Knitting In The North

Hand Me Down Pirate

One of my favourite things about knitting for my children is having the fun of watching the next one down the line wearing the same thing!  I get very nostalgic about clothing - I spent a fair bit of time going through old clothes this weekend, preparing for the new guy, and got all mushy and teary eyed over the shoes or sweater or whatever that all three of my children have worn in turn.  It pleases me to no end to think that Brian wore this, Gwenyth is wearing it now, and one day, the new guy will have his turn, too.  Fortunately, this sweater is great for Gwen; she's a bit of a tom-boy, and if you ask her what a pirate says, she's quick to respond, "Arghhh!". 

I have to say again, I love the way this GGH Bali wears.  I have enough of the blue stashed away for a light cardigan for myself, and have used the leftovers for lots of little hats and mittens and booties.  The fabric is as nice as the day it came off the needles, and that's after lots of machine washings (on gentle, laid flat to dry).

I've been alternating my knitting time between knitting on Katie's big cabled hoodie, and Gwenyth's little lacy cardigan.  I admit, I'm really enjoying how quickly the chunky yarn is knitting up (I'm almost halfway to the armholes already!) and have a hard time putting it down at times.  But that's balanced by how much I love the feel of little needles and fine yarn.  It feels sophisticated, somehow, those long, thin metal needles in my hands.

To those of you who notice the weather, we're in the midst of a bitterly cold snap right now.  This morning, the thermometer read -35C.  Brrrr.  We're all surviving, though hibernating as much as possible.  Schools are still open, even in this weather, although we had the little blessing (for us, anyway) of hearing the school was closed today, as the furnace has broken.  Nasty for the school, and the electrician who has to fix it, but lovely for us, who get to stay in our nice warm house, cozy by the fire and eating fresh muffins.  And, of, course, knitting!

Just Like It?

I had to buy yarn this weekend.  I had to.  See, Katie has a sweater that she has worn to pieces, literally.  It went through the wash this week, and came out falling apart.  When I looked at it, I saw that this sweater was a size 6X.  How on earth she's been wearing it all this time, I have no idea, but it has to be at least 4 years old.  For goodness sake, she's wearing a size 12 now!  Anyway, she was very sad, and so I told her that if she wanted I would try to knit her a new one. Off to the yarn store I went, and found this yarn I knew she would love.  It's Sirdar Denim Ultra, which is super chunky, and is much thicker than any yarn I've used before.  However, it's similar in appearance to the old yarn (although not pink), and is soft and machine washable, which are good qualities in things for my children.

We then spent the better part of the afternoon looking for a pattern.  What did she want?  Why, one Just Like The Old One!  Groan.  I was at the point of just designing my own pattern, when we came across this one (Ravelry link).  Hooray for Ravelry!  The requirements?  It had to be knee length, use toggle buttons, and have cables down the front and the sleeves, as well as having a hood.  She's excited about this one, even though I'm having to knit the 2 year old size because of the gauge differences, and I still think she's going to swim in it.  But maybe she'll be able to wear it for the next four years!

The Wheels on the Car

  Just look at my handsome boy!  This sweater is one Brian picked out of an old Knit It! magazine over two years ago.  Back then, not knowing about yarn substitution, I obediently went online and ordered Lion Brand Wood-Ease Chunky as requested in the pattern.  Yarn and pattern then got put away for more than a year, until the fall when I pulled it all out again for Brian's fall sweater.  Sadly, I had it almost finished when I became too sick to knit, but now that I'm better, it was something I wanted to finish up right away.  I went on a button mission this morning, and just sat with a very attentive little boy while I sewed them on.  No blocking for this guy!

Particulars:

Pattern: Boy's Car Sweater, Knit It! 2006

Yarn: Wool-Ease Chunky, 3 skeins of Bluebell and 1 skein of Pumpkin

Needles: 6mm and 6.5mm

Notes:  I made no modifications to this pattern, just knit as written for a size 6.  If I were to do it again, I think I would make it a tad longer, as the length doesn't seem to match the roominess of the rest of the sweater.  Although it wasn't thrilling working with this yarn, it is nice to have such a hardy yarn for such a busy recipient.

Goodbye, 2007

"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy" - Anne Frank

I sat down this morning, and went through the last few months worth of my 2007 Stitch n' Bitch calendar.  It was a peaceful, quiet time, while the little ones played, and I sat listening to a podcast and reading all these little tips and quotes, and checking out some of the simple little patterns.  It was fun.

I finished Brian's Car Sweater!  All I need to do is find two 1" buttons to sew on the front to be the wheels of the car, and I'll be able to post it!  Hooray!  I've started knitting on Gwenyth's little sweater, which is looking cute, but is going to take FOREVER!  Knitting a sweater with sock yarn has an element of craziness to it, I think.  But it'll be worth it in the end, right?

Here's one more little quote for the day - Enjoy!

"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; you cannot fly into flying." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Overdue Thank You

I am very, very behind in giving a public thank you to the amazing pal I had during the last Secret Pal swap.  The swap started just before I began to get sick, and so I was out of commission for a large part of it.  Even though I wasn't as communicative as usual, my pal still came up trumps.  Here are some of the wonderful goodies she sent me:

Chelle was incredible during this swap, sending me lovely sock yarn, Bare yarn from Knitpicks, plus a whole dye kit so that I can give this new thing a try...  You can see the picture of the stork - that is a Morning Sickness Tea package, full of bags of soothing tea.  So thoughtful, and I am so appreciative.  Thanks again, Chelle!

