Where I make it up to you with pictures

Um, hi.  Been a while, huh?

I’ve tried to compose a post for at least two weeks (after several promises to other bloggers to do so) and I keep coming up flat.  There really are no words for the last, oh, four months.  I do have pictures, though.  Will that work?

Rhinebeck was awesome, of course.  I immediately lost my son and husband upon entering Saturday and was was *forced* to spend the next five hours with Sarah and Sarah.  It was just awful, really.  (Ok, it was fabulous.  Seriously, these girls are fun).  There was lots of running into old friends and acquaintences and meeting new ones.  I met up with the Mr. C and Em at 5pm, which was perfect.  And I took no pictures at all on Saturday.

Sunday, however, was a nice family day.  Em likes sheep:

Baaaaaaa!

Oh, geez, I didn’t realize that was so blurry.  He was very busy poking that sheep in the rear and saying “baaaa!” to stay still long enough for a photo.  How about alpacas?

Paca!

He was pretty thrilled.

Fall was a time of big change for me.  I started working on the Fairly Easy Fair Isle from SnB Nation, my first large project since I knit the .  Really, it IS fairly easy.  It just gave me the trouble of my life.  First, I didn’t swatch.  I know.  Thankfully, I was only a few rows in when it was pointed out to me at my Stitch N Bitch that it was way too huge on me to consider continuing on.  Yep, I substituted yarn and didn’t even swatch.  (I am thinking that the bulk of my problems with this sweater were user error.)  So, I ripped out, cast on for the smallest size (which I am not), and knit on.

Then, I had trouble with the charts.  The real problem? When I photocopied the pattern on my way out the door to a later SnB I cut of the part of the chart that indicated the stitches to repeat.  At some point I was forced to throw it back into my bag and wish I’d ordered a wine with dinner.

Then, later, I ran out of yarn.  Yep.   I was using some Maine wool that was gifted to me after it had spent years in a tub in a basement.  There was *no* way to get more.  I dug through everything I could, thinking I must have some.  I found two skeins and was ecstatic…until discovering that the natural-colored wool I was using had waaaay too many black fibers to match.  As in, a man on a galloping horse would stop and stare.  Insert a period of agony and…I found ONE more ball.  It was perfect and I knit on.  After much holding of breath that ball made it all the way to the neck band, but would go no further.  Much agonizing questioning of anyone who would listen, I decided to knit the neck and button bands in another color.  I finished this about a week ago (just 3 months into it?!), after weaving in a hellish 66 ends.  In pictures:

Front:

Colors and buttons picked by Mr. C. I'm color-challenged. Oh, and the striped DO line up, I was just trying to play keep-away with a toddler.

And the back, on me:

Back view. It looks like I need to re-block the neck, the top motif wasn't so pulled before blocking

Currently on the needles is a picot-edge ankle sock in STR light-weight for Lisa.  No pictures yet, but they are coming soon.  I’ve also been knitting play food for a nephew:

What you see is 2 slices of pumpernickel and three cookies.  Added since then are several slices of corned beef.  Yum.  Em keep trying to eat the cookies (incidentally, made from the non-matching yarn from the FEFI cardi) and is sorely disappointed they taste like sheep.  The patterns for both of these are adapted from those found here.  If anyone is interested in my modifications, just let me know and I’ll either post or email them.

The next part of the program: Gifts

I’ve been very lucky recently to have received two awesome hand-knit gifts recently.  My birthday present from Lisa:

I have no idea what the pattern’s name is or what the yarn is.  I do know the yarn is alpaca and is both amazingly light and incredibly warm.  I wore them out the first day I had them, a cold night with 25 mph gusts of wind.  It was mid-December and I was hiking to a store from the deep-parking lot, and it wasn’t until I was nearly at the door did I realize I was feeling a breeze on my fingers.  Not a *cold* breeze, mind you, just a little bit of air let in.  I love these with all my might.

Another, extremely thoughtful gift given to me by Knitter Bunny:

Detail of shoulder. I just love how the raglan looks on this.

And a larger view:

Look kinda small to you?  Yeah, that’s the next part of the program here.  Oh, the neck is unfinished due to the customs of my husband’s family.  Confused? Read on.

The biggest shock of my life came on Oct 5.    Let’s say that I was more than surprised.  Can you guess?  If you’ve been reading this blog for a few years you can think of the only thing that has led me to abandon the blog for more than a few weeks at a time.  Give up?  Try this:

Yup, that's a baby. Scrawny legs and feet at the bottom and head bending down at the top. The dark spot on the head isn't an eye, it's just shadow; the nose is a white spot. Baby is looking down.

There’s a baby in there.  I am still shocked some days.

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No help

I took the sage advice on reblocking the Liesl from the comments of my last post.  And?  I think it worked!  As I fussed over the blocking I realized it really was short if blocked it wide.  Gee, surprised?  I can’t have it long and not pointy, I suppose.  The minute it was dry I tried it on and…it wasn’t bad.  That is no help to you, though, as both camera cords are MIA and both memory cards, too. I put them somewhere safe when I cleaned up recently, but where?

