Baby Love and Christmas in July

Tomorrow my mom and I are going to a baby shower for her friend's daughter, who used to baby-sit me. The top picture is a corner of the blanket I made, the Estonian Lullaby pattern from Fiber Trends. I also made a baby bonnet and booties and a sweater (the sweater is going to be from my mom), but my computer and/or camera is being weird and won't load the pictures.
I am so close to finishing the Treeline Striped Cardigan from the Purl Bee (although I may need to run to Knit New London, my new favorite knitting store, for one more skein of Manos del Uruguay wool in quail), but the cat has bogarted it and doesn't seem to have any intentions of giving it up. I don't have the heart to move him so I'll work on my grandfather's Classic Socks (a birthday present) for now.
This brings me to my next idea. For the past few Christmases (and birthdays, and this past Mother's Day, and most other gift-giving occasions) I've driven myself crazy with making presents for people. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy making the presents, I think it is more meaningful and they appreciate my gifts, it's usually cheaper than buying presents and I hate the mall. I have great reasons for making presents. It's the methodology that's questionable. I'm always up late the night before the Big Day, up early that morning, and hidden away during most of the day (sometimes even during the celebration) trying to finish presents. Every year I say, "It's going to be different this year," without actually doing much to change anything. Last year I did a little bit more planning, which was good, but I still gave people half a pair of socks (not very useful) and partially knitted bits still on the needles (which led to jokes like, "So I have to finish it myself?") and then on Christmas I spent the rest of the day (and two weeks afterward) finishing them. Not fun.
I read somewhere that Victorian women also made all of their Christmas presents, but they realized how much time it would take and so they started in July. That's what I'm doing this year. This makes sense on so many levels: I have eight birthdays between now and December 25 to make presents for on top of Christmas presents, I'll be living at home in the fall and so knitting presents for my mom and dad would be tricky and involve lots of hiding in my room, it will save me money at Christmas by spreading out the spending, I'll have time to fix mistakes and block and even wrap the presents. My plan is to only work on these presents for the month of July, except for Saturday and Sunday (I'll be at home, but I'll still try to work on presents for those I don't live with) and the last week of July. That's our family vacation, and nearly everyone I'm making presents for will be there. So I'll push to get most of it done before then, and as a reward I'm thinking I will let myself order the yarn for one of the cute summer tops in the summer issue of Interweave Knits (I have priced out several of them with KnitPicks yarn...very affordable, very dangerous...)
Progress so far: two birthday presents on the needles, and I've purchased yarn for another present. I have also planned out most of my other presents. Christmas in July will be fun...right?

She spins and knits

The first yarn is unknown pencil roving, probably about 4 oz, that I spun and then plied on my drop spindle (was that ever tedious). The second is the first 2 oz of Corriedale that you might recognize from the previous post from The Sheep Shed that I got at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival in the "Summer Fields" colorway. I still have two more ounces to spin. I was going to ply it, but I'm kind of in love with the single and it's pretty thick (in some places; it's spun thick-and-thin, not purposely. oh, the joys of beginning spinning ;)

Then we have the re-knit Manos del Uruguay hat. I re-knit it because I used different needles than the pattern suggested, and of course it didn't turn out the way I wanted. I am thoroughly impressed with my two color pompom (no one tells you how to do that; it took me three or four tries).

Pattern: Kim's Hats, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (on the third page of the pattern, the last hat on the right is my hat, in the same two colors even. I had a skein of the blue on hand and I loved the contrast with the tomato-y red)

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay, one skein light blue and maybe 25 yards of the tomato-y red

Source: Patternworks Yarn Shop (the blue was snagged at the giant summer sale a few years ago)

Needles: Addi Turbo Size 9 16" circular, Clover Bamboo Size 9 dpns

Modifications: None

On a humbler note, remember how excited I was that my Manos stashing finally paid off in the form of the Treeline Striped Cardigan? Well, I have been smited for my hubris. I only had three skeins of the light brown, not four (although I could swear that I had a fourth--however, in my Manos stash there is a charcoal grey that sometimes gets confused for the brown--since they're hand-dyed). I have finished both sleeves and the body, and I just knit the body and sleeves together (I've learned some new techniques and the construction is very clever) and I have run out of the brown. I went to the small but fabulous Pearl's Yarn Shop in downtown Manchester today to get more, but my particular brown was nowhere in sight. I'll check the Elegant Ewe and there's always the Internet, but I swear this is the last time I gloat about having enough yarn or about my stashing actually being productive. It's a bad habit and I'm going to quit.

