Calorimetry

When I first saw this pattern, I thought it was stupid. I thought that the thousands of folk who were knitting them left and right were stupid. I thought the whole Calorimetry craze was stupid.

I WAS WRONG.



This version only took 2 or 3 hrs. I cast on 100, and didnt do as many repeats as was called for. This pattern is my new obsession. I want one in 10 different colors. I scour the LYS for possible yarn choices. It's so darn cute!


Who knew over 4,000 people (according to Ravelry) could be so right?

This made my night

This video had me rolling. YOU MUST WATCH IT.

Tempest Finished

Wow, I can't believe I actually finished this sweater. Seems like I've been working on it forever, but it has taken about three weeks.




This is Tempest, one of the Knitty surprises. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to make it. We've been through some trials, this sweater and I.
First, there was the row gauge debacle. These sleeves were supposed to be 3/4 length, but due to the row gauge mishap, turned into full length ones. But I am really glad, because I think I prefer the full length ones anyway. And if the row gauge had not been off, the body length would have been way too short.

Secondly, several nights ago as I was sewing it together, it appeared that I had completely screwed up the fronts, and that the armholes were way to short in front. I stared, I counted stripes, and it just didn't make any sense. How could this have possibly happened? Was there some horrible error in the pattern that no one had picked up on yet? I felt like I was going to cry. I finally threw the sweater down in disgust.
The next morning I picked it up again and it all became clear. I had sewn the fronts in backwards, and was trying to sew the sleeves into the neckline. But I kind of got what I deserved, trying to knit after a few drinks at 3 am. Goes to show you what they say is true, knitting and drinking do not mix. I ripped out the shoulder seams, put the fronts in the right way, and voila! The pieces fit perfectly!
The list goes on and on. I couldn't find buttons that matched, it was too tight when I tried it on, etc, etc. So I took a deep breath, blocked it on the bedroom floor, and this morning tried it on. And it fit!


Pattern:Tempest (Ravelry link)
Yarn:Fleece Artist BFL
Needles: size 6
Modifications: Aside from the whole unintended row gauge mods, I added a foldover hem to the sleeves, since I wasn't really digging the unfinished look that was called for in the pattern.


I love it! Of course, now that its finished, it's getting too warm to wear now. but with living in Alaska, that won't last for too long.

(Sorry Alaska, didn't mean anything by it! Please, please, please, don't get cold just to spite me. I'm loving the warm weather. Really!)

@#$^%& Row Gauge!

I'm knitting Tempest, one of the latest Knitty surprises.
I've finished the back, the fronts, and one sleeve. As I finished the first sleeve, I held it up over my arm. And....it reaches exactly to my wrists, right where a full length sleeve should.
The problem is that these are supposed to be 3/4 sleeves. I've followed the pattern perfectly, I have the right number of stripes. My stitch gauge was great. I even washed my swatch! This leads me to believe that my row gauge is a weeeeee bit off. Not that I actually measured the row gauge. Note to self: row gauge is very important in a striped pattern. I've held the other pieces up to my body, and they seem quite long also. *sigh*
My only options are to rip and reknit (not gonna happen), or finish this last sleeve, sew it all together, and hope that my long waistedness will be an advantage, and that the skinny waist rows will somehow fall in the right place. Otherwise, I've just spent the last few weeks knitting a sweater for a spaghetti noodle.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

A little more complicated than I thought

I got the idea that I wanted to make a lace baby blanket while I was pregnant. But it couldn't be TOO lacey, because, you know, my baby would have to retain his manliness and such. While cruising Ravelry, I came across a baby blanket made from the Frost Flowers and Leaves pattern from A Gathering of Lace. (I can't find the inspiration blanket now, or I would link to it) It kind of got stuck in my head, and started buzzing around in there. Match a buzzing little idea for a project with a chance meeting with a beautiful yarn in the yarn store, and my fate was sealed.


