A Wonderful and Terrible Happening

I've recently become fascinated by fabric--the kind of fabric you buy off of bolts.  I blame it on the Dollbirdies' etsy shop.  It's run by my cousin, who is an extremely talented seamstress, and I love pretty much anything she makes.  She told me that she buys a bunch of her fantastic fabric from Uberstitch's etsy shop, and once I went to their shop....


When you become a knitter, you realize how long it takes to get a garment when you create it stitch by stitch.  Sewing, which I was positive was a tremendous time drain and something I would never, ever do once I graduated from home ec., began to look pretty reasonable once I started knitting.  The fabric was already there!  All that had to be done was to put it together!  How hard could that be?


I have managed to stop myself from buying fabric.  I forced myself to remember that a) I don't own a sewing machine, b) I don't know how to sew very well at all, and c) I love knitting and reading and am happy for those hobbies to take up most of my free time.


It was tricky, because I kept coming across fantastic things like this:

Timeless Treasures, Birds and Apples, for sale here

I love that fabric more than I can say.  It makes me think of stickers I had as a kid.  I ordered something made of the fabric and tried to push it out of my mind.

I follow uberstitch's blog, not because I was going to start buying fabric, just, you know, to be sociable.  To celebrate their blog's third birthday, they held a giveaway.  I left a comment, not because I wanted to win fabric, just, you know, to give them well wishes.

Look away.  There's nothing to see here.

"To three lucky people, we are giving away a bundle of  10 inch squares, (1 each)  of all 22 fabrics in the Sweet Nothings line by  Zoe Pearn for Riley Blake Designs."

We all know where this ends up.  I'll post pictures once I receive them.

Sugar Maple Socks

I finished the sugar maple socks, and I really love them.

Sugar Maple socks knit in Knitpicks' Felici  in Botany colorway

It was a simple three-row pattern, and even though the whole thing was basically ribbing it didn't feel like it took forever to knit.

I bought enough of this colorway to make two pair of socks.  My intention is to give a pair to one of my sisters for Christmas. I debated whether I would give her this pair, but it was short-lived.  When they were dry, I took them directly off the sock blockers and put them on my feet.

I have eight months to knit another pair.  No problem.

Two Year Vegiversary

Today is the second anniversary of my decision to become a vegetarian.

It's been a brilliant choice for me.  I feel it's a positive environmental, ethical, and spiritual practice.  I blather on about it here and here.  I'm not sure that there is more to say about it, but I want to mark the occasion.

To celebrate, I'm buying myself a chocolate-chip scone to eat with my lunch.

Undone by Simplicity

A friend's son recently had a baby, and I asked if they'd like a baby blanket.  They would.

The pattern is a typed piece of paper my mom gave me and is called the Rimini Blanket.  I have no idea where it came from, but it's the pattern I also use for washcloths, albeit with different sized needles and yarn.  It's knit on the bias with eyelets on the edges.  It's simple garter stitch.

Well, it should be simple.

I knit this out of Lion Brand Homespun, which is an acrylic yarn that can be thrown in the washer and dryer.  I did just that after finishing it, and when I pulled it out of the dryer, this is what I found.

I've been knitting in an obsessive fashion for the past five years.  I've knit this blanket four or five times.  I've knit lace and complicated colorwork and cables and, well, wtf?

It took a little bit of swearing and a lot of time, but I got it back to acceptability.  It's not perfect, but this blanket is going to be peed upon.  I need to let go of perfection and stick with softness, ease of care, and the good wishes I send to their family along with the blanket.

Welcome to the world, little guy!  You're worth it.

One at a Time Is Just Fine, Thank You

Besides finishing the deer mitts, I also finished a pair of socks for me.

A friend bought me 2-at-a-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes, and I love a lot of the patterns in there.  I've decided that I have no desire to knit socks two at a time at this point in my life, but I'm happy to knit these one at a time and know that I can branch out in the future if I change my mind.

Be Mine socks knit in Knitpicks Stroll Tonal in Gypsy colorway

I like this book so much that I've started another pair of socks from it as well.

Sugar Maple socks knit in Knitpicks Felici in Botany colorway

It's a gross oversimplification, of course, but I've found that the socks in this book are easier than some of my other books.  Cookie A is fantastic, but I have to pay attention when I knit her patterns.  I'm finding these patterns to be visually very pretty, but not tricky to knit.  It's great for knitting while watching baseball!

She works. She sleeps. She finishes funny knitwear.

The black yarn arrived, so I was able to finish these:

Knit in Palette in Black and Chroma Fingering in Sunrise

Pretty, right?  But take a look at the front!

Yes, that is indeed a pair of gay male deer having sex on the right hand.  What could make that funnier?

Fornicating Deer Chart by Anne Rutten

The female on the left likes to watch.

Mark my words:  The recipient of these is going to howl with laughter.  The only downside is that I must wait until August to give them to her.

Origami Garter Stitch

Those garter stitch squares did actually fit together into something in addition to being a good thing to knit while stressed.  Here is what they looked like after five of them were stitched together:

Then I soaked them and blocked the heck out of them.  It took three people to figure out how the things were supposed to fold, but we did eventually get it.  (Thanks, Lynn and Andrew.)

Once I figured out a fold, I pinned it to within an inch of its life.  There are approximately four thousand layers of fabric in that little box after it's all folded and pinned, so it took a long time to dry.

I think because I was using high-quality sock yarn which is thicker and rounder than cheaper yarn, I had a harder time keeping it in its place.  I have lots more cheap yarn than I do nice yarn, so I could certainly try this again with thinner yarn.  I am not, however, convinced I can find uses for these to justify all that time seaming the squares together and folding, grunting, and pinning during blocking.

I like the concept of these.  I enjoyed knitting something that was, in essence, five squares and getting them to magically stay closed in a pinwheel shape.  I am constantly impressed by people who are able to see the possibilities in their head and then create a pattern to match that idea.  I'm glad there is room for people who wish to be creative and create new patterns and people like me who like to knit things that someone else has already had the bugs worked out.

Pinwheel Purse (ravelry link) by Frankie Brown, 

knit in Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Wild Irish Girlie (green variegated) 

and Socks that Rock Lightweight in Happy Go Lucky (pink)