novamade

zaftig

As Little Sir likes to say, "Look it," I finished something.  The story behind the sweater is a little embarrassing; but it's you guys, so I will share it (but should my witty commentary not interest you--um, why are you reading my blog, yo?-- you can find the details short (ha) and sweet in the gallery in the side bar and on ravelry as well; but you should totally read to the end...just saying).

I started this sweater last year in August.  My intent was to have it be Little Sir's Christmas sweater, you know a special something-something for the kid to wear in the cheesy Christmas photo you send out to friends and family and hope that they don't just trash as soon as they open your Christmas (or insert applicable winter observance here) card.  Well, I didn't finish it, so instead, the Wallaby was our featured sweater Christmas picture last year (I never uploaded the actual shot we used, but the one that's linked is similar).  So, fine.

Because I am lazy, and also because I have a certain degree of knitting/craft ADD, I left the sweater unfinished (I did, after all, have pies to bake).  You've all been there (okay, maybe not with the pies), stop shaking your heads.  In a fit of "if I don't finish something in this UFO pile I am going to gouge my eyes out" enthusiasm, I finished knitting the pieces and starting seaming the main parts of the sweater (that would be everything except the pockets--which obviously, I could not leave off).  If I had really put some effort into it, I could have finished this sweater in less than two weeks.  And had I finished it back in August or even September of 2007, I would have felt a lot better about this sweater at this point in the story.  But I didn't, so when I decided to have Little Sir (who could be described in many ways, among them pleasantly plump in the mid-section, or, if you wish, somewhat zaftig) try on the sweater pre-weaving in of ends and pre-pockets and button application, even he noticed that "the sweater is too small, mom."  Crap.  English kids are definitely smaller than their American counterparts.  Well, that and my kid likes to eat; and, fortunately or unfortunately his mom likes to cook.  So anyways...

 

I aggressively blocked the sweater the night before I flew out of town.  I took the sweater to California with me to apply the finishing touches like weaving in the ends (my most favoritest activity ever, obviously) and sew on the pockets.  Did that, felt proud.  But of course, I forgot the buttons.  Found a craft store (that would be Jo-Ann's), bought buttons.  Realized that the center of the buttons are black went back to store to buy thread.  Realized that you can't sew on buttons effectively without a needle which was left at home, because why would the TSA let me fly with a Chibi this time when they have confiscated them the last three times I have tried flying with one?  Got so disgusted with myself I just packed it up.  Needless to say, the sweater mocked me for the rest of my California getaway (which was kind of a work trip, details).

I sewed on the buttons at knitting group yesterday and called it done.  I took the pictures at sunset last night.  The sweater is not without its flaws.  Somehow (because I am stupid) the wearer's left front panel is missing one cable pattern repeat and thus is about 6 rows shorter than the right--also, the pocket is slightly higher.  I didn't notice this defect until I sewed on the buttons.  And you know, sometimes you just have to let things go.  I like the sweater.  The kid likes the sweater.  And it was blocked so aggressively, Little Sir should be able to fit into the sweater this Christmas, Buddha-belly and all.  And lest you think my Christmas picture worries have been solved for this year, rest assured that I am nothing if not a drama-provider.  I will, of course, need to finish some sort of complimentary sweater for Little Sir's sibling (currently referred to as Disco, as s/he likes to dance) while I deal with being in my own rather zaftig state-of-being over the course of the next few months.

I am due the first week of December, so yeah, that's plenty of time to knit a Christmas sweater.  Right?  Right.  Awesome.

*If you are related to me or happen to be one of my best friends from high school (hi Alanna!) who does not happen to live in the near vicinity of the place I call home and you are just now finding out this bit of news, my sincerest apologies...but really, did you expect a phone call?  And isn't this a much better way of finding out?  Okay, it's a little bit classier than announcing it on facebook, at least give me that.

um, i do still knit (and i spin too)

So I am in California conferencing with special collections librarians about all matters digital right now; but there is some knitting to report.  Before I got to LA to attend my conference, we visited with family around these parts and I finished some knitting.  It seemed like a perfect time to get some modeled shots, as it was 85 degrees.  I can't fathom why it's so hard getting kids to model winter wear when it's hot out.

This scarf is for Little Sir.  He picked out the wool from by spinning stash and help me prep it for spinning.  He even popped his foot on top of mine a few times while I was treadling.  He was very excited about this scarf until I finished it and asked him to model it.  He said it was "too hot."

