novamade

the second of twelve :: irish coffee

I was a little iffy about the whole short-sleeved wool sweater thing, to be honest. But now that I have actually knit a short-sleeved wool sweater and worn it about, I totally get it. It's a seasonal conversion piece, really. And when one works in a library, particularly in special collection and archives where temperatures are always chillly (especially when that "one" is me)--a piece like this is terribly useful.

The road to this sweater was a long and winding one. I bought this yarn at my very first Rhinebeck (Little Mister did not exist yet and Little Sir--the one who will be 6 years old at the end of this week-- was 7 months old); that, my friends, was a long time ago. Anyways, when I bought the yarn, the intention was that it would be my first sweater. It was supposed to be a Cardigan for Arwen, and for a while, it was.

I knit the back and one side...but I blindly followed the pattern, as you do when you are a new knitter and don't know what's what. There were variant gauges , the sleeve was too long and I was also about three sizes larger than I am now when I started it. I put it down because I knew there were some issues. So it sat in a bin somewhere for years. I found the project last year while clearning and finally decided to rip it all out. I usually hate frogging projects, but honestly, it was taking up space. So I ripped it out and was, surprisingly, rather unsentimental about the whole thing. 

I have wanted to knit one of Thea's patterns for a while, and hey, green yarn, Irish anything...it seemed like a good match.

I really enjoyed knitting this. It wasn't difficult, nor was it all that time consuming. It was an enjoyable knit. The pattern was extremely well-written and the alternatives for customizing the piece to fit your particular brand of body are a nice touch. I wish the yarn (Wild Apple Hill Farm wool--no website--it's rather Bartlett like) had a little more drape in it, it did soften considerably after a soak and the first block. I suspect that it will soften even more and drape the way I want with another soak.

So that's two down, ten to go.

the first of twelve :: cobblestone

Considering that my goal is to complete twelve sweaters this year, this hardly puts a dent in the list, really; but, hey, finished sweater.    It's not like I am covering new ground here, the pattern has been around for a while; and, according to Ravelry, it's the 2,436th Cobblestone sweater in existence (and the 1808th one to get finished).

This sweater fits and looks exactly the way I expected it to.  I took Jared Flood's (aka Brooklyn Tweed) pattern and cast-on for the medium size and modified as needed based on Special K's measurements and comments from the last sweater that I knit for him (shorter sleeves and torso lengths).

K really likes the sweater, which is a good thing since I knit it and I hate wasting my time (and, of course, every stitch was knit with love and all that).  The one problem we had with the sweater was the neck opening (tried the sweater on too, you know, in case it was an epic fail...someone was going to wear this sweater).  I followed the pattern for this because I wanted to ensure that I didn't have a gaping neck opening; but, it is; quite frankly, too small.  I was going to rip back a few rows, but K decided that it's not that big of a deal.  It's not uncomfortable to wear, just a tight squeeze putting the sweater on and taking it off.  So if you haven't knit this yet, and you think you want to, you should probably keep that in mind (or, if you don't have a huge head, just ignore this alltogether).

Also, the shaping of the back of the sweater by the addition of short rows to the knitting in the round is rather a nice touch too.  Very clever.   If I were a person who liked to knit patterns more than once, I would knit this sweater again in a heartbeat (albeit with a slightly wider neck opening).  Actually, I might size it down for a little boy..or two; but, maybe not...we'll see.  So yes, first sweater down, eleven to go.

birthday deadlines

While I like the idea of deadlines in theory, practically speaking, they are a problem for me.  For a crafter, the worst kind of deadline is a birthday (or, really, any gift-giving occasion), but birthday deadlines imply that your gift was supposed to be a birthday gift...and if you are making something, presumably, you know when that person's birthday is...particularly if you have been married to said birthday celebrator for almost twelve years.  That being said, getting a handknit sweater a few days after one's birthday, isn't such a bad thing either (it's like the celebration that never ends...which I am a fan of, obviously).

