domesticana

In the past two months, I have...

1. Rushed to hospital to say good-bye to my dying step-father-in-law.
2. Visited my other father-in-law for the last time, in a nursing home where, the doctor's tell us, he will likely die within a month.
3. Helped organize a funeral.
4. Had an epiphany about religion.
5. Vowed never to leave my husband in a nursing home.
6. Put my child on an airplane by herself and watched it fly into the air without me.
7. Flew on 9 airplanes, traveled back and forth across the country, to Canada and up and down the West Coast.
8. Watched my child sprout into a beautiful, long, lean girl before my eyes.
9. Coordinated a team of people to count, sticker, tag, bag and seal 10,000 t-shirts.
10. Allowed my kid to watch two solid days of pbs cartoons on my computer. TV as babysitting is something I didn't think I'd ever need to do.
11. Launched a couple websites.
12. Added the role of customer service rep, on top of everything else, to my list of jobs.
13. Politely listened as a stranger swore at me on the phone for 15 minutes.
14. Inadvertently trained my dog to follow me around like a love-sick puppy.
15. Surrounded myself with good friends and family.
16. Consumed many bottles of wine.
17. Quit a triple cappuccino habit, cold-turkey.
18. Tried various natural remedies for Rosacea.
19. Purchased a $70 tube of antibiotic gunk for my rash.
20. Learned to accept the help of others when I need it.
21. Felt too overwhelmed to argue when my best friend, who has two small children and an infant, offered to watch my kid... for the entire day, twice. Thanks again Jess.
22. Attended a 4th of July wedding.
23. Spent a week in Montreal.
24. Sat in the best seats in the house at Cirque du Soleil, thanks to my mom.
25. Helped my daughter find a new way to channel her storytelling drive that won't get her in so much trouble for lying.
26. Spent many hours training my puppy.
27. Worried about my health insurance.
28. Read a several controversial books.
29. Watched two seasons of True Blood in the middle of the night. Yay for insomnia!
30. Drove 800 miles with a dog and a seven year old. Twice.
31. Lived like a gypsy, sleeping on the floor in the same room with my husband, my kid and my dog.
32. Discovered the necessity of a sofa.
33. Knit a few cute things and 1/4 of this lacy shawl.
34. Attempted to explain the concept of materialism and sweat shops to an American Girl obsessed seven year old.
35. Set up a Vonage phone line. Gotta love emailed voicemail with mp3 attachments.
36. Managed to keep up with jogging and yoga during my crazy summer.
37. Had at least five crying episodes in completely inappropriate situations.
38. Spent almost 10 hours in a laundromat.
39. Dreamed vividly.
40. Planned to do many things that didn't get done. Maybe now I'll tackle a few...

The Latest in Baby Knitting

This isn't exactly the latest, considering I've been pretty delinquent in my posts for the last, I don't know, year. So, here's a little backlog of my baby knits. Wendy encouraged all of us online knitters to knit from our stashes in 2007, and I was surprised to find how easy that was for me, especially when it came to baby sweaters when so little yarn is involved. I had to supplement here and there, and naturally I didn't avoid buying more yarn, but it was such a pleasure to think of something I wanted to make, go dig around for a bit and come out with the perfect yarn. The experience encouraged me to recognize two things about myself: I am a yarn cheapskate of the highest order and I don't mind hoarding. So, I've decided to buy my yarn at sales, if at all possible, and knit from my stash whenever it's reasonable to do so. Sounds easy enough, right?

Twinsets

My very dear friend Roberta had twin girls last spring, and I was absolutely beside myself knitting these two matching sweaters. I happened to have just the right amount of my 'Dusty Rose' Rowan Handknit Cotton in my stash, and I ordered the 'Pistachio' colorway to match after I found those cute Robeez at a local shoe store. I previously knit this pattern with Kollage Yarns Cornucopia, and I must say the cotton yarn knit up so much smoother than the corn. These sweaters were such a joy to knit, and I was thrilled to receive this adorable picture of the two babes all wrapped up a few weeks later.

