Poncho for moi

Put the hank on the swift last night and started winding it up on my ball winder. Alas, the hank is way too big to fit on one skein via the ball winder. Since the poncho is a very loose, lacy sort of thing, I'm really reluctant to cut the yarn since I don't know how successfully I could weave the ends into the poncho. So I've got a beautiful centre-pull skein attached to a hank. When I reach the hank it should get interesting. Oh, well. The other unfortunate thing is that the pattern calls for 9mm needles, which I don't have. Ordinarily I would just wrap twice around 4.5mm needles, but this is a kind of novelty yarn - fuzzy with what the yarn label calls "curlylocks", which are circular nubs at very frequent intervals along the yarn. I am not so skillful as to be able to keep track of doubled-up loops with yarn like this. So I shall have to go out and get me some 9mm needles. Yeek. My fingers are seizing up just thinking about it! But I really think it will be worth it. The colours of this yarn are just stunning. My husband oohed and aahed when I started untwisting the hank. :)

Stacy's Sweater/Henry VII sweater for DH

I finished the test swatch with the alpaca and discovered that I can actually get pretty close to Henry VII gauge with the stuff. Thus I presented my findings to DH. I told him that although the Stacy's Sweater pattern would of course look lovely with the alpaca, and nice on him, and it was what his mom had in mind, I didn't think the pattern was too exciting and would rather make the Henry VII sweater out of it instead. He said he'd think about it. He likes the Henry VII sweater very much, but he is also quite keen on the Stacy's Sweater pattern. After hearing that, I'm a bit more gung-ho on doing the Stacy's for him, since he obviously likes it so much. And now that I think about it, the yarn would suit the Stacy's pattern better. Oi! So many choices! I shall await DH's decision.

United Way argyle cardigan

Did some research on what traditional Argyle sweaters/cardigans are supposed to look like, and I've come up with what Rob and I think is a very nice design. It'll be an argyle pattern on the body, with solid-colour sleeves, hem, cuffs, button bands and collar. I think it'll look really good. I also looked up measurements for what a 12-month-baby sweater should be, and I think I have my dimensions decided upon. Now I just have to do some swatching and yarn hunting so that I can nail down the gauge I want and so that I can design the argyle pattern grid.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

Sleeve #2 proceeds! Underarm gusset is almost done.

Now that Christmas is over, it is sooo nice to be able to work on other projects. This has re-energized my knitting a bit. Even going back to the unfinished Christmas gift is no longer a drag.

Ragna sweater for brother

I've been giving more thought to what yarn I could use for this sweater. I'm leaning towards a rich red/burgundy/wine kind of colour. I think he'd really like that. And I want to use a yarn with a significant percentage of natural fibre. So far, I've thought of two possibilities. One is that I have a two-pound cone of sportweight burgundy wool that I'm currently using to do my Elizabeth of York vest. If doubling or tripling the yarn would give me the right gauge, and if I have enough left over after the vest is done, it would work well. The wool is coarse, but I'm sure Mark would wear the sweater over a T-shirt, so that's not such a big deal. Plus, the wool might really soften up after a good dip in Eucalan. Another possibility is to go back to the eBay seller that I got my 2.2lb cone of alpaca from and see if I can pick up another cone in the colour I'm looking for. Of course, I'd have to first see if I can get gauge from the alpaca. Tripling or quadrupling the strands should work. Either way, though, lots of swatching is in order first.

United Way cardigan

Rob got back to me today after talking with his wife. His wife has very specific requirements for this project! :) Which I don't mind in the slightest, of course. She wants an argyle cardigan in navy, white and red, in a 12-month size. So now it's time for research! I've never done anything argyle - I know it's a diamond pattern with criss-crossed lines overtop (or something like that, anyway), but that's about it. I'll have to look up what traditional adult argyle sweaters look like and then design a pattern for a baby size. I even get to choose what gauge of yarn I want! This will be neat.

Secret Garden for niece

I think I've changed my mind. I don't think I'm going to finish this project right now. We'll get her a bunch of cool books instead and I will set this aside, perhaps for her next birthday. I just really don't think it's going to fit her well, and what with so many other projects I want to get to, it seems silly to complete it when I know I'm going to have to re-do it. But I definitely want to do this eventually - the yarn suits the pattern bee-yew-tifully and the finished product will be gorgeous.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

I started getting back to this one last night - work continues on sleeve #2. I've only got about 10 more rows to go before the underarm gusset is done and the sleeve tapering can begin.

Henry VII sweater for DH

I've been minorly fretting about this for a while. I'm currently making this sweater out of acrylic. And since I've started to work more and more with natural fibres, I've been thinking that using acrylic for such an incredible sweater is a dumb idea. Am I becoming a yarn snob? Perhaps. At least for better-than-casual adult pieces - I'm still very gung-ho on acrylic for baby things and afghans. But for this sweater, I've been thinking that the acrylic will end up looking cheap. The thought also occurred to me yesterday that I would really like to use the heavenly alpaca that my MIL gave me for something more interesting and stunning than the Stacy's Sweater pattern my MIL suggested. So last night I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone and see if the alpaca yarn will work with the Henry VII pattern? The problem with that idea is that the alpaca is sportweight, and the Henry VII pattern calls for worsted weight. So last night I started a swatch with the alpaca doubled. Six rows in I realised the swatch was going to be way too huge. So now, just for the heck of it, I'm doing a swatch with the alpaca in single strands. It will probably end up too small but hey, you never know until you try.

