A Real WIP Post, and Even on a Wednesday

I am completing neglecting my other work, like my real job work, in order to spend time on the internets having fun.  It feels very rebellious!  It can be hard to find the motivation to work another hour or so after Althea goes to sleep, and some nights I just can’t do it.  I checked my e-mail however, but I can’t really put that on my time sheet.

Onto the works in progress!  I have a number of things on the go, firstly because it makes me happy, and secondly because I have a need for a few different projects.  I need something more complicated, something for the purse, I want to make a sweater, and I need something simple I can work on quickly in 1-5 minute parcels of time while Althea is playing.  She tends to play by herself for a little while, and then comes back over to me to reconnect, then goes off to play again.

 My Harvest Moon sweater is coming along nicely.  I’ve tried it on and it fits well up top.  I’m making it a little bit longer to hit lower than my waist, I’d like it to be at the mid hip area.  I’m almost, almost to the bottom of the pockets.  On Monday when it was warm I was thinking I would need to put it down, but now I can see some snow mixed in with the rain outside my window, and I have more time to work on this.

 This is an Adamas shawl made from baby alpaca, silk and cashmere, highly rated by me for softness, I love the gold colour.  Not making much progress on this, even though I would love to have it already to wear in the cool mornings.

 This is the third of these hats with brims.  I loved the first one I made, which of course I don’t have photos of yet, and began digging up skeins of worsted weight yarn to turn into more hats!  Not sure what I will do with them, but my baby group asked for one each the other day after seeing the pattern.  If the brim hat mania continues, and I keep digging for worsted weight skeins in the stash, it just might happen.  These hats are perfect for picking up and putting down quickly, and a few minutes here and there can make, well, a hat!

My purse project is a monkey sock, which I don’t have a photo of, but it is turning out rather well!  I have a few other projects tucked here and there, but I’m not really working on them much.  One day I’ll get back to them!

WIP….Sunday?

Better early, or late than never for a WIP update!  For some crazy reason I have been getting up at 6 am on the weekends as well, just after I feed Althea.  By then it is light, I wake up fully as I feed her, and it is easy to not go back to sleep.  The last two nights have seen a bit of a breakthrough around here – Althea has fallen asleep in her crib on her own rather than on me.  I would also like to mention that she did it last night without hardly any crying, the night before there were a few crying sessions to soothe her through.  This means she is falling asleep earlier, and sleeping longer, which in turn means I get a nice long chunk of 4-5 hour sleep before I get up the first time to feed her.  It truly can make you feel like a new person to get that much sleep, and then I get another hour or so until she wakes up again and it is six am! 

I got up, made some coffee, cereal, and came downstairs to the basement to what I’m now referring to “My Knitting Pod”.  In the basement bedroom I have all my crafty supplies in the nice big closet, which is wide open as we haven’t gotten a door for it yet.  My little bookshelf which holds all my knitting/crafty books is just in front.  I’ve pulled up a chair, I’ve got a rubbermaid container which houses odds and ends of old yarn and fabric to put my coffee on, and a table for my computer.  I’ve been listening to podcasts and knitting, it is like a little slice of heaven my pod! 

After I finished up my wedding knitting, I started going back and finishing up projects that had gotten put down, namely the sheep suit. Althea is too big for this now, but I am finishing it up in hopes that another little babe will wear it one day, besides it is too cute to leave undone.  I just need to sew on the ears and tail, and get some buttons for it. 

 I started a sweater called Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier, from a lovely shade of Alpaca Drops.  It has a clever yoke construction, and then is knit in one piece down to the bottom. There is finishing on the arms and neckline at that point.  I had great deep thoughts on what size to make this sweater, given my post-pregnancy body, which I plan to cover in some other posts.  I’ve long admired this designer, who has a lovely clean aesthetic, but in the last few weeks I’ve gone off the deep end, and am thinking about making another 3 or 4 of her patterns.  I’ve actually linked above to her pattern catalog, there are so many good ones in there.  I’m hoping there is an Atelier in my near future, have you noticed she is from Calgary? 

