Mikknit

My cousin gave birth to a little girl on Thursday, about 3 months early. Thankfully, both mother and baby are doing well and baby’s prognosis seems good. My cousin developed preeclampsia and they did a c-section, thankfully now her blood pressure has come down and she was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital today. Baby weighed 1lb 11oz and was 13″ long at birth and she will be in the NICU for quite a while, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that she was staying there until her due date. I am very pleased to hear that the hospital has a milk bank, so the baby has been getting donor milk while my cousin is waiting for the milk fairy to arrive.

In an effort to feel like I’m doing something, I knit up some teeny tiny preemie hats.

So incredibly tiny…

I used Cotton Ease in the Lime color, on size 7 DPNs. Pattern here. The front two are the size she says will fit a 2# baby, the back one is the size that should fit a 3-4# baby. I can’t fathom how tiny a baby’s head must be to fit these hats.

I don’t know if there’s a need for these hats at the hospital where the baby is, I haven’t had a chance to call and talk to the NICU nurses yet. If they don’t need them, I know there are several other programs that are collecting them.

There’s more stuff too, but I thought this needed its own post.

It’s been lots of fun reading your stories! Lots of “Aww”, lots of “Oh good heavens, I can’t believe that happened!” Remember, you’ve got until midnight CDT Friday to get your stories in!

I’m currently stalled out on both of my sock projects (Baudelaire and some toe-up socks in *my* yarn from Northwoods Dyeworks), I finished knitting the felted pirate hat from Moth Heaven on Monday and have been farting around since then. Finished up the Baby Surprise Jacket during my 5-ish hours hanging out at Borealis yesterday but haven’t gotten the (incredibly, painfully cute!) buttons sewn on yet. Still not wanting to touch either sock. So instead of casting on a new project, what to do?

It’s been cool here lately, so I’m thinking about fall and winter. Oh yes, Grace has outgrown all of her sweaters – she has her papa’s long torso, so while they “technically” still fit, they’re far too short to keep her warm. I dug out the Wonderful Wallaby I’d started for her back in March or April but had put away out of sheer boredom and also because of warm weather. I’ve been cruising along on it, finished the pouch today and have the body up to the armpits if I follow the measurements in the pattern. I’m going to measure her in the morning and will undoubtedly lengthen the torso by an inch or two. For now, I’ve started on the sleeve and I’m being reminded just how noisy metal DPNs are. Oy. One more inch and I can switch over to my nice quite bamboo size 7s.

I’ll do my best to break out the camera tomorrow and get some pictures. I’ve been dragging lately and for some reason it’s just too much work to actually take pictures of stuff and put them onto the computer.

We’re off to the State Fair on Friday – I’m hoping to get into the Creative Activities building this time so I can get a good look at all of the great knitted items entered in the fair. I know *so* many people who entered things in the fair this year! I wish I’d gotten around to it… Next year, I will do it for sure.

I just realized that it had been two weeks since my last post, and close to three since my last knitting-related post. I wish I could blame it on being really busy, but I think it’s just been sheer laziness. Well, I have been emptying the catch-all room (formerly the computer room/office/library) and preparing to paint it and make it into the kids’ room, but that’s been done in spurts and certainly hasn’t been so much work as to make me fall off the face of the earth for so long. We’re painting the room today and hopefully I’ll be able to get the bunkbed brought in and put together tomorrow. I’m still going to have to track down mattresses for it, I’m thinking Ikea might be the easiest. I’m not 100% sure it’ll be the cheapest and/or best option, though… I guess I should make some phone calls in the morning. The plus on the Ikea mattresses is that they come all rolled up, so they’d fit in my minivan. I can’t argue with the convenience of that.

On to the knitting content!

I finished the BFF Socks (the website is still down?!) on Friday or Saturday, I think it was. It was a great pattern to knit – easy enough to not need the pattern but interesting enough to keep me from losing my mind. I know they’ll be well-received!

