yarn along

Yarning along. Second pair of my "summer of socks" - these are just 60-stitch socks in Knitpicks Stroll handpainted, Cartoons colorway.

Super busy day, got a bunch of kids over here playing. No time to blog!

Happy 4th!

*Boom!*

*Crackle!*

*Pop!*

Happy 4th of July!

First socks of summer are done.

yarn along...better late than never!

Eep! Almost missed yarn along day, but I'm sneaking in under the wire.

I've nearly finished my stripey socks, just 1/2 of the second foot to go. And while it doesn't really qualify as reading, I'm totally geeking out over my new planner, turning each page and getting to know what's in it. I lust after an Erin Condren planner, as many do, but simply cannot justify $50 for what is, at its core, a datebook. This one, purchased on Amazon and using some credit I had, came in at a highly reasonable $7.50 out of pocket.

Now I just have to make some plans to fill it up!

First plan: finish these socks.

peaceful knitting at the playground

Loving that my kids are big now and can just take off at the playground, leaving me under a shady tree in peace. :)

yarn along

Oh seriously, with the time flying...slow down already, life! I was laughing to myself this morning thinking about how I used to blog every single day, sometimes wanting to write twice a day, because the days felt so long and lonely and boring. Then my kids started growing up and now the days all blend together in a giant whirlwind of passing time.

In other words, it's Wednesday again, and time for Yarn Along.

I started this tank last summer, late in the season, and ended up stashing it away after knitting about 6" of the front. After finishing up the prayer shawl I'd been knitting, I resurrected this tank so I can get some wear out of it this year. I hope it fits and looks, I don't know, appropriate? I'm no spring chicken but I don't have bingo wings and I think with a decent bra this top will be ok. The yarn is Bernat Cotton-ish in the "spinning jenny" colorway.

As for reading, I'm going through plant-based cookbooks right now. One of my faves so far is The China Study Cookbook. The two main dish recipes I've tried have been fairly quick and easy, and my whole family ate them. I also tried a muffin recipe but with no eggs or oil they were dry and blah. 

Join up with Ginny and share what you're knitting and reading!

faux russian stole

HOLY

MACARONI!

IT'S

FINISHED!

Ravelry notes.

on injured reserve

I've been knitting like a crazy person on my Faux Russian Stole - this is 3 complete repeats of the pattern, with 2.5 left to go. So I'm past the halfway point! It is still a very enjoyable knit and I am excited about the finished product, but unfortunately I was starting to have hand and wrist pain while working on it. I had to pretty much stop working on it over the holiday weekend. 

So while I rest my poor arm, I will accomplish other things. 

Sorry about the glare in the photo - the sun was directly behind the tree but this was the only place I could hang the dress and not have it blow away. The sewing is straight, but it is so windy the dress would not hang straight.

The dress is the second half of a birthday gift for the daughter of our good friends (the purple sweater is the other part). She just turned 3, and her party is coming up. I'm so thrilled with this little dress and pattern - I wish I'd had it 4 years ago when my own daughter was that age. It's Simplicity 2377 and it is just a perfect little dress pattern. 

This little girl's favorite color is purple, so I tried to find purple fabric but nothing called out to me in the store.  I went with this girly butterfly print and now I'm just hoping it's not too.....loud? Oh well, it's a tad obnoxious but you can get away with that when you're 3. 

I can highly recommend this dress pattern if you have a little girl in your life. It's 4 pieces that fit together like a perfect puzzle, and the elastic sleeve and neck openings are SO EASY. There's no need for any other closures (zippers or buttons) because of the elastic, which also means a gal can dress herself. Woot! I'll be making some of these for Daughter for sure (the pattern goes up to size 8). [I also like that you don't have to buy a bunch of expensive notions to make this...half the time I get a great deal on the fabric for kid projects and then have to spend a fortune on notions. Why are zippers, like, two dollars each??? This whole gift, start to finish, cost maybe $10 plus my time.]

