The most beautiful thing I have ever made

If you don't count my kids, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever made.  I have knit a lot of things, most of them pretty sweet.  But this cardigan, known as "A Cardigan for Merry," (as in Merry, a hobbit from Lord of the Rings) takes the cake.  It's the cake, the icing, and the sprinkles on top.

It's DONE!

I started this cardigan in early October 2011, with the intent or finishing it BEFORE my friend had her baby - she was due February 13, 2012.  However, I had never done cables before.  Have you done cables before?  Maybe if I had, I would have known that a first-timer probably should not attempt a 24-stitch 8-row cable pattern like this:

Did I mention the cables are reversible?  That's right.  They are identical front and back.  I had to rip out the first few inches twice until I finally figured out what I was doing.  And for as many hours as it took for me to knit this, I STILL had to refer to the cable chart every. single. row.

That being said, it was also a more difficult knit physically because you knit this with worsted weight (10 ply) yarn on 3.0 mm needles.  Yup.  That's US Size 2.5.  Usually reserved for such tiny things like socks and fingering weight yarn.  The result is a very thick and warm fabric which will keep out the wind on those crisp spring days or sunny fall walks in the stroller.

So after hours (I lost count) of watching Ellen on the PVR while knitting, it's finally done.
Just in time for my 14-month-old to model it for the camera before I wrap it up:

Rockin' the Cardigan!

Can I get the buttons off myself?

All that I have left to do is give the cardigan to my friend. 

Think she'll like it?

Overconfidence in knitting speed makes mommies stupid

My 3-year old loves anglerfish. That was my main motivation in buying Hansi Singh’s Amigurmi: the anglerfish pattern.
I went through my stash and chose colours that would work together and please the 3-year old dictator, and then started up. I literally had cast on 8 stitches when Sacha looked at me and said: "Is it done yet?"
So by day 2, I had the body done and it was stuffed. Sacha really wanted me to finish it, but alas, I have to take care of my other child, 2-year old Kees. So I promised him that as soon as Kees went to bed, I would start working on his anglerfish and finish it, then put it in his bed so that he would see it first thing when he awoke in the morning.
By 12:30 am, after 4 hours of knitting damn fins and such, the anglerfish still had no teeth or eyes, but I was so tired that I said screw it. I put it in Sacha’s bed as it was. I went to bed and hoping to regain feeling in my arms by morning.
At 5:00 am, I heard him call out: "Mommy! Mommy!"

I stumbled to his room, tired, but excited, thinking he was going to thank me. All he said was: "Mommy, you forgot to put on his teeth!" I rolled into his bed and went back to sleep.  Two minutes later, he told me to go back to my bed. BAH!

I drank about 5 coffees when I woke up and finished the eyes and teeth by 9:00 am that morning.


Sacha christened him Spike.

Just wondering

Is it sad that I just spent, oh, an hour and a half looking up logo and button making freeware so that I can make cool labels for my knitted items RATHER than actually kntting the baby hat I am supposed to finish and block and wash (and let dry) in time for a baby shower on Sunday?

No?  Good.  Just checking.



Image by Cool Text

The Pelle-Hydraulique Sweater

This was Sacha's birthday present.  He knew I was knitting this sweater for him, but due to some yarn shortages, I had to put it on the back-burner for the last month leading up to his birthday, so he managed to forget about it until he opened it. The pattern is from Handknits for Kids, knit in KnitPicks Swish DK yarn (merino).

I feared that after all this work, he would only wear it once.  So I made sure to get his 3-year old photos taken wearing the sweater.

Knit Happens

It is finished.

After 4 months of work, which began basically when I found out that I was pregnant, I have completed my first sweater!

So you may all be wondering, why does Sacha have an H on his sweater? What's his middle name? What is the Mustard's real last name? Well, I am sorry to tell you that the answer to the H lies in none of those questions. Sacha wears an H as homage to Harry Potter.

I bought this knitting book in the summer, determined to learn how to make a sweater and that Sacha could wear it this winter. It was going really well until I started getting sick from the pregnancy. I then put down my needles and didn't touch then until late October. I had almost completed the sweater when I decided to try it on him: the damn thing wouldn't fit over his head. Aw crap. I think it was partially from the pattern, partially from my binding-off too tight. So I had to take apart the collar and make it larger than the pattern asked, then I was able to sew the piece together and voilà!

Pretty cute, if I do toot my own horn. And I have been known to toot on occasion...

The most posh socks you can find

I finished my first pair of REAL socks. Admire their beauty!



Look at the fine detail on the baby cables! You're drooling, I know you are.



