A Wee Bit Obsessive

Baby Things

2009-05-29T12:49:00.005-04:00

The babies that are here now ...

See them in action -- with momma and poppa!

and for those still to come ...

Pattern: Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap (free pattern)
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft 4-ply (blue) and Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Baby Ull
Needles: US 2½ / 3.0 mm and US 1½ / 2.5 mm

Size: 1-year
Modifications: none

I love this pattern, but had the worst time getting it right at the beginning. I'm sure I ripped out more rows than I knit before I remembered all the M1s. Maybe knitting in the car had something to do with it.

It used hardly any yarn, and I think it's adorable. Will be even cuter when I take the stitch marker out of the end. :) I'm going to make another one for a different neighbor; first I should wash this one and figure out what size it really is.

The robin pictures are from a few days ago and they already have many more feathers. Mama and Papa have been very attentive. There are four of them! The mother doesn't look all that happy about having to sit on them to keep them warm; maybe they're not happy about it either.

Sometimes when the parents aren't around and we open the door to the porch, the babies hear the sound and shoot up out of the nest, mouths wide open, waiting for someone (anyone!) to drop something in. They're just so stinkin' cute!

The Robin Saga

2009-05-07T13:51:00.013-04:00

Our robin is back! I am so inordinately happy. And this is SUCH a crappy picture, and my professional photographer is at work. Boo.

I haven't blogged forever, so I'm sure all 2.1 readers I have left (if that) are thrilled to have me come back with pictures of a robin they can't see. I do have some knitting to show! And a semi-good excuse for not blogging. But first, the robin.

We've had robins nesting on our back porch for several years now -- sometimes they have babies and sometimes they don't. I assume it's the same robins -- they always come back to pretty much the same place: the open ledge under the porch roof. Only this year we got our porch redone, because it was about to fall down, and in the process, the open ledge got closed up. The builders tried to give us a little ledge anyway, but when the robins came back it turned out it wasn't deep enough. There are failed nest attempts in every single alcove of that ledge! and incredible amounts of debris on the floor of our porch. Very distressing!

So of course I had to rush out and buy a nesting box at the bird house store. (Yes, we have a bird house store, it is pretty wonderful.) I must make clear that I did first suggest to my husband that we nail up a piece of plywood to make a ledge, but I was met with a noncommittal, skeptical, "I'm-not-nailing-a-piece-of-plywood-to-my-new-porch" type grunt that did not suggest action, so I had to go buy the nesting box. This robin has eggs to lay! She'll take them somewhere else if she can't make a nest here! The nesting box cost $30, which gave my husband new perspective on the merits of the piece of plywood, but TOO LATE.

I went up on a ladder and screwed in the nesting box and put in some of her nest fixings ... and waited. And the next day, the robin was back to build her nest ... right on top of the $30 nesting box. I could have called that. It's just like the kids who play with the wrapping paper instead of the present. BUT I think the box gives the ledge the tiny extra edge it needs for the nest to stay put, so it's worth it. And maybe her babies will move into the duplex below next year, you never know.

In the below picture (and on either side of the nest in the top picture) you can see one of the many, many failed nests she started along the ledge (apparently she couldn't just measure and see they were all the same), as well as the black streaks that are now on every roof beam of the porch ... maybe from her carrying dirt back and forth and not aiming so well? Or she was just mad and vandalized the place.

Yesterday morning Auden and I got to watch her pulling up dry grass and flying back to the nest with her mouth stuffed absolutely full, then shimmying to get it in the right place in the nest. Today she seems to be sitting more -- maybe the eggs are on their way? We need a mirror on the roof so we can see what's going on.

Anyway, I have been knitting, mostly on endlessly in-progress things which aren't too exciting to show, but I did whip this off in two nights and I love it:

Auden wore it to her cousin's wedding and was very cute, if I say so myself.

Pattern: Cloud Bolero by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
Needles: US 10

I made the XS size in worsted weight yarn ... I probably could have even gone up a size.

And finally, the main reason I haven't been here is I started a web site for Rochester city school parents, and it's been VERY time-consuming, though I love it. I've wanted to do this for years -- set up a place where city parents can support each other and exchange information and experiences. The response has been great -- we were on the tv news and had a meeting with the superintendent -- and even though I panic every time posting slows down, I think it's going very well.

It's at flowercityparents.org if anyone wants to drop by. A friend designed us a logo, but my tech guy *cough* hasn't gotten it up yet. He's too busy vetoing plywood ledge projects.

Oh and I am working on a monster freelance project, so that might be the other reason I haven't been here. And why I shouldn't be here right now! But I was afraid if I didn't post soon, I might never post again. And the robin, she just needed to be blogged about. Spring, and the cycle of time, and all that good stuff. See you next time!

This and That

2009-02-04T13:13:00.008-05:00

Do I still have a blog? Why do I still have a blog? On the other hand, Ravelry gives me no place to ask deep searching questions like that, so I guess I will ask them here. (And what about Naomi? Does anyone else remember Love of Chair?*)

So. To business. I have been knitting – it's serious keep-warm-knit-and-watch-tv weather here in Rochester – but going out of my mind with boredom with my cabled cardigan. Maybe I need to learn to cable without a cable needle. Anyway, I polished off this Noro stripe scarf, which I love, though it might not have been my first choice in colors. (I made it with my Fetching leftovers.) I flirted with the idea of giving it away, but couldn't do it. Given how many knitters have made this scarf, I'm amazed that I don't run into people wearing it at the grocery store. What everyone says is true: it is lots of fun to knit and watch the colors change. I can almost imagine knitting a scarf like this forever. As opposed to my cables, which just feel like I'm knitting them forever.)

Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf by Brooklyn Tweed

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, 205 and 201

Needles: US 7s

And then Auden told me she wanted a hat, so I made one for her and Rose:

It's a lovely pattern, easy to whip off in a night. I downsized for Rose by using fingering weight yarn.

Auden's hat

Pattern: Halley's Comet Hat

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted, Bachelors Button, less than one skein (I ran out before the edge but I had less than a skein to start with. I think one skein would be enough.) Edged with Dalegarn Stork held double

Size: small

Needles: US6

Rose's hat

Pattern: Halley's Comet Hat

Yarn: Dalegarn Stork, blue and green. Not very much.

Size: large, but I think the small would have fit better.

Needles US2

Speaking of Auden, she has her own Ravelry account now, which I hope I don't regret at some point in the future. She only has one project (see below) but she would be most pleased if you visited and gave her some hearts or comments. Her Ravelry name is: Fairyflower (Why? Because she's six.)

She has a short attention span; after asking me each day if her invitation had come, she lost interest almost as soon as I'd logged her on. Much like the sweater she's knitting for Rose, which has stalled after one row. But never mind. Maybe Ravelry will motivate her to knit more. (Or maybe to spend more time on line ... hmmm.)

Back to the ~~salt mines~~ cables. Stay warm, everyone ... spring will come someday!

* I just learned from Wikipedia that the mysterious Naomi of "Love of Chair" was Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal's mother! Now if that isn't excellent useless trivia, I don't know what is. I also learned how to spell Gyllenhaal. What about all those a's?

A Bouquet of Handwarmers

2008-12-13T12:04:00.013-05:00

So, I am neglecting this blog shamefully, but I couldn't not show off my attempt to be like tiennie, who is always whipping up four or five (always gorgeous) versions of something practically overnight. Mine definitely weren't overnight and they aren't really the same -- even the two Fetchings are different because I messed up the first time and put the cables one row too close together. (On BOTH pairs I forgot to reverse the cables on the second glove.)

I'm pretty happy with all of them anyway. These are for my daughter's 1st grade teacher:

and these are for my son's cello teacher:

These:

and this (modeled by my daughter):

are for my 12-year-old niece

and THIS:

is for her 7-year-old sister.

I have become the crazy aunt who gives knitted gifts. I hope this is not a great disappointment for my nieces. I have given them knitted gifts before, but not as their main Hannukah or birthday presents. I'm not at all sure how thrilled I would be about this if I were them! But too late now.

The specs:

Fetching in Noro Silk Garden, colors 201 and 205. These took about one skein each, but I used half of two skeins for each pair to get the colors to match. Otherwise they would have almost unrecognizable as a pair, the color changes so much. Needles: US6. I added an additional cable repeat (possibly two?) to the fingers, and possibly one to the wrists.

Maine Morning Mitts in Noro Silk Garden, color 39. These are all from one skein. Needles: US7. These are long! I stopped before I even got to the length suggested in the pattern, and they're still very long.

Quickie Noro Silk Garden Hat in Silk Garden, color 205 (different dye lot). Less than one skein. Needles: US6. I didn't like the way the decreases in the pattern looked, so I did the ones from the Vogue Ribbed Cap pattern, which I got as a freebie in the mail once. I added the tail thingie from the Vogue pattern too. This seems small for an adult; I hope it fits my niece.

Charmed Shrug, from Knitty, in Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4 Ply (doubled), color 421 (Rose Lake.) I thought I got gauge, but I made the size 4 and it fit my very tall 6-year-old just fine, and she usually wears size 6x-7. I used the same yarn single for the crochet edging. Needles: US7.

Angel

2008-10-05T11:32:00.004-04:00

I finally finished Auden's cardigan – really it was quite a simple project that I managed to make way too complicated! I'm happy with the result though. Blocking made a big difference – especially pinning out the lace border. There is something slightly funky/linebackerish about the shoulders, which is probably due to my lame job putting in the sleeves. (And that is partly due to my knitting the body of the sweater in one piece, and then having to insert the sleeve tubes, which was not so much fun. I love the ruffle at the wrists, though, and didn't know how to reverse engineer it to knit the sleeves from the top down.)

I had a hard time finding a buttonhole that looked good in reverse stockinette – I ended up using Maggie Righetti's three-row buttonhole from Knitting in Plain English. I think it's basically a modified double yarnover. I had to reinforce them/tighten them up with thread to keep the buttons from popping out.

Pattern: Angel by Kim Hargreaves, from Pipsqueaks (still my favorite book of kids' patterns)

Yarn: KFI Cashmereno, about 900 yards?

Needles: US4s and 6s (and who knows what else ... there was definitely some needle confusion on this project!) I never could figure out my gauge in ribbing ... I made Size 8, and it is not big!

Modifications: Knit body in one piece, but not sure that was a good idea. Changed buttonholes. More details on Ravelry.

Sorry for the headless pictures, but Auden was not particularly interested in posing for me. I had visions of her wearing this with some sweet English frock, a la the Rowan book, but my daughter has her own ideas about how to dress these days. (Also, I don't think she owns a sweet English frock!)

Next up: holiday knitting! I have grand plans of fingerless gloves for Auden's teacher and Eli's cello teacher, and a shrug and more fingerless gloves for my nieces. And then there's my own cardigan to get back to ...

What I Did on My Summer Vacation, or: Reports of My Demise ...

2008-09-15T09:21:00.010-04:00

(had there been any) would not be all that overly exaggerated. However, here I am! still knitting, still blogging, sort of. My severe lack of updating here can be attributed to a) summer vacation and b) complete knitting ineptitude since I last wrote.

But I'll start with the good – I have one (woo! count 'em!) finished object. My Moebius scarf, made under the direction of my unendingly patient sister-in-law Kathy, who took it upon herself to teach THREE of us (two sisters, one s-i-l) to make Moebii (?) on the shores of Lake George in beautiful Ticonderoga this summer. And she did a smashing job, despite our complete ineptitude. Hopefully Kathy will post a picture of all of us with our scarves sometime. It was lots of fun, and Kathy is a wonderful teacher.

Pattern:Moebius Scarf by Cat Bordhi
Yarn:Noro Sakura, 1 skein
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm Knitpicks Options circular

The other positive summer knitting note was that on our trip to the High Sierras (Tuolomne Meadows, about 9,000 feet up), while I did not actually knit except on the plane, it turned out that handknit wool socks were the perfect thing for keeping our feet warm on very chilly mornings, evenings and during the night. I was so happy to have my socks in use, and to have 3/4 of my family keeping our feet toasty with them. (Because I do not pack for my husband, he did not even BRING his handknit socks. However I can't complain, because he got up every morning and lit the fire in the woodstove. without which we would have been very very un-toasty, even with our socks.

Tuolomne Meadows is close to heaven. It is a place that was special to my parents before they married and had us, and a place that I have warm memories of from my childhood, and now my children have wonderful memories from there too. Having all three generations there was incredible, despite the stress of planning and executing a vacation for 10 sometimes-cantankerous (I include myself!) relatives.

The bad: I was inspired this year to make a summer tank, my first real summer knit, the Soleil tank out of Hempathy. It went very well and the Hempathy is lovely and the pattern is lovely ... but ... I don't think it fits.

EVERYONE and their sister said it needed to be longer, and I entirely believed them, until I compared the measurements with my favorite T-shirts (and thought about my short torso) and DIDN'T make it longer. And it is too short. I am sure this has something to do with my bust, though I don't quite understand why it's different from my T-shirts. I need to try it on again and figure out what to do – rip it all out? but given that summer was all-but-over when I tried it on, I lost the will to go on and for now it is sitting. Sad. I also don't love the way the single crochet around the edges looks – I couldn't figure out how not to make big holes.

* * *

My other knitting screw-up, not as serious: I finally went back to work on the second sleeve of the cardigan I am knitting for Auden, only to realize that not only the number of stitches I had started the sleeve with, but also the number of stitches I had ended the FIRST sleeve with, matched absolutely nothing in the pattern. Apparently, *cough*, mistakes were made. So I have ripped out half of the first sleeve and am plugging away at re-doing that.

I started a pair of socks for the plane trip to California: Conwy from Knitting on the Road in Fleece Maiden Basic Merino, which I LOVE. Love the colors, love the way it looks and feels. (I hope they're going to fit – I've switched from 2s to Knitpicks 1.5s, without readjusting my numbers ... I'm livin' on the edge.)

And for mindless TV knitting (Sarah Connor Chronicles!!!) plain ribbed socks from Trekking XXL.

And now fall is in full swing, with always too much to do and not enough time to do it. I am going to try to stop and breathe more. I'll let you know how that goes. :)

What Hath Spring Sprung?

2008-05-12T13:14:00.014-04:00

It has been way too long since I've posted. I've been knitting a lot, though. And thinking of lots of things I want to say, here or somewhere, and just not finding the time. I'll try to catch up a little!

