Two years in the making

I cast 64 stitches on for these simple ribbed socks two years ago. They were my first socks, and I used Koigu and US1 needles. The first sock took forever. I used to think ribbing was so difficult. (can you hear me whining in italics?) But when I turned that first heel, I fell in love with the magic of knitting socks. I've made many other pairs since then, for other people, but of course these socks for me have languished. Just like the fresh fruit that I don't think I am entitled to eat as it is for the kids, I'm also not entitled to hand-knit socks. NOT ANYMORE SUCKERS! I'm going to eat fresh strawberries AND knit stuff for myself and ~get this~ DRINK HOT COFFEE. All you kids can bite me cuz mama is hungry and tired and her feet are cold!

So we went to a gymnastics birthday party today for children from 3-5 years old. I know enough about gymnastics events to know that you have to take your shoes off (not going to be embarrassed about the state of my feet or socks at another one of those again!) so how fantastic for me to wear my very own pair of lovely socks? Yay!!!

I did show them off and mention a few times that *hey I knit these* but only one other knitter was there and she was nice enough to compliment me every time I begged for recognition.

Besides the wonderful feeling of putting these on, I really appreciate how much faster the second one was knit - I've really come a long way!

Lillelam

I started the Lillelam sweater awhile ago, from the Dale of Norway Soft Treasures for Little Ones. I really wanted to finish it by Easter, and in the end (even hopped up on steroids) had to make a vest of it. The bad news is that a sweater with dropped sleeves doesn't fit quite right as a vest. The good news is that I made the largest size (24 months) so I have until next year to knit the sleeves and the coordinating fair isle pants and by then it should either fit Jackson properly or be entirely too small. And honestly, not to be too biased, my cute little guy can pull of just about any outfit.

I did make some changes to the pattern (besides omitting sleeves). I knit in the round and so made some adjustments to the # of stitches. I found this much more desirable than purling with two colors on US2 needles. It may have been lazy, but I can promise that this sweater would never have gotten past the acres of lattice stitch if it weren't all knitting. Never mind that whole fence. Since I was knitting in the round, I couldn't do the intarsia for the sheep. No worries, I just did him in duplicate stitch. That change did make the second layer of embroidery, the fluffy loop stitch, a bit more challenging, but in the end it worked perfectly. I also modified the neck and shoulder area to have a button row, to accommodate Jackson's large head. This added extra time and a trip to Joann's that I could have lived without, especially since my husband pulled the sweater right on over Jackson's head without unbuttoning those buttons. I keep telling myself that he'll need them next year if he really is going to wear it again, even though I know the majority of his head growth has already occurred.

So since I knit this thing in the round, I had to steek for the arm holes. I didn't bother adding any stitches or anything, just took two stitches in either side of each center stitch and outlined them with contrasting color yarn.



I then machine stitched over those contrasting yarns, which now cannot be removed, as they are sewn in. Others might have basted in a single line and sewed along side it, but I am a lousy seamstress and I need those kind of guidelines to not get crooked. My mom stopped by while I was sewing and I said, "Oh good, you can witness my cutting up this vest!" She pretty much screamed in horror, but I made her take pictures anyway.


Once the stitches were cut, I seamed up the shoulders and picked up stitches for the armbands (no need to mention the 2 days I spent trying to figure out a facing) and neckband. The fit wasn't as perfect as I'd have liked, but I think when I get around to those sleeves it will be. And I did learn a lot about embroidery, steeking, and modifying patterns. I loved this project and loved making that fluffy little sheep!