Well. Another Christmas over. Unfortunately, a very sad and stressful one this year.

DH revealed to me that he is being driven to depression by the stress at work. We are now working towards healing his mental state and getting him into another job. This will be an interesting task since he really isn't in a vocation that he actually likes. Problem is, he doesn't really know what he does want to do. With any luck, this will not mean losing the house while he shifts careers. My other big concern is that this may put our plans for baby #2 on hold, which I hatehatehate the idea of. We shall see. Can anyone think of a job that would be fun for someone who has an encyclopedia-like knowledge of all facts relating to history, geography and golf?

As well, my grandfather's health is failing fast. This sucks.

But, as always, I have my knitting. This is a very nice thing. I also have a loving family, a supportive and fun work environment, and, best of all, the most incredible child the world has ever seen.

So aside from the nasty stuff, Christmas was great. We spent lots of time with family, gave great gifts, got great gifts, drove to all our visits without mishaps...all good.

The only negative knitting comment I have is that my (absolutely wonderful) MIL gave me knitting gifts this year which were actual projects that she had picked out. Now...she has great taste. I absolutely adore one of the projects (and it's for me)! Another of the projects will be a nice-to-do. And the third project is so-so - but it's small, so it won't be a long haul. But I must admit that I am somewhat unthrilled at being told what to make. This makes me sound incredibly ungrateful, which in turn makes me feel really, really bad - I mean, hell, the woman bought me alpaca for a sweater project, for heaven's sake! How awesome is she! But still...with all the projects that I always take on, there is an irritation factor. This wouldn't be the case if there was just one. But three "assigned" projects is a bit much.

And that's all I'll say negatively, because really, the gifts were fantastically wonderful and every bit of yarn she gave me is scrumptious and she's awesome. She even gave me a "yarn barn", which is one of those anti-tangle, anti-skein-bouncing-around-while-you-knit plastic yarn tubs with a hole in the top for the yarn. I've never used one of these before. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Feitelson slipover for Grandpa

I think I will have to face the fact that this isn't going to get done. The odds against my grandfather ever getting better are astronomical. I hate this. I want so badly to make him this slipover and to see him enjoy wearing it. F**k. Screw it, I'm not cancelling this project just yet.

Spanish Knight sweater for Mom

I won the auction. The final cost was $52.51US. Not too damn bad! This was a nice happy amidst the crap that was happening around Christmas. I can't wait to get it.

Secret Garden cardigan for niece

Started this on Christmas Eve, and it's coming along very nicely. I'm almost done the body, and will probably be able to start a sleeve before the day is out. Unfortunately, the more I work on it, the more I'm thinking it's going to be much too small. Argh! I'm making the 2-3 year size. My niece is about to turn 2, and she's a very big girl (started out at 10lbs 1oz and kept going from there). And the 2-3 year size is looking like it would only just fit my 19-month-old daughter. Maybe they grow kids kinda small where Alice Starmore comes from. :) However, I'm still going to finish it and send it off ASAP, with a note that if it's too small, I will happily make the next size up. It's a fun, quick pattern, so this is no big deal.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

Well, this never ended up being given because BIL did not come down from Ottawa to spend Christmas with us after all. Which sucked. I'd much rather have had his company than not have to give him an incomplete sweater. However - what can you do. So I'm going to finish off the second sleeve, wash and block the sweater, and then we can mail off all his gifts.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

She loved it. :) Unfortunately she didn't get a chance to try it on in front of me, but she promised she would. Hopefully I'll get to see her in it soon.

Patons hooded jacket for Lucy

My mom offered to send this in one big package along with her gift. So hey, I let her. :) She sent it off before Christmas and it should arrive soon, I hope.

NEW - poncho for moi

MIL gave me 9oz of some GORGEOUS variegated wool for Christmas in a kid/wool/nylon blend - mostly kid. Stunning combination of bright blue and deep plum. Hand-dyed. Very soft. Unghhhh. I've never worked with kid before - it should be very interesting! Actually, she gave me two patterns I could use with the yarn - a shawl or a poncho. I will be making the poncho. This will be fun!

NEW - Stacy's sweater for DH

Another gift from MIL - she gave me a copy of Linden Phelps' and Beryl Hiatt's Simply Beautiful Sweaters for Men and enough alpaca to make "Stacy's sweater" in the book. The yarn is slate blue, except for one skein which is navy, for the colour accent. The sweater was meant to be for either DH or my brother, but I'm thinking DH. There probably isn't enough yarn for the size my brother would need, and the pattern would look better on DH. And I think DH would appreciate the scrumptiousness of the alpaca more. With any luck, this will be my birthday present to him. I've got six months.