Evie's Sweater

A few years ago, I started the Polka Purl Dots Vest and abandoned mission about halfway through. I was still fearful of patterned knits and I chose not to do the polka dots, which in retrospect was probably why I left it sitting on the needles for over two years--so mind-numbingly boring. Anyway, a good friend of mine, and former Seattle knitting buddy, Valerie, was having her second baby, a girl, and I wanted to knit something for her that wasn't too pink or girlie. I started knitting the sailor sweater (next in line here), and about 3/4 of the way through I decided it was all wrong. Too bulky. Too masculine. Not detailed enough for my knitting friend.

So, I went back to my stash and found my abandoned, pretty blue Svale silk yarn (still on the needles--I knew I had that size circ), and started dreaming up something totally different. I flipped through some stitch books, settled on this simple repeat, ripped out the Svale and just started knitting. It's so liberating for me to not use a pattern, and I loved the final result. It was feminine and sweet without being prissy, and after I heard the baby's name, Evelyn Rose, the rose buttons really put the icing on the cake for me.

Sailor Sweater for Cody

As luck would have it, I needed a baby boy's sweater for my cousin in Utah, and my previous  work in progress was just the thing. I found these cute pewter, sailboat buttons (sorry about the picture) at my not-so-local yarn shop, and it all came together. I bought a bunch of Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky a few years ago, on sale naturally, and oh-so-barely had enough for this. You can see in the picture that the cream stripes narrow out on the sleeves--um, yeah. It was stressful. I had about 3 feet of each color when I was done with this one. Again, no pattern here, but it's essentially the same sweater as the one for Evie. And yes, weaving in the stripes was a pain in the ass. I need to learn how to weave them in as I go...

Sasha's Bear

After finishing all these sweaters, I was keen to throw in the towel and send my friend Nicole something store-bought. But then I found the Bobbi Bear pattern and this super-soft Inca Organic Cotton Yarn, and thought, what the hell. The pattern calls for Blue Sky Cotton, which creates a very smooth, perfect looking stuffie, but I couldn't resist the handspun look of the Inca. The bear needed a little something around his neck, which came out looking a little stretched. So I whipped up this little garter-stitch scarf, and voilà.

Trellis Sweater

After a short hiatus from baby knit-land, I started this adorable Trellis pattern from Knitty. My friend Rachel is due in April, and we celebrated with a blessingway this weekend. After all my baby knitting last year, I was so excited to be able to deliver this one in person. I just loved everything about this pattern: the shawl collar, the simple yet complex-looking cables, and the way it all came together. Again, I used yarn from my stash: Rowan Pure Wool DK in a sweet dusty green. I think I used size 5 addi turbos, but I lost my needle sizer thing and can't be certain. Rachel loved it, and it was so fun to be with her when she received it.

Vest in Progress

Last week, we learned that friends of ours in Seattle just returned from Seoul, Korea where they adopted a six month old baby boy. They have wanted to be parents for a very long time, and I am so, so happy for them. We knew of their plans to adopt, but we didn't know when their baby would come to them. In my all too typical way, I left off thinking about a gift until they sent us pictures of him.

Ack! I needed a quick knit pronto, and this little vest seemed like just the ticket. What could be faster than a baby sweater without the sleeves? And with leftover Lambs Pride worsted yarn in my stash, to boot. If only I had found an existing pattern and used it... I decided to wing it, which has been my new philosophy and one I'm excited to continue employing despite the setbacks, but I had a little ripping to do as a result. Not so bad really as it only took me one evening to redo, but still. I do not like ripping back.

I used my Sweater 101 book (written by Cheryl Brunette) to figure out the measurements, did a gauge swatch and just started knitting the body in the round to the armholes. I worked on two circs for the front and back at the arms, and figured out the decreases as I went along. The thing practically knit itself. It was so mindless, I even read some of my book.

I had just finished doing a three-needle bind off on the shoulders, when I turned it right-side out and noticed that the neck hole was only this big, or little I should say. No head would fit through that tiny thing. So, out I ripped, down to the armholes and ended up shaping them again while simultaneously doing the neck decreases. I think his head will fit through now, but I'm going to sew a couple buttons on the shoulder for good measure. On top of the neck snafu, I accidentally picked up the smaller Addis I'm using for the orange edges and knit the entire back piece with them. I guess I shouldn't have been reading and knitting at the same time.

