A Grand Yarn

Our New Arrival

2010-05-20T21:49:00.004-06:00

Obviously I haven't posted for quite a while. Things have been quite hectic here, with the latest big development being the arrival of our baby boy, Harald. He was a big boy: 9 pounds, 11 ounces. And that was nearly two weeks early, so we're glad for that. I was worried that his going-home outfit would be too big for a new baby, but I had nothing to worry about. I had made a hat and booties out of Baby Cashmerino, and he also wore a Baby J Jacket I knit for the store a few years ago. But given his rather big, long feet, the wearing of the booties going home is going to be the only wearing (I'm not going to force his poor feet in them again). The hat and booties will work for a while. I just have a moment to post a couple of photos of him (which are knitting-related, of course). The blanket is a Noro blanket Mom made, and she's making a vest for big brother Carl out of the same yarn.

Knitting, Airplanes, and the Stomach Flu

2010-03-20T17:27:00.003-06:00

I'm in Spokane for the weekend to visit the shop and teach some classes. Actually, as it turned out, I taught only one class because I came down with the stomach flu on Thursday night. I caught this bug from my dear Carl, who, sadly, got horribly sick on the flight over here. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say it was like a scene out of a movie. Everything just kept getting worse. And as I was dealing with his emergency diaper situation as the plane was descending and the flight attendant (who was very nice) was urging me to get a diaper on him as quickly as possible so we could make it to our seats in time, all I could think was that at any moment my water would break and I would go into labor. It just felt like an appropriately disastrous time. Thankfully, it didn't happen, and I am still pregnant. But even though there wasn't that cherry on top, I'm sure I gave the other passengers and the flight attendants an entertaining story to tell their friends.

This morning I taught the Coco Knits Prairie Boots, which was fun. All the students did just great. Yesterday I was supposed to teach the Norwegian Baby Cap, but Mom had to take over that one. On my personal knitting front, I just finished off a big felted tote to use as a diaper bag. I'll have to post a photo when I get back home. It's simple, but I really love it. I'm also working on a Debbie Bliss cable and seed stitch hat for the baby to wear home from the hospital. Plus, I need to finish a little striped blanket for him. So much to knit, and time is running short...

Carl's Horse

2010-01-20T16:10:00.002-06:00

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...

2009-12-01T16:29:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-09-08T20:48:00.004-06:00

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?

2009-07-14T16:12:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-06-14T10:16:00.002-06:00

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

2009-06-02T10:48:00.004-06:00

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

2009-05-21T10:31:00.002-06:00

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...

Carl's Cap

2009-05-06T16:28:00.002-06:00

Next week I'll be teaching an AGY class on the Kyle's Kap pattern from Fiber Trends. My shop model is a girl's version made out Mission Fall 1824. I loved it so much I knew Carl had to have one. I had some great colors of Minnow Merino given to me last summer by a wonderful sales rep upon hearing of Carl's arrival. She gave me the yarn with a darling Minnow Knits pattern for a colorblock sweater. Well, I loved the pattern and had every intention of making the sweater for Carl. The yarn and pattern sat in a drawer with my other yarn and patterns that were waiting to be made (that drawer only seems to get fuller and fuller, even though I'm knitting as fast as I can). Anyway, for one of the first times, I decided to be honest with myself and say, "Ingrid, face it. You're not going to make that sweater. Use the yarn for something else." The fact of the matter was that Carl was in danger of growing out of all sizes of the sweater before I even started. So, the colorful yarn has now become a cap for Carl, which I absolutely love, love, love. And to think that the yarn could have sit unused and sad for years to come. It was a good lesson in rethinking a yarn's purpose. I was so locked in to the sweater (which was just more than I could tackle right now, given other unfinished sweaters) that I almost let the yarn go unused. I'm certainly glad I didn't. On top of it all, I still have enough yarn to do another cap in a different color combo. Even my husband is completely charmed by the cap and suggested I make Carl another one in navy or a more subdued color scheme for more formal wear. He also suggested we get Carl a baby-sized newspaper to carry around to look like a real newsboy. Nice idea. The cap made its public debut at Costco this afternon, and, sure enough, someone gushed over it in line. The cap is incredibly quick and so much fun to knit. I highly recommend it. Fiber Trends CH-1.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

2009-04-28T11:42:00.004-06:00

I don't need to go into all the details, but my postings have been nonexistent largely due to a long series of events or illnesses, including, but not limited to, Carl's first birthday, ear infections (both Carl and me), sinus infection (me), stomach flu (all three of us, and then, unfortunately, Mom and Dad as well while they were on vacation--yuck!). I am almost 100% now, and while Carl now has a new runny nose, that's small potatoes compared to what we've had the last few weeks. So I'm not really counting it, and I'm officially feeling like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. In any case, I have actually done a bit of knitting. I finished a simple lace scarf that I started when Carl was just weeks old. And the big triumph was finishing the cotton sweater I started before I was even pregnant. I was determined to finish it in time for Carl's birthday. I couldn't have waited any longer because it's almost too small at this point. But it was worth it! Look how cute he is in all those stripes! Pictured here also are the models I made for my spring classes: Kyle's Cap (made out of Mission Falls cotton), Knitted Loafers (made out of Mission Falls wool), and Dream Swatch Head Wrap (made out of Shibui Sock). I really wanted to keep all of them for myself. Next up is trying to finish my February Lady Sweater (which must now be called the May Lady Sweater). I would like to wear it at the TNNA market in June. While it's always sweltering in Columbus when we go, the convention center is freezing, so warm layers are required. I know they don't intentionally over-air-condition for all those knitters who would like to wear their warm knitted things, but we can pretend that they do. Oh, also pictured here is Carl on Easter, wearing the beautiful helix striped sweater made by the talented Mary Perry. It's made out of Berroco Comfort. There's a matching hat, too, and when he wears that, too, along with the coincidentally perfectly matching Hanna Anderson jacket...well, you have to treat him like an eclipse. If you look directly at him, the power of the cuteness burns your retinas. Not that I'm biased or anything.

Back on the Mainland

2009-03-31T12:57:00.002-06:00

My, oh, my, our vacation was great! At one point when I was soaking up the sun, looking at the ocean, and sipping on a delicious Chi Chi, I thought I might actually pass out from all the goodness. I didn't get as much knitting done as I had hoped, although I did finish the Kyle's Cap, which is adorable. Of course, I forgot to take a photo of it before I sent it with Mom. I'm finishing up the Dream Swatch Head Wrap and wanted to post a photo of that, but we accidentally sent our camera home with Mom and Dad. So that will have to be later. Carl's just awakened, so I have to go. Jet lag is a drag on babies. More later.

Excuses, Excuses

2009-03-16T17:12:00.002-06:00

I'm always coming up with excuses for not posting sooner, and here's my latest: Andrew had the flu, Carl had a double ear infection, and then I had the flu. So there you have it.

We're taking off on a big family trip to Maui on Saturday. Yeah! I used to see a six-hour flight as a great expanse of uninterrupted knitting, but I think Carl will have other ideas. Because of the Hawaii trip, Mom and I had to get really organized about working on the spring class newsletter. It has to be mailed right around our return, so it had to get done ahead of time. That makes for a truly relaxing vacation. I think we have a really fun lineup of spring classes. I'll be working on my models this week on the couch and next week on the beach. Nice. I'm just starting a headband using Claudia hand-dyed sock yarn, and I think it will be great. More on all of that later! It's amazing how much catching-up there is to do when you're out sick for a couple of days...

Carl Crawling

2009-03-03T19:00:00.002-06:00

So this has nothing to do with knitting, but we needed a way to show Carl's grandparents his crawling in action.

Madrona Fiber Arts

2009-02-20T16:52:00.005-06:00

Last weekend Mom and I had the pleasure of attending the 10th annual Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat, which takes place right here in Tacoma. There is a marketplace open to the public for shopping, speakers, classes, etc. Saturday night we attended a dinner at which Elsebeth Lavold was the featured speaker. As you might expect, she was so lovely, gracious, talented, and funny. And of course she was wearing a beautiful sweater. On Sunday morning we took a great mittens class with Ruth Sorenson from Denmark. And on Sunday afternoon we took a Domino Knitting class with Vivian Hoxbro (actually, it was called "Lazy Domino Knitting" because were knitting incomplete domino squares, which leaves a hole in the middle). The class was really great and gave us a lot of ideas for projects at AGY. When we needed a break, Vivian pulled out her suitcase of samples, and we had great fun trying on everything. Mom is wearing a kit sweater. You can't tell in the photo, but there are a lot of interesting stitch patterns and the sides of the sweater are open. In the photo of me standing with Vivian, I am wearing this wonderful light wrap from Knit to Be Square. It is made out of Kidsilk Haze. I also tried on a fantastic kit sweater with 6 colors of chevrons, which unfortunately we don't have a photo of. It looked perfect over my black turtleneck, and one of the other students, who was from Texas, looked at me and said, "What you have to do right now is turn and run out that door. Don't look back. Just leave your things and we'll gather them up for you. Just run." We had a great laugh. And honestly, it was tempting...

