Littler = cuter

Isn't it a little unfair how true it is that the smaller a thing is, the cuter? Pygmy animals, cars, mini pastries.... And of course, baby clothes.

I wish everyone I knew had babies on a regular basis! The projects are quick, the results are (to borrow the title of my nephews' favorite show) too cute, and babies are amazing models. Plus, there's wiggle room when it comes to size. A baby won't be offended if you hand-craft a sweater that's a bit too big. In fact, their parents will probably welcome it!
I'm probably just a few days away from finishing this little charmer, even though the baby isn't coming until June. This, my friends, may be a first. Of course, the sweater's not done yet and my typical m.o. is to get a great head start and then fall into complacency until the last minute. (Let's not talk of my thesis right now, okay?)
I've been enjoying a bit more free time as of late. I should be reading. My current book, The End of Men is overdue from the library and I'm doing my first book club in a couple weeks! We're reading The Alchemist, which has been on my list for a long time. Speaking of books! Have you pre-ordered your copy of Fit to Flatter yet? I've had a couple of quick peeks while the book was in progress and let me tell you, you want it! Great patterns, great instruction... it's no wonder Amy's classes have been so popular; she's a great teacher.
Here's hoping I at least have the body done of this little beauty this weekend. And then to make the hard choice: which booties? I usually go with Saartje's Bootees, which are fun to make and always very well received. But I've already made them a few times, and I'd sorta like to try something new. Maybe these with the sweet lace detail to echo the sweater? Or what about these? I need to stop trawling my Rav queue for booties. I WANT TO KNIT EVERYTHING!

Baaaaaabies!

Okay so first of all, whoa! Really? My last post was February 28? I know this semester was crazy, but jeez. Secondly, I finished something!

I made a Baby Surprise Jacket (my third!) for my friend Ang's new baby Irie Rose. The thing about a BSJ is that you need two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport (in this case, colorway "Bittersweet"), and you end up with a ton leftover. What to do?

Make booties! These are Saartje's Booties (rav link), which I've also made before, but come on! Look at them! So cute.
I've been dying to use this colorway ever since the first time I saw it, but could never find a way to use it. Irie's parents though are the perfect people for this bright, cheerful hue. And I loved knitting with it!
After I finally sewed on the final button, I tried my hand at crochet and yeah... still terrible. I have a friend who crochets so I'm hoping she can help me out some. This same friend I "taught" to knit, taught in quotations because it felt more like reminding a master of something they once did. I'm sure she's going to be a good teacher. WAY better than the crappy books/online tutorials I've tried. I don't know why I just can't get the hang of crochet, but even my little braid of single crochet (?) never looks right. Sigh. A the end of the program, please let me have a completed short story collection worthy of publication and the gift of crochet. I just want a gd blanket. Is that so much to ask?!
In other bloggy news, I've started a new blog for my writing endeavors. I'm hoping it'll help me land freelancing jobs. Turns out, I really like writing columns and book reviews! Check it out here!

We have booties!

What's a baby sweater without booties, right? In the past, I've always used the same pattern (it's a good one, but I can't find the link right now), and while I like it, it was getting a little boring. Back in October, I bought 50 Baby Bootees to Knit by Zoe Mellor, which is awesome. There are so many cute booties to knit! I wanted something that had some garter stitch, to match the sweater, but all of the garter stitch booties seemed to use dk weight yarn, and I wanted to use the rest of the Lorna's Laces.

This particular pair was made using the Anchor Bootees pattern, which calls for intarsia and stripes. I liked the shape of these though, and decided to knit them plain. They were so fast and fun, I'm sure I'll make more of these.

I hit Halcyon yesterday to cash in on a gift certificate and picked up the new issue of Vogue Knitting, without even flipping through it. Generally, Vogue Knitting is a little hit or miss for me, but I can count on at least two or three patterns I'd like to make. Sadly, I can't say that for this issue. First of all, I flipped through [wait, I can give you an exact number] 33 pages of advertising, articles disguised as advertising, and a couple of short pieces before I even reached the patterns. As for the patterns, there were a couple that I thought were interesting, but don't see myself wearing. One is the cover project, by Norah Gaughan. I love how the cables come together and look like snowflakes, and I love the collar, but I just don't do the whole cropped top thing. The other is the red dress featured in New York Noir. In the Northern Lights section, there is an extremely bulky, oversized cable sweater that actually looks really comfortable and I may make someday. I think that's actually the only thing I would make. Even Michael Kors let me down in this issue, with his contribution of a shiny, crocheted minidress. The two sections that I thought were complete wastes were the men's section, and the freaking intarsia extravaganza that is "The Subject is Roses." The men's sweaters... I may be rendered speechless here. Most of us have a hard time convincing a man to try stripes, or cables, or maybe branching out from the gray/black/navy/brown palette. Yet Vogue Knitting brazenly includes a striped red sweater with a giant intarsia handprint on it. AND, an asymetrical cardigan that left my mouth hanging open. And the roses, oh god the roses. Not since 1995 have I seen such reckless use of intarsia on a sweater. Is this look seriously coming back? Are the nineties already retro? It looks like the only knitting magazine I can buy without flipping through first is Interweave. I suppose it's just as well, since I have enough magazines to cripple someone if they fell over.