 

K celebrated his birthday.  We dragged it out for three days this year (he normally likes as little fuss and celebration as possible).  He got a bunch of presents.  The Littles sang off key, it was all quite fabulous.

 

He usually asks for a cake made from mix from a box, which is a travesty of the first order for someone like me.  I mean, seriously, I like to bake!  I want to bake!  And most would say that I am good at said baking!  So this year, K decided to let me bake him a cake.  After looking at all of my baking books, of course he selects the most time-consuming cake possible.

 

I made the Miette Tomboy Cake with Raspberry European Buttercream frosting.  This cake took the better part of a day to make.  And when all is said and done, you have two 6-inch cakes to feast upon; but, it's a lot of work for a cake (or two, rather).  There was choclate melting, whisking, cooling, ordered additions to batter before straining it (yes, straining the batter--that is commitment, people); and, don't even get me started on the frosting; what, with the raspberry juice extracting, sugar syrup making, egg-white whipping...(honestly, it makes me exhausted just thinking about it).  But you know what?  It was worth it.  This little dainty bit is probably the best cake I have ever made.  It was delicious.  I don't generally care for chocolate cake, to be honest.  I usually find  cake too rich or too dry, or too....something.  But this cake?  It was perfect.  And the European buttercream, it was out of this world.  And now I can say, "why yes, I have made European buttercream frosting, and there were no tears."  Because apparently, sometimes there are tears.

 

I finished K's birthday sweater last night, and will block it tonight, or maybe tomorrow. There's no real hurry to finish it at this point since my model is on the other side of the country at a conference; but, I just wanted it noted that my 12 in 12 thing is totally on track.

sophisticated gentlemen

 
Cute sweater patterns for babies are always the rage in the knitting world, aren't they?  I love a good sweater pattern, and I like a cute baby knit; but, I am going to be honest here, I don't like knitting sweaters for babies.  I have done it a few times, and while there is a certain amount of instant gratification that comes with being able to say "I finished a sweater!" Lilliputian size aside, I just don't find the activity overly productive.

  
Babies do not know the intrinsic value of a handknit sweater made with good quality fibers.  They just don't.  I would like to think my kids are pretty smart, but until Little Sir could actually say "merino" I didn't feel overly compelled to make him anything with said fiber.  And I don't like the idea of knitting baby things with synthetics because they don't really breathe well.  An overheated baby is a sad sight.

 
Babies drool alot (or, are otherwise wet...constantly).  Little Mister (though technically no longer a baby) generates drool at an exponential rate throughout the day.  I will not knit him a pullover sweater until he can demonstrate that he will not felt the top of a sweater with his excessive drooling.  I love you kiddo, but Momma's time is valuable.

Babies, in general, are hard to dress.  Making a pullover sweater for a baby between the ages of 0-4 months is just cruel.  The parents have to contort the baby into the thing, and if you didn't knit it seamlessly, it's going to be uncomfortable and they will likely cry about it (the baby and the parents).  I know this from experience.  If you are going to make a baby sweater, do the baby (and said baby's parental units) a favor and make a cardigan.

 
And lastly, but probably primarily (for me), babies are sometimes bigger than you think and they grow really fast.  Knitters who are not around babies don't always realize that the size "newborn" is actually kind of relative (and I am not trying to be mean, before I had kids, I was clueless, I had no idea how big babies were, as a rule...I still don't know and I have had two!).  Both of my kids entered the world needing to wear clothes sized for 3 month olds because they were just big babies. Generally, "newborn" in the commercial world means up to 7 pounds.  Um, yeah, my kids were born with 8 pounds (almost 9, really) of loving.  So that cute baby sweater knit with one skein?  It might fit...the day after the baby is born (if it fits at all).

But all that being said, I do love a cute pattern, particularly if it's functional.  And Linden's Baby Sophisticate pattern is awesome (and she is generously offering is for free on her website and Ravelry).  I liked the look of it and figured that it would be a good pattern to size up for my littles, because they are nothing if not sophisticated, right?
 

