Pick Your Path, Then Follow It

Nothing brings joy to a knitter's heart quite like being asked to knit something for someone. Even showing someone something you like and saying "I think you'll like this" then having them nod in a vaguely non-committal way is about all the encouragement we need. (I am assuming this is true for other knitters - correct me if I am wrong.) And of course, there are to-be-gifted knitting projects that the recipient knows nothing about and those are always great, too.

My proclivity for this kind of knitting has generated a bit of a backlog. This is no one's fault but my own and so I am taking responsibility for my knitting to-do list. I am enacting a Resolution. I am resolving to complete my current list of projects before casting on for any more projects.

New Year's resolutions would be inappropriate in the middle of April so I'm making a Friday the 13th Resolution. This Resolution will be in effect from Friday the 13th to Friday the 13th. Conveniently enough, the next Friday the 13th falls in July of this year and three months is a very reasonable amount of time for tidying up the knitting landscape. (On an irrelevant but serendipitous note, that is the amount of time I am going to need to continue being gentle to my ankle.)

So without further adieu. . .

As Blog is my witness, I declare the following Friday the 13th Resolutions:

(In no particular order)

1. I shall not start any new knitting projects between today and the next Friday the 13th.

2. Between now and 07/13/2007 I will only knit on the projects as itemized below. (Some of the listed projects are literally started - as in already on the needles - and some are just on the docket.)

3. My little Christmas ornament sweaters are exempt for the following reasons:

a. They are an ongoing project that was started before the Resolution was enacted.

b. They are the aperitif and thinly sliced ginger of my knitting life these days.

c. It is my Resolution so I get to make up the rules.

4. Swatching doesn't count.

5. Charity knitting doesn't count. (Hey - there might be some sort of knitting emergency.)

6. This Resolution is purposefully silent on acquisitions.

The Approved List:

1. Mama's hedgehog herd. I need to make her a total of five. Hedgehog-1 is complete - knit, felted, stuffed, seamed. Hedgehog-2 has been knit but not felted or anything else. Hedgehog-3 is on the needles. Hedgehogs-4 and -5 are in the stash.

2. Socks for my ankle surgeon. (This is my current on-the-go project. This has a slightly different deadline in that I want to take them to my July 9 appointment.)

3. I need to sew the lining in Lori's Sophie bag. (Not technically knitting but the knitting project isn't done until the non-knitting part of the project is done, too.)

4. The Almost Amish Baby Blanket. (The challenge of this blanket is that the Pima Cotton Silk sheds. I can't take the shedding knitting with me to work on when I have to then go back to work or anywhere else. This is at-home knitting.) 5. Socks for my oldest niece. (I have made significant progress since this picture was taken. This sock is beyond the gussets and the second is just past the cuff, however, both of these socks are on holders at the moment because I have borrowed the needles to work on Item #2.)

6. A white llama for Carrie. (She got a brown one for Christmas and now wants a small white one with a black face, too.)

7. Felted magazine bag for my friend Donna. (The pattern for which I need to work out. Right now this pattern is only in my head. A dangerous place for a pattern.)

Should the stars and planets align causing a shift in the fiber of the universe which then results in me finishing 1-7 before 07/13/2007, then the following projects are permissible.

8. Mama's Tahki Cotton Classic Colorific Daddo blanket.

9. My Briar Rose Knitalong Abundance shawl from the Cozy pattern.

10. Socks for me from Susie's yarn or the Trekking. I will cross that bridge in the unlikely event that I come to it.
Well there you have it. The Resolution. So now I've said it "out loud" which should help keep me on task.

Today's Quote:

"However vague they are, dreams have a way of concealing themselves and leave us no peace until they are translated into reality, like seeds germinating underground, sure to sprout in their search for the sunlight." - Lin Yutang

Swatch You Talkin' About Willis?

It is a universal knitting truth: Swatches lie.

