Woolly Mutts

Jumping in with both needles

Today is Thursday, Nov 3.  Nov 2 is somewhat of a blur because in the waning hours of Nov 1 a ruthless intestinal bug waged war and kicked my digestive ass.  Literally.  So not pretty.  I am upright today, though still a little shy of functional.  It's not all bad, though.  This morning I got to have lovely red jello for breakfast.  Yum.  Said bug may have been karmic payback for spending Halloween night hiding behind closed curtains from the trick-or-treaters.  I dislike Halloween.  I also dislike anyone dressed up as someone they are not; including but not limited to Santa, clowns, mascots and the occasional zombie.  This stems from my father dressing up as Santa, forcing my 3 year old self to sit on his lap, and an extended fit of hysteria on my part. 

In knitting news, I have spent the last month or so knitting hats for the Marvelous Miss C.  I regret that no pics were taken because they were pretty fantastic.  I knit them all from this book:

Bambeanies by Woolly Wormhead .

I made Damsel (featured on the cover) Moochie, Quynn, and Pixetta...just in case anyone is interested.  You can purchase the book as a pdf on Rav or through the website.  I give it 5 stars.

So anyway, it was time to get down to knitting something from the very long que; something for just me.  I had 4 skeins of the really beautiful Malabrigo Twist (baby merino, super soft) in the 618 Liquid Ambar colorway...

..with intention of making Hawthorne from the Twist Collective.

I'm ready to have something warm and soft around my neck, over my coat, in my lap so I wound the balls, printed the pattern, gathered the needles and parked myself to begin.  I read the first line "cast on 311 stitches".  311?  Really?  Ok.  Then I read on to discover that the first 34 rows are offered in chart form only.  I have knitted frequently from charts.  I even like charts....but 34 rows of charts on 311 stitches?  I put it down and picked up some mindless cowl knitting which I put down again because I was bored sensless.  Maybe this is akin to writers block or a blank canvas that confounds, but I had to force myself to pick up those empty needles and force myself to cast on those stitches.  Then I made the classic mistake of knitting row one while watching television, came out with the wrong number of stitches at the end and ripped the whole thing out.  Row 1, epic fail, but I had my mojo back, casted on again and aced that first row and the second.  Yay.  I expect to spend a great deal of today knitting in between jello and nap breaks.  I have made peace with Hawthorne.

Random bits:

*I have become semi obsessed with The Vampire Diaries having just begun with season one via Netflix instantly.  However, watching it reminds me of how old I am.  For a teen drama there is a ridiculous amount of drinking, drugs, and sex.  Oh, and texting during class.  What ever happened to "just say no"?

* I've begun the holiday music enjoyment.  Pandora....I love you.

*I wish it would snow.  (I am not insensitive to all those out east still without power.  Sorry you guys.)

*18 days until AH leaves me for a week to visit his family in Houston.  I will be working almost the entire time he is gone, but I still wish he wasn't going, except for the times that I am glad he has the chance to go and enjoy time with his family. 

Hope your day includes something that makes you smile.

Weakness

In one of my favorite television programs, Lark Rise to Candleford, Dorcus Lane, when presented with a sweet, or a lovely gown, or a dinner with a handsome gentleman responds with, "It is my one weakness."  Bless her heart, the list grows with each show.  Like Miss Lane, I have a few weaknesses as well.  For instance, chocolate - currently in the form of the ridiculously decadent Magnum bar (I prefer the caramel variety)and baby smiles, especially from one precious Miss C.

I mean seriously, when was the last time you saw a child this adorable?  (Your own grandchildren not withstanding.) Fabric is a big weakness, all those possibilities on bolt after bolt, and then there is yarn.  Oh goodness, yarn.  Earlier in the year I had dedicated myself to knitting solely from my stash and not purchasing any more yarn....for awhile.  I passed up all the tempting emails from Webs and Sundara and Berroco regaling me with their sales and new fibers.  Yesterday I threw all good intentions away and attended the Midwest Fiber and Folk Festival in Grayslake with the plan to go forth, break any previous vows, and indulge my "one weakness" with a yarn purchase.  Oh happy day!  Dear friend Trina joined me on this trip to temptation and we had an absolutely lovely time.  Before leaving I consulted my Ravelry queue and went armed with a specific list in hopes of keeping some sense of purpose and direction.  This worked about as well as not going to the grocery store when  hungry.   Behold the new additions to the stash.

