yarn model

that is all.

One!

The wee babe turned one last weekend.

Having already celebrated thoroughly the previous weekend...

...we opted to skip the (more) cake and (more) presents, and head into town instead.

We were a bit skeptical about the tyke's ability to hold still long enough to make the train ride in, but he did a great job (note the nerdy matching hats).

We met with some lovely friends in the North End for pasta (no documentation of this portion of the festivities; all were too covered in garlic butter and/or bolongese to handle the camera), then we took a brisk walk to the aquarium.

staring at penguins

staring at fish

definitely not staring at dada

The little man was very into the seals and penguins and fish and turtles, and had a ball until we had to jam him back into warm clothes to hustle and catch our train. It helped that it was relatively quiet and that the aquarium is set up as one long series of ramps, so he basically got to run around like a madman all afternoon... his very favorite thing to do, and a very fitting birthday gift, I happen to think.

Fiber. Art.

Ike and I went to the deCordova museum and sculpture park a couple weekends ago with some friends. There were yarny things inside...

...and yarny (rope-y, really) things outside.

This huge installation piece was super cool. "The work is comprised of 1.4 million feet of rope collected from the Eastern seaboard", according to the website. Hand knotted. Really puts those cabled sweaters into perspective. It was a perfectly crisp New England autumn day, the leaves were at their peak, the babies were agreeable. Successful all around, I'd say. I do wish I'd done a better job taking pictures, but with the tyke running (not figuratively) everywhere and doing his best to climb the artwork and eat the leaves, I'll count it as a win that I got a handful of usable ones. 

Palate cleanser

I went on a bit of a baby hat rampage between big projects. So fast! So portable! So satisfying!

Pattern: Quynn by Woolly Wormhead

Yarn: Cascade Casablanca (green/gray), Lang Yarns Nobile (green/blue), Toil and Trouble Merino Cashmere Bulky (pink/purple)

Mods: I basically used the pattern as a jumping-off point and adjusted needle sizes for a nice squishy gauge for each yarn. By the third one, I didn't even check the pattern (it's one of those ingeniously simple and just-about perfect ones). Number two (being eaten above) got a pom pom. The pink one might at some point as well. I like how nicely the pointy little peak stands up on the gray/green guy; that'll stay as-is. I changed the decrease placement on it a little for variety.

Edited to add: I obviously had forgotten all about it, but this totally counts as an FO Friday post!

The enemy of good

I'm slowly coming around to the realization that if I'm ever going to accomplish anything around here, I just need to have done with it. Not pick away indefinitely, not spend 5 minutes writing a quick blog post and then edit it for 30, just as a completely random example.

I've got several new patterns out in the last month and another few coming quickly down the pipeline, so posts about those are imminent. In the meantime, I leave you with a visual clue about my bloggy negligence...

and yes, this is over a month old.

the mother of invention...

Well, I never would have guessed that I'd get a ton of exercise whilst knitting, but circumstances have made it so.

The kiddo (2 months old tomorrow, btw) has been having some wicked reflux problems over the last few days. He who was so easily and reliably going down for a nice long afternoon nap for about a week or so prior suddenly could get to sleep okay, but started thrashing around and waking himself up, over and over again, not more than 5 minutes after being lain down. Meanwhile, I have three samples and patterns due within the next month, the yarn for one of which didn't arrive until today. Mind you, these samples are due back in the US, so in reality I've got about a 2 week turnaround to contend with.

Enter The Wrap. As I told a fellow knit-grouper the other day, it's not really a parenting philosophy thing, attachment or otherwise... it's just a matter of survival. The kid's been doing all his daytime sleeping since Monday or so hanging off of dear old Mom (and occasionally Dad as well; credit where it's due) His sleep situation's been improving somewhat in the last 48 hours or so, but he's still been super restless, requiring a ton of "deep bouncing", i.e. squats and/or lunges, to get to, then stay, asleep.

Any member of the public who might have seen me in the last week would surely think me insane, knitting on a heavy wool sweater with a baby attached to me whilst doing calisthenics. But I'm pretty sure I'm putting a dent in the baby weight...

gratuitous...

...

baby in another sweater.

Why yes, I did remove all the buttons in a fit of maternal anxiety. To think he was wearing this in our first few days home because none of his clothes were small enough... it was pretty ridiculous. (eta: ridiculously big, that is).

Also eta: this is kind of an old post. I thought I'd auto-scheduled it to be published last week. It's kind of amazing how much the little dude has changed in just 10 days or so.

like a weed

Remember this guy? 5 pounds, 14 ounces; unusually tiny, especially given the size of his parents? Seemed like it would be an eternity (or at least spring) before he fit into his hand knit sweaters.