IF I get my act together today, I will iron the sun dress she’s to be worn with and wear them to SnB.  Shave my legs, too, I guess.  So, you know, maybe.

Which reminds me:  This Saturday is my Knit- and Spin-In! If you didn’t get an email from me and want to come, just leave a comment here.  I think I got everybody, but I am not totally confident in my memory.  Also, if you’re a lurker and live in CT, leave a comment, too, ‘k?  Feel free to bring a friend(s), there’s plenty of room and plenty of food 😉

Would you like to see another FO?  This is kinda cheating, as I finished it a few weeks ago.  What’s a post without pictures, right?

I imagine you must get tired of seeing me knit yet another pair of shrorties/longies from the Sheepy Pants pattern.  It is odd, this is one of the very few patterns I care to knit more than once.  I guess because it is so easy to do?

Here’s a shot of the yarn, which is no help because I have no idea what it is

yarn of the unknown variety

Whatever it was, I loved it.  It was nice and squishy and I was able to go up a needle size, thus making them a slightly quicker knit.  I know I bought it in Texas last October, when I was visiting an old friend.  The yarn label was black, too.  Yeah, big help. That’s what happens when you have a child that eats yarn.

Unlike some I’ve been knitting, this pair was for Em.  I’ve tried for some action shots, but as blurry as they are they are no help:

Em in motion

I can’t seem to take any picture of him where he’s not a little blur.  I tried a front shot here:

only slightly better

I didn’t actually mean to make them a board short length, I just forget that my child has a long torso and short little legs. Just like his mama. On days like today, where the temp is a sunny 65*F (18*C), I’m happy to have him in warm little shorts.

To forewarn you, I do have another pair on the needles.  They are knit from yarn I dyed–supposedly a mistake but turned out great–and are newborn sized.  And *very* not for me, thankyouverymuch.  Then, no more of this pattern for a while, I promise.

I’m going to knit something for me again.  Either the medium length Liesl (on Flickr here), using the burgundy Valley Yarns I just bought, or the Fairly Easy Fair Isle (link to a shot of the book here).  I have the yarn for both, though the yarn for the FEFI needs to be washed first.  It was given to me ages ago and has a strong sheepy odor.  Either way, I promise it won’t be baby pants.

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FO: Short Liesl*

I know, I wasn’t supposed to drop off the face of the earth now that school is done. Somehow, I am still caught up in work and life and am behind in just about everything. How hard is it to post about an FO? Apparently, quite tricky for me lately.

Well, then, here is Liesl. This is how she looked for a long time:

Liesl, close up

That’s Cascade 220, in case you are curious. I picked it up originally for a fair isle vest, then decided I didn’t like the colors together. When I decided I needed a shrug for a new sundress it was, thankfully, the right brown.

This version of Liesl is the 40″ bust size and is four repeats past the break for sleeve. If you follow the link above, you’ll see I knit the cream version.  You can’t really tell from my quick (and dark) pictures, but the armscye is, well, rather too generous. Maybe with a chest like mine I am supposed to have chunky arms?

Here’s a side view. Sorry for the poor lighting, I took these while ready to dash to work, then the battery died.

meh

Do you see the points in the front? I’m not especially overjoyed about them. I understand that it is the nature of Feather and Fan to make its own pretty edging, I am not sure it works here. While the center back (sadly not photographed) meets in a lovely scoop, I just don’t think it looks right split in half for the cardigan fronts. Don’t believe me?

Hangs funny, huh? I am sure it is not helped by a mistake I made, being to rushed…I sewed the buttons to the (ahem) wrong side. Since I’m not thrilled about the project I haven’t fixed it yet, either. I know.

Despite all that I really enjoyed the pattern. I picked up some yarn at Webs for my birthday, and will be making a longer version of this and with 3/4 sleeves. I think that might be a smidge more flattering. I hope. The yarn is nice, at least.

Valley Yarns Berkshire

I think this will be an even quicker knit, if that’s possible. I promise better photos next time, really.

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We interrupt this knitting for…

…more knitting. While I might have had the keeping of my handspun at the top of the page as a wee bit of ulterior motive (I think it is too pretty to bump further down), I was really knitting something else. Bright stripy pants, actually.

The color isn’t great here, even with a little editing. It does show the pattern a bit, though. This is a bit more accurate color-wise, I think:

Hmm, that’s still not the best. How about a picture of the yarn?

The weird thing? The really, really, really weird thing I’m almost afraid to say so you people don’t kick me out of blogland?

I knit them for pay.

I know, right?

It was an experimental colorway (read: a big oops!) that I put a label on and prayed for a sports fan. Sure enough, an LSU alumna contacted me. However, she doesn’t knit…and wanted to pay me to knit for her, as a surprise for her husband. What could I say, but yes?

Weird, I know.

Details

Pattern: Sheepy Pants

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare, hand dyed by me in the “Go Team!” colorway

Needles: This time I used the recommended 5s for the ribbing and 7s for the body. Last time I think I did 8’s on the body (I forgot to note that). I used some crappy 16″ bamboo circs I picked up at Wal-Mart as I lost my pretty Options size 7.

