Baby Knitting Protip

I'm going to give you the straight dope on baby knitting and it's this: it's tricky. On one hand you assume that it's going to be mighty speedy because babies are the tiniest of the species. On the other hand, whatever time is trimmed off the project due to the nano-ness of the recipient, you make up for in the sheer amount of deliberation time required. After putting the call out to my Tweeps (who gave a variety of suggestions), I settled on a project that I've done before and that is a sheer delight in terms of ease and cute-factor: the Child's Placket-Neck Sweater.

The Specs:
Pattern: Child's Placket-Neck Sweater by Joelle Halverson
Yarn: Sublime Organic Cotton DK, #98, 1.5 skeins total--maybe?
Size: small
Needles: Size 6
Mods: none
Time: Began on a Monday after work, knit off and on during the week, finished on Friday afternoon with minutes to spare.

This is truly a fast knit--you could crank a whole bunch of these out if you needed to, which come to think of it I sort of need to do given the backlog of babies in my life at the moment. It's waaay faster that the BSJ I'm afraid, and the result is a tiny sweater that has surefire, wide appeal.

The next time I make this I will solve the armhole problem. Both versions of this sweater have had a gaping hole where the arms are joined with the three-needle bind-off--and because I was in my office with the door closed trying to desperately finish the sweater as the recipient and her baby wheeled down the hall, ever closer *cue Jaws music*, I was in a rush and just carelessly stitched the holes closed. Next time I'll come up with a proper solution.


A word about the yarn: I bought three skeins, but used a total of what might be two. Why the lack of certainty? Well, each skein ended up like this:

There's something about the way this yarn is wound that after knitting about halfway through it turns into insta-yarnvomit. Yes--all three skeins did this, and for this reason, Sublime DK Organic Cotton: you are dead to me.

Tomorrow I hit the road with my not-so-tiny-MDS&W pal (she'll be wearing a Penguins shirt) and I'll be dorking out with the button pictured above. I've been so busy lately that I actually haven't put together any schemes for what to buy, except the odd realization that all my stitchmarkers have gone missing. So--if you think that I should know about a hot pattern or yarn that I have yet to detect, let me know!

WIP Rodeo Round-Up!

The title of this post can only mean one thing: I haven't got sh*t accomplished and I'm stalling for time. In my defense, I have been working like a busy beaver on several work projects that have been immensely satisfying. As it turns out, you can get a tremendous amount accomplished when you're not sitting on your duff knitting 'round the clock. Why didn't anyone clue me into this closely-guarded industry secret that might well be key to my professional survival?

During my micro-breaks from generating text, I've been switch hitting between two different shawl projects, each one affording me a different type of personal satisfaction. First up we have Daybreak, a viral pattern if ever there were one. You can bet that if there's a Rav bandwagon to jump on, I will be hoisting my large frame onto it. I spent h-o-u-r-s in the project gallery on this one, trying to determine the perfect combo of socks yarns for this shawl. I was two-steps away from making some sort of excel spreadsheet detailing the potential pairs of sock yarns for this one, with the only thing stopping me being my slipshod approach to such tasks and general inability to distinguish between 'rows' & 'columns' in such computing matters. See also: inertia. But I thought about it. After numerous hypothetical pairings, and way too much time, I settled on the original idea I had all along: two madcap Zauberballs. Gee, perhaps I could have read the pattern slightly more carefully--I would have then seen that it is fact one of the recommended yarns. Of course! Perfect.


My other project, i.e. my car/work project, is another Liz Abinante project. This time: Traveling Woman. This is the perfect stoplight knitting--and don't even try to pretend you don't do that, because if you read this blog, you are sufficiently far gone enough to know exactly what I'm taking about, mmkay? Besides being my commuting companion, because I have yet to hit the lace section, this shawl is also my 'watching the Penguins', 'waiting for my advisee to arrive' and, perhaps cheekiest of all, 'my kid is serving at the altar, so I might as well knit during most of the service except the Eucharist' knitting. Yes--this is what 'no boundaries' looks like. I'm using some Socks that Rock Lightweight (Blue Moonstone)--something I haven't touched in years--and I'm remembering what all the fuss is about over this yarn. Which is quite handy, since in a little over a week from today I'll be pushing and shoving with the best of 'em in that Fold booth at Maryland Sheep and Wool. I'll be there with a sullen 12 year old who will be texting the entire time. Stop us and say hello!

