Sideways

Voilà: another little baby something!

I have very little to say about Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater (published in Greetings from Knit Café), except that at some point I was skeptical I'd like the result and then surprised myself by loving it. Slip stitch patterns do this to me.... they kill me in the process of making them but win my heart over as soon as I finish them and forget how many times I had to knit-tink-knit (I don't understand why I have difficulties with slipping stitches; I just do).

Really cool about this sweater is that it's reversible. The back (or is it the front?) looks like this:

I suppose the big bow has to sit on baby's belly unless it's tummy time; otherwise the back is too bulky to be comfortable. For the sake of comfort the designer moved the sleeve seams to the outside as not to irritate chubby cute baby arms.

Nifty!

The cardi is knitted from one side to the other, and the sleeves are added last.

Further specs:
Yarn: four skeins of Debbie Bliss Rialto in a shade of purple not adequately captured in any of the images
Needles: US #5
Size: 6 mo per pattern, but yarn/needle size substitution resulted in a smaller sweater, fitting perhaps a 3-4 mo old babe (that's what I'm hoping anyway)
Mods: I added a panel of garter stitch to the front (underneath the bow)

It took a surprisingly long time to finish the sweater, not because the pattern was difficult, but because I was distracted by some fabulous books. More about those later.

In other news: Today I broke my pinky toe.

Ravelympics Update

Go, Team Ivory Tower, go!! I did my bit, I finished the Olympic sweater! I haven't washed it yet, since I threw out my back last night baking cookies for my students (no kidding. Gah!!!!). Because I'm lying in bed with the MacBook propped on my stomach I don't have the stamina to write much but am posting a couple of photos instead. (Funny posture due to painful back. Sticking out my right hip is the only way to go right now. Crappy pics also due to painful back.)

You know what the Hubs said? "Looks great. Not like hand-knit. More like boutique-bought." I understand he meant it as a compliment. But what does this say about my other knits? Umpfh.

BTW: The whole back thing means my socks will get a "DNF". Doubly umpfh.

Olympic Progress

The plan to bring socks along to Florida for relaxed vacation knitting crashed the moment I realized that knitting with five DPNs and a cable needle freaks me out. The socks--I'm still working on the first one and am stuck somewhere between cuff and heel--had to stay behind; instead I brought the Olympic sweater. Many, many hours of unexpected air travel later (very long story. Suffice to say I made surprise stops in Indianapolis, Detroit, and Baltimore. I had booked non-stop flights, by the way):

I'm almost done! And if it weren't for not-so-wonderful Lang Yarns instructions I would have been done long before hitting Baltimore on my so-called non-stop flight home (can you tell I'm not quite over the flight complications?).

In theory this sweater is a piece o' cake. However, I had to redo the sleeves and am looking at doing the left sleeve again. My beef with the instructions? Well, if it reads "increase every 6th row," I don't increase for the first five rows, then work an increase, and then repeat. Once I finished the first sleeve I realized that those first five rows that I didn't increase had added an unwanted three centimeters to the piece, and that clearly the instructions should have read: "increase every 6th row, starting with an increase row." (This wouldn't have been a problem had it not been for yarn shortage: I didn't mind extra-long sleeve, but I was running out of yarn rapidly, and every yard counted). The other obstacle, as I learned once I had finished both sleeves, was the position of a different set of increases:

The instructions ask for two increases in every row at one side of the sleeve, which results in what you can see on the right: a sleeve with a triangle sticking out. This looked odd to me, but I made a second matching sleeve regardless, thinking that this might be some cool-looking futuristic elbow cap. I figured I better finish the whole sweater to see what it looks like when everything comes together. Well, the sleeve design didn't come together at all, and I redid the sleeve increases by increasing every 3rd (then 4th and 5th) stitch over three rows, with plain rows in between. The result is on the left. When worn, it looks much better this way.

Here's my last complaint: the instructions don't state yarn requirements correctly. Relying on the instructions I got eleven balls of Piora (the fuzzy stuff) and four of the merino DK weight yarn (for the cuffs). I ran out of Piora completely before finishing the cowl, which is four centimeters short. The bottom of the sweater is worse: it's seven centimeters short! The latter problem is easy to fix, since fortunately I used only 40% of the merino and have more than two balls left. I'm using the merino to add an edge to the sweater, and no one will be able to tell the difference. I'm hoping that those extra balls of merino will knit up to seven centimeters of ribbing and thus make up for the missing Piora. But isn't this irritating: to run out of one yarn but have a lot extra of the other?

Anyway. I can see the finish line. I just need to complete the ribbing, redo the sleeve, weave in all the ends--and show you a photo of the FO!

In a later post I'll share some Florida photos... for now I'll leave you with just one:

Slightly Behind Schedule

This weekend has brought many pleasant diversions that have kept me from giving my Olympic best, at least in the knitting department. The Hubs and I celebrated the Valentine's Day weekend with a private cooking Olympics: my Mousse au Chocolat won gold in the dessert category, and the gold medal in main course extravaganza went to the Hubs and his Boeuf Bourguignon. (We completely outdid ourselves. I'm still in awe. The mousse recipe is Julia Child's; the beef recipe is a Cook's Illustrated creation.)

