Sore

I had a fantastic Saturday. My dance partner and I got to spend the entire day dancing: we went to a 3-hour aerials workshop in the morning, a salsa class in the afternoon, and a dance with a 17-piece swing band at a great venue at night. I had hoped to get some cool photos of us dancing, but I didn’t have anyone to take them for us.

After all that dancing, I am crazy-sore! It’s as though I woke up in the morning and said to myself, ‘I think I’ll spend alternating hours jumping and doing crunches all day.’ I’m in rough shape, but the great dance opportunities were more than worth the stiffness.

The FBS has made it to the point of looking like a vest:

Sleeve preparation (RS): work 25 sts in pattern, slip 28 sts to holder and CO 14 sts on the needle, work to next sleeve and repeat.

This sweater has actually been sitting at this point for around a week now. I need to take care of those sleeves soon, as this is one project that I’d definitely like to finish before the big Olympic cast-on this Friday.

Covet Wednesdays: Debbie Bliss, Stilwell, and the Ravelympics

The votes (both online and in person) are in, and the winner is Stilwell from Made in Brooklyn! Sweetie is disappointed that I’m not knitting Little Birds, but Stilwell won by a landslide and is much more doable. I’ve made him feel better by telling him that the next sweater I cast on will be Little Birds.

This sweater will be a culmination of a few knitterly things I’ve been coveting.

First, of course, there’s the pattern. I queued this sweater back when the booklet came out in the fall. I don’t necessarily think that this is the most versatile of the sweaters that I looked at for the Olympics, as it’s a bit more casual than what I normally wear when teaching. However, I’m looking forward to having a sweater that’s both wonderfully comfortable and looks nice enough for “student days” or work at the LYS. I also think this sweater should be just right in terms of knitting: a little colorwork, some stockinette sections, and a little finishing work but not too much. It should keep me interested but not be overwhelming.

Second, I’ve been coveting this yarn for a very long time. I’ll be using Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed in Scarlet for the main color and Natural for the contrast color. This yarn has a wonderful feel to it when knit up. In fact, when a cute sample sweater came to the LYS in exactly my size I really wanted to take it home with me. I had to settle for modeling it around the shop, so I’m excited to have a sweater out of this yarn to call my own.

All in all, this project should be a real treat. I picked up some of my yarn today so that I can swatch and then I’ll take a look at the numbers in the pattern to see if I need to adjust the fit at all to suit me.

I also want to finish up a couple of projects that are very near completion before the big Olympic kick-off next Friday night. More about that later.

Mustachios

When I saw the Incognito pattern on Knitty shortly before the holidays, I knew that Sweetie and his friends had to have some. In fact, I hoped that by making mustache gators that I might stop them from coming home with mustaches sharpied on the sides of their fingers.

So far, these have been a huge hit with Sweetie and his friends! He gave most of them away when we were out with them last night, and they had a ton of fun. They did, however, get some odd looks from people they passed on the streets!

Pattern: Incognito Cowl in the Winter 2009 Knitty
Yarn: one skein each of Malabrigo Worsted in Apple Green, Sunset, and Ravelry Red; ~35 yds of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted in Onyx; ~50 yds of Crystal Palace Kid Merino in Black
Needles: Denise 16″ US 8 & 9 circulars
Made for: Sweetie & Co.
Timeline: December 15 2009-January 30 2010
Modifications: length, etc.
Worst Part: the non-knitting portions
Best Part: how happy they make the recipients

Covet Wednesdays: Olympic Possibilities

Apologies for posting this late: I had some technical difficulties at home last night. Unfortunately, this also means no photos today, but there are links to much better photos than the ones that I take!

The Ravelympics/Knitting Olympics are coming up fast. For those of you who haven’t heard of this event, it’s a personal challenge in which one chooses a project to make between opening ceremonies and the time that the torch goes out.

I’ve waited until now to bring up my Olympic project because I was waiting for syllabi to see how that part of my semester would shape up. Aside from the usual classwork, the only major work I’ll have to do is grade a round of papers. Fortunately, this particular paper isn’t one of the ones that takes me approximately an hour per student to grade!

With this kind of time allowance, I feel like I could pick just about any project. It has to be something challenging, as last Olympics I knit Eunny Jang’s Ivy League vest, an entirely stranded project out of fingering weight yarn. I want a project for this Olympics that measures up to my last project while still acknowledging that this time I’m in graduate school instead of on summer break.

Here are the contenders:

Freyja Sweater: This sweater is knit in the round with very little finishing work in sport weight yarn. Outside of the colorwork on the yoke, the sweater is knit in stockinette stitch. This sweater seems very do-able as long as I’m able to keep interest through the stockinette portions.

Stilwell: This sweater is worked seamlessly in the round with very little finishing work in worsted weight yarn. It provides more interest than Freyja, as there are stitches beyond stockinette and there’s more colorwork. The larger gauge and small amount of finishing work are making me feel pretty confident about this project.

Little Birds: This sweater is worked nearly seamlessly in the round with somewhat more finishing work (read: steeks!) in fingering weight yarn. There’s colorwork throughout the bulk of the design. This would definitely be the most challenging of the projects because of the fine gauge and large amount of ribbing, but I think it could still be doable.

I’ve been looking at all of the projects and comments for these patterns on Ravelry and really can’t make up my mind. In fact, I think I’m even more convinced that I eventually need to knit all three of these sweaters!

Help me out: click the links to take a look at the designs and then cast your vote in the comments. If you like, tell me why you voted like you did.

Thanks in advance for your help. I really need it!

Fabric?!

