Love/hate relationship

So the frilly scarf pattern with that mesh yarn I posted about last time is an incredible pain in the, er, neck. The knitting happens only in the mesh holes at one side of the yarn. Right off the bat, that means that I can't knit continentally, or in fact use any yarn-holding method which wends its way through or around your fingers, which slows things right down. Then you also need to be very precise about getting the right hole over the needle to pull through to make the next stitch, which slows things down even more. For someone like me, who takes less than a second to work a stitch, this snail-like slowness (three to five seconds per stitch) is very frustrating. True, each row is only six to ten stitches wide (depending on the size of scarf you want to make), so the scarf still gets done in fairly decent time, but the doing remains frustrating.

But I pushed through.

Yeah, it looks kind of ridiculous lying there like that - like a Shai-Hulud all dressed up for a snazzy night of disco.

But when you actually wear it?

ZOMG, it is faaaaabulous!!!

So much so that my husband has had to speak sternly to me about my habit of prancing around the house wearing it when it is destined to be someone else's present. Thus, when I finally made it back out to my LYS on Saturday, I fell down hard and bought three more balls.

For DD1:

For DD2:

For (probably) me:

(I actually wanted the same gorgeous red/purple colourway that DD2 said was her favourite, but there was only one ball of it left.)

I also fell down some more and got yarn to make (at her request) Pemberley Slippers for DD1: (pattern from Jane Austen Knits 2011)

And enough yarn to make DD3 a Parfait cardigan: (my own pattern; see left sidebar)

(You can't tell, but it's cream and peachy-pink and pale lavender.)

Already I have started DD2's scarf:

And DD1's slippers:

And DD1's morning teacher's gift:

It's going to be a felted mini-bag. I'm using some leftover New Zealand wool that I picked up years ago off of eBay and which I used to make an Elizabethan Jacket for my MIL; and some leftover Briggs & Little Regal that I used three years ago to make an anniversary scarf for my dad. The two colours are very similar but different enough that you can tell they're different. I think they look very handsome put together. I'd prefer to have them striping all the way down the bag, but I'm concerned that the two yarns might felt at different rates and create a weird-looking effect. Whereas if the two yarns are one on top of each other, it won't be so horrible and I can always do some spot-felting afterwards to even things up.

Prepping for baby

I'm trying to get a lot of stuff on the big to-do list checked off this weekend. On the knitting front, I'm pleased to say that I have finished two of the three midwife gifts. (And the third just has to be blocked.)

For my backup midwife:

For one of my primary midwives:

Mind you, I'd rather have DD2's new room finished so I could start getting the nursery ready, but it's better than nothing. At least our bedroom is tidy, the pool is set up, and the equipment to allow us to hook up a hose to a sink faucet has been found. It's a start.

Holiday

It's been a while since I posted. That's because I was here:

The family and I went on our first real vacation in ten years. Yep, ten years. (The last time was my honeymoon in Cozumel.) We had an absolute blast.

Naturally, knitting occurred while we were there. In fact, the night before leaving, I had all the projects I wanted to take all nicely laid out with all the yarn, needles and pattern printouts I would need.

DH said, "Wow. That's a lot of knitting."

I said, in all sincerity, "Yeah...I don't know if it'll be enough!"

He collapsed into laughter.

Turns out that he was right - I didn't even get to about half the projects I brought. But I strongly feel that it is very important to take more knitting than you'll realistically need as insurance...you know, if the car breaks down during the trip, or if it rains the whole time you're there, or something else happens which will add more hours of knitting time to your holiday.

Anyway, none of those things actually happened, but I still accomplished a lot.

Firstly, I got these socks done in the first 24 hours. They're for DD2. The pattern is First Grade by Marina Hayes, from Petite Purls.

Just completed:


On the recipient's feet:

Yarn is "On Your Toes Bamboo" from S.R. Kertzer, which I bought from my LYS right before the trip for this express purpose.

Most of the rest of the week was devoted to making these next socks for DD1. It would have taken a lot less time, but I ended up doing a lot of frogging, firstly because I got started and realised they were going to be way too huge, and secondly because I was trying to make the second sock's self-striping match up perfectly with the first sock, which didn't go too well because my gauge down the leg of the second sock was way off from that of the first sock. After ripping back at least twice, I gave up and just kept going because DD1 swore up and down that she didn't give a hoot whether the two socks were exactly the same. (Isn't she nice?)

The pattern is Outside In by Janice Kang, from Knitty.

Just completed:


On the recipient's feet:

Yarn is "On Your Toes 4 Ply with Aloe Vera" from S.R. Kertzer, again bought right before the vacation.

After the socks were done, I did do a little bit of work on the frilly scarf I'm making as a midwife gift, but then at one point, I was looking at the leftover yarns from the socks, and suddenly got really, really inspired with a pattern idea. And we all know how pathetic I am at resisting inspirations for pattern ideas. So the scarf got dumped pretty fast in favour of a lot of charting and swatching and instructions-writing. I'm planning to submit it somewhere, so I'm not going to say any more than that just yet, but I am pretty excited about it, so stay tuned!

The new pattern idea did have to be put on hold, though, because I really do need to finish the sample piece with the yarn support that I wrote about last time. I got back into it today and it is still coming along nicely. Hooray.

Finally, for anyone wondering about the baby, I am at 36 weeks today. I believe it "dropped" over the holiday, so I am feeling more uncomfortable and am starting to get very panicked about all the things I have to do in preparation for the baby as compared to how much time I probably have left before it actually gets here. I suspect knitting (and blogging about knitting) may have to fall by the wayside for a bit. You have been warned!

When all else fails, ignore the problem

I haven't quite decided what to do about my Cascade/Brambles Beret dilemma, but I have consoled myself by casting on for a few more things.

Frilly Scarf for Tama

This is a gift for one of my primary midwives, and it's coming along quite well. I'm guessing I'm just a few repeats away from being to cast off the main section and start on the frilly edges:

Secret Sample

Yarn support for an acceptance has arrived! Yay! I'm not going to reveal what the yarn support is or what the project is, but suffice to say that the yarn is yummy-soft, the initial write-up and charting have been done, and the project has been cast on and is coming along nicely.

Motoring along at a good pace

Lots of good knitting progress going on these days.

Maria Sings for DD1

Finished!

from the front:


from the back:
being worn, from the front:


being worn, from the back: (the peace signs were totally her idea)


endearing photoshoot outtake:

Parfait for Shoshana

Went to my LYS this weekend and picked up the yarn, and got started:

Midwife gifts

I think I have made some decisions.

For the woman I think is going to end up being the primary midwife present at the birth, I will be making Frilly Scarf by Tove Backhammar, out of some of my light brown Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed from the stash, which I picked up at a super sale a few years back from The Studio's online store (which is staffed by unbelievably nice people, if my shopping experience was any indication):



For the other member of my primary care team, I will be making the Colonnade Shawl by Stephen West, out of some more yarn picked up at that same sale from The Studio, this time Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran:


(the colour there is unfortunately not too accurate - it's actually lighter and less pinkish)

And finally, whoever shows up as my backup midwife at the birth will be receiving the Brambles Beret by Amanda Muscha, in I-don't-know-what-still-need-to-figure-that-one-out. I'll probably go stash-diving once again because I'm getting a real "wow, I'm being so responsible" kick these days about working through the stash.