stash, knit, repeat

(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!

Thanks so much for all of the well-wishes, everyone. I hope Mr. D. arrives soon and healthy, too!

Until then, of course, life goes on. And since we’ve been enjoying a spell of really nice weather lately, complete with cooler evenings, my mind has turned to my sad, neglected knitting. In my fantasy world, the (pregnancy-caused) carpal tunnel is nonexistent, and I can quickly finish up my 2 wips.

Well, the CTS is sadly still with me, and nothing quick is happening here. I did manage to finish the first Rivendell, but I’m still only a few rows into the second. And although knitting has increased somewhat now that the Olympics are on, I’ve still got tons of yarn left for this Flower Basket Shawl. I’ve completed the called-for number of repeats of the main part of the shawl already, so it looks like I get to add an extra repeat or two to this lovely number.

What would I do, if these dragging wips were suddenly finished tomorrow? I’ve totally totally got the itch to knit sweaters again, folks. Perhaps a cardigan for myself, a nice cabled number for Jacob, maybe a sock yarn version of Tomten for the little one.

Until fantasy meets reality, I just need to keep telling myself: Soon, the swelling will go away. Soon, the air will have that gorgeous crisp fall taste. Soon, it will be time to wrap ourselves in wool once again. Soon.

…because I clearly couldn’t actually finish anything to save my life, right now. I’m appalled to discover it’s been nearly three weeks, because I don’t even have one finished sock to show you folks, let alone two.

The new version of Rivendell does seem to be a keeper, though. (Yes, for the observant, I tweaked the pattern some.) I look forward to wearing them this fall, definitely. I’m sure my feet will have un-swelled enough by then.

I also started a shawl out of my Sundara fingering silky merino, because working on size 6 needles seems to be better for the carpal tunnel than working on the teeny dpns:

It’s flower basket, and I’m just loving the way it’s turning out. As always with Ms. Clark, the pattern is extraordinarily clear and produces a lovely result. The yarn doesn’t hurt either, of course.

And sewing doesn’t seem to be bothering me at all, so I’m almost done with my first solo quilting project.

The jury’s still out on it. I think, technically, it’s fine, but it’s far less to my taste than I imagined. I’m super-excited about the next quilting project, though. Isn’t that always the way with a new hobby? Initial excitement gives way to a bit of disappointment that it’s not as easy as you thought gives way to even bigger excitement about the next thing, because you’ve learned so much?

Or is that just me?