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

January

I have decided on a project for myself this year: to knit my way through Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. I swear I finished this on the deadline, but there were some distractions that interfered with my blog-posting schedule. Namely, this:

Apl Ina Trinette, born 2. February, 3750 g/ 8 lb 4 oz

(pronounced "apple"; if you don't know us well enough to know the naming story, you won't care :)

Back to the knitting content. Here's my January Aran, knit on 5mm needles from Rauma  Vamsegarn, in a lovely natural brown with a frosting of grey fibers (a very charming color). Used a whopping 13 balls, 1225.4 yards (1120.5m).

I didn't enjoy knitting up the fishtrap pattern (the diamondy pattern there) very much, so instead of using that motif on the arms as suggested, I switched to two cables on seed stitch for the sleeves.

I originally planned to cardiganize it, but after I put in the sleeves I tried it on and found I liked it very well as a sweater, and that it fit it over my hugely pregnant belly (unlike other recently knit items). I used the crochet method of steeking this time (instead of machine sewing, which I found to be too imprecise ... I know, I can't sew a straight line.)

I knit a neckband onto it that I believe can be easily incorporated into a cardigan button band, if I later decide to go through with my cardigan plans. Which I probably will, to accommodate a baby in a sling. This baby, in fact:

 

Co-worker Gifts

For thoroughness's sake, here are three more gifts that I knit for coworkers. First, a My So Called Scarf, started a looooong time ago, but too turquoise for me to have ever kept it, and thusly it became a gift knit. I enjoyed the pattern well enough, though I got right sick of it by the end. Also I think I did it wrong, twisting the knit stitches instead of knitting them regular. The yarn is from handpaintedyarn.com, knit on 4 mm needles.

  

Next, the super fastest knit, Fetching! So fast they were off the needles and given away before I could get a really decent picture of them. Knitted on 3.5 mm needles with ColourMart 100% extra fine merino 15/44 NM. I felt like these were a little short around the fingers, so I added 4 extra rows before bind off on the hand and also lengthened the thumb a bit. 

And, the funnest gift knit: a mini-Casino. Knitpicks Shadow knit on a 3 mm needle. Horribly photographed due to the northern latitude that I live in. Knitting this started out a little slow because you start at the long side, but it flies along as you get towards the pointy end. It took about 5 days. And the blocking... ah, the blocking. That's seriously fun. Except for when my cat slept on it, with the pins still in it. My really heavy cat who I couldn't manage to lift off of it without snagging it.  

But anyway, blocking is magic! 

Tilty, not Dusty

World, meet my Cropped Tilted Duster. Cropped Duster, say "hello, world".

I found out that I was pregnant last Spring and knew that I would want a better pregnancy-sweater solution than I had last time (which was a ridiculously oversized second-hand hoodie -- so big that I continued to wear it after the birth, zipped up around my daughter in the baby bjorn... until she was too big to be carried in the bjorn.) So, the month of May saw a bright hopeful beginning...

The back flew off the needles, no problem. Being a conscientious and busty knitter, I did a lot of gauge swatch calculations and ended up expanding the dimensions of the front a lot. I noticed that even on the less-endowed model, the line between the ribbing and the stockinette on the fronts was awkwardly high on her bust.

I finished the fronts and the arms lickety-split. I compared the back and fronts to a sweater that fit me at the time and there was a little discrepancy... and I realized that one becomes only bustier during pregnancy, and that I would have to rip-and-repeat the fronts in a more generous size. No problem. Until I ran out of yarn.

I could handle that, though. I had another cone of the exact same yarn (ColourMart 100% extra fine merino 15/44 NM) in black, so I finished the ribbing sections with some black trim. I think it looks nice, and even quite possibly intentional.

Finally, all done, seamed, everything. The moment of truth can be harsh. In October, at only 5 1/2 months pregnant, I'd already out-grown my pregnancy sweater.

I took a philosophical approach. It was a successful project (in all except it didn't fit me.) Maybe it would fit after the baby. Or I could gift it to a more slender pregnant friend.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I'd knit the damn thing, I was going to wear it! Last month (8 1/2 months pregnant) I squeezed it on. I had to shuffle the front around a bit and fasten it in an alternative manner, but I think it looked rather nice all in all.

And goddamn, I am so hugely pregnant. 

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...

A Little Early Gift Knitting

I think the recipients of these knits don't read this blog, so I'm safe. Here's a little taste of my gift knitting this year. 

Quant from knitty.com; it took a little less than a skein of Noro Silk Garden Lite. This was a nice solid pattern and, by the gods, I love entrelac. Just interesting enough to feel like you are performing knitting gymnastics, but simple enough to be able to do it while watching a movie. The picture shows less of the color change than the actual Quant has, as it is quite subtle. It's more greenish on the other side, and quite lovely. The only problem for me really was putting it on to model it -- I kept knotting my hair up in the ties.

And Spirogyra from knitty.com; knitted with maybe 1/2 a skein of Knit Picks Shadow in Oregon Coast Heather (a lovely color!), held double. I was very happy with the product and it was a very quick knit. I think I finished it in a week, knitting nights in front of the "tv" (OK, we don't actually have a TV, but we watch shows on the computer. I think the first series of the new Dr. Who was the accompaniment for these.) The product was so similar to my beloved Pomatomus,  and I can't quite wrap my head around how the designer did it with a chart half the size. All in all, I proclaim the Pomatomus superior. I knit the two patterns with different yarns, obviously, so maybe that's a factor (though I did knit Pomatomus with three different yarns), but the Pomatomus mitts seemed to turn out squishier and the pattern seemed to pop out a little more, plus I have a strange affinity for twisted stitches.

All in all, I am satisfied, as I hope my recipients will be, too.

Itty Bitty Knitting Committee

Tiny Knits! Sock and sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Hat and mitten inspired by the same. The sock actually seems a little out of scale with the others; I may reknit it slightly smaller. I may also add pants to the set, depending on my level of ambition. The set is meant to be an activity in a Montessori toddler classroom. Knit with samples from Colourmart (the mitten and sweater), and leftovers from the stash (sock and hat).

No, this isn't all the knitting I've been up to. There's been a lot of gift knitting getting done (go me!) which will be blogged when gifted. I also completed another large project which experienced a few glitches. Details to come...