Talk Amongst Yourselves

I'll give you a topic. Does winding sock yarn help take the edge of Startitis or does it make the dread condition worse?

(From top left, Cozy Fierce Scummy Girl Socks that Rock for the Breaking Hearts KAL in the Socks that Rawk group on Ravelry, Dream in Color Smooshy in Tea Party for the Eiki Japanese Relief shawl, and the current Rockin' Sock Club colorway.)

Discuss.

Don't forget to comment on my Bringing Home Baby issue to win a skein of sock yarn. Leave a comment by 6:00 PM Eastern, and I'll pick the number via random generator on Tuesday.

Bringing Home Baby

I need opinions.

When I first got pregnant, I envisioned making the Yarn Harlot's Baby Mine or Baby Yours (see her blog here for pictures of both). The sweaters are so sweet and cry out to be put on a brand new baby for newborn pictures and coming home from the hospital.

But my baby is going to be a late May baby. And I have less than eight weeks to go and I haven't even watched for this sweater. Plus I made this:

The Gift Wrap Romper in the now sadly out-of-business Mission Falls 1824 Cotton.

A few Wednesdays ago, I was sick with that creeping crud that was going around, so I took to my bed with yarn and Downton Abbey. Despite the pain that knitting with cotton causes, I finished this in less than a week. I think it is so cute, but is it special enough for the Coming Home Outfit?

Tell me what you would do. In exchange, I'll pick a random commenter to win a skein of sock yarn from my stash.

More Deep Stash Diving and Malabrigo March

I bought three skeins of this Amaroso Malabrigo at least three years ago in the first flush of my love affair with Malabrigo.

 

It tried to be a Juliet, but after three false starts, it went back into the stash.

When Blogless Brooke found out she was having a second little girl, the Malabrigo cried out to become two In Threes. I never get to knit little girl patterns, and the match between pattern and yarn was undeniable.

 

I made a 0-6 month size and an 18-24 month size (which looks like it could fit up to a three year old). I used two and a half skeins, and both sweaters took under a week. 

Happy Malabrigo March!

Deepest Stash

I have, inadvertently, been knitting from my deepest, darkest stash lately. I bought one solitary skein of Brooks Farm Four Play, a wool and silk blend, at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival at least three years ago. The put-up at 270 yards per skein is generous, but the "perfect" project never came along, and it's been languishing ever since. The yarn has a delicate sheen from the silk, and the tonal dye is beautiful and subtle.

On Oscar night, I decided that I was just going to use this yarn, and I cast on for 198 Yards of Heaven.  Because I had extra yardage, I did an extra pattern repeat, but ran out halfway through the edging. I also realized one row into the edging, that the pattern made no sense, and when I checked Ravelry, I saw that the pattern I'd printed out a year ago had been revised with a completely different edge. So much for printing and organizing patterns when I see them. I ran out of yarn halfway through the edging, but I like the final results better than the original edging, which looks heavy and takes away from the main motif.

iPhone photo

The whole thing

Obligatory Hipstamatic Shot

Unfortunately, because it's only 270 yards, it doesn't count for 11 Shawls in 2011. Still, other than the pattern discrepancy, it was a quick and easy project and an excellent match of Deepest Stash to pattern.

In the Waiting Room

No, this isn't an analysis of the Elizabeth Bishop poem.  Pregnancy is accompanied by more waiting room time than I ever imagined, and I guess I'm glad that I have more than Elizabeth Bishop's one copy of National Geographic to look at, although with all the electronic diversions we have, there's little chance of the introspective epiphany offered in the poem.

Anyway, I've spent a lot of time waiting. In the past five days alone, I've

• waited over an hour for my OB/GYN to get out of surgery.
• endured a three hour glucose test (at which I FORGOT my iPhone at home, which made me all twitchy. Who knew I had such a need to check Facebook at all times?
• and coincidentally, had two totally pregnancy unrelated doctor's appointments.

The upside is that's a lot of knitting time. The product so far is a "Waiting Room Sock," a plain vanilla top down 64 stitch deal, knit in Hazel Knits sockyarn. I'm trying out Kollage square needles and liking them pretty well so far.

More for that Poor Second Baby

Really, the poor dear. My mother and I started to go through the newborn clothes I'd saved from Henry and we found sleepers with the tags still on them. Still, with twelve weeks to go, I feel like time is running out. I made a huge list of things I wanted to knit for the new baby, and I haven't gotten to so many of them. I'm also feeling like I want to do some complex lace work before Newborn Sleep Deprivation takes over.