Crooked Paths & Paypal Meltdown

When Melissa released her two most recent hat patterns, Acorns and Crooked Paths, I knew beyond any doubt that I would be making both of them. Her patterns are among the clearest and most fun to knit out there, and since I am a bona fide small accessory fangirl, well the three of us were 100 % meant to be.

First up: Crooked Paths. This is an absolute delight of a pattern. The byzantine twists and turns are so visually pleasing, their circuitousness belies the actual ease of the pattern. Crooked Paths is beyond easy! So much so that I even knit a few rounds after several Pimm's cups and the hat isn't any worse for it.

Specs:
Pattern: Crooked Paths by Melissa LaBarre (Knittingschool Dropout)
Yarn: Madeline Tosh Tosh Merino in Moss, 80% of one skein
Needles: size 6 & size 8
Time: About a week
Mods: None at all

This is the first time I've used the Tosh Merino and I am 100% charmed by it. I can seen what all the hullabaloo is about--the color is sublime and the softness? Off the charts. Here is an example of an Internet sensation that isn't a bunch of malarkey.

Speaking of Internet sensations...I've been on a bit of a Paypal tear this week and am not at all sorry about it. Virtue be damned! I'm all about coming home from work and finding a parcel waiting on the stoop. Students, are you ready to be schooled with some show and tell?

1.) A brand new DSLR strap from one of the biggest talents out there, Caro of Splityarn. If you are into cheerful patterns, ingenious design and an eye for color, then you are well aware of her handiwork. This is Splityarn strap #2 for me. Why a second one? Well obvs. I need one for when the first one is being washed. Yes, they are that essential. She also makes a mean wee pouch & an even meaner box bag if camera straps aren't your bag. Heh.

2.) A brand-new project bag from Stitchy McYarnpants--do you know her stuff? She has a knack for wicked humor and everything she makes just basically sends you into retro paroxysms of happiness. One quick glance at her Etsy shop will send you over the cliff, and if it doesn't, you are dead to me. I'm only sort of kidding! Recognize the design on that fabric? If you lived through the 70s you certainly d0. Wacky Packages my friend, Wacky Packages. If you lived in my neighborhood in the summer of 1976, and you checked the drug store for them on the tri-daily basis like my friend Carrie and I did, then you know we would have cut a bitch to add to our collection. They were a scarce, valuable currency in our cruel, candy fueled underworld.


Hilarious footnote from the land of the husky jeans: At some point Target came out with Wacky Packs t-shirts and I begged my mom to let me get the POUNDS shirt (take-off on the Mounds candy bar).
Mom: Oh lovie....Golly...I don't think that's such a good idea...
Me (clueless): What? Why not?
She had some serious tact, right? Luckily she was able to steer me clear of the humiliation that would have surely rained down on me.

3.) You might have noticed that I used my flash on several of the above shots. But...I thought she hated the flash, is what you might be wondering. Well not any more I don't, because I am the proud owner of a Lightscoop, an ingenious little device that allows you to deftly bounce the pop-up flash off the ceiling, thereby creating pictures that don't make you despair. Love this thing!

So that's my little consumer round-up for you. You are now kindly invited to share all of your amazing Interwebs deals, because that's what we do. GO!

Cabled Feather Cowl, Feathered Cable Cowl ?

I can't seem to keep the name of this gem of a pattern straight--Cabled Feather Cowl, Feathered Cable Cowl--hells bells, which is it? Not quite sure, but it was a sweet little project, that's for sure. I was feeling the need to do a small accessory, just to remind myself what the whole 'finishing a project' alien concept felt like. Verdict: Nice, it feels...unfamiliar yet nice.

The Specs
Pattern: Cabled Feather Cowl by Cindy Craig
Yarn: Noro 'Maiko', one skein of #103
Needles: Size 6
Mods: I opted to do only 6 repeats as I prefer cowls that stay down around the neck. Trying to avoid the Bazooka Joe look.
Time: About a week of on & off knitting. It's a winner!

