f. pea

winter catch-up

2012-01-09T10:04:00.003-05:00

January: finally there's time to stop and sit down and clear one's head.

It's a mad dash through December. I knitted like a madwoman from the middle of November until the week after Christmas when I was still furiously finishing gifts for visiting relatives (one right under the recipient's nose!). I knitted so much and so fast that I didn't manage to snap a picture of any of it, which is kind of pathetic for Ravelry addict like me.

Above are a pair of mittens I made for myself in November when I realized one day that my hands were cold, and I did in fact have the power to do something about it. I fished out some wonderful Noro Kureyon Sock that I'd bought specifically for mitten-making, from a clearance bin at a yarn store in Vermont during our summer vacation (I think this yarn has been discontinued). I rocked through them in a few days, picked up the needles again and started powering through holiday gifts.

Here's what I made in December: three pairs of mittens, a little birdie, a lovely hat, four twisty cuffs, and a Christmas stocking (which was actually mostly knitted in November). I can't believe I finished all that in a month. I am generally a slow, plodding knitter, but in December I was a machine.

But it has left me wanting to do more creative knitting this winter - having fun making things for me, or maybe not exactly for me, maybe for someone else to have in the end, but because it's a particular technique or color or something that I want to explore. Not just because I think that maybe someone else will like it.

So I'm working on a design for a little girl's jumper in Malabrigo Ríos (UK and Aussie readers, I mean a little dress thingy, not a pullover). And I'm getting ready to write up a fun post on some of my learnings about mitten knitting, since I've done rather a lot of it lately and feel like maybe I have a nugget or two to share about it.

But most of all, I'm dreaming of knitting myself a big, warm snuggly old-fashioned-looking sweater with the wonderful yarn I got in Vermont over the summer. And I'd like to have it ready rather soonish so that I can wear it in this winter weather... but I'm not exactly a speedy knitter. So maybe it will be for next winter. Maybe it will be one of the spectacular fishermen's sweaters from the book I got for Christmas: Patterns for Jerseys, Guernseys and Arans: Fishermen's Sweaters from the British Isles, by Gladys Thompson. What a wonderful book! I am snuggling up with it when I go to bed at night, leafing through wonderful historic photos and reading about the author's anthropological ramblings through the British Isles in the first half of the last century. It's as good as a Henry James novel for transporting you to another time and place.

voodoo yarn

2011-11-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I think that knitting projects have ju-ju associated with them that cannot be broken, no matter how many times you unravel, re-knit or re-think them.

Is it me, or is it the project? That's what I always wonder when a project continues to perpetuate the funk that first envelops it when things start to go wrong... even when you've tried to right the wrong, every which way.

Exhibit A: the unfinished Muande vest, which I'm afraid is now permanently unfinished. The particular ju-ju of this project is Will Not Be Completed. It's an old story that you've surely heard before.

You've heard it before right here in fact, because I was just griping about this vest a few weeks ago. After two - yes two - unhappy endings that were ripped back to the armholes, this vest seemed to gain a new lease on life when I took a workshop on steeking at SAFF. Steeking! The solution to my design problem - to maintain the stripe pattern, I needed to keep working the vest in the round. But how to get armholes? Steek them, of course!

So I did that. Choppy-Choppy!

Then I finished off the shoulders, and all I had to do was work the neckband and the cuffs - cuffs? What do you call the finishing around the armholes of a vest? They're not cuffs. Anyway, you know what I'm talking about. That's all I had to knit. A tiny bit. And that's when I ran out of yarn. Just millimeters from the finish line...

Unfinished.

The sad part is that this was a wonderful one-of-a-kind gift yarn sent by a friend from France. So it's not like I can just go run out the LYS and grit my teeth while I pay for a full ball of yarn needing only 18 inches of it to finish a project. That would suit me fine right about now! I'd be happy to pay for 100 yards of yarn and use 0.5 yards, thank you very much.

And it's not like I can just rip it back and rework it a bit to economize on the gray yarn because I CUT IT UP WITH SCISSORS. CHOPPY CHOPPY.

Unfinished.

Bad ju-ju. It hangs around a knitting project like preteen girls at the stage door of a Justin Bieber show. Go away, project funk! Go funk up a political campaign or something and leave me to my quiet little hobby.

fiber fun weekend

2011-10-25T20:26:00.003-05:00

seymour the PR llama

I had a lovely time at S.A.F.F. 2011, the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair! Snuggling with cute llamas and alpacas (like Seymour here) was one of the unexpected treats of my weekend.

This was my first time at SAFF, since normally our family camping trip falls on the same weekend. I've been looking forward to this event ever since the spring, when the camping trip date was announced and I realized I'd be able to go! YAY!

sock yarn from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks

In the past, sheep & wool festivals have been all about yarn shopping for me. At SAFF this year I decided to spend my money on workshops instead (well okay I did buy some yarn and stuff). But mostly it was learning. I took a workshop on steeking with Aimee Abernathy, which was lots of fun. I learned how to steek! I loved it! Now I'm dying to cut up all the knitting I can get my hands on! Almost! As soon as I got home I unraveled half of the vest I made recently for the Little Pea and started reworking the top half to have steeked armholes. That's how much fun steeking is!

But even better than steeking... Spinning!

Robyn shows us the wheel

Oh, spinning. It's so wonderful. The instructor, Robyn Josephs, was amazing. First we learned how to spin with a drop spindle. Then we got on the spinning wheels and went crazy. After three hours, I was completely hooked. I left the class walking on air, and grabbed some roving and a drop spindle to take home.

merino top dyed by Lunabud Knits

Spinning lit up some very primal neurons way down deep in my brain. It was such a meditative, all-encompassing activity. You can't think too much, or you'll mess it up. You have to let your fingers think for themselves, your feet pedal by themselves, and get your thinking part of the brain out of the way so that the intuitive part can take over. I need more of that kind of serenity in my life.

Now I just need to save up for a spinning wheel.

And I'm thinking that maybe when I grow up I'll get a little farm and populate it with adorable Jacob sheep. Really, could they be any cuter??

toddler socks

2011-09-26T12:55:00.003-05:00

What a joy to knit. Short, colorful, quick, and much-appreciated: basically the perfect knit.

They would have been even more enjoyable if the yarn had not been 100% acrylic (yes, that's 100%!), but hey, you have to clean out the stash some time. Besides, she'll outgrow these socks by the end of this winter.

Don't they look great with her new shoes?

Now the Pea is ready to go camping. And I'm ready to get back on the job and finish that vest I was whinging about last week.

stop-start-stop

2011-09-17T16:17:00.002-05:00

It's funny how much knitting can imitate life.

I've been having fun working on a little orange-and-gray vest for the Little Pea. It will be perfect for fall, if I can just figure out how I want to finish it.

The yarn is great - two balls of Muande from Filature de Valgaudemar in France. They were a gift from Géraldine, whose family owns the mill - one of the oldest mills in France. The yarn has been sitting in the yarn cabinet for a long time, til I came up with the right project for them. A vest seems just right for the very autumn color scheme (Souri and Flamme).

I wanted the vest to be simply knit, all-in-one-piece of course, which allowed me to use single-row stripes -- a nice touch in this chunky yarn. So I started from the bottom and worked up. But how to do the armholes? I didn't want to separate the front and back, so I thought perhaps I'd steek the armholes.

But I didn't like the way the shoulders were shaping up, so I ripped it back to the armhole beginnings and started again.

I decided to cave in and work the back and front separately. Then I made a big miscalculation, which I didn't notice til the knitting was almost done. Rip again.

Now I'm back at the starts of the armholes and trying to come up with a novel solution that lets me finish my vest-in-the-round without sending me back to the starting line all over again. Any ideas?

In the mean time, we have a camping trip coming up, and the Little Pea needs some warm socks. Maybe working on those for a while will free my brain cells and let me come up with a solution for the vest.

Ah, knitting problems. So much more delightful than most of life's problems. I like any problem that can be sorted out over a beer and an episode of Masterpiece Theater.

who put the U in UFO?

2011-09-03T13:21:00.005-05:00

finished!

The Little Pea has a book about a baby deer who is lost in the woods. He makes friends with a baby raccoon, who is trying to climb over a log. As the little raccoon struggles over the log, he chants to himself, "I can do it! I can doooooo it!"

We are chanting "I can doooo it!" a lot at our house lately. For one, the Little Pea is two years old now. There are a lot of things she is learning to doooo by herself (including climbing over logs). And our long trip in the car recently led me to pick up some long-abandoned UFO's to see if I couldn't make myself doooo it and finish them on the long ride. The trend has continued, and I'm picking up one hibernating project after the next lately, then putting them down all happy and finished.

I finished a baby blanket (pictured above), which didn't hibernate too long, but had been put away when I ran out of yarn just short of the finish line. Happily enough, I found the skein I needed at a little yarn store in Vermont while we were visiting there.

This week (on another car trip) I finished the Copper Scarf that I'd started exactly one year ago, intending to wear it in the fall, and then somehow losing interest just about the time cool weather arrived. It looks great, and I can't wait til the temperature drops enough to show it off. It's made from Manos Silk Blend and feels like heaven.

And then there's the Minimalist Cardigan. My problem child. After more than 4 years, I was so close. Just a tiny bit of knitting left to go... and I have run out of yarn. AAARGH! Of course. And this is no variegated, multi-colored, kettle-dyed, funky schlunky yarn where dye lots don't matter - it's Rowan Cashsoft DK, knit in moss stitch, so neat and regular and incredibly unforgiving... and the last section I have to knit is the front panels, from the armpit to the shoulder. Just where a color shift would be most obvious.

Clearly, I need to just suck it up, order a couple of skeins and hope for the best. There's no chance in hell that the same dye lot is out there someplace, 4 years later. Is there...? I think I better go trawling on Ravelry. Maybe I'll get lucky!

I am being so good. There are a handful of seductive new projects and yarns in my cabinet, just singing my name like little sirens... and I am doing my best to ignore them while I finish up these UFO's. I think once that Minimalist Cardi is done I should get some sort of prize for ending a 4-year hiatus. What's your longest-left UFO that you actually finished?

bear mountain

2011-08-28T12:02:00.005-05:00

Our family trip to Vermont was wonderful, and we had a great time swimming in lakes, taking long hikes, and scouring the countryside for the most delicious locally-made cheeses.

One of the most enjoyable things for me was hanging out with Joanne Smith and her flock at Bear Mountain Farm. The pretty lady you see pictured above is Iris, one of the beautiful ewes who make up Joanne's flock of Romney sheep. Joanne raises the sheep for their fleece and for breeding stock, and her fleeces makes some of the finest artisan yarn I have ever seen. Anyone lucky enough to live nearby should go visit her at the West River Farmers Market in Londonderry and see it for yourself!

Here's what I picked up when Joanne was kind enough to let me paw her wares when we visited the farm:

My hasty photo doesn't begin to do it justice, but these are 5 undyed skeins of natural, minimally-processed yarn from 2 of Joanne's ewes, Kitty (dark) and Joy (white). Each shearing is processed and spun in separate micro-batches at an eco-friendly mill in Maine. As a result, each skein of yarn is labeled with the name & photo of the very sheep from which it came. And because each sheep's fleece changes from year to year, no two lots are ever alike. Bear Mountain Farm's yarn is truly an artisan product. It's also lustrous, gorgeous, and wonderfully soft.

The yarn is mainly sold in 4-oz skeins, all worsted weight, and only available at the farmer's market or by special order, so they aren't exactly easy to come by. I'm glad I splurged a bit and brought home enough for a nice robust project!

If you're in Vermont, go to the West River Farmer's Market in Londonderry some Saturday and stop in on Bear Mountain Farm - or look for her at Rheinebeck, where her fleeces have won numerous awards. I can't wait to start knitting with this yarn!

back from the dead

2011-08-23T13:24:00.003-05:00

Mwah hah haaaah! Just when you thought this blog was dead...

Really, has it been all summer since the last time I posted?

Appropriately enough, I resurrected a couple of knitting projects that were resting in peace, and thought I'd share. We just got back from a long road trip (from North Carolina to Vermont and back - 2,400 miles round trip!). I decided to restrict myself to working only on UFO's, and pulled out two from the archives: a spring hoodie for the Little Pea (started last winter), and the Minimalist Cardigan that I've been picking up and putting down for about four years now.

The Minimalist Cardigan is a tedious chore of a knit, what with all that pokey moss stitch. And I have become quite spoiled by top-down and bottom-up knitting, and am bored to tears by knitting flat shapeless things that need to be sewn together. Needless to say, I did not finish it on this trip. But I dutifully forced myself to work on it (at least while HWWLLB was driving on long boring stretches of I-95), made a lot of progress and can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Will I ever reach the end of this cashmerey little tunnel? Who knows. Maybe I'll be wearing this thing in the fall of 2012.

The spring hoodie, on the other hand, is done except for the zipper that needs to be sewn in. That's my mom's job, as I only know how to destroy things with a sewing machine.

I have to admire myself sometimes - I know my habits. Though it was meant to be a spring jacket for the Pea, and though I started it in winter, I made it at least a whole size too big. Somehow I knew that it would be next spring before this thing ever got finished, blocked and worn. If I can remember what I did to it, maybe I'll even post the pattern in time for other, faster people to knit it for spring.

I promise another post soon - I need to tell you all about the wonderful sheep farm where we stayed in Vermont, and the luscious yarn I got there!

greetings from the backyard

2011-06-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

Hello from our backyard. This is where I've been spending most of my time these last few beautiful weeks. Now that it's getting quite hot, most of the time in the backyard involves a hose or wading pool.

I can't say that there's been much knitting going on. There's been small knitting. Lots of friends are having babies (including one you may know), and so I've been knitting away on bootees and caps and toys and such.

But I'm not feeling very inspired to design. I have lots of sketches piled up, but none of them are singing out to me at the moment, "knit me! knit me!" The squeaky knitting project gets the grease around here, to mix metaphors, so the sketchbook is going unnoticed right now.

The garden is going like gangbusters. We recently finished up a big spring harvest of peas and radishes and lettuce, and now the garden is in a little lull before the tomatoes and peppers and tomatillos and beets are ready. In the mean time, there is chard. Always chard. I love swiss chard, I love how reliable it is in all sorts of weather, and this year even the caterpillars seem to be leaving it alone, so we're enjoying quite a lot of it.

The chicks grew up quickly. In the foreground is Pepper, a refugee chicken that our neighbors passed along becuase she was being beaten up by her flock. She has risen to the top in our little flock, where she is the eldest and is teaching the others to scratch, peck and squawk effectively. She's a year old so already laying eggs and generally earning her keep (unlike some other freeloaders I could name).

The Little Pea is going to be 2 years old in less than two weeks. I can't believe it! Every moment passes at about three times the speed that moments used to, back in the halcyon days of my youth, before I knew all that I know now. But I do know some wonderful things now.

hello spring!

2011-04-11T00:31:00.002-05:00

It's just lovely outside. Breezy, warm and green, with so many flowers popping up everywhere.

Here are the chicks, about 6 weeks old in this photo, scratching around in the backyard. The Little Pea loves playing with them. They're quite friendly, and if she sits in my lap, they will come right up to her and allow some pats. They are now 8 weeks old and ready to move to the coop outside - that's our plan for this afternoon, since it's going to be warm and summery all week.

They are also the reason that I don't seem to have enough knitting time. Wait, do I ever have enough knitting time? Does anyone? But really, cleaning a chicken cage every day and keeping up with all their needs... it does eat away at one's free time. All the same, the Pea's little spring green hoodie is coming along, however slowly.

I'm knitting it from the bottom-up. The other day when I attached the sleeves to the body, I started to finally get excited about this jacket. Sleeve attachment is always a very dramatic stage in the process. Knitting the yoke always feels like the home stretch.

I've been wondering why this project has dragged so much. I think it might be the yarn. It's Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, which is a wonderfully versatile and practical yarn... and you know how practical isn't always a virtue. That's like saying about a member of the opposite sex that they have a "nice personality." Nice, but not even a little bit sexy. Cotton Fleece wears so well and softens nicely with each wash, but it's just a bit stiff to work with right off the skein. Not really the luxurious knitting experience that I crave when my precious knitting time is so limited. But it is knitting up into a very cute little jacket all the same. I'm sure the jacket will have a nice personality, too.

I hope to finish it this weekend. I'll have plenty of knitting time on the train - I'm headed northwards to visit the lovely Miss Bugheart. Can't wait!

what i did on my winter vacation

2011-03-14T09:22:00.005-05:00

Apparently I took a little blog vacation this winter. I think that perhaps the vacation is over and it's time to peek my nose out again.

Now that I'm emerging from my hibernation den, it seemed like I ought to report on what I've been doing since we last visited, when I was baking a large number of apple cakes. Here's the list:

Sprucing up the garden

I made these two lovely raised beds out of cedar. Aren't they nice? (Don't look too closely). I'm a horrible carpenter, and I don't have a saw, so I had to rely on the lumber place to cut the boards down for me, and then I did a rather amateur job of putting them together. The boards were all rather wildly off the 4-feet-zero-inches target, so the boxes are crooked and overlapping and look like they were built by second-graders in shop class. But hey, they're mine, they're full of dirt and now there are even little seedlings growing in them, so I'm satisfied. Perhaps we will finally be able to grow a carrot longer than 1.5 inches!

Knitting (a little bit)

I'm not sure how it's happening, but I seem to become a slower knitter by the day. I've always been on the slow side, but now I can't seem to find more than 15 minutes at a time to knit anything. Half a row is about all I can seem to generate in one sitting, which makes for a pretty pokey pace. I made the mittens above for my sister's birthday in January, and after that made the pretty sweater being modeled by the Little Pea at the start of this post. Now I'm working on a spring cardi for her, which has not progressed much despite an enthusiastic start. I have tons of design sketches just waiting for someone (me??) to put yarn and needles together and make them real. Did I really used to crank out a design every month or two? Who was that masked woman?

reading (a lot)

Since having a child, I seem to have become a super-reader. I can kill a 1,000-page novel in the time it takes most people to read the Sunday newspaper. I don't just read one book. If I like a book, I go out and get everything that writer has ever published and read them all, in chronological order. I'm currently working my way through A.S. Byatt's back catalog, to my great satisfaction. What a joy her prose is. And I am in love with all of her characters (except the ones I hate, but I really really hate them, in a deeply joyful way, like hating Duke's basketball team or Sarah Palin).

Chasing a rambunctious toddler.

I can't believe the Little Pea is going to be 2 in just a couple of months. She is a lot of fun, and a little bundle of energy.

There are chickens in my house.

This picture was taken about three weeks ago, when the chicks were sweet, cuddly, adorable little fluffballs who hardly knew how to scratch yet. Now they are ungainly adolescents who are overcrowding their dog crate, eating copious amounts of chicken chow and pooping nonstop. All this in my back room. The room where our kitchen table and my desk are. We have a small house. I'm not sure how much longer I can handle the indoor chicken arrangement. Soon they will have enough feathers, and it will be warm enough, for them to go live outside in the chicken coop. Will that happen before HWWLLB and I run out of patience and roast them for dinner? Only time will tell.

And finally... I made a Facebook page for f.pea. Please go Like it! I'm thinking that I might send the first 50 likers a nice surprise. But I have no idea what it is yet. Maybe it will be an adolescent chicken.

german apple cake (don't make just one)

2011-01-24T09:09:00.000-05:00

just one bite left

Last weekend I made eight German Apple cakes. Two for a party we were attending, four for the women's shelter, and two more for... my tummy. I did share.

Years ago, when I called my Grandmother to get the recipe, she said "Now Fawn, don't make just one of these." She would always make anywhere from two to ten, and share them with family and neighbors. They are simple and delicious, like everything my Grandmother baked.

german apple cake
(makes two 9x9 cakes)

2 cups flour, sifted
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Mix all these ingredients together and beat the batter for 2 minutes.
Then add:

3 cups apples, peeled & sliced (Stayman/Winesap are my favorite for baking)

topping:
4 tsp cinammon
2/3 cup brown sugar
Mix these together well.

Grease two 8x8 cake pans and pour in the batter. Sprinkle over with the topping and dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, til golden brown and a knife inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy munching on this tasty cake soon. It's simple enough to make a wonderful weeknight dessert surprise for your family on a dreary winter day - especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. And don't forget to share.

looking at America from afar, 1956

2011-01-17T08:48:00.002-05:00

An excerpt from Dr. King's 1956 sermon, "Paul's letter to American Christians":

But America, as I look at you from afar, I wonder whether your moral and spiritual progress has been commensurate with your scientific progress. It seems to me that your moral progress lags behind your scientific progress. Your poet Thoreau used to talk about "improved means to an unimproved end." How often this is true. You have allowed the material means by which you live to outdistance the spiritual ends for which you live. You have allowed your mentality to outrun your morality. You have allowed your civilization to outdistance your culture. Through your scientific genius you have made of the world a neighborhood, but through your moral and spiritual genius you have failed to make of it a brotherhood. So America, I would urge you to keep your moral advances abreast with your scientific advances.
I am impelled to write you concerning the responsibilities laid upon you to live as Christians in the midst of an unChristian world. That is what I had to do. That is what every Christian has to do. But I understand that there are many Christians in America who give their ultimate allegiance to man-made systems and customs. They are afraid to be different. Their great concern is to be accepted socially. They live by some such principle as this: "everybody is doing it, so it must be alright." For so many of you Morality is merely group consensus. In your modern sociological lingo, the mores are accepted as the right ways. You have unconsciously come to believe that right is discovered by taking a sort of Gallup poll of the majority opinion. How many are giving their ultimate allegiance to this way.

But American Christians, I must say to you as I said to the Roman Christians years ago, "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Or, as I said to the Phillipian Christians, "Ye are a colony of heaven." This means that although you live in the colony of time, your ultimate allegiance is to the empire of eternity. You have a dual citizenry. You live both in time and eternity; both in heaven and earth. Therefore, your ultimate allegiance is not to the government, not to the state, not to nation, not to any man-made institution. The Christian owes his ultimate allegiance to God, and if any earthly institution conflicts with God's will it is your Christian duty to take a stand against it. You must never allow the transitory evanescent demands of man-made institutions to take precedence over the eternal demands of the Almighty God.

I understand that you have an economic system in America known as Capitalism. Through this economic system you have been able to do wonders. You have become the richest nation in the world, and you have built up the greatest system of production that history has ever known. All of this is marvelous. But Americans, there is the danger that you will misuse your Capitalism. I still contend that money can be the root of all evil. It can cause one to live a life of gross materialism. I am afraid that many among you are more concerned about making a living than making a life. You are prone to judge the success of your profession by the index of your salary and the size of the wheel base on your automobile, rather than the quality of your service to humanity.

The misuse of Capitalism can also lead to tragic exploitation. This has so often happened in your nation. They tell me that one tenth of one percent of the population controls more than forty percent of the wealth. Oh America, how often have you taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes. If you are to be a truly Christian nation you must solve this problem. You cannot solve the problem by turning to communism, for communism is based on an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism that no Christian can accept. You can work within the framework of democracy to bring about a better distribution of wealth. You can use your powerful economic resources to wipe poverty from the face of the earth. God never intended for one group of people to live in superfluous inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty. God intends for all of his children to have the basic necessities of life, and he has left in this universe "enough and to spare" for that purpose. So I call upon you to bridge the gulf between abject poverty and superfluous wealth.

I would that I could be with you in person, so that I could say to you face to face what I am forced to say to you in writing. Oh, how I long to share your fellowship.