It's incredibly hot and humid today - thunderstorms are rolling in and they can't get here soon enough. They're supposed to drop the temperature about 20 degrees by nighttime and I will take it! I love warm weather but not when it's so sticky you can't get anything done. Blech. So we'll see how the wrist feels later...I might have an update on my stole for Wednesday's knit along post, or perhaps I'll stick to sewing for a few more days. Heaven knows there are enough projects piled up to keep me busy for a long time.

swallowtail shawl

Yay, I finished something!

I don't know what it is about these silly lace shawls...I have no plans to actually wear one, but I can't stop making them. I guess it's the magic of going from a lump of crazy-looking knitting to a thing of beauty.

This is my swallowtail shawl, an Evelyn Clark design. Everyone has made one. (Well, nearly 10000 knitters have, anyway.)

Senorita Grumpypants was not in the mood to model today - can you tell by the hunched shoulders? She's pouting, too. Oh well, you want me to take you to that bounce-house birthday party later today, kid? That's what I thought. Now, show us how it looks when you hold it out to the sides:

It seems there are certain shawls that just about everyone makes (if they make shawls, that is). There's this one, and the flower basket shawl, the shetland triangle, ishbel, and ene's scarf, among many others. I guess because these designs are so accessible for knitters of every level, maybe? The knitting is really not difficult at all, other than those tricksy nupps. Lots of knitters substitute beads there, and I can see why...it would definitely be faster and less fussy. But I'm glad to have tried it as written. 

I'm disappointed I didn't use up more of the yarn, though. I had two skeins of Naturespun fingering weight in nordic blue, approximately 310 yards each. I got most of the way through the shawl with one skein, and only used maybe 1/10 of the second. Oh well, it's better than running out, and it came from stash so that's definitely good. This was knit on my favorite vintage nylon size 6 circular needle. 

I have lots of shawls in my ravelry queue, what shall I knit next? I also have two more skeins of Naturespun in a purple colorway to use up as well...I have to admit, I didn't "get" ravelry at first, but holy moly, it's an amazing tool. If you need me, I'll be over there trying to select my next project...

a fail and a win

I think all knitters have had a project or two where they get halfway through and start to wonder if it's going to work out. Then one has to decide if it's worth it to press on and finish, or rip the project and repurpose the supplies.

I chose to press on. I had one ball of Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud laceweight in the 'stream' colorway (discontinued), leftover from the feather and fan shawl I knit while pregnant with AJ (2008). I came across this pattern on Ravelry, and thought, why not?

Well, I'll tell you why not. This project is a total fail. The pattern is fine; well-written and easy to execute. (And as an aside, check out the designer's work, it will blow your mind.) The problem: very poor match of yarn to pattern on my part. Alpaca Cloud has absolutely ZERO body, and does not hold up well to the beads. When I tried to put it on my neck and style it nicely, it just flopped. In the pattern picture you can see the cowl actually stands up a bit and has body to it, but mine is nothing like that. And I even went down a needle size because I didn't have an 8 handy - I used a US 7.

This makes me sad because it was no small feat putting over 700 beads into my knitting. It took a long time! The color is pretty, and the silvery beads sparkle so nicely, but sadly, I just don't see myself wearing it.

Oh well, live and learn. At least that ball of laceweight is used up!

Happily, the bread dough I mixed up last night resulted in a win:

It's still hot and I can't wait for it to be cool enough to cut. It's the easiest recipe in the world to follow and it comes out great every time (I use 2 cups AP flour and 1 cup WW flour). I used my Ma Ingalls cast iron dutch oven and it worked perfectly.

Back to my etsy order and a cup of tea.

beads! and stuff

Oh, dudes, knitting with beads is cool. Really cool.

This week has sort of swallowed me whole. Daughter had a play at school, which threw the weekly rhythm off a bit, and Spring Break starts tomorrow {blech!} so I have to quickly think of over a week's worth of activities to keep the kids from killing each other. I need to sorta-clean the house for Easter Sunday as I think my in-laws are coming over for coffee cake (though they are notorious for cancelling or, even worse, ruining holidays). There are sewing projects in various stages of completion laying all over the dining room, including a satin bridesmaid dress turned toddler frock that needs hemming and embellishment. The weather has turned chilly and gray again so I have approximately zero motivation to do anything.

Blerg.

