update on my mom, and swatching issues

So my mom had her surgery this morning. It went okay, but there was more damage to her leg than they originally thought, plus they found osteoperosis. The latter isn't a big surprise, since her mother had it. She'll be off her leg for longer than the previously prescribed 6 weeks, though - more like 8-12.

I, for one, am going to start taking calcium and make more of an effort to exercise. It feels practically impossible with ice-covered streets outside and two young children to take care, but by golly, it's important! Time to dust off ye olde running shoes.

I got a few interesting comments on my gauge question yesterday. And this morning, after finishing up a couple pieces for a community blanket, I pulled out some yarn that I was hoping to make into a spring sweater and did a swatch. I tried size 6 needles first, then thought the fabric felt a little stiff, and switched to size 7 needles.

Then I washed my swatch, squeezed it out and set it on a towel.



Holy moly did the thing stretch! The size 6 portion went from 24 st per 4" to 21 st per 4", and the size 7 went from 21 st per 4" (which is what I was shooting for) to something like 19 st per 4". The yarn is Elsebeth Lavold bambool, and it's so, so lovely and dreamily soft and wonderful, but I guess that 80% bamboo content (the rest is merino) accounts for the stretching. It's not quite dry yet, so I might just throw the thing in the dryer for a few minutes and see what happens.

ETA: 10 minutes in the dryer (regular setting) helped a bit. I think I'll go ahead with the sweater as planned, and I'll just be sure give it a few minutes of tumble-drying every time I wash it to make sure it doesn't eventually become a tent.

Gah. This is why you shouldn't trust plant fibers.

questions of gauge

I just read The Yarn Harlot's latest entry about swatching and gauge and it brought to mind a general concern of mine that's been plaguing me for some time: when knitting a whole sweater, should you shoot for a slightly tighter gauge than you get when you swatch, knowing that a whole sweater is heavier than a 4x4" square and will probably stretch?

You see, I've managed to avoid this issue by knitting lots of baby things, socks and accessories, all of which allow for some flexibility in gauge. I've also done a few men's sweaters over the last several years, and those tend to be roomy enough that some stretch doesn't matter. But making a sweater in a small woman's size - now that's tricky! And that's why I've been afraid to knit for myself in a while. Because I'm not very naturally curvy and oversized sweaters hang on me with all the attractiveness of a paper sack, I tend to prefer fitted or somewhat fitted styles, and I think that accurate gauge is especially important. And I don't know about you, but whenever I do a swatch, I have a hard time measuring it. The slightest tug one way or another can make your supposed gauge vary by a stitch or two per 4", and that's a lot. If I had the time and inclination I suppose I could make a little hat as a gauge swatch because it's easier to check on a larger item...but that takes more time and inclination than I have (plus extra yarn).

In a way, I feel kind of silly asking about this because I have been knitting since I was 8 and I have made lots and lots of things, including a couple sweaters for myself that turned out just FINE thank you, but sometimes I think about gauge and stretchy yarn and I sort of panic a little.

Next sweater I start (which will be soon, I hope) I'll do a swatch and dive in and hope for the best, but I'm still curious to know what y'all think.

broken

My mom is in the hospital with a broken leg after a bad fall on the icy driveway last night. She needs surgery, so she'll be in the hospital at least a week. I'm anxious and worried because I can't be with her. Even if I went down to Kentucky, I'd have to take the kids, so I couldn't be any help anyway...not that my dad isn't perfectly capable of taking care of things on his own, but still. I wish I could be there. She's in a lot of pain (less now, thanks to Percoset) and I expect the mending will take a while. Good thing it wasn't her hip.

So many times in the last month I've been reminded of the mortality and fragility of our physical bodies. My brother's girlfriend is undergoing chemo for Hodgkins. A good friend my age is about to have surgery and radiation for thyroid cancer. My mom has a broken leg. I have also been reminded of the importance of community, of friends and family and even mere acquaintances being there to help out when help is needed. What I didn't realize before, though, was how important a community of people is not only to the person going through tough times, but for the people in the community as well. You see, I am feeling really helpless right now. There is always pain and suffering, but right now there is a lot of pain and suffering happening to people I am close to, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I am not a doctor or a miracle worker. I can not stop cancer. I can not heal broken limbs. I can only make casseroles and send flowers and Sudoku books and knit blanket squares in the hope that it will somehow make a difference.

