Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Faves

Bee's favorite things to do right now:
go to the pool
dig in sand, dirt, and gravel
drink watered-down juice
climb... also, climb
watch trucks haul, scoop, or convey stuff
hang from bars, pull-up style*
interact with big kids
talk energetically about this one time when we saw a parks crew
   employee get lifted up into a tree by a cherrypicker

*She doesn't have a ton of opportunities to do this, but she makes the most out of playground equipment and drawer handles.

Bunny Puppet

Man, some parts of parenthood are really fun. Apparently I get to assemble a (secular) Easter basket for Bee every year! So, here's one for 2012: pail, sand toys, bunny puppet, marshmallows, orange scarf for crazy toddler dancing, and some wooden musical instruments.

I knit the bunny puppet -- and finished it with a full 24 hours to spare before Easter. I know, go me. And I'm happy to share my pattern with you. (For personal use. You know the routine. Please don't make these and sell them, or sell the pattern.)

Worked in one piece with the exception of a very quickly-finished bobble-esque tail, the Bunny Puppet is nearly seamless, and the knitting itself is uncomplicated: stockinette stitch with a moss-stitch border to prevent curling. It's knit from the bottom to the top. The only technique that is at all off the beaten path is the shaping of the ears, and even that is pretty straightforward -- similar enough to knitting the fingers of a glove, actually. Choose any smooth worsted-weight yarn you like for the body, and any white- or cream-colored yarn (fluffy is nice) for the tail -- only a tiny amount is needed for the latter, so definitely look through your odds and ends.

Bunny Puppet
(http://aimeehj.blogspot.com/2012/04/bunny-puppet.html)

Skills:
knitting in the round on dpns
stockinette stitch
moss stitch (*k1, p1, rep from * around)
kitchener stitch
a basic embroidery stitch of your choice for facial features

Materials:
5 #5 dpns
2 small stitch holders
stitch marker
1 skein worsted for body
small amount white or cream fluffy novelty yarn for tail, worsted weight
Embroidery wool for facial features

Directions:
CO 49
Join and pm.
Work moss st for 6 rounds.
Work st st until piece measures 8" from CO edge.
Sewing needle and thread to match bunny's tail or body (you choose)

Shape the ears:
You need an even number of sts when you shape the ears, so dec 1 st as follows:
k tog the last st and the first st of the round (you'll have to remove the marker to do so). Replace marker after the k2tog. Work to last 4 sts of the round, then k the last 4 sts on a new needle. Slip marker and work the next 4 sts. Keep these 8 sts on their own needle. Break yarn.
Place next 16 sts on holder, place next 8 sts on another holder, and leave the last 16 sts of the round on their own needle.
So, now, just to check in: you have 8 sts on one needle, with a marker in the center; you have 16 ear sts on a stitch holder; you have 8 sts on another holder; and you have 16 "live" ear sts on a dpn. It is these last 16 sts that you are going to work in the round for ear #1.
Ear #1: Rearrange the 16 sts on 3 dpns. Attach yarn and work in st st for about 18 rows (or desired length of ear). Place ear sts on two dpns and use kitchener stitch to close.
Ear #2: Return to 16 sts on holder arrange on 3 dpns. Attach yarn. Knit and close as with ear #1.

Tail:
CO 2 sts loosely.
R1: (kfb, k1) in each st. 6 sts. rem.
R2: kfb each st. 12 sts rem.
K for 8 rows (or 6 rows for a smaller puff).
NR: (k2tog) across. 6 sts. rem.
NR: (sl 1, k2tog, psso) twice. 2 sts rem.
Fasten off: Pass 1 st over the other, then pull last st. through.

Finishing:
Use kitchener stitch to graft the remaining 16 sts at top of bunny's head.
Weave in ends. Lightly stuff tail and sew to back of bunny.

Embroider facial features as shown, or take this opportunity to design the bunny face of your dreams.

Above: don't hop away, little bunny puppet! we loves you!

