sick of socks

Last week we all went on vacation. Eight days of driving, visiting my parents, going to the zoo and Magic House. I packed way too many clothes for my girls, way too few for me and only one knitting project. Clearly I am insane.

I am also tired of knitting socks.

I decided not to take my yoga socks because I only have a few hours left on the last one. No instead, I decided I'd take the Monkey Socks I'm making for my mom. I had cast on and done about 3/4 inch of ribbing before we left. I packed the instructions, a counter, needles, tapestry needles, instructions for kitchner (I need the instructions every time!), a too big crochet hook, scissors, and a row marker. I also packed the second ball of yarn in what I can only say now was a big burst of optimism.

The good thing about only bringing the one project is that I only worked on the one project, the bad thing is... well I only worked on the one project. By the time we rolled into the driveway I was almost through with sock number one, had lost my row counter, had borrowed a crochet hook from my mom, and was thoroughly sick of the pattern, the sock and the yarn. I think my row counter fell out of the car on one of the many pit stops we made. I haven't picked up the sock since we've been home--although I only have about 4 rows before starting the toe decreases.


Instead I've been trying to finish the yoga sock--Only about an other hour, I'd estimate. And I promise I'll post a picture. I'll also try to explain the concept. And after I finish that? Well I might do the rest of the monkey sock or I might just start something else.

starting

When I last wrote I had nothing on the needles. I know nothing! Although I posted that and immediately cast on for the second yoga sock. And then cast on to swatch for a shrug. And then last night I cast on Monkey socks for my mom.
I haven’t put anything into ravelry yet though.

I’ve been thinking that this really has been a year for knitting things for other people. Aside from the yoga socks and a sweater, everything I’ve knit since DECEMBER has been for someone else. And I have only one item on the to do list left… the Monkey socks. I’m not sure if they count as a project to have that you can whip out anywhere just yet, we’ll see when I get to the actual lace pattern. But I did learn on something when I went to cast on for them… I need some new double points. My size 2 DPNs are 7 inches, which makes for awkward sock knitting. I have one set of 1.5s that are too dull for lacey sock knitting, they drive me batty on regular knitting (they are Brittanys I believe). And one set of 1s that are 6 inches long. I need some short dpns. I have some size zeros I have never opened. Clover brand seems to be working the best for me… although if someone gifts me with some rosewood needles, I wouldn’t urn those down.

The shrug is for me though and it uses some of my mother’s day yarn. I’ve given up on the thought of using both of them in one project, and I broke down and bought a few extra skeins. I’m going to use the purple for a lacey scarf thing later. And I’m going to use the green to do the lace edging on the lacey shrug from Knit 2 together. I’m using some cream colored yarn from my stash for the main body of the shrug. I’ll have to put in an link for the book and get the real name for the pattern later.

Finished

I finished three things this weekend! Go me.
First and foremost I finished the stuffed animals and both are already very well loved. I debated for a few minutes not showing how the panda tuned out because I'm not happy with the head and didn't want you all to think less of me, but my daughter loves it and that's all that matters.


The pig was the third one I'd made, but the only one made with Baby softee. I will NEVER EVER EVER use Baby softee again. I hated the yarn. I still have half the skein left, but I may give it away. I found it splitty and hard to knit with. I dropped I don't know how many stitches and had a really hard time picking them back up (and I seem to have lost my sock crochet hook which would probably have helped). I even managed to have two stitches drop or something when I was sewing it up! The pig is soft though.

Pig from Knitted toys by Fiona McTague. Yarn: Baby Softee (pink) and Scraps of black (probably Caron simply soft)
Needles: Size US three.

The poor panda. It was insisted to me that the panda have light purple ears, which probably adds to its over all lumpiness. Also, I probably could have put more stuffing in. perhaps she's so silly looking she's cute?