Does it really make a difference, though? How does knitting up a skein of orange cotton yarn into garter stitch blobs say to someone "I really care about you and I hope you feel better soon"? In the face of serious illness, that feels inadequate, somehow. Like maybe the reason I do these things is to make myself feel like I'm Doing Something instead of Doing Nothing.

Well. That's enough of that for now.

Hodgkin's blanket is done!

Oh, I like this SO much better than that lace design, don't you?




Pattern: Mine (see below). It's just chunky basketweave in chunky yarn with garter stitch all around.
Yarn: Cascade 109, 8 skeins in sky blue. I think the color is pretty accurate in these pictures. I ordered 10 skeins, so I have 2 left. It's wonderful wool; I don't know why Cascade is discontinuing it.
Needles: size 11, for a gauge of 3 spi

The blanket is lap-sized, roughly 36"x50". I haven't measured it exactly, but I think it's the right size for suggling under to watch a movie or read a book.

This was an easy knit, of course. I'm not normally a fan of chunky yarn, but it works for blankets, and the gauge meant I was able to finish the project relatively quickly - not in time to get to M before starting chemo, unfortunately, but I think she'll appreciate it all the same.

This pattern is so easy it's hardly worth repeating, but here you go anyhoo:
With chunky yarn (3spi) and size 11 needles, cast on 109 stitches.
Slip first stitch of every row purlwise to make a neat edge.
Knit 8 rows of garter stitch (4 ridges).
K5, [K9 P9] 4 times, K9, K5
K5, [P9 K9] 4 times, P9, K5
Repeat these last two rows until you have 12 rows of the established pattern, then swap the knit and purl stitches (except for 5-stitch garter border) until your blanket is almost long enough, or you're running out of yarn (whichever comes first). Knit 8 rows of garter stitch and bind off.

snowsnowsnow

We're on the tail end of a big snowstorm here. I think at least 6" fell over the last 12 hours or so. It's like a nice little reminder that up north, Spring is still a ways away. I bought the spring Interweave Knits the other day, though, purely to daydream about warm-weather knits. I think there is only one pattern I would consider making (this flutter cardigan shrug thing, surprisingly). I'm sure I won't make it, though, because I don't have yarn for it in the stash and we just bought a new car (red Prius. Love. It. and by the way it handles just beautifully on slick, snowy roads) so the "no buying yarn for a while" thing is for real now.

I am about to finish several projects, but none are photo-ready at the moment. The Hodgkin's blanket is done and drying from its spa treatment (sounds so much better than "steaming" don't you think?) and it's really beautiful. I might make another one to give to my brother, too, but do you think that would be too much? Too matchy-matchy? Or totally appropriate since he's going through this whole experience, too? Seriously, I can't decide. (In case you're just tuning in, my brother's girlfriend just started chemo for Hodgkin's disease and the blanket is for her.)

There's a purple cardigan for me (!) that just needs blocking, seaming, and a collar. And a red tank top that needs sewing up and would have been done weeks ago except that I probably won't be able to wear it until June (stoopid Wisconsin). And a hat that I started just for the sake of a brainless stash-busting project.

So hang in there with me, y'all. I will have lots to show you soon.

friday night knitting club

I consider myself to have high literary standards. When I have time to read (which isn't much these days), it needs to be substantive and well-written.* Toni Morrison, Barbara Kingsolver, Michael Pollan, modern novels, nonfiction about current events - that's my usual fare, along with a healthy dose of J.K. Rowling and Elizabeth Zimmerman. Good writing is good writing, after all, even if it's "just" about knitting. I've dipped into lighter reading lately, though, in part because the first year with a new baby leaves me too sleep-deprived to concentrate on anything too complex. I've worked my way through several of the China Bayles mysteries by Susan Witing Albert, and last summer I even read The Friday Night Knitting Club. It's not very good, and I can't really put my finger on why - something about the writing style or the phony characters. Anyway, I don't recommend it.

