close call

Alternate title: Why I Ought Not Do Anything Before I Have Had Coffee

Hmm, that's a little wordy.

Anyway, this morning I was making lunch for the kids to bring to school, functioning in a sort of half-asleep pre-coffee state. (I know, I should get up earlier. But then how could I stay up late to knit?) Little Brother requested his sandwich be cut up into "four zig-zags." No problem. I cut away, turning the knife this way and that, and at the last minute noticed I had nearly cut a swastika into my child's sandwich. Yikes. That might not have gone over well.

leftovers

Whew!

posting patterns

I, like I think many knitters, have often thought about making knitting more than a hobby. Selling knitted goods at craft fairs or on etsy, maybe dyeing yarns, writing and selling/submitting patterns, etc. I haven't done any of it, but I have lately found things like this and this to be inspirational in a kick-in-the-pants kind of way. I've made a few things out of my own head, I think some of them (not all, but we won't go there) are pretty cute, and maybe I should do something about that.

The thing is that I have never actually written down in great detail what I've done, so I have no idea if I can write something coherent. To determine that, I have posted a hat pattern just below this one (Look down! There it is!) to try and get some feedback. I also have it available as a pdf (I tried to just put a link to that instead of having the pattern be a separate post, but I couldn't figure out how to host it unless I was planning on charging for it. Honestly, I shudder to think of the time I have spent on this.) I implore anybody to read it and let me know if it makes sense. What I will do next with that information I am not sure, but it would be much appreciated! Thanks!!

snowflake hat pattern

Size: 19" circumference - to fit an average woman's head, although the original has been claimed by a seven-year-old boy
Yarn: any three worsted weight yarns – I used Lion Brand Solid in Rose (MC1), Lemongrass (MC2) and Pearl Gray (CC).
Needles: US size 7 circular/double-pointed needles (or size needed to get gauge)
Notions: 4 stitch markers, tapestry needle
Gauge: 19 st/24 rows = 4" in st st


Instructions:
With MC1, CO 96 st. Join for working in the round, being careful not to twist sts.
Work 10 rounds of k2, p1 ribbing.
Work 6 rounds of st st.
Work color chart over next 15 rounds (6 pattern repeats fit around hat).
Using MC2, work 2 rounds of st st.
On the next round, (pm, k24) 4 times.
Begin shaping:
Round 1: (slm, ssk, k to 2 st before marker, k2tog) 4 times.
Round 2: Knit.
Repeat these two rounds until 20 st remain.
Repeat Round 1 every round until 8 st remain.
Break yarn. Thread yarn through remaining st and pull tight.
Weave in ends. Block gently.


Color chart:

chatterbox

Did I say that it's quiet around here now that the boys are back in school? Yeah, that didn't last long. Baby Sister is celebrating her newfound words, um, enthusiastiacally.

"Duck!" she says, holding out her rubber ducky. "Duck! Duck! Duck! DUUUCK!!!"
"Yes, Baby Sister, that's a duck."
She spots a stuffed animal (any stuffed animal). "Baby! Baby baby BAAAY-BEEEE!!"

Some words invariably come out as questions.
"Ma-ma? Ma-ma?"
"What is it, Baby Sister?"
"DUUUUCK!!"

I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining; kids at her age are hilarious. We have a lot of fun all day, and I don't even think she notices the earplugs. :)

mrs darcy cardigan

It fits! And it's really warm! I almost melted while J was taking the pictures, and it wasn't really that hot out.

pattern: Mrs Darcy Cardigan by Mary Weaver

yarn: Berrocco Ultra Alpaca, a little less than three skeins

needles: size 9 Addis

mods: I knit the sleeves in the round instead of flat, but that's about it.

I'm quite happy with the project and looking forward to wearing it this winter. I'm especially fond of the pretty blue buttons that the guy at EJ Yarns let me have free on their next-to-last day (so nice - I feel kinda bad I don't know his name . . .). I was originally going to use wooden buttons, but I like the little bit of color. I've been told I wear too much brown (and of course, three little blue buttons completely balance an entirely brown sweater).

