novamade

a jolly wonderful wallaby

While this Wonderful Wallaby is indeed wonderful, marvelous even, I have always liked the word jolly.  Since I kept thinking of the Jolly Green Giant while knitting this wallaby for Little Sir, I am going with that (and also, jolly just happens to be one of my favorite adjectives, I have no idea why).

This sweater took a bit longer than it really had to, it's a very easy sweater. But because I don't have the ability to knit monogamously, it seemed to take forever.  I should have gotten back to it sooner, this sweater is a nice little knitting ego boost (super easy, super quick!). The Elizabeth Zimmermann inspired pullover is another example of genius construction, truly seamless (underarm grafting aside). 

I was originally going to make a red one (Little Sir looks FABULOUS in red).  But I had all of this gorgeous green on hand, it seemed like a good idea.  I think it worked out well, clearly Little Sir thinks so.

I subbed in a seed stitch border for the ribbing because, like Ms. Frick, I just happen to like seed stitch--it's the cat's pajamas.  I also made the hood longer than suggested because Little Sir is very much a Big Sir when it comes to the size of his noggin (and his stomach for that matter).

I made the wallaby much larger than it really needed to be.  It's supposed to be for next winter, as the New England summers do not make a pullover necessary, really.  I also have come to the realization that I think my kid is larger than he actually is, the sweater is huge; but, that just means he will wear it for longer...right?

So yes, we heart the Wonderful Wallaby.  Even if we will have to handwash this one.

Wonderful Wallaby, aka Jolly

Pattern: Wonderful Wallaby

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino Aran, 323005 (why don't we just call it Pine Green), 4.5 balls

Needles: US 8 Bamboo Circs and dpns

Modifications: Seed stitch in for ribbing, longer hood

I love the jolliness of this particular Wonderful Wallaby, but I think the concept of the sweater is pretty spectacular.  As many who have already made it have said, I am sure I will be making this again (there is a flickr group, just for wallabies!!).  Have you made one?  If you haven't, you should.  Seriously.

koo koo for koigu

Last month was all about celebration, this month is going to be all about knitting--which really is its own sort of celebration, kind of.  Maybe a little spinning with a drop spindle will be thrown in too; but yes, back to the knitting.

Do you remember this Koigu?

I decided to use it for Pomatomus socks.  I have always liked the pattern and, though I am not usually wild about yellow, I love this yarn.  There is some serious Koigu factor going on here.

So I cast on for the first sock, got through the first repeat and thought, "I am not going to have enough yarn."  Ripped. 

Cast on, got through the first repeat by starting in the middle of the first repeat nad thought, "huh, the pattern says subtle yarnovers, my yarnovers are not so subtle."  Ripped. 

I Cast on again and thought, "surely, the not-so-subtle yarnovers are because I skipped the set up row and thus did not make a foundation for the stitch pattern."  No, not so much.  Here is the thing.  When you knit Koigu with size 2 needles, you are going to get fabric that is a little loosey-goosey (well, if you are me you will, I suppose I can't really speak for others).  Now, I could have gone with a size 1 needle, but I liked the fit of the sock knit on size 2s (what can I say, my calves and feet are shapely and not so dainty).  So loose yarnovers it is. 

After stalling obsessing pondering the pattern a bit, I just started knitting and then realized that it was 3 in the morning.  That is the power of Koigu (are you Kookoo for Koigu too?).  In order to maintain a sense of sanity, I had to put it away for awhile. (And I still don't know if I will have enough yarn...I am living on the wild side here...and the power of Koigu compels me.)

And because actually finishing garments is a useful thing, I went back to Little Sir's sweater, because as Diana pointed out, it's been a while since we saw the kid in handknits (of his own--Chevron scarves don't count).

It's thisclose to being done.

This post would be a Project Spectrum parade...if it weren't the first day of June.

I hope you all have fabulous weekends!

post-chevy obsessiveness

I was so dedicated to finishing the second Chevron scarf that I let some other projects fall by the wayside.  I don't have as many works in progress as some, but there is at least one sweater for Little Sir that I would like to wrap up.  And then there is this, my newest obsessive knit:

I started this ages ago, but because of my inability to read the pattern properly, I had to rip and start over (if you are doing a left twist --at least for Trellis-- don't forget to knit in the backs of the loops when knitting two together...just some advice from me to you).  This is a gift for a friend of mine.  I have till the 16th of June to finish it.  If I was a monogamous knitter that would be possible--easy even; but monogamy in crafts has never worked for me...especially with stuff like this lying around:

How am I to resist the call of Koigu?  Koigu is so obsession inducing, I can't fight the power.  And this Koigu is so Project Spectrum.  I was tempted to knit simple but fun toe-up socks, but I wonder if I have enough yardage to do these...