Wordless Wednesday

Candleflame cowl.

Tired of goldenrod yet? Me neither! Here's my first of two goldenrod cowls. What a cute pattern (Rav link) and a fun knit! If you knit it, be sure to use a really stretchy bind-off; I went up a couple needles sizes for the bind-off, and it still wasn't enough. But it fits over the head, so we're square.

Contagion!

Ben, Bee, and I had a super-flu of PURE EVIL for a little over two weeks. Ben, who never misses work, stayed home for three days, two of which were for the purpose of taking care of the toddler while I languished in my sickbed, delirious and dry-mouthed.

Not to boast or anything, but I had it the worst. I can really do a flu (and sinus infection) up right, guys! At one point, I felt that I did not even have the energy to lie there, and it fleetingly occurred to me that probably more than one soul has left this world (although maybe not due to a sinus infection) because they just didn't even have the energy to lie there anymore. I also suffered some terrifying fever dreams, and at one point dissolved into tears because I was heartbreakingly thirsty and felt certain that my husband did not love me enough to ever come in and check on me again, much less bring me a glass of water.

Midway through my illness, during a brief coherent period, I did find the physical power to get up and try to perform some basic hygiene exercises -- and, Dear Reader, I truly and honestly thought I was going to have to cut the knots out of my hair after lying motionless in my sickbed for four days. It took a quarter of a bottle of hair conditioner to get me out of that mess. (Did you know you can just put rinse conditioner in your hair and leave it there, and the hair care police will not come and arrest you? Voilà! Leave-in conditioner and a narrowly-avoided pixie cut!)

If my Facebook feed is any indication, this flu and/or ones like it have been sweeping the nation and reducing families everywhere to wool-blanketed lumps. So wash your hands a lot, and freeze some soup in case it hits you. Okay? Please! I admit I've been avoiding other humans* for the last several days, for fear of reinfection. Ours was one of those bad and apparently highly contagious chest/sinus/head flus, not a throwing-up thing, although poor Bee did have one inexplicable night of puking. (Ben sat up with her and played the intro to Fraggle Rock over and over. Netflix Instant saves the night.) But, we're all better now. I've got a bit of a lingering cough, no biggie, and Bee and Ben are both back to normal. And I once again have the energy to exist, if only just.

* More than usual, and especially children.

Stay-put, long-cuff toddler mittens

Determined to knit Bee a pair of winter mittens that she couldn't pull right off of her hands, I devised these long-cuff, thumbless toddler mitts. They're knit from the top down, ending with a stretchy bind-off. For maximum stay-put power, the mile-long cuff is very close-fitting. And the simple colorwork chart is the easiest intarsia possible -- about as much colorwork as I can handle without causing my brain to burst like a water balloon. Enjoy!

Size: 12 - 24 months

Materials:
#5 dpns
#3 dpns
1 skein Rowan Cork in color A (or other yarn in same weight)
small amount of Rowan Cork in color B, for intarsia pattern (or other yarn in same weight)
tapestry needle for weaving in ends

white = color A
black = color B
(click chart to enlarge)

Directions:
CO 4 with color A. Join to work in round, but don't PM.
KFB every st until 26 sts rem.
Place marker to mark new beginning of round.
R1: k12, KFB of next st, k12, KFB of next st
R2: k
R3: k13, KFB of next st, k13, KFB of next st
R4: k
R5: k14, KFB of next st, k14, KFB of next st
R6: k
R7: k15, KFB of next st, k15, KFB of next st. 34 sts rem.
R8: k
Work chart, using colors A and B.
After finishing chart, work 16 rounds.
Dec for cuff:
K2, k2tog, k12, k2tog, k to end.
NR: *k2, k2tog* around. 24 sts rem.
NR: k1, *k2tog, k4* to last 3 sts. End k3.. 20 sts rem.
Switch to size 3 needles and work 1/1 rib for 4".
BO using JSSBO and a size 5 needle.