Read the whole sermon here.

resolutions, warm fingers

2011-01-07T10:43:00.002-05:00

It's January, it's biting cold, it's snowing all the time in North Carolina for heaven's sake. It's time to knit mittens.

I just completed (finally!) the Norwegian mittens, and they have been dutifully mailed off to HWWLLB's lovely mama, belated for Christmas but right on time for her January birthday. And I am hooked. As you can see, they are beautiful, but they're also warm, comfortable, practical, and a relatively quick knit.

I haven't knitted mittens in years, because in the past I knitted them with one yarn color and found that a single layer of knitted fabric just lets too much wind through to be warm enough for me. I've been wearing fleece gloves ever since. But stranded mittens! Of course! Those smart Scandinavians know all about how to stay warm, don't they? It took me a decade of knitting to wake up to the genius of Norwegian mittens, but here we are. I think there are more mittens in my near future.

So, I have been thinking and thinking about a New Year's resolution. I like making resolutions, and in the past I've gotten pretty ambitious with them, resolving to do things like giving up plastic and practicing yoga every single day. Needless to say, they don't always stick, but I think it's a worthwhile exercise.

But I've been having a hard time coming up with resolutions this year, perhaps because I don't feel very ambitious. One of the things I noticed about 2010 is that I worked much too hard. I put way too much pressure on myself to perform, and I think it's telling that I didn't take a single vacation day all year (until December 23rd, when I realized I had been insane). The only days I took off from work were for funerals. : (

So I think this is my resolution for 2011: Stop pushing myself so hard. Expect less from myself. Do less.

I'm not going to put any qualifiers on this one. I'm just going to try - less.

season's greetings

2010-12-26T16:38:00.003-05:00

We're snowed in at HWWLLB's parents' house in the mountains. It's wonderful.

It was such a busy, hectic fall. Being snowed in over Christmas means that basically everything has stopped. We didn't travel to see more relatives, I'm not trying to cram in any work, we're not even making trips to the grocery store. We're here with yarn and books and toys, finding little ways to have fun, and taking lots of naps. I really needed this break. It took a foot of snow to get me to slow down and relax!

I have two knitting projects going here: one secret and one decoy. The secret project was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but it wasn't done in time, so it will be a birthday gift in January instead. It's Elizabeth Zimmerman's Norwegian mittens, and they are the most beautiful things I've ever knitted by far. I keep stroking and gazing at them (which may be why they weren't finished in time for Christmas!).

The decoy is because we're hanging out with the mitten recipient, so I can't very well gaze upon the mittens (or knit them) in front of her. So I'm working on a bulky jacket for the Pea with big fat giant colorful Lang Mille Colori Big yarn. It's beautiful and soft and quick and fun.

It's hard to fit all this knitting in between naps and baking, but somehow I'm managing. I hope you're having a wonderful holiday. This is just what I wanted for Christmas!

recipe::warm & spicy winter soup

2010-12-06T12:23:00.004-05:00

I am a firm believer in the healing powers of home-made soup. As a vegetarian, I'm always looking for the non-meat version of the incredibly comforting chicken-noodle soup. This isn't that exactly, but it is a warm, aromatic bowl packed full of vitamin C, protein, and immune-system-boosting ingredients for a cold winter's night.

If this soup is for family dinner, serve it with salad and a crusty bread to make it snazzy - but if you're feeling under the weather, a bowl by itself is nutritionally complete and sure to warm your bones. Bonus: this recipe is also vegan and gluten-free!

warm & spicy winter soup

prep time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 1 hour
serves 4-6

ingredients

1 onion, minced
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 2-inch stick of fresh ginger, peeled & minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 cup dry mung beans, split peas, lentils or other quick-cooking dry bean
1/2 cup millet or quinoa
1 sweet potato, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
1 bunch of fresh greens (spinach, kale or chard work well), chopped
1 quart of vegetable stock
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper to taste

Mince the onions, garlic and ginger in the food processor or by hand. In a large soup pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onions, garlic and ginger until the onion becomes tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and saute another minute. Pour the vegetable stock into the pot.

Rinse the beans and grains well and add them to the pot. (If you are using quinoa, soak it first and rinse it thoroughly to remove the bitter husk). Bring the pot to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and cover the pot. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the carrots and sweet potatoes and dice them. Add them to the pot, and continue to simmer, covered, until the vegetables and beans are tender (another 20-30 minutes).

Once the veggies and beans are tender, add the greens, stir them in and let the whole pot simmer until the greens are tender, another 5-6 minutes or so. Salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, add the lemon juice.

tips & variations
- Chopped frozen spinach is a fine substitute for fresh, especially when you're in a hurry.

- If you have some leftover cooked brown rice, you can add that instead of the millet or quinoa. Cooked grains should be added about the same time you add the greens.

- If you like thicker, creamier soup, try this: Just before the point when you'd add the greens, scoop about 1/3 to 1/2 of the pot of soup into the food processor and puree. Return the puree to the pot and stir it in well. Then continue with the rest of the recipe.

- If a little extra heat makes your runny nose feel better, consider adding 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or hot chili paste to the onion saute along with your curry powder. Serve with a bottle of hot sauce on the table, too.

- I like to make a big batch of soup and then freeze containers of one to two servings for another day. If you do that with this recipe, I'd suggest leaving out the greens and lemon juice. Add them instead when you defrost and re-heat the soup to get a fresher taste, brighter colors and more nutrients out of your leftovers.

I hope this helps you through your winter colds!

free pattern friday::soxxy dress

2010-11-26T13:08:00.004-05:00

Here's a dress for the Scrappy Doll, made with some sock yarn leftovers. The pattern is knit from the bottom up, and quite simple, so you can adapt it for dolls of all sizes. Make one in each of your favorite sock yarn leftover colors!

size: one size (to fit a 10.5 inch doll)

gauge: 7.5 stitches/inch

materials:
small amount of leftover sock yarn (shown in Curious Creek Wasonga)
US Size 1 DPN's
stitch marker
tapestry needle

Cast on 124 stitches. Join to knit in the round, being careful not to twist. Place a stitch marker to mark the start of the round.

Knit 4 rounds in stockinette stitch.
R5: *K1, P1. Repeat from * to end. This ridge will stop the edge from rolling further.
Continue in stockinette stitch until the piece measures one inch.

Next round: K2tog every stitch to end. 62 stitches remain.
Continue in stockinette stitch until the piece measures 3.5 inches.

Next round: Knit 31, placing all stitches on one needle. Knit the next 31 stitches onto another needle - now your work is divided into 2 pieces.

You will knit flat from here up, working back & forth on one needle only, knitting every row (garter stitch). As you go, be sure to slip the first stitch of each row, with the yarn held in the front (wyif), in order to keep a tidy edge. You can hold your stitches for the front of the dress on a needle, scrap yarn or a stitch holder as you work the back.

back of dress
Row 1: BO 3, K to end.
Row 2: BO 3, K to end.
Knit 4 rows.

Next row: Slip 1 wyif, K2tog, K to 3 stitches before end. SSK, K1.
Next row: Knit.
Repeat these last 2 rows until 21 stitches remain on the needle.

create the straps
Next row: Slip 1 wyif, K2tog, K1, BO 13, K1, SSK, K1.
Now you have 2 straps begun, each with 3 stitches. Hold one on your needle or a piece of scrap yarn while you knit the other. Work 21 rows on each strap, continuing to slip the first stitch of each row wyif. Once you have 21 rows, bind off all stitches, trim the end, rejoin the yarn and work the other strap the same way.

front of dress
Rejoin the yarn.
Row 1: BO 3, K to end.
Row 2: BO 3, K to end.
Knit 4 rows.
BO all stitches.

finishing
Weave in ends and trim. Fold the straps over from back to front and sew them down very firmly on the front of the dress (see photo).

recently

2010-11-07T20:25:00.003-05:00

I knitted a smooshee man as a gift for one of the Pea's friends. She enjoyed taking him for a test run in the backyard.

Instead of trick-or-treating, we spent Halloween playing at the state park just outside city limits.

If you guessed that all those pom-poms I made were for a broccoli costume, you were right (and also, you are amazingly psychic!). She liked the costume for about the first 15 minutes, but spent the rest of the afternoon pulling on the pom-poms saying "OFF! OFF!" The broccoli looks a bit steamed in all of the pictures. HA HA! Steamed! Broccoli! Ah, just made myself laugh. Whew.

I can't believe it's November already. November 7th, to be exact. Holy moly. I hope you're having a great fall.

free pattern friday::scrappy doll

2010-10-29T00:32:00.003-05:00

My grandmother liked to make dolls for us from hollyhock flowers: one bud for the head, one bloom for the skirt. Dolls are easy to make from whatever you have on hand, and fortunately children are easy to please when it comes to a new toy. This sweet felted doll is no different - she is made from leftovers and stashed bits. Find a handful of worsted-weight wool leftovers and you're ready to make a snuggly felted doll for your little one. Doll’s dress & sweater patterns from scrap sock yarn coming soon.

The doll is knitted all in one piece, from the top down, with minimal sewing up, and then felted. Her head and hands are made from less than half a skein of one skin-toned color, and her top and leggings from similar amounts in two different colors of your choice (you could also make a bodysuit in one solid color if you like). After felting, stuffing and sewing up, you'll make her hair and embroider her face. I made her hair from a small amount of heavy worsted merino, but almost any yarn can work for the hair, from Fun Fur to silk. Once you've embroidered her face, she's finished. Then you can make endless outfits from her with more of your leftover yarn - dolls just love new outfits.

and here's a dress for your doll.

size: one size

measurements
head-to-toe length: approximately 10 1/2 inches
head circumference: 10 inches
chest circumference: 8 inches

gauge
about 4.5 stitches = 1 inch. Gauge is not terribly important for this project.

materials
less than 1/2 skein of worsted-weight 100% wool in each of three colors:
color A (skin tone)
color B (top)
color C (leggings)
I used Cascade 220 – whatever you use, be sure that it will felt!
size 8 (US) double-pointed needles
stitch markers in at least 2 colors
less than 1/2 skein of yarn for hair
embroidery floss for eyes and mouth
embroidery needle
tapestry needle
sewing needle & thread in color to match hair
small amount of polyester fiberfill (or stuffing of your choice)
sewing machine (optional)

knit the doll’s head (starting from the crown)
Using Color A, CO 6, distribute evenly across 3 DPN’s. Place marker and join to K in the round, being careful not to twist.
Round 1: K1fb into every stitch. 6 st increased.
Round 2 (and all even rounds): Knit.
Round 3: *K1, Kfb. Repeat from * to end. 6 st increased.
Round 5: *K2, Kfb. Repeat from * to end.
Round 7: *K3, Kfb. Repeat from * to end.

Continue in this manner, increasing 6 stitches on every odd-numbered round, until you have 60 stitches on your needles.
Knit 9 rows even (without increasing).

Decrease round 1: [K8, SSK] 3 times. [K8, K2tog] 3 times. 6 st decreased.
Round 2 (and all even rounds): Knit.
Decrease round 3: [K7, SSK] 3 times. [K7, K2tog] 3 times.
Decrease round 5: [K6, SSK] 3 times. [K6, K2tog] 3 times.

Continue in this manner, decreasing 6 stitches on every odd-numbered round, until you have 24 stitches remaining on your needles.
Knit 8 rows even for the neck

body
If you have ever knitted a sweater from the top down, this section is going to feel very familiar (and if you haven’t – perhaps you should try it!)

Round 1: K8, place marker, change to Color B, K4, place marker, K8, place marker, K4 to end.
Round 2: * Kfb, K to 1 st before next marker, Kfb, slip marker. Repeat from * to end. 8 stitches increased.
Round 3 (and all odd-numbered rounds): Knit.
Round 4: Repeat round 2. 8 stitches increased.

Continue in this manner, increasing 8 stitches on every even-numbered round, until you have 16 stitches between the back two markers (that is, in the largest section).

divide for arms
Without increasing any more, knit across to the first marker, remove the marker, and place the next 12 stitches on a piece of scrap yarn – this will become the doll’s left arm.
Remove the next marker. Using the backwards loop method, cast on 2 stitches to your needle and join to knit across the back 16 stitches. Remove the next marker, and place the next 12 stitches on a piece of scrap yarn to create the dolls’ right arm. Remove the next marker. CO 2 stitches again, join to the remaining stitches and knit to the final marker (leave this marker in place to mark the start of your rounds).

Now you will simply knit the torso in the round, continuing in st st until the torso measures about 3 inches.

leggings
Next round: Change to Color C. Knit 1 round in the new color.

Now we’re going to use some short rows to give the doll some booty:
K 20. Place a marker. K 14. Place a marker. Wrap the next stitch and turn your work. Purl back to the first marker. Wrap & turn.
K to 1 st before marker. Wrap & turn.
P to 1 st before marker. Wrap & turn.
K to 2 st before marker. Wrap & turn.
P to 2 st before marker. Wrap & turn.

Knit across this row, knitting the wraps together with their stitches as you go and removing all the markers. Continue knitting to the end of this round. Now your doll has a cute little heiney.

divide for legs
Next round: *K 4, K2tog. Repeat from * to end. 6 st decreased. 30 stitches remain on your needles.
Next round: K 5, bind off 3. Using a new needle, K 12. Bind off 3. Place a new marker and join to knit the next 12 stitches in the round as one leg, leaving the remaining 18 stitches behind on a stitch holder or a piece of scrap yarn.
Continue in st st until leg measures 3 inches.
Next round: Decrease 3 st evenly. 9 st remain.
Knit 4 rounds even.

make a foot
This will feel very familiar if you’ve ever made a sock.

Knit across 7 stitches. Turn your work.
Slip one, P2, turn.
Slip one, K2, turn.
Slip one, P2, turn.
Slip one, K2.
Pick up and knit 2 stitches down the selvedge of the heel flap you’ve just made. Place a marker. Knit 6. Place a marker. (Be sure to remove the original marker that marked the start of the round – it’s just in the way now).
Pick up and knit 2 stitches up the other selvedge of the heel flap.
K 3, K2tog. Slip marker, SSK. K2, K2tog. Slip marker, SSK. 9 stitches remain.
Knit 5 rounds even.

Next round: K2tog 4 times. K1. 5 st remain.
Cut the yarn, leaving about a 6-inch tail. Pull the end through the remaining 5 stitches, securing the yarn end inside the foot and weaving in a bit before you trim it.

second leg
Rejoin your yarn to the held stitches, and knit the 12 held stitches. Place a marker and join to knit in the round. Make this leg just as you did the first one, all the way to where the heel starts.

second foot
To begin this heel, Knit across 4 stitches, turn your work. Now continue exactly as you did for the first foot. Complete as before.

arms
Go back to the shoulder and place the held stitches from one of the arms onto your needles, removing the scrap yarn. Join your yarn (Color B) and knit the 12 held stitches. Pick up and knit the 2 armpit stitches from the torso, and place a marker to mark the start of the round.
Knit 3 rounds even.

Next round: Decrease 2 st evenly. 12 st remain.
Knit 1 round.
Next round: Decrease 2 st evenly. 10 st remain.
Knit 2 more rounds in Color B.

Change to Color A. Knit 4 rounds.

hand
Increase round 1: * K1, Kfb. Repeat from * to end. 5 st increased.
Knit 5 rounds even.

Next round: K2, K2tog. K to 2 st before marker, K2tog. Slip marker. Leave the next 2 stitches on a holder to make the thumb. Join your needle to the third stitch, and continue knitting these 11 stitches in the round.
Knit 3 more rounds.

Next round: [K1, K2tog] 5 times. 6 st remain.
Next round: K1, K2tog, K2tog, K1. 4 st remain.
Cut the yarn, leaving about a 6-inch tail. Pull the end through the remaining 4 stitches, securing the yarn end inside the hand and weaving in a bit before you trim it.

To make the thumb, rejoin your yarn to the 2 held stitches and knit a two-stitch I-cord for 4 rows. Break your yarn and pull the tail through these two stitches to secure them.

Repeat this whole process for the second arm.

finishing & felting
Once you’ve finished knitting your doll, go back to weave in ends and trim them up. You’ll have a big gap in the doll’s crotch for stuffing.

Carefully felt the doll to size. Need help felting? Here's a great tutorial.

Once she’s ready, stuff her very firmly with plastic bags. Push, pull and tug her into shape – don’t be too shy. Felted fiber is tough stuff, and the shape she dries in will be the final shape you get, so make her look just the way you want her to.

Allow the doll to dry for a couple of days. Once dry, remove the plastic bags and stuff more gently with polyester fiberfill (or your stuffing of choice). I like to stuff the head, hands and feet rather firmly, and the arms, legs and torso more softly. I am careful to stuff the joints (shoulder and hip) only lightly, to allow her to bend and sit. Stuff to the firmness that you prefer. Once you’re done, use your Color C yarn to sew up the stuffing hole.

hair
There are as many ways to make hair for a doll as there are home-made dolls. You can make yours however you like.

I made my doll’s hair by sewing the yarn down to a piece of paper, removing the paper and then tacking the hair into place on the doll (I thought it was kind of ingenious until I discovered that plenty of other people already did it this way). Here’s a great step-by-step tutorial from the Crafty Sheep.

 Instead of using yarn to sew the hair into place, I sewed my doll’s hair along the scalp line with matching sewing thread. Then I neatly gathered the doll’s hair into a ponytail on each side, and secured those in place with sewing thread as well. Finally, I braided the hair, tied a piece of yarn to finish the braid, and trimmed to my desired length. Style your doll’s hair however you like! To make wavy or kinky hair, use yarn that has been unraveled from another knitted item.

here are a few other ways you can make hair:
Make a fringe
Sewn-on loops
Crocheted hair

embroidering the face
Here I’ll just say, I am horrible at embroidery. After unsuccessfully begging my sister to embroider the face for me, I finally sat down with the embroidery floss (two strands) and needle, and dove in. I think it came out OK. I marked the eye and mouth locations with a pencil first, and I think I held my breath the whole time. Good luck.

So, now hopefully your doll has a sweet face and is ready to play! Have fun, and don’t forget to make her some clothes! But she looks just as cute in her long johns.

pom-pom-a-rama

2010-10-25T16:03:00.006-05:00

I got a new pom-pom maker over the weekend.

With it, I made 53 large green acrylic pom-poms.

This would never have been possible if I were still trying to use the flimsy bits of plastic that used to pass themselves off as a pom-pom maker around here. The nice ladies at Great Yarns sold me one of these schmancy new Clover doohickeys. For $8, I am a very happy pom-maker.

The pom-poms are for the Little Pea's Halloween costume. Can you guess what it will be?

This was so much fun that you may see more poms popping up around here (seriously: I wound 453 yards of yarn into poms and lived to call it "fun").

Hat needs some spark? Poms! Hoodie needs a little pouf on the drawstring? Poms! Fuzzy monster in need of headgear? You get the idea...

p.s. Keep an eye out this Friday for a new free pattern... The little felted doll I made for the Pea a few weeks ago has made it to Patternland. I hope you like it!

camping with babies

2010-10-19T19:32:00.004-05:00

Well, I can't say that our camping trip was entirely successful.

It was not entirely unsuccessful either; in fact it was hardly unsuccessful at all.

The main unsuccessful part was the sleeping part. Or should I say, the not-sleeping part. The Little Pea wanted no parts of sleeping in a sleeping bag, but it was so cold. Thirty degrees overnight! There was ice in everyone's water bottles in the morning. She had to be in the sleeping bag. Was it the feeling of constraint, the slippery nylon fabric, the cold air hitting her face...? Who knows what exactly the problem was, but it was problem enough to have her wake up and howl with all her 16-month-old might, about every hour or so, all night long.

In the end, HWWLLB had to wrap her in a fleece blanket and then build a human/sleeping bag cave around her (not touching her in any way!) to keep her warm and get her to sleep more than 30 minutes at a stretch. I think she actually went for over an hour at one point.

You'd think that all this baby howling would scare away wildlife, but in fact, around 3 a.m. an owl answered her calls. Seriously. At the height of our misery came the most awesome moment of the whole camping trip.

Other than the all-night-howling, the trip was great. Beautiful crisp sunny fall weather, peak fall foliage, and good company with family and friends. The Pea had a great time getting to know lots of uncles and aunties and cousins. This was HWWLLB's annual family camping trip - four generations go camping together every October. Every family should do this! (But few dare...)

So anyhow, my advice to any would-be-family-campers, is this: test out the sleeping bag and the tent first. I cannot overstate the importance of the dry run. Oh, how I wish we had known.

On the bright side, the long car trip to and from camping was enough time to knit a pair of warm toddler socks. And soon, the pattern for the Little Pea's new doll will be making an appearance here. So stay tuned. Now to go make sure my supply of beer and salty snacks is in order for tomorrow night's Phillies game.

october afternoons

2010-10-09T10:29:00.003-05:00

We are playing outside quite a bit lately.

I'm so grateful that the heat of summer has finally dissipated, and we can go outdoors again and enjoy fresh air and sunshine. This summer really over-stayed its welcome. Don't get me wrong; I like summer, I do. But I don't like hot sticky temperatures, and by the end of September if I had to sit through another 90+ degree day, I was going to lose my mind. So October has been quite welcome.

On my days off, the Little Pea and I are enjoying long walks, romps on the playground, fooling around in our backyard, and hanging out with friends. Yesterday afternoon we walked around the corner to a friend's house and whiled away a couple of hours just playing and laughing with them in the yard. Bliss!

Courduroy, jeans, sweaters, blazers, warm socks, scarves, boots and closed shoes... I've missed them all so much. Welcome back, fresh air!

The crisp weather has also sent me back to the kitchen and the knitting bag, two places I've longed for all summer. Somehow I was only able to make cursory visits to both. Today I made pancakes for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, I'm simmering up a big pot of vegetable stock for soups, and I'm baking cookies.

I've also got a big list of knitting projects competing for my attention: a sweater for the Little Pea's new doll (seen above), a sweater for the Pea herself, mittens for the Pea before our family camping trip next weekend, because it's going to be chilly, Norwegian mittens for the Pea's grandma for Christmas, and an owlet for a friend who will be turning five soon.

Maybe I'll get some of them done on the car trip to the mountains. I can't wait to see the fall color in the Blue Ridge, and to sit by a campfire eating hot apple turnovers in the chilly air. Apple turnovers are one of the staples of the family camping trip. A group of us has to spend half an afternoon peeling apples at the campsite, but it's well worth it.

What are you savoring on these crisp fall days?

sick, sick, sick

2010-09-12T12:19:00.002-05:00

Everyone is sick at my house. It is quite tiresome.

I'm knitting this scarf, slowly but surely, and the warm fall color and silky yarn are cheering me, a little. But it's a drag being sick, having a sick partner, and a sick baby is worst of all.

Ever since we started at a child care center at the beginning of August, it seems there is a new funk every week. First the little one gets it, then HWWLLB, then me. Repeat ad nauseum. Nobody feels like making dinner. Nobody feels like cleaning up the house. We are all very tired of it.

I hear that this is the standard for the first year of child care. And that if you don't use child care, it will be the first year of kindergarten. The family gets every little bug that's going around. After six weeks of it, I can't imagine making it through the rest of the year. Blegh.

Sniffle.

Whine.

Cough.

knit happens

2010-08-26T01:08:00.004-05:00

All sorts of things happening lately on the knitting front.

One super fun thing: there's a knit-a-long happening with one of my patterns, the Wildflower Socks. Check it out on Ravelry. I am amazed that two dozen people all want to knit one of my patterns, and all at the same time! Very humbling.

