Carl's Horse

Again, it's been ages since I've posted. The holidays are partly to blame, as is the fact that I still seem to be taking a lot of naps when I have a chance (now not because of first-trimester pregnancy fatigue but because of second-trimester belly-keeping-me-from-getting-a-good-night's-sleep fatigue). Since I last posted, we found out we're having another boy. We are very excited. But, of course, that means I can't knit all those girly patterns I had selected just in case. It's back to boy patterns.

Really the only Christmas gift I made this year (those blasted naps!) was Carl's hobby horse from Knitted Gifts. Here he is pictured on Christmas morning shortly after opening it up. He instantly loved the horse, who we have now named Blue. The only thing was that we got everything set up to watch him open the present, including having Andrew poised with the video camera. Carl opened the bag, got the most delighted look on his face, hopped on the horse, and began riding around. We were all so thrilled with how he took to the horse right away. Then after a minute or two, Andrew realized that he had forgotten to hit the "record" button. And, of course, at that point, Carl was finished riding and was ready to move on to the next thing. Oh, well. We got a couple of pictures. Since Christmas, he occassionally rides Blue, but more often than not he turns him upside down and pushed him around like a broom. I don't mind, though. It was so much fun to knit and put together, and I'm sure it will get good use over the years. I can certainly vouch for the pattern (and the book, for that matter). The only modification I made was to eliminate the stitch pattern in the cream part. I just stuck with plain stockinette since I figured the felting would obscure the pattern a lot anyway.

I'm headed to Spokane this weekend to teach a couple of classes, which will be fun. Plus, shortly we'll be announcing our next shop KAL, which I really want to take part in. So much knitting to do, yet so much napping...

Catching Up...

So, it looks like it's been since September that I last posted. Why? Well, my normal routine is to post while Carl is down for a nap. But I've had a hitch the last couple of months, which is that I'm pregnant and have been incredibly fatigued. Carl's naptime has also turned into Ingrid's naptime. Now I am through the first trimester, though, so I'm now past the nausea (thank heavens) and somewhat past the fatigue (I'm napping only a few times a week now). So now I have a lot of catching up to do, considering that naptime is when I get just about everything done. I've managed to get some knitting done, though. I made a Santa hat for Carl from Handknit Holidays. The idea was that he would wear it for a Christmas card photo, but as it turned out, he wouldn't wear it long enough for the perfect photo. (I have a couple fun ones here, though.) I'm finishing up the hobby horse from Knitted Gifts and plan to felt it tonight. As for the store goings on, we had our second knitting retreat at Camp Lutherhaven over Halloween weekend. That was just fabulous. We're starting to work on the class schedule for the New Year (which is hard to believe). There's a really fun free demo on December 12th of two simple one-row scarves. Given the proximity to Christmas, it would be nice to think that meant one row of knitting and your scarf is done, but it just means there's only one row that you repeat over and over. That's still nice. Anyway, I must continue with my cramming in as much catching up as possible while Carl is asleep and I'm not.

Welcome, Rain!

The last couple of days have definitely been rainy and fall-like, which I don't mind one bit, what with being able to start using the cool-weather knitted item. Case in point: yesterday we awoke to pretty cool temperatures so it seemed like the perfect time for Carl's inaugural wearing of a darling blue sweater Gerda knit for the baby shower. That's Carl sporting the sweater while exploring the cardboard playhouse my parents helped me make while they were here for a short visit. As of late last night, it is a white house with a blue door, blue shutters, and a black roof, thanks to some posterboard and several rolls of colored duct tape. Of course, I must add that the door handle is a loop of chunky i-cord, courtesy of my mom's knitting. Anyway, Carl seems to love the house and the sweater. What you can't see in the photo is that the front of the sweater has a stockinette diamond for the child's first initial done in duplicate stitch or embroidery. Since we were keeping the name a secret, Gerda gave a little bit of a contrasting light blue yarn with the sweater so I could apply the initial later. Carl has been so named nearly 17 months now, and there's still no C on the sweater. It fits just perfectly, so I better get that baby on.

The little felted boots are a model for a class I'll be teaching in October (Lace 'Em Up Felted Boot Slippers, October 17). The pattern is Fiber Trends CH-7 (Children's Felt Boot Slippers), and there's also an adult version. I knit these ones out of Cascade 220, and I have to say I just had a blast knitting them. I'm going to have to knit a pair for Carl...and myself...and who knows who else.

When my parents were here on their visit, I saw that Mom was nearly finished with the back of a seed stitch jacket out of Rowan Big Wool. Love it. The pattern is from Mac & Me, and at market the designer said it was just one of those things that you love to wear and end up knitting several times in different colors. I can see why.

Time to go. Later I'll have to post about this Mia sweater I'm working on that I'm totally crazy about. Crazy, I tell you.

Where Have You Been the Last Month?

