Soctober! (contains a mystery sock spoiler pic...)

What a difference a few weeks make...

1. Earlier this month, I was in Denver for work. I saw my friend Jon, who is really Spanky's friend from HS, but I've known him a good long time now too. He's a really great guy, and he made what was otherwise an unbearable situation fun, and distracted me from my problems for a bit. Also, it snowed.



2. You see, the Wednesday of the week I was there, my mom's husband died. She married someone 18 years older than herself, and he's been sick for a while, but all of a sudden, he went down hill really quickly and died. It was torture knowing that I couldn't leave Denver, because I was the only one from our company there, and I had to get the materials sent back before I could leave. When I got back to NYC, I spent a week catching up, just to be out the door again for my 5 day bereavement period. I know I'm lucky that my company even has such a policy, and the time was totally put to good use, because there was a lot of paperwork to help with, even though I wasn't there for the physical things like getting the cremation taken care of and so forth. We also had a very moving memorial for him, which went off very well, and of which I think he would have approved.





Every day, I'd get up at 6am to go walking with my mom and her neighbor (which is when I took the pictures), we'd do one or two things once the businesses opened up, then go shopping, or sit out on the porch, or watch mindless tv. My mom's pretty devastated. They were happily married for over fifteen years, and she's never really been alone before. She has a lot of friends, and I'm sure in the long run she'll be fine, but it's hard in the short term. She's just going through the motions. I really didn't want to leave her, but I have to go back to work tomorrow. Meanwhile, none of the work I brought down with me got done. I did manage to knit the Soctober mystery socks up to the third clue though:



I don't feel so bad posting the picture since the fourth clue is out now, and if you're really into the socks, then you are probably this far along yourself anyway... I downloaded the fourth clue, for the foot, before I left my mom's house, but I haven't started them yet, because I don't deserve to if I haven't done any of the work I needed to do for work.

The legs of both socks knit up really fast while I was watching cable. I don't have cable tv at home, so when I'm at my mom's I have a hard time shutting it off. Seems like some of my favorite shows are on back to back every night: NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, and Criminal Minds--the season(s) with Mandy Patinkin. I know those are all really mindless shows, but that's why I like them. There is a formula to each one, and it is safe viewing. Except that Ghost Whisperer started hitting close to home... Although, I think my mom sort of liked the message that you should keep on living even when you don't feel like it anymore, and that even though your loved one may have 'gone into the light', it doesn't mean that your life is over. Anyway... that's about all I could manage. I did finish a simple pair of ribbed handwarmers with the leftover Waterspun from my Columbia beret, but I don't have pictures of them now.



3. One day, I think it was Wednesday or Thursday, we went to Joann's. I wanted to get some crochet thread, as I saw this awesome pattern in Crochet Today for christmas ornaments made from starched thread doilies. They were crocheted and then starched into balls. Anyway, then I saw this new sock yarn called Bamboo and Ewe, by Sensations, which I think is the Joann's store brand, and told my mom I would make her another pair of socks. She picked out the colorway. Don't blame me. I really tried to talk her into a different one, but she likes all the tropical colors. Yikes. I'm going to do these as just plain stockinette socks, obviously.



4. Anyway, that brings me to now. I'm back for one more week, and then I have to go to Louisville, Kentucky for work again. I'm not ready for any of it. I'm really over my job right now. It's going to suck from now until the end of the year.

In the meantime, though, I did take a few minutes today to jot down my knitting goals for the rest of the year, and I'm looking forward to it:
-finish mystery socks
-Fetching for my assistant for xmas (Cascade 220 from the stash)
-Sarah's baby gift (leftover Comfort in the stash)
-John's scarf for xmas (Pastaza in the stash)
-little pumpkins socks with the awesome sock yarn I got in Denver (another post!)
-mom's socks
-finish veil
-finish clementine shawlette (would love to be able to wear this to xmas party)
-alpaca gloves for spanky (stash from 2007(?) Rhinebeck)
-hat for jon in Denver (unknown--no yarn picked for this one yet, but I'm sure I have something appropriate in the stash)
-cheryl's present (stash)
-those crocheted xmas ornaments
-hat for my mom's friend Karen (no yarn picked for this one yet either, but I do have some Koigu I was thinking about making the purl beret with, and I think that might be perfect for her)

That's it! I know it is a lot, but they're all small projects, so I think they'll move fairly quickly. Some are negotiable in timing, too. I would like to get Matthew his xmas present by xmas this year though. Normally he has to wait until February!

so this is England

Once a year, I spend a week in the UK to meet with my manager, and get caught up in our company's version of the employee review. It's tedious, sure, but these things are never fun, and at least I get to actually travel over and meet with her in person, rather than over the video conference thingie.

I also got to see my friend Eve, who lives in a house built during the Civil War. The English Civil War, which she's dated to about 1640 (the house, not the war).



It is made of wattle and daub, and you can see in this picture where she and her husband had to repair the back wall (those brown panels). Yes, they learned how to do the wattle and daub and fixed it themselves.



They also have a lovely garden, with flowers and fruit trees, a vegetable patch, a mulch pile, and a swing for their 15 mo. old son, who is adorable, and whom I totally neglected to capture on camera. Oh well. I did get the house though!

I also spent time with my friend Kate and her husband, just hanging around London over the weekend.