 

My niece, on the other hand, was very excited to strike a pose.

Which made Little Sir get all possesive about the scarf.  I think he likes it.  At least for today.  Toddlers, they can be fickle.

 

Just a plain garter stitch scarf.  The interesting thing here, I thought I'd learn to knit continental working on this scarf; but it turns out I am just as slow knitting one way as the other.  So I think I will stay a thrower (and when knitting stranded, a picker...sigh).  Details in the gallery.

a two fer

We interrupt this unintentional blog break with a post.  So I had pie for you last week (actually, a tart, all fruity and nice--fruit tart with pastry cream & shortbread crust) and then I cut my finger (a baking boo-boo) trying to remove said treat from its tart pan and it put the kabosh on the pie joy (I couldn't even look at it, much less eat it--my coworkers who snorgled it for breakfast claimed it was good, but I am starting to think they will eat anything).  So while I allow my enthusiasm for pie to recharge, let's talk scarves.  More specifically, woven scarves.  Some of you may be getting sick of the woven scarf-talk.  I'm sorry, but I heart them.

So, towards the end of March and beginning of April (yeah, I know, that was a while ago), I took a weaving class at Webs.  I don't really live near Webs, but as often as I go there, you'd think it was around the corner; but, as I was saying, I took I weaving class.  The backstory on this class and my registration for it offer countless illustrations of stupidity on my part--kind of funny now (I thought it was one weekend, it was two; I thought it was for rigid heddle loom instruction, it was for a floor loom, etc...), but it was all very exciting.  I learned a lot about floor looms.  I think my foray in rigid heddle weaving allowed me to understand a lot of basic concepts and gave me a base of knowledge to work from.  At the end of the class, I had a scarf.  Details in the gallery o' goodness.

My plan was to give it to Special K for hanging out with our kid for four whole days, thus allowing me time to drive to and from, and attend the day long class meetings.  This is why I chose the colors that I did.  His response: "nice scarf but it's kind of long.  I think I like short scarves."  So now I have a nice new long scarf.  And a passion for weaving.  The royal trifecta of gift-giving that is the month of May (for me-birthday, Mother's Day, anniversary, you might have to make your own arrangements--if you have two days and need a third, I would offer the addition of St. Insert-your-name-here Day, it could work) served as a good excuse for Special K to prove himself worthy of the "Special" in his moniker; he ordered me a floor loom.  It will arrive next month.  I am very excited about it.  Till then, I will have to content myself with pie.

Last week's was the fruit tart as previously mentioned.  Look at it, all innocent and sweet.

This week was blueberry pie.  And I think it's going to be the last until fall, you know, when the show that started all of this is back on the air.  Both pies were made possible with pie crust recipes from the Joy of Cooking (the 1972 reprint) and a lot of improvisation for the fillings and layout on my part (and the fact that I can be improvisational when it comes to food is a shock to anyone who knows me and my over-reliance on recipes).  And in case anyone else besides me thought that making pie when it's 100 degrees outside is good idea, it's not.  Those hearts on the blueberry pie aren't me being cute, they are evidence of me not be able to do anything else with the dough in the heatwave that swept the northeast for the last three days.

The other thing I am filling my time with is knitting.  I may actually have something one might describe as a "finished object" when I come back. Maybe.

the least functional quilt ever

A while ago, I signed up for a quilt swap (of course I waited till the last minute to make the quilt, but this is how I do my best work.  If you only have a minute, it only takes a minute...right?).  I liked the parameters for the swap, there weren't any, really; but, it was suggested that we try a new technique.  I decided to try my hand at free motion quilting since I have never done it before and it scared me.  Seriously, the idea of it made me nervous to get close to my sewing machine.  Sometimes, I can be stupid.

Look at all the happy yellow free motion quiltling.  I don't know what I was so afraid of, it wasn't really that difficult; and, it was fun.  Maybe I will try something bigger next time.  Maybe.

I hope my swap partner likes it.  I seriously hated to send it away. More details in the gallery. 

gifts from the internets

A while back I won a contest that Kirsten was holding at her place because I suggested a pattern for some of her gorgeous handspun.  Kirsten is really generous.  She didn't just send a prize, she sent a package of gift happiness (including something for Little Sir, he loves his Woolbur, thank you, Kirsten).  One of the things is the package o'delights was a skein of Noro Sock Yarn.  Noro sock yarn, it's pretty, and I was curious to know how it knit up.  I messed around with the yarn for a few days and came to the conclusion that I didn't want to knit it up into socks.  This sock yarn is not what anyone would describe as "soft".  But it is what a lot of people, myself included, would call "beautifully dyed".  And then my new rigid heddle loom arrived and I wondered how it would weave up as opposed to knit up.

