What’s Knitting

Recently my sewing time has been virtually non-existent with Tristan pretty much giving up his nap. He occasionally falls asleep in the car and I get a little bit done but I try not to let him sleep too long or he won’t go to bed at night. Those of you with little ones know what I’m talking about. Fortunately, knitting happens mostly in the evening in front of the television after the urchins are in bed. Right now I’m working on two Christmas gifts. I am a very, very bad sister and the sweater that was given to my brother for Christmas 2007 is still on the needles. I am determined to have it on his body on June 25 — okay, well, it will probably be too hot to be on his body but I want it to be able to be put on his body — only six months late. Man, I’m a bad sister.

In brighter news, this purple silk scarf is for my Grandmother for this Christmas, as in 2008. She’s a purple-a-holic so I know she’ll love the color and what woman doesn’t like silk? The pattern is pear and trellis by Anne Hanson. I knew I wanted to try one of her patterns and Anne was happy to help me figure out what ones would be adaptable to the non-lace weight yarn. The pattern is great with both a chart and written instructions for the lace. The pattern is five pears across but I am only doing three pears on account of the aran yarn. I’m not sure how the length will turn out but I think it’s going to be okay — I’m eight repeats in and haven’t used half the yarn yet. Now I just need to finish that sweater….

WIP: Where I Can’t Count and Need Some Help

This sweater in progress is for Katrina for Christmas. It’s using up the end of some yarn that has been in my stash forever. Actually, this is the yarn I bought to learn to knit. It’s a tomten sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. The whole thing is knit in garter stitch and the only seams are on the underarms. These are good things. I cannot count, apparently, though and this is a bad thing.

After splitting for those gigantic armholes you are supposed to knit 28 ridges on each front and the back. In the real world that means 56 rows — 2 rows for each ridge — but it turns out that while knitting this sweater I was not residing in the real world. In that parrallel universe 28 ridges equals 46 rows. So that’s what I knit before I joined all the pieces to knit the hood. Well, sort of. On one of the fronts I returned to reality and knit 56 rows and this is where I need some help. I did not realize my error until I knit the entire hood and went to pick up the stitches for the sleeves.

Now if I had been consistent in my error I would be better off. I don’t want to rip back all the way and there isn’t enough red yarn anyway. So what I’m thinking to do is cut the yarn on the longer front, rip out 10 rows, and graft it back together. The problem is that I have no idea how to do this. Help?!?!?!?!?!?

WIP – Knee Socks

Or maybe I should call these however high they are before the yarn runs out socks. These are for Katrina and when I told her I was making her knee socks she said they should go over her knees. Hmm, is that an appropriate look for a four year old? I think she’s hoping they’ll poke out a little from under her boots.

I went to my non-favorite but closer LYS on Wednesday to get some yarn to start a Christmas gift and left with this Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino instead — they did not have the yarn I needed or any reasonable substitute. The colorway is called bright — if that’s not an understatement I don’t know what is. I’m using Kate Gilbert‘s generic sock pattern and doing the whole thing — except the heel and toe — in a 2×2 rib. If the yarn starts to get scarce I might do the heel and toe in a solid color. Still a ways to go before I worry about that though.

WIP Friday

A gift for a birthday party tomorrow based on Kathy‘s pencil roll.

WIP Friday

I was having a lot of trouble figuring out what I was going to make for round 2 of the doll quilt swap. You may remember I made my first quilt ever for the first round and Lauri liked it very much — thank goodness. This time my partner has offered no info as far as likes and dislikes and I was just overwhelmed with the possibilities.

Last weekend my mom and I went to a new-to-us quilt shop where I saw a fat quarter stack of Joel Dewberry‘s new line, chestnut hill in the earth colorway — I actually like the stream colorway better and I think I’ll be hunting some down at some point. I decided to do something rail-fence inspired. I cut out the strips and made twelve blocks but as I was laying them out I was noticing how boring it all looked. Hmmm. Later I was looking at Amy Karol‘s blog and saw a post about a child’s shirt. Wow. I had already been thinking about embroidery and I love those little buttons and I can never get enough french knots and I was well on my way to being inspired. Funny how that happens sometimes.

WIP Friday

Okay, so I know I said I would send everything last Saturday but they were really mailed today. I apologize that there are no notes or anything in the packages. There were just too many and I wanted to get them out before any more time passed. To those of you who requested jam — the cherry jam could contain pits (the cherries are pitted but you never know if a rogue pit snuck in); the strawberry jam turned a bit foamy at the end so you’ll notice that when you open your jar.

As far as real WIPs, there aren’t too many around here. I have a bunch of soon-to-be WIPs waiting for this or that to commence. Do you want to see those? Okay then…

This is yarn and a pattern — Crystal Palace Yarns’ Kid Merino in color 4681, Misty Blue and Cropped Lace Top from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2006 — that together will become a gift for Christmas — yes, I’m thinking about it already. I was all set to start it at Katie’s dance recital dress rehearsal last night — we were there from 6:00 until 10:00 PM — but discovered just before leaving that I have no US size 3 needles. Arrgh…

This is 11 one-yard pieces of not-intended-for-children’s-sleepwear flannel that I picked up at Joann Fabrics this week for $17.00 total. Some were on clearance but all of the regular flannel was on sale for $2.00 per yard. I will be able to make Katie five nightgowns and Tristan six pairs of flannel pants — he’ll probably just wear his undershirt for the top — from this. It looks like Alicia and I were on the same wavelength. I’m definitely trying her pattern for the next batch of summertime nightgowns.

