Peaceful Knitter

• Pattern: Lelah Top by Christine Buhagiar
• Yarn: Calmer by Rowan in color 484
• Needles: Size 8 circulars
• Modifications: I added about 3 lace repeats to get some more length. Then I did some simple shaping above the bust to bring to top in and finished it off with some 1×1 ribbing instead of using elastic.

Yay! My first top is finished, and I am pleased to say that this was a pleasant experience from start to finish.

First, I got really lucky finding this yarn on clearance in my current favorite color, lilac. Then, I did some swatching and cast on. Please note: by swatching I mean that I cast on 20 stitches or so, and knit with various needle sizes until it “looked right”. It was by no means precise. And no, I didn’t check my gauge. This is why I am amazed, dumbfounded, even, as to why this top fits. I didn’t even measure my body until I was almost finished with the thing. And even then, I just measured the circumference above my bust to see how much to decrease.

This should not fit me. Sure, it could probably have used a few more stitches to make the bottom portion a little more floaty, but overall it works. The amazing thing is, I deliberately didn’t follow any of the prescribed rules about knitting garments (not sure why, exactly, other that sheer laziness or an overwhelming need to cast on and knit immediately). I didn’t even stop to consider how just knitting the thing straight from the directions could turn out.

Is it beginner’s luck? Am I tempting fate? I know I want to start another top as soon as I can decide on which pattern and yarn I want to use. Will the next project go horribly wrong? Should I take a few minutes to measure all my bits and knit a real swatch? What would you do?! Can anyone recommend a simple, no- seaming-required summer top?

I finished this on Saturday or so, and needed something mindless to relax me in between the packing and moving of the following few days. So I went out and found some cotton in colors that will match my new kitchen and got started on a kitschy dishtowel. This is a simple stash-busting-instant-gratification knit, which satisfied my needs on so many levels.

• Pattern: Leftover Towel by Stephanie Haberman
• Yarn: Peaches ‘n Cream Ombre cotton
• Needles: Size 8 because all my other needles were packed!
• Modifications: I followed the pattern through 1 repeat, then switched to a 1×1 ribbing for the body of the towel. I did another 2 repeats of the pattern before decreasing. I also had to rig my own 6 stitch buttonhole to accommodate that huge button!

The move went very smoothly, and now I’m faced with mountains of boxes to unpack. For my downtime knitting I’ve cast on another easy dishcloth to match our bathroom. This is the Baby Fern Stitch Dishcloth in more Peaces ‘n Cream. Well, the boxes are calling me…

Yesterday I had a complete moving-induced anxiety-ridden breakdown. There were boxes everywhere, I couldn’t gain momentum with any project I started, and this whole moving endeavor was just overwhelming me. At one point I cut my finger on a piece of cardboard (much more painful than a paper cut!) and was gushing blood all over myself. I went into the bathroom to get a bandage only to discover that I had already packed them! When I went to the bathroom stuff box, this is what I saw:

I nearly lost it. Needless to say, I couldn’t unearth them and had to make do with a ratty piece of paper towel until the blood letting stopped.

So, I whimpered around the house for a little bit, picked up my knitting, went for a walk, and felt somewhat better. But I didn’t pack anything else for the rest of the day.

I think Big Martha is starting to feel the stress, too. This is the office, a room where I spend a lot of time, and thus she too spends a lot of time there, napping at my feet. But now that I have it filled with boxes, she is having a hard time relaxing.

I did manage to pack up all my knitting books, then threw some yarn on top and sealed it up. I immediately started to feel anxious, like suddenly all those potential projects and ideas were forever inaccessible to me. I know that they’re only there temporarily, and besides, there’s always Ravelry. Such a good distraction!

Which brings me to today. I am feeling motivated to pack up the kitchen. I must seize this feeling before it passes! So my strategy is this: for 15 minutes each hour, I can get online, knit, make phone calls, or anything else to help myself relax. When this time is up, I must get back to work. And to help the work along, I will listen to knitting podcasts. Today it’s Lime ‘n Violet and It’s A Purl, Man. I have already completed one cycle and accomplished quite a bit:

Now it’s time to get back in there and “do work” as Rob & Big say…

p.s. I tried on my Lelah top last night and–drumroll, please–it fits! More on why that is so astounding later…

Well, I’ve resisted the temptation to post lists and odd facts about myself up until this point. I mean, who wants to know that I once pierced ears in a mall, or that I have never had a cavity (said while eating a brownie for breakfast)? Someone does, apparently, as I have been tagged by the delightful Princess Pea for an About Me Meme.

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?

