EZ's Baby Sweater

Details:
Pattern: February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann found in Knitter's Almanac

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy in Honey Dew (The picture is really close to the color. Think of the color of the inside of a nicely ripe honeydew and you've got it.) 2.5 balls

Needle: size 4 bamboo circular (I hate bamboo~~not slippery enough, but it was the only size 4 I had free)

Start Date: May 8, 2008
Finish Date: May 22, 2008

Mods: ;o) Sleeves and body longer; knit the body to armholes, sleeve stitches on holder, provisional cast-on (thanks for the reminder, Christine! Hope you're feeling better!) for underarm stitches, continued knitting body; came back and picked up provisional cast-on stitches and knit the sleeves in the round.

Thoughts:
This was a quick project for our next door neighbor's daughter who is having her first child. After finding out the baby is a girl, I knew I had to make one of EZ's February Baby Sweaters. I've seen them on Ravelry and have been itching to make one. Now I had an excuse!

Next decision was the yarn~~I had seen the new Comfy yarn at Knit Picks and the yummy colors it came in and wanted to give it a try, even though cotton and I usually don't mix. I had heard that Comfy was one of the softest cottons out there and a dream to knit with. In that regard I wasn't disappointed. I loved working with the yarn, but I think the 'worsted' designation for this yarn is a bit of a stretch. I started the sweater out on size 6 needles which is at the small end of the size needed to get 5 spi, since I tend to knit a bit loosely. But on a 6 it was huge and loose and floppy and messy. I pulled out a new ball and restarted on 4s. Perfect! The sweater is just the size I was hoping for~~not newborn size, although wearable by a newborn with the sleeves rolled up. I was shooting for 3-6 month size and increased the length of the sleeves and body to get more grow-into-room.

Pattern~~First my words of warning~~Read the pattern the whole way through before you start. As we all know, EZ's patterns are always a bit pithy, and this one is no exception. Although here her pithiness was almost too concise. I was forewarned, so I knew to read first, or I likely would have missed the first buttonhole. Also, the directions for casting on the stitches for the underarm are odd, but I knew what I was doing here since I've done it before. I can see where this one would leave some newbies to EZ scratching their heads. I'd definitely make this one again, and hope that the gal will like it for her babe. Almost makes me want.........gotcha.

Clapotis Redux

Finally! My Clapotis is off the needles. I'm afraid to mention how many times I tried to get this yarn and pattern to play nice. The first go round I tried twice~~once on 8s and once on 10s~~blech! Then I decided that the yarn and pattern just didn't get along, so I tried Lace Leaf shawl~~no go. Next on the list was the Obstacles stole~~again, I just didn't like it, let alone love it. I really, really wanted to love what I made with the yarn because it was so gorgeous! Then after going through the Ravelry Clapotis database of photos, I decided to give it one last try. This time I went with 7s, and it was magic!
Details:
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

Yarn: Brooks Farm Fourplay in Ginger 6 (3.5 skeins)

Needle: Addi Turbo 7

Start Date: January, 2008

Finish Date: Late March, 2008

Size: HUGE! Must be a good 7.5 feet long and at least 22 inches deep. I love it! I can throw one side over my shoulder, and it stays, while the other side hangs down well past my hips. It's great to wrap up in, for which I am so grateful~~especially as it is damp and chilly this evening.

Mods: You know me well enough by now.......I did at least one extra repeat of increase rows, as well as some extra straight rows, but unfortunately, I pitched my working copy of the pattern because it was in pretty bad shape by the time I was finished.

Thoughts: Love. It. It's long enough, it's deep enough, it's warm and snuggly. The perfect wrap. I've had lots of compliments from my friends......and from their daughters. Both groups seem to like to touch it. Can't say as I blame them.

The Teen was trying to get some decent photos of me wrapped in my new favorite FO, but the weather is grumpy today. We've had lots of rain for the month of April, so this may be as good as you're gonna get.Sorry, I can't resist giving you a bunch of photos of the color~~it' s different everywhere you look and just keeps me mesmerized.

