Showered with Knitted (& Sewn!) Love

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:
First Row: February Baby Sweater (Mary Heather); Footie Washcloth (Amiee); Alsace Le Monsteur Hat (Marnie)
Second Row: Garden Mobile (Mary Heather); Psychadelic Blankie (Kat);
Third Row: Saartje's Booties & Jacket (Jennie); Sleep Sac (Mary Heather); Reversible Bibs (Amiee)
Fourth Row: Townes takes possession of MH's Mobile; Burbcloths (Lori)
Fifth Row: Alsace Le Monsteur (Marnie); Soaker & Garden Snail (Shannon); Fabric Play Blocks (Amiee)
Last Row: Jungle Quilt (Ellen); Handspun Kimono Vest (Lori).

I hate to admit it, but in my impregnated and over-worked state, it is pretty much all that I can do to gather, re-size, watermark, link and code these photos. Perhaps it is time to stop coding absolutely everything by hand and look into automating it by baby time! I think that this bounty of handmade love pretty much says it all (though there is also quite a bit of incredible store-bought love that accompanied it as well). Eventually, I would love to put up a gallery of all the hand knit, crocheted and sewn items that this baby accrues, both from myself and from friends. It's such a wonderful part of the history of a new little life. Whether this - and all the other things I have planned - will ever get off the ground is questionable, but the blog post is a start.

I cannot begin to tell you how overwhelming it has been to have so much support from my crafting friends, both known to me and in some cases, unknown. The gift of a handmade item is an amazing thing, and I will be comforted and feel loved every time either I or the baby uses these amazing treasures. The thought that he will be surrounded by soft, unique toys and clothes that carry the spirits of their makers rather than the usual battery-operated plastic makes me feel like we will be starting him off on the right path. Hopefully I can gather strength from all of you in those first sleepless months. I am also truly grateful for all who have commented on delivery and baby care. I haven't even corresponded with many of you, and yet you have taken the time to leave heartfelt and helpful advice in a time when it is much needed. I love that about blogging - it means that you are always surrounded by friends, whether you are fully aware of it or not. I hope that no matter how busy family, craft and work make my life that I will remember to take the same time and care for you and that we teach this baby the same generosity of spirit through our example and yours.

Okay, I think I'm making myself a little verklempt - must be those hormones - but you get the picture:

Pattern Notes: Baby Bell Bottoms

I have gotten so freaking lazy about the blog and pattern notes in particular, that it is a little embarrassing. I've been even worse about visiting my pals' blogs and commenting, and I realize that staying in touch with all of you means catching up a bit here and making my rounds, both of which I want to do and have missed doing. It seems like summer is often the slow bloggy season for me, and this one has been especially slow with work, our trip to Italy, and most of all the impending baby. In a lot of ways I like that count down widget on my blog, but I have to confess that at other times it freaks the hell out of me! It's funny how predictable the phases of pregnancy are. First trimester is excitement, disbelief, and constant battling with morning sickness combined with an obsession to eat healthily and get the most out of every little calorie you can keep down. Second trimester is the honeymoon phase - which was well-timed for our honeymoon in Italy - you feel incredibly strong and sexy despite the fact that you are beginning to look like you swallowed a basketball - romance is in the air and you are one with the universe, mother earth as it were. Then comes the third trimester, and like clockwork, the panic of actually having to deliver the basketball sets in. Two weeks into my third trimester now, I look down and simultaneously think how great it is that the baby is growing so well and how much I hope that he grows only to the requisite 7 to 7.5 pounds because I can't even fathom getting him out of me now, when he probably weighs in at 3 pounds! I'm experiencing utter disbelief that this is actually going to work as intended, and words like "tear" and "contraction" cause me to immediately cross my legs and go into denial. I've been second-guessing the whole earth mama no drugs natural birth that I've been contemplating (I hesitate to say "planning," both because I am open-minded in terms of the epidural and because I know full well that babies do not allow you to "plan" anything!) I want to do it if I can, and I think that I can manage for the birth itself, but the thought of having an episiotomy without drugs scares the shit out of me. My doctor does all that he can to avoid them, but there's that no planning thing that comes into play, so I fear that I can't count on not having one.

It's a boy! And these are his pants!

Anyhoo, I'm beginning the parade of finished but unblogged objects with a real favorite of mine - Alison Hansel's Baby Bell Bottoms. These are the second pair of baby bells that I've made, and the second pair that have gone undeservedly without pattern notes. They are an absolutely great and fast knit. Both times that I made them I was in a bit of a knitting funk, and both times they were the "go to" knit that pulled me out of the funk. Last time I made a pair for my friend Jen's impending baby Graham, and this pair is for our little baby boy. Oh yeah - did I say we're having a boy? We're having a boy! Kay was right on the mark. No pansy binky for us - I'm crocheting a 100% "pensie" binky!