Or not.
Anyway, the specs:
Pattern: Panda from Knitted toys by Fiona Mctague
Yarn; one skein each of some sort of Acrylic white and black. I lost th elabels--so probably less than one skein since I didn't double strand as the pattern calls for
needles: US size 7

I also finished the first yoga sock! I have no picture of that for many reasons. First, I finished it right before bed. Second, my husband was teasing me about my sexy feet. finally, I seem to have a few people looking at my flickr photostream that have, let's say feet issues. Someone favorited a picture of a pair of my oldest running shoes. Until I figure out if this is a foot fetish thing (and block the gageebers out of them all) or a running shoe thing (again, possibly block them). I'm not putting up a picture of my half naked foot.

Now I have actually NOTHING on the needles. I failed to get the second yoga sock cast on--due to the lateness of the hour. I need to get going on that though before I decide I'd rather start new socks and swatch for my lovely shrug. Well, I may just cast on all three (well the swatch for the shrug).

progress

My husband just got back from an extended research trip. You would think that with him gone, I would be free to knit or sew well into the night and that this week I'd have gobs of finished objects to show you.

You would be wrong.

I did do more cutting out than I might have had he been here. I managed to cut out 40 seven inch squares of denim, and about 20 seven inch squares of flannel. But instead of knitting I read blogs--lots of blogs. I should have updated my blogroll (but didn't), and I should have written more entries (but didn't). I did no sewing, although now I do have some things to sew. I did a little reading of books, but not as much as you'd expect from someone who has to be told to put the book down and go to bed.

You would think that the several warm and sunny, play outside all day long and get your first sunburns would also have hindered the knitting.

You'd be wrong about that too.

The only real knitting I did was on the patio while my girls ran and played and laughed. I took frequent breaks to run and play and laugh too, but I managed to get all the rest of the panda pieces knit (4 ear pieces and a nose) and a good chunk of the (I only have the ears and tail to do).


Really, all I need to do now is sew the animals up!

Planning

I can't believe it has been over a week since I last posted. You'd think that would mean that I'd have a ton of finished projects to show off. But really, I'm plodding along, working my way through the longest part of the pig pattern, slowly looking for my purple yarn so I can finish the panda's ears (I thought I ran out of black, approved the color sub with my daughter, found more black while searching--fruitlessly--for purple). Even the yoga sock, while progressing, is not quite done.

What I have been doing is dreaming. Dreaming of future projects.
I decided that even though I surged all those fabrics (and still fretting), that i didn't have a clue about what to do with them yet, but I did have a bunch of old jeans and a jeans quilt would make a nice picnic blanket this summer. And heck, I have enough to make a few of them! So I washed a bunch and cut off the tops (hopefully one or more can be made into a purse or something) and have this huge pile of jeans. I found some dark blue flannel and so now, I guess I just get cutting.


Then for mother's day, my husband took the girls to not my favorite yarn store (the one he can find though) and let them each pick me out a skein of yarn. They ended up with Ella Rae bamboo silk. In two different colors. Colors you must see to believe:

Purple and green! Or apple and plum as the labels say. Since each is 90 meters and while they go together, but need something else to offset them, I've been planning a purchase of more yarn. I have a frequent buyers card all full at said yarn store (I know! and they aren't my favorite! but it took me about two years to fill). I've spent a gob of time looking at ravelry and checking out patterns at my favorite LYS. The idea, the one I think will work anyway, is to buy two or three skeins in a cream or white (2.5 is what my full card will buy--sans tax) and make a shrug that either has stripes on the sleeves or one sleeve edged on purple the other in green. I've never made a shrug before, but it can't be hard right? I'm kind of envisioning something lacey. Suggestions are appreciated.