Modifications: I didn’t do any modifications this time. Since I was knitting shorts I knew I wasn’t in danger of running out of yarn. Last time I only did 3 sets of short rows, but this time I did the full four.

Oddities: I have to say, if I was knitting these for me/Em, I wouldn’t have been so worked up about the striping. Since someone was actually paying me, I fussed over making sure the legs were exactly the same and the crotch gusset was kitchenerd with the right color. In all honesty, it was a little more fiddly than I would normally have gone for.

For example, Em’s longies:

There’s an odd stripe near the crotch of the left leg. Then, there’s the whole reversal of colors from one leg to the other. And please, don’t get too close to the crotch*. There’s some scary kitchenering there. Nobody sees it, though. And, it’s my kid. He can wear funny looking drawers if I say so. Someone else’s kid? Not so much.

* Honestly, if you’re that close to the kid’s crotch could you change him, please?

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To wash that bitter taste away

I think something pretty is in order, for no other reason to combat yesterday’s vent. So, how about a few FO pictures?

Side view:

The side view shows off the short rows in the bum, for accommodating a fluffy diaper.

Details:

Pattern: Sheepy Pants

Yarn: just about 220 yards of my hand dyed self-striping yarn

Start: April 13th

Finish: April 17th

Modifications and details:
*I did just three sets of short rows. I wasn’t sure if I had enough yarn, and figured we could get by with 3. For most of our diapers I can, but some of the bulkier ones it’s a bit of a stretch.
* I was planning on just making shorts, but kept going to see how close I could get to pants. I really liked the thicker stripes on the legs, my real motivation for keeping going
* I did both legs at the same time from opposite ends of the ball. For the record (as if I didn’t know this) this means stripes are backwards on one side. Duh.

Measurements: 17″ rise, 7″ inseam

And finally, just for fun, a picture of my silly boy trying not to laugh:

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Another small finished knit

I want to write more but we just got back from  five days in Las Vegas celebrating my brother-in-law’s wedding.  So. Very. Tired.

Regardless, I present another Baby Bib o’ Love:

This one is for my nephew, upon my sister’s request. She saw the ones that Kristi knit for Em (I use them constantly for drool-catching) and requested one. Her little guy is just 12 weeks old, and not that into drooling just yet, but I suspect it is in his not-too-distant future.

More knits to come.

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Yes! WordPress does help me knit faster!

Witness another FO:

Pattern: Calorimetry from Knitty

Yarn: Paton’s SWS (Soy Wool Stripes) in Natural Blue

Needles: size 8 cheap metal straights

Pattern modifications: Take a peek at the pattern on Ravelry and you’ll see 2605 Calorimetr’s made. Crazy, huh? There are almost as many complaints about size/gauge. I cast on 88 st, which resulted in a perfect fit for me. I was actually aiming for 100 st, but my long-tail cast on didn’t quite get me that room! The SWS is pretty stretchy, though, as the pattern calls for, which helps it keep it’s shape well.

Thoughts: The color striping both amused me and drove me nuts. I am a little annoyed that the color changes are not quite even. Maybe one more row and the perfect symmetry would have been pleasing. I keep telling myself it isn’t a big deal, and that no one will notice when it’s on my head. I do love the color, though. I’ll blushingly admit to trying to match my wardrobe to it yesterday so I can wear it.

Also, a knitter with a reasonable amount of time could finish one in a few hours. This one took me perhaps three days, or about four hours.

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Fetching X 2

Double the Fetchings today. First up is a young man wearing a quite fetching hat:

I can’t claim knitterly ownership of the hat, I am afraid. That distinction goes to Lisa, who responded generously and quickly when I mentioned to her that the boy was growing out of his hats. I know she told me what yarn it was , but I have forgotten. I just know that his head is both warm and cute, and he doesn’t rip it off and cram it into his mouth.

Fetching #2

I am actually quite embarrassed by this. I was going to have a whole series devoted to knitting embarrassments–you know, those things you have or haven’t knit that you wish everyone didn’t know about? I might just do it someday, but until then I will just come clean about these:

Hmm. That has to be the worst photo I’ve ever seen. See this post for a better shot, ok? It is surprisingly hard to photograph your hands in general, and while wearing the boy in a wrap it is nearly impossible.

The embarrassment of these Fetchings is that they were nearly done in October of 2006. 2006. I took them to Rhinebeck with me to finish and abandoned them just a bind off and thumb gusset away from being done. For 14 months they languished at the bottom of the basket because I apparently couldn’t face the end. Embarrassing, isn’t it?

Thanks to the magic that is Ravelry I noticed that I had a shocking number of projects about 90% done. (In fact, that is what led me to stop adding projects.) I am no psychologist, but I must seriously have an issue with endings.

Thankfully, last week was a convergence of means and opportunity. It finally occurred to Mr. Cygknit that perhaps I might need a break from the boy on occasion, and hadn’t I wanted to go to a local Stitch N Bitch? They were done that very night. Amen.

To end on a cute note, 2X the fetchings

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