Feeling Blue, but Happy About It!

A few weeks ago I finished the "Something Blue" sweater, but I waited to blog about it because I just couldn't find the right button.

Shopping for the right button is much like looking for a husband; the button must be useful, good to look at, practical, suit the finished garment, and most of all, have that innate pizzaz that shouts, "I'm the right man!" uh, "Button!"

Whoops, got carried away there with my metaphors . . .

Hee hee, I've got the right button, in both senses of the metaphor! (Oh yeah, look at that button . . . yum, yum . . . oh sorry, getting off track here . . .)

Here it is: Taaa-daaa!

Yeah, yeah, I know, all they hype ruins the reality, but believe me, I searched EVERYWHERE to find a button that worked. Since this is ultimately not going to be for me, I had to be extra-picky to find something that would appeal to it's new owner (who isn't going to get this item until Christmas. Naaaa - naaaaa! Pffftttttt!)

I'm very mature. And there's no accounting for taste, I know.

Blue and Blue

I seem to love knitting with the color blue. It's so peaceful and relaxing, and when a woman has three kids underfoot at all hours of the day, peaceful and relaxing is of monumental importance.

MONUMENTAL.

Thankfully, Something Blue resurfaced after much worrying and stressful searching. (I have suspicions that this Blue Diva decided to follow the mantra, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder . . . "). Since taking this photo I've finished the ribbing on the bottom and the second sleeve. Now all that's left is the collar ribbing and the button - my favorite part!

Hmmm, it's occurred to me that I'm starting to refer to my knitting projects as though they have actual personalities.

I need to see a psychiatrist.

Actually, I just need to see people. People who are above three feet tall. (Handyman doesn't count as "people", because his male nature is incapable of staying awake while discussing the finer points of knitting . . .)


I promised my Mum and Aunt that I'd knit them each a pair of socks as a "thank you for taking care of me" gift, and here's the first sock for my Mum. Please ignore the bag of diapers in the background - diapers are starting to take over my life.

It's really too bad that I've been nagging my Mum about checking my blog, because now there's no ethical way I can keep these socks. (Well, ethics have nothing to do with it - now she knows, so I can't sneak it past her!) The yarn (Knitpicks Memories) is so smooshy soft, and I just LOVE the pattern, the Monkey Socks from Knitty.

I can't believe I've never knit this pattern before! I assumed it'd be complicated (it's not) and that it wouldn't work well with a variegated yarn (it does).

Huh, that just goes to show that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Oh, you already knew that, did you?

Wishing and Worrying

Do you ever get that niggling, nagging worry that something is dreadfully amiss? (Hee hee, I love "niggling", and with "nagging", it's serendipitous . . . but anyway . . . )

I have been busily working away on Something Blue, and I've gotten quite a lot done. I've got about 6 inches more of terribly interesting ribbing to do (non-knitters please note, "terribly interesting" is dripping with sarcasm), and one sleeve, and I'll be about done. I'd be further along on it, but - - -

I can't find it.

I last worked on it at a local park when my Mum was here. I'm pretty positive that I didn't leave it there, and I'm fairly positive that I carried it in the house, but I still can't find it.

I'm trying not to panic.

This is starting to become a mania with me, as I also can't seem to find the last skein necessary to complete my second Booga Bag. Part of me is saying, "I already knitted it up, I'm done", but another part (the second-guessing part that I usually ignore and that is usually correct and ALWAYS ends up saying, "See, I TOLD you so . . .") is saying that I haven't.

I can't find that skein, either. As soon as I break down and buy another skein, I'll find it.

Do you suppose there's an invisible knitting ghoul in my house? It'd be the same ghoul that unwinds my yarn and puts knots in the middle of skeins and mysteriously removes needles from socks . . .

(Technically, I have two knitting ghouls, otherwise known as "Peter" and "Banna-boo".)

On to the wishing part, since I need some happy knitting thoughts right now.

I've been working on an adorable baby top for my SiL's baby (due in July), and I needed to get Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting to get the lace pattern for the bottom so I checked it out from the library. I just LOVE this book! How have I functioned all these years without it? My life was without meaning until now.

I have to purchase this book. All three of them.

How am I going to get this past Handyman?

Something Red?