BFF Socks by Cookie A., knit in Shepherd Sock – Mixed Berries colorway

I’ve also started a Baby Surprise Jacket – my first one. I checked out The Opinionated Knitter from the library and I think it will definitely be going on my wish list – I am enjoying just reading through it. My cousin is having a little girl in December and when I showed her this yarn she made some very positive noises:

Handspun wool, ~600 yards, 8.35 oz (both skeins combined) click for closeup

I finished this yarn ages ago with the plan to make a sweater for Arlo, but I thought it’d be very nice for a baby sweater – I love bright bold colors on babies. I cast on on Sunday, goofed up to the point where I had to completely rip it out, and then started over again. It’s been going strong since then, thankfully!

I’ve just started the increases here (closeup)

I am really enjoying how this yarn is knitting up. At first it wasn’t really pleasing me, as I’d been hoping to see *all* of the colors in the yarn, but that’s just not going to show up in garter stitch. Right now it really reminds me of the recycled sari silk yarn – I think it’s that red that does it for me.

I also have a sock going, surprisingly enough not from Sensational Knitted Socks. However, it is another Cookie A. pattern – this time it’s Baudelaire. I’m really enjoying the pattern, but the yarn leaves a bit to be desired. I’m using Universal Yarns Pace, which is a wool/nylon blend. The yarn seems to be of good quality, but this particular color is scratchier than anything I’ve ever felt. The other colors are nice, it seems, but this one – I love the color, so I’m hoping it softens up considerably with washing. If not, I guess I’ll wear them anyhow. FWIW, Borealis has this stuff on clearance now – they’ve found a solid-colored sock yarn they like better (Opal, I think), so they’re making room.

I’m sorry for the poor quality of the picture, the light this morning left a lot to be desired.

Alright, I think it’s time to go shower and wash the green paint out of my hair. But first, I want to tell you that I got a package in the mail today and (time and small children permitting) I will be posting a contest tomorrow. Holly gave me a great idea for a contest, so I’m really excited to get this started!

I either need to start knitting faster, start showing a LOT more in-progress shots with incremental progress, or think of things to talk about other than knitting if I want to blog more than once every 10 days or so.

I finally finished my Twin Rib socks in Trekking XXL color 108. The second sock absolutely dragged on forever. They’ll be great to wear now, though!

And of course I had to cast on for a new pair immediately:

BFF Socks

I’m using some well-aged Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in the Mixed Berries colorway. This is an extremely poor representation of the color, you can see a better representation here. It has been a long time since I worked with this yarn and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy working with it. I’m using KnitPicks 2.25mm needles instead of my usual 2.50mm, which makes the fabric much cushier and should make it last much longer, as well.

I need some suggestions – I have a ton of friends who have either just had babies or are due within the next 8 months (ha!) and I am looking for some new & different patterns for baby gifts. I normally knit soakers, but I knit two in rapid succession over the past couple weeks and I’m burnt out. I’m looking for sweaters, booties, etc. Things that can be knit out of sock yarn are a bonus! Thanks in advance!

And now out into the heat to let the kids play. Whee.

I’m working on getting back into the swing of things after being in lovely Ashland, WI for the last 1.5 weeks. It’s tough – I really miss being there. Funny how I wanted to get the heck out of town when I graduated and now I’d love to move back.

Anyhow, on to the knitting and knitting-related chatter:

The main reason for our vacation was my sister’s wedding on 7/7/07. They got married near this lovely view:

Big Bay State Park on Madeline Island, WI. More pictures here

They picked a gorgeous spot, no doubt about it. A gorgeous day, too. It was hot and humid on the mainland, but on the island it was breezy and cool. Ah, Lake Superior.

Of course I had to take the opportunity to give handknit socks:

Socks for BIL in Fortissima Socka sportweight yarn, lost the ballband so no clue on the colorway

The Green Bay Monkey socks for my sister. As you can see, I neglected to pack the sock blockers. Wish I had…

No word on whether they’ve opened them yet and whether they love them or not. I’m assuming they were/will be well-received, though. Both have appreciated handknit socks in the past.

