Oh Baby!

This is the first is a series I’m going to call Oh Baby! for all the baby knitting I’ve been doing of late.  It seems like I’ve got a friend having a baby every month for the next 5 months or so, which means many mini knits.

The first is for a little girl due in July.  As much as I think I want to fight gender specific colors when picking out baby gifts, this yarn was just too good to ignore.  It’s been in my stash for a bit, and seemed like the perfect colorway for a baby girl born in the heat of summer.

Pattern: Baby Stuff, free Ravelry download

Yarn: Shibui Knits sock yarn in color 4201, approximately 160 yards

Needles: US size 2 double points

Mods: Made an i-cord topper with the last 4 stitches.  Because babies need funny things sticking up off the tops of their hats.

This is a quick and fun set to make.  The mitts were especially fast, and I hope they come in handy (hehe) for the little one.  The whole thing took about 1/2 a skein, so a great use of leftover bits of sock yarn.

So, one baby gift down, 3 or 4 more to go.  And then there’s this:

My Peaceful baby is due on New Year’s Day.  I feel like one lucky knitter to be having a winter baby!  Bring on the wee hats, sweaters, and booties!  Any suggestions for great gender-neutral knitting patterns?

 

Yarn in a Box

My mailbox has been bustling with wonderful boxes full of goodies.  One is something I won on a blog giveaway, the other a gift from a friend halfway around the world.  I tell, you there’s nothing like receiving a box of special treats; I plan on sending out some care packages in the very near future to pass on this great feeling.

First, I was the lucky winner of a blog giveaway last month at Knitting Siamese. There were great things in the package, the highlight of which was a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn in Abril.

I also love the project bag, which of course features a slinking Siamese cat…

These lovelies arrived the day before I left town, so I didn’t get much time to fully appreciate them.  Rest assured, time was spent yesterday petting the Malabrigo and finding an appropriate new knitting project for that bag.

And when I returned from my vacation, I was delighted to find a stamp-covered package all the way from Hekiknits in Australia!  She and I have been friends through a mutual group on Ravelry, and have really supported each other through some ups and downs.  I feel very fortunate to have a pen pal like her, especially now that she’s sending me yarn and chocolate!

I love tasting treats from other countries.  Apparently there’s a method of eating one of these cookies called the “Tim Tam Slam” that I need to try out immediately!  What are some goodies from America that I can send her way?

Now that we’re back home, things are settling in to a nice summer routine.  So far this has included some knitting, yard work, Sweetie making dinner, and general sorting out of the household affairs.  Good, normal life stuff that is making me feel very content.  Especially around dinner time when a plate of food magically appears in front of me!  How is your summer shaping up?

 

All Roads Lead Home

Vacations are great, but nothing beats that moment when your head hits the pillows on your own bed, not some strange hotel mattress or an unfamiliar futon, but your own sweet nest of pillows, sheets, and blankets.

Of course, I slept like ass last night, but at least I did it in the comfort of my own bed!

The past two weeks were filled with great moments, one highlight being meeting my nephew for the first time.

Little Jackson is such a wonderful baby, and a welcome addition to our family.  He hardly ever cries, lets his parents sleep for up to 4-5 hours at a stretch, and loves to cuddle with his auntie.  All good things in my book!  Plus he loved to squeeze my fingers when I held him, and I am a sucker for little baby hands.

We also spent some time in Oregon at the coast near Florence, acted as matron of honor, stayed at a ritzy downtown hotel in Portland, and ate Voodoo Doughnuts.  That’s a bacon maple bar in my hands; moments later it disappeared….imagine crispy bacon, pancakes, and maple syrup together in one bit and you’ll understand why it didn’t last long.

Also, this was about 7:30 am the morning of my friend’s wedding; we made a pit stop before heading over to her house for hair & makeup.  It was a great start to the day.  Later we looked like this:

It was wonderful to see our families, reconnect with old friends, and visit the great Western frontier.  Home is great too, and I am looking forward to getting into a summer routine of gardening, drinking excess amounts of iced tea, and maybe even knitting a little…

*Sweetie took all of the photos, except for the shot of us together which was taken courtesy of Brandon, our friendly table-mate at the wedding reception.

 

Rockin’ the Socks

I’m headed out of town on another adventure for a couple of weeks.  This requires a lot of planning, from reservations and car rentals to making sure I pack anything I might need over the course of a two-week vacation.  While running through my mental list of To-Do’s, I only just came across Vacation Knitting.

As knitters we all know what an important packing/activity/travel subject Vacation Knitting can be.  We want that perfectly portable project that can go from airplane to car ride to movie watching with ease.  For me, this usually means something on circular needles that I can memorize.

It would come as no surprise, then, that I have some socks on the needles for just this reason!  I started these last week at Squam, having chosen the yarn from my stash for its name, Pebble Beach.  The colors seemed very lakey and appropriate, so off to camp it came.  And I’ve made good progress since.  Now I think these will be going out West with me.