NEW - cardigan for DD

The final knitting gift from MIL - a book of children's patterns, and some Sirdar denim tweed yarn to make the cardigan on page 84. The main colour is a sort of medium powder blue, and the accent colour is a variegated blue/dusty pink. Plus two buttons (didn't get a good long look, but they seem to be mother-of-pearl, or at least good fakes). Unfortunately, the pattern doesn't seem too interesting, although it will probably be a quick knit, and the yarn feels nice. I'm probably going to put this one aside for a few months.

Whew. Time to get knittin'!

I left work early yesterday so I could go buy my daycare provider's Christmas gift. (Although it turned out that I couldn't, because the Lewiscraft I went to had sold out of gift certificates. You can imagine my extreme annoyance.) So there I was, knitting in the mall, killing time, desperately trying to finish off Christmas sweater #2, when a woman comes up to me and compliments my knitting. Her face was very familiar. Turns out she was a teacher at my high school - never my teacher, but a few of my friends had her and I know they thought she was really nice. So we got to chatting about the school and some of her old students, and I explained about the sweater, and it was generally a very pleasant chat. Which we never would have had if I hadn't been knitting! So there you go.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

Sleeve #1 is DONE! Started sleeve #2 this morning - a futile gesture given how little time there is until Christmas, but hey, knitting is knitting, and the more I can get done, the more impressive the incomplete gift will be.

Not much Christmas stress left, fortunately - I accomplished a lot last night. We have to pack for all the visiting we're going to do this weekend. I have to write and address all our New Year's cards, and pick up the professional photographs to put in them. There's one more gift to put together, and a few to be wrapped. But other than that, we're pretty much done.

Do I sound organized to you?

I didn't think so.

A little bit about Christmas knitting and my philosophy thereof...

I know I've been writing a lot lately about all the "panic knitting" which has been going on. It occurs to me that this may have led some readers (assuming I have any) to wonder why on earth I set myself up for this sort of thing. What I've been failing to mention is all the joy I really do get out of knitting Christmas gifts for my family, even though as Christmas approaches, I generally have to devote some serious "marathon knitting" time in order to get it all done. (What can I say...during the rest of the year I get distracted by other stuff.)

Basically the way things happen is this: I will sometimes see a pattern and instantly envision it being worn by someone close to me. The resulting surge of creative enthusiasm can only be translated one way: "I MUST make this!!!" This always means making the item as a Christmas gift, cuz hey, why waste a good gift idea on an occasion for which I generally would not give a gift (plus, our Christmas budget gives us more to spend more on people than our regular-present budget, and that means nicer yarn). My problems begin when I have too many of these inspirations in one year, plus all the non-Christmas projects that crop up along the way. I try to give myself lots of time, to prioritize and cut Christmas knitting projects so that the workload is reasonable (for example, I've already got five adult sweater ideas for next Christmas - that'll have to get chopped down considerably). But invariably, I find myself scrambling to finish the last bits of a project at the eleventh hour. This doesn't mean that I'm not enjoying the knitting. It just means that I'm an idiot who still hasn't accurately figured out how long it will take to finish an adult-sized project, and who simply cannot put new project ideas on the backburner.

Thus far, all my Christmas gifts have been very happily received. I seem to make good choices for what suits people in terms of style and colour. What is it Edward Walker says? "I don't do ugly." Well, at least I certainly try not to. I am also fortunately surrounded by family (both mine and DH's) who appreciate the time and effort which goes into making these kinds of gifts. And hey - if a knitting gift is ever not appreciated, the recipient is very unlikely to ever get another.

The upshot of all this is that, although I may go on ad nauseum about "panic knitting", I'm definitely enjoying myself. Hey, if it wasn't fun, I wouldn't do it.

Spanish Knight sweater for Mom

Another auction appeared on eBay for ten skeins of Lavold's Silky Wool in the lava colour. So I put in a lowball bid right away to avoid having someone snatch it up with Buy it Now. I am really, really hoping to win this auction at a good price. Fingers crossed.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

Washed it in Eucalan last night, blocked it out, and tried to soak up all the excess dampness with towels. I think my first stab at blocking went quite well. It looks great. Here's hoping it will dry in time for Friday evening's trek over to MIL's place for Christmas. But I now consider this project complete - hooray!

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

I'm now half an inch away from being able to start the cuff on sleeve #1. I might actually have a bit of sleeve #2 started by Christmas.

Persian Tiles sweater for Grandma

I'm thinking maybe I should use different yarn for this project. The two colours in the heathered cashmere/silk/cotton blend I'm currently separating are cream and dun brown. Lovely colours, but I have to be honest, they wouldn't really suit my grandma. She would look much better in a blue-based colourway. This is possibly an excellent excuse to buy more alpaca. Hmmm. Perhaps I shall save the cashmere/silk/cotton blend for my MIL, who (as a redhead) would look very nice indeed in cream and dun brown. Perhaps this will be her Christmas 2006 gift? Stay tuned.

Re-reading yesterday's blog entry, I note that there is a correction to be made. My daughter does not technically say "Treeeee!". It's actually more like "Gleeeee!" But why split hairs.

