Morning in Squirrel Hill: An Instagram Essay

Um, hi.












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Zig and Zag Pram Blanket

The blanket that I made for Michael is featured on the designer's blog today.

What a difference a year makes! Someone turns one next week...

Affliction Update

After agonizing here, here, and here about color choices for the Color Affection shawl, I finally realized that world peace was not going to depend on my yarn choices, and I happily cast on with Socks that Rock in Winter Solstice and Jasper, and a skein of Tess Sock.

Well. This is a lot of garter stitch. And a lot of stitches. Still, it's pretty obsessive. Just as I got tired of increasing the plain gray, I got to stripe in the purple. Just as I got tired of the two stripes, I got to add a third, and whoo! short row as well.




But, you know, because I am me, I have to complicate things. It's Mad May, a celebration of Madelinetosh yarn, on Ravelry, and I am entering the Color Affection Plus KAL contest. My current Affliction isn't eligible, so I am starting a Stripe Study by the same designer in Madelinetosh Sock in Candlewick and Tern.


God help me, this is a lot of garter stitch.

Spring Cleaning: Finished Project #2 Plus Bonus Project

I really loved the Gift Wrap Romper I knit for Butterbean. The pattern is so well-written and yields great results, so when I found out my dear friend from graduate school was expecting a boy, I knew I wanted to knit it again. This friend is not a knitter, so I figured with a newborn, a three year old, and a tenure track portfolio to deal with, she would need an easy care garment. I dug deep, and I do mean deep into the stash and came up with some Berocco Comfort I'd originally intended for a throw for Henry in the colors of Thomas the Tank Engine. I think the colors worked wonderfully together here.



































I also made a little hat to go with.



I couldn't let his big sister go without, so I dug deep into the stash again and made this shrug from a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern out of some Rowan All-Seasons Cotton.

What About This?

I know, I thought that I'd decided on my three colors for a Color Affection Shawl, but, but, but...I was cleaning up my stash and found a sock in progress and wondered how the color would look.




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Carina Spencer Cowl Kick

These projects were not finished during the Spring Cleaning, but I realized I never blogged them. I'm on a Carina Spencer kick, apparently. Her patterns are lovely and extremely clear and well-written. The following two patterns are ones that caught my eye on Ravelry while they were still in the test-knitting stage, and I cast on for them relatively quickly once they were released.

This is the Dovetail Cowl, knit with three skeins of Cascade Eco Duo:




And this is Zuzu's Petals, an ingenious little design that combines the best of lace shawls and cowls. I liked it so much, I knit it twice, once in the gorgeously lush Road to China Light in Moonstone, and once in Silky Malabrigo.

Spring Cleaning: Finished Project #1

Centrique by Carol Feller, knit with 3/4 of a skein of Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Rook-y.

It's impossible to capture the gorgeousness that is a Raven colorway from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Underneath the black shimmers tones of blue, purple, and green. The shawl was a super-quick knit. I thought at the time that I didn't like the way the increases are just left in stockinette until there's enough for another repeat, but it blends in beautifully in the finished shawl. I may make another one, but knitting a larger stockinette portion and possibly a third repeat.

My intention is for this to be a Mother's Day gift, but I may, just may, keep it for myself.

Pink and Green

It's one of my favorite color combinations. Last week, I snapped a few photos with my phone as I pushed the stroller through the neighborhood, then ran them through Instagram.

Imagine my delight when I opened up the March Rockin Sock Club package! Pink and green!

Startitis and Spring Cleaning.

I had been doing really well at finishing things and clearing up my piles of UFOs. It started in January when I whipped out this pair of socks for Martha as part of our Epiphany Stash Gift Exchange at the store.The pattern is Burning Rings of Fire by Kirsten Kapur, a free Ravelry download.

Then I realized that I had a bunch of projects that were at least 75% completed, and it would take little effort to finish them.

I hauled out my never ending Damson by Ysolda Teague in my cursed yarn and finished it. Once you get going on the lace, it doesn't take that long at all.

I finished my Honey Badger Socks, a Socks that Rawk KAL (and another free pattern) from last fall. The yarn is BMFA Socks that Rock in a Mediumweight Rare Gem. I don't have a picture of the completed pair because I gave them to my mother.

And I got out my Owlet, thinking I better finish it before the baby gets too big for it. I consider it done, even though I still need to put buttons on for the owl eyes.

But after that I petered out and then came down with Startitis. Two years ago, I did not cast on during the month of April. I toyed with doing the same this year, but with Startitis raging all around me, I could not promise the same this year. But I will try to control myself and work on older projects.

It's April 1, and I have FOURTEEN unfinished projects. Let's see how I do.

 

What about this?

Subbing an ancient brown Koigu for the Miss Babs:



Or this.

A navy blue/black skein of Ranco:




We are deeeeep in the stash here!

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Color Affliction

I know I can't be the only one feeling obsessive about the Color Affection -- or as I call it, Color Affliction -- pattern. I look at the finished projects almost every day on Ravelry, thinking about all the possible color combinations.