Hole in my socks

I've been knitting socks for almost exactly two years. I've knit in that time, with only two brands of sock yarn (although the yoga socks are in a third brand): Lorna's laces and Tofutsies. I've knit 6 pairs (and 2 sets of baby socks). I've been wearing the first pair every week since I finished them two years ago. I knit my daughters each a pair of socks when they were 3. One daughter wore her socks every time they were clean until she finally grew so far out of them, that it was uncomfortable. All of these were Lorna's laces. None of them ever developed a hole.
I've knit two of the six pairs in tofutsies, The first pair--which I must have finished a year ago (but I don't know exactly), and worn about like the others now has a hole!


I'm a little beside myself. My husband suggested I "fix" them. Except I have used every single yard of that yarn up, in fact had to finish the second of the second pair of socks with a different yarn! I have no idea how to darn socks.

I could just cry.
ETA: I checked my Ravelry page and I entered them there as having finished them in July of 07. Should Handknit socks last more than a year?

stress relief

I knit, a lot. In fact at the book club, there were three people who professed to be knitters (one I knew from having taken a how to knit sock class with her), but I was the only one knitting. I knit nearly every night after my girls are asleep, and sometimes I even get in a bit while I watch tv with them. I do this to get rid of the tension that builds up every day. The click click click of the needles, the row upon row of stitches soothes me.

Except for the big stress.
No, for the big stress (death, illness, hard decisions) I need sewing. The wiggita wiggita of the machine as it stitches along is the only thing for a big crisis. When my grandmother was very ill and my mother was calling every day to tell me if grandma had made it through the night, I sewed. I quilted a large quilt for the guest room bed and I worked on a baby quilt for my cousin. I cried over both of these quilts, as the machine chugged along. I swore when needles broke, when thread tangled and when I put together the pieces wrong. But mostly I let my brain take in the rhythmic ka-chunking that seems to help me achieve a sense of peace.

I have no large sewing projects looming, no baby quilts to make, no unfinished objects demanding my attention. But I have the sort of big stress that requires sewing right now. My answer is this: Last fall, I was given 2 large boxes of fabric, pulled from an aunt's stash. In those boxes, were enough "milk paint" colored fabric to make quite a splendid quilt using color gradations. All of it had never been washed. I usually prewash all my fabric, but first I like to serge the edges to keep the fraying to a minimum. The serger wiggita wiggitas with the best of them. So, this is my plan--serge the fabrics until the stress melts away. Then start planning something wonderful.

You should always have a sock going

I should know this by now. It is always good to have at least one sock in progress. And not just any sock, but something simple, easy to memorize.

Why?

Well, when you have a simple sock going, you can throw it in your purse and whip it out whenever you have a few spare minutes to knit. You could carry it to a book club for example. You could (and I have always always wanted to do this) pull it out when you are in a meeting that you don't need to do much note-taking for. You could knit a sock in the car on a long car trip (when someone else is driving). I even manage to knit on small stuff that I don't need a pattern for while I watch my girls play outside.
Sweaters are hard to pull out of your purse (heck hard to get IN your purse). Scarves are similar, although I suppose they aren't as bad as sweaters. A hat might work. I suppose a mitten or a glove might work too. I suppose a dish cloth wouldn't be bad--if the needles were short enough.

Coincidentally (or not) all the small projects that fit in your purse, are also the things people swear they enjoy making in the summer, when the heat makes working on a sweater or afghan seem impossible.
So, why as the weather turns very spring-like, did I not have a sock going? especially when I have a book club meeting coming up --one in which I'd like to have a small auto-pilot project to pull out.
I'd point to the panda I'm working on, the pig I'm obligated to knit, the monkey socks for my mom that are in the queue. I'd point to how my ice queen is almost finished and how I don't like having more than two projects going at once. But the panda isn't portable--as I need to follow what is turning out to be a very detailed pattern. The ice queen isn't either--although I took it outside--primarily because of the beads. I haven't started the monkey socks, and didn't like my chances of memorizing the pattern before 7pm tonight.