I'm going to go knit with beads some more.

rainbow brite

Just in time for (unseasonable) 70 degree weather:

My rainbow socks are done!

How fun are these? I just love them. And they match exactly, which is the icing on the cake. I was really careful and it paid off.

The yarn is Knitpicks Felici in the "rainbow" colorway. Size 2 needles, 60 stitches, top-down construction. I used some Joann Bamboo & Ewe cream for the heels to keep the continuity of the striping from leg to foot. Oh, and they are for ME. Me, me, me!

Daughter loves the yarn too...not enough left for socks, but maybe, paired with another yarn (a deep charcoal?) enough for some mittens, gloves, or a beanie for her. We'll see.

So, it's seriously supposed to be 70 tomorrow, and sunny. Hubs says we're cleaning out the garage (blech). I say we're knitting in a lounge chair! Hooray for sun! :)

checking in

Well hello! What's new? I've been gone a bit...we went on a real vacation! With airplanes! And beaches! And, most exciting for my 3 year-old, elevators!

It was ok. Normally a family vacation to a sunny place wouldn't be in our budget, but after my sister cancelled her destination wedding in December, my parents were left with a bunch of non-refundable plane tickets. We got very lucky with an offer of a place to stay in the Florida Keys, so last week we packed up and jetted off. 

We enjoyed the warmth very much, and the Keys are...interesting. I wouldn't say exciting, but it was nice to visit. The kids enjoyed swimming several times a day, and riding the aforementioned elevator up and down in the condo complex where we stayed. It's challenging to travel with your parents, spouse, and young children. Kind of awkward playing the respectful daughter, the compromising wife, and the authoritative parent all at once, all the time. Still, it was a nice change of scenery and getting out of gray dreary cold NY in February is pretty priceless.

Now we're back to reality with all its funsies...therapy, school, work, chores, Daughter's stomach virus over the weekend (blech), worrying about AJ's preschool options for next year, pondering our next home improvement, waiting for signs of Spring. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 50s! Oh please, let it be so. We could use some outside time. 

My vacay knitting was the pair of rainbow socks I can't seem to finish. It's March already and I feel like I've barely knit anything in 2012. I know it's not a contest but sheesh! I do like to complete projects and this year has been a slog so far. I'm in the homestretch though...one more complete rainbow repeat and the second sock will be done.

Started a Spring cardigan for Daughter in this Cherry Cotton Ease. This photo is extremely washed out...it's a rich cherry red. Cotton is a bummer for my hands so I work on it in fits and starts. I'm just about to put the sleeves on holders and work the body stitches. I picture this worn with a (handmade) sweet navy blue sundress with white polka dots just like the one I made when she was a toddler. Wouldn't that be adorable? Unfortunately Daughter is becoming picky on the eve of turning 7 (!) and I'll have to bounce that idea off of her before I buy any fabric.

Weighing heavily on my mind these days is the upcoming maternity leave of our awesome speech therapist, Miss Sarah. Boooooo. We are thrilled that she is welcoming a new baby girl, but I feel a deep sense of loss as she will be leaving us at least until late summer or early fall - that is, if we can even get her back. I've started a little white cardigan for the baby, and with each row I say a prayer for her health and wellbeing, and a selfish prayer that she makes it to term so she stays with us as long as possible. Any gain our son has made in his speech since September has been because of Miss Sarah and her methods. Yes, I work with AJ all the time on his speech, but she has given us the tools and the encouragement we need to move forward. Also, she is at our house 5 days a week. Her absence will be felt. :(

Nothing else exciting to report. Just starting to formulate some plans for some possible summer sewing, and anxiously awaiting Spring. What's new with you?

filling my cup

Yesterday my friend and I ran away. Thelma and Louise! Hahaha. Sadly, no Brad Pitt in the back seat.

We went over the border to the nearest Ikea, in Burlington, Ontario...yes, that's Canada. We have no Ikea where I live.

I KNOW, right? No Ikea. Tragic.

Also not located in Buffalo: Trader Joe's, Crate & Barrel, and Costco.

