Natural Progression

When I think back on 2008, I become overwhelmed. I usually face a new year thinking of all the things that I want to tackle, and reminisce about all the things I accomplished (more likely didn't accomplish.)

But this past year has been historical in so many ways that I find it difficult to think about little ol' me. It has been eventful, and I've finally been able to take a deep breath and look around.

Mr. Migglesworth and I finally bit the bullet and bought an apartment. We moved in just a few days before Christmas, with just a few days notice and the chaos began. Let me just say this: when the movers... big men who move people for a living... keep exclaiming, "Wow, you guys have a lot of boxes," you know you're in trouble.

I have also been incredibly lucky and fortunate to have been hooked up with a knitwear designer, Shirley Paden, and was working on my second project for her during the packing and moving. I thought quite possibly that I would lose my mind.

This second project is going to appear in Vogue Knitting's Spring 2009 issue, and I can't believe I got it done. Looking back, I'm happy I didn't have time to dwell on the fact that I was knitting something that was very difficult for me. Using yarn and knitting in a style I am not accustomed to, made it challenging to say the least. But thanks to Shirley's unending encouragement and priceless advice, I got through it. She is not someone you meet everyday.

Many many posts to come in 2009!

Iceland from Rowan

I like this sweater. It was fairly easy to knit up. And the pattern made it fun to knit.

The silhouette is definitely not the most flattering. I can't decide if I should wear it lower down around my hip/butt area, or pull it up to sort of cinch in a little.

I added the turtleneck onto the sweater so I didn't have to worry too much about what to wear underneath it. It adds a little much needed structure to the top too. Otherwise, I'd be channeling Flashdance with that wide neck. Not sexy - at least not in 2008.

If I had to do it again? I'd probably just knit the bottom waistband in the round and forgo the buttons. They don't necessarily bother me, but I don't think they add much to the whole thing. The leaf pattern gives it enough pizzazz.

Liberty Charm for DQS5

I joined my first swap - Doll Quilt Swap 5 - and was so excited to make something special.

Just as I started to get going with ideas, I also got my very first handknitting freelance job. As all you crafters out there know, you can't do much else while crafting. I can't even get the audiobook thing down.

When my fingers needed the rest, I worked on my doll quilt bit by bit. And last night, the night before the due date, I finally finished this little quilt.



I love the result, and I hope my swap partner does too.

I used some Liberty fabrics and used a solid red to bind and back. I like the simple but colorful result.

As much as I love this little guy, I felt opening a package of just this doll quilt might be disappointing, so I'm including a bundle of scrap fabric from the French General, one of my favorite stores in LA. I hope my swap partner likes the little fabrics. I can't wait to see what she does with them!

Cabled Cowl

I love everything about this project.

The pattern.

The designer.

The yarn.

The color.



So why do I keep getting distracted?

WHAT in the...

Wow. Do I have a lot of practice ahead of me, or what?



What the heck kind of knitting is this?! It looks like I used my fingers and teeth.

Good googamooga... this fancy fair isle knitting is real tricky.

Fairest Isle Of Them All

I've never attempted this technique of colorwork - fair isle. Was I intimidated? Maybe a little. I love the fun and quirky yet classic and countryside effect of this technique. But, every time I found a pattern I liked it was overwhelming. I would need a magnifying glass, and one of those chart readers just to be able to get through the chart. And usually many many more than just two colors would be used throughout the entire project. I always said, "Someday."

Well, someday arrived. When my crafty friend suggested we take a class at The Point in NYC, I couldn't resist. Our goal was to knit this hat in order to get used to working with a chart and handling two strands of yarn at once.

Much to my surprise, I felt like I got the drift of this technique fairly easily. I think there were three things working to my advantage.

1) I used to knit english style, but switched over to continental. So when holding one strand in each hand was not a problem. I knew which direction to wrap the yarn and could switch between left and right, and the two colors quite comfortably.

2) Loving cables has taught me to read charts efficiently as well. You start to pick up little patterns within the chart and use those to your advantage.