Beginning on the left, first purchase of the day was this great little basket to store all those knitting things you want to keep close.

It appears that I tossed the tag with the info which is a bummer.  The basket makers were an a very sweet older couple who had a large and interesting collection of baskets in all sizes.  Look for them at fiber festivals.  Good stuff.  Anyway, you can see that it has nifty compartments and a handle.  It is currently holding another purchase of alpaca yarn from HPKY which will be a super soft ombre bias shawl.  Also from HPKY is the box of green goodness that will be a scarf using yummy fiber and a silk scarf. 

Next up is the kit from Maggie Jackson who was featured by Yarns by Design from Neenah Wi. Maggie herself, who is the most adorable Irish woman who knows her stuff, helped me try on this and that until she won me over by a chocolate linen wonder of a kit that I am so awed by that I'm a little afraid to even open the bag.  Trina purchsed one, too, so we plan to have a  private little knit-a-long.  Such fun.  Not that she had to work very hard at it for Trina and I, but I think Maggie could probably sell an ice box to an eskimo. 

Next up is the thing I think I might be most excited about.  Across from HPKY was the booth from Ewetopia Fiber Shop located in Viroqua WI.  Along with the kind shop worker was her seriously adorable baby daughter, Mae.  Goodness was Mae a sweetie.  Maybe 5 months old and all smiles.  After spending some time cooing over Mae, I looked around and found this:

In the not too distand future Miss Cambria will be sporting a sweet and funky little dress with a knitted bodice and fabric skirt.  The yarn is Cascade Pima cotton and I also have this yarn in the stash in a great purple, so there may be multiples of this cute idea. 

Lastly there was one purchase that was actually from the list, 2 skeins of Madlinetosh Merino light in colorway Forestry to make this.  Also a skein of Brooks Farm Ellie to make the Ellie Shawl.

While we are talking knitting....have you seen the new Knitty?!  I have to say that there wasn't much in the last couple of issues that I was crazy about, but this issues has so many I hardly know where to start.  There is Creekbed  and Pretty Twisted (which I LOVE!!!!) and Kindling for Miss C and I crocodile and Commuter .

So, the stash has a few additions and I'm sure they will all play well together.  No question that I need to step up the knitting game and get those needles moving.  There are not enough knitting hours in the day!!!  I may be weak, but I sure am happy!  ♥

Fuzzy Baby Bunny Bumpers

Pattern: Blue Rabbits by Mel Clark found in The Knitter Issue 26.  Rav link here.

Yarn: Comfort DK

Everybody loves a bunny, right?  I've been intending to make an attempt at colorwork for some time now and when I saw these bunnies I decided Miss C needed a hoppy sweater.  Pattern calls for Sublime merino, but I had some Comfort and I do love using Comfort for little person things.  It does split some, but not enough for me to hate it.  (and I do hate splitting)  Pattern sizes are 6-12 months, 1-2 years and so on.  I was concerned that 6-12 might be too small, but 1-2 years too big so I decided to use worsted instead of dk and knit the smallest size.  WAY too big and was frogged.  (I also hate the frog)  After much hem and haw I decided to break the no-more-yarn rule and buy some dk.  (A moment of silence for our best local yarn shop, Unique Yarns, who goes out of business in April.   This ecomony sucks.)  Sizing seems right on the money now.

Colorwork....not sure I'm feeling the love.  Running the strands behind and getting the right tension is going to take some more practice.  I feel like it's going to be good in the end and it is entirely possible that I am obsessing about it too much.  (surprise)  As you can see, my rabbits are not blue.  I think pink and brown is much cuter.  I also made their bobble tails out of leftover angora so they would be uber fuzzy.   And shed all over the brown, but a small price for such adorableness.  The sweater has a hood and I'll make a fuzzy pom-pom for the tip. 

The pattern is easy to follow and construction is clever.  Hope the end result is good.  Definitely a learning experience.