For a happy ending, the trip to Pearl's was very productive. I picked up Fiber Trends' Estonian Lullabies baby blanket pattern and some Dreambaby DK in a lovely light green. I'm making it for my mom's friend's daughter, who used to babysit me. The shower is June 30th, so I'm getting started on it tonight.

Oh, the sheep-y goodness...

The first picture is the sum total of my purchases at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival (and Alpaca Fest!). The second picture is a close up of the roving: 2 2 oz. hanks of hand-dyed Corriedale in the colorway "Summer Fields" (I couldn't resist) from The Sheep Shed at Mountain View Farm; 2 4 oz. balls of hand-dyed Romney from "Maggie" (that's the sheep's name!) at Brimstone Hollow Farm (those are the green and yellow balls; Brimstone Hollow has the best colorways); and one 4 oz. ball of white Romney roving (I forget where I got that one). The last picture is a closeup of the amazing yarn I bought (and the roving kind of snuck in): from the bottom, one skein of hand-dyed sock yarn from Balland Skein; one skein of sock yarn from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, and one skein of the "Bunny Blend" merino and angora yarn.
It might look like a lot, but I was very smart this year. The past three years I've gone kind of crazy and just bought whatever I loved, but this year I planned it out. The roving was Romney and Corriedale because that's easy to spin (and my spinning skills are still developing). The sock yarn was kind of expensive, but not too much more expensive than commercial sock yarn (considering you usually need two skeins) and socks take a long time to knit (I do, anyway) so it's a good investment. The angora skein was also kind of a splurge, but for a long time I've had this angora scarf planned in my head, like the one Rory wears in the fourth and fifth seasons of Gilmore Girls (it's white and lacy with a little bit of fluff). I've been searching for the perfect yarn for awhile and I hadn't found it...till now.

I've finally finished my senior thesis, and after I get through with packing and moving and graduation and about a million other things, I will finally be able to seriously knit again. I have been sewing, and my practice dress came out great (pics soon to come) but I miss knitting.

Whoops

So it's been awhile since the last post. This whole end-of-my-college-career thing is a lot more time consuming than I had anticipated. I've also spent a lot of time being antsy about graduate school financial aid (I haven't heard from anyone yet). Oh, there has been knitting, crocheting (!), and sewing (there's this whole graduation dress idea that I think is going to end very, very badly) but I don't feel like I'm getting anything done.
I did get done with working at the yarn store last Sunday. It's a little sad. I'm going to miss spending Sundays with Susan (although I won't miss getting up early), and the loss of the 40% discount is wrenching, but after three years of snobby novice tourists, being yelled at for not having a yarn in stock or not being able to magically fix things I'm ready for a break.
The in-progress pictures are pretty boring, so I'll just list what I'm working on:
Chanson en Crochet (from Wrap Style) (that's the crocheting)
Wrist warmers (from Hollywood Knits) (commissioned by someone my mom works with)
A fifties style graduation dress (actually there are two, because I'm making a practice one with cheap fabric) (yes, I am aware that graduation is less than three weeks away and that my sewing skills leave something to be desired but my stubbornness to wear a dress that I made under my gown is currently overriding both of these facts)
and still, the Treeline Striped Cardigan

But first:
A new poem and a chapbook manuscript for poetry workshop
and maybe some of the pile of other school work I have to do...

Hilarious

This is our cat, Bartleby (she's a girl, we didn't know that when we named her) looking very disgruntled because she's modeling a dog sweater I just finished. A little mean, but she was actually very good (until the end). It's meant for small dog and she's a chubby kitty, but it looked good anyway.

