Back to the Grind

So. I'm back to work. Of course, I worked Thursday and Friday last week, too, but I was still taking the codeine cough syrup and I was still only hearing in one ear. What I'm saying is, Thursday and Friday were pretty muffled. Today was actual work. And it was hard. That's why I am not knitting today. I am just going to type this post and then go to bed.

I recently bought this book from Amazon.

It is a fabulous little book. (As are all of Betsy McCarthy's books in this series.) This book makes you feeling like you can do anything. I wonder if they put hallucinogenic drugs in the ink... For the first time, I really feel like I might be capable of knitting a real sock. More than a Fuzzy Foot. Just as soon as I finish the baby sweater, I am going to knit some socks.

Speaking of the baby sweater, it is coming right along. I have been tired so it isn't exactly flying off the needles but I've made actual progress. I am only 1.5 inches from having the main body finished. I'm excited to watch it grow. I'll have pictures later this week.

Ok. All this knitting talk has tired me out.

I promise no more long hiatuses. (See? It has been less than a week since my last post)

One last thing: All you west coast knitters: please get on the bandwagon with us. We are trying to guilt Ann and Kay into including a west coast stop on their upcoming book tour. I think people are under the mistaken impression that there aren't very many knitters here on the left coast. I have 11 names on the petition so far. I'm going to call the ladies at ImagiKnit and start badgering Mrs. Mason and Mrs. Dixon in earnest when we get 25 petitioners. Drop me a line!! :)

Knitting for Baby

Believe it or not, actual knitting content. Yes, that’s right folks, we are actually going to talk about knitting here at this little knitting blog.

Status report: I’m still sick. The doctor said no work 'til Thursday so here I am, still at home. Resting.

Before we get into that, we need to clear the room. Hi, Courtney. Thanks for stopping by. I know you stopped by here to kill some time at work. Sorry, you can’t stay. We need to talk about you behind your back. Why don’t you go over and visit Laurie or see what’s new at MDK. You are a knitter now. Go read about some knitting.

So. Is she gone? COURTNEY! Go. Here, go read some baby name stuff. Or do some sex predicting. Or go to wikipedia and pick your own topic.

Ok. Now that she is gone, let’s talk about some baby knitting. I’ve figured out what I’m going to knit for Baby Clark (That’s their last name, not the baby’s name). I have a thing against baby pink and baby blue. I just do. I’ve never knit anything for a baby in baby pink or baby blue. I think there are plenty of baby clothes and accessories out there in those colors and I have no need to contribute to that. So! I’m big on the reds and the whites and the primary colors. But I really want this baby’s very first handknit to be something special and something perfect. Something that is practical and the baby can wear any day and everyday.

One of these days I’m going to learn to squelch the back stories a little and just jump into things. I guess today isn’t that day.

Since I’m a) not a super fast knitter and b) not the most experienced at knitting garments, I’ve decided to go with a pretty basic pattern. I’m doing Daisy from Knitty. It is a fabulous pattern from Stephanie Pearl McPhee. I figure, how can I go wrong with the Yarn Harlot, right? I’ve cast on and I’m about 3 inches into it. I’m knitting it in Rowan Calmer. This is my very favorite yarn. It is so soft and luxurious. If you’ve never held and touched and caressed and sniffed the Calmer, run your little knitting self to your LYS and fondle some Calmer.

Here’s the part I am expecting a little flak over. I’m knitting it in brown. I’m going to knit the sweater now and then once I know if it is a boy or a girl, I can embellish it with some boy/girl flourish.

Here me out on this, ya’ll: I thought about doing it in white but really, how practical is a white (or pale) baby sweater? Like I said, I want this to be a practical cozy sweater that this baby can just kick around in all the time. I’m pretty sure s/he isn’t going to have any other brown sweaters. And brown can go with a lot of things. And it won’t show a lot of dirt or muss.

So there it is – what do ya’ll think?