Jackson's New Sweater

Last August, my sweet baby needed surgery. He was not quite 7 months old. His surgery was quite serious - a cranial vault reconstruction to correct a condition called craniosynostosis, and we were paralyzed with fear. In the waiting room on the day of his surgery, I cast on this special sweater for him. Knit on size US3 needles with Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino, it's the picot cardigan from Fiona McTague's Knits for Babies and Toddlers. I knit it several sizes larger than he wore at the time, putting all my faith and courage that he would be fine and healthy to wear it soon. He spent a week in the hospital and about 5 minutes at home before declaring himself fully recovered. Though I haven't quite shaken the experience, he has never looked back. Here he is, modeling his new garb:


You may be able to see the button loops that I tatted. They were my first practice rings and I thought they were perfect as loops. Also, you may be able to see that the button band is a bit too long. This is what happens when you try to pick up the number of stitches the pattern tells you to pick up instead of using your own fool head to pick up the number that will actually give you a favorable result. Someday I may re-knit that button band, but I want my healthy thriving little babe to wear it while it still fits. There will be plenty of time for fixing it before I pack it up as his heirloom sweater.

Rejection

When knitting for kids, my greatest concern is always the potential mess that could be made of a hand-knit item. The food, the dirt, the falling and sliding and somersaulting, the inevitable destruction of anything in the hands of a three-year-old spells certain disaster for garments. While I don't enjoy this on my son's lovely Hannas, I really fear it with his hand knits. So imagine my surprise when little Marty decided he wouldn't wear a sweater that I had made him. What do you mean you won't wear it?!

I recently saw someone on eBay selling an adorable eggplant hat. The seller clearly stated that the hat had been hand knit for their baby, but they had never used it. As someone who often knits for others' babies, I was appalled. First of all, how do you justify not putting a cute hat like that on your baby? At least do it once for five minutes, snap a photo and include it with the thank you to the knitter. It seems like such a small 'inconvenience' considering the amount of time even a baby hat takes to knit. Second of all, how do you justify putting a hand-knit gift on eBay!!! Shouldn't it be passed on to the next baby, or a cousin, or in the baby's hope chest or in some way treasured?
P.S. The hat is currently at $.99 here.

Maybe I am being too sensitive. Marty's rejection of my sweater stung for a good while, which was okay because I had a new baby to knit for who hadn't yet learned to assert himself. A few months later, Marty's opposition to the manos sweater (from the Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits) ended, and he gladly wore it.


And a closeup:

Peace, Fleece

I finally finished one of the sweater kits I ordered from Peace Fleece, for baby Jackson. I wanted a project where I didn't have to think about anything - the kit was great because it had the pattern, all the yarn - including little balls for the colorwork in the collar, and even the buttons. There may be enough yarn leftover for a matching hat. I have another Peace Fleece kit, the everyday cardigan, but I have another project for myself in mind before I get to that. I'm so happy to have finished a handknit for my wee one:



I have a few other things on the needles, and some FO's that were out the door before I got pics, but I am happy to be finally knitting on a regular basis again!

Mom's gift

For Mom, the fog chaser jacket from Knitter's Stash. (I can't believe how many projects I have made, and want to make, from this book!) The jacket still needs to be blocked to Mom's measurements, and hopefully once that's done I'll have a shot of it on her. The yarn is from Mountain Colors and uses 4 strands of mohair, wool, silk, and ribbon, in the ruby river colorway. I loved the seed stitch pattern and really enjoyed making this. Hopefully Mom will like it as well.

Knitted Gifts

Lots of people received knitted gifts from me this year. It was such a joy to knit for so many of the loved ones in my life!

My dad got these Lithuanian socks, knit from Nancy Bush's pattern in Folk Socks using Elsebeth Lavold's silky wool. Dad is 50% Lithuanian, and I've wanted to knit these, or something that would speak to our Lithuanuan heritage, since his dad, my Papa Tony, passed away this past February. The picture shows the pair unfinished, but by now both socks have been given:


My brother's girlfriend, Kristyn, got a Sophie bag knit from Lopi. The burgundy color was actually a variegated yarn with flecks of the teal, but they disappeared during the felting process. Also, I used an I-cord bind off and like the more stable top edge.


My mother-in-law got these cool flower-petal washcloths. The pattern is in Weekend Knitting and, for once, I got to use the yarn that the pattern called for - 100% cotton chenille from Crystal Palace. I left one as a sample with my LYS and inspired sales of several books and yarn! I have a a bunch of colors and plan to make them as thank you and hostess gifts, given with a bar of nice soap. Each one took about 4 hours to knit, and the pattern was easy to memorize.


