Finished Object?

 I just finished seaming the sleeves on this shrug, and it is clearly too small for me. I bought 3 balls of the yarn, following directions on the ball band (label), but ran out long before I finished the second sleeve. So I ripped it out and started over again, making the sleeves shorter. I had just enough to finish, but nothing left for the collar/trim. I think it looks ok, but it does feel tight. I had looked online for more of the same yarn but it's discontinued (I bought it maybe even before Valerie was born...)

Anyway, I think this one is going into the giveaway pile... know anyone with short arms??

Much better

With the tassels, no?

making things

So I recently finished this scarf, if by "finished" you mean the bare minimum without the final flourish of the tassels that are optional in the pattern. It's from One-Skein Wonders, which has a feature I really like - patterns are organized by yarn weight so it's easy to find something to knit with the yarn that you have. 

untied

tied

I've had one unanimous reaction to it so far: "Is it supposed to twist like that?"

Yes. Yes, it is:

pattern in book

(See the tassels?) Clearly, I used a totally different yarn than the pattern in the book. This is actually yarn from New Zealand that Dot brought me years and years ago, and I made myself a hoodie pullover with a kangaroo front pocket with most of it, and a sweater and a little poncho for Val (see photo below) but I had this one skein left.... Well even after making this scarf I had enough to make a baby hat so I made one, it's more like a hood, and will go to our accountant's daughter. So our accountant will get the scarf :-) I bet everyone will ask her if it's supposed to twist like that...

This yarn has gone a long way!

December 2008

October 2009

Knitting News

I just finished this cowl! I had exactly one skein of this yarn, and I have a book called One-Skein Wonders, so although I didn't use a pattern from the book I did get some ideas/inspiration. It's a basic K1P1 rib, with a garter stitch edge. I'm kind of into wearing purple and red together these days - and I'm wearing earrings again after about a decade of not being able to for some reason (really irritated my piercings, but fine now... go figure).

April has been a wonderfully rainy month after months of drought, and it's been cooler too. Hence, wearing more hand-knits.

Today I'm wearing these socks:

More Socks

I've been on a super sock tear, here are a glimpse of my last 2 pairs. I've knit 8 pairs since September, a little more than a pair a month. This isn't really that impressive except that my average early this decade was a pair a year. I knit the multicolored-with-yellow pair (at left above) in a week!

Unfortunately I'm now a little bit stuck in swatch-land, trying to decide what to make next.

Which kind of describes my state of mind in general at the moment. Trying a little of this and that, meditating on the possibilities, but nothing has quite come together yet. Except for socks. Lots of socks!

Infinity Scarf

Warning: This post is pretty much 100% technical knitting discussion. Non-knitters beware!

So this isn't a super great picture, using photo booth instead of my camera, but faster for uploading. This is my first infinity scarf! I finally got what I wanted on my FOURTH try. It's a gift for someone, by the way, with yarn I bought in Denver at the AAA meetings. 100% wool, singly ply, a little itchy but it blocked so very well. Two skeins, slightly different (same colors, variation in width of stripes).

I had a mental picture of what I wanted, but on the first try, I decided it was too wide - so given that I was working with a limited amount of yarn it was going to be too short. I think I'd knit about 8 inches but I ripped it out and started over. Second try much narrower - cast on 28 stitches instead of 45 - and it was too narrow: the sides curled in too much. I wondered, though, if the issue was the pattern rather than the width - too many knit stitches will make it curl under, unless you balance out with some purls. So I made it a ribbed stitch pattern between the yarn over/k2tog pattern - but I didn't like how it looked. AT ALL. Stockinette gave me a much smoother surface, and even the way it curled into itself made it look a little like leaves.

So I switched it up a bit: I inserted a single column of purled stitches into each "leaf," or pattern repeat - it was just enough to ease the curling while maintaining the overall look that I wanted. And I went with a cast on of 35, halfway between attempts 1 and 2.

But the key? Was the blocking! I had a hunch it would block well, and it did - fabulously well in fact. The yarn just *relaxed* into a smooth, flat shape that is almost exactly what I wanted. It's long enough that it could handle 3 wraps around the neck for extra cold days. I adore this colorway and I think the intended recipient will really like it!

Four tries was worth it to get what I wanted.

There are no end of life lessons in knitting. I highly recommend it!

In other news, I just signed up for a yarn-bombing event here in March and April! It will be a great way to kick of my birthday :-)

More Knitting

Add caption

I made these to match the poncho/wrap thing I made before. 

This sock is a story. The yarn is from Tara, and I combined 3 different balls for the pattern. But while I love the way the colors come together, I think I'm going to have to rip it out and rethink the whole thing. For one thing both the toe and heel (short row style) are way too pointy. But more than that, the 3 yarns are totally different in terms of, well, everything. They're all sock yarn but the blue feels like it has linen in it, the tan is straight up wool (I think), and the multicolor one might have silk in it, based on the feel. So the stretch, weight, and even thickness varies enough that I just don't think it will wear well at all. So while I like the way the colors combine I don't think this one has legs. It was fun to knit it though and I learned a thing or two so not a complete waste of time! 