Matt is heading up to Seattle again on Sunday, and hopefully he'll meet get to meet the new baby while he's there. Either way, I've asked him to deliver this gift. So, I need to finish the neck (I'm doing a crossover v-neck) and armbands and find some cute buttons (harder said than done around here). Oh, and I think it really needs blocking.

I'm thinking about grabbing a pair of these penny loafers to include in the box. So preppy.

Baby Love

I have never been good about keeping up with my knitting (among other things) on this blog, and one of my New Year's Resolutions is to stay on top of it. Here are two baby sweaters I finished last year for my good friends Jess and Jamil.

Pattern: Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater from Greetings from Knit Café (the only pattern I like in this book)

Yarn: Kollage Yarns Cornucopia, in Island Blue

Needles: 29" Addi Turbos in US6

Jamil just moved back to Texas, and I struggled to come up with something to knit for her baby that wouldn't be too hot. I'm not sure if I succeeded, but that was the intention with the corn yarn. I enjoyed working with it more than I anticipated, and despite a few flubs here and there (I'm working on letting things go), I really like the way it turned out. This pattern is fun, and would have been very quick had I been, oh I don't know, actually knitting.

Pattern: Chunky Knit Cardigan from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies  & Hi Top Baby Booties from Knitting on the Go

Yarn: GGH Samoa in Pale Lavender, Fuschia and unknown darker purple, possible discontinued color

Needles: 29" Addi Turbos in US5   

I love this sweater pattern. It knits up in a flash, and the shoulder shaping is so, so sweet. The booties were an after thought when I discovered lots of Samoa scraps in my stash. I've knit many a project with that yarn, and I knew those little leftovers would come in handy. I love the hot pink soles.

I knit this identical sweater for another baby-popping friend last year, but forgot to take a picture before I gave it to her. That one was worked in Cascade Luna cotton yarn in their hearty deep red colorway. While I was working on it, my pregnant recipient showed me all of the adorable pieces she had been working on for the baby, and she pulled out the same sweater, fortunately in a smaller size and with very different yarn. I thought about scraping it and finding another pattern, but it was too cute not to finish and, I figured, at least I knew she liked the pattern.

Not yet

The knitting of my Unbiased Handbag is almost complete! Despite being a very simple project, this little bag didn't just fly off the needles. The texture of the yarn, which feels like tiny rags that were spun together, looks great but makes for rather slow-going garter stitch, which I always find a little sticky. I should have used Addis on this project, but I have a hard time buying needles when I already have the right size in another material--this time bamboo. All of that, coupled with my failure to read the pattern properly and knit 3/4 of it incorrectly, meant this project has taken way longer than I intended. Oh well. It's going to be worth it.

The other day I went on a mission to find the perfect fabric to line the bag, and I ended up at a fabric/sewing machine store in Santa Rosa (the city next door). They just happened to be having their big Christmas in July sale on machines. I have been coveting a sewing machine for over a year now, and it didn't take long for me to get completely engrossed in a conversation with the saleswoman.

I think it was last fall (can it really have been that long?) when Matt came home with a vintage Ambassador sewing machine he'd found at a garage sale down the street. It was a beautiful machine, despite its age, and I was psyched to learn to sew with such a treasure. My good friend Heather, who makes the All Weather Woobees (if you haven't seen them already, you should check them out--they're awesome), was gearing up for a sewing machine class and invited me to join her. It slowly became apparent that my little treasure was a beast not worth taming. It was difficult, inconsistent and a big huge pain in my ass.

While trying to darn a hole in my brother's shirt, I made a big mess and knocked it out of time. When I took it in to get serviced, I was told it would cost about $100 to fix, and since Matt bought it for $25, that seemed unreasonable. The sewing instructor let me use one of their fancy-schmancy Pfaff machines for the remainder of the session, and it felt like sewing thread into butter by comparison. I will forever have expensive taste in sewing machines. Thanks a lot, Judy.

So, this store in Santa Rosa is having a big sale, and I'm super bummed to be passing up an opportunity to get the exact machine I want for about half the price. But we just can't afford it right now...

The machine I want is made for quilters, which is something I'd love to learn, but the benefit to me is the ability to push down the feed dogs and do free-form sewing. I've sewed several knitted garments now with a sewing machine, and I know how nice it would be to have that option.