Baby Bell Bottoms
Free Pattern
designed by Alison Hansel
Jen's pair knit with 1.8 skeins (188 yards total) of Artyarns Supermerino (100% superwash merino) in colorway 101;
Our pair knit with 1.2 skeins (125 yards) of the same, with .25 skeins (31 yards total) Rowan's Wool Cotton (50% Merino Wool/50% Cotton) in (956) "Coffee Rich" used for the cuffs and waist.
Both on size US3 circulars - Addi Turbos (3.25 mm) and Inox (3.00 mm).
Gauge: 5.75 sts and 8 rows per inch over stockinette stitch.
Size: Jen's are size 6 months; mine are newborn size (not nearly as practical, but I wanted to use the yarn!)

Jen's baby's bells.The Pattern:
I love this pattern, and I already have plans to make it again. It's very easy but turns out an incredibly cute pair of pants. I like the idea of knitting baby pants, because they are slightly different from the usual knitted baby gifts - blankets, booties and sweaters. (Which I also love, don't get me wrong! Variety is nice, though.) The pattern is so straightforward that there isn't much to say - just that I highly recommend it. Go forth and knit a pair!
Techniques:
advanced beginner techniques - cast on, knit, purl, minimal shaping, working in the round, binding off, whip stitching, and braiding cord.

Modifications:
The only mods I made were to use a different yarn, work on two circulars for the body, use a different seaming technique for the cord casing, and substitute I-cord for braided cord.

In regard to the two-circular knitting: Try as I might, socks have never "soared" for me on circular needles. This has always been a sad thing, because I really like Cat Bordhi, and I would love to be all new-fangled in my sock-knitting. Not so shockingly, I am quite the traditionalist and do just fine knitting socks with four DPNs. (Not five - that bugs me, too!) My motto has been much closer to "Socks suck on circular needles!" Baby bell bottoms, however, are a completely different story. They are worked in the round after the legs are joined, and when I got to that point I realized that if I did have a pair of 16" size 3 circs I sure as heck did not know where they were. I was able to find two 24" size 3's however, and those did the trick quite nicely. Because one pair was inox and the other addis there was a .25 mm difference in the 3's, so in addition to having the chance to employ the two-circular method I was also able to verify Elizabeth Zimmerman's theory that it matters not a whit if one of your needles is of a slightly different size. Always good to know. Of course, you don't have to test out either of these methods to make the baby bells, it's just all by way of chattiness that I'm discussing them here.

For the casing, I left the edge stitches live rather than binding them off and sewed down the stitches. It's more trouble for the beginner, but this is the only type of seaming I use on casings because it eliminates some of the bulk. Just a matter of preference.

Folded up until D-day.Finishing:
Very little. Mattress stitch for the legs and sewing live stitches for the casings.

Impressions of Artyarns Supermerino:
For a girl with a lot of yarn I have an incredible propensity to use the same yarns over and over again. When I find something I love, I stick with it. And when I have used some of my stash of a particular yarn I have an almost obsessive need to use every bit that I have left, as is definitely the case with wool cotton below. I had three skeins of Artyarns Supermerino, so I used all of it, calculating that I would have enough to make newborn sized pants with the remainder if I used a contrasting color for the cuffs and hem. My baby's bells took care of two remnants at once, which was very satisfying.

Every time I use Supermerino it comes through for me. It's a great "rut" yarn and comes in fun variegated colors. Prior to this I used every bit of my stashed Supermerino in colorway 111 to make a Chevron Scarf. I loved it then, too.

Impressions of Rowan's Wool Cotton:
This is my go-to yarn. I use it more than any other, and especially for baby things. It is soft, classy, classic, has great stitch definition, and is machine washable. Plus it comes in a lovely array of adult colors. I'm not really a pastel girl, so this is a good choice for me.

Possible substitute yarns:
A ton. See what other people have used - Ravel it!

First Handknit Gift for Baby

I got an amazingly wonderful package in the mail today - all the way from France! MJ showered us with adorable socks, long-sleeved onesies, a Phildar knit and crochet book of toys, a lovely watercolor, and the crowning jewel, a gorgeous handknit sweater! I am so lucky to have such a generous, talented friend. Thank you MJ!

A little bit of France for us....

I have two FO's for the baby myself, which I have been terribly remiss in not sharing (soon, I promise!) and one handspun Tomten Jacket on the needles that is well on its way. But there is something truly wonderful about handknit gifts. I love giving handknits, but I am still shocked at how wonderfully touching it is to receive one myself. This is going to be one stylish baby.

Edited to add: You can find the ingenious free Drops pattern for this sweater here.

Definitely Tomten

Merino "Burning Bush" 2-Ply and Baby Alpaca 2-Ply. Baby bliss!

Work has kept me extremely busy, and when I'm typing away at my keyboard so much, one of the last things I want to do in my free time is type away at my keyboard (or read anything). When I have had a free moment, I have either crocheted a pansy or spun, spun, spun. As a result, the handspun that I talked about in this post is finally all spun up, and some of it is even knit up. No time for any more designing than I already have going on here, so it's definitely Tomten. Plus EZ's designs are all somehow perfect for handspun, don'tcha think?

Handspun and the bottom half of the Tomten Jacket.
Babies seem just impossibly small!