And in really crazy news: I designed a kids' fair isle sweater (seen above) of which I am unaccountably proud. And the pattern is for sale - it went up today on Knit Picks through their Independent Designers Program.

It's the first time I've ever had a pattern for sale, and I was pretty nervous about it. I am very committed to keeping knitting and designing fun by not turning it into "work." It's my escape from work! At the same time, I've heard from some designers (whom I admire greatly) that free patterns might undercut their ability to earn anything from their work, and I don't want that. So what to do? Putting fun free knitting stuff out into the world has been a wonderful experience for me that has let me hone my design skills by getting tons of great feedback from lots and lots of wonderful (and patient) knitters.

So the happy (I hope) medium I've come to is this: once in a while, if I have the urge to design something a bit more involved, I might sell the pattern rather than just give it away.

I did really enjoy having a more formal process of proof-reading and test-knitting and working with an editor and all of that, and I learned a lot about how professional designs take shape. I do feel that in this case, the final product is well worth the $1.99! For other designers out there interested in the Independent Designers Program, my experience so far has been really good - the staff at Knit Picks is great to work with.

P.S. That cutie in the photo modeling the sweater is the daughter of our wonderful former nanny, and the Little Pea's greatest role model. The Pea loves her so much that one of her very first words was this sweet girl's name. How about that for devotion?

meet my new assistant

2010-08-05T21:23:00.003-05:00

What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in enthusiasm.

The Little Pea has discovered yarn, and she is hooked. Winding, unwinding, sweater modeling, great conversation... what more could you ask for in a Junior Knitting Assistant?

knitting through it

2010-07-31T18:28:00.004-05:00

There's nothing in particular that I can pinpoint really, that has made the last month so stressful, but I'm glad that tomorrow starts a new month and perhaps a less hectic one. Lots of commitments to keep, lots of major deadlines at work and not enough time to get the work done, not enough down time to keep me from frazzling out around the edges. We've also been having a nasty heat wave, which has been wearing on everyone's nerves.

pphhbthlthhhhhhhhhhhh

(that was a big, big exhale...)

When I get very stressed, it tends to make me depressed. When I get depressed, it tends to make me hole up in a corner and not enjoy the world much. The more I do that, the more down I feel... I'm sure that many of you are familiar with this unhealthy inward and downward spiral.

If it weren't for knitting and weekly yoga classes, I think that things could get kind of serious. Fortunately, I just get sad and grumpy for a while, until I finally realize what's going on and slap myself upside the head a couple of times.

smack, smack!

I really needed that.

Today, a pair of old friends came over for lunch, and we spent a leisurely, blessedly-cool afternoon visiting with each other and the little one, taking a long walk, comparing garden notes and just enjoying good company. I also cooked some, blocked a sweater that really needed it, and tidied up the house a bit as well. All things that made me feel human and more connected to the rest of the world -- maybe even connected enough to write a tiny bit.

Hello. How are you today?

free pattern friday::bear isle

2010-07-16T03:13:00.000-05:00

Poor bear. He was a bit chilly in July, stuck inside with the air conditioning on all the time. Some scrap yarn from the stash fixed him right up with a toasty new sweater.

If you've been wanting to try your hand at fair isle, or learn to knit a sweater in the round from the bottom up, here's a quickie to get you started! The sweater is knit in the round on circular needles, starting at the bottom edge and working up to the underarms. Then the sweater goes on hold while you knit each sleeve, bottom up. All three are joined together and worked as one piece in the round, with the fair isle design in the yoke. Once you've cast off the neck, the only finishing left to do is to graft the underarm stitches together. A one-day sweater -- and a happy kid with a freshly-outfitted bear.

materials
About 75 yards of worsted weight wool in the main color(I used Classic Elite Montera)
About 25 yards of worsted weight wool for the contrast color (I used Wisdom Yarns Poems)
16 inch circular needles, US size 8
double-pointed needles in US sizes 8 and 6
tapestry needle
stitch markers

gauge
4 inches = 18 stitches / 20 rows

size
One size. Feel free to lengthen or shorten as needed. The bear for which this sweater was knit is 15 inches tall (including legs) and has a 13 inch chest circumference.

measurements
circumference = 16 inches
length = 4.5 inches
sleeve length (from underarm): 2.75 inches

color chart

body
Using the circular needles, cast on 72 stitches. Place a marker and join to knit in the round.
Knit three rounds.
Round 4: *K1, P1. Repeat from * to end.
Round 5: Knit.
Continue knitting in stockinette stitch until sweater measures 2.5 inches from the bottom edge.
Next row, decrease 2 stitches evenly.
Next row, work row 1 of the color chart. Then leave your work on the needles and knit the sleeves.

sleeves
Using the larger double-pointed needles, cast on 24 stitches. Place marker, distribute the stitches evenly over three needles, and join to knit in the round.
Knit three rounds.
R4: *K1, P1. Repeat from * to end.
R5: Knit.
Continue knitting in stockinette stitch until sleeve measures 2.5 inches from the bottom edge.
Next row, work row 1 of the color chart. Then place your stitches on a piece of scrap yarn.
Work the second sleeve.

join the body to the sleeves
Return to the body of the sweater. You will be working the color chart, completing a decrease round, and joining the sleeves to the body, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Ready?

Begin row 2 of the color chart. *(K4, K2tog) 5 times across the front of the sweater. You will have 25 stitches in this section.
Using the tapestry needle, place the next 5 body stitches of the sweater on a piece of scrap yarn.

Now join your working yarn to the sleeve, and knit around the sleeve while decreasing: *(K4, K2tog) 3 times around the sleeve. Put the remaining 5 sleeve stitches on a piece of scrap yarn.

Join the working yarn to the back section of the sweater (the next live stitches in line after the ones you first put on scrap yarn). Continue by working *(K4, K2tog) 5 times across the back of the sweater. You will have 25 stitches in this section. Put the last 5 body stitches onto a piece of scrap yarn.

Now join the working yarn to the second sleeve, just as you did before. *(K4, K2tog) 3 times around the sleeve. Put the remaining 5 sleeve stitches on a piece of scrap yarn. You should have 100 stitches on your needles.

Now you're back at the stitch marker and ready to begin round 3 of your color chart.
Work the next 6 rounds of the color chart. On the next round (the one that's all made up of the main color), decrease again.

Decrease round: K4, *(K8, K2tog) 10 times. K4. 90 stitches remain on your needles.
Work the final row of the color chart.
Knit one more round in the main color, decreasing again as you go: *(K7, K2tog). 80 stitches remain.

Change to contrast color and smaller double-pointed needles.
Knit one round in the contrast color, decreasing as you go: *(K6, K2tog). 70 stitches remain on your needles.
Next two rounds: *(K1, P1). Repeat from * to end.
Cast off loosely, maintaining the K1, P1 ribbing.

finishing
Use kitchener stitch to weave underarms together.
Weave in loose ends.

non-commercial bit: These are free patterns and you are welcome to use them for all the non-commercial purposes you like. However, you may not reproduce the patterns to sell, and you may not sell what you make with them. You may donate what you make with them to charity, and you may use them for charity fundraisers only if 100% of the proceeds are donated to the charity (and by charity I don't mean your kid's college fund). Thanks for understanding!

they're multiplying

2010-07-05T07:46:00.002-05:00

One... two... three Anything Animals! Ah-ha-ha!

::shrug::

2010-06-30T08:10:00.006-05:00

There is now a post-it note stuck to my knitting bag with these words which shall serve as a reminder into all eternity: DO NOT KNIT FLAT.

I can't knit flat. I have no feel for it. I can follow a pattern okay, sort of, a bit, but I cannot just whip something up unless it's knitted in the round.

Case in point: a couple of weekends back, Bugheart and Grub were visiting. It was divine. Bugheart and I were sitting under a shady tree in the backyard, knitting happily. Well, she was knitting happily. I was fussing over my project because I was bored with the yarn, and longing to start a new project with some amazing rainbow-colored Misti Alpaca Handpaint sock yarn that's been flirting and winking every time I open the yarn cabinet. But I didn't want to make socks. What to do with just one big skein of silky alpaca sock yarn? Bugheart wisely suggested a shrug, because in the summer it's very hot and you don't want to carry around a sweater, but when you go into a building wearing a tank top, it's air-conditioned to Arctic temperatures and you could get frostbite on your shoulders. A shrug! Perfect.

I didn't see any patterns I liked. I became fixated on a specific stitch pattern that I wanted to use, and because all the patterns we perused were knit flat, somehow I became convinced that it had to be that way (silly, silly girl). So, despite the fact that I could not visualize the construction (bad, bad sign), I went ahead and cast on and started knitting the sleeves. Flat. Two of them. They are beautiful.

Then I connected them. Since I can only knit in the round (have I mentioned that before?), I connected them as if they had been knit in the round, and foolishly went about my business. Knitting, knitting, knitting, row after row of lovely, soothing, silken rainbow stockinette stitch. When it seemed about right, I sewed up the sleeves and tried it on.

That's when the beautiful silky rainbows came crashing down around me. Suddenly, my hours of denial became crystal-clear. It was too small, too short, too crooked, too crazy... just wrong, all wrong, and what's more the construction (had it only been knit in the round) was completely clear to me. And it had been all along - I'd just been knitting it flat with a circular construction on the brain. Oh, woe.

So I ripped it all apart and shoved it into a project bag and down to the bottom of my knitting basket, not to be heard from again until my jangled nerves have been soothed.

I'm soothing myself with a six-pack of New Belgium Mothership Wit and some adorable Anything Animals! I am in love. They are quick and easy, and though the pattern says to knit them flat I am knitting them in the round and they are wonderful. Adorable. Perfect. I may make a dozen of them before I even think about that shrug again.

jalapeño-cheddar muffins

2010-06-27T02:15:00.000-05:00

Yum. I made these for a bake sale, figuring there wouldn't be as many savory options. They were intended to be an accompaniment for beer, but I think they'd be great with a cold summer soup like gazpacho or chilled avocado soup.

jalapeño-cheddar muffins
makes about 20 muffins

ingredients
3 1/2 cups sifted flour*
2 tsp double-acting baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups lowfat yogurt
2 eggs, beaten
3 Tbsp milk or water
8 oz X-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 small yellow squash, grated
5 jalapeño peppers, seeded
1/4 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

First, grate the squash. Then put the onion, garlic and peppers into the food processor and chop them very finely. Saute the onion mixture in a skillet until the onions are starting to become translucent, then add the squash. Salt and pepper lightly, and saute for about 5 minutes until the veggies are tender. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and prepare your muffin tins (you will need two).

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl.
In another bowl, beat together the yogurt, eggs and milk. Mix about half of the cheese into this bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the liquid. Mix with a few swift strokes until the wet and dry ingredients are just barely blended. Scatter the veggie mixture into the flour, and finish blending using as few strokes as possible.

Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Scatter the remaining cheese over the tops of the muffins and then bake for about 20-25 minutes. The cheese will get wonderfully bubbly and just barely start to brown around the edges.

* Note on flour: I used a blend that was about 1/3 white flour and 2/3 whole wheat pastry flour, but you should use your favorite flour for savory muffins - I think wheat flour works nicely with these flavors.

a satisfied customer

cowgirl update

2010-06-20T13:21:00.004-05:00

becky et al's C.B.A. vest

Hi knitters!

This is part update and part apology. I have finally corrected numerous errata in the Cowgirl Butterfly Astronaut Vest. Size 2 and size 4 had a few problems that involved my personal brain-block around simple arithmetic, and they have at last been remedied.

Many thanks to all of you lovely knitters who emailed or Ravelried me with your questions and workarounds (and your gentle "WTF??"s). You are much appreciated. If I were charging for these patterns, I could hire a technical editor. Alas, you are my technical editors, and your patience is a boon to all the other knitters out there who benefit from your trailblazing.

This little mash note really applies to all of my freebies. Knitters are really a kind and patient bunch. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your feedback on my designs, and I especially love when one of you not only finds an error, but tells me how you fixed it in your version. Open source knitting! If I can't sit around at the coffee shop (or the pub) and knit with you all, this is the next best thing.

oh, hello

2010-06-15T19:28:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's me. It's been kind of quiet around here.

I seem to have misplaced my camera, so no pretty pictures to liven up this apologetic post.

I like making lists, so here's a list of what I've been doing since the last time I wrote:

Spent a fabulous weekend with Bugheart and Grub and took the Little Pea for her first swim at the city pool
Started knitting a shrug (at Bugheart's urging) with some scrumptious Misti Alpaca sock yarn
Was interviewed by the wonderful Shari for a tour of our garden on Cafe Mom
Was interviewed by the teevee news at work (no link to that one!)
Picked several zuchinnis the size of my arm
Went to a fabulous 1950's-themed wedding and got to hang out with lots of old gradschool friends and meet their children.
Started looking for a new child care situation for the Little Pea (*sigh*). Our wonderful, loving nanny is going back to school. We are so happy for her, and so sad for us.
Was overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends while raising about $1,000 for Student Action with Farmworkers
Danced my hiney off at the Bee Ball
Hemmed a few pairs of pants (pants are all suddenly longer - I blame the high-heel craze)
Work work work work work

I'm also reading Grendel by John Gardener, and making lists of unfinished projects that I swear I will finish this summer.

But not blogging, checking Ravelry, or otherwise spending much time on the internets. Hm. Well. What have you been up to?

on the merits of toy knitting

2010-05-17T13:15:00.005-05:00

batty cuddles

This charming face belongs to a little bat. He is a bat snuggle buddy who has been washed and blocked and is waiting patiently to go and meet his new best friend. In the mean time, the Little Pea took him for a test flight:

Last week's toy was a bear made from organic cotton, using a Jess Hutch pattern. I'm still planning to combine the organic cotton and the basic snuggle buddy pattern to make some more floppy little snugglers for one or two of the other babies in my life.

I'm all the time downloading cute toy patterns and then finding myself dissatisfied with the finished product because the stuffing shows through no matter how tightly I try to knit it (last week's bear being a case in point). The instructions always say "knit tightly!" and tell you to use needles smaller than the ball band recommends, but pull and strain as I might, my stitches are never tight enough to hide the stuffing. And you know, getting carpal tunnel is not the reason that I took up toy-knitting. It's really not that fun to strain your finger tendons - and toys are supposed to be fun, not to make you mutter and curse under your breath.

This bat was actually an exception, since the yarn I used (Berrocco Plush) is super-nubbly and the stuffing couldn't make itself seen if it tried. Despite the no-felting, I am happy with it.

But generally speaking, I really prefer a felted toy. I like knitting things that will be felted because you can knit easy-breezy big old sloppy loose stitches, and in the end not one smidgen of stuffing will show. I like felting because it's approximate - like cooking, which I enjoy, as opposed to crafts like book-making or carpentry which require precise measurements and straight lines and other skills that I will never master. Felting is an even more laid-back iteration of knitting, which is already a pretty approximate, don't-overthink-it kind of craft to begin with. And really, I think that's the sort of attitude you need when making a toy.

Lately I've been thinking about making some more birds' nests, a great felting toy. I hope to share some more birds in their nests in a few weeks (trying to be realistic about my pace at completing projects these days). It will be done, some time. I'm not going to strain my finger tendons over it.

naptime!

free pattern friday::sundrop

2010-05-14T04:00:00.001-05:00

one day i'll take some better photos!

This sweet sun hat will take your baby or toddler from the playground to the beach and back again. The brim is worked in a tight gauge to give it some firmness, while the body is knit in a looser gauge with a simple but pretty eyelet lace design that adds a little ventilation. Add the optional ties if your little one likes to yank off hats (and who doesn’t?). This is a fun, quick summer knit. Find a bright summer color that you like, and use a firm, washable cotton or cotton/linen blend yarn.

materials
1 ball Lion Cotton or similar worsted-weight cotton yarn
US size 3 double-pointed needles (3.25 mm)
US size 7 double-pointed needles (4.5 mm)
US size 7 crochet hook (4.5 mm) – or whatever you have on hand that’s close
tapestry needle
stitch markers in 2 colors
Use whichever needle sizes you need to get the correct gauge!

gauge
larger needles: 15 stitches / 24 rows / 4 inches
smaller needles: 20 stitches / 29 rows / 4 inches

sizes
0-6 mos (6-18 mos, 18 mos – 3 years, 4-6 years)

measurements
0-6 mos: 14 inches
6-18 mos: 16 inches
18 mos – 3 years: 18 inches
4-6 years: 21 inches

brim
Using smaller needles, *cast on 19 (20, 21, 23) stitches, place a marker, repeat from * until you have 114 (120, 138, 150) stitches.
Place a marker in a different color to mark the end of the round, and join to knit in the round. Knit 4 rounds in stockinette stitch (K every round).
R5: K1, P1 to end (this ridge will stop the brim from rolling any further).
R6: Knit

Decrease round: *K2tog, K to 2 stitches before the next marker, SSK, slip marker. Repeat from * to end. 12 stitches decreased.
Next round: Knit
Repeat these last two rows until 54 (60, 66, 78) stitches remain.

hat body
Change to larger needles.
Knit one round, removing the markers as you go (leaving in place the marker that marks the start of each round).

Next round: Knit, adding the eyelets for ties as you go (optional!).

How to add eyelets: K 14 (15, 16, 19), YO, K2tog. K 24 (28, 30, 38), YO, K2tog. K to end.
Even if you’re not sure whether you will want to use the ties, I think it makes sense to go ahead and make the eyelets, so that they’re there if you need them. They won’t look funny if you don’t end up using them.

Knit 2 more rounds.

Next round:

For the 18 mos-3 yrs size: Knit this round, decreasing by 2 stitches, spacing the decreases evenly throughout the round.

For the 0-6 mos (6-18 mos, 4-6 yrs) sizes: Knit this round, increasing by 2 (4, 2) stitches, spacing the increases evenly throughout the round.

For all sizes: 56 (64, 64, 80) stitches remain.

Next round, begin Quatrefoil pattern.

quatrefoil pattern
Round 1 and all odd rounds: Knit
R2 and 3: Knit
R4: K3, *YO, SSK, K6. Repeat from * until 3 stitches remain in the round. K3.
R6: K1, * K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K3. Repeat from * until 2 stitches remain in the round. K2.
R8: Repeat round 4.
R10: Knit.
R12: K7, *YO, SSK, K6. Repeat from * until 1 stitch remains in the round. K1.
R14: K5, * K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K3. Repeat from * until 3 stitches remain in the round. K3.
R16: Repeat round 12.

For the 0-6 mos size, you will only knit the quatrefoil pattern once.

For the 6-18 mos and 18 mos-3 yrs sizes, repeat rows 1-8 of the quatrefoil pattern one time.

For the 4-6 yrs size, repeat the whole quatrefoil pattern one time.

Continue knitting in stockinette stitch until hat measures 4.25 (4.75, 5.5, 7.75) inches from the point where you changed to larger needles.

decrease for crown
R1: *K2, K2tog. Repeat from * to end.
R2: *K1, K2tog. Repeat from * to end.
R3: *K2tog. Repeat from * to end.
Repeat row 3 until there are 10 stitches remaining on your needles. Trim your yarn tail to about 6 inches and pull through the stitches, leaving a small eyelet open to top off the crown. Fasten securely inside and weave in the end.

ties (optional)
Using the crochet hook and 2 strands of yarn held together, crochet a single-chain chain that measures about 28 (32, 36, 42) inches long. Tie off tightly, weave in and trim ends. The chain will run around the outside of the hat across the back, down through one eyelet and back up through the other, passing under the baby’s chin (it does not run around the front side of the hat). Tie it in a bow on the outside of the hat where baby can’t easily reach it – for a crafty baby, this may mean that you may need to tie the bow all the way on the back side of the hat rather than just above the eyelet on one side. Babies can be awfully crafty, can’t they?

finishing
Weave in any loose yarn ends. Wash and block your hat.

I have found through painful experience that many bright cotton yarns are not particularly color-fast, so do wash this separately the first few times to make sure the color doesn’t run and ruin the rest of your laundry. You might consider adding a small amount of white vinegar to the water when you block the hat, to help set the color (unless the yarn ball band gives you different instructions).

non-commercial bit: These are free patterns and you are welcome to use them for all the non-commercial purposes you like. However, you may not reproduce the patterns to sell, and you may not sell what you make with them. You may donate what you make with them to charity, and you may use them for charity fundraisers only if 100% of the proceeds are donated to the charity (and by charity I don't mean your kid's college fund). Thanks for understanding!

oops

2010-05-08T12:34:00.003-05:00

may i distract you with this cute bear in the garden?

I said there would be a pattern on Friday. And here it is Saturday.... and here we are patternless.

Sorry about that.

The pattern is ready but lacks a suitable picture. This is often my big hold-up with a new pattern. This is one of those dumb cases where I knitted the thing (two of them, actually), and then gifted it without getting any suitable photos. So, I will either have to knit another in a size to fit the Little Pea and then enlist her in a photo shoot (dicey! could take ages! photo shoot may go badly!), or I will have to bite the bullet and use the thoroughly unsuitable photo that I already have. *sigh*

Anyhow, my dithering has cost us a patternless Friday, and for that I apologize.

In the mean time, here's a cute bear! I made him with Jess Hutch's Henry pattern, just as a way to try out some Lion Organic Cotton that was on clearance at the fabric store. The Little Pea has so far shown no interest in him whatsoever.

Now I'm working on a snuggle monster for my friend's little one. I was in the yarn shop yesterday and they had one of these Fuzzy Bunnies made with a free Lion Brand crochet pattern. I don't crochet, but the Little Pea has a store-bought toy just like this - it's basically a washcloth with a bunny head on it (except hers is a duck).

The yarn I grabbed for this reminds me so much of Oscar the Grouch - so instead of a bunny, this little thing will be a friendly monster. I started it yesterday afternoon and I'm just about to make the head. Quick and fun! I may try an earthy one next in organic cotton, since I still have plenty of that clearance yarn left.

Coming soon though will some more birds and birds' nests. The Little Pea loves her nest of birds so much, I think that nests may become the new Official Baby Gift around here. I'm thinking of hummingbirds next - adorably tiny!

happy happy may may!

2010-05-02T08:32:00.005-05:00

It's May!

Flowers are blooming like crazy and the garden is giving up salad like nobody's business. Things are nutty-busy at work and the Little Pea is growing so fast and eating so much that I can't seem to prepare meals fast enough or frequently enough. But this beautiful breeze and the general spirit of "hooray spring!" makes it all so much fun.

So... in the spirit of spring growth and rebirth, I have some exciting news to share:

First, there's a free pattern coming your way this Friday. Wahoo! It's about time! This will be a quick, fun summer baby knit. Stay tuned!

Also... maybe I've mentioned ~~once or twice~~ three hundred times on this blog how much I love Blue Sky Alpacas line of organic cotton yarns (and all their scrumptious alpaca yarns too). I've designed quite a few little items with their yarn, and this month they are featuring my Bumpy Jacket & Hat as their free pattern of the month! Whee!

packed in a Pretty Cheep project bag

Thanks so much to the Blue Sky Alpacas staff for the shout-out, and especially for the luscious little bundle I received from them in the mail as my thank you: two skeins of Suri Merino in the most amazing earthy orange color you've ever seen. It is as soft as... well, as a suri or something. What should I do with it??? I'm thinking of an elegant fall scarf or cowl for me. Any suggestions?

