Choices

Well, it turns out that when I elect to be a responsible mother/partner (preparing for the baby, keeping on top of the laundry, cleaning up after myself, etc.), blogging falls by the wayside with a spectacular 'kerplunk'. The knitting keeps going like gangbusters, of course, but the blogging? Not so much gangbusters.

But here I am at last, with a much-overdue blog post.

Elizabethan Jacket for MIL

I continued to move forward like crazy on this project, and finished the body:



This is the kind of project that REALLY attracts attention when you take it out in public. I got many more comments and questions about my knitting with this project than I usually do. And the funny thing is that, more than once, when someone started asking me about the project, someone else sitting nearby turned out to be a knitter and also wanted in on the conversation. It was really cool! I did manage to freak out two older women who wanted to know what the checkerboard strips in the piece were there for, so I explained about steeking. Their reaction was predictable:

"You...wait...you...CUT the knitting?!? You CUT it?!?"

(I haven't met anyone - myself included - who hasn't had this same initial reaction to the concept.)

Once I'd explained the process and assured them that it really did work, they thought it was very cool. I don't think they're going to be trying out the technique for themselves any time soon, :) but they did think it was really nifty, and I felt really happy and educator-ish for introducing them to the technique.

Unfortunately, after I started the first sleeve, the whole project screeched to a grinding halt. The problem? I don't have a circular 3mm needle short enough to be able to do the sleeves without using the magic loop technique. Unfortunately, at the same time, my 3mm circular isn't long enough to do the magic loop comfortably or easily. So, although I tried very hard to keep going on the sleeve, I just wasn't doing well, and consequently did not enjoy the knitting at all.

So I stopped. And then I ordered a couple of 3mm DPN sets from Yarn Forward.

And...uh...some sock yarn, too. [Embarrassed coughing] Well...what else was I supposed to do? I'm almost completely out of sock yarn, and ordering it along with the needles made the shipping costs way more efficient.

Don't judge me.

Anyway, the package arrived yesterday (minus one of the sock yarn colours, which is on back order), so I expect I'll get back to this project pretty soon. (Stay tuned for a future blog entry to see pictures of the 'haul'.)

Peacock Feathers Shawl for Mom

Once work started to stall on the Elizabeth Jacket project, I turned my attention to this. It's getting bigger and bigger at a very nice pace, although I'm now at that stage where each row takes a really long time and the rows just keep getting longer and longer without getting any more exciting. In fact, yesterday I discovered some errors I made several rows previously and had to waste a lot of time doing intricate surgery to fix it all. (Grr.) I find this to be even more of a PITA than slogging away on endless, increasing rows (not to mention rather difficult when you're simultaneously trying to follow the plot of an episode of CSI Miami or 24). However, the good news is that it looks really good:


(this was taken on Saturday - it's noticeably further along now)

The other good news is that I'm halfway done (in terms of the number of rows) the last chart before the edging.

Baby leggings for Eleven

This saw a teeny bit of progress last Monday at my parents' house, since the Elizabethan Jacket was stalled and since I couldn't work on my mom's shawl in front of her.

Dolly clothes for Shoshana

One of my best friends had a birthday party for her daughter on Saturday (she's now 3). We received the invitation about two weeks ahead of time, so about week before the party I started thinking about what would be a good present to bring. I wanted it to be a really excellent present, since this is a very special friend and Shoshana (the birthday girl) is a really delightful kid.

And I thought...hey...she has a super-favourite doll - who goes by the singularly unique name of "Dolly" - that she carries around all the time. What if I knitted some nice outfits for Dolly? That would be really special!

Thus, on Wednesday evening, I found myself poring through my little Patons booklet of doll pattterns and diving through my stash of acrylic sportweight yarn. I was really fretful that I wouldn't get even one dress done on time, but I needn't have worried. By the time I went to bed on Wednesday (at a fairly reasonable hour, I might add), the skirt of the first dress was done. I finished knitting it on Thursday, and by Friday night, I'd done all the finishing AND had completed a shirt-and-jumper set, too. I was really pleased with how it all turned out, especially since I used up many annoyingly small balls of yarn almost completely:


front of dress


back of dress (are those buttons not the PERFECT match...and the best part is that they came from my button stash!)


shirt-and-jumper outfit


front of shirt and jumper


back of shirt and jumper


all the clothes, with my hand included for scale so you can plotz at how small and cute everything is

Dress socks for DH

Wrapped these up and gave 'em to my husband for our anniversary on Saturday - he LOVED them! He said they were really cosy and comfy and he liked how the ribbing extended into the feet. He's so great to knit for.