Because this is the New Austerity, I cannot buy new yarn for the shawl. I shopped the stash came up with this:



From left to right, Tess Supersock, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Winter Solstice, and Miss Babs Windsor Sock in Field Mouse.

Thoughts? I'm wondering if the gray and the brown are too close together. I will twist them together and see. Lisa has suggested an orange in place of the brown, which would pop more, but also "de-neutralize" the finished piece.

See why I call this Color Affliction?

Today Was A Good Day

And I didn't even have to use my A.K.*

Seriously.

• I had dinner in the crock pot by 9:30 AM.
• I cleaned out my spice shelf.
• I made plans with a friend to clean out my Hoarding Room over Spring Break. My old PhD office will now officially become a yarn and reading room.
• The weather is beautiful!

I finally finished my Ishbel, in some Sundara that Michelle gave me a long time ago. After several failed attempts to make this years ago, the shawl almost flew off the needles this time. Yvonne blocked it severely, and I think she made it look terrific.

* With apologies to Ice Cube and Jimmy Fallon.

Car Knitting, and Yes, I am Still Here

So yeah, it's been awhile. Travel, illness, sleep deprivation, and a mobile baby all add up to blog neglect, but we are still here, still knitting.

And I still haven't bought any yarn in 2012.

Speaking of travel, I needed something mindless to work on during a recent drive to New York City. I also discovered that I lack a plain, non-lacy, gray neck-thing in my wardrobe. I dug out my not-small stash of gray fingering weight yarn and chose a skein of Colorful Yarn Merino Sock that I'd purchased on a trip to Philadelphia years ago...let's just say Henry was still The Toddler and he was in a stroller when I went to this store.

I cast on for Nimbus, a part of this amazingly beautiful, simple collection of gray knits. I love gray. Have I mentioned that before? The pattern, once set up, is easy to memorize and perfect for the car. Off I went!

And off we went! I have one very enthusiastic City Mouse:

And someone who is undecided, but leaning toward Unimpressed Country Mouse:

So the Rumors are True

Hello. It's been thirteen days since I last purchased yarn.

My husband has "challenged" me to knit from stash in 2012. It's not like I don't have a lot of stash. It's not like my knitting time has decreased thanks to a certain adorable baby.

I am still in the Rockin' Sock Club as well as the Pro-Verbial Shawl Club, so small amounts of yarn will trickle in. I also have a layaway bag at the store that I last put yarn into on New Year's Eve, so as that gets paid off, that will come home with me as well.

But yeah, knitting from stash. Here we go.

Portraits

One of the reasons I wanted a DSLR was to take portraits of the kids. The 35mm lens that came with my camera is perfectly good for everyday use, but the aperture settings don't go down low enough to achieve the "bokeh" look that is popular now.  So with my Christmas money, I bought an inexpensive 50mm lens recommended by my family friend and wedding photographer and set out to experiment. We received a membership to the local Conservatory from my mother-in-law, which provided a great backdrop with natural light. I still need to work on white balance, but I think the composition is pretty decent, no?

 

Christmas Cables of Doom

Apparently I needed over a week off to recover from National Blog Posting Month.

The next time I chirpily announce that I am going to knit the children matchy-matchy outfits for Christmas, ask if me it is July. If it is past July, tell me it is too late for this year. The plan was to make coordinating vests (the Pembroke pattern from Petite Purls) in Christmas colors.

Originally I envisioned the children wearing these for artfully posed photos to send out as Christmas cards. At this rate, I will be lucky to get them done by Christmas day.I have almost the back of Henry's completed. This means I have the front, the finishing, and all of Michael's to go. Michael is real small, so that should go quickly, right? Right?

Tomorrow is World AIDS Day

And my friend Steven is having a fundraiser for the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force with amazing prizes, starting at midnight tonight. Check it out here.

I might need an intervention

For the record, the first day of DEAR was a failure. I got into bed, opened the book, and fell asleep. This morning, I woke up with a migraine, so reading was out for that window of time as well.

This month, I finished two garments for Michael, a Beau by Cosy out of Malabrigo Worsted, and a Baby T-Shirt Vest out of Madelinetosh DK. The first is totally whimsical; the second is a project I made to fill a hole in his wardrobe. I love vests on babies: they add warmth without adding bulk and there are no sleeves to get sodden when babies stuff them in their mouths.





The problem is, of course, that babies outgrow these things quickly. I have a bunch of knits that I've already had to put away, and I think Michael may have reached capacity on his knitted wardrobe for now. I think it's time to focus on projects for bigger people...like myself! It's almost the time of year when we set knitting goals, and it will be interesting to see how mine shake out for 2012.

DEAR

Remember in the Ramona Quimby books when Ramona had "Drop Everything and Read" and "Sustained Silent Reading" in school? That's my plan for this week. Since the time change, every time I get in bed with a book, I fall asleep instead. I've been trying to read The Night Circus for weeks! This week, my husband is off of work, and I should have a little bit more free time. Let's see how far I can get through the big stack of books on my nightstand.

Good Morning

I get up pretty early with the baby, but in exchange, I get some quiet time with my coffee and my knitting after I get him back down.

And this morning, I got this.




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