And speaking of DD, my mom has just started crocheting a really pretty lacy dress for her. Mom chose a gorgeous lavender yarn which will look fantastic on my kiddie. She is currently dissatisfied with how the pattern is turning out, though. It's a "fan" lace motif, and it's not lying flat enough to suit her. There has been a fair amount of testing and ripping and testing and ripping so far...I expect there will be more before this is all finished. I am sure it will be worth it.

Last-minute Christmasness continues. Yesterday I pulled DH's cute little heinie out of the fire and bought the presents he is giving to our SIL. I brought them home to show him, and he heartily approved. All gifts for SIL and niece are now wrapped, boxed, and ready to be shipped off. We are hoping against hope that a) DH has the time to ship the box today and b) it will arrive by Friday. Unlikely unless we are willing to fork out a lot of cash, but we shall see. Fingers crossed.

Anywayz, onto knitting. This is now occurring every chance I get. Darkness during the car drives be damned, the knitting gets pulled out. DD wants to be fed Cheerios continuously throughout the drive? I can do that and knit. I'm also now eating my lunch at my desk so I can devote my entire lunch hour to the knitting.

Slipover for Grandpa

This project may never happen. My grandfather is not doing very well. He was diagnosed earlier this year with some kind of Crohn's-like problem, and now he has several other problems as well, such as erratic blood pressure. So occasionally he loses it a bit as the blood pressure drops, and then an hour later he is totally lucid. The frustrating part is that because DH, DD and I have been getting illness after illness, we haven't been able to see him because even getting a whiff of what we've been going through would probably do him in. The man is 90, after all. I'm really quite scared. I really, REALLY want to knit him this slipover and have him actually get a chance to wear it. More importantly, I want him to live long enough that DD can remember him. Stay tuned.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

It's looking less and less like this will be finished in time. But at least I have finished the shaping on sleeve #1. Now I am working my way down to the beginning of the cuff. I haven't measured it yet, but I'm guessing I probably have about 2 more inches to go until cuff ribbing begins. Of course, then it's another 2.5 inches of cuff ribbing. Geez. I think BIL is going to have a beautiful one-armed sweater.

Not as much knitting as was humanly possible got done this weekend. Some of you may have noticed that Christmas is approaching...so this was Last-minute Christmas Weekend for my family. Hubby and I both went shopping to finish off our buying sprees (just one more gift to go for DH, but I have graciously offered to buy it for him). The tree got put up - DD loves it. (Treeeee!) Gifts got wrapped. Etc. However, considering, I was able to get in quite a bit of knitting.

NEW - Elsebeth Lavold Ragna sweater for brother

Alright, yes, I'm insane. But this would look really great on Mark! I would use Lavold's recommendations for making it in a bigger size, which seems to mean chunky yarn. More swatching research is obviously needed. But I really think he would love to have this sweater.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

I am starting to realise that there's a good chance I won't be able to finish this before Christmas, which sucks. I had really hoped to have finished sleeve #1 and started sleeve #2, and instead I haven't even come to the end of the decreasing on sleeve #1. My most recent calculations indicate that I have 21 rows to go before the end of the decreasing.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

DONE!!! (Brief pause for a triumphant dance of completion happiness.) Now, granted, I still have to wash and block it. But all the knitting and sewing and tucking-in of ends is completely done. It looks terrific. Photos to come.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

Work proceeds on sleeve #1. I have finished the underarm gusset and am now decreasing for the sleeve tapering. It will only get faster and faster from here on in as the rows take less time to do (until I start sleeve #2, of course). The wonderful thing is that because it's no-sew, when I'm done the knitting, I'm done the sweater (except for washing and blocking, of course). There is now definitely a visible light at the end of the tunnel.

Quite some time ago, an article in the Charlotte Observer came to my attention. This article has been hashed to death on numerous blogs and knitting lists...so why should my blog be any exception. :) Not to put too fine a point on it, this article pissed me off. Not because the author dissed knitting, but because she completely contradicted the basic principles of feminism while making herself out to be some kind of superior feminist. At the time (over a year and a half ago) I wrote my own response and sent it to the Observer. It never got published, nor did it get any kind of response. But I thought it was a really good letter anyway, and since having a blog is kind of a self-serving showcase of how great I think my writing is, :) I wanted to make it available here. So here it is...

---

Ms. Jameson's article ("Nesting urge won't remove cause of fears", March 23) was truly eye-opening. Prior to reading it, I was under the impression that all the knitting I'd been doing for the past twenty-odd years (since age eight or so) was by choice. I thought I was enjoying it. I thought I found it soothing, creative, productive, unselfish (since I give most of my knitting projects away). I thought it was good for the soul - that when I was knitting, I was reconnecting to myself and nature. I thought it gave me space in the day in which to relax and think.

But now I realise The Truth: all that was just self-delusional justification! I don't *really* knit by choice (why, that would be impossible). It's not *really* a fun thing to do. What I've *really* been doing all this time is turning my back on the "sisters who fought to free women from aprons and mops"!

And thanks to Ms. Jameson, I have seen the light! It's all clear to me now - this delusion of mine was all Cruel Society's fault. I was falsely persuaded by "peer pressure" to shuck off the power suit and get back to my aprons and mops. And the lie succeeded! Oh, what a meek, stupid little fool I have been. Oh, how I have strayed from the True Path...