Until recently there was no Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters but now at least we have those. I actually got to go into Anthropologie for the first time ever on Saturday night, as Hubs and I dropped the kids off with Grandma and went on a little date. (Our date consisted of: getting our taxes prepared, getting the car washed, walking around the mall, going to Five Guys for a burger, and stopping by the grocery store. HOT.)

Anyway, I can see why everyone raves about Anthropologie so much. What a beautiful store. The clothes don't do that much for me, but the "doo-dads" knocked my socks off. I'm a sucker for beautiful and functional items and they did not disappoint...from the dishes to the lovely measuring cups/spoons, latte bowls, and wee butter dishes meant to hold a half-stick. Thank heavens Hubs was there to stop me or I'd surely have bought one of those. I can definitely see myself heading there for unique gifts for friends and family (and, maybe, occasionally something for me).

So that was that, and then on Sunday morning my friend picked me up bright and early, we hit the Starbucks drive-thru, and headed for the border with passports and shopping lists in hand. The American dollar is at par with the Canadian dollar right now so the prices were what they were, no exchange rate math necessary. We had so much fun combing the store top to bottom. Again, it was the "doo-dads" that got me the most. I just loooooooved browsing around all the kitchen wares and kid stuff.

You can bring back $200 worth of stuff duty-free but we were good and didn't spend nearly that much. I got a bunch of kitchen items and this duvet cover/sham set for AJ's new big-boy bed, which should be here in a few days:

So cute! I'm excited to change his room over from baby to little boy. 

It was also really nice to have a grown-up lunch with my friend and talk with no interruptions from small children. I got Eggs Benedict. It was awesome.

Now my house is a hot mess, and I can't seem to gather my thoughts for the week ahead, but at least I had a really relaxing and fun day. I simply must do that more often. It's unhealthy to neglect myself, I get that now (finally, after nearly 7 years of parenting).

As for craftiness...I'm a hot mess there too. Jumping around from project to project, unable to focus. No one really needs anything made at the moment, so it's all self-indulgent knitting. Too cold to sit at the sewing machine. It's all curl-up-under-a-blanket crafting right now.

Rainbow socks!

And the shawl bug bit. This is an easy one, which I can work on while waiting for Daughter at swimming lessons. More to come.

birthday and some socks

Whoops, didn't mean to disappear for a week. 'Twas a busy one, though...the usual daily stuff plus my (gulp) 36th birthday and the attendant celebratory activities. I got a new vacuum from my husband, and lest you think he's a horrible gift-giver, I asked for the thing. We've been getting by cleaning our area rugs with a canister vacuum, which I thought was ok, but now I have a bagless upright with spinning brush and let's just say I'm really sorry if you've visited my house and sat on the floor in the recent past. Blech! (I recommend that vacuum if, like me, you have no wall-to-wall carpet, only area rugs over hardwood...I don't think it is heavy-duty enough for anything more.)

"The kids" got me silver hoop earrings which I've been trying to drop hints about for years. Yay!

And we had ice cream cake, and my parents took me (and AJ, we're a package deal) out for lunch on my actual birthday, and then Hubs and I got to go on a date with another couple on Friday night! Woohoo! My awesome parents took the kids over night so we got super wild and went to...Olive Garden. I know, we are total party animals. It was so good, though. I ate myself into a food coma. Then we came home, watched TV, and fell asleep. Which, for my money, is a good birthday. I didn't have to read bedtime stories, fetch glasses of water, or take anyone to the potty. Good deal.

Today it is 50 degrees (!) and I feel restless. It looks and feels like SPRING! But it's January 31 and I'm no dummy. It will be back to cold, snowy, dark winter in a day or two.

For a little brightness I pulled out some fun sock yarn last week:

This is Joann Sensations "Bamboo & Ewe" yarn in what they call the pink/red pattern colorway. This photo is washed out, I couldn't get it to look quite right even with editing. The pink is very bright in real life, and those gray-looking stripes are really lavender. I'm pleased I was able to make them match so closely. There's quite a bit leftover, too, so I will make socks for Daughter.

What to make now? I need to make some more soakers. I would like to work on a stalled shawl but the rows are very long now and I need quiet and good light, both scarce just now. There's a big bulky fisherman sweater started in my basket but that's not calling to me either. Hmmm. Off to search the stash and see if anything catches my eye.....

new year

Wow. Another new year already. How can it be 2012? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

My baby girl will turn 7 soon. Impossible.