It has been a very busy spring. We have officially joined the ranks of over-scheduled families. (Is there a badge?) It happened SO quickly; I didn't see it coming. Eli wanted to play Little League, but he was not going to give up cello (nor did we want him to) nor Hebrew/Sunday school (he would give that up, and I would let him, but his father feels strongly that the pain of religious education must be handed down from generation to generation.) And recitals and science fairs and Auden wanted to play soccer ... And my parents were here visiting from California this week, and last weekend was a reunion with my college roommates, and this week the children are in a play and next week I have a concert with rehearsals all week ... next year something may have to go!

Knitting (combined with mindless television) has been a great stress-reducer. Except all my knitting has been going wrong!

I started this sweater for Auden, Gretel by Penny Straker, but even though I swatched very carefully, my gauge got much tighter when I knit in the round and the sweater was clearly going to be too small. Now I am bored of so much stockinette and think I will knit her a cardigan from Rowan Pipsqueaks instead, even though I love the Gretel and have heard wonderful things about Penny Straker patterns.

And then there were the socks for Will, which I went great guns on until it became clear I was going to run out of yarn; I don't know why I thought one skein of Cherry Tree Hill DK was going to be enough, but I did. So I thought I'd make the toes gray, with leftover Lorna's Laces, and then I ran out of THAT and now the toes are purple and gray. *sigh* They are not the things of beauty I once envisioned, though I know the toes won't show, and I haven't been able to get motivated to finish them off.

THEN I decided to make the cabled purse from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts for my friend Julie's 40th birthday, using the leftover Koigu from the scarf I made my friend Alison for her 40th birthday. I didn't check gauge, and halfway through the purse was coming out VERY tiny! About 3" wide instead of the 5.25 called for in the pattern. I couldn't bear to rip it out – it's not a hard pattern but it's a little bit fussy – so I went ahead and finished it and managed to spray-block it (around a plastic container lid) to about 5". Hopefully it will stay that way! It is a fun way to use Koigu; much quicker than socks and a better spring/summer gift than a scarf, I think. This could be my go-to girlfriend gift.

Still plugging along on my cabled cardigan; no disasters there, thank goodness!

I will try to be back sooner. Thank you for putting up with me! And thank you all for your wonderful comments, which I love reading despite my lack of replying.

I'm Still Here!

2008-03-21T20:04:00.012-04:00

I've even been knitting. Finished these red socks for Eli, made progress on my Bridget cardigan and started these socks for Will:

I'm using Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Sport, which is such a pleasure. Very squooshy and *so* quick to knit. I'm in love with the colorway (Java). I broke my no-yarn-buying resolve and ordered it from A Sheep's Tale, which was having a fantastic sale on CTH. (They still are, but I don't know how many colors are left.) I really love it, especially after my traumatic experience making the red socks. The yarn itself -- Lang Jawoll -- was fine, though I think it may be thinner than your average sock yarn -- but my attempts to use the spool of matching reinforcing thread that came with it was a comedy of errors. I can't bear to recount them all here, but suffice it to say that reinforcing thread, or at least this reinforcing thread, is a TERRIBLE thing to rip out. Up there with mohair. I ended up with an enormous snarled mess and having to cut the thread several times. I also didn't enjoy knitting with the thread and I didn't like how dense it made the fabric. So I won't do that again! The socks are nice and cheery, though, and Eli seems to like them.

I finished one front of the Bridget cardigan and have moved onto the second -- so far so good. I am such a nimrod, though, that after berating myself for forgetting to write down what needles I used for the ribbing of the first front, I then forgot to write down which needles I used for the ribbing of the second one. 'Cause I wouldn't want the back to match, either, would I. *sigh* I think it was 6s, though.

I apologize for my long absence. I have been busy, but also thinking a lot about this blog and what/who it's for. I imagine many people are having the same thoughts since Ravelry came along. Anyway, I won't bore you with that now. Plus, my children are demanding a game of LIFE, so I have to go.

Until next time! Happy Spring, everyone. It's coming, I'm sure of it!

Rose's Got Pants

2008-02-20T19:49:00.004-05:00

But more importantly, Rose has the cutest little sweater you ever saw ...

Is it not adorable? Does it not make you squee with its adorableness?

I started to knit Rose some pants, I really did. Out of this very yarn, which I must confess, I did end up buying, for $3 (the buttons cost more than the yarn!) in the sale basket at the Village Yarn Shop. (And which I LOVE, 'cause it's 6-ply and it knits up SO much faster than regular sock yarn.)

Anyway, I started the pants, and they were so ugly I could not go on. So ugly I could not even record them for history in a picture. Auden, of course, liked them. And was not interested in a sweater, no matter how adorable, when Rose needed pants. But I found these nice purple pants at an Etsy store and all is well in Auden-land.

Life is too short to knit ugly pants, even for a doll.

Pattern: Miniature Cowichan Cardigan by Veronik Avery. (Is there a non-miniature version? I kind of want one.)
Yarn: Regia 6-ply Crazy Color, 1 skein, plus Cascade 220 Superwash for the collar.
Needles: US3
Modifications: I skipped the colorwork, obviously, and did regular instead of twisted ribbing, mostly because I was too lazy to get up out of my chair and figure out how to do a twisted purl stitch.

How Grownups Waste Time

2008-02-13T13:56:00.002-05:00

I had a little bit of yarn left from my mom's socks, and Rose (Auden's American Girl-ish Hannukah present) needed socks ... so I made the world's most boring doll sock. However, since I used smaller needles than the pattern called for (Rose has fine sensibilities) and didn't check gauge, they don't actually fit Rose. They do fit Sasha, my childhood doll that Auden also plays with, but as Auden pointed out to me, "Sasha doesn't really need socks. She doesn't go outside much. And she doesn't have shoes."

Meanwhile, Rose has socks with puppies on them coming from eBay, and what Auden really wants is for me to make Rose some pants. So I'll rip this out ... but I may have to try again one of these days -- look at those tiny gussets! How cute is that!

Apparently knitting doll socks puts me in the ranks of crazy knitter, if I wasn't there already. My husband seems to think so , anyway -- he refused to join in on any discussion re. what kind of sock Rose might prefer. Just gave me a concerned look.

I did persuade myself that no yarn can be purchased for making doll items. No yarn ought to be purchased for any purposes, actually, it is getting hard to fit guests in the guest room.

I'll just keep burning through my stash, one tiny sock at a time ...

Under the Wire

2008-02-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

These are for my mother's birthday, which is Friday. I finished them just before noon and mailed them off, with the post office's assurances that they would be in California in two days. Whew! Kind of silly to spend months on a pair of socks and then rush through the finishing. I didn't have time to wash them – although I'm partly glad because I would be so depressed if they pilled too much right away. The cuffs were already looking discouragingly frayed; I had to trim off the fuzz and
escaping antennae. I liked knitting with the Regia Silk, and it looks very nice, but I don't know if I'll get much feedback on how it wears. (Or even *if* it's worn. We shall not think of that!:)

Not being pure silk, these do not drape in the luxurious manner of the book illustration; however they did insist on posing with pearls, just like in the book.

In the end, the fit was OK. If I made another pair, which I probably won't, I would change the shape of the heel flap. And I'm sure there were some minor errors in the pattern that aren't in the errata. But overall, a very nice pattern.

By a stroke of knitter's luck, a piece of our car began dragging on the ground yesterday and I had to spend the morning at the Honda dealership while it was repaired. Only $20.99 (to replace broken clips on the undercarriage) and more than an hour of uninterrupted, guilt-free daytime knitting! I was very happy.

Pattern: Anniversary Socks, from Interweave Knits Favorite Socks
Yarn: Regia Silk, Color 002
Needles: Knitpicks Options DPN, Size 2.5 mm (The size between a U.S. 1 and 2)
Modifications: Only to fix errors. If you make these, CHECK THE CORRECTIONS!!!!

A Windy Day ...

2008-01-09T10:01:00.000-05:00

and some squirrels in our yard are looking for new homes!

Moving Right Along

2008-01-08T12:09:00.001-05:00

Well, after working on every small project I could think of instead, I have finally started the Bridget cardigan. So far so good! I am still amazed by the very fact of cabling (and the fact that I can do it) though I think some of that will wear off by the time I get through two fronts and the back ... there are a lot of cables here. And no charts. Charts would help a lot. I may need to do something about that.

One early success: I was able to drop down four rows to add in a cable I'd left out (one of the little ones on the left -- you can see where it's kind of loose) instead of having to rip back. Baby steps! The Options needle points are killing my fingers with all the pushing through cables; I might switch to my Inox and see if they're pointy enough to do the job.

So that should keep me busy for a while. It's not traveling knitting, though. Nor is this, the semi-abandoned Anniversary Sock:

I tried it on again yesterday. Can anyone else see the skewing I'm talking about in the picture above? The diamonds are not symmetrical ... they pull to the right and kind of slant over into the cable on the right, while there's a neat straight division between them and the cable on the left. Did I do something wrong to cause this? Or is it just part of the design? It bothers me less than it did before. Anyway, I wasn't going to rip back because of that, but because I thought it was too short and the heel fit badly:

I love the eye-of-partridge heel but this one is a strange shape -- very short and wide, not a square at all. If I rip out past the heel will I ever re-knit the rest of the sock? and if I don't, will I ever re-knit the second sock??!! I think I should finish these socks; it's very nice yarn and they're very pretty. And they're for my mother, who so far has only one garter stitch scarf to show for her knitting daughter. I think I will make Kathy help decide when she comes here next week. (!!!!) All my knitting decisions rely heavily on Kathy. :)

And finally, I realized I never posted a picture of my Hannukah yarn. My sister-in-law Nancy gave me The Book of Yarn, which I love, and this beautiful sock yarn:

The colors, especially of the one on the right, are not ones I would have chosen myself, which I like, because I tend to buy the same colors over and over. Eli is already clamoring for socks from the "fire" yarn!

Purty Hat

2007-12-29T23:29:00.000-05:00

There. My children are hatted and mittened for winter. If that doesn't make a knitting mommy proud. Also, who could ever be mad at a 9-year-old who loves his homemade knitwear so much he insists on wearing all of it – hat, mittens and Harry Potter scarf – for the five-minute trip to his friend's house this afternoon? (Well, I could, actually, but we shall not mention that here.) Of course, he then forgot to bring any of it home! but it has been retrieved and all is well.

Pattern: Norwegian Star Earflap Hat by Tiennie
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
Needles: US 8 (and my wee US 6 short needles for the I-cord.)
Size: Adult
Modifications: I made a four-stitch I-cord.

What a lovely pattern! Very easy to follow, though you wouldn't know it from the umpteen false starts I made on this hat. I had many ideas, such as making it double-thick, and starting from the top down, and doing ribbing instead of earflaps ... but in the end Eli wanted earflaps, so he got them. It is a little big, but he has such a big head I was afraid the smaller size wouldn't be big enough. I want to block it and see if I can tame the rolling in front and back a little (Tiennie, if you read this, did you do this?) but he may not let go of it long enough for me to block it!

The kids and I are off to Maryland, but before I leave I have to post these pictures of our knitting family the other night; after a long day at the children's museum and swimming with friends (AND a pretend-Friendly's dinner at home), the next morning the children decided they wanted to knit! So they pulled out their knitting, which has sat untouched for months, and charged ahead. To my surprise, they both basically remembered what to do (I had taught them the Waldorf poem – "In through the window, out through the back, peek through the window and off pops Jack" – which seemed to help, and they are – for now – wrapping the yarn the way other people do, which seemed easier to learn than my way, though – *sniff* – less efficient!) They were both so darn cute about it all, and quite persistent. I did some cleaning up and salvaging of stitches now and then, but really they were both knitting! Auden even taught Eli how to do mushroom-knitting; I think he was impressed that she could do it so well. (I got him his own today so he can try left-handed.)

Auden helps her big brother.

Everyone knits.

Eli hard at work on his scarf.

And now, I'm off. Happy New Year everyone - see you in 2008!

Snow Day!

2007-12-17T09:12:00.000-05:00

The huge blizzard we were supposed to get never came, but the kids ended up with the day off school anyway, which seemed only fair after all the hype. We did get more than a foot of snow over the weekend – we're moving up in the Great Snow Race, woo hoo! (Why does Buffalo get all the hype? They've got nuthin' on us. Of course, we've got nothing on Syracuse ...:) The kids spent half the day inside in their pajamas until I finally tossed them out into the snow.

Two happy children ...

and one VERY happy dog!

Some meager and belated updates ...

I finished (except for blocking) another "Scarf-as-a-Collar" for Auden's kindergarten teacher. It took less than a skein of Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn, with a bit left over, yay! (Adding in a second skein the last time I made it was a pain.) I hope it's long enough – the last one I made longer and then thought was too long; this one seems the bare minimum for length. Maybe blocking will help some.

And I'm mostly done with a pair of striped mittens for Eli, inspired by Loribird at From the Wool Room. Mine are in Cascade 220 superwash (I love the Heathers she used, but I have seen what my children do to their mittens!) also using the Ann Budd Book of Patterns from the library. (What a great book! I think I might need a copy of my own.) They're a very fast knit – I finished the first one in two afternoons of Munchkin-chaperoning – and quite adorable, I think. My only reservation is they're thin - I hadn't really thought about how much thickness the colorwork added to Auden's mittens.

And that's all at the moment, really. The Anniversary Socks are hibernating until I stop being too depressed to figure out what's wrong with them and how to fix it. I toyed with the idea of making another teacher gift by the end of the week but ... I don't think so. Wouldn't she really rather have a Target gift card anyway? I need to finish these mittens, make a hat, make myself a headband ('cause my ears are getting cold) and then get down to business on one of these many sweaters which I now own the yarn for. If they could just settle the television writer's strike, my knitting time would be all set. :)

In case I don't post again this month: Happy New Year everyone! and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. May your holidays be warm and safe.

Rufflicious

2007-11-28T15:20:00.000-05:00

Here is Auden modeling Kira's Ruffles scarf, which I sent off in the mail today. I think it's cute – I don't love my choice of yarn, which made the scarf a little too thick and heavy. I hope it's long enough – I could have gone longer but I was so bored of knitting it! plus the heavy thing. And then I squashed it in the box with my nieces' other gifts, who knows what it will look like when it arrives!

Pattern: Ruffles scarf from Scarf Style.
Yarn: Scoubidu in stonewashed purple, 2.5 skeins
Needles: US6 straights.
Modifications: None

And here is my Anniversary sock for my mother, in progress. It is a very nice lace pattern, but it does something strange when I try it on and look at it stretched out - the lace skews to one side. I will have to take a close-up picture to show you. I am not changing it now, and I guess I'd better do the other one to match, but it looks odd to me.