When a scarf is not "just" a scarf.

Ok, I confess, I love a scarf.  I also love knitting scarves. Not so much the miles of garter scarves, but the ones with a little something special.  Enter Lynne Vogel.  Etsy link, Rav link.  I can't recall where I first saw the Starry Night Scarf, but it was love at first sight.

Please click to embiggen for best viewing.  See how the little swirls in the center of each square make it look like Van Gogh's Starry Night?  The squares are genius little creations that are fast and fun.  There is a lot of seaming, but I didn't mind at all.  I chose to make it a little longer than suggested, and in hindsight, probably not the best plan because now it is REALLY long.

Lynne's pattern calls for handspun, which I had none of so I went with leftover pieces of Noro Silk Garden and I think the result is sort of fantastic.  Can't wait for it to get cold enough to wear it. 

I had enough left over to make a pair of mittens to go with the scarf.

There are very few things I like to knit as much as mittens. I love that when I make my own I can make them to fit my hand exactly.  No fold over at the top.  They are fast and sort of mindless and they make me happy.  Which is really what it's all about, right? :-)

On the needles now is Lynne's Ripple Scarf, short version, from Knitty Spring 2009.

 

This pattern uses a very clever entrelac technique with two circular needles that took me minute to wrap my head around, but once the light dawned it's been smooth sailing.  The yarn is a yummy Malabrigo I picked up at Dragonfly in Janesville.  Thanks, Lynne, for writing such unique and interesting patterns!

 

On the needles

Along with movies and work and still feeling crummy (along with the majority of the Midwest) there has been knitting.  Currently on the needles:

Basic feather and fan comfort shawl using some stash Silk Garden.  Colors are a bit more intense than in the pic.  Love the pattern and how fast it grows, but not sure I'm completely in love with the colors.  Don't hate them enough to quit.  Great tv and movie knitting as the rows are getting long and only one in four require any sort of thinking. Hope blocking defines the pattern a bit more.

Boheme for baby CJ as a Valentine's Day gift using Briar Rose Grandma's Blessing. Last year's V-day included the very first knitted gift to a newly preggers mommy to put away for baby to come.  Cambria has already out grown them and a tradition of knitted offerings has been established.  Boheme is a sweet little baby vest that I'm hoping will fit now.  Sizing begins at 6mo so I went with smaller needles and a prayer of success to get something closer to a 3 mo size.  Nice pattern, especially after I figured out that YF is the same as YO.  Only had to rip back 3 rows.  I think I'm cruising along well now.  

I'm really trying hard to knit mostly from stash and it's easier than I expected. I still lust after the new and wonderful and plan to do some damage at Sheep in the City come February at the Briar Rose booth, but overall there is no reason I could not knit for years to come using only what is stored in the yarn closet. 

Contemplating making a purchase of a set of interchangeable needles and am leaning toward the Addis. Anyone have an review of them, or any other set, they would be willing to share?

Proof of Progress

It is way past time that I posted some sort of evidence that I am still knitting, (much less alive) despite my busier life of late.  An important element in my sanity equation is always having something on the needles.  In fact, I just now finished ripping out all 12 rows of my 241 stitch infinity scarf when I discovered a dropped stitch in row 3 of a yarn over row and every attempt to figure out how to fix it just made a bigger mess.  Some times you just have to rip...so I did.  More on that another time.  I'll cast on again this afternoon after I've had some time to forget the pain of the rip.

 

 

Project one is Noemi from the Berroco Norah Gaughan Collection Vol 1.  Ultra Alpaca Light.  Rav page here.  Loved this knit and was rather sad to bind off. Perfect pattern for those just beginning lace or chart reading.  I bought the yarn and pattern for this in Minnesota.  I think this might make a nice gift idea for a scarf lover on your list.  

 

Project two is Riverbanks and again with the love. The minute I saw this in the Fall Knitty I knew I had to make it. The construction is interestingly done, though not difficult if you just follow along and don't think too hard.  I can hardly wait until it gets cold enough to wear it.  Yarn is Silk Garden from my stash. Don't recall the color number. The second picture is more true to the color.  (I had no idea my nose was so big.) Rav page here.