The Progress of Pansies

Sometimes I wonder if Miss Marnie thinks that I can keep up my enthusiasm for crochet in her absence. I have to admit that it is very fun when she is around, because I have someone who can instantly show me how to fix all the things that I screw up. But it is definitely spring here (some might say summer in the desert given the temperatures that we've had the past few days), and all the little seedlings in my container garden have popped their heads up while the more established perennials are in full bloom. So, it's time to pull out the hook again and make some pansies...

The entire "collection" of twelveThis does not promise to be a quick project, crochet or not, and doubtless by the time I have crocheted enough of these little flowers to pull together a binky (a binky, mind you, not a full-fledged blankie) I will probably never want to see another pansy again. But my plan is simply to continue at a slow, steady pace, and finish after I'm done making the baby if I have to. I figure these are a good pick up project, since the pansy shape is easy to memorize, so I will just keep materials on hand to pick them up here and there.

Marnie convinced me (by example, not by persuasion) that the "best" method for working this binky would be to work all the flowers first and then link them together afterwards in the manner most pleasing to me. Although I fear it, this does give me a lot of latitude with the final design. I can go square, oblong, or amoeboid at will and play around with the border a bit. So for now I'm simply creating the pansies one at a time and trying to arrange them in a pleasing manner.

With five colors to work with, I have what I think amounts to 55 different color arrangements for the pansies. Being the crazy gal that I am, I'm going to make a point of doing each and every one at least once, though. I have noticed that there are definitely color combos that work better for me aesthetically. Working under the Mason-Dixon theory of brights and dulls, it is quickly apparent that the dulls do, in fact, make the brights pop, and that leaving the brights together works pretty well, too, but when you get dull on dull - basically putting the lavender and olive together - not so much. Maybe those with subtler expectations will like those flowers better, but I do have to admit to loving the "pop."

I was pretty deliberate in my color choices on this one. I would have loved to pick up some reds, pinks and oranges (still would - wouldn't that be lovely?) but those colors scream "girl!" to me and as much as I would have liked to crochet this for a girl, this was definitely my baby's binky and I didn't know the baby's gender when I made the color choices. So... these are the most gender-neutral pansies I could muster. The brown and the olive ground it all, and the yellow, purple and blue keep it pretty. It has the subtle sophistication that I was going for in a pansy blanket, but I still can't help thinking wistfully of those oranges, reds and pinks....

Are these pansies for a girl?
Or pansies for a boy?
Any guesses on the baby's gender?
Those of you who know, keep hush!

I don't know how many of these little suckers I will have to make to get the binky to a respectable size, but I'm thinking I will just go until I only have a third of a skein of each color left (other than brown - there's lots of brown). Maybe I should have a little contest to see who guesses the final number right. Any advice on the proper dimensions of a Linus binky? I'm all ears, or perhaps all pansies.

Edited to add: For those who have asked, here is a link to the Japanese motif dictionary that contains the pansy pattern.

Adventures in Spinning: She Learns to Sample

I have really missed writing to you guys. It feels like time is moving so fast with this baby, and work is so busy that everything is just passing me by. There is so much that I want to document - in both my knitting and pregnant life - and somehow the opportunity eludes me. There are times when I don't write because I don't feel like it - usually I get tired of hearing my own voice and just need to go away to have something new to say - but this has been an involuntary hiatus. If I could I would stop time and just sit here and fill pages.

Cherry and Burning Bush singles - note the lightness in the singles to the far right which came from the "inside" of the roving.

When work is done I am usually tired enough that I can't do anything that requires math, deep thought, or being at the computer. (I have pregnancy brain so badly already that I went into the bathroom at the obygyn's office to give a sample - not because I had to go but because they needed a sample - and just completely forgot to pee in the cup. It wasn't until I got all the way back and the nurse asked about the sample that I realized I had forgotten. D'oh!) This lack of brainpower has translated into time spent spinning and knitting very simple things.

The spinning has been fantastic (the knitting has also been quite satisfying). I have some gorgeous merino/silk (80/20) roving from Spunky Eclectic in the Burning Bush colorway, that I decided I wanted to spin to make something for the baby. Surfing around on ravelry, I found this beautiful Baby Surprise Jacket done in 2-ply Burning Bush handspun, and fell positively in love. I decided that I would spin my roving up into a 2-ply for a Tomten Jacket. (Also an EZ design and kind of similar).

Gorgeous rich alpaca singles - slippery after working with merino silk!

The only issue was that I only had 4 ounces of Burning Bush and I wasn't sure how far that would go. (I really need to start documenting my handspun so that I have a good idea of how much yardage I can expect to get out of a given amount of roving.) To make it go further, I decided that instead of plying it all on itself, I would do one 2-ply of Burning Bush and one 2-ply of Burning Bush and Chameleon Colorworks Cherry or maybe just ply all of the Burning Bush singles with some medium brown alpaca that I have 4 ounces of and make it go really far.

