Mindless Fun

One of the great things about Paperbackswap.com, a site I blogged about awhile back, is that you can “order” books you wouldn’t otherwise want to fork out money for.  That’s why I decided to try one of these knitting mysteries.  The mystery was rather mediocre and the knitting content was pretty sparse.  But it was still mindless fun.  The cool thing is I can now post it back on Paperbackswap.com and get another “point” to order a new book.

 

Still Taking Pictures

Still knitting hats, still taking pictures…

Artistic decision to include the cones in the frame. Good choice? I don't know.

I added an e-mail subscription option for my blog.  I hope you’ll subscribe.  Coming soon: more knitting and a return to sewing once the holiday cards (400 of them!) are off the dining room table and my dinner party (!) this weekend is over.

 

Yarn Therapy

The other day I was feeling tired, hormonal and cranky.  So I decided to take a trip to Imagiknit for a pick-me-up.  I’d had a 10 percent off card in my wallet for months and I figured it was time to use it.  Here’s what I got:

Malabrigo Silky Merino

I just discovered Never Not Knitting’s podcast and blog.  She has lovely photos and projects.  Through her, I discovered the Red Rose pattern.  Since I’m on a bit of a hat kick, I thought I might try it.  If I change my mind, Malabrigo Silky Merino knits up into a lovely scarf. 

I also got this:

Lamb's Pride Superwash Sport

Since I am looking at my pattern books in a new light, I was drawn to Brooklyn Tweed’s Beaumont Tam.  (As with Nutmeg, if I decide not to knit the garments I first liked in the book, I’ve still gotten use out of the book by knitting some hat projects.)  I’ve never tried this yarn before, but I think it’ll work great.  It doesn’t have the mohair of the worsted and bulky Lamb’s Pride, so I don’t think it’ll be itchy.

I’m enjoying my current hat-a-palooza.  I’ve always been a hat knitter and it’s nice to have a series of quick, satisfying projects.  Soon, I’ll work up the nerve to dive into my pullover.

 

Hat-A-Palooza

Here are the results of my hat-a-polooza so far:

That’s Nutmeg from the Blackstone Tweed book.  I used Valley Yarns Sheffield leftover from my Diminishing Ribs Cardigan, which was perfect for this project.  Strangely, the pattern calls for knitting the hat flat and then seaming it.  I don’t love seaming but it was such a short seam that it seemed quicker to do that than to re-formulate the pattern to knit it in the round.  I had one nutty knitting session where I screwed up an important row and ended up spending 2 hours simply to preserve several nights of work (my lifeline was too short and had slipped out of about 1/4 of the stitches, making it useless).  But I am pleased that I powered through that and finished it up. 

Now that I’m re-evaluating my garment knitting, I am looking at my pattern books differently.  So even if I never knit Nonpareil, I’ve gotten use out of the Blackstone Tweed book.

And here are some “scrappy” hats I whipped up for the upcoming craft fair at my kids’ school:

 

 

Newly in the Queue

A few weeks ago, I had some fun posting about future garment projects.  But after my big failure in the Empire Waist Cardigan, I had to re-evaluate.  (By the way, I was pleased to discover that even knitting goddesses have their fair share of losers!)  My hat-a-palooza comes first.  But when that’s done, I’ll be knitting this:

It’s the 26 Mottled Olive Sweater from Rebecca #33.  

This is a project I would have completely passed over in the magazine had it not been for Lolly’s version.  (As I’ve mentioned, I do a lot of copying of Lolly’s projects.)  This seems like such a practical garment, perfect for wearing over yoga pants when I pick the kids up from school.  (I actually picked the yarn color based on my selection of yoga pants!)  I’m debating about shortening the sleeves like Lolly did.

Picking the yarn was tricky.  The pattern calls for two strands of a discontinued aran yarn held together, making, essentially, a chunky yarn gauge.   I didn’t want to have to buy double the yarn so I went with a chunky.  I loved Lolly’s tweedy look but I didn’t want to knit with the cotton/acrylic blend she used.  (I usually don’t enjoy knitting with cotton.)  I stumbled upon Paton’s Shetland Chunky Tweeds in, of all things, a fabric store.  I researched it on Ravelry and it had good reviews.  I am a bit of a wool purist and am pretty nervous about using an acrylic blend, but it’s quite soft to the touch and hopefully it has enough stretch not to hurt my hands.