Well, I still can't quite understand how the holidays whizz by so quickly now that I'm an adult. This year we had the added bonus of our hot water heater failing one week before Christmas Eve, necessitating its replacement. And then we had the (planned) installation of two oversize, custom built, double-double-hung windows in our kitchen and dining room on the 22nd. Yes, the leaky crappy windows have been replaced! We requested a full tear-out and rebuild of the frame for both, so we will never have to worry about them. We saw some seriously gross stuff when they ripped out the 1966 construction, but thankfully no structural damage. We already feel the difference in temperature inside the house, and there's no more rattle when the wind blows.

There was minor panic when a few gifts did not show up on time (thanks a lot used booksellers, you charge me $3.99 to ship a book, and I ordered TEN BOOKS meaning I paid a small fortune in shipping even though they all came TOGETHER...yet they did not arrive in time for Christmas)...so Hubs was out with the Crazies late at night on the 23rd, picking up a few extra gifts.

All in all it was nuts, as usual. But the good kind of nuts - cousins who live hundreds of miles apart getting to play together for several days in a row, catching up with my sisters, giving and receiving gifts, laughs, hugs, more laughs. Yes, it was good.

And I nearly made it with my knitted gifts! I got an ornament knitted up for our amazing therapist, but she ended up cancelling our last session before Christmas. I guess I could have put that time toward Hubs' hat, which ended up being finished early last week. Oh well. He loves it and has been wearing it to work each day. And thank goodness...all that garter stitch was torture!

Now, back to regular life, I suppose. Daughter went back to school today. AJ is back to his daily speech therapy. It's fa-reezing outside (12 degrees F today, with wind chill below 0), so I just want to hunker down and knit cables. I have one order to finish:

3 soakers, 3 colors, 3 sizes. I'm always so grateful when someone orders from me. I don't make a lot of money doing this, not by a long shot, but it's nice when someone likes my stuff, orders it, and then comes back to tell me how much they appreciate the item. Lots of photographers order newborn diaper covers and a few times I've received photos of teeny babies wearing them for photo shoots. It's so sweet.

When I'm done with that, it's back to this. I've started another project to use up some stashed yarn. I want to do a Starmore sweater really, really badly but I don't have enough of any one yarn right now. This is a free pattern from Lion Brand that gets decent reviews, so I'm going with it since I have what the pattern calls for. The stitch definition leaves much to be desired...but hopefully it will block and wear well. Whatever, I'm enjoying it so far. Cables are addictive, so the 8-row repeat goes by quickly and it grows in length surprisingly fast.

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you're all staying warm.

a new sweater for me

Sorry for the long absence, but I've been knitting feverishly on several projects at once. I started a sweater for myself a month ago, and got really hooked on it so I've spent all my free time working madly to finish it. If you saw my house you could totally tell I've been blowing everything off in favor of knitting (it's a mess, seriously). 

Before I share the photos, I need to point out that my photographer is 6 years old and takes photos by carefully, carefully setting up the shot, then jerking the camera and yelling "CLICK!" while pushing the button. So you can imagine how hard it is to come up with at least one or two decent shots. She tried hard, so I'm grateful...this sweater really needs to be shown while being worn as the pattern does not show up well laying flat.

It hasn't been blocked (I finished late last night) but I can see it needs to be. The pattern is available here for free. It's a good pattern, but not for a beginner. The chart is not numbered, and is a bit difficult to follow. I changed it a tad by lengthening the sleeves - I started with 41 stitches instead of 51, and then just followed the directions as written, increasing to 61 stitches and knitting plain rounds until I got the right length. The sweater is knit from the bottom up, then joined so the yoke can be knit in one piece. I also did not bind off the underarm stitches. Instead I put the required number of stitches on holders, then grafted them together when I was finished knitting. And finally, rather than knitting the garter edges called for, I chose to skip them and add 2X2 rib button bands after knitting the entire sweater. I think it's a neater finish.

