Knitology

Withdrawal Symptoms

July 21, 2008 • 2 Comments

In a few hours I will be away from computer for several days. I can feel the shakes coming on now ;0)

I think I will get a lot of knitting and reading done when not wrangling children.

Wish me sanity, wish me luck and wish me good travels my friends.

See you soon!

I never thought I would join the club, but I will be doing some vacation knitting very soon! We are taking the kiddies to the Jersey Shore to do some beach and pool frolicking outside of the city limits. We are all very excited (and for me a little nervous). We haven’t been away together since our sextet was a trio. Wow, Missy was just a baby then. It’s so easy to get stuck in one place when you have to try to schedule away time around two jobs (three when I was still working), school, and the weather. But ’tis no matter, away we will all be soon enough.

So. The vacay knitting. I have a baby shower to go to in August for a friend I made on my study abroad trip to Africa. We have kept in touch via email but we haven’t seen much of each other. She is a fantastic person to gift handknits. She has an appreciation for all things creative.

I’ll be knitting this sweater, these booties (pdf), and this hat (sans ears…maybe) FO photos for each at this, this, and this Rav link. But a yarn decision is in the works.

Mint or cream TLC Cotton Plus: Washable, soft, durable. Possibly the best choice.

Eye searing hot pink Cotton Flamme: Washable, soft, durable and kinda edgy. But, perhaps too eye searing.

Pink, purple or white miscellaneous Baby Acrylics: Washable, soft, durable. But maybe not as nice as the other yarns.

Trusty cherry Shine Sport: All of the above pros. At only two, possibly partial skeins, the yardage is short.

Hand-dyed green and purple sock yarn: I may never knit socks so this may be the only use for these beautiful yarns. But, I don’t know whether either of these are super wash, and this will be baby #4 for my friend. No mom of four should give hand-wash only clothing to another mom of four. I’m just saying.

I have a little while to decide, but as of now, I’m leaning heavily toward the cotton plus. Opinion?

A pretty good week (so far)

July 12, 2008 • 2 Comments

Good stuff about this week:

My little sister may have finally crossed over to the knitters side! She asked me to show her how to cast on again. She took some needles and a skein of Wool of the Andes back to campus with her on Monday. I am so proud of the fact that I did not unload any of the shitty stash on the unsuspecting

After going stir crazy for several days I got a chance to go out alone this week. I got off of the train at Broadway and Nassau and walked all the way to 34th street! I love to walk. As long as I have my iPod and comfy shoes I can walk anywhere. Along the way to 34th street I stopped by Lush and got a fantastic hand massage. I left many dollars lighter with some Ocean Salts and a Buffy bar in my bag. They may compete with yarn cash. Maybe.

My feet were protesting when I got home though. But that night, by some small miracle, all of the children were asleep by 9 o’clock. (Well it wasn’t actually a miracle, they all woke up at about 7 am that day. WHY? I ask you.) I got to soak my weary feet and watch Juno on dvd. I really enjoyed it so the day stayed great.

While that day still comes out on top, today wasn’t so bad because….my Little Knits order came. Yarn!

1. Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine in Teal, 2. Queensland Kathmandu DK, 3. Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine in Vino

Now I have to resist the urge to cast on for a new project. I’m on the right front of Lush and Lacy and I love how it’s coming out in Cathay. The stitches look so crisp and neat I may make it long sleeved too, 1 ball was enough to make the front so that will leave two balls each for the sleeves. That will be a long sleeved L&L sweater and my Liesl bolero with one bag of yarn. Sweet!

More stuff I want to remember: The Boy Twin Edition

July 9, 2008 • 4 Comments

My last baby no longer looks like one. It was a little sad watching his hair go. Although if I’m going to be honest, it was high time we did something with it

He handled the haircut better than I thought he would. He sat still and only cried when a tangled section was cut.
He was unusually subdued right afterward.
He simultaneously looks more like his brother, my dad and my little brother.
I know I’m his mommy but I think he is even cuter than before
His mood picked back up in a big way. He has climbed over, crawled under, or pushed out of his way every obstacle we set up to keep him corralled in one place. It’s like a game for him, a game that he is really, really good at.
We are now officially faced with the decision of putting him in a toddler bed. I walked into my bedroom this morning and found him with one leg slung over the side of the bed. Can you say YIKES!
He loves to share his (wet, soggy, crumpled) food with everyone. He is very sweet and giving. I hope he always stays that way.
He is also a momma’s boy. He clings to me like I may disappear when I pick him up.
He is so huge that with the short hair it’s hard to tell the difference between the two boys from a distance. By the time they’re five or so, people will start thinking he and Woodji are the the twins. ETA: Woodji just looked at the pic above and thought it was him. They look that much alike.
Lastly I always want to remember how much I love him right now, so that the teen years are easier to stomach

How many cardis does one person need?

July 5, 2008 • 5 Comments

Sparked by the upcoming Knitting Olympics, I spent a good portion of yesterday organizing my queue, photographing my stash, and matching the two up. This has lead to some startling conclusions. One, I have at current more than fifteen cardigans either in my queue, knit up, or on the needles. I have really tried to look at them objectively. Will I enjoy knitting and wearing it? If yes, then it stays. But will I need quite so many cardis?

