novamade

novakkah 2014, day 4

You know what I did today?  No, probably not.  In addition to doing a little physical therapy for a back injury, I also had acupuncture.   If you are thinking, "Nova, you don't seem like the sort of person to subscribe to the theory of acupuncture solving your problems," I would have been inclined to agree with you last week.  I tried it for the first time last week after no pain relief, and I was magically mobile.  You know what?  I am not going to question it.  If it works, it works.  So it's a sort of gift to myself, really.  

If someone had told me prior to this go around of back pain that I would be paying someone to stick needles in my body, I would have said that someone was insane.  But well,there you are.  In any case, the back thing is bringing me down.  I have a lot of quilting that I need to get done.  I have a graduation quilt to get done as well as a quilt to finish for a farewell gift for a co-worker.  In case you were wondering, back pain is not conducive to getting any quilting done.  But that being said, since I am thinking of quilting, how about we make that theme of today's gift: could be fabric or notions, or patterns, or all of that.  I dunno.  The gift recipient will have to see. 

If you interested in being considered for this gift, please share: the best gift you have ever given someone, and why you believe this to be so... I have given a lot of gifts that I thought were pretty fabulous.  I think I got the best warm and fuzzies this past January when I gave Special K a pair of handknit socks for his birthday.  My husband is a practical man.  He doesn't really care for fancy, he cares more about  functional.  I had some old school, buy-it-from-the-craft-store sock yarn, and I knit him some socks with it.  I didn't think they were that special; but, he loved them (the handknit wool socks keep his feet warm when shoveling snow, pro tip).  I love it when other people love the gifts I give them; and,  if they don't, I love it when they lie about it.

I will take comments for this post, and all Novakkah posts, until 11:59 EST (or 2359, should you prefer that), Monday, May 12th. Please leave your responses on the appropriate post.  One entry per post/person.  Giftees will be selected on the 13th and gifts sent out shortly thereafter.

the sixth day of novakkah (2013)

On the sixth day of novakkah my true love gave to me...  You know, it takes a thoughtful man to recognize that gift quality is not always about the size of the giftbox.  K's comment about my gifts today was, "kinda low rent..."  Um, but the most useful thing ever?!  For those of you who don't know, my husband is all about useful gifts, I won't reiterate my first Christmas gift as his wife story again...it's somewhere in the novakkah archives posts; but, let's just say, that his gift-giving skills have improved drastically.  That being said, a girl who quilts and sews needs needles for her sewing machine(s).  These won't work in all my machines, but they will work int he work horses that I use for piecing and sewing non-quilt things.  My husband gave me 200 sewing machine needles today.  That's kind of awesome.  I can now match a needle to each spool of thread...well, let's just not go there...

Speaking of sewing machines (what? It's better than yesterday...a little bit?)  I talked earlier about sending my Little Gracie frame off to a new home.  It's a necessity because, well, there is a new member of the family...

I did so much research about longarms (you know, I am a librarian, a reference librarian, as it were--it's what we do...research...).  I will talk more about my process in another post.  I just wanted to mention how I would be spending my day tomorrow (when I am not tie-dyeing...I am so praying for rain).  We bought this machine at the New England Quilt Festival last month (or MQX if you prefer).  It's not really a birthday present (well, K said it's a "any gift giving occasion you can think of for the next three years" present, but you know, he is a funny guy); but, putting it together the day before the drop, well, it's just so celebratory. 

Anyway... you are probably wondering what today's gift is, so glad you asked.  How about a boxbag?  I have a whole bunch in various stages of finish right now, and need to sit down and finish them to get them off my wip shelf.  I am pretty sure I have one in a color that will accomodate you (or, we can chat about your final selection), to get a novamade boxbag of your very own, please tell me: what is the most practical gift (yet most appropriate or appreciated--I am not talking an electric can openere here, ahem) gift you have either given or received?

I will take comments for this post, and all Novakkah posts, until 11:59 EST (or 2359, should you prefer that), Sunday, May 12th (also, Mother's Day!).  Please leave your responses on the appropriate post.  One entry per post/person.  I will show you what I have to gift each day and let you know what you need to tell me to try to get it.  Giftees will be selected on the 13th and gifts sent out shortly thereafter.