Now, before you all start e-mailing me requesting your own pair, I feel I must explain their tremendous value.

Yarn: Socks That Rock 100% superwash merino in Metamorphic colourway, $25.99
Time and labour: 20 hours (approximately) at $30/hr, based on how much money I could be making if I was teaching piano instead of knitting.
Total time and labour = $600

Grand Total for one pair of custom made socks = $625.99

It's a total bargain! Don't wait another second to order YOUR custom made foot nirvana!

Marley Hat, The Conclusion

Despite having NO time for myself yesterday, I somehow had the urge to knit last night and finally finished the top part of the Marley hat. Here, Sacha is sporting it while he watches Miffy and Friends (Miffy! A sweet little bunny. Miffy! A smart little bunny...)

I think this is one of my favourites. It will be going to one very lucky Baby Boy Marc when I meet him in a couple of weeks.
I would very much like to knit for a girl, sometime. Every baby that has been born in my family or circle of friends lately is of the male persuasion. Seriously, can I NOT just use some pink??

Marley, dude

Here is my latest yarn creation.  Well, in progress.  I have yet to make the "Marley toppers" as they are called in the pattern.  A sort of pompom, if you will, made to look like a Bob Marley hat.  Don't you just hate weaving in ends?!

 

Scary...

I knit the Mother a pair of slipper-socks (henceforth known as slocks) with leftover yarn from previous projects.  I had a scant 2 feet (give or take) of yarn when I was done.  Scary, my fellow knitters, scary.  Especially since the yarn was purchased from a store in Edmonton, and I am in Ontario (3000 km away, for those that don't know).



That green string is all that remained...

My first project for ME

I have finally completed a project for my own use. After 6 months of knitting, I realized that I have nothing of my own to show for it. Thus, I knit these:



They were knit with the bright and colourful Gjestal Naturgarn and are currently residing on my cold feet. Yes, it is June, but my feet are cold as I am fighting off some sort of head/stuffy nose/sore throat thing. Sacha gave it to me. Damn kids.

A hat for Arlo

NOTE: A boring post about knitting!!

I knit this up a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't want to post the pictures until the hat was received by its new owner. Sacha is, once again, my willing and cute model for your appreciative purposes. The pattern is from Itty Bitty Hats. Believe it or not, finding an appropriate colour of green to use for the olives was no small task. Most greens out there are in the sage-forest spectrum, with very little in the olive-martini area. I finally settled on some Red Heart Cotton Twist, the last skein of its colour in the store, and it did the trick. Now, I have a whole lot of olive coloured yarn left. Must make more hats.

KNITYOU

As much as I am addicted to knitting and all things yarn-related, I am even more obsessed with teaching. You can imagine my utmost delight when a friend asked if I could help her learn to knit. OH BOY! Double the fun! Although, she is expecting her first baby in 5 weeks, give or take, so this doesn't leave a lot of time to really play around with yarn and colours and needles and patterns and fun techniques. It will be knitting: the crash course, version S.A.N (hmm, can you guess what my middle name is?)

Any other interested parties can forward their apps and $$ to Knitting New Interesting Tantalizing Yarn Offerings Unlimited (henceforth known as KNITYOU).

A new super-hero: THE DETANGLER!

In an effort to support my addiction, Tony has said very little about my yarn and needle purchases. In fact, he almost looks interested when I talk about how much I love working a heel (don’t judge me). But the true measure of his love shone last night.

Mr Dash had spent much of Sunday playing with a hank of bright orange yarn while we were away for the day. I returned home to a massive mess of yarn, which was supposed to be for Tony’s woolies. I worked on detangling it for 2 hours yesterday, and had to cut the yarn twice. I gave up and threw it on the floor and went to read a book. Tony spent over an hour and a half sitting on the kitchen floor detangling, and managed to wind it into a nice little ball for me, placing it in the cupboard with our plates so that Dash could NOT work his evil ways with it. And Tony shall be henceforth known as The Detangler. I’m sure the Backyardigans could have an excellent backyard adventure about this.

PS - I just realized that the proper word is untangle, but I think The Detangler is a better superhero name.

Felting in a front loader - not so good

Success! My first pair of adult slipper-socks! They are to be felted, and although I did run it through the washer once, they did not felt as much as I wanted for two reasons:
1. Our hot water tank is set to “piss-warm”, but I really should set it to “my skull is on fire” hot.
2. Our washer is a front loader, meaning not a lot of water (normally a good thing) and not as much agitation to felt.

Other than that, I am very happy with the results.