The pattern is really easy to knit and easy to resize because of the genius of the construction and design.  It's top down, so you can have your kid try it on as you go, which is reason enough to only ever knit top-down sweaters, as far as I am concerned.  For Little Mister's I cast on 40 stitches and for Little Sir's 48 (with bulky yarn and size 10 needles)and used the pattern as a general guide.  With Little Mister's sweater, I just used his measurements and my gauge as a guide.  For Little Sir's, I had him try on the sweater constantly.   I am really pleased with the way the sweaters turned out.  The boys seem to be pretty satisfied as well.

I suppose if you did want to knit a sweater for a baby, this would probably be a good one to do; you know, if you are into that sort of thing.  Otherwise, knit it for a kid who would look terribly dapper and handsome, or, if you'd prefer, sophisticated.

i dye.

So you remember how I said there would be no dyeing studio in the vicinity of my residence anytime soon...or ever.  I think I was well-intentioned when throwing that out there for the masses; but, the fact of the matter is this: when you have a little over two pounds of fiber to dye, and you have a full-time job, children and a husband all hoping for dinner that does not involve a box or microwave...you are probably going to dye that wool at home when everyone else is asleep (and then spend an eternity cleaning your kitchen.  Sigh.). 

And well, it just worked out better that way...because really, I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing at 2 a.m. on a Thursday morning--though I am starting to think that sleeping would be a good alternative too; but, there you are. 

I like it, there was a good bit of trialing.  A got a lot of dye (I know, this is not shocking to anyone) to try out before settling on something suitable for me.  I wear a lot of neutral colors, my wardrobe is not very exciting, I usually punch up my color options with accessories.  As I write this I am wearing various shades of khaki, which really, is a little less than inspiring.  But as you may remember, I have a fondness for purple (which, if we are being honest here, is kind of a lively version of black, really--color theorists back off!  I am thinking fashion-wise here!  Trust me, after all the dyeing I have done recently, I know a thing or two about the color wheel).  So that's what I went with...purples...greys  and the white of my canvas...I like that effect; I know it's not for everyone though. 

All this fiber needs to be spun up (though I could make a statement by simply wearing it draped on my person, stylish, no?).  I need to find a suitable sweater pattern so that my spinning can be informed--which will be new for me--spinning for a project, that is--usually, I just spin and what I get is what I get; but, in my defense, I think many people spin that way.  So sweater patterns, thoughts?  I mean, there is over 2 pounds of wool here, I won't need it all.  I am leaning towards a cardigan, but I could be persuaded to knit a pullover too.  It's going to be multi-colored, so let's not forget that

they say it's spring

 

Surely, you will agree with me that, after daffodils, there is nothing more spring-like than a knit wooly sweater.  No?

Well, I finally finished my Lopi sweater. There are some interesting (well, to me --you are likely to feel otherwise) yarns (ha!) I could spin (double ha!!) about this sweater--sorry, it's spring and I always get a little punchy on the first day of spring.

This sweater was two years in the making.  The yarn came from a neighbor who read an article about me that appeared in a local newspaper.  In the article, the writer mentioned that I was a knitter, a rather obsessive one.  So my neighbor, Lisa, figured that I was a good person to entrust some Lopi wool that she had sitting in her attic for the last three decades to (no, really).  She received it from a friend from Greece who went off knitting; and, Lisa never got around to doing anything with the yarn, so the wool showed up at my door...with a Reynolds Lopi pattern book (Volume 22 - ravelry link).

The pattern book was older, and the designs were not super modern, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  I figured I could use the yarn and pattern book to try some new things, right?

This sweater presented all sorts of great learning opportunities for me, which is, really, why I chose to knit this particular in the first place.

Firstly, I have to say, I knit this sweater twice.  I broke my own stance against ripping and ripped the sweater--in its entirety because the gauge issues the first time around could not be resolved; and, for some reason, it took knitting the whole sweater to figure this out--sometimes I don't want to own my knitting imperfections.

