My Precious

I have an unhealthy affection for this sweater. It is the first sweater I have knit for myself that I feel like when it is complete it will magically bequeath on me all the transcendent beauty it promises in the pattern photos and I will be transformed into a dancing wood nymph with wild flowers in my hair - or something.
But really,I love this sweater. So much.

Wisteria from Fall 2008 Twist Collective

(And by the way, I am just trying to keep the sweater from curling up there with my hand, in case you were getting really worried about me)

Just Cowl Me Obsessed

Why haven't I thought of making these before?

They take so much less yarn and time than a scarf. And you can try out one skein of a special yarn without breaking the bank. These bulky neckwarmers are Lion Brand Wool-Ease thick and quick - not so special, but I got it on sale for scarves and then found all these neckwarmer/cowl patterns on ravelry and am in love! These will be Christmas gifts for various people.
I also started a Bainbridge Scarf in some Manos Silk Blend that I've had around - And I splurged and bought a hank of beautiful Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere - my first cashmere - and I'm looking at the Abby cowl pattern from the Fall 08 Knitty as a possible use for it. Saw one knit up on one of the ladies at my LYS (Renaissance Yarns in Kent,WA - beautiful new space in Kent Station for anyone in the area!)It looked so warm and cozy and elegant. Can't wait to finish the Christmas cowls so I can start working with the Cashmere.

Cobblestone

The Happy Father's Day, Happy Birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving Cobblestone is complete. So glad it's over even though the pattern is very well-written and the resulting sweater so appealing and wearable - Man sweaters are just BIG and I don't think I'll knit a man size sweater again anytime soon. I will enjoy looking at my man in his sweater though, because it's awfully cute on him.

Choosing

It's been a dramatically different beginning of the school year for us this year -I can write about it now that I'm (mostly) over the guilt and feelings of inadequacy brought on by the decision to send the kids to classroom school. Yes, my 1st and 4th graders entered the ranks of the non-homeschoolers, taking their places among the throng of new tennis shoes and backpacks. We are all weathering the change pretty well (after a first day of school weep-fest for mommy).


And all the "time" I was supposed to have, well I've managed to misplace that already. Things are hectic in a different way - we actually have to be places at prescribed times and can't perpetually put off certain assignments or subjects, but I think in general we are all able to handle life a little more calmly now that we are not around each other all the time. I need this at least for this year and the kids really seem to be adjusting well,enjoying themselves, and learning - and not just bad stuff like I had feared. So for now I am O.K.
And of course now I can knit during the day without feeling like a bad, inattentive teacher.
And I can be a Lady like the 2000 other knitters who've knit this February Lady Sweater.



I love this very much. The yarn(Cascade Superwash Paints) feels good, it fits well, its bright and cheery for the coming cooler, darker days. It's a great sweater, so I don't mind that every other knitter has one too - It's what I wanted to knit. And I'm at peace with my choice to send the kids to school too, knowing the decision was my own. The leaves will fly soon, but I know who I am.

Simple

There's nothing wrong with being simple right? I thoroughly enjoyed this endless rectangle of stockinette - 4 days of incidental knitting, some dropping of stitches and I have this elegant looking drapey red thing to toss around myself and feel all glam. I suppose some makeup might help with the glam, but tossing a piece of cloth around you is so much quicker plus you don't have to wash your face before bed.
Sunday Market Shawl
3 balls of Austermann Bambou Soft (I really really like this yarn)
Size 9 needles
I Knit 3 instead of 2 in between the dropped stitches.

The Dreaded Auntie Knitknerd

This is my nephew - he's about 6 weeks now and wearing my lovingly handknit in an evening sweater. He looks quite terrified at the prospect of having a crazy knitting Auntie sending a regular stream of this stuff. "Thanks Auntie Cher ... (mom, do I really have to wear this?!!!)"

Lotus Blossomless

Here's my Lotus Blossom Tank withouth the lotus blossoms.
-Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton in Glacier
-Size 4 and 5 needles
-Used Milanese Lace from a Barbara Walker stitch dictionary instead of lace in pattern.
-Reworked the numbers in the pattern because of slightly different gauge and also to make front and straps narrower.








