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.

happy st.patrick's day!

1/24 :: a test, and an explaination

Some of you are probably wondering where the sweaters and quilts are.  I have them (some), but today, let's talk about quilts since I haven't really done that and it's March.  The first quilt I am trotting out is a small test quilt I made (pretend like the quilt is on a white wall or that the background fabric is not the same color as my family room wall.  Apparently, beige is the color of my life right now).  It's a little wonky (the way the quilt is hung on the wall exacerbates the wonkiness) and has some minor imperfections.  It doesn't really matter.  The whole point of this quilt was to practice quilting on a quilting frame. 

I spent the last year buying a mid-arm quilt frame system.  Instead of buying a package like a normal person, I bought the components of my frame over the course of a year because...well, that's how I do things, apparently.

I bought the frame first...and then I stained it.  As quilting frames go, I have found Grace frames to be 1) affordable, 2) reliable, and 3) well supported (the customer service is beyond fantastic).  I think it does need to be said that I am in no way affiliated with the company (aside from being a customer), nor am I am paid endorser of the company or its products, okay, so now that that's out of the way...  The frame is sturdy.  It holds a sewing machine and it works!  Regarding equipment of any scale, I am  sort of like the Dyson man, I feel like th thing should just work.

The reason it took so long for me to get this thing operational is the sewing machine situation.  I thought I would use a machine I already owned on it...but then thought better of it, so bought another machine (a Juki--it's a workhorse), but then I needed a new carriage (the carriages are machine specific, fyi).  I was getting a new carriage at the same time as the Grace company started making aluminum pro carriages (as opposed to the wooden carriage)...so I ended up having to send a carriage back and getting  a new one (well, I didn't have to, but that's what the company offered to do for me...see, they are good like that).

And then I tested a Juki/frame set up at the International Quilt Festival last year and realized that my quilt-frame life would not be complete without a stitch regulator.  K got that for me for Christmas because he just became annoyed with the monster in the room.  Seriously, it's huge.  I have the queen set up (I now wish that I got the king set up (I bought this well before the new versions that can easily convert came out)--learn from my mistake.  If you can accommodate a king set up, get the king set up).

So I practiced.

And then I practiced some more.

 

And then I thought I would try a quilt.

I love this thing (the quilt frame...the quilt, like I said, was just a practice piece--I like it, but am not enamored).

And that's why I feel pretty confident that I will finish 24 (not 48) quilts this year.  They won't all be quilted on the frame...but well, most of them will.  I am okay with that. So one down, 23 to go.

mittens are not sweaters

 

While it might appear that I am expertly avoiding the task of sweater knitting or quilt-making, do not be fooled. I am going to wow you with brilliance shortly (I am not kidding about this, prepare for a craft attack of shock and awe); but, for now you can be underwhelmed (or at least average-whelmed) by some mittens.

Little Mister loses mittens like it's his job. He is down to one store bought pair for the rest of the season (which has actually been pretty mild, if we are being honest); and, everyday we pick him up from school, the big question is always, "where are the mittens?" It's taken me a awhile to realize the stupidity of this conundrum, because here are the facts:

• I know how to knit (I know, shocking),
• mittens are actually pretty easy to knit (I am speaking of basic mittens without bells, whistles and accoutrement),
• mittens, particularly those for a child, are a pretty quick knit.

So yes, I knit a pair of mittens. I had to do something with the extra skein of handspun that I wound up for the Valentine's Day hats. The yarn was supposed to be Little Mister's hat, but the gauge was off, the yarn weight was more of a dk-light worsted yarn, and the hats were for heavy worsted, or aran weight yarn. In any case, I did a gauge swatch (I know, I do gauge swatches all the time now, I am just as surprised as you, really), and just knit based on a hand tracing of Little Mister's hand (which leads me to believe that Little Mister has big hands for a three year old; but, there you are).

So, while a pair of mittens do not a sweater (or a quilt) make, I made something pretty functional for Little Mister. And lets be honest, they are pretty fabulous (she says humbly, ahem).  He is a little annoyed that they are red and not green or some other color that he loves right now (like brown, or white--I have no idea), but really, he is just going to lose them anyway, so I suppose I will get around to a green pair eventually.