And then there is my newest addiction.  Do you remember that "learn to spin" kit a got at MDSW?  Well, I worked through the freebie roving in the bag

While it may not be all glamorous and beautiful to you, I am ridiculously giddy and impressed with myself.  Special K was really impressed too (I think he was more impressed with my make-shift lazy Kate--which we are now calling the "Lazy Nova"  which is so extraordinarily appropriate, it's a little sad).

So yes, this spindling thing, in case you didn't know, it's as addicting as knitting. I just ordered a new featherweight spindle from the Goldings (I love them, go order a spindle and give them some of your money so I don't feel compelled to give them all of mine) to try spinning some lace weight that I will try and knit a shawl from for the Spun Stitches KAL, I figured it would be a nice summer challenge for myself; because as lazy as I am, I still like a challenge. 

It's a little scary how one obsession ends and another or others begin.  Scary; but fun.  What about you, obsess much?

not the jet set

I had such great hopes for this yarn.

I thought these skeins were going to be perfect for their intended purpose, especially after I wound them up.

 

But no.

So now I am trying to figure out other options.

Decisions, decisions...similar; but different.

And lest you think that all I do is think about Chevron Scarves, let me show you this little piece of wonderfulness.

And there are a pair of socks, that are as good as done, to be finished up this weekend.  I don't have anything planned for this weekend besides a haircut (badly needed) and rediscovering my domestic side (in regards to the cleanliness of my home--also badly needed), so I should have time to get some toe grafting done, at the very least.  I hope your weekends allow for knitting, quilting, or whatever other happiness you have planned.
 

starting small

As we packed our car for the drive up to Vermont on Friday I grabbed Little Sir's hat that I made a few months back.  I figured, Vermont=cold, cold=hat, right?  The only problem?  The cute hat was way too small.  Somewhere in the past four months, Little Sir's noggin got really big (like the rest of him, I guess).  So I grabbed that random ball of Cashmerino Aran from the Project Spectrum resource stash and knit the kid another hat.

It's just another simple basic hat using Ann Budd's great template-y book, the only reservation I had was the length of the hat, I think it a little longish, but that's okay.  The hat serves its purpose, it keeps the kid's head, ears and forehead warm, which really was the point. 

He didn't have it to sport about town while in Vermont (which was fabulous, by the way; if you are looking for a good place to knit in southern Vermont visit the good people at Nutmeg  Country Inn in Wilmington, Gerry and Sue will treat you right (and best of all they feed you the best of all possible breakfasts to get you started for a long day of skiing or knitting or whatever else you can think of); but since I finished the hat on the way back home yesterday Little Sir was able to wear it to school this morning.

While in Vermont I made a few yarn purchases, nothing ridiculous, just a few things that called out to me in persuasive hushed tones, you know how it is.  I went to a farm that sells handspun yarn and bought two skeins of fingering weight merino, it's soft and luscious and smells like nature itself.  I also visited a local yarn shop in Wilmington which is still in the process of being set up.  I originally went in thinking, "oh, I can get some other shade of Cashmerino to make a hat of stripey goodness for Little Sir (a la Ashley's hat for Isaiah), but no luck on that front, there was no Cashmerino to be found...but there was plenty of Koigu and Rowan Yorkshire Aran Tweed 4-ply (on sale even, you know it's been discontinued, snap it up when you can).  The colors are bright and shocking and totally not me, but we all need to mix things up some times.  I will share the outrageousness of color in the not too distant future, I wouldn't want to shock you too much.  So instead I leave you with a small touch of gray, which is quite kid friendly, if you think about it.

Basic Toddler Hat

Pattern: from Ann Budd's A Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, 1 skein (I had 8 inches of yarn left)

Needles: Bamboo DPNs, US 5

Modifications:  None, just followed the template for the appropriate size and style

A very simple knit.  This took less than four hours to knit, it could have taken less time if I had not unnecessarily knit the prescribed length for the crown, like I said, a bit longish.  Sometimes you need to be careful with the Budd book, use your best judgement--be the boss of your knitting, and all that.