Overall I'm pleased - and am surprised how much I like the color on me - I tend to do lots of reds and browns and earthy colors so this blue is a nice change.
Fun pattern - potentially a very quick project - for someone who is not me.

Actually, when we were in Colorado I didn't knit very much at all (this project stayed home). Anyway, I think I was online one day while we were there and my mom suggested I just stop knitting because it makes me not pay attention to my kids and of course much guilt and self-reproach ensued inside my perpetually guilty conscience and I stuck the one garter stitch blanket that I had brought in the bag for the rest of the trip. How could I not knit? I mean better a little negligence than going so crazy that they haul me away in a straightjacket right? After working through my guilt, I was just annoyed and sad at my mom's comment - I wonder how much she never did because of me and my sisters.
All this to say, even though FOs are few and far between for me, the knitting itself and the endless possibilities in color and texture are too fascinating for me to stop my interest - and I think its good for my kids to know that mom still wants to learn and try new things and even if they have to be dragged along to the LYS one more time I know they will be fine because I love them too much to let myself become so depleted that I have nothing to offer them - knitting fills up some part of me that wants to explore and create and that is a good thing.

A little reward

I bought this pattern "Wisteria" from the new online mag Twist Collective.

It was my reward for finishing my (non)Lotus Blossom tank. (pictures later it's blocknig now).
Anyway, so many patterns in the mag were gorgeous but this one just struck me and before I knew it there it was in my completely overloaded patterns to knit notebook.
I may succumb and spend the 20$ a skein for the Lorna's Laces Green Line called for in the pattern or maybe Dream in Color Classy which is pretty pricey as well but I think the pattern deserves it. Now whether I will ever actually knit it to completion is another story - I'm such a dreadful non - finisher of projects. But the LB tank came out pretty well in the Blue Sky skinny cotton - I'm excited to take some pics when she's dry.

Zzzzz...

We went swimming this afternoon. This is how much it wore him out.

Back Home

Got back last Friday from Colorado - the kids and I were away from home for about a month - I think that's the longest we've ever been away.
We enjoyed being a part of baby Jacob's birth - the kids were so excited to see their brand new cousin and it was such a special thing for me to be with my sis during the birth of her first child - almost choking up here.
Steve met us out in CO and we drove back home last week through Yellowstone - amazing! We'd never been before - I have some pics from CO but need to get the Yellowstone ones onto the computer - not a priority as unpacking and laundry and general getting back into the swing of things stuff comes first.
That's all for now - perhaps some knitting next week.

Works in Progress

An update at long last.
I've been dancing not blogging - I took an adult jazz dance class and found my inner dancing diva - I won't be dancing with the stars anytime soon, but at least now I know how to "pas de bourree" and also how to make a fool of myself in front of lots of people while wearing tight shiny clothing.

I've been knitting on a couple of things now and then as well.

This Lotus Blossom Tank without the funky alien head lotus blossoms (replaced the lace with "Milanese Lace" from one of Barbara Walker's treasuries) is coming along nicely with Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed Cotton. Nice, smooth cotton yarn and it comes in some really wonderful colors.



I've finished the sleeves for a Cobblestone Pullover for husband. I'm using Cascade 220 superwash and am enjoying it. This is slated for his Birthday in October as Father's Day has now come and gone and instead we got him an - oh yeah- nothing.
I'm working on the body in spare moments as it doesn't require too much concentration and I'm a complete nincompoop (I've never spelled that before - looks strange and wrong) if I can't get it done in 4 months.



And here's my sweet little work in progress with her own work in progress - a sweater for "Cluck" her doll and constant companion from birth. I love watching those pudgy little hands maneuver the needles and yarn.

Happy Mother's Day!

...and a partridge in a pear tree

So I don't just keep unfinished knitting projects around for far too long -



I also keep things like this festive brown fire hazard turned nesting bird habitat on my door.

It's nice when the week's science lesson just comes to you without any pesky lesson planning...