 

Finally a pair of wild and funky mittens on that off chance that it will ever get cold enough around here to actually need mittens.  I used the "Olivia and Celia" pattern from Kristen Knits and I'm extremely happy with the sizing.  I have rather small hand and finding a mitten pattern that fits well is easier said than done.  I made the child's large/woman's small size with wonderful results.  Cuff is Manos (yellow) and Dream in Color (green) and the hand portion is Malabrigo; all remnants from other projects.  Lots of fun to do and super fast.

The weather here is making the majority of the population happy as can be.  I, on the other hand, am already listening to holiday music and scanning the horizon for snow.  Bring on Winter!!!

Serendipity

During our quick trip through the Stitches market several weeks ago I made a local discovery: Carol Sunday. Seeing that she was located in Roscoe, I stopped in, said hello, and instantly fell in love with her pattern for holly mittens.

(I have borrowed these images from Carol's website and please go there and view all of her beautiful designs.)

Having a name like Holly makes one pay attention to holly items, and perhaps also makes one VERY picky about said holly items.  These mittens are just divine and presented themselves at exactly the perfect time since I am just about ready to jump into the wonderful world of color work.

So, back to our story, I purchase the kit for the mittens and she tells me that, regrettably, she does not have the kits for my chosen colorway, but can send them to me.  I reply that I would be pleased to drive up and pick it up when ready to save her the shipping fees.  We agree that she will phone me when it is ready.  Last week the kit was ready, driving directions were given, and on Friday morning I headed the short distance north to pick up my kit.

Carol and her husband Robert live down an idyllic, tree lined road in a 160 year old stone house that I fell in love with the minute I saw it.  As soon as I pulled in the driveway and had a chance to take in the wonderfulness that is the Sunday home I wanted to wrap my arms around it and give it a hug.  For me, who is admittedly quirky, it was perfection. 

Carol was kind and welcoming and allowed me into her studio (again with the perfection) where I picked up my kit.  She was even kind enough to give me a tour of the inside of her home.  After this lovely meeting I bid her farewell, went back to my car and discovered...

.....that my keys and cellphone were locked inside.  Grrrr.  I hate when I'm stupid.  Luckily Amazing Husband was working from home and Carol kindly allowed me to use her phone to call for my rescue.  While I waited Carol offered me tea, but I was feeling terrible taking up more of her day since she was preparing for a show that she was leaving for in a couple of hours (if I could get my stupid, locked car out of her way), so I asked if I might walk around her property.  "As you wish" was her reply, which made me adore her even more. 

The next 20 or so minutes were so beautifully spent that I almost believe that powers beyond me were at work to make them happen.  I walked up and down the dirt road as leaves fell around me.  I saw geese fly overhead, absorbed the cool breeze, and made the acquaintance of several of the resident kitties.  Carol came back outside and we visited a few more minutes before AH arrived to unlock my car and send me on my way.

I do believe that occasionally, if we are lucky and open to the possibility, serendipity happens and we make discoveries that feed the soul.  I do hope you'll visit  Carol's website and see her beautiful designs and fiber.  She is a talented artist and a genuinely nice person.  I'll keep you posted on how the mittens turn out.  I also purchased a kit to make the Sunday Scarf which makes very creative use of short rows.  Carol also has a designer page on Ravelry.

I need something to knit and oh, duh.

More specifically, I need to decide WHAT to knit.  Now that the baby knitting is over, for now, I'm ready to knit something for myself, but can't decide what.  In the running right now are:

Ysolda Teague's beautiful Ishbel in this blue, purple, green Schaefer Yarn sock yarn.  I just adore Ysolda's patterns and I seem to be particularly in love with purple right now.  There is quite a lot of purple in the yarn....this pic does not do it justice.  Lots of stockinette at the top and then some great chart work at the bottom.   OR:

Kristen Kapu's High Line Shawl.  Also a fan of Kristen's designs and LOVE the large leaf pattern in this.  The yarn is so purpley fantastic that I could just set it on a table and love it forever without every knitting it into anything, but I want to.  It's a Briar Rose special edition....sort of chunky weight in all shades of purple.  (Hi Chris!!!)  Should this pattern be a solid color to show it to it's best potential?  I don't know.  I'm at a knitting crisis crossroads.  Should I knit them both? Neither?  Ack.  Ack.

