February 25, 2006 Skating Break

Perhaps I was inspired by the Olympics (regular, not knitting version) to take a break from knitting for a little ice dancing with the 3 year old. This was his first time on skates and after a few tears (I think the skates just felt really wierd on his feet) he seemed to enjoy it. How one transfers from holding the child up the entire time to having him skate on his own seems a little beyond me at this point. I hadn't been on skates in quite a while myself, but I managed a few wobbly figure 8s. No triple toe loops, however.

February 22, 2006 Travel Knitting

Although I'm in the midst of two projects (socks and shrug), I'm going to China on March 20 and am already contemplating the perfect travel knitting project for such a long plane ride (and probably some bus rides as well). I will probably be bringing either my sockapaloooza socks or another pair, but it seems like a good opportunity to get a bunch of work done on a larger project. Spouse has been angling for a sweater and I'm thinking about doing one with the Andre intarsia pattern from knitty (it was originally done for a scarf, but I think it would work well on a sweater). I just need to find a pattern for a nice, plain stockinette sweater- possibly one with a 1/2 zip neck. I'd like to do this in a sturdy cotton yarn if possible, although I haven't found one I like yet.

February 20, 2006 President's Day

Today's Presidents Day so hubby and I both have the day off. We took child to daycare so we could get some things done. For me that includes a great day of just relaxing and knitting. I'm taking a little break from my socks to work on the I Do Shrug from Knitty. I got about 20 rows in at this point but decided I liked the idea of having sleeves with not such a wide opening. I saw on A Mingled Yarn, Elizabeth suggested using fewer repeats of the pattern in order to make the sleeve openings smaller. I'm going to take out what I've done and start over using this advice. For the project I'm using Tahki Cotton Classic in Old Rose.

February 18, 2006 That darn sherman heel!

Creatures added for scale...I finished the leg and of sock 1 for Sockapaloooza and started on the heel. As I was following Hipknitism's online ribbed sock class I was going to do the sherman heel suggested, but I just couldn't get it! I tried several times and ribbed the thing out a few more and the concept of the slipping stitches and wrapping continued to elude me. I've switched to using Ann Budd's sock pattern from the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. I've begun the heel flap and all is well...for now.

February 16, 2006 New Interweave Knits!

My Spring, 2006 issue of Interweave Knits arrived a couple of days ago. Always a good day! I love reading through the patterns, looking at the lovely pictures and thinking about what I'll make next. There were a couple of things in the magazine I'm really interested in doing. I've posted a couple of photos, but specifically the Wobbly Circles Tote by Leigh Radford and the Pullover Flair by Ann Budd. The Pullover Flair calls for Artful Yarns Olympic, which I haven't been able to find online, although I've sent an email to JCA, the distributor to see if they can share who carries it. I also think if I did that sweater I might consider changing the turtle neck to a deep split v-neck- more springy.

I really like the felted tote, but as hubby pointed out, I didn't have much luck with my helmet (I mean felted hat), which was my last felted project.

February 15, 2006 To Block or Not to Block

That is the question. And I'm still not sure about the answer. I hate to admit it but I've never blocked anything before now. I thought I'd try it out with good old Childhood. Here are my before and after pictures. I'm still not sure if there's a difference. I may go back and try it again with the ballet wrap cardigan from Interweave Knits and see what happens.

February 14, 2006 Socky started

Yes, I finally managed to cast on the appropriate number of stitches and have made some significant progress on my first sock. I finally gave up on the German Twisted Cast-On (maybe I can learn that at some other point) and just went with my regular long-tail method. Seems to have worked fine. I feel like I'm quite accustomed to the teeny tiny needles now and things have been going pretty smoothly. I'll actually have a good update for the next sockapaloooza update.

February 11, 2006 Frustration's a part of it...

Ok, ok, although I would hope that knitting would be just fun, and smooth, and no problems- if it were that way everyone would do it! I ran into a major problem with the Childhood sweater, a problem of my own making I should say. Because I had purchased the yarn for another probject, I ran out of the lighter colored yarn before I finished the hood. I (mistakenly) thought, I'll just make the hood smaller! It does say in the pattern after all that the hood as written is "roomy". Well, no baby, even the smallest-headed baby, could squeeze their noggin into this hood! I frogged the hood and switched over to the neckband style. I actually like it better and now that I'm finished have a positive feeling about the pattern (in other words I can see doing this one again).

I've gotten the yarn for my sockapaloooza pal and am getting ready to begin. I bought the Lana Grossa Meilenweit "Fun Cotton" in a green/blue/white mix. I did try to cast on using the Twisted German (aka Old Norwegian) method, since its recommended in the basic ribbed online sock class but had some trouble. The problem wasn't with the casting on itself, I just struggled to distinguish one stitch from another, which made it really hard to try and move some of the stitches over to another dpn. I'm going to try again with trusty old long-tail method and see how it goes.

January 8, 2006 Next project please...

I've started on the hood of the childhood sweater, which means I've reached that point in any knitting project where you start to daydream about your next "thing". Hmmm...what will it be? A factor that I need to take into consideration this time, which I don't usually, is that I'm going to China in March and will need some travel-friendly knitting projects to take along. Right now I'm thinking about a scarf, a sweater (such as the To Dye For from Stitch N Bitch above, although I think I'd skip the kool-aid dyeing and just use a nice angora-y yarn, such as suri dream from Knit Picks), and some sock projects. The plane ride is so long I'm actually thinking I could start and finish some projects during the trip. Maybe make myself a sweater on the way over to wear while I'm there. This kind of planning makes me think about the different kinds of knitting projects. Some are quick and instant gratification, others take more time, space, and effort but are "big rewards" projects, while others can be easy and relaxing, perhaps only one type of yarn and a basic pattern/stitch.

February 5, 2006 Childhood Progress

I've finished the back, fronts and one sleeve of the childhood baby sweater. I do like this pattern, however I think it would be better in a bright cotton, like in this one. I think I might actually make this one again using brighter yarns.

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.