So, I pulled out my single skein of Felici--which is not enough for a pair and now the color is sold out--and cast on for "yoga" socks. Basically an anklet without a heel or toe. I can't claim this as my own design, as I've seen a pattern for sale for this type of sock, but this will be my own interpretation. I'm thinking the 2x2 rib will be enough for me to work on while we talk books. If it gets the 3.5-4 inches long, well--no heel flap to work.
I may have to expand the old adage that says--sock yarn doesn't count for your stash to include, socks don't count as works in progress, because everyone should have a sock going in the summer.

I did not win the knitty contest. I am recovering.

I am debating, about this one issue. Is it ok to bring a small item to knit, say a simple sock, to a book club gathering? If it is your first time at said gathering? If you are missing knit night for it?
Perhaps I'll throw a sock in my purse and if it feels right, whip it out.

Plodding on

Sometimes, when it seems there is nothing new to report, it is hard to write an entry. I'm still working away on the two projects I have, feeling as if there is no end in sight.
First there is Mr Panda--Actually it will probably end up being a girl panda because all of the stuffed animals in our house are girls. The pattern is From Fiona McTague's Knitted toys. It was listed as skill level 3, which frightened me a bit, but now I think it is just because it has a bit of colorwork and has 11 pieces to sew together. The colorwork part went fine, I think I only have one hole to deal with (yay me). I have the front, back, both legs, both soles and one arm done.

I feel like I will never get all the pieces done. But even when I do, I need to get he pig all knitted before I can sew it together and stuff--because I can't present a finished panda without having a finished pig, jealousy you know.

In kind of a race, is my ice queen. I knew when I started it, that it would be too warm to wear it by the time I finished, and sure enough temps reached the high 70s last week. They've dipped into a more normal 50s, but I'm still not counting on actually wearing it until next fall. Now, I love how this is turning out, but...
I think working with the yarn is like working with lint
I think it is taking FORever
I wish it had more beads
I think I will never be done.
I'm scared of the parts coming up which I have never done.

It is pretty, but I have something like 20-30 more rows, then the bind off, which is a bind off I've never done before. Then I have to unravel the temporary cast on, get everything on the needles and bind off that side.
All that complaining aside--I think I want one in purple. Also raspberry and black.

dreaming about yarn

I feel like I'm so far behind, because between the baby quilt (although I have to say that it is a really good thing I got that baby quilt done, because my co-worker welcomed her new baby yesterday, and I probably won't see her until August.) and all the great weather we're havng in Michigan, I haven't had time to write about some fantastic things.
First, I went to the knit night at my sort of Local Yarn shop (Apple Valley Yarns in Freeland, MI--FAB shop). I wore my green hoodie (despite the 70 degree weather!) and got a ton of compliments. I also had to try really really hard not to take home enough wool bam boo to make another one. Seriously, I love yarn so much that a night at a shop like that can give me things to think about for DAYS afterwards.
I have such a yarn imagination (actually I have a pretty good imagination in general but yarn--we're talking about yarn), I spend all this time thinking and imagining what I will knit next.
I know I want to make another hoodie. Then I remember I have all this cotton classic I wanted to make into a Tangerine Twist--except mine would be blue. I also want to make a pair of yoga socks (but that would be my own pattern figureing). And then I realize I have gobs of sock yarn that I really want to make into actual socks. Which of course leads to the stash and well let's just say this is how I put myself to sleep at night--dreaming of all the yarns and wonderful things to knit with them.

And then, Oh if there ever was a contest I so much want to win, it would have to be the one thrown by knitty. I love knitty, I've made several things from there (in fact am making Ice queen right now--well not this minute, because I am typing...). Well, Amy Singer announced the other day that knitty is having a contest and I about hyperventilated when I saw the prizes. Seriously, I don't think I've ever wanted to win something as badly as I want to win this. Not even the $500 shopping spree to your LYS that Knitting Daily gave away.
I know I won't win. I'm preparing myself to not win. But oh how I want to (I'm entered too). I'm even prepared to say that I'll share the goodies if I win--I'll have contests of my own. (although at this point, if I won I could probably give something away to everyone reading this now because there just aren't that many of you). I toyed with the idea of not saying anything, lest some person I influenced to sign up for knitty's newsletter should win. But I'll just have to trust that if you saw this, entered and YOU win, instead of me, that you'll be kind and share.