I had just finished up my first year of college and was about to embark on a fun job at a movie theater. The Sweetie and I had agreed to live together as friends (not for long!), and got a kitten from the animal shelter named Dexter. He was the first in a series of animal adventures we have had together! It was a great summer full of swimming, seeing free movies, and young love…awww.

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

1. Go to the chiropractor for my weekly adjustment. In the fall I found out I had two enlarged discs and a serious curve in my spine that I have been nursing back to functionality ever since.
2. Pack up the rest of my office, the bathroom, and some clothes. I am procrastinating packing the kitchen because it is, in my opinion, where the most stuff lurks in ones home. Last time we moved, my MIL came over and packed up the kitchen for me!
3. Take Big Martha for a walk.
4. Knit! I think I can finish the stockinette on the Lelah top in a few more hours of knitting.
5. Go over to the new house to let in the flooring guys. They are dropping off our new bamboo floor for the kitchen & sunroom so that the wood can acclimate to the unique climate of the house before installation next week.

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Movie theater popcorn, anything pickled, sugar in just about any form from candy to baked goods, stinky cheese…this list is sounding dangerous! Actually all I snack on are healthful fruits and veggies, low fat dairy products, and whole grains… ; )

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Take a long trip around the world, visiting each continent.
• Buy a house with an ocean view, a killer kitchen, and a small, cheerful staff of people who will bring me fruits and bacon for breakfast, vacuum up all the animal hair from my beautiful furniture, and pull the weeds from the English garden.
• Fund a no-kill animal sanctuary.
• Write a novel.
• Fill a room with beautiful yarn that I would just go and roll around in, occasionally knitting some of it of course!

5) Places I have lived:

I was born in Idaho and lived there until I finished college. There was a few month sabbatical where I lived in Eugene, Oregon. After college, Sweetie and I moved to Jersey City, NJ where we worked and I schooled in Manhattan. Then it was off to Bloomington, Indiana where she went to graduate school. Now we’re in Connecticut! Can you see why I’m so tired of packing and moving?!

6) Jobs I have had:

An odd assortment: barista at several coffee shops, retail sales (JCPenney, Vanity, Claire’s, Borders), hawking popcorn at a movie theater, pastry chef, cake designer, human resources manager, standardized test administrator, hospice volunteer…it would seem I’ve been willing to do just about anything for a paycheck! A defined career doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me at this point, so I’m happy doing anything that doesn’t crush my spirit or take too much time away from my family and beloved hobbies.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:

Hmmm…how about these lovely bloggers:

Sweet P

Nutmeg Knitter

Hekiknits

I Am Butterfly

Natasha

Kelly Without A Net

And anyone else who feels like sharing. Have a great weekend!

My two works in progress are going okay; I am loving the Lelah top, and just finished the lace portion. Now I’m working on the decreases before embarking upon enough stockinette stitch to ease my mind into a truly meditative state of calm.

The Windowpane socks from the most recent Interweave magazine are progressing more slowly. I think in the back of my mind I know they are going to be too small, so i’ve stopped knitting them. But I can’t seem to bring myself to rip it all out and start over, either. I have a strong aversion to frogging completely after a certain point in a project. And I’m usually not able to cast on and start the same project again right away. So these socks are hibernating for the time being. Wait a second…could I call it a “design feature” to switch to larger needles 4 inches in?! Would that make a difference?

I have to admit that I haven’t gotten much knitting done since last week. We are preparing to move on Monday (!) and my days have been filled with packing, painting, meeting contractors, and making phone calls. Today I’m headed over for the installation of our new carpet in the upstairs bedrooms. It’s made from recycled carpet and plastic! Before you cringe, keep in mind that most carpet is made of synthetic fibers anyway. While I have turned into a bit of a fiber snob with yarn, I haven’t reached that status when it comes to wall to wall carpeting.

Off I go to paint and clean! I hope to get some knitting in during this very busy day/week. How do you find the time to knit when you feel like there is barely time to eat lunch? Or do you?

Last night I wanted to knit something satisfying. Something that would take shape quickly and turn into a usable object in the course of an evening. I found this little guy in my Ravelry queue and knew that I could summon up some scraps to make a cute version of my own. I used GGH Tara, a yarn I had leftover from a baby blanket last summer.

I started with the shell; knit flat with increases and decreases, it magically morphs into a 3-D sphere when it is finished. Next came the head and 4 little legs. My turtle’s head came out a little wonky, but I figured that would be okay since my intended recipients, the cats, aren’t too picky when it comes to this sort of thing.

This was my first stuffed animal project, so I really didn’t know what to expect going into it. Turns out, there is a lot of sewing and weaving in of ends involved!