Carl's Mittens

2009-02-09T13:44:00.006-06:00

It dawned on me this morning that I hadn't yet posted photos of the beautiful Norwegian mittens that Mom knit for Carl for Christmas. Here are the front and back view, plus a shot of Carl wearing them (he's also wearing a Wallaby that Mom made out of Lorna's Laces in the Jeans colorway). The mittens are from the Selbuvotter workshop AGY hosted in the fall. At the moment I'm having trouble remembering which yarn Mom used--maybe Baby Ull? Carl is not being very cooperative in wearing them, but they look awfully lovely on display in his room. As of yesterday afternoon, the electricity is back on in our basement room, so now knitting down there is a lot more pleasant. Although I have to say that knitting hunched over a little lamp while snuggled up in a bunch of blankets (we couldn't run the heat in there either) had a certain cozy old-worldiness to it. Of course, watching 30 Rock and The Office kind of taints the old-worldiness, but when I muted the commercials and looked down at my knitting, there was definitely a feeling of days of yore. And, hey, we watch Antiques Roadshow a lot, so that sort of fits. In any case, I'm happy to have the electricity and the modern world back in full.

Hip, Hip, Hooray! It's February!

2009-02-05T12:04:00.003-06:00

I am happy to leave January 2009 behind. We had the roof leakage, basement flood, car trouble, Carl's first big cold, and an electrical short in our family room (which has put a major damper on my knitting-and-watching routine). At the same time, though, January had some very nice visits with family, a great time at AGY, and a trip to the lake. No, scratch that. The lake trip was the beginning of February. In any case, there were many good parts as well. And we always remind ourselves in the mornings when Carl is so smiley and wonderful that our cute baby compensates for a lot.

Anyway, the busy January left little time for blogging. Today I have just a moment, since Carl's naps have now been reduced to 30 minutes (his old 45-minuters that I used to complain about sound like a dream now). The photos are from the recent trip to Spokane. On Saturday I taught a Brioche Stitch Workshop. The class was full of lots of lovely ladies. Our day began with a breakfast of fresh-baked brioche rolls from Bittersweet Bakery (and, really, it would be nice if most days began that way). Then we worked on three different brioche stitch projects throughout the day. It was great fun, and, as all-day workshops tend to do, it left teacher and students quite tired by the end of the day. The other photo is of Carl trying on a Norwegian Baby Cap at the store. I am quite in love with this baby hat pattern, which I taught as a class on Friday. Mom made the one Carl is wearing out of Cascade Dolly (I think that's right). It fit him perfectly and suited the 1/4 Norwegian little guy.

I hear the half-hour Carl stirring, so I better go.

Hats, Hats, Hats

2009-01-16T12:19:00.004-06:00

So today I want to write about the hat-filled Christmas season. I am a particular fan of hats, even more so now that I pay very little attention to my hair. Of course, somehow I manage not to make very many hats for myself. Come to think of it, the last hat I made for myself was several years ago. All of them I have knit since then have been shop models. Anyway, all this is to say that I was quite delighted to receive three hats this holiday season. On Christmas I received a red lace beret from my mother-in-law. She must have been reading my mind that I wanted a beret. My two sisters-in-law also received the same beret, only if different colors. (I'm pictured with my sister-in-law Jessica. And, by the way, I'm wearing a Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo sweater knit by Karen Wohlen for the shop and a Touch Me scarf knit by my mother-in-law for me.) The pattern is from the 30th anniversary edition of Rowan Magazine, and the yarn is Wool Cotton.

After Christmas, when my parents came to visit, my mom gave me the knitted cloche from the cover of Boutique Knits. I had gone nuts for it, so she finished one up for me on the drive over. Let's see...I know that one has Kidsilk Night carried along, but I can't remember the other yarn. Then, while she was here, she worked on another Boutique Knits hat I loved, the one with the braided cable attached to the side. She made that one out of Misti Alpaca. She meant it as a shop model, but when she finished it and had me try it on, she said it should be mine. I did not protest. So I am suddenly rich in hats, and I have been wearing them every day. Wait. I am not wearing all three of them every day, although that's an idea. I should say I have been wearing one just about every day. I am very grateful for them. So is my crazy hair.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-01-14T12:38:00.004-06:00

Since my last post, our roof leaked and our basement flooded, so getting on the computer hasn't exactly been a priority. My dad and brother-in-law came to the rescue, and I am oh so grateful. Anyway, I have many new photos to post, including more photos of knitted Christmas gifts. I'll have to parcel them out over the next few posts. Today, though, I will include Exhibit A in the case against making baby pants without a drawstring or elastic. Carl is finally big enough for the pants I knit him while I was pregnant. It was sort of a made-up pattern modified from a book, and I thought some shaping and ribbing would be enough to keep them on. I was wrong. When he wore them last week, I turned the corner and discovered him in his playpen with his pants down, laughing up a storm. Actually, given that the situation made him laugh so much, maybe I won't put in something to hold them up.

Let's see, I'm also including a photo of him in the green sweater my mom knit while I was pregnant (and before we knew the sex). We took him out the other day in this sweater with the knitted pants and a knitted hat on. It was a little over the top, knittingwise, but very cute.

Also on the knitting front, the February Lady Sweater Knitalong has officially kicked off at A Grand Yarn. I am participating from a distance. There is a really big group working on it, and I can't wait to see some of the results.

New Year

2009-01-03T17:10:00.003-06:00

I can't believe it has been nearly a month since I last posted. Or I guess I could say that I haven't posted since last year. My goodness. Carl experienced his first Christmas, which was a lot of fun and a little more white than we expected. I finished a couple more projects: a striped Norwegian baby cap for an AGY class and a Mist shawl for an AGY model. And then I had to go and forget to take photos of them before I sent them with Mom. Anyway, they'll be in the shop. The store re-opened yesterday, and we have a lot of fun new classes beginning in the next couple of weeks. On January 10th we'll be starting a February Lady Sweater Knitalong, which I am very excited to be participating in, even though I won't be able to actually attend the gatherings. I have some stash yarn that has been begging to be used, so I'm going to work with that (it's a discontinued Katia Scotch Tweed). It's been quite a while since I've done a sweater. I expect Carl will be waking soon, so I'll just post a couple of photos of him in his knitted Christmas gear.

Priorities

2008-12-09T21:32:00.004-06:00

Priorities are always changing, it seems. Since having Carl, of course, he is at the top of the list. And that means everything else on the list must shift down. Showering and drying my hair used to be toward the top, too, but that's not always the case now. Knitting has competed vigorously with housework, often beating it out (that is, until the laundry or vacuuming cannot be ignored anymore). Today it dawned on me that I was very glad gatherings of dust are called "dust bunnies," since that connotes a cute and lovable furry friend. I mean, really, is it so hard to have cuddly bunnies living under your couch? It would be a lot harder to ignore "dust rats."

Anyway, being diligent about finishing some knitting projects has in fact been a big priority lately because we are working on the winter class schedule for A Grand Yarn. I have had to try out and knit some brioche stitch projects for the "Brioche Day" I'll be teaching at the end of January. The neckwarmer I posted a while ago was the first one. Now I'm happy to say I have completed the other two. So, pictured here are the neckwarmer/hat and the two-color brioche hat. The neckwarmer has a row of eyelets just before the bind-off, so with a little 2-stitch i-cord laced through, you can cinch it up into a hat. That one took 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Sport. The hat is based off of a pattern on Ravelry, but I made a number of changes and will be rewriting it for the class. It took one skein of Noro Silk Garden and one skein of Noro Cash Iroha. I'm happy to have finished it, but I also enjoyed making it so much that now I'm a little disappointed I don't have it to work on tonight. That means tonight's priority is figuring out what to work on next.

Sale Reminder

2008-11-20T13:57:00.002-06:00

I forgot to add the reminder that A Grand Yarn is having a sale Thursday and Friday. Don't miss it!

Ingrid's Day Off

2008-11-20T13:39:00.003-06:00

So today is officially my day off. My in-laws are here to give me a bit of a break from taking care of Carl, which is quite a treat, as much as I love Carl. So this morning I had a couple of fillings, exactly the sort of thing one wants to do on a day off. But the horror of dental work is going to be countered by a massage I'm having this afternoon. Hooray! Actually, the dentist chair has one of those massage pads on it to help people relax, so technically I'm having two massages today. It's just that at the next one they won't be drilling away and making me think of Marathon Man. At least I hope not. I also don't have to make dinner tonight, so there are delights aplenty. It's funny what seems like a luxury now. Like one item on my list today is to clean out the car, and I am totally looking forward to it.

But on to knitting things. I'm posting photos of the finished Clapotis, which I love. It took 7 skeins of Noro Silk Garden, and I knitted it on a size 8. It took a while, but I really enjoyed it. The other photo is the Swirl Neckwarmer, knit on a size 10 1/2 with two strands of Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky (please excuse the closeup of my chin, but the neckwarmer doesn't really make sense unless it's worn). This project is one of several I will be teaching this winter during a brioche-themed workshop. So right now I'm immersed in brioche stitch knitting and research. I'm thinking this weekend I better get some brioche that I can eat while I'm knitting.

