A Good One for Dad

Yippee!! I did it! I knit a gift sweater that fits. My father requested the following:

• royal blue color
• a pullover
  
• but one with a placket so he could loosen the collar if he gets too warm
• no drop shoulders!
  
• sleeves that hit the wrist bone (the sleeves on store-bought sweaters are always too long on Dad

And here's the result:
Pattern: It's on the Tab (on Ravelry)
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland Wool
Needles: 4 mm and 5 mm
Modifications: raglan sleeve shaping, button band instead of tabs

I knit the small size and it fits like a medium. I did get gauge. I think the discrepancy is that a drop shoulder design is often knit baggy, but Dad didn't want a loose and floppy fit. He's quite happy with the way this turned out on all accounts. He and my mom came for a visit today and my Dad put the sweater on first thing. They stayed for lunch and to play cards and he wore it the whole time he was here. That's a good sign!


The buttons are kind of fun. They're replicas of the American buffalo nickel. My dad used to collect them when I was a kid.

It's weird that I keep finding buttons like this for my Dad. Last time there were moose on his buttons. This time, the first store I hit had these buttons. I don't know what it is with my dad and the ungulates. I don't care. I love my Pop and my Pop loves me!

An Epiphany

I had a such a huge learning experience last night, that I feel the way I did when I was five and I first learned to tie my shoe.

Jim has been having a rough time of it, being out of work, and I wanted to cheer him up. So we decided to go to the movies and I let him pick the show. He chose the Watchmen, of which I knew nothing other than that it was about superheroes. The movie turned out to be very dark, violent and gritty. I could feel my self curl into a ball and try to pull away from it all. I don't like to have my armor come up like that, but I knew that Jim really wanted to see the show. So I told him "I'm leaving. I'll go do something else and come back for you. Just stay and enjoy the show." He was concerned, but understood and made sure I had the car keys.

To put it in context, this was a big step for us. In the past, I might have demanded that we both leave. Or I would have stayed and been miserable, and then angry. Jim would have felt guilty, then angry. The night would have ended in tears.

Instead, I went to Chapters, and treated myself to a book that fed my soul. A book I ordinarily wouldn't have bought, but felt that I deserved this night. I also went to the manager and got a free movie pass since I wasn't watching the show. And when Jim came out of the movie, I could smile and ask him if he enjoyed himself. And he did.

Grab your Shades

Whoops! I lost my camera last weekend, so no blog post. You wouldn't have liked me very much anyway. I didn't like myself. It rained the entire weekend and I felt as flat and lifeless as the grass looks after being buried under snow the past four months. Nasty.

But we're being paid back for it double this weekend. The sun is shining like it means to stay. And since Jim found my camera for me, it was a great opportunity to get a couple of pictures for you. But I've got to warn you. These images may require you to wear sun glasses, they are that bright.

First up is the Kauni that many of you inquired about. Don't get too excited though. This one's a bust.

It certainly looks pretty enough. It's very nice to see the yarn subtly shading itself. But notice how in this very small amount of knitting, the purple has shaded through blue all the way to green, but the orange has merely shifted from yellow-orange to red-orange? This is bad. It means that the color work isn't evenly distributed between the foreground and background.

I've studied many Kaunis and the ones I liked the best used the contrasting colors of the yarn together: orange-blue, green-red and purple-yellow. With the foreground color moving so slowly, I'm going to lose the contrast. So this must go to the frog pond. But what to do with the yarn?

Many people love the Damask Kauni, but I don't think I'd enjoy wearing or knitting it. Jim thought the original Kauni cardigan was too gaudy and I think I should stay away from the horizontal stripes. Plus, I'm perverse enough that I don't want to make what everyone else has done. I've got some other ideas percolating, but I've already gone on long enough about this. Suffice to say, it's dropped for now.

I did finish Dad's sweater this week, but it's still blocking. I'll get Jim to give us a modeling session as soon as it's dry. In the mean time, here it is flat out.