With all the grocery shopping/cooking/eating/then napping/afterwards cleaning happening around the house I didn't spend nearly as much time knitting as anticipated. Still, I made progress: the sweater's body is one-third done, which doesn't mean much, though. I noticed that the enormous cowl-neck is as long and almost as wide as the body: I have a lot of mindless knitting ahead of me. I also started the socks. It takes a lot of concentration to get all the slipped stitches and cables right, and I'm no longer sure this is a good travel project. It's my first time using DPNs (that's the Olympic challenge), and four needles plus the working needle, plus a cable needle...: well, it's complicated.

I'm all packed and ready to go. Sunny Rainy Florida, here I come! :)

Oh... can't leave without a photo... here's one of a recent visitor, who was climbing up my jeans:

FO: EPS Pullover

It's done, done, and done!* My very first Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater, for which I followed her percentage system as outlined in Knitting Without Tears. I wanted to learn basic "sweater architecture," and knitting this project did the trick.

I don't like crew necks and therefore decided to work a v-neck. EZ doesn't say a word about v-necks (at least not in this book), so I figured out how to do it on my own (obviously not difficult). Only after I was done did I read here that for a clean look of the v-neck, you knit the edge stitch before decreasing. Having decreased the very first stitch (the edge stitch) I ended up with an untidy edge to pick up stitches from for the neckband. But I decided I didn't care. The bind-off doesn't look pretty, and memo to self reads like this: improve v-neck shaping skills.

But overall I'm very pleased with the result. The yarn's GGH Cumba Print, which I bought while in Germany over the summer. I must have been suffering from some hormonal imbalance or the summer heat, or else I can't explain the color choice. (Pink? Moi? Pink??) Silly me didn't write this down: I believe I used #6 needles. Or #5? Whichever gave me a 5"/inch gauge...

I worked in some waist shaping and am truly happy with the fit.

I did have a bit of a meltdown last Sunday, after I had decided to undo the ribbing at the lower end in order to add some length. Yet I found it impossible to rip back starting from the CO edge, and in a moment of insanity I thus reached for the scissors and cut off one inch of ribbing. CUT! SCISSORS! Without first inserting a lifeline! Crazy! Somehow I had imagined it must be easy to pick up stitches. But it wasn't so. Not one bit. Not at all. I had to rip more and more, and eventually the pullover was some three inches shorter before I finally started knitting in the opposite direction to make it longer again. Alas, now it's long enough.

EZ says to knit plain for one to two inches after having joined arms and body, and before starting the raglan decreases (every other row). Being tall I opted for two inches, but this may have been a mistake: there's too much ease just above the line where arms and body join (as you can see below). In the future I'll try something else: knit plain for just .5 inch or so, then decrease slowly (every fourth row) for a couple of inches, and then decrease every other row.

*I must still wash and block the sweater. I hope this won't do a thing to the fitting, 'cause as is, it's perfect.

What else happened this week?

I had some computer trouble at work ('cause it's a PC!) and needed help from the IT person on call, who turned out to be a familiar face from the Common Cod Fiber Guild. He pretended not to recognize me, and I took that as signal not to enthusiastically greet him and discuss fibery things in front of his co-workers. Small world!

The Yarn Harlot's cry for help for Haiti inspired Ravelry to create the Help for Haiti pattern bank--or did the Ravelry team cook this one up on its own? (Don't want to hold back credit where credit is due.) In any event, it's a brilliant feature! I immediately purchased Villane, Pikkuveli, and Baby Cables and Big Ones Too (all by Suvi Simola): those are patterns I've been eyeing for some time now, and with 50% of my money going towards humanitarian efforts in Haiti, this was a no-brainer. (The Hubs did his part by giving a bigger chunk of moolah directly to Doctors Without Borders. He's good like that.)

Big Brown disaster in Mass! Many voices heard on the radio explained their decision in favor of Brown by saying that in Mass. "we already have universal health care" (mandatory health care is not quite the same thing) and "why should we care about the rest of the country?" The egoism infuriated, the ignorance shocked, the outcome angered me. Ted K. is spinning in his grave. Nuff said.

New York, New York

Today I was asked several times what I have planned for New Year's Eve. Nothing, I replied truthfully each time. Our Christmas vacation in New York City was so fantastic we forgot all about New Year's Eve.

Indeed, we had the most splendid time in the city. The Hubs has family just outside and we visit regularly, but to actually spend entire nights in NYC: a rare and awesome opportunity! (Back in the pre-Hubs days I used to go to the city and crash on various Columbia U grad student floors that I'd share with furry creatures and the occasional cockroach, but as marriage has made me a respectable woman my travel arrangements have become somewhat less adventurous but much more luxurious.) We were ecstatic to receive our friend's invitation to take over her apartment while she was traveling abroad, and to make the most of our time we spent several nights walking until the wee hours through the magical wonderland that is New York at Christmas time.