baby quit #2

Finally, I've finished quilt number two. This was a baby quilt for my co-worker's third baby. I had all these pre-cut 4 inch squares that I had been gifted by one of my husband's aunts. So, initially the plan was to just sew all these four inch blocks together. But it didn't look very visually appealing. Plus, I had 198 of them and I figured I'd need another 100 to make it work. So instead, I decided to alternate them with a four-patch block.

I used scraps for those. I also had to use math! Well, I'm not a math phobic, in fact I loved math in high school, but this was more geometry which I was never good at. I had to figure out what size strips to cut to end up with a 4 inch four patch. If you were drawing you'd say--well 2 two inch blocks makes a four inch block, but I was sewing ans so had to have a .25 inch seam allowance--on two sides. So actually--I cut 2.5 inch strips and sewed them together, cut 2.5 inch strips of that and sewed those together. I think. see this is why I need to journal more--I've forgotten, but I think this is right. If not well then i cut 2.25. See I am a disaster and not just with yarn!
I used scraps from a previous quilt's backing for the borders. I had picked out a different border originally, but it just didn't go right. I even used leftover thread to quilt with--in part because I didn't have enough of one color
It seems to me that this is really the quilting heritage--use up what you have, make do with what you have. And both of these were so true with this quilt. I think it turned out pretty good.

My next sewing step is to clean out the sewing room so I can actually find stuff.


I promise i'll start talking knitting again soon.

Pictures!

This is going to be a kind of a busy week in which I really need to buckle down and finish that baby quilt, and so blog posts might be sparse until it is done. But ehre is the picture I promised, of me in my green hoodie. My husband said it looked like something I'd bought!

Green Hooded Sweater

Finally knitting again.
Although to me it feels a bit funny to think about having a finished object to write about
this week because I've spent less time knitting this week than I think I have in months. I missed knit night, I went to bed early Wednesday (I have a cold) and I hardly knit at all on Tuesdays.
And yet, somehow in this I managed to finish a sweater. Of course I didn't quilt like I was supposed to on Tuesday because I was busy kitchnering the hood, but whatever.
The pattern is Neck down hooded tunic from Knitting pure and simple. I made it using Elle Aran Gold, which is an acrylic, but doesn't feel like one. I made one of my daughters a sweater from this and found it to be a bit slippery after it was woven in. So I wove in my ends really tightly.

When I swatched for this project I made sure to swatch as if I was knitting in the round--from directions I found somewhere (sorry I should have noted it down, I am so not good about this). Then I threw the swatch in with the delicate cycle. I should have measured before I threw it in, because now I'm hoping that the sweater grows a tiny bit after I wash it*. But also at the same time I am afraid to was it because my swatch unravelled in the gentle cyle! Well just a bit on the ends, but I don't want that on the real thing. And I can't recall if I have washed the other sweater I made from this yarn. So while, I need to wash this and have it expand a tiny bit (really 1/2 inch), I'm scared to wash it.

Because I'm done with this sweater, I should start on the stuffed toys I promised my daughters. I'd like to finish ice queen soon though. However, I'm finding mohair is a bit tedious to work with. Not hard, but it takes some watching so you don't accidently knit with the fuzz (not that I ever have *cough cough*) instead of the string. So perhaps the Panda--even with it's color changes--would make a good mohair distraction.

*I should say that really it fits. It fits with very little ease though and I'm not sure it will be all that comfortable over a t-shirt which is what I wanted it for. But then, to make the next size up would mean about 3 inches of ease, and I thought that might be too much. Plus, I think I was tickled to be making the size called "small." Now I'm thinking I should have made the medium anyway.