The weather was lovely, and we basically tooled around Hackney and then I got to see her new house, which is AMAZING. I wish I could afford something like this. It's the perfect size for a couple planning to settle in without raising a family, and if they did decide to have a baby, they would have the spare room.



I did a few things on my own, too. I got to see the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square for quite a long while, as I'd gone down there to see the Portrait Gallery, but it closed before I could get there. Sadly, all I got to see was this fellow:



He rode and rode for a while, and then I got up to get a sandwich from Pret, came back, and he'd gotten off the bike and was aping around up there. He had friends in the crowd also dressed like gorillas, and they were passing out flyers for his website, which he is advertising in front of the bike. Lame. There was a person in a panda suit setting up their electric guitar when I left (they'd taken the gorilla and his bike off in a cherry-picker).

The last day I was there, I left work a few minutes early (with my boss' blessing--I think at that point we'd run out of things to talk about!) and ran to Loop in Islington. That whole area is so cute! I have to remember to go back next time I'm there. What a great shop! Most of their inventory seemed to come from the States though, or South America, and with the exchange rate spanking the US again, I wasn't about to spend cash on things I could get easily in NYC, so I bought some Colinette. I know you can get it here, but it seems much cheaper when you're paying 5 pounds per skein for it, and it is made in Wales, so I didn't feel it was as much of a cheat.



This is Giotto, and I've got two skeins of it now. Not the most practical yarn ever invented, but isn't it BEAUTIFUL?! Oh, I love it so much. I just don't really know what to do with it. The owner of the shop was suggesting a drop-stitched scarf, or maybe something loopy, so perhaps that's what I'll do, but I really would like to make something pretty that I can wear a lot. I don't think I have enough for a top, unless it was something really strappy. We'll see...

I also bought a project bag:



It is just like the smaller ones that I got at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this past summer (only thinner cotton...), but those are more for socks and small projects. This one is pretty substantial, and I'm sure I'm going to use it a lot. It is a Pretty Cheep Project Bag by Fia. I obviously got the one on the right.

That was my only yarn shop experience. I should have found a shawl pin while I was there, but I forgot to look. On the plane to England, I spent most of the six or so hours watching the new 'Star Trek' (fantastic movie!), 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past' (omg, soooo terrible), and most of 'The Informant' (surprisingly good! Ben Affleck does a really great job... I didn't get to see the end, though I suspect I know who did it.). I spent it knitting the rest of some Artyarns Supermerino left over from these into a simple stockinette cowl, and I must have knit the damn thing three times all the way through by the time I got to England, but it is still a little too droopy, and I think a nice pin would just be the ticket, because I'll be damned if I ever take it out to re-do it again, and I probably won't use it the way it is. Let me demonstrate:



I don't actually have a pin--that's a dpn, but you see the difference, right? The second way has more structure, and you can actually use the cowl as part of your outfit, like a neck piece. So I should have looked for a nice stick pin, but like I said, I forgot. Any suggestions? I guess this would be FO #34, even though I'm not too happy with it. The one thing I used from a pattern found online was to knit five rounds and then purl one round, which helps stop the stockinette roll. It actually does work!

I also brought my two skeins of Classic Elite Waterspun that I got out in Springfield, and created the Columbia Beret, which I absolutely love. I started the beret before I left, but wasn't very far. That was my nightly knitting when I was in the hotels, after the whole cowl debacle, and it was satisfying that it worked out. I actually finished it at the Hoxton hotel, watching "A Walk to Remember" on TV. Yes, that horrible Mandy Moore/Nicholas Sparks movie where she's 'dying' and turns the bad boy good. Yes, I think I did cry a few tears for her. Yes, PMS is a bitch, and I might have also eaten three candy bars, but WHO'S COUNTING, right?! Anyway:



These pictures were taken at 1am as soon as I bound off on the top. You can still see the ends hanging down, and I (still) haven't blocked it, although I have since woven in the ends and have actually worn it several times.



I love this hat. It's the perfect color, the perfect size, and I love the ties at the top. I love that I can pull it over to one side or toward the back. I'm so glad I made it.



Please forgive the blurry pictures and the fact that I look exhausted. Sometimes you can't wait, you know?

FO# 35: Columbia Beret by Sarah Pope at Blue Garter
Yarn: Classic Elite Waterspun, which of course is discontinued. Sheesh. The beret took about 1.25 skeins of the yarn, and I think I'm going to try to knit some handwarmers out of the remaining yarn--simple 2x2 rib ones with just a thumb hole.
Needles: Size 7 circular (24"?) and dpns.
Notes: I did the pattern exactly as written. It is super-slouchy though, so bear that in mind. I've never done a slouchy hat before though, so it doesn't bother me. I'm not over the slouch yet.

On the plane ride back to NYC, I watched 'The Proposal' (soooo much funnier than I thought it would be. I actually want to watch it again!), 'Minority Report' (I'm not really sure why--I think action movies are easier to watch when you're knitting though...), and something else which I can't quite recall anymore. Oh well.

I used that time to work on the only other thing I'd brought with me--the sorely neglected Clementine Shawlette. I'm through the set up rows on the first side (it is done in two pieces and then grafted together in the center) and about 4 inches into the main body of the stole, and I'm enjoying it! The Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk yarn is sooo nice, and the lace pattern isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I am going to take it on my upcoming trip to Denver, and will hopefully be able to finish the first half at least by this time next week.

