January 31, 2006 Giving Up

Ok, I've had to do something that I really didn't want to do- give up on a pattern! With all good intentions I started out on the Chunky Cabled Sweater from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots and the pattern was driving me crazy! I like to do cables, but for some reason I just couldn't get this pattern to stick in my head and so I spent the entire time knitting staring with great and unpleasant intensity at the pattern. Things were compounded when the pattern said Tw2L and Tw2R. The way the book described it was (for Tw2L) to "knit into back of 2nd stitch on left needle, then into front of first stitch on left needle and slip both stitches off of needle." Well, I was never actually sure if I was doing this correctly. If I had only done a little research I would have seen this instruction: "Slip 1 st to cable needle and hold in front of work. K1, then knit the st from cable needle." This I could have handled! Plus, this is a baby gift for an already born baby and I need something that can be done quickly. Anyway, I ripped the whole thing out and decided to do Childhood from Knitty instead (although still using the RCY Cashsoft yarns rather than the Mission Falls 1824 Cotton). I'm done with the back and 1/2 way through the left front.

I'm anxiously waiting my "assignment" from Sockapaloooza! I can't wait. I need to update my foot size- I had my measuring assistant help (see photo). I'm going to China in March and think that knitting a few pairs of socks will make a great project for the plane. I've also requested Knitting on the Road: Sock Patterns for the Travelling Knitter by Nancy Bush from the library, which I'm hoping will inspire me with a terrific pattern. I also found a great "sock knitting lesson" online, which I think could be a great help with my first foray into socks.

January 27, 2006 Pirate Done!

I've finished the pirate sweater- I think Emerson looks pretty cute in it. I'm on to my next project. I've started the Chunky Cabled Sweater, also from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots. My good friend Erin, and her husband Eric who live in Paris, had a baby in December- Ethan Gregoire. I'm hoping they'll enjoy this sweater for him. The pattern calls for Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, but my lys, Needlework Unlimited didn't carry it so their very able staff suggested Rowan Classic Yarns, Cashsoft DK. I did like the khaki/red combo suggested in the book, but couldn't find similar colors I liked in the Cashsoft. I went with a sage/tape combo, which I think will work nicely.

January 24, 2006 (part 2) Weaving in Ends

I was a little worried when I saw the back of the pirate motif (see "before" photo). However, after some concentrated weaving in, I managed to get it to look like the "after" picture after about an hour. One more 1/2 sleeve and I'm done! Next its on to socks for sockapaloooza and perhaps the I Do Shrug from knitty.

January 24, 2006 Sockapalooza!

I've signed up for Sockapalooza! Its an exchange organized by Alison (of the Blue Blog) whereby knitters are assigned a "partner" for whom she (or he) makes a pair of socks. This is a good motivation for me since I've been contemplating making a pair of socks for a while and this is just the inspiration I need. Assignments go out on February 1 and knitters have 3 months to finish their pair. I'm excited- both to make socks as well as to get a nice pair of handmade ones from someone else out there in knittingland. I just hope I can measure up. Luckily there's a beginning and an experienced category, so I'll be exchanging with another beginning sockmaker. Now I'll just have to figure out what to make- I've requested a sock book from the library, Knitting on the Road: Sock Patterns for the Travelling Knitter, by Nancy Bush, but I'll also check out my lys and see what kinds of patterns they have around. I know they just got a big stock of Koigu- perfect!

January 20, 2006 In Cold Blood

The book group decided that Truman Capote's In Cold Blood would be our next month's selection. There's alot of attention being paid to the book at t he moment, of course, due to the movie Capote that's out right now, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as Capote. I can tell its sort of the "book of the moment" since I think typically it would be pretty easy to get it from the library, but right now of course there's a major wait. My mom's book group is discussing In Cold Blood on Monday and she's found some great research that she'll share with me to help enliven our discussion. We had a great discussion on Adrian Nicole LeBlanc's Random Family, I think the book really struck a chord with us and left a lasting impression. Diane had found a link to an interview with the author online, so we all crowded into the tiny office at my house and listed. It was fascinating to hear from the author herself about how she had forged intense relationships with the people in the book. On another note, I'm still working on the Pirate Sweater- wrasslin' with it more like it- more on that in the next few days, with photos to boot! Arrgh, matey!