Pescovegetarian goldenrod.

Goldenrod being my idée fixe, I've got another g-rod FO to show ya'll. Finished these great mittens from the Pescovegetarian pattern (Rav link) for myself a couple of months ago, using the same Patons Classic worsted described in my Intuitive Goldenrod post. I love them truly.

The pattern is really lovely, and it's easier than it looks. But don’t use kitchener to finish, because it looks terrible on these mitts; to get the cute little point on each mitt, just pull through the last ten stitches as the pattern instructs. Trust me… I ended up blocking these using some sturdy twine to reshape the tops from the inside after realizing how crappy the grafting looked. And I normally love kitchener.

Used 8s the whole way through, with worsted held double. (Went down a needle size to fit my thin hands and for serious warmth/density.) The chart can be seen a little bigger if you click on the photo in Veera’s blog post. It takes you to her Flickr album. I mention it because some Ravelers complained that there’s no key (x = purls). But the key is visible in the Flickr image.

Other mods and stuff: to fit bony hands, CO 24. 1/1 rib for 18 rounds for a close-fitting cuff. Maintaining rib patt, increase to 30 sts in final rib row (work 4, m1, rep). Knit 2 full chart repeats before starting gusset increases. Where it says “Work two rounds. In the beg of 2nd needle k1, m1, k4, m1, knit to end of rnd,” work 2 FULL rounds, then do the M1s on the next round. Start top decreases when there are 10 ‘arrows’ on the mitten (not counting the little half one at the bottom), ending with a chart row 4.

Oh, and there’s a typo in this instruction: “Always make a ssk decrease in the beg of 2nd rnd and a k2tog decrease in the end of 3rd rnd.” It should say ‘needle’ instead of ‘rnd’ -- i.e., do a ssk at the beginning of needle 2, and a k2tog at the end of needle 3, every round. You’re done when 10 sts remain. The thumb was about 12 rounds long before decreases.

This is one of those "reverse shaping for the second mitten" set of instructions, so we're on our own with the left thumb gusset. Here's how to do it:
Knit sts on 1st and 2nd needles as usual. On 3rd needle, knit to last 3 sts, then m1, k2, m1, k1.
Work two full rounds. NR: on needle 3, k to last 5 sts, then m1, k4, m1, k1. Work two more full rnds.
NR: On needle 3, k to last 7 sts. CO2. Slip 6 sts to holder, k1.

And, believe it or not, I still have TWO MORE goldenrod things to show you. Dear Jesus! What is wrong with me!

Intuitive goldenrod.

Early in the winter, I determined that the best way to turn my magenta cold-weather coat from frumpy to arty is to trim it with a slew of winter accessories in goldenrod. (Hey, in art school I learned that magenta and goldenrod go together. It's color theory, friends.)

So, above you can see one piece from my personal "goldenrod collection" -- and, of course, me, looking like a burnout. Nice matted hair, Shaggy, where's Scoob? But anyway, this is my new favorite hat, perfectly slouchy and cute and goldenrod (or, as the creative minds at Patons term it, "yellow"). Despite the openwork lace, which, incidentally, was really fun to knit, this hat is warm because of the ear-covering ribbing, thick wool, and sheer amount of fabric involved in the slouch. I modified a Rav pattern called "Intuitive," adapting for bulky yarn -- more accurately, worsted weight held double.

Next post will feature my Pescovegetarian Goldenrod (mysterious, right?). Yes, sharing a pile-up of knitting FOs means a series of blog posts with titles that look like Captcha "are you human?" tests.

A gratitude that is never threadbare.

On this day, I enjoyed this editorial.

Family, food, and hanging out in the kitchen are some of my favorite things, so this holiday always ends up being a cozy, fun, happy one at our house. And although "[i]t is not the feast we give thanks for, but our presence at it," I am also grateful for the eats. And I am telling you -- I would put any amount of money on this -- no person on this planet could possibly tell that this was a vegan pumpkin pie with a block tofu in it! It's the best pumpkin pie I have ever had.

