stash, knit, repeat

Well, folks, time to ring in the new year. And what better way than with a new sweater?

Pattern: Arm Candy (rav link)

Yarn: Sundara Aran Silky Merino, color Wild Blueberries

Time Elapsed: A couple of weeks to knit

Notes: I knit the pattern as written (aside from lengthening the body for my super-long torso). But what a perfect place to share notes about the pattern with you! So here goes.

Arm Candy is a figure-conscious V neck with seed stitch and button trim details. The elbow-length sleeves, princess seam waist shaping, and deep V are flattering on a variety of body types. This pattern works well for the bustier among us, and it is a cinch to add more (or less) shaping. The pattern includes notes on fit and suggestions for how to alter for different body types.

I’ve written this up in 7 sizes, from 32″ to 50″ in the bust. I think it looks best with 0″ ease in the bust, and 1-2″ positive ease in the waist. I’d suggest altering the shaping to ensure this–perhaps by eliminating the waist shaping in the front, while leaving it in the back. This gives a nice curve behind without making the sweater too clingy in the front, which is one of the things I love most about shaping with princess seams.

It works dressed up for work or down for play and looks gorgeous in fancy, hand-painted yarns. I’ve knit it (and the uber-talented splityarn photographed it) in Sundara Aran Silky Merino, but your favorite aran or worsted weight yarn will look divine, too. (This is probably an appropriate place to say that all images in this post are copyright splityarn 2009, and for the love of pete please don’t take them without her express permission.)

This is the latest installment in my design quest to use up my stash while enhancing my work wardrobe. So far, I’m loving it. And I hope you do too!

What an intensely busy, mostly wonderful year. I know 2009 was rough for many, and we certainly had ups and downs Chez Stashknitrepeat, but overall it’s been a pretty amazing year. Most of all, I’m thankful that we’ve gone from here:

To here:

Without too much trouble, even. We’re very grateful to have such enjoyable children.

Knitting-wise, my mosaic looks a lot less impressive than my knitting year actually was.

Let’s go in order, shall we? First up, some socks for Jacob. Then, a a cowl for me. A sweater for Jacob, followed quickly by a sweater for Daniel. I test-knit some mittens, knit another sweater for Jacob… and then the secret knitting started, the designing bug bit, the secret knitting continued, and… well, there went the blog. I’ve been working steadily, and managed to finish a sweater for Beth and some socks for Danielle, and a sweater for me. Very recently I cast off on some socks I started in March.

I was able to share one piece of secret knitting, and will soon share another (that last photo in the mosaic). But let me tell you, my needles have been flying this year. There are three more entire sweaters that I’ve designed and knit this year, and another that’s designed and halfway knit. It’s nuts.

The design process is reminding me a little of the academic publishing cycle. You get a good idea, and it can anywhere from a few months to a year or two after the work is done for the work to actually see the light of day. It’s sometimes frustrating, but now that my “pipeline” of projects is full, I hope to see a more steady stream of content around these parts.

Speaking of which, I finished some socks.

Pattern: Cookie A’s Devon socks, from her book

Yarn: Sundara sock, Deadly Nightshade

Time Elapsed: Something like 9 months.

Notes/Modifications: None. These socks are perfect.

Happy new year! May 2010 shine brightly and happily on all of you and yours.

Most of the time, I get energized by juggling a (part-time) career, two kids, knitting, marriage, and eating locally. It feels really good to spend my days putting effort into the things I care most about. Unfortunately, it leaves little time for me to engage my online life. I keep hoping that once Daniel sleeps through the night regularly (current theory: he spends most of his days bored and needs other kids), I’ll have more energy in the evenings for blog-tending and reading.

Yeeah. We’re still hoping. He’s 15 months, it has to happen sooner or later, right? Nobody goes to college without sleeping through the night. :)

But we’re not there yet, so for the moment can I just give you a sneak peak of the design that will get the moving mud buttons from my last post? It’s with the test knitters now. I’m hoping it will be ready for you by the new year.

Cheerio!

Thanks so very, very much for all of the love on the FFP, folks. You pushed what was already a pretty fantastic weekend right over the edge into nirvana.

