novamade

snap a dozen days, january edition

I figure a good time to reflect on January and its significance to me is the very end of the month. For some people, January is all about renewal, a fresh start and all that.  For me January is all about love, my love for my husband, Special K.

There are so many reasons that I love this guy, but to keep this list bearable I will boil it down, David Letterman style and just give you ten...

10. Special K is goofy. Most people who think they know him really well don't really know about his goofiness because he is usually pretty serious. A good deal of our time together has me rolling my eyes while he yucks it up...

9. He is supportive. When I had a job that burned me out and came home in a crummy mood for about a month he listened to me every single night as I vented about how horrible my life was. When I came home one day and said, "I want to be an archivist." He asked, "how do we make that happen?" And he was totally serious, he didn't even ask me what an archivist was.

8. He puts my needs first whenever possible (and practical).  After figuring out how to make being an archivist happen, you know--developing a plan, Special K changed his career/academic plans to accomodate mine .

7. He is interested in everything I have to say. Now that Special K knows what an archivist is, he listens to me talk about my profession at great length...with interest. I, on the other hand, find his work completely dull (it is over my head really) and I make no effort to fain interest in the technical math-y stuff. I consider this my gift of honesty to him...

6. He is always thinking about ways to make me smile. When we were in Maryland so he could attend some seminar on something technical that I don't understand, he heard about the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on the radio and thought, "hey, my wife likes to knit, I bet she would like to go to that." And he took me there, it was a nice surprise.

5. He is generator of great ideas. After taking me to MDSW and listening to me talk about knitting, wool, Rowan and Koigu ad nauseum all the way back to Connecticut, he suggested that I start a blog (actually, now that I think of it, this means he doesn't have to listen to me talk about knitting as much...huh). Clearly, this would have never occured to me. It still astounds me that anyone is interested in anything I have to say...

4. He is the yin to my yang, the moon to my sun, and all that.

3. He makes me feel beautiful.

2. He is an awesome dad. He likes being a husband and all, but being a dad? That is his thing. He would like to become an "expert dad" and thinks that requires having four more kids. I have suggested that he take this issue up with his next wife...

1. Special K is truly special, and he loves me just the way I am...and if I change, he will still love me.

Good grief, with all this talk of love, WHAT will I talk about next month?

the mad hatter

There is something about making hats.  They are so quick and you can try out different techniques and design features without too much commitment.  I pulled this pattern from Hats On!  I have said it before, but I will say it again, this book is a great little book of hat designs.  This particular hat was a birthday gift for Special K.  He needed something understated and knit in one color; but for my own personal interest, I needed something to keep it engaging. 

Cables keep things interesting enough, so I chose this pattern.  Very easy cabling with a nice result, I think.

I like to try and learn something new with each project, when possible.  With this hat, I learned how to do a yarn over tubular cast on.  It was kind of tedious, but it was also sort of fun.  It's not like I got it the first (or second) time around, but after a few tries everything worked out and now I have a new skill for making a clean cast on edge for stretchy garments.  Good stuff, no?

Aran Watch Cap

Pattern:  from Charlene Schurch's Hats On!

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Fog, 2 Skeins

Needles: Bamboo Circular and DPNs in US 6

Modifications: Shortened the crown pattern

Start Date: January 25, 2007

End Date: January 27, 2007

If I just went with my first cast on, this hat would have been done the day after I started it; but, I wanted to make sure it looked good.  I started the project over three times, I wanted to make sure I was doing it right (you know, the yarn over tubular cast on, it's no joke).  Also, something to mention, I pretty much ran out of yarn.  The pattern calls for 220 yards of worsted weight yarn, and that is what I had--exactly--but it technically was not enough.  I knit the crown one inch shorter than called for by the pattern (and it wasn't even the largest size) to make sure that I could finish, it worked out okay and it looks fine, but if I had made the largest size I would have been out of luck.  Oh, and if you are wondering, yes, I got gauge....weird, right?