But so far, this is my favorite thing I've made for the new baby: Cosy's Baby Eggplant, in the 6 month size, from Malabrigo Worsted in Glazed Carrot and Lettuce.

The Plight of the Poor Second Baby

Poor Second Baby. Traditionally doomed to wearing elder siblings' hand-me-downs and playing with gently used baby toys, they have nothing to call their own.

Except knitwear.

I seem to have managed the fantastic feat of having children of the same gender at the same time of the year, and because I am a hoarder saver, Happyface Hello doesn't need a single stitch of clothing. I went up to our attic the other day to sort through Henry's baby clothes, and it was an embarrassment of riches, thanks to my Gymboree and Hanna Andersson addiction and my mother's exuberance over being a first-time grandma.

But where this kid is going to win out is in the knitwear department. My knitting when Henry was born was embarrassingly basic. I made him a blanket, some simple hats and sweaters, and of course, all of those Mason Dixon Baby Bibs. Happyface Hello is already reaping the benefits of a much more experienced knitter for a mother.

First, pants. My husband has run away screaming from the idea of cloth diapering, but I have been avidly stalking all kinds of patterns for diaper covers, soakers, and longies. Neither of these two projects would actually work for cloth diapering, which requires non-superwash wool, but who can resist knitted pants?

A newborn adaptation of the Milo Soaker, from Vintage Baby Knits, knit in Berroco Comfort DK:

February Baby Leggings, from Elizabeth Zimmermann's A Knitter's Almanac in Malabrigo Rios. I shortened the torso and ended the leg after decreasing to 48 inches. I have no idea if these proportions will actually work on a baby, but the end result is still pretty cute:

Next, sweaters. I bought three skeins of Cumberland Sport at the Miss Babs booth ("Where did Anna go? She's at the Miss Babs booth AGAIN?")  at Maryland Sheep and Wool with the express purpose of knitting the Harvey Kimono from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding, and I'm proud to say, I actually followed through! Check out the cute turtle buttons:

 

More to come!

Finishing Frenzy

Recently, The Yarn Harlot wrote about contracting the most wished-for syndrome available to knitters, Finishitis, or the desire to clear out the cavalcade of UFOs from the knitting basket. I have to say, while I am not doing "spring cleaning" again, where I didn't cast on for a month, I am trying to clear the decks before the new baby comes. We'll call it the knitters' version of nesting.

I'm pleased to say that I have used stash yarn for its intended purpose. When I walked into the Brooks Farm booth last May at Maryland Sheep and Wool, I saw two skeins of their Solana that I thought would be perfect for a sweater for Henry. Solana is a heavy worsted superwash, that, amazingly, doesn't feel like a superwash. It has spring and bounce and energy, unlike so many superwash yarns.

After some questioning of the recipient ("Do you want this sweater to go over your head or button up the front?"), I cast on using Ann Norling's Top Down Sweater for Children. I can say without reservation that this is a terrible pattern, and I'm embarrassed, having recommended Ann Norling patterns for years to customers. I've knit others before with no problem, but this one is a dud. The proportions are completely off, and the sleeve directions in particular make absolutely no sense, and, in fact, are apt to make someone new to top-down construction or seamless knitting run screaming back to her pieced Debbie Bliss patterns. It makes the construction of the sweater much harder than it needs to be, and after I realized how screwy the pattern was, I simply knit a top-down sweater, thankful that I knew the basic principle.

I am not crazy about the flashing down the front, but the recipient actually likes it and asked to wear it to school the day after I finished it. So despite a shaky process, I call this project a success.

Pregnancy and Knitting, Part 2

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a common side-effect of pregnancy as fluid retention increases and nerves are compressed. Repetitive hand-movements aggravate the problem. Guess what is characterized by repetitive hand-movements? Knitting!

And for me, specifically knitting with the shorter needle tips found on 16 inch circulars. I started a hat that my mother had requested on Saturday and knit on it all that day and part of yesterday. By halftime of the Packers-Bears game, I realized I couldn't go on. My wrists ached and the pain was starting to shoot up my arm. I did not knit at all during the Steelers game. (Superbowl, yeah!!!)

The pain is only marginally better this morning, and of course, I'm not helping matters by typing on the computer. I think this is the end of hat-mania for awhile.

I Won!