I’m still a little gun-shy about investing the time into garment knitting after my last big project.  But hopefully it’ll go well.   There are several other garments I’d like to knit (Josephine comes immediately to mind) and so I’ve gotta get back on the horse.

 

Second Completed Quilt

Here’s my second completed quilt:

It’s the basket weave quilt from Even More Quilts for Baby.  It’s much better than the first quilt.  It’s not perfect by any means — the binding is uneven, the squares don’t exactly match up in places — but I am pleased with my improvement.  Notably, on the suggestion of some readers, I hand-sewed the binding on the back side, which was much easier and far more enjoyable than I expected.  Most importantly, my fruit-loving son loves the finished product.

I have no immediate plans for another quilt, though more quilts are in my future, for sure.  I’d love to find a great pattern using jelly rolls, layer cakes and charm packs.  (Okay, how cute are those names?)  I’ll be eager to see if a quilt turns out better if someone else does the cutting.  Also, on the Blue Blog, I’ve read that Alison’s local quilt shop offers a block-of-the-month program.  That sounds like a wonderful, low-key way to improve quilting skills.  Does anyone know of an online (i.e., non-local) version of that kind of thing?

 

Still Wallowing…But Also Learning

I still can’t believe I posted those HORRIBLE photos of me in my Empire Waist Cardigan.  Ugh.  But as an avid blog reader, I so appreciate knitters’ honesty about blunders and disappointments and unflattering knits.  So I’m going to keep the photos up.  I am still stewing about the results of that project.  At the same time, I have learned a lot.  For example:

1. Do not let your kids photograph your FO’s, especially modelled FO’s.  My resorting to that was wholly the result of my profound impatience (something I’ve been working on for years, but it got the best of me the other night).  I simply couldn’t wait for my husband to get home to take decent photos of me — I wanted to post!  Big mistake.  At the same time, the cardigan does not look good on me.  Period.  So I’m not sure how much he could have helped matters.

2. There is a bright side.  I stepped outside the box color-wise and I got a lot of compliments on the color of the cardigan.  So I made a good choice there.  Even better, I have two whole balls of the yarn leftover.  I’m thinking of using them to knit a beret.  (I’ve never knit or worn a beret but a knitter friend of mine wore one the other day and it was so cute!)

3.  It may not be as bad as I thought.  Although she hasn’t seen the cardigan in person, my sister (aka my fashion consultant) believes it might not be a lost cause.  Better styling could make it more flattering.  At the same time, I fear that the whole thing is now “tainted” and it’ll never be a go-to garment.  We’ll see…

4.  I need to exercise portion control.  There’s no doubt this sweater would have been more flattering if I had a flatter belly.

5.  Although I announced that I should stop wearing cardigans, I realized that it’s more specific than that — I need to stop knitting cardigans that don’t button or otherwise close.  I recently donated my Arwen cardigan to charity.  And although my Diminishing Ribs Cardigan turned out great, I felt self-conscious wearing it the other night and spent the evening clutching it closed.  This gives me hope that Nonpareil could still work for me.

6.  After a failure, return to what you’re good at.  Thankfully, my kids’ school craft fair is rapidly approaching and I *have* to knit tons of hats.  I could do that in my sleep.  So I will hopefully have a series of successes before my next garment.  (Details on that soon, by the way…as I mentioned, it’s a pullover.)

Also, coming soon, my second completed quilt.

 

The FO That Triggered a Queue Re-Evaluation

Here’s my Empire Waist Cardigan.  The fact that I don’t even want to show you a shot of it head-on is telling.

(My kids took these shots, by the way.)

The knitting is perfect.  The pattern is well-written.  The yarn (Knit Picks City Tweed DK) was perfect for this project.  I have to face facts:  I SHOULD NOT BE WEARING CARDIGANS ANYMORE!!! 