This is the perfect time of year for this type of garment--there's just enough of a chill in the air to make it the perfect little extra layer. Can't wait to wear it this week as the purple is so seasonally appropriate. And those of you who have read this blog know that it's not a color that is unwelcome round these parts.

A word about the yarn. This was the first time that I ever had the pleasure to work with Maiko, a yarn which I greedily nabbed off the 30% discount table at Knit One. Apparently the Noro solids don't sell well there, so their loss was my gain. Imagine if Cash Iroha weren't slubby--that is Maiko. Peeping around Ravelry, I see that it doesn't seem to have caught on like the rest of the Noro yarns, it is perhaps too simple and plain to catapult it onto center stage, thereby making it the Jan Brady of the Noro family: unappreciated.

Normally I would be reaching for the air sickness bag at any pattern that had cables, lace and a feather & fan design, but this pattern somehow makes it work and doesn't veer into the overly busy. Cabled Feather Cowl: it's not puketastic. A ringing endorsement if ever there were one, right?

Felted Tweed Lovefest & Things I'm Planning on Stealing from my Parents' House

Awhile back I started the 'Things I'm Planning on Stealing from my Parents' House' group on Flickr. Ohai this group takes on a new meaning when you are cleaning out your parents' house, the one your family has lived in since 1965, in preparation for a life changing move out of state. I'm trying to remain upbeat about it, but I'm not gonna lie, this feels like emotional roulette. Which emotion are we dialing up today--grief, fear, rage, or resentment? Depends on how many Craigslist freaks are deciding they want to actually show to on any given day to get their free stuff. Luckily, because my family has never thrown out one single item ever since 1965 (see emotions #3 & #4), I've found some objects to distract me from the distress:

The past week I have been doing some top-secret knitting with a yarn to which I have taken a Promise Keeper's monogamy pledge: Felted Tweed. I am seriously crushing on this yarn and have fallen hard for it. This isn't the first time I've used it but WOW am I having a hard time coming up with good reasons to ever knit with another yarn again.

Aren't those colors kind of amazing together? I am knitting a Drive-Thru for a friend that just adopted an 18 month old. I made the pull-over before and am now trying my hand at the cardigan. The purling will likely cause me to bug, but I am trying a brand new gimmicky set of square needles--the Kollage needles--and I gotta say, they are unbelievably light and are thus making the job go that much quicker.

Meet-ups, contests & projects, oh my!

There has been a whirlwind of activity these past few days: a fantastic meet-up with some seriously gorgeous/talented knitters in Pittsburgh, an incredible sock designing contest, and another big super sekret project. All this excitement has been quite welcome because in the FO department, I got bupkis for you folks. Such is life when you are working on the FLS and Wicked...

First up: Knitting with Keana and Leslie!

Babs and I took our Central PA. show on the road and finally had our much anticipated meet-up with Keana and Leslie at Knit One in Pittsburgh. We had such.a.blast. Keana and Leslie are pretty much what you'd expect: super friendly (heh), gracious and lovely.


Leslie brought her famous cookies (I know that sounds like a 'that's what she said' joke, but no, she baked cookies and brought them) as well as bracelets she's made out of knitting needles. *swoon*

Keana brought her infectious laugh and her darling little mini-mensch Cole who was such a good natured little pal and might the official new mascot of Knit One. We had a great time and the hours just flew by. When it was time to go, Babs and I agreed: we had an all-around A+ typa day. You should meet up with your knitblog peeps--it's not scary at all and is quite fun. And you can talk about KNITTING...

Next: Super Nifty Sock Designing Contest!

This event, the Reviving Socks Design Contest, promises to be a rollicking good time. The mighty Elinor has spent much time and care putting together what promises to be a flat out amazing sock designing extravaganza. You've probably got a design or two just waiting for a reason to see the light of day. This is your chance! The rules are quite easy to follow, the creative feedback you'll get will be priceless and the prizes are unreal. I'm mean, it's Elinor. So it's quality. If you check out the list of judges, you'll see that yours truly will be there, too. Judging you. But in a totally non-mean, non-judgy, supportive way! It'll be fun! Help me love socks again. Keep me away from Costco buying more of these.