Pattern: Show Off Stranded Socks (Ravelry link)

Yarn: BMFA Socks that Rock in Pebble Beach

Needles: 2-ish I believe

Mods: None so far.  I’ve made this pattern once before and recall there were a few options for the heel.  Last time I chose to carry the stitch pattern down the back of the heel.  Who knows what might happen this time!

What you don’t see in the picture is how the beige color is creating a huge flash on what I have decided will be the back of the sock.  The other colors are so beautiful together, I don’t understand why there is such a large amount of beige in the skein.  I know I could have adjusted the stitch count or alternated skeins to help combat the pooling, but I just didn’t feel like it.  Lazy knitter busted!  At least I’m back knitting, so I’ll take it how I can get it.

I also cast on the latest BMFA Rockin’ Sock Club pattern.  I love the colorway, but am not too sure about how it works with the pattern.

I’ve only done the ribbing with one element of the pattern, and it seems a bit lost.  What do you think?  If you’d like to see some great photos of this sock finished, check out Courtney’s foot here.

So, I’m heading out to Oregon and Idaho to meet my new nephew and to see my best friend from college get married.  It promises to be a wonderful time full of old friends, family, and a fair amount of travel knitting.  Look for plenty of photos at the end of the month.  Till then, knit what you love and have fun doing it!

 

Summer Camp

Words are not quite managing to describe the experience I had last week at Squam Art Workshop in New Hampshire.  There were amazing artists, beautiful scenery, and fun people to meet all around.  The lake, trees, and chipmunks delighted me every day, while the people provided constant inspiration and support.  Treating myself to a grown up artsy-crafty summer camp experience was the best thing I’ve done in a long time.  And if you weren’t tempted already, know that there’s another session coming up in the fall…

I focused mainly on knitting classes with Annie Modesitt which were incredible.  I learned how to make an invisible left decrease, bobbles,yarn dreadlocks, and so much more.  Mostly I enjoyed her sense of humor, clear explanations, and general attitude about knitting.

Even though my heart belongs to knitting, I think my favorite class was with painter Marisa Haedike of Creative Thursday.  She creates the most interesting and adorable creatures in her work, both on canvas and in fabric.  Her class taught us how to take a character sketch and turn it into a Creative Character.

Thankfully I had spent the past couple of months getting to know my sewing machine because there happened to be one almost exactly like it in class.  So I was able to focus on my critter and not how to work the machine.  This was a very playful, creative exercise, one I can see myself repeating over and over.

Here’s my finished Love Bunny with her friend Beaver, a classmate’s design:

A special thank you to my lovely and generous cabin-mates who helped make my experience even better.  A couple of them even have some amazing work you can go look at here.  It was a true pleasure meeting all of you!

 

Proud Auntie

I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to have a finished object.  So instead of showing you more of my works in progress, I’m going to share one of my sister’s greatest finished objects:

Meet Jackson, born just one week ago:

Clearly he feels triumphant about his arrival!

And because I’m a super proud auntie, I have to show you another photo of the new babe wearing a certain hand-knit hat.

Good thing I went with a rolled brim hat because this thing is huge on him!  For this reason it’s always wise to make baby knits a little bit flexible in the sizing, something that will fit through a variety of stages.  I think both these FOs are winners, don’t you?!

I’m so proud of my sister and can’t wait to see this little guy in a few weeks!

 

New Club Yarn is Here!

Just when things were looking irreparably bleak on the knitting motivation front, I got a package in the mail.

Fellow Rockin’ Sock Club Members, you know what I’m talking about.  If you don’t want to ruin the surprise, just turn around and walk away right now.  Cause things are about to get crazy in here!

Rooster at Burgis Brook Alpacas

I pulled in the driveway after work this afternoon and thought to myself “I really hope my new yarn is here from Blue Moon.” It’s about to be a holiday weekend, which means no mail on Monday!  So if it didn’t come today or tomorrow I was prepared to have a yarn-withdrawl tantrum.  Fortunately for all of us, this did not have to happen.

There were teasers about the yarn and pattern for this month’s shipment that left me expecting bright, playful colors.  Maybe it was the YouTube Video from Fraggle Rock….funny, right?!  Or the playlist of songs talking about rainbows and The Flinstones and other cartoon characters.  In any case,  the yarn was not what I expected at all, but that is part of the fun of the surprise.  At least this month it worked out and I love the colorway.  Last time, I found the clues to be misleading and didn’t like the colors at all, so this was a welcome surprise.  Anyway, without further ado:

• Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock lightweight in Pepe La Plume

• Pattern: Fraggle Squiggle Socks by JC Briar

I love it!  These are my colors and I absolutely would have chosen this colorway for myself.  I’m not as sure about the pattern, however.  It seems nice enough, but it’s hard for me to get a clear idea of the stitch patterns in the photos.  I didn’t even want to try to take a picture of the pictures!