These are clearly not going to be done for Hannukah, though I am knitting them faster than any sock I've knit before! I'm using my new Knitpicks DPNs, size 1.5 – I like that they are shorter than my other needles and the gauge seems good. My poor fingers are quite sore from their sharp points, though (good for the mini-cables) and I'm not sure how I'm feeling about their weight.

So that's all the knitting that's going on chez Hilary! I need to start something else mindless to take with me to Wizard of Oz rehearsals (Eli's a Munchkin) etc. Maybe I will make a teacher scarf after all ...

Two FO's

2007-11-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

Count 'em, two!

First, my Dashing gloves in Malabrigo for Eli's temporary cello teacher, with which I am inordinately happy (the gloves, not the teacher. I am very happy with her too - hence the gloves - but I believe that is happiness of the ordinate sort:). I need to make more fingerless gloves. They're fast! They're funky! I am not quite clear on the usefulness, and they are very long, but I love them anyway. And I love the Malabrigo, the Malabrigo colorway (Paris Nights) and the way they feel ... I just hope they don't disappear into pills on the first wearing.

Pattern: Dashing, from Knitty

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in Paris Nights

Needles: DPN US6

Modifications: I knit 20 rows instead of 24 after the third cable to shorten the wrists slightly. I also decreased five stitches before the castoff so they wouldn't flare, and I used the EZ sewn bind-off. (Is there ever a reason not to use that? I am quite addicted to it, and it matched my cable cast-on quite well.)

Second, the Diagonal Ridges scarf for Nada:

I still need to block it, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. It is a very pretty pattern (thanks Kathy!) and the wrong side looks just as good as the right:

Pattern: Diagonal Ridges scarf from Ann Norling, Six Lace Scarfs

Yarn: Times Remembered Prime Alpaca, sportweight, color Musk

Needles: Knitpicks Options US4

Modifications: Cast on 33 stitches. I used the EZ sewn bindoff for this, too.

Signs of Addiction

2007-11-17T15:28:00.000-05:00

More yarn has appeared at my house and I am at a loss to explain just why. Last month I was virtuously selling off stash and then ... something happened. I think I was using up my Paypal balance and I got carried away. Just a little! Some serious enabling by the ISO group on Ravelry and the Destash blog. I really need to get off of those. And then there was the siren call of a sale at Sonny & Shear ...

It's all beautiful! There's Noro Silk Garden in pinks and purples, which I have a plan for, sort of:

Fleece Artist Merino Sock in Mermaid:

Claudia Hand Painted sock yarn in Plumilicious ...

Dream in Color Smooshy in Some Kind of Summer (I love this already!):

and Dream in Color Classy in Petal Shower, or Shower of Petals, which will make a lovely baby sweater, as soon as someone I know (someone? anyone?) has a baby girl.

Not too terrible ... except of course that there's a sale at a going-out-of-business LYS I really want to go to, and Shop Night at the Knitter's Guild meeting next month ... and it is not like I am exactly churning out the knitted items.

*sigh* I need a budget.

Tomorrow: FO's! I promise!

Bad Parenting

2007-11-02T11:45:00.000-04:00

We interrupt this knitting blog to bring you a cautionary announcement: It turns out that allowing one's children to have one night of "eat all the Halloween candy you want" may not be such a great idea. Apparently parents are supposed to be smarter than their 5-year-olds about how much is enough/too much, and not let them end up awake half the night with a tummy ache and then send them kindergarten only to throw up on the table. (I say apparently, because although both said 5-year-old and her mother have stomach aches from too much candy, one of them – and it's not the 5-year-old – is still eating leftover candy.)

*sigh*

I could swear I read this eat-all-you-want-once idea in the paper. (And of course I believe everything I read in the paper!) I think it was a dentist who suggested it. Well, her teeth are fine.

And now she's itching and blotchy all over and I have a call in to the doctor. I feel like such a bad mommy!

Postscript: Well, it is looking less like the candy is to blame and more like she is just plain sick. So I guess I can feel less guilty.

Here is one possibility of how she GOT sick ... the world's most unhygienic Halloween game, astonishingly instigated by the teacher. It involves serial licking of a laminated construction paper jack-o-lantern, with only a wipe of a wet rag between children, at least one of whom had had a fever as recently as that morning. I was so astounded that I could do nothing but sputter "I'm really grossed out" and watch as my daughter went ahead and played. (I should have jumped in like a proper Type A mom and screamed "Go first Auden, go first!")

Well, who knows if there's any relation. But it was seriously gross.

On a more positive note, here is Auden's class all suited up for Halloween. It sure doesn't look like any of my elementary school classes! It warms my heart. I just hope all that diversity is rubbing off on her somewhere.

Back to knitting content next time, I promise!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T23:41:00.000-04:00

After the Whacking

2007-10-23T13:32:00.000-04:00

This is the beginning of my alpaca scarf, using the skein that I dunked in hot water/dunked in cold water/dunked in hot water/whacked against the wall:

It DOES look different from the swatch I made from the undunked and unwhacked alpaca (below), but it's not entirely a controlled test. (Different pattern, the second swatch is washed and blocked, etc.) However it seems less hairy, and I didn't ruin my yarn, so I'll take what I get. The idea is, I guess, to very slightly full the yarn so that the hairs don't stick out as much. I should have taken pictures, but I was too terrified of felting the whole skein to think about anything else! The whacking against the wall is very satisfying, for the record.

I like the top pattern -- it's Ann Norling's Diagonal Ridges -- better (just like Kathy said I would:) but I think mine is too narrow (only 5.5 inches -- the pattern calls for 6 and I think maybe I want a little more than that) so I'm going to start over. Pooey.

EDITED TO ADD: Never mind. I dug out the scarf in this pattern that Kathy made for Will and it is the same width and it looks fine. Onward!

Forgot to take a picture of the new, improved socks I started for my mom and today it's pouring. But I think I'm starting those over ~~too~~. I missed a cable, and I want to try the new size needles I ordered from Knitpicks (the larger size 1s, which fall between the regular U.S. 1 and 2 sizes.) Last time I knit a sock on 1s it drove me insane, but I would like a slightly finer fabric.

That was my blog break, back to ~~spring~~ fall cleaning!

p.s.

I pulled out the box of scarves, gloves and hats this evening. Fun to see all the handknits in there. Not THAT many, not compared to many of you who are far more prolific than I am. But it still tickles me to have made any practical items at all.

One Done

2007-10-14T13:19:00.000-04:00

Finally, I finished something! Even better, finally I finished this shawl, this endless endless shawl. As you can see from the picture, the edges need blocking (I hope that works -- can you block superwash and have it stay that way? Otherwise Aunt Fran is getting a seriously wiggly-edged shawl.)

This was a straightforward knit, but I got bored -- the pattern is either too busy or too abstract so that I couldn't see it forming as I knit, which made it less fun for me. But I like the way it looks, and it is a nice three-dimensional pattern, very warm and snuggly. It was good TV knitting.

Against doctor's orders, I stopped after 55". (Though if it hadn't been for the advice I got, I would have stopped 10" earlier than that, so I'm not completely unresponsive.:) My great-aunt is very small, so I didn't want it to overwhelm her. I may be wrong, though.

The Cascade 220 Superwash was very nice to work with, though a less solid-colored yarn might have helped with the boredom.

Pattern: Cozy, from Knitty
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash, about 3.5 skeins
Needles: Knitpicks Options US 9
Modifications: Shortened it.

To Do (Maybe)

2007-10-06T22:05:00.000-04:00

Inspired by Teal, I made a To Do List. I make these for myself all the time, but not so often for my knitting. But I realized I was crazy to be thinking about knitting Koigu socks for myself when I had so many other projects on deck. (I *never* knit holiday presents, but this year I wanted to, which gives me actual deadlines!)

And then I couldn't resist starting one of them ...

That's the beginning of a Ruffles scarf, from Scarf Style, for my 11-year-old niece. I'm using Trendsetter Scoubidu yarn, which is a nice squishy cotton blend. I really wanted something with Noro-ish stripes, but couldn't find anything soft or low maintenance enough. I know some people say knitting Ruffles drove them crazy, but I find it hugely addictive. It is GREAT TV knitting (and should be great carry-along knitting) -- the pattern is easy to memorize and it is so much fun to watch the spirals grow. It was especially good for keeping me calm as the Cubs went and eliminated themselves from the playoffs, losing their third game in a row tonight at HOME. Look how many spirals I got done!

So, here's the lineup, actual and potential:

In Progress:
Cozy, for Fran. Deadline: Hannukah? Status: Almost finished.
Jo Sharp Bridget cardigan for me. Deadline: None. Status: Swatched.
Ruffles scarf for Kira. Deadline: Hannukah Status: Started.

Planned:
Scarf, for Nada. Deadline: Hannukah Yarn: Alpaca Handspun Pattern: Undecided!!!
Something for Talia? Deadline: Hannukah
Socks for my Mom. Deadline: Hannukah *or* Feb. 8 (her birthday) Yarn: Regia Silk (ordered) Pattern: Undecided.
Scarf for Auden's teacher. Deadline: Late December. Yarn: Louisa Harding.
Kippah for Eli! Deadline: None.
(Socks for me ...)

That seems like enough for now ...

The Family That Winds Together ...

2007-10-01T19:35:00.000-04:00

makes cake. :)

Even Will got into the act -- in fact he probably wound most of it, once he got into it -- but I forgot to get a picture.

I luuuuuurve my ball winder and swift. And winding yarn outside was the perfect knitting activity for another summerlike day (sorry Kathy!)

Now one of these days I need to actually knit something ...

Slow Start

2007-09-29T16:32:00.000-04:00

That title could refer to this post, which has been sitting in limbo for some time, but I really mean my Jo Sharp Bridget sweater. I got this far:

(Notice this is not the yarn I bought for this sweater in my last post -- the DAY after I bought that, someone was destashing the EXACT yarn called for in the pattern on Knitter's Review ... and I couldn't resist. It's Silkroad Aran in Beach, which is less white in person than in pictures, but very beautiful. I have gotten as far as swatching. (The pattern calls for using US 8s but I got gauge on 7s, which is the first time I have ever had to go down a needle size, but perhaps I have suddenly become relaxed knitter. And person. HA!)

Anyway I haven't gotten my act together to actually START the sweater yet, and I've been distracted by constantly thinking I'm almost done with my Cozy shawl, and yet not being. And by trying to figure out which scarf pattern to knit for my brother-in-law for Hannukah ... right now it is a tie between A Scarf Askew and the Red Herring Scarf, but I would prefer something reversible. And by obsessing over all the things that are not perfect about my daughter's kindergarten experience, and and and ...

I would also like to start a sock, so that I have something to carry around with me. I went up to look at this Koigu to see if I wanted to sell it, and instead decided I like the colors, they are cheerful and amusing. But I have no idea what it will look like knitted up, and I don't know what pattern to use. These are the criteria:

1) It must not pool! and 2) I don't want something "fancy" like the Monkey Socks. I want something more like a "plain sock" but I think not entirely plain. Maybe just ribbing. Do you have any suggestions? I haven't knitted Koigu socks before, actually, so I don't know how it will behave.

The other thing that is distracting me, in a good way so far, is the Cubs! Apparently there is a Lorna's Laces colorway "Cubby Bear" but I can't find a picture of it to post in honor of the Cubs winning their division and heading to the playoffs. Go Cubs! I think we're due.

Fiber Festivities

2007-09-16T17:50:00.000-04:00

What was I thinking not taking my camera with me to the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival? There was bright sunshine and perfect fall weather, alpacas and sheep all over the place, wheels and spindles, spinners, knitters, and of course, endless, overwhelming amounts of yarn. Also, this:

Can you tell what it is? It's not roving. It's naturally maple flavored and colored cotton candy, very yum. Lots of double-takes as people went around the fair eating what appeared to be bags of wool. The bag I brought home was very quickly very gone.

And yes, I bought yarn. *sigh*

After wandering around happily for several hours, I ended up spending all my money in one place, at Times Remembered, from Slate Hill, N.Y. (They don't seem to have a website, but I have their email ...) There were lots of alpaca vendors, but I thought Times Remembered had the best combination of soft and reasonably priced. I wish I had a picture of all the gorgeous colors! Chocolate and nutmeg and camel and musk ... I can't remember the others, but they were all beautiful.

I bought two skeins of sport weight musk without a particular plan (*guilt*)

and then I came back and bought four skeins of their worsted alpaca/wool blend for my Jo Sharp Bridget sweater:

and some sock yarn for, well, socks. (I wish I were a lace knitter because I think a lace shawl from the fingering weight alpaca would be stunning.)

The sock colors are a little richer than they look here, but there's a heathery purple merino, a gorgeous sand-colored alpaca (I couldn't resist!), and a natural white silk-merino blend to try again on socks for my mom.

Thank goodness the festival is just once a year!

The New Red

2007-09-11T13:55:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Farrow Rib Scarf, from the Little Box of Scarves
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky, 2 skeins
Needles: 10.5
Made for the Red Scarf Project.

This was a fun, satisfying knit. Nice to use big, wooden needles for a change, not to mention soft super-squishy yarn. (I love this yarn! I wish I'd bought more when it was on sale. The kids loved it too, and immediately demanded their own scarves in the same pattern and color. I reminded Eli that he has a Harry Potter scarf and doesn't need another one, but I may make one for Auden.)

This is my first charity knitting. I'm so slow that usually I think they'd rather have my money, and I'd rather have my time. But this project, and the associated fund, really spoke to me. I think it is distinctly possible they are going to be overrun with scarves again this year, so I am making just one, to satisfy my romantic impulses – and then I made a donation and bought a gift card to send with it.

The big news around here is that Auden started kindergarten, enthusiastically and apparently without reservations. Her mother has a few reservations, but has kept them to herself, and largely they have been banished by Auden's overwhelmingly positive attitude.

Here they are on the first day of school:

And here's Auden in class on her first day:

A Sweater for Miss Katie's baby

2007-08-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

Ready to go, except looking at these pictures I am thinking I might put a white border around the earflaps, too. The ladies at the new Village Yarn Shop persuaded me to get the multi-colored buttons instead of the dark blue ones I was originally going for. I'm not quite sure they work as well with the color of the sweater, but they're pretty cute.

Pattern: Garter Stitch Cardigan from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton, color: sage. About 2 skeins (I used three, so I'm not sure if I could have done it in 2 or not.)
Needles: KnitPicks Options 7 and dpn 5 and 7s for the arms.
Modifications: This yarn was bulkier than the pattern called for so I knit the 3-month size to get the 9-month sweater.

The hat is loosely based on the L'il Devil hat from kittyville. I cast on 60 stitches I don't love the way the stripes and the garter stitch came out.

