Nursing Sweater

At the end of February I knit Sibling #5 a nursing sweater, the "Queen of Hearts Nursing Sweater" from Lousia Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Moms in, well, burgundy Encore (75% acrylic, 25% wool), which is not exactly the natural option. I knit it in under two weeks, which frankly impressed me. Sibling #5 wears a 12 and I wear a 4, so it's much larger than anything I would make for myself. Fortunately it was on US #8 needles. The pattern called for a pattern of hearts in the lower panels in purl stitches, but I left them out because I thought they'd be cheesy.
Here is a detail of one of the button flaps. I think I used 16 buttons. I lucked out and got them not only to perfectly match the yarn but cheaply.

Sibling #5 loved the sweater, apparently. It was still coldish in California when she got it so she was sleeping in it. Strangely enough, her favorite thing about it is the yarn. Encore does wash up well - it becomes even, soft, and drapey - but it's also incredibly cheap. I think this sweater cost me a total of US$30. ($10 of it being the buttons!) I still have more than a skein left over that I need to use up somehow.

And now for something completely different...

I'm still trying to learn to paint. Being the way I am, I naturally think the way to go about this is a self-portrait. Why? Because I photograph badly, of course.

Lissy from the North End knitting circle asked me to post the progress shots I've been taking, so here they are. They photographed more yellow than they really are. Remember, I'm still learning! Be sure to cut me some artistic slack.

Day 1: I did an underpainting, and forgot to photograph it.
Day 2: Adding color to my underpainting. It doesn't look much like me, I admit, but I wasn't ready to slit my wrists just yet.
Day 3: More color, fleshing in the background and my clothes. Doesn't look like me, but whoever it is, they're angry. It's probably because the mirror I'm holding is heavy. (Hey, maybe that's why my wrist hurts, not the knitting?!?)
Day 4: Looks a bit more like me, as in, how I wish I looked. The neck and body is a major problem, esp. since I've decided to put my brown sweater in the painting. My hair is not really present - I'm saving it for later - so the head is not balanced. There's still a way to go.

And that's it for now. Let me know if you want me to post the next stage when it happens.

My how time flies

...when you hate the New Blogger and you have no internet at home. Has it really been over two months since I last entered into a battle of wills with Blogger to post? Amazing.

Here's some of the baby stuff I've made in the meantime. And I really mean "some." The baby mania has not flagged, although it did hurt my wrist on Sunday so now I am having to take it easy.

This stuff is from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding. The baby mittens with the string are made from Sirdar Breeze in "stone", and the other mittens and hat are in KnitPicks Shine Sport in some kind of brownish-tannish color, the name of which is evading me at the moment.


Baby pants! In the Snuggly yarn I had left over from the blue wrap cardi. The pattern is not my own - I got it free online - and when I have the patience to type in html again, I'll link to it for ya.

I feel like it is through some kind of miracle that this baby kimono (from an old IK pattern - I think everybody andtheir brother has knit it) is finally uploaded. This is my gazillionth try, and I don't just mean tonight. Although tonight I have had time to make tater tots and feed the cat (who likes his dry food mixed with 1/3 can of wet food, thank you). I'm not sure I have it in me to post more baby knitting pictures tonight.

This is the post where New Blogger said "I hate you"

...and I said the feeling's mutual, especially since i just spent a half hour writing text that got deleted.

Baby Stuff

I have gone insane with the baby knitting. Not only did I do that layette set, I made a pair of matching pants, a beige hat and booties, and a pair of socks - I then I knit the baby kimono from IK and a pair of green booties.

Unfortunately, I only have a picture of the green booties. The other pictures are on my computer at work.

When will the madness end, you ask? I really can't say. Although I am a bit concerned... I knit all these things at 0-3 months old size and the baby is 9 lbs. 3 oz. There is no word yet on whether any of even fits! But my sister, Sibling #5, did like the nursing sweater I knit her (in 2 weeks! and she's much bigger than me!) which I also don't have a picture of here.