The Burning Bush roving.I should back up and tell you that when it comes to roving, I pretty much do things the exact same way every time, except that sometimes I will spin a singles instead of a 2-ply, and I also vary the weight. I know, so creative! Anyhoo, although I have read all about different ways to use the same roving and combine rovings, for some reason I just have very little patience for spinning a little, plying it, and seeing if I like what I get. Finally it hit me that my method of spinning was a lot like making a sweater without a swatch. When I taught beginning knitting I would always do my best to make swatching fun - both because it is so essential to gauge and because it is such a great way to get your creative juices flowing. I have always made a point of saying that if you don't swatch, your entire sweater becomes your swatch. It's the same with spinning - if you just pick a method and go until you are out of roving, what you've got is what you've got - your sample is your yarn. Sometimes that is great and a wonderful way to just let go. Other times, not so much.

So, after a very cool ravelry discussion on the zillion different things that I could do with these Burning Bush singles, I decided to take some sage advice and actually sample. I am so glad that I did. I knew that both the brown and the red would dominate the Burning Bush colors, but I really had no idea how much. In this case, I really like the bright crazy colors of the roving, so there is no real incentive to mute them with a solid, but in so many other instances, this would be a great tool to have in my back pocket. In one little session of sampling I learned a ton about how to mute or preserve bright color. I also completely changed direction and decided that for this project I would mute the color and use the brown. I really like the red as well, so I may order a few more ounces of Burning Bush to ply with the cherry for some other baby project.

The swatches - brown alpaca and burning bush for now; swirled with cherry for later.

I'm also glad that I followed the sampling sequence that I have. To make sampling fun, I spun up most of the singles for the Burning Bush and Cherry rovings first, and also spun up quite a bit of the alpaca as well. I knew that I would be happy with all of these singles at the same weight even if I didn't end up plying them together, and I also knew that I would have more fun if I didn't have to work through all of the singles after sampling. (Again, impatience.) This would not work when sampling different weights, of course, but since I knew I wanted to end up with fingering to light DK weight, it was a great method for my purposes. My method worked out especially well, because the Burning Bush varies quite a bit in intensity, getting much lighter near the "inside" of the roving. When I actually get to the knitting phase, I will counteract that a bit by switching between skeins to get a striping effect.

The sampling part was awesome. I wish I had some shots of the 10 yards or so that I spun so that you could see how different the yarn looks skeined as opposed to knitted. I have plenty more to spin, so I'll be sure to do that later for those of you who are as geeky and new to spinning as I am. I really love both the alpaca and cherry version. Now the only problem is the project. I love the Tomten Jacket and do want to make it eventually (Baby Surprise Jacket, too), but I think for such a special handspun I need to come up with something of my own. We'll see.....

Everything's Coming Up Pansies

Well, not everything, but the crochet sure is. I spent a recent weekend in Portland with Marnie, and naturally was once again inspired to crochet. Ms. Marnie is one kick-ass crocheter. It was a fun, whorlwind of a time, as our weekend crafting visits always are, with plenty of things to be inspired by: the excellent Japanese bookstore, a new bright red motorcycle for Leo, and a great trek out to Abundant Yarn for Larissa's debut of Knitalong, her very first book.

To me they look like little pansy balloons, flying away..."

I'm really not sure where to start. Abundant Yarn is just that - abundant! It's an amazing store, and definitely tops my list of all-time favorite LYS's. The selection is fabulous with tons of yarn in each colorway, and the aisles go on forever. Abundant Yarn dyes its own line of yarns which are especially pretty, and they carry many of my favorite lines of yarn along with some lines that were previously unknown to me (or at least untouched!). They also have a lovely cafe and seating area, so it is a very easy place to gather and knit, or gather and watch a friend debut her book! The store catered the event (quite nicely and also abundantly) and there was a huge turnout. I haven't read Knitalong cover to cover yet, but what I have read I have really enjoyed. It's a book that has a great deal of written substance in addition to cute patterns (many by Larissa, like the fast and famous Meathead, and several by Adrian Bizilla - who wouldn't be drawn by that?). For me the writing is what is so great about it. It is definitely a book for our community and our knitting "generation" (and by that I mean the internet knitting generation of the 2000's, including knitters from all age groups). It memorializes our time in a wonderful way, and I am really looking forward to immersing myself in it. It's always great to see Larissa. We didn't try to monopolize her this time around, since she had so many other guests to attend to, but we did catch our first glimpses of Sebastian darting through the yarn in his handknit hat. What a cutie.

Other than that, the weekend was very quick and spent predominantly on the sofa in front of one of Leo's legendary fires, crafting away. I utilized every spare moment of my Marnie time to get versed in the language of crochet charts (I love charts - the universal language!), and produced a pansy and a cute little chain. I think that except for when I encounter the occasional exceptionally difficult manuever I should be alright crocheting solo for a bit. My plan is to make many of these little pansy motifs and string them together in a blanket-like fashion to make a binky for the baby. Nothing very big, as I would surely go mad from over-pansying, just something to hold on to, drag around and enjoy. I love the brightness of the cornflower and lavender colors, but to give the blanket a little sophistication I added in several duller shades as well. The dulls seem to help ground everything, but the brights sure are fun to play with.

Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater: Pattern Notes

So here it is the end of February and I am just trotting out the first FO of 2008. If you had asked me in December what my first FO's of the year would be, I would not have guessed this! I have three to four designs in the works (depending on whether I decide to back-burner one of them or not) and one is very near completion. But I just have not had it in me to do math lately, so I thought I'd make one of the many baby things that I have planned for the spring and get a jump start on things. Voila!

A little sugar, a little sarcasm. Perfect.

Before I dive into the baby sweater pattern notes, however, I just have to put in another plug for Julie Jackson's Subversive Cross Stitch Book. Very few things could have driven me into the arms of cross stitch. It was just never a craft that I had as much interest in before. Howsomever, between this wonderfully saccharine book and the incredible single-color (almost Swedish) designs in the Japanese craft books I have, well, I just had to go there. And I'm so glad I did. Cross stitch can be a really fun diversion, and used sparingly on a beautiful linen backdrop I find it charming. I would definitely recommend Julie's book. Even if you never stitch a thing, the laughs alone are worth it. I will definitely be making another. (To Moxie's great chagrin - he still doesn't get it. Boys.)

Judy's Grandma's Baby Sweater
Greetings From Knit Cafe
designed by Judy Spector's Grandma
Knit with three and a half skeins (123 yards/skein) each of Rowan's Wool Cotton (50% Merino Wool/50% Cotton) in (955) "Ship Shape," on size US4 Addi Turbo Circulars and Clover Bamboo DPNs.
Gauge: 5.75 sts and 10 rows per inch over garter stitch.
Size: 6 months

The designated front.The Pattern:
Extremely well thought-out. If there is an edge on this puppy that can be self-finishing, it is. The construction is interesting, too. You work the sweater from side-to-side, starting and ending with the ties, and leaving live stitches and a bound of edge to pick up for each sleeve later. The sleeves are picked up and knit down to the cuffs, and then seamed along the top edge to finish.

If you've read my previous entries on this (the one on the Observatory), you'll know that there was a point where the sweater became a little tedious for me. The honeycomb stitch can be a little aggravating, because the action happens on the right side while you are knitting the wrong side. The wrong side, for its part, is not easy to read. If you get off by a stitch (which I did four times), you screw up the row. Normally, I am a stickler for fixing errors, but I was in the dead zone when I got off track and simply did not care enough. I kind of wish that I had cared a bit more now, but only a knitter is likely to notice. A six month old baby definitely won't! the honeycomb stitch is worth some effort, though, because it is very, very pretty.

My journey with this knit was not unlike my journey with every single scarf I've made. Somewhere in the second skein I was bored out of my mind, but by the time I got to the third I was into it again. The sleeves zipped by. Highly recommended, especially for those of you who enjoy repeating patterns. I've been in a knitting slump, so I spent three weeks with this sweater, but someone on a roll could pop it out in a concentrated weekend, and definitely over a week of bad TV and re-runs.

"Front" and "back" side by side. Really, it's fully reversible.

Techniques:
Intermediate techniques - cable cast-on, elastic bind-off, slipping and stranding stitches, knitting through the back loop, and picking up along edges.

Detail of the flap.Modifications:
The only mods I made were to use a different yarn, and a different seaming technique for the sleeves. The original yarn is Classic Elite Premiere, which I used for Mishka (same color, too). It has more of a drape to it, which is also very nice. I subbed because I was knitting from stash, but either is lovely. As for the sleeves, I just didn't feel like reading directions. I did a single crochet up one sleeve, across the front neck, and down the other sleeve. I'm sure that whatever the pattern does is fine, too.

Finishing:
Very little. For the most part this is self-finishing. I used the single crochet method to seam and neaten the front neck, as noted above. I didn't block this one and didn't even think to. I don't always block textured knits and the wool cotton is soft without washing. Blocking will add a little drape if you are looking for that effect.

The parting shot.Impressions of Rowan's Wool Cotton:
This is my go-to yarn. I use it more than any other, and especially for baby things. It is soft, classy, classic, has great stitch definition, and is machine washable. Plus it comes in a lovely array of adult colors. I'm not really a pastel girl, so this is a good choice for me.

Possible substitute yarns:
For this particular project, there are a lot of good substitute yarns. The original Premiere is a great choice, but you could use something like Tahki Cotton Classic or Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece. Almost any fiber will do, because the shape is simple and the pattern lends itself to being sproingy or draping a bit. I could see it in a nice bamboo or linen.

Handspun Handknit Braintrust? Bueller? Bueller?

I feel like I'm a little cursed when it comes to knitting up my handspun. I've tried several times and keep having to rip and re-start. It's funny, because I pride myself on being able to pick the right project for a particular yarn, and yet when it comes to my own yarn I'm a bit stumped. Exhibit A: the wonderful party dress handspun:

Gorgeous yarn, crappy swatch.