January 16, 2006 Pirate in Progress

I've finished the back of the pirate sweater. While I was knitting I thought that I didn't really enjoy the endless rows of stockinette stich, however, now that I'm struggling with seven different little balls of yarn in an effort to complete the pirate motif on the front, those mindless rows seem pretty darn appealing! I've only done one thing with intarsia (see elephant sweater in project gallery), and that project just had one large motif in the center- pretty easy. This one is requiring a more nimble approach- juggling multiple small balls of yarn. The tangle factor is pretty aggravating. It makes me amazed that people can do more complicated things, with many colors, since I'm struggling with only 2! The other thing is that I really like knitting while doing other things, such as watching movies, chatting with my book group, etc. and this is requiring all of my concentration. Well, at least its only 50 rows and I've done a whopping 9! I may have to start on one of the simple striped sleeves for a break. Book group is tonight and we'll choose the next 3 months- I may suggest In Cold Blood by Truman Capote as a possibility, or Summer of Ordinary Ways by Nicole Lea Helget. I mainly think this one might be interesting in light of the whole James Frey (Million Little Pieces) controversy. Do memoirs need to be completely true and authentic?

January 13, 2006 Pirate Sweater

I finally decided on my next project- a pirate sweater for Emerson. I thought about a cute dinosaur sweater from , but he seems to be more into the pirate thing these days. The pattern is from Adorable Knits by Zoe Mellor. The pattern calls for Rowan Handknit Cotton, but my lys didn't have the colors I wanted (plus I'm not a huge fan of knitting with cotton) so I decided to substitute Lana Grossa Merino Big in gray, ecru and red. I do love the Lana Grossa yarns, but not a huge fan of big areas of stockinette on size 6 needles. On the other hand in about 1.5 hours I got through 30 of the 84 necessary rows on the back, which is some signifcant progress.

After reading some of the readers' reviews on Amazon I'm a little concerned about the sizing and errors, but I'll try it on as I go and hope it works(!). I did find one pattern error already-in the transition from the ribbed edge it says end on a RS row and then the next step is to start on a RS row- doesn't really work that way. Hopefully I can just solve those issues as they arise. During my decision making I also came across alot of patterns I liked in Lucinda Guy's Handknits for Kids- perhaps my next project!

January 12, 2006 Felted Marsupial Tote

I finished the wrap sweater from Interweave- yea! I'm wearing today and have posted a photo on my project gallery. A fun project- the whole thing took only about 2 weeks to knit and I love it. Now I'm trying to figure out the next project- I'm debating between a sweater for 3 year old Emerson, or a baby sweater for a friend. I'd like to do the baby sweater, but E has been bugging me for something for him for a while now. In the meantime, I just dug up a photo of Meema's Felted Marsupial Tote from Stitch n Bitch that I did last year. I really like the finished item.

January 9, 2006

I'll put this one on my completed projects gallery soon, with details (if I can remember/dig them up). This is a cardigan sweater I made for my niece Freya. I finished this one back in spring, 2005- when I wasn't keeping quite the details/records on finished projects- thus the reason for the blog- so I don't run into this issue in the future. I also thought I'd post this funny picture of her brother, Connor. Their parents are remodeling the bathroom so guess what serves as a stand in bathtub?

January 7, 2006

Still working on the wrap sweater so...I'll ruminate on books for a few sentences. Just finished The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Great book. I don't normally go for those vampire tales (Anne Rice, etc.) but this account of two historians search for the "real" Dracula was a page turner- well written, a fascinating look at European archives and libraries, etc. This week my book group is discussing Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, a heart-wrenching inside look at the lives of several families in the Bronx and their struggles with drugs, gangs, violence, poverty. The situation of the women and their children, especially, is extremely striking and very sad. LeBlanc's ability to get "inside" the lives of her subjects is amazing.