The reasons I selected the particular pattern from all the possible choices were threefold: I could try stranding three colors (as I have only done two-color stranded knitting in the past); I could use all of the yarn given me; and, I could finally try steeking.  As it turns out, the steeking is what delayed the finishing of this sweater.  Because, as I have said before, the thought of cutting my knitting makes me want to vomit.

Well, there is no longer any quesiness around the whole steeking business.  After months of putting it off, I did it.  And you know, it wasn't so bad.  I thought the Lopi book could have provided clearer instruction; but, there you are.  If I really wanted to prep myself, I would have gone to the winter 2006 IK magazine and re-read that article that Eunny wrote on steeking, but I didn't feel like pulling out the magazines, I just had to steek it and be done with it (because, if we are being truthful here, and I am, I just wanted to finish this sweater so I could knit other things).

I will own my imperfections in the sweater, now that I have knit it twice and steeked it.  The front of the yoke does not line up properly.  I think this is due to a couple of things, all surrounding my steek.  My gauage for the purl stitches was totally off from the gauge of the rest of the sweater.  I think I was nervous sbout the steek even while I was knitting it.  Also, I didn't switch needle sizes for the ribbing and button band as the pattern prescribed, because I didn't like the cinched look of the ribbing and band in the patternbook so I knit with US 10's throughout. 

This misalignment is only noticeable when the cardigan is buttoned though.    So, I suppose it's a good thing I rarely button my cardigans.

The part of this sweater that I love best is the yoke.  I was able to do all of that stranded knitting in a pretty even tension and I think it looks pretty good, well, the back does.

While knitting it, I thought that this would be a sweater knit purely for the purpose of learning, but it fits well and it's warm, so it will be a good "kick around" sweater, I think.

So overall, I think I am pretty happy with it.

 

I will put up the details in the gallery and ravelry for anyone interested.  Oh, and happy spring!

spinning a yarn

Actually, spinning many yarns.  Spinning, that's what I did for most of February.  I spun some Ashland Bay merino...

 

A hank of English Garden (the blue), a hank of Sage (the green), two hanks of Mojave (the reds), and a hank of Sandalwood (the multi one on the bottom right).

I also finally got around to spinning some wool that my friend Amy gave me for Christmas...back in 2007, which seems like a long time ago.  It's from the Enchanted Knoll Farm, a farm in Maine, there was no colorway listed...I am going to call it Red with Bits of Thread.

 

I was nervous about spinning it because it had all sorts of crazy stuff in it.  Threads, vegetatation, what have you; but, I think it turned out pretty great.  The blue and yellow (there's some green in there too, I think) threads in the fiber make for interesting visual contrast from the pretty red of the fiber.  And then there's the fancy handpainted stuff I spun.

I think my favorite bit of spinning was this merino/tencel blend from the Sheep Shed at Mountain View Farm--this is the Spring colorway.  I got this stuff from a sheep and wool festival a while ago, not sure which one (it's embarrassing to not know this stuff, really).  I could kick myself for not spinning it sooner.  I LOVE spinning tencel, it's a beautiful fiber to work with.  And since I loved it so much, I am going to give you another shot of the yarn all hanked up (at least on my monitor, the shot below is pretty true to color).

 

I have no idea what I am going to knit with all of this fiber.  I was thinking a Komb blanket like Kelp!'s (feel free to go and drool, I'll wait for you to come back); but, I think I like the effect she is getting with pretty painted fibers more than I would like the effect produced by knitting the more plain jane yarns I spun from the Ashland Bay merinos.  I have no idea what to do with the Spring merino/tencel yarn, any thoughts?

Seven skeins/hanks/whatever worth of spinning, not too shabby, if you ask me.

