Bird and Little Bird

Tools of the Trade.

 

I've been saying that I would really, very much like a yarn swift for a long time now.  It has existed on a list of permanent "wants" but couldn't quite be justified as a "need."  Then I cast on for this sweater.  I'm knitting it out of Quince & Co. Tern, which is just about the nicest yarn I've met, but I don't find it fun to wind by hand.  At all.  In fact, thanks to my uncanny ability to always pull the wrong thing in the wrong direction, the last ball that I wound by hand took me about two hours.  Things got a little complicated, you see. 

So, the yarn swift.  It's like happiness made out of wood.  Sigh.

Big Socks on Tiny Needles.

I've said it before, and I'll say it yet again (because it is as true as always): you have to really, really like someone to knit them socks out of fingering weight yarn on size two needles.  So, in the event that I have been at all unclear in my intentions over the last decade, Dan can take receipt of these socks as a sure sign that I'm kind of a fan of his.

I knit these socks out of self-striping yarn, and used this sock pattern, which was recommended to me by my friend and personal knitting advisor, Sarah.  I'd recommend it as well.  It is very well written and easy to follow, even for people who have no idea what they are doing, like myself.  I stole a pair of Dan's favorite wool socks to help me with the sizing for these, which seemed like a great idea until one of the socks came flying out of my purse in an elevator at the hospital when I went to dig around for my car keys.  I assumed that this would lead to Dan putting two and two together, coming to the realization that the knitting I'd been hiding under my basket whenever he came into the room was actually a pair of socks for him.  Particularly since I'm pretty sure that Mariam had already accidently told him that I was knitting a pair of socks for his birthday present.  But, no! I guess he just thought I was a complete nut for having his socks in my purse for no apparent reason at all, and since me being a weirdo was nothing new, he decided to let the whole thing go without remark. 

Anyway, the point of all of this is just to say that now that I have knit up a pair of socks that actually look kind of normal and can be comfortably worn in public without significant embarassment, I have a pronouncement to make: 2011 was the year when I officially became a knitter. 

Fall Afternoons (and Some Knitting Talk).

 

Goodness, the days are getting shorter here and quickly.  It isn't that I don't know this will happen, obviously I do, it is just that I forget how dramatic it can be.  There isn't any way to doubt that the season is really and truly changing when all of a sudden it is dark outside before dinner time.  This week we've been lucky enough to have a few of those clear, shining fall afternoons where the sun comes through the windows and lights up everything in its path.  I love that, and I'm trying to soak it all up since I know that it won't be quite the same once the sun is much lower in the sky. 

The problem with the shorter, cooler days is that I find myself really just wanting to sit around and knit all the time.  Of course, the folks I live with seem to have all these funny ideas about regular meals and clean laundry.  Knitting is kind of both the best thing ever and the worst.  Why is it so addictive?  I don't know.  But here's what we've got going at the moment:

- A Jane Richmond pullover. Okay, maybe two. Both in Osprey. One in peacoat and one in lupine. And can I just say that small people knitting patterns are the best because they give such a wonderful sense of false efficiency? Thank you.   

- I may or may not be knitting someone that I really like a secret pair of socks with this self-striping sock yarn.  Honestly, you have to have serious enthusiasm for a person to knit them something out of fingering weight yarn. 

- Next up I think will be this little cardigan for the small guy.  I love the Madeline Tosh merino but also must admit that I am still adjusting to this "knitting for boys" business. I'm just not all that confident with color choices yet. 

- This vest is also a very good possibilty, and the word on the street is that it knits up really quickly.  However, I haven't yet determined how afraid of buttonholes I am.  On a scale of one to ten, how scary are they?

Self-Imposed Limits.

Say it with me, everyone: no new projects allowed! Really. Not until I finish knitting a sweater, sewing a quilt and maybe even actually doing something to get ready for this baby. Apparently he's going to need things like diapers and socks.  I keep having this dream where we have the baby but then can't come back home afterwards because we forgot to get a carseat. Right then.

Oh, the stuff in the photo?  Right. That doesn't count.  I had to.  Stephanie and MAV take the most beautiful photos and we all know that I like Quince & Co. just a little bit.

In other news, Dan just texted from the hospital to say that he helped deliver three babies this morning.  I was like "Yeah, I ate some pasta and folded laundry." Ahem.

Hurrication Knitting.

Being housebound for much of the weekend left us all with an ample supply of both time and good excuses to work on various little projects indoors.  For my part, I did a bit more of the baby knitting.  This is the thing about knitting for babies: they are very small, so it is very fast.  I do like a project that I can start and finish quickly. In fact, these days, I kind of require it.

The pattern is from this book, and I found it to be well-written and easy to follow.  I used Quince & Co. Lark yarn in Snap Pea, and liked working with it well enough that I ordered some Osprey to knit up the sweater that Mariam swears she will wear if I make it for her. 

Oh! And it seems that O-Wool (another yarn company that I really like) is now selling their yarns online through their website.  Apparently it doesn't take all that much to make me happy.

On Knitting and Optimism.

I am pleased to report that after nearly two months of very frequent and sustained knitting, my first baby project is officially finished.  And, it is not a disaster, a fact which pleases me to no end.  I used the Forever Baby Blanket pattern from The Purl Bee and I would definitely recommend it.  It is an easy pattern that still manages to produce a blanket with with a nice loft that looks fancier than it probably is. 