After finishing the hat, I returned to Arwen, just like I said I would.  I am not holding on to any false hope of finishing this sweater by the end of the month (I am learning that being realistic is a healthy thing, really); but, I can get a good chunk of it done if I just concentrate on that sweater alone for another couple of days.  Project monogamy, it's a beautiful thing...

monogamous knitting

I have been doing a great deal of thinking about monogamy when it comes to knitting.  There are some poeople who stick with one project until it's all done before starting a new one, knocking out projects like dominoes all lined up in a row.  And then there are those who have any where from two to ten projects going at once and they tend to plod on, finishing in fits and starts.  I am part of the latter group.  I have often thought that I would be more efficient if I just worked on one thing and completed it before starting something else, but, I think I would get bored.  Also, things come up.

It was my intention to give Arwen my complete focus this month (even though I started it half way into the month, details...),  I put off other things that I thought would be interesting because I knew I would probably get side-tracked, so I was rather well behaved, sort of.  I did pretty good, I think, only putting down Arwen when a gift-giving occasions presented itself (or finishing gifts from gift-giving occasions from last month, same thing...), and well the seamless hyrbid?  It couldn't be helped.  It was so close to being completed it didn't make sense not to finish it. 

Last night I cast on for another project, I thought I would be able to finish it in one evening; but, after a while, sleep seemed more important, so I will probably finish it up tonight (it's a hat, how long could it take, really?).  But then after that, nothing else for the rest of the month except Arwen.  Just me and Arwen...  It's not that I don't enjoy kntitting the sweater, to be honest, I am curious to see where it goes.  The sweater construction is facinating.  That Kate Gilbert knows how to design a sweater, I tell ya.

The thing that most intimidated me about the pattern was the cabling.  Those beautiful cables that look so complicated...  They aren't complicated at all.  Time-consuming, yes.  Complicated?  Not so much.  The cables are actually...fun, no really.  The yarn is a little rough on the hands, but it's producing a beautiful fabric.  I like it.  So after my brief fling with the hat, I am going to be committed to Arwen (well, until February, then all bets are off because I plan to participate in Project Spectrum in a major way, but more on that later).   

So all you amazing knitters out there, don't you tempt me with your gorgeous colors for small projects or delicate design features like scrollwork  knit in scrumptious yarns.  And please, no more fantabulous socks, that scream, "knit me."  I just can't do it, not right now.  For the rest of this month, I am going to be a one project kind of girl.  It's only 5 days, I think I can show some restraint.  Or, I can, at the very least, try... 

living the fantasy

It is good to know that I am not the only one who has "live[d] the Fantasy with Fantasy Yarn."  Joking aside, I must say that I really like this yarn.  Ashley mentioned that A.C. Moore is no longer manufacturing it or selling it.  If you have an A.C. Moore near you, you might be able to score some "Fantasy Yarn" for yourself in the clearance bins, I noticed a few random skeins floating around this weekend while hunting for ribbon.  I actually knit up a pair of Fetching mitts with a skein of it last year and they had a nice feel to them.  So too does the the baby bolero I knit up over the weekend (and yes, I completed it on Sunday morning!).

While this picture isn't too true to color, I thought it was funny to hang something so tiny on a hanger (even if the hanger itself is uber small).  I feel that way about most baby clothes, but especially this tiny thing.

This is truer to color, it's a pretty magenta that I think will look killer cute on a baby.  I am a fan of putting the babies in bright and bold colors (as I have said, I am not really a fan of pastels).

This bolero was a very quick knit, it's newborn sized and super tiny.  I can't even remember when Little Sir was that small (actually, he has always been on the big side--maybe he was never that small!), but the bolero has some give and so should be wearable for longer than the first week of the baby's life.  My friend J was so excited about it, she started planning her baby announcement photo shoot with the baby (to be born next month) in a white something and the bolero.  I love knitting for people who get excited about the knits.  Love it.

The most difficult part of the sweater--and really it wasn't even difficult, just time consuming-- was the seaming.  Lots of seaming for something so small. 

The pattern had an optional eyelet doo-dad underneath the neck ribbing on the back but I left it out.  It was cute but seemed somewhat counter-productive to the function of providing warmth.  And since we are all of a sudden experiencing winter here (there was snow on the way into work this morning), it seemed best to just do the stockinette fabric all the way through.