So, all in all, a successful trip! Saw some friends, did a little yarn shopping, a little knitting from the stash, and finishing up WIPs. Not too shabby. Oh, I do have one more yarn purchase to discuss, but I think that can wait, eh?

the one that got away

So I've been to England and back again, but I'll talk about that next time. This time I want to just register something that was finished and gifted before I left. In my last entry, I mistakenly had two #31s, so now, I present FO #33:



Sadly, I can't find the hat pattern I used for this project. I think I found it by searching a very specific chain of search terms on Ravelry, and I just tried a quick search and can't find it. I can, however, reassure you that if you search by just 'baby hat', you will find NO END of adorable patterns for whatever diameter yarn remnants you happen to have around. Me? I had two half skeins of Louet Gems left over from some socks. And a plethora of babies at work, as we all know, so I decided to make one of them a hat. Except that I still had a whole half skein left after that hat was finished (I guess it was the lace--makes the yarn last longer), so I decided to make some baby leg warmers to match, since I heard these were great--that mom's really liked and used them, and this way I could test them out as a baby gift.



I think they're pretty cool. You can roll the ribbing down (or up), and they'll last longer. The pattern for these is here on Ravelry, and here on the designer's blog.

The girl I gave them to just learned to knit, but she's a natural, and I think she appreciated the gesture. The one thing I was worried about was that the hat was lacy, and she's having a boy, but it's not super-girly, and it is blue, so hopefully she (or her husband) won't care too much in the end.

These were done before my UK trip; I just never got around to blogging about them. Also, I did use leftovers of the same yarn to wrap the presents, and I really think that turned out to be a nice touch.

Next up, swinging London!

don't try to say to me that this was never meant to be

Well, where the hell have I been anyway? Oh, around. No, I've just been living life. Every second filled with some commitment, or in between projects, or just missing some pictures. This coming Tuesday, I leave for London again, and then two days after I get back, I'm off to Denver for a week, and then two weeks after that, I'm off to Louisville. I am also going up to West Point for a day in between to do a talk on how to get your book published. Fun, eh? I've already looked up some sweet looking yarn shops in Denver, but not London yet. And Louisville? We'll see...

Here's an example of what the last few weeks have been like:
Last Monday after work, Spanky met me and we went down to the Lion Brand store to pick up the tickets for Stitch & Pitch, which is this Monday coming up (Mets v. Braves!). Tuesday was knitting night. Wednesday, I went to a gala with Spanky, which was really awesome. There were tables from tons of different restaurants, and lots of microbreweries, and you could just sample things from all those places made with local ingredients. YUM. And we got gift bags at the end of the night, with food samples, and a set of four canning jars! I'm pretty stoked about that, as that was the main thing that kept me from trying to can stuff. Finding the jars. Anyway, then Thursday after work, I took my friend Cheryl to Knitty City to get some yarn and needles to make her first real scarf. She's learned to knit pretty fast, and made a lot of progress already! It took a while though, because I forgot that to start, she had to wind the yarn first, so we went to a deli, got some coffee and sat and wound it. Then went over how to read the pattern and cast on. She came in on Friday with like four inches done, so I think she's got it. :) Then Friday, my friend Angela and I went to dinner and to see Jennifer's Body. We both left kind of at a loss for words. Neither of us could decide whether we liked it or not, and that's unusual! It was not good by any stretch of the imagination, but not totally terrible either. It was like one of those posts on Go Fug Yourself where they ask you to fix the outfit. Like, it is pretty bad the way it is, but not so bad that it can't be fixed somehow. Anyway, we also have friends staying with us for the weekend. Yeah, can you say 'stretched to the limits'? And Monday is Stitch and Pitch, and then Tuesday I'm leaving for England! I feel like I'm burning the candle at both delicious ends. It is really fun, in a way, not to be sitting around watching TV bloated and tired, but I'm sure I can't keep this up for very long, or I'm going to crash and burn, big time.

Honestly, the other thing that is stressing me out is knitting. I know this is going to come as a giant shock but I HAVE TOO MUCH YARN. I've been seriously invested in knitting down the stash for some time now, which has resulted in a plethora of FINALLY finished objects, but they're all small, and have only resulted in the use of two leftover balls of sock yarn, two balls of aran weight cashmerino and two balls of Noro that had no business being in the stash in the first place. AND, I STILL have small balls of the sock yarn left! This stuff is NEVER-ENDING. It makes me tense just thinking of it. BUT. I am basically done with the baby knitting. Right now I'm finishing the top ribbing on the last baby leg-warmer, and then I have one quick hat to whip out from some leftover organic cotton, and then I'll be ready to tackle my two languishing WIPS, the Clementine Shawlette and Veil. And I'm going to knit a beret for myself. And then I'll have to start xmas knitting. I'm making my assistant some fingerless gloves, and I want to make a nice scarf for my friend John, who goes to my book group with me. That's it, but it's going to take a while. All from stash, baby. Although, I did buy this stash specifically for these projects, so...

Anyway, here are a few of the things I've finished recently:

FO #29:


Project: Well, these were loosely based on several different legwarmer patterns, but basically I just looked at them to find out how many stitches to cast on, and where to start increasing. Otherwise, it is just k1p1 rib all the way up.

