Rio..

...de Janeiro? Not quite.

It's the Rio Dress knit for a family friend's newborn daughter. As a matter of fact, she was born earlier today, a healthy baby girl. 

I modified this slightly; I skipped the horizontal seed stitch band right about the skirt, and I shortened the length. I made the 6 mos size, I'm thinking this will hit at about her knees and I like it like that. 

Wash Cloths

I had two skeins of white and yellow variegated Lily & Cream laying around, and what better use for it than some wash cloths?

They knit up quickly! When I started knitting, I didn't understand why anyone would hand knit wash cloths only to rub them all over grimy, greasy dishes. Kind of like I didn't understand why anyone would knit socks if they are just going to be covered by shoes. Well, I get it now. The wash cloths at least. They are thicker than store-bought, and more absorbent, and are better at getting the grossness off.

Stash Busting Update!

In updating the blog over the last few weeks I realized I've made a lot of progress in my stash busting efforts. I'm not normally a numbers person, but my Dad was an accountant, and I must be channeling him a bit because I throughly enjoyed putting these numbers together.

Pre-Stash Bust (March 2013): 7.1418 kg of yarn / 19,077.49 yards

     That's 15.7 lbs of yarn. Unwound and laid end to end, the yarn would cover 10.8 miles.

As of August 2013: 4.3572 kg / 12,915.4 yards

     That's 9.6 lbs and 7.4 miles laid end to end.

I have used 2.7846 kg (6.1 lbs), or 6,162 yards (3.4 miles).

Bringing Home Baby Kit

No Mom, I'm not pregnant. But baby projects are great stash busters!

Using some Malabrigo Worsted left over from Uhlan, I made Snug As A Bug Sleep Sac and a hat to match. Tomorrow, watch for an update on the stash bust!

Uhlan Cap

When I saw Uhlan in Knitty (Deep Fall 2012), I wanted to make it for my hubby. It's the perfect thing to wear when you're snow blowing! He even was kind enough to model it for me.

He doesn't especially like modeling. 

I did need to make some adjustments to fit his giant head, and picked up stitches for the ribbing around his face I made sure that they matched the neck ribbing. Because things like that bother him. 

Another Cowl

This is the last cowl for a while, I promise.

This one is Elis, which happens to share it's name with my middle school, except it's missing an "l."  This was another stash buster, featuring Knit Picks Galileo in Nebula. I got one skein a while back to hit the $50 free shipping threshold. By the way, always worth it.

Multiplying Fingerless Mitts

I made some fingerless mitts! Six of them, to be exact.

I didn't plan to make six...After I finished the first two, it looked like I had made two left hands. I set them aside for a long while, and when I came back to them I thought they were right hands, so I knit a left hand. Then I put them on, and realized all three were left hands. So I knit three right hands. Only then did I directly compare a right hand to a left hand; they aren't perfect mirror images of each other. It's only noticeable in the buttons, they aren't in exactly the same place. Had I realized it earlier, I could have modified it, but at this point it's not worth it. It would bother me, but someone else may not notice. They'll be gifts for somebody, someday.  

The pattern is More Time for Egg Nog Mitts, the yarn is Cascade 220 leftover from Katell. 

Bicnic

I intended to give this as a gift to a family friend who is expecting in September. However, I forgot it was a size 12-18 mos (I usually make a 6 mos), and I really love it. I think I'll save it for my eventual children. (No Mom, I'm not pregnant). 

I used Knit Picks Palette in Turmeric, which I had originally intended to use for Color Affection. I had picked out three colors for CA, but once they arrived I didn't like the combination. I liked all three colors, I just didn't like them together. 

The pattern is Bicnic, by Solenn Couix-Loarer.

I jumped on to the train...

... the Color Affection train!

I think just about everybody has knit this, or knit two of them, or plans to knit it one day. At one point, at least three of the ten knitting blogs I follow had Color Affection on the needles. 

I love it! It was a nice, easy, fast knit. With the color changes, you see how much progress you're making. 

Mitered Square Blanket

This partially-finished blanket had been languishing in the bedroom closet for a long time. When I started it, I intended to throw it on the couch in the living room to tie everything together. However, at the time I was single and living on my own in a tiny apartment. It was tiny, but it was cute and it was mine. I loved it. It was July 2010.

I moved out of that apartment, and moved again after that. That living room didn't exist anymore. When this stash busting project started, I picked it up again. I had I think 5 completed large squares, some of them were sewn together, others weren't. I found my notes (I made a smaller version), and started cruising. My husband fell in love with it, and insists that we save it for our eventual children.