A Few Items

2008-11-11T18:31:00.003-06:00

I know all my knitting photos seem to be Carl related, but such is life right now. Actually, I just blocked my big Silk Garden Clapotis this morning, so I'll be able to post photos of that soon. But for today, I have photos of Carl in the football hat from Itty Bitty Hats (knit out of Mission Falls 1824 Wool) and Carl in the vest Mom made him. I think the pattern is from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Knitting Patterns, but Mom added a little colorwork. The yarn, I believe, is Debbie Bliss Rialto. It is quite possible that I completely dreamed up these details, so Mom will have to correct me if I did.

On a shop-related note, right now we are finishing up our class list for December. As we do every year, we're just adding a few little gifty classes before the holidays. We'll be sending out an email about that in about a week. Then on November 21 and 22 there will be our first big fall clearance sale. So there's lots going on.

On a tv-related note, I think I've mentioned on the blog before that Pushing Daisies has a character who is a prolific knitter. Not only that, but the character is a man. Not only that, but that man is a private investigator. They don't always show him knitting, but I watched an episode a couple of weeks ago and was pleased to see that they have little knitting details in his office. It looks like he's knitted cozies for all his desk accessories, like his pen holder. It makes me wonder who in the world is knitting those little details for the show. Anyway, if you ever watch the show, keep your eyes peeled for knitted items.

Finally, on a children's-book-related note, lately I've been thinking that given we have already read Carl Goodnight Moon many times and will certainly read it many, many times more, I'm afraid that Carl will think that I am the "quiet old lady whispering hush," since the lady rabbit is knitting. I'm not ready to be deemed the "quiet old lady." Alas.

Cutey Bootee

2008-11-07T21:58:00.002-06:00

These bootees have been one of those projects that's just sitting there far too long waiting for the ends to be woven in and the buttons to be attached. But finally I finished them so I could check something off my list. I think they are pretty darn cute, what with the sock built in and all. The yarn is Crystal Palace Panda Soy, which was very nice to work with and should be comfy on the baby's feet. I'm sure I have enough left to do at least one more set. The pattern is called Baby Merry-Jane, and you can purchase a download at http://www.bekahknits.com/. They are really quite quick to knit (just not quick to finish if you are like me and leave them in your knitting pile for ages--but if you are not like me, they'll be done in no time).

So Much to Catch Up On!

2008-11-05T12:39:00.005-06:00

My goodness, it's been a while since I've posted. The past few weeks have been busy, busy, busy. I'll try to make my catching up fairly brief.

About three weeks ago we hosted a retirement party for my mother- and father-in-law. How does this relate to knitting? Well, Carl was able to debut the precious argyle vest knit by my mom's friend Laurel. I didn't think he was quite big enough, but we tried it and it worked! My heart almost stopped on account of the cuteness. The pattern is Debbie Bliss, and the yarn is either Baby Cashmerino or Rialto (I can't remember!). What you can't see are the little cable details in the ribbing and the collar. Oh so adorable!

Then just over two weeks ago we had the first annual A Grand Yarn Fall Retreat, held at Camp Lutherhaven on Lake Coeur d' Alene. Attendees were able to spend a couple of days just knitting, gabbing, relaxing, and eating. The group of ladies was absolutely wonderful, as was the weather and the lakeside setting. The photos are of our retreat room (with everybody knitting away) and the building we spent most of our time in (it contained the retreat room and the dining hall). It was such a delight to see people knitting away and getting to know each other. Lots of fun and laughter. We are already working on plans for next year.

Finally, I know I have already posted photos of Carl in his pumpkin hat, but I hadn't yet posted one in his pumpkin hat among the pumpkins. So sweet!

Loving the Fall

2008-10-07T17:39:00.002-06:00

I can't really say how much I truly love the fall. It's certainly my favorite season, even on the west side of the state with all the rain. Today has been beautiful but blustery, and when Carl and I went for a walk, we got blown to smithereens. My hair is quite a site. Anyway, before Carl I loved the fall and didn't think I could love it any more than I already did. But I was wrong. Now the fall means that Carl can wear his adorable pumpkin hat all the time. And I do mean all the time. I have that thing on him just about every day. I'm so grateful Mom made it. When he wears the hat (which, as I mentioned, is practically every day), I swear he stops traffic. I have never ever had so many comments on a knitted project of any kind. So if you're stumped for a baby gift, I highly encourage the pumpkin hat. On Sunday we went up to Mount Rainier to see Andrew's parents who were spending the weekend there. The weather was wet but not too cold in Tacoma, and it turned out that meant it was COLD and even a little snowy on the mountain. Fortunately, I had packed the trusty pumpkin hat (knit out of Mission Falls 1824 Wool) and a very thick garter stitch sweater I made long before Carl was born. He was quite the sight in his knitted gear. If only his knitted pants fit him...The sweater looked great on him, though I suspect it might be the only time he wears it because it's a little short. The pattern was written by a customer and is available at AGY. I knit Carl's out of Big Baby (which we don't have anymore), but any super chunky yarn will do. It's an incredibly quick project and has very little finishing.

Speaking of finishing, I'm on a mission to finish some projects. Currently I am working on some Mary Jane bootees for our friends' new baby. This is one of those things that won't take long at all to finish, but when I sit down to knit after Carl goes to bed at 8:00, working with size 2 needles isn't the smartest idea. Anyway, I'm posting a photo of the one completed bootee (except for weaving in the ends and seaming up the sides of the built-in socks). I think the pattern is precious, and though I did really want to make something for the new baby, Mom and I also thought I could be testing out the pattern for a possible winter class.

Someone Needs a Nap

2008-09-25T14:54:00.003-06:00

The napping saga continues with baby Carl. He has been stuck on this 45-minute nap duration for a few months now, and I would be fine with it if he woke up rested. But he's still too tired. I feel like I have tried dozens of strategies, when my guess is that he'll eventually grow out of it (at least that's what I've read). In any case, I need a nap, too. The funny thing is that he sleeps very well at night, which I am so grateful for. But some days when I can't get a single thing done I think that I might trade a waking in the night for a longer nap for him during the day. Alas, Carl doesn't yet understand negotiation.

Carl and I had an absolutely wonderful time in Spokane. I taught the Razzle Dazzle Vest, the Clapotis Scarf, and the Knit One Under Scarf. My students were lovely and were off to a great start on their projects. The photo is of the Clapotis class. One of my favorite things about teaching classes is seeing all the different colors and yarns that people select. There were seven students in the Clapotis class, and there will eventually be seven entirely different finished projects. I love that! The other photo is of Carl absolutely wiped out at the shop. Notice the lovely drool spots on Mom's shoulder.

Next week guest teacher Terri Shea will be visiting. She's giving a free talk on Thursday, October 2nd, at St. Mark's Lutheran Church. The topic will be Selbuvotter knitting, the distinctive style that origiated in Norway. Then on Friday, October 3rd, she'll be giving on all-day workshop on Selbuvotter mittens. Oh how I wish I could be there to take the class and attend the presentation! Also in AGY news is the upcoming release of the fall Simply Grand pattern, the Graceful Shawl. I saw Mom's completed model while I was in Spokane, and I love, love, love it. We're working on the pattern right now, and I'll posts photos soon.

Headed to Spokane

2008-09-17T17:39:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow baby Carl and I are flying to Spokane for the weekend. I'll be teaching a few classes and catching up with family. I can't write much now since pre-travel mode is kind of crazy, although my in-laws are here to help take care of Carl while I pack all the necessary stuff. Anyway, here is the photo of the felted cloche knit out of Shibui Alpaca. It's awfully cute on, but I don't have a picture of me wearing it. That's partly because I haven't bothered with my hair or makeup today. But more importantly, Carl and I were by ourselves this morning and he doesn't yet know how to operate the camera. However, I suspect that camera expertise follows closely behind figuring out how to put your toes in your mouth. So any day now.

Ravelry Group Up and Running

2008-09-10T10:42:00.003-06:00

I have to make this quick because Carl is waking from his nap. But I just wanted to mention that the Ravelry group for A Grand Yarn is now up and running as of yesterday. The name of the group is--surprise, surprise--A Grand Yarn Group. So if you are a Raveler or will become one at some point, I hope you join the group! We'll be giving updates on shop tidbits and such, sharing projects, etc. It should be great.

On my knitting front, yesterday I felted a cloche out of the Shibui Alpaca. It's a shop model, though I might have some trouble handing it over. The yarn was quite luscious to work with, and it was a snap to felt. I'll post photos when it is dry. The trick will be getting it to Spokane without getting squished because the shape is really nice right now. I might have to resort to actually wearing it when I fly over next week, which could look really silly if it's warm out. Oh well.

