Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!

Boy, Christmas just flew by this year, huh? Oh well. It was not the focus of our family's celebration this year anyway. It was overshadowed by my sister's wedding, which was on the 28th. Here are a couple of shots from the ceremony, which was beautiful, and fit my sister perfectly:
Nathan and I Mom and Melissa

walking down the 'aisle' in progress

It is worth it to click on them to make them bigger. It was beautiful. In the last picture, my niece is on the end with the crazy hair.

Anyway, it is New Year's eve, and it's time to take stock of everything before I have to rush off again Jan 2 to my first conference of the new year (Washington D.C.--I'm taking the train. Flying sucks, and this way, I have more knitting time. Because guess what? Shocker--I'm not done with Matthew's scarf. Almost, but not quite. And yes, I'm freaking out about it.)

I went back and looked at my first post for Jan 2007, and I can honestly say that I didn't really make a great dent in my stash, which was the primary goal I set for myself. I have slowed down with the yarn buying, but I think that's just because I've hit critical mass. I can't store any more yarn! Also, though, I think I'm starting to feel guilty about it all. All those projects I wanted to do bad enough to buy the yarn for are still hypothetical at this point, and I want to be able to wear them. Anyway, I'm looking forward to repeating that goal this year.

Here were my goals for 2007:

1. Knit from my stash. (I did do this, but not to the extent that I expected...)
2. Start the Master Knitter's Program. (I did start, but then got sidetracked. This will be on the list again this year...)
3. Knit more lace patterns--either shawls or fancy socks. I also want to do some better intarsia and perhaps a fair isle pattern. (well, I did one shawl, and one pair of fancy socks, and am in the middle of my second pair of fancy socks. I have started (barely) a big intarsia project, but haven't tackled fair isle. I have a lot of other stuff to finish before I get to that, I think...)
4. Get better at documenting my FOs on my blog, so that I have a better idea of the totals at the end of next year and more info about my methods and materials, etc. (Hm. I think the fact that I'm still writing the blog is a plus, but I could definitely be a more regular poster...I think that Ravelry will help with the documenting.)
5. Finally, I want to be a bigger contributor to the internet knitting community. I read a lot of blogs, but I don't have most of them on my blog roll, and I don't comment as much as I want to. I'm going to try to make the time to actually be a part of the community rather than just reading passively. (I think I'm doing just about as much of this as I can expect of myself now though. I have a full time job that takes up a lot of time, and I have done more participating this past year than the year before, but there is definitely room for improvement. I could comment more, I guess, although I don't think I'll ever be a big group participant.)

Last year, I filled out a meme that I think I'll just repeat, for consistency:

List your FOs from 2007:

I did more in discrete units last year, but this year, my projects have been bigger and more complicated, so I'm satisfied. Also, I'm not sure this is everything, but it's pretty close (in no particular order):

*3 full sized washcloths for Donna's b-day: 2 ball band and one Mason-Dixon stash!

*babies/kids
baby kimono from Mason-Dixon and saartje's booties for Jessica's baby stash!
bib o'love from Mason-Dixon for Harper stash!
dolly for Madeline (from Jess Hutchinson's book) stash!
2 of same baby blanket and one hat from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Moms for Vicky's baby and Catherine's baby
hat/mittens from Louisa Harding's book for Jason's baby partly stash yarn!
booties, arm warmers and hat for Chris's baby stash!
baseball tee baby sweater for Nicole from Knit 2 Together
sweet baby cap and saartje's booties for Lori's baby
baby tart hat and saartje's booties for Zoe's baby
trellis for Debbie's baby
Monica tank sweater from Knitty for Isabella

*socks
Lombard Street socks from Magknits (?) for me
one toe-up sock from Wendy Knits' generic toe-up pattern for me (the other still needs to be knit stash!
regia silk ribbed socks from Spun Mag, for Amy

*animal knits
sweet potato chain and cube dog toys for dad from Knitting for Dogs stash!

*hats
lacy hair tamer from IK for me but given to Melissa stash!
alpaca hat for Amy from pattern I winged and will have to rip and redo at some point
Edward's hat--my own pattern also; much more successful

*scarfs
red scarf project scarf stash!
misti alpaca ruffled-ribs scarf for Kate
2 drop stitch scarfs for me stash!

*lace
forest canopy shoulder shawl for Lynn from a pattern by Susan Lawrence

*sweaters
leaf lace sweater by Teva Durham for me stash!

That's about 34 units. I did 36 last year, so not too far off my mark, eh?

List your WIPs:

1. Matthew's interlocking balloons scarf
2. Spanky's sweater
3. Rainy Day socks
4. second toe-up sock
5. Isabella's intarsia sweater
6. dog blanket that I need to JUST FINISH ALREADY.

