All Baby Things, All the Time

After finishing the baby blanket for my sister, I had to put my energy towards knitting baby things for a couple of friends who were due within a couple months of each other.  My friend Katy is really into forests and fairies, so I wanted to make her a baby sweater that invoked those ideas.  I settled on the Baby Yours sweater by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and published by Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  It was a relatively easy knit, mostly moss stitch with a cable up the middle of the back and front.  The only thing that tripped me up was that the centimeter measurements were listed before the inch measurements, so I just need to make sure I read the correct instructions as I went (or really, just measure the sweater in centimeters instead of inches, which is mostly what I did).

Picking out buttons was slightly difficult because I wanted something that went really well with the pattern.  I picked up some ivy leaf buttons and some acorns.  I tested out how well each of the button designs would fit through the buttonholes I made.  The ivy leaves had three pointy bits, which made it difficult to get through the holes.  At first, the acorns didn’t seem to fit, but with a little coaxing I got them through.  They looked so cute and really matched the feel of the sweater.

Ack!

I cast on Gretel last weekend after picking up another ball of the Rowan Purelife British Breeds yarn from Purlescence Yarns.  I was just about to finish the first chart when I realized that I had missed the note 10 rows back that said that the beginning of the row moved by 6 stitches.  That would certainly explain why I thought the row after that looked a bit funny.  So, I ripped back and am now slowly making my way through the chart.

Meanwhile, I think I’m coming down with a cold.

Lavender Twist

I do believe the Mountain Colors yarn will be really nice, if not perfect, for the Shedir pattern from Knitty’s 2004 Fall Surprise. However, I was wrong about it being 100% wool; it’s Mountain Goat, which is 55% mohair and 45% wool. The color is called Sweet Lavender.


I got it started on Wednesday and am on row 24 so far, just haven’t had a chance to take an in-progress picture yet. The only thing that is confusing me so far is the twists and cables. I keep wondering if there’s an easier way to do them. According to the pattern, for a left twist you slip the next st onto a cable needle and hold it to the front, purl next st, then knit st from cable needle. I once made socks that used a twisting pattern, but to make the twists you knit into second st, then knit into first st. or knit second st tbl, then knit first st. Now, if I could substitute one or both of these for the way the twists or cables are done, this would knit up a little quicker. Right now I’m doing each cable/twist per the instructions, but without a cable needle, and it seems a bit cumbersome. The twists I did on my socks went smoothly compared to the ones on this hat. Unfortunately, my brain gets tied up in knots when I try to think too deeply in three dimensions.

By now, you’re probably confused as to why I’m thinking so hard about this… well, I have a paper due tomorrow, and this is how I avoid working on it. *grin* I had to perform a building survey (with preservation management in mind) and now have to type up a 5 page report on the risks I found. I’m having problems with where to start… and how to get 5 pages out of this. So, I started a new project instead. *sigh* Geez, is that sad, or what?

The new project has been added to the sidebar, and it will be updated when I get an in-progress picture taken. I’ve also reorganized my Fotopic photo page. I started with just a knitting section, but decided to split it up into finished objects and works in progress. Ah, organization… yet another of my distractions from school work. I’m such a procrastinator.

Now for something a bit different… I usually don’t go in for quizzes, but this one is knitting related and kind of cute.

Knitting Guru
You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can’t imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.

http://marniemaclean.com

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