How awesome is this?

In honor of last night's season premiere of Lost.



I've been thinking a lot about stripe sequences, and how awesome would a Dharma number sequence -- 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 -- be in a baby blanket?

Day One

RIP[ped] Tilted Duster

I had such good intentions. I loved this sweater from the minute I saw it on the cover of Interweave Knits in Fall 2007. But let's get real here (with apologies to Dr Phil). I messed up one of the shoulder decreases. This project requires not only seaming but seaming set-in sleeves. It's been sitting in three pieces in my stash, otherwise untouched, for over a year. I still love the look of this sweater. But it was never going to be finished.

We've been trying to follow some of the principles of FlyLady in our house, so with my timer in hand, I've been sorting through my stash little by little. When I came across this bag, I realized I'd just tossed aside into my "Oh, really, I will finish it, really I will" pile for the past year, which meant, no, I wasn't going to finish it.

So I took a deep breath and put it on the ballwinder. Um, Peruvia doesn't frog easily. But it does frog and the yarn is still in great shape. What does it want to be? An Amused (too fuzzy?) The Garter Stitch Cardigan from Knit.1 magazine?

Whatever it is, it has to be knit seamlessly.

Simon Cowell wants you to knit selfishly in 2009

On the American Idol boards on Ravelry, folks are suggesting a sweater KAL. So for the past few nights, I've knit on my Ingenue and only my Ingenue. No socks, no Man Sweater Slog, no Red Sweaters, Please. Let's just hope that I finish it well before the finale; I think it will be too hot to wear a wool and mohair sweater in May.

Inauguration Hats

Anyone who knows me in real life knows I frown on putting your kid in clothing with any kind of political message. However, with the inaugural coming up, I figured these hats would be worn in celebration of this happy and important day. The Toddler seems to love his "Brack Omama!" hat.



For all my local peeps who commented on the hats on Ravelry, these are ridiculously easy. Just knit a hat! All the hats are Cascade 220 knit on size 8 circulars (and when you work at a yarn shop that carries all the Cascade colors, it's really easy to match the blues). My husband's is 96 stitches worked in a 2x2 rib for an inch, increased to 110 stitches, knit following the Yarn Harlot's hat rule for length*, and then decrease by 10%. Mine and The Toddler's are 88 and 80 stitches knit the same way with a roll brim and no increases. Then use the chart here to duplicate stitch the Obama logo on. I bet you could knock one out during American Idol, easily.

Here, Percy models my hat:



*Do you know about this? The length of your hat is basically the length of your hand. So knit to the base of your hand (or whoever's hat this will be) and then begin your decreases. Nifty.

My year of selfish knitting

Inspired by Michelle and the marvel that is my February Lady Sweater*, I'm resolving to knit a whole bunch of sweaters for myself in 2009. I am loving the current crop of swingy cardigans and pullovers with waist shaping.

On the needles now: The Shalom Cardigan in Malabrigo Chunky and Ingenue [Ravelry link] in Steadfast Merino.

I'm waiting for my order of Dream in Color Classy in Cloud Jungle to arrive at the store so I can start Amelia like the rest of the whole world.

Also bumped up in the queue are the Garter Stitch Cardigan [Ravelry link] from the latest Knit.1 magazine (yes, Carla, I am going to knit a Vogue pattern!), Loppem [Ravelry link] from Norah Gaughan 3, and the Somewhat Cowl. The Cowl is going to use one of my Preciouseses, my Tess Silk and Ivory, but the other two are waiting for the right yarn to call to me, hopefully from my stash.

And on my wish list: The Gathered Pullover [Ravelry link], possibly in another Precious, my Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist; and Vivian, perhaps in my Beaverslide aran. And just about every other pullover and cardigan in my Ravelry queue. Not that I'm unrealistically ambitious or anything.

*It fits! It's flattering! I liked the yarn! I know some asked about modifications, and I'm working on an article for the store newsletter (for February, of course) on the different versions that the shop employees made. And on a related note, I've taken over the store blog, so look for me there as well as Go Get Your Jacket.

Reality check

I've been working pretty much every day over the holidays, and it's become our family tradition to all go for coffee and then my husband drops me off and he and The Toddler go off and run errands or do something fun. The other morning, The Toddler piped up from the backseat, "We taking Mama to work!"

Me: That's right! What does Mama do at work? [for some unfortunate reason, we are all still using the third person in conversation in the manner of Elmo.]

Toddler: Mama pick out yarn!

Me: Right! And then what?

Toddler: Mama buy it!

Whoops. I really do come home from work without yarn most of the time. Really.

Overheard

Grandpa: Henry, that's a really nice sweater you have on.
Henry (preoccupied with toy tractors): Yeah.
Grandpa: Did your mother make that for you?
Henry: Yeah
Grandpa: How did she make that?
Henry: She YARNED it, Grandpa!

Year in Review

Pay no attention to the sidebar I haven't updated in months! In 2008, I completed

• 31 hats. (31!?!?!)
• 9 children's garments
• 6 pairs of socks (uh, this is not proportional to my sock yarn stash, that's for sure)
• 5 pairs of mittens or fingerless mitts
• 2 sweaters for myself

So what's wrong with that last number? Only two things for myself? Like Michelle, I'm tempted to declare 2009 The Year of Selfish Knitting.

While 2008 was a productive year for knitting, it was a time of challenges and transitions for our little family. We are looking forward to a happier, healthier 2009!

Happy New Year!

Finally! My February Lady Sweater!