Pattern: Dandy Dog Sweaters, Evelyn Clark for Fibertrends (Beaded Rib sweater, smallest size)
Yarn: Cascade 220, denim, less than one skein
Needles: Brittany birch straight size 7, a motley array of size 6 DPNs for the collar
Modifications: none

Why yes

That is Hillary Clinton with Beth and myself in Manchester, NH. (The angry looking man in the background is Secret Service. I don't know what we did to make him mad.)

And a little teaser...



The first sleeve of the Treeline Striped Cardigan from the Purl Bee. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay and it is amazing. It is also expensive by my poor college student standards, so I buy skeins here and there and hoard it but rarely knit with it. Well, my hoarding paid off because I have almost enough yarn for the sweater. One of its many attributes is that it is hand-dyed, so there are no dye lots to worry about. The beauty of this pattern is that the stripes are all very thin, so variations in dying are pretty well hidden (otherwise I would have to knit a couple of rows from one ball, a couple of rows from another ball, and so on, to hide the variation).
So, a little bit of homework, and then more knitting.

But seriously...

Enough with the snow already. We had another big storm (two weeks in a row!) and we are due for a huge nor'easter on Sunday. I am sick of being cold and really sick of my car getting stuck in the driveway. It's APRIL.
Okay, rant over.
The good part about the snow last week was that my Wednesday night class was canceled. We spent the night catching up on Netflix (Quills was excellent). And (drumroll, please) I finished my mom's birthday present. TWO WHOLE WEEKS before her birthday! I deserve a prize (more yarn maybe?).

Other FOs:

First two pictures:
Pattern: Scenester Hooded Scarf from Speed Knitting
Yarn: La Patrona Naturalana Esmerelda (100% Handpainted wool, handspun in Uruguay, 86 yards) 2 skeins color # 301-8
Source: The Yarn Basket (bought on my 21st birthday!)
Needles: Clover bamboo 24" circular size 15
Modifications: I cast on 12 sts instead of 10, then knit several inches longer than recommended for both scarf pieces, increased 8 more sts for the hood right at the beginning, and made the hood several inches longer than the pattern called for. I also used a three needle bind off to connect the two pieces of the hood rather than sewing them as the pattern recommends.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the hood comes to a cute little pixie point in the back. My hands are in the mitts that are folded up and sewn together at the bottom. It's very practical and I am all about practicality.


Middle two pictures:
Pattern: The Purl Beret from The Purl Bee
Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino, (100% merino, ? yards) a little more than one skein (if you follow the pattern exactly, you only need one skein), color #? (light lavender)
Source: Stash
Needles: Addi Turbo 16" circular size 3, Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs size 3
Modifications: I knit an extra inch and a half before decreasing for the crown. The pattern recommends knitting extra if you want to make it floppy, and the first time I didn't knit enough and it looked like a beanie instead of a beret. It took a little more one ball, but if you only knit the recommended three inches (you might even be able to get four inches) you can do it with one ball.

If you want a beret with structure, I would recommend the pattern from the Winter '07 Interweave Knits. This one is floppy, but it's still fun.


Last two pictures:
Pattern: Silk Skull Caps from Alterknits
Yarn: Classic Elite Bam Boo (100% bamboo, 77 yards) 2 skeins color #4954 cerise
Source: Stash (from Patternworks a little more than a year ago, but I don't think they carry it anymore)
Needles: Susan Bates Quicksilver DPNs size 5
Modifications: None.

Don't mind the shifty eyed look in these (or the messy desk in the background) ;) This was tricky. You have to thread the beads on the yarn first, and let me tell you, a yarn with 24 seperate plies is not the yarn to do that with. It was also kind of a pain to knit with because it split so easily. Oh well, live and learn. It's really pretty and the beads make such a difference.


(At this point you're probably wondering just how much headwear one girl needs. A lot. Especially when you live in New Hampshire and it snows in April).

Whew. I feel productive. I actually finished them a few days ago, but I've been so busy with papers and other homework, not to mention going to the president's investiture on Thursday and to see Hillary Clinton last night (amazing picture coming soon!) that I didn't have a chance to post them. I haven't been nearly so productive the rest of this week. I do have these two lovely weekend days, so I'm off to get cracking.

Next up: Criss-cross shrug from Handknit Holidays. Also the Treeline Striped Cardigan from the Purl Bee.