I also have a long-overdue thanks to Géraldine from Filature du Valgaudemar, one of the oldest family-owned spinning mills in France. They have been spinning since 1830, and today Géraldine is producing wonderful yarns and hoping to infuse France's traditional knitters with more of the energy and fun that we're all sharing through things like Ravelry, Knitty and our neighborhood Stitch & Bitch groups (apparently the French knitters might have a little catching up to do... allons!).

Merci beaucoups!

Anyhow, Géraldine translated one of my patterns, the Mossy Jacket, into French, and in the spirit of trans-national knitterly love, she sent me some wonderful Muande yarn from her mill! She chose two colors for me: Flamme and Souris. What a lovely gift!

So, folks... any thoughts? How should I use these two sweet little packages of yarney love???

mango-ginger coffee cake

2010-04-18T08:47:00.004-05:00

This morning the Little Pea and I attended a lovely brunch for new mamas organized by our dear friend Nicole (a.k.a. Mrs. Love Party). We realized that there were a few of us with relatively new babies who could use a support group (ourselves most of all), so Nicole thoughtfully got a brunch together at her house.

I made this coffee cake, improvised because I had some over-ripe mangoes in the kitchen that needed to find their purpose in life. They served well - the coffee cake was scrumptious, and I just had to share the recipe (with a nod to Joy of Cooking for the basics)!

mango-ginger coffee cake

Bring your ingredients to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan.

Sift together:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Combine and beat well:
1 cup plain yogurt (I used whole)
2 eggs
1/4 tsp almond extract

Fruit topping:
1/3 cup candied ginger, chopped well
1 1/2 cups mango, cut into small chunks (about 2 ripe mangoes)

Streusel:
2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp butter
5 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Blend these ingredients until they crumble. Mix in:
1/3 cup almonds, chopped (optional)

Add the sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture. Mix gently until just smooth. Pour into the pan and distribute the fruit mixture gently over the dough. Sprinkle the streusel over the top. Bake about 20-30 minutes.

Don't try to make this the day before (though you could certainly chop up your ingredients ahead of time if you want to) - this coffee cake is best served fresh. This was great served with a brunch frittata, fruit and hot tea (with entertainment provided by half a dozen squirmy babies). If there is any coffee cake left over, you can warm it up later for dessert with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

happily unproductive

2010-04-09T08:48:00.004-05:00

Hello! Happy spring! I have missed this space.

The last few weeks, it seems like every time I sit down in front of the computer at home, I have work to do. I'm loving this part-time work arrangement, but at the same time when I can't cram everything in at the office (which seems to be happening a lot lately), I wind up working in all my spare moments at home.

Hence, not much knitting or blogging going on around here, and not one little bit of designing new things. I do have lots of ideas - lots of fleeting ideas. None of them seem to make it to paper or needles lately. I've got fun exciting things peeping at me out of the yarn stash, singing their wooly siren songs, but I keep putting them off - later, later, just as soon as I get this last thing done...

It's also garden time, and there are also one thousand little green shoots singing their come-hither songs.

But most importantly, walks to be taken and snuggles in the grass with my Little Pea, who is almost ten months old already and quite the excellent little companion for all kinds of wonderfully unproductive activities.

I'm starting to realize that snuggling, going for walks, tickling, laughing, playing aimlessly with things that catch your eye - activities I once thought of as "unproductive" and pure leisure - are in fact quite productive if you're small with new hands and brain cells to test out. How nice for me! I can believe that I'm doing Something Important while doing something that feels relaxing and undirected. Joy!

But truth be told, I sure do miss production. We have a car ride to the mountains and back this weekend, and I'm hoping to put some yarn and needles together and see what happens.

Enjoy your spring weekend!

what's done is done

2010-03-19T11:48:00.003-05:00

As you can see, the Baby Surprise Jacket is done. Yay! This is going to be a great little item for spring.

I did venture to the yarn store, and though I was sorely tempted by all the new spring colors (new colors!!), I stayed focused and bought only one skein of yarn to complete the project at hand.

It's always the sock yarn that tempts me. I think I justify it to myself by saying, "but this is an entire knitting project for just $20! What a bargain! I'd be crazy not to buy it!" Lately whenever I do that, I come home and put the sock yarn away in the sock yarn department only to discover that I actually had a different skein of $20 sock yarn in almost precisely the same colorway. After doing that twice in a row, I finally realized that I really could not reasonably buy even one more skein of sock yarn, which has helped tremendously with my focus in the yarn shop.

So what was I talking about? Oh yeah, focus. So I stayed focused and I just bought the one $6 skein, although it was kind of a gambit, because it wasn't the same yarn that the rest of the project was made from. It's not even the same fiber content! They didn't have any Cascade Sierra or Sierra Quatro with any of the colors I was using, so in my desperation I bought some Cascade Pima Silk, which they happened to have in precisely the right colorway. Despite the fact that the Sierra is at least two years older and a totally different fiber, I have to say that the Pima Silk was a pretty good match. At least, color-wise and gauge-wise. But it has a totally different handle (of course) and hangs in a totally different way (of course), and I am hoping against all odds that blocking works out the weirdness, and also taking comfort from the fact that most of the time when my child is wearing something, at least a third of it is in her mouth, so nobody will notice the drape. Right?

Pragmatic as this move was, I do fear that I have committed a cardinal sin of knitting: Nonchalantly mixing fibers and acting like they're all basically the same yarn.

I tried to do the right thing, I really did. I trawled Ravelry for over a week, peering into people's stashes and sending polite "Are you done with that? Can I have it?" messages, but to no avail. And I surely was not going to spend $6 on shipping and $8 on yarn to finish a scrap yarn project. But I fear that this time, I have gone too far. I pray to the goddesses of blocking for their intercession.

where did the time go?

2010-03-06T12:57:00.004-05:00

Oh dear, it's March already!

It's been such a cold, gray, wet winter that I must have been fooling myself that it was still January or something. Today it's bright and sunny, and I ventured out into the garden for the first time this year (I can't even believe I'm saying this). There is so much to do! We haven't even set up the greenhouse yet! What will we eat this spring?

Of course, cold wet weather is perfect for both knitting and reading, which I've been doing plenty of. I'm working my way through a stack of Elizabeth Zimmerman's books, and they have me itching to knit big wooly things for me and HWWLLB.

I'm also knitting a Baby Surprise Jacket for the Little Pea (who else?). It's a totally addictive little knit, and I find myself unable to put it down. Unfortunately, I may be unable to finish it...

With at least 2/3 of the knitting done, I'm running out of yarn. This was supposed to be one of those fabulous projects where I use up a bunch of stash yarn - in this case some Cascade Siera left over from a long-ago project. I keep having to get up and rifle through the stash to find just one more little scrappy ball hiding in a corner... but I fear I am out of scrappy balls, and this sweater is not done. Now I must do the unthinkable, and buy a skein of yarn to finish the last few inches of a scrap yarn project.

HWWLLB does not understand what an utter defeat this is, and keeps saying, "Just go over to the yarn store!" Go to the yarn store??? Now I'll wind up spending $50 and coming home with a big bag of yarn I don't really need, to finish this one little scrap yarn project. Ah, well - there are worse problems to have. Like no lettuce this spring. The garden to-do list is calls!

veggie painting: fail

2010-02-18T06:23:00.003-05:00

Over the weekend, the Little Pea tried her hand at arts and crafts. I had this great idea that she could try veggie painting and make valentines for her papa and her grandparents. To me, Valentine's Day is just another excuse for an art project.

At work we do veggie painting with bigger kids (by "bigger" I mean probably 3 and up). You lay a piece of unbleached muslin over top of some colorful veggies (carrots, kale, chard and beets are great choices), and then you use a blunt (safe) tool to smash and smash, and "paint" on the fabric. It's a lesson about veggie color - the more colorful the veggie, the better it is for you to eat. The paintings are very abstract, but kids always like them.

Anyhow, since we have plenty of ice-cube-sized lumps of pureed vegetables in the freezer, I thought we could try a variation on the smashing, and let the Little Pea try out finger-painting instead.

carrots and spinach

I can't say that this project was a success. The veggies didn't stain paper the way that they do with fabric. And even though I added some corn starch to try to make the "paints" goopier, they were much too liquidey, and the paper got mushy and tore.

Of course, torn paper was the best part of this project for the Little Pea, who didn't really understand why she was strapped into her high chair with food but nobody feeding her anything. At least she could tear paper and shove it into her mouth! Now that's fun.

She did get to try another art project the next day, when she was sitting on my lap while I colored a Valentine for HWWLLB. She grabbed the colored pencils and bashed them artistically on some paper. I added a heart, and presto! Baby's first valentine.

dyrrwurm

2010-02-08T04:16:00.004-05:00

Many days on end of cold, wet, icy weather have led to short bursts of creativity around here with the materials we have on hand.

Dyrrwurm is now guarding our back door, keeping out the nasty, cold draft that was coming in under our vintage 1952 door (which really ought to be replaced with a more insulated model). He was made from two pairs of identical socks that HWWLLB gave me recently for the purposes of sock monster making. Before his reincarnation as two pairs of men's socks, Dyrrwurm lived at the back door of the land of the giants, in the far, far north, where his hobbies included writing epic poetry, collecting pictures of his idol, the Earth Serpent, keeping out the cold draft, and doing pedicures for his dragon friends.

You can make your own door dragon - it's quite easy, even for sloppy, inexpert sewers like me. This project was done in two bursts - it took me one naptime, and one visit from the Little Pea's favorite Auntie to complete. You will need:

- 2 pairs of heavy socks in a dragoney color
- matching thread
- sewing machine
- a few pins
- polyester fiberfill or some other stuffing (rags are fine too)
- something heavy for inside - I used sand, but you could use dry beans, rice or pebbles
- four or five repurposed plastic bags to hold the heavy stuff

My door dragon is only three socks long, since my door is narrow. But for a standard-width door, you will need to make the dragon four socks long.

Cut the toes off all the socks except one - this will be the head. Sew the socks together cuff-to-toe, right sides together. Try to keep them lined up so that all the heels are basically running in one line down the dragon's back. Turn right-side out and admire your long, wiggly new friend.

Starting at the head end, put a small amount of stuffing inside each heel, flatten and pin down. Then sew the heel shut to make a fin. You can add some decorative stitching as I did to make it more fin-like. Repeat for each heel.

Use one of your cut-off toes to make front flippers if you like. Lay the toe flat and cut it in half up the middle. Turn inside-out and sew it into a triangle, leaving an open gap for stuffing. Turn the flipper right-side-out and stuff with a small amount of stuffing. Smoosh flat and sew shut. Add some decorative stitching to flatten the flipper and make it fancier.

Turn the dragon inside-out again. Cut a hole on each side of the foremost sock. Stick the flipper through so that the flipper is now "inside" the dragon and the sewn-shut edge is facing towards you. Sew the flipper into place. Once you have the flippers in place, turn right-side-out again.

Stuff the head firmly with stuffing, but leave the body un-stuffed. Isn't he cute?

Get out your heavy stuff - sand, dry beans or rice, pebbles, whatever you have on hand - and put a bit inside four plastic bags (repurposed bread bags worked nicely for me). Tie them each tightly. Pull one into your dragon, all the way up to the head, and secure in place (you can sew it or be lazy like me and use a safety pin). Use your stuffing to lightly stuff and shape the dragon around that heavy bit. Repeat with each bag of heavy stuff until your dragon is fully stuffed (and heavy). Leave the heavy stuff out of the very end of the tail if you can. Now your dragon will lay heavily in place on the floor.

Stuff the tail end very lightly with stuffing. Sew the tail shut across the final sock cuff. Add some fancy stitching to make the tail flatter and more tail-like. Embroider on a face if you like. Enjoy the new absence of a draft under your back door!

honey, you need a pedicure!

tips for great knitted baby gifts

2010-02-03T05:13:00.003-05:00

So you've got a friend with a new baby on the way, and you want to knit the little bundle something adorable, something beautiful, something practical enough to wear a lot, something to make the new parents squeal with delight? Right?

I've knitted a lot of baby gifts in my time, and now that I've got such a little bundle of my own, I look back with a twinge of regret at some of the well-meaning baby gifts I've knitted over the years. I know that a few were well-received and worn quite a lot (I just saw a friend's three-year-old dragging around a sweater I made for her when she was just over a year!), but I could name a dozen that may have been cute on the needles, but probably didn't make it out of the dresser drawer very often.

So without further ado, here are a few suggested guidelines for knitting fabulous baby gifts, courtesy of me. Please do leave your further suggestions in the comments!

- Washability: My baby spits up about once every ten minutes (on a good day). We do a LOT of baby laundry, and I don't think we're unusual. Choose fibers that can be machine washed. I don't think you need to choose something that can go through the dryer, because frankly, not much quality yarn can. Personally, I hate the dryer and air dry as much as I can, but you really want to make life easy on the new parents. Whatever fiber you choose, do include washing instructions with your gift. Your friends will feel truly terrible if they destroy your gift with a trip through the laundry.

- Another word on fiber: make sure it's soft enough for very delicate skin. One good way to check is to stick the skein inside your collar and walk around the yarn store for a few minutes with the yarn smooshed against your neck. Feel even the slightest twinge of an itch? That yarn is probably too itchy for a wee one. My favorite yarn, for softness on skin and on the planet, is Blue Sky Alpacas line of organic cottons. Heavenly soft!

- Nap-ability: No buttons or snaps up the back. Babies spend a lot of time sleeping on their backs, and a big ridge of bumpy buttons is not very comfortable. Keep your buttonage to the sides or front. If you need a back-neck closure, go for a tiny tie-up instead.

- Button safety: While we're on the subject of buttons, you should know that buttons are generally a choking hazard for babies. You can make a cardigan with buttons, but you need to sew those things on for dear life. Sew as you've never sewn before, and then sew some more for good measure. Better yet, use a zipper, velcro tab or tie-up instead.

- Practicality: The more wearable your gift is, the more it will be appreciated (and worn). I love baby booties, but I'm still searching for the pair that won't fall off. Besides which, a big pack of baby socks costs less than many fancy coffee drinks. The Little Pea will wear hats, but many babies yank them right off. The most practical baby knits I've tried are hoodies, cardis (especially those that zip), throw-sized blankets, bonnets (hats that stay on!), pullover sweaters with a nice roomy neck, and those wonderful, insane full-body hoodie things with the hand and foot covers (though ours is a fleece one from L.L. Bean).

- Neck room: Babies have big giant pumpkin heads. If you're knitting a pullover, make sure that you're knitting a nice big neck opening. Look for an envelope neckline or a collar that opens along the front or shoulder to accommodate the noggin.

- Bulk: I find shoulder and sleeve seams get very bulky on a tiny little baby sweater, especially if your yarn is any heavier than fingering weight. They are working so hard to learn how to use those little arms and hands, and being able to put a thumb or finger into the mouth is often the difference between a happy baby in the carseat and one who is making themselves and everyone else very, very cranky. You might be surprised at how little bulk it takes to keep that hand from making it to the mouth. To that end, I really love seamless baby sweaters, whether bottom-up or top-down.

- Colors: You know your friends' tastes better than I do, but I just want to caution that pink and light blue are totally played out. Babies look so good in neutral colors, and they can also wear bright colors that you only wish you could pull off. Pastel colors don't look good on many people, and babies are people, too.

- Fun: The most important thing in any knitting project is that you enjoy making it. If it's a bear to knit, that doesn't make it a better gift. Have a good time doing it!

falling in love with EZ

2010-01-31T08:07:00.004-05:00

Isn't it wonderful to make a new friend?

The giddy early days of a new friendship are so much like a new love. The curiosity, the thrill at each new little discovery (she likes recycling, too!), the days on end spent in each other's company, missing them when they have other plans, wondering if you're becoming a bit of a stalker (but not really caring)...

Sometimes when I pine for dear old friends, I think fondly of the early days and sigh and wonder if I'll ever feel that way about someone again. But of course, you never know when love will strike.

The infatuation of new friendship seems to have struck me again, out of the blue. I was sitting at home, minding my own business, thumbing through the Knit Picks catalog and noticed that they had a huge sale on books (40% off through Feb 22). I had to order just a tiny bit of yarn for a project, and decided while I was at it to pick up a copy of The Opinionated Knitter, the collection of Elizabeth Zimmerman's newsletters from 1958-1968.

Thus, a beautiful new friendship was born. Well, okay maybe you can't call it a friendship since she passed in 1999 and all I get to do is read her books and knit her designs, but still, I really feel as if I've made a new friend. I love her voice, that sparkly, slightly prickly but loving personality that shines through on every page. I love her down-to-earth, empowering approach to knitting. I love that there are photos of her family and friends on nearly every page. I really do feel as if I'm getting to know this remarkable woman, to admire her and probably emulate her, just as I have done with a handful of very dear female friends over the years.

I can't believe I've knitted more than ten years now without her. This is a bit like when I read all those Willa Cather novels last summer, and realized that I had been thinking of myself as a reader of American literature, when without Willa I'd hardly known a thing about it. Without Elizabeth, I haven't been much of a knitter.

Despite the short stack of half-finished projects (all birthday presents!!) staring reproachfully at me from the knitting basket, I am really itching to knit some great big wooly Scandinavian Ski sweaters. And don't get me started on the Baby Surprise Jacket - it's time, it's time. I already know that reading EZ is going to change my approach to design and especially to pattern-writing, much for the better I hope.

Ah, new love! It's like a breath of spring on this chilly, clear winter morning.

Do I sound totally infatuated??

on the importance of felting a swatch

2010-01-23T08:12:00.003-05:00

fez or propeller beanie?

This week I learned a painful but important knitting lesson: felt a swatch!

If you're going to felt a new yarn, or a yarn other than the pattern calls for, save yourself the agony and knit up a little swatch & felt it first. How long does it really take to knit a gauge swatch and then felt it? How many years of felting have I managed to get through so recklessly?

It's true, it will delay your project by a couple of hours. But oh! the humanity. You should see the mess I've made. $30 worth of scrumptious alpaca-cashmere-merino yarn and a week and a half of my precious, precious knitting time are down the drain. That horrible fez-like thing at the top of the page is the result of my hastiness. It was meant to be a jaunty, vintage-style cloche for my sister's birthday, which by the way is tomorrow. Did I mention the agony???

This actually happened the other night, but paralysis set in, and just this morning I got back on my feet, ordered some replacement yarn (an old standby, Merino Style - forget this experimental luxury baloney) and bought my sister a stand-in trinket until her specially-ordered cloche is ready. It feels good to move on, it really does.

So the moral of the story is: don't be lazy like me. Knit, measure and felt a gauge swatch before you start that felting project, unless you're using Cascade 220 for the hundredth time and know what you're getting yourself into. I used to be one of those reckless felters, but I've learned my lesson, oh have I ever.

creative turmoil

2010-01-18T07:39:00.003-05:00

In 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Believe it or not, there were many then who asked why he won, when he hadn't accomplished his goal yet. The National Voting Rights Act had not yet been passed, and racial segregation and intimidation was still rampant in the United States, especially in the South.

King raised this point himself in his acceptance speech:

"I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs, and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

"Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle, and to a movement which has not yet won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize. After contemplation, I conclude that this award, which I receive on behalf of that movement, is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression."

Looking back, it seems to me that the Nobel Prize committee was not only affirming the rightness of Dr. King's nonviolent approach, but lifting up a beacon of hope for oppressed peoples around the world. I think they also saw an opportunity to provide Dr. King and his movement with a huge dose of encouragement and validation before their nation, and before the world, that could help bring about the change for which they were marching.

In this speech, Dr. King speaks of living in a dark and uncertain time, and of his fervent belief that the struggle is one full of hope: "When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born."

There is so much darkness and uncertainty in our world, and so many nay-sayers who criticize and find fault with those who speak of hope and put their stock in the future rather than grabbing what they can get in the present. I love this speech because of the way Dr. King uses the international forum to brush the critics aside, and to confer the honor of the moment not to his own movement, but to the "humble children of God" who are "willing to suffer for righteousness' sake."

I hope that you are celebrating this national day of service today. Take a moment to read Dr. King's Nobel Prize acceptance speech, and hopefully to find a new spirit of hope in these dark and uncertain days.

oriole family nest

2010-01-03T12:57:00.003-05:00

For Christmas I made the Little Pea a toy orioles' nest with a family of orioles inside.

She likes to touch and squeeze them, especially the bright orange Papa Oriole. I think as she gets older she'll enjoy taking them out of the nest and putting them back in, over and over.

The inspiration for this toy was the Charley Harper silk screen of an oriole clinging to his nest in the wind. My first thought was how much the nest resembles a felted purse. His bold, 2-dimensional birds made me decide to use craft felt for the birds themselves, and sew a relatively 2-dimensional toy bird that was still soft and fun to clutch.

At first I had planned to make a bird house with lots of different kinds of birds inside, but as I started the planning I realized that I didn't want the Little Pea to think that an owl and a sparrow might live together harmoniously in the same house, so I opted for a bit more realism instead.

The nest and birds are all life-sized (more or less), and I tried to make the nest resemble what orioles really make, which is a shaggy pouch that incorporates whatever materials they can find nearby, and usually has some soft fluffy stuff near the bottom to insulate and cushion the eggs (and then the babies when they hatch).

It was a lot of fun to make, and I've decided that this was the prototype for more bird families to come. Next time I'm going to use felted sweater bits and needle-felting for the birds. As much as I like the poppy, paperlike quality of the craft felt, it's not a great material to work with, and I'm more comfortable working with wool. Besides, I'm not sure what kind of dye is used on craft felt, and my kid is sticking this thing in her mouth quite a bit.

Stay tuned for more hatchlings as spring approaches!

slowing down

2010-01-01T08:49:00.005-05:00

The past year has been a wonderful one for me, but at the same time, the last three months since I went back to work have been incredibly stressful. I have spent most of the days exhausted, constantly apologizing to the people I love the most for being so grouchy, so irrational, so irritable all the time.

I know that this is all normal. This is life for a working mother. I know that it's supposed to get better with time. But throughout the fall as I got deeper and deeper into it, my heart began screaming at me that this is not the life I want. We didn't have a child so that we could turn her over to someone else to raise for us. I missed her so desperately, and I especially missed something I am just beginning to understand: mothering. So in 2010 that won't be my life anymore. I am going to slow down - way down.

The experiment starts next week. I am going to be a part-time worker. And I'll have four wonderful days a week at home with the Little Pea. We have found an amazing nanny for the other days, and my mom is also going to take on some child care.

I don't kid myself that starting next week, I'll get back all the time I miss so much for knitting yoga, meditation, reading, writing, designing and having lots of grown-up time alone with HWWLLB. But maybe I'll get just a little of that back, and boy will I be grateful for whatever moments I do get.

Mostly what I'll get is to be with our little girl more than I'm at work. She'll get to be with me more than with child care providers. Maybe I'll be the one who hears her say "mama" for the first time.

The challenge is going to be staying slowed down. Resisting the urge to cram twice as many chores, projects and commitments into my life since I'm technically working less.

I know that a lot of you have been through all this, and made lots of different decisions for yourself and your families, and I respect all of you and your choices very much. I am so curious about how other moms and dads have been able to resist the busy-ness in order to just be with your children and be their mom (or dad). Do you take them along and integrate them into your work or projects? Do you carve out sacred time with them when nothing else is allowed to interrupt? Do you just wing it and hope for the best?

