogging until then.

My knitting mojo is definitely back. For a few months there, I didn't even want to see my knitting bag, let alone get anything out of it. But now, let's see...

I've finished this,

in which the zipper is not great, but not absolutely horrible, either;

and this, too:

The Tilted Duster from Interweave Knits, fall 2007. I made it to my pre-pregnancy bust size, so it gapes a bit in front, but I hope it will look nicer after the baby is weaned. Otherwise, I'm very pleased with it.

Then, just for fun (and perhaps for a warmer second cup of tea):

A quick little knit -- a tea cozy in trinity stitch.

There, now. I guess that wasn't so bad. :)

I'm thinking that since I've got Ravelry, more of this blog will end up being daily life and random thoughts. Be warned!

Green Beret, take two

Well, it worked... I knitted it using the small instructions instead of the large, and I went down a needle size. The fabric of the other hat was a little too drapey; I think this one will be more winter-proof. It fits much better, although I wish the top was roomier. I'm not going to push my luck, though!

I guess I was a little surprised that the first version of this hat was so very huge, only because I was getting 18 stitches to 4 inches (compared with the pattern's 17 stitches). I either miscounted or followed the directions wrong. I also have a 22 1/2 inch head, so I thought that knitting the large at a slightly tighter gauge would fit perfectly. Oh well. [ETA: No, Jo, I am not going to grow a bigger head :) my current one is big enough!]
Peg, thanks for your suggestions. I've seen at least one of your berets; that's what made me want to knit this one. I love this color, too. The yarn is called Kathmandu Aran, and it's a wool-silk-cashmere blend. It was a little worse for wear after being frogged, but not so badly that you can tell in the finished product.

Next post: Kim steeks!

Finished in August

These are the all-knit Monkey socks I started before our NYC trip. I borrowed the idea from Rachel at Sticks and Thread, who had borrowed it from someone else. It had occured to me, as I was knitting my first (normal) pair, that the pattern would look great if all the purls were replaced with knits, but her post really convinced me to try it.

Yarn used: Knit Picks Gloss in Cocoa. This yarn feels amazing on the feet. I've worn and washed them a handful of times already, and I am noticing a bit of fuzziness starting to happen where the socks meet the shoes, but nothing awful.

I also decided to use some leftover Lamb's Pride to learn to make mittens.

Not too bad, if I do say so myself.I had originally used this yarn to knit Coronet from Knitty, which I loved to knit and love to wear. Now I have mittens to match. There's even enough left to make a scarf, but I'm not crazy about the idea of a plain stockinette scarf in this heavy worsted, and cables would make it even bulkier. Perhaps a simple lace, I mean as simple as K2tog, YO, etc. for one row and knit the next, and repeat the two rows. Just something to create a loose, drapey fabric.

It's good to be home, and I'm trying to get back on track with the blogging. Here's one vacation pic: the obligatory Rockefeller Plaza shot.