Needles: Size 7 bamboo dpns. I wanted them on the tightly-knit side, since they have to keep my legs warm in the wind this winter. Mission accomplished, I think. They really do keep your legs warm.

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, color 221, 2 balls--these balls were bought at The Stockinette's sale, where they were trying to make room for fall inventory. I didn't really want them, but two balls of Kureyon are not bad to have in the stash because you can always use them for a hat, or fingerless mitts, or...legwarmers!


Aren't they cute?

FO #30:



Pattern: basket-rib headband

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran--also yarn that would never end. This was from the half-ball left over from making that little baby bolero, and again, I still had yarn left over after this too, but I think I might have chucked it. There's only so much a girl can take, after all.

Needles: uh, I think I did these on the US 7 dpns too.



This is a good pattern to use up some extra yarn, and it makes a good headband. I'm sure I'm going to use it a lot.

FO #31:


Yarn: leftover Aussie sock yarn
Pattern: Lacy Rib Baby Socks

These socks were cute, but I think I still prefer the Pieces of Eight baby socks. Luckily, there are a million variations of baby socks on Ravelry, so I can try them all! Anyway these were made to go with the blue ones I made from the last post with the red toe, so that's one more baby from work down. I just have one more to go, and I think I'm going to make a toy for that kid.

And lastly, one more thing for Craig's care package:

FO #31:

I'm counting these as one thing--


Yarn: Deborah Norville Serenity sock yarn
Needles: US1 bamboo dpns
Pattern: good ole' Pieces of Eight baby socks. I can now churn one of these out in a couple hours if I'm left alone. Good to know, eh?

Hopefully I won't go so long between posts now that I've gotten through this bottle-neck. I just mostly needed pics of the leg-warmers, but have been too busy to get Spanky to take them for me. Now that is done, and everyone can carry on.

Craig, more baby surprises ruined below

Oh, I love babies. They give you so many opportunities to knit cute, small things. I finally finished the blankie, and she. is. LOVELY.

Presenting FO #26



Pattern: Cot Blanket by Louisa Harding, from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms

This may be the last pattern I make from this book. I'm sooooo tired of it. The book, I mean. I've made at least five things from it already. Maybe more. I'm kind of over it at this point. But the cot blanket, oh that I love.

Yarn: Berroco Comfort, 3 skeins, 1 each Peach (9704), Seafoam Green (9714) and Butter (9701) (my color names, their color numbers!). I bought 6 skeins for this project, but I used probably a yard from each of the second balls to finish the last strip on the side of the blanket. Other than that, one ball of each color was all I needed. I guess I could have added more, but I thought the blanket was big enough without it.

I love the Comfort yarn for baby stuff, too. The balls have 210 yards per ball, so they go a long way. The nylon/acrylic blend is smooth and very, very soft, and the yarn is machine washable.

Needle: Uh, I don't remember! I think I used a size 7 bamboo circular, but honestly, that project was done last week, and I haven't thought about it since.

Notes: If you're going to attempt this blanket, and if you like babies, I suggest that you do, because the squares are a lot of fun, then you'll want to do it in strips, rather than one at a time. Believe me when I tell you that the seaming was a bitch. Vertically, it wasn't so hard, but the horizontal seams are what gave me the trouble. Knitting in strips would have taken care of that problem.



The sides were fun to do too. Each side has a different order of colors, since the original blanket used five or six colors and mine only had three. I did two stripes of each color on each side, just in different orders. And the corners, which I thought would look messy, don't! They look great. I think this one is a winner! LOVE IT!!!

ALSO, do you remember me telling you that I have rediscovered my stash? I have!

FO #27



Pattern: Confection Baby Shrug by Tonya Wagner from The Shizknit

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, 1.5 balls

Ths yarn is from my stash. I don't know where I got it (I think at The Yarn Connection, the LYS that was by my office before its untimely demise last year), and I thought I had three balls, but after looking everywhere, I had to concede that I probably only had two all along.

It's a lovely color, don't you think? Purple, with gray overtones, and so soft, because it's cashmerino! But what to do with two balls of Aran weight yarn?

Thank goodness for Ravelry! The extended pattern search helped me find the Confection Baby Shrug, which was perfect!

Look at the little eyelets around the sleeves!



Cute! I thought it would take both balls, but I still have half a ball left! What do I do with half a ball of aran yarn? Do you think it would be enough for a little roll brim baby hat? I don't think it is enough for baby leg warmers...

Needle: US 8 circular from the Boye set

Notes: This little shrug was such a pleasure to knit. I love the DB cashmerino. I've knit now with the bulky and the aran, and I think I have some baby cashmerino in the stash waiting to be socks or gloves or something.

Anyway, I like to think of Rachel keeping this little shrug in her baby bag for when they go into air conditioned restaurants or the mall or whatever they do down there in Texas. In hot places, you never know when you're going to need a little something to throw on in the chill of the refrigerated air.

I have one more thing to make for the little baby to be, and then we're sending the box down to its new home.

That's good, because I'm sure I'll be knitting more for that kid later, but I still have some work babies to knit for. There are two people who I know less well. Each one I'm making something small, and each present is half finished. Then I have to make my friend Sarah something for her little boy. Maybe I'll use the remaining Comfort to make another baby blanket!