This sweater took forever to dry, because I was following the directions on the new skein of Organic Cotton I had that said hand wash or dry clean. I just noticed that the old skeins say you can machine wash (on warm!) and tumble dry until damp ... that would have made life a lot easier. I'm giving those directions to Miss Katie!

Aaaargh!

2007-08-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

Anniversary Socks from Favorite socks, for my Mom. A somewhat fussy pattern that I've already had to rip back to the ribbing once because I'd lost a stitch somewhere. Slightly splitty yarn (Brown Sheep Wildfoote).

But once I'd ripped back, it was smooth sailing back to the end of the first 12-row repeat. Pause to admire my work. Of course it was then that I noticed the cables were all bunched together on the leg pattern (hard to see in this bad picture, but the cables at the top by the needles are much closer together than those in the ribbing, at the bottom of the picture) – and only then that I thought to check the errata. And there is one, of course: there are two extra cables that aren't supposed to be there. Grrrr.

I could leave them, but I'd have to add even more cables into the pattern if I wanted it to match, and the cables are (for me) the fussiest part, especially with this yarn and these needles. (Susan Bates – are KnitPicks sock needles pointier?) Or I guess I could switch to the correct pattern now and just leave this as a memento. I don't know.

At least if I rip it out I'll get a chance to try it on. But I'm also wondering if I should switch to a nicer yarn for my mother. Sigh.

Anyone have any thoughts on Regia Silk vs. Lorna's Laces? Or this ...

Almost Finished Object, and Some Yarn ...

2007-08-13T17:54:00.000-04:00

Baby sweater, almost done. Kathy was right (but of course!), it looks very sharp with the white border. Auden and I went button hunting yesterday and I couldn't find anything perfect ... the blue buttons they had were too shiny, or something. We ended up with this (her choice):
but I am not committed. I am also wondering if the buttonholes, what with the yarn being cotton and bulky-ish and SO soft, are going to stretch like crazy. Should I sew around them, somehow? Or should I get little toggle buttons, which might stay put even if they do stretch? I had also thought of sewing the buttons OVER the buttonholes and using snaps ... I'm not sure.

On a separate note, any non-yarn-buying resolve I may have had was completely wiped away by knit2purl2.com's Going Out of Business sale (pretty much over now; aren't you glad I spared you the temptation?) Lorna's Laces and Malabrigo at 50 percent off ... I am far too weak to resist that. From top left to bottom right: two skeins of Malabrigo in Emerald Blue for a so-called scarf (I'd never used Malabrigo before! and it was on my list! And I have a purpose for it! How much responsible can you get?), two skeins each of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Fresh Stripe, Periwinkle and Denim, and one skein of Malabrigo in Paris Nights.
That last single skein of Malabrigo is the only thing I'm not sure what I'll do with. Originally I had ordered two of Paris Nights, but there were only two left from different dye lots, so I switched to the Emerald Blue (which I think I may like better anyway: the Paris Nights is VERY dark, though perhaps not as dark as it looks in the picture, where you can't even see it!) But I couldn't resist getting one skein of the Paris Nights anyway ... I'm sure I'll find SOMETHING to do with it.

And there may, just may *cough* be another shipment from knit2purl2 on its way ...

Greener Grass

2007-08-03T11:42:00.000-04:00

Now that I know it's out of print, this is the pattern book I absolutely must have:

Jo Sharp Hand Knitting Collection: Number Two

I love the Bridget Cardigan, despite its resemblance to the sweater I just made. I like it better!

It doesn't seem to be available anywhere, so if anyone ever runs across a copy (or has one to spare) I would love it if you could buy it for me. (I'll reimburse you, obviously!)

I just checked to see if coveting knitting books you can't have was one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Apparently not, but I'm sure there's something sinful about it just the same.

Ravelry

2007-08-01T10:23:00.001-04:00

So I got my Ravelry invite yesterday (think of all the time I will save not obsessively checking the waitlist anymore!)

I have to say, my first reaction is that Ravelry meets all the needs I got a blog for in the first place -- a place to keep track of my projects, stash, project ideas etc. -- and much better than I can do.

But I've become attached to my blog and my ~~many~~ several loyal readers ... I still wish it were more conversational (LiveJournal-ish, but I can't see making a switch now. (Does anyone know if any of the other blog sites offer a feature where you can answer posts right at the blog and the responses get emailed to the posters?)

I also sometimes wish I used this blog/had another blog to work out things I'm thinking about other subjects -- city schools and public education, my parents getting old, books I'm (not) reading. Some people weave that in seamlessly with their knitting, but I'm always so tired and rushed by the time I'm posting that it's all I can do to get out my knitting updates.

Anyway, I'm Hilary at Ravelry ... I haven't figured out how interacting with other people works yet. But I am sure that I will be able to use up all my stash now that I can see how everyone else is using their yarn. Ha ha ha ha.

Here is a horrible picture of my baby sweater in progress. (Progress has stalled somewhat since getting home from vacation, what with the piles of un-put-away JUNK staring accusingly at me. Not to mention our 12-week free trial of the daily New York Times hanging over my head each day!) The picture of course does not capture the best part of the sweater, which is the incredible softness of the Blue Sky Organic Cotton. I am wondering, though, after seeing pretty blue buttons in Virgina Beach, and Kathy's beautiful blue and green baby sweater, if the border should be blue, not white. Could I dye the white Organic Cotton? with Kool-Ade? I have some time to think about it, so flood me with your opinions! :)

Socks on the Beach

2007-07-30T17:11:00.000-04:00

One pair of Monkey Socks, done. Amazing what you can accomplish in a few long car rides! These kept me busy the whole way to Virginia Beach, where I finished them off. I didn't do a huge amount of knitting in Virginia because of, you know, the beach (and after seeing how long it is taking me to get the sand out of my daughter's swimsuits, I'm glad my knitting went nowhere near the actual beach!) We had absolutely perfect beach weather, and I actually did some reading for a change.

Auden entered the world of knitting in Virginia, courtesy of a Mushroom Knitter from her Aunt Kathy. She caught on right away, made several I-cord necklace thingies (Kathy and I quickly got her to appreciate the advantages of Socks That Rock over the cotton yarn the mushroom came with - it's never too early to create a yarn addiction!) and is already bugging me to teach her to "knit with needles." Personally, I love the Mushroom. It is a version of spool knitting, which I had never done, but I find very soothing and addicting. I had to stop myself from picking it up and knitting on it after she went to bed at night!

I got started on my baby sweater and made some serious progress on the way home. I'll try to post a picture soon, because I need advice on the border.

There was also one quick trip to the delightful Ewe Knits where I picked up a new (to me, anyway) sock yarn, ShiBui.
It's much more vibrant than it looks in the picture ... I guess one of these days I should learn how to tone my photos, *sigh*. The color is called "Wasabi" and it has a beautiful spectrum of greens.

Monkey Socks details:

Yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight, color: Fire on the Mountain. Less than one skein.
Pattern: Monkey Socks, from Knitty.
Needles: Susan Bates 1s and 2s
Modifications: Picot Edge, from January One. I knit the edge and the toes on 1s and the rest on 2s. I decreased one more time before kitchenering the toes. I think if I did these again I might do a different heel and toes. The heel in particular looks strange to me, kind of poofy, though that mostly disappears when they're on. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this pattern!

Knittin' in the Car

2007-07-15T16:38:00.000-04:00

You'll just have to imagine that there are cherry trees and Great Lakes and U.S.-Canadian borders (not to mention Niagara Falls and the giant SkyWheel!) out the window. I am not organized enough to knit AND take pictures en route.

My Monkey Socks kept me happily occupied most of the way from Rochester to Frankfort, Michigan, including one very slow border crossing. I didn't knit so much there, or on the way back, but they're coming along nicely. I ripped back the first one and am doing them both on 2s ... and I'm doing the full 6 repeats. I figure with the picot edge they will be shorter than the originals anyway. Hopefully I won't run out of yarn, or they'll have different color toes.

Speaking of yarn, I almost but didn't *quite* make it to the yarn store in Glen Arbor, home of the inimitable Cherry Republic. I know where it is for next time, though! I had already made a prophylactic stop at Knit A Round, a very nice yarn shop in Ann Arbor. It was just a few blocks away from our Red Roof Inn, so how could I not go? And then they had Koigu on sale, so how could I not buy some? :)

They also had Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn, which I got to to fondle for the first time in person (mmmm!) and lots of Bearfoot Mountain Colors (Mountain Colors Bearfoot?), also very lovely. But I was in a hurry, so the Koigu had to do.

A few Michigan cherry-picking pictures to prove I wasn't just knitting in the driveway:

Best. Teacher. Ever.

2007-07-05T19:31:00.000-04:00

A little handspun prettiness to tide everyone over until my return, courtesy of my daughter's preschool teacher (who happens to have gone to high school with my husband, because it is a teeny tiny world.) This has been waiting patiently to be photographed, but now that I know she might actually be reading this blog, I figured I'd better post it. :)

She might not be thrilled that I did – an early effort, according to her, but since I've never spun anything in my life, totally impressive to me. SO soft. And beautiful muted colors – this photo doesn't do it justice. It's silk, wool and something else, and will make something lovely and warm, I just don't yet know what. It will be good fall knitting, maybe when I need something to comfort me after my baby disappears into the not-so-reassuring clutches of the city school district. :)

Seriously, she is an AMAZING teacher, in addition to being a spinner and knitter. If you know someone in Rochester looking for a great preschool, let me know.

I'm not yet sure if there will be any yarn stores on this trip. I tossed out the possibility of stopping at one in Ann Arbor and Will seemed amenable. He seems to have accepted the concept of a yarn store as an essential stop – like the gas station and Tim Horton's. (We're cutting through Canada.) There's also a great shoe store in Ann Arbor, though ... If I don't make it to a yarn store this week, I know there's one in Virginia Beach waiting for me at the end of the month.

Until next time! I'll bring chocolate-covered cherries for everyone. :)

Hilary See, Hilary Do

2007-07-04T15:12:00.001-04:00

or ... just trying to keep up with Kathy! I swear, someone at the Knitter's Guild recommended Monkey Socks to me before I knew everyone else ~~in the World~~ on the Web was making them. Not that it matters, there is not a lot of crossover between my Real Life friends and acquaintances and the knitting blog world.

It's my first picot edge, and I'm suitably charmed by it. It doesn't seem very stretchy though ... is it going to stay up on my leg? I did the whole edge on 1s and was planning on going back up to 2s for the rest of the sock, but I stayed on 1s and now I'm not sure about that. It is very dense, and I don't think I love that. (The pattern is written for 2s, and I knit tightly anyway.)

So I think I'll start the second sock and do it on 2s for comparison (instead of ripping it out and then wondering if I liked it the first way better, which is what I was about to do.) What's a project without a little angst and indecision?

These are my car knitting for the trip to Michigan. We leave Friday, so I won't be posting for a while.

Happy Fourth to those celebrating!

Well ...

2007-07-01T20:02:00.000-04:00

the stripey sweater is done. I was obsessed with finishing it, but couldn't bear to post pictures of it, which is why I haven't posted for so long. Plus I think there was a week or so where I didn't knit anything. *shock*

I still think this sweater is not the most attractive thing I've ever made. And I am bummed (this is like that "the food was terrible and the portions were too small" joke) that I didn't make it bigger. It is actually a little longer than it looks in this picture – I think it will fit through this school year, but not much longer than that. Which would be just one of those things, except that a) I didn't measure him and b) I deliberately made the body and arms shorter because the last Rowan pattern I made him was way too long! Stupid.

I learned a number of things from this project, including:

1. Teeny tiny little Debbie Bliss skeins leave you with many, many, MANY ends to weave in.

2. "Designing" on the fly is harder than it looks, and may not turn out as expected. Designing the sleeves separately from the body is not a good idea, especially with a raglan pattern.

3. I should not pick projects based solely on finding yarn on sale for a good price.

And many other things, I'm sure. The collar is not at all how I planned it to look, but I think it's kind of cute anyway ... and it just fits over his head. (Note for future projects: adding lining to collar makes it even less stretchy.)

Pattern: More or less loosely based on "Will" from Rowan Junior. (Modifications: added stripes, didn't make zipper, changed collar opening, made ribbing on collar shorter. The picture of just the collar is actually the closest of what this sweater was SUPPOSED to look like. But I didn't have enough yarn to make it solid.)

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton. (Which I loved! but not the teeny tiny skeins.)

I'm just so glad it's done. On to fun, fulfilling projects!

In other creative efforts today, I helped with the "Swimming Pool Cake" for Auden's 5th birthday party at the Y today. (Pool party ... there's a theme here. Also Hello Kitty.) I made the little people and some of the other little stuff, like the beach towel and flip-flops, which you can't really see in this picture. Will made the cake, which was delicious (of course) and turned it into a pool. The party was a success, I think, and even though the Y was doing all the work, we're wiped out.

My Littlest Graduate

2007-06-14T14:54:00.000-04:00

No knitting here at all, just shameless cute-kid promotion. That's Auden at her "Moving Up Ceremony" from pre-school today. Kindergarten, here we come.

The reason there's no knitting picture is I am making such a godawful mess of the ~~ugly~~ striped sweater. I believe have done everything possible wrong on the first sleeve I'm working on – increased in the wrong places, increased the wrong way, used random numbers of stitches etc. But I am so un-enthused about this sweater that I can't bear to rip it out, because I might never go back. (Plus, it's a ribbed sleeve, the mistakes aren't going to show, are they? That's my story ...)

I need to start something fun, and then use it to reward myself for progress on the ~~ugly~~ striped sweater. (Kathy's idea.) I am thinking Monkey socks in my new STR or Koigu (It was on sale! I couldn't help it!).

Back to real life ...

Our New Babies

2007-05-25T00:03:00.000-04:00

This is what we've been spending most of our time watching lately.

It's a repeat performance by this robin family, which first nested in the rafters of our back porch several years ago, then came back this summer and built a second-floor nest on top of the old one. For weeks we've been watching Mrs. Robin sit in near-frozen stillness, waiting and waiting. Then suddenly on Sunday -- just afterthe chicks hatched at Auden's preschool and the falcons hatched atop Kodak Tower -- two babies! Babies are in the air, and it's endlessly fascinating.