I'm thankful every day for my Ben and my Bee, and we had a beautiful holiday today with family. What a fun day. The little girl learned how to throw a ball today, and she GAVE ME A KISS, kind of a real kiss, for the first time! My heart pretty much melted and dripped out my big toe. Of course, I'd been begging her to give me a smooch on the cheek for about a week, ever since I realized she had entered some kind of mind-boggling, mental-sponge phase of existence during which we seem to be able to be able to teach her how to do just about anything.* I know learning how to give mommy a peck on the cheek isn't, at this point, much different than learning how to clap, or wave bye-bye, but I don't care. I choose to confer meaning upon this particular baby trick. I choose to consider it an act of affection [requiring significant persuasion].

I hope your holiday, Dear Reader, was filled, too, with tofu desserts and reluctant baby kisses! Happy Thanksgiving!

* Except sleep.

How to make a paper flower garland, plus birthday party recap

I keep meaning to write a little something about Bee's birthday party, a small but agreeable affair involving homemade cake, some magenta paper roses, and a handful of friends, neighbors, and like-aged toddlers. Now that I get around to blogging about it, of course, I realize that the first sentence of this paragraph sums it up compactly and completely. What else to say, except that we had a sweet little time? And that I am a lucky mama for sure. It's going to be a beautiful thing, watching these little ones -- Bee and her peers -- grow big.

Now. As for those cutie-cute paper flowers. What happened is, I made a rose garland for an inexpensive party decoration. (I'll tell you how below. It is really no big thing.) Ridiculously, I failed to get an acceptable picture of the finished garland, but I do have these pretty a priori pics of the paper flowers pre-stringing. They will do, I say. They made kind of a charming decoration in the dining room that day, and, nowadays, the roses are strung around the perimeter of Bee's white wicker bedroom mirror, a cute birthday souvenir that she would chew up at the first opportunity.

Here's how to make a paper rose garland.

You need:

One package of colored tissue paper, the kind used for gift wrapping.
A roll of green painters' tape ("frog tape").
Scissors.
A pen or marker. It's nice if the ink is close in color to that of the tissue paper, but a bit darker, so that your lines won't be visible on the finished flowers.
Sewing needle.
Green or transparent thread.
2 thumbtacks.

Instructions:

1. Unfold the tissue paper. Lay three or four sheets on top of each other (you're going to be maximizing your cutting by cutting through several sheets at once -- time is money, people!).
2. Use the roll of green painters' tape to trace circles onto the top sheet of tissue paper. Trace around the outer edge unless you want miniature flowers -- in which case, use the inner edge. Trace as many circles as you can fit onto the top sheet.
3. Cut out all the circles, cutting through all sheets.
4. Assemble the flowers. Grab four little circles, hold them together, and loosely fold in half. You're not going for a crease here... just sort of gently hold the circles in a folded-in-half position. Grab the center and twist so that the circles stay together.
5. Wrap about an inch and a half of green tape around the twisted part to make a bit of a stem.
6. Fluff out the petals!
7. After you've made all the flowers you can stand, thread the needle and sew through each of the flowers. They don't all need to go on facing the same direction. In fact, it looks better if they're not too meticulously arranged. Don't overthink it.
8. Leave enough thread at the beginning and end of the garland that you can tie a loop at each end. Use thumbtacks to hang. Do enlist somebody (do you have a husband or something?) to help you carry the garland when you're hanging it up. One human being at each end, please! If the thread gets tangled, you're in for several minutes of pre-party cussing.
   

And, postscript, I think an esteemed board of some kind should award me a Crafting Under Duress prize before the end of 2011, because I did a significant portion of this silly project* while holding a snoring baby in my arms.
* Not the part with the scissors.

One.

Bee turned one! One year old! Oh, our girl. Sweet bunny of ours. What a very long and short time a year is, or at least such a year as this has been.