So it looks like it has been exactly a month since I last posted, which I can't believe. We have been out of town a lot, and I don't always have the easiest access to a computer. Last week was the AGY Annual Summer Sale. I heard it was great fun. Wish I could have been there. I was in Spokane over the 4th, though, and had a lot of fun popping into the shop, if only for a little bit. I saw those new cute little Namaste accessory cases -- The Buddy Case. Love those. I also saw Melanie had just finished the Baktus scarf, a garter stitch triangular scarf that looks like tons of fun to knit. We've talked about that one as a possible fall class. It's hard to believe that the fireworks have barely gone off when it's already time to start working on our fall class list, but that's exactly what we're doing. Actually, the weather has been pretty dismal the last few days here in Tacoma, so thinking about fall doesn't feel all that strange...

At Market!

Here we are at TNNA market in Columbus, Ohio. I'm at the little cyber cafe in the middle of the show floor and thought I'd say a quick hello. We're having a great time, absorbing as much information as possible about trends, new yarns, new patterns, and the like. I'll have to report all about it when we return. Thi s computer is having troubles and continually erasing what I just wrote. So I have to sign off before I go nuts. More later!

Itty Bitties

Right now I'm working on several baby hat models for A Grand Yarn. Baby hats are just right for me at this point: small, quick, fun, cute. Last week I completed the rosebud bouquet hat, pictured here. I have to say I quite adore it. The pattern is from Itty Bitty Hats, one of my favorite pattern books. For this one I used Debbie Bliss Rialto for the black body of the hat and Tahki Cotton Classic for the flowers and leaves. Our plan is to make up little kits for the flowers, since each one takes such little yarn. I'm about halfway finished with another hat from Itty Bitty called vertical stripes. The hat is made up of vertical panels of varying stitch patterns, and is absolutely so much fun to knit. You get just a little taste of one stitch pattern, and then you get to switch to another one. It's nice when you're in a short-attention-span time. I'll post a photo of that soon. The other picture here is of a candy cane hat I knit for a friend who is expecting a baby at Thanksgiving. The red is a little dark, so it doesn't look as candy-cane-ish as I had hoped. But I still really liked it. The yarn is Berroco Comfort, which I am a big fan of for baby things. The pattern is from Handknit Holidays, a book I love but that I hadn't actually knit anything from before. I always get it out at Christmastime and then don't have a chance to make something. I know for certain I will be making more of these hats in time, though. The pattern has baby through adult sizes, and I love some of the versions in the book with sort of tone-on-tone colors.

I'm also happy to report that my February Lady Sweater (or shall I say June Lady Sweater?) is going to get blocked today. Maybe I'll have to do a little jig. It fits perfectly but is a little stiff, so I'm hoping the blocking will take care of that. I'll post a photo when it is completely, totally, entirely, fully finished. What a relief that will be. I look forward to wearing it in the over-air-conditioned convention center when Mom and I go to market.

Sounds like Carl is calling...

A Knitting Moment

Yesterday I took Carl to the Point Defiance Zoo after his morning nap. The place was packed with elementary and junior high kids on field trips, and Carl seemed much more interested in the kids than the animals. In any case, at one point I strolled him up to an animal area and saw the sign that it housed two wallabies. Now, it happened that yesterday Carl was wearing a Wonderful Wallaby, one that was a retired shop model knit by Gerda and made out of blue and lime green Cascade 220 Superwash. Of course, this coincidence got me really excited, and I felt like it was some cosmic meeting of wallabies from different universes. What I really wanted to do was turn to someone nearby and say, "Can you believe it? Here's a wallaby, and my son's wearing a wallaby. Wallaby, wallaby, wallaby!" But I'm pretty sure they would quickly escort a crazy woman out of the zoo, so I kept my mouth shut.

On Monday Carl and I returned from Spokane, where I taught three classes at AGY. As usual, it was an absolute delight to be in the shop again. Besides it being lovely to see the staff and customers, it's a lot of fun to see the models and yarns that I have only heard about or seen photos of. I really wanted to take home the Minimalist Cardigan (knit out of Cascade Venezia Worsted) and the Vine Lace Vest (knit out of Summer Set). But alas, I could not.

As for my current knitting, I have made a pact with myself to knit at least four rows of my February Lady Sweater every night. Yesterday it dawned on me, though, that that rate still might not be fast enough to get it finished to wear at market. So I might have to make it eight rows a night. After I complete that one I think I'll treat myself to a glass of wine or some ice cream. (But I guess since I treat myself to a glass of wine or ice cream on a pretty regular basis, it will feel like any other day.) I'm also now going to be working on a few baby hat models for the shop. Baby hats seem to be just the right kind of project for me now. This morning I fastened off a little black hat that will have a bouquet of rosebuds on the top. All I want to do is get cracking on those rosebuds, but the FLS beckons...