I am making a chart of my friends’ and family members’ shoe sizes for future reference. Feel free to send me sock yarn at any time and I will gladly transform it into a magical wonder of feety comfort.

Cold feet?

I did it!  I made a sock!  A small sock, but a functional sock, nonetheless!  It is the class sock from Sensational Knitted Socks, knit in the ever-fabulous soy-wool left over from Baby Seasen’s hat.  And to boot (pardon the pun), it fits Sacha!  Too bad it’s almost summer :P

Stripey Hat

I finished this hat for Baby Steeves last week, but I didn’t want to post any pictures of it, lest the baby’s mama stumble on my blog and see it.  The pattern was easy-peasy, although working the top part of the hat in the round with only 8 stitches for 10 rows or so made for a very annoying Monday night.  But, it finished up well AND it’s made of the lovely superwash wool from Knitpicks.  I even tested its superwash properties in my front loader and it came out just lovely.

Comments I have received about the hat:
“Are you raising a hippie child?” - Paul
“It looks like a circus tent!” - Marlene
“So precious!  That is a keepsake for sure!” - Random old lady

Now, I may FINALLY begin to learn the fine art of socks.  ALthough, truth be told, I am rather nervous and delaying starting them because it is something new and I am sure that I will be ripping them out numerous times before I am done.  And ripping out my work just kills a little piece of me each time I have to do it.

ANDI: Don't Look!

I knit this up last night in a few hours using the soy-wool striping yarn that I have been eyeing up.  It’s my own design (well, it’s a combination of a bunch of other designs).

I LOVE the colours and I can’t wait to give it to Andi for her impending arrival at the end of May!

Thing One and Thing Two

This is the result of 2 whole nights of knitting. Actually, I think it took me about 5 hours or so, and some of that was spent trying to figure out how to make a stupid I-cord. THe story goes that it is called I-cord, where the I stands for Idiot, because if you follow the instructions and it doesn’t turn out, you must be an idiot. Well, I am an idiot.

However, the I-cord on this hat is only 1” long, and it is used to secure the pom pom, so it is more functional than for looks, and it serves its function, so who cares what it looks like. You can’t even see it.

And yes, I realize that it is NOT Christmas anymore, but I have leftover yarn and wanted to try it out. I purposely knit it to fit a 6 month (up to 1 year, depending on the size of the noggin) because I know about 6 or 7 gals that are expecting this summer, and their babies will be around 6 months old for Christmas 2007. Will YOU be the lucky one who gets this adorable hat? Only time will tell...

Smallest adult toque ever

This was a learning experience: I learned how to purl, change colours, make stripes, do a ribbed stitch, do a mattress stitch, and knit a flat piece (as I am accustomed to knitting in the round).

So this isn’t my best work. The toque was supposed to be for my hubby (as seen here) but as you can clearly see, it scarcely covers his noggin. He said that he would wear it as a skull cap for whenever we go to synagogue. The only problem with that is that we are not Jewish. Oh well, at least he tried. The toque barely fits me, and as I am not one for toques of any kind, I think I will be passing this along to a neighbourhood kid or save it for when Sacha’s head grows into it. Which, based on the teeny nature of this knitting fiasco, shouldn’t be too long.

All in all, the hat as a toque may be a dud, but at least we have something to cover our heads when we pray

.

Turtles or bust!

My second project has now been completed: the turtle hat!
The hat knit up pretty easily, but those damn turtles were more than I bargained for.  They are crocheted and then sewn on.  I know how to crochet, so I read the pattern and thought they would be easy peasy to make.  HA!

The lady who wrote that pattern obviously didn’t know how to count.  If followed exactly, the turtle ends up with four legs and a head on the front half of its body, and then a nubbin of a tail way in the back, which ends up sort of looking like a poo nugget.

So, am I still in love with the jabbers and knotting?  ABSOLUTELY!  I am totally scamming on a Namaste (which I have been pronouncing oh-so-wrong) knitting bag in the hopes of scoring one for my birthday.  The messenger bag is fun, although I CANNOT decide which colour I like best.  Pink (rose) or Pink (cranberry) or Pink (mauve)?   And those needles? Ooh la la!  And the Knit Picks Options pack seems to be calling my name. Although the cable lengths are not small enough to make my sweet little Sacha caps, but I really like the idea of being able to make whatever size of circular needle I want (as the knitting store here in town has little variety in that department and Walmart?  Puh-lease!)

Anyway, I just realized that this is turning into more of a wishlist than a blog, so I’ll end this post with a little request for my readers: TAKE UP KNITTING!