Sometimes, though, swatches tell the cold, hard, inconvenient truth. Swatches say things like

"700 miles of stockinette in this color will make you look like a blotapatomus."

or

"This is not an appropriate yarn for a man's sweater."

or

"All the hard work of your beautiful cables will mean nothing after one wash."

or

"Surely you are not contemplating a knitted skirt for your rather amble hind end."

All sad, painful truths, none of which (thankfully) were uttered at my house this weekend.

In the case of this hemp swatch
the truth telling went something like this: "Dude, we are talking yarn investment here. Are you really prepared to make a $135 baby blanket?"

The hemp yarn is very nice. All the things I said about it before are true. When it comes right down to it, though, I am not prepared at the moment to make such a significant commitment of the yarn budget.

So I turned to the stash.

Cascade 220? Right out. (A [non-knitting] mother operating under "new baby" conditions cannot be trusted to insure the baby blanket doesn't felt.)

Dishcloth cotton? Nope, not this time. (Though there are baby bibs to make....)

Brown and black eyelash? Nope. Destined to be a hedgehog.

In the end, I knit several swatches and returned to a yarn that I have loved from the very first moment I held it in my hands. Yarn that, indeed, I knew I would love even before we met.Misti Alpaca's Pima Cotton Silk. So soft. So cushy. So full of good mojo from Kim and the International Scarf Exchange 3. So doesn't require a $135 investment. My only concern (and it is a minor concern) is that it wants to shed a little when I am knitting with it. I noticed that before, too, when I was making Kim's scarf but one good trip through the wash seemed to remedy that so I'm not going to worry about it.

I have decided to stick with the plan to do the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting. Of course, this yarn knits to a very different gauge and on larger needles than the pattern calls for and will thus be a version of the Moderne Baby Blanket, but the adjustments should be pretty straight forward. I am very happy with this plan.

All that remains is making a decision on the palette. They are having a baby girl but I have decided against the pales and the pinks. I've decided springy and warm and still feminine. (I've borrowed these color pictures from the Misti Alpaca site.)

Option 1: Black, Lavender, Eggplant, Buttercream

Option 2: Black, Kiwi, Buttercream, EggplantWhat do you think?

Before anyone asks, yes, I have already made up my mind about the black. I know conventional wisdom and tradition dictate that a baby blanket should be black-free but I am throwing caution to the wind here. (And, yes, I realize how that statement reflects the absence of much excitement in my life.)

Today's Quote:

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” Edgar Allan Poe

Please Deposit Your Two Cents Here

As you may or may not recall, I recently purchased these two skeins of Hemp for Knitting. If you've never held this yarn in your hands, let me humbly suggest that you really must. It is not like any other yarn I've ever known. I don't know exactly how to describe it. It is very soft, but not squishy or springy. It has a structure and coolness similar to linen but it is soft and airy, like a really lovely cashmere. It has great stitch definition and washes well, not just maintaining its softness but actually getting softer after washing.

My friend Melanie is pregnant with baby number two. When baby number one was born in October of 2005, I made this blanket.Now that baby number two is on the way, I have been contemplating a sweaterbut I am a sucker for sentimentality. Babies outgrow sweaters. Blankets seem to last so much longer. I think I have put aside the sweater plan (for now...maybe when the baby is a little older, because this sweater really is completely precious) and have decided on a blanket. I am fairly certain that Ann over at Mason-Dixon Knitting tipped the scales with this post about her son David and his handknit blanket.

Melanie and her husband Bryan are very cool. (Melanie and I went to high school together and though I've never met Bryan, from what I know of him, he is cool. He has to be, to be married to her.) I want to make something special for them and their baby. Something they won't get from anyone else and something they aren't likely to find in a store.

I have been contemplating the Pinwheel Blanket for quite some time. (In fact, I considered it for baby number one but shied away.) Melanie and Bryan live in southern Arkansas. The baby is due in May. There will be little, if any, call for a warm woolen blanket during the first several months of this baby's life. That's why I think maybe the Hemp Yarn and the Pinwheel Blanket will be an excellent marriage. The shape is of course unique and the blanket would be a nice weight for a crib or stroller blanket. (This is my line of thinking...)