In the end, I guess what I need to slow down for the most is to find out who I am now. I know that I'm not the same person I was a year ago at this time. I can see that there are lots of things I have taken on - but what I really wonder about is what do I have to just let go of, and leave behind?

tape recorder

2009-12-27T19:47:00.005-05:00

End of the year, end of the decade. As a fast-forward-moving, future-oriented sort of person, I'm caught off-guard by all the backwards-looking at the end of the year. It's always a wonderful surprise for me to find that other people have actually been reflecting on this for a while, and have ideas to share (Top 100 songs of the year?! Wow, who knew?!?).

And this year, not only do we get to hear everyone's top 100 ___ of the year, but of the whole crazy decade. So many sappy-memory moments to enjoy.

I would like to start a tape recorder right now to catch it all, like in middle school when I had a boom box that had a radio and a tape player in it, and you could record your favorite DJ on the radio all evening while you waited for him to play the song you requested, and maybe, just maybe he would even play your whiny middle-school voice trying to sound cool and older while asking him to play it.

Or maybe I'll write down all the lists of Top 100 books and movies and everything else, and glue them into my journal and decorate the page with little colored-pencil doodles (That just sounds middle school - in actuality I do that sort of thing with some frequency as an adult).

So what are the "Top __" lists you're loving right now? These are my favorites:

The 2009 Pulitzer prizes for fiction (my reading list for the next month or two)
The WXPN Year in Review - Top 100 Songs and Top 10 Albums from my favorite radio station
Your Worst Shot 2009 Flickr group (so many of these are better than my best shots - *sigh*).
Grist's Top Green Stories of the '00s

Now I'm off to scarf down some more of my Dad's amazing Christmas cookies while I try to resurrect one of my Top Abandoned Knitting Projects of the Decade, a lovely half-finished Minimalist Cardigan. I hope you're having a great end-of-the-decade, too!

early morning

2009-12-13T06:48:00.002-05:00

It's early. Sunrise is still a little ways off, and I am sipping a cup of tea at the kitchen table, enjoying some quiet.

I have lost a lot of free time: time for yoga, time for knitting, time for reading long beautiful novels. But this is one kind of time that I have gained: very quiet time, alone, with a warm cup of tea and a cat beside me. There is a little warm spot on my neck where a baby was recently curled, and I am looking forward to sunrise, when she really wakes up, and I will pick her up and bring her to look again at the Christmas tree, and she will be delighted, all over again.

It is very peaceful.

If I had worries, they would fill this space.

Instead, I look at my list of to-do's, and notice that one of them says, "relax." I decide to do that one.

I sip my tea, poke about in my knitting basket a bit, and hear a little voice waking up down the hallway. Another morning, just beginning.

holiday fantasies

2009-12-08T10:13:00.004-05:00

This is me every year at the holidays: longing for more.

(Acutally, right after this photo was taken, I gorged myself on pie... but let's don't disrupt the theme I've got going here).

Every year I bemoan the too-few hours in the day, as I wish I had more time to decorate the house, bake treats, make gifts, send greetings... and every year I get to do some of it, and at least savor the fantasy of all the other fun things I meant to do.

This year, I'm starting to realize that my holiday crafting and nesting will consist of little more than the savored fantasy. My first Christmas as a full-time working mama with a little baby at home...

Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about the first Christmas with the Little Pea. I can't wait to sing carols with her and snuggle together by the fire on Christmas morning, give her her very first Christmas present, and watch her be spoiled to death by our family. In fact, as I write this I'm getting even more excited about it!

But this will be the first Christmas in a long time - maybe since I was the Little Pea's age - that my family members won't be getting gifts made by me. I am trying like heck to finish a pair of socks that I started last April, and I have every intention of making a gift for the Little Pea, but I think that's going to be the sum of it. *sigh* So sad!

But all the same, I want you to know that even though I probably won't send you a hand-made card this year, I am thinking of you. Imagine that we got together and baked cookies on a cold, blustery December afternoon and drank spiced cider and danced around to goofy Christmas music. I am savoring the memories of many blustery December afternoons making little gifts with friends, and the evenings squirreled away in a coffee shop somewhere on December 23rd trying like heck to finish a way-too-ambitious gift in time.

I hope you get to make some of those memories this year! I'll try not to drool (better go eat some of that pie).

thanksgiving

2009-11-26T02:18:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

In honor of my favorite holiday, I wanted to share this poem with you.

Wild Geese
by Wendell Berry

Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time's maze
over the fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

I hope that you enjoy a feast of gratitude today.

starting fresh

2009-11-01T07:02:00.003-05:00

Time to cultivate this feeling again.

It always feels so good to put a tough time behind me and start anew.

October is usually my favorite month, because of the wonderful weather, the colors, the crisp air and the chance to wear sweaters and scarves again. Our anniversary is in October, and the annual family camping trip.

But I've been anticipating October all year with some trepidation, because this year it was the month that I went back to work.

And it went pretty well, it really did. The Little Pea seems to be adjusting well, and HWWLLB is doing great as a stay-at-home-dad. Everything was in great shape at work when I got back there, and I seem to be getting back into the swing of things fairly well. But oh my goodness, the time.

I'll always think of this October as the month that I ran to get everywhere. Once I started back at work I didn't cook a meal, do a load of laundry that wasn't baby clothes, write a blog post (as you may have noticed) or go anywhere other than work and our house (and the family camping trip - I've almost recovered from that). I did eat three meals a day, sleep decently, enjoy time with the Little Pea and meet the deadlines I had to hit at work (just barely). HWWLLB and I even spent a little quality time together on our anniversary. But I have never tried so hard to keep it together - and I did keep it together - at such an incredibly bare-bones level. Holy moly. Is this the rest of my life?

I hope not.

Keeping it together is better than not, for sure, and I know that there are going to be times when I just can't keep it together anymore and just fall apart. But I need some free time back. This weekend I decided to help that along by clearing away some mental clutter and finishing a few projects that have been lying around.

Saturday I pulled out a stack of almost-finished knitted things that had been languishing for months. I sewed on buttons, sewed in tags, blocked and finished and put them away in the drawers (or gift bags) where they belong. Now Little Pea has a couple of spanky new sweaters to wear - just in time for some cool damp weather - and believe it or not, the sloth is almost done! I've finally finished all the knitting, and this weekend I pieced it together and felted it. I still have some finishing work to do, including some fancy needle-felting, but it's almost there! I can't wait to show it to you.

That was Saturday. Sunday is going to be the day for tidying. Our house is definitely showing the battle scars of the past month, and in particular my little areas are just atrocious. There isn't one more bare surface available for piling things on, and it's gnawing at my sanity. So today is the day to deconstruct piles, pay bills, recycle junk, do laundry, take things to the dry cleaner, and tie up all the other itty-bitty loose ends that have turned into such a snarl in my space. The perfect activity for a gray, rainy November Sunday (particularly if some knitting works its way into all that).

Nothing like a fresh start to another month - let this one be just a little less hectic than the last. Just a little?

twilight

2009-10-08T09:15:00.004-05:00

Twilight is so beautiful. The light and fading golden color make it my favorite time of day.

Last night I was trying to capture the way these flowers were glowing, reflecting the last of the waning light in our front yard as the day turned to evening.

This is also the twilight of my maternity leave - the last few days at home with Little Pea, with nothing to do but play and take care of her. As with the end of the day, this seems to be the sweetest time I have ever known. Everything seems golden, more beautiful and poignant than I have ever seen it.

Of course, nothing is changing. I will still be her mama, and we'll still take walks together and play with toys and nurse quietly (and sometimes noisily) in the rocking chair. I'll still squeeze in a row or two of knitting here and there whenever I can. But of course, I'll be shoe-horning all this wonder and beauty into the fragmented bits of time before and after work. And I have a feeling that these too-fast golden hours are going to fly by all the more quickly now.

This week Little Pea and I took our last trip together to the Wednesday afternoon farmer's market. We bought veggies and bread, and visited with our downtown friends and farmers. I found myself really strolling, walking slower than normal to just soak up as much of it as I could. I pushed the idea of time from my mind altogether and just enjoyed the moments as we had them. It felt so good to take things in more completely - the smiles of the people there, the thoughts and ideas shared in conversations with friends, the simple colors and shapes of the vegetables.

Being in the moment, letting go of a hurry to a goal or destination, is a lesson that the Little Pea teaches me over and over. I am so grateful for the chance to practice, every day, that this time at home with her has given me. I hope I can cultivate it in my hurry-hurry work life as well - even when I want to hurry home to her.

a long weekend

2009-09-29T07:59:00.006-05:00

Over the weekend my dad turned sixty.

We celebrated with a long weekend in the Outer Banks. It was the Little Pea's first trip (except for a night at her grandparents' house when she was very small), and her first time visiting the ocean. We were happy to discover that she is a very good traveler.

Traveling with a little baby turned out to be fairly relaxing. We took things slowly, and spent a good amount of time relaxing while she napped or nursed. And goodness, did we eat. My goal was to totally overdo it on seafood -- I definitely succeeded. But I wouldn't mind another plate of flounder for lunch today.

We saw lots of birds, and a pond full of turtles at Pea Island Wildlife Refuge. We counted 18 painted turtles and two big snappers. Among birds, we saw cormorants, osprey, ibis, lots of egrets, and a Roseate Spoonbill! They really don't belong this far north, so it was quite a treat.

It felt so good to be washed by the ocean. Salt water is so rejeuvenating.

fleeting naptime

2009-09-18T06:18:00.000-05:00

my accomplishment for the week: a Hansigurumi seahorse, with a tube of beads inside to make a rattle

Thursday morning I found myself sitting in the bathroom with the door cracked open, trying to simultaneously listen for baby sounds and muffle my own sounds because She Who Will Not Nap was taking a nap, and while I love the open floor plan of our tiny house, every sound in the house can be heard from every other part of the house. I was on hold in customer-service hell, waiting to talk to someone at the IRS about the hideous letter they sent me.

As the cat came in to join me and, what they hey, stop into his litterbox while he's in the neighborhood, I realized that crouching in the bathroom with the phone was no way to spend the precious few moments of naptime that I have been granted. After hearing the polite-yet-threatening recorded message one more time, I hung up. Take that, IRS! (I will call you later).

Instead I got up, fixed myself lunch, listened to the news, visited a couple of friends' blogs, and started to write this blog pos-- uh-oh. She's up again.

[many hours later]

Naptime is sanity time, time to eat, perform personal hygeine related tasks and maybe, just maybe, get something done. As my to-do list stretches into the horizon, the naptimes seem to be dwindling to ever-tinier proportions. Why won't this baby take her nap?? Lately daytime naps are just a fantasy, and the ones that do happen don't last much longer than it takes me to fix my lunch (but not eat it).

[uh... two days later]

Ugh! I'm not getting anything done, productive or otherwise. Two rows of knitting. Five minutes of listening to the news. A few more minutes on hold with the IRS. Nothing is getting completed anymore. Help!! I've tried every trick in the book. How do you bribe a 3-month-old baby into taking a nap?

seahorse rattles do not work as bribes

better all the time

2009-09-11T11:04:00.004-05:00

i promised i'd post a picture that wasn't of her feet for a change

I've had that Beatles song stuck in my head all week since I heard it on the radio the other day. It does describe our crazy new lives pretty well.

Some days are hectic and insane and by the time she goes to bed I don't know whether to laugh, cry or get drunk (fortunately breastfeeding generally rules out #3). Other days are peaceful, hilarious and beautiful and I feel on top of the world. The truly wonderful thing is that the ratio of good to bad days has always been tilted to the positive side, and it is getting better all the time. I can't quite say I'm well rested, but sleep is one of the things helping move the needle more often to the happy side, slowly but surely.

But you know, even on the worst days, when all she can manage is a 20-minute nap and I can't seem to find enough time to make a cup of tea and actually drink it before it gets cold, knitting always gets me through. When I need to collapse on the couch and veg out, and I'm jittery with nervous energy from being cooped up in the house all day with a very demanding companion, knitting is always there for me. Sometimes you don't know whether that quiet moment will last five minutes or fifty, and I'm finding that these unpredictable moments are bringing me back the knitterly world of the productive again. It feels very good.

Here are the booties I just finished with the Grandmother Owl pattern. Somehow I managed to knit them inside-out, but they came out well all the same. Bev scared me out of making pom-poms due to their apparent mortal hazards, but the little ties finish with tassles, which I sewed on so tightly that they could probably be relied upon as a lifeline if I fell over a cliff, so I think they will be safe for the baby. This is a great little bootie pattern, and I like the flexible 'one size,' which unlike most of her other clothes will probably actually fit for a while. What a great way to use up some sock yarn leftovers!

Little Pea is very interested in knitting as well. Sometimes while she plays on her play mat, I sit next to her and do some knitting, and she is fascinated with the color and movement. I wonder how old a kid has to be before it's safe to hand them some nice blunt knitting needles?

free pattern friday::bumpy jacket & hat

2009-09-04T04:09:00.012-05:00

Time for some fall knitting! This baby jacket and hat set uses an old-fashioned looking stitch pattern for an elegant look in a relatively simple pattern. Suitable for a boy or girl, the Bumpy Jacket uses organic cotton and is knit all in one piece for quick finishing. Use some vintage buttons for the perfect touch.

I called it "Bumpy" both because the stitch pattern has a bumpy surface, but also because it got off to a bumpy start. One of the mistakes I made was making the sleeve increases on the wrong side, but it actually looked pretty good with the stitch pattern and became a design feature. Once it got going, the jacket came together very quickly and was a pleasure to knit. Have fun making this sweet set as a special shower gift, or for your little one.

bumpy jacket

size
0-6 mos (6-12 mos, 18 mos, 2 yrs, 4 yrs)

materials
Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed Cotton, 150 yd / 137 m / 50 g per skein
Color A: 1 skein [shown in #301, Glacier]
Color B: 2 (2, 3, 3, 4) skeins [shown in #308, Mallard]
US size 5 needles, DPN and circular (or size to get gauge)
US size 3 needles, DPN and circular (or size to get gauge)
five 1/2-inch buttons
stitch markers
tapestry needle
sewing needle & thread

gauge
22 stitches / 28 rows / 4 inches in stockinette stitch on larger needles

measurements
chest circumference: 20 (21, 22, 25, 27) inches
back length: 10.5 (11.5, 13.5, 14.5, 16) inches
sleeve length: 6 (6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 10.5) inches

waffle check stitch pattern (even # of stitches) – 2 ways
knit flat:
Row 1 (WS): Color A: Knit
Row 2 (RS): Color B: *Slip 1 wyib, K1. Repeat from * to end.
Row 3: Color B: *K1, Slip 1 wyif. Repeat from * to end.
Row 4: Color A: Knit.
Row 5: Color A: Knit.
Row 6: Color B: *K1, Slip 1 wyib. Repeat from * to end.
Row 7: Color B: *Slip 1 wyif, K1. Repeat from * to end.
Row 8: Color A: Knit

knit in the round:
Row 1: Color A: Purl.
Row 2: Color B: *Slip 1 wyib, K1. Repeat from * to end.
Row 3: Color B: *Slip 1 wyib, P1. Repeat from * to end.
Row 4: Color A: Knit.
Row 5: Color A: Purl.
Row 6: Color B: *K1, Slip 1 wyib. Repeat from * to end.
Row 7: Color B: *P1, Slip 1 wyib. Repeat from * to end.
Row 8: Color A: Knit

note
I strongly recommend knitting a swatch of the waffle check stitch pattern before you start, just to get the hang of it. It is quite simple, and once you’ve knit a couple of rounds of this pattern, it will become quite natural. You’ll be able to knit the sweater without having to read charts or refer to the instructions over and over. But since you have to knit it both flat and in the round, it pays to understand the stitch pattern before you begin working it in the sweater.

another note
For those who are familiar with sweaters knit top-down, this pattern is a bit quirky in that you will do the increases along the seams on the wrong side (rather than the right side, which is more common). I know it seems weird. I messed up while first designing this sweater, but I liked how it looked and decided to keep it.

cast on at the neckline
Using color A and larger circular needles, cast on as follows:
CO 2, PM, CO 6 (8, 8, 10, 10), PM, CO 20 (24, 24, 26, 28), PM, CO 6 (8, 8, 10, 10), PM, CO 2. You will have 34 (44, 44, 50, 52) st on your needle.

With row 1, you will also begin row 1 of the stitch pattern (following the instructions for knitting flat). You will start the stitch pattern over again in each section between the markers, in order to maintain the pattern across the increases at the shoulder seams (see this tutorial for a detailed explanation of this technique). You will never work the pattern on the stitch before or after each marker – these are the seam stitches. On right sides, simply knit the seam stitches and then start your pattern over. On wrong sides, work the increases as directed on the seam stitches, and then start your pattern over.

Row 1: *Kfb, K to 1 st before M, Kfb, slip M. Repeat from * to end. Kfb of last stitch. (10 st inc).
Row 2: Patt to end. [Here’s how to do this: Color B: *Slip 1 wyib, K1. Repeat from * to 1 st before next M. K1, slip M, K1. *Slip 1 wyib, K1. Repeat from * to 1 st before next M. Get it? Just start the stitch pattern over again in each section.
Row 3: *Kfb, Patt to 1 st before M, Kfb, slip M. Repeat from * to end. Kfb of last stitch. (10 st inc).
Row 4: Patt to end.

Continue in this manner, increasing 10 st on every WS row, and continuing the waffle check pattern, until you have 32 (40, 40, 44, 48) st between the back markers.

Next WS row, do not increase on the first and last stitches – you will increase only 8 stitches on this row. Continue increasing 8 st on every WS row until you have 50 (58, 60, 68, 76) st between the back markers.

divide for sleeves
Next RS row: Patt across the first section until you get to the first marker.
Place the stitches from the left shoulder section (between the first and second markers) onto a stitch holder or piece of scrap yarn.

CO 4 st across the gap and join to the back section.
Patt across to the third marker.
Place the stitches from the right shoulder section (between the third and fourth markers) onto a stitch holder or piece of scrap yarn.

CO 4 st across the gap and join to the last section. Patt to end.

You will have 104 (120, 124, 140, 156) st on your needle.

complete body
You will no longer be increasing on the WS rows. Simply carry the stitch pattern uninterrupted all the way around the garment as follows: K1, patt to 1 st before end, K1.
Work one full patt repeat for as many rows as that requires, ending with Row 1 of the stitch pattern.

Change to Color B and stockinette stitch (K all RS rows, P all WS rows).
Continue until the garment measures 10 (11, 13, 14, 15.5) inches from the back neck, ending on a RS row.

Change to smaller needles, and work 4 rows of garter stitch (K every row).
BO loosely.

sleeves
Place the held stitches from the first sleeve onto the larger DPNs. Using the appropriate color yarn for this point in the stitch pattern, pick up the four cast-on stitches from the underarm and place a marker. This marks the start of the round.

Work as many pattern rows as you did in the sweater body after dividing for the sleeves (be sure that you are following the instructions to knit the stitch pattern in the round – it is different from how you worked the body stitches!).

Change to Color B and stockinette stitch (in the round, knit every row).

Decrease row: K1, SSK, K to 3 st before marker, K2tog, K1. 2 st decreased.
Knit 4 rows even.

Continue in this manner, decreasing 2 st on every 5th round, until 30 (32, 32, 38, 40) st rem.
Knit even until the sleeve measures 5.5 (6, 7, 8.75, 9.25) inches from underarm.

Change to smaller DPNs. Work 4 rows in garter st (P 1 row, K 1 row).

BO loosely. Work the second sleeve.

button band / collar
Before you begin, use safety pins or stitch markers to mark the placement of your buttonholes along the right front selvedge of the sweater. Place the top button 1/2 inch below the start of the neckline. Place the bottom button 1 inch up from the bottom edge of the garment, and then space the remaining buttons evenly between them.

Using the smaller circular needle and Color B, begin at the bottom right corner of the sweater front. Pick up and knit 3 out of every 4 stitches up the right front until you get to the point where the neckline angles in. Place a marker. Continue picking up 3 out of 4 selvedge st until you get to the cast on row. Pick up the 2 right front st, the 6 (8, 8, 10, 10) right shoulder st, the 20 (24, 24, 26, 28) back st, the 6 (8, 8, 10, 10) left shoulder st, and the 2 left front st. Then continue down the left neck picking up 3 out of 4 selvedge st. When you get to the point where the neckline ends, place a marker and continue down the left front, picking up 3 out of 4 selvedge st to the bottom left corner.

Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: K to 1 st before the first marker, Kfb, slip marker, Kfb. K to 1 st before the second marker, Kfb, slip marker, Kfb. K to end. You are using these double increases to create a neat mitred corner at the neckline.
Row 3: (make buttonholes): Knit until you reach the point where you would like each buttonhole to be placed. For each buttonhole, YO, K2tog. K to end.
Row 4: Knit.
Row 5: BO loosely.

finishing
Sew buttons on very firmly.
Weave in ends.

variation
Use Color A for the body instead of Color B (you would need less than one skein of Color B to complete the garment in any size).

variation in color A - see how the hat looks here

bumpy hat

size
0-6 mos (6-12 mos, 18 mos, 2 yrs, 4 yrs)

materials
Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed Cotton
Color A: 1 skein (for the 2 smallest sizes, sweater leftovers are enough)
Color B: 1 skein
size 5 needles, DPN and 16” circular (or size to get gauge)
stitch markers
tapestry needle

measurements
head circumference: 14 (15.5, 16, 16.5, 18) inches

a note on sizing
The waffle check pattern is based on garter stitch, which is not very stretchy. If your baby has a big noggin like mine does, you may want to go up a size (see measurements, above).

inner casing
In Color A, cast on loosely 78 (86, 88, 92, 100) stitches. Place marker and knit in the round in st st until section measures 1.75 (1.75, 1.75, 2.25, 2.25) inches from cast on edge.

Next row: K2, YO, K to 2 st before marker, YO, K2.
Next row: Knit across, increasing 0 (0, 2, 2, 2) st evenly as you go. You will have 80 (88, 92, 96, 104) stitches on your needle.

brim
Next row: Change to waffle check stitch pattern (be sure to follow the directions for knitting in the round). Knit 2.5 (2.5, 2.5, 4, 4) full repeats of the stitch pattern.

crown
Next row: Change to color B and st st. Work 1 round even.
Next row: Decrease 2 (2, 4, 4, 4) st evenly across this round.
Continue knitting in st st until hat measures 5 (5, 6, 6.5, 7.25) inches from the beginning of the waffle check pattern.
For the two smallest sizes, knit 1 round, decreasing 2 stitches this round, evenly spaced.

decreasing for the crown
Dec rnd 1: *K2, K2 tog. Repeat from * to end.
Knit 1 round even.
Dec rnd 2: *K1, K2 tog. Repeat from * to end.
Knit 1 round even.
Dec rnd 3: *K2 tog. Repeat from * to end.
Repeat this last dec round until 5 stitches remain. Cut the yarn, pull the tail through the remaining stitches and fasten securely on the inside of the hat.

finishing
Turn hat inside-out. Fold up the inner casing so that the first row of the waffle check pattern serves as the turning ridge. Sew into place, taking care that your sewing yarn does not show through on the right side.

Weave in loose ends.

important notice: This is a free pattern and you are welcome to use it for all the non-commercial purposes you like. However, you may not reproduce this pattern to sell, and you may not sell what you make with it. You may donate what you make with it to charity, and you may use it for charity fundraisers only if 100% of the proceeds are donated to the charity (and by charity I don't mean your kid's college fund). Thanks for understanding!

coming soon to a friday near you...

