Babies coming!

I remember reading Robert Lawson's classic, Rabbit Hill, as a child: a rabbit named Georgie, young and excitable, goes on an errand--to fetch his crumudgeon uncle. On the way, Georgie sing-songs, "New folks coming, New folks coming."

That's what I feel like: the next generation is coming with eclat. Spencer was born on the 13th of January; who-sit in early May. My needles haven't cooled--although I'm not really sure of the effects. Spencer's mom sent me a thank-you note for overalls, when what the tyke really got was another of the Alice Starmore wee bonnets: I don't know if she is sleep-deprived or not so subtlely telling me that something larger and not so old-fashioned would have been more appreciated. Forewarned, I face-booked Carrie, my niece, and asked her if she wanted to forego the bonnet/sweater routine as done by her slightly old, slightly eccentric aunt: she responded with a responding, "Let the bonnets begin!" Sooooo.... Spencer may end up with store-bought while who-sit toasts in fine wool. I went through my stash and found some Nomotta that was made in the United States sector of Germany!!! This stuff must be older than I am, but it's beautiful: I think it came from my aunt Connie's stash originally. I found a Piecework cardigan (Summer 2007) that uses a combination of stockinette and reverse (sleeves are done on the bias) with ribbon roses: simple but elegant. And then there's the Peer Gynt sweater for Christmas :-)!

I thought to make socks for sale but no one bought into my "see 'um, buy 'um" on-approval plan, so I donated one pair (Socketta) to the school carnival, gave a pair to sister-in-law (humpf! don't read too many blogs back), and have a pair sitting on the shelf for the next gift. I got some lovely merino, though, from Bristol Dyeworks, that I am definitely keeping: it's in a colorway called "Autumn" that reminds me of camouflage! It's nice enough to make me endure the tedium of the squiggle cable pattern.

Sweater tonight, socks this weekend . . . and then maybe the mystery shawl for which I have been saving patterns?

I CAN frog!

This is like true confessions: I did it--ripped out an entire collar and sleeve to resurrect a few misguided stitches at the neck of my sweater. And--since I'm feeling good about it, I definitely did the right thing. I haven't been feeling up to snuff since that move, however; some sort of drag-myself-to-work, drag-myself-to-bed bug has set in pretty hard. I managed to move to the couch last night and work on Susan's entrelac afghan (and watch an episode of "Hawaii Five O"). Thank goodness for mindless drama. Maybe I'll be back to the sweater tonight . . . on the other hand, maybe not.

A first! I got a fave comment on my shetland Alice Starmore tam from an editor (albeit volunteer) at Ravelry. Maybe I should stick with small and stranded. I do have her (Alice's, not the editor's) Mara vest started from years ago--trivia question: where was the Mara vest pattern first published? Clue: you probably have to be as old as I am (and as much of a packrat . . . excuse me, saver) to know this answer:-).

Ah, and before the crud set in, I rewarded myself (for who knows what--the edge of a first semester, the courage to frog?) by starting Stricken. I am in love: they look so good! Why can't big things be as simple?

Is anyone out there? (plaintive sniff)

Frustrations

The sweater I've worked on for so long (and more so these past four months) is done, but I hate it. I noticed that one of the cables leading up to the neck was two rows too long, so I raveled just the few stitches that the cable involves. I carefully knitted them correctly--oh, let's be honest--I tried to be careful but was left with too much yarn here, and not enough there, and it's really hard, at least for me, to pull stitches in a cable and get it right. THEN, I knitted the collar AND it's TOO wide. The angle from the picked-stitches to the top of the band is too sharp and the top of the band looks like an overgrown fungus. This is, of course, a pattern where everything has been knit into everything else and unraveling means unraveling everything: 36 ounces of yarn. I'll take it to the shop for suggestions, but right now I am thinking of sewing steek lines down the front and binding off in I-cord. Argh!

And--Turbo is no more! He grew into a very large, very opinionated Manx, and when my son took him down to the barn this past Wednesday (to work off some opinion and to catch a few mice, which he was good at) something else--perhaps a coon, perhaps something larger--cooled my Turbo's opinionated self forever. I'm lonely at the apartment where I live during the workweek: hubby says that it is good not to have a cat (the litter box was his bone of contention) but I think after years of catlessness I disagree. I would even sacrifice more yarn (maybe the sweater!) to have a warm spot on my bed at night and a comedian to laugh at.

The socks are done--the Potomatomus ones, that is! After the frustration of so much ripping and reading, reading and ripping, I got back online--only to discover that Knitty.com had extended the pattern beyond the margins of my printer. I was missing a column of pattern--and you can imagine the results.

