Forecast

Pattern: Forecast by Stefanie Japel [Ravelry] + now-famous Winnie mods
Yarn: Beaverslide Worsted Weight in Meadow, 4 skeins?
Needles: US 8
Started: March 2006 ( ! )
Finished: April 2008

Notes: Let this provide hope for all the lifeless unfinished objects out there. Or at least the ones that require no zippers and minimal seaming! Actually, want to hear something shocking? This is the first sweater I have completed for myself since Colchique in January of 2006 ( !! ). I can say working at a law firm has deflated many larger projects, which is partially true. But I do think I found Colchique just demoralizing enough to put me off fitted garments for a while. I lost interest in anything I (a) couldn't carry on the train and (b) might come out nearly useless despite the hours of effort invested. As much as I really *want* to be a process knitter, it is time to come to terms with not wholeheartedly being one. Ah well, the truth is the truth.

Maybe the drought is over. Forecast is eminently wearable. And like many of Stefanie's patterns, it demanded no shaping and very little seaming. And after two years of contemplating my yarn choice, I have decided I loved working with Beaverslide, and adore this emerald colorway even though it does make me feel the slightest bit like this guy. (Note that the color is actually kind of impossible to photograph - just take my word that it's greener than it appears in these photos)

You'll notice there is something not quite right about the buttons. I plan to redo them because (a) it's short one button and (b) I sewed them on in such a hurry that the sides of the cardi aren't exactly lined up. Details, details. They might never get redone. Meh.

(additional pics and more not-that-witty commentary after the jump!)

Crap.

You know how sometimes, you're not paying attention for a while? Like maybe, for a couple of days?

Yeah. Like that. (Who sees the trouble? Hint: It's not the wonkiness of the stitches, it's more fundamental)

Aaaanyway. I had decided to add a repeat to the leafy vine pullover, since it was looking a mite short.

My reward for being ambitious, and for knitting in tiny fits and starts on the train, is a nice solid chunk of delicate frogging. Sigh.

What makes weekends weekends.

Forecast had her first outing! (And see the other project in the pic above? That's right, double-handknit photo. Score.) FO pics to come, very soon, just as soon as I get a chance to focus on writing a proper little wrap-up. But for now, a photographic taste of our weekend. You'd never guess that I worked nearly full days both days :-(, but as a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go [sleeeerp], work was bookended with whatever fun could be mustered!

Sigh. On to Monday.

Ms. M. Monkette's Tiny Tushie Cozy

Pattern: Curlypurly Soaker (free download) [Ravelry]
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool Aran
Needles: Assorted
Recipient: Ms. M. Monkette
Started: April 13, 2008
Completed: April 13, 2008

Notes: Sunday morning was a good morning. After a restful night's sleep and waking late, but not too late, I set about baking some ginger scones. These were heavily anticipated (by me), since I have cut out refined sugars six days a week (and am normally committed to not overdoing it on the seventh day). Scones are really more about the butter and cream than the sugar, of course, but the whole package was cause for some serious Sunday morning satisfaction. And making them was pretty fun, as it required breaking out the pastry blender. I popped them in the oven, sat around for a few minutes, and the phone rang. (I guess it beeped. Don't you kind of wish more phones still rang?)

It was my very dear friend from back home, calling to say she had delivered a baby girl a few days before her due date! Everyone was healthy and happy, and though Ms. M. was teensy (not unlike her Ma and Pa), she was doing great and was by all accounts "cute." I was regaled with the tale of the World's Shortest and Most Rosacea-Inducing Labor, and given an assignment: diaper covers. Well, really I asked for the assignment. But anyway.

Enter The Curlypurly. For those of you unfamiliar with the soaker concept, they're meant to cover cloth or non-disposable diapers, though I suspect they could cover any kind. They are usually made of wool since it is temperature-regulating, cool in the summer and warm in the cold months, and wicks moisture.

And here's mine:

I made the newborn size and it is So. Unbelievably. Tiny. We'll have to wait for the ultimate test - the Ms. M.'s tushie - to see whether it's too tiny, but from what I hear about this particular tushie i suspect it will be allright for the time being. And regardless, it only took one evening to make!

A sick realization: I like kitchener stitch.

On the yarn - I know grey is an odd color for babies, but my local yarn stores (Knitaway and Brooklyn General - another Sunday highlight was walking with Chris to both) both appear opposed to stocking 100% wool yarns in anything but the boldest and jewel-toniest of hues, which (to me) don't seem right for a newborn. Finally I scrounged this Rowan Pure Wool from BG on sale, and I think it's infant appropriate if not the most stimulating of colors.

And the scones? Well, they were delicious:

Quite a Sunday. Too bad a Monday always follows. Ah well, here's hoping your Sunday comes faster than you think.

Sproing!

A very quick update:

Guess I was inspired, because it seems this leafy knit has sprouted overnight! Oh, the clever language here is almost to much for me, Dear Readers. It's a pleasant enough knit, and I'm grateful for the chart since I have the pattern en Francais (though I always marvel at the fact that French patterns use the same word for "knit" stitch and "right" side. It gives me a headache). Just cross your fingers that six skeins is enough.

This is progress made since Sunday - started while watching Chris teach himself to shuck clams! UPDATE: [Ravelry]

Reckless Knitting, Princess Fitting.

It's been nearly two years now, hasn't it, that we've battled, Suss Alpaca? We first met at the Suss closing sale in Soho, where I see looking back that I once had 8 skeins of the stuff. Then came a series of Alpacattacks, apparently trashed two of the skeins, since I only count six now and do have a haunting memory of prying white alpaca, tangled beyond recognition, out of Catty's greedy paws more than once. I have few yarns in my stash in sweater quantities. This is one of them, and I've been uncertain what to do with it. Also, I was always confused by the fact that Suss said it was a worsted-weight yarn (US 7-9 my foot!), when it's really more like a DK. This is inexcusable, for this since every good knitter knows not to trust in what the label says and instead to swatch, swatch, swatch.

Today I swatched. Here you see the results of an unblocked swatch in reverse stockinette (okay, on the other side it's a stockinette swatch). I am considering, but only considering, dedicating it to this lovely Phildar pull. This design never grabbed me in the Phildar mag, which could have something to do with the fact that it's knitted in magenta acrylic and involves turquoise sequins. Ravelry, however, led me to this one, and then to Parikha's as-usual-stunning version, in an alpaca blend. So why not? Why not start knitting a close-fitting alpaca pullover on the cusp of a New York City spring and then summer? Why not start another project in reverse stockinette, after you just dragged yourself through a purling marathon on your last project? When you're not sure this color won't make you look sallow and assy? When you have a million baby things you could make? When you literally cannot turn your back on this yarn, which has a mysterious power over your cat, without her going into "destroy! destroy! destroy!" mode? Why not?

Exactly. You know how it is when a pattern calls you. None of that really matters. I have the pattern and the yarn in my stash, and I'm itching to move it out. I've always wanted to try a scooped neckline like this one. I envision this sweater with a hot pink tank top underneath. What can I say? And if it makes me look like ass, I'll give it away. Probably it's worth sleeping on, but recklessness will prevail. I just know it.

Oh, and you needle-and-thread types may be interested in the adventure I had with my friend Sara yesterday at Mary Adams The Dress on the Lower East Side.

And also anyone who's ever wanted a dress that made him / her look like a princess. You'll be interested too.