My 41-year-old, post-two-kids belly is too exposed.  This sweater has no closure mechanism.  It’s just not a great look on me.  I am SO disappointed.  I spent weeks on this cardigan — I tried it on as I went and the fit is perfect.  It’s just not flattering.  Boo hoo.  Excuse me while I wallow for a bit.  The good news is the sweater for which I just ordered yarn is a pullover (and one I haven’t mentioned here yet).  I think it’ll be flattering.  I’ve also newly discovered that vests are flattering so I see more of those in my future.  Stay tuned while my queue gets re-evaluated.  Also, stay tuned for a post on my second completed quilt.

 

 

A Ton of Almost-Dones

I am ALMOST DONE with so many things: my Empire Waist Cardigan, my son’s quilt and the book I’ve been reading:

Here’s a little about each:

My Empire Waist Cardigan – I like this cardigan very much.  I need to remember that sweaters knit in DK weight take for-evah, but they’re quite flattering because of the non-bulkiness of the yarn.  All that’s left is the front bands — I’m half-way up the first.  The instructions for this part were sparse and NOT intuitive, but it’s going okay now that I’ve found a groove.

My son’s quilt —  This is already sooooo much better than my first quilt.  It’s not perfect, for sure.  But, seriously, it’s so much better — no puckers on the back, most notably.  All I have left is the binding, though, as I’ve learned, this can sometimes be the trickiest part.

The book I’m reading — A memoir by a local radio talk-show host, also a family friend.  I’m enjoying this quite a bit (and can very much relate to his lifelong but unrealized dream to be a celebrated novelist).

Speaking of books, I went to an EXCELLENT lecture about raising resilient children and teens by the author of this book.  Also, a friend had the brilliant idea to start a group centered around The Mother-Daughter Project.  Our first meeting is next month.  I already know most of the women invited — they’re smart, fun, interesting and they parent very mindfully.  I’m hoping that the group gels and together we can shepherd our daughters successfully and happily through adolescence.

 

Podcasts!

I am a bit of a podcast junkie.  While many knitters knit while they listen to podcasts, I prefer to enjoy them while I walk the dog or when I go running.  (I am quite the connoisseur of reality television, which is probably something I shouldn’t brag about, but that’s what I do while I’m knitting.)  Through podcasts, I’ve learned new techniques, discovered books and designers, laughed out loud and been moved to tears.  I thought I’d highlight a few of my favorite podcasts, just like I did with some of my favorite blogs.

– Stash and Burn: It’s hard to say whether I love Stash and Burn because it’s local or because Jenny and Nicole are funny, smart, inspiring, kind and hip.  I eagerly await every new episode and usually save it for my longest runs so I have something wonderful to take my mind off the hard workout!

– She Knits:  Sharon, a designer, and I have become friends.  She talks about her design business and being a mom to seven kids.  (My oldest and her youngest were born days apart.)  She is (self-admittedly) a little nutty, a little vulnerable and someone I would definitely hang out with if we lived near each other.

– Cast-On:  A West Coaster living in Wales, Brenda Dayne is the grandmother of knitting podcasters.  She features interviews and essayists about knitting.  I could live without the music, but other than that, Cast-On is terrific. 

– Knit Picks:  Kelley’s podcast is reliable and informative.  She often features interviews with authors who have new knitting books out and I’ve found loads of great inspiration from that.

– Ready Set Knit:  This show is hosted by the married owners of WEBS, a store in Western Massachusetts I’m absolutely dying to go to!  (As I’ve mentioned, I am a huge Valley Yarns devotee.)  Like the Knit Picks show, it often features great interviews with heavy hitters in the knitting world.

– Sew Forth Now:  This show has a heavy emphasis on garment-sewing by an experienced sewer.  The interviews are long and inspiring.

– A smattering of shows from NPR (the always excellent This American Life, KQED’s Forum [we are so lucky to have such intelligent programming in the Bay Area], Fresh Air and, very occasionally, the Splendid Table)

There are a few others I like (Creative Mom Podcast, Craft Cast, Craft Sanity), but don’t necessarily love and sometimes I skip episodes here and there if the topic doesn’t appeal to me.  There are also shows I like a lot (Knit Science, Sleepy Eyes Knitting), but run only infrequently.

It’s hard to describe that feeling of finding a podcast you love only to have it abruptly disappear, sometimes after only just a few episodes but, worse, after dozens of episodes.  I *hate* that.  But the shows listed above are pretty tried and true.  What are your favorite podcasts?