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.

snow day best

 
Lest you think that the only thing I accomplished in January was list generating, allow me to disabuse you of this notion.  I did, in fact, get quite a bit of crafting done.  While the quilting last month was haphazard with not an iota of focus, the knitting, surprisingly, was extremely focused.  So I finished a pair of socks.  Don't be too impressed.  They were started during the middle of last year, with the intention of finishing them for a Christmas giveaway; but, then I got involved in the whole real estate game involving the buying and selling of houses and, well, you know the rest of it.
In any case, socks.  They aren't fancy.  After receiving the Lichen Rib socks last year, Special K commented that "handknit socks are, actually kind of nice...and if [I'd] like to make more, they would be perfect for shoveling snow."  While most knitters would take this as an affront to their mad knitting skillz ("You want socks to shovel snow? In handknit socks?!  Handknit socks are to be put upon feet to be admired!  Oh, woe!"), or what have you,  I take it as a compliment, because my significant other is nothing, if not practical.  It is rare that he is ever in want of anything frivolous. Kitsch is not part of his vernacular.  If the item can not be deemed "utilitarian" in some way, it's a thing that Special K neither wants or needs. 
One would think that my tendency to hoarde raw materials of the craft variety  could drive this man, who I deem Special, to hysteria; but, he is really supportive  and somewhat enabling when it comes to me and my accumulation of all that is various and sundry, as he is a subsciber to the "happy wife, happy life" philosophy of marriage.  It's true.  So, that being said, the very least I could do was knit the man some socks for Christmas his birthday.  I finished them with time to spare really. 
                                     I used Nancy Bush's "Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock" pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks.  My only modification was to eliminate that purl stitch down the center of the back of the leg that seems so prevalent in vintage knitted hosiery.  The yarn, in case you were wondering--and, you know you were--is the Black Olive colorway in Hello Yarn sock yarn dyed by Adrian Bazilia.    The socks are perfect in every way from color to fit.  And I think this will likely be my go-to pattern when knitting socks for K because the man knows what he likes and he likes these socks (and so do I, those are my feet, by the way--while too big on me, the socks are a perfect fit for K).

what can you do with a ball of sock yarn?

  
 
It's not a trick question, the obvious answer is, of course, make a pair of socks (and also, I was flummoxed for a title for this post); but, if you think about it, you can do so much more. You can (or at least I can, I have no idea what your ability is, but you are probably just as capable as I) really make someone's day by knitting them a pair of socks.

Handknit socks say: "you are special," "I like you" (enough to slog through hours of monotonous knitting on really tiny needles), "I am concerned about the possibilty that you might get frostbite on your toes and wanted to help prevent that", and I guess other things that could pretty much be covered by the first two statements.  Regardless, the act of making handknit socks for someone means that you consider that person worth a good amount of your time, particularly so when the person has big feet.

  
I like my husband a goodly amount (probably a good thing), and when he asked me to knit him a pair of socks 3 years ago (I know, let's not go there), I was excited that he was actually requesting something handknit.  So I found a good solid pattern without a lot of bells and whistles (while I like bells and whistles and what-have-yous, my husband is not a fan).  I opted to go with Nancy Bush's Lichen Rib socks from Knitting Vintage Socks , because it's Nancy Bush, how can you go wrong?

  
Well, let me tell you how you can go wrong.  At first I followed the pattern completely and this is what led to the hiatus on these socks.  After I finished the first sock, K asked if it was supposed ot be uncomfortable.  Um, well, no.  The pattern, as vintagely written and retranslated by Ms. Bush has you putting purl stitches in the center of the heel and the toe.  While I thought it sounded a little crazy pants when knitting the first sock, I figured, well, it's Nancy (as though I know her and we are friendly), obviously she knows what is best.  Okay, Knitters, I ask you, would you want to be walking about on a sock with a purl bump down its center (for all practical purposes)?  No, of course you wouldn't, neither would your spouse.  I should have went with my gut and just done the heel and toe as I normally do, but I didn't and because I knew K would never wear this sock (or it's mate for that matter), into the UFO pile it went.  And then, last month, I picked it up again, ripped back, re-knit the sock and its mate and now everyone is happy.  The sock has gone from being "the most uncomfortable thing ever" to being the catalyst for the requesting of more knit socks...by everyone is my household with a y-chromosome.

And there is so much yardage in a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy (which really is quite smooshy, if we are being truthful) that you (or at least "I") can knit a pair of socks for the large-footed and then quickly crank out a pair of cute Stay on Baby Booties to boot (if the baby is a girl, she is going to look fierce in these booties--so very avant garde, no?).

