Cousin Cardigan

Chloe's Sweater

Bonnet

Commission baby hat for Childress

Interview Scarf

Cashmere Cowl

Single Episode

Biggest Loser baby hat for Paul

Canada Scarf

Winder

Eleanor Completed

I didn't blog much about this sweater, but then I haven't blogged much lately period. It is made out of a lovely silk and alpaca yarn...Knit Picks Andean Silk in "Merlin". The pattern is called "Aquitaine." It is by Deborah Newton and appeared in the Winter 2009 Interweave Knits issue.

The sweater was a fairly relaxing knit. The lace pattern around the yoke and sleeves was intricate enough to be interesting, but simple enough to not completely stress me out. I like the way that the sweater fits...the measurements in the pattern are dead on, which was a relief. It also didn't take very long, comparatively speaking...and speaking of comparisons, this sweater was an absolute job compared to the Clementine.

Also...this is a very very very very warm sweater. gotta be the alpaca.

Surprise!

YaYa decided to throw a baby shower for Miss A on the Sunday of New Year's weekend...and asked if there was anyway I could come out for it. I called my parents. I called my not parents. I bought a plane ticket. The plan was for me to cut my trip to WA a few days short and fly down to CA for the last weekend of my vacation.

The shower was being held at the library. It was SO much fun to see everybody again, and Miss A was very very surprised.

I knit a little baby cardigan for Wild Thing, her soon to arrive son. I made it out of navy blue cotton, and added little wooden toggle buttons. (Miss A appreciated the button's Paddington Bear vibe.)

Hopefully the sweater will fit Wild Thing before it gets too hot for him to wear it!

(By the way...that is Candid in the picture with Miss A...)

Demands of My Sister

My sister gave me a gift card to Debbie Macomber's yarn shop for Christmas. This was delightful because it meant I had to go to the yarn shop before I left town. (Twist my arm...such punishment...)

We went to the shop and I walked around looking at literally every yarn available. I wanted to pick something out that I couldn't easily get online. I also wanted something that would have that festive, Christmas gift feel...so not dishcloth yarn...As I meandered about petting and squishing the pretty skeins, my mom and sister also wandered about.

Eventually Sister came over. Apparently she had found a hat that she HAD to have. Which translates to she found a hat that I was supposed to make for her. This happens fairly regularly when Sister and I go to yarn shops. It isn't that she can't knit. She can. I am pretty sure that we have taught her how. It is more that she doesn't see the point in it when I make her everything her heart desires.

I looked at the pattern and said I would make it if she bought the yarn for it. I would even pay for the pattern. (She seemed shocked that she had to buy the yarn...but that's the way the cookie crumbles.)

She picked out some lovely wool. I made the hat when I got back to TX. I must really love her to make something with stranded color work. I hate color work. It worked out well though, and she was very grateful when it came in the mail...Kentucky has been having LOTS of snow days this winter.

(Oh, and I bought myself some alpaca with the gift card...it is not yet assigned a project...)

Elephant in the Room

Every year my extended family gets together at Christmas and does a white elephant style gift exchange. We set a $5 limit, and try to actually bring things that people want. (As opposed to weird gag gifts.) Generally speaking people are good about insuring that there are things the littles will like, and the aunts/uncles are always well optioned...but there tends to be little geared toward my older guy cousins. I have taken upon myself to fill this need. One year, for example, I took a huge roll of duct tape.

This year I knit a version of the Knox Beanie in a variegated grey. Technically it was more than the limit...I normally charge about $20 for a beanie. Still, I figured if I didn't charge myself for labor it would be ok. The yarn itself cost right around $5.

I sat by my cousin Reb, who is 20, during the gift exchange. His turn was coming up. Several gifts had been opened: quilt books, bouncing balls, tools... Things were getting sketchy. There wasn't anything really stealable, and the chances of a gift he wanted were dropping...I pointed to the box I had wrapped and said, in a very obviously hinting way, I brought that one.

He ended up picking mine, and opened up the beanie. Which he immediately plopped on his head. Apparently he liked it enough to block anyone from stealing it by wearing it.

I'm glad he liked it!

Handknits to the Rescue

My mother had a minor procedure done on her head the first week I was home for Christmas break. She was perfectly fine afterward except for the fact that the stitches/recovery stipulated that she could not wash her hair for a few days.

We had church to attend. She couldn't shampoo her hair.

What to do? What to do?

What she decided to do was ask me ahead of time to bring all my berets home with me.

Sunday morning she picked out her outfit, we found an appropriate beret, and styled her up beautifully. No one at church had any idea that the decision was anything but an aesthetic one.

Handknits save the day yet again!