Then I just couldn’t help it, I cast on with yarn I bought three (gulp) years ago at the Olds Fibre Fest, six skeins of worsted weight merino, alpaca and silk. I have been wanting to knit it for, yeah three years, but I had planned on doing a unique design which is what always stops me.  It is so much easier to cast on and follow a pattern then to sit down and make your own, even if you have the percentage system to follow.  But then I had a breakthrough, which led to me casting on.  The gauge was the same as the cardigan of a twinset I made awhile ago, out of a horrible yarn.  BUT the cardigan is a great design, and fits flawlessly, I could even try it on to make sure it still fits me.  The plan is to put a bit of a design on the front lapels, which I will do last.  I’m still trying to decide what to do: sine waves, diamond pattern, a little repeating picture…

I have two socks on the needles for little go to projects, and recently took “Itty Bitty Toys” out of the library and fell down that hole hard.  I’ve already got a monkey on the needles, with plans for a hippo to follow soon.  After that I’m fascinated by the reversible toys, they are so cool!  I think I will need to purchase the book after all!  I normally never make stuffed toys in the obvious colours, but I have two balls of brown, and two of grey sock yarn that I hated and wanted to get rid of.  Ta da!  Perfect monkey and hippo colours!  I’m using them doubled to get rid of the yarn faster. 

I seem to have a lot I’m working on, as this is taking forever to finish up.  In other obsessions, I’m also busy thinking about making another Tempest, as I have more sock yarn that doesn’t want to be socks and grey Kroy, and then I found the Paulie pattern.  Another one perfect for four balls of Kroy I have (why?  Oh yeah, it was on sale) and more sock yarn that violates the “it must have nylon in it to be socks” rule.  Besides, I love wearing my Tempest, which is perfect in the cool Calgary mornings over your t-shirt that you will need by 10 am.  Back to my pod!

Update on Wedding Knitting

Or da slog as I’m beginning to call it.  This is why we all pretty much hate to knit for deadlines, because then you have to concentrate on only a project, or two, when you want to rotate between 4 or 5.  As difficult as it is I am staying on task and making good progress.  First off the big one, my wedding stole:

 I am finished with the edging, and am currently working on the third repeat of the body of the shawl.  The pattern says to do 10, but we will see how far I get.  I figure I need to do 5 rows a day, but with each row being around 240 stitches, that is a fairly demanding goal.  The body pattern has patterning on both sides, but it is easier than the border pattern, and I do not need to refer constantly to the pattern which makes it go faster.  It is however extremely easy to drop stitches and not notice it, there is a smaller hole, and then a larger one that I have saved on a safety pin that I will have to go back later and fix.  What a headache!  If I stay on track, this should be done for the wedding!

Second up is the green stole for my matron of honour, it is a pattern from Nancy Bush’s Lace Knitting in Estonia.  It is a straightforward pattern which I can work on without too much effort in the car or when I’m waiting for the baby to fall asleep.  It is based on 10 row repeats, which the pattern says to do 32 of.  I’m on the 11th one now, so 1/3 of the way there, I hope to do a patten repeat a day, and I’ve already done the final edging.  It does not look like much now as the yarn is dark, and it is not all stretched out, but it will look okay, and it matches my friend’s dress really well.  Again, I think I can get this done on time!

Wednesday WIP: Baby and Grown-up Version

I’ve got a few things on the needles right now, two things which I had to pick up more yarn for.  I’ve also been knitting something not for the baby, but some lace! 

 This is alpaca lace from Wooly Wonka in Sage and Cedars Colourway, or colorway as it is US yarn!  I’m making the Swallowtail Shawl from an older Interweave Knits magazine, its a nice simple small lace shawl to make.  Althea is still in the habit of nursing on her pillow, and falling asleep on it, and on me.  I can bring my arms around and knit something light like this on the other side of her.  This shawl is actually finished now, and is ready to block once I get around to that (which could be today, or a month from today!). 