Hooray for September

2008-09-02T14:25:00.003-06:00

Why do I like September? Well, I always love the beginning of fall, but this year I particularly love it because the weather is starting to cool a bit, which means Carl can start wearing some of his hand-knit goodies. I finally finished his blue shawl-collared cardigan from the Sirdar Sweet Pea book. He's wearing it in the photo of me holding him; that was on Sunday, which was his baptism day. The yarn is RYC Cashcotton, and I absolutely loved knitting with it. The sweater was one of those projects in which the yarn came after the buttons (they say "little lamb"). The cooler weather also meant Carl could sport his pumpkin hat for the first time. Mom made that one out of Mission Falls 1824 Wool, and the pattern is from Itty Bitty Hats. Could it possibly be any cuter on him? You can bet I'll be finding a pumpkin patch this fall that he can sit in while wearing the hat. The third photo is of Carl modeling the Razzle Dazzle Vest, a project I'm teaching this fall at AGY. In about a week or so the vest would be too small for him. The yarn is the new Jil Eaton Minnowknits Merino, and I love, love, love this yarn. It is a superwash merino and comes in these bright wonderful colors. Our Classic Elite sales rep gave me some to make Carl a darling color block sweater. I better get on that, considering how long it takes me to finish projects lately. Speaking of that, prior to finishing blue sweater and the Razzle Dazzle Vest, I completed the Clapotis scarf, which is also a class I'm teaching this fall (I took a photo, but it didn't turn out well enough to post here). I must have finished it a little over a week ago, and--get this--it was the first project I had finished since Carl was born. That's over four months of not completing a single project. Yikes! But in the last couple of weeks I have finished three projects, and I'm about to finish one more scarf for a class model. And let me tell you, it feels good. Now that I have tasted once again the sweet nectar of finished object satisfaction, I have a feeling I'll be a bit better about keeping up. If only Carl could nap a little longer...

Back from the Land of Summer

2008-08-20T09:39:00.003-06:00

It's been ages since my last post, and there are a number of reasons, besides the fact that little Carl doesn't leave much time for blogging. The nerve. Actually, we were out of town for nearly two weeks, attending a wedding, visiting family, and resting at Lake Coeur d' Alene. Then, once we got back, I had to dive right into working on the big fall newsletter for A Grand Yarn. So all computer time had to be newsletter time. That work is winding down now, with just some proofing to go. And I have to say that this fall at AGY looks like so, so, so much fun. I wish I could be there more to take classes. In any case, I'm hoping to be on a more regular blogging schedule from now on.

My hiatus from the blog did not mean a hiatus from photo taking or knitting, though. You'll have to excuse the fact that my photo subject is so predictable. But, hey, at least I'm getting some knitted goods in there. So the photo in the chair is of Carl trying on a sock Mom made out of Cascade Fixation. I must say that if you are making baby socks, it's okay if they look a little big. Mom had completed this one sock and we all thought they looked way too long. She was just going to go ahead and knit two smaller ones. Then we thought we better just try it on Carl to see how much smaller she should make them. Lo and behold, they fit perfectly. The girth of chubby baby feet eats up some of the length, so keep that in mind. Then there are the photos of Carl in those knitted overalls. Oh, those overalls. Aren't they just the cutest? AGY staffer Melanie made those for Carl out of the soft and stretchy Classic Elite Star (unfortunately now discontinued). The pattern is from a Debbie Bliss book. And instead of seaming under the legs, Melanie sewed in snaps for easy access to diapers. Bless her heart. The overalls have received many oohs and aahs and have been great for Carl to wear shirtless on the recent hot days. Finally, there's the picture of Carl on the boat. No knitting involved--I just had to show this one. The combination of the life jacket and the boat just konked him out, so we took several very long boat rides for him to take long naps.

As for my knitting these days, today I will finish the Clapotis scarf out of Manos Silk. That's a class I'm teaching this fall. I'll take a photo of it when it's blocking. I'm nearly finished with a baby vest, also a class this fall, and I have a lot to do on this cool Knit One Under scarf. The fall class model deadline is approaching, and, by golly, I'm determined to get all mine done on time!!

Neglectful Ingrid

2008-07-16T13:19:00.003-06:00

Yeah, so I'm neglecting my blog and my knitting and my hair and my toenail polishing and my newspaper reading. But, hey, little baby Carl isn't neglected one bit, so that's great. Tomorrow we are headed to Spokane for a bridal shower my mom and I are putting on for my friend Kelly. I wanted to go a couple days early so there would be time to prepare for the shower, time to visit, and time to work on some A Grand Yarn planning. It's already time for Mom and I to do our brainstorming for the fall. That's hard to believe.

Oops, Carl is waking from his nap. I have a very cute picture of him trying on a sock Mom knit. But the baby calls, so the photo will have to wait.

Is It Really and Truly Summer?

2008-06-26T14:20:00.002-06:00

I know it's trying to be summer out there, but we're still having a lot of gray in Tacoma. Time is passing by very quickly--I feel like I'm in a baby vortex or something. I'm posting a recent photo of Carl. We particularly like this one because he looks like he's doing a Broadway number, giving 'em the ol' razzle dazzle. I just wish we'd captured his jazz hands, too.

Unfortunately right now I don't have any knitting photos to post. I have to get on that. I'm working as much as I can on the Clapotis pattern from Knitty out of Silk Garden. It's one of those addicitive, just-one-more-row patterns. I just finished up the summer mailer for A Grand Yarn, and I think the summer class schedule is a ton of fun. There are quite a few one-hour classes for little projects that make good gifts. I'm thinking I need to get started on holiday gifts. But then there are store models. And Carl's Christmas stocking. And some unfinished socks. And a thousand other projects, it seems. So it goes.

Old and New Routines

2008-06-06T10:59:00.002-06:00

So I'm trying desperately to establish some new routines and revive some old ones. The "old" category includes posting to my blog on a semi-regular basis, getting some knitting in every day (or every other day), going for walks, and cleaning the bathroom (and dusting and vacuuming and mopping--our house looks rather rough around the edges right now). As for the "new," I'm establishing a new mealtime-waketime-naptime routine for Carl, concentrating on knitting projects that don't require assembly and are easily put down (lacey sweaters are out for a while, I think), and thinking up dinners that can either be served cold or stay hot in the oven or slow cooker (Carl seems to know right when we're going to sit down for dinner). It seems that the new routines are helping to make the old routines possible. Carl is taking more regular naps, so I can manage to knit and clean a bit more. And the non-assembly, put-downable projects make everyday knitting a lot easier to accomplish. Now, I still have to appreciate the little victories, and some days I get way, way too ambitious and find myself disappointed in the evening. I still need to appreciate showers and a good teeth brushing for the wonders that they are. But every day I'm learning a tiny bit more about how to make this motherhood routine work.

Last weekend we took a quick trip over to Spokane to introduce Carl to the family members who hadn't seen him yet. With the help and encouragement of my parents, we took Carl to his first movie (Indiana Jones). He got through it just fine (with the help of some mid-movie snacking). Talk about victories. And, hey, nursing in a dark theater is easy and kind of fun. I spent some time at the shop and loved taking in all the new summer model displays and products. Mom sent me home with some Silk Garden to work on a wrap model for a class I'll teach in the fall. I got a fair amount of knitting done in the car, since car rides are essentially Baby Ambien. Besides the Silk Garden wrap, I'm working on a scarf out of the hand-dyed Blue Ridge silk. I'm just using the free pattern AGY has for the beaded silk scarf. It's open and lacey and pretty mindless--just what I need. I'll have to post a photo when I'm a little further.

Speaking of photos, today's selection clearly has a Carl theme. I discovered it is in fact possible to hold him and knit at the same time. In the pic I'm working on his blue sweater, which just needs one more seam and a good blocking. I better finish it before he gets to big and the weather gets too warm. Here also are photos of Carl wearing the Baby Surprise Mom made and the Cabin Fever vest I made. The nothing-but-onesie photo is from our weekend in Spokane, so it's the most recent. He's filling out nicely, wouldn't you say?

Mystery Gift

2008-05-09T15:02:00.002-06:00

The other day we received some beautiful flowers, but the card inside the box they arrived in was blank. I called the company (they were ordered online), but they didn't have the sender's name either. I would really like to thank someone for them. Anyone out there know?

Little Victories

2008-05-09T14:38:00.003-06:00

Carl is snoozing away in the Baby Bjorn right now, so I thought I could write for a few minutes. Frankly, I would like to be napping for a few minutes, but he was going ballistic and sticking him in the Bjorn seemed to be the only solution. Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about how this tiny little guy has quickly changed my perspective on what one can accomplish and what constitutes success. For instance, I have concluded that, at least for the time being, I can't have a tidy house and a nap on the same day. I can either get a little boost from a decent looking house or a little boost from a few extra z's. (The irony, of course, is that if I don't have a nap, I'm so out of it I can't really appreciate the tidy house. But if I do have a nap and begin to feel semi-normal, the messiness of the house drives me crazy.) I am also learning to celebrate the tiniest successes. Like if we make it through a diaper change without Carl peeing on himself and his clean new onesie, I feel like breaking out the champagne. And a crying-free trip to the store or on other errands, well, that's just sublime. I've also taken to doing the Jumble in the morning while holding Carl after our breakfasts. Never before has unscrambling scrambled words felt like such an intellectual triumph. Of course, my scrambled brain makes the task much more difficult than it used to. (The other day one of the answers was "infant," which you would think would come to me instantly. But let's just say it took way, way, way too long.) One of my finest little victories of late was to get working again on Carl's blue sweater. I finished a sleeve, seamed the shoulders, and am now working the shawl collar. (I'll have to post photos later.) And I have to say that it has felt incredibly good to knit again after a hiatus for a few weeks. It felt like taking a little bit of my regular self back. Plus, working shortrows on the collar successfully gives me the same thrill as solving the Jumble. Now the trouble is deciding between napping, picking up the house, or knitting. :) Actually, after a few very difficult nights, we have called upon extra support (my mother-in-law is coming tomorrow for one night, and my parents are coming Monday to help me get through Andrew's last week of work). So maybe I'll get to accomplish more than one thing in a day. Fingers crossed.