Well.

You and the cormo, if I’m being honest.

(Just kidding! Really, you all had me–and still have me–on cloud 9. Over 700 rav queues, really?) But I did have a fantastic time at Rhinebeck, even though this is the only yarn I purchased. Quite a difference from two years ago, when I purchased everything I could possibly lay my hands on. My budget was small this year, and I was determined to make the most of it, and purchase yarn for a sweater that would be something very special. I’m very, very happy with my choice, and thrilled that Foxfire still had enough of this stuff for a sweater by the time I arrived at 11am on Saturday. :)

I am not much for the usual link-a-doo roundup, but I got to hang out with my knit night pals, and meet some fantastic new ones, and generally spent the weekend recharging from the physically exhausting job that is parenting two kids under 5. I got to geek out about all of the designs I hope to be sending your way soon, and drink in the ideas and creativity all around me, and (this is important) choose when I went to sleep and woke up. I came back to work on Monday refreshed in every sense. Hooray for breaks!

I got some various and sundry things other than yarn at the festival. A darning egg, some stitch markers, and various & sundry little hand-out goodies.

I have a bunch of design ideas in my head and on my needles, but haven’t decided the fate of all of them–which I’ll release here, which I’ll submit and to where, and so forth. But here are some little tastes, including my final Rhinebeck purchase:

Some moving mud buttons. I’m pretty sure I’ll release this design here. (Sundara ASM in Wild Blueberries in the background, if you’re curious.)

A beaded teaser.

And another thought-in-progress about how to use up more of my Sundara stash. Just writing this post makes my fingers itch to knit!!

Wow. I’m pretty embarrassed that a month went by without me even noticing. That’s life sometimes, I guess. To be fair, two of my four projects are gifts, and I was keeping one of them a secret.

Can you tell what it is? My other WIPS: Salina (for me), the February Lady Sweater (for Beth), and a pair of Devon socks from the new Cookie A book (for me). I now remember why I was a strictly monogamous knitter for so long.

I’m just loving the simplicity of Salina–I’ve now finished the back and both of the sleeves, and have a few inches of the front done. The combination of the tweedy yarn and the stockinette/moss stitch makes me squeal. I’m going to really, really enjoy wearing this sweater. So far, the only changes I’ve made are to increase the length of the sweater some, but as I get to the appropriate place I’m going to throw some short rows in there too.

Sadly, I currently feel as angsty as Jacob looks about the FLS. Following the pattern produced some really horrible raglan increases for me (I’m sure my row gauge is off), but I blindly knit on, alternating balls of Classy, for another 8 inches on the body. I finally admitted to myself that it looked awful and started ripping last night–I’m about halfway ripped. Sigh.

The last bit of news, I guess, is that I’m doing more stash restructuring. I’ve got a bunch of lovely, lovely yarns up on my ravelry destash page that just aren’t right for me. If they’re right for you, let me know–I need to make room for the couple of sweaters’ worth of sport-weight gray yarn I picked up at WEBS this past weekend.

(I’m nothing if not predictable in my yarn taste!)

Wow, it’s been ages since I shared anything other than an FO with you. Obviously, the knitting is continuing post-kids! The blogging, not so much. Not because I don’t have time, actually–since I only work part-time I actually spend a fair amount of time here at home with the boys, and they’re both pretty independent kids. But my husband is working from home at the moment, and we only have one computer. As much as I love my phone, a good blogging device it is not.

Still, the time has come to make some resolutions and follow them, so hopefully you’ll be seeing more of me here soon. Spring frenzy has definitely hit this part of New England, so when I cast off another Jacob sweater the other day?

I pretty much had no choice but to cast on 3 projects to replace it.

(February Lady Sweater for my friend Beth, and a couple of pairs of mystery socks.) I’ve wanted to knit the FLS for about an eon now, but it’s completely wrong for my body type. (While I never really LIKE it when dressing for my figure limits my wardrobe, I do appreciate the results–thanks, Trinny and Susannah!) The happy solution arrived when my very good friend and excellent knitwear recipient Beth admired the sweater. A few hanks of Dream in Color Classy later, I was good to go. I’m really enjoying it so far, and especially enjoying the speedy progress of a worsted-weight sweater as compared to my other sweater project:

Salina is pretty much exactly right for my body type, in my favorite color, and a glorious yarn. Unfortunately, such teeny tiny stitches do result in fairly slow going. Still, I have the back and most of one sleeve done now, so I have hope I’ll be able to wear it this spring.