Conclusion number two, I have a lot more yarn than I thought, and much of it is crap.
A selection of crap yarn Selection of crap yarn for your perusal

Some of it was so bad I couldn’t bring myself to photograph it, think Red Heart acrylic camouflage. What could I have been thinking? I’m still at a loss as to what to do with it.

While bad stash in itself is not really uncommon, cataloging it in such a way really drives it home. I had recently taken the stash down (from the top of the bedroom closet) in front of my husband. When I was done searching through it like a madwoman he remarked that he had no idea that I had so much yarn.

What his muggle eyes couldn’t see that any knitter could have, there are few yarns that are usable, and even fewer in large enough quantities to make garments. By comparison to most, my stash is small. But it can be seen as quite large by a select few.

I’m expecting three more bags of yarn from my dear, favorite, most well loved Little Knits. With that addition I will currently have enough yarn to knit the most desired large items from my queue and enough miscellanous stash to make most of the hats, cowls, mittens, etc…

So while I have no plans to go on a stash diet, or formally join any knit from your stash a-longs, I do plan to utilize some of the things that have been lingering since I began this knitting journey some years ago. I’m kind of excited to see how much I can eek out of what I have. And I am perhaps too excited to start the Olympics :0) But I’ll save that for another post.

Liesl In Blue

July 3, 2008 • 5 Comments

Pattern: Liesl, by Ysolda

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cathay, less than 2 skeins

Needles: Size 7

Size: 46 inch bust numbers with smaller yarn. Size about 34 inches.

I love it! It fits just like I wanted it too, and it didn’t take much yarn. I used the numbers for the size 46, with thinner yarn this yielded a size of about 34 inches. I never swatch so I had one false in which I skipped an increase row and realized it would have been too small even if I hadn’t. I ripped it in a frenzy and immediately cast on again. I finished and wet blocked it last night, every little stitch is perfect now :)

After a few instances of tinking back, I realized that knitting lace of any kind with the little sleep I was getting this week was a bad idea. I made fewer mistakes after the afternoon naps I was able to sneak in :). This knit just confirmed how much I really love the look of the feather and fan lace pattern. I love my shawl and now I have a little feather and fan to wear in the summer too. I can see making another of these in the future.

I may be just a little bit in love!

Newly Acquired Patterns

July 1, 2008 • 5 Comments

In addition to etsy shopping, I have also added several patterns to my queue. I blame Ravelry

1. Cherry, 2. Liesl by Ysolda Teague, 3. Petal other side, 4. Coraline, 5. Knit_Kimono_Sleeve_200, 6. Vine Lace Top-Down Cardigan Pattern.

I’m trying to exercise restraint and not purchase every pattern in Anna, Stephanie, Katherine, and Ysolda’s stores. At this rate I will have to acquire more stash with which to knit it all. Well if I must, I must

Excellent Etsy Shops

June 29, 2008 • No Comments

In this post I briefly discussed what I would do I if were a billionaire. Well, after reading many responses to this meme on other blogs, my list expanded greatly. One more thing that I can add for certain, lots and lots of shopping on Etsy! I would sit and order absolutely everything from every shop in my favorites.

It would be brilliant :0)

I’ve shown you buttons I’ve purchased from etsy before, which ironically are the only new buttons I’ve gotten around to using. So when I found myself in need of new blue buttons I headed straight there. So, I was lurking around, trying to find something suitable for Lush and Lacy, the Super Girl blue edition when I stumbled across these

Hello lovelies

Photo and buttons from Kallie Design

Never mind the fact that these are not really a match for that particular shade of blue. I had to have them.

These however, are a much more suitable choice and equally beautiful to boot*.

Photo and buttons from Button Farm

Later that evening while knitting, and feeling really pleased with my purchases, I became annoyed with my split stitch markers. The working yarn kept getting caught in them. Given that I was working with a very splitty yarn this was particularly annoying. I headed back to etsy and found exactly what I was looking for (how often does that happen?)! After a funny little exchange with the shop owner I received these beauties in my mailbox. I may never use another type of stitch marker again.

Photo and buttons from Suann Stitches

* I can’t use common phrases around Missy. She needs solid definitions for what things mean. So answering her questions with things like “I guess so” only leads to a lengthy discussion of exactly what I mean by that.

Good Influences

June 26, 2008 • 8 Comments

As an adult I have spent a lot of time learning and doing things that I should have in school (insert a long monologue about the shortcomings of public school, oblivious parents, and youthful arrogance here). Many previously ignored topics were now fascinating and interesting in ways that they never were before. I attribute some to maturing but much to reading blogs.

When I discovered blogs I was fascinated. The knitting was the initial draw, but the lives and interests of the people were powerful in themselves. It was a chance to “hang out” with people who would have intimidated me in real life. People who are super smart, cultured, worldly. People who love learning and yoga, people who make classic literature sound relatable and readable. I’ve learned about being green and gardening, and making small changes. My definition of beauty has changed, my acceptance of me enhanced. I have been cheered on when happy and cheered up when sad. I am inspired to set and achieve goals based on my own criteria for greatness. I am inspired me to be a better writer, a better knitter, a better me I think. Thanks guys!