Anyway, last but not least, FO #28



Pattern: Pieces of Eight Baby Socks by Susan Lawrence

Not much to say about these, except that I used Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn left over from Spanky's last socks, and I didn't have enough to make both socks, so used some leftover red Aussie yarn to knit the toe of the second, even though it was thinner and smoother than the other yarn. A) these are for a baby and what do they care, and B) That was the only solid color that I had as a remnant.

I can't even find all my sock yarn remnants at the moment, but I think the red toe looks cute. I'm using the rest of the red to knit a pair of lacy baby socks that are going to be given to a woman with a boy baby along with these, so I hope it goes over ok.

I used US 1 needles, and they were really fun to make. I'm going to make another pair for Craig/Rachel (the last thing I have to make for the package) out of leftover yarn from my mom's Jaywalkers.

Finally, I also started knitting my legwarmers out of the Noro Kureyon I got at the Stockinette. I wanted to do something just for me, and it's starting to get a wee bit chilly now, so best be prepared and get these out of the way!

glorious day

Again with the summer days! I swear, taking Friday off from work is (to borrow an old phrase from the kids) the BOMB. You can get over whatever your problems were from the week on Friday, a day when otherwise you'd be sitting at the desk stewing in them, so you're free to really enjoy Saturday and Sunday, instead of using Saturday to get over the week (and do chores) and Sunday to finish up whatever you didn't do Saturday and/or to get over your hang-over. It is amazing the difference it makes! I feel so much better now that I think I'm even ready to go back to the gym tomorrow morning. YAY!



And at 3pm I met the ladies for knitting at JC's newest attraction, Zeppelin Hall, a giant beer garden! Let me tell you, it is a lot more relaxing to knit in the afternoon with a beer. I love this place!



They have veggie burgers!



Hopefully this won't be the last time we meet here. On the knitting front, the blanket has two sides bordered now! Only two to go! I'm SO CLOSE. And I started a baby shrug from two balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran I found in the stash, and I'm up to the point where I need to sew the arms together and pick up for the border! (You can see it poking out of my knitting bag above.)

HOT in the city

Newsflash--summer is hot. OMG. I about had a melt down at one point today where if I hadn't been able to get a bottle of water, I would have really lost my shit. Thankfully, Spanky was there, and I didn't embarrass myself too much.

We got up with the intention of getting in on the last day of Summer Streets, but Spanky couldn't get her act together in time for us to make it down there. It was only til noon, and she needs a LONG lead time.

Instead, we headed to Chelsea for brunch at Blossom, an awesome vegan restaurant on 9th ave between 21st and 22nd streets. My assistant had given me a gift card last Christmas, but we'd never made it over there during brunch hours, due to extreme laziness. Today, since we were already up for Summer Streets, we decided to make a day of it. We went to brunch, then stopped off at Printed Matter on our way over to the High Line.

At Printed Matter, which is a very awesome store (and archive, I think), for artist's publications, Spanky found this book on art and knitting, and brought me over to show me the awesome sweaters.



She didn't know I already knew about Lisa Anne Auerbach and her message sweaters, but I didn't know she had put them out in a book! OMG! It's really amazing. I bought it, of course.



Not only does it have handy charts (fetus, anybody?), but I just wanted to support her art. Also, I am in love with that blue sweater on the right in the above picture. She's basically used the 9/11 sweater pattern on the left, but instead of the words, she's inserted another one of her charts. I know that she does these sweaters on a machine (or at least she did the last time I looked into this at all), but someday I'm going to follow her directions, and figure out how to make that blue sweater for myself. So cute! (although I know you can't tell much from my crappy pic...)

Now, you have to imagine this whole day taking place in a miasma of heat, drizzly rain, overcast skies, and air so thick you can feel it brushing by you as you walk. After Printed Matter, we carried on to the High Line. I'm glad that Spanky wanted to do this, because I don't know that I would have been motivated enough to get over there on my own, and I would have really missed out. It's a beautiful space:



Sorry for all the pictures, but it was a lovely park. It stretches for about 6 or 8 blocks, and is different all the way down. We're already planning on visiting it later in the fall to see how it changes, and hopefully be able to hang out longer. It was just too damn hot this time to linger, even though the space itself it quite enticing. I made the pictures small to save space, but if you want, you can click any of them to see them bigger.

After we walked all the way down the length of the park, we carried on into the Village for gelato (which is about when I had my melt down) and settled in Washington Square Park for a bit before starting home.

All in all, a lovely summer day. I'm glad it didn't rain harder or longer, and I'm really glad I didn't pass out from the heat or kill anyone. And when we got home, after a cool shower and a short romp with the dog, I finished one side of the blankie's border!



I am about ready to be done with this project. It has been wonderful knitting, but I'm ready for it to be over, because I have all kinds of other things waiting in the wings. I have rediscovered my stash, and I've got plans, baby! Big plans! Stay tuned for more on that later...

craig, stop reading now

I've been busy this week. Work has been one. long. slog. I am busy gearing up for fall, wrapping up summer, and generally stressing out about the upcoming four months. I have a target every freaking year to meet, and it keeps going up. On the one hand, that's because I keep meeting it, but on the other, it makes for a few nail-biting weeks on the run up to Christmas. I really hate this aspect of my job. In fact, it is the ONLY thing I really hate about what I do. Everything else--the travel, the endless conferences, the schmoozing professors, the planning and freaking paperwork, the publishing I love. The insane demands that the business makes on you and the toll it takes on your self esteem is something I could really do without. I don't like failing. I do a good job, and what I accomplish, I think I do pretty well. But this industry is just getting ridiculous.