Finished Object #??

I knit this sweater for our accountant's baby girl, born last October. I found the buttons at a going-out-of-business sale in Harrisonburg, which, while sad, also netted me some amazing deals. Silver lining. Terry joked that the three yarn shops that went out of business in H-burg in the last few years are due to my moving away. Maybe? Anyway, I finally got the buttons sewn on just in time for baby Juanita to grow out of this...

This was a really fun knit. There's a cable pattern on the back as well. I've knit so many baby sweaters over the years that I don't use a pattern anymore, I just eyeball the proportions. I think the sleeves came out a little long but are easily rolled up.

Knitting again!

I recently finished this cable-knit wrap/poncho, a long strip with one end sewn to the side of the other end. It turned out exactly how I was picturing it in my head which is... rare! I love it so much I'm thinking of making it again in different colors.

Knitting, and having multiple projects on the needles at the same time, profoundly increases my sense of normalcy and wellbeing. This is so much more than a wrap.

The Swing of Things

Can I just say, jet lag SUCKS. I don't think I felt quite right in my body until Saturday, our 7th day since getting back, and I woke up with a complete sense of well-being from head to toe. I almost didn't realize how weird I felt until the feeling dissipated.

Valerie, though, is still struggling to get back into her rhythm. During our second week in the US she dropped her afternoon nap completely, and slept soundly and well every night. But coming back here, working through jet lag, she's been napping every afternoon and then waking during the night for at least 4 hours. So starting on the weekend we've been trying to keep her awake all afternoon. At MCC it was easy, we'd just take her to the Toy Room and she'd be happy as a clam (where did that saying come from, I wonder? Has anyone ever actually measured the happiness of clams? How would you tell?) Here it's such a deeply ingrained part of her routine to go to bed when Gabriel does (especially when Shpresa is here) that it's been hard to create a new routine. 

Yesterday, however was a triumph! Shpresa took both kids - with help from her boys, whom my kids adore - to a pool nearby where they played from like 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.! She packed a picnic lunch and snacks and some toys and off they went. They staggered in just before supper - Valerie took 2 steps into the apartment and threw herself on the floor waiting for someone to take her shoes off for her - Gabriel stumbled over to me holding up his arms and crying "Gak gak! Gak gak!" - neither of them took a nap (G for the 3rd day straight, but he did take one today then). They had so much fun. SO much fun. Valerie was telling me all about the dolphin fountains and elephant slide. It's a little pricey for them to go every day but I think at least once or twice a week for the rest of the summer would be good! 

They slept so well and so long last night, I wish they could go every day. And I got so much work done, too. with the apartment to myself all day! I missed the little boogers, though. 

(Despite what the conjunction of text and photo implies, I didn't knit at all yesterday - this is a sock I knit during the sessions in Akron - a gift for a friend here who's about to have a baby. I'm making matching baby socks too.)

So homemaker-y

I finished a pair of socks! These are "Frankensocks" cobbled together from two different colorways, interspersed more or less at random. I love them. But not as much as I love those chubby little feet!!!!!

Here are some more shots of Valerie's haircut:

This is their latest thing: they are pretending to drive a car. With two steering wheels. Sometimes it's an airplane.

Speaking of which, we've been role-playing "airplane" a lot because Saturday we're flying to the US! What? Didn't I tell you? We're going to be in Akron, PA for 2 weeks attending meetings at MCC. More about that coming soon...! For me and the kids, it will be the first time on a plane since we landed in Albania! So that will be... an adventure, I am sure.

We won't have much time for visiting people but if you're in the Akron area give us a call (at MCC, our cell phones probably won't work there) or drop an e-mail and we'll see if we can get together.

New Knitting

If you're wondering about the sweater Valerie is wearing in the the sulky picture at the bottom of the previous post, here is the story.

I started this sweater last summer. It's scrumptious sock yarn that Tara gave me, but I decided it was enough for a baby sweater and I was kind of tired of knitting socks (!!!!). So I cast on, aiming to finish a 6-month size sweater by December. Well, it languished.

At last I finished the main body (knit in one piece, no side seams) and measured it against her... only to realize that it was going to be too short. She outgrew it while it was still on the needles.

So I decided that instead of ripping back to where I started the armpits, I'd just (brilliant!) unravel the bottom edge (6 rows of moss stitch), pick up and knit another two inches, and then add the border again. I have done this before with hats.

What I didn't realize was how incredibly sticky this yarn is. Sorry, I've long ago lost the ball band so I can't tell you anything about it (except that it drapes beautifully and the colors are thrilling), but it took... welll... a couple months to do the unravelling. The knitting itself was short work, and I also added about 6 rows at the shoulders. (She grew so fast!)