Why two pairs of socks, you ask? Well, one particular part of my stash has really been inspiring me lately.

Happy spring!

Well, the party was this weekend, so now I can share!

Pattern: Nicky Epstein’s “Animal Pullovers (Elephant)”, from back issue of Knit It!

Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8, colors 14 and 201 (6 and 1 balls for the 4-year size)

Time Elapsed: 6 days, booyah

Notes/Modifications: The biggest change (other than skipping the Wool-Ease) was to make the edges seed stitch instead of rolled stockinette. I made most of the length measurements slightly shorter to accommodate this.

I also made the neckline a crewneck, since A. doesn’t like anything snug around his neck. I like the changes, and will probably do the same thing again when I make the duck version for Jacob. I’m not the biggest fan of intarsia, but sometimes the result is cute enough to be worth it.

I loved, loved, loved working with the Aurora and am already planning a sweater for myself in the stuff. It’s the softest merino ever, even softer than the Zara I used for my Jo Sharp cardi. Also, machine-washable! I put my swatch in the washer with a bunch of Jacob’s clothes on the “normal/fast” agitation setting (cold water), and it only showed a minimal difference from the sweater (which I’d soaked in Eucalan). I’m sure one wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the gentle cycle and hand-washing.

But the best part about knitting this sweater was seeing A.’s reaction when he opened it. He got this huge grin, and immediately wanted to put it on despite rather warm temperatures. He refused to take it off for dinner yesterday, and when his mom (who generously took all of the modeled FO shots today) suggested he take it off after the photo-shoot was done, he refused again. Such obvious enjoyment is definitely the best part of knitting gifts, for me.

Final details round-up is in ravelry and the FO gallery here. And that’s it for secret knitting in these parts! Happy mother’s day to all who celebrate–I’m off to snuggle with my own munchkin.

One of my favorite things about this knitblogging community is reading running commentary about works-in-progress–seeing how projects take shape, getting fresh impressions of how a particular knit goes rather than the sum-up feelings at the end, the vicarious thrill of others’ triumphs and the keen empathy when I read about a stumbling block. The creative process fascinates me, and I love to think that I might be able to offer others the same glimpses they grant me.

I was looking through past entries on a shawl I knit, the other day, and noticed two things I don’t like about my own blogging: When I do take notes, they’re never as detailed or useful a year down the road as they seemed when I wrote them, and my WIP posts are much less frequent than they used to be. Part of the latter, of course, is that I’m doing a lot of baby stuff lately. Most of the knitting is done within a week, so there’s only an opportunity for one or two posts at most for this stuff. But I think some of it is laziness on my part, too–it’s tough to get good pictures of WIPs, particularly something like lace or colorwork that looks (let’s be honest) less than appetizing pre-blocking.

Still, to increase my own satisfaction and reward from what I’m doing here, I’m really going to try to make an effort to (a) better catalog my thoughts and impressions and problems and solutions while I’m actually knitting a piece, and (b) post more WIP shots. So here we go!

I’m mostly focusing on gift knitting this week, but while I waited for the yarn to arrive in the mail I picked up the Cleopatra Wrap (ravelry link here) I started ages ago. I’m knitting it in the Sundara silk lace I received as part of the Seasons Club that just ended, and I put it aside after only 7 rows back in January because I couldn’t for the life of me follow the simple chart. While preggo brain is still definitely in evidence, I’ve come to my knitting senses again and found the lace both engaging and easy this time around. The pattern uses what I think is a really neat construction: You cast on, do the edging chart, place the live stitches on a spare needle, and then repeat for the second edging (followed immediately by the body). At the end, graft the stitches together.

This technique has three big advantages that I see at the moment: First, the edges of the rectangular stole match. Second, I get to use up all of that precious silk with no guesswork. Third, once you’re done with the first edging, a progress shot is really easy!