So now the Christmas projects have started in earnest. To be truthful, they had started already, because it really bothered me to have only one project on my needles. Here's the current lineup:

Another Baby Surprise Jacket, this one for Baby Sister. What else is there to say about this project? It's entertaining, and the yarn (Baruffa Maratona merino) is extra springy. I keep feeling compelled to squeeze the thing. I can't see this compulsion going away once there is a cute baby in the sweater.

Next, Roza's socks. These will be the ones for my mom. I've gotten next to nothing done on them, pretty much just cast on the first sock. I think I just felt a deep need to have a sock project going - addiction isn't pretty, kids.

And lastly (yes, there's more), the hemlock ring blanket. I wasn't intending to make my stepmother a blanket, but I wanted to work on this as soon as I saw it. Let us just say I am now quite enamored of knitting lace with big yarn and needles. And when I say big, I mean big. I'm using Blizzard, which is a super bulky alpaca blend, and size 15 needles. This yarn is so big and so loosely spun it's like knitting with roving. Hurts my hands after a little while, but I think the end result will be pretty and soft - just what you'd want in a blanket.

It looks like a lot of knitting when I put it all together like that, and I'm wondering when exactly I sat down and did all this knitting. I think at this point I just kind of pick up the needles on autopilot when the kids are all in bed and the house is something approximating clean. Hey - maybe that means I won't be frantically finishing things the last week of December! Yay!

I really ought to post more often.

It's been a busy week, with all sorts of stuff going on, making me periodically think to myself, "Gee, I should post about this today." Mmmm. So until I get better at posting when things actually happen, here is another clown-car post, with a bunch of different things in it.

First, the boys are back at school! They've had two days so far, both of which were described by Little Brother as "fantastic." That's what we like to hear. Both boys tell me they like their teachers. Big Brother's got his first male teacher, which should be interesting. He's shy and quiet in school, like I was, and I wonder if having a young guy as his teacher will be different.

It's been very quiet at home with just me and Baby Sister, especially when she's napping. In a week or so I'll probably be putting on the npr to fill the silence, but for now it's kind of nice.

I haven't taken much of this "extra time" (yeah, right) for knitting. I did get to go to a meeting of the RI In Stitches group on Thursday (fun!), and between that and staying up maybe a bit too late, I finished Mrs. Darcy. She's still blocking, so I'll have to wait for some modeled shots, but here she is:

She actually fits! This, as I have said before, was my third attempt at a first sweater. The first I finished, actually wore once or twice, before finally admitting to myself that substituting yarns - and not even remotely the same gauge, either - without swatching was a bad idea. I looked like a gorilla. So I frogged it with the help of the boys (did you know unraveling things is hugely entertaining?) and repurposed the yarn for various smaller things. The second time, I still didn't swatch, and I was about a third of the way through before I realized it was coming out way too big and I was not going to have nearly enough yarn. That yarn is still in the stash, awaiting its destiny. Which is not glee. But now I feel the curse lifting, and can perhaps see more sweaters in my future. After Christmas, of course.

And lastly, Saturday night was my ten-year high school reunion! It was a lot of fun, even if the turnout was not as big as I would have hoped. A lot of the people I was friends with weren't there, although for the most part they had excuses - one is living in Germany, one had just had a baby that morning, etc. For the most part, everybody looked just the same, and everybody seems to be doing well. There were doctors, entrepreneurs, a lot of teachers. (I've noticed that Pawtucket really seems to churn out the teachers, for whatever reason.) A few pairs of high school sweethearts, including J and I, were still together. Many people had children, and I got to see (and show) some seriously cute pictures. Of course, it couldn't all be reminiscing and oohing and aahing over snapshots. There was a bar, after all, and I suppose something like this was inevitable.

Yep, some people never change.