deadlines

I finished up one sweater and one hat for the Afghans for Afghans March 1 campaign:



Those plus a pair of socks, also for A4A, are my knitting olympics project. The Olympics are over on Sunday, but it occurred to me earlier this week that I have to send everything today at the very latest in order to make the deadline in San Francisco, where the knitted items for Afghanistan are being collected. So I shall be sending off one sweater and one hat, and slogging through the rest of the socks this weekend to save them for another campaign. I admit I'm losing steam, but I do want to finish.

I have been gorging on TV, watching the Olympics every night, and I have to admit I get sucked into the drama, the personal stories, the excitement of all the racing and competition. Figure skating in particular has got me thinking about what it means to work really hard and devote your life's work to something most people don't really understand or pay much attention to most of the time. As a musician, I get it - sort of. Obviously, I'm not out there competing for world fame and glory (I never had that kind of talent or inclination), but I know what it's like - albeit on a much smaller scale - to work for months on a single performance and either nail it or not, to be evaluated and picked apart, and sometimes congratulated.

It's been a rather frustrating week for me for reasons completely unrelated to knitting. I think I forgot how much time and work it takes to learn a difficult piece of music (or three) not only adequately, but well. I can do it because I have to, but it's not easy when my attention is constantly pulled between piano and kids and housework and making dinner every night. I am still knitting plenty, though, because I can't practice when the kids are asleep at night...so that's when I knit.

blah

Blah describes my mood, describes the week I'm having, describes the way I play piano these days, and even describes the knitting lately:



In case you can't tell from the ass-tastic picture above, that's a finished sweater (minus buttons, gotta buy some because I don't have enough in any one color), 2/3 of a hat and half of a sock for the current Afghans for Afghans campaign. There's nothing really wrong with those things I'm knitting, no major mistakes or anything, but it's plain stuff and not too challenging (quite unlike the music I don't have time to practice, but I digress).

In any case, that's my little Knitting Olympics update. I don't think I should have trouble finishing by the closing ceremonies, but believe you me, I'll be more than ready for a more interesting project when I'm done. Cables, maybe. Or fancy socks. Or fair isle. Or lace. Something other than stocking stitch, that's for sure!

weekend rambling

Last night I had the worst case of insomnia I've experienced since pregnancy. I'm not sure what brought this on. Stress, maybe. I'm working on some difficult music right now and I'm enjoying everything about it, including the violinist who is my partner in the project, but I have no time to practice and it's starting to concern me.

Or maybe the moon was extra bright.

Or the insomnia could have come from the fact that the end of winter is, if not near, at least approaching, and my brain is on creative overdrive. Three babies are due in March, all of which I want to do some kind of hand made gift for. Baby #1 is due to a couple who live in our neighborhood. Both the mom and dad used to work with Stuart when he was a grad student, and he was invited to a baby shower for them at a local pub last weekend (because Madison is totally a place where people have baby showers at pubs - isn't that cool?), where he promised them, unbeknownst to me, that I would probably knit them something. Baby #2 is due to be adopted by a friend of mine in town, and she dropped some pretty strong hints about some knitted hats she saw on Etsy that would be easy as pie for me to knit up in an evening or two (after the Olympics, though.) I plan to use this yarn, which is certainly less blurry in real life:



Baby #3 is bound for a foster family where he will join his older biological brother, also neighbors of ours. I've got some ideas for quick projects, like flannel receiving blankets edged with oversized rickrack and stenciled onesies, a staple baby gift when I don't have time or inclination to knit a whole sweater.

I've also been trying to do some more sewing because at some point I would like to make myself some clothes. Back when I was the uncoolest middle schooler in the universe, I did several years of 4-H sewing, and I actually got pretty good at it. I think my final year I made a jumpsuit with trim on the collar and a zipper in the back and gathers in some odd places, and even though that outfit would be wildly unstylish now (think nautical themes and wide collars of the early '90s - yikes!!), I learned some serious skills making it...many of which I have forgotten. For now I'm practicing with little girls' clothes, which involves a whole new set of frustrations (tiny armholes, for one), but at least I can re-learn how to install a zipper and sew a facing without worrying about what will fit me. To that end, here's a little jumper I've almost finished:



I used some lightweight denim I snitched from my mom's scrap pile and striped red quilting fabric leftover from another project. The pattern is Simplicity, and I thought it would be a piece of cake, but it really wasn't. Maybe this is because I'm rusty on the sewing skills, but the whole top part was a pain in the butt. I did a lot of hand-stitching things into place, and I nearly gave up on those armholes with the bias tape edging.