I do have to admit that this project didn't go all that brilliantly in the beginning.  For whatever reason (read: short attention span), I struggled a bit with getting the hang of the pattern and kept finding myself off by a stitch or two.  When I finally realized that there was a visual pattern that I could use to keep myself on track when my mind wandered away from counting, things started to go quite a bit better and the frogging became much, much less frequent. 

The knitting of this blanket, above all else, was really an act of faith on my part.  At the time that I began it, in early July, I was still feeling a lot of anxiety about the possibility of losing another pregnancy, despite the fact that I was well into the second trimester and was supposed to be letting go of some of those feelings. When I bought the yarn for this blanket, there was a part of me that felt like I was taking a huge emotional risk.  It honestly felt dangerous in some small way.  But also necessary.  In casting on, I was telling myself for the first time that it was okay to start imagining us as a family of four.  We might really and actually get to have this baby. 

 

And how things have changed since then! I finished the blanket the other evening just as Dan brought up the subject of baby names for the first time.  A tiny little wardrobe of hand-me-downs and gifted baby clothes is starting to make its place in our bedroom closet.  I cast on this morning for a tiny little sweater for our little guy, and it would seem that indeed, the three of us are actively getting ready to become four. 

So, here is the thing that I've learned about optimism: it feels really good.

 

In the Que.

Today we visited the yarn store.  You know, that place that is at once full of wonder and danger?  Mariam and I are getting ready to be away at Suzuki music camp for the better part of a week, and I am anticipating the need for many hours worth of handwork.  Since we all know that I do not now, nor have I ever, knit with efficiency, a couple of projects should be more than enough to fill my thirty odd hours of sitting in lessons and workshops with my mini-musician.  I'm not going to tell you what those projects are just yet, though. I have my reasons for this, but I promise to share when the final products are ready for show and tell.

 

I also picked up a handy little basket that has a drawstring liner useful for hiding newly wound and very pretty balls of yarn.  Bet you can't guess why.

More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts: Review and Giveaway.

Lately I've been putting myself on a restricted diet when it comes to craft books.  There are a lot of really great ones coming out these days, but we live in a small space and I'm a pretty busy girl, so bringing even more ideas for my project pile into the house seems a bit unwise.  The one exception I'm allowing myself is knitting books.  For some reason, perhaps because I still consider myself a novice knitter, I seem to be much more likely to turn to a book for a pattern when I'm knitting than when I'm sewing.  So, when I saw that Joelle Hoverson (owner of the singular Purl Soho) had come out with a new knitting book, I immediately wanted a copy.  nido sold out of the book right away, however, and my lack of passion for big box bookstore shopping kept me from going to get one elsewhere in town.  I lucked out though; a few weeks ago I got an email from someone at STC, offering me a review copy of the book.  Since I felt confident that I would love it and could give it a glowing review, I accepted the offer.

And I'm glad that I did.  More Last Minute Knitted Gifts is a beautifully designed and well-thought out book that seems to offer something to knitters of any level of expertise.  This makes it a perfect book to grow your knitting skills with; you could easily begin with the easier projects in the book and work your way through the progressively fancier patterns. As with Joelle Hoverson's other books, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts offers up a bright, clean aesthetic that makes each project look beautifully simple, and better yet, possible. This is important to me when it comes to craft books; I want to feel inspired, but I also want to feel like the projects are within my reach.  And from my experiences with Joelle's other books, I have no doubt that these projects will indeed be enjoyable and result in final products that are practical, while still being lovely.  I'm especially excited about the pullover sweater pattern in this book.  It is super cute and the pattern can be adjusted to fit anyone from small children to adult men.  Mariam wants me to make her one in pink (of course), so that will probably be the first pattern from this book to occupy my needles. 

So, the best part of this post: the publisher sent me two copies of this wonderful book, and it turns out that one of them is for you!  Leave a comment on this post if you are interested in winning my extra copy of the book; I'll pick a winner via random number on Friday afternoon.  

Also, if you want to knit me the sweet cardigan sweater from this book, I'll be your friend for a very long time. 

For Little Fingers.

No, I didn't knit these.  I obviously wish that I had, but then I also know that they wouldn't be nearly as perfect and beautiful if they had come off my own needles.  Indeed, they were made for Mariam as a gift from my friend Sarah, the super knitter.  She is needlessly modest about her knitting prowess, but let me tell you; Sarah is a stunningly good knitter.  Plus, she gets extra points for knitting things that are practical and meant to be used.  And then not getting upset when people actually use them.  Case in point: she knits sweaters and socks for her very active (and super cute) little boys and then allows them to wear said knits as they dig in the yard and eat messy food.  I find this endlessly impressive.  

Aside from The Mittens of Happiness, here are a few other things that I really like right now:

Catching up on Spilled Milk.  

The beautiful photography of this local artist. 

The endless quilt possibilities at Oh, Fransson! 

The Ravelry Rabbit Hole.

Goodness.  I really didn't want to, but I have not only gone out and procured materials for a second knitting project, I have also fallen deep down into the Ravelry rabbit hole.  I may need rescue.  If you so happen to be a Ravelry user and want to make virtual knitting friends with yours truly, please do!