Having finished this, and wanting something exciting to knit this weekend, I started a sock for me and here's were it gets bright again.

Isn't it awful? The yarn looked much better knit up as a Monkey sock, even if it was too small. Oh well, the yarn held up very well to ripping last time.

Merry March!

Do you realize that we're only one week away from returning to Daylight Savings Time? Wow! I'm sooo happy to see the backside of February. Besides the return of the sun, and the demise of the snow, there are new fish and insects to catch in Animal Crossing. I've been playing this game since we got it as a Christmas present.

During the work week I stayed faithful to this project, a sweater for my Dad:

The pattern (Ravelry) is a drop shoulder design, but Dad wants something more fitted, so I'm going to join these pieces up and make up some raglan shaping on the needles. I'd rather work all the raglans at once, then try to knit each piece separate and sew them up. I feel pretty confident about this knit after what I learned from working Durrow last year.

Anyway, by Saturday I felt like cutting loose, getting wild and going crazy. It must have been all the sunshine we had this weekend. So I cast on a bright new project:

The colors are wild, the pattern is my own design, and there are 384 stitches on that needle. How's that for knitting on the edge? And, further to tooting my own horn, there is no twist in that join. I've checked it multiple times and had Jim check it with me just to be extra sure.

Oh! but there's more... this is my second go at this. The first time I mis-read my gauge swatch and cast on 440 stitches, joined them without a twist and actually knit 3 rows. But then I noticed that my color progressions were going in opposite directions, which means that at some point, I could very well end up knitting this color work design with two strands of yarn the same color. No good, that. After I ripped out the needles, I pulled the thin loop of knitting over me and immediately noticed that I had about six inches of ease. Glad I caught that error! I recalculated my gauge and saved myself 56 stitches per row.

To fix the color progressions I decided to wind all my balls of Kauni so I could make sure they all proceeded in the same direction. I wound two and they were going in different directions. I was about to grab one to rewind it and Jim stopped me. He said, "Wouldn't it be better for you to wind them all to find out which way the majority go?" Smarty pants. He got such a big hug and a smooch for that save, I'll tell ya.

And that is the story of why I have such terrible photographs for you today. I was so excited to see how the new sweater was shaping up that I totally forgot to get any pictures during the daylight hours. I only stopped to blog because I was starting to get bleary eyed working the fine yarn in contrasting colors.

Well, back to the work week, and Dad's sweater for knitting. The Kauni will have to wait. But at least what's waiting for me is really pretty.

Happy Coping Strategy

Today, while walking Dexter, I had my head bent into the wind and yet I was still blasted with painful spikes of ice crystals on my upper lip. This felt like an wanton cruelty after the brief thaw and sun of last week. The streets had cleared of snow and ice, and I was walking in sneakers, with my head up. It was a revelation! Ah! I really am this tall, there are wonderful trees and houses to see. But now it is back to walking with my head bowed to be sure that I don't slip on the ice and to get a bit of protection from the wind.

It's good knitting weather, and yet I find my creative energies are low. I'm a solar-powered creature and I need the sun. I have been working on a sweater for my father and have completed the body almost to the arms. So I started a sleeve. Not exactly a thrilling or original tale. I have something much prettier to show you than a sweater in pieces. New sock yarn:


These beauties are from Wild Fire Fibres, an Etsy seller whom I found through Joli House. Three of these skeins are superwash Blue Faced Leicester and I'm very curious to see how they will knit up and wear. The fourth is a merino/bamboo blend. Regardless of the fibre, I'm in love with the colors. Oh and the price was very good and the shipping was swift. I can commend this shop on those accounts.

Anyone else up for some retail therapy?

Issues with Blogger

Finally! A workaround. I've been trying to create a blog post since Sunday but haven't been able to log into the blog. I've navigated through the troubleshooting help pages and blogger forums and finally found a hacky work around. This is the first time I've ever had a problem with blogger. So I'm not complaining, but I do hope the issue gets fixed soon. My frustration has sort of overwhelmed everything else. I was going to show you socks... that's right.