 

Not to sound big-headed, but I think this was a stroke of genius.  I used the Noro for both the warp (the vertical bits) and the weft (the horizontal bits, don't you love my technical explainations?) and just let the yarn do what it wanted to do.  The weave is pretty balanced, but I got the look I was hoping for, so I am not concerned with picks or what have you.  I think this scarf is fabulous.

I like how the vertical stripes of color are dominant over the horizontal bands of color.  Also, I just love my new scarf (details here).

Thank you for the yarn, Kirsten!  It's probably not what you had in mind as a finished product when you sent it...but you know, I like to thrill when I can.

And while Elise did not send this to me specifically, I think that original recipes from foodies are gifts too.  They may not be gifts that one always likes; but, they are gifts all the same. 

I used this strawberry and rhubarb pie recipe to make a pie yesterday.  I found the pie overly sweet and didn't care for it; but, it was snorgled quickly by a bunch of librarian-types that I work with who all tend to be pretty picky about their food.  It passed muster, all agreed it was a good pie.  So if rhubarb is your thing, here's a recipe for you, from me (really from Elise) to you.

on birthdays and giving

On my birthday this year, I found myself writing a pattern and knitting it up.  I needed to knit a cowl for a new friend.  Hopefully it has found its way to her.  I liked knitting this cowl, and the pattern is a pretty easy one.  Also, I think anything knit in Malabrigo is pretty much destined to be awesome, because, let's be honest here, it's Malabrigo, people.

 

Spending my birthday doing something for someone else made me feel all cheery and cozy, kind of like I am hoping the cowl will make the recipient feel.

I get cheery about knits and all, but you know, there is also that pie thing, and it's Wednesday...

I made another recipe from Sweety Pies.  Rice pie.  I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.  I shared it with my co-workers and they all thought it was pretty amazing.  Rice, it's a celebratory thing, right?

So my birthday celebration is all wrapped up. I had fun celebrating, of course.  I love gift-getting and everything, but I think gift-giving may be even better.  So for my birthday, I am giving you a gift (if you want it).  I am putting up the pattern for the cowl so you too can keep cozy when it's cool (which may not be at this particular moment depending on your location, but there you are).  Or maybe you just want to be cool, since "cowl is the new scarf" and everything.  Join the bandwagon!

It's my first pattern ever, so be nice!

Download birthday_cowl.pdf

ETA: I got word that some may have difficulty downloading the pdf, so here is the write-up:

 

Finished Size: 9.5” x 21”

 

Gauge: 5 stitches = 1” in the stitch pattern.

 

Yarn:  Malabrigo is suggested (though anyworsted-weight yarn should work; but try and select

something soft and cozy.  The colorway shown here is Bobby Blue.

 

Needles: US 8/5 mm, 16” circular

 

Extra notions: Tapestry needle, Place marker

 

Stitch Pattern: The stitch pattern is a bias rib called Barley Sugar.  The pattern is an eleven stitch repeat worked in 2 rounds:

Round1: *sl1, k1, psso, k6, yo, k3* repeat to the the end of the round.

Round 2: k (till the end of the round).

             

            sl = slip

            k = knit

            psso = pass slipped stitch over

            yo = yarnover

 

Instructions:

Cast on 99 stitches. Place a stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round.  Join and work 3 rounds of garter stitch (purl the first row, knit the second, purl the the third).  Begin working the Barley Sugar pattern until your cowl measures 9 inches (for a shorter scarf, knit to 6” for longer go to 10-12”).  Work three rounds of garter stitch as youdid at the beginning (p, k, p).  Bind off loosely.  Weave in your ends (there should only be two). Block your cowl.  Celebrate!

things to do in northern cali when you're crafty

I spent last week in northern California and due to having limited internet access took an unintentional blog break.  My apologies, I am working to catch myself up on your lives, projects and what-not.  But I wanted to share some of my doings with you, as most of them are of a somewhat crafty nature that you may or may not be interested in.

So here is my list of things that I did and things that you can do as well if you find yourself in northern California and you are crafty (if you are celebrating your birthday, that sort of helps too).

