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.

Fed Ex

Please explain why Fed Ex must ring my doorbell every time they make a delivery? And if that can't be answered, then why must they deliver during the only knitting time I have in daylight, AKA Jackson's nap time? Have you ever seen a woman with laryngitis try to chase after a barking dog, yelling STOP at the top of her no-voice, whilst a ball of yarn, still connected to a sweater, is wrapped around her foot? Well if you haven't, let me tell you that there are few more pathetic sites. In the end, I did not catch up to the dog before he made it to the foyer, which is directly under the nursery, and proceeded to perform the only job for which he exists - barking at the Fed Ex guy.

Felted Easter Basket

Felted Easter Egg Basket

Supplies:

Size 13 – 24” circular needles
Size 13 DPNs
2 skeins (100 yards each) worsted weight yarn for main color (or 1 skein bulky)
2 skeins (100 yards each) worsted weight yarn for contrasting color (optional) (or one skein bulky)
1 skein novelty yarn (optional)

I used a contrasting color for the basket bottom and brim. If using worsted weight yarn, two strands are held together throughout. Both Berocco Ultra Alpaca and Manos del Uruguay worked well for this project. Berocco’s Squiggle was a great novelty yarn with a grassy texture for the brim. A mohair blend also produced a nice fuzzy brim.

To form basket bottom:
Using contrasting color and circular needle, cast on 17 stitches. Knit every row for 32 rows, or until you have a square. Do not cast off.

To form basket sides:
Pick up stitches along the 3 sides of the square. You’ll pick up one stitch between each garter ridge – I was able to pick up 16 stitches on two sides and 17 on the cast-on side. Knit the 4^th side and place marker. Change to main color and knit in the round until piece measures 6”.

To create brim:
Change to contrasting color and novelty yarn, if using. (If novelty yarn is bulky, use one strand of worsted and one strand of novelty.) Knit 6 stitches. Place 5 stitches onto holder. Cast on 5 stitches using the backward loop method. Knit the remaining 6 stitches on the basket side, then proceed to knit the next 16 or 17 stitches on the adjoining side. Repeat for the remaining two sides of the basket. Knit a 3” brim and cast off loosely. When cutting yarn, leave a good long tail; fold the brim and use the tail to slip stitch the brim in half. There will be a hole where the live stitches are on a holder. This will be filled in when you knit the handle. Simply cuff the rim as you pass those live stitches.

To knit handles:
Slip 5 stitches from holder onto DPN. Leaving a long tail, join yarn with contrasting color (or for a mottled look, use one strand of main color and one strand of contrasting color), and knit 3 rows st st. Begin I-cord for remainder of handle. When handle is 17”, knit 3 rows st st and perform 3-needle bind off to connect handle to remaining 5 stitches on opposite side of bag. Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Before weaving these tails in, stitch the handle to the rim along the bottom and sides. This gives the handle extra support so it doesn’t flop over. Weave in ends and felt.

To felt:
Place in washer on hottest setting, smallest load. Add a tiny bit of detergent and agitate, without going through spin cycle, for 15-20 minutes. Check frequently, as different wools felt at different rates. When desired felting level is reached, remove from washer and remove excess water (I squeeze mine out, then wrap it in a towel and step on it). Shape and allow to dry.

Knitting on Steroids

So I saw the Yarn Harlot on Sunday. I'll be one of those Ann Arbor knitters who waited patiently while Stephanie flew to Detroit, Chicago, and back to Detroit. I'll let her tell the story first.

I loved her speech. I love the way Stephanie makes knitting seem like a really grand acheivement. I laughed a lot - many of us did - but I was really tickled when she said how nice it was to be a writer so that now, when people ask her what she did, she didn't just have, "I breastfeed" as a response (which is how I really have to answer that question... for the past 5 years I've either been gestating or nursing a child, or both... it's really what you do when you're in the thick of it). There were a lot of things that I liked about her speech and I'd love to write about it more but the *&(@#^%$^@&*#$ FedEx guy just woke up my baby AGAIN. My other kid keeps tearing off the "Do not ring this doorbell for the love of wool PLEASE do not make my dog go crazy with the thrill of fulfilling his only purpose in life."

And at the speech, I lost my voice and my doctor put me on steroids. Suddenly I can knit much more quickly. I know I can't stay on them long term, but I wish I could.

Mittens!

For Christmas, I made 3 pairs of mittens. They were very cute, with soft Berocco Pleasure and fuzzy Firenze cuffs. There were scarves to match. I didn't take any pictures; they kept getting wrapped before I remembered to snap a shot. Pity, because the colors were great and the yarns worked well. I used the pattern in Stitch 'n Bitch and they flew off the size 9 needles.

Now I am working on a pair of fair isle gloves for myself. One is done, with even the ends woven in (no small task). I think they look cool inside-out!

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!