Yeah. That's the way it really is.

Now that the drip-drip-dripping of my sarcasm has stopped, allow me to summarize what Ms. Jameson missed when she fell asleep in class the day they explained the basics of feminism:

Feminism does not equal "getting to do 'man stuff'". In fact, that's just as limiting a philosophy as "women should only do 'woman stuff'". What feminism *is* all about is being able to do what you *want* to do - following your own path without worrying that society will stand in your way just because of your gender. Yes, I'm talking about CHOICE. And by definition, feminism is therefore all about respecting DIVERSITY. Why? Because each woman's choices will be different.

This is a lesson Ms. Jameson evidently has yet to learn. She doesn't seem to realise that just because "home ec" stuff isn't *her* cup of tea, that it could be wildly interesting to someone else (male or female).

Admittedly, I am sure that there are a lot of knitters out there who *do* subscribe to conservatism. (And I'm sure there are a lot of basketball players who subscribe to conservatism. Heck, I'm sure there are a lot of blond guys named Jim who subscribe to conservatism, too! Political views transcend a lot of boundaries.) And maybe there *are* knitters who took up the hobby out of fear and a need for control - I don't know. I certainly can't speak to the life stories and motivations of all 38 million female American knitters (although apparently Ms. Jameson can). What I can say is that this isn't true of any of the knitters *I* know.

In fact, here are some tidbits of information about me and my family that will probably surprise the crap out of Ms. Jameson:

- I have a career in Information Technology. I am a webmaster for a major Canadian bank. I also do computer programming on the side. This job also happens to bring more money into my household than my husband's job.
- I hate cooking. My husband does all the cooking in our house, not to mention the dishes, grocery shopping, garbage, recycling and gardening. (I, incidentally, clean the bathrooms, do the laundry, vacuum, mop and manage the family finances. Yes, equal partnership in household chores - now *that's* "domestic bliss," baby!)
- My dad was one of the people who first taught me how to knit. True, my mom did most of the teaching, but then again, she knits more often (although crochet is really her thing).
- My dad's big hobby is cross-stitch. He's really good at it.
- My mom (the crocheter) is even less tied to aprons and mops than I am. In my parents' home, my dad does both the cooking *and* the floors.
- I'm not a Martha Stewart fan.
- My husband enjoys Trading Spaces almost as much as I do. My brother, on the other hand, prefers While You Were Out.
- I am an avid feminist. I detest the sexism that still pervades Western society. For instance, I loathe the fact that 99% of the ads I see for cleaning and cooking products show women doing the work.
- I am anti-conservatism. I am one of the more left-wing people I know.
- All of my children, regardless of gender, will be encouraged to find whatever hobbies make them happy - could be sports, could be domestic stuff, I don't really care. Whatever turns their crank is just fine with me. No matter what, though, they will all know how to keep a home and earn a living, if I have anything to say about it. Those are life skills that everybody should have.

I think it's fantastic that Ms. Jameson really likes shooting hoops. And if she doesn't like crafts and other "home ec" type activities, then you know what? She doesn't have to do them! That's the wonderful thing about the choices that feminism has brought to women. You know what else is wonderful about the choices that feminism has brought to women? The fact that if I don't like shooting hoops, I don't have to!

Ms. Jameson is obviously sporty. I'm artistic. Her atheleticism doesn't automatically label her as (to use another totally unjustified stereotype) a man-hating lesbian. Nor does my artistry automatically mean that I aspire to be Mrs. Cleaver.

Diversity is great. I really respect what Ms. Jameson chooses to do with her spare time (and I will fight tooth and nail for her right to do it). It's a shame that she doesn't respect what I choose to do with mine.

Last evening I told myself firmly that it would be an incredibly stupid thing to stay up until 11 to watch CSI:NY. And I didn't. However, I did stay up until 11 in an attempt to finish MIL's Christmas gift - flipping onto just about every TV channel except the one showing CSI:NY. Lordy, but I'm a moron. And the sweater still isn't finished, either. And DH is getting increasingly annoyed at my lack of sleep.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

There is not much left to do on this project, glory be! I have about 5 more rows to do on the neck, half a seam left on one sleeve, and then it's ready to be washed, blocked, and wrapped. Whee! I even tried it on last night to see how the length would be and it looks terrific (MIL and I are different sizes, but even so, there's a great deal of difference between seeing a sweater lying flat on a surface and seeing it on someone). Since there's so little left to do, I didn't bother taking it to work today. I would only have finished it halfway through the day and be forced to twiddle my thumbs idly on the commute home with no knitting to do - a very inefficient use of knitting time, which is in short supply compared to all there is to be done.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

This is the project I took with me to work today. I broke the yarn so I could wind a skein on my ball winder, since there is no way in the fiery depths of Hell that I am ever going to lug the 8lb cone of yarn for this project onto the subway with me. Unfortunately, the days are now so short (stupid winter) that it is pretty dark during the morning car ride, so I'm restricted to knitting only on the subway leg of the journey to work. However, I did get some rows done. I anticipate more productive knitting during my lunch hour today.