Is a Lethal Dose of Cuteness Possible?

2008-05-07T17:07:00.002-06:00

First off, I must acknowledge that I am fully aware of my bias toward cute little Carl. That said, yesterday when I put him in his first pair of jeans, a knitted sweater, and knitted Uggs, I could hardly breathe, the cuteness being so overwhelming. This was Carl's first time wearing a knitted sweater. So far he has worn the Calmer hat and bootees Mom made and has used the Grandma blankets a lot. To see him in a tiny sweater just put us over the top. The darling garment was given to us by a colleague of my mother-in-law. And Deborah from AGY knit the Uggs (there is a matching hat, but that's still a little big for him). Anyway, I just had to share the photos. Please forgive my gushing.

Baby Update

2008-04-30T12:49:00.005-06:00

Tonight we will officially be on our own with the little guy, so depending on how things go, it could be a very long time before I'm able to post again. :) Actually, I think I'll be able to duck down here now and then to write a little bit. Carl is doing well and seems to eat constantly. It's hard to tell if he's

getting much bigger since I see him just about every moment, but we have an appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow when we'll find out. Today I had to post a knitting-related photo of Carl. Andrew has titled the photo "Dueling Blankets." Carl is sleeping with the blanket Mom made and the one my mother-in-law made. We are using both of them all the time. I think sometime we're going to have to have a Carl trunk show at A Grand Yarn so everyone can see all of his knitted things. Yesterday an absolutely precious vest arrived from Laurel, my mom's longtime friend. I'll have to post a photo of that later. And I'm going to stick to my guns about sending a photo of Carl wearing his knitted things to everyone who knit him something.

As for my own knitting, it is nonexistent right now. I brought a bit of yarn to the hospital to start a hat, which was a joke. Even though I went for a long time without any contraction pains, we were spending all our time walking around and moving to try to get labor going (with the help of some induction drugs--my water had broken but nothing was happening). Since being home, I have really wanted to work on his little blue sweater, but that has eluded me so far. I can't wait long, though, or he'll grow out of it before I'm finished!

Baby Carl Has Arrived!

2008-04-24T18:36:00.003-06:00

Carl John Finstuen arrived at 10:20 am on Saturday, April 19th. He was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long, which is pretty darn big for three weeks early. I can't write much now because, well, I just had a baby. But I thought I'd post a couple of photos now. There will of course be more to come, including shots of Carl in his knitted things.

He Might As Well Have Thrown His Coat over a Puddle

2008-04-07T19:26:00.004-06:00

Over the weekend we had a friend over to watch the Kansas basketball game. This is an old football friend Andrew has gotten together with a few times over the past six months or so, and over the course of that time, I know Andrew has explained a bit about my involvement in the knitting world. Anyway, when the game didn't seem to be too exciting, I ran up and grabbed my knitting bag so I could work on the little blue sweater I have begun to go with the cute buttons I bought in Portland a while back. When I returned to the couch, the friend said, "Oh, is that your knitting?" I said, "Yeah, I'm working on a baby sweater." Andrew jumped in and said, "Before he goes, we have to show him some examples of your knitting and some of the knitted baby things in the nursery. He doesn't understand. He thinks knitting is just a grandma thing." Andrew went on to explain (and with zeal, I might add) that he thought the best illustration of the breadth, popularity, and fashion-forwardness of knitting was the fact that there is a Vogue Knitting magazine (I promptly pulled out the most recent issue as proof). I bring this story up (and this is not the first time this has happened) as evidence that chivalry is not dead. It is alive and well in the form of my dear husband defending knitting and even gleaning a little pride from his wife's craft. Maybe I need to knit him a white horse.

The Day Draws Near

2008-04-02T11:06:00.004-06:00

I know I have neglected the blog for ages. Time feels very strange right now. One minute it feels like it is going by very slowly. That kind of minute usually occurs around 2:30 a.m. when I am lying in bed, wide awake, nothing covering me because I am so hot, propped up because of a nasty heartburn bout. Yeah, those minutes make it feel like time is crawling. But another minute it feels like time is going way, way too fast. That kind of minute usually occurs when I'm looking at my "To Do Before the Baby's Here" list, which seems to gain an item every time I cross one off. At least one thing that I can deem "finished" (or just about) is the nursery. The crib part finally (finally!) arrived. I went at assembly with great gusto only to discover that I don't quite have the mobility or energy that I had a couple months ago when I had originally intended to put it together. Picking up a screw I dropped on the floor is quite a different proposition now, for instance, than it was just a few weeks ago. I'd like to say that I've discovered a graceful, balletic solution to such problems, but really I can only employ an immensely awkward, rather embarrassing set of movements that I try not to do in public. In any case, the crib is now assembled and ready to go. And I was finally able to put the Blik wall decals up, since I was waiting to be sure about the crib placement. I have also included some other photos of the nursery. Dad made the beautiful little dresser that fits in the closet. Grandma hand-quilted the quilt hanging on the wall (and made the green pillow shams on the bed). Mom knit the green and blue baby blanket resting on the bed (the yarn: two strands of Shibui sock yarn; the pattern: Stitch n' Bitch). Stacy Kuhling from the shop knit the green and navy striped sweater hanging up (the yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto; the pattern: Cabin Fever Top-Down). I'm going to have to rotate the knitted items on display because this little guy already has an incredible array. This blog will certainly have many more photos of the knitted gifts, maybe even some with the baby wearing them!

As for my own knitting, I am trying my best to cut myself some slack and leave it off the "To Do Before the Baby's Here" list. I'm ashamed to say I still have to assemble the Mission Falls sweater (maybe that one really should be on the list). I'm continuing to work on a striped baby blanket. And I just started a shawl-collar cardigan out of the oh-so-soft RYC Cashcotton. The pattern is from the new Sirdar book, Little Sweet Peas. The book is a must-see the next time you are in the shop. I had purchased baby boy buttons and needed a sweater for them (sometimes that's just the order of things), and the book had the perfect solution. I'm pretty certain that project isn't getting done before the baby's born, though. Unless he's born a few weeks late and I'm confined to bed for a while. Let's hope not.

Spring is Springing (and so is the baby)

2008-03-19T11:33:00.002-06:00

Far better than any other entertainment right now is the sight of my burgeoning belly moving in very strange ways. Andrew and I can spend a whole lot of time just staring at it and watching for a foot, leg, or elbow to make itself known. My mom, sister, and niece were visiting over the weekend while Andrew was in Boston for a conference, and I was happy for their sake that the little one put on a show quite often. My feet also swelled to surprising proportions, but now they are back to normal.

At the front of my mind now, though, is the spring and all it is bringing (aside from the baby). I am working away on the spring quarter newsletter for A Grand Yarn, and it is just bursting with fun classes and events. We'll have some great options in the way of socks, baby items, spring and summer sweaters, and lace. We're launching an afghan knitalong, and there will even be a great trunk show. I'm just sad I won't be able to be there myself for some of these great events! We are popping over this weekend for our final visit, and after that I'll be in the "don't venture too far from home" zone.

As far as my personal knitting, I have just a few more rows left on the silk wrap so that I can hand that off to Mom this weekend. I'll post a photo when it's finished. Honestly, the thing weighs almost nothing and feels oh so lovely. I love, love, love Shibui Silk Puff.

Well, I must run off to my water yoga class. Even though I am measuring right on schedule, I think that the lovely ladies in the class are afraid that I'm going to have the baby right there in the pool. :)

The Fog

2008-03-05T12:01:00.003-06:00

Well, I am officially entering the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy, and I still have a while to go. Sleeping at night has become quite an ordeal, even with my nest of various pillows. So I am resorting to taking at least one nap--though often more--during the day. The result is that I seem to be in a bit of pregnancy fog. And although thus far I have been able to avoid pregnacy mood swings, I am finding myself grumpy sometimes (heaven forbid!). This fog and grumpiness has left me needing to knit extremely simple projects--I'm talking plain garter stitch here. Otherwise, I'm sure I will make many foolish mistakes when I'm too tired, and then those mistakes will either make me feel grumpy or will make me cry. And who wants that?! I am just over half finished with the Shibui Knits Silk Puff Shawl, and I'm loving it. I'll post a photo soon. It weighs absolutely nothing, and it's quite mindless. The finishing touch is to press the shawl, believe it or not. I can't wait to see how that turns out. I'm also working on a dishcloth baby blanket with random stripes of the nursery colors. Again, mindless and exactly what I need. Now, if only I could knit myself a garter stitch blanket that would magically make me sleep...

Cozy Baby

2008-02-29T12:34:00.004-06:00

When I finish a knitted project for the baby, my husband's concern is always, "Isn't he going to be hot?" I explain that first off, the baby won't be wearing these things over the hot summer. And second, babies need to be kept warm and cozy. While Andrew would go nuts in hand-knit wool pants, I think the baby will be quite cozy and comfy. And anyway, I'm not going to knit Andrew pants.