Pebble Beach, California. Wollmeise Gloria Cowl.

Start and finish knitting a Gloria Cowl (details here) to give to a friend for her birthday.  My friend is named Kathy, your friend can be named something else.

Artfibers in San Francisco, California.

Have your friend (Kathy) take you to local-to-her yarn shops like ImagiKnit and ArtFibers.  Acquire pretty things that make you smile.

If you are bloggy, take the opportunity to meet up with a knit bloggy friend and her beau. Especially if said knit bloggy friend is a birthday twin and is like some sort of long lost crafty twin of sorts. Apologize profusely for exposing your knit bloggy friend to your tired tyrannical toddler.

Rangsiwan meets a very tired Little Sir.

Because you can, go to a fabric store, there are lots of them in San Francisco.  If for some reason you, like me, are planning some sort of novelty quilt requiring 21 shades of silk dupioni, you should go to Fabrix like I did.

And since there is a Kinokuniya in San Francisco, you should go there and buy some Japanese craft books, especially if you can not decipher Japanese.  It makes crafting interesting.

And because you neither speak nor read Japanese and you bought a bunch of books written in that particular language, you should probably get some written in English (or whatever your primary language is) just to balance things out.

Whether you are crafty or not, you should take time to smell the roses (or whatever flora is at your disposal).

Pacific Grove, California.

And don't forget to take time to experience wonder.

Jellyfish at Monterey Aquarium in Monterey, CA.

When you return home, get giddy about the books you received for your birthday from friends near and far.

Utilize the book about pies as soon as possible, you know, if you are so inclined. 

Pineapple pie, a very sweet sweety pie.

So yes, good trip, I have a few more trips to California scheduled for the summer, but I am thinking they will not be as acquisition-friendly as this one, a birthday celebration is a great way to justify stash enhancements of all sorts.  While I usually kick off my birthday celebration on Cinco de Mayo and count up to my birthday (are you not doing this as well?), Special K suggested that we start the celebration on my actual birthday this year and add 8 days to it, isn't he sweet?  So with that said, I am still celebrating.  Though right now, I am trying to get my back to stop hurting after incorrectly lifting heavy boxes of books and documents at work.  I am also going to think about happy things, like friends in Philly having lots of fun.  And knitting, because I can do that lying down.

Hey, happy knitting, quilting, sewing, or pie baking!

trains need homes too

So yesterday I shared what I thought was an fo photo session of the tomten that almost killed my knitting mojo.  I was feeling all puffed with pride, so much so that I didn't give a second thought to Little Sir's reading selection for bedtime last night.

After we read about Corduroy and his pocket, Little Sir began his strategic assault on why his tomten needed pockets (culminating in the statement that "trains need homes too").  Of course they do.

Rockstars don't need pockets, I mean seriously, did the Biscuit ask for pockets?  Probably not, because he, you see, is a rockstar.  Little Sir is really a prepster who was posing.  He got his haircut and gone were his rockstar delusions.  So here is my kid, with a sweater his mom knit for him.  With pockets.

Or rather, a home for trains.

I did a pair of afterthought pockets and now the prepster is willing to go folksy and wear his tomten with a smile.  It all came down to pockets, you see.  Honestly, it's a good thing we can't go to MDSW this year, because he would be sporting the tomten no matter what the thermometer might read (and there would be trains in the pockets, of course).  Our absence from said happy event is probably best for all parties concerned.

After all this, I needed pie.  Or rather, a quick french berry tart with red currant glaze.  All is now well with the world.

Dorie wanted to send me some baking from her home to mine.  Just FYI, Dorie Greenspan is my new baking hero.

If you are interested in the details behind the afterthought pockets that made me Little Sir's hero (for about 5 minutes) I wrote it up in a tutorial, see the post below.  I think I am all done talking about the tomten now (you are all probably sick of reading about it too).  Now it's time to move on.

tutorial: afterthought pockets

I was really nervous about doing an afterthought pocket, to be honest.  The idea of snipping my knitting, quite frankly, makes me want to vomit.  But when you need a pocket, you need a pocket.  I am not sure if what I did was "right" perse; but, when all was said and done there were a pair of pockets on a sweater that were pocketless at the beginning of my pocket-making journey. 