I think I’ve mentioned before that the craft I’ve been doing longer than any other is sewing. I did a lot of competitive sewing during junior high and high school, but stopped sewing for the most part once I got to college. I think the main reason that I haven’t been sewing lately is that I haven’t been able to find fabrics that I really want to work with and wear. Lucky for me, I overheard several of the knitters chatting about a fabric store that they loved and that sounded like just what I wanted.

Enter stop #1 on the adventure with Sweetie: Hannah Johnson Fabrics. This is a lovely shop with a wonderful selection of beautiful fabrics and an owner that I had a great time chatting with.

Although I was overwhelmed with fabric that made me want to yell ‘where have you been all my life?’ and Sweetie was encouraging me by showing me cute fabrics and patterns, I decided to dip my toes in with supplies for one project.

I plan to make the over-the-shoulder Frenchy Bag by Amy Butler with this cute owl fabric as the main part of the bag. I’m really excited to try an Amy Butler pattern because I’ve heard such great things about them. When it’s finished, I’m sure this bag will turn into a knitting bag.

No further progress on my February Baby Sweater. It was so gross outside last night that I had to work with some wool, so I pulled out my Nordique Swing Cardigan and knit on a front while I watched The Pregnancy Pact and drank some tea. I just love the texture of the Silky Wool and the pattern is a lot of fun, so it was perfect icky-weather knitting. Here’s hoping that you’re staying toasty-warm wherever you are!

A Red Post: Brought to You in Part by Sweetie

Sweetie and I ventured out to some exciting, new-to-us crafty places on Saturday. Stop #2 was Superior Beads, a shop that I had heard a lot about but had never been inside.

Sweetie picked up these great beads and whipped up a pair of earrings for me shortly after we got home-he’s so quick!

Does anyone out there know what that large bead might be made out of? It didn’t have a label and I didn’t think to ask, but I’m very curious.

I also got into the lace part of the February Baby Sweater to the point of dividing for the sleeves.

My notes for this portion of the sweater:

• Work in pattern until 4 1/2″ from the cast-on edge, ending with a WS row
• On the next (RS) row: work 25 sts, slip 28 sts onto holder and CO 14 sts over the gap, work to next sleeve and repeat
• I’ll eventually work the sleeves in the round

I managed to make it home from campus despite the disgusting, slushy weather that we’re having here today. Now I’m looking forward to curl up with some comfy clothes and a blanket.

Glorious Garter Yoke

I’ve been scouring Ravelry and the Internet for everything I can find about the February Baby Sweater to flesh out EZ’s pithy directions.

My notes for the yoke portion of this sweater:

• Slip the first stitch of each row for a nice edge
• Buttonholes go on Rows 3, 13, and 23 on both sides for accurate button placement: sl 1, K2, k2tog, YO and then ssk, YO, K2
• Increase with a kfb instead of M1. Place increases on odd numbered rows

I’ve noticed that there doesn’t seem to be a comprehensive guide to the FBS like there is for the BSJ. Because of this, I’ll be posting my notes as I go along for the next time that I make this pattern or in case you’d like to see my approach.

It turns out that I started this sweater shortly after the mom went into labor–she was scheduled for a C-section today, but the baby was ready to come early.

P.S. I had every intention of blogging the past two days, but spent Wednesday running errands on Sweetie’s day off followed by some insomnia that I recovered from last night. Blech.

Bright Beginning

Today was the first day of the semester. I knew it was going to be a good start when I found this upon arriving at work this weekend:

Hopefully this crazy pink will help for a bright beginning to the semester! Can’t wait to see you in class-let’s schedule some knitting time!

Thanks, Katie!

This “crazy pink” yarn is a skein of Colinette Jitterbug in the Alizarine colorway (#119). I haven’t decided what I’ll knit with this yet. For now I’m just keeping it nearby because it makes me smile!

Today was a very short first day: I was only in class for about an hour. Tomorrow I’ll have the first day of the other class I’m taking and meet my new group of students in the first session of the class I’m teaching. I’m told that the first day with a new class is nerve-racking for even the most experienced teachers, so I’m expecting some jitters as I prepare tonight.

In the meantime I’m going to enjoy some more knitting time since the book that we’re reading first in the class I attended today hasn’t arrived in the bookstore yet. I’ll look back at these homework-free evenings longingly soon enough: may as well take advantage of them while I can.

Coming (Very) Soon

I’ve long had an inclination that I believe many other knitters share with me. If a baby comes into the world someplace near me, I must knit something for said baby. Apparently nine months goes by fairly quickly, as it seems like just yesterday that we found out a friend’s wife was expecting, and now she’s scheduled for a C-section at the end of the week!

I hadn’t even thought about what I might knit for this baby, so I spent my day at the yarn shop pondering what to make the new little girl. It had to be something feminine and sweet, but nothing too complicated since the baby is coming so soon. I looked through just about every baby pattern that we have and decided to go with a classic.

I’ve loved the Baby Sweater on Two Needles, better known as the February Baby Sweater, from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac for a long time. It’s high time I knit one! I’ve also considered making myself a February Lady Sweater, so this baby sweater will be a good trial run of the pattern.

For as enthusiastic as I am about knitting, I’ve read and knit relatively little of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s work. I’m going to take this opportunity to remedy that and read through this book, which has been on my shelf for a while now.

Almost

I’m afraid Sweetie had to go skiing without his Dale of Norway sweater. He still managed to have a fantastic time and came back very tuckered out!

I may not have finished the sweater, but I’ve made a lot of progress. The second sleeve is completely knit, so all I need to do is weave in a few ends, duplicate stitch the bicep pattern, and then it’s on to the finishing work. The most important thing for me at this point is to keep moving. I’m so close to finishing, but there’s a lot of nit-picky stuff ahead that I can see myself shoving aside.