Appreciation

Having a small child does cut into the knitting time, but it's terribly gratifying to see all of one's handknits being used!



This morning it was cold outside, so Julian had to dress warmly. He's adopted a hat that I originally made for myself: improvised pattern, mystery yarn from sale bin at Woolcott in March 2004, when I was stuck in Cambridge in a snowstorm without a hat. He wears his mittens and scarf without complaint when it's cold. And this morning, he suddenly decided that he wanted to carry his bunny around with him. Bunny was a baby shower gift from Diane, made from a Debbie Bliss pattern. He carried it around all morning, saying "MY bunny." Aww!

Now, if I could just get around to making him a sweater...

Piggy mittens!

Finished: piggy mittens for Julian! Pattern from Spillyjane Knits. Very easy and quick. Made from various odds and ends of cashmerino. More details posted on Ravelry.

Nearly finished: the infamous Pink Socks. Recently begun: the Salina sweater, in chocolate-brown tweed.

February Baby Sweater

February Baby Sweater
Originally uploaded by dewarewolfe

I had to keep this one under wraps for a while, as it was a gift for a friend, but now that she's received it I can post! Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater pattern, in green Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Cute flower buttons bought at Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins. Raveled here.

The baby for whom this was knit should hopefully be making her entrance into the world TODAY! Good wishes to the whole family for a smooth labor and a joyful arrival!

Wooly

It's my birthday!

One of the many lovely presents I received this year was this shirt (in purple). It's a 100% merino wool shirt, meant to be worn next to the skin, and it's warm and cozy. But get this: on the tag there is a code, and you can go to their website and enter that code to find the biographies of the sheep ranches from whence your wooly merino shirt came. Much as I love knitting my own things, I can't knit everything, and it's nice to find a clothing company that respects its sheep!

Startitis

Yesterday daycare was closed for the holiday, so I took the day off work and stayed home with Julian. (We had a good time at the playground!) And as we all know, vacation days are for knitting. I'm still knitting the pink sock, but, well, I've started three other projects in the last two days. Oops. There's the Salina sweater, which is for me, and which I've been wanting to knit for ages. There's a pair of Fetching fingerless mitts in some blue merino. And there's a somewhat experimental vest for Julian. It's getting cold here and the other day I pulled out the vest that Gretchen made him, and it actually still fits quite well except for being a little short. Much as I think they look terrible on me, vests are really handy for small children because they add warmth without too much bulk, and they're quick and easy to knit. So I'm trying out some funky blue-green thick-and-thin yarn (a gift from my mother-in-law), hoping I'll have enough of it, and improvising a pattern. But in the midst of all this new-project madness, I did at least go back to the interminable Bonny sweater and frog one of the sleeves and rewrite the sleeve pattern top-down, so I can knit it until I run out of yarn. Now I just have to frog the other sleeve, wash the yarn, and gather my courage to start again. Unless I give up on the whole thing and turn it into a couple of baby vests. Bah.

Incredibly cool

Last week Oliver and I did some volunteer work for the Obama campaign, knocking on doors to make sure people were going to vote. On Election Day, we finished our morning shift and came back to the local campaign office to check in before lunch. We walked in and this is who we saw:


Yes, that's me with Gloria Steinem. She was touring around Colorado for the week, speaking to supporters to get everyone energized for the election. I shook her hand and thanked her for everything she's done!

I'm back (again)!

I haven't been keeping up with this blog at all. Bad blogger! But in between working and chasing a toddler around, I've been knitting and sewing.

I made Julian a blankie:

This is the unfinished version; I haven't taken a picture since it was finished. The top is just a piece of fabric with ducks and colored bubbles (because he loves ducks and balloons), and the back is soft blue flannel. I tied it all together with yellow embroidery thread and sewed on a pale yellow satin binding. By hand, because my sewing machine conked out as soon as I sat down to sew the binding.

I've also been knitting socks!


Elfine's Socks, in Socks that Rock Lightweight in Jade, raveled here.


Monkey Socks, in Koigu KPPPM, raveled here.

And now that those are finished, and wonderful, and being worn all the time, I'm back to working on the pink socks. About a thousand years ago I knit a pair of pink socks. They were too tight. So I ripped them out and re-knit them. But then I had a baby, and it took a while to get the socks knit. Finally I finished one, tried it on, and the heel kind of sucked. So I knit the Monkey socks instead, and in the process, I discovered the wonder that is the Toe-Up Flap Heel from Sensational Knitted Socks. Went to Portland and went a little crazy with the Socks that Rock, had to cast on for new socks right away. Finished the Monkeys. Ripped pink sock back past the heel, re-knit. Finished the Elfines. Tried on the pink sock again and said wow, this is great, it's getting cold outside and I need more socks. Am now about 25% done with the second sock and it's going quickly! Hopefully there will be no more distractions and soon I will have another pair of socks to show off.