Finally I was able to measure for sleeves, guesstimate a pattern shaping for them, block the whole thing (the day before we left VA). After I finished my exams and finally sewed on the sleeves and wove in the ends. Still needs a button.

But it really is gorgeous, and I'm so happy she got to wear it at least once while the weather is still cool enough! I love spring!

Sock it to me

File this under "life lessons I learned from knitting."

Any knitting pattern begins with a very important row: the set-up row. This is where you establish the pattern that you carry through for the rest of the knitted object. Some knitted objects, particularly those that have three-dimensional shape, require multiple steps where a new pattern is introduced and established midway through your project. Like socks. For the most part, a sock is just a tube closed at one end, but the heel shaping is what makes it anatomically correct and infinitely more comfortable to wear. Except for the afterthought heel, every kind of sock heel requires a change in pattern midway through the knitting.

So. This pair of socks was supposed to be done by Christmas. Unfortunately, all Vern got was a ball of yarn. My next goal was to finish them by his birthday (March 13). I was way ahead of schedule, all set to finish the pair by the end of January... when Babycakes got into the yarn and created a snarl unlike any I have seen before. It took me six weeks to unravel what she accomplished in 5 minutes... there's another life lesson there, but that's another story.

Ok. Thanks to my mom and sister, the yarn was duly untangled and rewound into a ball by March 3, and I happily finished the second sock, with only this much yarn left over:

All was well with the world. Just before kitchener stitching the toe shut, I tried on the socks just to admire them, and to my horror, I noticed this:

So... um, can you see the problem? The cable pattern on the side is on the same side for both socks. I knit two right socks...

After some weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, I decided there was nothing to do but unravel the second sock up to the beginning of the heel and re-knit it on the opposite side. Folks, this was heartbreaking. Despite having overcome the setback of the tangled yarn, I was poised to meet my deadline... to no avail. One moment of inattention while establishing the heel pattern led to this.

So the "life lesson" here is: pay attention to your set-up row. Establishing your pattern right at the start will save you much pain and anguish* later on down the road.

*I am exaggerating slightly for dramatic effect

Where we're at

So, in response to Rachel's questions - I'm not done with school, just with classes. Which means I don't have to be on campus anymore, but it will still be 2.5 more years until I finish my degree. This semester I'll be taking my qualifying exams long-distance, and working on my research proposal. Also applying for research funding. (Bleah.) I plan to start my research over the summer, concluding in June next year. Then I analyze my data and write my dissertation. Ta-da! PhD! :-)

So, for the foreseeable future, we're all together as a family. I have vacated my apt. in Ithaca, but still have a lease on it until the end of May... tried to find a sub-letter, hasn't worked out yet.

Oh, and I am still knitting... I just keep forgetting to take pictures of it! I sent three pairs of socks to Savannah, and am currently working on a fourth pair. It was supposed to be a Christmas present... I just turned the heel on a tweedy brown men's sock, that has a cable pattern along one side. It's going really fast... awesome.

Just for the record, if it weren't for my mother-in-law, I'd be toast right now. Trying to get anything done these days with the Little One-One climbing up my legs is nearly impossible. Thanks Dot!!!

more Savannah pics

We took a walk down along the river where it was cold but sunny, and saw the warehouses where the boats used to offload their cotton cargo. A refurbished replica of an old-fashioned sailing ship was open to public tours - pretty sweet!

Mama Irma, here are all your girls!
(Note Valerie is wearing the sweater Tara knitted - yay!)

Thanksgiving 2008, Savannah

I have so many awesome pictures, I don't even know where to start...
Or rather, I'm not sure when I'll be able to stop! But here are a few to start with:

Thanksgiving Day preparations at Anita and David's house:

Enjoying the sunshine and 65-degree weather at the local playground:

Cousins!

Bonding with Uncle David:

"No, you can't be in charge of the stuffing. Maybe next year."

"Bye-bye! See you soon!"

At last, a post about knitting

I knit this sweater for Valerie, but it would almost fit Solana right now. It's only about an inch too short, but the sleeves would look really funny. Anyway, I understand it's pretty warm in Savannah right now! So, I'll just save it for now.

So then I made this for Soli's birthday (it's a tank top, not a dress!)

her feet seemed cold...

and now, some knit pics

I originally knit this sweater to sell as part of the "Solana Sweaters" campaign, but this one never sold. It was my first top-down raglan. I LOVE that it basically knits all in one piece, with no seams to sew! I think the only sewing was to put on the buttons.

It was my own design, although the lace pattern is from this book of folk shawls, this one was supposed to be Japanese I think. The yarn was "found yarn" from a yard sale.
I love it on Valerie, I don't think I can part with it now!