novamade

a tale of sweater woe

While going through my the kids old clothes to store stuff away, I came across a sweater that I knit last year (one that I actually finished!).  I never blogged about it because, the whole episode gave me a sad.  So I went digging through my digital files to find this FO shoot. Again, these pictures, they're  so 2012 (they were taken a little over a year ago, actually).

 

So Mister asked me to make him a sweater of his very own, he wanted it to be green.  He picked out the yarn at Maryland Sheep and Wool (okay, the last one I went to was 2012, so it's been a while).  When he picked the yarn out, I told him, "you are going to think that's itchy when I knit that up, let me find you something else."  But no, someone wanted to be independent, and I am all about raising autonomous and self-reliant kids, so fine. I bought the yarn, I think I even talked about that somewhere, actually...here or flickr.  In any case, I found a great pattern, he said he liked it.  I knit it, and then he tried it on, did a little modeling for the blog...and then said he was taking it off and wouldn't wear it again.  

 

Say what?  Yeah,  it was "itchy," and "tight," and "there's no buttons."  What?! Okay, to be fair, the kid has really bad eczema and is pretty sensitive with the things he wears, but seriously?  I didn't want to be that mom.  So I just said fine, washed the sweater and tucked it away.  I guess I was hoping he would change his mind about it; no.  So I have this cute sweater which I am adding to my gift pile, I guess.  It makes me sad, because my kid looked really cute in this thing.  The neck did stand up a little; but, the yarn is pretty stiff, I think the yarn will relax...with some wear, cleary by someone that is not my kid.

 

pattern :: Soledad

pattern by ::  Annika Barranti

yarn :: Cestari, DK, in Green Heather (2 skeins)

needles :: US5

size ::  4T

 

The pattern was well-written and easy to follow.  The sweet  additions of the cables and their placement add up to all around excellence or rather, magnificence in my book.  If either of my kids would wear a more fitted pullover sweater, I would totally knit this again.  But since they won't and they are bigger, I guess I will have to knit something else.

a year of magnificent doings :: #yom

Well, here we are again, the start of a new year.  Have you done your resolutions yet?  I don't like the idea of resolutions, really.  At least, not for me, if that's your thing then by all means.  I sort of see resolutions as a list of failure, for the most part.  It's usually a list of  greatness that is, for the most part, not achievable; and, we eventually beat ourselves up about it when we don't accomplish the unlikely goals in the first place.  I am kind of over that.  This year, I just want to have an awesome year, and do awesome things.  I feel like that's something achievable, no?

I have noticed that my family says (well, me and the kids--K, being a man of few words, seems to use just the right words to sum up every occasion; but, there you are) the word "awesome" like it's going out of style. Well, to be honest, I feel like it has gone out of style.  I figured it was time to start exercising our vocabulary (I do have a young reader and an emerging reader in the house; so, totally appropriate) and highlight a new word to replace our use of the word "awesome" and reflections on all the "awesomeness" we hope to accomplish.  It's hard picking a word to sum up greatness.  But, well, I like a challenge and lo, I say to you: this will be a MAGNIFICENT year.

 
 

I use mind maps (you can call them something else if you want, but I call them mind maps, so that's what I am going with) when I teach introductory research classes at the library.  Students seem to like them; I like them too, they are... MAGNIFICENT (see what I did there?). In any case, there is a site called Think Map, which is puts the fun in functional (yep, that's right, I am on fire, people), so I mapped out possible new word contenders.  The candidates had to be words that my family and I don't normally think to use.  So there were words that I tossed out right away: great, fabulous, neat, keen, cool (obviously), amazing...the main two that were left were magnificent and brilliant.  I like "brilliant" but when I mapped it out, I was not as impressed as I was with magnificent (and all of its derivations), so that's what we are going with.  Magnificent.

 

I don't like to compare things too much, but all things being equal, it's not too hard to improve upon last year for me, at least craft wise.  Though I will share my portrait of the kids that I shot last December, which I think was rather fantastic, or rather, magnificent.

 

Craft wise, 2013 was a year of starts for me; I had hoped that it would be a year of finishes; but, well, we don't always get what we want.  I started a new job, which sort of twisted the routine of my whole life; and then my kids started getting involved in all of these weird kid activities (sports, scouts, music, etc.) which as a parent you get sucked into by default because, well, the kids can't really manage themselves, right?  But I think I have figured things out, and we (that was royal, obviously) are now back to the business of craft around these parts.  I am excited about getting my hands back into all the MAGNIFICENCE that is all things fiber-y. And I am excited to talk about it all again (...blog, what?).

 

So here is to a year of magnificence!  Join me, won't you?