College Dude's Gloves

Back in January I made the mistake of asking CD if he were warm enough at school. He's in the midwest, while we reside on the not so cold SE coast of Virginia (sort of--inland 40 miles or so, but still, balmy compared to where he is.) He said that he was okay, except his hands were always cold. We sent ski gloves with him, but he doesn't like them because they are cumbersome~~can't blame him really, they are huge and his fingers barely make them bend. I suggested he head off to WallyWorld to get a pair of fleece gloves. His reply, 'You mean you're not going to make me a pair of wool ones,' said in that guilt inducing voice that only a child away at college can employ. Of course, oh child of mine, I will whip thee up some gloves to keep thy fingers toasty. Within the hour I had made a quick sweep of the interwebs and Ravelry and came up with these (I'm pretty sure MaryAnne helped me track down some patterns. Thanks!) and cast them on using some leftover yarn from his hat of earlier in the month. They knit up very quickly and went in the care package that included the hat I also finished in January. Could it be that all that hat and glove knitting in December/January led to my carpal tunnel flare~~maybe!

Details:
Pattern: Cable Glove Pattern (made w/out the cable) by Kelly at Hedgehog Knits

Yarn: Plymouth Galway leftover from his hat (1 ball)

Needles: Size 3 and 5 Addi Turbos

Start/finish date: last Friday in January

Mods: Always! No cable. Did take some tinkering to get the fingers the right length. Fortunately, Mr. Fix-it and CD are very similar in build, so I just used his as the model.

Updated: Rectangular Shawl Patterns

I've gotten a number of stole links over the past 6 months or so, and I finally took a minute to update the list of Rectangular Shawl Patterns. There are four free patterns and fourteen for purchase. Again, I can't keep track of all the stole patterns available online, so if you run across any stole patterns, please send them my way either through comments or by email. I want this list to be links that will take a knitter directly to a pattern file to download or a place to purchase the pattern directly--preferably by email download, but that isn't a deal breaker. So no links to patterns in books or magazines please. Also, if you run across a link that is dead, please let me know that too. I'll do my best to update, if I can track down a working link.

Thanks to all who sent links--I tried to give you a shout out.

On a personal note~~there has been a bit of a knitting drought going on here. At least an FO drought. Since I last posted I think I've finished just a couple of projects~~one being my Clapotis, which I simply adore. I hope to have photos up soon~~need to wrestle my camera away from The Teen, who is taking a photography class.

My hands are much better, thanks to all who sent comments asking. I wear the brace most nights and have been knitting, just not as much. I'll update soon, I promise, I see the light at the end of the tunnel of school almost being finished. Just a few more weeks!

I'm Still Here............

I'm just having a problem with my right wrist (possible Carpral tunnel flare) that has severely cut back my computer time and totally done away with knitting for the time being. I haven't knit since Friday night--I'm getting the shakes, ......... seriously. My computer time is just fly by in order to check my email. My wrist was the worst on Saturday and caused me to resort to buying a brace that evening. I wore it all day Sunday, and most of the day yesterday, and have slept in it every night. It's feeling world's better today--I've been brace free all day--no tingling/burning. The problem may be the position my hands are in when I sleep, so I will continue to wear the brace at night. I'm hoping I've caught the problem before damage was done. If I'm still having problems on Monday, the 4th, I'll be making a dr's appt.

Hope to see you guys soon--with some knitting news to report!

First Two of '08

The year is only 9 days old, and I've already completed two projects! W00t! Bettter than I was doing this time last year.

Hemlock Ring Blanket
Christine mentioned this at knitting one evening in November. I'd been stalking the pattern, but hadn't yet added it to my queue. We got to talking about one day getting leather sofas, and wouldn't Hemlock be a perfect blanket for a rich brown leather sofa. Absolutely. Well, to make a long story longer, I hopped over to WEBS to check out the colors available in EcoWool. At that time they didn't have the color I wanted in stock, so that meant a trip by Knit Picks. I couldn't decide which color I wanted, as the one that would look perfect on a brown sofa wouldn't go with my decor now, and I'm not getting the leather stuff until The Terror is a bit older. (We've had a little incident with him involving permanent marker, my walls, carpet, and current furniture. All my furniture is now sporting slipcovers. Nuff said.) I started wandering through the stash and came upon the recycled yarn I salvaged from my very first project~~Mr Fix-it's sweater. Perfect! I contemplated the blanket the entire time I was finishing up the kids' Christmas sweaters, and cast on pretty much as soon as The Teen's sweater was complete. After a couple weeks of non-monogamous knitting, The Ring is complete and blocking.