After knitting socks for Jim and his mother, I had a hankering for a pair for myself.

These are Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 years by Nancy Bush, from Knitting Vintage Socks. I used Apple Laine yarn but made them a bit big, because I've noticed sock yarn with mohair in it tends to shrink a bit. It actually wasn't too bad knitting black lace socks. There's a high shine to this yarn that increases the visibility of it. I think these socks will be lovely to wear with my black work pants.

I recently bought Cat Bordi's book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters and had some fun this week turning out the class socks.



Okay, gotta run. Hopefully a better and more interesting post next time, when I'm not so frustrated with blogger.

Passing out Awards

If life is a highway, then my weekends are like the telephone poles. You no sooner approach one and it's gone.

A nice gift this weekend was to be awarded a Creative Blogger Award from Debbie at Live and Let Learn! Seems appropriate to do awards while the Grammys (sic) are on.

Does anyone know where this one started from? I can't seem to find it at all. But I did find the rules:

1. The winner must copy this Award to their own blog.
2. Link to the blog from whence you received the Award.
3. Nominate a minimum of 7 other bloggers
4. Link to the nominated on your blog
5. Leave comment about the award on the nominated blogs.

Here's my list of Creative Blogs:

1. To Amanda at Joli House, whose blog I just discovered. Her photographs are top notch.
2. To Iza at Vegamite, Violets and Knitting, a local chum, for fearless knitting.
3. To Ruth at Wooly Headed who still manages to knit and be creative through the perfect storm.
4. To Anne at Knitspot for making creative designing look so easy. That's the sure sign of a virtuoso.
5. To Ruth at Knitting on Impulse for sheer creative power. It's a torrent.

So it's not seven, I'm creative enough to roll with a different number.

Things are picking up

I am so glad to see the end of January. We've had a lot of snow and cold in the past month and it is very nice to think that there will be an end to it. Of course, some don't mind deep snow in the least.


Today the sun is shining brightly, as if February is trying to tell us that the weather will get better. It was a good day to take pictures of handknits.

Last weekend I finished up my Noro scarf (Ravelry link):

I'm happy to call one of these my own. By now, these scarves are so well known on the internet that wearing one is sort like a badge of identification. I've also finished my mother-in-law's very simple, special-request socks:

I'm very happy with them. In the ball, the yarn (OnLine) wasn't anything special, but knit up, they are colorful in a sophisticated way. I knit in a tiny stripe of rib down each side of the sock. Just a P1, K1, P1, that I hope will give a little extra stretch to these socks that will help them stay up without binding. Also, to keep the pattern sequence traveling down the foot, I knit the heels using the other end of the ball. I especially like how one heel is in the brown/grey sequence and the other is in the blue/green sequence.

I had started knitting a sweater for my dad, but the fabric is so dense at gauge that the knit was not enjoyable. So I'm holding off till I can show my dad and we can figure out what to do. It's interesting that he doesn't just want me to knit him something else. He wants to see the sweater design first. While I'm happy he's taking such an interest, it's a bit annoying that I can't just knit what I like and I wonder if he doesn't trust my judgment.

In the mean time, I cast on for something I do like.

Oh happy bright soft and fuzzy! I love this thing! The pattern, Dayflower Daydream, is very interesting to work, the yarn is a lovely color, and it is so warm on my lap. In part I picked this pattern because it's by Eugen Beugler. He also designed Frost Flowers and Leaves, which I loved knitting so much, I did it twice. So far, Dayflower Daydream is just as fun. I appreciate that it's in the round because there are no purl back rows. Ah, just writing about it, I'm itching to get back to knitting. Catch ya later!

Going in Deep

It's been a rough week. Several people at my company were laid off this week. Some had been with the company for a long time. I work in the TechPubs department, with five others, and three of us were laid off. I'm very grateful that I wasn't one of them, but very sad to see my coworkers struggle with this unexpected shock and its inevitable repercussions.