2009-08-27T07:35:00.001-05:00

The baby cardigan I've been working on is done, and it looks marvelous if I do say so myself. I love how the simple colorwork makes it look so fancy, and most of all I love that these pretty little vintage buttons I've been saving have finally found a home. Hooray! They added just the right touch. I can't wait to see the Little Pea wearing it this fall.

I've already made up a matching hat and written up the pattern, and as soon as I get a chance to do a photo shoot, I'll be posting it for a Free Pattern Friday very soon - in time for some fun fall knitting.

I'm really looking forward to sharing this pattern with you, especially since it's been ages since I posted a free pattern here. It's made with one of my favorite yarns, Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed, which has got to have the best colorways of any organic cotton out there.

Now I'm looking for some other fall knitting projects, despite the fact that I've got a lovely orphaned Komet and a half-knitted toy sloth looking mournfully at me out of the knitting basket. I need to go trawl the internets and see what's new for this season. What are y'all working on? Next on my list is a little Hansigurumi seahorse, which is going to get a rattle inside for you-know-who.

bootie love

2009-08-21T14:56:00.005-05:00

I just discovered that I love goofy Gramma booties!

Check these out! They came in a box of hand-me-downs, so I have no idea who made them, but they are awesome. I hadn't realized that I loved funky pom-pom booties until on a whim I put them on my kid. Dear God! Why had no one warned me of the cuteness??? And how lucky were we to score them in a hand-me-down box??

The overwhelming wave of cute-induced excitement got me wondering about where to find some good Gramma-bootie patterns on the internets. A year or two ago I knitted a bunch of sophisticated, classy, non-pom-pommed booties and posted my reviews of the free patterns here. Alas, those were the days before I had nummy little baby feet in the house in need of such garments. I believed that the simple, clean lines of a Mary-Jane style bootie were what one would want to see on one's well-dressed child. Ha! Bring on the pom-poms!

Actually, the main qualification for a good bootie is that they actually stay on. This automatically disqualifies Mary-Jane style booties, ballet slipper booties, and many other classy booties from consideration, and renders whatever I said in that previous review post basically worthless. It also explains why so many bootie patterns have names like "Stay-On Baby Booties," "Won't Slip Baby Booties," and "Guaranteed to Never Fall Off Or Your Money Back Baby Booties." Now I understand.

I think the booties above were made with Grandmother Owl's Really Good Booties pattern, (which is free on the webs), with pom-poms added. Friends with new babies, be forewarned: I will hereby be adding pom-poms or other such nonsense to every bootie I knit from now on! And to anyone who I ever knitted a classy Mary-Jane bootie for, my apologies. I didn't know.

Also, will I ever post a picture of any part of my child other than her feet? What's up with that? OK, next time - hands!

a quick hello

2009-08-13T10:02:00.004-05:00

Peeping out to say hello!

I am pleased to report that there is a little knitting underway here, however slowly. I'm designing a sweet little baby cardigan (what else?) with Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed. After my fun with color knitting earlier this spring, I really wanted to put one of these stitch patterns to use in a little sweater. I like how it's coming out, and this will definitely be appearing as a Free Pattern Friday some time in the near future.

There hasn't been much time for gardening, let alone cooking, but I am really happy that I was able to make a batch of jam this week from the delicious figs on our fig tree. The tree is having a banner year this year, and it was really disturbing me to watch out the window as squirrels and mockingbirds gobbled up all the ripe figs. I can see the tree from the rocking chair where I nurse the baby - it was driving me nuts! Now that I've had a chance to gobble some of them up myself, I don't begrudge the varmints their share anymore.

Last random bit in this hello post: I have a post up today on Sew Green about my struggles with green babyhood. I'd love to hear about some of your strategies!

diaper ado

2009-08-01T09:43:00.004-05:00

One of the few things I managed to finish knitting before the Little Pea came along was a set of 6 wrap-style knitted diaper covers (the purpley-pink one above is one of my favorites).

Unfortunately, put into practice I discovered that this particular design is not particularly, uh, reliable in the poop containment arena. Oh well. The things you learn when the fantasy baby actually becomes reality...

However, I do plan to knit some pull-up style soakers and give those a try, and if (when!) her daytime naps ever stretch out sufficiently I might also try sewing some from felted sweaters á la the Artful Parent (I am so in love with all Jean's fun projects).

Anyhow, this post was really just to say that over on Sew Green I have a post up today as part of a continuing discussion on cloth v. disposable diapers. Here is Lisa's earlier post on the subject.

Once I've had a chance to test-drive a few different hand-made soakers, I hope to post a review here. In the mean time though, it's factory-made diaper covers for us. *sigh* Can't make everything yourself, I guess.

fast and slow

2009-07-28T11:56:00.002-05:00

Some of the things I used to do so well, I do them now very slowly. But I also have a whole set of new doing things quickly skills.

I can knit about 3 rows at a time. Or I can wind a skein of yarn. But only one.

Once I've read an email, it seems to take me at least a week to answer it. Ditto phone messages.

I can read one chapter in a book, if it's a very very short chapter. Lately I've been reading a lot of Willa Cather, because her books are gorgeous and I am really enjoying them, but they're also quite convenient since the chapters are only a few pages each.

Blog posts take me at least a week to write (though most of that time is spent thinking through ideas and then forgetting them).

However, I can eat any meal in under three minutes. I can change a diaper faster than I thought possible, and I can dress a squirmy baby in a minute flat. With HWWLLB at home, I can do a trip to the grocery store, Target or the library in less than 45 minutes (but only one of those places - goodbye to multiple errands at once).

Nothing can be scheduled. Appointments are irrelevant.

Then there are the beautiful, long stretches of time that I spend nursing the Little Pea, rocking her, playing with her when she's awake or peeking at her while she sleeps. In actuality, these times take up most of my day, but when I think about them it seems that they are flying by and I'll never be able to remember all the amazing things that happen during each one. Time moves so painfully quickly now (especially when I'm asleep). I am beginning to understand that it will never slow down again.

finished!

2009-07-11T05:10:00.000-05:00

I finished a project!

It's embarrassing how little I've been able to accomplish in the knitting department the last few months. I started this little baby top in May thinking it would be a quick knit, and just finished it today. There are some other unfinished projects sitting around as well, but they take more focus than I have available at the moment between feedings - like the challenging socks that were a much-needed distraction when I was trying not to be impatient at the end of pregnancy, and now seem like a complicated joke. Ah, well.

As for this top, I just sort of made it up after seeing Pixie Purls' Country Kiddie pattern on Ravelry. It was too simple to really use a pattern for; just a basic top-down top. It's made with about half a skein of Tofutsies sock yarn, which has a really nice drape for a garment like this, and I think it will be nice and cool as a summer top, or a cute layer over a long-sleeved shirt in the fall. I added a little button at the neckline, and I'm glad, because we'll need it to accommodate our daughter's rather sizeable noggin.

I can't decide what to knit next - though every time I open the yarn stash and get as far as sifting through a couple of ideas, it's time to nurse the baby again, so maybe fantasizing or the occasional row on the Komet socks are as much knitting as I'll be able to do for a while.

happy independence day!

2009-07-04T09:19:00.004-05:00

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I hope you're enjoying a fun summer day with your beloveds.

In honor of Independence Day, here are 5 ways to celebrate your independence today:

1. Spend the day without spending. Try not to buy anything all day today. Leaving the car in the driveway all day would make this a lot easier!

2. Make a special treat with stuff you already have in your cupboards. Some suggestions: popcorn balls, fancy brownies (decorated with those jimmies you've had in the back of the cabinet for eons), or some smashing toppings for your tofu dogs (more here and here!).

3. Spend the day on a "use what you have" craft project. The one on my waiting list is a refashioned shirt, but the list is endless... here are some fun 4th of July suggestions from whipup.

4. Design a knitting project for yourself. Is there something you've been wanting to make, even have the yarn for, but just can't find the right pattern? Now's the time! Check out some design resources to get you started, like Jenna Wilson's great column, "Thinking Beyond the Pattern," on Knitty.

5. Make yourself happy. Make a list of five people that you're grateful to have in your life, and why. You can spread the happiness around by sending one (or all) of them a sweet little note telling them how great they are.

I hope you all have a great day!

little pea

2009-06-25T11:57:00.003-05:00

The little one has finally arrived! Today is her one-week birthday.

Forgive the brevity of this post; I am snatching a moment between feeding and napping to eat some lunch and say hello.

The baby, mom and dad are all healthy and doing great. It feels like the three of us are surrounded in a protective cocoon of love and support. As we get to know each other and learn to be a family, it seems we don't have to worry about a thing. Our dinners show up every evening just when it's time to eat; there are stacks and stacks of clean baby clothes and blankets and burp cloths thanks to hand-me-downs from friends; there are so many sweet voices and hearts wishing us well; and there are wise, wise grandmothers by our side helping us find our way into parenthood.

Little Pea is also a wise teacher. I wasn't expecting that. She is patient, loving, persistent, and gives the most incredible positive feedback, even when you're doing something only half-right. She is humbling, and to our dazzled eyes, exquisitely beautiful.

Thanks to all of you for your kind and supportive words, especially at the end of what was a rather long pregnancy! She is more than worth waiting for. Hopefully soon I'll be knitting for her (and others) again, and there will be plenty to say about that.

sew green is back!

2009-06-18T08:25:00.003-05:00

Hi all,

This is a very quick post to say hooray! Sew Green is back.

I think that some of you who read my blog came over here from Sew Green in the first place - it's a great group of artists, crafters and designers who write about greening their craft (I am one of the contributors). We really slacked off and had been AWOL for a while, but as of this week, Sew Green is back in action! yay!

I'll be writing there again, and most of the past contributors are back, with some new voices too. Please do visit and check out our weekly posts!

distracting socks

2009-06-14T16:14:00.004-05:00

One of the downsides of stockinette stitch is that it doesn't do much to occupy one's mind.

The baby is getting to be rather overdue (almost 2 weeks now), and I am doing my best (which isn't always very effective) to find things to keep my mind occupied. Work threw some interesting things my way last week, but they don't fill every minute. I have a good book, but it's going to end eventually. Both the sloth and the little baby top I'm making are basically nothing but endless rounds of stockinette stitch at this point - no help at all.

The color patterns I was working on last week were a lot of fun, and very distracting, but then I finished what I was doing with them and that was the end of that (I made a bunch of beer cozies and coasters as a birthday prize for a friend - and I will say that they came out quite cute).

So I looked through my queue on Ravelry to find something do-able (because I have no creative brain cells available at the moment), but complicated enough to keep my mind occupied. Then it hit me - fancy socks! Komet is the answer. And a handy opportunity to de-stash a little sock yarn.

This is a great pattern - it's an absolutely wonderful design with alternating panels of cables and lace that you do actually have to pay attention to to keep from screwing up, but straightforward enough that I also don't have to think too hard to do it. Just right!

I dug out a couple of balls of Plymouth Happy Feet in a wonderful variegated plum color that provides nice eye candy while working, and I have been happily knitting away on these since last night. Thank you, fancy socks! Maybe vigorous sock knitting will help induce labor...

messing around with color

2009-06-05T07:16:00.000-05:00

Color has always been challenging for me in knitting. I do fine with large blocks of color, or with stripes, but when it comes to the fancy colorwork department, I stay away.

It mystifies me. I've always wanted to be able to knit amazing colorwork like this or this, but I never really felt like I had the knitting chops (or the patience) to manage multiple balls of yarn and all those floats and color changes and whatnot.

Instead, I have always stuck with texture and structure to make my knitting interesting. But my most favorite vintage styles manage to combine both color and texture, like this.

Lately I've been really feeling the need to get over this hangup and just learn how to knit what I want to. So I got a good book (it was on sale!) and spent some time reading it, and realized that this is not rocket science. (Duh - of course it's not! It's knitting! Nothing in knitting is as hard as you think it will be before you try it - when will I learn this??).

I grabbed some inexpensive-yet-colorful craft store yarn (see above) for some small projects that will let me try out some colorwork techniques. Preliminary indications are that this is going to be fun.

trying not to wait

2009-05-30T00:54:00.002-05:00

waiting for cucumbers

What I'm doing right now instead of waiting around...

writing grant proposals

cooking, a little, with tasty things from the garden

clearing out the freezer

enjoying the garden with HWWLLB (he works, I watch)

knitting diaper covers

reading a lot:

Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
Michael Cunningham, The Hours
Willa Cather, One of Ours
Pam England & Rob Horowitz, Birthing from Within
George Downing, The Massage Book
Monica Ali, Brick Lane

sleeping a lot

practicing yoga

practicing meditation

finding little chances to enjoy friends (between grant proposals and naps)

writing in my journal

fantasizing about craft projects (but mostly not doing them)

So far so good. I feel very patient. Now if only the well-meaning phone calls would stop interrupting my non-waiting ("Hi, are you in labor yet?"), maybe I could get some of these craft projects underway...

tie-dye, chickens, and nothing to report.

2009-05-18T06:01:00.002-05:00

Hi all. Sorry I've been such a slack blogger lately. Down to the last few weeks of pregnancy, and we are getting a lot of phone calls to which our standard response is, "No, nothing to report."

Lately I am back to my old routine of collapsing into bed by 9 PM or so, which doesn't leave much spare time for other pursuits. Even knitting has become kind of tiring. Instead I'm gobbling up books (I just finished Monica Ali's Brick Lane, if you're looking for a good read - it was great).

Saturday I did not manage to go on the Henside the Beltline Tour d' Coop, but I did hang out over at Mr & Mrs Love Party's house to keep them company during the tour for a little while. They had about 150 people come through their backyard to check out their chickens and ask the same dozen or so questions over and over again. A friend of ours on the tour in a very popular part of town had over 600 people come through! Backyard chickens have become a big thing in Raleigh, and every spring the fever spreads a little more via the Tour d'Coop. If you're a chicken fan, check out this local news video full of great chicken coop pictures and a short interview with tour founder Bob Davis.

I grew up with chickens and fresh eggs, and I would love to have them again - especially for the poop. I think they would do our garden right. But HWWLLB is seriously not into this idea, and it seems that fresh eggs are becoming pretty abundant in our neighborhood without any contributions from us. I sure wouldn't mind going co-op with someone who wants the chickens-as-pets-and-for-eggs part, who would let me have the poop.

On a totally different topic, I did want to share a morsel of the previous weekend, which was a wonderful two days of family, friends, food, surprises, gifts, crafts... you get the idea. I should have written about it then. Anyway, my wonderful sister threw us a surprise (and very green) baby shower. There were out-of-town friends and family, and it turned into a whole weekend of fun. Bugheart and Grub came down from D.C., and after breakfast on Sunday morning we went out into the backyard and tie-dyed a big stack of onesies.

HWWLLB has been plotting this project for a while. It was very messy and fun, and now our baby will feel right at home when he cranks up the Dead on a Saturday afternoon. More pics here. I love how bright they all are. And it really got me itching to dye the bundle of sock yarn I've had in the closet for so long...

micro is the new green

2009-05-03T06:01:00.000-05:00

This has been an exciting early-spring garden for me because of a new (to us) innovation: micro greens!

A few months ago during the seed swap that we had with friends, I was thinking about ways to use up old seed packets, and looking at all the expensive blends of seeds they put into the seed catalogs, and realized that I had plenty of potential custom blends of my own sitting there in the bin of old seeds.

I made a blend for micro greens with:
beets
pac choi
corn salad
zen
spinach

We also had a big packet of unopened mesclun mix from two years before. In March I got two long planters (the kind you use for window boxes), and planted each with one of the blends. These seeds are all somewhat aged, so I didn't really worry about germination rates, I just dumped them in there. They have done great!

The first time I had to thin them, we made a salad with just a few leaves of over-wintered Bibb lettuce, and a whole bunch of tasty little micro greens. They are delicious! HWWLLB, who is really not a salad-eater even on his most virtuous days, proclaimed them "much better than lettuce" and said he would happily eat them whenver I served them.

Each time we harvest them, it seems to just make more room for the left-behind greens to get a bit fluffier, but I did finally do some re-seeding last week. I plan to keep harvesting and re-seeding them til I run out of seeds. I don't know what I'll do then - though if I dig through our old-seed bin again, I bet I'll find a bunch more aging seeds that would like to become fancy salad mix.

Here's a recipe for the dressing that has become our new favorite on micro greens:

Put into a small jar:
4 Tbsp EV olive oil
2-3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/8 tsp honey
pinch of sea salt
one clove of garlic, peeled (but not chopped)

Shake well to blend contents thoroughly. Let the garlic steep in the dressing for a little while before serving. If you leave the garlic in the jar, it will just keep infusing the dressing with a stronger garlic flavor until the dressing is used up. Keep refrigerated.

And thanks to all of you for the tips on getting things finished (or not). I think I just need to accept that this is my M.O. right now. Too many things on my mind to worry about unfinished knitting. In fact, knitting is usually so therapeutic for me... I think if I forget about it for a little while, I'm going to come running back to the yarn in my hour of need anyway (and maybe get some of those wayward projects done).

unfinished everything

2009-04-24T07:26:00.000-05:00

Do you ever get into a funk where you can't seem to finish any projects?

This is really bothering me. I don't like unfinished projects. They really aggravate me. But everywhere I look, they seem to surround me.

The sloth softie that was supposed to be done for HWWLLB's birthday on March 27... still armless and lying around in pieces. The big pile of soakers I thought I would have finished by now... still a measly pile of 2.5 completed soakers. Those aren't going to last long. And all my secret plans for cute little booties, caps and blankies - ha! Barely more than a twinkle in my eye.

I don't even want to talk about all the unfinished non-knitting projects. I can't even seem to finish an email lately! What is going on? It really is very unlike me.

Does anyone have any hot tips for breaking out of the Unfinished Projects Funk?

quiet evening with vegetable stock

2009-04-15T20:18:00.005-05:00

Things have been pretty hectic at work lately. It means I have been treasuring the quiet time at home all the more.

Tonight HWWLLB was out for a meeting, and I had the house to myself. Simon and I hung out in the garden for a while, just puttering a bit, knocking butterfly eggs off the baby kale leaves and that sort of thing. I harvested a nice bunch of curly Russian kale for dinner and ate it with a plate of noodles with white bean sauce. It was so simple, and very satisfying.

Once it got dark, I decided to do a little sewing, since I've had a small pile of mending waiting for me for some time. While I did that, I also put on a big pot of vegetable stock. I really like making my own vegetable stock - the kind that comes in a box is so salty and flavorless, and so expensive. I know some people think it's a pain, but I find home made vegetable stock to be really easy, particularly just letting it simmer on the stove while you do other things (like sew or read a book). The way I make it - full of colorful veggies - is much richer than clear veggie broth, and extremely nutritious. It's a great substitute for chicken or even beef broth.

Here's how I make it:

rich vegetable stock

1 big freezer bag full of vegetable trimmings
1 big stock pot full of water
salt and pepper

Whenever you're cooking and have to cut up vegetables, peel carrots, roast squash, etc, keep the trimmings. Just keep putting them into a one-gallon freezer bag until the bag is full. Some of the kinds of things you should definitely save for your veggie stock are:

onion ends and bits
carrot peels
sweet potato peels
squash skins - particularly after roasting
broccoli stems
kale and collard stems
garlic
etc.

The only things I don't like to add are potato peels and bits, because they make the stock too starchy for my taste. Traditional veggie broth recipes usually call for little more than carrots, celery and onions. Making stock this way you get an extremely nutritious, colorful broth that makes your soups much richer. You can easily water it down if you want a lighter taste.

Anyhow, once the freezer bag fills up with scraps, it's time to make stock. Dump the contents of the bag into your biggest stock pot and cover with water, leaving a couple inches of space at the top of the pot. You can throw in whatever spices you like - I always put in plenty of salt and black peppercorns, and sometimes bay leaves, juniper berries, or whatever else looks good. Cover and bring to a boil.

Once the pot is boiling, give it a good stir and turn it down to low heat to simmer, covered, for at least 1.5 hours. I usually go to 2 hours. Once that's done, scoop out all your floppy veggies and toss them into the compost. If you want a more concentrated broth to thin with water when you use it, keep simmering and cooking it down til it reaches half its volume (this will also save some space in your freezer).

When you're done simmering, let the broth cool, then strain it and place it into freezer-safe containers (I love to recycle big yogurt containers for this - one container holds 4 cups of broth, which is just right for lots of soup recipes). Label with the date and put them in the freezer til you're ready to use them.

Of course, vegetable stock is great for making soup, but I also find that rice tastes incredible cooked in it instead of water. The same is true for quinoa, cous-cous and other grains, and I'm sure they are more nutritious cooked this way, too.

hot critter::two-toed sloth

2009-04-10T07:26:00.001-05:00

It's time for the next installment in the Hot Critter series, which has brought you such wonders as the Neuse River Water Dog and the Star-Nosed mole. Today's hot critter is the Two-Toed Sloth.

As you may already know, a creature appearing here in Hot Critter means that said creature is about to get knitted up into a cuddly home version, which is as true as ever in this case. HWWLLB just had a big birthday, and one of his gifts was a knitted, stuffed and felted sloth - his very favorite animal (I'm almost done with knitting it).

So why would someone have a sloth as their favorite animal? Where to begin??

There aren't very many sloths in the world - in quantity or in variety. There are only two species of the two-toed sloth, Choloepus Didactylus, and Choloepus hoffmanni, and just four species of her cousin the three-toed sloth. Sloths are reclusive and prefer remote areas far from humans - which is easy to understand. Because sloths move so incredibly slowly, the can't run away from logging trucks or wildlife poachers, so with habitat destruction eating away at their homes in South America, the sloths are slowly disappearing (they do everything slowly).

Sloths spend their lives hanging in trees, thanks to their powerful claws. They are also pretty good swimmers, but if for some reason they hit the ground, they are extremely vulnerable. Those awesome hanging legs are near useless on land, where they are easy prey for large cats like jaguars and ocelots.

The sloth is solitary, and takes life very slowly. She spends all her days hanging in trees, sleeping as much as 15 to 20 hours per day, and eating mostly juicy plants. She sleeps, eats, mates, births and rears her young all while hanging upside-down from trees, and baby sloths hang onto their mothers for several months after birth.

Believe it or not, there isn't much more than this that the world knows about sloths, two-toed or three-toed. Because of their solitary nature and preference for remote areas, sloths have been severely under-studied. There are a few institutions who rehabilitate injured sloths and study their behavior and biology - the Avia Rios Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica, and the UNAU Foundation in Columbia are two examples, and they deserve our support.

It seems like it's time to revoke the sloth's "deadly sin" status - living a life of quiet solitude, practicing vegetarianism (mostly) and staying away from troublesome people - sloths are a lot more like Buddhist monks than degenerate sinners. If you admire the sloth too, watch this space for the forthcoming sloth softie and knitting pattern, which I am currently working on - slooowly.

hello again

2009-04-06T21:32:00.003-05:00

dandelions in downtown raleigh

Sorry it's been so quiet here. My internet was down for a while. I finally have it fixed tonight and decided to just share some photos from the days and weeks since I last posted.

spring onions from the garden

happy little seedlings staying warm in the greenhouse

buds on the fig tree

wisteria buds on the railing behind our building at work

I hope everyone is enjoying some taste of spring. More soon.

first harvest

2009-03-29T20:21:00.003-05:00

Today was a beautiful mild, sunny spring Sunday. While I was out puttering in the garden, I cut some lettuce because the patch was getting very crowded, and realized that this bunch represents the first harvest of the 2009 season! Hooray!