 I also started a Little Sister Dress using some Socks that Rock lightweight in a lovely bright colourway.  Bright is an understatement, almost every colour is represented here!  I bought this from Miss Joce when I was pregnant with something like this in mind, she had gotten in in the Sock Club.  It is going to be a darling little dress when it is done, I’m making a larger size so that she may only be wearing it in the fall.  There is also a Big Sister pattern, so perhaps more of these in the future if this one works out well!  Every little girl needs a multi-colour dress don’t you think?

Working on a Baby Blanket

 When I get a minute here, or Althea is busy napping on my lap, I fit in a little bit of mindless knitting on her baby blanket.  It is just the right combination of mindless with a bit of mind.  At the Boxing Day sale I chose 6 colours of Cashmerino Aran that complimented each other.  The blanket is 12 squares, and every colour will be in each position (first, second, third etc) twice.  Therefore when you pick which colour is next you need to make sure it hasn’t been already used twice in that position!  So a bit of thinking along with the mindless garter stitch. 

Once I’m done it will need to be sewn together, and all those ends sewn in, which will take a long time, but I do like how colourful it is. 

Thank-you to everyone who has sent along their congratulations on the birth of Althea, I really appreciate it.  I’m still finding a few minutes here and there to get on the internet, and haven’t had a chance to respond to everyone yet!

Baby Knitting In Progress

I couldn’t sleep on the evening of January 2, and had my first big “holy crap we’re not ready for the baby yet” moment.  The next day we got to work and accomplished a lot of the “must do” items like putting together the bags to take to the hospital etc.  I also became incredibly anxious that I hadn’t finished off the green layette which is still missing the booties and mitts.  I’m happier now the second bootie is almost finished, and then I’ll start on the mitts.  Whew, that made me feel much better.  I mean, what kind of mother will I be if my little girl has to leave the hospital without booties and mitts to match her bonnet and jacket? 

I’m also busy finishing off her sheep outfit (because every little baby needs one obviously) and her little green overalls with feet.  Oh the cuteness almost kills me every time I pull these out to work on them.

After these are done the plan is to amuse myself on small items such as little hats, soakers and socks until Baby Girl makes her way into the world!  I officially have 3 weeks left, but I don’t think she is going to wait that long.  I continue to work, but am taking Wednesdays off now to go to the Doctors and have a nice nap.  My thoughts on work belong in a different posting, as while I’m looking forward to taking time off, the first time I’ve taken a huge stretch of time off since I started working at age 15, I’m also very involved with my job right now.  So many things are just starting to take off there, and I want to be around to keep them going.  I know once I’m home with a new baby I won’t be so worried, but right now it is hard.

Puffed Stitch Obsession

 I’ve been having a really good time with the Shroom Hat pattern recently, and have been working on modifying it to make it work a bit better with 1 skein of Big Merino.  I think I’ve got my formula down now to get a bit more flop out of the top of the hat.  What I like about it is the nice broad brim that can be worn higher on your head, or pulled down over your ears on colder days.  If I don’t have my ears covered, they freeze really easily since they’ve almost been frostbitten so many times.  The Big Merino is so nice and soft, and fluffy really.  It will pill, but in a way that will make the hat warmer and more wind resistant.  That is my story anyhow.  I had originally bought the 4 matching skeins of green yarn to make myself a hat scarf combo, with the idea of using the puffed stitch in the scarf.  It’s easy to convert to flat knitting, and makes a nice thick scarf.  From the back it just looks like ribbing.  I started with the smaller 5 mm needles and did 4 rows of ribbing to hold the end in, then went up to the 8 mm needles for the main body.  One ball of yarn made the scarf 30 inches long, it is 5 repeats across, with 1 stitch selvages at either side, always knit.  Normally I aim for a 60 inch scarf, but I’d like this one to go around my neck twice, which is a style I’m seeing in a lot of ads lately.  I plan to put fringe at each end, because that is super cool.  I’m making the scarf first, as I know I just need to reserve 1 ball of yarn for the hat, therefore I have 3 skeins I can put into the scarf to make it any length I feel like, and as much fringe as I want.  Oh the joy!  And on 8 mm needles, it’s coming along quickly.