Presently, the onyl baby stuff I have on the needles isn't really. That's because it's hooked. I crocheting a baby afghan. But don't worry; this afternoon has been turned over to knitting a Malabrigo hat for Sibling #7. I have not completely lost it.

Except where socks are concerned. Did you know I have about four completed socks laying about, none of which match each other?

Stuff

Blogger
I ask you to imagine, if you will, this space being occupied by about five or six pages of invective against Blogger in the most vitriolic language that can be expressed in a 12 point Georgia font.

Knitting
I have been busy, busy, busy.



Pattern: "Striped Vest" (#22) from VK Fall 2006
Yarn: Black Cascade 220 (Left over from the Boyfriend Sweater)
Size: 32 Bust
Gauge: 20s = 4"/10cm on 5mm dpns

Modifications: Where to begin? I eliminated the stripes, of course. And there's a yarn substitution going on... And I added an openwork pattern ("Eyelet Twist Panel" from The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Sticthes, pg. 150) and made the body a tad longer to line up the panel pattern with the neck. I also changed the ribbing on the collar and armholes.

Thoughts: I love this yarn still, and I wear this vest all the time. Next time I make a vest, however, I don't think I'll make the body so long.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Um... I can't remember, but it was just one ball
Needles: US #10
Size: N/A

I bought this yarn because it goes with my jacket, as you can see. It's just a 10s wide garter stitch scarf with tapering ends. I wear it when the weather permits.

Infant Layette Set

Sibling #5 is 8 months pregnant. She turned 17 this month. I heard about this from my octogenarian, email-using Grandma, and if you have picked up anything about my family, you are probably bracing yourself for some horrible, dysfunctional tale. Well, there is one, but for now I'm focussing on the fact that I didn't know about this pregancy until a week and a half ago.

I called my dad get the scoop, because it's under his roof that it's happening. What I learned was that his sheepdog just had eight pups, all black and white like her, and that the winter is unseasonably warm this year. He's really concerned that the peach tree will bloom this month, thereby missing bee season, and he'll only have four or five peaches this year again. The same could happen for the plums and apples, although the Golden Delicious tree in the back yard - the one with the graft from Grandma's tree - is bound to produce pretty well because it always does. Old reliable. And there hasn't been much rain, which is weird, because usually it's rainy this time of year (my hometown gets an average of 200 days of rain a year)...

At which point he passed me to Sibling #7, who happened to be passing through the room, and I pumped her for information.

It seems it didn't occur to anyone that I might not know. Which is even stranger than the global warming. Do they think I am psychic? That town gossip reaches me from 2,000 miles away?

Ok, well, it does, but only because my Grandma uses the internet, and not exactly in a timely manner, because she also thought I knew.

So in a week I have managed to whip this up from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits. I used Sirdar Snuggly yarn.

It's going to be a boy. I'm also making as nursing sweater from the same book. I would have liked to have time to make a pregancy sweater, but I didn't exactly get that chance. (grumble grumble)

Boyfriend Sweater

Boyfriend Sweater!Pattern: my own
Yarn: Cascade 220 (black)
Needles: size US #8/ 5mm straights

I actually had this finished over a month or more ago but I was too lazy to post it. I am very bad - almost as bad as my ability to photograph black.

Still Not Dead

I figure I should post again so that you all know I am not still hung over on chocolate mint liqueur.

I am not still hung over on chocolate mint liqueur.

I am, however, about as depressed as I was after I read V for Vendetta* - I had to go home early today from work because I was weepy.

There is always a catch in life. Sometimes love isn't enough. And I don't even have clue what to do about it except fantasizing about visiting Finland, or perhaps Scotland.

I like reinventing my life. That's what got me from California to Seattle, and from Seattle to Philly and then to Boston. I am the most settled I have ever been right now, and it's pretty uncomfortable, even though I am a homebody. I'm just not an office person. Gah. But this isn't really about traveling and moving, it's about relationships, which are another kind of traveling and moving. And it's really terrible to know that someday you may have to leave a place you love because it can't offer you everything you could ever want.

