Overlooking the obvious

In my last blog post, I whined about having to make another Wheelie to replace the one that is now toast. Carrie K pointed out the devastatingly obvious truth that maybe I should go out and buy one instead of wasting precious knitting time on a project which will just get destroyed over the next year of use.

Obviously I am a dork for not thinking of that already, but now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen such a thing at my local similar-to-Target-since-we-don't-have-them-in-Canada store. Mind you, it's not like I'm ever in the auto section, so what do I know. But whenever I've seen them on other people's cars, aren't they all fuzzy? I think that's a silly look. Plus, wouldn't the fuzzy stuff be synthetic, and therefore just as likely to be hot in the hands on a sunny day as the steering wheel itself? By contrast, the cotton of the Wheelie always kept things very bearable. But again, what do I know from steering wheel covers. I gues I'll ask DH if he'll do a reconnaissance mission or something.

(If, by chance, you're lamenting the stereotypical gender roles we seem to have in my house - i.e. the man does the car stuff - be assured that we've divvied up the labour along the lines of interest and ability so it's pretty eclectic when you look at the entire roster of chore assignment as a whole. DH also, for example, does all the cooking, to my eternal delight.)

At any rate, back to catching you all up on the knitting I've been doing since the beginning of spring. (Yep, there's still more to come...but I'm getting close to being done.)

Lauren's Blue Blanket

When last we saw this project, I was desperately trying to get a really cool cable idea to work. I still haven't gotten it to work, but I have started considering the possibility of buying a pattern and figuring out the cable design later. What I've got my eye on is Penrose from Woolly Thoughts. Not only is it stunning, timeless, and feminine-without-being-so-girly-that-Lauren-might-outgrow-it...but one British pound will be donated to Kidney Research UK for each copy sold. My brother has no renal function and is on kidney dialysis, so this is a HUGE extra whammy to me.

A number of things are tripping me up, though. Firstly, the pattern calls for three colours and I only have two. But that's minor; I could totally still make the pattern work with two colours. However, the two colours in question are so close that in many lights I'm sure you couldn't even tell the difference. So I'm probably going to have to rely on the direction each piece is knitted in to show off the pattern...and the colours are dark blue, so the "grain" is going to be hardly visible.

The second problem is that I don't know if I have enough yardage.

The third problem is that I don't know if it's going to turn out large enough.

And the fourth problem is that it is constructed by knitting a gazillion small pieces which then need to be sewn together. I mean, I know my blog is called "WIP Insanity", but that's ridiculous.

The sad part? I still really, really want to make it.

Woolly Thoughts wrote back to me when I expressed nervousness about yardage and finished size (right away, too, they're lovely and prompt), and said:

"You can use just about any yarn and it will still work. The booklet tells you how to adjust for your yarn and to get the size you want. Most of our patterns are written this way so there should be absolutely no problem. I have such confidence in it that if you buy the pattern and decide you can’t make it work I will send you something else instead."

What do you think? Am I totally crazy for considering this?

Father's Day socks for DH

I did indeed have the time to finish these. This is the first pair I've ever completed with this pattern, and I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that I haven't finished designing it yet. (Poo.) There are bits about the heel that I think could be improved upon, and there's one bit at the bottom of the foot that results in a little hole, which obviously needs to be corrected. So I'm not ready to send a proposal off to Knitty yet like I hoped I would be. But all in all, I think the general design is great and I'm happy with that part. Also, DH loved the socks and was thrilled to receive a pair in "the new design". Unfortunately, he then proceeded to start cutting them to ribbons by wearing ratty old shoes with them. The backs of the socks' ankles are now all fuzzy and awful. Sob.

In fairness, this isn't really his fault. He had no idea the shoes were that destructive. And I'm a loss less POed than I would have been if the pattern was working perfectly. I'll just have to make him another pair, that's all, with (hopefully) improvements to the pattern!

Really Christmas socks for Dad

When last we saw this project (in August), I had totally finished the socks, but thought I needed to cut open each foot, add a row or two, then graft 'em back together before they would fit properly. This was based on DH trying the socks on, which is a good test, since he and my dad seem to have the same size feet. They were tight on DH, so I figured I had to alter them. Then I accidentally washed them and put them in the dryer because they had somehow ended up in the laundry after DH tried them on. So I asked him to try them on again, and they hadn't shrunk...but then I had to launder them again because DH revealed he was having a bit of athlete's foot at the time. (Of course he only told me this AFTER he tried on the socks, sigh.)