Anyway, besides that, there have been shenanigans around Hudson county lately, which have started to intrude on my life. This was waiting outside city hall on Tuesday when I got home to walk the dog.



But there has been knitting! I've pretty much abandoned my two lace projects for this:



One of my very good friends from college is expecting his first baby with his wife, and I couldn't be happier for them. They've wanted this for so long, and they will be great parents. And to top it off, the baby is a girl! So I'm making her a little welcome pack. Spanky got some stuff too, and we're going to send a box later this fall, but first things first--she needed a hand knit baby blanket. I'm going with this pattern, unsurprisingly. I know, I'm so predictable. But I also have to make a blanket later for another good (work) friend, and I'm going to try something different for that baby. I'm enjoying knitting squares more than I thought I would. They go pretty fast. I know the blanket isn't too big, but that's even better, because I also want to make a couple of sweaters and some other stuff for this baby, and if I suck all my energy into a never-ending blanket, then I would be screwed in terms of time. I know exactly which sweaters I'm going to make, and everything else is just falling into place. It's amazing--when I knit the squares for this blanket, I actually do feel calmer and happier, and have more hope than I did when I was knitting the milan jacket or the zig-zag sweater I made before that. It really helps to have a pattern and yarn that you like, as well as a grateful recipient to think of. I like to think of this little baby girl lying on the blankie on the floor of her living room while her parents watch her, or tucked up inside it during the mild, yet chilly Dallas winter in her car seat or stroller. Anyway, the yarn I'm using is Berroco Comfort, and hopefully the yarn matches the bedding they've picked out for the bedroom too.

I have four more squares to knit, and then I need to seam them all up and knit the border, and I think I'll be done with the last four squares by the end of this next week, and the border the week after that, plus I'll have started the next baby present.

Yesterday after work, I went through my stash and pulled out all the odd balls and leftovers that I had which might be good for baby knitting, and I'm going to try to utilize what I have rather than buying more yarn. I had to buy the yarn for the blanket, because I don't have that much of any one kind or brand of yarn suitable for a baby blanket, but I do think I can use what I have left from other projects to make the sweaters. I'm pretty excited about all this. Making do, knitting for this little girl bump, who is so anticipated and loved already, and I'm actually not dreading knitting for the three remaining babies at work (hats for two of them, and sarah's blanket).

So yay for babies! (But please, let's all just take a break, eh?)



Oh, and finally, Spanky and I took a stroll over to the stockinette today to peruse their sale--half off pattern books and 30% off yarn until Labor Day! If you're in JC, check them out. Support your only LYS and get a deal! Anyway, I walked away with the Classic Elite Alpaca Stories, which I had desperately wanted last fall but didn't want to pay for on its own, for $6.00, and two balls of Noro Kureyon that I didn't really want but I couldn't find anything else I really wanted, and I figure at least I can make myself some replacement hand warmers for the one I lost last time I was in London. So, although I just popped those suckers into the stash, they'll be used this fall. I may try to make legwarmers from them, since I've been really jonesing for some. It gets really hard to wear skirts, even with tights, when the wind blows fiercely round the buildings. Anyway, we'll see. But they were only about $6.50 each, so not a big deal. Stella got really hot on the way back, and we ended up taking turns carrying her like the little Sultana she is.

Fall Knitting Mags

Generally, I don't consider myself a seasonal knitter. I don't worry about using wool during the hot months, because I'm not actually going to be working on it outside. But there is something about the fall knitting magazines that revs you up, you know? It is like a new beginning, a chance to start squirreling away for the colder months. I subscribe to both IK and Vogue Knitting, and I was reasonably impressed with both Fall issues. I also picked up the new Knitscene, which was a bit of a disappointment.

The Good:

Let's start with Vogue Knitting, since I got that one before the IK. That link is to their preview of the issue, since I am not sure about the ethics of just copying their images, and am too lazy to take pictures of the magazines right now. First off, HATE the cover. I was not a big fan of "McKey" on America's Next Top Model, and I don't think she's elevated this photo shoot at all. She always looks totally bored and fake to me in all her pictures, and I can't believe this is the shot they chose for the cover. Who wears their hats like that? That's just silly.

Having said that though, I do love the hat. In fact, that beret, by Angela Hahn, and the one by Kate Gagnon (#13) were my two favorites from that hat spread. I like most of the others too, but those two are the ones I can see myself actually making.

The first spread, "The Warming Trend" is a bunch of red sweaters on top of other red and orange clothes, which makes it really hard to see what they sweaters actually look like, because they just blend in to everything else. I don't think I'll be making any of these, but I'll be curious to see the ones that other people do on Ravelry.

"Natural High", the next spread, is much better. I like Cathy Carron's cabled pullover, but I can't see myself wearing it. I do love the grey one by Amy Polcyn. I would probably wear it with jeans, and would make it out of plain merino, not a cotton-wool blend. It looks really cozy though.