I am Turbo-less this week: my crazed and zanny Manx "teenager" is at home with my boys. It's actually rather nice not to have to hold my skein tightly in my armpit to protect it. I had finally sacrificed a portion of my Cascade for my Two-at-a-Time socks but to no avail: this cat wants action--that yarn has to be snaking into my hands to be viable prey. He can jump from the coach to my lap, snag any unprotected ball, rip it away--and he's off and running, weaving a tangle around chair legs and rocker rungs. I may actually get that pair of socks finished this week. . . :-).

I'm also test-knitting a scarf pattern. I'm not sure the degree of confidentiality I'm supposed to be keeping, so I will leave it at that--but I'm eager to get it done and be back to my watch vest (I have been protecting it from you-know-who's onslaughts). Winter WILL come! and I want to be warm.

The wee bonnet on the cover of the January/February issue of Piecework has been set aside for another day: it's the adult tam pattern that Alice Starmore included with the kit that I am excited about. I ordered the kit and have knitted not one or two but three (well, almost three--I have a birthday gift due on Wednesday, and I'm half-done) with the yarn amount sent--and I still have a full skein of the base color, Mara, left (I may have to break into it to finish the top of the third tam). This is the best yarn bargain on the lot: I got it directly from virtualyarns.com for $44. So far that's 14.50 a tam--and I still have enough for at least one, perhaps two more (I had better get that wee bonnet squeezed in someplace).

It's summer and I'm a teacher, so that means the schedule has slowed a little. I'm also doing up the watch vest in Knitted Vests. I didn't like the texture so readjusted the stitch count (I'm doing it on 269 stitches, not 212) on smaller needles and am doing it in my favorite yarn: Heilo by Dale of Norway. I also didn't like the border--but that Chinese red vest a few pages over has an awesome one: garter, seed, and garter. It works wonderfully--so far :-).

March 4, 2009
How do knitters find time to do all that knitters do (other than knit) and still maintain family, friends, and funding? I look at the photos of completed projects and think, "Yeah, right, I can't even manage to find my camera half of the time, let alone take the time to photograph projects in whatever stage they are. I move cautiously along technology's tide and take an occasional dip; I am not a mermaid or fish.
I have completed one project that managed to captivate and capture, offering me no respite until it was done and on my head: it's from the adult tam pattern that virtualyarns.com sent out with the yarn for the "wee bonnet" featured in Piecework. (Yes, again I could not resist: colors like Mara and Whin, Red Rattle and Kittiwake render me totally weak at the knees and salivating at the mouth.) I shall try to take the photo and get it through all the necessary hoops, bells, and whistles.
I have been accepted at SchoolHouse Press's knitting camp for the second year in a row: I touched down in their Camp III last year (after several attempts in the past ten or twelve years), and they must have felt sorry for me: I actually am going to be able to partake in a workshop that is more to my level (my sister-in-law--not the scarf one!--came down to spend the weekend and brought up last year's camp. She asked how camp was: I replied that complete immersion may work for foreign language in high school but old brains cannot assimilate at the rate that the P2O's and the . . . well, you get the picture. She replied, "You didn't understand?" No, I did not--but I did have a grand time.)
So . . . now I have to come up with the funding that will allow me such a frivolity in today's economy. Sons' tuitions may have to come first.

Christmas Craziness

I have been knitting until the carpal tunnel kicks in--then knitting some more! It is truly a case of so many patterns, so little time. My sister-in-law, who shall remain nameless, wanted a scarf that was sufficient to cover her rather ample chest, so I cast on 97 stitches with Heilo and worked up five skeins in moss stitch. When presented with the result (which, granted, did resemble a blanket) on Christmas morning, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Oh!"--then rapidly put it back in its wrapper. It was obvious that coverage needed definition and that I had not done what she had envisioned when she had demonstrated,"This wide . . . " at Thanksgiving. So. . . I have been ripping (or frogging) as I reknit. I did take a needed break to knit up the Hidden Passion socks from Interweave's 25 Favorites book; they were fun in Panopticon (Lorna's Lace) and Baby Ull (pea green) (Wild Purl had Franklin Habit by for a workshop, and several ladies were going to knit the Ziggy socks with Panopticon and another Lorna's Lace; when I went in the store, I didn't see any evidence of their having completed their socks, but I at least have a pair that matches anything pea green in my wardrobe . . . hum? Which would be?) I am also working on my first Baby Surprise sweater: definitely fun, but my friend Jan clears her throat and reminds me about the sweater pattern I borrowed . . . a while ago. Therefore--scarf first, sweater next: my New Year's resolution!