Isn't the pattern pretty? I am so pleased with the way this came out! 

And guess what I used to knit it? You got it, cheap reasonably priced wool. This sweater took just under two skeins of Lion Fishermen's Wool in Brown Heather. I got it with coupons at Joann's, making it $5 per skein. I actually bought 3 skeins, figuring I'd need that much for an adult sweater, but I didn't even break into the 3rd. The buttons are faux leather, so they were only $1.25 for a card of 3, and I bought 3 cards with coupons. 

So the total cost of this very warm, heavy wool sweater was $13. I'm just sayin'.

And knitters (crocheters too!), if you're not checking out the Garn Studio website you are really missing out. They have hundreds of free patterns available, and I especially recommend the baby patterns. They'll knock your socks off. 

vacation! (and some projects, too)

Oh man, it's August 9th already. We had such a cold, rainy, long spring and then got super baked for several weeks and I feel we've hardly had any "real" summer. I hope we get some nice days of high 70s with sun and a breeze before school starts.

School, wow, already?!? The time, it flies. Daughter will start first grade after labor day. It's coming up quickly...we've already purchased her supplies (except the markers, because I haven't seen them for $1 yet). I'm watching for juice box coupons and stocking up on snacks for the lunchbox. The light outside is shifting, just a bit, telling me that autumn is indeed on its way.

We were away last week, the kids and I, visiting my sister and her baby boy in the midwest. Her husband was out of town on business so we descended upon their home for a whole week. It saddens me that the cousins in our family will all grow up far away from each other, so it's nice to put them together and let them become acquainted. That way the holidays aren't a visit with people who feel like strangers. Also, holy cow did I need a change of scenery. It was amazing to get out of town for awhile and look at something other than our four walls! Even shopping at Target in a different place feels somehow fresh and new. We played, walked, swam, shopped, cooked, ate, baked, and played some more. My sister's house has central air - glorious! - and our moods were all greatly improved by the comfort we experienced.

I took along a bit of knitting but didn't get a whole lot done.

These socks were started in January. January! I cast them on to take to the hospital for AJ's surgery, which ended up postponed until mid-February anyway, and besides, I never actually knit in the surgical waiting room. Taking knitting along is just wishful thinking. So these rode around in the bottom of my purse until recently when I got sick of seeing them in there and I started working on them in earnest. One down, one started.

And before we left, when I was doing vacation pre-cleaning so we wouldn't come home to a gross house, I picked this quilt up off the dining room table and finished the stinking thing:

This is, I guess, broken dishes (?) but was supposed to be a pinwheel quilt separated by sashing. It went from a planned queen size to maybe a twin to a wallhanging as I got tired of making the blocks. Ha! Some quilter I am.

I based this on a quilt pattern in Nickel Quilts. Unfortunately somewhere between making the first batch of blocks years ago and finishing it up last winter, I accidentally changed the size of the individual components, so some of the blocks got chopped down in the final assembly. If you enlarge the photo you might be able to see where several of the pinwheels don't actually have points on them. Whoops!

Anyway, I don't care and I think it looks pretty good to hang on my living room wall! We need color desperately, and this roughly 56"X64" quilt will bring it.

I've been swayed lately by all the fresh fabric collections quilters are using in the online quilting world...lots of juicy oranges, pinks, lime greens, browns, bright blues...and I was even thinking I might splurge on some of the newer fabrics, despite my reservations that these colors might seem really dated in a few years (remember country blue and rose? how about peach and seafoam green? yeah), but then I finished this quilt and I realized where my heart lies. I love these tiny prints and semi-solids. I love traditional quilts.

And now that I've finished one, I can start another. Or maybe two. Those are the rules. Right?

F.O.: flower basket shawl

What? I said this should be done by next week? Oh, haha, just kidding. I meant I was going to practically injure myself to get it done immediately. (Seriously, my poor wrists, ouch.)

Flower Basket shawl, from Interweave Knits, fall 2004. I post-it-noted this pattern when I got the magazine all those years ago, but only just now got around to making it. At the time the concept of knitting lace with two strands of yarn held together sounded way intimidating. I just didn't have the knowledge to realize I didn't have to follow the directions exactly, and that I could substitute yarn and needles.