But the best spread, the one that is what I think of when I think of Vogue Knitting, is "Gold Rush". I love every single one of these sweaters! My favorite is the one by Anne Farnham, but I would wear every one of them. I also appreciate the styling of this shoot--it's arty without being lame, the model looks pretty and cool, and the clothes are appropriately haute. Not like the next spread, "Private Lives", which is rather ridiculous and misguided. But the less said about that the better. I love Rebecca Taylor's sweater, and Nanette Lepore's cardigan is fantastic, even if they belted it with this really ugly belt.

Pattern Lust count: 9! Amazing.

Moving on to Interweave Knits, which just got here. I'm less impressed than I was with VK, but still. This isn't a bad issue at all.

"Woolen and Worsted" was ok. I liked about half (and to clarify, when I say 'liked', I don't mean that the other designs are bad, just that I wouldn't personally make them. Sometimes though, the styling is bad.) I've decided that the model in the purple sweater is the new red-headed model, which means that she ends up looking larger than she really is in stuff. The first piece I really love from this spread is Katie Himmelberg's Felicity Hat. It's so cute! I may actually attempt colorwork in order to have this. Strangely, that also applies to Lisa Shroyer's Bandelier Socks. I am not usually attracted to very intricate socks, and will probably never make these, but they're so pretty! I love them exactly the way they are in the magazine. I also love the Slanting Gretel Tee by Petra Manis. I can see myself wearing this all. the. time. And I will probably try to make it eventually this fall. So cute!

"Rule of Three" isn't very useful to me. I like the idea of both the Barcelona Jacket, and the cover sweater, the Clasica Coat, but would probably never attempt either one.

In "Lace in September" my hand's down fave is the Nordique Swing Jacket by Veronik Avery. Love it! I also surprisingly like the Alpaka Tunic by Deborah Newton though. It looks very flattering and comfortable, and will probably go on my wish list.

And in "Double Sided", let's just skip that wrap and go straight to Rosamund's Cardigan by Andrea Pomerantz and Connie Chang Chinchio's Farmer's Market Cardigan. Generally, I don't wear sweaters that don't close in the front, so I would probably add some sort of closure to that one, but I really love both of them!

Finally, I really love the staff projects, so I'm glad to see them once again. Some good scarves this time.

Pattern Lust Count: 7 Not bad...

The Bad:

Like I said, Knitscene, which I normally enjoy, was a bit of a let-down this time. I really don't like the cover model. She seems to be sneering in almost every photo, and they've done some atrocious things to her hair. Gah!

I did like the article about Melissa Wehrle, and I think I might actually make that Emerald Isle Cardigan. It really is a good, basic sweater. I like that you can roll up the sleeves.

In "Graphic Elements", I really LOVED the Dagger Lace Scarf by Lisa Shroyer, and the Crochet Bobble Beret by Robyn Chachula, although I think it might be kind of small for my head... I even kind of like the Caterpillar-Stitch Pullover by Kathy Zimmerman, although I'm not sure if I would really make that one.

"Contemporary Cables"--eh. I like the Valentine Cables Hat by Cassie Miller, but won't be making it. It's just good to know about in case I need a present.

"Fall Session" is notable mainly because it contains the Heather Hoodie Vest by Debbie O'Neill, which I think might be the next big thing. I know I want to make it. It would be really warm in Lamb's Pride Bulky, but the short sleeves kind of counteract that a bit.

Finally, I appreciate them trying things with more unusual yarns, because I know I always look at the Loop-d-Loop Fern and wonder what anyone uses it for, and Lisa Shroyer's top is pretty cute, but it makes that girl look large (and therefore, what would it do to me, who is not a model?), and that's the picture where they've graced her head with that horrible wrap. Why?!

Anyway, Pattern Lust Count: 5 Sigh.

The Ugly:

Well, not really ugly, but that's how it goes right? The good, the bad, and the ugly? Anyway, my mom keeps my subscription to Creative Knitting going, and I'm grateful that she thinks of me in this way, although I don't really find a lot here to make most of the time. I keep the issues though, because they do have good dishcloth patterns, and they do these really great sweaters for the American Girl-size dolls, and my niece (as you know if you've been reading this blog at all) has two, so I always think at some point people will stop having babies, and I'll be able to use the extra yarn to make things for Bella's dolls. Although by that point, she'll probably be in college.

This issue actually isn't that bad (they come out monthly, which is pretty amazing in and of itself), but still... The cover sweater, by Jodi Lemieux Snyder, the Winding Road Henley, is pretty, and I do love the Autumn Rust Cardigan by Cecily Glowik MacDonald. That would be a great work sweater. Mary Beth Temple also has a cute cardigan in here called the Sunshine Cardigan, which looks easy and pretty. The doll sweater this time is called the Ribbon Bow Cardigan, and it's really cute on the doll. There's always one for a girl too, but that's pushing this too far, I think. Finally, there are two baby patterns here that are very useful, (and again, if you've been reading, you know I'm on the hunt for more baby stuff!), the Baby Raglan Cardigan by Kelly Klem, which has a cute little cabled heart on the front of one side, and the Simple Stripe Blanket, by Debbie Slaback, which is done in Berroco Comfort, which is what I'm using for my current baby blanket! This yarn is just great for baby knits.

Anyway, Pattern Lust Count: 3 for me, 3 extras (the doll and baby stuff). Eh.