At Ella's swim lessons a few weeks ago, I met a very friendly, cool mom who mentioned how much she wants to learn how to knit. Normally I don't offer to teach people. I took a class, and honestly I think it's the best way for an adult to learn. But...  She was telling me about her current sewing project (making hemp shorts for her three boys--that's Sebastopol for you), and I told her how much I want to learn how to sew. So we decided to teach each other. She's on vacation for most of July, but we agreed to get started when she gets home.

Maybe I can pick up another cheapie for our little craft-learning-exchange. Craigslist here I come.

The mother lode

Many months ago now, my friend Abby came over with a huge bag of yarn and said, "Here, someone gave this to me and I'll never use it. I want you to have it." I graciously accepted, hoping she wouldn't realize the value of what she was handing over, and promised to make lots of fun stuff with it. The bag contained 18 skeins of Rowan Handknit DK cotton yarn in a dusty rose color, all of the same dye lot, and I think I have seven balls left.

I made this tank top for my friend Jessica's birthday last summer.

Taken from an older Rowan magazine (#29), the tank top (titled Essence) was originally supposed to be knit with their Linen Drape yarn. The substitution with the cotton yarn created a slightly heavier fabric, but it knit up nicely. The shaping turned out well (despite the fact that I've been doing slip slip knit all wrong until recently), and it was one of the first projects on which I used the mattress seam. See isn't it nice?

 

 

 

This little number for Miss Ella, which is taken from Miss Bea's Rainy Day by Louisa Harding. The pattern only needed slight alteration to fit my long-torsoed girl. Right before I started knitting this sweater, I had a meltdown after ripping out my fourth start on a cashmere sweater for my mom. I came to the conclusion that, for my own sanity, I needed to learn how to alter patterns (and actually read them) before I picked up my needles. So, I bought a book/packet called Sweater 101 from Patternworks, and I can't say enough great things about it. The author explains how sweaters are constructed, how to take measurements, how to write a picture pattern and what you need to do to make sure the sweater you're going to all the trouble to knit will actually fit in the end.

So, Ella's cabled sweater was my 101 class project. I didn't do much to the pattern except to adjust it for her longer torso and arms, but you know, even that was a bit of a stretch for a mathematically challenged person like myself.

The zipper was my biggest sore spot. Originally, I looked at Bonne Marie's how-to on zippers, which helped a lot. But, for a non-sewer such as myself, I needed more to go on when it came to finishing. Since the sweater isn't a standard length, for coat zippers anyway, I couldn't find one that was exactly the right length, and no one told me all I needed to do was sew the top down to keep the zipper pull from flying right off the top of the sweater. It was a tedious and rather long road to wander before I finally figured that out.

And finally this sweater, coupled with Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece, for my friend Heather's new baby girl.

Baby Lola's sweater wasn't from a pattern. I'm very pleased to say that I read that 101 book and wrote this little pattern all on my own. As my first color work project, I have to say I wish I hadn't been using cotton. It's so unforgiving. So much so that I ripped out the letters three times before feeling that it was half-way decent. Also, the sleeves, although stripy and cute, required a bit of finagling when it came to the seaming part of this project... Now I know that shoulders don't match up with sleeves stitch for stitch...

I've been working on several other projects these many months--a few hats, a scarf, two sweaters in the works--and one of my many resolutions is to take better pictures of their progress and completion here.

Also, in the midst of my must-improve-my-knitting-skills extravaganza, I took a picking class for throwers and am now happily picking away. In fact, I'm kind of doing a combo where I pick most of the time but throw whenever it seems appropriate, like with knitting 2 together (that's way easier to throw) and doing that knit on cast-on that I love so much. I tried to purl they way the instructor showed us, by using my index finger to push the yarn down, but it was just too awkward. A few days later, I found this little tutorial about the Norwegian purl method. It's so much easier for me and way less crampy on the fingers.

So yes, I'm still knitting and loving it. Many big, big thanks to Abby for all that yummy yarn.

I'll leave you with some shots of my girl modeling her new favorite sweater:
 

Couldn't you just die?