From the ground, we mostly see their beaks, ALWAYS open, poking out of the nest like pointy flower buds. For several days I hardly saw them at all and never saw the mother. Then just when I was sure they were all dead, they poked out again (and just when I was sure they had been abandoned and were going to die, the mother appeared too. Overdramatic, me? I believe my husband was prompted to take these beautiful pictures in part by the need to prove to me that the mother was in fact around.:)

There's another great picture on Will's website and I believe they will be in the paper tomorrow too. Our babies! *sniff*

The kids love watching them. So do I. The babies seem to spend absolutely every waking moment with their beaks wide open, hoping food will magically drop in. I watched one fall asleep today. It was waiting with its beak open, pointing straight up toward the sky, then its neck drooped, beak slowly closing, head plopping over the side of the nest.

They are scrawny and strange-looking, but already much bigger than when we first saw them. There is ruffling of wings and jostling for position, soon they will be taking their first flights and then ... gone. And we'll hope for a return visit later in the summer, and next year, if we're lucky. I can't explain how heart-warming and moving I find it to have them back – to have another mother bringing up her babies in this house. We have a new baby oak tree in the front yard too, growing roots and growing up, and it all just makes this feel like home.

The part of me that still means where-I-grew-up when I say "my house"? This is the other part.

Page Two ...

2007-05-20T22:10:00.000-04:00

the rest of my birthday story.

This is what Will, AKA my husband, gave me for my birthday. A ballwinder and beautiful beautiful swift. The swift is made out of wood that reminds me of really nice children's toys, smooth and soft and fresh-smelling. I used it today, with the Socks that Rock that I bought with my birthday money. (And is gorgeous!!!) What a great invention! No tangles, no fuss. And best of all, the kids loved doing it, so I won't have to wind any wool anymore.

I stopped one of Rochester's many yarn stores on Friday to pick up a contrasting ball of Blue Sky Alpaca Organic cotton for the baby sweater, only to find that the store – not one I normally frequent – is going out of business. And everything was 50 percent off. I -- *sigh* -- came home with two more books (Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments and No Sheep for You, which despite having a very unappealing (I think) cover, has some really nice patterns.) And a ball of Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, or whatever it's called. Not too bad considering what I could have come away with. Auden was pushing the cashmere and alpaca. But yes, I have a shopping addiction. Particularly when it comes to yarn stores, and sales. A yarn store sale ... I am lost.

For some reason my preview function is not working, so I have to publish every time I want to see what this looks like. Too annoying; I'm just going to stop here. (Did I mention I love my ball winder and swift?:)

They're heeeeeeeeeeeere ...

2007-05-14T14:23:00.000-04:00

What thoughtful parents I have. How did they know I wanted the Options needles? And a sock book too. It's like they read my mind. And they even threw in a ball of KnitPicks Shine for me to try. It's really too much! Except for the skein of Socks That Rock that might *cough* just maybe also be on its way here. Thank you thank you, parents.

In closing, a gratuitous princess shot. I wasn't the only one who enjoyed my birthday. (Or the cake.)

It's My Birthday

2007-05-13T15:56:00.000-04:00

and I'll Cry If I Want To ... my Options needles haven't arrived. Not that I was really expecting them to be here by now, but it would be fun if they were. Also, the longer I go without them of course the clearer it is that I could manage on straight needles (these are Susan Bates from my mother's long ago foray into knitting) ... but the pattern calls for circulars! I have to do what it says, right? :) It will be nice to have this shawl spread out on circulars instead of jammed together as it is now. And I'm sure I will find many more uses for my new needles.

My birthday was very low-key but pleasant. I took Eli out to buy an expensive new bike and a new mitt. Auden gave me a very sweet little pin she made at pre-school, and Will brought me flowers and chocolate cake. Yum. My lovely sisters-in-law gave me a cover-up and sandals for our beach vacation this summer we were treated to delicious gourmet leftovers for dinner by No. 1 (chronologically – I could NEVER rank my sisters-in-law!) Sister-in-Law.

And now, having done almost nothing all day, I am too tired to do anything but sit and knit. And it's my birthday, so I'm gonna.

The Next Big Thing

2007-05-08T16:14:00.000-04:00

My new project: a Cozy shawl for my Great-Aunt Fran in Cascade 220 Superwash.

Fran has always been one of the most vibrant and caring people I know. She and my Great-Uncle Matt, who died not long before Will and I married, hold a very special place in the hearts of everyone in their extended clan. Fran, who I believe is 90-something, remains lovely and engaged and has given me (and my children) many many thoughtful gifts over the almost 43 years we have been on this planet together. It's about time I returned the favor!

I probably should not have been surprised (but I was) that the Superwash gauge changed not one bit when washed*, unlike its non-Superwash sibling, the regular Cascade 220. Maybe that's why they call it Superwash. *lightbulb*

It's very soft and I think it will make a nice warm wrap. Of course, it is summer and Fran lives in California ... but air-conditioning can be chilly and wool just seemed like the way to go.

When I bought the wool Monday I was pleased that for once I did not need to purchase new needles for a project. But as soon as I started knitting last night I realized that the regular Addis were not going to work – way too dull – and that I was close to insane using them for just four rows. So I ordered not just new needles but the whole Options set from Knitpicks. (Because that will save me money in the long run, right?) It was a BIRTHDAY present. My parents sent me BIRTHDAY money, and I didn't even spend half of it, even if a sock book did sneak itself into my shopping cart. And I've been eyeing interchangeable needles for a while. Now I just want them to get here!

*Yes, I washed my gauge swatch, for the third project in a row! It's the new me.

Two Socks Make a Pair

2007-05-03T14:20:00.000-04:00

Finished, just in time for warm weather. Apparently a spring tradition on my part. :) I still love love love them. They're beautiful and the yarn is beautiful. I made the cast-on looser this time (I think I went up TWO needle sizes, though I learned from Sally Melville that that doesn't make any difference with the long-tail cast-on; it's all about how tight you pull the yarn.) It may have helped to do the first two rows on a much larger needle, but apparently I neglected to write down exactly what I did. That was short-sighted, since I definitely would make these socks again. Oh well.

My only significant modification, other than not doing the complicated cast-on that I couldn't figure out, was not breaking the yarn when I got to the heel. I can't figure out what the difference would have been if I had done that (I'm sure there's a clever reason -- I just don't know what it is) -- they seem fine this way.

Now I am desperately in need of a new project ... or maybe I should get back to work on the Striped Sweater. *Sigh*

My Sally Melville Weekend

2007-04-30T12:23:00.000-04:00

Quick post, because I'm still recovering from a weekend spent knitting (and the weekend before that away). I decided the good thing about the house being a disaster after me being AWOL is that at least it proves I do something around here.

I had a fantastic knitting weekend with Sally Melville -- 11 hours of workshops! She was really great -- I feel like I learned so much. (And I was completely wiped out at the end -- it's been a long time since I've concentrated that hard for that long.)

I took: Basic Maneuvers; Borders and Buttonholes; Basic Pattern Drafting; and Emergency Measures. I don't think I can list everything I learned -- there was a lot! Some cast-ons, some dandy tricks, some design principles, how to cut a hole in my knitting, the Portugese around-the-neck purl ... and much much more. I also learned that I knit the same way as she does -- with the ergonomically preferred "Pencil Hold" :) That left me feeling smug.

It was really quite awesome. And after seeing her designs up close and personal I liked them so much better than I did in the books; I might need to make some!

The Sort-of-Ugly Sweater

2007-04-18T13:47:00.000-04:00

My husband says I shouldn't call it that, even in private, or it will rub off on my son, who so far says he likes it. Loves it, in fact. Even loves the colors, he says. (Have I mentioned he's colorblind?) I am not sure about the apricot stripes. Or about the stripe pattern, which I am making up as I go along. Not sure about any of it, really.

I got the yarn (Debbie Bliss wool/cotton - very nice!) on super-duper sale with the intention of making a different, all brown sweater with a little orange peeking out from inside the collar. But then time went by and my son got bigger, and I wasn't sure I had enough brown. Enter stripes! I think at first I was just going to do one stripe ... I'm not sure how or why it morphed into what you see. Perhaps I've blocked it out. Also, I decided I couldn't bear to knit it in pieces, so I am doing it in the round, and I think I am NOT doing the collar from the pattern (there is a zipper, and I fear zippers), which pretty much means I am completely winging it at this point. We'll see!

To your right is the yarn I won (bought) at the Knitter's Guild annual auction Monday night. Three skeins of Blue Sky Organic Cotton in a naturally grown Sage color. So soft! The plan is to knit something for Eli's cello teacher's impending baby. Now I just need to figure out what.

And, most importantly, I need to figure out my knitting for my SOLO plane trip to California on Saturday. Just under three days visiting my parents. I may be more excited about being alone on the plane than anything else. Don't want to waste it!

Oh, and Kathy says it's my 1-year Blogiversary. I'm too lazy to check, but I think she's always right. Cake for everyone!

Stash for Sale: Lana Grossa Royal Tweed

2007-04-12T11:04:00.000-04:00

Sorry to bore everyone/anyone with this. I need to learn how to collapse ~~boring~~ posts. I am selling ~~1.75-plus skeins of Cascade 220 (Silver Spruce Heather for $9, including shipping,~~(SOLD - Thank yoU!) and five skeins (500m) of Lana Grossa Royal Tweed (Dusky/Royal Blue) for $25, plus shipping.

Talia's Rainbow Poncho

2007-04-11T10:31:00.000-04:00

I knitted this a few years ago for Auden, who promptly declared it "too fratchy" and refused to wear it. Fortunately she has an older but tiny cousin, Talia, who is less fussy and appreciates the joy of a rainbow-colored, twirly handknit! I sent it to her back when I first knit it, but this is the first time I've gotten a picture.

And so they're not left out, here is my niece Kira -- Talia's big sister -- playing violin with my brother Harry on the piano. They played a trio with Eli on cello and it made me cry. My family! All making music together! Kira's playing is so beautiful that it made me cry too. But I may be a wee bit sentimental. :)

Anyway, here are the poncho stats:

Pattern: Children's Poncho, Knitting Pure & Simple, size 2-4
Yarn: Hmm, I thought I had the label, but can't find it now. Self-striping, anyway, though I had to fiddle with it to get more pink. Worsted weight.
That's all I've got.

p.s. Does anyone know how to hide the labels at the end of each post?

More Hoodie Pictures

2007-04-05T16:56:00.000-04:00

I am very, very happy with this (did I say that already? Yes I did.) It feels good, it's comfortable, it's warm, I think it's beautiful. I really enjoyed knitting it, and I'd make the pattern again, if I were the kind of person who knitted the same pattern twice, which I'm not sure I am.

I don't entirely love the way I look in it, especially buttoned, especially in pictures. Because a) I think I need to lose weight and b) it is slightly too chunky/boxy to be the MOST flattering thing I've ever worn. You may not be able to tell that from the pictures, which are carefully edited. And I don't think I will ever, ever allow anyone to see me with the hood up, unless the alternative is severe frostbite and/or death.

But that said, I do love it! I have been wearing it almost non-stop since I finished it. And I am no longer intimidated by the concept of making myself a sweater. So yay!

And now, back to getting ready for the houseguests ...

CPH is done, done done!

2007-04-04T22:56:00.000-04:00

Happiness is finishing your Central Park Hoodie before your houseguests arrive. I actually finished a few days ago, but I wanted to block it before I sewed on the buttons. I didn't do a very good job blotting out the water, and it took forever to dry.

I'm very happy with it. I don't think you can tell that the fronts are different lengths! The only thing I don't love is the slight pulling between the buttons when it's buttoned ... but I think that has to do with my personal circumference. I'm not sure. But I wouldn't want it any bigger. It's a bit wide for me at the shoulder, otherwise I love the way it fits. If I made it again, I would shorten the sleeves so I could wear them without rolling up the cuffs -- I just think it would be a nicer line. This way I have built-in fingerless mitts, though.

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie, Knitscene, fall 2006
Yarn: Cascade 220, Silver Spruce Heather (9322), less than 7 skeins. (I followed the directions for the largest size, but at a tighter gauge, so my sweater came out closer to the 44" size as planned.)
Needles: US 7 and 9 circulars. (Though when I measured the Inox 7s I used for the ribbing, I discovered that one side was closer to a 6, and the other to a 6.5. The Addi circulars I used for the button band were a true 7.)
Modifications: I short-rowed the shoulders and bound off the front and back together, with mixed success. I kitchenered the hood, but still did the button band in two pieces and seamed it at the top. (If I did this again, I might do the button band all in one piece, but given that it was my first button band, I'm glad I did it this way so I could see what I was doing.) I suppose making the fronts two different lengths counts as a modification too. :)
I also got a tighter gauge than the pattern calls for, so I knit one size up. That worked out, though it's a little broad across my shoulders.

I have more pictures to post when I get time -- I made poor Will do a photo shoot in the lovely snow squall we had this morning! -- and more (scintillating) thoughts on making this -- but I've got to take Eli back to the orthodontist to glue back on the bracket that he got yesterday. Of course the orthodontist is only out in the boonies today.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

2007-03-24T15:58:00.000-04:00

The good: my buttons. Aren't they beautiful? Now I just need to figure out how to do buttonholes. Sorry the picture's not sharper; it's a gray day and I'm a camera nincompoop.

I went to the Village Yarn Store with Auden (who is now at the age where she is happy to sit looking at books at the front of the store while I shop) and was immediately overwhelmed all their wonderful choices. But as there was a group of knitters there ready and willing to help, I laid out my sweater so we could choose.

Hmmm. Strange. Note the front and back armholes on the left side of the picture do. not. line up.

Must have been the way I blocked it, right? Hadn't I just seconds earlier blithely (and yet with a hint of the pride that we all know what THAT goeth before) explained how I had meticulously and compulsively counted all my rows, instead of just measuring?

Yes. Well. Apparently I would have been better off with a little more measuring. Here's where I need one of those Joe Madden Monday Night Football markers that the cool bloggers have, but note the number of cables on the far left, versus the number on the far right:

Nope, not the same. It's a full cable short. And no amount of counting or recounting (or blocking) could make them the same.

This is how big the difference in length is:

(The other side is just fine, thank you very much.)

This is a whopper of a mistake. And it is so far back, so deep down, that fixing it would require ripping out almost half of the sweater. Thank God I was at the yarn store when this was discovered, or I might have impaled myself on my knitting needles.

But I was at the yarn store, and Yarn Store Lady #1 said she would not rip it all out, but she thought I could knit a few rows at the armhole to bring it up to match the other. Yarn Store Lady #2, to whom Yarn Store Lady #1 deferred, was even more reassuring: she says I can just make the front and back match when I seam them up, then make it look right in blocking.

Unbelievable, really. I was so obsessed with counting rows that I must have forgotten to measure the damn thing. (And didn't notice the difference when I picked up my button band stitches, either.) Well, I guess it's a learning experience. I may go over to the "knit both fronts/sleeves/socks/etc. at once" camp in future.