One nice thing this week was that Jim has a house to work on. We don't know if there are more in the immediate future, but for now, this one job is good enough. That's all you can do really. Is take it one day, one job at a time.

That's what I've learned recently. To exist in the now, to live just this day. It came to a point with a single profound thought.

We'd been watching Lord of the Rings last weekend and I got to thinking about what really happens to us after we die. We humans tell ourselves a lot of comforting stories, but what logically makes sense? And I thought "What if it's just nothing?"

That's a scary idea at first. I'm sure many people would rather not think about it, I know I didn't want to. But I stuck with it. What if, after I die, I entirely don't exist any more? No suffering, but no pleasure either. I think it's the thought of no love that scares me most, no loving God, or light or presence. But I wouldn't care, because.. well.. nothing can't care.

Then I realized, if there is nothing (and it seems that this makes the most sense) then it means that every little thing I do while I'm alive is just that much more important. Every act is a one time opportunity. Every sensation is a treasure. I felt a renewed appreciation for my life. And yet, could all the stories be wrong? There are some very smart people holding some very strong beliefs that life after death is a fact.

I read a children's book this week called Holes. It is an excellent book that made a very good point about belief. In it, the narrator describes a highly poisonous lizard that can kill a person with just one bite. And he says:

"A lot of people don't believe in yellow-spotted lizards either, but if one bites you, it doesn't make a difference whether you believe in it or not."

It's the same for life after death. If it exists, whether I believe in it or not, it will still be there. Presumably I will get to enjoy it because I'm a good person striving to be better. At least that's what most of the stories agree on. If it doesn't exist, and I live my life with the idea that there is nothing more than this life, then I will strive to appreciate and do well with every moment I have. It's really a win-win situation.

So now I'm not scared that there might be nothing after death. I've explored the worst and it wasn't so bad. Plus, I've still got hope that there's something better.

How do I love thee? Let me Knit Socks.

For my dear husband, who is going through a rough patch, I knit alpaca blend socks in vacation souvenir yarn. Jim has been feeling slightly ill for a few months now. He has been undergoing tests for several months, but so far, all the doctors could find was a vitamin B deficiency. One of his symptoms is numb and cold feet.

Also, when he went back to work on after the Christmas break, he found out that there was only one more job to do and no work in sight. Jim is a sider (he installs siding on houses) and between the economy and the weather there are no new housing starts. Given his health situation and the bitter cold we've been experiencing, I'm actually glad. But it does put a kibosh on the great, get-out-of-debt resolution of 2009.

For my lovely mother-in-law, who will be celebrating her 85th birthday in February, I'm knitting some socks to specification, using Online purchased on sale.

While she loved the lace socks I gave her for Christmas, I knit them too loose and they won't stay up! Drat. Of course she's keeping them, but she requested a pair of fancy yarn ones for her birthday. I was actually bummed because I've been hankering to knit some fancy lace or two-color socks. My mother-in-law is a knitter, and one of the ways I show my love for her is to knit her really special socks. But I guess the most special socks are the ones that are knit exactly as you asked for them.

Homework

Found Luke's homework on the computer tonight after the kids had gone to bed. (Spelling corrected for readability.)

My house, like all others, is seemingly normal on the outside. And it is what a surprise. Anyways I'll tell you about it room by room. The living room - hell with it what's in the rooms is more important. Anyways the living room isn't really much it has the main TV but usually its my parents watching it, not me. The kitchen performs exactly what its supposed to and is linked to the dining room (well actually more like area). But the biggest thing is the men's den. The place where I enjoy my video games. In it we have a Wii, a PS2 (often occupied due to the release of Persona4) and a computer. I'm usually on the computer, what I'm doing on it is hard to predict, easy to find out. It can be anything from Shin Megami tensei -imagine, to Team Fortress 2, to reading fan fictions. While I'm on the topic of my house I might as well mention my family. My mom is very responsible and, like everyone else in my house, a little weird. She likes things to be clean, but doesn't go so far as enjoying cleaning.