My new subscription to Ottobre came yesterday and I am already in love with this magazine. Even if I never make anything from the pages the inspiration is totally worth the cost of the subscription. The fabric is called Animal Jumble from superbuzzy — I see they are currently out of it — and is intended to be some sort of dress/skirt/outfit for my niece’s birthday in August. I just need to figure out which dress/skirt/outfit to make and get some coordinating fabrics before I can start.

WIP Friday

What? You say you’ve been missing the knitting? Would an almost finished sock help? I was having some trouble figuring out what to knit. I mean there are no impending birthdays or babies. It’s summertime and I don’t love knitting with cotton. Why not socks? Why not socks for me? Yes, that sounds very nice.

I Know You Gals Will Understand

I had lots of WIPs to show you on Friday but just not the time to show them since they all needed to be done by 5AM yesterday morning. That’s when we got up, got ready, hopped in the car and drove and drove and drove to get our family portrait taken. Insane, yes, but I know the photos will be worth it. One of my favorite photographers was within driving distance so you better believe I was getting her to take our pictures. Last week when either Stefan or I mentioned the session to anyone and that we were driving all that way we were met with the strangest looks and questions like, can’t you just go to Sears? Well, no offense to the Sears guy but I’m pretty sure he won’t deliver anything like this. So, we drove, and drove.

But back to Friday’s WIPs. I wanted to learn to sew clothing because of occasions just like this. We had two sets of outfits for the photos, each with their own color palette — you know, if you’re going to all this trouble for family portraits you want everyone to look good. One wardrobe started with a peasant top/dress for Katrina made by Sandi. The second wardrobe started with a shirt for me. I rummaged through our clothing and did a little shopping but still didn’t have everything I needed for everyone. So, I went to the fabric store (four times), and then started sewing. I would never compare my paltry skills to the likes of Martha but I have to say I did feel some kinship with her this week since I knew she was finishing up her Spring collection.

For wardrobe number one I made Katrina a headband — to coordinate with the peasant top/dress — and Tristan a raglan t-shirt:

What I really wanted was something like this but the buttons had too much potential for disaster and since it would be my first knit experience I decided to go with just a straight raglan shirt even though the pattern I used — Burda 9748 — calls for a similar closure.

For wardrobe number two I was a little busier. First there was a romper/shortalls for Tristan:

Photo by Papa

These are made from a fine brown corduroy and I see him wearing them without a shirt underneath this summer. I will be making him more of these — McCall’s 2033 — for sure. Next, I made an elastic waistband linen a-line skirt for me:

I used these instructions with a small modification for a waistband sewn separately instead of just folded over. The last thing I sewed was this dress for Katie:

Photo by Papa

This is why I wanted to learn to sew. I’m sure I could have gone to five different stores searching for the perfect dress to coordinate with the light blue and brown colors but instead we went to the fabric store for 20 minutes and found this brown and blue fabric. I was able to use the bodice pieces from a pattern I had already — McCall’s 2033 — in a size 4 — since that was the largest pattern size and Katie needs a larger size mostly for length — and then added a longer, fuller skirt than called for in the instructions.

As I was finishing up all these projects on Friday night Stefan said to me, I don’t know anyone else who would go to all this trouble. To which I replied, Oh, I do, I definitely do. See, I knew you gals would understand.

WIP Friday

Today we’re working on the vegetable garden. Last year it went to the weeds — really tall weeds — since I couldn’t cope with planting and tending it. We really missed the veggies though. So this year, I planned, I dreamt, I waited, and now the work has begun.

Last weekend we cleaned out the raised beds and covered the big ones with black plastic — both to warm up the soil and kill lingering weed seeds. This weekend we need to add some soil to the small herb bed and plant a new rosemary plant since ours didn’t make it through last Winter. We have thyme and oregano in there already, I need to think about what other perennial herb I want to add. Then next weekend we need to add soil to the two big beds and get some veggies in the ground. We’re planning on the usuals — paste tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, squash, pumpkins, maybe some cucumbers. I’m also hoping to get some berry bushes planted by the gate — I’m thinking rasberries. Then I need to start thinking about pots for things like basil and maybe chives. Mmmm, it’s shaping up to be a yummy summer.

Edited to add: The dress is Simplicity 9562 (a pattern that is now out-of-print) – made by Nana (Stefan’s mom). The main fabric is Amy Butler’s Linen Morning Glory and the accent fabric is Amy Butler’s Slate Full Moon Polka Dot, both from the Lotus line.

WIP Friday

After finishing sweaters for both kids I was feeling like doing something besides knitting for a little while. So I decided to take a look at some unfinished cross-stitch projects. I had given them up a while ago because I needed a better light and possibly a magnifier to finish them. About a year ago I got an OTT-LITE and I have reading glasses — not needed for reading but good for fine stitching — so I decided to pick one of the projects back up.

This band sampler pattern is by The Drawn Thread and is called Wildflower Garden. I have three other garden patterns too — Alpine, Prairie, and Cloister. I stitched Woodland Walk for my sister-in-law years ago and really liked the style. Their patterns contain a lot of cross-stitch but also a number of other stitches like eyelets, smyrna crosses, and lazy daisies. It makes for a fun stitch, which is a good thing since it’s done over two threads on 32 count belfast linen. For a little perspective on what that means:

Small, huh?