As I seamed the pieces up, I filled the shell and head with loose catnip. This was a messy endeavor and I ended up with The Nip all over the table, my lap, and the turtle while trying to imbibe the tiny turtle in catnippy goodness.

Turns out, Maxwell has a taste for the high end organic catnip. And he doesn’t seem to mind that he has to lick through a turtle to get to it!

Lucky number 13, Hege!!!

You have won a delicious skein of Knit Picks Shimmer yarn in Turquoise Splendor. Please send me an email at sugarbysonia@gmail.com with your mailing address, and I will get some yummy yarn to you asap!

I used this site to select a random winner from all the comments on my post Sock Knitting & a Contest. There were many helpful, funny, and interesting suggestions! Thank you all so much for your input.

Hege suggested knitting Jaywalker socks by Grumperina. I have tried that pattern once before, and loved the effect it created with the striping Knit Picks Felici yarn. Unfortunately, it was way too small or not stretchy enough to fit any human foot! Other sock suggestions were the Broadripple and Thuja socks from Knitty, and these cute pom pom socks. I am interested in making all 3!

More than one person suggested the Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) by the ineffable Elizabeth Zimmerman. This is a pattern that has caught my eye several times before, and I like the possibilities it holds. You can customize it to suit your needs in terms of yarn weight, size, and color combos. Personally, I really like the idea of making baby garments out of superwash merino sock yarn; functionality and stash busting at the same time!

I appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm for suggesting their favorite projects. We all have our own knitting style and taste, and it is refreshing and inspiring for me to see what other people choose to create with their yarn and sticks! My knitting queue just got a little bit longer, but these are tried and true patterns which I somehow trust a little bit more. So if you’re looking for ideas and inspiration, take a spin through the comments and other lovely blogs to see what jumps out at you. Who knows–you might be motivated to try something you’ve never attempted before!

Friday morning I woke up at 4:30 am to fly cross country and surprise my littler sister at her college graduation. This has been a month in the making, and I was tired of keeping secrets and feeling like I was lying to her about why I couldn’t make it to the big event. We live on opposite sides of the country, you see, and only get to lay eyes on each other a couple of times a year. Understandably, she couldn’t fathom why I wouldn’t be coming to one of the most important celebrations of her life. I made murmurings about having to work, and money being tight, blah blah blah. I told our mom that I was coming, and a part of me expected her to let something slip…but she held that secret like a fortress!

I flew all day Friday and, with the help of my parents, arrived at Sister’s house for the big reveal. She exploded out the front door exclaiming “It’s my sister!”. At that moment I was simultaneously so happy to see her and sorry that I let her believe that I wouldn’t be there for her. When you live so far from someone it’s easy to underplay the affect you have on each other’s lives. I got caught up in the drama of the secret surprise and my own plans, forgetting that allowing her to look forward to our visit would be just as exciting.

She was finally able to wear the scarf I started for her when she was visiting me in March. I finished it during my spring cleaning/knitting probation jag, just in time for…summer? She’s also wearing the hottest of hair accessories: a size 7 bamboo needle!

We had a short yet wonderful visit, full of quality sister and mother/daughter time. There was the graduation ceremony, where my mom and I were unceremoniously vomited on by a toddler sitting behind us; a Mother’s Day shopping spree and dinner; seeing my sister’s new house and helping her pick out paint colors; visiting an uncle who is in Hospice care; seeing my dad for some one on one time; and teaching my sister how to knit!

We went to Michael’s (sadly, there doesn’t appear to be a local yarn shop where she lives) and she picked out 2 skeins of yarn for potential projects. We then looked through patterns on Ravelry and she decided on a little drawstring bag that she could use as a project bag to hold yarn. I love that she was already thinking ahead to the next project before she started her first–a sure sign that she will become one of us, a Knitter!

Incidentally, this pattern looks to be a great way to use up odd bits of leftover yarn. I modified it so she could knit it flat and seam up the sides. Silly me, I assumed that knitting in the round would be too intimidating for her first project. But after I showed her the long-tail cast on exactly twice, she grabbed the needles from my hands and proceeded to cast on 38 more stitches perfectly.

Then she decided she wanted a stockinette fabric, so I showed her how to knit AND purl. Not a problem for this sister. She is a knitting prodigy. By the end of the day she had about 4 inches of perfect stockinette stitches! Way to go, V!

All in all it was a wonderful trip, even though it went by in the blink of an eye. It means so much to me every time I get the opportunity to see my little family out West. I love you all!

Next time, I’ll show you all the knitting I got done on the airplane. Transcontinental travel = mucho knitting time.