 
Sock yarn is really full of win.

i went, i saw, i ate, and i even did some knitting

 
The novamade fam went away on holiday last week.  It was spring break for us, so we took a break.  While I had every intention of telling you about our trip before we left...I just never got around to it, and now the trip has happened so the joyful anticipation of a trip about to happen is now just a wistful remembrance of greatness, because coming home forces one back into the reality of work, schedules and responsibility.  Oh, I do love vacation.  With that being said, my family went to France last week and we had a fabulous time.

 
Special K and I have long been of the "you don't change your lifestyle because you have kids" camp, but the reality is, kids will, inevitably, change your life and the way you live it (because, seriously, if you are waking up at three in the morning to comfort a child needing cuddles, a blanket, a snack, or whatever children need when the wake up in the wee hours of the morning, long before they should be awake--its going to have an impact on your day/life/your need for additional coffee, etc.). 

 
One of the things that we have always enjoyed is travel, and while we do a fair bit of travel in and about the U.S. (which is sort of a requirement when you live in one corner of the continent and your family lives on opposite corners), we hadn't ventured outside the U.S. with the kids, and we felt like it was time.  So we made the decision to finally go to France so we (and by "we", I mostly mean Special K) could see the D-Day Beaches at Normandy (but mostly the American Cemetery).

 
We stayed in a small village in Normandy situated right on the Seine called Connelles.  It was beautiful, it was charming, and it was a good "base of operations" from which to plan daily excursions.  While we spent most of our time exploring the Normandy region, we did venture into Paris a few times.

  
 
I am not going to lie, international travel with young children is a lot of work.  But at the same time, I think traveling with young children offers the parental units a different perspective on the travel experience.  The last time K and I were in Paris we planned everything with military precision, which, given who we are, isn't too surprising, I suppose.  I am sure we enjoyed our time at the moment, but we didn't take as much time as we could have (or should have) to really savor the experience.  Kids sort of force you to do that.  We spent a lot of time looking at the Eiffel Tower because Little Sir became obsessed with it. 

We spent less time looking and walking through cathedrals because Little Sir articulated a desire to spend less time walking about gothic structures which dwarfed him. 

 
We spent tons of time walking about cities and villages because Little Mister is in a hate/hate relationship with his stroller right now. 

 
And we went to a French McDonald's, Toys R Us and Disneyland Paris, things we would have never done before we had kids, because our children were pretty cooperative and deserved kid-geared activities for their own enjoyment.

 
We had fun.  And we want to do the international-thing again sometime, but maybe when the kids can actually walk on their own without needing to be carried at great length...or when they are tall enough not to wander under turnstiles in the Paris Metro station with a carnet ticket...

 
I am not going to go into much more detail here.  If you are interested in our trip to France, there is a nice and tidy set on flickr (with narration and everything!) that you are welcome to zip through.

When I packed my bags for the trip, I was pretty sure there would be time for knitting.  I wasn't sure what to take at first, but because of Elinor's new sock contest (are you playing?!) I have a renewed interest in sock knitting, and I just happened to have two mateless socks (they have been mateless for years...seriously, I forgot they were there, that's how old they are).  I took two socks and thought I'd get them done.

 
They aren't done yet; but, by the end of the month, I will be able to say I finished two pairs of socks, I am sure.  I will have a lot to say about them (as you can imagine), because there are reasons they have been stewing for years...

Okay, enough yammering from me, go and flash some green and go about pinching the greenless, you know, if you are into that sort of thing.

Happy Shamrock Day!

millinery

 I have been on something of a hat knitting binge lately.

At first I wanted to knit a small baby hat for a special little boy; but, not something babyish perse.  I really liked Jared's Turn a Square pattern, so thought I would baby-fy it. I think it should fit a 3 month old's head, but all I have around here are the heads of an almost 4 year old and a 1 year old who measures more like he's 2.  Speaking of those heads...

 
When Little Sir saw the hat, he felt strongly that he, too, should have one, so I made him one.

 
And then he reminded me that his little brother still didn't have a handknit hat, which was true.  So I made him one too.

 
And then I figured that Special K should have a birthday hat, since he is very much into the whole functional gift thing.  It's good too because it goes nicely with his Noro scarf made for a birthday gift 2 years ago.

 
After knitting all these hats for everyone else, I thought I should knit myself one.