I can probably get most of this done in January, except maybe the intarsia sweater. I guess we'll see. I am looking forward to working on all of them except the toe-up sock. I did a lot of that one once already and had to rip out because my needles got hopelessly messed up.

What was your favorite project of 2007?

I did a lot of baby knitting this year. I enjoy baby projects because they're small. I liked doing the baseball tee a lot because it went fast and looked so good when I was done. I also liked working on the leaf lace sweater because I loved the yarn a lot (Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky).

What projects will you never knit again?
A lot of that baby stuff I only want to make once. I get the urge to see it made up, and once it is, I don't really feel the need to repeat it. The Louisa Harding baby blanket, and those saartje booties are really the only things I've knit more than once. I have to say though, that I will probably not be making a lot of plain stockinette socks. They are SO BORING.

What was your major knitting accomplishment for 2007?
I would have to say definitely kitchenering that damn leaf lace sweater together over and over and having it be at least wearable in the end. God that was heinous!

What are your knitting goals for 2008?
1. Finish level 1 of the Master Knitter Program.
2. Knit from the stash baby! I have a list of projects to start with--all from stash; all things I'd planned on making anyway:
a. flower-backed cardigan from knitpicks
b. clementine shawlette
c. turtleneck sleeveless top from Fitted Knits
d. Marilyn's Not So Shrunken Cardigan
e. Devil Pants from S&B Nation for Harper
f. felted canteen purse from IK
g. shawl for office from knitpicks pattern
h. koigu handwarmers
i. all my sock yarn
3. I do want to get better at documenting what I learn from each project and what I think of the yarn, etc.
4. I want to get better at and do more crochet! It's so fun. Seriously fun. And I think I need some amigarumi in my life!

So that's it... Pretty modest goals. I'm not buying any yarn until I finish those projects up there in number 2. Well, except if I have to for gifts or something. And my assistant did give me that $25 gift certificate to the yarn store down the street from our office... ha HA!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone! May it be prosperous and fulfilling for you. xoxoxo

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Some FOs!

Specifically, the last of the baby knits. I'm really glad to be done with those and on to the Christmas knitting, especially as it is getting so close to the end!

1. I already talked about the Baby Tart hat and Saartje's booties that I made for one co-worker out of the Takhi Cotton Classic:

baby tart hat and saartje booties

2. But then I used the same yarn in different colors for the Sweet Baby Cap and more Saartje's booties for the second pregnant co-worker.

sweet baby cap & saartje's booties

I didn't use the needle size directed by the cap pattern, because the pattern was written for sock/baby yarn weight. I used the same size needles I did for the tart hat (US 5's--4s for the brim), and it seemed to work out fine. I also didn't put ties on the hat, because I didn't like the way it looked. I have no idea if this hat will fit on a baby's head without the ties, but it sure looks cute! The other thing I'm really proud of with this hat is that I finally figured out how to carry the unused striping yarn up the side of the hat without having to cut it for every row! It was pretty easy--you just have to make sure to pull it pretty tight each time, or it gapes a little. That was so liberating! The last hat I made that was striped I didn't know how to do this, and I almost went mad from the number of ends I had to weave in. I swore I would never do anything striped again, but now there are all SORTS of stripey projects open to consideration. I feel so smart. :) Anyway, the hat is bigger than the tart hat, so that is also good. This was for a co-worker who didn't know whether she was having a girl or boy, and she ended up having a boy, so it worked out well. The tart hat recipient was having a girl, and she said, "How did you know?!" Uh, I just guessed. How awesome is that?

The yarn itself, I'm still on the fence about. It wasn't that soft, but I bet with repeated washing it will soften up, although I hope that won't make the colors fade. The best thing about the yarn is the great range of intense colors that it comes in. The worst thing is that it is pretty rough and cord-like. It won't be my first choice for baby stuff in the future. I think I'd prefer a blend, just for the softness factor. I'm not a fiber purist by any means...

3. Then finally, I present, the finished the Baby Baseball Tee from Knit 2 Together (although if you follow that link in the pattern name, you can get it for free from Canadian Living!). I wrote about this in my last post. I used size 3 needles for the garter stitch bands, and size 5s for the rest of the body. The yarn was Plymouth Jeannee yarn, which we already discussed as being a bargain for baby knits, although the color palette is extremely limited. I mean, this sweater is so neutral that I really couldn't figure out how to jazz it up in case Nicole had a girl. I finally ended up with one pink button and one blue one, as seen below:

baby baseball tee

As usual, the pink counter is probably skewing the color a bit, but the buttons are very matte and creamy looking, so they actually go pretty well on that gray background. I think she's going to have a boy anyway. Some of the cute features of the pattern include the cute slits on the side of the sweater, and of course the little pocket in the front:

side slits on baby baseball tee pocket detail

but my favorite part was the placket. You were supposed to knit the button bands in the contrast color, but I'd run out of that, so I knit them in the main color, and I think they turned out pretty nice that way. Also, check out the tag! Spanky got these for me as a present, and I have only used a couple so far. I should have put one into the Trellis I made, but I forgot about it! D'oh! Also, you can see in the pictures how uneven my sewing stitches are... I need to work on that.

button placket & tag

You can click any of the pictures to make them bigger, but I think it takes you to the flickr page, so you have to go back to the post when you're done looking.