Next up, time to make that second mitten before winter realizes it's past due and gives an icy whallop to remind us.

Wee Projects

I finished up the hat and bootie set last night. As it is 5:36am as I type this, in the middle of winter, I have no natural sunlight to photograph them in. I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, single strand for the booties and double stranded for the hat. I knew as soon as I casted on for the hat that I wouldn't have enough of the blue for the whole thing, so I decided on the fly to make the brim blue and the rest white. There's another baby due in the same family in April, so I'll use up the rest of the white on that one, and get some lavendar to compliment it (next up is a girl).

The colors in this picture are pretty true.


I also just found out that my childhood friend is expecting! She's due in August, so I have plenty of time to make a baby sweater or two.

But right now I will turn my attention to the Round Trip sweater. I will try my hardest not to start another project until I finish a sleeve. Oh, screw it. I know I'll break that one! It's time to start some fingerless gloves!

Slowly but surely

I've been spending a lot of time this past week ripping my CD collection (finally), and not doing as much knitting. A couple of nights ago I finally picked up stitches for the first sleeve of Round Trip, and casted on for the second baby bootie.

All I have left to do for this bootie is make the cuff. Easy-peasy. I planned to make a hat with white stars on it to match, but I think I'm going to skip the stars. I don't even know if I'll do stripes... though maybe I should, since I only have white ribbon for the booties.



The sleeve has started! This picture shows the color in the yarn a little better. It's mostly black and gray, but with some red thrown in. In this particular ball of yarn, I was shocked to come up to a section of BRIGHT, almost neon, green. I've not come across that in any of the other balls thus far, but I decided to go ahead and keep it. It'll add some flair.

Yesterday I went shopping "for my secret pal," and naturally also found a little something for myself, since I've been so good about beating this yarn addiction. The other day, Bonne Marie over at ChicKnits was knitting a cowl, and the moment I saw it, I knew it was the gater I've been looking for. While I happen to have a nearly complete ball of Baby Alpaca Grande in the color she used left over a scarf I made for a friend, I also knew that color isn't really me. So I stopped off at this wacky little yarn store I have a love/hate relationship with, and picked up some alpaca in a more suitable color.



The lady at the store said that Plymouth is coming out with ten more colors of this fabulous yarn! Since I was last there, they'd added this orange, a really nice red, and a deep purple (everytime I see purple I try to convince myself that I like it and that I'll wear it, but I'm just not feeling it right now).

Of course, I can't take photos of the treats for my secret pal, but it was so fun poking around the yarn store for stuff to get for her. Our tastes are similar, but different enough that I found myself picking up yarn I never would have looked at twice before. I can see myself doing another secret pals in the future.

WIPS... Now with Pictures!

I've been busy with other things, not much time for knitting, but I've still managed to get more work done on the Round Trip sweater (almost done with the border, about ten rows to go).

Doesn't look like much right now, eh? Just wait'll she gets some sleeves!



A couple of weeks ago when the weatherman first started in with negative degree forecasts, I decided I needed a thick hat, pronto. I bought some Adrienne Vittadini Dani on the way home from work and made this hat that night. Dani is very interesting. It's about twenty or so very thin single plies of yarn all plied together, which makes a very thick, yet light, yarn. It's 100% wool and very soft.




And the bootie. Just the one so far, and this one has been done for quite a while. It cries out to me, forlornly, from the knitting basket, "Please don't leave me all alone in the world! I'm so small, and the world is so, so big!" These only take a few hours to make, I'll set aside a night this week to make the match. I'll be making a hat to go with them.




I'm thinking about going to the yarn sore today to pick up some sock weight wool, but I'm trying to talk myself out of it. I already have so much sock yarn, and I have three projects to get through before I even have to decide what I'm making next. I have no willpower. If any stash enhancement occurs, I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.