I never win anything. I'm the person who sits at the prize drawings at Maryland Sheep and Wool, breathless with anticipation and then bitter at going home empty-handed. One year, Yvonne and I got so excited and then disappointed over a Lexie Barnes bag that we ended up bruising each other.

So imagine my surprise when I was one of the prize-winners for the 10 Shawls in 2010 group on Ravelry. I won my choice of Wolle's Yarn Creations Color Changing Cotton. It's a three-ply, fingering weight, 100% cotton yarn. Looking at pictures on Ravelry, it blocks surprisingly well in lace patterns and looks fantastic in patterns like Citron. My choice was Desert Clay:

Steelers Fan in Training

When I found out I was pregnant, I had the same urge I imagine knitters all around the world have: CAST ON SOMETHING SMALL AND CUTE. But, having been through pregnancy loss, I was superstitious and cautious. I allowed myself to make one thing and one thing only, telling myself and my coworkers that it was a shop sample.

Who can resist booties? These adorable things are the classic pattern, Christine's Stay-On Baby Booties.  Knit on US size 1.5 Addi circulars, they took under half a skein of Lorna's Laces Steelers Pride, available exclusively at Natural Stitches. 

I indoctrinate the new members of the Steelers Nation at a very young age. I'm calling this the obligatory belly shot, at the halfway point of 20 weeks. Please note that Steelers gear comes in maternity sizes! We have our priorities straight in Pittsburgh.

No Knitting at Disney World

I took a short knitting hiatus to go here:

I packed two projects to work on while we were there, but they saw precious little light of day. I was pleased that I got through airport security with my Addis, but when I pulled out my sock to work on while waiting to board the plane, a man across from me started grumbling loudly about how he couldn't believe that was allowed. He also said unkind things about Kate Middleton, so I gave him the stinkeye, but put my knitting away and got out my shiny new Kindle.

One of the projects I brought, I can't talk about yet, but the other is the first in an attempt to deal with my almost-SABLE sized sock yard stash. I joined the Year of Stash Socks group on Ravelry: each month, they choose two patterns or the option to knit a plain vanilla sock. The only rule is that the yarn must be from stash; no running out and buying more. I chose the plain vanilla option, using the Yarn Harlot's sock recipe. The yarn is Autumn House Specks that I bought on our visit to the farm last year.

Again, I don't know how far I'll get with a newborn in the house, but I figure at even my most sleep-deprived, I can manage plain vanilla socks. I hope.

Happy New Year!

It's time to sum up the year in knitting.

In 2010, I took part in Natural Stitches' "Expand Your Fiber Comfort Zone" and worked on these new skills: I knit a toe-up sock using Cat Bordhi's Personal Footprints method.I successfully made a picot edging on a sock. In addition, I've learned, under Yvonne's watchful eye, how to block my own lace shawls. I also feel much more confident in reading my own knitting and correcting my own mistakes, particularly when it comes to lace. Finally, I took a Beginning Wheel Spinning class with Nora, which I would recommend to any knitter. Even if I never become adept at spinning, I have a much better understanding of how yarn is constructed.

I finished the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics and completed the 10 Shawls in 2010 Challenge. I came in second place in the employee Double Threat category of Summer of Socks and Lace at the store. Overall, I completed SIXTY projects!

• Eighteen shawls
• Seven hats
• Sixteen pairs of socks and booties
• Two pairs of felted slippers
• Two scarves
• Nine children's garments 

Whew! I have some resolutions about how I'd like to structure my 2011 knitting, but we'll see how things go with a newborn and a preschooler heading off to kindergarten!

Happy New Year!

On the Third Day of Christmas

I finished the Christmas knitting! Truly, it's a new record for me. My father's World War II Watch Cap was actually completed on Christmas Eve.

 

I finished knitting my mother's Traveling Woman on December 26. This meant I actually handed my mother a gift bag with the project still on the needles on Christmas Day.  Oh well. After a few days of tearing apart my so-called "yarn room," I finally found my blocking pins. With The Preschooler at Bubba's, I had some peace and quiet this morning to block out the shawl.

Finally, yesterday, I went to the jeweler's, with moral support from Steven, to have my rings cut off. I haven't been able to get them reliably on and off for over a year, and with last weekend's Christmas basically serving as a Festival of Ham and Salty Snax, my fingers swelled up to painful proportions. Because I'm pregnant, I knew it would get worse before it got better, so off they came. Steven insists I show you a picture of the immediate aftermath.

