Après nous, le déluge

So I finished all the Christmas knitting well ahead of time. Here is the last of it - DD3's 'Secret Garden' cardigan:

front:




back:




DD3 liked it:




because she can play peek-a-boo with it:

I did indeed run out of the Stroll sock yarn that I was using doubled up for the vast majority of it, and then continued work with the Swish worsted. You absolutely cannot tell. I also bought a very snazzy ceramic button from Lettuce Knit, which got the stamp of approval at the holiday party from several other knitters who weighed in when I asked for button opinions.

So, you know when you've been really good and responsible at something for a while (e.g. food diet, yarn diet, keeping on top of the housework, sticking exclusively to Christmas knitting, etc.) and then you suddenly let yourself go completely (e.g. binging, massive yarn purchases, letting the house get disgusting, coming down with a massive case of Startitis)?

Yes. This is what has been happening to me. I finished my Nennir cowl - I decided to do only two repeats of the cable charts instead of three, because at two repeats it was already as wide as I wanted it. No pictures yet, but it's gorgeous and I love it and I wore it home from work yesterday after finishing it in the afternoon.

I also got started on a shawl that I have loved ever since it came out in Knitty First Fall 2012 - Bauble. I'm using some of the 24 balls of 'barn red' Stroll sock yarn in my possession, and it looks great so far:

I got some sock yarn from DD2 for Christmas, in her favourite colour:

So I'm using it to try and solve her perpetual sock shortage problem:

I think I'm actually going to be able to get three pairs out of it when all is said and done.

And lastly, DD2 came home yesterday complaining that her gloves weren't warm enough. Okay:

Just one more to do. She should have new mittens by Monday. The incredibly adorable pattern is Piggy Mittens by SpillyJane. I am enchanted.

Next time, I'll talk more about what I got for Christmas, and cover more reactions to the knitting gifts I gave!

The swelling of the ego

So big news right off the bat - I have actually finished my 12-in-12 challenge! 42 days early! (The significance of that number is not lost on me.) And in fact, I went beyond the goal, because I have actually designed and submitted thirteen new designs this year, and am even working on another one. Plus, I recently submitted another design on top of that which I'm not counting towards the challenge because I did all the design work a few years ago and just hadn't submitted it anywhere until now. So I am feeling very heady with productivity and designerishness right now.

Another thing that's inflating my head is one of the two designs I sent off yesterday - the mittens I made for our daycare provider. For several days after I finished them, every time I looked at them, I was struck anew with how gorgeous they are and what a genius I must be to have invented them. Fortunately, this incredible level of conceit (which feels disturbingly un-Canadian) is starting to wear off a bit, otherwise I would be at real risk of landing myself in the hospital with a wrenched spine caused by excessive patting of myself on the back.

The good knitting news continues to roll, however - I'm pleased to say that I continue to make headway on the holiday gift knitting. As already mentioned, I finished the gift for our daycare provider, and I also finished the socks for my older BIL:

(horrible photo, unfortunately, but these days there isn't a lot of sunlight time at home during which to take shots)

That brings my total count to nine completed gifts (although I mustn't forget to steam my dad's hat), out of thirteen. And the tenth - the second pair of socks for my mom - should be finished shortly. Here they are a few days ago:

They're much farther ahead now - the second sock has a completed heel and foot, and I've begun the leg.

Once those are done, I will have only my brother's hat (sadly, I have yet to hear back from him about his head measurement), DD3's cardigan, and DH's sweater. These three projects are all tricky in their own way, particularly the cardigan and the sweater, which face the very real possibility of yarn insufficiency. So I'm definitely not out of the woods yet. But things are looking very decent, I think. I have certainly not given up hope of having time to make a few more things, so that DD1 and DD2 will also have handknits under the tree on Christmas morning.

Gifts a-plenty

So I've revised my holiday knitted gifts list down to a more reasonable level (I think), and started working on it in earnest. (Family members, LOOK AWAY NOW PLEASE!)

1. Morgan hat for Dad
   
   When last we left this, I had realised it came out much too small to fit my dad, and that I would have to frog it all and restart. I still have to do this.
   
   
   
2. Two pairs of socks for Mom
   
   One pair, as I've already mentioned, is done. And I've started the other one:
   
   
   
   
   
   Although if I get crunched for time, I'll drop the idea of making a second pair.
   
   
   
3. Hat for my brother
   
   This is a complete non-surprise for him, because he has a very specific kind of hat in mind that he wants me to knock off, and we've been discussing the details extensively. I haven't started it, but I have charted the essential pattern and found the yarn for it, which is an excellent start. Next task: find out his head circumference.
   
   
   
4. Durrow sweater for DH
   
   Haven't touched this in a while. Still hoping I won't run out of yarn on the sleeves.
   
   
   
5. Secret Garden cardigan for DD3
   
   When last we left this, I was totally stalling on continuing because I was convinced I was going to run out of yarn before finishing the collar and button bands. That's still where I am, but I am at least resolved to buy some more yarn (different yarn, same colour, which should be fine since it's probably just the button bands I'd need to use it for) if I do indeed run out, rather than ripping the whole thing back and starting again.
   