Finally, I also get Cast On, as part of being in TKGA (The Knitting Guild of America), and their August-October issue just came out. It has some really good articles! There is a toe-up socks article with four patterns, an entrelac knitting lesson, which I still don't know how to do, and a great pattern for a christmas stocking, which I think I might attempt later this year. There are also some garments that I like: the Snowflake Eyelet Vest by Suzanne Bryan, and the Ashley Sleeveless Henley Top by Christine Wilkins, which is really plain, but that's the beauty of it. I don't always want tons of patterning or color work or thinking from my knitting. This is a plain, sleeveless shell that fits the bill of mindless (but useful!) knitting.

But that is it, really. I think the great usefulness of the articles and tutorials in this magazine is what people get out of it. The patterns are just extra.

Sadly, pattern lust count: 2 garments, 3 extras (2 sock patterns and 1 xmas stocking)

So that's it for the fall. I think the Fall Interweave Crochet is still to come out, but there's plenty of time for that, and mostly I just get it to be inspired. I don't know that I'm up to crocheting garments for myself. That baby onesie almost killed me.

FO #25 Milan Jacket

I don't know what they're putting in the water at work. Everyone's pregnant again. This jacket is for Catherine's second son. I never was really interested in this pattern, until I saw this one by Pam of Flintknits fame. Her jacket manages to be sophisticated, which is not something one says often about baby clothes. Mine, however, is not sophisticated. I blame the limited color pallette of CottonEase left over at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio during the month of May. It was their featured yarn of the month for May (20% discount!) and I went into the store on May 31. So, you can imagine...

Pattern: Milan Jacket by Louisa Harding, from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. Can I just say that I really could use another book of baby clothes? I'm getting REALLY TIRED of using this book, even with all the cute projects. And trust me, the projects are not only cute, but very wearable, which is why I've been consistently using it for years now.

This was never one of my favorites. I wasn't crazy about the colors they used in the book. They're natural colored, and they tended to blend into the background. Also, I'm not a fan of those big wooden toggle buttons for baby things. I mean that poor mom is going to have her hands full just putting it on the baby, let alone making sure all the toggles are closed. So when I saw Pam's, and she used regular buttons and non-baby colors, I thought, oh, ok, why don't I try that?

Also, I'm starting to see that my pink countertop is probably not the best place to photograph things, as I think it really distorts the colors.

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in blue and tan. The trim is tan. The buttons are sort of a golden mustard color. The particular blue that I picked is a real boy-baby color blue, but the tan trim and yellow-ish buttons keep it from being too macho.



I did like working with the Cotton-Ease, but the yarn almost felt a bit like it was leaving a residue on my fingers. Does anyone else feel that way? I can't really describe it any better. It was smooth, but almost too smooth--unnaturally smooth. But great for baby stuff! I'm totally using it again. I did buy a couple of extra balls when I was at the store and it was on sale, because I got that Creepy Cute Crochet book for Xmas last year, and that's the yarn she uses, so I figured I'd stock up a bit. I only have about 5 skeins of different colors total, but one day, I'm going to get it all out and make some creatures. Hey, maybe that's what I'll give everyone at work for xmas this year!

Needle: I used size 8 straight aluminum needles, and I think, actually, these were the needles that came in my gift bag from when I saw the Yarn Harlot in NYC last year (was that last year or the year before? omg, I cant' remember anymore!). Anyway, the point is that the straights worked fine, and I quite liked them. They're not super long, but the yarn doesn't stick either like it does to bamboo.

Notes: I copied Pam and crocheted a border in single crochet, and used the contrast color for the button loops. Also, I used the size 8 needles throughout, and didn't switch to smaller needles for the ribbing. I mean, what the hell? It's a baby sweater! This way the cuffs are a little bigger--the easier to roll back.



I like the collar up better, but I'm sure that Catherine will probably end up putting it down, as in the above pic.

Anyway, the coup de grace on this whole project was that I got it to work, wrapped it up, addressed her card, and then realized I hadn't seen her in a week or so, asked her assistant, and YEP, SHE'S AT HOME HAVING THE BABY RIGHT NOW, FOLKS. Damn. Missed it by a week. Luckily I made the 12 mo. size! That baby a) isn't going to need this present right now and b) isn't going to fit into it any time soon.

So that is that. A pretty standard, work-horse kind of present. The next up at work is an assistant that i don't really know all that well--sooo young to be having a baby but whatever. I'm the only woman at work my age with no children. I'm the freak here. I just gotta remember that (as if I could forget it with all these baby-makers around). Sigh. Anyway, that girl is getting a hat. I'm thinking about one from that Itty Bitty Hats book. Those are pretty cute. I'm also working on a blanket for a dear, dear friend of mine, which is made of squares and seamed up. After that, I have one more baby blanket to make--for my good friend Sarah at work. Then it will probably be time for round three.

You know what? I sound like a horrible curmudgeon who hates babies and feels obligated to churn out something for every one of them. And partly that is true. I don't hate babies, but I think we have enough around the office now. People can stop production for a while and let me catch up. Because sadly, I do feel that I have to knit them something. Mostly. I've knit for just about every pregnant woman at work, except one lady that I don't work with at all, to the point where I didn't even know she was pregnant. The problem now is that I've set the bar too high. I get bored, so I don't want to keep making the same thing, so I start trying really elaborate things, and end up over-burdened. I should just stick to hats or little raglans or something easy. But where's the fun in that!