Pictures to come later.

basting quilt #2

You know, for a knit blogger I certainly talk a lot about quilting! Don't worry, it is a phase, and as soon as I finish baby quilt number 2, I'm done until the next person tells me there is a baby on the way.
Today, I "pinned" baby quilt number 2 and so I thought I might spend this entry explaining that process.

Pinning is actually how I baste my quilt layers. You see anything that can be called a quilt is actually a set of layers that are sewn together (either by hand or machine). You can also tie quilts, which is just another way of holding them together--with ties that are sewn through the layers. I usually machine quilt my baby quilts. I've done hand quilting, enough to know that I prefer hand quilting whole cloth, because I have trouble keeping my stitches even over seams. Anyway, in order to keep those layers together when you are sewing you have to somehow baste them.

For my baby quilts, I use three layers: The top, batting, and a piece of fabric for the back. You don't have to use three layers, some backings are thick enough that you'd want to only have two (I'm thinking of the Minkee backed quilts my mother in law made for my girls). Sometimes the top is thick enough that batting would make it impossible to quilt--Like in the case of the denim quilt I want to make someday.

In today's quilt, I've used a piece of leftover fabric for the back (most of the time, I buy fabric on sale for this purpose). In other quilts I've done all kinds of things like used fabric that I meant to use in the top, but didn't get used, bought sale fabric especially for the quilt, or just bought something really on sale (like 50% off). I have even made a double sided quilt (for my husband's college roommate's first child because my husband and I couldn't agree on a color scheme--so I made both).
Usually, I use Warm and Natural batting. I like the way it feels and how it quilts. But today I used a batting called--a touch of cashmere that Karen mailed me a while back, when I was complaining about how I was broke and wasn't buying ANY more fabric or yarn. But oh sigh I had quilts to make. It was a really great package--it had yarn in it too!

Some people baste their layers together with needle and thread and do really long basting stitches. Others, use this gizmo quilting places sell that put plastic tags in your quilts. I use safety pins. I use safety pins because that's how my mother in law does it and she taught me to quilt. Of course she taught me using an old table that she expands out to fit her quilts. She also uses binder clips to hold the backing to the table. I use the kitchen floor and tape. Seriously--this is really about using what you have.

I spread the backing fabric face down (ok there have been times I've forgotten this!) and I tape it slightly stretched and very smooth to the floor with painter's tape. Then I lay the batting over it and smooth it out and then the top. After I have it very smooth, I start in the center and pin all the layers together with safety pins. This all sounds really easy, but many a time, I've had to reposition everything to get everything just right (and don't get me started about the double quilt--I've blocked that basting out of my memory even though I had major help with it).
I always feel like I use too many pins, but I aim for about 3-4 inches apart. While, I'm on the floor, I also clip any loose threads. As I quilt, I'll remove the pins. I try to store my safety pins open in a food storage box. Yes, I prick my fingers when I'm pinning sometimes, but I don't have to close, then open every pin.


Probably the only disadvantage to basting this way--for me--is the fact that I'm all bent over for the majority of the time I'm pinning. I try to think of it as an additional yoga workout and try to breathe deeply and stretch my legs in different ways.

Questions

So what does a crafty blogger blog about when there are no finished objects? Well about her Knitting style, of course.

Seriously, I thought I might take a moment and address one of the questions I always want to ask of people who knit (or sew); When do you knit?
I don't mean it in the "oh my whenever do you have the time?" Although that has been asked of me about various pursuits in my life--including my knitting. No, I wonder just sort of generally when people knit. I guess I've often wondered, because I have a friend who admitted to me once, that she did know how to knit, but only knit on long car trips. I've noticed that other people have the ability to knit off and on throughout the day. On ravelry, I hear people talking about knitting at work (on breaks I presume).

I knit primarily in front of the tv. I also knit in the car, but not exclusively. I've tried knitting throughout the day but I have a hard time putting it down to do other things. But the only time I've ever felt like I could knit at work was when I worked at a yarn shop. I really like knitting at the knitting club I go to. However, the knitting group is worse than tv for distracting me!