3) After putting in miles and miles of knitting, you start to knit without looking. Since this hat was knit in the round, I only had to deal with knitting and no purling. I could keep my eyes on the chart and keep knitting without having to pause and make note of where I was every time my eye had to move between the chart and the knitting.



Definitely not my style, but I do feel like I got the hang of working with two different yarns in the round by the time this hat was done. We started this hat in class, and I was able to finish it when I got home. A great idea for a holiday present, I might add!

The provisional cast-on was a really nice touch on a hat like this, too.

My only advice: knit LOOSELY. I tend to knit rather tightly, which did not jive with this technique. You'll notice towards the bottom of my hat that the white stitches looked sucked into the brown stitches. That's too tight. Way too tight. I really loosened up towards the top and you can see the stitches look more even.

I'm ready to tackle my second fair isle project now! Maybe another baby gift? A hat, perhaps? Oh, the possibilities! That is definitely my favorite aspect of learning a new technique. I feel like another door has opened with the possibility of a gazillion knitting projects behind it! Just waiting for me!

It's the little things

It was hard coming back from vacation. Parrot Cay exceeded our wildest dreams. This private island near Providenciales in Turks & Caicos was heavenly.



You could see all the beautiful shades of blue as we flew closer and closer to the islands. Sandy, who showed us around the resort when we landed simply asked, "Oh... well, what color is the water where you come from?" I was a little embarrassed trying to find some "J. Crew"-type word for sh*t brown.

So, I made the conscious decision not to bring any knitting to Parrot Cay. I didn't want any pressure to do anything.

After not knitting for almost a week, I came home and decided to start with little projects. The first thing I had to start on was a doll quilt for DQS 5. I have to send it out by December 1st. So, not to spoil the surprise, here's a sneak peek at the little charmer.



Is that Liberty fabric you spy? I say nothing.

Then, last Saturday was my little puglet's 7th birthday. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I can still remember her first day at home with us. Her big head with her even bigger eyes on her tiny little body. She was 3.3 pounds. Now, she's 20+. My little cutie.

For the upcoming winter, we bought her a cute little Wagwear quilted coat. It's getting fleece put into the lining, so we don't have it yet. Pictures will definitely come. It's adorable. But, I had to give her something she'd actually appreciate. Being the little nudist that she is, the quilted coat is more of a torture device than anything else.

So, I baked her some oat-rolled peanut butter treats. She definitely enjoyed them. She swallowed them whole, so actually, I can only guess that she enjoyed them.



Finally, I have a baby shower next Friday. Yes, another baby shower. Thankfully, it's for a great friend, so I wanted to make something special. A keepsake. So I thought I'd try the Blue Sky Alpacas's Baby Bobbi Bear.



I decided to use Cascade 220 Superwash because I wanted to use white yarn. The thought that this little baby may not even know polar bears to exist on this earth disturbs me. So, I made him a polar bear. At least he'll have that.

Autumn Beret

Thanks to Ravelry there is a cornucopia of free patterns all on a single site. It's like hitting the jackpot everytime I browse through them.

I came across this pattern for a Spring Beret. Knit in cottor, it does make a wonderful springtime accessory.

But, I needed to make something for my dearest friend's birthday and it's on November 4th. Not springtime.



Here it is in Malabrigo's worsted wool. It took less than one skein, and I even threw in an extra repeat of the 8-row pattern to make it floppier.

I still think it cold be floppier and roomier. (I admit. I do have a rather bulbous head.)

Kicked me in the ass (and still kicking)

SO.

I do like this pattern - Bacchus Socks from IK Fall 2008. And, I do like the way this ONE sock has turned out.

But lemme tell ya... if this sock up and threw itself out the window of my apartment, I wouldn't run downstairs to see if it made it. I'd draw the curtains, and turn off my lights like I did when that vase accidentally fell off of my window ledge and shattered all over the sidewalk. But, that's a whole other story. (No one was hurt.)