I also did a little shopping, of course. Ashland is home to Northwoods Dyeworks, which is where we’ve been buying great tie-dyed clothing for the past several years. Now, Libby is dyeing and selling yarn as well. I had to buy some, of course – how could I not? She doesn’t have an online store just yet, but she’d certainly be glad to mail you some yarn! I had to buy this:

100% Merino wool sock yarn in the Gogebic colorway

Yes, I know I don’t like to knit socks with 100% wool, but I figure I could make something else with this stuff if I don’t want to use it for socks. We’ll see. I ordered some other yarn from her too, which may well show up here as a contest prize in a few weeks. We’ll see if I can come up with something creative for a contest.

I also found some yarn from sheep that live on Madeline Island:

Bulky yarn from Fly Away Farm, sadly not online that I can find.

It’s very pretty, though a little rough. I’m sure it’ll make a nice hat and mittens or maybe a scarf for the Red Scarf Project. We’ll see.

I also did a little knitting – had to bring more sock yarn with me because I knew I’d finish the Monkey socks while we were there.

Twin Rib pattern from SKS, Trekkling XXL in color 108 (ball band missing, so I may be wrong)

I just grafted the toe on this this morning and started sock #2 at playgroup. Only got a couple rounds done, though. I’m just not feeling it right now. Maybe after the kids are in bed…

I joined Mystery Stole #3 and I got a little over half of the first chart done on vacation, until I ran out of energy and concentration to work on it. I still haven’t downloaded the second chart, too. I suppose *that* could be my project for after the kids are in bed, but who knows – black yarn, black beads, nighttime knitting… Not such a good combo. We’ll think about that one for a while. The sock will definitely be more conducive to catching up on my huge backlog of knitting blog reading!

Well, since it’s just me and the kids this week (Chris’s work sent him to Montreal right after our vacation, how nice), I get to feed them things for dinner that he won’t eat/doesn’t love. I should go check the pantry and see what sort of non-husband-friendly foods we have, haha.

Have a great week, everyone!

Summer is here and that means I’m spending a lot of time outside supervising the kids while they play in their little wading pool. Of course this also means that I’ve got a bit of knitting time on my hands, so it’s a good thing I have enough yarn here to last me for years! Spending the days outside also means that I’m not getting any housework done, but since we’re not inside much to mess it up, it can’t be that bad, right? Right? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. It’s a mess. But if I’m outside I don’t have to look at it, at least.

I’ve finished a couple pair of socks since my last post. Both were fun to knit but ultimately very tedious knitting. I suppose an 8-row repeat at the most will do that to you. Even the color changes of the Trekking weren’t enough to keep me excited. Sad, I know.

Trekking 100, Cloverleaf Eyelet Cable from Sensational Knitted Socks. Shocking, I know.

Meilenweit color 1313, 3×3 Cable with Moss Stitch from SKS. Again. This is more of a hot pink than it appears in the picture – I’m having some trouble getting the color right

Socks modeled by the lovely sock blockers Chris gave my for my birthday. I’m glad he did it, as I never would’ve been able to justify the purchase to myself. It seems a little silly to buy something like that for the sole purpose of displaying socks for blog photographs, but that’s what they’re best for! I’m very happy with them, though! He went all meta and bought the sock blockers with socks carved in them… Amusing as heck.

My Shapely Tee has stalled out – I got it up to the underarm bindoff the first time and realized that I’d gone way overboard with the short-row bust shaping. Ripped it back and did a more modest amount. Now it’s right in the bust but the waist is hitting me way too low, and this is *after* I shortened the torso to accommodate my freakishly short-waisted self. Apparently I didn’t shorten it enough. So I need to have a date with my tape measure and a notepad sometime soon, preferably tomorrow so I can maybe actually have a chance at finishing this in time.

Think I’ll go knit before it gets all hot & humid on me and I don’t want to think about wool.