It is Hat Time of Year

I've been seeing a lot of people having really difficult times with their mothers lately, and while I don't claim to be the perfect daughter, I've been thinking about my own mother and feeling a lot of gratitude for all she does for me, particularly what a fantastic grandmother she is. So of course, this translates into The Knitting Crazy because I decide, one week before Christmas, to make her a shawl to show my appreciation. We won't talk about how far I've gotten with that crazy idea so far.

What I have finished for Christmas is a heck of a lot of hats.

From top left, a Lollipop Hat from Cosy's Knit One, Embellish Two in Malabrigo Worsted; a Baby Jester Hat, also in Malabrigo; a detail of a Windschief Hat in Malabrigo Worsted Vaa; another Cosy pattern, a Root Vegetable Hat in Malabrigo Chunky; another Lollipop, and finally, a Grace Lace Beret in Malabrigo Silky Merino.

Other than the shawl, I have two hats left to go. How is your holiday knitting coming along?

In Praise of the Second Trimester...or How I Continue To *%_#_ Up My Knitting

So I've rediscovered that the first trimester of pregnancy, at least this pregnancy, is not conducive to knitting. It wasn't that the smell of wool or dye made me sick, or the motion of the knitting needles made me dizzy; it was just that the act of knitting, of picking up needles, moving the yarn around the needles, having to think about what I was doing, was absolutely exhausting. I would knit a row or two and put my needles down and sigh resignedly, like I was Beth on her deathbed in Little Women.

The second trimester is proving to be better -- even though this morning I find myself lurching about the house looking for something to eat like a zombie on The Walking Dead, even though I've already eaten a bowl of cereal, my Thai leftovers, and my son's Thai leftovers. Anyway, I felt so much better that I embarked on the Crazy Town that is Christmas Knitting. (If you haven't seen the video linked, please do so. It is funny because it is true.)

However, I am going to rue the day I made the decision to go to Crazy Town. For example, I intended to make these Fuzzy Feet for my father, and I thought I cleverly adapted the pattern to fit his wide, men's size 10.5 feet. See, here they are unfelted:

And here they are, felted. I don't have a picture showing the scale, but let's just say that my four-year-old has a new pair of slippers.

 

Remember kids: felting is an art and not a science. It's probably not a good idea to felt on a deadline, either. 

On a brighter note, at least the handknits from last year are being used and enjoyed, and even accessorized. 

Not too many finished objects around here....

...but there is one major WIP (work in progress), which accounts for my lack of productivity! Henry's Baby Brudder is due in May!

"Mom, you're a really good knitter"

For any mom who knits, this is music to her ears. The Tomten continues to be Henry's favorite sweater.

I love this Hipstamatic app that makes any crummy old cell phone picture look good!

Stash!

I've been lucky to obtain some really interesting non-commercial yarn lately.

I couldn't go to Rhinebeck this year, but I sent Yvonne off as my personal shopper, and she came back with this gorgeous skein of Sanguine Gryphon Bugga!, a yarn I've been wanting to try for ages, and this super-cute Jessa Lu box bag.

Lisa also went to Rhinebeck and brought back a skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Geisha in Manly But I Like It Too. Geisha is a light fingeringweight blend of mohair and silk.

This year, I joined the A Verb For Keeping Warm's Pro-Verbial Club; the club is dedicated to unique fibers accompanied by triangular shawl patterns. The yarn for October is Luster, an indigo-dyed blend of tussah silk and BFL fibers. 

My September Rockin' Sock Club from Blue Moon Fiber Arts arrived. It's the most gorgeous shading of olive greens.

Finally, I jumped on the bandwagon and ordered some of Brooklyn Tweed's new Shelter. I have three skeins of Sweatshirt that I'm thinking will make lovely mittens.

Sunday morning

On Sunday mornings, my husband teaches violin lessons, and the Preschooler and I hang out on the second and third floor of our house. Right now, the Preschooler is watching Sesame Street upstairs while I putter around in my bedroom. So far, I have

• gone through a pile of books to loan to friends
• chosen the my yarn for the staff Stash Epiphany Gift exchange
• knit a few rows on my Clockwork, and
• I'm having a Jane Austen film festival! Persuasion -- the 1995 BBC version, the best one, of course -- is on now, and Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson!) is next.

Not a bad way to spend a dreary, rainy Sunday morning.