 
I had some Cherry Tree Hill Possum Merino Worsted that I bought years ago.  I am not sure why I bought it, but I did.  It has been sitting in my stash for a while now, so I decided to knit a skein of it. With some of the Noro left over from the mitered mittens I made last month.  I should have known something was wrong while I was knitting the hat.  My hands started itching, my eyes were watering, I was coughing and sneezing.  And then I wore the hat and I broke out in hives...so yes, I am allergic to possum. 

 
I gave the hat to my friend Emily, she is not allergic to possum.  I am not sure if my allergy to rodent hair/fur/fiber is necessarily a good thing or a bad thing; but, there you are.

birthday celebrations

 

A very good friend of mine had a birthday earlier this month, and I wanted to do my part in helping her celebrate her day of good fortune (no one loves a birthday like I love a birthday, it's true), so I made her a pair of mittens.  Because she lives in a chilly and snowy place where winter wear is required to function, I figured she wouldn't mind winter gear that was cute as well as functional.  And since I know she knows how to knit, she would appreciate the knitted goodness that are handknit mittens.

 
I have been wanting to knit Elizabeth Zimmermann's Mitered Mittens pattern for quite some time now, probably ever since I saw Maritza's, and that was well over a year ago.  I am not sure why I waited so long.  They are not difficult or overly time-consuming; and, they are an enjoyable knit (especially if knit with Noro--I bet dyed handspun would be pretty awesome too, actually).  And, as with most EZ patterns, the construction is pure genius.

 
I made two modifications: first, I used Grace's thumb mods that she posted on the Kathryn Ivy blog because most people prefer to have their mitten thumbs where they should logically be; and, secondly, I made the mitten tips less elf-like by stopping the decreases sooner and grafting the tips.  The end result is a nice little birthday treat, if I do say so myself.

 
In addition to helping a friend out west celebrate a birth anniversary, I helped celebrate one on the home front, too.  Special K celebrated another year of aging earlier this week.  He is not that into celebrating, but since his wife and his children are into birthday hootishness, that's moot.  There were many balloons and much cake consumption, as you can imagine.

finishes and starts

 
Hey there, Happy  New Year!  I hope 2010 is treating you all well, thus far.  My back went out just before Christmas (if you see it, please do send it back my way), so productivity was low; but, thanks to the power of pain management, sedation was high.  I hope the holidays had you merry.

 
I am loathe to throw all of the projects I finished at the end of the year in one post; but, that is exactly what I am going to do, because spreading them out now seems silly.  I did, indeed, finish Special K's vest (I am sure you were all wondering).

 
I am not going to lie, I hated knitting this thing.  I loved the yarn, butt he stitch pattern, I think, is completely lost.  It was not the prescribed yarn, but the one suggested was tweed too.  The pattern came from the Queensland Collection Book 9 pattern book, the designs are by Jane Ellison; and, there are, perhaps, some of the most interesting knit designs for men in this little gem of a book.  The pattern I knit is called Adam.  The book has tons of amazing sweater patterns, and that is why I bought the book...but Special K was all about the vests.  He picked out two other vests from the book.  Why do I even bother?

I also knit some socks.  Just plain and simple stockinette socks.  I made them for charity, which is a first for me.  I am not a selfish knitter by any means, I just usually have a particular recipient in mind. 

 
The Cherry Tree Hill Super Sock yarn was probably the first sock yarn I ever purchased, which means I have had it for years.  Years, people.  So I knit it.

 
And then I made some Christmas stockings. 

I actually started them in 2008 right after Christmas, I sewed the tops  on and stitched names in last year (2009!)... on Christmas Eve...while heavily medicated (the stitching leaves much to be desired, as you can probably imagine; but, I anticipate having to make new stockings for everyone when the boys start to either 1) think the fabric of the current stockings are uncool, or 2) think calling the 'rents "Mommy and Daddy" is totally gauche instead opting for "Mom or Dad" are dropping parental titles entirely and just refer to us by first names, as Little Sir is fond of doing now.  No, really.  He is.  

 

The stockings are the only things I actually made for Christmas this year, and I am okay with that .

So those were my finishes.  I have a lot of starts, but we will save my crafting starts for later.  Here is a teaser though.

 
I am pleased to report that last evening, at approximately 7:15 EST (or 1915, if you prefer), Little Mister took his first independent steps.  Four of them.  In a shocking turn of events his motivation had nothing to do with food; but instead, the boy was trying to get to his brother and a laundry basket.  Whatever works.  Jill guessed the exact day and will get to choose her prize.  Happy kick off to 2010, friends!