This little girl has really flowered in the last several months. Bee is radiant, and seems to be learning all the time (it's all happening so fast now!), and has developed what is clearly, and surprisingly, a fantastic sense of humor. Little girl! Where do you come from?!

To raise a child is to have a mystery revealed to oneself.

We gave Bee a couple of little presents for her birthday, including this great clickety-clack push toy,* and she shocked us by immediately standing up and taking several steps while pushing the thing! I mean, she's been pulling herself up and hanging onto the furniture (for dear life, both thrilled and nervous), taking only the occasional guarded step or two -- so Ben and I were astonished to see her just get up and go. It's further evidence that, as my friend Kara puts it, toys are an investment. It's really true. The right toy at the right time can be so great for a kid's development and for her enjoyment of life!

We did have a little party in Bee's honor, and I'll report on that sweet event, Dear Reader, before too long. Our household became Contagion Headquarters shortly after Bee's birthday, and we've all been feeling like a bunch of crap, on and off, for what feels like about a month. So I'm taking my good old time getting photos together and whatevers. For now: a couple pics of our gal standing around like it's totally no big deal.**
















* The chomping/clickety-clacking is actually really soft/gentle/pleasant. Thank god the makers of wooden toys know enough to cover things in felt.
** Wearing a cardigan I made her AND a hat I made her. Bam!

A prairie life for me.

Well, Bee and I dressed up as Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder for Halloween. Cute! Fun! Ben's mom made Bee's dress, and I bought her baby-sized prairie bonnet at the historical society (it's going to be next summer's sun hat, too... don't care if that's weird). For my DIY contribution, I knitted up a pair of barely-staying-on prairie boots (Ravelry link) for her. Two pairs, if I'm honest -- the first set was too small (I think I screamed, "noooooooo!" upon realizing it).

As for my own costume, it's more or less the same LIW one I've worn lo these many Halloweens... at some point I procured better boots and an amazing petticoat, and I did upgrade to the more historically accurate dress after that sweet Gunne Sax one* finally stopped fitting! Ironically, after my year of not being able to eat anything delicious, the Gunne Sax dress would definitely fit again... but I got rid of it when we moved. And at this point, I've invested enough dough in costume improvements (over the better part of a decade) that I'm basically locked into dressing as LIW every October for the rest of my life. Which is fine by me, especially since having a kid means I get to create a new costume each year anyway. Yes, soon enough Bee will be able to come up with her own costume ideas, and I like to think I'll be happy to help bring her concepts to life, but I figure I still have next Halloween to dress her however I damn well choose (because two-year-olds don't have opinions about things, right? HAHAHA). And I do have some thoughts (and also these other thoughts) on Bee's 2012 costume already...

Anyway, on Halloween, Ben,** Bee, and I went trick-or-treating with some friends. Since we didn't want any candy (Bee's too young, we're vegan, Ben is still eating last year's candy, etc.), it really amounted to visiting the neighbors to show off our prairie girl costumes. Of course, Bee, at a year old, didn't understand anything about Halloween. But she did understand that she was outside being trotted around the neighborhood (in the dark!) instead of getting a bath and going to bed, so she was pretty high on life. And the jack-o'-lanterns on neighbors' porches made her laugh, which made us laugh. Yayz! Halloween!

October being a holiday-studded month for us, I'll share with you next time, Dear Reader, a recap of Bee's first birthday party. Honestly, with all the birthdays around here, beginning in mid-October, it's ALL HOLIDAYS ALL THE TIME until the new year.

* Oh, that Gunne Sax dress. Man. I wore that thing frequently in college as a non-costume, with some Nine West boots. (A 1970s dress was already vintage back then.)
** Uncostumed. I've graciously stopped trying to convince Ben to dress up as Charles 'Pa' Ingalls, because, you know, we have to let our spouses make their own choices in life, right? Even if we think it's a TERRIBLE MISTAKE.

