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!

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.]

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.

Something That Made Me Smile

The little things really count, don't they?