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! I had a fantastic day, despite threats of rain we only had a little bit of sprinkling and then the sun came out. Most of my family was going to be in town for my grandma’s memorial service, so I decided I should have a big party and invite them all. In my book, years ending in a 5 or a 0 are deserving of large parties, and it had been 5 years since the last one Extra points for the kids, who played on the playground for the entire time, pretty much leaving me alone to socialize. Their grandmas and one of my cousins kept them occupied, too, but they mostly just played and played and played.

Sunday wasn’t quite so fun, though all family gatherings turn into parties. We gathered at the MN Landscape Arboretum for the memorial service and to visit the bench that had been donated in memory of my grandparents. It’s on the Bog Trail, right near a bunch of trilliums, ladyslippers, and jack-in-the-pulpits, some of my Grandma’s favorite flowers. I only cried a little bit looking at those flowers. I cried a lot more looking at the picture slideshows that had been set up – seeing the old pictures of my grandparents was great, but seeing the ones as they got older and frailer just tore me up. I still have the image of them running their golf course – my grandma behind the bar and my grandpa out on the tractor, mowing the fairways. Grace asked about my grandma today, why she died. I’ve explained this so many times and I still have a hard time believing she’s gone. *Sigh*

Being stuck here wtih my thoughts is letting me get some knitting done, at least. I’ve started the Shapely Tee from White Lies Designs. I picked up some Silky Wool at Borealis’ sale this past weekend and it’s a touch lighter-weight than what’s called for in the pattern. Luckily, I’ve figured out that I can follow the numbers for the largest size and it’ll come out exactly in my size – great since I was struggling over which size to make, as one is 2″ smaller than my bust measurement and one 2″ too big. If only the boobs were smaller… I’ve made it a few inches into the sweater between last night and today – I should be ready to start the waist shaping decreases soon. I was a little worried that this’d drag on due to the fine gauge, but I think it’ll be okay as long as I have Tivo and Netflix to keep me going.

I’m also working on some pink cabled socks for myself – I started one last week and finished it on Monday, then started sock #2 that evening. I think these’ll be on hold for a bit, as I am planning on wearing the Shapely Tee to my sister’s wedding on July 7. That’s a lot of knitting in <6 weeks and not much time for socks. Sad, as I am truly hooked on sock-knitting. Will have to sneak in a few rounds here and there, I think.

I finished a new sweater for Grace last week (or maybe the week before), as well. Borealis is clearancing out the Ella Rae Classic Print yarn (love it!) and I picked up a few skeins in a colorway she'd like, as well as some for Arlo. I got started on her sweater right away, since I was procrastinating on finishing up something else. I think it maybe took 8 days at the most to finish. Something about variegated yarns just keeps me going. I certainly don't know any adults who could pull this off, though:

She looks so old in this picture, it just blows me away.

She doesn’t love the sweater, but it *is* the end of May (how the hell did that happen?) and it’ll be put away for fall. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it more when the weather cools off, though this is one warm-blooded kid. I think it turned out fine, I used the top-down raglan method from Barbara Walker’s Knitting From the Top. I lost track of where I was on the neckline increases, so it’s a little odd-shaped. I’m sure it’ll work out with wearing, and if not, oh well.

And now, since I am spending precious knitting time typing, I will sign off. I hope you all have a lovely Friday and a great weekend! I get to go to a baby shower, which should be great. I should probably figure out what sort of gift I’m taking, huh?

After some consternation when we couldn’t find the cable for my mom’s camera, I found a suitable substitute in with Chris’s computer stuff. So without further ado, I bring you the mystery project:

Peace Shawl, designed by Evelyn Clark for Fiber Trends. Knit in Skacel Merino Lace on various needles.

Another view of the shawl, modeled by my mom.

This was probably a more complicated lace project than I should’ve chosen for my first shawl, but it was well worth the time it took to knit. I started this in late February 2004 and finished it on May 2, 2007. I’m thrilled with how it turned out, though I don’t think I understood just how ethereal it is – it was really difficult to photograph. I wish I’d gotten a picture of it while it was blocking, as the different patterns showed up a lot better against the black background that was the blocking board (interlocking foam floor mats).