This definitely falls into the category of "what the hell was I thinking?" Clearly, this stitch pattern has got to go - the vertical welts are totally duking it out with the horizontal stripes. D'oh! So many rookie mistakes all in one project - yikes. I've been calling this one "The One in My Head," but I'm pretty sure it's the one NOT in my head - anywhere! I think my first mistake was spinning the roving into too thick of a yarn. It's totally fun as a skein, but for me the practical value of a brightly-colored, striped, bulky thick and thin yarn is questionable. I would have done much better to spin this as a DK or sport-weight. It is wonderfully squooshy, though, and I really do want to use it, so I'm going to soldier on after a little break. I'm thinking something on the diagonal would be good, and something for a child or baby would be well-advised. Maybe a funky chevron scarf for my niece? Or one of those diagonal scarves that everyone used to make with Kureyon? Or maybe even another so-called scarf? Sadly, I'm having trouble being terribly creative with this one! If you have ideas, puleeeze leave them in the comments. I could use all the help I can get! [Edited to add: I've spun it all and have about 310 yards to work with. You guys have already come up with a ton of good ideas! Keep them coming!!!]

My saving grace: Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater.

In general, I've been pretty stumped the last few weeks. I think it's partially because everything on my needles is my own designing and I've reached the point where I really need to either write things down or do some math or both, and my little pea brain just is not up to it. It's a shame, because I was so excited about all these ideas about a month ago, and made some real progress. (Luckily, I did type up the pattern for Mishka during that time period. It still needs to be charted and sized, but the instructions are there rather than somewhere off in the ether.)

Best part? Komari's little face!To break this bad knitting mojo, I decided to start a baby sweater. I have a ton of baby knits to make this year - tis the season! - and it never hurts to start early. Ever since seeing LoriZ's grey Rambling Rose (which she needs to get off her butt and photograph! Edited to add: she did!) I have been dying to knit with my favorite Rowan Wool Cotton - the king of yarns. Lori's sweater doesn't even use wool cotton, but the yarn she's knitting looks like wool cotton and that was enough to set me craving for it. The whole time I watched her knit I was dying to snatch the yarn out of her hands and get in at least a few rows. Instead I had to be patient and start something of my own. The other advantage of the baby sweater is that it is involving and yet contained. I want to get a bit involved, but not overwhelmed, so this is the perfect project. Plus, after going through my grandmother's old knits I was pretty inspired. Everything she did was a little work of art.

I settled on Judy's Grandma's Baby Sweater from the Greetings from Knit Cafe book. I have to say that I have been fortunate to be included in two of my favorite pattern books ever, and GFKC is one of them. (The other is Boho Baby, which is bound to get heavy use this year.) I have wanted to make this baby sweater since I first spied it in Knit Cafe over four years ago. It' simply stunning in person and the unique construction makes it extra special. My love for this pattern is rivaled only by my love for Veronik Avery's Gansey Layette, which I have made three times (and will probably make again this year). I can't believe I didn't knit it earlier. Anyway, I am finally able to engross myself in knitting again, and that is a nice relief. I'm hoping that this little respite will allow me to return to my plans for a few other things on the needles. Some things will undoubtedly get pushed to the back-burner, because I have much more than usual in progress right now, but having tasted the fresh air again, I think I will be able to dive back into at least a few of those stalled projects. Thank goodness!

Wash Day: My Knitting Heritage

A while ago, I asked my mom to send me some of the handknits that my grandmother made for my brother and I when we were little. My mom sent a smocked coat, two cardigans and three hats. All of the items had seen fresher days after spending thirty-some years tucked away in a drawer, but they were lovely nonetheless.

Smock coat for a granddaughter long grown.

This weekend I was inspired to wash the smock coat and a little garter stitch hat with Scottie dog buttons on it. The little hat was worked flat, seamed, and then pulled into a crown at the top with a delicate drawstring. I realized that the best way to wash it would be to untie the drawstring and flatten the hat, so that the wool wash could get into all the nooks and crannies. I did so very carefully, but it was still a bit bitter sweet. I am sure that the last hands to tie this little string were my grandmother's, over 30 years ago. It was a strange, forbidden-feeling sensation to undo something that she had done. Especially knowing what a perfectionist she was. I persevered only because I knew that it was the only way to fully clean, and thus preserve, her work.

Little Scottie dog hat, close and far.

It has been really interesting to have my grandmother's knitting, so long out of my sight, here in my hands. There were things that I knew already. My grandmother detested setting sleeves and always knit raglan sweaters to avoid seaming the sleeves to the main body of the sweater. She knit with brightly-colored aluminum needles kept in a red plaid tin, which she carried everywhere. She liked texture, and often knit cables into her pieces. She often made those cables into bunnies and owls. (One of the cardigans my mother sent has those owls on it.) The bunnies had little pompoms for tails. She knit a lot of cardigans, and most of the pieces that I remember were in a single, solid color. I never saw her knit lace. I never saw her use circular or double-pointed needles. (Which could explain the flat construction of the Scottie dog hat.) Oh, yes - she liked Scottie dogs. All the women in the family seemed to have a predilection for little Scottie dogs in the 1970's. I'm not sure if that was in vogue, or if it was inspired by my cousin Scott - often called Scottie in his youth. (As an adult he goes by Scooter - go figure. *smile*).