I've been working on the pattern "Something Red" with this really cool ribbon yarn that I got on clearance from JoAnn's last year. I've never worked a top-down sweater before, so it didn't occur to me until quite late that row gauge is just as important as the stitch gauge.

*Sigh*. That means I'm going to have to frog all of this. My stitch gauge is okay, but since the row gauge is much narrower, that means by the time I've gotten the correct length, the width is waaaaayy off. I've been mulling over what to do, and I think if I increase every 3rd row instead of every other row, that should fix the problem. I still need to assess if I've got enough yarn for this, though, since that means I'll need more than the pattern calls for. Bother, bother, bother.

When it started to dawn on me that I was running into difficulties, I switched to the other sweater that I'm doing in the same pattern. This one is knitted with recycled cotton yarn. I figured that it was easier to tell what I was doing with a yarn that isn't fuzzy like that ribbon stuff.

It came out alright, but again, quite a bit bigger than I had intended. Still, although it won't fit the person I had originally intended it for - - - -
it will fit me!!!!!!!! Perhaps my subconscious knitting mind had something to do with that . . .

So, honestly, what do you think of the color? It started out white, but I knew I didn't want to keep it that color, so I dyed it black, which didn't quite work but ended up gray.

Should I try over-dyeing it with red to get a nice maroon shade?

From there, if that doesn't work, I can always darken it again to black. That's the nice thing with being pregnant - people expect you to be fickle.

(Sorry for the blurry photos. I now know that I need to wash my mirror. How nice that everyone else now knows that too. Any volunteers out there for housecleaning? Any? None?)

Starter-itis and Stash-bustin'

Those of you knitters and crafters who read this blog probably need no explanation, but for those of you who are (sadly) immune to this wonderful disease, "Starter-itis" is the insatiable urge to begin at least twenty new projects, regardless of sense or reason.

I think the spring fever bug has hit me hard with this strain of starter-itis, because I've been craving something (well, several somethings) to knit. (Why can't I have the cleaning bug? WHY?!)

Thankfully, my ploy of shaming my family into giving me measurements seems to have worked, because they're starting to trickle in. I don't have all of them yet, but at least there's enough information that I feel safe getting started on some new stuff. Want to see what I've cast on?

This is actually a pattern I downloaded (yes, *gasp* I actually paid money for a pattern!) from Knit and Tonic called "Something Red", which I'm doing in blue here, and I like the look of it so much, I'm planning to knit several versions this year. We shall see how far I progress . . .

Here's the yarn I chose. It's something from my stash (hooray, stash busting!), and not exactly what I had in mind when I downloaded the pattern, although I'm starting to like it more and more as I see it knit up.

It's some JoAnn's Sensations Ribbon yarn that has a bit of a glittery/chenille look once knitted, and I think it's rather cool. It's nice and soft, too, but a bit hard to work with, since there's no "give" to the ribbon. Although I love working on this project, I can see I'll have to pace myself or I'm going to hurt my wrists again.

This is another version of the same "Something Red" cardigan (which I am cleverly entitling, "Something White". I know, it's inspired, but what can I say?) that I've cast on with some 100% cotton recycled yarn (also from my stash). I haven't gotten much done, but I've gotten it started and done a gauge swatch already, so I feel safe continuing whenever I get the urge to switch from the "Something Blue" version. The cotton is wonderfully soft and non-splitty (something hard to find with recycled cotton sweaters), but it too has no "give", so again, I'll have to pace myself.

Next up on the queue is this little beauty called "Too-Cute Cowl Neck" from Hip Knits. I have some Plymouth Encore yarn that I bought awhile ago when my LYS was closing, and I thought it would look very nice with this pattern. Thankfully, it's nice and easy to work with, so this will be my go-to project when the other sweaters are starting to cramp my wrists.

Finally on the needles is a Booga Bag that I'm knitting with some Patons SWS (also from my stash). I'm increasing the bag size a little bit, since I have four skeins (instead of the prescribed three). I just love the bright cheery colors and the sheen of this yarn, which is one of my favorites to work with. I've never tried felting anything before (at least on purpose), so this should be fun. My friend Nikki decided to start knitting one of these little beautys, and I couldn't resist making one, too. (Oh, click on over to her blog and leave a little comment - she just opened it!)

Well, that's it for my list (at least for now). I think the only reason why I've stopped is that I don't have any more spare needles.