Winter Knitting

Through the wonders of the Internet, I often learn about yarn I'd like to try. One of them was Dream in Color Smooshy.  I've finished a pair of socks in that yarn.

Merino Lace Socks knit in Dream in Color Smooshy in Dusky Aurora colorway

I like the yarn (although I've felt smooshier), and I like the pattern, but the knitting, relatively speaking, felt like it dragged on and on. I've decided this is because the color is very wintry, and I'm not the kind of knitter who should knit wintry colors during the winter. It becomes too depressing.

Intellectually, I can understand why someone would want to curl up under a blanket, cup of cocoa beside her, and knit miles of gray tweed in January while contemplating the snowflakes.  I accept that I'm not that sort of knitter.  Too much wintry-ness and I become convinced I'm trapped in a dark freezer and will die there alone. Know thyself indeed.

It's no fault of the socks, and I know they'll get a lot of wear, but I'm now working on a pair of pink and purple striped socks.

They're flying.

That Was a Quick One

I finished the Noro scarf.  It was absurdly quick--not because it was necessarily a fast knit but rather because any time I had, I was knitting.  I was enamored by it, capitvated by it, couldn't wait to see how the next color would work.

I fear I may be a simpleton, but I'm a happy one and Andrew will stay warm.

Noro Striped Scarf (raveled here) 

knit in Knitpicks Cadena in Coal and Noro Kochoran in 69

This is Andrew's humoring look.  What he might be thinking is, "Really? A picture now?  I'm trying to get this work finished so I can go to bed before midnight." What he did instead of saying that, though, was to wrap the scarf around himself and smile.  He's a good one.

And he knows from whence the knitwear comes.

Nope, I Didn't Make It

One of my coworkers, seeing I was knitting something during lunch, told me he had a "giant handknit sweater from Ireland." I incredulously asked if he was speaking of an Aran fisherman's sweater. He had no idea, but he was kind enough to bring it in for me to see.

Wow.

I don't feel drawn to knit a sweater like this, but I appreciate the heck out of it. Part of me is filled with hope that someday after I'm gone, a knitter will look at something I made and recognize the time and effort that went into it.

Look around. Art is everywhere.

Noro!

Back in August, I was thinking about projects I'd like to do.

1. Holycrapthat'sanawesomeclock: I made two of these and gave them away. (Blogged here and here.)  Then I couldn't find yarn to go with the clock I bought and I stalled before I made one for myself. Still a possibility.

2.HP bookmark: I couldn't get excited about this. The instructions looked too hard, and I decided I didn't care enough to learn for this project.  So there.

3. Crochet ornaments: Well, I took a crochet class, and I spent part of yesterday reading an intro book to crochet. This is also still a possibility.

4. Noro striped scarf: I started this one last night!

The Internets are true. I do get an enormous amount of pleasure waiting for the next color change.  Think I'm simple?  Shrug. It's better than a crack habit.


5. Naive socks for my mil's bff: Done and given as a Christmas gift! She loved them and sent me a very nice thank you note.  Apparently it is quite difficult to find socks that fit if you're a woman with a size 11 foot. I am pleased to be able to help.


6. Cashmere scarf: Done! I gave away Henry at Christmas. The recipient said he loved it, which was very smart of him.


I'm in a bit of a rut, not excited about any knitting. I blame NO SUN.  Man, I miss the sun. I don't mind the cold, but the dreariness...


Anyway, tonight I'm going to yoga class, and then I'll knit some more on this scarf.  Things will turn around if I keep plugging along.  


Knit on.

Grandpa Sweater for Baby

There's this thing about knitting for babies: The items look fine when you take a picture of them, but they look adorable when you take a picture with the knitwear on an actual baby.


Need proof?

 Baby Sophisticate sweater knit in washer-friendly Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Barley colorway

That's a cute sweater. But look at this:

My nephew is painfully adorable. Since I draw the line at having a baby so he/she can model for me, I'm going to insist that the parents of every knitwear recipient under twelve sends me a photo.

Life Is Too Short...

Andrew and I have decided we want to buy a coat rack. For years, our coat rack has been our dining room chairs.  We've been looking on etsy, and wow there is a lot of beauty there.

I was looking at wall decals (a natural step from coat racks in my mind), and I saw lovely trees, fun family monograms, and then this...

Link is here

The truth of it smacked me in the face.

However many lives this soul gets, there aren't enough that I can waste one of them.  This saying seems to be the kinder, gentler way of saying,

Link is here

Andrew and I have great families. We're really fortunate in that regard.  But both families probably think I'm a bit of a nutter.  I'm a vegetarian, really liberal, and childless.  Not one of those makes sense to our families.

And it's okay.

Life is too short to be anything but happy.

I hope you are able to live your own happy as well.

Sexy

Since becoming a knitter, I have developed a deep respect for handmade goods.  I may not really know how to sew, but I can look at something sewn and understand that each one of those seams had to be pinned or ironed or both and then sewn and probably other stuff I don't understand.

It takes a lot of time, and the time and respect that goes into handmade items makes them precious to me. It's a sentiment I fear, actually. I'm afraid that one day a friend will be asking why I have a crocheted orange toilet cover and I'll say, "I bought it at Goodwill.  Think about HOW MUCH TIME it must have taken to make!"  I fear I'll only be able to see how much effort went into its creation instead of realizing that orange toilet covers are ugly.

I've gotten off course.  Give me a minute to steer myself back to my point.

Ah, yes.  I love handmade items, I love supporting small artists, and I love organizing things.

Behold, my most recent purchase:

That, my friends, is what the Internet calls a "dpn roll." It's a fabric holder for a knitter's double pointed needles.  Nonknitters may wonder if there's really a market for that. 

There is.

Now, I own more dpns than you see above, but not a lot more. I own a set of six different sizes of needles most often used for socks, and they already came in a (boring plastic) holder, so I didn't move them to this one.  There are a couple sizes for which I owned more sets than would fit in their pouch, and they're still in their drawer.  But this holds the vast majority of my dpns, and I adore it.  The top flap folds down so your needles won't spill out the end when you do this:

Yes, it rolls up and buttons securely. 

Organization, knitting, and handmade.  It's a trifecta of sexy.  I hope your weekend was this good.

If you're wondering where I bought it, visit madbird.