So here are photos of the pants and the football hat, both knit out of Mission Falls 1824 Wool. I mentioned before that I was modifying the legs of the pants because they seemed so huge, but then when it was time for the diaper part, that seemed a little small. So I bumped them out a bunch to give him diaper room. The result is a pair of bubble-topped pants that look a little funny, but I think they will be really cute on. The photo here is a back view--I added a little pocket. The hat is from Itty Bitty Hats, and I figure it might not fit the baby until he's a year or so. Unless he has really huge head.

Yesterday I had a follow-up doctor's appointment with regard to my continued faintness problem (the midwives sent me to a primary care doc to make sure there wasn't anything non-ob related going on). As it turns out, my heart and everything else are perfectly fine. I just happen to have even lower blood pressure and blood sugar than is typical with pregnancy. And it seems that exercise sets off these episodes, even if I have eaten plenty and am not exerting myself. Anyway, the doctor told me to limit my activity to things I knew wouldn't cause a problem, which is a little disappointing. I told her I would just continue doing the water yoga class at the Y and not the water aerobics. I said it could make me a little stir crazy not to be able to do everything I wanted to do. Her response: "You should take up knitting!" So I laughed and we had a nice chat about knitting. It turns out she's an addict as well.

Nursery Knits

2008-02-25T19:28:00.007-06:00

I am back from Spokane now, and my dad is here to help with a few things around the house, mostly nursery related. He built a changing table as well as two shelves with hooks underneath for displaying knit items (see his beautiful handiwork in this photo). The main colors in the nursery are orange, green, and blue with white accents. I just thought they colors felt so cheerful. And speaking of cheerful, that's exactly how I felt when I saw the absolutely precious green sweater my mom had completed for the little one. It has cable and seed stitch and little lined pockets. It's a Debbie Bliss pattern, and the yarn is Mission Falls 1824 Wool (which this baby will be wearing a lot of). Notice, too, the cute little blue, green, and white hat to match.

My time in Spokane was, as usual, tons of fun and full of activity. The class photo here is from the Four Corners Hat class (that's Audrey on the left and Erin on the right). Mom also sat in on the class, and I should have had her in the photo. The weekend was overflowing with lots of wonderful visiting with knitters (not to mention lots and lots and lots of laughing). Oh, and the shawl I have on in this photo is a shop model that I fell in love with and had to wear. The pattern is Fiber Trends AC-82 Ruffles and Ridges, and the yarn is JJ Kaleidoscope (1 skein). It's just a simple stockinette and reverse stockinette triangular shawl with ruffled edges, so I imagine it was quick to knit. I can see myself wearing one all the time through many seasons. And if I didn't have so many projects lined up for the little one, I think I would make one for myself. Speaking of my projects, I just bound off a pair of pants. I need to add a little pocket, and then I'll post of photo. Boy, this little guy is going to be warm and cozy.

Buttons, Belly and Otherwise

2008-02-22T13:00:00.003-06:00

I'm in Spokane now, having lots of fun visiting and teaching classes. One of my memorable moments from yesterday was when my eight-year-old nephew came in with my dad for a quick hello. He seems to be fascinated with the belly (he put his ear up to it) and quite excited about a new cousin. Anyway, I was sitting in a chair and was wearing a simple knit shirt. He pointed at my belly and said, "What's that?" I said, "That's my belly button." He got a weird look on his face and said, "It sticks out like that?!" So not even thinking, I pulled up my top so he could see it. He proceeded to recoil in horror at the sight of my extreme outie. I probably scarred the little guy for life.

In terms of other types of buttons, one fun little thing was getting in a bunch of great felted buttons that are perfect for decorating bags or for adding a distinctive accessory to a one or two button sweater or wrap. From the same rep Mom also ordered some new Rowan colors, a new yarn from Crystal Palace (Panda Silk), and a new beautiful wool and silk blend yarn from Manos. So those will be great additions for spring. Oh, and we also ordered some linen and linen/merino from Louet and a new organic cotton from Tahki. There's a lot of wonderful arrivals to look forward to.

I'll have to post some photos of my visit, as well as some photos of new knit baby things, when I get home. Oh, and Grandma made me some darling knit slippers to wear in lieu of socks when my ankles swell. I'll have to post a photo of those (although perhaps not actually on my swollen feet, since now I have learned from my nephew that exposing people to the weird pregnancy body changes isn't necessarily the nicest thing).

Baby Legs

2008-02-15T13:01:00.002-06:00

I know I should be working on the Fitted Knits model for A Grand Yarn, but I've taken a little detour to work on some pants for the little one. I'm working from a pattern from the book Chic Knits for Fashionable Babies, but I'm making a few little changes (and making them not quite as colorful as the book's version). I'm using, once again, Mission Falls 1824 Wool (I'm a bit addicted). Anyway, I've started up one leg, and it looks rather large. The difficult thing here is knowing which sizes to knit for our baby when a) he'll be born in May and might not wear some knitted things until August or September, and b) I have no idea how big he will be. The odds are that he will be pretty darn large, given my husband's family history of biggie babies. But then I don't want to overcompensate and make a pile of things that the little guy won't be able to wear until he's two. It's so hard to know. I think I'll just proceed, and he can wear them when he can wear them. Besides, even if they are big on him when the weather is right for wool pants, what baby wouldn't be adorable in huge pants, ala M.C. Hammer. I mean, he'll probably look cute in my pants.

Next week I will be taking my final teaching trip to Spokane and finishing up the classes I started last month. I am very excited, though it's a little bittersweet since it's hard to say when I'll be teaching my next classes there (I'll certainly be visiting with the little one, but I don't know what the situation will be with classes). Anyway, this visit I want to look at some yarn to make a very simple lap throw to have in the nursery to keep me warm during middle-of-the-night feedings. I will be sure to post some photos of the nursery when it gets into shape (and isn't the mess of crib parts that it is right now).

Some Assembly Required

2008-02-07T18:18:00.000-06:00

So yesterday was the day I was so looking forward to putting together the new crib. Since I had tackled the wireless issue, I was ready for the big nursery project. I was going to assemble the crib, put down the cute Ikea rug, and maybe even hang up a thing or two. In fact, here is a photo of me looking optimistic about the operation. But it turned out that once I had the pieces out and started to follow the directions, I discovered that the footboard had a really big crack in the wood where a screw had been drilled in ("not a big enough pilot hole" was my dad's diagnosis). So I had to call and order a replacement part, which will take 3-4 weeks (the crib arrived in about 3 days, so this is a mystery to me). The whole situation left me rather grumpy, since I had my heart all set on putting something together.

This, of course, got me thinking about knitting. Why is it that I have always loved assembling various objects (I think it started with a shoe rack I put together--to my parents' surprise--when I was a little girl), yet when it comes to sweaters, I avoid the assembly as much as I can? I have an adorable Mission Falls 1824 Cotton sweater with stripes and a little Fair Isle all ready to be put together for our baby, yet it continues to just sit there in a bag while I start knitting other things. But with the stroller, the crib, the car seat, et cetera, it's like I can't rip open the box fast enough to start assembling. The "it's for the baby" reasoning doesn't work, since the sweater is for the baby, too. Besides, I love putting together non-baby objects just as well (like our little table and chairs in the kitchen). Anyway, this is a mystery I'm going to be mulling over for a while.

The last thing for today's post is to point out the photo of the ladies from my Wallaby Workshop in Portland (that's my mother-in-law on the right). It was a lot of fun, and I hope they all enjoy making their sweaters. (Speaking of that, now that I think about it, I'd rather have to do the long expanse of kitchener stitch on the Wallaby hood than sew a little sweater together. What's the deal?! Is this a diagnosable phobia of some sort?)

Wireless?

2008-02-06T16:07:00.000-06:00

Hmmm...At the moment, I am wirelessly online. The test will be in just a few minutes when I start up the computer downstairs in our new basement office space and see if it still works there. Fingers crossed.

We had a great time in Portland over the weekend, and the Wonderful Wallaby Workshop I taught to my mother-in-law and a few colleagues was quite delightful. Just before they went out the door, I remembered to take a photo (I will have to post it in the next day or two since I've been doing so much plugging and unplugging of wires this afternoon, and I don't want to press my luck).

In Portland I finished the baby socks (I was kitchenering as the Super Bowl finished up--double excitement!) and started on the football helmet hat from Itty Bitty Hats (even thought I should have started the Fitted Knits Pastaza sweater model). I had no time to knit yesterday, since we dedicated most of the day to rearranging the house in preparation for the nursery. Now I have this empty room all ready for me to decorate and get set up, but I promised that I would get our wireless going before I indulged myself. If this wireless connection doesn't work when I take the computer downstairs, though, I might just have to console myself with a little nursery work anyway. :)

Countdown to Nursery Time

2008-01-31T16:39:00.000-06:00

At my last check-up, my midwife asked me, "So, have you started getting ready for the baby?" I laughed a little and said, "Not really, but we're about to start." And really on the inside I was thinking, "Ack! Is is really time to start preparing?! We haven't gotten anything yet!" The ball is rolling now, with the crib and the stroller on the way. Our nice neighbors who are moving gave us a swing, and, of course, the baby already has a few precious knitted things he can wear. Oh, and Grandma just finished making darling cradle bumpers out of fabric I picked out in Spokane. The big issue now is actually getting the room ready so that we can put the baby things in it. That means moving the office down to the basement and moving our bedroom into the room that's currently the office. This will be a rather big undertaking, and I can't help move much, what with this belly of mine (lately I'm all wistful about the days when I could lay on my stomach). My big responsibility is getting the computer all set up in the basement with a new wireless system (the cable tech guy said they couldn't put a cable hook-up in the room we want to be the new office). I am the resident computer authority, which unfortunately isn't saying much. When I bought the router today, the tech guy said I had to have a lot of patience to set it up. I guess I have that, but I'm going to be frustrated if we can't use our internet for a day or two. Anyway, I'll probably starting setting it up Tuesday or Wednesday next week, so I suppose there's a chance we'll be offline for a bit. Fingers crossed.