Wednesday Sweater Progress

I’ve slowly been growing the green Peace Fleece sweater, and am now working on the yoke!  Which of course means the longest rows of the whole sweater, plus a cable pattern thrown in which means progress has slowed down.  The good news is that since there are no sleeves, I’m in the home stretch now.  The Peace Fleece is knitting up beautifully, and shows the cables very well. 

 I can’t wait to finish up, not only because I love a finished sweater, but because next up is the Tree of Life Aran from Country Weekend Knitting.  (The finished objects on Ravelry for this sweater aren’t very nice, but in my mind it is going to be beautiful, trust me)  I got a whole bunch of Blackstone Tweed just waiting to go.  It’s a lovely dark blue colour, with light blue tweedy bits.  The yarn is a blend of wool, mohair, and Angora and just beautiful.  Believe it or not this was my third colour choice, but the only one they had enough balls of yarn in.  First was a delightful teal, second was a lighter blue, but this third choice is pretty nice as well. 

I’ve been having trouble thinking about what sweaters I want to make in the future, and have chosen this one mainly to make a nice big bulky sweater that will fit over my current shape, and whatever my future shape will be.  If you are like me, and have been mostly the same shape and size for the last 15 years or so, choosing sweaters used to be pretty easy.  I had a bit of a sense of what I liked, what would look good on me, and would know right away what size to make.  But now, I  don’t really know!  I may be one size now, and 5 months from now, a completely different size!  It may not be my former size, but a modified one, larger all over, larger on top, larger on the bottom, I don’t know!  So many factors are going to influence this, how long I get to feed my baby, what will happen when I stop.  It just makes my head spin, and it also means unfortunately that some of my more fitted sweaters, made to fit my previous measurements, may have to stay in the sweater chest awhile longer.  I may have to re-evaluate my sweater queue as I get to know my new shape, and learn which sweaters will enhance it rather than detract from it.  Until I figure it out, the Tree of Life Aran made in a generous size is going to be perfect for keeping me cosy by the fireplace this winter, and next.

Summer, Winter, Fall, Summer

 After our bout of cold winter weather, and two snowfalls, we went back into fall, and a glorious one at that.  All the aspens turned yellow at the same time and turned Calgary into a city of gold.  This week we’ve had a return to summer like temperatures, making me wish I could call in sick and go for a lovely long walk in the woods.  Unfortunately we are so busy at work that that isn’t an option, even if I was sick!  We considered turning off the phones so that no one could get a hold of us, but in the end decided that wasn’t exactly responsible now was it!  It seems on weeks when the work has piled up to the rafters, that is when people call asking the hard questions that require me to research the answers.  However I now know how to remove triethylene glycol from water, and which membrane to use to filter silver, so these are positive outcomes. 

In anticipation of the cold weather coming back I’m busy making a pair of fingerless gloves, which may shock some people.  I like wearing fingerless gloves around the house in winter, and even at the office at times, but outside?  In Calgary?  Are you crazy, do you want to lose a finger or two to frostbite?  However these are the Snapdragon Flip-top mittens designed by Ysolda, which have a full thumb, and then a top flap that is knitted on and can be moved up to cover your cold little fingers, and then flipped back out of the way so that when I start the car up, or want to play with the radio I’ll be able to .  Essentially driving mittens for my evil car commuting lifestyle I now have.  Evil Anne.  But pretty mittens, made from very, very pretty Madelaine Tosh in Spicy Ginger.

Wednesday WIP: End of September

September seems to have whooshed by somehow without me noticing it very much.  I have two green projects on the needles, and especially the beginnings of the cardigan pictured at left the colour makes me happy.  Its such a bright new green leaf colour, a contrast to all the yellow aspens leaves we have around here now.  I’m happy to have cast on with my fabulous Peace Fleece a short sleeve cardigan with cables around the yoke, I’ve been looking forward to this project for awhile! 

My little green baby layette sweater is coming along, with the sleeves almost done, and just the yoke and finishing to do.  One reason I started on this one first was that I knew it was not a quick knit on the small needles.  It will be worth it when it is done however, it already is so beautiful in its pieces.  Then I can start on the bonnet, booties, and mitts!  The baby knitting needs to get kicked up, just over four months to go now!