Ah, but enough that. I am knitting the Retro Rib Cardi from the Winter 2005 IK in "avocado" Wool of the Andes, and it is awesome. Extremely green.
*V for Vendetta had me very, very upset for days because I am an individualist. Go figure.

Not dead yet

Just terribly, terribly slack.

So slack that I have not finished the crocheted dress. I am halfway through the top, but once I got to that point, I lost the hook for a couple weeks at the bottom of my purse. Which means I have to work on something else. A whole lot of something elses, actually.

Pictures later. I need to get some coffee first. Who knew Vandermint packed this kind of hangover?

Certainly not me.

Sick... Again!

It seems that a month can't go by lately without me getting some virus. I wash my hands so much at work that you'd think I was OCD, but I still catch something. I need to stop working with people who have children under 5 yrs. old, the little germ factories, grumble grumble. These are the purple/green Artyarns Supermerino socks I started for myself and gave to my sort-of-mother-in-law. I've finally started a pair for myself that I'm determined to actually keep for myself - they're cream, black, and light green - but I don't have a picture of the one sock I've completed just yet.

The worst part about being sick the past two days is that I'm falling behind on my knitting / crocheting schedule. Sure, I'm nearly done with one of the flip-tops of the fingerless gloves / mittens I'm making (Sorry! No photo yet!), and I'm about an inch and half into the top of the crocheted dress... and I swatched for a crochet project I'm planning, and did a couple rows on a red Sockotta sock I'm working on, but that just means I can focus a couple minutes here and there. If I felt fine, and didn't have a pounding headache constantly, I'd have those mittens done, as well as half the top. *tortured sigh*

However, not being at work doesn't bother me in the slightest: I get sick pay.

Back of skirt

With the help of Flickr, here is a photo of the crocheted dress thus far:


Chibi for scale.

Crocheting Away

This, in case you didn't know, is the 1920's dress I am crocheting:
It's three pieces: top, back of skirt, and front of skirt...plus some sewing and garnishing. I was feeling panicky all week about whether I'd be able to meet the Dec. 14th deadline of the office holiday party, but I'm happy to say I am 1/3 done! ...give or take some sewing, etc.

Unfortunately, Blogger won't unload the photo I took.

I'll try to get it up in Flickr some time this week.

Really.

This about sums it up.

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Except, of course, that the test doesn't ask why you're paranoid.

I'd say my largest personality flaw is my desire to avoid confrontation and just get along. This involves not getting hit by cars, too. I'd say it's pretty natural for someone who doesn't believe in an afterlife to want to stay alive as long as possible, don't you?

I've only taken one other personality quiz on-line, the Harry Potter one, and I came out Severus Snape. Really, I'm not that bad, folks. Honest. Dumbledore ordered me to do it.

Easy One Skein Noro Hat

A very serious hat.

Materials: 1 skein Noro Silk Garden, 1 set 4.25 mm double-pointed knitting needles (or circulars), large darning needle.

Size: One Size

Gauge: 6s = 1” / 10 cm worked in 2x1 (k2, p1) rib, unstretched.

Body
CO 105s and join for working in round, being careful not to twist.
k1, p1, *k2, p1, repeat from * until last s in row, k1.
Repeat in established pattern until piece measures about 7 ½” (19 cm).
If using dpns, divide the stitches evenly onto two needles.
Kitchener* closed (I advise against binding off, since it uses up yarn that could go onto making pompoms.)

Pompoms
This is a great opportunity for beginning pompoms makers. Part of what I like about this hat is that the pompoms are not fat, fluffy, overeager things. They are wimpy pompoms, so don’t worry if your pompoms suck. I made my pompoms by wrapping the yarn around the end of a 2” / 4 cm wide needle gauge ten times, cutting the end, sliding the yarn carefully free and tying it tightly around the middle with a 4” / 10 cm length of yarn. I cut the loops of the “pompom”, threaded the ends of the tie onto a large needle and sewed it onto the tips of the hat. Then I did it again. Just about any other method can be used, provided you don’t run out of yarn.

