stash, knit, repeat

Well, am I behind. Ahem.

Pattern: The Cable Tank Top by Debbie Bliss, from the Baby Cashmerino 3 pamphlet

Yarn: Baby Cashmerino, 2 balls indigo and 1 ball cream for the smallest size

Time Elapsed: Around a week? Each of the main pieces took only a day to knit.

Notes/Modifications: The only thing I changed was to shorten the armholes. The pattern calls for them to be knit in the same thick/thin stripe pattern as the neck and hem, and I thought that would be too bulky.

As usual, I find the boy patterns slightly less adorable than the girl patterns, but this is still pretty darn cute. It doesn’t seem to be as ridiculously over-sized as many of the baby patterns out there, so beware of that.

Not much to say about it, I guess. A cute, quick knit for a special little boy.

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?

I have some secret knitting going on right now, but lucky for me I’ve also got a small backlog of FOs to share with you. In the “It’s kind of cruel that a knitter should have two boys” department, I present the matinee coat:

Pattern: Debbie Bliss’ Matinee Coat, from the first Baby Cashmerino pamphlet

Yarn: Baby Cashmerino, dusty rose, just over 3 balls for the smallest size

Time Elapsed: The knitting took less than a week, but it waited at least 2 for blocking and finishing.

Notes/Modifications: I changed nothing about this pattern. Given my track record with stupid knitting mistakes lately, that’s probably a good thing. Although now that I’ve done it, I should say that I think casting on in moss stitch and picking up the picot edge later seems a bit silly.

(Amelia did the sensible thing and just used a picot cast-on, and it looks great.)

The sweater has the usual collection of sweet-but-not-saccharine Debbie Bliss details, including the picot, the moss stitch, and the adorable little ribbon.

I made the coat for our babysitter’s daughter, but we haven’t seen her since the birth so I guess there’s a chance it will be gifted to the next person around me to have a girl! Jacob will admit that it’s cute, although he’s very excited to be getting a brother this summer.

Next up: A proper baby boy knit!

Though the blog posting is very late, my March installment of the year of socks was done pretty much on time.

Pattern: Anastasia socks, from the incomparable MintyFresh

Yarn: Sunshine Soft Sock Yarn, in colorway “Emerald Isle”

Time Elapsed: A couple of weeks, including a major rip-out. Pregnancy brain strikes–these are actually very quick.

Notes/Modifications: Given the colorway of these socks, and the fact that I started them at an Irish pub, I have been calling them my St. Patrick’s Day socks. It’s fitting, don’t you think?

About the only major modification I made to the pattern was to use Wendy’s fantastic toe-up gusset pattern for the heel.

I suspect I could have gotten away with doing even more increases, but these are SO comfortable, and my ankles are so swollen already, I can’t be too sure. Wendy’s pattern is saving toe-up socks for me–only with the comparison did I realize how poorly short-row heels fit my foot.

I also added a few stitches to the pattern, going to 66 from 60 since I have a wide foot. This was trivial to do–I just added a stitch or two between the spiraled eyelets. And that’s it for modifications. The pattern is just fantastic–I love the way the eyelets add interest without interfering with the yarn’s variegation. I’m likely to use it again.

The yarn is also gorgeous and soft, and beautifully dyed. Dani is really a wonder woman, because I’m about the hardest possible person to please in terms of variegation. But this yarn was perfect: evenly blended color that was so resistant to pooling I could even get through the gussets without splotches. The only thing I’d do differently next time is knit the yarn on size 0 needles instead of size 1, but your mileage may vary since I like a really firm fabric for my socks. (I find that the firmer the fabric, the longer the sock life.)

There were some predictable troubles with carrying out our photo shoot:

Jacob likes to play around with all of my socks, but these seem to be a particular favorite. Probably because they’re softer than clouds made of concentrated kitten fluff? (Seriously, I can’t think of any sock yarn I’ve used that feels more wonderful against my feet. I’ll let you know how it wears, as time goes on.)

There were also a bevy of unpredicted troubles with the photo shoot. Well, one problem, really, manifested in several different ways.

I wonder how long it will be before I need to enlist assistance?

Business and super-secret life planning are likely to keep me super-busy for the next week, so please forgive me until I can sit in front of the computer for more than 10 minutes.

But until then:

Something just needs a ribbon, and

the postman is currently my favorite stranger, and

You should absolutely go make yourself some funny-shaped gingersnaps.

Hope you’re all well!

Usually I like to finish one thing before starting another. Not true at the moment, apparently. Exhibit A:

Anastasia socks in Sunshine Yarns, “Emerald Isle”, cast on for St. Patty’s Day. These will be my March socks. They are wicked fun to knit, and toe-up gussets are the coolest things EVER, and I can’t wait to wear them.

Exhibit B:

A nearly-finished Matinee Coat (Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino booklet), for our babysitter’s new baby. This one just needs seaming, ribbon, and a picot hem. Probably a few hours of work, tops. And so cute! But, Exhibit C:

Instead of finishing either one of these worthy projects, neither of which will take much time at all, I cast on for a baby vest that I have no hope of finishing by the time I see the recipient tomorrow. Why? Who knows! It’s cute, though.

(Cable Tank Top from the Baby Cashmerino 3 booklet, smallest size.)

At least finishing all 3 of these up by the end of March is highly likely?

It’s not the right season, necessarily… but Jacob is more than pleased with the latest sock addition, anyway.

(I think he likes socks that match his hair the best of all.)

Pattern: Conwy from Nancy Bush’s “Knitting on the Road”

Yarn: Sundara sock yarn, color “Bronzed Sienna”

Time Elapsed: A couple of weeks, ish?