As I mentioned yesterday, I will be wearing the shawl to Shepherd’s Harvest tomorrow. I can’t wait to see everyone! And shop, too, of course.

Now there are wild animals children running rampant under the clothesline and trying to pull the clothes down. I should probably put this away and intervene, in the interest of not having to re-wash everything.

Send “go to bed easily” thoughts for Arlo tonight – I have some magic to perform!

It’s been so long since I’ve posted that WordPress logged me out. Good thing I finally changed my password to something I could actually remember instead of the random string of numbers and letters it gives you when you reset it, eh?

As alluded to in the title, it’s been all socks, all the time around here. There are other projects started and stalled around here, sure, but the socks are the only things that get finished with any regularity. I guess it’s that they’re small, portable, generally mindless, and easy to set down mid-row – all important things when your children are completely insane.

My aunt presented me with a bag of KnitPicks sock yarn a while ago, telling me to pick out two pair’s worth of yarn. She then proceeded to point out which yarn she really liked, so of course I had to grab that one as well as one that appealed more to my tastes. What she chose was Dancing, a blend of cotton, wool, nylon, and elastic. I started the first one on our Amtrak trip a few weeks back and finished the pair about two weeks ago. I didn’t love this yarn, but it knit up into a nice fabric which I think will be very comfortable.

They look a little disproportionate, but between the ribbing and the elastic in the yarn, they pulled in quite a bit

She loves them, of course, but that goes without saying. I knit her her first pair of socks in 2002 and she’s been hooked ever since. Luckily, my cousin is a knitter too, so I’m not the only one responsible for keeping her in handknit socks!

Once those were finished, I cast on another pair in Trekking XXL, color 144. They were originally for my sister, but I remembered that I have another more appropriate pair of socks planned for her. Thank goodness my mom and my sister have similarly-sized feet – I didn’t have to rip them back when I changed my mind. These knit up incredibly quickly – I think the jacquard Trekking yarns are a touch thicker than the marled, stripey ones.

I briefly considered making them match, but eh, too fiddly. I think fraternal socks are more fun, anyhow

These took six days to knit, which definitely makes them among my fastest-knit socks. Maybe I should knit for people with feet smaller than mine more often! (Mine are 10″ around and 10″ long. Yay.)

I’ve been struggling with the next pair of socks since Tuesday. I picked out some Schaeffer Anne in a blinding colorway – hot pink, lime green, bright yellow, and purple. I think this may have been the first skein of yarn I bought when Borealis opened up in 2004, or at least it was among my very first purchases there. I swatched and realized I needed to knit it on size 0 needles instead of my usual size 1, so I started looking for a pattern to make it a little less mind-numbingly boring. Of course most patterns don’t work well with a heavily-variegated yarn like this, so I struck out twice before deciding to switch to a different yarn and try again. I picked out some lovely rose-colored wool (Meilenweit, maybe?) and knit a few pattern repeats before deciding that A) I didn’t love the pattern as much as I thought I would, and B) they were too small. B was no real surprise, since I had to leave off about 1/2″ worth of stitches to make the pattern fit. I already make my socks with 1/2″ negative ease, so taking off that extra 1/2″ didn’t do any good. I ripped that puppy back and the yarn has been added to the stash. I finally pulled out a skein of Trekking XXL in colorway 100, a recent purchase, and cast on the feather & fan-style pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. I knit on that all over the MN Zoo on Friday, only to discover that I didn’t like the look of the lace when knit from the top down. Ripped it out and started the toe-up version this morning. I still haven’t gotten past the increases there, though I’ve been knitting all night.

What did I spend my evening knitting? It would be a well-aged UFO that’s been resurrected and has a deadline. I’m aiming to have it finished by Shepherd’s Harvest (Mother’s Day weekend), and I think I can do it. I’ll post more about it tomorrow (famous last words), since I’ve rambled quite enough for tonight.