* There are plenty of free tutorials on the web for either technique if you haven't done this before.

Hats! Hats! Hats!

Just because I'm not posting often does not mean I am not knitting, folks. I am a busy bee.

Especially where hats are concerned.

Basic black seaman's cap. Yes, another one. This one is in superwash merino for my friend, Bob, who was expecting one last winter before I was derailed by all that X-mas knitting. Sorry, Bob!

The only X-mas knitting I am doing this year (Really! I mean it!) is this cabled version of the seaman's cap for my dad, a project that has been largely motivated by my suspicion that my dad has not hand washed the seaman's cap I made him last year, but is still wearing it, nevertheless. This is a humanitarian effort.

If you're at all interested how I worked the cables, leave a comment and I'll post the instructions.

Other stuff
These are not the only hats I've made. I also made a hat from one skein of Noro Silk Garden which I am going to post separately with the pattern.

I'm also still working on the boyfriend sweater, which is an incredible bore. Endless black stockingette! Ugh. I will finish this thing, if just to have it over with finally.

Socks are also happening. The purple Artyarn socks are done, but not mailed, and I've made myself several socks that don't match eachother using the One Sock at a Time Theory of Sock Making that I got from Jeanette this summer - that is, embrace your reluctance to knit that second sock and move on, because you can always get back to the the second sock later when it seems novel again. This worked wonders for her and I'm hoping it will do the same for me.

On the crochet front, I finally have the right yarn to make that 1920's dress. A bit of research revealed to me that it was originally done up in something a lot like embroidery floss. So I took a risk and ordered a 1 lb. cone of 8/2 black weaving tencel - US$25 after shipping for 3360 yds! (You may wonder what I would do with over 3,000 yds of fingering weight yarn if it didn't work out, but unfortunately I do have a few ideas up my sleeve. More than few, actually.) The dress is size 36", with 3 mesh stitches = 1", and the tencel worked up on the same hook to about 3 1/2" mesh stitches = 1", which is what I was hoping for since I am a 34" chest. The tencel is 2-ply, slightly prone to splitting, and slippery as hell. (I admit there was a bit of cursing yesterday when I started, but not enough to scare the cat.) I chose the tencel because it is supposed to have a good drape and sheen and is lighter than cotton. I'm still on the hem of the dress - I'll be there for a while - but I can already tell that this dress will be awesome. I hope to have it done by the office X-mas party since that is the only event I go to all year that is practically black tie.

Crochetting really has an undeserved bad reputation, in my opinion. Of course, I crochetted before I knit, so you could say I have a slight bias, but I'm sticking by that statement. Any craft or technique can create crap. With the possible exception of macrame, this isn't the craft or technique's fault. (I say this because it seems to be about 10x harder to make something tasteful from macrame than, say, knitting or beading. Please correct me if I'm wrong.) Which begs the question: Why is it that the only patterns in crochetting magazines these days that are halfway decent are mainly knitting? Why? Why? Perhaps I should embark on a personal crusade to improve the name of crochet, eh? Right after this dress. And all those knit socks. And the darned boyfriend sweater.

Stash Sorting

Let me see... Wool Ease (worsted); Wool of the Andes (Avocado); Cotton Ease (red); Merino Style (Coal); Alpaca (Rusty Heather); Angora (cat); Cascade 220 (black)...

Wait a second... Did I say "cat"? Hmm... That's going to be tough to knit.

French Press Cosy Pattern

I believe I actually used less than an entire 70 g ball of kitchen cotton for this pattern. If I'm wrong, please let me know. Photo of the cosy I knit here. If you have any questions about the pattern, leave a comment and I will answer you there.

