stash, knit, repeat

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.

It was clearly time for another sweater for Jacob. It had been a whole month!

Pattern: Twisted Tree Pullover (rav link)

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Color 6296, 3.25 hanks or close to 700 yards

Time Elapsed: Rav tells me about a month and a half.

Notes/Modifications: The only real advice I can add to this very clear, well-written pattern is to make sure you buy some extra yarn. I used around 50 yards more than the pattern called for, for the 4/5 year-old size, and that’s with making the neck a little wider than called for in the pattern. (I stopped when there were around 10 more stitches on the needles than the pattern called for, since I know Jacob is sensitive about things being tight over his head.)

As you can see, I chose to size this one a little large for the boy, since sweater season is almost over here and I want him to be able to wear it this fall. He doesn’t seem to mind it being oversized, and as per usual wouldn’t take it off after the photo shoot.

You should absolutely make this sweater. The cables and stockinette/reverse stockinette panels keep things interesting for the knitter, it’s practically seamless, and the result is plain enough for even the most finicky boy. (As a matter of fact, Jacob’s 15-year-old aunt said she’d enjoy one sized up for her, too!) The pattern is clear and concise, and the knitting is just such a great blend of interesting and simple enough to do at a knit night.

Plus, it’s dead cute when worn.

One more piece of advice, and that’s to block the daylights out of this sweater–the panels of course want to curl, so if you want the crisp block look you really need to pin it out. All in all, three thumbs up!

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!