The yarn is also pretty contrasted, so the lace/squiggle pattern seems obscured by the color changes.  I’m on the fence about what to do here.  At one moment I want to start knitting the yarn immediately in a different pattern; the next moment I feel brave and want to take the plunge and knit the two together as intended.

When I think about why I joined this sock club to begin with, I am reminded of my desire to take on new challenges, to try things outside my comfort zone.  This may be precisely one of those moments in life where I’m being called upon to follow through with my intentions…drat!  Yeah, I think I’ve just talked myself into it.  Okay, off to wind up some yarn and blindly cast on!

 

Drat.

I may have spoken too soon about the return of my knitting mojo.

All was going well with my Spot Check socks for a couple of days.  I was happily knitting on, enjoying the playful way the colors were knitting up, daydreaming of cooler fall days when I could keep my feet warm and cheerful wearing them.

And then it came time to knit the heel.  I’ll admit, the fabric seemed a little tight.  I had anticipated this from previous experience with color work socks and cast on for the largest size.  Surely a 70-stitch sock would be large enough!

Not so.  After a couple of heel flap rows I decided I had better try the sock on before we got any further.  I could barely get the thing over my foot!  And what kills me is I had that feeling, that little niggle that tells you when something’s not quite right.  As knitters we should listen to this feeling as soon as it hits us, otherwise precious time can be wasted.

Turns out, casting on 70 stitches was only one of 2 ways in which the author suggests the knitting of a wearable 2-color sock.  The other, which I either missed or chose to ignore, was to go up a needle size after knitting the cuff.  Drat.

So, these are off to the frog pond.  As much as I think they’d make stellar fingerless gloves, I had my heart set on the socks.  So when my rage dies down and my mojo kicks back up, I will set about knitting these again.

 

Mojo in Check

My knitting mojo has been nonexistent for approximately 2 weeks now.  It’s a strange feeling to lose something that has been such a part of my daily life.  I would watch tv without doing anything with my hands.  Or ride in the car and just look out the window.  Strange!  I really got a reminder of what my life was like before I was a knitter.

Hemlock Ring blanket, stalled

I had been trying to force myself to work on this blanket, but my heart just wasn’t in it.  And I didn’t feel like starting any  new projects, so no knitting was happening at all.

This break did give me a chance to work on some other projects.  My little sewing machine has been humming as I work on alterations, hemming, refashion projects, and my first quilt.  All good fun, but not knitting.

Fortunately, just when things were beginning to feel irreparably bleak, I was rescued.  Knitting night with the Stitch ‘n Bitch gals (and one guy last night, hooray!) helped give me the kick in the wool that I needed.  That and the miracle of coincidence…

I was flipping through Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn before heading out last night, and I was struck by a certain pattern.  I wanted something simple, and Spot Check seemed to fit the bill.  It’s essentially a stockinette sock knit in two colors, one a solid and the other a wilder multi.  And as I looked closer at the photo of the pattern, I realized that I had the yarn called for in my stash.  Not just the yarn, but the exact 2 colorways pictured!  It was clear that I had to knit these socks.

Spot Check in Shibui Knits Peacock and Spectrum

I got off to a good start last night, and have even knit a couple rows on them today.  I’m not going to be so bold as to say that my knitting mojo is officially back, but I will say that I feel like knitting a little bit.  Which is a great improvement!

Hope you have a great weekend, knitting or otherwise!

 

Burk-n-socks

Do you remember when I used to talk about the things I was actually knitting?  Yeah, me too.  So I’ve got a treat for you today: a real finished object!

• Yarn: Regia Design Line by Kaffe Fassett, 1.5 skeins

• Pattern: Basic Sock Recipe, ravelled here

• Needles: US size 1/2.25 mm Magic Loop

• Mods: Cast on 72 stitches for boy feet!

I knit these socks in April for my dear friend Burk.  We’ve been friends since we were younger and wilder, back in college.  Actually, I’ll have to speak for myself there, because I believe he can still get a bit wild, especially if there is karaoke involved…

He has been a great admirer of my knitting career and of hand-knit socks in particular.  So when I saw his birthday approaching on the calendar, I knew I had to cast on a pair of socks as fun and interesting as he.

While the yarn wasn’t my favorite to knit with in terms of texture, the colors were a lot of fun.  As you can see, I chose not to match up the stripes on these socks, instead letting the colors meander on their own.  This kept me entertained as I knit row upon row of stocking stitch!

This was my first time knitting socks for someone with feet larger than my own, and that presented some challenges.  Burk kindly sent me his foot measurements, and with the help of Knitting Rules I was able to come up with a 72-stitch cast on and estimates for length of leg and foot.  But I’m used to being able to try socks on and customizing the fit as I knit, and that didn’t really work in this scenario.  So Burk, I did the best I could without having your actual feet to fit them onto.  I hope they fit!