Materials
About 70 g any 4-ply kitchen cotton yarn
Thread to match yarn, sewing needle
Knitting needles, size 4.25 mm and 3.75 mm
Two buttons (1/2” / 2.5 cm diameter)
Darning needle
Crochet hook, size 4.50 mm

Gauge
20s = 4” / 10 cm on 4.25 mm needles or size needed to obtain gauge.

Filler Pattern
I used the Double Moss (Double Seed) Stitch as a filler for my cosy, but any stitch pattern worked in a multiple of 2, 4, or 8 can be substituted. (For symmetry, I shifted the starting point of the double moss stitch pattern on my cosy to be: p1, k2, * p2, k1, repeat from * to last s, p1, etc. This shift centered the V of the spout opening above a p2.)

Double Moss (Double Seed) Stitch
Row 1: (RS) *k2, p2, repeat from * across
Row 2: (WS) *p2, k2, repeat from * across
Row 3: (RS) *p2, k2, repeat from * across
Row 4: (WS) *k2, p2, repeat from * across
Repeat rows 1 though 4.

Special Abbreviations
(Just the ones that might not be too obvious.)
FS = Filler stitch
WS = Wrong side facing
RS = Right side facing

Note for open handles: My French press has a closed handle. If the one you are knitting for does not have a closed handle you may eliminate the button closure and work the body of the cosy entirely in the round until it reaches your handle. In this case, you would not cast off stitches after the 5 rows of 1x1 ribbing, and you would not need the two buttons or a set of 3.75 mm knitting needles.

Body
CO 61 s on 4.25 mm needles and work a 1x1 (k1, p1) rib for 5 rows.
Row 6: (RS) cast off 3s, K1, work FS to last s (56s total filler stitches), k1, turn.
Row 7: (WS) p1, work FS to last s, p1, turn.
Repeat previous two rows 16 times (39 rows total worked in piece), turn.
Row 40: (RS) k1, work FS 26s, k2tog, turn. Place unworked stitches on holder or waste yarn.
Row 41: (WS) ssk, work FS to last s, p1, turn.
Row 42: (RS) k1, work FS to last 2s, k2tog, turn.
Repeat previous two rows to 48 rows total have been worked in piece, turn.
Row 49: (WS) k across, turn. (21s)
Row 50 through 58: work 1x1 rib, turn.
Cut yarn. Place ribbed stitches on holder or waste yarn.
Pick up 29s from first stitch holder/waste yarn with a 4.25 mm needle. Follow the instructions for Row 51 through 58, substituting WS for RS, and WS for RS. Do not place stitches on a holder or waste yarn.
Place stitches from holder on 4.50 mm knitting needle.
At this point you should have two knitting needles with 21s each. Viewed RS, the needle on the left should have the stitches that are attached to the yarn ball. This is Needle 1. The other is Needle 2.
Row 59: (WS) work 1x1 rib as set on Needle 1, then work 1x1 as set on Needle 2 across, turn. (42s) All stitches should now be on one needle.
Row 60: (RS) work 1x1 rib as set for 20s, increse 1s by knitting into next s twice, work 1x1 rib as set across, turn. (43s)
Row 61: (WS) p2, (yo, p2tog, p3) twice, yo, p2tog, p4, yo, p2tog, p3, yo, p2tog, p4, (yo, p2tog, p3) twice, yo, p2tog, p2, turn.
Row 62: (RS) *k1, p1, repeat from * to last s, k1, turn.
Work 1x1 rib as set 4 rows. Bind off as set.

Button Flaps
Part 1:
Pick up 15s from center of the edge of body with 3.75 mm knitting needle, turn.
Work in 5 rows 1x1 rib, beginning and ending with a knit stitch on RS. Bind off as set.
Part 2:
(WS) Pick up 15s from center of the opposite edge of body with 3.75 mm knitting needle., turn.
Row 1: k1, p1, k1, BO 2s, p1, (k1, p1) 3 times, BO 2s, k1, p1, k1, turn.
Row 2: p1, k1, p1, CO 2s, work 7s in 1x1 rib as set, CO 2s, p1, k1, p1, turn.
Row 3 through 5: Work 1x1 rib as set, turn. Cast off, cut yarn.