What a lovely pattern to knit. It's actually very easy, and each line of the chart is memorized quickly for fast, smooth knitting. I used almost two entire hanks of Knitpicks Gloss fingering weight, which came in a sock sampler my husband gave me for Christmas in........2007? I would have to search the archives but I think that's right. That means with 440 yards of fingering weight and a US6 needle I got a shawl measuring 60" across and about 30" from the neck to the bottom point (after blocking). I didn't count my repeats but I did several more than the pattern calls for. On the last repeat I was sweating it out, fearing yarn famine, but I made it with a (very) small ball of yarn to spare.

Daughter wants it. We just took these photos and she's now curled up on the sofa, wrapped in the shawl. I'm thinking we'll store it carefully away for when she's a bit older. :)

FO: summer mystery shawlette

I finished my mystery shawlette! Woot!

Actually I finished the knitting a week ago but I was lazy and smushed it into its ziplock bag to avoid weaving ends and blocking. I didn't know where to block it because we have hardwood throughout our house - no carpeting other than area rugs - so I wasn't sure where to pin it down. It turned out our dining room area rug has enough rubber backing that I could gently shove my t-pins into it.

I wish I had better photos but it's just me and the toddler here today. I tried to get a photo in the mirror but...no. Total fail.

What a nice project this was to work on! I used frog tree fingering weight alpaca, way less than two skeins. I'll probably make a special bonnet or booties with the remainder for someone I really care about...because hello, expensive, can't-throw-it-in-the-washing-machine alpaca. You know.

It comes just around my shoulders, so if I made it again I would add repeats to make it much bigger. But I love the pattern. Thanks, Wendy, for a fun knitalong!

I did not block this "severely" because I don't care for lace that is blocked so hard the stitches become distorted. In this photo I can even see a few areas where the stitches are pulled out more than I like to see. I love lace but I like it to have a little substance to it. Not a big fan of the cobweb weight, filmy lace.

But I've been bitten by the lace bug, now. It's going to be tough to work through my wips now that all I want to do it knit lace! I dug out my lace books and found a surprising amount of appropriate yarn to make lacy shawls and scarves. I might make that my summer knitting!

clearing out some wips

The weather is finally so indescribably gorgeous, I can't believe I'm inside typing this right now. It rained hard in the wee hours of the morning and my patio chairs are still wet, otherwise I'd be out there enjoying the warm sunlight and soft breeze. Especially since tomorrow it's supposed to be 90, which in my humble opinion is too hot to enjoy.

Luckily we have ways of dealing with it:

Look at my big guy! Almost 3 years old! Where does the time go? He loves to "make rainbows" with the hose and cool off at the same time.

I've got a few F.O.s to share. Late winter saw a flurry of WIPs started and cast aside as I struggled to entertain myself on cold, wet days. Of late I've been picking them back up and working my way through the basket of unfinished stuff.

Plain top-down socks to add to my collection. This is Regia "Galaxy" yarn and is supposed to look all outer-spacey. Pretty cool. Plus, I got it on clearance for $2/skein. VERY cool!

I know I showed this partly knit, but I don't think I shared the finished sweater. It's a February baby sweater, of course, made with exactly 3 skeins of Knitpicks telemark in the carnation colorway. I like this yarn enough, it's hearty and warm, but they say it is sportweight and calls for size 3-4 US needles. I knit it on size 5, I think (or was it 6? no, I think 5) and the thing could practically stand up by itself. Maybe it will soften after washing? We shall see.

This looks to be about a 6-9 month size. After I wash it and attach some vintage-y buttons, it will go in the cedar chest awaiting the birth of a baby girl to someone we love.

This week I was planning to keep chugging along on my hippy dippy granny square blanket but I got my first international order (!) and I'm knitting away on two oatmeal-colored soakers for a UK baby.

Patons classic merino in "natural mix" which is exactly the color of a bowl of oatmeal. Mmmmm...oatmeal.

After these are done and shipped off, it's back to the WIPs, both yarny and sewn (oh yeah, there's a pile of stuff cut out next to the sewing machine, too).

What are you working on this week?