Baby Bolero

Pattern: from Leigh Radford's One Skein

Yarn: Luxury Cashmere Aran (Fantasy Yarn?), 2 skeins of magenta

Needles: US 8 and 9 Bamboo Circs (24" )

Modifications: None (just went with the "no eyelet" option)

Started: Saturday, January, 20, 2007

Finished: Sunday, January 21,  2007

Now back to Arwen (I have a feeling you will be reading that phrase quite alot here) and maybe some hat knitting.  Special K's brithday is coming up and I think I will knit him another hat.  He likes hats, and I like knitting them, we make a great team that way.

waiting for snow

Some people hate snow, some people love it.  I am sort of indifferent.  I don't particularly care for it if I have to get to work or just get somewhere; but if I can just bum around the house and drink hot cocoa, I'm all for snow.  I think mostly I like the anticipation of snow.

Like the rest of the US, New England has been experiencing weird weather.  Unlike Washington and Denver, which have been hit with freakishly weird snowstorms, Connecticut has experienced something of a winter heat wave. It hasn't been boiling hot, just unseasonably warm.  So when the temperture dropped two days ago, all of a sudden there has been chatter about snow; weather people and your average Joe and Jane out and about town are bringing up the possibility of snow.

When I think of snow I think of snuggling up in sweaters.  Little Sir has no idea what snow is, but I think he agrees with me on the snow and sweater connection (even if we're only talking about parts of a sweater).

So I finished the back of Cardigan for Arwen.  Not too exciting, it's a big square of stockinette.  It's pretty useful as a cape for Little Sir though (there are only so many ways to make a square of stockinette interesting).

I am forging ahead with Arwen, the prospect of having this sweater to snuggle up in on snowy days is spurring me on.  But I must admit, my hands are itching to do something that can be completed quick-like.  I need a baby gift for Sunday (yes, that is pretty quick).  I have this yarn in the stash....

I bought a few balls of this yarn at a local craft store last year (A.C. Moore, I think), I thought the tag line was funny, "Live the Fantasy with Fantasy Yarns,"  I suppose this was more marketable than saying, "Have fun knitting this DBliss Cashmerino Aran knock-off."  But I am an archivist with no training in marketing and advertising, so what do I know? 

I tend not to be too much of a yarn snob, I feel like all yarn has its merits (I remember using Red Heart in elementary school for art projects involving glue and what have you...you wouldn't want to ruin perfectly good natural fibers with that stuff, or is that just me?) .  And who am I to turn my nose up at any cashmere content in yarn?  So please excuse me while I plan out ways to "live the fantasy with fantasy yarn..." ...by Sunday.

love : hate

When I first met Special K he owned no sweaters.  It's not that he didn't wear them, he didn't own any.  None.  We were going to college in Connecticut and he had braved 3 New England winters by the time we met, and he owned no sweaters.  He said it was because he was from California.  Well, I am from Florida and I have tons of sweaters (I acquired them as soon as my feet hit Connecticut soil).  And hello, it gets cold in New England (we'll just consider this winter the anomaly, shall we?).  I decided to look past the weirdness of his not owning any sweaters and started dating and eventually married him.  I started buying him sweaters and figured out why he didn't wear them so much.  He couldn't find sweaters that fit properly.  He is a tall and lanky guy.  And he has long arms.  After years of buying ill-fitting sweaters, I figured I would try to make one for him.  So inspired by Jared's gorgeous rendition I gave it a go. 

Okay, I started this sweater last October.  It shouldn't have taken as long as it did.  Other projects got in the way (holiday knitting?); and I also experienced bouts of stupidity while knitting the sweater, so that didn't help in getting the garment done in a timely manner.  But really, I see no reason why this couldn't be a fairly quick knit. I say all of this in hindsight; but this is an easy sweater to knit.

The double-faced hems? Easy (or EZ, whatever), I used forest green on the inside because Special K first thought he wanted a green sweater.  I am glad we did not go with this, he would have looked like a Christmas tree and that would have been no good (I mean, I like Christmas and all but we all need a break from the madness).  So yes, hems were no problem at all.