Wordless Wednesday

Somehow I've managed to resist running from the house screaming for a full year.

I turned 35 this month, but I still feel like a ninteteen-year-old English major. I really do.

Just, you know... more tired.

Thought I'd update you today on what a 35-year-old does to entertain herself. First of all, after discovering some knitting time in my daily routine, I basically went crackers and started like 20 different projects. (Not exaggerating. Are you and I friends on Ravelry, Dear Reader? If so, go click on my name and have a good laugh! How many Norwegian Baby Caps have I started this month? That's right, six.)

I've also turned into Crazy Birthday Party Mommy and am throwing a little shindig next weekend to celebrate Bee's birthday. So we have to clean up the wreckage that is our house, and I'll be baking practice cake #2 later tonight BECAUSE I'M A FREAK. The first one, a cake-sized version of the Golden Vanilla cupcake from VCTOTW, came out with a strong baking soda taste. (Cake, Y U NO TASTE GOOD?!) The second cake will be the same recipe, but I'll bust open a brand-new box of baking soda, and probably use potato starch instead of guar gum (GG being what I used in place of corn starch, due to Bee's probably-gone-but-we're-not-sure-and-we-don't-want-her-to-be-writhing-in-pain-on-her-birthday allergy to corn). Confused and a little bored? So are we!

In other news, our almost-one-year-old still doesn't sleep in her crib, and I'm considering just using the damned thing as a big basket to hold all my yarn. (Joking, sort of.) Oh, and Bee still only naps in my lap (which, on the bright side, is how I turn out all those Norwegian Baby Caps). Can't believe we've been living like this for nearly a year, but whatever. Also, all three of us have an evil cold that Bee probably contracted at the local library, during the chaos that was last week's free puppet show.

One more thing. In 2012, I totally want to make an advent calendar. It's going to be based on this one, with design elements from this one (I love the white frame against the black base!) and this one. Wouldn't a combination of boxes and clothespins be cute? And wouldn't it be great if I wouldn't get craft-manic and start all these crazy projects? Yes.

P.S. Ben also had a birthday recently, and I made him a really crappy cake. Honestly, I should have taken a picture. Because gluten is banned from my diet, I haven't baked much in the last year and kinda forgot how.

Some things.

Some things I've been up to since I posted two weeks ago:

Made these gluten-free root veggie latkes. You guys! They were so good!

Started taking Bee to once-a-week baby and toddler "music class," which is totally as yuppie as you'd think. The first song of the morning is one that welcomes the kids, the mommies, the daddies, and the nannies. And I get sweaty and think, "man, I do not belong here." But Bee loves it, so whatever.

Visited our town's new yarn shop. OMG. It's six blocks from our house. For real.

Went berserk and cast on like nine different knitting projects. (See new yarn shop, above.) And finished one (Ravelry link)!

Found out about Steve Jobs' death, and felt sad. As an illustrator, I'm one of the zillions of people who continue to benefit from Jobs' life work every single day. Jobs was the visionary behind so many of the tools that allow me to interact creatively with technology in my profession. (And he invented the iPod, enabling me to listen to Meat Loaf, watch "Family Ties," and update my Facebook status on an aesthetically attractive device the size of half a Pop-Tart. Which is cool, I'm sorry.)

Was exposed to Paul Simon's Graceland album. Okay, now, what the hell? How did I never hear that record until I was nearly 35? What a lyricist, that guy! It's like when I was 31 and heard Hunky-Dory for the first time. I actually experienced anger (WHY DIDN'T ANYONE EVER MAKE ME LISTEN TO THIS BEFORE!). Honestly, what other great records of the 70s and 80s am I in the dark about?*

Started drinking afternoon coffee on a regular basis. (Morning coffee was already standard.)

Put away my warm-weather clothes and trotted out the sweaters.**

Determined that no one needs this many vintage sweaters, but was unable to purge any.