It Made my Day

I was recently given an award by Hasbu, the You Make My Day Award!  Here are the rules:

"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

What could be more fun than that?  The only tricky part is keeping my list down to 10, it could go on and on and on...

1. Nora
2. Jo
3. Karen
4. Jennifer
5. Poppins
6. Ruth
7. Marianne
8. Opportunity Knits
9. Stephaneener
10. Spider Woman Knits

My inclination is to, of course, write a chatty note about each blogger and how wonderful they are - but I'd far rather you checked them out yourself!  Naturally, none of you are obligated to continue this - only do what brings you joy, that's what this one is all about!

The Best Things in Life

I was reading a blog post on a financial site I like to read, and the author wrote about how he feels that the things he tends to value most in his life are the ones that don't really cost anything, or much.  He challenged readers to make their own list, so here's a start on mine:

• A long, hot bath
• Spending the first half hour of my day practicing yoga
• Hanging laundry on the line
• Going for a walk
• Reading a story to one of my children
• Snuggling in my rocking chair with one of my children
• Curling up with a new library book
• Sleeping in
• Writing my blog
• Of course, Knitting, but the yarn itself is usually not free or cheap!
• Listening to my children play in the next room
• Giving and receiving a hug
• Reading my Bible
• Going garage sale-ing
• Watching my husband play with our children
• Working in the garden
• Sitting on the front steps watching my husband mow the lawn :0)
• Snow shoveling
• Baking bread
• Looking at trees
• Watching a sunrise/sunset

I'm sure there's lots more, and when I think about it, so much pleasure in life comes from those little things.  What's on your list?

Oh, I almost forgot!  Check out Jo's new etsy shop, Limegreenjelly!  She's doing some amazing spinning, and her rag bags are too cute!

A Finished Object!

It feels soooo good to sit down and post about a Finished Object - it makes me feel more myself, somehow!  I've been reading all the New Year's Resolutions out there in blog land, and am fascinated and impressed by all the goals and planning.  I'm not a big "resolution" kind of person generally, as I've always felt that if you want to start doing something, or make a change, you should just do it.  However, you've made me think, and I think I'd like to focus on knitting one project at a time, and this year, I believe smaller, more manageable stuff will be realistic.  So we'll see how it goes!

Particulars:

Pattern: Kureyon Kozy, from knitty.com

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, colourway 150, 2 skeins

Needles: 4.5mm, both bamboo DPNs and metal straights

Began & Finished: January 2008

Modifications and Notes: I added a little bit of length near the top to accommodate my taller teapot, and if I were to do it again, would probably leave out some of the shaping.  This pattern is written for the rounder, Brown Betty-type teapot.  The wool is stretchy enough, though, that I can use the width to pull up for the length, so it's all good.  I did try to match the two halves, and although it didn't come out perfectly, it's close enough for me.  I like this colourway even more now that I've used it - I had no idea that some of that green and lavender were in there, I only saw the grey and turquoise on the outside of the ball.  As I was knitting, I was envisioning a whole sweater knit from this - in my wardrobe, it would be perfect!  Maybe one day...

Drumroll, Please....

Thanks to a really super ultrasound technician, we are proud to report.... It's a Boy!

We're all pretty excited, although there was a groan from Katie, who was hoping for more girl power.  Brian assured me that it's a boy because he prayed and asked God for a brother - how can you argue with that?  I was just relieved (and I'll admit, a little disappointed, too) to hear that there is just one very busy baby in there.  The dreaded T word came up more than once with my midwife, and although it would be a lot of fun, the amount of work involved is just frightening. 

Now, I'm frantically trying to finish up the tea cozy so that I can start on a "boy knit".  I have a huge bag of stash yarn sitting in my living room right now, waiting for Stuart to come home and give his opinions.  Oh, and I should really finish up poor Brian's car sweater.  I'm pretty sure when I left off I had only the neck and seaming to do, so I guess it shouldn't take too long!

Finally, Knitting Again

I was truly worried for a while that my mojo was gone forever.  Thank goodness, it's back, and I've started with something small, the Kureyon Kozy from Knitty.  Even better, I had two skeins of Noro Kureyon (colour 150) in my stash, so I could begin right away.  I've knit and put together the two bottom pieces, and am just at the point of deciding whether to knit the pattern as written, with a division for both the spout and the handle, or have only one opening for the spout.  I have two teapots I generally brew tea in, one with a side handle, and one with a bamboo handle on top.  I'm going to "try it on" each one to see.

I've also started listening to podcasts again (another favourite passtime that went by the wayside for a while), and have been looking around for the perfect baby pattern to knit up a sweater for the new arrival.  I have some DK cotton in the stash, which seems just right for a June baby.  I spent a happy hour or so poking around on Ravelry, and finally ended up looking through a book already on my bookshelf, Natural Knits for Babies and Moms.  I'm pretty sure one of these will suit just fine.

Thanks again to all of you that have kept in touch.  It's been a lonely couple of months, and there were some pretty dark weeks just before Christmas.  The sun is shining again though!  Happy New Year!