Can't hide the truth!

A Breath of June, in January

The Bee Fields shawl had a slow finish because I was ensnared by a can't-put-down book. But as with all lace, it was well worth the wait because the results were just as thrilling as the tale that captured me.

It's like the leaves are back on the bush with this springy, fresh shawl draped over the bare branches.

I've nothing extraordinary to report about this knit. I bought the kit, knit the pattern as directed and ended up with a shawl that looks pretty much the same as the original. It was fun, the results are great, but somehow its not as satisfying as some of my other, more creative projects.

Two issues. One, I made a lot of mistakes that I just fudged over. I believe you can get away with this in lace knitting because the eye sees the whole pattern, not one small part of it. In two-color knitting, it's much harder to fudge this way because the eye is immediately captured by the small error. At least we have duplicate stitch in that circumstance.

Second issue. I find it hard to use blocking wires. I was terribly excited to start using blocking wires, thinking it would simplify the process, but I find them annoying. Once you've threaded one wire in, threading in the next one becomes awkward. At least the way I do it, which is in my lap. If I lay it out on the floor I tend to have the lace slip off the wire. And the shawl is damp and cold in my lap as I try to thread it on the wires. This shawl had a long top that required two wires to span it. I got frustrated and just used pins at the bottom.

I believe in a firm blocking to open up the lace to the maximum. I've seen some pictures on Ravelry where I think the lace wasn't blocked severely and I don't think it does the knitting justice. Well, I block tightly enough that the wires were bending in the middle. I had to support them with pins. Is that typical? I'm wondering if I blocked too tightly. The stitch pattern for this shawl puckered quite a bit in the pre-blocking, and I wanted it to be flat.


I knit the tall size, since I'm 5'9", but the pattern called for a 3.75mm needle and I went down to a 3.5mm, so my finished shawl isn't quite as big. It' will still make a lovely little summer wrap for me, but not a cozy winter one.

The kit came with a generous three skeins of yarn and I used only two. I have a pretty good idea what's going to happen to that third skein.

Oh, and the book? It was The Power of One, lent to me by a co-worker. It's a very dramatic and powerfully written book. It started off stronger than it finished, but by the time I was half way through, I just had to know what happens to the main character. It was a great escape!

Loading the Queue, Bucking the Trend

While many knit bloggers lament the number of projects they have on the needles, I'm actually trying to cast on several right now. I've found that when I'm really busy with work, it can be hard to start a new project. I get overwhelmed and end up impulsively casting on a rash choice. Or I slog away at a boring project that I don't love. So, while I'm still fresh from the holidays, I'm loading my queue with a variety of projects to suit whatever mood I happen to be in.

Here's where my needles stand poised:

1. I have the final 5 bees to knit on the Bee Fields shawl. That's a great yarn, a pattern I know, and just a short dash left to the finish before the magic of lace blocking.
2. A Noro ribbed scarf. For me. I'm thinking that this will liven up my black fall and spring jacket. The colors are 205, and 244.
   
   
3. A vest for Jim. The yarn is Fleece artist and once I picked it up, I could not place it back down. These are huge 250g skeins each containing 425meters. The label says it is Special Leba, a blend of 65% kid, 20% wool and 15% nylon. That's a good blend for socks, but I think I'd rather put these colors on more prominent display.
   
   
4. I've ordered sweater quantities of yarn for both my parents from Elann. My Mom is getting Peruvian Highland Donegal in Deep Lavender for the Susie Hoodie. Dad is getting Peruvian Highland Wool in Deep Twilight for a pullover with a twisted stitch front. I knit them both something small for Christmas in anticipation of knitting them something big afterwards, when I have more time. They helped pick the pattern and they yarn colors. The other bonus is that since it's not a surprise, I'll be able to get them to try it on for best fit.
   

This list is rounded out by simple knits like socks and and a garter stitch scarf. So, anyone else loading up their needles with knits for winter? It looks to be a long cold January and February.