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.

for cuteness sake

Small Hat with Stars or the Orange Snowflake
Pattern: from Small Sweaters: Colorful Knits for Kids by Kolstad and Takle

Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style in Butternut and Asparagus

Needles: Bamboo Circs and DPNs, US3

Modifications:Yarn substitution, pattern calls for Rauma Strikkegarn

At some point during decreasing the crown of the toddler hat it occurred to me that this hat serves no functional purpose at all.  It's just cute.

Being of the practical sort, I was kind of annoyed with the impracticality of this hat at first.  It doesn't cover the ears, it hardly covers the head for goodness sake... And then taking another look through the book I noticed that the author very clearly notes that some of the hat designs "do not cover the ears" and in the modeled picture of this hat, it barely covers the kid's head (no, seriously it looked like it was about to fall off!)...  This hat is truly small, but it's supposed to be that way, I guess. 

I had to agressively block this hat to get it to fit a human head, pre-blocking, I couldn't even get it on Little Sir's head.  Using a (very practical) mixing bowl I was able to stretch it to a size that is just a tad bigger than Little Sir's noggin.  Don't let the baby face fool you, he is a tank...and really, he has a freakishly large head for a baby (it's cute, but it's large--maybe this means he'll be a genius one day?).

So anyway, this was my first colorwork project (and my first project for the Stranded KAL), and if you look closely, you will see that this was clearly a "learning piece."  I tried knitting with two hands and then with one hand picking up and dropping strands as needed...and I learned that I am a very (no, a VERY tight knitter), but this was good for the learning of the knitting craft... To be honest, most things I have made up to this point are learning pieces; but, this one was especially so.  The Orange Snowflake, as I am calling it, is actually a Christmas gift for my niece.  During a visit in October she mentioned that her favorite color was orange.  I was skeptical at first, but she said it with such conviction, I had to attribute her certainty to her genuine like of the color and not so much the pumpkinish climate of October.  So, I hope she still likes orange...and green for that matter, because that is what she's getting on Christmas day!

A word about this book, it was translated from Norwegian and it has more charts than written directions (good thing I learned how to read and use charts last month)...  So there are a lot of charts and not so much handwritten instructions, which is okay if you are good with charts.  The book is full of (as one would assume from the title) colorful sweaters for the wee ones (older kids too).  It's an older book (printed in 1996, so not that old), so one would have to use one's own discretion about how fashionable or stylish they are, some of them are simply there...for cuteness sake.

last minute knitted gift

After my experience with the Swallowtail Shawl (thank you for the lovely comments), I realized that babies have been born, and I have been remiss in my gifting for them.  A friend of mine gave birth to a little girl at the beginning of October...I can't remember the last time I made anything for a girl!  So I needed something, quick...last minute...knitted... So naturally I turned to LMKG, this little hat is great!  A quick easy knit and supremely satisfying when you weave in the ends.  Because the baby is in Florida, I figured cotton was key, so I used the specified yarn (if you haven't used the 1824 cotton, I highly recommend it, it's scrumptious...for cotton.  I think the hat took me 5 hours,  and that was only because the i-cord ribbon took so long and I checked the internet to find corrections that I didn't feel like figuring out on my own...gotta love the internet--why reinvent the wheel?

Children's Cotton Hat

Pattern: from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts, with corrections courtesy of Alison

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Cotton in Coral

Size: the middle size for a baby--kind of big, but she'll grow into it

Needles: Bamboo Circular, US 6; Susan Bates Aluminum dpn's, US 6

Modifications: Just encorporated Alison's corrections

This is a super easy pattern, once you are aware of the corrections you need to make for the larger sizes.  For whatever reason, I didn't read through the pattern and just started knitting.  Very silly, when I know that the book has errata all over the place... but it's pretty obvious when you get to the yarnovers to make the holes for the ribbon.  This is a cute pattern and it knits up ridiculously fast.  Which is perfect when you need a last minute knitted gift!

Totally unrelated to the hat and knitting, books...so I haven't changed my "look what I am reading" section for a while, though I have been reading other things.  I found the True Story of Hansel and Gretel somewhat depressing but a rewarding read, all the same.  It was enlightening to read about the Holocaust from the perspective of children(all be it a fictionalized account). 