I gave the sweater to Nicole, a development editor on my team, at our holiday lunch out on Thursday, and she really loved it, I think. She said her husband would love it too, so I hope he did. I like them both a lot. So, along with the Trellis and the baby kimono/booties I made earlier, that's FIVE BABIES DOWN!!! So far, three have been boys and one a girl, and Nicole isn't due until late Jan, so we'll have to wait on that one, because she still doesn't know.

I'm now working full steam ahead on my assistant's scarf. I'm doing interlocking balloons from Scarf Style, and I'm really enjoying it.

interlocking balloons

I started this in Richmond, and had to stop because of the babies, but now it's really speeding along. Unlike pretty much everyone else's I've found, I can not really memorize the pattern (actually, I live in constant worry that I'm going to inadvertently screw it up even though I'm actually looking at the chart!). But I'm through with one ball of Gedifra's English Tweed, and there are three left. The scarf is currently at 13 inches, and so I'm estimating the final scarf to be 52 inches, which is at least long enough to wrap around your neck once. It won't be as long as the one in the book, but will definitely be better than the ratty grey and maroon striped monstrosity with the moth holes that he's wearing now. I can't wait to finish this and give it to him. The good thing about my assistant is he's really nice and sweet, and I think he's going to really appreciate it. I hope he actually wears it.

interlocking balloons

The yarn is interesting. I've never used a tweed yarn before, and it's definitely rustic, but there is 10% angora in the mix of 70% merino and 20% polyamide, so at first touch, it doesn't feel too soft, but the more you handle it, the softer it seems. It's definitely a more masculine yarn, and I think it looks pretty good in the pattern, don't you? It's a fun, relatively easy knit, as long as you can read a chart, and I heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a more complicated-looking scarf. I'm hoping to be done with this by next Wednesday. Anyone want to lay bets?

Monday, December 10, 2007

sidelined

I was out of the game for about a week last week with a swollen wrist. I think it was sprained, but after icing it, and wearing a brace, the pain has gone away, and I've been able to resume knitting a bit. I'm still not going full-force, but I was able to finish the pieces of the baby baseball tee from Knit 2 Together:

blocking baby baseball tee seaming the baby baseball tee

I really love this sweater. I'll have better pictures when it is finished, but the pattern was so easy (although it is only written for one size (3 mo.)), and the yarn I used turned out to match the gauge of the recommended Rowan Wool Cotton perfectly at a FRACTION of the price. The yarn is called Plymouth Jeannee, and is 51% cotton and 49% acrylic. I used colors 1 and 7 from that link. It is really soft, and machine washable. And the best part---it was THREE DOLLARS A BALL. I got it at Fresh Purls, that awesome LYS I found in Providence, RI. I bought three balls of the main color, and one of the contrast, and I have only used two of the grey balls, although I am almost out of the contrast color. Each ball is 50g. For three dollars! It it a loosely plied yarn, and does tend to split if you don't pay attention, and sloppy knitting means that you can really tell where the mistakes are. Anyway, I've never seen this yarn before, and I haven't since. The one downside was that there aren't really any good, bright colors.

Also up last weekend, my friend Bevin and I attended the Bust Craftacular. It was a madhouse (sorry for the blurry quick picture):
Bust Craftacular 2007

I got this awesome notions bag though, from In Hope:

new notions bag

Once I seam this baby sweater and gift it already, the next thing to finish is my assistant Matthew's scarf. Everything else on that list to the right will be finished before I start any new projects.

Especially since Spanky finally discovered the extent of my stash last night, and ladies and gents, the fall out was embarrassing. There was laughing (her), there was blushing (me), there may have been accusations of insanity and promises to abstain from new purchases. So therefore, I'm really going to get to love my stash in the new year. I think it will stick this time. I'm going to do what the ladies of Stash and Burn call "shopping from your stash", whenever I feel like I need to buy something new. Most of the yarn I bought with the intention of using for a specific project. Perhaps 2008 will be the year those projects actually get born. I'm excited about the prospect. Most of it is really good yarn, and it's a shame to just have it tucked away where no one can appreciate it.