I am really looking forward to a season full of fresh veggies from the garden and the CSA, especially now that it really, really feels like spring. It's been pouring rain for the last week, so dark and dreary. But you know what they say about spring showers... everything is so lush and bright outside now.

This was HWWLLB's birthday weekend (he is 40!), and I think he got Spring for his birthday. The sun peeked out for part of the day on Saturday, but today was just gorgeous and sunny, and we both spent a lot of time wandering through the yard marveling at how everything seemed to have exploded overnight.

The birthday weekend was great. Lots of good food and friends, lots of decadent treats, some board games, a walk at the botanical garden, and a wonderful afternoon half-working, half-lounging in the garden.

I got some weeding done, but the weeding was really just an excuse to poke around and see what was coming up. I just love the feeling when you pull away a big pile of chickweed, and underneath you find something great coming up, like the Spotted Joe Pye Weed that was hiding under mounds of chickweed today. The promise of warm summer days to come.

HWWLLB got another half-finished knitting project for his birthday, but he seemed happy with it despite my slowness (or maybe he's so used to getting unfinished knitted gifts that it doesn't faze him anymore).

His most favorite animal of all time is the sloth, and so I'm making him a life-sized, felted two-toed sloth. The body is just about done, and then I'll start on the legs (including giant claws!). It's been a lot of fun to knit so far, so I hope it will finish up relatively quickly. It's also been fun for me to learn about sloths in the process - and of course I'll be sharing some of what I learned with y'all in an upcoming post, because I do love to share when I learn about some adorable Endangered Ugly Thing. Nature is just so cool.

winter turns into spring

2009-03-21T07:55:00.006-05:00

Since the last time I wrote, which was a snow day, winter has careened headlong into spring and back again a couple of times. But I'm finally starting to believe that spring is really here. The birds are making nests all over, and our greenhouse is loaded with little plants almost ready to go into the garden.

I've mostly been doing indoor things, like knitting and re-arranging & re-organizing the house. We moved my work/craft space from one side of the house to the other. I used to have a room all to myself, which I loved very very much. My new workspace is in the back room of the house, which is large, open and sunny, with lots of windows.

It's great, except that the big back room also contains our dining area, and my workspace is visible from lots of other places, so I feel compelled to organize it well and keep it neat, which does not come very naturally to me.

My dad helped by building some shelves, and cleaning out a ton of craft supplies and old papers helped a lot too. A paper and craft purge feels really good once in a while. And we found the funniest things. I had a decrepit cardboard box stuffed with paper and photos from high school. There were hundreds of little notes that other kids and I had passed back and forth to each other in class (why did I keep these things??). At first my sister and I found them uproariously funny, but after the third or fourth note, high school drama gets a bit monotonous.

I am going to DIE DIE DIE! Some one can't keep their mouth shut and now everyone knows who I like including Dave M, Tracey, Tom S and C.S.!!!!! And HE knows! All I did was tell one person who I thought I could trust and now everyone including my crush knows everything! My life is ending!!!!!!

...etc.

We wound up throwing out the whole box, just rescuing a few photos first. I also found all my journals since college or so (hopefully I burned all the high school journals in a previous purge), and I put them in storage boxes in the attic, along with photo albums going back to elementary school.

I think this is what they call spring cleaning. So far it hasn't involved much soap and water, but egad, so much dust! Getting rid of dusty piles of things has got to be one of the most therapeutic activities there is.

By the way, thanks to all of you who suggested knitting up some soakers with my yarn leftovers - what a great idea! I do have a lot of Cascade 220 around, so I've made a couple of wrap-style soakers and one of the Butt Knits variety, which is coming along splendidly. They are a fun quick project to work in between other knits, and they do use up the Cascade leftovers quite brilliantly. But I am on to a rather ambitious knitted toy today... it's a birthday present which I can't imagine I'll get done in time, but I'll post updates once the recipient gets his prize (finished or not). It fits into the Endangered Ugly Things category, so this toy is either going to be really cute or really weird.

another snow day! toys!

2009-03-02T12:39:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it. A snow day in March!

Most winters we are lucky to get even one little dusting of snow - this is our third snowstorm of the year! And in March, no less!

Truthfully, I am itching to get the garden going and to spend breezy warm spring days outside, but I can't complain about snow. It's so magical and wonderful.

Yesterday it rained all day, and we spent the day tearing our house apart, de-cluttering, re-arranging, and trying to make room for another human being in our stuffed-full little house. My workspace is moving across the house, and I had occasion to look through my yarn stash with fresh eyes.

I tend to keep my yarn stash to a minimum - I am pretty good about using what I buy and not buying stuff I don't plan to use anytime soon (except for the sock yarn - let's not talk about that. It's an illness). So I was pretty pleased to see that my most recent de-stashing effort had been pretty well maintained.

But goodness, do I have a lot of single and partial skeins! As we cleaned and organized and re-arranged yesterday, I was mulling over what to do with them all, and I'm thinking that perhaps this spring will become a festival of knitted toys at my house. I have more than enough remnants for a whole ecosystem of little critters, populated by stuffies, woodins and owls, tended by a little rainbow fleet of Korknisser.

Any favorite toy ideas to suggest? I'm definitely hoping to design a few new ones, too. Send your requests!

cardi revision

2009-02-25T07:31:00.005-05:00

Just a quick note to say that if you're knitting the scrappy cardi, I posted a minor revision this morning.

Ever since I posted the pattern on Friday, something about the sizing had been bothering me. I had finished writing and editing the pattern on Wednesday and set it up to publish automatically on Friday morning, while I was away at a conference. The conference kept me distracted enough that I wasn't able to put my finger on what was bothering me until this week. But I realized eventually that it needed just a little more ease.

I hate when I do that. I know that they're free patterns and everything, but after a couple of years of this amateur designing, I am finally coming to realize that I should "finish" the pattern and let it sit for a week or two and marinate in my mind before I hit publish - just to let any kinks unravel themselves in the mean time.

Anyhow, in the shower I realized that the solution to the ease was very simple - all it needed was one extra increase round before dividing for the sleeves, and it would be just fine. Whew! That was a relief. Bad enough to have jumped the gun on publishing something, but at least it didn't need a major overhaul.

At any rate, in case anyone has already cast on for this project, you don't need to do anything differently, until you get to the final increase round before dividing for the sleeves. Just print the revised version of the pattern that went up this morning, and you're all set.

My apologies - and thanks to all of you for coming along on this bumpy ride learning to design cute things that other people can actually knit. I am always amazed that anyone else wants to knit the same things I do. Thanks for letting me experiment in such a supportive test lab!

free pattern friday: scrappy socky stripey cardi

2009-02-20T00:27:00.006-05:00

This baby jacket is a great way to use up leftover sock yarn and make a fun little sweater at the same time. This pattern uses three different leftover yarns – one is a solid, one is variegated, and one is self-striping. You can mix yours up however you like. I also varied the width of my stripes as I knitted – make yours as varied or as regular as you like (you don’t have to follow the charts provided below). You can hardly go wrong! Just make sure that your sock yarns are all the same weight and fiber content (more or less). Using superwash yarn is a good idea to keep this little garment easy-care.

[Revised 2.25.09 to add one increase row to body]

materials

leftover sock yarn in 3 colors
color A (solid) – up to 200 yd (shown: Tess Super Sock & Baby)
color B (self-striping) – up to 50 yd (shown: Regia Kaffe Fassett Landscape in color “Caribbean”)
color C (variegated) – up to 50 yd (shown: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in color “Gold Hill”)
size 2 /3.0mm needles (circular and DPN)
size 1 /2.5mm needles (circular)
size 1 crochet hook (2.35 mm)
2 buttons (3/4 inch)
sewing needle & thread
tapestry needle

gauge: 7 stitches and 9 rows / inch

size: 0-6 (6-12, 12-18, 24) months

finished measurements:
chest circumference: 18.5 (19, 20.5, 21.5) inches
back waist length: 10 (11, 11.5, 12) inches
sleeve: 6.5 (7.5, 8, 8.5) inches

stripe patterns
(as shown in photos – make yours however you like!)

color key:

yoke stripes:

body stripes:

sleeve stripes:

knitting instructions

Using larger needles and color A, CO 2 (3, 3, 4), PM, CO 16 (17, 17, 18), PM, CO 24 (28, 30, 32), PM, CO 16 (17, 17, 18), PM, CO 2 (3, 3, 4).
You will have cast on a total of 60 (68, 70, 76) st.

Row 1: Kfb of first stitch, * K to 1 st before marker, Kfb, slip marker, Kfb. Repeat from * to final stitch. Kfb of final stitch. (10 st inc.)
Row 2: Knit across.

Repeat these last 2 rows until you have 34 (38, 40, 44) st between the back markers.

Next row: *K to 1 st before marker, Kfb, slip marker, Kfb. Repeat from * to final stitch. CO 1 (2, 3, 1) stitches to tip of needle.
Next row: Knit across. CO 1 (2, 3, 1) stitches to tip of needle. You will have 120 (130, 134, 146) st total.

Next row: Work as for previous increase row, without adding the cast on to the end. (8 stitches inc.)
Next row: Knit across.

Repeat these last 2 rows until you have 60 (62, 66, 70) st between the back markers.

divide for sleeves

K to first marker, remove marker, place shoulder st on a length of scrap yarn.
CO 6 (7, 7, 7) st to tip of needle, remove next marker, join to back stitches.
K to next marker, remove marker, place shoulder st on a length of scrap yarn.
CO 6 (7, 7, 7) st to tip of needle, remove next marker, join to remaining front stitches.
K to end.

Complete your color repeat in garter stitch.

Change to color A and stockinette stitch, knitting the body in varying stripes of colors A and C until the body measures 9.75 (10.75, 11.25, 11.75) inches. Change to color C and knit 4 rows in garter stitch. BO.

sleeves

Place the held stitches onto your DPN’s. Using the correct color to maintain your color repeat from the body stitches, pick up and knit the 6 (7, 7, 7) armpit stitches you cast on when dividing for sleeves. Place marker.

You will complete your color repeat in garter stitch, just as you did for the body. This time, when you change to stockinette stitch, you’ll be knitting in alternating rows of colors A and B, starting with color A.

At the same time:
K 3 rows.
Decrease row: K1, SSK, K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1. (2 st dec).
Next three rows: Knit.

Continue in this manner, decreasing 2 stitches on every fourth round until 40 (42, 44, 48) stitches remain. Do not decrease any further.

Knit until sleeve measures 6.25 (7.25, 7.75, 8.25) inches.
Change to color C, K 4 rows in garter stitch. BO loosely.

button bands

Using smaller needles and color C, pick up 3 out of every 4 stitches along the right front selvedge (about 70, 78, 82, 86 stitches).
Knit 3 more rows in garter stitch. BO.
Repeat for left side.

collar

Starting at the right front, using color C and smaller needles, pick up and knit the collar stitches.

Pick up and knit 14 (16, 17, 18) stitches from the right front, 16 (17, 17, 18) stitches from the right shoulder, 24 (28, 30, 32) stitches across the back, 16 (17, 17, 18) stitches from the left shoulder, and 14 (16, 17, 18) stitches from the left front.

Turn work, K 3 more rows in garter stitch.
Final row: K2tog, bind off all stitches until 2 st rem, SSK, BO.

buttons

Sew first button onto right side of button band, 1/2 inch down from neck line. Sew second button 2 inches below first button (measuring from centers of buttons).

button loops

Using crochet hook and color C, attach the yarn to the left button band on the wrong side of the sweater, being sure to place the loop where it will line up with the first button.
Make a chain of 11 ch with your crochet hook (or the proper length to fit your button). Attach chain to back side of button band, secure and weave in ends.
Repeat for the second loop, lining up with the second button.

finishing

Weave in loose ends. Block sweater into shape.

important notice: This is a free pattern and you are welcome to use it for all the non-commercial purposes you like. However, you may not reproduce this pattern to sell, and you may not sell what you make with it. You may donate what you make with it to charity, and you may use it for charity fundraisers only if 100% of the proceeds are donated to the charity (and by charity I don't mean your kid's college fund). Thanks for understanding!

sorry, knitters!

2009-02-15T14:33:00.004-05:00

totally autumn in progress

Oh my gosh, I have been so out of it lately. I had what seemed like a million emails piled up in my in-box from knitters in need of answers, and finally got some time to answer them today after letting them go way too long.

I feel so guilty when people write in with questions about my free patterns, and I take forever to answer them. Some questions are quick to answer, but some are brain-teasers and require some quiet time and perhaps even a calculator to answer... and that can take me a while to find. Next thing you know - a whole bunch of unanswered emails.

Sometimes I wish that knitting were my job, so that I could be justified in spending my days with hands full of yarn, dreaming up new designs and casting on sections of existing designs to be able to answer people's questions in a clear fashion and a reasonable time-frame... alas, my job is something totally different. And actually, I am very glad for that. I don't think I would enjoy knitting and designing nearly as much if I were trying to make a living at it. I think that's why I've always avoided publishing anywhere but here on my own blog.

I have to offer my thanks to Gloria and Wendy, who alerted me to a serious typo in the Super-Natural Stripes pattern, which I fixed today. My apologies to all of you Daily Knitters who knocked your heads against the wall trying to make the largest size.

Fooling around on the Free Pattern Fridays page made me realize how long it's been since I posted a pattern - not since last June! Oh, for shame! I must fix this state of affairs toute suite. I see lots of baby patterns in this blog's future...

Most of my knitting time lately has been taken up with my green version of Totally Autumn, which went into hibernation last autumn when I didn't even come close to finishing it in time to be a first anniversary gift to HWWLLB. I pulled it out again recently thinking I could finish it up in time for Valentine's Day. Ha ha! Not quite. But I cant see the light at the end of the tunnel now... I am working on the last long lace repeat, and I bet I can get it done in time to use it for at least a few cold nights of couch-based snuggling before spring gets here.

my goofy valentine

2009-02-13T11:47:00.000-05:00

I must admit to liking Valentine's Day.

It's not the romance or the compulsory gift-buying - those are lame. I just like the love part. I really like sending goofy Valentines to my friends, my grandmother, co-workers... It's nice to have an excuse to say "I love you" (or at least "I like you a lot") to people who might appreciate hearing it.

As for the romance part... it's also nice to say "I love you" to the person/people who really need to hear it from you, but hopefully they're getting that in regular doses. For me, Valentine's Day is an annual excuse to be corny, and deep in my soul I am really a very corny person.

This year I made some valentines, and I also bought a box of those ridiculous children's valentines that I think are intended to be given out to classmates. That's what I like to give out at the office. It tickles me to no end to have my co-workers come in and find a puppy valentine on their desk that says something like "It would be RUFF if you weren't my Valentine!". Last year I gave them Hello Kitty valentines, and one office-mate still has hers tacked to the corkboard.

In other warm fuzzy news... I am drooling for the pretty new Blue Sky Alpacas colors over at kpixie. I could knit with Blue Sky Alpacas yarn all day long and never get bored of it. I want to knit myself a big red alpaca-silk valentine. In fact, I can hardly imagine a better way to spend this Saturday.

new duds

2009-02-05T07:44:00.010-05:00

Check out what I got! Bliss spruced up some thrifted maternity clothes for me!

This whole maternity clothes thing has been rather difficult for me, as a greenie who hates buying new things. Some folks might remember that last year I decided not to buy any new clothes all year. I took the Wardrobe Refashion 6-month pledge in February and then re-upped when it expired in the summer. I had a couple of stumbles (damned shoes!), but I was really cruising all year with a $0 credit card balance and steadily dropping student loan debt. I made a serious effort all year to include all kinds of stuff beyond clothes in the non-buying pledge, which helped a lot.

I am proud of having paid my student loans down quite a bit last year through shopping abstinence. But towards the end of 2008 my non-buying pledge started to take a serious hit when the emergence of a baby-bump threw my wardrobe for a loop. Oh well... It was good while it lasted.

The long and short of it is, I bought some (shudder) maternity pants. Ack, it's hard to even type such frumpy words! Several pairs. Also some brown boots became instantly, deeply necessary in a way I still can't rationally explain. I was really surprised - maybe a bit disappointed in myself - at how much the early changes in my body and wardrobe made me feel insecure and alienated from myself. And at how buying some new clothes soothed that - not completely, but a little, and pretty concretely. As an anti-consumerist, it pains me to even type these words.

Luckily, the thrift store is my friend. I have been there a lot this winter. The thrift store has let me indulge my sudden interest in bright colors, my itch to wear dresses all the time (free around the middle - woo hoo!), and my need for longer and longer tops. At the thrift store I've also found some maternity clothes, since the Goodwill where I shop has a lot of Gap and Target overstock (nice, huh?).

That's where Bliss came in. She is one of my favorite local craftista artists. I was finding maternity clothes generally to be depressingly mainstream and boring. Bliss takes thrifted garments and transforms them to fun, funky, one-of-a-kind pieces of wearable art, and I have a few of her pieces in my closet already. She was really sweet to take on a custom order, and now I have some funky new big-belly clothes!

I love the yo-yo detailing on the shorts - these used to be ugly sparkle-pinstriped navy blue dressy trousers.

This used to be a dull brown gap tunic. How great is it now??

Thankfully, I am much more at peace with my body now that I've had some more time to get used to it looking so different. And I have to say, the custom duds don't hurt with that, either. I think I'm going to try some embroidery and appliqué of my own on some of these other little numbers around here.

things i want to knit

2009-02-03T00:02:00.003-05:00

It must be time for the change of seasons at the yarn designers. Pretty things keep catching my eye and making me dream of staying home all day with a hot cup of tea and the knitting needles click-clicking.

Last fall I started a vest for HWWLLB that went nowhere, partly because I was making up the pattern as I went along, and I didn't really have a vision for the vest that I was excited about. Then I saw the Angularity Vest from the new issue of Knit Circus:

elizabeth morrison's angularity vest

Isn't it snappy? This is so much better than the je ne sais quoi that I sort of had in mind last fall. If only there were time to knit this for Valentine's Day (I am definitely not that fast).

Also, I am stuck on open-front cardigans lately. I am really into the Open Cardi and the Empire Waist Cardi from Classic Elite's new spring 09 catalog, which is full of enticements. These two cardis unfortunately remind me of the Minimalist Cardigan that I started over a year ago for myself and never finished. I really should dig that out of the stash and finish it before I make something practically identical in another color. Another color, and another totally different and enticing yarn...

There's also this little bag of Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed organic cotton yarn sitting in the stash calling out to me. It would make a great little baby/kid garment, like a jumper or a little girl's A-line spring jacket. That would be fun to make.

Then there's also the oodles of things in my Ravelry queue... and on and on. I'm going to need to take a leave from work to do half the knitting I want to do for this spring. But it is nice to have ambitions, isn't it?

By the way, thanks so much for all of your congrats and thoughtful comments about the new baby on the way. I am excited about it, and also very grateful for the supportive community we have around us (geographically around, and on the big internet-world around). This is going to be a lucky baby.

new life

2009-01-27T18:39:00.005-05:00

2009 is going to bring some incredible changes to our world - to our big shared world, and to my little personal one as well.

We have a baby Pea on the way.

I can't tell you how much just knowing and feeling this fact has already changed my outlook on the world, myself, and even my knitting (not to mention my diet and sleeping habits). I think these are all things that I'll be sharing with you via the blog, so I wanted to share the big news, and give you a preview of things to come. There will be more knitting of course, and I imagine some exploration of how to be creative and sustainable in raising a little one.

Other things I probably won't be sharing as much about are the very personal things - about my family and the baby itself. Y'all probably already know that this isn't really a personal blog, and that is in part a reflection of my cautious approach to the internet. I feel it now more than ever - and I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone that there won't be any pictures of my uterus or lists of baby names (I know some of you are sighing with relief!).

But there are definitely lots more baby knits in store.

This fall was the first trimester, and I found it very difficult to knit. I could probably count the total stitches I knitted this fall without too much trouble. It seemed that along with all my physical energy, all my creative energy had been diverted to this one, all-consuming purpose. Now that I am comfortably situated in the second trimester, knitting has returned, though I found that I got rusty in my hiatus, and my fingers still seem frustratingly slow.

Nonetheless, I did get started on a teeny sweater made from sock yarn leftovers. I'm making this up as I go along, and I think it will be an easy pattern to share when it's finished, maybe with some matching booties.

So, it's off to the stack of books by my bed, which I seem to fall into by 9:30 every night with great regularity these days. We are counting down to May 31, when the little one is supposed to make an appearance. I have a feeling I need to cram as much knitting and sleeping in now as I can.

say amen!

2009-01-20T17:29:00.004-05:00

My favorite part of the inaugural ceremony today was Reverend Joseph Lowery's wonderful benediction.

I wrote yesterday about how much looking back we've done at our civil rights journey to this day; Lowery's benediction seemed to me to be a look forward, at the world our children might inherit from us, if we rise to the call to be our better selves that rang from his words, and particularly from the words he borrowed from Lift Every Voice and Sing.

Here's the text of his beautiful (and funny) benediction, in case you missed it:

"God of our weary years, god of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our god, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.
Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day.

We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.

He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.

Our faith does not shrink though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you are able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.

And while we have sown the seeds of greed -- the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.

With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen."

AUDIENCE: Amen.

LOWERY: Say Amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

- Reverend Joseph E. Lowery, co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, delivering the Inaugural Benediction on January 20, 2009.

where we've come from

2009-01-19T00:49:00.007-05:00

It is a beautiful coincidence that the inauguration of our nation's first black President happens to coincide with the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr's legacy in the United States. It seems that Americans are doing a great deal of looking back just now at the civil rights journey we have walked together as a nation, at who made this day in history possible.

Usually on the King holiday I post a speech or sermon by Dr. King. (If you are looking for some of his words today, visit the King Institute's web page, or check out one of his wonderful books from the library). Over the summer I read Strength to Love, as well as the Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr, and found them both incredibly inspiring.

Through that reading I learned a great deal about where Dr. King's roots lie, particularly his guiding principle of social change through non-violence. King was profoundly inspired by the philosophy and political organizing of Gandhi, who led a non-violent movement for independence in India that revolutionized King's thinking about how to achieve freedom in the United States.

So in the spirit of this looking back today, I thought I'd share a few words of the mahatma, Mohandas Gandhi.

"The fact that there are so many men still alive in the world shows that it is based not on the force of arms but on the force of truth or love. Therefore, the greatest and most unimpeachable evidence of the success of this force is to be found in the fact that, in spite of the wars of the world, it still lives on.

"Thousands, indeed tens of thousands, depend for their existence on a very active working of this force. Little quarrels of millions of families in their daily lives disappear before the exercise of this force. Hundreds of nations live in peace. History dies not and cannot take note of this fact. History is really a record of every interruption of the even working of the force of love or of the soul. Two brothers quarrel; one of them repents and re-awakens the love that was lying dormant in him; the two again begin to live in peace; nobody takes note of this. But if the two brothers, through the intervention of solicitors or some other reason take up arms or go to law – which is another form of the exhibition of brute force,their doings would be immediately noticed in the press, they would be the talk of their neighbours and would probably go down to history. And what is true of families and communities is true of nations. There is no reason to believe that there is one law for families and another for nations. History, then, is a record of an interruption of the course of nature. Soul-force, being natural, is not noted in history."

-Mohandas K. Gandhi, from Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule), 1919.

If you haven't seen the film Gandhi, it's a wonderful way to understand the universality of the human struggle for freedom, and the spectacular power of love and non-violence to bring about that freedom. And if (like me) you are a community organizer, you will probably be awe-struck at Gandhi's brilliant campaigns, just as you would be by the genius of King's organizing campaigns from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the Voting Rights Act (just as you have been by Barack Obama's meteoric campaign to the White House).