Old Year, New Year

Well Happy New Year to everyone!

I don't make resolutions, but I do make goals. My big goal in 2009 is to clear the debt off our power line of credit. In 2008 we paid for braces for Luke and in November my car was paid off. The cash freed from completing those payments is now going towards the debt. I'm very excited to see a light at the end of this tunnel. Yippee!

We kept a pretty quiet Christmas when it comes to gifts. My favourite gift came from Jim and was a set of Rosewood double pointed needles. He had noticed me admiring them in the store, and was thoughtful enough to get them for me, knowing I'd not likely get them for myself.

All this week I've been off work and yet still very busy enjoying myself. My mother gifted the whole family with Animal Crossing City Folk, so we've all been playing that. It's been fun sending each other gifts and notes in the virtual mail. The family has also been enjoying playing Mario Kart and Munchkin. It's hard to find fun games for teenage boys to share with their family, but these fit the bill.

As for the knitting, 2008 saw a slowdown in my production, which is kind of hard to believe when you look at what I did complete. I don't think the slow down is a bad thing since it comes from walking the dog regularly and more responsibilities at work. I also slowed down on the blogging. Part of the problem with that is the kids are hogging the machine! Next year, all I want for Christmas is a laptop. Once the debt is gone, I think it's a reasonable request.

Post-Christmas, as predicted, I came to my senses and I abandoned the Cabled Yoke Jacket. Here's as far as I got:

I was breaking every design rule possible in one sweater for a plus-sized woman. All those puffy cables and the light color offset with a brown yoke. Not smart. But it was like a boxing match. My process knitter knocked out my product knitter in the first round. Thankfully, the product knitter made a late comeback and triumphed over the process knitter.

Now the process knitter and the product knitter have called a truce and all this week I've been happily plugging away at this ray of sunshine:


It's the Bee Fields shawl by Anne Hanson. I started this back in April and was halfway through the second section when I screwed up and ripped back to the first section. This was so disheartening that it languished in the stash cupboard till last week. The holidays have given me a well rested head to tackle it with and I'm hopeful that it will be mostly done before going back to work. I'm enjoying the lace and the color. Every time I pick it up I'm reminded of green grass and sunny skies.

I've needed the reminding too. We've had snow, rain, wind, cloud, fog, snow, and a bit of sun. The rain and wind conspired to knock down several pine trees, including one that fell over a driveway containing four cars. It crushed the hoods of the last two cars, trapping the whole bunch in. I can just imagine the consternation in that household when they realized their Christmas guests would be staying a few days more!

Merry Christmas!

Tonight we gathered with Jim's family and enjoyed the noise of a full house nineteen people strong. Tomorrow is a quieter celebration in our home with my parents and probably way more food than six people can reasonably eat. We are safe, and warm, and well blessed. I wish the same for all of you and all your loved ones.

As Requested... Keeping You Posted

I really appreciated all your feedback and input to my last post regarding the cabled yoke pullover. But (and you knew there was going to be a but) I ended up in a tizzy regarding the idea of a brown cable band for the yoke. On Saturday I ranted sufficiently that even Jim, my patient and understanding husband, was asking me to give it a rest. At one point, I declared I was nuts to even consider working the pattern and was very close to frogging the whole thing. Except, I make it a rule never to rip in cold blood.

After I calmed down, I picked it up and worked on it some more. It just felt right. Now that I've gotten my self-doubt out of my system, I've fallen harder for this project than before. Especially with the brown band. You are all so right, it shouldn't work! But my gut says it will. There's some instinct pushing me forward on this project. Of course the proof is in the pudding. A month later, I may look at this posting and wonder if Christmas madness had me in its grip. But right now, I'm enjoying my crush.