Tripple Cowls!

Quite a while ago (last fall), I knit a  Bandana Cowl  in Knit Picks Cadena (in Locus).

 And I loved it. The yarn is super soft and squishy and it felt amazing in my fingers. I wore it a lot over the winter, while I froze at work. Not that I work outside, not that the building doesn't have adequate heat (it does, this is Wisconsin), I'm just one of those people who was always cold. And I loved having something I could throw on around my neck when it was too warm to wear a sweater but too cold to go without.

I made another one to eat up the rest of the Gloss HW left over from Array.  This one is a little taller than the it's pink twin. I also used a less-elastic cast-on this time around, which backfired a bit. It still fits over my head, but it's a tighter squeeze.

The third cowl, Present, was made with some Malabrigo I had picked up because it was pretty. I try to avoid buying yarn without a project in mind, but I couldn't help myself.  I'm not totally thrilled with this pattern, but whatever. I still have at least half a skein, so I wouldn't be terribly upset if I needed to frog Present in order to have enough yarn to complete another project.

Beast of Burden

I fell in love with Array last summer, when it was advertised prominently on Ravelry. I ignored the fact that there was a lot of purling and slipping and moving the yarn from front to back on everything single stitch, until I actually had to do it. It was awful.

I did some research and came across a Youtube video on Norwegian knitting and purling. Instead of moving the working yarn from front to back, you move the needle position. It definitely helped, and I'm glad I found it, but still. It had been months, I was bored and sick of it.

So I set it aside for several months. I eventually came back to it, but couldn't remember where I had left off in the pattern. When I did pick it up again, I started in the wrong pattern row but stubbornly continued. I tried to ignore it, and I did for an inch and a half before I decided I had to rip back. Fixed that, re-started in the correct row, but now my tension was different. You can see it in the picture below.

I gave up. Bound off, I'm done with it. It's an inch or two shorter than the pattern, but I never want to do that again. Ever. Ever.

Baby Surprise Jacket

Continuing the tradition of knitting a sweater for when friends and family are expecting, a friend gave birth to a boy early in July. Continuing the tradition of using up stash yarn, I used leftovers from a sweater I made for an expectant cousin two years ago, Garnstudio Drops Merino Extra Fine in 09 (brown) and 15 (light blue). I made Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket.

I did run out of yarn before I was finished, and I didn't have anything on hand to substitute that wouldn't look like I had run out of yarn, so I did buy another skein of the brown to finish up.  

The pattern was interesting in that I couldn't really figure out how it would all come together. I followed the pattern blindly, and it only really made sense after I had cast off. I wish I could explain it better, but once you bind off, the jacket wants to fold in a couple places and then it all works. Up until that point, I kept my fingers crossed. 

It's been a while

Wow, I knew I hadn't blogged in a while, but I didn't realize it had been nearly 5 months. Here is Day 1 of my August resolution to be a better blogger!

When I left off, my husband was fighting an infection (a complication of diabetes) and we were spending a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms. It eventually required minor sugery, but that took care of it. During that time, I finished Cerisara.

         

My swatch grew in length, so I made some adjustments to account for that as I went. The body worked out exactly as I had hoped; however the sleeves didn't grow in the same way, especially after wearing it a few times. They're more or less bracelet length, but I like it. I used Knit Picks Swish DK in Velveteen, it's very warm and soft. It pills, but not terribly. I do need to shave it periodically. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it – non-knitters can't believe that someone could hand-knit this!

Yarn, yarn, yarn

My stash has gotten out of control. Here it is, thrown about the bed:

Not that there is too much yarn. There is never too much yarn. I don't understand the concept of "too much yarn" unless and until it gets to the point that entire rooms are just filled top to bottom with yarn, like Uncle Scrooge's vault from "DuckTales." Yes, I'm an '80s baby.

My stash has out grown it's various containers, and I don't know what is in it. I've never been diligent about adding purchases to my "stash" on Ravelry; I usually only add them when I'm adding the finished project, if anything. I have no idea how much I have of any yarn, unless it's a full skein. Not to mention the mystery yarn.

My mission, my poorly documented mission, has been to destash and organize. So far this month, I have knit a baby sleep sack, a baby hat, an adult hat, and a Color Affection, and I finished a long-neglected Array. I have another adult hat on the needles, as well as a softie that I'm making up as I go. On the agenda tonight is the organization aspect. De-mystifying the mystery yarn, weighing and calculating the yardage of remnants, and organizing. Wish me luck!