All that's left, though, is the zipper:



It's basted into place and ready to be stitched down for good, but I don't have the courage yet (or the energy to dig up my zipper foot...). I've worked pretty hard to make this jumper look, if not great, at least not crappy and I am kind of afraid I'll screw up this last part. I don't know when I'll have time, either. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be away rehearsing, and I have to prepare for that (the only reason I'm blogging instead of practicing right now is that Anya is sleeping and the piano will wake her up.)

Yes, I've been knitting. I have a few rows left on the collar of that gray sweater, after which it just needs blocking and buttons. That gives me a whole week to do a pair of socks and a hat (and maybe mittens, but I didn't officially commit to that) and I'll have my knitting Olympics gold medal. Using thick yarn and plain patterns will make this totally doable.

It's clear that I've been neglecting all kinds of housework. Very selfish of me.

projects

There are days. Days when the kids get up before 5:30 and spend most of the day squabbling over whose turn it is to hold the week-old half-deflated birthday balloon, days when the two-year-old refuses to nap until 4:30 as she sits in the car cart in the grocery store where you have gone purely out desperation to get out of the house, days when the sight of a kitchen full of messy dishes and rice all over the floor makes you want to curl up in the corner and cry because all you have done for hours is clean up after people, days when you show up inadequately prepared for a rehearsal because you have to pay a sitter for every hour of practice time you get, and she's not available (or affordable) for the 3-4 hours per day you really need, days when you can't wait until it's time for your shower in the evening because that is literally the only 10 minutes you will be able to spend alone. At least it's nice to be needed.

I know, I know. I complain a lot. Don't sweat the small stuff and all that. But the days when absolutely all you do is deal with the small stuff over and over, it can get to you. So you do the dishes and have a glass of wine and settle down with your knitting for an hour or two before you go to bed and do it all over again the next day.

So I decided to do the knitting olympics. I almost didn't because right now I have other stuff stressing me out, but then I thought "What the heck. I knit all the time anyway; I might as well set a goal for myself." I made it reasonable, though. Afghans for Afghans has a March 1 deadline for children's sweaters, hats, socks and mittens, and I shall be knitting one of each (or a pair of each, as the case may be) for the duration of the 2010 Winter Olympic games. Here's the sweater I started Saturday night:



The pattern is a neckdown cardigan from Knitting Pure and Simple. I love those patterns for kids. I have at least half a dozen, and they're all pretty much the same: neckdown raglan sweaters in various gauges and sizes. This is at least the fourth or fifth I've knitted. I'm using Cascade Pastaza (50% wool/50% llama) at about 17 st per 4", so it is going quick and should be nice and warm. I've actually got another sweater 2/3 done in a slightly heavier weight wool, but I started it before the opening ceremonies, so I guess it doesn't officially count for the Knitting Olympics, but I'm hoping to finish it up too before the games are over.

You can see I'm already to the sleeves. I'd like to note that I'm using new DPNs, courtesy of Gay, whose giveaway contest I won a couple weeks ago. I got a whole pile of lovely bamboo DPNs in a BUNCH of sizes, plus a couple circulars. I was tickled pink to get her package in the mail, in the midst of those back-to-back blizzards, no less!



To be honest, I've won several blog giveaways lately, of the "leave a comment and I'll draw names randomly out of a hat" variety. I think I might be due for another giveaway here to balance the woolly karma, but more on that later.

Now, before I go watch some speed skating relays or snowboarding or whatever is on now, I have to show you this:



That is Stuart attempting to put together a pair of leather moccasins. He ordered a kit online and spent an hour last night trying to figure out the rather sparsely worded, badly illustrated instructions. Neither of us could really make heads or tails of them, so he's just going at it on his own. I'll let you know how they turn out.

let the games begin

Folks, the Opening Ceremonies started about 20 minutes ago. Approximately 5 minutes ago I made up my mind to do it. I'm joining the knitting olympics.

More later. Gotta go knit.

(P.S. Does anyone else think it was extremely poor taste for NBC to show footage of that awful luge accident over and over and over? I mean, someone DIED.)

Cedar Leaf Shawlette

Last Sunday I wheedled my husband into taking a few pictures of me wearing Redhook, but I think he ran out of patience with it. You know, he understands that knitting it an important part of my life and he never says anything about how much yarn I have -except the one time a couple weeks ago when he was looking for a lost something-or-other and searched the entire house, closets, nooks, crannies and all and commented, "I've discovered your various yarn stashes." That's right, stashes. As in, plural. *Insert retreating, sheepish expression here.* For a guy whose creative outlets are limited to computer programming and roasting coffee beans, he is very understanding about all the knitting I do.