Well, we went to his first doctor's appointment yesterday, and at five weeks he's shot from the 5th weight percentile to the 50th.

It's pretty chilly out today, and I thought it would be wise to try on one of his sweaters again:

screamy, but at least
 the sweater is visible?

Better get all the wear out of it now that we can; who knows how big he'll be next week...

Oh, and I finally found the booties. They were in my sock drawer (?). Somehow that must have made sense in my post-delivery, sleep-deprived fugue state in the first few days home from the hospital. He's way, way outgrown them already. Ah, well... they'll be in pristine condition for someone else's newborn.

FO Friday: moonlight sonata, mo monkeys, baby hoody

Bumper crop this week! Lots of knitting while I wait around for the (due Monday... as in last Monday) baby to arrive.

Pattern: Moonlight Sonata v.2 by Shui Kuen Kozinski
Yarn: Lana Grossa Lace Lux
Mods: Slipped first st of each row for a cleaner edge. 10 repeats of lace pattern.
Comments: The directions are a touch shaky - I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with the first lace chart, but it's written out as well and is correct there. Free pattern though, so I really can't complain. I'd knit it bigger if I used this yarn again - it has very little stretch and memory... but is really really pretty. Had a hard time photographing it accurately.
Project Page: Blood on the moon

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Yarn: Regia Design Line Hand-dye Effect by Kaffe Fassett
Mods: No purling this time (turns out that this is kind of its own pattern already? I didn't consult it, just went with the purl-less version of the stitch pattern, but here it is) and finally knit on a smaller needle, results of which I'm very happy with.
Comments: Christmas sock factory is in full swing.
Project Page: Mo monkeys mo problems

Pattern: There isn't one...
Yarn: Lion Brand Thick n Quick
Comments: Little tiny top-down raglan baby sweater. Knitting done in one evening, finishing taken care of the following morning. I just cast on what looked like a likely number of stitches and increased to desired arm/body size; held sleeves and knit body, finished with a couple decreases before the garter hem (hate flippy garter stitch edging). Knit sleeves in the round with a couple decreases at underarms and garter cuffs. Picked up stitches for hood; increased at the back of the head then decreased back down; closed with a 3-needle BO. Picked up and knit garter stitch button band all the way around front and hood. That's pretty much it. I think it'll be good for a tiny fella; we'll hopefully see soon!
Project Page: 4 hour hoody

FO Friday: sea(foam) monkeys, tiny booties

Weekly FO logging seems like a good habit to get into, at least between now and Christmas... though who's to say what kind of blogging will occur once the kid shows up.

Stuff for feet, adult-sized and otherwise:

Might overdye these. I'm pretty into the color, but they're
intended for someone with more refined taste.

Hardly seems reasonable counting these, but the ends are
woven in and everything, so there.

Above: 

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. 

Yarn: Regia Design Line Hand-Dye Effect by Kaffe Fassett

Mods: One repeat shorter in the leg. I have a lot of socks to finish in the next month.

Comments: There's a reason everyone and their uncle has knitted these socks. I may crank out another pair for the ol' gift knitting pile; maybe the no-purl variety next time. 

Below: 

Pattern: Hodge by Stella Lange

Yarn: handgefaerbt.com Sockenwolle

Mods: None, except to tighten the gauge. 

Comments: Loved this pattern. Plus learned a new skill: Russian grafting!

a matter of scale

It's blocking day round these parts.

On the docket:
1 baby sweater
1 baby hat
1 pair of baby booties
1 pair of gigantic man socks

Nothing much to say about it; just thought the juxtaposition was kind of cute and hilarious:

Also a good reminder that I should enjoy knitting stuff for the kid (aka Cletus the fetus) now; he's got a good chance of eventually fitting into the larger pair. Also, there will be no griping about the lameness of Mom's knitwear from a newborn. 

fo: ulina baby sweater

Success! With 2m of the main color to spare and probably 10m of the contrasting color:

Pattern: Ulina

Yarn: Wollmeise Pure, 100g in Spinaci; Wollmeise Twin, 50g in mystery summer sale colorway

Needles: US 1.5 / 2.5mm

Size: One; see below

Mods: Changed button placement to fall a bit lower and eliminated buttonhole in neckband. 

Pattern is written for one size - about 6 month - and calls for US 2 / 2.75mm needles; I knit it on smaller needles to make it slightly smaller for (hopefully) more-or-less immediate wear. 

Raveled: Here