Sewing is different for me. I usually only make time to sew when I have something I "need" to make. What this means is that I usually only sew when I have a baby quilt to make or a halloween costume. Despite havign several quilting projects I wanted to do for myself AND some PJs that I need to make. It seems that if I don't have a deadline, I don't make the time to do it. Also, while I knit every day, I only sew on Tuesdays and a little on the weekends. In part this is because I can't sew throughout the day--gotta wrangle those kids! And also because sewing isn't as portable as knitting. Plus, I gotta say--sewing is louder.

So there you go--when I knit (and sew). What questions do you usually find yourself askign of knitters (either in your head or outright)? Ask me in a comment, and I'll answer.

baby quilt number 1--done

On the day before Easter, after learning that my former college roommate had had her April 1st baby (a bit early--but everyone is fine) I hurried up and stitched down the last of the binding:


(Someday, I'll have to explain my binding theories)

Just so I could get one quilt, one pig, and one snake into a box and mail the box before the post office closed. (I wish I had photographed the box--it was funny)
I wanted to write about the quilt, a snails trail done in leftover fabrics, on Thursday but did not want to ruin any surprises. I've now seen pictures of the baby on the quilt and so I can show it off to you:

I decided on snails trail because my former roomie studies snails--she has the big phd in biology and everything. I've made her four quilts now (a wedding and three baby) and have wanted to do Snail's trail since the first. I've always lacked the focus or whatever, to actually sit down and figure out how big to cut the triangles and such. Recently I found a pattern that had the sizes, and I had the energy to work up how it would work with the colors I wanted to use. Sadly, I used up most of my brainpower on that and so my first sewing had some major goofs:


So there was much ripping in this project! I just hadn't been paying attention, assuming I guess that there was only one way to sew these pieces together--well I'm here to tell you that if you do this--You'll get 1/4 of them correct, and you'll have to completely rip out 1/4 of them. The other half will need some things, but not all ripped.
Probably the only other thing I feel like I need to mention about this project is--In every baby quilt I make, I quilt a heart into the design. Usually I do this when I free-motion quilt the borders (although I have been known to sneak in a free-motion heart in quilts with geometric quilting too). I really liked how this one turned out. I also did a snail in one corner.


One baby quilt done--One to go!

The story of the three knitted pigs

In the last entry I mentioned that I had a stuffed pig on my list of things to knit and that it would be pig number three. This is because I had this small bought of craziness back in December when clearly I did not have enough gift knitting for christmas knitting planned. You see, I knew that I had three friends having babies in April (or thereabouts) and I knew two of them should get baby quilts. The third I knew should get baby socks (this is what she gets for telling me the latest)! For all three of them this was their third baby and this means that older siblings should get something, right? Well what better thing than to knit some stuffed animals! (Clearly, I should have been knitting more things for Christmas--I had too much time on my hands). Hence the idea to make two snakes and two pigs was born.

When I finished the first snake, both my kids became insanely jealous. They wanted one too! And really how could you not--he's cute:


I should probably look back at Ravelry to see if I made the second snake before I made any pigs or not, but I'm guessing I made both snakes then started on the pigs. I told both girls, I would knit them something after I knit these toys for the future big sibs.

Then I checked Knitted Toys out of the library, because I just was not getting inspired by The World of Knitted Toys (which I own). I should really buy Knitted Toys because I want to make about 3/4 of the book. I fell in instant love with the pig and knew I needed to make it. So I did:

Then I made another. The girls at this point were really vocal--they wanted their own toys. One of them really really really wanted the pig. So I bought some additional pink yarn and I'll be casting on pig number 3 as soon as I finish either the hoodie or the ice queen. My other daughter leafed through the book and discovered a pattern for a panda. Since she is a panda nut, I'll be making a panda too.
I'm worried about the panda though because you switch colors mid row. I've done this before, but I felted both pieces which did wonders for the holes I couldn't seem to get rid of. I'll be brave though and probably start it after I've knitted the pig up (but haven't stuffed him--because jealousy is rampant at my house). I'd start it first if it weren't for the color changes. I'd probably have them both done by now if I wasn't so sick of knitting for other people.

