February Episode 1: The Moth Menace

I had less time to knit this month than anticipated... well, perhaps I should have anticipated that...

There were a lot of little projects in the February chapter of The Knitter's Almanac. I skipped the double knitting project (which is suggested as an exercise in double knitting, with possible products being a pot holder, baby changing pad, or cozy baby bag.) I opted not to do this one, because I thought it was only marginally interesting. I was going to pick it up if I ended the month with knitting time left over. Which, of course, I didn't.

First I started with the pants project. EZ calls them longies, but I made three "shortie" versions to act as diaper covers. Late last year as I brought out the long-stored baby things, I made a harsh discovery: my nice wool diaper covers had been invaded and chewed up by the evilest of little buggers. I actually had to throw away four covers, and repaired a few others. Surprisingly, our japanese wool wraps were untouched.

The purple pair was actually knit back in December -- cheater, I know. Yarn: Campolmi R. Filati Tundra bought at Sofie's new store. Nice and thick, but the wool had to be relanolized. Overall, I liked the pattern, but I felt the short row shaping in the butt was not wholely adequate, and not nicely executed. EZ says just knit 5, turn, knit 10, turn, knit 15, turn, etc, which leaves little hiccups in the fabric. If I had to do it again, I would do the nice wrap-and-turn method.

 

The next two were knit from Leine Merino lanolicious yarn, bought at my first ever visit to the Oslo Husfliden. The smaller one has a plucky little cable on the side, but is sort of thin and small. Perfect for the newborn, but at one month old, she's already outgrown it. The larger one was knit with the yarn held double and never lets a leak through. I neglected the eyelets because I don't really like having a drawstring, but I wish I'd knit it in 1x1 rib instead of 2x2. 

I had plans to knit the full Longie pattern, in the same yarn as the BSJ at the beginning of this post, but it has not yet come to fruition. I'll keep knitting on it while I contemplate yarn for the March project.

coming up next: February Episode 2: Attack of the Blankie

Gifts of Tangled Up Yarn

Here's a set of gift knits that went to a whole family. Done on time, mailed late... should have arrived by now! 

First: random cables! This one was really fun. I took a basic reversible cable pattern (Rav link), but at each row where there should have been a cable, I rolled a die. Evens, I cable, odds, I don't. Lots of fun to knit with a die. Kinda confuses bystanders! Yarn was Knitpicks Comfy, and boy was it ever comfy. Squishy, held cables nice. I knit one other project with this same yarn, and it held up well over time (no pilling, still soft).

Number two: a very pretty hat! Bloody Stupid Johnson outa Knitty. I used odds and ends of Noro Silk Garden. The cable motif was really neat, but it ended up really really wide. Initially the ribbing section seemed like it would fit a normal head, but after I knit the horizontal cable band onto it, it was really pulled wide. I ended up ripping out the bottom band of ribbing and reknit it with a lot less stitches (I think 30 less?), also eliminating the short row shaping there. But now it fits great. And I knit the crown to pattern specifications.

And lastly, a half-and-half gift ... fitted for the little one, designed to amuse the big one. Last year I knit a Jayne hat (another Rav link) for the Daddy of this family, this year a baby Jayne. Yarn was Per Tyving pt2, same as Daddy's but I think it was kinda itchy for a kid. We'll see how it goes over.

All in all, yay for gift knitting! One more gift-knit post to come...