After they got washed a second time, the very thought of doing the surgery to increase the length of both feet and washing the socks AGAIN just wore me out, so I dumped them on my bureau and didn't think of them again for a long time. Then, as we were getting ready to go to my parents' place on Father's Day (this past Sunday), I realised that I had run out of time to buy my dad a gift (I had planned on chocolates, his only sinful vice as far as I can tell) and the only thing in the house was that too-short pair of black socks. Great. I wrapped them up and gave them to him, and he seemed to really like them, but I expressed concern that they were too short.

He tried them on.

They fit perfectly.

I win! :)

(Note to self for future reference: DH's feet are almost the same size as my dad's...just a tiiiny bit bigger.)

Ice Queen for DD1's teacher

Tomorrow is the last day of school, so this has to head off with DD1 on the bus in the morning. Happily, I finished the knitting on Sunday afternoon at my parents' place. It looks great. Stupidly, though, I forgot to block it and weave in the two ends last night like I meant to, but I should be able to do that tonight and have it dry by the time I wake up. It is lace, after all. Then I'll do a panic wrap in the morning before I head off for work. And if DD1 forgets to bring it with her, there will be hell to pay. ;)

Surprise!

So about a week or so ago, I went to an SnB at my LYS, to find that they're now selling the Baby Surprise Jacket [scroll way down] pattern! Now, I have been coveting this for a good long while, and even went to purchase it online at one point, but wimped out when I realised that shipping was almost 80% of the cost of the pattern itself. But suddenly, with the pattern right there at the shop ready to come home with me, I snapped that sucker up so fast that it was in my bag practically before everybody else had a chance to say hello to me. :) I can't tell you how badly I want to start making a jacket with it, but I'm going to have to hold off until I put a bunch of my deadline-driven projects to bed.

And suddenly, I have another deadline-driven project, because one of my extremely dear friends (whom we haven't seen in a while) called me a few weeks ago and revealed that he and his wife are expecting in the new year. SQUEE!!! So I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to make, but as I say, he's a dear friend, and she is a serious knitter, so whatever it is, it's going to be good. I may design something especially.

I was also delightfully surprised by the fact that my LYS is having a sale this week to celebrate the one-year anniversary of moving in to their new location. So I took advantage.

That's one skein of On Your Toes Bamboo sock yarn, a bunch of Fabel sock yarn, and five skeins of Classic 8 Ply from Naturally Magic Garden. The picture shows only three skeins of the Fabel, but I actually bought four, all self-patterning: two of a glorious earthy orange-reddish theme for an adult-size pair of socks (probably for me), one of a really fun blue/green/purple colourway for something for my baby girl (possibly socks, possibly something else), and the last one:

Christmas socks for DD1

This yarn is deliciously cute and fun, it's perfect for my older girl, and I love it like crazy:



I'm using my own sock pattern and am getting close to finishing the first sock already. The yarn is just so much damn fun, I love it.

Ragna sweater for brother

This is what I've really been pulling out all the stops for in the last two weeks. I finished the front:



And I'm very close to finishing the back:



The needle is angled in that shot because I'm already working on the neck shaping on one side.

Of course, it wouldn't be a true large Christmas knitting gift without some serious problems threatening to rear ugly heads. Firstly, I'm almost down to my last four balls of yarn and I haven't even started the sleeves. This makes me extremely nervous. Even more nervous-making is that I'm not sure I've truly finished the front because the length looks a little short. And secondly - I have completely lost the notes I made on how long the sleeves are supposed to be. Sigh.

But the good news is that I'm no longer panicked by how little I've done vs. how soon Christmas is coming - I think that as long as the yarn supply holds out, I'll be fine to make the deadline.

Lauren's blanket

Although I don't really have to worry about this until after Christmas, I really wanted to at least decide on the yarn and general idea of what I was going to do as soon as possible because, well, I'm just obsessive that way, I guess. :) I'd had my eye on some Northern Worsted acrylic in my LYS which is a gorgeous dark yet vibrant blue. Unfortunately, there were only five skeins of it, which was not enough to make a blanket, so I had to combine it with something. After much rummaging throughout the store (seriously, I combed the whole damn store), I found exactly ten 50g balls of Red Heart Comfort in a really nice navy, which - when combined with the Northern Worsted - gives me 1000g in total, which should work very nicely.

So now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with it. I've got a really nice cable motif that I worked out at some point in the past, but at the moment I'm having a hard time getting the increases I need for the blanket to work with it. I've lost track of how many times I've started it up. This is the latest attempt:



The good news is that the blue of the Northern Worsted doubled with the blue of the Red Heart Comfort creates a dazzlingly beautiful result - a deep, rich, velvety blue which the above photo doesn't do justice to. If only I could get my pattern idea to actually work, all would be well!