I Went Out By Myself

And met THE HARLOT!
You know how this whole knitting subculture has its own celebrities and I felt like such a lame-o fangirl - I have never been like this about anything before knitting - the yarn has completely entangled me and I was giddy like a 12 year old girl meeting... wow, I was going to insert the name of some teeny bopper rockstar then realized that I am so out of it that I don't know any of them - in any case, you get the idea.
She was great. Her talk was a mixture of her signature dry humor and enlightenment about the knitting culture. She was personable even after her week of sock camp and the prospect of having to talk to this whole line of knitting whack-o's bowing down before her.
And she was tolerant even of this one

who showed her the sock on the Addi Turbos where one of the needles was bent at a 90 degree angle and asked if she prayed over needles and made them well ( what a nut job).
Mainly it was fun to just get out by myself. And from the utter exhilaration I felt afterwards, I obviously need to get out more often.

Cute Thing 1

I'm plugging along on mom's linen sweater - i'm definitely not a fast large project finisher - I know a plain stockinette short sleeve tee doesn't seem that large of a project, but I am one very easily distracted person. Especially when I see teeny tiny cute things like this Baby Moc-A-Soc pattern. I just could not stop myself from immediately clicking the order button to get my download RIGHT AWAY. Though I am fairly impulsive, I have shown great restraint when it comes to all the immediate download patterns that are at my fingertips every time I get on the computer, but there was no way to resist this one.
I cast on with some Knitpicks Risata sock yarn even though the only colors I had made a kind of funky combo - and here is #1.


It was quick and #2 is on the needles - these are the cutest things ever.

A Thousand Words

You're Worth It Mom

I swatched.

Maybe if the knitting police saw this they would haul me in for trying to pass off this puny little swatch impersonator as the real thing, but this totally counts as swatching for me.
I was told swatching and washing were absolutely essential in order to believe that the linen would really soften into something wonderful and drapey - and I really needed a reason to believe after giving up on some hemp yarn which I hadn't swatched and felt in its after softening treatment. And the LYS lady (and yarn reviews) were so right - I just love how this Euroflax Linen looks and feels - I kept waving it around at my husband and saying "see how it shines - and feel this - now feel it in the hank - see how it changes? - and look how it just drapes so gracefully". So much love for my little 3 x 1 1/2" swatch.
I've once again determined to make a top for my mom - her birthday was...um...yesterday.

But I'm halfway done and its just plain stockinette and I'm going to do a couple of inches of some sort of lace at the bottom. And I really want to see a whole garment in this yarn after its been bathed and softened up. I'm sure it will then be a very difficult parting, but I've already kept one sweater intended for mom(size issues and I liked that yarn too) so this time, as difficult as it may be to part with it, I will actually give it to her. And I'll have my little swatch as a consolation prize.

Closet Knitting

Despite the cold and snow, it is really spring here which prompted me to do a little spring pre-cleaning. Which basically means no actual cleaning content, just looking around thinking about what I should clean or organize and then getting distracted with something else.
So in my closet I looked inside the plastic overflow tub of yarn(yarn that does not fit in the yarn display cabinet or the baskets on the yarn tower - need to take pictures of those sometime)just to remind myself of what I have in there.

Some nice yarns waiting for me to remember what projects I intended for them and some not so nice stuff that ends up in the tub so I can just pretend it doesn't exist anymore and not count it as stash.
Also in my closet is a stack of knit items that take me down my personal knitting memory lane.


That red thing under the rolled up scarf is my first sweater - Tempting - from a long ago Knitty.
And a plastic bag of baby hats that were supposed to be donated somewhere at Christmastime. (Aha - my size 5 16" circular - that's where you've been all this time!)

And, oh yes, there are my bamboo size 8 needles! On the very beginnings of a Montego Bay scarf that's been under a towel since,uh, maybe August?

The Sea Silk is so lovely but I think I just got tired of so many K2togs and put it aside.

Anyway, upon finding the Sea Silk scarf I just sat down there in the closet and knit on it for a little while and decided that I should just do 3 pattern repeats on it every day and it might get done sometime. And 20 minutes a day alone in the closet sounds highly appealing to me and if I turn on the bathroom fan (the closet is in the bathroom) and close the doors to the closet, bathroom, and my bedroom, I may be able to tune out the various thumps and shouts coming from other parts of the house.
So that's all. Looking forward to the daily closet retreats. Life is so exciting.

Spring???

Quite strange for Seattle in late March.