My brother got the coolest present, custom designed for him. He's admired the Norwegian mittens that I made after a knitting workshop with Beth Brown-Rensel (author of Knitting Ganseys, so I wanted to make him something along those lines. The skull is of my own design, since nothing I found in books or on the Internet were quite right. I needed a specific number of stitches to fit the pattern, both in width and height. I used a bulky-weight yarn to fit my brother's large hands without completely changing the basic pattern that I had to work with. They are knit with Berocco's Pleasure (angora and merino) and wow is that nice yarn to work with! I'll share the skull chart here soon.


Shot of the back and thumb:


More gifts to be posted soon!

Christmas Knitting: All Wrapped Up!

Christmas is over, and the compelling urge to complete as many knitting projects as possible has passed. What a relief to again be knitting any old project. The holiday deadline did wonders for my UFO status, however, as I finished nearly everything on my list. Rob was, once again, this year's knitting victim, and my dad's 2nd sock was delayed by a few days. But it felt great to give away so many knitted gifts.

We also drove to Chicago to attend a family holiday party. Here's a shot of me and Marty at the hotel, sporting our hand knits:


More pics coming soon!

Cute knitting warning

Sometimes it seems so insane to be knitting for my kid. He's as likely to throw it on the floor as he is to embrace it as a beloved item. And the next day may warrant a completely opposite response. Still, these were too adorable to not knit again in the next size up, and this time I've made the matching mittems. (They were finished before Halloween, just to show how behind I am in blogging.) And yes, I have picked them up off the garage floor and other assorted dirty places.



The pattern is from Fiber Arts, one of those you buy in a plastic sheet with 3 holes along the side. I recently organized all those sheets and put them in separate binders - Costco had a sale on a set of 6, and I used my label maker to get really anal about the whole thing. I love that all my patterns are now put away and easy to find!

I've recently finished another item for Marty, a sweater with a very cute reindeer, tree, and snowflake pattern. It was good chart practice for me, and fun to knit. The pattern is from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Little Cherubs. The downside was stranding colors on the purl side; I'd have preferred steeks and sewing for better results, but it turned out ok. Just as well since the kid is probably going to get ice cream or something all over it. We are going to use it for our Christmas card picture (is that too self-serving, to force your kid to model your hand knits under the preface of spreading holiday cheer? I hope not, because you know this new baby is going to be wearing a hand-knit sweater on his birth announcement!). The yarn I used was lovely, and truly not appropriate for this garment, but I loved it and wanted to work with it and I can always get more. I must make an adult sweater from it, to be sure. It's Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool, a 35% silk, 65% wool blend for my 2 1/2 year-old child. But the colors were perfect and there's just the hint of tweediness to it. Here's how it turned out:



You'd think I might be done with knitting for Marty, but I recently cast on something very cute from the Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits for Kids. There is a pattern in there that uses Manos, my big weakness, and it has sizes for newborn to 3 years, so I'll be making one for the new baby to match Marty's, and doesn't that sound like a photo op to you?

I am so looking forward to the holidays and all the get togethers, though at 8 months pregnant it's hard to find something great to wear. The thought of buying maternity clothes for festive occasions was hard to swallow - I only have a few weeks left in my pregnancy, how can I justify buying something new to wear once or twice? (haha ask me to justify the yarn purchases I make!) Of course the solution was to buy yarn instead. I loaded up on various novelty yarns and designed a pattern. I wanted something drapey and sparkley that I could wrap around my arms to wear with a tank. I used Berroco Quest in silver, Berroco Plume FX in black metallic, and SRK Ranee in black. 3 strands held together on size 19 needles, and I had a wrap in 2 nights that I can continue to wear after I have this baby. The photo is not great, but I'll share it now anyway and hopefully will get a shot of me wearing it one of these December nights:

Christmas in July

Finally, my mom's Christmas ('04) gift! Remember what happened to the first one?



It's the Sleek Ribs Tank from this summer's IK. It was knit from the chained ribbon from Blue Heron Yarns, made from Lempur, in the flax colorway. Clearly, Mom is very happy about it. It fits her perfectly and I am so glad I cast it on 4 times total to get it perfect. Also glad I made the smallest size. Here's a shot of the back:



Merry Christmas Mom!