Bought Bee her first pair of shoes! We drove out to an old-fashioned family-owned place where our girl got her foot measured and such. She was assigned a pair of high-quality (if pizazz-free) shoes that cost more than my own shoes.

Cooked my last batch of marinara of the season from garden (and CSA) tomatoes.

Baked three squash(es?).

* Yes, I already know about Neil Young's Harvest.
** Of course, it then got bizarrely hot. It was 88 degrees out yesterday! In Minnesota, I'm saying, in October. But I can be flexible. Nice weather is nice weather, even when you're overheating in corduroys.

Smitten

Mittens for babies and toddlers are really fun to make because they turn out looking so charming and miniature, and are gratifyingly quick compared to, say, a sweater. Plus, unlike with adult-sized mittens, you don’t have to worry about knitting that pesky thumb. I don’t know about your babies, but my girl has a miniscule thumb that wouldn’t possibly stay lodged in a mitten-thumb anyhow. So why fuss with gussets?*

The mittens in the photo are the special Noro ones I mentioned last time, in my “back in the land of the knitting” post. What sweet little hand-warmers! I dug up some pretty, eggplanty** Lamb’s Pride wool for the cuff and tip of each mitt, used up my hand-dyed Noro leftovers for the body of each mitten, and worked a four-pointed star at the tip of each – that being about as much intarsia, Dear Reader, as I can gracefully handle.

The fraternal mitts are attached by the prettiest silk ribbon on earth, which is long enough to thread through the sleeves of Bee’s winter coat. Expensive Japanese wool? Silk ribbon? I know, by January these mittens are totally going to end up lost in a filthy puddle of melty slush in the street, as every toddler mitten eventually does and must. But I’m not worried. I want my daughter to be surrounded by things of beauty, and to know that she’s worth the work of creating them.

That being said, I’ve just finished a second, slightly less over-the-top pair of mittens as back-ups. And because I happened to have wool in exactly the right colors lying around, this pair matches Bee’s winter coat with ridiculous, matchy-matchy precision. They’re a bit more utilitarian than the Noro pair (and identical rather than fraternal!), being made with some standard light worsted, but they’re still kind of terrific, I think. I’ll finish them after a day or two of nap-knitting, and then you shall see them in all their splendid orange-and-magenta-ness.

For both pairs of toddler mittens, I improvised a pattern that I’m unlikely ever to post here, as I know for a fact that the majority of knitters do not enjoy working from hastily scrawled, error-laden patterns created by the frazzled mothers of young children.

* Truth be told, I love doing gussets. For socks and grown-up-sized gloves and mittens, they’re necessary and pretty fun to do. But not having to add a thumb to baby mittens makes them really fast to knit, and I do respond well to that sort of semi-instant gratification.

** Indeed, this eggplanty yarn is left over from when I knitted (yep, you guessed it) an eggplant. I’m telling you, some Christmas down the road, Bee is gonna unwrap the best collection of stuffed play food EVER.

Wordless Wednesday

I am so happy.

Leave it to a knitter to effuse over how much she loves a particular knitting pattern, and then outline the many modifications she made while knitting it.

The first project I cast on – after realizing that I could knit while Bee naps in my lap!!!* – is this fine-gauge little red cardigan. It’s Carole Barenys’ seamless yoked sweater (Rav link), which has been knitted up by about a zillion Ravelers, in part because it has the fantastic asset of being both seamless and top-down.** So: almost no sewing (just buttons, and there’s a certain conclusive thrill to button-sewing), and, in theory, you can try the sweater on its recipient to determine, periodically, how much longer to make the body and the sleeves. My model, though, is under a year old, and immensely wiggly. I wonder if Tyra Banks wiggles around this much when being wrangled into designer dresses? Also, does she chew her socks?