   
   
6. Socks for BIL#1
   
   Done!
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Socks for BIL#2
   
   Started!
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Mittens for our daycare provider
   
   The nice thing about this gift is that I can give it to her as a New Year's present, as she doesn't celebrate Christmas. One extra week to work on it, ha ha! But I have found some spectacular motif inspiration for this, and am really looking forward to designing it. The trick will be to resist doing that until I've made better headway on the projects which all have an earlier deadline.
   
   
   
9. Cowl for DD1's teacher
   
   Done! No pictures though, sorry. I'm hoping a magazine will like the design.
   
   
   
10. Mittens for DD2's teacher
    
    Yarn has been purchased, motifs have been decided upon, and right now I'm just figuring out gauge. I originally started with 4mm needles but I have a bad feeling that's going to make pretty breezy mittens, so I'm going to try seeing what gauge I get with 3.5mms instad.
    
    
    
11. Fingerless mitts for DD1's dance teacher
    
    Anne Neumann's Musica pattern has been in my queue for ages, and I thought it would work really nicely for this purpose. DD1 concurs, although she's asked if maybe I could replace the bass and treble clefs with pointe shoes, or some other ballet-related motif? So I'm going to try.
    

You'll notice I've dropped the projects for DD1 and DD2 - that's in the interest of my own sanity. I make them stuff throughout the year, so this is not a tragedy. And hey, if I finish everything with time to spare, I'll cast on for them. Although admittedly, if I have time to spare, I'm much more likely to cast on something for my niece instead.

I also picked up a new piece of gift knitting that needs to be finished for this weekend, which is the grand 10th anniversary celebration of one of my bestest friends. :) It's a challah cover:

It may look like I'm doing well there, but even after that lace edging gets finished, it has to be sewn to the main section; then there's a cable to be knitted that has to be sewn over the edging seam; and then there's embroidery. Things could get tight.

Thanks, guys!

In response to my concern that I might not have enough yarn for DD2's Mythos cardigan, Keja wrote and offered her leftovers of the same colourway. That's so nice of you, thank you! :) But fortunately, I don't need it:

(if you're wondering why she looks like she doesn't have legs, she does - she's just wearing light pink tights which kind of vanish against the white cabinetry)

Made it by the skin of my teeth - I had a little bit left over, maybe a couple of yards. I then realised later, after I'd thrown all the end bits out, that I'd forgotten to sew the garter stitch selvedge. But DD2 and I decided that it didn't matter, the cardigan looked fine without that:

Here it is lying flat:

Now I just need to find her some kind of pretty pin to close it up with. It'll be great for the fall when she goes back to school!

I also want to thank everyone who commented offering suggestions as to how I could finish off DD3's Secret Garden cardigan without having to rip everything back. I am still in the denial/avoidance phase, so I haven't given any of the suggestions serious thought yet, but when I get over myself and get back to the project, I definitely will!

An update

Scads of knitting has been getting done, I just haven't been blogging about it. Likely because I've been too busy knitting. :)

DH's Durrow sweater has seen a lot of love:

DD3's Secret Garden cardigan is almost all done:

If there seem to be a lot of strands of yarn in that shot, it's because I have never actually broken any yarn on this project. Everything's attached to everything else. Why? Because I strongly suspected that I would be yardage-ly challenged and would have to frog some stuff. And indeed, I only have this much yarn left to do the collar and button bands:

Pretty sure I'm screwed.

I've been procrastinating on doing anything further because I'm kind of despondent about it. I don't actually want to discover that I'm right about not having enough yarn, even though I'm quite sure I don't have enough yarn. And if/when I do discover that I don't have enough yarn, I haven't come up with a decent plan about how to fix it. I still want to make this cardigan with this yarn in this size, doubled; and I don't want to have to knit it allllll over again. So I'm stalling.

I got all the knitting and weaving in of ends done on DD2's cardigan:

We also chose the buttons. I just have to sew them on and then I'm done!

I finished DD1's Pemberley Slippers.

top view:




side view:




pretend-there's-someone-in-'em view:

And I've been working like heck on a new design. This one is a labour of love, for a little boy who recently lost his sister. (He also has two baby brothers who died in infancy. I cannot begin to imagine the pain the parents carry around daily.) I can't bring her back, but I feel the need to do something, so naturally, I am knitting. The design involves a metric s**t-ton of math and I've been spending a lot of quality time with paper, pencils, a calculator and spreadsheets. But I've finally made good headway on The Final Product, and am really really pleased so far. I have a pretty idea of where I'm going to submit this, but I don't think the issue will open up for a while, so we'll see how it goes.

DD1, in the throes of a superhero obsession, and having designed her own superhero outfit for her "Whippy Woman" character, has discovered that putting pink socks on your hands doesn't really work very well and has asked me to knit her some pink gloves. I am actually considering doing it. I just need the yarn, since, me being me, I have almost nothing pink in the stash.