On the yarn quantity side of things, it took me five balls of yarn to reach 18 inches of back. I predict that one more ball should do it for the raglan shaping up to the cabled band. The fronts will take the same amount, so that's twelve balls there. If each sleeve takes three, which is just a SWAG (Scientific Wild Assed Guess), then I'll have two to work the last bit of the yoke and the button bands. I'm even contemplating a zipper installation in place of the buttons, which could further reduce my yarn consumption. Well, the main reason for a zipper would be to make the sweater more wearable, but I won't do it if it destroys the integrity of the design. I'll buy yarn if I have to.

Finally, here's a picture of the cables from the weekend when we enjoyed a brief dose of sunlight.

Yummy, aren't they?

Toothsome

A couple of months spent knitting small, simple projects has whet my appetite for something juicy to sink my teeth into. On impulse I started to work the Cabled Yoke Cardigan from Fall's Vogue Knitting.


I had no expectation of ever knitting this piece until I saw a small picture in the front of the magazine that showed it knit in a solid color. I was very intrigued and the neckline looked much more like something I'd wear.

So I swatched, got gauge right from the get go and launched into it. I'm using Jamieson's Shetland Heather, in Ivory. Two balls of yarn worked up into 8 inches of back. That's a pretty rapid rate of consumption. I decided it was time to crunch some numbers.

The pattern calls for 3072 meters of yarn. I have 20 balls of yarn at 92 meters each which equals 1840 meters, a short fall of 1232. That means I'd need 34 balls of yarn total to finish this sweater. Something seems off, doesn't it? That's a heck of a lot of yarn!

The sweater is 31 inches in length and the first half of my 8 inches had less stitches than the latter half, so I'll bet two balls will get me way less than 8 inches as I go on. Still, I calculate that at the same rate of yarn usage, it would take me 15 balls of yarn to complete the front and back of the cardigan, no sleeves. That's pretty close actually. I wonder if I could finish the sweater with my 20 balls. Do you think Vogue padded out the yarn requirements?

Here are my options:

• Rip it. Why run the risk of knitting an unfinishable project?
• Buy more yarn. I'd have to buy almost an entire sweater's worth though. Or I could wait till I'm almost at the end and then buy.
  
• Use a contrast yarn for the yoke. It might look funky, or it might look stupid. Knitty-Kat gave me some lovely tweed yarn (cause she's nice) that I think might just do the trick.
  

I'm leaning towards the last option. I really like working with the Shetland yarn, the knitting process has been fun so far, so I'm really reluctant to rip it, and I'm thinking that using the brown would be a creative and funky spin on the pattern. Am I nuts?

Oh, and there's one other option! Shorten the damned thing! Who needs a 31 inch sweater? I could go to 29 inches and still be plenty long.

I'm going to sleep on it. There's always a sock to knit.

Your input and comments are always appreciated.

Keeping Busy

It's hard to believe there is only one weekend left between now and Christmas. Somehow, I've managed to keep to my plan and everything is right on schedule. I don't have things timed to the hour like the Yarn Harlot, but I did have an idea of what should be done when. This weekend was for decorating. Check.

We even wrapped presents which I wasn't planning on. But if you knit small things, and buy many small bags, it's really no big effort. The knit gifts look quite impressive, all lined up like this.

There's just one left to wrap, and that's my Dad's slippers. I felted them this morning and I'm waiting for them to be throughly dry before performing the last finishing touches on them. Right now, they look a little rough.

Yikes! They were knit with Lopi, left over from Ford, which is why they are so hairy. I like them though. The soles are almost hard, which is great. I'll slap some rug backing onto them and they'll be as good as shoes. Then it will be time for a little trim.

Next weekend I'm cooking and Jim is cleaning. After all the Christmas crazies, I'm looking forward to some quiet time off work. Being busy sure does make the time fly until then.

Steppin' Out

Tis the weekend for Christmas parties. Don't we think we are gorgeous?


Oh, just funnin'. We had a lovely evening and it's very nice to get dressed up and go out once in a while. Jim was so thoughtful to buy me this lovely dress, I felt like a movie star.


Today is the children's Christmas party and I have a new sweater to wear.