Secret Garden cardigan for niece

I've been thinking more about this project and I think I'm going to start it immediately after Christmas (more like on Christmas day, actually - maybe even on Christmas Eve!) in the hopes of getting it done in time for Madison's birthday at the beginning of January. It will be a helluva rush job, I guarantee that. On the other hand, I have Christmas weekend and the two days of holiday after that to make significant progress. If I can't get it done in time, well, I guess it will be off to Toys R Us for something "boughten". We shall see.

I'm still defining all I do these days as "panic knitting", but at least I'm starting to feel less panicked. This is good. The end of at least one Christmas project is within my grasp.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

Sleeves are done! Shoulders are sewn together! Sleeves are sewn onto the body! I have picked up and knit all the stitches around the neckline! That means that the only things I have left to do are to sew the side and sleeve seams, to knit the neckline, to darn in the ends, and to block the sweater. With any luck, this can all be done by the time I go to bed on Thursday. Wouldn't that be nice! To top all this good news off, now that all the pieces are sewn together, the sweater is looking super-good. Phew.

Also, I've officially "cancelled" the following projects, even though I haven't frogged them yet:

• Patons leggings for cousin's baby #1
• Mendocino cardigan for DD
• Pounder romper for unknown baby

Panic knitting continues. However, I may be finished my MIL's sweater sooner than I thought, which is wonderful to be able to say.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

Slog. Slog. Slog. And now, the payoff to all this slogging - I have fewer than 1.5 rows to go with the sleeve shaping. Considering that each row is now 228 stitches (114 per sleeve), I think this is pretty darn good progress. It also looks very much like there will be no additional rows to knit after the shaping is done - I will probably be able to cast off right after the last shaping row. Yeehaw! After that, sewing can commence.

Panic.

Panic!

PANIC!!!

11 days to finish my Christmas knitting. And not one of the two sweaters I'm making has even one completed sleeve. Fortunately, hubby took pity on me this weekend and spent a lot of time with DD so I could do nothing but panic knit.

Also this weekend, I was able to scan and upload a number of photos of finished projects. You will be able to see them by checking out my list of completed projects. Unfortunately, I haven't installed my graphics software in my new computer yet, so I did no edits whatsoever on the new photos before uploading them to the blog. This means that they are not properly cropped, and I think the Hello software automatically shrank them (badly), so really, none of them are any great shakes to look at. I will have to redo them all, but in the meantime, you can get a general idea of what some of my past projects look like.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

Glory be, I've only got 14 more rows of the sleeve shaping left to do. I'm pretty sure I won't have to knit very much after that (if at all) to reach desired sleeve length, so with any luck I'll be casting off the sleeves and starting to sew this sucker together soon. I will still have the neck and the blocking to do after that, but the end is definitely in sight.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

Most of my focus this weekend was MIL's Christmas sweater, so this project took a back seat. However, I still managed to get a few inches on the first sleeve done. I'm very close to finishing off the underarm gusset. However, this also means that it's getting harder and harder to stretch the sleeve stitches around my circular. I've started doing the Magic Loop thing to compensate, but really the circular isn't long enough for that. I expect things will get better as I decrease even more stitches to taper the sleeve towards the cuff.

So the office holiday party was last night, and I think we all had a blast. I'm fortunate to work in a great department with great people. The entertainment this year was very cool - the organizers brought in a magician, a palm reader and a caricaturist (sp?). I got an excellent caricature (again, sp?) done of me and when he asked me if I had any hobbies, I told him that I knit. So he drew me knitting away - awesome! I'm going to see if I can't scan it and post it here as my profile pic. :)

I did have a weird moment at the party last night. We had our office auction to benefit the United Way, and the item I donated was a custom-order baby sweater. It sold for, so help me, $55, which is unbelievable, but that wasn't the weird moment. The weird moment was when another co-worker came up to me post-auction and asked if I did boy things, too (my child is a girl, and I brought in a bunch of sample pieces I'd done for her to demonstrate to potential bidders that my knitting didn't suck). When I said yes, he said that he and I should talk, the obvious implication being that he wanted to pay me to do something for his 8-month-old son.

A lot of things about this bothered me. Firstly, I'm not sure I even want to do a paid item. I already have tons of other important projects on the go. He can't really pay me what my time is worth - there's a big difference between donating my knitting for charity and charging what's reasonable for my time. Plus, if I used a commercial pattern (which I would probably want to, since I don't see myself inventing a pattern for this project), I would be violating copyright to take money for it. And his attitude was that of someone who just assumed I would knit for money - which is pretty annoying. He didn't actually ask. So I may have to level with him and tell him that I'm not so keen on the idea. Ugh. This is gonna be awkward.

(Ordinarily I provide knitted gifts for all my co-workers who have babies, but he joined the department and had a baby while I was on my year-long maternity leave, so his son doesn't have one of my handknits.)

