New Skillz

The theme at the shop this year is Expand Your Fiber Comfort Zone, but I'd like to think I did a little of that in 2009. Here are some projects that employed skills or techniques that were new to me in some way:

On Ysolda Teague's Hap Blanket (knit in Cascade Eco Wool, a truly wonderful yarn), I used a Russian Bind-Off. The pattern orginally calls for a purl-wise bind-off. On David's advice, I knit a row, then bound off with the Russian Bind-Off, which created a loose, flexible, yet sturdy edge.This blanket is now proudly on display at my brother and sister-in-law's house.

The Yarn Harlot's Pretty Thing  -- mine is knit in Pagewood Farms Alyeska, a luscious cashmere blend -- taught me how to do a sewn bind-off. It's easy-peasy and creates a neat, flexible edge.

Finally, Jared Flood's Habitat, here knit in Malabrigo Worsted, challenged my ability to do cables. This was the first time I'd done a cable beyond a simple right or left cross. I learned to color-code my charts (The Preschooler was dismayed that I used his crayons, but that's another story) to keep all the crossings straight. While cables still slow down my knitting considerably, the color codes keep me from continually having to peer at the symbols and painstakingly figure out what to do next each and every time.

2009 in Review

This year, I knitted (I mean, I finished) 56 things! 56!

Here's a breakdown

• 2 scarves (one Peaks Island Hood!)
• 2 cowls
• 15 hats
• 1 pair of baby booties
• 15 pairs of socks (hey, I won the employee division of the Summer of Socks and Lace!)
• 1 blanket
• 7 baby or child sweaters
• 4 dishcloths (2 ended up as blankies for The Preschooler's baby dolls)
  
• 3 sweaters FOR ME
• 1 felted bag
• 1 pair of mittens

And so the question becomes, how did I do with the Year of Selfish Knitting? In 2008, I knit only two things for myself. Just two! In 2009, most of the items listed above were for me, most noteably 14 of the 15 pairs of socks, all the shawls, and 3 sweaters.

So what are my goals for 2010? It's hard to plan for an entire year; looking back on 2009, the sweaters I outlined at the beginning of the year clearly did not go the way I intended, for example. In my case, to be brutally honest, a rapid and unexpected weight gain derailed a lot of my garment intentions. I also got bitten by the new trend in small shawls and wraps that hit in 2009. Who knows what trends will evolve this year? However, I just finished an article for the shop newsletter about resolutions for the year, and a common theme emerged: Expand Your Fiber Comfort Zone. And so, I'd like to do the following:

• Learn new colorwork techniques and make at least one pair of colorwork mittens (you know, instead of just clicking "Buy It Now" on the Ravelry sidebar and having good intentions about them).
• Complete one pair of toe-up socks, perhaps my Discovery Sock from Cat Bordhi's Personal Footprints. 
• Learn once and for all to do a picot hem on a sock or a knitted hem on a sweater without turning to a coworker for help (Hi Yvonne! Hi Melissa!). 

Happy New Year!

Another Red Tree

The Preschooler and I see this one when we walk to the library.

In praise of Yvonne

Today is Yvonne's birthday, and I just want to send birthday greetings her way. Not only has Yvonne done all my finishing work lately (see here and here and then here to see how she can do it for you too!), she fixes my knitting mistakes when things go terribly awry. Just so you know, I would not advise knitting during Mad Men, particularly when Joanie smashes a vase over her worthless husband's head, because you are sure to make a terrible mistake and drop many stitches. Furthermore, I would not advise trying to fix said mistake during the Mad Men finale because all kinds of inexplicable things happen to the project.

Inspiration

It's hard to single out the most inspirational thing on Ravelry, but one of the best, knowlegable, and enthusiastic groups on there is the Socks that RAWK! group. Every quarter, they host a KAL of two sock patterns. Each member is encouraged to use a different colorway of Socks that Rock in order to showcase the amazing diversity of the yarn. It's a fabulous group, and I've gotten lost for hours looking at the photos.

For the first time, I'm participating in the quarter's KAL for the Edwardian Boating Socks. Mine are in the Flower Power colorway. I just cast on yesterday and can't stop knitting!

Wedding Weekend

I guess I should have known better than to attempt a blog post every day during the same month as my brother's wedding. The weekend, however, did feature knitwear.

The Preschooler sports his owl vest, knitted by Carla, at the reheasal dinner.











I wore, between the ceremony and reception, a little cropped cardigan so kindly knitted by Lisabe.

And, while the bride and groom haven't seen this yet, I feel safe in showing it here, since I hope they are enjoying sunshine and snorkling right now. This is Ysolda's Hap Blanket, knit in Cascade Eco Wool. Due to some problems with the chart, I eliminated the last color repeat, and changed the purl bind-off to a Russian bind-off (which was a new skill!). I love the finished project and hope that the bride and groom do too!

This is what I'm doing today

Wait, doesn't everyone wear handknit socks, sweatpants, and sparkly shoes around the house?

Seriously, today I am trying to break in the silver shoes I'm wearing to my brother's wedding on Saturday. These shoes frighten me. A lot.

Autumnal

This is what I see on my way to work in the mornings. On cloudy, gray days this winter, I'm going to look at this picture and remember the way the leaves glowed red in the morning sunlight.

It's no secret I love red.

Drive-By Pretties

Today's thoughful, analytical post has been delayed due to a sick husband and argumentative preschooler at home with me this morning. Instead, let me offer up these pictures of pretty new stash, Madeline Tosh sock yarn. The RED (hey, The Preschooler comes by his love of RED honestly) is the Tart colorway; the delicate variegated color is Mansfield Garden.