Pictured here is one of the completed baby socks. The yarn is some Koigu I had in my stash. I like the way it looks and how it feels, but I have to say I'm just as big of a fan of Socks That Rock or Claudia or Shibui. I'm just about finished with the cuff of the other one, and if I can just manage to string a couple of knitting hours together, I could finish that one. I also had to post a photo of the sheep toy I bought in Bellingham a week and a half ago. How could a knitting mom-to-be resist?! When you pull his tail, he plays Schumann's Lullaby. So sweet!

This weekend we are headed to Portland to attend a St. Olaf Choir concert with Andrew's parents. Also, on Monday I'll be teaching a Wallaby class to a few ladies from my mother-in-law's work. I'll try to remember to take photos this time!

Forgetful Me

2008-01-29T11:10:00.000-06:00

Wouldn't you know, I made it over to Spokane, taught some fun classes to some great ladies, had a great time at the store, and saw a bunch of snow fall...and I forgot to take a single photo. Shame on me. When I'm there next month, I'll be sure to take a bunch and post them here.

Now that I'm back in Tacoma, I'm concentrating on writing the February e-newsletter, finishing some knitting projects, and getting ready to start putting the nursery together. On the knitting front, I decided that baby socks made a lot of sense to knit, since I have quite a few sock yarns in my stash and I needed a good portable project. This baby sock thing led to an "Oh yeah, I'm pregnant" moment on the plane back from Spokane the other day. I was working on double-points and decreasing for the cute little toe, when I dropped one of the needles onto the floor. Then I leaned down to pick it up. Scratch that. I tried to lean down to pick it up. But I ran into my belly. It became quite clear that I wasn't going to be able to pick up that size 2 with the regular reach-down-and-grab method. Fortunately, I was the only person in my row. So I loosened my seatbelt and did a move that must have looked terribly awkward: legs kicked out into the aisle, body laying down on the seats, hand blindly searching for the escaped needle. I got it, though, and finished the toe before landing. Two circulars might be a smart option (but I love how that tiny sock looks hanging off of double-points).

In Spokane!

2008-01-24T17:45:00.000-06:00

I am back in Spokane to teach four classes over the next few days. It's always wonderful to be back (except that it's absolutely freezing this time!). It's also wonderful to hear that people are reading the blog! My intention was to post a lot in the week leading up to coming here, but I had a bit of a difficult time over the past week or so (several low blood pressure/blood sugar episodes in public places). Anyway, they left me a little out of sorts last week (as in many tears after many months of saying "Isn't it great I'm not having major mood swings?!"). In any case, I'm feeling very good now and being extremely careful about keeping my blood sugar consistent.

Enough of that. Back to knitting stuff. Over the next few days, I'll be teaching Felted Diaper Bag, Baby J Jacket, Peapod Baby Set, and Four Corners Hat. They should all be great fun. I also just completed the project for the February Simply Grand pattern (the Any Which Way Cowl). I'll have to post a photo when I get back home. Mom is wearing it today, and it looks lovely.

One treat today was returning to the shop after lunch with Mom to discover a surprise package had arrived for me from my mom's friend Laurel, who also happens to knit exquisite models for the shop. Inside the little box was an absolutely precious little blue knit bunny. I will have to post a photo of him, too.

Of course, when I'm here my head is swimming with all the things I want to knit for the little guy. Is he going to be one outfitted little boy! Right now Mom is working on a Debbie Bliss cabled sweater I picked out, and she's using the green Mission Falls wool I love.

Where's Wallaby?

2008-01-11T16:35:00.000-06:00

It certainly feels good to finish projects. This is the Wonderful Wallaby I just completed for our friends. I started it back in November but then had to stop to work on class models in December. Their baby was born a bit early, so I didn't have a chance to finish it before he arrived. Oh, well. Their baby's sex was a surprise, so green and teal were my unisex colors. I figured that if it turned out to be a girl, I was going to embroider a couple flowers on the pouch. Anyway, as usual, the Wallaby was fun to knit and came together quickly. It's now wrapped up and ready to give to our friends tomorrow. We're excited for them to see it. And that's no mistake that I said "we." One very sweet thing about Andrew is that he takes a lot of pride in knitted gifts I make, and as he says, he feels like when they are gifts for his friends (as is the case here--the dad was a college teammate), he gets to enjoy some proxy credit. I'm glad for that.

Now I am working away on the Simply Grand Any Which Way Cowl pattern. It's supposed to be "released" in February, but I'm headed to Spokane on January 23rd, so I need to have the project finished and the pattern written by then. So far I am just loving knitting with Wool Bam Boo and Kidsilk Night.

On the baby front, he seems to be moving around quite a bit. When he gets into a spell of kicking, Andrew and I just sit there watching my belly to see movement. Navel gazing indeed. Actually, it feels a little bit like watching fireworks. You know they're coming, but then each one is still a surprise. But then at the end, when you don't know whether there are going to be any more, you sit there in anticipation, semi-holiding your breath, mouth open in a goofy half smile, until you realize that the show's over. Then it's back to the day.

And speaking of that, I better proceed with my tasks for the rest of the day.

When and What Will I Knit for My Baby?

2008-01-08T15:44:00.000-06:00

I can see the writing on the wall right now. I'm trying so hard to catch up with projects and finish up knitting details while I can that I may not get all that much knit for our baby before he arrives. My knitting queue right now is thus: First, I have to finish the little Wallaby for our friends within the next few days. The baby is a few weeks old now, and we are possibly going to see them this weekend. Next, I have to design and knit the new Simply Grand pattern for A Grand Yarn. It's called the "Any Which Way Cowl" and will be a simple stockinette and reverse stockinette cowl knit out of one strand of Kidsilk Night and one strand of Wool Bamboo. Then I need to get back to the Fitted Knits pullover out of Pastaza that I started to knit in November and then ripped out. THEN maybe I'll start knitting something for the baby. Actually, I have the front and back of a sweater already finished (it began as a "someday baby" project). So I'll knock that one off and THEN I'll start something new for the baby. I was thinking about the little football hat from Itty Bitty Hats. It looks like one of those old-timey leather helmets. Oh, and I almost forgot that for Christmas my parents gave me the supplies to knit a stuffed Wallace and Grommit, who would look absolutely adorable in the nursery.

The last thing I want or need would be to be put on bed rest (I honestly cringe at the thought). But if I had to go on bed rest for, say, four or five days, I sure could get a lot of knitting done. :)

Strings (or Strands of Yarn) Attached

2008-01-04T17:18:00.000-06:00

Here is a photo of the darling Baby Surprise Jacket that Mom made to match the darling panda Robeez. How cute is that ensemble?! The sweater is knit out of Cascade Sierra. As it turns out, the jacket and the shoes are not necessarily going to fit at the same time (shoes before jacket), but who cares. And you can bet that even if that's the case, when the baby is big enough to wear the shoes, I'm for sure going to put the sweater on him and take a picture anyway. (Have I mentioned that my husband's Norwegian family has a history of very large babies? His aunt was 11 pounds at birth. So this photo op could happen much sooner than anyone might expect.)

All this leads me to my thought for the day. I am a firm believer that if a hand-knitted gift is given to a baby, then at some point a photo of said baby wearing or using the gift should be sent to the knitter. At least that is what I fully intend to do. Now, for the couple of knitted gifts I've given to friends for their babies, I have not come out and asked for such a photo. And I realize that I must be understanding of non-knitter recipients who may not know that this would be a nice thing to do (after all, I don't imagine a lot of new moms have time to worry about taking a photo of the baby wearing the footie p.j.'s and any other gift someone gave her). Maybe it's just entirely self-serving, but I feel like when you actually make something, it's especially nice to see it serving its purpose. I guess that makes it a gift with strings attached, though, so maybe that's not so nice. But I'm tempted in the future when I'm giving knitted baby gifts to enclose a card with washing instructions and a little something along these lines: "This gift comes with one string attached: that you email me a picture of your little cutie wearing it when he's big enough." Maybe that is being a little selfish, but maybe it's worth a try. I guess I could give it a shot, and then if those friends stop calling, I'll know it's not a good idea. :)

Neglectful Blogger Is Back

2008-01-03T13:33:00.000-06:00

Yeah, so I pretty much ignored my blog through the entire holiday season. I didn't have my camera cord with me, and I had very few moments to sit down at the computer. We were out of town for about a week, with the first half in Portland and the second half in Spokane. It was wonderful to see everyone and have a little time away. The trip included a viewing of Juno, a nice afternoon in downtown Portland, great dinners at Jake's in Portland and Gordy's in Spokane (I must have my dumplings!), breakfast at Rockwood Bakery, the discovery of the perfect fabric for the nursery, and, of course, great times with family and friends. Our drive back to Tacoma from Spokane wasn't as great, what with a chain requirement over the pass and our hopelessly tangled chains that took quite a while to get on. My poor husband had to handle the entire thing as I sat in the warm car with my swollen feet elevated on the dashboard.

