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.

Who wants to weave in my ends?

Seriously.

This is The Preschooler's birthday sweater. It's way cute. But there's an awful, awful lot of finishing to do.

The Birthday Hat lives on

It started out as a funny idea for Henry's first birthday, the birthday cake hat from Itty-Bitty Hats. Little did I know that the hat would live on for subsequent birthdays!


First birthday.




Second birthday!


Third birthday! Hey, it still fits!

Proof positive

Yesterday I completed the oldest UFO I had active in my pile of projects, Embossed Leaves from Interweave Knits' Favorite Socks.


It started out as this in November 2007:



In many ways, this project, which had been ripped out twice before finally getting it right, represents my growing skills as a knitter over the past eighteen months. When I began it, I was new to socks -- look, for example, how the original is knit on double points, which I haven't used for at least a year -- and I was new to lace, as evidenced in my working copy, all covered with my chicken scratches keeping track of where I was in the pattern. The first time I started this, I lost track of where I was and messed up the foot. The second time, I realized my gauge was way too big.

The third time happened just a few weeks ago when I suddenly had some uninterrupted chunks of knitting time when I could concentrate on a chart. I cast on on smaller, 40 inch circulars, and to my surprise, the pattern just flew. I didn't need stitch markers, I didn't need to mark up my pattern, and in time, I didn't even need the chart. I've learned to read my knitting accurately, and more important, trust my own judgment. I don't think there's a more valuable skill in knitting than that.

Posting on the fly

I need to do my MDSW wrap-up, but my husband is Far Away in Foreign Lands, which means 1. free time is scarce, and 2. he has the camera! For now, here are a bunch of projects I am dying to start. I haz the Startitis in a bad way.

• Any sock project at all with my Tess sock yarn, but particularly a Child's French Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks or Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks.
• The Minimalist Cardigan with my new Tess superwash worsted
• Anything, anything at all with all my new Tess!

No, I don't have a problem. Why do you ask?

Start 'em young

I've been working my way through Melissa's dvd of Knitting Around with Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swansen, and The Toddler (who is soon to be The Preschooler, good grief!) likes to watch it with me. See, he loves Elizabeth Zimmermann. Even before he was talking barely at all, he'd grab my copy of The Opinionated Knitter and page through it, pointing out "Sweater! Grandma! Red!" So the other night I wasn't feeling well, and we crawled into my bed and I flipped on the Aran Coat episode. After a few minutes of careful study, The Toddler turned to me and said "Dis is 'bout coats. I'd like to watch de one 'bout mittens."

Well! It's good to know what you like early on in your knitting career, even though you don't have the fine motor skills to knit yet!

Happy Easter!

I've been busy test-knitting this pattern for Amanda, and here's the preliminary result. If you like the pattern, let Amanda know!

And now to really make it complicated...

...I can't find matching ribbon for this bonnet. That's the problem with trying to be all fresh and modern instead of sticking to tried and true color combinations. Lisa and I looked at every single ribbon in Joann's and Pat Catans last night. (And is it just me who enters into this trance-like state when I enter the door of a Pat Catans? I suddenly get urges to make those plastic needlepoint kleenex box covers. Or to tie great big bows on baskets. Or to Bedazzle something. Last time I went to Pat Catans, I walked out with a jumbo-sized bag of jingle bells. I don't know why, but at the time it very much seemed like I needed those jingle bells.)

Anyway, this brown was the best I could do. I really wanted to match the teal, but since I have to take this gift in person in a few days, I can't do mail order. The perfectionist in me is really twitching on this one.

In other news:

• I'm working hard on some test knitting I hope to share with you soon and some way cute store samples.
• I got a hard-to-find copy of The Knitter - the newish UK knitting magazine for "advanced" knitters at Joann's last night.
• I am delusional enough to think I'll have something new knitted up to wear in three weeks at Maryland Sheep and Wool.
• And, to keep myself honest, I hereby declare that I am watching my weight.

Making things harder than they need to be

We're going to visit friends in Philadelphia next week, and I owe this friend a handknit baby gift. I knew I wouldn't be able to knit a February Baby Sweater as planned, so I looked through my books and decided to make the Victorian Baby Bonnet [Ravelry link]. Cute, right? All I needed was two colors of a worsted weight cotton. I have worsted weight cotton in my stash. I have a lot of stash yarn. Did I like any of that stash yarn for this project? No, I did not.

Still, no problem. I work in a yarn store. I'll just run in and grab two colors of Tahki Cotton Classic, like the pattern calls for. This will be really quick, I told myself.