I am putting my faith in Yarn Store Lady #2. And praying that it won't look terrible.

Heed my careless ways, fellow knitters!

Back to buttonholes ...

One Button Band and a Sunny Day

2007-03-23T21:01:00.000-04:00

A beautiful sunny day ... I couldn't resist a picture. Just one button band (with buttonholes) and seaming left to go. I'm cruising! I washed, I blocked, I kitchenered the hood (how I love the kitchenered hood) – I've even sewn all my ends in. Now I just need buttons. Maybe tomorrow I can lure the children to the Village Yarn Shop to find me some buttons.

This is my first button band, so of course I learned some things as I went along. Like, of course you want to start and end picking up stitches at the very very tippy ends, 'cause you don't want your button band shorter than your sweater. And that picking up 3 stitches every 4 rows thing -- that would have been a good thing to have looked up before starting the button band. And, maybe I don't need to be a slave to the stitch number in the pattern, especially if I lengthened the body of the sweater.

But actually I think it looks pretty good. I'm so excited about finishing this sweater!

Just in time for spring. :)

Kathy I'm thinking of you ...

Lots More Progress

2007-03-17T15:19:00.000-04:00

I'm getting somewhere -- everything's done except the top of the second sleeve, which I'll finish tonight. Now I need to make a hood decision: I think I want to kitchener instead of seaming it, but the question is whether that means I need to do the ribbing/button band all in one piece or whether I could do the two separate pieces, THEN kitchener the hood and seam the ribbing at the top of the hood. Would that look weird? I don't know why I am so intimidated by doing the ribbing/button band all in one piece. It just looks loooooooong.

Thanks to everyone who was so nice about my sock; I got into a rut and didn't keep up with answering. I wish Blogger had an option for leaving your email address; that would facilitate conversation! I have been hanging out with some friends on LiveJournal, and it is so much more conversational over there. Oh well!

It's cold and snowy outside, good for knitting. When it warmed up into the 60s last week I was afraid it would be next year before I wore my hoodie. I'd better get going!

Embossed Leaf #1

2007-03-02T12:59:00.000-05:00

I know I should probably wait until I have a PAIR of socks to show this, but who knows when I will get to the other one. And I love this one so much! I love the yarn – love love LOVE it and its tiny gorgeous shimmery variations – and I love the practically perfect pattern. The star toe is very very comfortable. I'd still like to make the cast on a little stretchier on the second one – should I just go up another needle size?

Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks, IK Winter 2005
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Nearly Solid, Blackberry. Less than 1 skein per sock.
Needles: Susan Bates #2 dpns (#3 for the cast on and first two rows)
Modifications: I didn't do the called for cast on, because I couldn't figure it out. I was also disturbed to read here (scroll down to the March 10 post) that it isn't the cast on actually used by the sock designer. And I kitchenered the toe, because just pulling the stitches together, drawstring-style, as the pattern called for, just seemed wrong.

Progress

2007-02-14T11:22:00.000-05:00

Reflected snow light may not be ideal for pictures. But it's all we're getting today, our fourth snow day in three weeks. It's not a blizzard, but it's been coming down steadily all night and morning, and we're supposed to get more than a foot. Already I couldn't figure out where to put the snow I was shoveling from the driveway; I have no idea how those poor people in northern New York are managing with 11 feet and more coming.

Anyway, the hoodie! I am up to the armholes. It is going faster than I expected – the pattern is easier (and, I have to admit, more boring) than I thought. There is the one row of cable twist every 10 rows, and all the rest are the same. But as a result it makes for excellent tv knitting.

Also it is appears it may be going to be a bit large! Well, I knew that might happen. It's currently at least 20" wide, and the swatch grew widthwise (and shrunk lengthwise) when I washed it ... I might wash the back before I start the front to make sure it is not going to reach disastrous proportions!

Off to an impromptu snow day/Valentine's Day party at the neighbor's ...

edited to add:

I meant to mention: this is only slightly more than one skein of Cascade 220. It is amazing how much you can knit with one skein, especially after you've been using itty bitty balls of Debbie Bliss. I'm very psyched about the shortage of ends to weave in!

Pretty.

2007-02-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

That's the sock yarn I bought yesterday on sale. I've been coveting Cherry Tree Hill for a while now. And it's just too pretty to put away in a box without a picture first.

There. Now that I've lured you here with pretty ~~candy~~ yarn, let me bore you with some obsessiveness. And possibly the most boring blog pictures ever:

I re-did my Central Park Hoodie ribbing in 6, because on 7s it just didn't seem ribby enough to me. It seemed a little bit floppy, like it was already stretched out. And I like the way it looks on 6s, just now I'm all paranoid that it's going to pull in too much and ruin the look of the sweater. My body will stop it from pulling in very far, though, right? You probably can't even tell the difference in this picture. Ribbing on 7s is on top, 6s on the bottom. The new ribbing is being stretched out by the curve of the pillow it's on, otherwise it would boing quite far in. But that's not very much force, is it.

I detest insignificant decisions like this! I just need some reassurance that it IS insignificant, and that I can go ahead. Below is a slightly closer up look at how far I've gotten. (I would be farther but, you know, I did the ribbing twice ...) Cables amaze me – how just one row affects what all the other ones do. It looks so much trickier than it is.

edited to add: Actually I changed my mind AGAIN and am going to go with the 7s. Just so I could knit the whole thing twice. Anyway, I'm decided, I'm feeling good about it, and I'm going ahead with it!

Swatched and Ready to Go

2007-02-09T11:22:00.000-05:00

So I think I am in the process of switching to Google Blogger, or whatever it's called. I say I think because I thought I had, and yet I just signed in on my old account. Among the complications I had making this switch was the fact that I could not remember my gmail address, let alone my password. Wouldn't you think I would have a record of it somewhere? I cannot find it. Hopefully my husband does.

Anyway, I switched because I am joining the Central Park Hoodie Knit-a-Long, which may or may not require a Google account. And because all the cool kids are doing it. However, since I know it will draw all my many many readers here with promises of new posts, I thought I'd better give you one.

The Central Park Hoodie, ready to go! And it only took three years of yarn acquisition from multiple yarn stores in multiple states (and multiple dye lots, but we won't mention that) and – most importantly – multiples of multiples of emails from MK Kathy figuring out the numbers. We are not blaming her if it doesn't fit. We would NEVER. :)

We are excited, because we have never made a sweater for ourself, precious! Oh wait. We thought we were channeling the Queen, because we just saw that movie, and now we seem to be channeling Gollum instead. Perhaps we need to end this post, and do us some laundry.

We hope we will have progress to report soon!

p.s. There are two different dye lots in this picture, but I am hoping you can't spot them.

All the leaves are purple ...

2007-01-29T17:37:00.000-05:00

and the sky is gray.

This is the beginnings of an Embossed Leaves sock, knit on the train to NYC this weekend. The leaves pattern is such fun to knit! I couldn't figure out the tubular cast-on, despite the best efforts of my sister-in-law, aka Master Knitter Kathy. So I used a regular long-tail cast-on and went up to size 3 needles after it looked tiny on 2s. It is still pretty small ... enough that I took it off the needles on the train to try it on. It's going to be a tight fit over the heel, but it went over so I decided not to rip it out. I'd like to make it bigger on the second sock, though. (Suggestions?)

My train-knitting experience did give me one thing to add to my list of must-haves for the travel knitting bag: scrap yarn in a contrasting color. All I had to put the stitches on when I wanted to try it on was the sock yarn itself, and it was not fun getting them back on the needles. But you probably already knew that.

Coming back on the train I decided to try to read the Aeneid (the new translation that's getting rave reviews in Aeneid circles!) instead of knitting ... I am still only partway into the introduction, so we'll see how that goes!

(And the sky really is gray. It has snowed pretty much every day since mid-January, when our up-til-then snowfree weather changed. The snow's up past our knees and the children are happy, at least ...)

Totally Tubular

2007-01-22T16:23:00.000-05:00

Ta-da, the endless tube is done. Though it doesn't look that impressive in the pictures it's pretty much what I wanted. It is very warm, and long enough to tuck easily under my coat with the hood up. (The tube's hood – the coat doesn't have a hood, which was the whole point.) The only thing that's not so great is it's loose around my face (and I wouldn't have wanted it tight, or it would be tight up my neck) the cold air blows in. Also, when I wear it with my coat that DOES have a hood, the coat's velcro catches on the yarn bobbles and does bad things. So I shouldn't wear it with that coat. :)

I should post a picture of it off so you can see how it's shaped – I made it wider at the bottom than the top, so it would drape better around my neck. (Also because I kept changing my mind as I went along how wide it should be – luckily this yarn and the way it fits hide just about all imperfections!)

I'm glad I made this because I wanted to have it, and I'm using it, but it was a pain to knit. (Literally! I got Knitter's Elbow from this project) – I am now thoroughly sick of K1 P1, and the double-strandedness of the Astrakhan is a PAIN. (It was especially a pain when I misguidedly used it to do the E-Z sewn bindoff ... a complete nightmare!)

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Astrakhan, 4-plus skeins.
Pattern: Angora Furred Teddy Hood (minus the fur) from Knitters Stash, with some modifications: I cast on 110 stitches, increased to 120 somewhere in the middle, increased again another 10 or so stitches near the end. I stopped at about 20" so it wouldn't get too bulky around the neck, that seems plenty long.
Needles: US8 circular

Future Prospects

2007-01-16T15:11:00.000-05:00

Shawl for Fran?
Cable Pocket Shawl from KnitPicks
Pemberley Shawl
(from Mari's blog)
Victoria Lace Shawl
(mari did in worsted)
Cozy Lace Wrap from Knitty

Baby Projects:
Five Hour Baby Sweater (and also here)Lana Gatto
Daisy Baby Cardigan, by the Yarn Harlot in Knitty
Jacket With Moss Stitch Bands from Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss.
Eyelet Ribbed Hat (PDF)
Striped Cardigan from Debbie Bliss/Baby Cashmerino Book 2
Lillie's Little Sweater hooded, top down

Socks for my Mom
Hedera lacy socks from knitty
Waving Lace socks from Favorite Socks, by Interweave. Designed by Evelyn A. Clark
Donyale socks
Loksins socks

Scarves, etc.
Cashmere Cowl
Eve's Hooded Scarf (PDF)
Dayflower Lace Scarf (PDF)
Sylvia's Knitted Hood
IK Scarves (PDF)
Naima's Scarf (eyelet lace) (PDF)
Lopi Lace Scarf from Weekend Knitting

Sweaters
Cabled Sirdar Cardigan
Sesame Cardigan from Mag Knits
High Mesa Cardigan
Spin Craft Sweaters
Bridget Cardigan from Jo Sharp Hand Knitting Collection: Book Number Two
Dawn Brocco Cabled Cardigan (with collar)
The Braids Cardigan (Cabin Fever) (1400)
Tall Pines Cardigan Pattern (abundantyarn.com)
Casual Cables Cardigan -- Effectiveness by Design Leaflet S024 (1320)
Ribby Cardi from Chic Knits, with zipper!
Simple Cardigan from Canadian Living
Textured Knits, Julia Cooper
MS 155 - Pebble Cardigan
MS145 - Button Up Cardigan (DK)

Fiber Trends Options Jacket
Poet's Vest Pattern by Lorna Miser from Lorna's Laces
Jai (one-http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifbutton vneck cardigan, Berrocco 203
Encinitas

S024 Casual Cables Cardigan drops garnstudio 78-11 (p. 10 - muskat)
Pick-a-Pocket Women's Cardigan (very simple cardigan)

Linen V-Neck Pullover
Simple Tee

Other Things
Sirdar Bed Jacket

YARN:
Malabrigo (for My So-Called Scarf)

Trekking XXL

A new yarn from Classic Elite called Classic Silk. It is 50% cotton, 30% silk, 20% nylon. It has a slight sheen in sunlight and a tweedy non-wooly goodness rivaled only by Tatamy Tweed from Kraemer Yarns. It knits up soft, sure, but then… woohoohoo… then I disregarded the care instructions and stuck that swatch in the washer and dryer. It came out terry cloth soft. And drapey. And perfectly stretchy. Everything Cotton Silk wished it could be.

Books

Mittens!

2006-12-15T23:36:00.000-05:00

I wish I had a better picture, but you get the general idea. They're my first mittens, so I'm quite pleased. I completely winged it converting to child size, and it pretty much worked out. I haven't figured out how to avoid the hole in the gusset; for reasons I didn't understand I seemed to create a hole even when I followed the directions exactly right. Then the second time, when I picked up extra stitches to compensate, I ended up with the slightly bulbous thumb you see on the right.
Oh well. They're very cute. I wish I'd made them out of softer yarn for her, maybe even acrylic, because I think the wool does itch. But she's being very sweet and wearing them and showing them off, making her mother proud.

Question of the day: Everyone tells me it's not worth darning socks, but what if your husband makes a hole in his the first time he wears them? Right in the middle of the sole? Martha Stewart was teaching Bette Midler to darn on her show today; maybe I'll try.

I'm in Love!

2006-12-06T16:15:00.000-05:00

I really love this hat. It's so cute! And it was so easy, yet looks complicated, at least to people like me. I started it Sunday night and finished it last night, except for the tassel.

It was good practice knitting two-handed, which I apparently haven't completely forgotten how to do. And yet easy two-handedness. I just love the way it looks! And Auden likes it too. She wore it for a long time before telling me her head was getting itchy. So I think she'll at least wear it to school and back. I want to make one of these for every child I know!

I'm going to try the matching mittens next, but I've never made mittens, so that might be more complicated.

Here's a picture that shows the whole thing a little better:

Pattern: Mushroom Cap from Homespun, Handknit
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool (100% merino superwash) colors 2 and 536. Slightly more than one skein of blue, less than one skein of the white.
Needles: Addi US6 circular, 16".
Modifications: The pattern called for size 4 needles, which I don't think I even realized. I was tighter than gauge even on the 6s, so if I did it again I'd probably go up a needle size. I made the ribbing slightly longer than the pattern called for.

Socks for my Dad

2006-12-03T15:56:00.000-05:00

Done! Never again, size 1 needles AND plain yarn AND miles of stockinette. However, I think they look pretty good. They are a little big on me – hence the lumpy toes in the picture – but I'm hoping my dad's feet are enough bigger (but not TOO much bigger) to make that work out.
I love the fabric size 1 needles make. And I even did the ribbing and heel in 0's. But damn! it takes forever ...