The stockinette stitch of the body, so easy it could be considered criminal (no shaping!!). The sleeves?  A decrease here, a decrease there, no problemo.  Joining the sleeves to the sweater body?  No problem at all.  The saddles?  Yeah, this is where my love/hate relationship with the hybrid started.  And it wasn't the hybrid's fault. It was definitely not Elizabeth Zimmermann's fault because well, she is no longer with us and she was a genius.  So yes, it was me. 

I started doing the saddles on dpns.  Yeah, I don't know why either (see?  I told you, bouts of stupidity...).  After dropping stitches without realizing, ripping back and redoing the first saddle, I got to the second saddle and everything was fine.  It took an encouraging kick from Julie to keep me going, really it did (seeing all the great work on the Zimmermania site was inspiring too, if you haven't visited, go check it out). But I got through the saddles, so that was the hard fun part, right?After feeling a little proud of myself because, "hey, how cool am I that I can knit this sweater for my guy?"  and all that, I decided to knit a collar, because a sweater would obviously not be done without one, right?  So I popped a collar on and hated it.  I went with 1X1 ribbing and it just didn't look right, so I ripped back. Funny thing about ripping back on this sweater, you have stitches coming from all sorts of directions.  I probably should have paid more attention to my ripping (because really, I could have watched Meredith, Christina and George solve their life issues during the episode repeat).  After thinking that I fixed all the dropped stitches and what-have-yous, I knitted a 2x2 collar and then noticed that there was a gaping hole on the front right (the wearer's right) side where the saddle join meets the collar.  This caused no small amount of agony.  So I ripped it again.  And I attacked the problem with all sorts of strategy (or stategery, if you like). 

I eventually came up with something involving adding stitches, picking up from below, blah x 3.  It's not perfect, but it is done and sometimes that is just good enough (I know, I don't believe I am saying it either).  And my strategy was not really strategic at all, it was more, "maybe if I did this?" or "I wonder what would happen if I tried this...." I winged it people.  I never wing anything,  I like directions.  No, I actually need directions they make me feel all safe, warm and fuzzy even.  But knitting this sweater, I learned that I don't need no stinkin' directions.  And that Elizabeth, smart cookie that she was, she knew that even the stupidest among us knitters (that would be me) can figure this stuff out.  As Special K says, "it's not like it's brain surgery."  Another thing I learned while knitting this sweater?  it is not necessary to stress out about my knitting.  It really isn't brain surgery, lives do not depend on my knitting.  It should be fun, and after I adopted that approach it became fun, I stopped hating the hybrid and everything worked itself out.

 
Seamless Hybrid
Pattern: from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, 12 skeins of Amber Heather and 1 Skein of Forest Heather
Needles: Bamboo Circs (24" and 16") and dpns in US 8
Modifications: eh...

It has been said before, this pattern is really a recipe.  Anything you do to it will make it your own.  I shamelessly copied the tweed's design features with the hems but went with my own thoughts when it became necessary (like the collar, it was obvious that it needed to be different). 

If I use this yarn again I would go down a needle size,  let's just say that the sweater is breathable.  I opted to use Knit Picks yarn because it was my first adult sweater and really, I was not prepared to make a huge financial commitment to something that might not get any wear, because like I said, Special K is not a sweater kind of guy.  But this sweater he likes.  It might be just because I made it; but it might also have something to do with the fact that the sleeves are long enough (maybe too long, why do things grow so much in blocking?).  I think I would use this yarn for a sweater again (and really, since I ordered a mountain of it last year, I know I will).  While knitting the sweater up I thought the yarn was kind of scratchy, not so soft on the hands; but, after blocking it softened up.  So all in all, I am happy with it, and Special K is happy with it.  Yeah, we love the seamless hybrid.  Little Sir on the other hand, he has no clue what all the fuss is about.

smelling roses

I usually look forward to Fridays; but today, I feel like everything is in slow motion.  It could be because I have a major deadline at work, or maybe it's because the weather is starting to turn winterish in my little corner of Connecticut...I have no idea.  Everything just seems slow today.  Which really isn't such a bad thing, sometimes slowness can be good,  people tell you to "slow down" if you are anxious or stressed out.  There is even a sort of movement (albeit a slow one to catch on) about appreciating slowness. I find that slowing down causes me to be deliberate with my actions which is odd for me, since my usual pace is pretty frenetic because I am trying to squeeze a million things into a finite amount of time.  But today, everything is s...l...o...w.