Drawstring
With 4.50 mm crochet hook, make chain 16”/ 40 cm long, or desired length, leaving 2”/ 5 cm tails of yarn at either end.

Finishing
Thread tail of drawstring on large darning needle and run through yo’s in body. Sew buttons on flap with sewing thread and needle. Sew edge of bottom ribbing together with darning needle. Weave in ends. Place cosy on Fench Press. Make coffee.

The One Slipper Wonder

There's a multitude of patterns out there on the internet and in books. I don't know about you, but sometimes I suffer from information overload. So tonight I am going to post links to some of my favorite free internet patterns to save you from having to go running all around the ether and taking a chance on an unknown pattern. Think of me as your test knitter.

I think the pattern I knit the most is the seaman's cap. It's a simple pattern with nice details, and everyone I have made one for reportedly wears them obsessively. I've made it in yellow, pink, and black, and I am about to make it in black again. I'm planning to knit my dad a second cap in navy blue Cascade Tweed 220 with cables on the crown.

I tried the pocketbook slipper pattern because it looked so easy, and because I couldn't help wondering how it would actually work out. (There's a pattern out there for making them with a button, but since I am surfing on a dial-up, I'll save that link for another day.) I admit my expectations were not very high for this pattern, but I wasn't really risking much yarn. I am happy to report that I wear them. When I had the flu recently I wore them at nearly all times. I am, in fact, wearign them now. Or rather one of them. I can't find the other. But my wearing one slipper says something, doesn't it? I mean, aside from how odd I am.

The Irish Knit Tea Cosy was a nice knit, even though I have yet to size it to a teapot I actually own. I knit up a towel that hangs from my fridge door that I'm inordinantly pleased with, also. Both items can be seen here.

And that's it for now.

F.Y.I.

I haven't been laid up for the past two weeks with the flu.

What I have been is a lame ass. I seem to have very little motivation to get on the computer once I get home. I don't know why. Obviously, I love computers, because I spend nine hours a day on one, right?

Well, maybe that it's quite the definition of love.

Knitting
No pictures. Sorry. Soon, though. I will deliver! And when I deliver the goods that is pictures, it will be of a new sweater and a finished pair of purple/yellow socks. Have I finished these items? Well... No. But soon. Very soon, I will. I am knitting the sleeves onto the body of the sweater as I type this. With my toes.

Ok, maybe I that's not entirely accurate. But it is on my lap and I am knitting the sleeve between hitting "Save as Draft", etc. (Oh, good ol' Pentium II. Believe me, if I had a different home PC, I wouldn't have so much knitting time.)

I did get a substantial amount of knitting on this sweater done while ill. I'm trying to work from the stash - which is also substantial, I'm pained to say - and I desperately need another black cardigan. Black cardigans go with everything, especially if you're like me and everything you wear is black, or might as well be. (Yes, it's true. I wear 90% black and gray. The remaining 10%? Brown, orange, and burgundy. Sometimes red. But mainly orange and burgundy. Together. Over something black and gray. I know, I'm terrrible. I don't know how I have evaded the fashion police so far.)

Wow! Am I rambling on. What do you want to bet that Blogger loses this post because I have invested so much time in it? How about two skeins of that discontinued KnitPicks sock yarn, "Sock Garden", in Zinnia? (Red, orange, yellow! Or was that three skeins? Gosh, I have alot of sock yarn!) If this post goes through, the first person who comments gets it. Even if you don't realize I'm giving away sock yarn! So there! (Don't that sound kind of like a threat? The yarn really isn't that bad, really.)

Boy, I'm in high spirits tonight. Must be all those fumes from cutting rigid foam with an electricified wire all week at work. Enjoy it while you can!

And now, I press the dreaded "Publish" button...

Edit: Arianna got the three skeins, although she insisted on doing something in exchange for them. So I got a decaf soy latte. (I think I came out ahead.)