Hat Trick

When the weather turns colder and you're mired down in large projects, sometimes the best thing to do is knit a hat. I made three last month.

Windschief by Stephen West, in Cascade Eco Alpaca:

Hurricane Hat, a free pattern, knit in Malabrigo Worsted:

And finally, Habitat by Jared Flood, also in Malabrigo Worsted. In my next post, I'm going to talk about challenging myself and learning new techniques, and this project is my first foray into a complicated cable chart.

This sweater gets around!

In the spirit of my so-called Finish It Fall, Henry's Tomten is D-O-N-E done. This sweater was particularly hard for me, not because of any particular knitting technique or the miles and miles of Elizabeth Zimmermann garter stitch, but because of what it represented. I started planning the Tomten when -- and this is not something I've talked about publically because it's been painful for our little family and yet thankfully much ado about nothing -- when the then-Toddler started manifesting some autism spectrum behaviors and wasn't progressing in his language. I let the Toddler choose the yarn, thinking it would be a really stimulating activity for him to choose his favorite color of "WED." I knit on this thing through the seemingly interminable wait for evaluations and appointments. Somehow, all my stress about my child got put into this sweater.

Then we received the diagnosis of "just" a speech delay. Today, the Preschooler is a happy, healthy, quirky three year old who has "graduated" from his months of speech therapy. I think I've graduated too.

I finally finished the sleeves last month, and then handed it over to Yvonne for seaming and zipper installation. (Have I mentioned how much I love Yvonne?). The Tomten, otherwise known as Red! Red Sweater!, has gone everywhere and done everything, and for that, I am so happy and grateful.

PS: It's

Just so you all know

I am now completely obsessed with figuring out how I can knit this sweater from Leifsdottir I saw yesterday at Nordstrom's.

Usefulness

My friend Bill likes to say that we are all three cheeseburgers away from disaster, meaning that in this day of desk jobs and the internet, we don’t have particularly useful survival skills. And it’s true, after the world ends, my ability to blog and use twitter isn’t going to be worth much. However, with the advent of cold weather, I seem to be drawn to survival stories, for example reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter for the umpteenth time and watching Defiance, based on a true story of Jewish resistance fighters hiding in the forests of Byelorussia during World War II. And it hit me, as a knitter, I am many more cheeseburgers away from disaster. I could have knit Pa some mittens to wear while he was hauling hay in blizzard-ravaged Dakota Territory. I would have value as a skilled knitter making garments for Russian partisans. And so, as the cold rain falls, I am going to knit a hat, knowing that I’m doing the same thing for pleasure that other women throughout history have had to do out of necessity.

Thanks, Yvonne!

Remember this mess?




Yvonne fixed it for me! How great is she?

Finish It Fall?

I had it in my head that I was going to work on the backlog of projects I'd let pile up over the summer. I had a bunch of projects that were close to completion when I flung them aside in favor of the sock contest. The shawls in particular cried out to be finished.

Springtime Bandit, in Malabrigo Silky Merino, waiting to be blocked, looking all manta-ray-ish.



I borrowed Yvonne's blocking tools: interlocking foam playmats like they use in daycares. Genius!




The completed shawl, hanging out on my neighbor's bushes (yes, they probably do think I am crazy).


And another shawl, The Simple Yet Effective Shawl using one ball of Noro Silk Garden Sock.


Great! I finished two projects! If only I hadn't cast on for three more this week...

I think I won

I think I won the staff portion of the Summer of Socks and Lace contest. Here are my entries from the second half of the summer.


Top left: No Purl Monkeys in Creatively Dyed Calypso.
Top right: Yarn Harlot's Plain Sock Recipe in Mini Mochi
Middle left: Completed "Don Draper Socks -- Kristen Kapur's Ampersand in Socks that Rock Mediumweight.
Middle right: Synesthesia Socks in Pagewood Farms Denali.
Bottom left: Completed Waving Lace Socks in Pagewood Farms Denali.
Botton right: More Circle Socks in Socks that Rock Lightweight.

Plus:


Slip Stitch Rib Anklets from More Sensational Knitted Socks in Socks that Rock Lightweight, July 2009 Rockin' Sock Club colorway.

Overall, I completed eleven pairs of socks and made a little progress on three more pairs (two of which are Cookie A patterns, hmmm). My total yardage, including the double scores for using Natural Stitches yarn, was somewhere in the 4000 range.

When stuffed animals get bored

Apparently The Preschooler's beloved, tattered bear blanket has taken up knitting. I'm pleased to note that even stuffed animals have switched over to Magic Loop.

Vacation musings

If I could dye yarn, I'd want to dye some to look like this (the geyser basin in Yellowstone):




The local yarn store here decorated the antlers in the town square with felted flowers:



My socks-in-progress went on a hike:

On the Road

Somehow, I don't think this is what Jack Kerouac had in mind.

Somewhere in Kansas:


Somewhere in northeast Colorado:


Somehow, this happened:

Summer of Socks

The Summer of Socks and Lace is ON at the store. We're having a separate contest for the staff, and here are my entries, both in progress and completed. From left to right, top to bottom:

- Waving Lace Socks, from Favorite Socks, in Pagewood Farms Denali in Really Red
- Ampersand in Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Eggplanted: I'm calling these my Don Draper Socks because we're watching Mad Men, and surprisingly, one can knit this pattern even after a few Manhattans and still not screw it up.
- Circle Socks in Socks that Rock Lightweight in The Incredible Shrinking Violet.
- Nutkins in Pagewood Farms Denali in Maple Leaf.
Child's First Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks in Tess Super Sock and Baby in Pewter
- Embossed Leaves from Favorite Socks in Dream in Color Smooshy in Chinatown Apple.