And I will tell you something else that is slow, blocking a man's sweater.  Special K's seamless hybrid is blocking, for the last 2 days it has been blocking...really, this is my own fault, I picked the most humid place in the house to block it, so I shouldn't be surprised.  But you know what is not slow?  Winding cakes of yarn with a swift (ha!) and winder.

Lolly recently posted about "someday" projects and I found it inspiring, so I decided to cast on for a Cardigan for Arwen from the winter 2006 Interweave Knits.  To do so, I had to wind up all of this yarn.  The yarn is a Rhinebeck purchase from Wild Apple Hill Farm, it's wool, plain old wool  with all sorts of nature bits needing to be picked out every once in a while.  As I was winding it up last night, I came to the conclusion that there are few things more satisfying than winding up wool.  Well, I suppose finishing the sweater from the wool you've wound is a pretty good thing too; but, as far as instant gratification goes, wool winding, it's pretty satisfying...

I will have to remember this feeling of satisfaction as I work my way through the sweater, which isn't terribly exciting right now as the back is just a block of stockinette stitch.  I think my interest will wane before I hit the challenging cables so I will likely cast on for other projects along the way which will significantly slow down the pace in finishing the Arwen cardigan even more; but, that's how I operate...  So I guess my progress on the sweater will be slow, like my Friday today, which I suppose isn't so terrible...

a good idea at the time

My weekend was spent reading, cooking and of course, doing a little knitting.  I am not sure if I mentioned it before, I am in a little book club.  I started it with a friend/neighbor a little over 2 years ago, and it has been good times.  It is my turn to host this month (tonight, actually) and I selected Julie and Julia, a chronicle of one woman's adventures in cooking through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I.  And because I thought it would be fun, I had people sign up to cook recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking for a little potluck dinner.  It seemed like a good idea at the time...  As I was making Boeuf Bourguignon at 2:00 this morning, it no longer seemed like such a good idea.  To be fair, I didn't start cooking till 9:30 last night; but, well, yes.  You see, I had to finish the book first.  The book is funny, if you have any culinary inclinations whatsoever (or really, even if you don't), you would probably enjoy this book.  It was a hilarious and quick read.  The cooking from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, not so quick; though hilarious it may turn out to be.  I still have to make the leek and potato soup (or Potage Parmentier, if you are so inclined) later this afternoon.  I have a feeling our discussion will be more about the insanity surrounding the cooking of the dishes than of the book; but it will be fun all the same.

Do you remember the seamless hybrid I have been working on for, let's just say, a long time?  I am thisclose to finishing it.  Seriously:

the sweater just needs a collar, some joined underarms and a good blocking.  The idea of knitting this sweater seemed like a great idea, brilliance itself, a nice quick sweater to give me one completed adult sweater under my belt.  It was a good idea, until it wasn't.  There were trials and tribulations, and in hindsight, it was kind of ridiculous; but, it was a learning process.  But more on that later when I have an actual finished project to report.

I leave you with one last thing that seemed like a good idea.  But really?  Well, no.  Little Sir got a toy from his Great Grandmother for Christmas.  We like to pull his toys out in phases or he gets overwhelmed.  This weekend we pulled out a new toy, good idea, right? As Little Sir would say, "no, no, no...."  This particular toy horrifies him.  It's a little plastic pull dog that makes weird clicking noises when pulled...