Modifications/Notes: I made two major modifications. First, I shortened the leg of the sock considerably (2.5 inches, I think, in all) to support slightly lower yardage and my own sock preferences. These are about 6.5 inches long from the cuff to the top of the heel flap.

I also omitted 6 stitches of decrease, resulting in a 66-stitch sock instead of a 60-stitch sock. (You start with 72 and then decrease down.) I also also didn’t like the look of the charted decreases–they seemed like they’d produce a big ol’ stockinette portion on the back of my sock. Not the look I was going for. So I fiddled some and did the decreases thusly:

You can pretty much figure out what I did from the picture, but it might help to know that I started on round 1, decreased two stitches per decrease round, and did 7 rows in between decrease rows. I don’t really remember where I started the decreases, except that it was way after Bush called for them.

It was a star toe, I think, a new one for me. It doesn’t have a kitchener at the front–you just decrease down to 8 stitches and then pull the yarn through. I don’t mind kitchener, but it was fun to try a different toe for a change.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t gush about this yarn for a little while. The Sundara colors are incredibly fabulous, saturated, and rich, without question. But on top of that, the yarn is soft as can be, seems very sturdy, and provides fantastic stitch definition. There really isn’t much more one could want in a sock yarn.

Plus, the color makes you want to bake pumpkin muffins. And that’s never a bad thing.

Thank you all so, so very much for your well-wishes and shared stories. They really warmed my heart.

I did something totally crazy yesterday: I ripped out the Torgeir sweater I was having so much trouble with. The Silky Wool is now back in the closet, and I feel so much better for it. My wips are cleared out (only the Cleopatra Wrap remains as a long-term project), my knitting feels new again.

And I finished the Conwy socks, too, but a FO post will have to wait for blocking and daylight to happen.

So my February installment of the Year of Socks is a little late, but only by a few days. I think this month is going to be all about small projects–another pair of socks, certainly. Some progress on Cleopatra but I don’t expect to finish it this month. Mostly because it seems like every woman I know is having babies, these days. There’s only one logical reaction, I think…

…run to my lys and buy a ton of machine-washable baby wool.

I wasn’t quite sure when I’d write this post. The miscarriage I had in October has made me jumpy, more secretive, more nervous that maybe this time when I go to the doctor, something will be wrong. But, my friends, the time has come to fess up. Because I got the cutest gift in the known universe this weekend, from the lovely and wonderful Sarah.

(I have a hard time knitting for babies not yet born, but I’m so glad others don’t share my neurosis.)

So! I’m in the middle of my 16th week, finally past the 24-hour nausea. Able to knit again. Sitting in the living room, in fact, enjoying the sunshine and turning the heel on my Conwy sock while Jacob reads his book. (”I do it all by myself, Mommy.”) Although Jacob is as enthusiastic-sounding about our upcoming change as he is about everything, I’m pretty sure he has no idea what will be happening some months from now.

What’s it like for me, this time around? Well, I’ll tell you one thing. The stomach muscles pretty much just rolled over and played dead starting the second I found out. I’m in my beloved Gap jeans a full two months earlier than with Jacob, this time.

Wish me luck at my doctor’s appointment next week, okay?

I wouldn’t have thought there was any such thing. But as it turns out, there is. I present to you the sum total of my knitting in the last 11 days.

Oh, yeah. That hurts. Especially since almost all of the progress you see was from this weekend, when I finally started to feel a little better. When awake and conscious, I’ve been reading instead. It provides a much better escape from reality for me than knitting. And on the bright side, the Jhereg series (Brust) and David McCullough’s “Truman” were all pretty good reads. But lordy, am I ready to be knitting again. February’s sock plan seems somewhat derailed, but hopefully I can catch up by the end of March. Assuming I can stay well!

The sock is “Conwy” from “Knitting on the Road”, and it’s in Sundara sock yarn from the Seasons Club. My latest installment in the club arrived this weekend, and it got me thinking about whether or not I want to re-subscribe.

(Fingering silky merino, “Autumn Rose”)

I was admittedly nervous about signing up for a club where I couldn’t approve the colors of the yarn beforehand. The ability to pick a season eventually won me over–with her descriptions, I was sure that autumn would provide me with a nice, warm, deep set of fall colors. Without any pink or yellow, which I have a lot of difficulty wearing. Here’s the collection so far, at 4 months out of 6:

Now, let’s make no bones about this: Sundara is a genius with color, the yarn itself is incredibly high quality, and I’m sure I will knit something I love out of all 4 yarns. That said…

I don’t really think that either the autumn rose silky merino or the “copper over bamboo” silk lace are fall colors. In fact, maybe it’s just my hank, but I don’t see the copper at all in the silk lace. I’m currently knitting the cleopatra wrap out of it, and I’m sure it’ll be stunning. And I can think of several people who would look great in a scarf out of the silky merino (which is way too pale for me to be able to wear). But do I really want to sign up for more of this? I’m okay with the occasional stretch color, but I don’t think I’d be okay if I signed up for another year of this club and fully half of the yarn was in a color so outside what I consider to be seasonally appropriate.

(By the way, the description of the autumn on Sundara’s website is this: “warm, fall colors with some complexity, an emphasis on browns, greens, reds and oranges”)

Again, I don’t want anyone to read this as a bash on Sundara. She’s really incredible, and at least as far as the ravelry group is concerned I’m in the vast minority. Several autumn subscribers have listed the silky merino as their favorite colorway yet. And like I said, the yarn is scrumptious, and since I’m just not the type to browse to a website to buy yarn, I wouldn’t be very likely to knit with it unless I resubscribe to the club.

Ugh. Can you tell I’m conflicted? So tell me: What do you think? Are these fall colors? Am I crazy? What would you do, if you were in my shoes?