Details:
Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket modified and popularized by, who else, Jared Flood
Yarn: unknown heavy worsted yarn recycled from my first handknit project~~used approximately 460 gms
Needles: size 10 Inox express
Start Date: sometime after Christmas Day, I think. I knit the Striped Scarf, Red Light Special Hat, and two hats for CD while working on The Ring.
Finish Date: January 9, 2008 (Much of the knitting took place while CD and I were rewatching the first two seasons of LOST.)
Mods: None, other than using a different yarn. I did knit a couple more repeats than Jared did. Oh yeah, for the knit 9 stitches into one stitch, I used the crochet method.
Size: 51 inches pinned out
For: started out as a present to myself, but my mom ooohhed, and ahhhhed over it when she saw it while it still looked like a misshapen jellyfish, so I figured if she could see the beauty of it then, then she deserves it once it really is a beauty. It will look perfect folded over the back of her leather chair.
Thoughts: LACE! On big needles! Love it! Fun, fast knit. Not too difficult. I plan on making one for myself in the near future, but I'd like it to be a little bigger, so I'll buy more yarn. I probably could have gotten away with using a larger needle on this one, but didn't have one with a long enough cable in a size larger than 10.

The Boy Hat
Another hat for CD, unfortunately the first hitched a ride to college before I got a photo. This one was still on the needles when CD pulled out on Monday morning. I would have finished before he left but for the rather intense headache I had all Sunday afternoon and evening.
Details:
Pattern: The Boy Hat by Elizabeth Heath-Heckman
Yarn: Galway Highland Heather in charcoal grey
Needle: size 6 Addi Turbo for extra springiness
Start Date: January 4, 2008
Finish Date: January 7, 2008
Mods: None, take it back~~I knit to 7 inches before working the decreases~~perfect.
Thoughts: Nice hat and pattern. Love the way the decreases form the arrow with the ribbing. The Teen wants one now. I need to modify this one to work with a bulky yarn. She modeled the hat for me.

Next up: I have a couple of things in the works, and some that have been requested.

• Mr Fix-it wants another pair of socks, so that means a trip (via the interwebs) to Tongue River Farms for more yarn (a Valentine's present like last year?)
  
• The Teen wants a hat (another one--I just finished the stranded one for her. This one may have to wait.)
  
• I saw this stocking by Meg Swansen on Rav a week or so ago and immediately fell in love. Yarn was purchased on sale at Knitting Sisters, pattern has been printed, and I'm all geared up to start. Don't know who it will be for, but will need to decide quickly as the personalization is near the top of the stocking. Hope to start this week.
• Also, on Rav, I've been going through the Clapotis photos again, and really want to give it a try with the Fourplay again~~just on a smaller needle. I have 4 skeins, so running out won't be a worry.
  
• I need to wash the yarn for Jarrett so I can start on that.
  
• Also on tap is a Cobblestone for me.
• Potential Christmas gifts for '08: Ice Queen (at least 2)
  

It looks like between requests and things I want to knit for myself or as gifts that I will be plenty busy over the coming months. Thank goodness for good TV to knit by~~The Complete Jane Austen starts this Sunday, January 13th, and I have 4 more disks of LOST season 3 to watch, too. With the writers' strike continuing, we may be watching a bunch of dvds for the foreseeable future.

What do you have planned for '08?

2007 Wrap-up

Wow, another year has flown by. When I compare my knitting output (18 19) with 2006 (27 projects--mainly socks) I find that I haven't been nearly as productive according to the numbers, nevertheless, it has been a good year for knitting/crocheting, and I'm still learning and expanding my horizons, which is good thing when it comes to a hobby. I did have several fairly substantial projects that took all my knitting time for weeks, if not months, at a time. What's interesting to me~~not one completed lace project. Several were started: Hidcote Garden shawl, Clapotis, Mystery Stole, Obstacles, Kiri, Flower Basket~~but not one grabbed me. I love knitting lace, but none of these projects scratched that itch. Hope this will change in the coming year.

Wow, I thought I was a selfish knitter with most of my completed projects being for me. Turns out this is not the case. Of the 19 finished projects, 12 were gifts (marked with *) for someone near and dear to me. Not bad. However, the projects I have planned for early'08 are purely selfish.

Socks
Mr Fix-it's Valentine's Socks *
Socks for The Teen *
The Girlfriend's Socks *
Rose Petal Socks
Monkey Socks
Serpentine Socks
Sock Monkey Socks for Meribeth *
River Rapids Socks

Sweaters
Everyday Tweed
Dad's Cambridge Jacket *
CD's Cobblestone *
The Teen's Hoodie *

Scarves
Mom's One Row Scarf *
Noro Striped Scarf

Misc
French Market Bag
Red Light Special Hat (first stranded project) *
College Dude Hat * (I cast off the last stitch just as the ball dropped. Already a request for a similar hat for The Teen. I think I'll do another one for CD to keep in his car......just in case.)

Crochet
CD's Soft Wave Blanket *
The Girlfriend's Soft Wave Blanket *