However, getting him to take pictures of me wearing stuff I knit is like pulling teeth. I feel silly posing for pictures and he doesn't experiment with cool angles or anything. So when I make a sweater for me (which I've done a lot in the last year or so, haven't I?) I'm lucky to get one good photo, and it is guaranteed to be straight on with a goofy smile. Sometime I'll figure out the timer function on the camera but it's not worth it now when it's still so dang cold outside.

All that is the long explanation for why my new favorite favorite scarf has just one picture, and it's clearly one I took myself. C'est la vie.



This is the Cedar Leaf Shawlette by Alana Dakos of Never Not Knitting. I wear this just about every day, and I get lots of compliments. The pattern is so clever; the scarf is knit longways with shortrows to make it wider in the middle, and the leaf edging is knitted on. The yarn, Manos Silk Blend (50/50 silk and merino) is lucious. It's rather expensive and rather stretchy, so I would never use it for a sweater, but for a small project that goes on one's neck it's wonderful. I used 2 skeins plus a few yards of a third, so I'm not sure what to do with the rest. It seems too precious to waste!

knitting in novels

I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's new novel, The Lacuna, which my mom gave me for Christmas. I'm a huge Kingsolver fan, as I may have mentioned before. She is one of my favorite authors. I've read absolutely everything she's written, and this latest novel is quite good. I'm about 2/3 of the way through and have encountered some knitting, so why not share with you?

To contextualize: the main character Harrison Shepherd, a reclusive novelist who grew up in Mexico but now lives in Asheville NC, is driving from Washington D.C. back to Asheville with his secretary Violet Brown. World War II has just ended. They have just been to D.C. to help unpack an art exhibit that the U.S. congress has banned from traveling to Paris for being vulgar and profane. Violet is knitting in the car. (If that little synopsis doesn't make sense, just go read the book!)

"Is that what you have there? I thought it was an indigo porcupine."

She had a laugh at that. She has eleven nephews and nieces, I learned, and meant to outfit the tribe on this journey, working through socks from top to toe, all from the same massive hank of blue wool. The coming holiday shall be known as "The Christmas of the Blue Socks from Aunt Violet." She worked on a little frame of four interlocked needles that poked out in every direction as she passed the yarn through its rounds.

"Aren't you afraid you'll hurt yourself?"

"Mr. Shepherd, if women feared knitting needles as men do, the world would go bare-naked."

And a few pages later...

A gift: knitted gloves of soft gray wool. What a remarkable sensation, to slide them on and feel each finger fit perfectly in its allotted space. "I noticed you have none," she said. "Or wear none. I thought maybe they didn't use them in Mexico."

"I've bought three pair since I moved here and they're all too short in the fingers. I wind up with webbed hands like a duck."

"Well, see, I wondered. Your fingers are about twice what God gave the rest of us."

I held out both gloved hands, stunned by the sight of perfection. "How did you do this? Did you measure me in my sleep?"

She grinned. "A grease stain on one of your letters. You must have leaned on the table to stand up, after eating a bacon sandwich."

"Very impressive."

I brought in a rule and measured all the fingers."

I turned my hands over, admiting the row of slant stitches across each thumb gusset. "Not blue, though. I thought you specialized in indigo."

"Oh, those socks you mean, out of that cheap handspun. Those were for the children. This is pure merino from Belk's. I can use quality on you, because you're not planning to outgrow these in a year or run holes in them on purpose."

"I'll try not to let you down."



That's something, huh? I wonder if Barbara Kingsolver is a knitter.

Redhook

Back in August, we took a little vacation with my parents and brother to Door County. For those of you out-of-state, Door County is a peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan; it's that little "thumb" on the eastern side of the map of Wisconsin. Anyway, on our way out, I happened upon an LYS in Sturgeon Bay (little town at the base of the peninsula) called Spin. I have looked for a website, but I don't believe they have one, so no linky. Sorry. Anyway, this was right about the time Jared Flood's new booklet called Made in Brooklyn was published by Classic Elite Yarns. I had seen all the previews online and I wanted, nay, needed, my own copy. So naturally, when I saw that Spin had them in stock, I snapped one up and immediately looked for a project I could start right away. I'm not sure why, but I settled on Redhook. Maybe it's because I knew it would knit up fast, or maybe it's because the shop had the right yarn in a good color, but after a good hour or more of perusing the shop (much to my husband's annoyance, even though there was a coffee place next door) I finally plunked the book, 6 balls of CEY Moorland (and maybe a skein of sock yarn, but really, people, it was Malabrigo, Malabrigo! and you can't get that here, yo? so what if I haven't used it yet) on the counter.