Another FO

Long after the funeral, for which this sweater was intended to be worn, I've attached the buttons. My own design, I think it turned out pretty well. I would make it again for a girl, as the collar is a bit wide and seems a bit feminine to me, even in these boyish colors. Someday I will write up the pattern! It took only a few days (of frantic car-knitting) to knit because I used two strands of yarn held together. Here's the back (click any photo for a larger one):



Side:


And front:


The sweater is knit from Lana Gatto Labrador, and if anyone remembers, that's the yarn I got at the Super Bowl sale and planned to use for myself. Like most things around here, it went to Marty. Cute though, eh?

Honest, I have been knitting

I have been working diligently to complete two rather large projects. Rob's basketweave sweater is knitted and seamed, and just needs a zipper and blocking (Hooray!). I also made "My Constant Companion" from Knitter's Stash. This is a very large bag to knit; once felted, it is still quite large and will easily hold all my WIPs and more. My cat is really anxious to sleep in this bag, so I may be knitting something for her out of the leftover yarn from this project. I used Reynold's Lopi, which felted beautifully. My favorite part of the whole project was the i-cord bind-off, which I did 3 times to get the contrasting color trim.


I also recently made this for a friend. While it is not knit, it is for knitting needles:


I even learned how to use the button-hole attachment on my sewing machine to make the matching pouch:

Activity!

Hey some stuff is being knitted around here! I can tell because my needle case is filled to overflowing. On the way to Chicago last weekend, I finished this hat for my brother, Mike:



Then on the way home from Chicago, I finally finished the blue baby hat that matches the cardigan that goes with the pink cardi and hat set for the Kreiman twins, who were born around Thanksgiving. It makes me so happy to have this set finished and I hope they love it. Here's the whole set together:



Not done yet! Look what else got finished:


Gee, I'm not sure if that's big enough. Hold it up so I can see:



Ah yes, almost as big as the child it's for. Perfect!

Marty Pants

Really, my blog title should be Marty Pants. This was our nickname for Marty, because he was so smart and we didn't want to refer to him as a smarty pants. Making pants, or longies, was my original motivation to learn to knit: 100% wool can be waterproofed with a bit of lanolin and water and creates the perfect cover for a cloth diaper - all natural, breathable, all seasons, environmentally friendly, perfect. Some people knit a lot of socks, some a lot of scarves. I knit a lot of pants. Here's the pair just finished for Mary:

Sporty and cute, just like Mary. Hopefully we will get a pic of her wearing them soon. Why didn't I take one today, when she tried them on and I had my camera? Same reason I haven't taken the picture for our Christmas cards, either, I suppose. A little know secret concerning havin gchildren: your brain functions at 50% capacity from the moment you get pregnant until your child is older - no idea how old, but past 2 for sure. I will keep you posted if it ever comes back to full functionality.

Now my needles are free to start some Christmas knitting!

Winding heaven

Remember that huge haul of manos? Was anyone wondering, wow that's a lot of winding. Well, I was. The 2 huge kilos represented 20 skeins of winding. I can wind a hank of yarn in about 25 minutes. Let's not do the math here; those kilos were going to take a big chunk out of my knitting time. So I used a Joann's coupon to order a swift, and picked up a winder at my LYS. I put them together and ooh la la, winding happiness was mine. I love the quiet whirring; I love that it takes no batteries; I love feeling like a pilgrim woman, using this simple mechanical device that needs no improvements. I was able to wind a 100 gram skein during the commercial break between The Apprentice and E.R. Fabulous! Here's the setup:


I was able to tear myself away from winding long enough to finish the pumpkin hat, which as it turns out is too small for baby Evan's extremely large head. Even after some stretching and blocking, it is too tight. So Marty will enjoy it for the time being. Here's the side view:


I've cast on a new hat for Evan, but after about 4" last night, I realized that it fits me. Luckily that boy has a grandma knitting for him! He may just have to settle for a sweater from me!