My friend and fellow knitter, Valerie, is expecting her first baby later this month, and to welcome the little guy to the world, and what will most likely be a lifetime of knitted clothing, the women in our knitting group made a full-fledged layette. Originally, we planned to knit an Aran sweater and blanket in a froggy-lime green and bright orange chenille, but despite our best effort to get enough yarn, we were forced to choose something else. So, back to the pattern books and the Weaving Works we went until we settled on some Rowan patterns, only slightly bastardized, knit in GGH Samoa. Almost all of us in the group have knit with Samoa before, and we agree it's simply divine. Such a springy cotton blend, perfect for multi-season wear and, of course, machine washable. My yarn store has a hooded cashmere onesie on display, and every time I see it I imagine myself with a tiny baby in my arms, trying to hand-wash a knitted body suit. Yeah, right.

Jen knit this lovely, stripe-y blanket. Initially, she planned to work a concentric square pattern, starting from the center and working outward, but, being the perfectionist that she is, she couldn't live with less-than-perfect corners. So, stripes won out, and what wonderfully perfect stripes they are. Please excuse the folded picture as I simply could not get a good shot any other way.

Roberta whipped up these booties, from the Rowan Babies pattern book, and we were all mesmerized that they were knit on straight needles. Why, Rowan, why? When will they get hip to circulars? I love their finished garments, but the patterns leave much to be desired as far as I'm concerned. With a few pointers from the group, Roberta managed to knit these up in record time, and they are just about the cutest little things you've ever seen. And, Lara knit this adorable stripped beanie all by her lonesome. None of us got a glimpse until Jen's son's birthday party when we were able to hide out in the garage (for fear Valerie might see) to sneak a peak. Isn't it the cutest?

And I managed (just barely) to finish this very sweet baby sweater from the Rowan Pipsqueaks book. There were so many things I wish I would have allowed enough time to do differently (in other words better), but it came out nicely. I wish I would have seamed it in mattress stitch rather than backstitch (another issue I have with Rowan patterns), and the yellow border around the hood makes me cringe just to think about it. But, as I said, it's pretty damn cute despite the minor errors here and there.

Now I'm on to three more projects: a cotton tank top knit in Rowan Handknit DK Cotton on 4s, a modified version of this wraparound tank knit on 5s with a cotton-silk blend by Svale, and these Waving Lace socks knit with some more of the same Koigu from the last socks I knit. On Thursday, the knitting girls and I are taking a field-trip to the Weaving Works for their annual Mother's Day Sale. I'm hoping to pick up something yummy for a sweater project for my mother's 50th birthday.

It's been a knitting free-for-all around here lately.

Socks!

I finished these a few weeks ago but have been without my trusty photo upload device thingy since my husband took it to the office over two weeks ago. I think the duo turned out fairly well, and as such I decided to give them to my friend Roberta for her 40th birthday. I wasn't quite finished with the second sock when her party rolled around. So, I wrapped the first one up and gave it to her. I realized the following day that I needed that sock to ensure the sizing was exact on the second and had to ask for it back. Kind of embarrassing. In the end, they turned out with a few dissimilarities, but all in all they match nicely. I knit the first one using four double-pointed needles, but the tension at the space between each needle left me grumbling at my little knitting night. Our resident expert, Jen, informed that I could knit them on all five dpns to reduce that tension, and voila, it worked. I decided to follow the pattern and use Kitchener stitch on the toe, but Jen also informed me that there are a number of ways to bind off a toe, one's that, incidentally, are more comfortable on the piggies. Oh well, next time. I thought grafting was easier than all the hype I'd read, but I did find myself pulling out my first go round on the second sock when I stupidly attempted to do it and drink wine and talk to a friend.

As I briefly mentioned a while back, I'm currently working on a very fun, secret project for which I'm anxious to share details and pictures. I'll be done next week, most definitely.

Slippers, the zoo & school news

The slippers are done! Here are some before and after shots. Ella seemed very psyched this morning to be presented with a pair of "plippers" that match Mama's, and she wore them for all of 20 minutes (which I think is a small miracle!). I decided not to felt hers to maximum itty-bittyness because I figure it's late in the season, and if they're a little big she may still fit in them next year. A mom can hope, right? I am very pleased with the way they came out: ultra soft, slightly furry (but trim-able), and not too warm that they make your feet sweat. In fact, I wore them all morning and afternoon in our 70 degree house and was quite comfy. Yay for felted clogs!