O Canada! I Love to Shop In Thee!

While we were in Victoria, I forced my ever patient family to walk a good distance to a yarn shop I found in the yellow pages. (It was weird having to resort to analog research techniques...seeing as how I didn't want to pay the international rates to use my cell phone.)

We easily found the Beehive Wool Shop on Douglas Street...I loved that it was a wool shop, instead of a yarn shop. (Does that mean it is an LWS instead of an LYS?) It had a lot of space, great light, and loads of charm. The staff was delightfully helpful as well. AND it has been in business for over a century. AMAZING. Loved it. Highly recommend it. Go to Canada. Go to Victoria. Go to this shop.

I, of course, purchased some yarn. I wanted it to be Canadian yarn, er...wool, so I selected a skein of Tough Love sock yarn from Sweet Georgia Yarns. This yarn company is located in Vancouver, Canada...and the yarn is hand dyed. I dithered back and forth on the colorway before settling on "Violet Hill".

The fun thing was that when we got back to the ferry's customs to cross back into the US, the customs official asked if I had anything to declare. He sure gave me a funny look when I said yarn!

Canadian Silliness

When I was home for Christmas, Mom and Dad took Sister and I up to Victoria for a brief jaunt. Funny how one forgets that Canada is a foreign country. It was so much like Washington, and yet so completely different. (Funny how you can travel a couple of hours and all of a sudden everyone pronounces their vowels in a quaint and exciting way.)

While there I walked past this amusing hat on sign post. It led me to wonder, was this an act of purposeful urban kniting grafitti...or did someone lose their actual hat and it was placed there for safekeeping?

I'll never know for sure.

And it'll probably bother me.

Forever.

Just Playing Around!

I love my nephew. He is the best baby ever. Babies need toys.

My mom came across a pattern to knit covers for super balls, and then felt them. The balls still bounce really well, but not as erratically, and are easier for little fingers to grasp.

I had some Noro Kureyon in the stash that was perfect. What I didn't have was a super ball. It turns out that in this modern digital age, super balls are not only incredibly difficult to find...they are also insanely expensive. Still, nothing but the best for Nephew. I finally tracked on down and got to knitting.

The knitting itself was very fast and easy. It only took a couple hours. What was not fast and easy was the felting. I had to run the ball through the wash/dry cycle 10 times before it was properly tight/fuzzy/felty. I sure liked it though.

And I think that Nephew did as well!

He Likes It! from Megan May on Vimeo.

When Birthdays and Christmas Converge

For my birthday, back in August, Mom gave me The Knitter's Book of Wool. It is a very neat book. It talks about how different sheep create different types of wool, and how various wools are more suited to certain types of projects. (Wonder why Aran sweaters developed where they did? Cause the sheep's wool was perfect for Aran sweaters, thats why!)

The book also had some really nice patterns. Mom particularly liked a certain farrow rib knit in the round cardigan. It was called the Allegin. It was a very pretty sweater, and looked like it was well within my skill set.

Mom's birthday is in December. Christmas is in December. It is always a bit of challenge figuring out what to get her for both, and to properly budget them. Occasionally though I have moments of brilliance. I decided it would be a GREAT idea to knit said sweater for mom for a combination birthday and Christmas present. Mom is a great knitter, but rarely takes the time to knit anything for herself...and I don't know when she last knit a sweater.

With a little help from my dad (who selected the color of the yarn...Knitpicks Shamrock in Kavanagh), I buckled down to knit the sweater. The pattern was extremely well written and easy to follow. I knit the sleeves first, and placed them on waste yarn. Then I knit the body from the bottom up, joined the sleeves, and knit the yoke in one piece. I LOVED that there was no seaming up to do. I hate seaming up.

I actually got the sweater completed and the ends woven in before I got home for Christmas break. I had planned on giving mom as much as was finished for her birthday, since I did not think it at all possible that I would finish it by her birthday. And then I was going to finish the rest before Christmas. Instead, when I gave it to her, all it was missing was the buttons. (I have always found buttons to be a very personal choice. The wrong buttons can completely change the personality and appeal of a sweater.)

Mom was delighted and surprised to get the sweater. Together we went shopping for the pewter buttons. She wore it to the family Christmas gathering at my grandparents, as well as to work.

I think it turned out extremely flattering, and love the way it looks on her. I may just make a version for myself as well.

Falling Off and Getting Back On

Stopped blogging again.

Rats.

Starting up again.

In order to play catch up, I have done the following: pre-written blog posts covering the knitting I have been doing, uploaded the pictures appropriately, and scheduled them to post DAILY until I am back on track.

Please note...these entries are not necessarily in the correct order of occurrence.

Apologies to my readers.