 

All of this spinning was, of course, an effort to fend of steeking that Lopi sweater I was working on; but since I imposed that stupid strategy of not working on anything until I finished that sweater, I had to finish it so I could work on something fun (or anything, for that matter).  So I bit the bullet and steeked the silly thing.

 

Now I don't see what all the fuss was about.  This sweater is blocking now.  It's probably going to take a few days to dry as the New England weather can best be described as frigid, at present.  I am hoping to get some FO shots in before I go on a spring break adventure to what I'd like to think are warmer climes; but, since Alabama got snow on Sunday, I have no idea what to expect in Georgia and Florida.  And also, it would be nice to feature some knitting on this here knitting blog.

I am pretty excited about some new projects to cast-on...and more fiber to spin, because really, how can I not spin when a rainbow presents itself?

a day late, but with plenty of dollars

So I meant to post this yesterday, but, you know, one can get busy on a Saturday--especially when one is returning to work the following Monday after two months of maternity leave.  In any case, I have done some crafting and I have a contest winner. 

I like to knit (hi, I am a knitblogger), so I guess I need to own up to the tragicomedy that is my knitting procrastination of late.  A Lopi sweater.  A Lopi sweater that will need steeking when all the knitting is done. 

I am dragging the process out, because, as I have shared many times, the thought of cutting my knitting makes me want to vomit.  In any case, I have to finish the sweater to move on to something else (a self-imposed punishment strategy).  That's my new thing.  Finish one of the sweaters in process and then I can start something new.  I have a few sweaters in process. 

These are just my sweaters.  We won't talk about the sweaters for the men in my life--they don't count, right?  Right.

And since I couldn't start a new knitting project without lots of guilt attached.  I decided to delve into a new craft entirely, because that's what I do, craft capriciously.

I used Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching.  The critter project (and many others) are in there.  I sort of love these little critters.  One (the raccoon) is a gift to go with a book(The Kissing Hand).  One (an owl) I will take to my office because it makes me smile and the other (owl) will go to the winner of my contest/giveaway.  I used one of those random number generators to pick a winner because I couldn't choose based on merit, everyone's goals seemed like good ones (like I am really going to tell anyone that he or she has crappy goals--not so nice).  The RNG chose Elli.  Elli, I will get in touch with you to discuss your prize.  For everyone else, I hope you learn your desired crafts, get healthy, blog more or what have you. Thanks for sharing your goals!

end of year knits

Now that January is half done, it only seems sensible to talk about the knits that I finished last month in December, you know in 2008.  I finished two knits that I am really happy with.  The first knit was another Baby Surprise Jacket.     

I wasn't too impressed with the first one  that I knit, but the second one is great.  I think I just needed to put my kid in a bigger BSJ, as he is a big kid. 

The sleeves were the right length--they were not too short-- and the yarn was pure joy to knit and the end result is a really cute sweater for a pretty cute boy (there is obvious bias here, of course).

The other knit was a pair of socks.  For whatever reason, I don't do so great with the sock knitting, I get bored with it for some reason (second sock syndrome, anyone?).  But I managed to get a pair of Nutkins knit for myself.  The yarn was a birthday gift last year from a knitblogging birthday twin (thank you Rangsiwan!). 

 

I really like the way the socks turned out, the pattern was well written and you can't go wrong with Koigu.  I did a knit/purl cuff instead of the cuff prescribed and I mirrored the pattern for the second sock, an idea I totally stole from Maritza.  I am really happy with the socks, mostly because of the modification I made to the heels--eye of partridge heels, what is not to love?

So that is it for the 2008 crafting.  I am not going to do a summary of the year, if you want to see the past knits (and other projects), feel free to look in the gallery of 2008 projects ortake a look over in flickr.  I haven't the energy to be redundant today.  I do however have the energy to start plotting some 2009 crafts, I am pretty excited, because, as you all know, I have copious amounts of free time now.  Heh.  With some of that copious free time, I will update the gallery and include the specs for these last two projects (socks and bsj), I will also post the info in Ravelry, of course.