But you know, Julian really needs a pair of piggy mittens.

FOs!

Yes, I've finished some projects! First up, a blanket for Michele's Zach, born 4/4:

(lots of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, garter stitch, details on Ravelry)
And my first Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern, a Tomten jacket for my nephew Jake, born 4/17:

(again with the Cotton Fleece, more on Rav) I sewed in a zipper after taking this picture, and it went perfectly, thanks to the tip I found somewhere about basting the fronts together with scrap yarn first. Love the pattern, but I'm glad I decided not to do the hood, as I finished it just in time as it was and I'd had just about enough garter stitch by this point.

The first Monkey sock is finished and I'm past the toe on the second. I have to get cracking on the sock-knitting; we went to Portland a couple weeks ago to see Jake and family, and I went to Twisted, where not only did I meet Tina of StR fame but also Fiona Ellis, who happened to walk in the store as I was standing by the Wall o' Sock Yarn with my hands full of yarn. Anyway, I bought four skeins of Socks that Rock lightweight, because when else was I going to have the chance to see this stuff in person? Jade (for a new pair of Elfine socks, and it's more of a spring green than the picture shows), Typhoon Tina, Atomic #6, and Space Dust.

And now, it's spring, and that means Gardening! I made a raised bed out of 2x10s and several bags of dirt (our soil is terrible) and planted three tomato plants, two green peppers, basil, and zucchini, two rows of radishes and one each of carrots and lettuce. The radishes are all coming up, and the lettuce is just starting to sprout. I'm also working on clearing the big patches of weeds and unwanted saplings, mulching and filling in bare spots with flowers and native plants. So far the flowering sage (Salvia greggii, I think), echinacea, dwarf yarrow (Achillea tomentosa), snapdragons, and thyme (pink-flowering T. serpyllum and variegated Highland Cream) are all doing well, the plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) and sedum are coming back in the shady, dry front yard, and I have high hopes for the California poppy seed I put in last week. It's a lot of work but it's great to be outside, and Julian loves playing in the yard!

Still knitting

Busy, busy, busy... I started a new job in January; I'm still with the same organization but in a different department, and while it's really interesting and fun, I'm working hard and it wears me out. And then I come home and play with Julian, who is crawling and pulling up to standing and cruising around the furniture, which is tremendous fun! But of course he thinks knitting is just fascinating and wants to help if he sees me doing it, so it has to wait until after he goes to bed.

All of my knitting time lately, what there is of it, has been devoted to a garter stitch Cotton Fleece striped baby blanket for a friend. I'm more than halfway done and trying to finish asap, because I have so many projects lined up! After the blanket, there's a pair of wristwarmers for my mom (in green Silkroad Aran Tweed, I think), a Tomten jacket (probably in more Cotton Fleece, thanks to Emily's influence) for my nephew who is due in April, and then... Salina, for me, in Treacle Felted Tweed. My parents gave me gift credit at the Yarn Barn and I put it to good use. I can't wait to knit this sweater. Of course, I also can't wait for spring (we got another 4" of snow last night), and with my knitting speed lately I'll be lucky to have the sweater by this time next winter, but hope springs eternal.

Shameful neglect

I have been shamefully neglecting my blog in favor of Ravelry, it's true. At least I've also been knitting! I'm charging right along on the revamped Pink Socks; I'm nearly finished with the first one and it fits well enough, and the second one should go faster since I won't have to keep trying it on and re-knitting the heel. I'm thinking of doing some sort of toe-up flap heel on the Koigu Monkey Socks once I get to that point, which will require consulting of books as I've never done that before. The pink cardigan is hanging around in my knitting basket, but right now I'm working on a simple garter stitch baby blanket for a friend who's due in just a few months.

However, I have a problem. I've been secretly thinking about making the Venezia pullover. Never mind that I: have almost no colorwork experience, am on a yarn diet, swore that my next sweater would be something that knitted up faster than DK weight, have limited knitting time and even less mental acuity for following charts, and would want to change the colors to something that suits me better (either red/pinks or purples). It's so pretty! But no, I'm going to be good. If I really want to do something in colorwork, I can knit an Elizabeth Zimmerman yoke sweater in a nice worsted weight, or better yet, I can re-knit the beginning of the Paloma sweater where I didn't know what I was doing.

Happy New Year to all!