This is the Lelah Top from Knitting for Boozehags. It will be my first real garment! I certainly know better than to start without measuring myself or knitting a gauge swatch, but I did it that way anyway. Actually, I did knit a gauge swatch, determined I would make it on smaller needles, then got started. I’m wondering now if I should have increased the number of cast on stitches to compensate for the tighter gauge. Its seems like this might be a little tight. I’m already planning on doing extra repeats of the lace motif to make it longer. According to the pattern, I should be halfway done with the repeats. Since the lace goes from below the bust to the waist, I think I’ll be needing a little more coverage!

It’s knit with Calmer by Rowan, a DK weight cotton/acrylic blend. It’s a dream to knit with: super soft and slightly stretchy. I got the yarn on clearance from Webs–50% off! Fortunately it happened to be one of my favorite colors and will match my new tattoo perfectly!

This photo was taken just one day after I got it done. It’s still a little scabby, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what it really looks like underneath! Do you have any tattoos? How about knitting/craft tattoos? I’d love to hear about them!

I’ll be getting in some good  knitting time this weekend, so I should have some good progress to share on Lelah and my Windowpane socks next week. I hope you have a great weekend full of all the knitting you can handle!

FINISHED!

• Pattern: Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks from Favorite Socks by IK Press
• Yarn: ONline Linie 3 Supersocke in color 833
• Needles: Size 3 on the leg, 2 on the foot
• Mods: None. Except for the fact that I forgot about the 2 different needle sizes by the time I got to the second sock, and knit it entirely on size 2 needles. Apparently, that does make a difference! The 2nd sock is about and inch smaller…

This yarn would have probably been better suited to a simple stockinette sock, but I wanted something with a little more zip! The texture is pretty interesting, even if it’s not noticeable at first glance.

My new sock love:

This is a Windowpane Sock from the brand new Summer 2008 Interweave Knits magazine. I got it on Friday, read the pattern on Saturday, and started knitting on Sunday.

It’s done with a solid yarn and a variegated yarn in a simple grid pattern. The white yarn is from Cherry Tree Hill, and the pink/green yarn is from Shibui Knits. Both are wonderful to work with so far. The colors combine to create a really fresh, exciting palette that is perfect for the spring weather we are having.

My only concern is that this will be a tight, un-stretchy sock because of the colorwork. I went up a 1/2 size in needles to help make it a bit stretchier, but it’s too soon to tell if this will make a difference.

Thank you to everyone who has left pattern and de-stashing ideas on the last post! There are some good ones in there, so if you’re like me and in need of some new ideas, check it out. And while you’re there, leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a skein of yarn!

Well, the Sock Marathon didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped. Wednesday was a pretty busy day, and not very knitting friendly. I did knit while waiting for lunch at a Mexican restaurant, which was a first for me. I’d knit a row, then take a chips and salsa break, knit a row, etc. I’m not convinced that knitting on the go is all that productive for me. I need to get into a rhythm in order to really enjoy my knitting.

So I knit during lunch, tending to my obligations, then spent a couple of hours watching episodes of Oprah that my TiVo had recorded earlier in the week. This is great to knit to because you don’t really need to look at the screen continuously to understand what’s going on!

Anyway, after 2 straight hours of knitting on size 2 needles, my hands were wrecked. The finger joints were aching, and my big thumb joints were particularly inflamed. So I put the sock down for the evening, thinking that after I had some time to rest my hands I would pick it back up again. I never did.

I measured the sock this morning, and found that I had knit 4 inches in approximately 3 hours Wednesday. Since the recipient has size 10 feet, I have at least 4 more inches, or 3 hours of knitting, to go!

All in all, I view April’s Spring Cleaning mission a success. Here are my stats:

Starting Yardage: 12,252
Sold or gave away: 1,205
Knit up: 665
Purchased: 1,826
Ending Yardage: 12,208

For a total decrease of: 44 yards!!! That’s pretty good considering how much I bought at Webs last week!

To celebrate, I’m going to hold my first ever Giveaway/Contest on this blog! I am looking for inspiration and ideas for using up more of my stash.

• To enter, all you have to do is tell me what your favorite knitting project is. This should be something you’ve knit at least once before and enjoyed. I would particularly be interested in your favorite sock patterns, or patterns done using sock yarn. Be sure to include the pattern name and source, and even a photo of your finished item if you like!
• Leave a comment on this blog post or send me an email at sugarbysonia@gmail.com with your suggestion.
• I will use a random number generator to pick a winner from all entries received by May 16th. That’s 2 weeks from today, so get your ideas ready!

The winner will receive 1 skein of Knit Picks Shimmer in Turquoise Splendor!

Even if you’re not interested in the prize, please submit your suggestions. I’m sure we could all use some new ideas and inspiration!