The raglan sleeves my grandmother loved.But there were other things I didn't know. I thought that she knit almost exclusively with wool-like acrylic. All the knits my mother sent are 100% cotton (which is probably why my mother, fiber-snob that she is, saved them). And the perfectionist - the grandmother who was never wrong - knit with uneven tension. I feel a little blasphemous even writing that. But it's true. Now to be fair to her, these knits are cotton, so they show everything. But still. The unevenness didn't come out with blocking, either. It was endearing to me that the woman who taught me to knit, and who was so very strict about how it should be done knit so much less evenly than I do. She even misplaced a few yoke decreases!

I think one of the worst things about losing someone you love is that there are all these questions - silly, mundane things - that you want to be able to ask them about themselves. And, of course, there is the corresponding pain of not being able to share things about your life with them. My grandmother never knew that I became an avid knitter - as passionate a knitter as she was. Although she taught me to knit at six, I completed one small potholderish-looking garter square, and then did not pick it up again until my late teens, when she was already afflicted by Alzheimer's and no longer accessible to her family in the same way. And I never got to talk to her about millions of knittish things - how she knit those bunnies, if she worked from patterns or designed. Was she influenced by Barbra Walker and Elizabeth Zimmerman? Did her mother (also Julia) knit? Many of these questions will go forever unresolved. The one thing I do know is something that she probably would never have told me in real life - she made mistakes. And somehow that brings her more to life than almost anything else I could learn.

The whole shebang, drying alongside a few swatches.

The last time I saw my grandmother was when I stopped to see her on my way back home from Chicago for the holidays sometime during college. She was in a nursing home by then, and had few lucid days. I went to see her with my Aunt Pinky (Scooter's mom - again, go figure!), and we found her in the midst of a "good day". Although she was unable to speak due to a recent stroke, she clearly recognized Pinky as her daughter. I honestly don't know if she recognized me or not. I was still transitioning from child to woman at that point, so it is likely that she did not. But her eyes teared up and she reached for me. We hugged, and as I pulled back she held onto my sweater. It was not a sweater that I had knit, but it was clearly handmade of a chucky, colorful yarn. The link was unmistakable.

Some Little Things

You people are going to start to think I'm obsessed with babies - I've been knitting some big people things, but it's the baby knits that seem to make it here. Just a short post for now to show you these cute little things:

Baby Bell Bottoms, Free Pattern designed by Alison Hansel

A shot of me with the cute little thing who is big brother to the cute little thing that will someday wear these bell bottoms. Seems like yesterday I was making baby things for him. And then finally a little sneak peek of my tiny contribution to my friend Kat Coyle's awesome first! book, which will be out next month:

And no, I didn't make the baby - just the footies!

Huh. I think I just blogged. Who knew?

Manly Cashmere Baby Booties: Pattern Notes

I had originally planned to give my friend Julia something else (I know, scandalous!) with a pair of these manly booties, but my cross-stitching drive failed me and it just didn't happen. So instead, I whipped out a second pair of these manly cashmere booties, which are so well modeled by my friend Ellen's six-week old baby.

Pretty cute baby, no?

Ellen and I had a nice, quiet day together on Saturday, sitting inside with the baby while the temperatures in Phoenix soared into the hundreds, and then spent the afternoon with friends at Julia's shower (no, not third person, another Julia! No babies here yet!) Ironically, I got a lot more cross-stitching done on this trip. I thought that I would be unable to finish my little project because I just didn't have the cross-stitch bug, but now it seems to have me interested. I'm so enamored of this cross-stitch project that I don't know if I'll give it away to the next sarcastically witty friend to become a mom or keep it for myself some day.

As for pattern notes, here are the basics:

Classic Cashmere Booties
Simple Knits for Cherished Babies, by Erica Knight
Knit with about a third of a skein (123 yards/113 meters/skein) of Rowan Wool Cotton (50% Merino/50%Cotton) in Coffee Rich (brown) (956) with accents of Rich (red) (911); the second pair were made in French Navy (navy) (909) with Laurel (green)(960) accents on Clover Bamboo DPNs in size US3 (3.25mm), in a gauge of about 7 sts per inch in Stst.

This is my go-to bootie pattern. I just love it. You can easily whip out an entire bootie in a single unproductive night, and if pressed it's not hard to make an entire pair in a single sitting. The "embroidered" primitive hearts are my own little addition to the pattern. I think they add something special. Last time I made the smallest size on US4's and they came out about the right size to fit a baby at 6 months. I made these on US3's so that they would fit a little earlier - maybe 3 months. They were slightly big on Ellen's little 6-week old, so that seems about right. I think as long as they fit sometime during the right season (which is essential in Arizona - there will be no summer booties!) it's okay. I've knit these before, so for more extensive pattern notes, check out this post. I leave you with this shot of the two pairs hanging out together on the flannel baby blanket that Ellen's mother hand-stitched for her:

[Read all entries on the classic cashmere booties.]