On Saturday I'm going to Minneapolis to visit my parents to help them get their affairs in order before they move out to Pennsylvania. My hilarious brother (who turns 40 today!) tells me that I'm not allowed to bring my knitting so I can actually get something accomplished for them. Feh! Happy Birthday! You're not the boss of me:)

Turn a Square for Claire

Well, my hilarious Knitting Olympics hopes of gold, as expected, about as viable as those of my Olympic boyfriend Johhny Weir (totally robbed btw). The FLS is about 1/3 of the way done. Which is fine--I'm loving the pattern and Cascade 220 was such the right choice. So, sometime next week when the name 'Lindsay Vonn' is but a distant memory, I will be sporting this baby in style.

But fear not--I did actually complete a project during these auspicious games. A hat for a five year old mind you, but hey, it's done and I'm quite happy with it. Several weeks ago I made a hat for Meredith's son Ellis, and so it was only matter of time until I obliged his big sister, Claire. Enter the most adaptable hat pattern ever, Turn-a-Square...

The Specs:
Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: MC Malabrigo Worsted, 1/4 a skein in 'Shocking Pink'; CC 1/3 of a skein of Mochi Plus in 'Strawberry-Lime Rainbow' (the name is gag-worthy, but the yarn works).
Needles: size 5 & size 6
Mods: Because this was for a 5 yo, I went down several needle sizes and cast on 88 sts. At the increase round, I only added 4 sts for a total of 92 sts. I knit 3.5 inches from the cast on before the decrease row.

I wanted to use some crazy pink Malabrigo remnants for this pattern and was delighted to find out that it matched the Mochi Plus gauge-wise perfectly. Both are single ply yarns and look perfect together.

I think I might have a new go-to baby knit. This pattern is so easy to adapt, and rather than get sucked into to the vortex of the Baby Surprise Jacket (which always takes about 2x longer than you think it should), you could pound these out for the Dion quintuplets in no.time.flat.

Space Dust Monkeys

Sounds like a new illicit drug, right? If only. I could use a newer, cleaner buzz these days as the whole hourly dosing of caffeine + lifesavers routine is getting harder and harder to maintain. While I contemplate my options (Swedish Fish and Red Bull?), please to note that I have completed a pair of socks.

The Specs
Pattern: Monkey Socks by Cookie A.
Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight, "Space Dust".
Needles: Size 1.5 addi turbo
Time: October 2008-February 2010

The Wayback Time Machine of Ravelry tells me that I started these socks back in 2008, so these only took oh, 16 months. To say that my sock enthusiasm has waned would be an understatement. I don't know what it is, I'm just not feeling the sock love anymore. I thought that by picking these back up I might rekindle the joy but no. I feel nothing. Socks are dead to me. If you happen to see me buying sock yarn at Maryland Sheep and Wool, Rhinebeck or some other yarn venue, you have my permission to accost me & engage in some sort of ritual shaming. I would in fact undertake a destash of epic proportions were it not for a. shawls and b. the desire to not deal with cheap ass mofos whose bad manners, lack of follow through and 'I'll PayPal you when I get off work' promises crush my tender heart and get my goat.

Not only does sock knitting feel like some remote interest, like the 5 minutes in 2003 when I was interested in stamping (Babs will never let me forget that unfortunate hobby), even the socks themselves don't quite ignite my interest. When doing the photo shoot for these today at work, my model Sandrine noted how soft and comfy they were. I instantly gave them to her without a second thought. "Oh, you want 'em?". What is wrong with me?

My knitting interests seem to reside elsewhere--because I am hauling some major ass on my February Lady Sweater. I mean this project is firing on all cylinders, and I am so motivated to finish it. Every time I'm on Ravelry I spend at least 20 solid minutes trolling through the gallery of finished projects and thinking "...mine....soon I will have one of my very own that will be MINE!". So, my new knitting motto is this: it's better to concentrate on projects that make you feel hopeful rather than deaden you soul.