But this past Friday I went to knit night at a local shop with my knitting buds. "Night" being the operative word here. Meaning I went alone sans children. I was able to hold an entire conversation without saying "Daniel, where are you going? Hang on...I'll be right back!" I was able to knit uninterrupted for a whole two hours. It was very nice, though I don't expect we'll do it too often (we usually meet Wednesday mornings). Everyone seemed to be on her feisty side. We got to talking about a local grocery store (Woodman's) that tends to attract a certain clientele, and by that I mean just about the opposite of the sorts of shoppers you see at Whole Foods. We used to shop at Woodman's all the time because it's so cheap, but we rarely go now because the produce is so abominable. As my friends volleyed general insults about Woodman's shoppers, I thought it a good time to tell them about the time I was 8 months pregnant with Anya and we went to the Woodman's liquor store to buy a case of scotch because you get a 20% discount when you buy that much. (Please don't judge. Scotch doesn't spoil.) And about the time Stu went by himself to pick up a case of cheap local wine that is even cheaper when you get 12 bottles at once, and he forgot to put on the parking brake and the car rolled several yards through the parking lot before he jumped in to stop it.

I think they were a little surprised. Then I mentioned that he's started homebrewing. (We have a lot of alcohol in the basement thanks to those discounts and the brewing. Yes, we're well-stocked. No, we don't drink it up very fast. Give me some credit here.)

Somewhere in there, I got a lot of progress done on that Hodgkin's blanket. It's just as blue and basketweave-y as ever, though, so I'm not going to bother with any more pictures of it until it's finished and blocked. It should just be a few more days.

*I draw the line at Russian novels, though. My friend Pam recently had a questionaire on her blog in which she asked, among other things, "Have you read any books by Fyodor Dostoevsky? Are you a fan? Why or why not?" and I had to answer that not only have I never read any Russian novels, I am afraid to because I think I will feel stupid if I do. For shame! Stuart, on the other hand, read the Brothers K and Crime and Punishment purely for recreation. Have I mentioned that my hubby is a smart guy? Yes, yes he is.

blue blanket beginnings

About a month ago, my brother's girlfriend was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. It came as a shock - doesn't it always? - because she is young and healthy. No one expects to get cancer when they are 27, after all. The encouraging news is that it's a treatable cancer in early stages, so there is every reason to be hopeful that she will recover and be just fine.

The next six months will be rough, though. There's no way around that. She starts chemo today, and she'll get it every other week through the summer.

I started a blanket for her:



The yarn is Cascade 109 in a lovely sky blue, a color I find cheerful but not obnoxious. I began with a chunky lace pattern, shamelessly copycatting Brooklyn Tweed's Chunky Merino Throw. It was going so fast that I tried to convince myself I liked it. When I was about 1/3 of the way through, my mom came to visit (for Daniel's birthday), and I asked her what she thought. She hesitated, probably deciding whether she should be nice or be honest. She went with honest. "You know what I think?" she said. "It looks like bad crochet?" I replied. Indeed, it did, and the blanket was off to the frog pond.

For the record, I still like the chunky throw. I think maybe this yarn wasn't chunky enough, or maybe my needles were too big. In any case, it just wasn't working.

So I've gone with a simple basketweave pattern, and I like it much better:



I wish I could have had this finished in time to send it off before she started treatment, but I'd rather she have a nice blanket than an ugly one. Fortunately, bulky yarn knits up quickly no matter what. I am halfway through 10 skeins, and I can knit about a skein a day, so maybe she'll get this before the next round of chemo starts.

someone has a birthday coming....

...so we made cupcakes!



Oma's here for the occasion! She let Daniel lick the spoon with batter on it (I never would have allowed it on my own.)



She made both those sweaters in the picture below.



Let's have a closer look at that sweater Daniel's wearing:



It looks so nice on him. Too bad he'll probably outgrow it in three weeks.

Anya has a sweater her Oma made her, too. She's too little to refuse to wear the clothes I put on her. (I really should knit her something.)



What am I knitting? Blankets, blankets, blankets. But I am ripping one out and there's too little of the rest to show you, so that will have to wait.