A Knitting Post

This is the post where I tell you about the knitting I've been doing for the past couple of months, an undertaking that may be unappealing to those of you who do not knit. But here goes anyway.

Last year I made myself a little felted purse that I carried everywhere until its I-cord strap broke. I wasn't sure how to fix it, so I decided to make a new one big enough to hold my wallet. This time I used five stitches for the I-cord in hopes of improving its endurance. I'd like to know how to give a felted bag a little more structure, because this one is kind of floppy. But it works for me anyway.

I had long had my eye on some Manos yarn in my local yarn shop. Beautiful redhead colors -- pale gold shading to deep butterscotch with some lovely deep blue-green thrown in. When the owner put it on sale for 30% off, I snatched it up and made a Mr. Greenjeans with it. (Manos is fatter than the recommended yarn, so I used the extra-small pattern aiming for a size between small and medium.)

I was so excited about this project, but it was a bit of a disappointment. I like the yarn better in the skein than I do once it's knitted up -- there's too much dark brown and gray in the fabric for my taste. My boys call it the camo cardigan, which is NOT the effect I was going for. This was my first foray into hand-dyed yarn, and I did not heed the warning to knit from two balls at once. (Mostly because I didn't see the warning until I was on the third ball, not because I was being ornery.) Wouldn't you know, the fourth ball was lighter than the other three. I can't imagine that anyone else will look at it and say, "Gee, your button band is slightly lighter than your yoke," but I can see it. It's also not a good pregnancy cardigan because it's short (as you can see from the picture, I avoid short tops in pregnancy, celebrity trends not being my thing) and the rib/cable pattern at the bottom pulls the fabric back and says, "Would you look at that 29-week belly! It's enormous!" I don't expect I'll be wearing it until the new year. All that said, I do like it -- it's just that I thought I would love it.

Spring Forward socks were my very fun Ravelympics project. Love the Tofutsies yarn -- nice and soft with a beautiful color that shades from beige to taupe to sage green -- and love the pattern. Those little striped guys are socks I made for Pete at his request. He declined to model them for you so you will just have to imagine his feet in them.

I finished a Christmas gift yesterday, blocking and all. It's the Seascape stole from the summer issue of Knitty, and I am very pleased with it. I hope the recipient is as well. Mmmm, Kidsilk Haze. I have one little hesitation: when I folded it up to put it away for later, I noticed that one end is slightly narrower than the other. This could just be because I blocked one end more assertively than the other. It could conceivably be because I have to adjust my gauge when I'm working with Kidsilk Haze so I don't cry with every decrease. I do hope I didn't knit the first 30 rows noticeably tighter than the last 30. I'm hoping it will just relax itself in the drawer between now and when I wrap it up for Christmas. If it doesn't, I suppose I can spritz the narrow end with water and pin it out again. Fingers crossed.

Last one: yesterday I finished Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Baby Yours sweater, made for my own wee daughter. I took a picture last night that turned out to be blurry, so I'll just show you this detail from the cabled back -- Pete is ready for this post to be finished. I have little square pearly buttons parading down the front -- square to echo the neckline, pearly to add just a little bit of girliness to a sweater that was actually designed for a boy. I ordered the pattern right around the time of the CPS mess, when I was feeling so vulnerable as a mother. Right at that same time, Marty and I were reading the part of Fellowship of the Ring where an elven lord leaves a beryl in the road as a sign for the hobbits. I was browsing through the STR greens, because if your mother is a redhead you're going to be wearing a lot of green, and I found beryl. I picked it right away and knitted this up, with high hopes for my little girl that as she makes her way through the world she will find it's full of people who are looking out for her, people who've got her back. It is folded up in her dresser, waiting for December.

Comments

[Amie]

What a cute sweater!

I agree about wearing a lot of green if your mother is a redhead. Sadie is actually opposite of me with her dark skin and hair. She looks great in the bright pinks and reds that I have always avoided. It took awhile to get used of shopping for her.

[Deb C.]

I love seeing other people's knitting projects! I'm always busy with something myself (though I sadly lack a digital camera for showing them off).

I know you asked a few weeks ago about favorite soaker patterns, and I meant to leave my two cents, but I think I was trying out a new pattern at the time and wanted to see how well I liked it. My new favorite (having never tried any but the free patterns, mostly because I don't have circular needles yet) is the Flowerpot Tots pattern (http://www.dunmani.plus.com/newflower/files/FlowerpotTotsDKShortiesAndLongies.pdf). I've used it to make both shorties and longies, and I am really happy with the way they fit my little girl :).

[Deb C.]

Oops! It cut off the URL. You can find them on Ravelry, though, under "Flowerpot Tots" :). I think the lady who wrote the pattern also has it posted on a blog somewhere...

[Tracy]

I LOVE the socks, LOVE the wrap, and the baby sweater is just too cute for words.

You look great too, btw :-)

[Rebecca]

Beautiful Stole! I bet you did just block it differently on the ends. And the socks turned out great!

[Maria Wood]

Mmm, we have such similar taste in knitting projects! I think I've put almost all of those on my to-do wish list. Beautiful!

[Sildah]

Just lovely!

[Jody]

Wasn't that a great sock pattern? I think it was the way it knit up so FAST that charmed me the most (because I am crass that way).

I think I may try that stole for Christmas knitting, too. Because all the stuff on my needles isn't enough variety for my distracted knitting tendencies.

When did you find out the baby is a girl?! How could I have missed the discovery scan?! Congratulations on gaining that additional piece of information about the new baby, and reaching 29 weeks, too!

[Derica]

Good post.