Yeah, I know Kiddo, it scares me too.

istanbul (not constantinople)

Turkish-Patterned Hat (aka Istanbul)

Pattern: from Hats On! by Charlene Schurch

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca (50% wool, 50% alpaca), 1 skein each black and khaki

Needles: Bamboo Circular and Straight dpns, US 4

Modifications: None

So I made this hat for Special K.  I wanted it to be extra warm and as soft as possible so I went with an alpaca mix.  I actually purchased a skein of sport weight Blue Sky Alpacas 100% Alpaca to line the hat with; but, Special K thought the hat was warm enough so I left the lining out.  I don't usually like knitting with alpaca, I am not big on knitting with halo-y yarn, but Special K loves an alpaca hat I knit for him a few years ago and the BUA was soft to work with, really nice (though it is a light worsted and not an actual worsted weight as called for in the pattern).  And because the yarn is so soft, the inside of the hat (or the floats, as it were) isn't scratchy at all.

While I did the second pattern repeat for the extra-large sized hat, I felt like the hat was getting too long.  I was tempted to rip back but Special K assured me that longer/taller hats are all the rage on the slopes (being one who does not ski, snowboard, or whatever, I would have no way of knowing this), so while I think the hat is too long, Special K (the recipient) thinks it's perfect, so what do I know?  Well, I do know that I love the Twined Herringbone edge cuff, it's brilliant, truly it is:

Special K is a fan of the whole hat, and if he is happy then so am I.

I really like the patterns in Hats On!  The patterns are easy to work with, pretty stright forward, charts are clear and... it's a book of hat patterns, how can you go wrong?  Special K has a birthday coming up and since he is all about functional items, I will probably knit him another hat that isn't so long (things like this bother me like you wouldn't believe).

With the hat done (it was a quick knit, actually- 6 days of sporadic knitting), I can try to tackle Special K's other (belated) gift knit.  I spent most of last night ripping the first saddle shoulder of the seamless hybrid sweater, at some point I lost stitches and the only thing to do was to rip back, sadness.  I pulled it out again because all that I have left to do is the shoulders and a collar, so maybe tonight I can get a huge chunk of it done.  I would like to finish by the weekend so I can spend some time on some Zimmermann mittens (stranded colorwork, of course).  I have an unreasonable deadline for the mittens, but if I don't finish the sweater now, it just won't get done.  We'll see how it goes.

a brand new year

I spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on the past year yesterday.  2006 was a busy year for me, with the most notable happening being the birth of Little Sir. 

Special K and I often joke about how we can not remember what life was like before Little Sir, and you know, we are fine with that!  Anyhow, in thinking of the past year, I also thought about how I would have done things differently, so 2007 is going to be about doing things the best way possible and enjoying life and all that jazz.  I don't generally do resolutions; but, this year I will list some goals and then maybe revisit them around this time next year to see how I did...

1. Revisit the whole concept of fitness...um, yeah.
2. Better eating, less crap...I appreciate good food, it's time to start acting like it.
3. Spend more time having fun with Little Sir (like dancing to music, he loves that--just look at how excited about this CD he got for Christmas)...he is getting so big so fast and I don't want to wish that I did more now later on...
      
4. Take more opportunities to visit with friends...I saw one of my best friends from high school for the first time since my wedding (which was almost 7 years ago) over the holidays...um, that is ridiculous...
   
5. Do more things for myself, to include (1 and 2 above as well as) knitting for myself and maybe actually getting my hair trimmed...it's been almost 2 years people...
6. Accumulate less, in all areas (books, yarn--you heard me right, fabric,doo dads, gizmos and watcha-ma-call-its).  I need to shed my pack rat tendencies...this would of course give me less to organize; but, I am okay with that, really.
7. De-clutter, I need to Feng Shui my life, as it were; or, at the very least, my house--it's currently where useless things go to die.
8. Knit from the stash,  quilt from the stash, do more with what I have.  I am not going to join a de-stash along or anything, but that is what I am going to do, de-stash. I have a insane amount of resources from which to craft, buying more would be just too ridiculous.  Unjustifiable, really.
9. Stay in better touch with my parents, they are challenging...this is a good goal.
10. Be a better wife, I think I do okay as it is (even with all the knitting), but there is always room for improvement.  Special K does an awesome job, so I too should reach for awesomeness.

I hope y'all had festive new year's celebrations.  I will have knitting content tomorrow...because, you know, this is a knitting blog.