All of this, however, will shortly be put on hold because I have two sample items to knit. :) Can't wait to write more details about them, but that will have to wait!

I spent more money

Shortly after my Knit Picks purchase, I discovered that Interweave was having a "hurt book sale". I went and immediately found a slew of books I wanted, but scaled back significantly on my initial add-to-cart-fest so that my next credit card bill wouldn't be too horrific. These three ended up being my favourites:

I'm looking forward to poring over them in detail. DH is also keenly interested in reading all of them!

Then later, I caved even further and bought the complete 2007 Interweave Knits collection (including the gift issue) in downloadable format. A lot of patterns that I really liked were published in 2007 and I've been wanting the collection for some time, so to have it 40% off was fairly irresistible, not to mention a damn good deal.

Work on various projects proceeds apace, although I'm still not caught up with all the photography on it. I've finished the back of DH's Durrow sweater and have started on the front, and am just a few yards away from finishing off yarn ball #4. On DD3's Secret Garden cardigan, I've finished the main body and have started the sleeves. I'm doing them simultaneously to avoid Second Sleeve Despondence. So far, I've finished the increasing and am just working straight until it's time to start decreasing for the shoulder curves. Did I mention the yarn was lovely and squishy? Yes? Well, it's worth mentioning again. So squishy.

I did, however, finish DD1's turquoise frilly scarf and have the pictures to prove it:

I'm also still on such a high from that felted purse I made for DD1's morning teacher that I'm thinking of making up a bunch of felted bag patterns and writing an e-book out of them. Most of my mental energy is now being dedicated to telling myself that I should take on just one challenge at a time. This year is the year of twelve submissions. Then I can felt bags. Yes. (I'm not sure which voice is winning so far.)

I spent money

So Knit Picks was having a sale. This is generally a dangerous thing. And I succumbed. First of all, don't tell my husband, but the sale meant that I could finally afford enough yarn to make him Durrow for Christmas. They had Wool of the Andes in the Hyacinth colour on sale for $1.87 per 50g ball.

I got started almost immediately (although it's a bit longer than this now):

I also picked up some Stroll sock yarn in a few colours. Green Tea Heather caught my eye because it is a fabulous colour for DD3. I picked up six balls in the hope of making her a pretty cardigan:

It's really lovely stuff. I then spent ages on Ravelry's pattern search trying to find The Perfect Pattern to make with it. Finally, I came across a pattern from Alice Starmore's "Children's Collection" book that I'd already made for my niece some years ago, Secret Garden, and realised that that was exactly what I wanted to make with it. However, there were two problems. Firstly, the smallest size to make it in is 2-3 years, which is a little far off; I'd rather make something in the 1-2 year range. Secondly, it called for worsted weight (on 4.5mm needles). So I wondered, what would happen if I doubled the yarn and went down a needle size to 4mm?

This is what happened. Actually, it's even farther along now, I've finished the two front yokes and am working up the back. I cannot describe how deliciously squishy this is when you double up the yarn. And it is coming out a bit smaller than the 2-3 year size, which is what I want. I loves it.

I also got two balls of the sock yarn in the Caper colourway, which looked rather brown on my screen when I ordered it, but is instead olive:

This immediately rules it out as a yarn for my dad - if I give him socks made out of this, he'll start having flashbacks to World War II, when as a child, he had to knit socks for the soldiers out of horrible greasy olive wool. (He hated every moment of this. Not because he hated knitting, but because he hated the yarn.) So I might do it up for my brother or one of my brothers-in-law. Although I've been mulling over combining it with black and whatever leftover Green Tea Heather there may be from DD3's Secret Garden cardigan and doing up an argyle pattern with it, or something. That might look very nice indeed.

Finally, I bought four balls of Barn Red. It looked a little too vibrant and orange-ish for my taste on my screen, but I bought it anyway, and when it actually showed up, it turns out that the colour is the perfect red for me. I adore it and wish I had bought much more:

I just don't know what I'm going to make out of it. I'd love to make Jeanie, but I'd need two more balls. So it might just end up being two pairs of socks. I really want to make the Jane Bennet Socks from the latest issue of Jane Austen Knits, but I think they would look very wrong in bright red, so I'll have to find a different colour for that.

And speaking of new yarn, I finished off DD2's frilly scarf:

I still need to take a picture of DD2 actually wearing it, though.

I also started the frilly scarf for DD1 (no pictures yet) and finished off her first Pemberley Slipper (again, no pictures yet). But at least I do have pictures of the completed mini-bag I made for her morning teacher:

Didn't it come out bee-yew-tifully? I think it is fantastic and I'm having a hard time getting over myself about it. :) I decided to add a little button tab there, done in the same yarn as I used on the bottom of the bag. This serves to a) make the bag a little snazzier, and b) make the colour difference of the two reds look totally intentional. Word to the wise, though, for anyone wanting to felt anything as small as that button tab: don't bother using a washing machine, it will do nothing. Hand felt it instead.

Next time I post, I'll hopefully have more up-to-date progress photos and (more excitingly) another knitting-related order in my hot little hands!