Waiting Room Knitting

As far as knitting productivity goes, nothing beats nervous hospital waiting room knitting.

My husband has an infection – a complication of his diabetes – that we've been treating since he left work early on Tuesday and went into Urgent Care. Thankfully, I was able to join him; and we've been at the hospital every day since, culminating tonight in a routine surgical procedure to drain the abscess. He's been in a lot of pain, and we've spent a lot of time waiting. Waiting for his regular doctor, waiting for the specialist, for the pharmacist, for lab work, for ultrasounds, for the procedure... He's in very good hands. And he's hardly the first person to have medical issues and who is loved by a Knitter.

By coincidence, the onset of his infection coincided with the beginning of 12 inches of reverse stockinette stitch on the cardigan I'm knitting (Cerisara by Bonnie Marie Burns). My mind was so occupied that I barely noticed the knit-boredom. And it helped that nerves made me knit a bit faster than usual. Now that we're home, all I have left are a few rows on the bottom hem, and the sleeves.

Post-procedure, Ben is feeling well. He's on pain meds and will be for a couple days; he has a follow up visit on Monday but we're optimistic that the worst is over. His doctors have been wonderful; cautious but aggressive.

My supervisors have been wonderful all week, they've done everything in their power so that I can be with Ben as much as possible.

My in-laws have been wonderful as well. My mother-in-law has accompanied us on many appointments, even though she was relegated to the waiting rooms even more than we were. My father-in-law is a Radiologist at the same hospital, he's been able to review the scans and stop in periodically. They looked after our dog last night and are doing the same tonight as well.

My mom has been extremely supportive as well, though she is further away and could not be here in person. I've cried to her on the phone more than once this week.

Of course, given the choice, I would much rather not finish Cerisara this weekend if it means we don't have to back to the hospital.

A view of my Monday

It's been a long time, blogworld. Over the last few months, work and family things have kept me from crafting and knitting and blogging as much as I would have liked, hence the long silence. Not that the work or the family things have been anything less than pleasant; just that when I run out of hours in the day, the knitting, crafting, and blogging are the first things to hit the back burner.

Today was a pretty perfect day. I organized our bedroom closet, and then I organized my yarn stash and my needle stash (How did I end up with 2 US #6 18" circular needles?), and then I dove back in. I've been camped out on the bed, where I can sit comfortably and spread things out. Bo has even joined me.

I haven't taken a complete break from crafting. I've been working on a poncho for a close family friend's newly adopted daughter. I bound off the final stitches earlier today, now I just have to weave in ends and complete the top edging. Pictures to come, and probably a pattern as well.

Works in Progress

Maddox's Lancelot

My cousins* had a baby just weeks before my wedding, so of course I didn't get the baby's sweater done before he was born. I didn't even get to start it before the wedding! I did finish it, and gave it to the proud parents earlier tonight at the baby's baptism. 

The pattern is "Lancelot," by Solenn Couix-Loarer. As written, the pattern has you twist the stitches without using a cable needle. I tried doing it that way in my swatch, but I couldn't get it tight enough and so it looked all wonky. I "cheated" and used a cable needle on the actual sweater. I put "cheated" in quotes because while some may disagree, I don't think there's anything wrong with choosing an easier method of doing something if the end result is the same. 

There's a button detail on the placket that I had trouble photographing. This is the best one, but it still doesn't quite capture it. 

Mom was delighted. 

*that sounds weird. They're not "kissing cousins," they are my cousins by marriage, and are not actually blood relatives to each other. My husband's cousin Zack is the dad, whose wife is also named Amanda.  

Introducing: Squoval

As you may have guessed, that "sneak peak" the other day was of my newest pattern! Names "scquoval" for it's squarish/ovalish shape, it's a fitted beanie that's also a lot of fun. Emphasis on the fun. 

The pattern itself is easy to memorize and is also a great introduction to Fair Isle. The vertical stripes highlight the square-ish aspect, and as a pleasant side effect make it fold very neatly.

Available in 5 sizes-- toddler (18in.), child (20in.), teen/adult small (22in.), adult medium (24in) and adult large (26in)--it's great for gift-knitting.

Available for purchase on Ravelry (no membership required).

Below, I've included some pics of the original prototype. They also happen to be some of our engagement pictures :)