I've already sent a pig and snake winging to their destination (along with a quilt). I'll write about the quilt next time.

Dreaming

I knew long ago that if I ever started a knitting blog, I could not use it to exclusively show off finished objects. Well not if I wanted to update more than a few times a month. It isn't really that I knit slow--although I suppose I do (I'm a thrower--although if I do have a simple garter stitch thing, I can pick. I can't pick the purl--HA!). I like to think it is because I knit big. It of course might have a little to do with how much I knit, but since I try to knit at least a little almost every day, I'll say this isn't it.

What I always thought this space might be for would be a little bit of dreaming, a little bit of queing (as well as finished objects and whatever "big" lessons I learned with any project.

Like any knitter (most knitters I know anyway) I usually have more than one project going. I like to have one easy or portable (sometimes not the same thing) and one that's a little more challenging. I don't always manage to pull off this balance. And sometimes I force myself to finish one project before starting another. right now, I have only two projects on the needles--Knitting pure and simple's neck down hooded tunic, and knitty's Ice Queen.
The tunic is progressing--I have one arm and the hood yet to do--I finished the first arm last night, but didn't pick up the stitches for the second arm yet. Ice queen just got started today and already, I'm thinking that I need sharper needles for the mohair, because the K2tog (for any non-knitters out there this is where you knit two stitches together) is really hard with my dull tipped circs.
But, I also have a lot of projects that I dream about doing--or even plan to do. Just for fun, I thought I'd list as many of the plan to dos that I can think of:
A panda (from Knitted toys
a Pig (same place--although this would be my third pig--more on that some other day)
Monkey socks
Lacey waves socks
I guess that isn't too bad, but those are just the things I've wanted to cast on and probably will in the next few months. This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of things I have yarn for, or things I saw on ravelry I'd like to make, or things I'll make someday but who knows when.

Tale of two gauges

I can't resist showing off my latest Finished object:


Baby booties for my third friend who is also pregnant and due in April. Now I feel like I should have made her a quilt, but I didn't. Instead she gets cute socks and a hat.

The sock pattern is Meg from Fraternal twins except I didn't do the ribbing because I didn't see it on the pattern until I was starting the second sock! The hat is figured from Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy book of patterns which is indeed very handy. The yarn is Mondial Cotton Soft Speciale Baby Fleck. US size one needles.

What I really want to write about this though is the importance of gauge. Not so much the "are you getting gauge for your pattern", although that is very important if you want the thing to fit, but rather what the gauge looks like in the yarn you've picked. And the story of this yarn illustrates that nicely.

See I bought this yarn to make a sweater--well two actually) for my girls. Right after I learned to knit--yes I went from dishcloths to sweaters, and actually I recommend it. The problem was that I was trying to sub this yarn for Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. If you've ever felt that yarn, you'd know that no way was this cotton fingering weight yarn going to do it. But! I got gauge! I knit a whole sweater on US size 3 needles, and for a first effort, it isn't bad:

The problem is that I'm not sure that I'm happy with the gauge on that project. It feels so airy. And I suppose if that was the fabric I set out to create, it isn't bad. But when I look at the same yarn done with smaller needles, I really like the resulting fabric a lot more.

Not that either is a right gauge or a wrong gauge in itself, but either might be wrong for any given project.
But if I had it to do over again, I'd probably make the sweater on smaller needles--and be even crazier in it. Imagine, I've been knitting for about a month, I've only done dishcloths and then I move right to a child's sweater on sock yarn and US size 1.5 needles. Crazy is what that is.