stash, knit, repeat

May you have all treats and no tricks.

Despite the title, things aren’t all bad. Missing Rhinebeck was sad, but I did get a nice consolation prize in the mail.

I’m not doing any yarn-buying these days, so I’m enjoying Seasons all the more. The colors are simply divine, this time, and I’m not at all regretting being a glutton and signing up for 3 seasons. The boys like it too.

Two seconds after this picture was taken, Jacob asked for his turn. :) In fact, Daniel seems to be taking after his brother, in terms of the hand-knits. He just loves being wrapped up in wool.

…and there, in his lap, is my current problem. Daniel’s tomten jacket is gorgeous so far, and he seems to love it. But I’m going to run out of yarn before completing the sleeves. Normally I’d scrap my plan of making it large enough to wear now and in the spring, rip back, and start over. But there’s not all that much extra room in it as it is:

(The white jacket fits well. Even snugly.) I’m really afraid that there just isn’t enough sock yarn in two hanks to cover my little sumo, at least in the jacket-length I’m going for. So… well, poop. What should I do, gentle reader? Here’s how it looks now:

I’ve got a message out on the Rav Seasons Club board, of course, but I’m not hopeful. My husband suggests a vest, which might work–I’d end the sleeves just before the side seam (and maybe crochet a trim around a mandarin-style collar, the sleeves, and down the front?). I’d planned to zipper the thing.

Alternately, of course, I could try using a different yarn to finish the sleeves. But I’m afraid of that just looking silly. So how about it, folks? Do you see another way?

(Also, le SIGH. Rhinebeck wound up not working out this year–Daniel is just too young to handle his extroversion and I was forced to conclude that I’d spend a lot of money to have a rotten time. Next year, he’ll be old enough for me to ditch both kids with the hub and have a really good time.)

So, in lighter news, it’s been kind of awhile since you saw an FO ’round these parts, eh?

Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn Clark

Yarn: Sundara Silky Fingering Merino, “Autumn Rose”. From the first Seasons Club collection.

Time Elapsed: Uhhhhh. Hm. A couple of months? I’ve honestly forgotten.

Notes/Modifications: The only modification I made to the (excellent, as usual) pattern was to knit a few extra repeats. The fingering silky merino is the everlasting gobstopper of yarn. Seriously. I had something around the yardage called for in the pattern, and got 3 extra repeats out of that ball, and probably had yarn for a 4th. It was trippy.

With the extra repeats, I got a nicely-sized shawl out of it–not so large I can only wear it as formalwear, not so small I have to wear it as a scarf. (Something like 48″ wingspan and 25″ deep?)

The yarn itself is wonderfully soft and the color really grew on me with time. I think, in the end, that it’s subtle, gorgeous, and flattering. Of course, I’m not the only fan of the finished item.

Truly, a success.

Because I’m going to keep milking this for all it’s worth, given my sad lack of knitting time:

Sneak preview of something I actually finished, by the gods. The bigger knitting news this week, though, is that I embraced my inner single-sock-knitter self. I’ve known for weeks that I just wasn’t pleased with the way my first Rivendell sock turned out. It’s lovely in pictures and in person, but just isn’t right for my feet. It feels and looks inside-out to me, when worn. I slogged through half of the second sock before admitting to myself that I had no desire to work on it or wear a finished pair. Within minutes, I’d frogged the sucker and written email asking if a certain shop owner might take a singleton off my hands. I feel So. Much. Better.

And then, I cast on something for Daniel:

After seeing a certain adorable baby in a partially-finished tomten, I just had to hop on the EZ bandwagon. A short swatch and I was ready to go. I’m hoping this will be suitable for this fall/winter and next spring, so I’m making it big. The current plan is to make a subtly-striped jacket out of two very similar Sundara sock yarn offerings.

That’s “Bronzed Forest” and “Mossy” sock yarn, both from the first round of Seasons Club (Autumn). We’ll see if the stripes work or if it just looks messy. Either way, it feels great to be done with the projects that lagged on for my entire last trimester. It feels like I’m really closing that chapter in my life, and that’s a good thing. Here’s to the new!