And there is still time to toss your name in the hat for the "it's not a resolution" contest, just leave a comment onthis post (the post below).

zaftig

As Little Sir likes to say, "Look it," I finished something.  The story behind the sweater is a little embarrassing; but it's you guys, so I will share it (but should my witty commentary not interest you--um, why are you reading my blog, yo?-- you can find the details short (ha) and sweet in the gallery in the side bar and on ravelry as well; but you should totally read to the end...just saying).

I started this sweater last year in August.  My intent was to have it be Little Sir's Christmas sweater, you know a special something-something for the kid to wear in the cheesy Christmas photo you send out to friends and family and hope that they don't just trash as soon as they open your Christmas (or insert applicable winter observance here) card.  Well, I didn't finish it, so instead, the Wallaby was our featured sweater Christmas picture last year (I never uploaded the actual shot we used, but the one that's linked is similar).  So, fine.

Because I am lazy, and also because I have a certain degree of knitting/craft ADD, I left the sweater unfinished (I did, after all, have pies to bake).  You've all been there (okay, maybe not with the pies), stop shaking your heads.  In a fit of "if I don't finish something in this UFO pile I am going to gouge my eyes out" enthusiasm, I finished knitting the pieces and starting seaming the main parts of the sweater (that would be everything except the pockets--which obviously, I could not leave off).  If I had really put some effort into it, I could have finished this sweater in less than two weeks.  And had I finished it back in August or even September of 2007, I would have felt a lot better about this sweater at this point in the story.  But I didn't, so when I decided to have Little Sir (who could be described in many ways, among them pleasantly plump in the mid-section, or, if you wish, somewhat zaftig) try on the sweater pre-weaving in of ends and pre-pockets and button application, even he noticed that "the sweater is too small, mom."  Crap.  English kids are definitely smaller than their American counterparts.  Well, that and my kid likes to eat; and, fortunately or unfortunately his mom likes to cook.  So anyways...

 

I aggressively blocked the sweater the night before I flew out of town.  I took the sweater to California with me to apply the finishing touches like weaving in the ends (my most favoritest activity ever, obviously) and sew on the pockets.  Did that, felt proud.  But of course, I forgot the buttons.  Found a craft store (that would be Jo-Ann's), bought buttons.  Realized that the center of the buttons are black went back to store to buy thread.  Realized that you can't sew on buttons effectively without a needle which was left at home, because why would the TSA let me fly with a Chibi this time when they have confiscated them the last three times I have tried flying with one?  Got so disgusted with myself I just packed it up.  Needless to say, the sweater mocked me for the rest of my California getaway (which was kind of a work trip, details).

I sewed on the buttons at knitting group yesterday and called it done.  I took the pictures at sunset last night.  The sweater is not without its flaws.  Somehow (because I am stupid) the wearer's left front panel is missing one cable pattern repeat and thus is about 6 rows shorter than the right--also, the pocket is slightly higher.  I didn't notice this defect until I sewed on the buttons.  And you know, sometimes you just have to let things go.  I like the sweater.  The kid likes the sweater.  And it was blocked so aggressively, Little Sir should be able to fit into the sweater this Christmas, Buddha-belly and all.  And lest you think my Christmas picture worries have been solved for this year, rest assured that I am nothing if not a drama-provider.  I will, of course, need to finish some sort of complimentary sweater for Little Sir's sibling (currently referred to as Disco, as s/he likes to dance) while I deal with being in my own rather zaftig state-of-being over the course of the next few months.

I am due the first week of December, so yeah, that's plenty of time to knit a Christmas sweater.  Right?  Right.  Awesome.

*If you are related to me or happen to be one of my best friends from high school (hi Alanna!) who does not happen to live in the near vicinity of the place I call home and you are just now finding out this bit of news, my sincerest apologies...but really, did you expect a phone call?  And isn't this a much better way of finding out?  Okay, it's a little bit classier than announcing it on facebook, at least give me that.