United Way auction sweater

Well, as I've already mentioned, the auction was held last night, and the winner was my co-worker Rob, who bid an astounding $55. This makes me feel unbelievably guilty, because I'm ALREADY MAKING SOMETHING FOR HIS UNBORN SON! Which of course I haven't told him about, because it's a surprise, but since I always make baby things for expectant parents in the department, he should have known he didn't have to buy a sweater from me. Oh, well. I guess now he'll have two. :) We'll probably hash out what he wants over the next few weeks.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

Sleeves are now 8.5" long. Even got some done on the cab ride home from the office party.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

Managed to get about 30 stitches done this morning. That's it. Woo.

Well, turns out that I can still use Hello from home. Phew! I'm not sure why I can't use it from work - maybe because I'm still logged in at home? Who knows. However, at least I was able to add a few photographs to this blog last night. They're all of completed projects, so you'll have to check out my list of past projects to see them. Shots of in-progress projects will probably not happen until I have my own digital camera.

Secret Garden cardigan for niece

Posting yesterday that there were only 16 days until I had to have my Christmas knitting done really brought it home that I am in a knitting crunch. It is extremely doubtful that this will even get started before Christmas, let alone finished. But perhaps I can make it in time for her birthday a few weeks later? We shall see.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

Sleeves are getting even bigger. I'm guesstimating about 7" long at this point.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

Well, I didn't get any responses to my post on Knitters Review, so I went ahead and implemented one of my solutions. See, the shoulder straps are worked perpendicular to the shoulder seams (parallel to the sleeves) - and the shoulder strap pattern (a 6-row repeat) extends into the sleeve. The shoulder strap instructions clearly state to end with a 5th row on the shoulder straps. Then, on the pick-up-stitches row of the sleeve, the instructions say to work the shoulder strap stitches (as part of the sleeve), keeping continuity of the pattern, which to me means to do the 6th pattern row. But then the instructions say for the next sleeve row to do the shoulder straps using the 6th pattern row - i.e., do row 6 on the shoulder straps twice. This can't be right. And I can't do row 1 of the pattern instead, because then the shoulder strap pattern would be completely out of sync with all the other motifs on the sleeves, which would super-dumb. So, for lack of anyone pointing out that I'm an idiot and the pattern is totally right and here's what you're really supposed to do, :) I instead just skipped working the shoulder strap stitches on the pick-up-stitches row of the sleeve - I slipped them onto the working needle but otherwise did nothing with them. I had to break the yarn and rejoin it after the shoulder strap stitches, but that was a minor concern. Result: my fix allowed the pattern to continue seamlessly, and the shoulder strap doesn't look at all stretched because of the "missing" row. I'm now about five rows into the sleeve and I think the whole thing is going to look extremely cool. The only problem is that the circular needle I'm using could stand to be a little shorter. It's okay now, but the number of stitches around the sleeve is only going to decrease as I finish off the underarm gusset and taper the sleeve towards the cuff. I may need to get a longer 3mm circular so I can do the magic loop with this sucker. We shall see.

"Hello", the application which lets me upload image files to Blogger, isn't letting me in from work. I'm not sure why. I haven't tested yet whether I can still log in from home. But the upshot is that this blog is still photo-less. I will fix it. Really!

I am beginning to have very strong pregnancy suspicions about one of my co-workers. Her cubicle is very close to mine and some of the snatches of phone conversation that have drifted over to my ears have been VERY intriguing. Her first child is about 2 1/2, so it would totally make sense for her to want to be pregnant again at this time. Of course I would never come right out and ask - I shall wait for an announcement if one is forthcoming, but I might set aside some time this weekend to hunt for a nice baby pattern for her, just in case.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

Sleeves are getting bigger.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

AUGH! So I've hit a snag. The instructions for the sleeves appear to be wrong. Which is making me doubt my ability to read knitting instructions, because this is a Starmore pattern we're talking about, and I find it unlikely that there would be an error in her stuff. Basically, the instructions for the sleeves are saying that I should be doing the same pattern row twice - which makes no sense and will look dumb. I haven't been able to find any information on the Internet about this, either through Starmore's website or a Google search. So I've asked on the Knitter's Review forum, and will hopefully get an answer. If not, I can always send an email to Starmore asking about it. However, since this sweater has to be finished in 16 days, and since I didn't actually buy the book from their website, I may be SOL there. Fortunately, there are a few potential solutions to this problem which I can implement if I get really desperate. But crap, what a pain to run into this.

Visited my parents last night - they're just back from a much-needed vacation down south. During this vacation, my mom crocheted DD a really sweet hooded coat - it's long and flares really nicely from chest to hem. Mom made me the same coat when I was little, except that for DD's version, she sewed on buttons that look like buses. Red buses, no less. (DD loves buses. And cars. And trains. And planes. And, well, vehicles of all kinds, really.) We put the coat on her and plunked her in front of a mirror and she loved it.

Anyway, one of the things my mom brought back from some friends they visited was some fun fur yarn - black, two skeins. I can't imagine when the heck I'm going to use it, but hey, stash is stash and maybe I can use it as an accent yarn for a gift scarf or something. I'm not a fan of novelty yarns, but I have seen the occasional tasteful pattern which uses them, so I'm not giving up on the stuff just yet.