And then there was Sarah Waters' Night Watch...What a waste of my time.  I usually LOVE Waters' books, I have always been a fan of her understanding of relationships and her attention to historical detail; but, perhaps it was the attention to historical detail that had me snoozing through this book.  I just couldn't take it, and because I can't just not read a book that I have started, of course I slogged through it.  If you like historical fiction, you might enjoy this book.  If you like historical fiction that moves past the pace of a trickle of maple syrup, this book is probably not for you.  1940s London has never been so dull for me...and I love historical fiction and I am something of an Anglophile...I just found the book a bore which surprised me since, as I said, I am a fan...

Knitting continues on the Seamless Hybrid, just a bunch of stockinette still, so nothing uber-facinating to flash.  Finishing up Hedera, for Lacevember this time (you know, since Socktober was such a success for me); I am also casting on for the Shetland Triangle Shawl in Wrap Style, for myself...because I am worth it.  And then there is the Christmas gift knitting...

what all the fashionable kids are wearing

Yesterday when I picked up Little Sir from school, I realized that all the other kids had hats on.  Connecticut has some chilly weather going on and I was caught unprepared.  So I needed to "get a hat" for Little Sir, because as much hair as he has, it's just not enough to keep his head warm in the New England chill.  So while Little Sir slept last night, I got him a hat...or rather, I knit him one...because that is what mothers-who-knit do, apparently. 

 

It was a quick knit, four hours and voila, he had a hat to wear this morning.  It is a little on the light side; but, it's good enough for the fall.  I think I will make him another one and knit the yarn double stranded for extra thickness (and warmth) for the winter months.  If there is any yarn left over after that, maybe I will knit him some mittens too...because baby mittens, they have no thumbs!

I rarely like variegated or hand-dyed (multi) yarn for anything other than socks, but I thought the colors were fun and for a kid's knit, it works; and, it makes Little Sir oh so fashionable, don't you think?  I mean, is this kid "fierce" or what?  Yeah, I knitted during American's Next Top Model last night...

Little Sir likes it!

Basic Hat for a Baby

Pattern: Taken from Ann Budd's A Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns

Yarn: Some superwash hand-dyed merino I picked up on vacation in Halifax, Nova Scotia last summer..."brandless"

Size: 6-18 months

Needles: Bamboo Circular, US 8/5.0 mm; Bamboo DPNs, US 8/5.0 mm

Modifications: None, I just followed the given guidelines and picked and chose options accordingly.

An easy knit that took no time at all, really.  It's a hat, not so hard.  Knit one for someone you love today!

second verse same as the first

...except smaller and in reverse.  I finished the smaller raglan over the weekend.  The main and complementary colors are reversed from Little Sir's sweater finished last week.  I figured I would have Little Sir model, he wasn't so enthusiastic about the photo shoot though; but, I think the sweater will fit a 3-6 month old baby rather well, which was the goal.

The sweater fit so well, I entertained keeping it for Little Sir; but, no--it was made for someone else, after all.  So here are the specs:

Baby Raglan Sweater

Pattern: Taken from Erika Knight's Knitting for Two

Yarn: TLC Cotton Plus, MC Mint, CC Spruce

Size: 3-6 months

Needles: Bates Circular US 9/5.5 mm, Brittany Birch US 8/5.0 mm

Modifications: Again, I knit it in the round.  Also, after learning that I have gauge issues when switching to straight needles from circulars I went down a needle size to compensate.

Having finished the two sweaters that were just hanging around my knitting basket, I figured it was time to cast on the Swallowtail Shawl from the Fall 2006 IK, it was smooth sailing until I realized I had way more stitches than I should have and the design was looking a little wonky.  I chocked it up to lessons learned and re-cast on...the experience was, in a word, humbling.

Aside from the Hedera socks, this is my first foray into lace.  I think after the initial fits and starts I understand what is supposed to happen; but, I suppose we'll see, won't we?

I also ordered some yarn to make Special K (aka Mr. Archivist) a sweater.  He has problems finding sweaters that fit his long torso and arms properly, I am using this knitalong to get me through the project.  Having seen Brooklyn Tweed's marvelous results (go here), I think it a good choice for Mr. Archivist.  I would like to start this sweater by Saturday, so hopefully my yarn will arrive sooner rather than later.