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, color: Pewter (9ns). 2 skeins
Pattern: Thuja, from knitty.com
Needles: US 0s and 1s dpn.
Modification: This pattern is written for heavier yarn, so I followed the directions in Sensational Socks for a 5-stitch pattern. Cast on 80 stitches. Went down a needle size for the ribbing and heel.
In Sensational Socks, Charlene Schurch recommends picking up extra stitches after knitting the heel flap to avoid holes. I believe she recommends one extra stitch, but I think I picked up like a bazillion. No holes! but it did make for some interesting math.

Little Odessa

2006-11-25T16:19:00.000-05:00

Another chemo hat for Ann, except for the part where it's possibly way too small. I need to wash and block it. I LOVE this pattern. It seemed confusing at first, until I realized it really is the same every row – ie. not only was the pattern the same, which hopefully even I realized right away, but the same stitches were going to be in the same place in relation to the row before every time. So simple, but so ingenious! I love the way the ribbing flows right into the pattern.

Now I just hope it fits. The first hat was, sadly, eaten by Ann's dog.

Pattern: Odessa, by Grumperina
Yarn: Rowan Calmer (from stash!) Color: Calmer (?) Less than one skein.
Needles: US 6 circulars and dpns, ribbing in US 4
Method: Cast on 110 stitches, as per pattern.

For Me!

2006-11-06T17:56:00.001-05:00

I believe this is actually the first thing I have knitted my adult self. (Oops, except for socks!) Is the color out of fashion already? I don't care, I'm wearing it. I really liked this pattern. Simple (= can knit while watching tv) but somewhat elegant.

The alpaca actually does itch my neck, but I figure I'm not going to be wearing it on bare skin.

Pattern: Double Eyelet Rib Scarf, from The Little Box of Scarves
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk #07 (Celery). Four skeins.
Needles: US 8
Method: Cast on 30 stitches. About 60" long.

Blue Fur

2006-10-19T14:31:00.000-04:00

Done, again. Or almost – I was waiting to cut the yarn and finish it off until I see if it fits the intended recipient. Also, I need to figure out how to get rid of that nipple at the top. (!) It doesn't look quite how I envisioned it, and I am afraid it is going to be too small. it fits Auden pretty well (though she has a big head) and the cast-on edge feels tight to me. But I'm not ripping this one all the way out; I'm not even sure I'm willing to rip out to the beginning of the decreases if it's not deep enough. Tired of the blue fur!!!

Pattern: Rolled Brim Chemo Cap from Head Huggers with reduced # of cast on stitches (70).
Yarn: Berroco Chinchilla, one skein.
Needles: INOX/Prym U.S. 8 dpn

See the pretty chemo cap?

2006-10-18T12:09:00.000-04:00

No? You sure? You looked really really hard? Hmmm, then it must not be there. Funny, since I FINISHED it last night ... how could I possibly be back on row 6?
This is one of those stories I'd rather forget: how I knitted an entire hat in Berroco Chinchilla, got down to my last six stitches on three needles, threaded the leftover yarn on a tapestry needle to run it through the last stitches and ... they weren't there. The needles had slipped out. And the yarn is SO furry that I could not find the stitches.
Probably, there was a way to salvage my work then. But instead, I pulled out a few rows to see if I could find them better below. (These are decrease rows at the top of the hat, so of course every row I pull out means MORE stitches to (not) find.)
I cannot see any stitches among the dark blue fur. I try picking them up anyway, but have no idea what I'm getting, and I can't believe I'll ever get them all. I pull out some more rows, and the problem seems to grown insurmountably large. I whine and cry to my husband, who is suitably sympathetic, and pull out the entire hat.
I'm SO annoyed with myself! And I hate my slippery clanky metal size 8 needles. Hated them anyway for the way they clankety-clanked the whole way through; hate them more now for losing my stitches.
The yarn is lovely and soft, even if it does release a fine mist of blue fibers that tickle my nose and coat my clothes. I'm hoping the ripping and re-knitting will not reduce it to a scraggly mess. I also seem to have gotten the whole hat (at least last time) out of one ball, so I'm hoping the store will take the other one back, or at least exchange it for a different color (or some wooden needles?) I can't possibly face the trauma of reknitting this hat AGAIN.
*sigh*
It probably would have been a good moment to take up serious drinking.

p.s.
I'll post a picture as soon as there is more of it to see ...

Gray Sock

2006-10-05T15:08:00.000-04:00

This isn't the greatest picture (no, really) but you get an idea of the pattern ... you can see it a lot more when it is slightly stretched, which in theory it will be on the recipient's leg.
I think I am going to end the ribs when I get to the heel, even though the pattern calls for them to continue all down the top of the foot. Maybe because the gauge is so fine, and there's just one purl instead of a wider rib, it feels slightly beady inside the sock to me. And while I'm hoping the above-mentioned slight stretch will take care of that, I don't want to risk it being uncomfortable under the shoe.

At least it is progressing far faster than I had feared, due in part to a nasty virus that kept me from doing much besides sitting on the couch all week.

That's all I've got. Blog posting doesn't get much more exciting than this, does it?

Billions and Billions of Stitches ....

2006-10-02T09:38:00.000-04:00

I see them stretching far ahead into the future. I'm doing the ribbing on Size 0 needles, which I've never used before – maybe that will make the Size 1s seem pleasantly large when I get to the leg. But probably not. These are for my dad, and it may not be the wisest move ever to be trying new yarn gauge and needle sizes when the intended recipient is 3,000 miles away. (I wonder what the math is on how much longer it will take the same knitter to finish a sock on 1s instead of 2s.)

To motivate myself, I have signed up for Socktoberfest 2006. It's my first knitalong, and it seems appropriately undemanding. But since I was casting on for these anyway last night, and I have another pair of socks in progress, it seemed like a good fit.

A Socksy Family

2006-09-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

Eli's socks are done! They are very red, and he is very happy with them, and now we all have handknit socks. I feel so homey I can hardlly stand it. You can't hardly even tell that the cuffs are different – I knit the second one with size 1 needles because the first one was a bit loose. I really like the way the yarn knits up: very soft and squishy.

Yarn: Cascade Fixation, slightly more than 1 skein.
Needles: Leg and Instep: Susan Bates DP #3. Cuff #1, heel, sole and toe: Susan Bates DP #2. Cuff #2: Susan Bates DP #1
Pattern: Modified Hot Wheels Socks from trek casts on
(I used the pattern for the legs, except I cast on 48 instead of 56, after MANy false starts, and I went back to my Yankee Knitter pattern for the heel flap and foot.)

I have belatedly realized I need to write down this stuff, after starting to knit the second sock of a pair I'd started over the summer and realizing I didn't remember what pattern it was!

What You Can Make With One Ball of Cascade Fixation (not)

2006-09-21T14:56:00.000-04:00

A pair of child's socks ... almost. I am still not entirely believing of this, despite the hard evidence in the form of an unfinished sock and no more yarn. People make adult pairs of Peds with one ball! How could I not get a pair of child's socks? Clearly my knitting must be at fault.

But whatever, another trip to the yarn store was required, and since I will now have an almost entire ball of Fixation left over, I needed something to do with it ...

I think this zebra yarn is kind of funky and will work with red toes. Don't you? Perhaps red cuffs too. Red heels would be especially nice, but wouldn't that require me learning how to do a new kind of heel?

Anyway. I should make my Dad's socks first. This, of course, requires learning my gauge in a whole new kind of sock yarn, which is not QUITE the kind of knitting that lends itself to the tv-watching I must also do. I'm exhausted already.

Koigu Scarf

2006-09-19T22:26:00.000-04:00

There she is, in all her glory. I don't know. I don't know how scarves are supposed to wear, so it is hard for me to say how this one does. In retrospect, I think I would not have lengthened it, as part of what I liked about the pattern was its wider-ness. (You can't actually see the shape in these pictures, can you!)

I blocked it, which was a thoroughly frustrating experience, and I'm not at all sure any of it took.

I did love the yarn, and the colors ... I think I would try this again!

Red Sock

2006-09-10T12:24:00.000-04:00

Children's socks are a joy because they're SMALL. Of course, they may be less of a joy when the children they go on wear them around with no shoes and ruin them, but that's in the future, we shall not think of it. I am sure the fact that my children can wear handknitted socks and sweaters will completely make up for all the times I have yelled at them and been mean to them.

Ha.

Mystery Scarf in Progress

2006-08-29T12:44:00.000-04:00

OK, not entirely a mystery. Koigu, obviously, and the Scarf-as-a-Collar pattern from Scarf Style. But the Koigu is so different from the yarn called for (I put my faith in Kathy, entirely!) and the picture in Scarf Style SO unhelpful, that I really have no idea what it's going to look like when I'm finished. Right now it has more than a passing resemblance to a dickey, which I find disturbing. But I will perservere! Onward to the finish. I am loving the colors. And the knitting-of-the-Koigu, my first time.

The children are outside in the rain (drizzle) playing with water balloons. It makes me sad that the concept holds no appeal for me whatsoever. I'm pretty sure that means I'm old.

Wallaby Finito!

2006-08-24T11:03:00.000-04:00

Ta da, an actual finished object! Two-tone and all.

Pattern: Wonderful Wallaby, Size 8 (Warren Wallaby)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino Aran, Violet (325603). About 9.5 balls.
Needles: 9 circular and dps, 6s for seed stitch "ribbing"
Modifications: Seed stitch instead of ribbing at waist and cuffs and instead of garter stitch around pocket, placket and hood. (This pulls in the edge of the hood quite a bit; I think I can fix that with blocking, though.) I also used the modification from the Wonderful Wallaby FAQ to make the hood less pointy.
Really irritating mistake: the two dye lots. Especially since I ended up with almost 3 full balls extra, so I didn't need to use the second dye lot at all.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this pattern, especially not having to seam the sides. When I finally had to knit back and forth for the hood, having to do the purl rows seemed quite arduous, even though I don't usually mind purling. I would make it again, but I'd make it all the same color. :)

Edited to add: Photos by the Wonderful Will Yurman! But of course. :)

Guilt

2006-08-22T17:10:00.000-04:00

These ...

and these ...

were supposed to prevent this ...

This ...

has a reason and a recipient and a deadline, even, so it is guilt-free, even if it is Koigu!

I met Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk (half price! half price!) and it was love at first touch. And I thought if I just got a little, enough for a scarf, that would satisfy me, and so I got the eminently more sensible Merino Aran instead. But apparently yarn is like sex, or alcohol, or chocolate, or something that makes this analogy work, and I can't just stop with a little. Sooooo ... I have a sweater's worth of Alpaca Silk. (Half price!) AND a sweater's worth of Merino Aran (which I also love, by the way). And a scarf's worth (at least) more of Alpaca Silk. And three skeins of Louisa Harding angora (half-price!) ... just because. (Well, just because I was being thrifty and *not* getting the Alpaca Silk, but that went out the window on visit No. 3. Sigh.)

The Koigu is for a good friend's 40th birthday. I also got a ball of Cascade Fixation to make Eli the red socks he asked for. And I think I am done shopping for a while!

Wallaby Update

2006-08-20T18:43:00.000-04:00

The Wallaby is zooming right along. And despite my fears that it was HUGE, when I tried it on Auden just now, it looked good. Yay! (She's pretending to be a puppy on a leash here.:) I am using seed stitch for the placket too, and am happy with the way that looks. I'm happy with the way the arms look, and the color, and everything else. I have just made one, major mistake. Can you see it? It bothers me, AND I think I can't bear to rip back that far.

I had two dye lots of yarn. But I think I had plenty of the main dye lot to finish (at least) the body of the sweater, possibly the whole thing. But when I joined the sleeves to the body, I switched dye lots by mistake. I was either confused, or completely careless. The result, I realize now, is fairly obvious. At least to me. But the switch was way back, before ALL the decreasing for the shoulders and the placket. I just don't think I can stand going back that far.

It does bother me, which I know is supposed to be the deciding factor. But I'm just that lazy that I think I would rather live with it bothering me than rip it out. Will the difference fade with time and washing? I'm not sure other people will notice it if I don't point it out. You can't see it as well in that picture as in this picture (especially if you look at it big):

Anyway, I will notice. Sigh. I like the sweater, though. And I have another important decision to make immediately: there is supposed to be 1" of 1x1 ribbing before the hood. Should I do that in ribbing, as opposed to seed stitch? I am thinking the ribbing might be structurally useful, and since I can't really even see it in pictures of other people's Wallabies, having it in ribbing v. seed stitch might not matter that much, aesthetically. (On the other hand, I'm the person who didn't even notice she was making a two-tone sweater, so what do I know.)

Oh, there is another mistake that doesn't show in these pictures, the place where I joined a new ball of yarn and picked up an extra stitch by mistake, then decided many rows later to drop the stitch all the way back down. I spread out the rows as best I could, but it still looks loose and wobbly around there. I am counting on being able to fix that more with blocking, though. I am a sloppy knitter at heart, apparently.

Sock Business

2006-07-28T21:50:00.000-04:00

Behold, the latest sock. It took me a long time to get this sock going. First there was the fiasco with cotton yarn, which I will get back to one of these days, just not now. Then it took me three tries to get a pattern that worked. First I tried Open Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks, but the lace got lost and it just looked messy. Plus, required too much concentration. Then, slipped-stitch rib from the same book. I like that pattern A LOT, and it is very nice and three-dimensional. But while the slipped stitches are supposed to be good for preventing hand-painted sock yarn for pooling, I thought they were just muddying up this (presumably machine-painted) colorway. (Which I love, by the way! Isn't it pretty? And I have enough for two pairs of socks.) So finally I settled on the Twin Rib, still from the same book. There was a lot of ripping, but all the patterns were from the six-stitch pattern section, so I didn't have to start completely over. The Twin Rib is very straightforward, very good for doing while watching tv.

The Wallaby is also progressing nicely, although I'm not sure I like it anymore. There is something ... clunky .... about it in general, and some specifics I don't love. * I think I need to keep going, though. I like the yarn and the knitting.

In other news, how about that Elizabeth and Anthony??!!! I was all excited and hopeful for them yesterday, but today reality set in. I'm not sure that's going to work out. Not now, anyway.

Alaska!!!

2006-07-20T21:24:00.000-04:00

Dear Kathy,
Oh wait. That's not my format. Maybe it should be, though. There was a discussion on Knitter's Review about who people were blogging for, and different people had different answers. You're my ~~entire~~ loyal, supportive readership. I don't want to make you self-conscious, so I'll probably go back to my regularly scheduled format. But this way I can sneak in pictures of ...

the kids!!!!

Of course the pictures are better over at what's-his-name's-site. But where else can I publish mine? :)

They who made it all possible.

and some knitting, too!