Yesterday I discovered the Elsebeth Lavold site, with screen shots of the photographs from her "Designers Series" books. Oh. My. Gawd. I mean, I knew I really liked her stuff - I have the first book in the Designers Series, as well as her Viking Knits collection, but the other stuff that I haven't seen before - wow. I'm starting to get kind of depressed about my own aspirations towards designing. They really don't hold a candle to a lot of Lavold's stuff. Maybe I should give my confidence in my designing a boost and stop looking at Lavold and Starmore, eh?

Lastly, before I give the usual run-down of progress on my projects, I want to promise that photos really are coming. Unfortunately I do not yet own a digital camera, so I'm limited to scanning already-developed photos - and, as you can tell from the total lack of pictures on this blog, I haven't even started doing that yet. But it is coming. Really.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

Sleeves proceed. I'm now on the main pattern and increases have started.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

Haven't had a lot of time to work on this since my last entry. See, I don't think I've mentioned yet that the yarn I'm using is on an 8lb cone, which means it's extremely non-transportable, so I can only work on the thing at home. And since I spent the evening at my parents, the only time I've had to work on it since the last journal entry is this morning. At the moment I'm working on picking up stitches around the armscye.

My Sweaters for Men book arrived! Very exciting! Unfortunately, the arrival of the package was kind of where the excitement ended. The majority of sweaters in this book do nothing for me. Even the nicer ones are nothing to write home about. This makes me rather sad - I was particularly hoping there would be some way-cool patterns in there I could make for DH and my dad. Sniff. Clearly, I must stop acquiring Starmore's older works. After having borrowed her Fair Isle book from the library, and having bought American Portraits and now Sweaters for Men, I think I can say that it's only her latest works which are the really swizz stuff.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

I've decided to do both sleeves at the same time. Why? Because I know me. I hatehatehate going through the entire first sleeve and then having to do the same thing all over again with sleeve #2 - all the feeling of accomplishment over having finished the first sleeve just dies. Doing both sleeves simultaneously doesn't save any time, but at least when it's done, it's done. The added plus is that the gauge will be identical. So right now I'm over half done the borders of both sleeves.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

THE NECK RIBBING IS DONE. Hallelujiah and praise the whatever. We went to bed late last night so I could finish it, but I think it was worth it. All the slogging has paid off. Now I get to start my first sleeve! Yippee!

Elizabeth I sweater for moi

Got a little bit more done on this - the bottom hem curve shaping is now complete and I'm about to start the first dart.

NEW - Secret Garden cardigan for niece

Yes, another new project. Yes, I'm insane. But! This project is only a potential one. If I finish the two Christmas gifts for my MIL and BIL ahead of time, I'll see if I can get this done for my niece for Christmas. I've got a lovely khaki New Zealand wool in the right gauge which should work well with her fair colouring. It's the Alice Starmore "Secret Garden" pattern from The Children's Collection, which is a gorgeous single-button cardigan with lots of lovely texture patterning.

A package is here! A package is here! I have no idea whether it's my Sweaters for Men book or one of the other numerous purchases I've got coming to me, but when Canada Post slips one of those package receipts in my mailbox, joy abounds. I plan to pick it up tonight on the way home.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

The redo of the back is totally complete! I finished the redo of the border and grafted it to the back, then I cut away and frogged the old border. I then frogged the top of the back and redid the shoulder shaping so that the length of the back would match up with the length of the front. Hooray for me. Work has begun on sleeve the first.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

You know, it's a good thing I do this one in front of the television, because if I didn't have that to entertain my brain, the incessant K2, P2 ribbing would probably put me to sleep. I'm not even half finished this stupid neckline - with 2" done, I've still got 2.5" inches to go. Oh, well. I continue to slog through it.

I'm feeling a bit better about my knitting today. I'm still slogging through the same old stuff, but at least with one project I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of boring parts. However, I remain annoyed about the lack of knitting-related mail arriving at my house. Last night we got only one envelope, and it wasn't even for us. Sigh.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

I'm less than four rows away from finishing the redo of the back border. This is terrific - I think I'm picking up some pace here. Soon I'll be able to graft it to the back, and then it's just a matter of ripping out a few rows at the top of the back and redoing the shoulder shaping so that the back is the same length as the front. Then it's onto the sleeves! Wow, you know I must be bored with knitting when I'm getting excited about starting sleeves.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

I probably shouldn't even be making a journal entry for this project today, given how little of the ribbing I did last night!

December?!? December?!? When did this happen! Augh! Moreover, it is snowing today. This sucks.

Catherine Parr sweater for MIL

I'm over halfway done the redo of the back border. Woo. Hoo.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (cream)

I've discovered that 4.5" is a hell of a lot of ribbing. Sigh.

If you can't already tell, I'm a little down about my knitting lately. My two high-priority projects are both big ones, and are both at points where I'm not finding the knitting too interesting. I know the thing to do is forge ahead so I can get past the boring bits, but what with the recuperation from the cold and the tiredness and the weather getting colder and the days getting really short...well, I'm not so fired up these days. Plus I keep checking the mail on the way home and my copy of Sweaters for Men keeps not being in the mailbox! Oh, well - this is just a mini-slump. I'll get over it.