Was it really quick? No, no it was not. We take our yarn color choices very, very seriously at Natural Stitches. When we write in the store blog about the wall of Cascade 220 functioning as a painter's palette, we are not kidding. Melissa gave up casting on for Lent, so she's been planning fair isle sweaters to take the edge off. One of our regular activities has been pulling half of the Cascade wall down and seeing how the different colors look next to each other. Recently, we expanded the Cotton Classic color choices, and so instead of running in during The Toddler's nap and grabbing two colors, Melissa and I ended up pulling down at least ten different colors and listing the pros and cons of each combination.

This is what we ended up with. I am so into the tonal color combinations these days.

Malabrigo March, reloaded

You didn't think I was going to let Malabrigo March pass by? Unlike last year, though, I am not casting on for any old thing (I mean, how many Calorimetries and neckwarmers does one need? Don't answer that.). I've picked three rather substantial projects using three different weights of Malabrigo yarns (so substantial, in fact, that I'm longing for a hat project).


Shalom Cardigan in Malabrigo Chunky in Applewood.



Ingenue, from Wendy Bernard's Custom Knits, in Merino Worsted. This was originally supposed to be my American Idol Selfish Knitting Sweater in Steadfast Wonderful Wool, but it just wasn't working out for me.

And finally, Ishbel in Malabrigo Sock, in the. most. perfect. red I've ever seen. Inspired by Franklin, I am going to make a lace shawl, at last.

Color on a rainy day

I am not sure what March showers bring except a bored toddler and trouble for the folks living along the Red River, but in the midst of all this, I think we all desperately need a flash or two of color. And this is big coming from the knitter who loves all things gray.

Baby Moderne Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting. This is for a dear friend who is having a baby next month. You know she's dear because I am making this in sock yarn, but honestly, this has been a pleasure to knit so far. I think a blanket made from Dream in Color Smooshy is perfect for a little Kentucky baby girl, don't you?



Basic vanilla Yarn Harlot socks in Regia, Kaffe Fassett's Easter colorway. I actually cast on for these on my birthday, a particularly gray day, because Colleen was making some at work and I wanted pinky stripes tooooo.

Being Selfish

This whole Year of Selfish Knitting plus my American Idol knitting has yielded an entire sweater! Just in time for spring! This is the Garter Yoke Cardigan from Vogue's Knit.1 magazine, knit from Berroco Peruvia (ie, my poor abandoned Tilted Duster).



And this is Wrenna, from French Girl Knits, knit in Brown Sheep Burly Spun. This bulky knit was a particularly good project for my magpie (OOH! SHINY!) brain, as I cast on and finished in under a week. I added length to the sleeves and knit at a tighter gauge than the pattern recommended. However, I had my first ever "Oh, you really do mean that I am to wash the swatch?!" moment as the Burly Spun bloomed when I soaked and blocked the sweater. I'm hoping a good reblocking can at least fix the sagging neckline.

Balance

As the Spring Equinox approaches, I find myself thinking more and more about balance. Balance between the Selfish Knitting and knitting for others. Balance between finishing what I started and casting on bright! new! shiny! projects. Balance between working on the two wooly sweaters I have in progress for myself and starting something fresh for spring. Balance between my usual beloved gray yarn and bright spring pastels.

Here's a shot of spring: these lovely cakes of Smooshy are going to become a Baby Moderne Blanket for a dear friend's baby arriving in April.

This selfish knitting thing

...doesn't seem to be working out very well for me. At the store, we incorporated community service into Franklin's visit and collected items for the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. I made

Baby Boy 5-Hour Sweater from some Schulana SuperCotton I'd had in my stash forever (so, so much fun to knit with, very sproingy)


and

My variation of yet another Super-Natural Stripes, using up the last of my Berroco Comfort.

Franklin and Me

Not my best picture by a long shot, but I had such an amazing time with Franklin this past weekend.

Knitting Festival Wrap-Up

....a week late, I know. Lisa and I went to the Pittsburgh Knitting and Crochet Festival last Sunday. I'm thrilled to do something that shows support for independent yarn vendors, although it seems weird to pay basically to shop, particularly since Maryland Sheep and Wool is free. However, I am thrilled with what I did buy.

First row, left to right: Brooks Farm Solo (1600 yds total), Knitting Notions Classic Merino Sock in Ruby, Knitting Notions Classic Merino Lace in Ironstone (for the Whisper Cardigan from the current issue of Interweave Knits).

Second row: Brooks Farm Solana (again, a sweater quantity), two Creatively Dyed Tradewinds.

Third Row, Creatively Dyed Tradewinds, Creatively Dyed Calypso, Autumn House Farm Twist Strideaway Sock.

It was lovely to be able to shop for Brooks Farm without having to fight the crowds at Maryland. It was also lovely to see the folks from Knitting Notions, where I got my beloved swift last year. Can you believe she can't get a booth at Maryland Sheep and Wool? She says she's applied year after year, but booths are scarce. Isn't there a petition we knitters can sign?

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?