Pattern: Hey Teach!
Yarn:
Needles: 5mm
Modifications: added one inch to the length of the sleeves and I only worked 3 button holes.

For buttons, I covered rings making Dorset buttons, following this tutorial. I wanted the buttons to be part of the sweater, not stand out.


Oh geeze, gotta run! Party starts at three.

Making Time

There's so much going on these days what with work, the boys, Christmas preparations and Christmas knitting. I'm often in a state of wondering if there will be enough time to get everything done. To prevent myself from spiraling off into a frantic frenzy of fury (I love alliteration!) I have to make time to savour my accomplishments and do something for me.

So, here's the latest gifties I've finished knitting.

Pattern: Musica
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: 4mm
Modification: upsized to fit a big man's hands. Also, removed the lice pattern to make the musical symbols stand out more.

Pattern: Hansa Mittens
Yarn: KnitPicks Palette
Needles: 2.25mm
Modifications: none! It's a perfect pattern. I did have to duplicate stitch over an error. It was quite notifiable, but simple to fix.


Pattern: Argosy
Yarn: Rowan Summer Tweed
Needles: 5mm
Modifications: knit to fit the yarn I had. It's plenty long enough I think.

Not too shabby eh? And there are a few works in progress that aren't represented here, namely traveling socks and a fun fur scarf. Yes, I knit about one fun fur scarf per year and I enjoy it. But a yearly dose is about all I can handle. It will go on the giftie pile.

What's left for Christmas knits is a pair of slippers for my dad and another set of mittens. But I've rebelled and cast on this festive little number instead:

This is Hey, Teach! in that cotton/acrylic blend that didn't work out as a cabled vest. It is such an incredibly fast knit! I cast on Friday night and I've finished both fronts and started the back. I think I could have this finished in time for our knitter's group Christmas potluck on December 7th. Anyone want to take a bet?

And now, a knitting tragedy. The squeamish should avert their eyes. Jo, read on, I know you can stomach it.

Last week I came home from work and found this sitting on the kitchen counter:

Alex could offer no explanation as to how this happened. With big, round eyes, he loudly proclaimed his innocence and ignorance as to the event that triggered the loss of an entire finger. There was a vague statement to the effect that he didn't know that the thread he pulled was attached to the whole thing. I blanched, and dropped the subject. I really don't want to know how it happened because it won't change the end result.

I think I've decided that he doesn't deserve to have it repaired. Both my boys have complained that their beautiful hand knit gloves let the wind blow through. Ingrates. I can't believe I'm still knitting Luke a pair of socks.

To finish on a happier note, here's Dexter playing in the snow. Not nearly as much fun as Doug's been having (scroll down for the money shot, literally), but more comfortable to watch.

Random Tuesday

Well I had a good Monday! Friend and co-worker LaurieB was at a silent auction over the weekend and picked up some yarn at a ridiculously low price. The best bit, it's natural fibers. Here's one:

It's a hairy yarn, thick and thin, with a texture like Lopi. There's fifteen cakes.

The real treasure was this:

Gorgeous color, isn't it? Almost a neon bright, and yet so soft, it's not harsh at all. The fiber seems to be a mohair wrapped with a strand of nylon. It's about a fingering weight I'd say. Here's a closeup:

They're five huge skeins of this and one skein is double sized. It was all I could do not to dive into it right away. My other projects felt bland last night. THANK YOU!!!! LaurieB.

A while back I offered two magazines up for free. I told Laura she could have them, but I haven't heard back from her about how I could get them to her. So Gayle, you were next in line. Laura or Gayle, send me your snail mail, and I'll get the magazines to you. First come, first served.

On Saturday, I was Stumbling through the net when I came across this great poster. I couldn't resist setting it as my desktop wallpaper for the kids to see:
On Sunday morning, the boys walked in on my knitting with smiles on their faces. "Mom", they asked me, "Did you change the computer's wallpaper? That's a great joke!"

I love that they've got a sense of humor.