January 6, 2006

On the needles...I mentioned that I'm working on the cover sweater from the Winter, 2005 issue of Interweave knits. Here are a few photos of it in progress. I haven't had alot of luck in the past knitting sweaters for myself, but this one seems to be going well- an inspiring yarn and big needles. The pattern called for Colinette Prism, but my fave yarn store, Needlework Unlimited in Minneapolis wasn't carrying it. I picked out a delicious varigated version of Manos del Uruguay- yum. It was a bit of a splurge for me, but my lovely mother gave me a generous gift certificate. The guage was a little off so I'm using a combination of size 13s, 11s, and 10.5s rather than the 11s, 10.5s, 10s called for in the pattern. I've been pretty fanatic about making sure it will fit as I've progressed, so hopefully the change will be ok. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) to have the sweater done by next weekend.

January 5, 2006

Well, husband Jason wasn't too thrilled when I wrote that knitting him a sweater would involve "massive amounts of knitting". He said, and I quote- that implies I'm a bit heavy! I tried to console him by letting him know that men's sweaters in general involve massive amounts of knitting, plus there's that whole knitting for your boyfriend/husband curse thing to deal with. Well, he's satisfied with his scarf for now.


I've also done a few hats for child Emerson. One was from a child's felted hat pattern. Unfortunately, it started out way too huge- more like for an 8 year old than a 3 year old, so I had to felt it a crazy amount, resulting in a hat that is thick and stiff, more like a helmet. You'd think he would like this since he likes to play football, unfortunately its so heavy I think he has a hard time holding his head up! The other hat is a super simple ribbed stripey number. I based this on a pattern I saw on yarn harlot and just changed the sizing accordingly. I really wanted to add the pom pom to the top, but he wouldn't let me. I actually managed to whip a few of these out over the holidays for various child relatives.

Why is it that when you want to take a picture of your child, they always seem to have food on their face?

First Post

Hi and welcome to my blog. I'm Lara, art museum educator by profession (at the Walker Art Center), knitter, reader, and runner by choice. I've started this blog for a couple of reasons. First and foremost to share my knitting successes and frustrations. I've become addicted to reading other knitting blogs, especially yarn harlot and the blue blog and love the idea of sharing my own knitting experiences with a larger community (I've tried to share my knitting passion with my spouse, but he's just not that interested- I can't figure it out!). I also love taking photos of my knitting projects and thought this would be a better use for them, rather than sticking them in a file in my basement.

A little background on my knitting experience: in high school my mother got me started knitting and of course my first project was a giant sweater. This is not the best kind of project for a beginning knitter- it just doesn't have that instant gratification factor that can really help to keep somone going. Needless to say, I gave up and several years later when I wanted to take it up again, that ugly, now totally outdated sweater, taunted me with its massive unfinished-ness. I quickly gave up.

A few years later however, I joined a book group in which many of the avid readers were also avid knitters. I started to see the types of projects that they worked on and realized there was a whole world of knitting out there that fit with me, my lifestyle and tastes. I quickly picked up some more recent books, Stitch 'n Bitch in particular and became much more motivated to pick up some sticks. The rest is history, as they say.

What do I like to knit? Things for myself, such as scarves and sweaters. I'm currently working on the wrap sweater from the cover of the most recent issue of Interweave Knits. I also like to knit for my son (my most recent projects for him were a couple of hats). I've done a scarf for my husband, now he's bothering me for a sweater- but I'm a little scared to enter into a project with such massive amounts of knitting. Of course he's not interested in something bold and chunky (and fast!). He did mention he'd like the Andre the Giant "Obey" scarf from the men's issue of Knitty. I'll post some pictures of current and recent projects tomorrow.