Is anybody out there knitting something that they are so crazy in love with that I might have to knit one, too?  Am I missing something amazing? 

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To put a bit of closure on my "you need therapy" post.....

I've been obsessed, of late, with this song.  Youtube would not let me embed the video, but I'd appreciate it if you'd head over there and have a listen.  If you haven't the time, the general jist of the song is oppression. When I first started listening to the song, and when I say I've been obsessed, I mean I've listened to this song over and over and over again and again, I couldn't identify why it resonated with me so strongly.  My love life is perfect, I don't have any addiction issues, well, unless you count organic chocolate.  The melody is haunting.....but what, what, what.....and then I really listened to the lyrics........

Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone.

You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.

[CHORUS]
Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.

You loved me 'cause I'm fragile.
When I thought that I was strong.
But you touch me for a little while and all my fragile strength is gone.

[CHORUS]

I live here on my knees as I try to make you see that you're everything I think I need here on
The ground.
But you're neither friend nor foe though I can't seem to let you go.
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down

Keeping me down.  Oh.  Mother.  I'll begin looking for a therapist today .  Thanks to all of you who patiently waited for me to get to this place. 

A sweater with a zip.

Right off the bat I apologize for the less than great picture.  It's been rainy here this morning and I struggled to find light that would show off the color to it's best advantage.  Not much success with that. 

Another sweet baby sweater off the needles for baby CJ.  When I was immensely pregnant with Kysa I decided that knitting would take my mind off the fact that I was hot and huge, and it honestly worked.  I knit her a sweater very like the one I just completed for Cambria.  I found the pattern online as a free download after a lot of searching and overall, I was fairly happy with it.  There were a few times that I had to go with my experience as a knitter and ignore the pattern.  The end result was what I was looking for, and who can ask for more, right?  Specs:
Pattern:  Hooded Baby Sweater with Back Zipper by Sarah Montie
Yarn:  Cascade 220 Superwash Handpaints in Carribean Sea  - 1 1/2 skeins
Needles: 5 and 8 circs
Ravelry page here.

The back zipper went in a little wonky, but that was mostly because I used a poly zip from my massive stash.  A cotton zip would have lay down a bit better, but I'm sure not going to rip it out!  I knit the newborn size and even though my gauge was consistent through out, it's really more like a 3-6 months size. 

Next up is the Dream in Color Tulip Baby Sweater.  Knitting for little people is SO much fun. :-)

The Amaryllis that refused to die. (And I gave it my best effort.)

Behold the hearty Amaryllis, purchased in November at Target for glorious holiday season blooming.  Except it would not bloom....or die.  We purchased another one for my mother and it did exactly as advertised, though we did take in to account that my mother kept her apartment at a temperature somewhere between a hot house and a sauna.  Our amaryllis came up out of its loam, looked all green and lovely and then that was it.  All kinds of green and no glorious red.  Amazing Husband put it in a sunny window, lay a heating pad beneath (which the cats thought was solely for their benefit) and checked on it frequently.  All winter and spring it kept up the green, continued to refuse to die, and still did not give us the blooms.  Summer came and AH decided to put it outside with the rest of the outdoor plants, in partial sun on the deck.  Yesterday we awoke to the above picture.  Two big, glorious blooms.  A little lower on the plant than we were accustomed to, but no one here is complaining.  We are going to have to do some research as to what we do with it now, since it seems determined to be a regular part of our plantage.  Guess it just goes to show that you should never give up on anything.

 

Sweet Pea sweater is completed and blocking.  I am a new, HUGE fan of the mattress stitch for seaming.  The seams on this thing are perfection.  I am not, however, thrilled with the way the collar lays, which is why I decided to block it.  For one thing I twisted one of the garter stitches right at the front collar edge, so it's right out there in front really easy to see (for me).  I'm going to wait until it dries and then maybe knit another collar.  Or not.  I'm also not happy with the way the whole collar lays around the neck, but it does look exactly like the one in the picture so I'm probably just being picky.  I'll keep you posted.  Now on to the hat!