Anyway, regarding mods, I added length and a sixth buttonhole, and picked up extra stitches at the armholes, working 40 stitches for each sleeve rather than the suggested 30-something. I wanted the slip-stitch design on the sleeves to match the yoke, so I did three repeats of the slip-stitch design at the end of each sleeve, with two stockinette stitch rows between each set of two slip-stitch rows. I also lengthened the garter stitch edge of each sleeve (P1R, K1R three times), because I like the look of a generous cuff. And, anyone still with me here?, I created a bell sleeve by omitting the sleeve decreases; the pattern calls for decreasing to 36 sts, and then to 32, but I just knit straight. And since garter stitch is wider than stockinette, the garter stitch cuff creates a slight flare. Easy, sweet bell sleeves, with no need to increase!

The only headache I had with this sweater involved adding stitches under the arms: the pattern calls for you to pick up stitches, but what you really want to do is pick up and knit. There is a difference, and if you use the wrong technique, the result is a set of ugly, stretched stitches under the arm. So I had to frog. I ripped out the first sleeve twice, actually, before figuring out the difference.

The pattern being easy, and knit all in one piece (and mostly flat!), I started a second one before the sock-weight red one was even finished (which it now almost is… nothin’ left but button-sewing!). The second one (photo at left), also for my many-sweatered daughter, is thicker and warmer. I used worsted-weight and what I thought were size five needles (because they were marked size five needles!). Well, they’re actually fours,*** so this is a very tightly-knit garment indeed. Aaaand since I never, ever learn my lesson about employing unidentifiable stash wool of limited quantity, I’m going to run out of this sweet, heathery, mulberry-hued wool (of which I cannot procure more) before the project is done. Time to grin and add some stripes, I guess! Actually, joking, I have a different secret plan, which I’ll elucidate later when I’ve started to put it into action.****

Next! I started, and then completely frogged, this cute toddler vest (Ravelry link) that’s going to have three owls on the front. Owl cables took the knitting world by storm last year, for real, and now Ravelry’s got them on gloves, vests, hats, adult-sized sweaters, kids’ raglans, everything you can think of. Owl cables OWL OVER THE PLACE! And I’m certainly not saying I was the first to do it, but my father-in-law does have in his possession a certain winter cap that has warmed his head since the Christmas of 2007. Anyway, this owly vest is technically not on the needles anymore, because I didn’t like the vintage stash yarn I was using and am going to begin anew, but I’m actively looking for a new yarn for it, so it counts as an active project in my book. I’ve been referring to this toddler garment as Vestination Unknown, because I’m not sure who it’s for yet. No, really! I’m serious, it’s not necessarily for Bee! It depends on how large or small this vest turns out, because if it’s not gigantic I’d like to see it on the new baby boy who has recently graced my circle of friends.

The final WIP I’ve got going on is a set of bitty little mittens made of leftover Noro. No photo today, but if you’re a knitter you surely know what Noro looks like, and can extrapolate. And If you’re not a knitter,***** I’ll just explain that Noro is Japanese and beautiful and expensive. So a set of violet-colorway toddler mittens made of it is indulgent indeed! But, as I mentioned, I have a bit remaining from a sock project of yore, and baby mittens are a good use of yarn oddments.

Lest you think I am a 100% quick and amazing and effective lap-nap knitter, here’s an update on the status of a pink sweater from days gone by. Notice the sad bits of yarn clinging to the tote.

Okay! After almost no knitting tawk for months, there’s your FM of K. I enjoyed it very much, and hope that you either a) relished geeking out with me or b) skipped this post altogether (no offense taken).

Fear not, non-knitters: I imagine I’ll soon be back to criticizing the climate and trying to make sense of motherhood.

* It only took me ten months to figure this out. Knitters are generally quite smart; I may be the exception.

** And cute!

*** You can kind of see where I irritably re-labeled the needles with a fine-tipped Sharpie. Take that, disguised number fours! They’re marred now, of course, and I do like my knitting things to be physically beautiful. But come on. Wrong sizing is so not okay.

**** Knitters always have a last-ditch secret plan for when we run out of an unreplenishable yarn.

***** And if you’re not a knitter, you aren’t even reading this.