So! Now for your two cents: What do ya'll think? Would the Hemp for Knitting make a nice baby blanket? And if I do decide to go this route, how many skeins of the All Hemp 6 do you think I would need? These are the specs, per the info provided on Yarn Market.

Weight: 90g
Yardage: 150 yds.
Texture: Plied Yarn
Weight: DK
Gauge: 22(Stitches per 4.0 inches/10cm.)
Needle Sizes: 5 U.S. (3.75mm)
Care: Machine or Hand Wash & Dry Flat

The Pinwheel pattern doesn't give even an estimate on yarn yardage. And yes, I suppose I could do a swatch - and I probably will - but I have never had much luck with swatching to determine yarn requirements.

Today's Quote:

"It is the nature of babies to be in bliss." - Deepak Chopra

Ignorance is Bliss & All That

In her Thursday post, Dr. B talks about Testing it Out. About not just racing ahead with something willy-nilly*, but actually planning and carefully preparing for projects, thereby minimizing the chances of turning your project into a muddled less-than-perfect mess.

Normally, I am a testing-it-out sort of girl. (I've told ya'll about my cautious nature plenty before so this should come as no surprise to anyone who's read more than, say, two posts on this little blog.) Normally, I would not have purchased yarn and then, within 24 hours of first opening the package, have the yarn out in my kitchen, mistreating it. I guess right now does not qualify as "normally" because, also as previously mentioned, I've attempted to overdye my Lisa Souza yarn.

See, I was having a weak moment when I decided to futz around with this yarn. I was contemplating how to remedy my color issue on Tuesday and then on Tuesday evening, I had a bit of a bad crafting experience. Katy and Lori (not normally known for their craftiness) have decided to embrace their inner Jackie Guerra and have taken up beading. I say this with all sincerity: they are both quite talented with the beads. They both have an eye for the color combinations and the do-you-use-wire-or-do-you-use-stretchy-fishing-line type decisions. I got caught up in their enthusiasm and agreed to go with them to Michael's...where I spent $56 on beads and paraphernalia (I know! I know! Consider the yarn budget!) We eagerly headed to Katy's house for a little quality sisterly crafting time.

It was a disaster, ya'll. I wish I could say that I enjoyed the beads. That I was happily surprised and this new little adventure. It didn't happen. After 7 straight hours of beading, I was in tears (surprise, surprise) and using all sorts of unladylike words. I am kidding, it was really only 2 hours, I think, it just seemed longer...but I'm not kidding about the tears or the unladylike words. By the time the crafting was done for the evening, I'd sold all of my newly procured beads to Katy and vowed never to bead again.

So when I got to the house, I was in desperate need of comforting so I turned to the warm, soft arms of my beloved yarn. I looked up the Kool-Aid dying instructions on Knitty, grabbed my yarn and set to work. That first go ended in mediocre results but last night was a different story.

(Bottom skein is the original color, top skein the doctored version.)

It isn't illustrated well by this picture but the color is quite a bit darker. I am really happy with the results. It is a deep red, with the slightest hint of a rust undertone. It is now wound in a tidy center pull ball and ready to become socks.

This evening, I was doing some additional reading about Kool-Aid dying. Nearly everything I read emphasized that Kool-Aid dying only works on protein fibers. In fact, one tutorial I read said absolutely this method wouldn't work on superwash yarns or blends. This yarn is a 75%/25% superwash wool/nylon blend. Had I read this tutorial earlier, I wouldn't have even tried.

For once, I am glad I threw caution to the wind. In fact, I am considering ordering some Bare yarn from KnitPicks soon. I am a sucker for a new magic trick.


Today's Quote

"Here's to those who wish us well, and those that don't may go to hell." -Patsy Cline, attributed


*Have ya'll read Izzy Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt? I read it the first time in junior high and then again late just because. I think it is a young adult novel but it is an excellent book. If you are looking for a quick read, this is a very good story and well written, as is standard for Cynthia Voigt.