With this particular design, I discovered quite a few things. First, the Turkish cast-on. Achieved, but not without a lot of cursing. The Interweave Knits instructions were lacking, shall we say. So I turned to EZ and Meg. They tipped me off to the two circular needle way of doing it.

Did I have two circular needles in a size 1? Of course not. So the cursing continued.

My second discovery: no matter how much you pay for dpn's, they can break. Please see previous post.

Thirdly, the smaller the stitches, the harder to pick up dropped one's. Just sayin'.

Finally, the invisible cast-off. The annoyance built up inside of me since the instructions were for either 1x1 rib, or 2x2 rib. This pattern has a 2x1 rib. I know I know... easy enough to translate. But I just wanted to read instructions and follow them. Is that so wrong?

Again, EZ to the rescue! I did her sewn bind-off... purl through two, knit through first, pull off that stitch. Easy enough. The result... eh. It definitely isn't an invisible cast-off. But that's what happens when you take shortcuts.

I am not amused.



The punchline. Wait for it... wait for it...

The sock doesn't fit me.

!@#$%^&*

I was more than happy to splurge on a set of Lantern Moon Sox Stix. I already had one set, and really enjoyed using them.

So, on my very first go with my brand new Size 0 set I broke a needle. (Rosewood, btw.)



Like... seriously... WTF?! W. T. F.

I'm pissed. And oh so annoyed.

Men's Alpaca Scarf

Inspired from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts' Men's Cashmere Scarf. I didn't have cashmere on hand, but I had some nice rich gray alpaca.

I know I know, gray is so boring. But, I'd rather my recipient wear this scarf than admire the color as the scarf hangs on the back of a door.



Very easy, very quick and it only took two skeins of Misti's Baby Alpaca Chunky.

The edges do curl (argh), but some wet blocking took care of that.

Rainbow Sprinkles

I've been digging through books and sifting through ravelry.com trying to find quick yet impressive holiday gifts to make.

I stumbled across Elizabeth Zimmermann's Spiral Hat, also better known as the Snail Hat or Dairy Queen Hat. Personally being a huge fan of Dairy Queen, I looked at the "vanilla" colored hat in The Opinionated Knitter and remembered how I had always been such a sucker for anything with rainbow sprinkles on it.

I pulled out some Sheep Shop Yarn that was rainbowy, and got started.



A quick knit, but I'm not sure who this could go to. I think it's such a cool design, but wearable?

Be honest - do you think it's too goofy?

One for you; one for me

After making Shady a seed stitch scarf, I had to make one for myself. I loved the feel of the baby alpaca, and the look of the seed stitch.

I added fringe along one side of the scarf making it more blanket-y. I planned on doing both sides, but it looked a little crazy.



Used Misti Alpaca Chunky vs. Cascade's Baby Alpaca Chunky this time. Can't say that I notice a difference. Both super super soft and lovely to work with.

Thanks to 1/4 of an inch I found this kneat-o site!

Let the giftmaking continue

It's that time of the year again. Let the holiday giftmaking commence. Now that I've gotten most of the baby gifts out of the way, I can turn all my attention to the holiday gifts.

I was flipping through some books at Barnes & Noble and came home with Knitting New Mittens & Gloves. I fell in love with the Jack in the Box Mittens pattern. Being an ex-smoker, I never ever was able to wear mittens. Now that I've quit, wearing mittens among other things, is something I couldn't wait to do.

But living in the city makes it very hard to not have your fingers at the ready. Whipping out your Metrocard, turning down the volume on your iPod to hear what the subway conductor is announcing, shoving your change into your wallet as quickly as possible before the fifty thousand grumpy people behind you at the coffee shop stampede you to place their order. And most importantly, being able to quickly whip out your knitting to get some rows done on the train.

So these mittens have some cabling which I love, and it has the most necessary flip top. I have found the most perfect gift for all my city-dwelling friends.





I used Malabrigo's worsted weight wool in "Paris Night" - isn't that the most perfect name for this color? Knitty City was well-stocked enough to have a ton of Malabrigo. One skein for one pair - perfect gift!

