Oh Baby

There has been lots of knitting, but specific projects keep stalling. Which makes me feel lame because I love to finish things and there are so many things I want to make. The Lucy wrap is stalled because I had to order another skein of yarn. This is annoying because it was a kit and I used a larger size needle than the pattern recommended (after first knitting the entire thing on needles slightly smaller than recommended and it came out too short), and it is still several inches too short to be a stole or wrap. Whatever. I ordered the yarn and I am now moving on.



I was also working on the Narragansett Bay Scarf from A Fine Fleece, and after knitting to the recommended length last Sunday I decided that I wanted it longer. I decided I would knit the matching cap first and then use all of the leftover yarn on the remainder of the scarf. I started the cap today and hope to finish it this week, along with the scarf.


I have also been knitting these:




And this:





The top picture is of two baby blankets I knit for premature babies at a local hospital as part of a program for the library I work at. The deadline was this past Friday, and it was so inspiring to see all of the beautiful blankets knit and crocheted by members of the community. We are starting a fiber arts group at the library, so contact me if you are interested.


The baby sweater is for my mom's friend, and the pattern is Super-Natural Stripes by Fawn Pea. I was really excited to find this pattern, because it's worsted weight and interesting without being too technical or demanding. It may become my new go-to baby sweater. I knit most of it at the Manchester Monarchs hockey game on Friday night, and I finished up the sleeves while watching The Goonies yesterday morning. Very quick and very easy--just make sure you read the directions all the way through first (which I did not).


I have started the Spiral Cowl, but it is at the very beginning. I also have to actually work on the second Bird in Hand mitten because it is not knitting itself (although that wouldn't be much fun for me, now would it?). Progress is somewhat hindered by trying to spend some of these beautiful early spring days outside, but it's worth it.

A Little Late to the Party

I know that everyone already knit this one ages ago, but here is my Clapotis. It was a great knit--a perfect blend of easily memorized rows and enough stuff going on to keep me interested. And boy, do I love to drop stitches. Even with slightly felty single ply wool.

Clapotis by Kate Gilbert, from Knitty Fall 2004
Yarn: Ewe and I Farm DK yarn (heavy DK-light worsted weight), 100% wool, 3 skeins (I bought four 225 yard skeins)
Source: Ewe and I Farm booth at Mirage Alpacas while on the Wool Tour
Needles: U.S. Size 8 Addi Turbo 32" circular needles (worked back and forth)
Modifications: None.
Soundtrack/Movies/TV: Back to the Future I and II, among other things

I absolutely love this color. It had enough variation to keep things interesting and give the shawl depth, but not so much that it won't go with anything. Color-wise, I would compare it to Malabrigo. This pattern shows off the yarn very nicely, and I love that I was able to support a local farm with this purchase. I can't wait until the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival in May!

I'm adjusting to my new job pretty easily (the people I work with are wonderful--it's adjusting to a full-time schedule that I have to get used to!). This week I played around with crochet swatches and a few things, but I was happy to have an easy knitting project to work on at night (I'll share it with you soon). I'm almost done the Lucy wrap, and I have one Bird in Hand mitten completed. I threw away the Saucy tote, since the combination of plastic yarn and trying to sew plastic canvas together was making me crazy. I would like to try a felted version sometime. I'm somewhat stalled on the Gentlemen's Shooting Stockings, because I noticed (after completing on long sock) that the yarn doesn't have any nylon in it. Since I've just come across two pairs of handknit socks that have holes in the balls of the feet, and these socks are on size 0 needles and take a loooong time, I'm reconsidering the yarn choice. If you don't count the socks, then I don't have very many things on the needles. Luckily I have some ideas of where to go next: a Spiral Cowl (clearly I can never have enough cowls), a pair of Pomatomus socks, and my Ana Bandana kit.




Hope you had a great weekend full of knitting!