We are at another crossroads on the long, hard road to human freedom. I believe that it's worth studying the philosophies and the methods of those who have led us here.

swapping seeds

2009-01-13T04:22:00.001-05:00

Sunday night we got together with some gardeney friends to share seeds and ideas for our gardens this year. I am so excited about getting my hands into the dirt, I can hardly wait! Alas, it's still January.

But we had fun and warmed ourselves with mulled cider and cake while we traded seed packets and ideas.

There were lots of offerings: seeds people had saved from their best-producing plants this past year, and 3/4-full seed packets left over from the season. I really liked the lessons that came along with the seeds; hearing about everyone's experiences with different plants was so much more informative than the glossy seed packets that sing out to you from the rack at the garden store, insinuating beautiful bounty.

Everyone had a different way of approaching the swap: PeaceNic had a checklist with her desired vegetables all listed out, so she only had a couple of things left to buy on her list once we were finished. We had already ordered our dream plants from Seed Savers and were looking to round out the garden with some fun items that others had enjoyed. Other folks hadn't really started the garden plans yet, and getting some great gems from the swap was a way to get them going.

I just wish we'd held the swap before we placed our seed orders for the year! I think I would have saved some money... ah well, a lesson for next year. I think seed-swapping in January is going to become a new ritual at our house.

On Saturday we had made a run down to my parents' farm for a load of horse manure, so we were also able to give everyone a party gift for attending: bags of poo. Yummy! Spring, here we come!

knits past and future

2009-01-05T01:24:00.003-05:00

click over to the flickr page for specific project info

The 2008 knit parade! Unfinished projects not included...

These are most of the knitting projects I managed to finish in 2008. I am noticing a strong footwear theme... Here are some of the other statistics I noticed:

10 out of 12 projects were gifts for someone
6 of 12 projects include the color green
5 of 12 projects are for babes
9 of 12 projects are made primarily of wool
6 0f 12 projects were designed by me

What do all these wooly green gifts say about me and my knitting? What lessons should I draw in choosing projects for 2009?

I think my favorite projects, as far as knitting enjoyment, were the Cowgirl Butterfly Astronaut vest, and needle-felting the little carrot onto the Lunch Bag. I also enjoyed much of the Plum Blouse, though it took longer than my standard favorite projects, being grown-up sized and all.

So as for the year ahead... I'm planning on designing plenty more baby and kids' stuff. I also want to knit a Dr. G's Memory Vest for HWWLLB. And I want to experiment some more with sustainable yarns, like Habu Paper Ring and recycled sweaters. I also felt a real lack of toy-knitting in 2008. That must be remedied this year. I'm also totally in love with needle-felting, so I expect it will be popping up on more of my knits in the future.

For those of you who've knitted some of my free patterns, what do you want to see more of this year? I don't write up the patterns for everything I design, since that seems to take more brain-power than the knitting, most times, so I'd love to know what kinds of designs ought to get a front seat on the pattern-writing train. (Front seat on a train? Did that metaphor make any sense?)

I also plan on mixing more metaphors this year, and writing even longer run-on sentences than some of the doozies I wrote last year, if you get my drift, and I know you do, ha ha, so watch out.

I'm excited to see what the rest of you knitters have got in mind for the year ahead. Any special inaugural celebration knits in the works I wonder?

free pattern FAQ

2009-01-03T18:15:00.004-05:00

I decided it was time to make a help page for knitters who have questions about my free patterns. Of course, you can still email me with your specific questions - and I'll be as timely as I can in responding. But chances are, you'll find what you need to know on this page. I hope that some of you find this help page useful! If there's anything else you'd like to see here, please let me know in the comments.

Table of contents

What does this abbreviation mean??
How do you do a [insert name of technique here]?
Sizing: How do I know which size will fit?
Quickie Cowl FAQ
Organic Guernsey FAQ
Common questions on top-down knitting (includes Mossy Jacket, Organic Guernsey and Super-Natural Stripes)
How-to's and tutorials

What does this abbreviation mean??
I use standard abbreviations in all my patterns, but this may be one you haven't run across before. Check the Yarn Standards abbreviations guide, or the Knitty abbreviations guide (scroll down).

How do you do a [insert name of technique here]?
My favorite resource for learning a new technique is KnittingHelp.com. The video illustrations are wonderful - the next best thing to having a friend show you how to do it.

Also, if you've been knitting a little while and you know you're going to stick with it, I'd recommend investing in a big, handy book full of knitting techniques. These are easy to find used on the web and in bookstores. There are plenty to choose from, but two I have at my house are the Big Book of Knitting by Katharina Buss, and the Knitter's Handbook, by Montse Stanley. They really come in handy when you're adapting a pattern to your own liking, or when a designer is skimpy on the directions.

Sizing: How do I know which size will fit?

All my designs use standard sizing from the American Craft Yarn Council (sounds very official, doesn't it?). Unless they state otherwise, most designers in the U.S. follow these guidelines, so you should find some consistency among different patterns. To see what the standards are based on, check out this sizing guide.

Which size should I knit for my child who is __ months/years old?

The age-related sizes that I provide are a little bit misleading, since every kid is different and grows at a different rate. Your two year-old might be wearing a 4, while someone else's 4 year-old might swim in a size 3. The sizes are based on standard sizing from the American Craft Yarn Council. The best way to know what size to knit for a baby or child is to measure his or her chest circumference. Add two inches for ease, and that chest size tells you which size sweater to knit. I usually provide the chest measurement in the pattern, but if I've overlooked it (sorry!), check the Craft Yarn Council's sizing guide for babies & children. When in doubt, go up a size! In the mean time, I'm going to go make sure there are chest measurements on all my patterns...

What size should I knit for me? I am between the sizes you provided.

No body conforms to a standard size. If you happen to be a perfect size medium, count yourself lucky. No matter what the garment, you will most likely need to adapt a knitting pattern to fit you well. The American Craft Yarn Council's sizing guide shows you how to measure yourself to determine your sizing. There are lots of instructions out there about how to adapt patterns to fit you - making the chest larger or smaller, adding darts, shortening or lengthening the sleeves or the sweater length. Check out the instructions in Stitch & Bitch Nation by Debbie Stoller, or Jenna Wilson's wonderful column in Knitty, Thinking Beyond the Pattern. As your knitting progresses, it's important to learn how to adapt patterns to fit well. Nothing's worse than spending months knitting a project that turns out looking like a muu-muu when you put it on.

A related question: Will this style of sweater look good on me?

This is a critically important question that is not so much about knitting, as it is about understanding your body shape and what will flatter it (and what will look awful). I always get depressed when I see someone's project on Ravelry, and they write about all the fun they had knitting a garment, only to find that the style didn't exactly flatter their figure. You can avoid this tragic and all-too-common problem by spending a little time with some fashionistas. The best in the business (I.M.H.O.) are Stacy and Clinton at What Not to Wear. There are some helpful tips on their website, but I adore their book, Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style that's Right for Your Body. Never knit another clunker!

Quickie Cowl FAQ
The directions for the Modified Lace Rib show only Row 1, Row 2 and Row 4. What the heck do I do on Row 3? How do I "repeat these 4 rows" when there are only three given??

Check it out: Row 1 is more than it seems. Row 1 and all WS rows: *K2, P3. Repeat from * to end. K2. "Row 1 and all WS rows" means that on every wrong-side row (in this case, all odd rows), you do the same thing. Row 3 is one of those WS rows.

Which set of directions do I follow? Do I dig right into the Lace directions or follow the second set, ie., First row: K3…. Or do I start with the directions after the CO and then follow the lace pattern? What am I overlooking?

I can't figure out the pattern either. Could you please write it out as Row 1, Row 2, etc. without the separate directions for "modified lace rib" and "knit the Cowl"?

I'm so sorry to torture you. This cowl is so simple, and I had to go and complicate the directions. Here's the quickie answer: You do both at the same time.

This is a standard convention in knitting directions when you're doing a fancy stitch pattern, particularly lace: the fancy stitch pattern is spelled out at the start of the directions. Part of the thinking there is to let you knit a swatch of it and see how it goes, maybe even check your gauge in the stitch pattern, before you try knitting the garment itself. Then, you get to the part of the directions where it says "Cast on..." and you actually start the body of the garment. The directions tell you to "Knit in patt" when it's time to use that fancy stitch pattern. No matter which row of the garment you happen to be knitting when that stitch pattern starts, you start with Row 1 of the stitch pattern and go from there. In this case, you just so happen to start row 1 on row 1.

I know this seems unnecessarily complicated, but it builds character. Also, it's good preparation for making a sweater or some other item with a fancy stitch pattern, when you'll have to use directions like this again. I promise it gets easier.

Organic Guernsey FAQ
These directions are confusing! It says to knit stockinette stitch in the sleeve sections, and seed stitch in the front & back sections. What does this refer to?

The front and back sections of the sweater are knit in seed stitch, and the sleeves are knit in stockinette. When you knit from the top down, your knitting is divided (by markers) into sections that correspond to:

front left panel, left sleeve, back, right sleeve, front right panel

So for this sweater, the stitch pattern through these sections corresponds:

seed stitch, stockinette, seed stitch, stockinette, seed stitch

Just make sure that on the individual stitches before and after each stitch marker (ie, the stitches you are increasing on), always knit them (don’t ever purl them) - even when you're working that section in seed stitch. That will keep everything looking tidy.

Common questions for top-down knitting
(Including the Mossy Jacket, Organic Guernsey and Super-Natural Stripes)

At first, the directions say that on an increase row, 10 st will be increased (9 st if you're knitting the Mossy Jacket). Later it says only 8 st increased. What's up with that?

At first, you are knitting into the front and back of the first stitch, then into the front and back of the stitches before AND after each stitch marker, and knit into the front and back of the last stitch. You do this on every right-side row. This makes the neckline grow to the correct proportions.

Once the sweater is big enough, with the given number of stitches in the back section, you will not increase into the first and last stitch anymore. you’ll just knit them as usual, but continue increasing before and after every stitch marker. At this point your neckline has met in the middle, so you don't need to be increasing there anymore.

Top-down knitting is the greatest! Why isn't every sweater pattern written this way?

I know, right? Sadly, most patterns are written for flat knitting that needs to be sewn up afterwards. Yawn. If you want to try your hand at transforming such patterns to top-down, or if you want to make up your own top-down designs, check out the final word on the matter, Barbara Walker's wonderful book, Knitting from the Top. I just love it! Also, there are some other designers out there who like to work top-down. Check out patterns for grown-ups and kids by Wendy Bernard, and women's garments from the lovely ladies at Zephyr Style.

How-to's and tutorials
Tutorial for top-down knitters: fancy stitch patterns
How to maintain a fancy stitch pattern across the raglan seams while knitting a sweater from the top down.

How to cast on a bazillion stitches
Keeping track when you have a whole lotta stitches to cast on.

Looking for more pattern help? Let me know in the comments below.

new day, new year

2009-01-01T13:42:00.003-05:00

Welcome to a new year.

The sky is brilliant blue today. We took a walk to visit the great blue herons in the swamp near our house and had fun getting bright red noses.

Today I ate lots of tasty leftovers from our New Year's Eve feast with my family, and I think I'll be settling in soon for an afternoon of knitting and listening to music - and perhaps a little cookie baking.

I hope your new year is off to a wonderful start. May it be your best yet.

making ornaments

2008-12-22T00:48:00.004-05:00

Last year I first tried my hand at making some découpage ornaments.

This is a fancy French way of saying that I glued some stuff on glass balls from the store. No, the balls weren't hand-felted from locally-raised sheeps' fleece or anything, they were just on sale after Christmas. They also turn up in the thrift stores right after Christmas, which is a good way to both be more green, and to stock up if you're one to plan holiday projects 11 months in advance.

Anyhow, last year I really had a great time with it, and decided to do it again this year. This is a fun project for one evening at home with some hot chocolate and a new album of holiday songs. It's a very kid-friendly project, as well.

Last year I made a set of Darth Vader ornaments for a friend, made with dark purple glass balls, and Vader pictures from a comic book. This year I decided to use drawings I'd done myself of little crafty scenes, and a couple of boxes of silver balls, to make ornaments as little gifts for my friends.

Here's everything you need for this project:

1. A box of ornaments; 2. A set of small drawings (small enough to fit on your ornaments, which is pretty small); 3. Mod Podge glue and a paintbrush for applying it; 4. Colored pencils or crayons; 5. Scissors; 6. Glitter (optional, but why would anyone skip the glitter??).

Just color the little pictures and cut them out carefully. Don't use markers to color them - the glue could make the colors run. Crayons or colored pencils work best. When trimming the pictures, I like to cut away as much white space as I can - this eliminates paper wrinkles when you glue them onto the ornaments.

Paint the back of a picture with Mod Podge, and then carefully place it on the ornament. Don't worry if it doesn't lie flat at first. Paint over the top of the picture, smoothing it down as you go. There will probably be some minor wrinkles - just try to keep them in the blank spaces rather than in the drawing itself. Flatten them down with the handle of your paintbrush, and make sure that everything is lightly and smoothly painted over with glue.

Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Really, a light touch is plenty here. The ones I did when I was generous with the glitter don't look half as good.

That's it! You can do a whole box of ornaments on one mug of hot chocolate if you're quick.

seeds

2008-12-20T08:31:00.003-05:00

I know I'm supposed to be working on Christmas presents, but yesterday the Seed Savers' Exchange catalog came in the mail.

little sprouts getting started in the greenhouse last February

It made me really miss working in the garden, and it made me start fantasizing about getting the garden ready for spring, and what varieties I want to try to grow this year. Listen to some of these:

Charantais melon
"Considered by many to be the most divine and flavorful melon in the world. Smooth round melons mature to a creamy grayish-yellow with green stripes. Sweet, juicy, salmon-colored flesh... Ripe melons have a heavenly fragrance."

Federle tomato
"Beautiful, blemish-free 6-7"-long paste tomato, rich full flavor unlike most other banana pepper-shaped tomatoes. Productive plants. Very few seeds, excellent for processing, especially good for salsa."

I will definitely be ordering both of those. And the names of these varieties! There are tomatoes with names like Hillbilly Potato Leaf, Hungarian Heart, Red Fig, Nebraska Wedding, Blondkopfchen, and Wapsinicon Peach; corn varieties called Bloody Butcher, Strawberry Popcorn and Blue Jade; and beans called Dragon's Tongue, Charlevoix and Tiger's Eye.

Who can think about wrapping Christmas presents when there are garden plans to be drawn?

Come to think of it, seed packets would make some pretty great stocking stuffers... I wonder how long these take to deliver. Who wouldn't like to find a Rat-Tailed Radish in their Christmas stocking?

absence

2008-12-13T00:21:00.001-05:00

Sorry for all the nothing emanating from here lately.

This has been my busiest December ever! It's mainly my job keeping me hopping, but some other things, too. We've hosted a bunch of stuff at our house -- Thanksgiving for 14, a going-away party and a few houseguests here and there... but there has been a little fun-time mixed in.

Last weekend I took a lovely trip down to Seagrove, North Carolina's pottery capital, to see what some of our favorite potters were up to.

Ben Owen was bringing scads of Chinese Red pieces into the shop in preparation for a kiln opening this weekend.

We stopped at another kiln opening for David Stuempfele, whose work I had never seen before. I loved it! His pieces are huge, unglazed, wood-fired, organic and so inviting.

I wish I had a giant house in an open field in the middle of a forest, which would be very spare and have his beautiful pieces placed here and there, ever so perfectly, all around the space, indoors and out. If you're in North Carolina, David is having another kiln sale this weekend - it's worth the trip. [more photos from his kiln]

On a sad note, we went by Chris Luther's - one of our favorite potters - and learned that his studio had burned down in a fire during the Celebration of Seagrove Potters a few weeks ago. He still had a few pieces for sale in the shop (and we bought all we could!). Chris and his wife told us about how the community has pulled together to help them out. Ben Owen is letting Chris use his kiln to complete a commission he was working on during the fire. We were really inspired to hear about how all the potters in the neighborhood were pitching in to make sure that Chris and his family are able to rebuild soon. I am looking forward to going back in the spring to see what has risen from the ashes.

angels

2008-11-30T07:24:00.001-05:00

my sister made this adorable gingerbread house last year

It's time to go get my favorite Christmas shopping done. I know, I'm not usually one for store-bought gifts, but these are important.

A few years ago, in the pursuit of meaningful and useful gifts for family members, I decided to try giving them gifts to other people. So for each person, I picked a child's name from the Angel Tree at the mall, and bought a coat, some clothes and a toy for a needy child. I wrote about the process last year on Sew Green.

This year I have five children to buy gifts for (ages 2, 5, 8 and 9). I hope they like their presents!

thankful, and a recipe

2008-11-28T10:10:00.004-05:00

the little squirrels are made of painted shells and lentils

I am grateful for a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends yesterday. This was the 6th year we've had a potluck at our house for anyone in town whose family is far away. It's always so much fun -- a huge feast with board games that go well into the night.

This year I got a chance to use my new little placecards - aren't they cute? They were a gift from a lovely older lady at a church auction in the spring. We don't have enough space at our table to ever use real placecards, but they were perfect for labeling everyone's potluck contributions, especially because we had both vegan and gluten-free guests this year, and the little code V's and G's made it easier for everyone.

I was too busy cooking and eating and having fun to remember to take pictures, but I did want to share a recipe with you. Making Thanksgiving dishes that everyone could enjoy was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the vegan & gluten-free challenge so much this year. I was really happy with the mashed potatoes, and they are such a cold-weather staple, I know we'll be making them again. So here's the recipe, to enjoy at your winter feasts:

garlic mashed potatoes
vegan and gluten-free

3 lbs red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cut into large cubes
1 head of garlic
1/2 cup vegetable broth
olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 350.

Bring a big pot of water to a boil. While you're waiting for that, place about 6-10 cloves of peeled garlic into a very small baking dish, with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the dish and the garlic (you can use more or less garlic, depending on how garlicky you like your potatoes). Put the garlic in the oven to roast while you're doing the rest. It should take about ten minutes, so keep an eye on the garlic to make sure it doesn't burn while you're busy with other things.

Cook the potatoes for about 5-10 minutes in the big pot, until nice and tender. Drain.

Place the potatoes in a big sturdy mixing bowl and add about half of the veggie broth. When the garlic is nicely golden, pour the garlic and its oil over the potatoes. Add salt and pepper liberally.

Get out your masher and start smashing the garlic and potatoes. If it needs more liquid, drizzle in small amounts of veggie broth - don't overdo it. Taste the potatoes and see if they need a bit more olive oil - another tablespoon or three won't hurt. Keep mashing and adding veggie broth (if needed) until your potatoes are at the consistency that you like. You can also use a hand mixer if you prefer your potatoes whipped.

Serve right away, or keep warm in the oven in a baking dish until the rest of your feast is ready.

OMG PONIES!!!!!!!

2008-11-24T00:50:00.000-05:00

I couldn't stick to my sweater-knitting pledge - not when I had big balls of batting waiting to be needle-felted into a pony!

Just look at those sweet eyes - who could resist?

I really enjoyed making this pony, though it was fairly time-consuming. It came from a great kit from Peace Fleece. I don't usually make things from kits, but I'm so glad I ordered this one. For one, I love Peace Fleece and their mission of promoting peace through trade in traditional arts. But this was also a technique that I'd never heard about for toy-making.

First, you make a frame of paper and wire, then wrap it in the batting, and then poke-poke-poke with the felting needles. It creates a really good structure, which I've often wanted to be able to do better with softies. And I love needle-felting for its sculptural and decorative qualities -- I could have gone on detailing this thing forever (which is partly why it took me so long to make).

This was the first of two horses that come in the kit. This one's for my mom, who is a horse-nut. I haven't decided yet whether I'll make the second one some time soon (like when I have half a weekend to kill -- ha ha!), or save it for a fun between-knits project next year. This really was a perfect break from knitting projects. And now I can get back on the sweater-knitting horse and try to make some progress...

uncreative

2008-11-21T03:26:00.001-05:00

I have been feeling so uncreative lately. My biggest creative act each day seems to be coming up with a new hot beverage to drink (this one is hot spiced cider).

During our staff meeting yesterday, we all shared our dream hot beverage ideas - if we could have an endless tap in the office dispensing our dream hot beverages all day.

J: Hot spiced cider, but not as sweet as regular cider, with some caffeine - perhaps a bit of black tea mixed in.

A: Glug -- a hot mulled wine and brandy concoction.

me: Home-made chai with just a little honey for sweetener, and a tiny shot of vanilla syrup.

B: Mulled cider!

Can you tell we're adapting happily to the cooler weather? It's been a bit colder than normal for us this November. This morning I woke up early and went outside to enjoy the sunrise through snow flurries. They're still falling as I write this. I love how they look against a dark background of pine trees, with no sun yet to reflect from them.

But on the uncreativeness thing... it seems to be a serious condition. I can't seem to knit for more than a few minutes. Whenever I want to bake something, I can't decide what and wind up ditching the project. This is very problematic with the holidays approaching!

The bright side is, I've had lots more time for reading, so I'm devouring books. One that I just read is A River Sutra, by Gita Mehta. She is one of my favorite writers of non-fiction essays, but this book of interwoven stories was just wonderful. I love books that take you away to another time and place, full of interesting smells, tastes and people. It was a heavenly read.

I just finished Atonement, by Ian McEwan. I know, I am so behind the times. But this is why I never go to the movies -- I really will read the book one day. I can't imagine the movie could have been anywhere near as good as the book. It was absolutely riveting. I couldn't put it down, and read the whole thing in about two evenings. When I did put it down, I couldn't sleep, and had to get up again to keep reading. I was fascinated by the narrative technique, which I won't spoil by giving it away, but it was just wonderful. I had trouble picking up a new book to read, because I was not ready to be done with this one and leave its world behind. I can't imagine anything else being as good.

I had to wait a few days, but I just started an Andrea Barrett book, the Forms of Water. Hopefully it will distract me from missing the characters in Atonement.

What are you reading (or creating) these days?

sweaters vs. everything else

2008-11-10T00:02:00.000-05:00

Holiday knitting time is so full of choices.

Do I work on the obligatory sweater every waking minute, which it will almost certainly require to be done before Christmas, or do I work on all the other little projects which could actually be completed one by one in the same span of time?

So far, I'm shooting for both.

The lovely sport-weight alpaca yarn shown above is Touch of Twist Peruvian Alpaca, which I bought at Maryland Sheep & Wool for the express purpose of knitting a special Christmas gift for someone who is now in the habit of receiving a sweater every year... if I had any sense, I would not be knitting a man's large sweater on size 3 needles on a deadline. Or I would have started a little earlier.

As for all the little projects... they are all so charming and giftey. And since none of the intended recipients will read this blog, I can show you what they are: Boo the Bat from Mochimochiland, some Peace Fleece Felted Horses, a handy-dandy lunch bag, Brooklyntweed's Druid Mittens, and maybe even some fancy Komet socks if I can squeeze them in.

Aren't all of those projects so much more appealing than 7,438 rows of stockinette stitch on size 3 needles? And yet... tradition is tradition. So I joined NaSweKniMo for inspiration (yes, this is Knit-a-whole-sweater-in-a-month month - thank you, sadistic aspiring novelists). I'm going to do my damndest to finish this thing in the month of November... but come December 1st, it's knitted bats and felted ponies for me!