As Prepared As I'll Ever Be

Maybe I didn't think far enough ahead when I picked out this yarn for this sweater design. I think, that quite possibly, this sweater may be too warm to ever wear. As soon as I put my head through the split turtleneck, I could feel the cashmere start to envelop me, and I started to break out into a sweat. Now, don't get me wrong - I don't regret a single minute I spent hanging out with and knitting up this scrumptuous cashmere. I loved it. My fingers will never be the same. But, it is quite possible that this sweater stays on the dressform. No joke. It's beyond thermal.

But, I fell in love with this yarn while working at Knitty City. It took 14 balls of Jade Sapphire's 8-ply Cashmere to complete this sweater in size small. (Thank Gawd for the employee discount.) The color is Latte, and aside from my addiction to coffee, I simply love the warm peaches and beiges that come with this winter white yarn. I very highly recommend this yarn, not that I need to tell you, but seriously... think twice about making an entire sweater out of it.



It is a beautiful design from Vogue Knitting's Fall 2006 issue. This design belongs to one of the best spreads Vogue Knitting has ever compiled. I want to make every single sweater from this very sophisticated gray collection of designs. I've started with this design, and tried a different neutral.



I have to admit, the sweater is not the most flattering. It's a chunky cable design, and the pieces of the sweater were not shaped, so the shoulders/upper arm area ends up being very boxy. But let me assure you; once that thermostat hits 10 below, I'll be wearing it.

But, I won't look like the gorgeous model in the magazine, that's for sure. I'll be all sweaty.

Friendly Placemats

I had promised my mother-in-law new placemats for her Fire Island home. I promised her these placemats last summer. I'm a little embarrassed it has taken me this long.



I followed Amy Butler's In Stitches book and boy are they easy! It was perfect. I bought the fabric yesterday and finished 8 placemats today.

I skipped the part of inserting Timtex between the layers. I knew my mother-in-law would want to be able to fold them up and stuff them into drawers.

It worked out perfectly since I bought some heavy duty home decor weight fabric. (Heather Ross's line for Kokka Fabrics from The City Quilter to be exact.) I don't know if she'll find them too cute, but I adore this fabric. Foxes, bunnies and frogs dancing around. What could be sweeter than that?

I just love them, and I bought some extra fabric to play around with. I'm thinking... maybe... a cute tote for Farmers' Market groceries.

Shady's Seedy Scarf

My dearest friend, Shady (aka Shadyshadykins or Sir Shady or The Shade) just celebrated the big 3-3. We both take pride, not only in being practical Virgos, but in covering ourselves with neutrals thinking anything between dove grey and camel is too gauche. We take that same approach with our clothing.

So when I want to make him something, it's pretty easy to decide on colors. And while it may be miles of Boring to knit, I know he'll love the simple textured look of the seed stitch.

Phew...

OK, I think this is the last baby gift for awhile.



For The Migglesworth's dear friend's new baby boy.

Second project from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones.
Fabric by Joel Dewberry from reprodepot.com

Very easy! Very fun!

And they just keep coming...

It was like a beacon of light.

As soon as I approached the Crafts/Hobbies section of Barnes & Noble, it caught my eye. Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones. I had no idea it was coming out, so it was such a pleasant surprise.

To all publishers out there: all books should be in this form. Spiral-bound, hard cover, pocket for patterns. The spiral-bound is so key, no? I like my book to lay flat and open to the page while my hands are busy making whatever it is I'm looking at. It's such a no-brainer to me.

I digress.

In one week I had learned that three friends all had baby boys. In addition to that, two friends are pregnant with two boys. I've knit the sweater... I've made the baby quilt... I've crocheted the baby blanket... I needed something different. So this book was more than just a pleasant surprise, it was exactly what I needed.

Here's my first completed project from the book:



Kimono-Style PJs
Size 3-6 month
Fabric by Denyse Schmidt from reprodepot.com

Cute!