After all was said and done, doing afterthought pockets are kind of easy.  You just need to get past the whole fear of cutting your knitting.  If you, like me, would like to see the steps of making an afterthought pocket on an actual knitted project (as opposed to a swatch or something like that), here you are:

1) Figure out where you (or whoever you are making the sweater for) want the pockets to be situated.  The sweater wearer will undoubtedly have strong feeling about the pocket placement.

2) Mark the center of the top of where your pocket(s) should be.

3) Cut Snip (sounds cheerier) the marked top center pocket stitch.

4) Unravel an equal number of stitches to the left and right of the marked stitch, I ended up unraveling a total of 13 stitches (I took these pictures when I was being stupid, so there are only 10 in the photos (pretend like you see 13, please)--so not enough.  Firstly, not evenly unraveled.  Secondly, a gauge swatch could have been useful here, I guess).  Again, my pockets were to accomodate a toddler's sweater knit in bulkier yarn.  If you knit a gauge swatch, it could actually come in handy at this point for guestimation of how much you need to unravel.  You know, if you are into that whole knitting a gauge swatch thing.  As an aside, leave the "live ends" from your unraveling intact, they will come in handy at the end to tighten things up.

5) Put the live stitches that are exposed from your unraveling in needles.  You will have a top live stitch row and a bottom one.

6) With another needle, bind off the stitches on the bottom needle in applied i-cord.  I used the directions on applied i-cord bind-off on knitty.com (scroll down).  Do whatever works for you.  You just want a good tough "border" on that pocket that won't stretch out with use.

7) Now we are going to knit some stockinette.  With another needle, you are going to take the live stitches on the top (now only) needle and knit a "patch."  This is your pocket you are knitting now, actually.  You should increase evenly to give yourself a pocket with a width that accomodates hands, candy, coins, trains, or whatever you and yours decide to house in your pockets.  When it's a suitable lenth, bound off.  The stockinette side is going to be the inside of the pocket, so yay, stockinette smoothness.  Knit the edge stitches in garter stitch to prevent rolling (or not, if you just want a special sort of challenge).

8) Almost there, let's attach the pocket.  Get a needle, it's time to sew.  Sew around the edges by picking up ridges from the sweater and your new pocket patch.  In some corners of the globe, they call this seaming.  I just call it attaching the pocket.

9) Weave in your ends and admire your handiwork.  It's a thing of beauty, indeed.

10) If you are opting for a pair (or more, I don't know, go crazy) of pockets, repeat steps 3-9.

11) Pop something in your pocket and pat yourself on the back.  You snipped your knitting and produced a place to keep hands warm and collect the detritus of everyday life.  Go, you knitting rock star.

This is my first tutorial.  I have no idea if it will be beneficial to anyone, but there it is.  I am not one to presume to tell anyone how to knit, but I like to see things spelled out sometimes; and, I figure there has to be at least one other person like me who wants to see this process written out and photographed.  I am not saying what I did is perfect or the "correct way" to produce an afterthought pocket.  It is simply what I did to slap some pockets on my kid's sweater.   If you have questions, e-mail me, I feel pretty good about the cutting your knitting for pockets thing now. 

the tomten session

So you know that kid in The Opinionated Knitter.  The rockstar modeling the tomten?  Yeah, that one.  My original intent was not to replicate the rockstar; but, who am I to argue with laundry day and my kid's rockstar tendencies?

So IT is done.  And it is, in a word, HUGE.  It's really noticeable when all zippered up (zipper chosen by his hipness, himself).  I intended to make it big enough for wear next year, but it might be part of the fall and early winter wardrobe for the next two years.  Maybe.  Some would say it's dowdy...

As excited as Little Sir is about the zipper, I think even he recognizes that rockstars can not rock the casbah in dowdy duds.  The fact that I zipped it up in the first place was an afront to his coolness.

It's not so bad unzippered though, right?

I thought I could get away with leaving off the pockets.

This may not be the case.  And you know those rockers, they can by so demanding; and, they can also be challenging to photograph.  They never really listen, and they often insist on dancing (which may take the form of jumping).

And then they realize that it's hard to rock a jacket-y sweater when it's all spring-like.

Mostly I am including this shot so you can see that the "right side" has been made the inside; and the "wrong side" is now the right.  You know me, I am so edgy.

And so is Little Sir, when I said, "give me GQ" (like he would even know what that means...), it was clear that he was so over this photo shoot.  Because like a true rockstar, he stormed off the set.

Deets in the gallery.