I got a good start on the sweater right off the bat, but got sidetracked by other projects for several months. It's a good pattern, well-written, and the yarn is surprisingly nice. I say "surprisingly" because there is both mohair and alpaca in it, which suggests it would be itchy, but for me, it's not. And my neck is very sensitive to alpaca. Also, there is variegation in the color, not enough to pool or stripe, but it's sort of mottled and heathery, which normally isn't my thing, but again, I really like it.



In fact, I love this sweater. It's light and warm and comfortable, yet fitted enough not to be frumpy. You'll notice I don't have buttons on it. That's because I bought buttons that were too big for the buttonholes. I really wanted to wear it one day, so I made due with a shawl stick thing, and decided I just like it better that way anyhow. I can always add buttons later if I want.

Pattern: Redhook, by Jared Flood
Yarn: Classic Elite Moorland, 5 skeins. The pattern called for 6, but I have one left over, probably because of gauge. I was getting 5spi instead of the 5.5 the pattern called for, so I made the smallest size and it seemed to work out. But that meant I used less yarn. Now I have one ball left and I'm not sure what to do with it...
Made for: me. Yay!

Next up: my favoritest scarf. Ever.

ORANGE

I finally got some pictures of the last few projects I've finished recently. I think I'll post one at a time. You know, just to drag it out.

Let's start with some socks, shall we? The orange socks are done, as you can see.



They remind me a bit of a favorite poem from an old issue of the High Five magazine Daniel gets in the mail every month:

Oranges are orange outside and in.
First you have to peel the skin.
Then you pull the sections loose,
and eat the part that holds the juice.
Mmmmm.

It only took about 3 weeks to knit these from start to finish, and that was with some sweater knitting (not sweater finishing, though) included, too. There was no particular deadline, but I felt in a hurry to finish these socks, perhaps because it is often the case with me and socks that once I put them down, the pair never gets done. This may explain why I have several single socks languishing among the unused sock yarn in my stash.



Golly these are bright, aren't they? The stripes of different oranges just about make me cross-eyed if I look at them too long, but I find the garish colors almost therapeutic this time of year. The yarn is 100% superwash merino hand-dyed by a woman in Madison, but darned if I can find the label, so I can't tell you the actual name of it. The colorway is called "squash" if I remember correctly.
ETA: I know I bought this yarn at Lakeside Fibers, and I've seen it at The Sow's Ear, too. Madison knitters, help me out here...

It's funny how I have books full of fancy pants sock patterns, and half the time I knit plain old socks without a real pattern because it's just easier. Sometimes you need a challenge, sometimes you don't. You let the nutty colors of the yarn do the work for you.

Anyway, these orange beauties are bound for Kansas, where my cousin Stephanie can wear them around the house, or under her vegan boots, or wherever she likes. I have a tradition of knitting her socks for her birthday (except last year when we dyed sock yarn together instead), which isn't until May, but wool socks would be more useful to her now, so I shall send them to her this week. I suspect she won't mind.

sew...

Sometimes when you can't wait for spring, you sew your little girl a dress.



And you dye yarn the color of daffodils, sunshine, and rain boots.

what are YOU not taking pictures of?

You know, there are days that just kind of suck. I know I am lucky for lots of reasons and should count my blessings and all that, but that doesn't change the fact that when you've been taking care of sick kids for two weeks and when they finally start feeling better they spend the entire day whining at you and then fall asleep just minutes before you're supposed to take them to the sitter you were finally able to reserve so you could practice for a couple of hours (which, by the way, doesn't begin to make up for the two weeks you missed due to reasons stated above)...I won't bore you further. Let's just say I think I deserve these few minutes at the computer while he-who-is-away-at-work-for-10+-hours-a-day reads bedtime stories. You know. Now that I'm done cleaning the kitchen by myself and all.

So, wow. It's February. Already. Groundhog Day, even! According to the proverbial rodent, spring is just around the corner. He didn't see his shadow in these parts, anyway, but then, up here, true spring is a long time coming. At least we're noticing a little more daylight and the temperatures occasionally creep up to the freezing point.

But anyway, now that's it's February, I realize I've finished at least 2, if not 3, knitted items and still had zero change to photograph them. There's a nifty little scarf/shawlette I whipped up at least a month ago. There's Redhook, which is done and blocked and has been worn many times already. There's the orchard wool sweater, which is nearly done, and those nutty orange socks nearing completion. I sewed a sweet spring dress for Anya. I have been dyeing yarn with Daniel...all this done without photographs because of lack of time, lack of good lighting, you name it.

So what about you? What have you been knitting or crocheting or sewing or otherwise creating?