I’m a little stunned at how much more I like the lace when the points are pinned out vs. when it’s straight across the bottom. The points add such a grace to the piece that’s not evident when it’s just hanging from the needle. One thing this picture doesn’t show, though, is the way the yarn is knitting up. I was a little unsure about this first installment of Sundara’s club–the color (“copper over bamboo”) seemed too bright, too pink, not subtle enough. Something was off about it, wound into a ball.

It knits up much more nicely than the ball might indicate. The sheen is incredible, and when the yarn has a little bit of room around it in the lace, I see less fuschia and more of the subtle bits of “bamboo” peeking through. There’s depth without streaking, delicacy, shine. I just can’t wait to wear it. I can’t wait to pick it up again after my current deadline wip is finished.

So what’s the secret knitting, then? A birthday sweater for one of our most special friends who is turning 2. I’ll talk about it more next week after the reveal, but details are in ravelry and here’s a sneak peek:

And finally, here’s a knits-in-action shot for you. You’ll have to excuse the glazed, slack-jawed, post-nap expression! I woke up from my nap with Jacob the other day and NEEDED POPCORN. So I threw on my new favorite maternity sweater and stumbled downstairs like a zombie.

As it turns out, the shaped v-neck sweater I knit myself a little over a year ago can accommodate a belly, too.

I still feel like I’m so behind, but now that our houseguests are gone and Passover is over and there’s no business travel on the horizon, I should be able to catch up!

…at least until we move (in mid-to-late June). Riiiight.

Anyway, some of the secret knitting has been gifted so now I can share with you all. One of the ladies in our knitting group just had her second child, so 5 of us got together and all knit strips of a baby blanket for her. I seamed them all together and edged them:

We knit the blanket out of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK, in the lovely purple color you see. I was worried about gauge issues until the end, but it all worked out just fine. I wrote the care instructions on a little card, wrapped it up, and it was all ready for C.!

She really seemed to love it, which was a huge sigh of relief.

Also, while the past month has been extremely busy and not always fun, today the mailman brought me something almost special enough to make me forget all of it:

The final installment of my current Seasons Club subscription. Yum, yum, and yum.

I’ll spare you any more stream-of-consciousness posting and go knit on my very first socks for Jacob, now. (!) Next up: A completed baby beret/sock set, and the weirdest sock construction ever.

Yeah, yeah, there’s another FO to share, but hasn’t it been awhile since we just chatted? Life has sure been busy, and it seems like I have lots to tell you.

First of all, the wee beastie is doing just fine. Unfortunately, the swelling that plagued me for so much of my pregnancy with Jacob is back with a vengeance (good-bye, wedding ring!). I don’t think I’ll ever actually enjoy being pregnant. But all in all, 22 weeks isn’t as bad as it could be. At least I’m able to stomach coffee again.

Both my knitting and my yarn-buying are going well. Faced with the prospect of at least a year without practical sweater-for-myself opportunities, I’ve gone a little crazy with the cheez whizyarn clubs. After another shipment of Sundara’s club, and a general diminishing of the raging hormones, I’ve decided the club is both enjoyable and good for me. Unable to decide which season appealed to me most, I chose both Summer and Autumn this time around. As if that weren’t yarn enough, Madelinetosh came out with a club of her own. Her yarn is definitely a contender for #1 favorite, so I joined up. I guess my needles will be plenty busy, and hopefully I’ll be too focused on the luscious yarn to notice the lack of sweaters!

My secret knitting du jour involves what is probably my most favorite cable ever.

Also, it’s purple. How could purple be bad?

And finally, things seem to have gotten settled enough for me to share that we’re making a big move back to our house in the Boston area this summer. We have lots of good reasons to leave CA, most of them boiling down to family and culture. I’m so excited to go back that I can hardly stand it. We’ve been renting out our place, and I love the thought of being in my very own house again–although I’m daunted by the toddler-proofing challenges! The last time we were there, Jacob looked like this:

Now, things are a little different.

(Yes, he’s hiding something in my shoe.) What do you all like most about the place you’re living?