West Coast knitting

2006-07-20T00:56:00.000-04:00

Sign found on BART ... I love it! I knit both ways under the bay on our visit to San Francisco and the East Bay.

I knit on trains, planes and ... boats. Made progress on the Wallaby and started and unstarted several socks. Decided I really need some plain sock yarn before I do any fancy patterns; they just get lost.

This is one of the linen (Euroflax) washcloths I made for my mother last year and I got to see in action in California. The picture is terrible! The color is not nearly so washed out. I don't know how much she has used it, but it definitely softened up nicely with washing. The pattern is from Knitter's Stash.

Man Socks

2006-06-23T20:59:00.000-04:00

Finished Will's socks! I was mightily bored of that pattern before I was done. Now I would like to branch out and try some more ambitious sock patterns, but I have these piles of self-striping/patterning Regia ... maybe I can find something that works with that. I *cough* may have obtained a copy of "Sensational Socks."

The Wallaby continues to baffle and amuse me. It turns out my 9s are too big, not too small, and yet I think the fabric is borderline too tight. And this cannot possibly be of interest to anyone but myself (if that), even my faithful sister-in-law. *sigh*

I need to figure out my traveling projects, and soon! Never mind that I have not figured out what clothes we will need. We must have priorities!

Pattern: Yankee Knitter Classic Socks
Yarn: Regia 4fadig - Jacquard Color
Needles: My grandmother's shiny blue Boye Size 2 aluminum "knitting pins"

Sleevy Goodness

2006-06-21T20:06:00.000-04:00

Knitting away on the sleeve and guess what – ha ha – I'm not getting gauge on them either. Could DPNs and circulars be significantly different? Probably, but I don't wanna deal with this. So what do you do when 9 is too small and 10 is too big? There is no 9.5, right? Probably I'll go back to the 9s on the assumption that it is still spreading out from the border, and that I will be OK since I am knitting the very large size. Then I will be wrong, and Talia will get another sweater.

Grrr. I am enjoying my bamboo DPNs, though. I bought metal size 8s without thinking and I hate the way they clink around together while I'm knitting. Of course I don't HAVE 9s ... guess I'll need to make another trip to the yarn store ...

I'm afraid I'm going to get sick of this yarn before I even get started!

4th Time Not So Charming!

2006-06-17T19:13:00.000-04:00

Will I ever get past the first few inches of this sweater? So here is where I am now: I started once on 8s. Once on 9s. Once on 10.5s. Ripped it all out and did gauge swatches on 9s and 10s, purchased for the occasion. The 10s was slightly too big; the 9s slightly too small. I decided to go with the 9s and the larger size pattern. (Of course I did not go so far as to wash and block my swatches. Let's get real. I hardly do that with my finished products.)
Then I started knitting on the 9s. And the gauge is considerably smaller (it's supposed to be 18sts/4in. On the swatch I got 19, now I am getting closer to 20, or more) This is probably because – as many wise people have warned – I am knitting in the round and my swatch was flat. Sigh.

I probably I need to do what the pattern suggested in the first place, and knit the sleeves in place of a test swatch. On 10s, I guess, since in addition to the gauge issue, I am not loving the fabric I am creating.

The other variable is that I didn't like the way the ribbing looked the first three times I started the sweater. I could have just made it shorter, but instead I decided to try a moss stitch border. I think I like the way that looks, but am I going to wish I had ribbing? And do I need ribbing for the sleeves, or should they match?

About the only thing I really like so far is the way the blue yarn looks that I put in to mark the row where the pocket goes! Oh where is my Alaskan advisor when I need her!!!! :)

Mysteriously ...

2006-06-13T19:43:00.000-04:00

more yarn has been purchased. What's going on around here!!??? Not only hasn't progress been made on the Wallaby (unless you count the startling advent of gauge swatches) which I finally frogged, after it became clear that it was going to be ginormous on the 10.5s, nor Will's socks been completed, but new yarn has somehow found its way into the stash.

But it has a purpose! And a reason! It's practically a necessity, even. It's for the Mushroom Cap and Mittens in Home Spun, Hand Knit,a very simple two-color pattern that I'm not even sure qualifies as Fairisle. And the teacher at the Fair Isle workshop said we had to practice! So I had to buy it. I was thinking of purple, so as not to be a slavish follower of the pattern, but I really liked this blue.

Oh, and I *cough* may have bought some other yarn too. I looked at my Cascade 220 that I bought last summer and decided I DO love it but that I don't want to make a child's garment out of something I can't machine wash. So I called the store in Virginia Beach and they still had some of the same dye lot and ... I ordered two more skeins. So now I will have 1500 yards, enough (I hope!) to make a sweater for me.

Those don't really count as "purchases" do they? Special circumstances, I think.

Not Much to Look At

2006-06-05T11:20:00.000-04:00

Is it better to post boringly, or not to post at all?

Not much to see here, mostly because I spent most of last night un-knitting the body. I was using Size 8 needles and it was way too tight and stiff. Of course, I was way off gauge. Perhaps doing a gauge swatch would have been a good idea! the pattern even suggests starting with a sleeve to check gauge. But no, I didn't do that. And I'm still not doing it, I'm just trying again with Size 9s.

I made more progress on Will's socks, but they're too boring even to take a picture of. However they kept me busy on the car trip to New Haven and back. That was before I read the thread about knitting in the car. I should probably learn to knit socks on circulars. But I like my DPNs!

I have a long "To Do" list, and this is not on it.

Something for the Knitting Bag!

2006-05-24T17:10:00.000-04:00

The Wallaby is under way. After all those socks, that yarn feels so soft and chunky! Auden promises it is soft enough for her. We shall see. I think I'll like knitting it, anyway. No seams. Lots of pink.

Off to my college reunion tomorrow, I think I'm only taking the socks for the car. Not ready to sit around knitting *at* reunion events yet.

More stash

2006-05-23T11:23:00.000-04:00

This is probably when I need to know how to tone pictures. This is such a hard-to-describe color. It is definitely more purply in person.

I feel like I should make something with this yarn! But is it better to find a project I love, and not worry if it fits the yarn I have? At least for a first project for me?

In the meantime, I think I'll cast on the Wallaby.

Project Musings

2006-05-22T15:47:00.000-04:00

Auden wants a pink hooded sweater. (Actually she wants gold or silver, but she'll settle for pink.) I'm thinking of resurrecting the Wonderful Wallaby idea with the Debbie Bliss Merino. If Auden approves. Of course then I'm worried that I'll make the whole thing and it will be too "fratchy" again like the ill-fated poncho of last year. I guess that's what smaller cousins are for.

I want to make something for me!!!

Bag Redux

2006-05-20T16:49:00.000-04:00

This is the bag I ended up with. The Vera bag, narrower, actually slightly taller, no zipper. After much agonizing, I decided the pros of this one (I will use it often, NOW) outweighed the hypothetical pros of the other one (will be good when I do a big project) and even the non-hypothetical pros of the other one (would have zip closed for airplane trips.)

I am feeling good about this one, and I am done deciding! And if it looks worse to you, keep in mind these pictures are no longer taken by a professional.

I'm sure I don't know where THAT came from ...

2006-05-16T11:35:00.000-04:00

A little more stash ... I couldn't resist the price. I actually like this color; I once had a sweater much like it. But I didn't get enough to make something for me, I don't think.
Herrschner's sent me 10 balls from one dye lot and two from another. Kind of annoying. I wonder if that's typical for them.

Anyway, for the record:

Debbie Bliss Merino Aran
100 percent Merino
Color: Violet
18 sts/10 cm (US 8)
1020 yards (12 50 g skeins)

Testing My Mother's Day Present (or: Why My Blog Will Look Less Pretty from Now On)

2006-05-15T18:00:00.000-04:00

So not only did my husband get me a Beautiful Knitting Bag for my birthday, he got me a digital camera for Mother's Day, which happened to be the very next day. So now I can post whenever I want! And the pictures will no longer be beautifully lit and professionally composed. He wants me to tone them, but that seems like a lot of work. (Is it?) I'll have to see how bad they look.

It's the tiniest camera ever. It freaks me out. I wasn't quite ready for the digital age, but I did want to post on my blog. He is the Best Husband Ever.

This sock is for him. Regia wool, again, same basic pattern. I changed it to a 5-3 rib, which I like. I don't really like the smaller rib cuff. Next sock will be different. (Well, not the very next one, that should be the same. But the one after that.)

And I need to figure out my summer projects! I want to do something in Fair Isle, so I don't forget how -- I think the Mushroom Hat from Homespun, Handknit. And then something big, to put in my big knitting bag and carry around with me. Something for me maybe? Or not.

What I Got for My Birthday

2006-05-14T16:20:00.000-04:00

It's very very beautiful. I love it! It's far more beautiful than anything I would have gotten for myself. It's a Vera Bradley "Miller" bag, from my loving husband. My only concern: is it too big? You can't really tell in this picture, but when I am holding it, it is really quite big. 24" across, to be specific.

I looked at some other Vera Bradley bags in the store today (my loving husband took the children to the circus! without me! Happy Mother's Day!!!) and there is a tote that I like a lot, but has a toggle instead of a zipper, and then the diaper bag (or Baby Bag) which has a zipper and is just about the right amount smaller.

Decisions, decisions.

Two Socks Are Better Than One

2006-05-01T09:30:00.000-04:00

Yay! A pair of socks. They're so comfortable! I don't know why that surprises me so much. I love them. Now I need to start a new project before my parents get here (Wednesday) and I can't get to the yarn stash (in the guestroom.)

Oh and ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY!!!!!!

My Stash

2006-04-27T21:55:00.000-04:00

Louisa Harding Kimono Angora
70 percent Angora, 25 percent wool, 5 percent n ylon
Color: Blue/purple/teal (2) Dye lot 851
375 yards (3 25g skeins)

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky
55 percent Merino, 33 percent microfiber, 12 percent cashmere (maybe!)
12sts/10 cm (US11.5)

Color: 16019
300m (4 100g skeins)

Color: 16003
300m (4 100g skeins)

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino chunky
55 percent Merino, 33 percent microfiber, 12 percent cashmere (maybe!)
14 sts/10 cm (10.5)

Color: 17005 - bright pink (dye lot 992)
260m (4 50g skeins)

Color: 17004 - pale pink (dye lot 994)
130m (2 50 g skeins)

Lana Grossa Royal Tweed
100 percent Merino
Color: Dusky Blue (10)
14 sts/10cm (US5-6)
500 m (5 50g skeins)

Jaeger Luxury Tweed
65 percent Merino
35 percent Alpaca
Color: Cardoon, a dark heathery purple (828)
21-23 sts/10cm (US6)
1800 yards (9 50g skeins)

Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton
50 percent Merino
50 Percent Cotton
25sts/10 cm (US3)

Color: Charcoal (507)
920 meters (8 50g skeins)

Color: Orange/apricot (105)
575 meters (5 50g skeins)

Sophia by Tivoli Spinners
cotton/nylon/mohair/acrylic
Color: burgundy (774)
900 meters (10 50g skeins)

Debbie Bliss Merino Aran
100 percent Merino
18 sts/10 cm (US 8)

Color: Blue (701)
1368 yards (18 50 g skeins)

Color: Violet
200-plus yards (2.5 50 g skeins)

Sock Yarn:

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
100 percent superwash merino fingering weight
420 yards/4 oz
Color: Winterberry

Lang Jawoll Color Superwash
75 percent wool, 18 percent nylon, 7 percent acrylic

Color: 0107 gray, white, blue
760 meters (4 45g skeins)

Color: 0067 red, multicolors
760 meters (4 45g skeins)

Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn
75 percent washable wool, 25 percent nylon
2 50g skeins (approx 430 yds)
Color: Vanilla (10)
Dyelot: 036
Purchased April 2007
Plan: Socks for Mom.

Regia 4 ply wool
75 percent wool, 25 percent nylon

Color: 5033 "Lampion" multicolored (dye lot 44135)
2 50g skeins (420m)

Color: 5160 "jeans" Norwegian stripes(dye lot 44133)
2 50g skeins (420m)

Color: 5159 gray and white Norwegian stripes (dye lot 31942)
2 50g skeins (420m)

Color: 5379 "Multi Effect" (dye lot 36876)
2 50g skeins (420m)

Color: Self-striping 5219 (dye lot 44148)

Look Ma, Two Hands!

2006-04-23T11:45:00.000-04:00

Here is the lovely headband I made in my Fair Isle knitting workshop yesterday, courtesy of Lynne Sherwood and the Rochester Knitting Guild. OK, the headband itself is questionable, due to some iffy color choices (not sure I have any affection for "Snickerdoodle") and some highly suspect casting-on, but ... I learned how to do Fair Isle! With two hands! I'm very excited about this.

Knitting with my left hand was not *nearly* as terrifying as I had feared, in fact it seems almost intuitive, though my fingers were very tired afterward. And Fair Isle itself ... do-able, though it will clearly take me lots of practice to get the wrapping down and figure out how not to get all tangled up.

I'm inspired to try, though. I think I'll start with a hat. Steeks still terrify me; I don't think I'll go there for a long while.

Yarn: KnitPicks Wool of the Andes
Needles: Inox Express US6 (16")

This is the Stash a Skein Built

2006-04-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

My sock yarn stash. Entirely acquired in the past two weeks. The front row is the cotton blend yarn that came in the mail today from Little Knits. The rest is from my local yarn store, where it was on clearance ($3 a skein! How could I not?), except for the skein at the top right, which is from eBay, because I thought I needed it to finish the first pair of socks I started (see below). That's what started the whole sock yarn shopping spree in the first place ... only it turned out in the end that I already had the skein I needed. Oh well.

There will be many socks in my future. Someday I may even try another brand.

Auden's Rainbow Socks

2006-04-18T22:37:00.000-04:00

Wool socks, just in time for summer.

Pattern: Classic Socks from Yankee Knitter Designs
Yarn: Regia Ringel, 1 skein
Needles: Clover Bamboo #2

(Those toes look awfully pointy, don't they!)

First Sock (Singular), April 2006

2006-04-18T22:34:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Classic Socks from Yankee Knitter Designs
Yarn: Regia Mini Ringel
Needles: Clover Bamboo #2

Auden's Super-Soft Heart Sweater, Spring 2006

2006-04-18T22:33:00.000-04:00

Pattern: The Simple Sweater from Jo Sharp Family
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Denim Aran (heart in Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille)

Baby Sweater, 2006

2006-04-18T22:30:00.000-04:00

First Intarsia!

Pattern: Mickey from Rowan's Pipsqueaks, by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Stork by Dale of Norway