Yesterday morning, we met up with my new friend Heather, her daughter Ava and her good friend's daughter Chloe (or as everyone calls her, Coco), and we all took a stroll through the Woodland Park Zoo. We stopped to see the new jaguar exhibit, where the monstrous cat was prowling around right up next to the glass. The girls weren't nearly as mesmerized as I was. Then we hit the gorilla exhibit, and Ella was fascinated when I said, "There's the dada gorilla and the mama gorilla and the baby gorilla. See, the baby's having milk just like you do: with her mama." Her expression was so precious:

We managed to catch glimpses of lions, giraffes, zebras, sleeping hippos, monkeys, orangutans, eagles and falcons and two massive snakes. Here are some more pics of our splendid morning and a few good views of Ella's as-yet-unblocked hat.

Afterward, Ella was thoroughly exhausted, but I had to run a work-related errand at a shopping center nearby. There was a small, display fountain outside the store, and Ella would have stood there, hands and feet getting soaked, all day if I hadn't tempted her with a nearby playground. After driving zig-zags through the massive shopping center parking lot to find a closer spot to the play area, Ella was still begging for the fountain and to my amazement was able to point in the exact direction of the no-longer-in-view spot. She must get her sense of direction from me!

I got a call this afternoon from the administrator of the Bright Water School, a Waldorf school I've been coveting for months, and a spot has opened up in their parent-tot class and is ours for the taking. I am so EXCITED! The aforementioned Heather & Ava are in the same program (not at the same time, unfortunately), and Heather gives it rave reviews. I look forward to going to our first session on the 27th. If we like this program, we can stay with it, and Ella will have a guaranteed spot in their preschool. Now we just need to figure out a way to afford it...

Well, I'm off to watch a sappy girl movie, or so I'm imagining (Under the Tuscan Sun), while Matt's down south playing cards with the boys. This is no ordinary, all-American card night. These guys don't bet, chicks are allowed (but no kids, so I don't get to go anymore--not that I'm crying in my beer about it), and speaking of beer, they only drink expensive Belgian-style ales, warm and in fancy-ass glasses. Bob, the host of "card night," actually stores beer as most people store and age wine. No poker either: these guys made up their own, all-about-skill-and-strategy game that they've been modifying for years to eliminate the element of luck entirely. Oh yeah, and they have a digital scorecard in the form of a custom database, which they access from a laptop that's mounted on they wall near the card table. Are these guys dorks or what?

Happy Valentine's Day.

Quick recovery & looming nausea?

Last week during our knitting night, my friend Jen received an urgent call from her husband to return home as their son was throwing up all over the place. By the following evening, her boy was feeling much better, and by Sunday we felt in the clear to get the kids together for a little waffle-making playdate. Little did we know, Jen was already coming down with the same bug, and she spent the evening and following day plopped on the couch (undoubtedly not too sick to knit). I mention this little tale of nausea with foreboding: Ella is well, and I'm worried I'm next. I figure if I'm still well on Sunday I'm probably in the clear. I must admit, I'm feeling a bit weary at the thought of puking. I can't remember the last time I did (yes, I had a vomit-free pregnancy), and I'm always such a cry-baby (literally) about such events.

So, I'm trying to get some knitting done before I come down with this thing, should I be so unlucky, because I'm sure that I, unlike my gifted friend Jen, will not be able to knit and puke at the same time. I finally got off my butt last night and took some photos of my slippers in progress.

Please note: they need to be felted!

I have decided that this is the worst pattern ever written, Not because it's complicated or difficult, but because you have to concentrate on every single stitch and count endlessly, not to mention all the binding off together with double yarn. Ugh. I'm going to be so grateful when I get these babies done. And I know Miss Ella is going to be beside herself with joy to see that Mama and Ella have the same shoes.

Also, I finally managed to get a picture, albeit not the greatest in terms of showing off the knitted work, of her in the hat I finished a couple weeks ago.

I'm off to knit with Roberta while Sam and Ella play. We figured they're already infected after our walk the other day.