Baby Steps

Sometimes life and knitting fly by, and other times it takes work to slog through either. I'll let you guess what kind of time I'm having. *smile*.

Chocolate-colored bootie in repose on the newly-planted nasturtiums.
As always, check the side-bar for details.

Still, these booties have been rather enjoyable. I have a second done and waiting to be seamed up, and plan to embroider each with a primitive heart (in red), like I did with this pair. If I'm feeling really energetic I may make a second pair in navy with the baby's initials in green. We'll see - the shower is this weekend, so time is a factor....

Postcard from Phoenix

I made a whorl-wind journey to Phoenix this past weekend to bask in the company of my friends from the law firm where I worked right after finishing school. These are my friends with whom I made the wedding quilt; now the first of them (Ellen) is very, very pregnant and a second (Julia) is pregnant as well. The last of us left the firm in the fall, and only one of us remains in private practice (she was smart enough to do transactional work, the rest of us are litigators). It's really interesting to see the changes in our lives and careers. It's also nice to see everyone happy.

I feel like each of us has found a way to make life work, which is a far cry from the stressful blur that our first few years of practice were. Phoenix was not the right city for me, but it has a place in my heart because I did so much growing there, and made so many wonderful friends. When you get out of the strip malls and move toward South Mountain or the Superstitions, there is a quiet and an alien beauty to the place that doesn't exist in my current landscape. It was nice to remember that quiet, and to enjoy seeing so many people that I care about enjoying their lives and starting their families. The weekend was filled with happiness and hope. Here are some photos of Ellen's shower, hosted by Julia, who will be having a baby shower of her own soon...

Photos taken by Me, Jessica and Nick.

Top to bottom, left to right: The proud father-to-be displaying his son's tiny argyles; Julia and Bert's beautiful home; Yours truly happily contemplating life from behind her Mimosa; My gifts: the soon-to-be-blogged Harvey vest and pee-pee tee-pees purchased at Edna's; Close-up of the argyles made by Ellen's mom using the intarsia method; The girls all together: Me, Julia (pregnant), Ellen (pregnant) & Jessica; The radiantly beautiful Julia with her devoted pup Chewie; Ellen's mother and Delana laughing; Ellen's darling niece; A blessedly flattering close-up of my posterior in the Daktari skirt, petting Chewie; Ellen's nephews transfixed by the presents; Homemade cupcakes from Nikki's kitchen; Ellen unfurling the "cuddle quilt" which her mother hand-stitched for her.

Edited to add: I have had a few questions on the baby argyle socks. My guess is that these are not from a formal pattern, but I will make inquiries when Ellen's mother has finished her travels. In the meantime, these very cool posts are a great place to start when making argyle socks.

Hemingway & Faulkner

I've heard it said that if you want to write, you should read all of Faulkner, and then read all of Hemingway to get the Faulkner out of your system. The styles of these two greats are well-known for being at opposite ends of the writing spectrum, and I enjoy them both. (Though if I had to pick, I'd take Faulkner.) This quote found its way into my head after the long ordeal of spinning the raspberry merino tencel was over. After all that precision, concentration, patience, and striving for evenness and perfection, I wanted to spin something positively organic. (Okay, so this is more like reading Hemingway and washing it down with Faulkner - bear with me.) First, I pulled out my Maggie spindle:

Mystery roving from Spunky Eclectic.This was definitely an experience on the road to satisfying, and it was fun to play with a spindle again, but it was just a little wisp of roving (maybe an ounce?) and I was looking to make a big hank of soft, fluffy, thick and thin yarn, and really have some fun. So I pulled out the Rose, put it on the slowest ratio on the big whorl, and spun up the last few ounces of the chocolate-covered cherries bfl which was my very first roving purchase ever last year and the first thing that I really spun into something approximating yarn. The ChocCherries bfl has brought me good luck. It was also the first roving I spun on my Rose.

Treadling with Townes on board.When you are first spinning, more experienced spinners will look at your lumpy yarn and tell you that at some point you will have to work to achieve thick and thin like that, and that you should appreciate not having to work for it now. (Due to woeful inexperience, no less!) I've taken this to heart and made note of exactly what it was that I've done "wrong" to produce such incredibly large slubs, so that I could later reproduce them at will. If you're just starting, take note - your own foibles put you in a position to learn a lot about making designer yarn. One of my favorite thick and thins from early on was this Tahiti handspun, which reminds me of Manos (but lumpier). I was going for an even more extreme, fluffy version. This is what I got:

So fluffy! So soft! So fun!

I'm going to set the twist using Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' method of simmering the yarn, but I'm waiting until I have a chance to hop over to the Goodwill and buy some old stockpots, because I think it's probably a bad idea to simmer dyed yarn in the ones we use for our soups and stews. I've been really impatient to knit with some thick and thin yarn, though, so in the meantime, I've pulled out my Tahiti skeins and started knitting a Christmas Scarf for my little niece, Sophie. I really like how it's coming along so far:

Zoom in, zoom out.

This is almost as good as reading The Bear.

Something That Made Me Smile

The little things really count, don't they?