We ditched our high-brow museum plans on the 23rd and 24th and hiked around Central Park instead. The 23rd was bitterly cold, but stomping around the snow-covered park in brilliant sunlight was well worse a half-frozen nose (and half-frozen ears: can you believe I went to NYC without a hat?! Knitter's pride forbade to purchase one, but luckily my down coat has a hood). Christmas Eve we stood in line for an hour to make it to the St. Thomas Episcopal midnight mass; we were just two of the 1800+ people attending. I don't think we made it back to our digs before 3 am (I vaguely remember getting a ten-dollar hotdog at Rockefeller Plaza and a plastic cup of Sake, sold under the table by a crêpe baker: that was our Christmas Eve meal).

Christmas Day we spent with the Hubs' relatives: apart from terrific company we enjoyed a culinary feast that included pâté de campagne and foie gras, homemade in Southern France and shipped to the US by a cousin so many times removed from the Hubs that we don't even know her (?) name; a bûche de Noël made by the hostess, the French-born Mme B.; and more than one bottle of champagne. (And a tray of selected cheeses, Cornish game hens in orange reduction, Vermont ham, roasted vegetables, a very fancy mac & cheese for the youngsters... you get the idea.) Two days of gluttony with the family and then we returned to the city.

Rather than going to any Broadway or Off Broadway or even Off Off Broadway productions we watched three movies, two of which receive my thumbs up: Up in the Air is a deliciously entertaining movie; A Single Man is impossibly gorgeous and heart-breaking. The third film we watched is, in the words of one woman who left the theater 20 minutes into the film, more of a father's day than a holiday movie: The Road is not only depressing (which by itself would be quite alright) but the bloody scariest movie I've ever had to suffer through. There was a point where I, too, thought about leaving. Great movie, don't get me wrong, but absolutely terrifying.

Oh, and I knit a little here and there. Mainly on the bus to and from New York and in between episodes of overeating. I'm working on a plain, seamless round-and-round-and-round-we-go sweater for myself, following EZ's percentage system so that I finally learn something about sweater architecture.

The watch cap I made for the Hubs? My FIL saw it here and sent me the following email on Christmas: "Wow! Beautiful watch cap. Make mine a deep navy blue!" Since then I received orders for two more watch caps and a pair of the Fiddlehead mittens. That's on top of the scarf for the Hubs and a secret Christmas project that didn't get done in time (ouch). I should probably put my EZ sweater aside; then again, it's twelve months till next year Christmas... :)

Now I need to figure out what we're doing tomorrow night.. I don't want a repeat of two years ago, when we went to sleep at 10 pm. (Granted, we had just driven a ten ton moving truck from upstate New York to Boston, through a blizzard, mind you, and were somewhat exhausted.) What are you doing on New Year's Eve??

Luxus Touch

That's the name of the sweater I'm knitting; the description mentions golden winter shine. I'm all for it!

(Yes, you see right: that's a copy of the pattern, handed over by the owner of the Berlin LYS where my mom bought this yarn for me. Apparently, Germans don't take the copyright thing quite so seriously. I offered to buy the pattern book, but the store had run out of it. The owner argued that copying the pattern for free ought to be in the interest of the yarn manufacturer and pattern designer, since it helps with yarn sales. I wouldn't have asked to photocopy patterns, but I took the copy once it was offered.)

I love the yarn (Lana Grossa Chiara), and I love the pattern, and I love knitting the pattern with the yarn. Sounds like a match made in heaven, doesn't it?

So, what went wrong?

Well, I also love watching TV while knitting in the evening. Once Netflix came out with the long awaited second season of Mad Men, my attention was torn between watching my gauge and watching Joanie, Betty, and Peggy. Somehow the girls won. My gauge went all over the place. It shows:

Somewhere in the middle. what started to be tight and pretty turned loose and ugly. I told myself, it's just the back, no one will notice. Well, Monsieur noticed. And then he gave unsolicited advice, somewhere along the lines of needing to undo at least one third of the sweater to make it "look right."

*sigh*

Butter stricken

Ever since Monsieur watched Julie & Julia, he's on a butter thing. We've always cooked with butter, but now we eat butter by the stick (almost). And since his is a bit of a scatter brain, last night Monsieur left the butter out. This is what I found this morning in the kitchen:

That's just to show you how hot's been here. Butter melted like this in six hours, over night? Crazy. There was a bit of a thunder storm this afternoon, with plenty of rain. But the rain almost immediately evaporated and left the streets steamy. Now it's a tad more humid than before.

Apart from the heat and buttery things, there's been knitting. Argosy is almost done:

And here are two WIPs to be blogged about in detail later:

(Doesn't this blue stuff look familiar? Yes, but no, but yes, but no!)

(Secret sweater project with delicious, yummy, buttery yarn.)