(Reading the) Tea Leaves

My latest FO is destined to be in my Top Ten Pantheon of All-Time Sweet Ass Knits®. I am talking about the Tea Leaves Cardigan, the most legendary viral cardigan to hit the Intertubes since the FLS (see below). Babs is responsible for this particular mania--she and I had a flurry of texts about this pattern a while back (what--you don't do that?) and I became officially obsessed. I knew that this most perfect cardigan and I were destined to be. But what yarn? What YARN?

Excessive, non-specific MDS&W yarn purchasing to the rescue! Luckily my craven little lemming heart was just desperate to nab some Mas Acero in the Brooks Farm booth, and as it turns out, this is the perfect yarn for this project. Variegated--yes, but not dizzyingly so.

The Specs:
Pattern: Tea Leaves Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre. If you don't know her designs, you should pre-order her upcoming new book, New England Knits. It's going to be huuuge.
Yarn: Mas Acero, 3 skeins of 9 MA (?--I'll never understand their naming system)
Needles: Size 6s and 7s
Size: 42
Mods: Only mod was that I was afraid of running out of yarn, so the sleeves were made maybe 2 inches shorter than I would have liked. As it turns out I was right to economize, I only had a smidge left.

This project was a true pleasure from start to finish. I would have finished this project sooner had I not gotten sidetracked with other projects, and the small matter of two entire skeins of yarn getting *$#@*&^% entangled with one another:

Yes, if you can believe it, I had one hot mess on my hands with this yarn. I'm not really even sure how this happened. I decided to leave it out (à la jigsaw puzzle on the cabin card table) and have Herr Curmudgeon untangle it at the dining room table during his spare moments, in between rants about texting & the downfall of our society and the supremacy of prog rock concept albums over all other musical forms.

The ruching effect on the yoke is perfection. The two-button concept is genius, and I will always love the 3/4 sleeve. This sweater has to much to recommend it. So much to love in one sweater. Mwah!

You should check out Babs' version, it's amazing, and she's as gaga for hers as I am for mine. We got talking about sweaters, and she declared herself to be a stalwart cardigan enthusiast. I must say that this got me thinking, and I do believe that the cardigan might be growing on me too. I see its utility, even if I do despise its purling.

And since the yarn for my Autumn Rose has yet to be delivered (oh how utterly convenient!), I've decided to do the February Lady Sweater (Cascade 220 in Flame, above) for my Knitting Olympics project. And just to keep it ultra-crazy, I'll also be attempting another Back-to-School U-Neck Vest (Ella Rae, #134, below) at the same time. So I will be knee-deep in worsted for the Winter Games, because I'm all about knitting under arbitrary constraints--and you?

Tuareg Twist Saroyan

Shawl #1 of 10 Shawls for 2010 is in the can--and completed just in time for SnOMGageddon 2010: The Final Snowening™, no less. Those of you that live in mid-Atlantic know what I'm talking about--the Weather Channel and Weather.com have taken their storm rhetoric to new heights and haven't really left anyplace else to go. I'm hoping that it doesn't get any worse than they've predicted because they've used up all the hyperbole and really might need to coin some new phrases. I guess we were due for a old-fashioned Snowpocalypse™...

Luckily for me, one of the fortunate aspects of this type of day is that the radiators are going full tilt and I was able to block my new shawl/hybrid scarf/wrap in what seemed like seriously less than ten minutes. Which is a lucky thing, because I am dying to wear this lovely whatchamacallit!

The Specs:
Pattern: Saroyan by Liz Abinante from Feministy.com
Yarn: Malabrigo Twist in 'Tuareg', two skeins exactly
Needles: size 8
Mods: Only mod was that I did one less 'non-increase' leaf than the pattern called for. The garment is to my mind the perfect head wrapping length--which how I now wear all shawls, because I'm a tough, old broad.

This is the perfect combination of zone-out (stockinette) and semi-attentive (lace) knitting. I worked on and off on this for several weeks and seriously recommend it to anyone who fancies this particular combo.

Below we have a nod to the real Tuareg, the Blue People of the Sahara. It just so happens that Miss Thing here is also a descendant of another Saharan nomadic tribe, on her dad's side, so this shot seemed so appropriate. And just so she doesn't get too high on her horse, I make sure to remind her that from me she gets hillbilly bootlegger and Lancashire mill worker.