I used Aslan Trends Invernal in a yellow-strawish colorway. This yarn is actually not very attractive in the skein. It has a twine like look, and I passed right by it originally. I happened to notice a sample baby blanket knit with it, and I was in love. In the skein it is kind of blah, but knit up it is amazingly soft with a wonderful angora halo that begs to be squished.

I knit 2 repeats of chart 2, and used size 6 needles. This is not a very intuitive pattern, and you have to pay attention to almost every stitch of every row. It took about 2 months, and was finished about 2 weeks after Jack was born. I don't think I would have picked this particular pattern if I had known quite how complex it was, but now that I have done it I am so pleased with how it turned out and glad that I put in the time and effort.


This is the "go to" blanket for Jack, and I hope that it will be something that he is able to wrap his own babies in, and remember all the time his mommy put into it, and how much she loves him.

Useful if You've Ever Had The Urge to Pinch One of Their Heads Off

Usually on this blog, I have tried to stay away from politics. Mostly because once I get started and all worked up about them, I can't stop. And then I get angry, and well...I'd like to keep this a happy place. I just save up all my frustrations about current affairs and unleash them on The Plumber. He doesn't mind. Too much.

But just this once, I'm going to make an exception. Because really,how often do you get to combine crafts and presidential candidates? Now go to this site, and make yourself a whole army of little Obamas or McCains or Hillarys. (The horror!) I think I'm going to make up a bunch of all of them and line them up on the coffee table. Then every time one of them says something stupid I'll just flick them across the room.

More of the Same

I'll admit it. I like to knit a lot. But when I'm pregnant, I just can't bring myself to knit garments that I know won't fit me for quite a while. It's just not very fun to finish a sweater, love it, and then put it away for months. So that pretty much leaves me with scarves, gloves, hats, and baby knits. Socks were out because of all the horrible swelling that left me with Crocs as the only viable footwear option. So guess which one I kind of went crazy with?


These are made from the Moc-a-Soc pattern with scraps of sock yarn from the stash. The pattern calls for DK weight yarn, but I found that sock weight was needed to get a newborn size.


It seems like every picture taken of this kiddo, he's wearing some form of handknits.


These little red socks are from the Better Than Booties pattern that was in an issue of Interweave Knits a few years back.

For all of you that are saying, "Ok, enough with the baby knits!" Next post will contain not a single bit of babyness. But I can't vouch for the ones after that. I just did too much dang baby knitting while I was pregnant, and now I just can't help but show it all off. Plus, with such a cute model, how can I not?

Over the Knee baby Socks

Remember those baby socks I made a while back? The ones with the funny bend at the knee?



They totally rock! These have been my hands down favorite baby socks. They stay on, they fit well, and they keep his legs warm underneath all those little newborn baby gowns.



I made these from a vintage knitting pattern, but modified them quite a bit. They were knit on dpns in the round, and I had to play with the foot shaping a little to make knitting them in the round work. I knit them in garter stitch as the pattern specified, but I think they would be really cute in stockinette also. I wish I had knit several more pairs! This will definitely be my go-to pattern for friends who are having babies. Maybe I'll even write up my own pattern for them one day, you know, with all that free time I have!

Finished!

Wow! This FO took quite a while, but still ended up being finished 2 weeks ahead of schedule.


Pattern: A collaboration between myself and The Plumber. As cute as he is, I will NOT be publishing the pattern. This one is all mine!
Pattern Name: Jack
Finishing Date: March 27, 2008
Materials: A combination of Twizzlers, Peanut Butter Cups, and Diet Coke, with a sprinkling of Honeycomb cereal.
Finishing Time: Surprisingly, this was my longest labor out of all of my 5 children. 6 hrs! My fourth child was less than two hours, so I thought this little guy would fly out, but he took his time.
Verdict: Miserable pregnancy, long labor, and totally worth it!



I am finding myself in a losing battle. His feet are so darn cute that I want to EAT THEM UP! Baby feet! GAH!


I'm already finding myself feeling more energetic, and hope to be posting much more frequently. I've got LOTS of projects to post about, and can't wait to get back on the blogging bandwagon.




Peace Out!