On the knitting front, I finished most but not all of my models for my classes. Pictured here are the Baby J Jacket (knit out of Socks That Rock Heavyweight), the Peapod Sweater (knit out of Sirdar Baby Bamboo), and the Felted Diaper Bag (knit out of Cascade Pastaza). I finished the Four Corners Hat out of Debbie Bliss Rialto the day after we returned and then mailed it to Spokane without taking a picture of it. Now I'm just finishing up the matching hat to go with the Peapod Sweater (some fatigue and the late hour led to some maddening ripping out last night). I should get that done today. Also on the knitting front, Mom knit our little one a wonderful Baby Surprise Jacket out of Cascade Sierra. It's red, black, and white and matches a darling little pair of Robeez. The only picture I have of it yet is one with Andrew holding it, and my guess is he would prefer his picture not be posted. So I'll have to take another one and post it this week.

Speaking of the little one, we are having a boy. We are very excited and now have more direction in the planning of things (hence the selection of a fabric for the nursery). Andrew gave me a precious little outfit of green overalls with an orange shirt (he bought it before I said that I wanted a lot of orange and green in the nursery--we have this weird pregnancy telepathy thing going on right now). Also, Mom and Dad gave us an adorable coat with little Robeez boots (see photo with coat covering expanding belly). And on both sides we received the beginnings of the little guy's library. Back to the belly. Suddenly I really and truly look pregnant. One of these days I'm even going to get the guts to park in the "Expectant Mothers Only" spot at the Metropolitan Market in our neighborhood. I've been tempted to park there on cold nights, but I felt like I was still in the "is she or isn't she?" stage. And I didn't want anyone scowling at me. He's kicking pretty regularly, enough so now that you can sometimes actually see my belly move. Weird. I had been feeling absolutely great (I guess this is the glorious second trimester time), but our last night in Spokane my feet and ankles swelled up like balloons. And then the day after we got home, I had a crazy spell of seeing stars and feeling faint (a Boehm's chocolate saved the day). So now the nurse told me I need to have my feet elevated as much as possible and make sure I have protein at least every two hours. Hard-boiled eggs have become my bosom buddies. And with that in mind, I better go make some lunch and put my feet up.

The Christmas Season in Full Swing

2007-12-11T18:38:00.000-06:00

I have neglected the blog for nearly two weeks now. Shame on me. Since my last posting, my parents visited, as did Andrew's brother. We put up the tree and got all the decorations up (notice the felted stockings hanging on the fireplace). And I've been in a frenzy working on the winter newsletter for A Grand Yarn and knitting the models for the classes I'll be teaching. January and February will be my last official visits as a guest teacher, since the travel after that might feel a little much with the belly. The little green thing is the right front of the Peapod Baby Sweater for a class I'll be teaching. It will have a matching hat as well. Forgive the un-blocked, scrunchy look, partly due to the sweater being shoved into a little knitting bag (I spy it sitting there on the ottoman). All in all I will be teaching four new classes this winter, which means four new models to knit this month, which means fast and furious knitting, which means no knitted gifts for Christmas this year. I am almost finished with the Four Square Hat by Cabin Fever, but some late-night knitting a few days ago resulted in a misplaced white stitch in the Fair Isle section. So, I decided to procrastinate fixing it and simply move on to the baby sweater. By the way, I'm knitting the little Peapod Sweater out of Baby Bamboo from Knitting Fever. It's 80% bamboo and 20% wool, and I'm really enjoying knitting with it.

Well, I must be getting back to work now.

Lots of Little Tasks

2007-11-26T17:48:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is over, and suddenly Christmas is in the air. We're holding off on the tree for a while, but I couldn't resist getting out the Christmas music already. Mom and Dad will be arriving on Thursday for Dad's annual trip to watch all the high school state football championships (a tradition of maybe over 23 years now--can that be right?). The treat this year is that Lewis and Clark will be playing in the final game Saturday night. Andrew and I (both alumni of L.C.) went to the semi-final game in the Tacoma Dome on Saturday and had a great time, despite the nail-biting and heart-pounding fourth quarter. Dad's bringing his tools to help with some fixing up around the house before the games begin on Friday, and I think Mom and I will goof off. It should be a lot of fun for all.

On the knitting front, I'm having a great time, as usual, knitting a little Wallaby for some friends. I'm hoping to finish one sleeve today and get going on the next so I can attach them tomorrow. Then maybe I'll get back to the sweater model that I should be working on that I had to rip out completely last week. The other picture is of the lovely ladies from the Back to School Vest class that finished up a week and a half ago (that's Mom on the left and Grandma and Jan on the right). Jan said she had been telling people that she was taking a class with three generations. I hadn't thought of it that way (and shame on me for that).

On the pregnancy front, the belly seems to be growing every day. I have fully accepted the maternity pants, and I'm much more comfortable for it. I can still wear some of my regular tops. But today I put on a thin wool sweater that was always a little big and was a bit surprised. Let's just say that the front, which used to hang down straight, is now stretched over the belly. And the belly is still not clearly a pregnant belly. It could just as easily pass for a beer belly, or an ice cream belly, or a cheese belly (and come to think of it, ice cream and cheese do have something to do with it). I'm probably better off in looser tops until it's clearer.

A Lovely Thanksgiving

2007-11-24T18:47:00.000-06:00

For the second time ever, Andrew and I hosted Thanksgiving this year. His parents came up from Portland, and his brother and his wife came down from Bellingham. The dinner came off without a hitch (if you exclude my very restless sleep the night before when I was thinking about the turkey brining in the garage). My appetite seems to be back--and in a big way--so I put away an incredible amount of food. I simply couldn't get enough stuffing and mashed potatotoes.

On the knitting front, I goofed on a sweater model and had to rip the whole thing out. Ugh. I needed a break before I started it again, so now I'm about halfway through a little Wonderful Wallaby. I'll post a picture soon. I never get tired of seeing the pouch fused to the body and having those little sweaters turn into the most adorable little things.

The Break-In!

2007-11-18T19:47:00.000-06:00

This morning my mom called to say that there was a break-in at A Grand Yarn last night. She and my dad were awakened by a phone call from the alarm company just after 2:00 am. They rushed down to the store and met with the police, who had arrived just a couple of minutes after the alarm sounded. Someone had broken through the glass of the front door and walked in through the hole. Apparently there was glass all over the place, partly from the force of the breaking and partly from being tracked in by the burglar. After the police finished their work, my parents were left at the store with a busted-open front door. So my dad ran home and cut a piece of plywood to cover the opening. That meant my mom had to hang out alone at 3:00 am in a shop that she couldn't lock. She doesn't even like to be there by herself at 7:00 pm. Anyway, my dad arrived with the wood and screwed it on so they were able to go home and go to bed. Which leads me to the question: "What do you do if you're in a similar situation but you don't have stacks of plywood and a saw at home?" I still haven't figured this out.

Still, in all of this there are several pieces of good news. First, everyone is fine. Second, the burglar was apparently just looking for money, of which there was little (we only leave a bit of change in the drawer at night). So very little was taken. Third, aside from the front door being completely busted, there wasn't any vandalism. So in this week of Thanksgiving, there are indeed things to be thankful for.

Of course, we're saddened that this happened. Burglaries are simply scary and make you feel violated. My reaction this morning was "It's so mean," which seems like a measly response to a crime. But it feels mean, doesn't it? At the same time, we've managed to have some laughs about the situation. This morning when I was retelling everything to Andrew, I described how Mom said that the person must have used an incredible amount of force for the glass to fly as far as it did (all over the models sitting on the front table and even into the tiered copper yarn holder up next to the desk). So Andrew said, "What could they have used that would do that?" We both thought for a second, and as I was saying, "A crowbar," Andrew said in all seriousness, "A log." A log?! I howled and gave him a hard time about his battering ram scenario: "So are you imagining them shouting 'Heave ho! Heave ho!'?" It's so angry mob and blazing torches. He was a good sport about his silly answer.* And in the interest of full disclosure, I did admit to him that I, too, had imagined a battering ram for a split second.

Anyway, it was quite an eventful and unexpected early morning at A Grand Yarn, one that I hope will not be repeated. But everyone is safe and sound, and the store will be open for business as usual on Tuesday morning.

*As he was just a few minutes ago when he prepared himself a salad and seemed confused about the Craisins. He admitted that he had thought that Craisins were a raisin-cranberry hybrid and had been wondering for a long time how they cross-bred them. (By the way, he did give me permission to write about both these funny moments. But I'm also to remind readers that he has a Ph.D. Just not in forensics or agriculture.) :)

Fun Things and Dumplings

2007-11-17T15:39:00.000-06:00

Today is my last day in Spokane, and I have had such a nice time. I finished up the Back to School Vest class yesterday morning, in which everyone was able to join the shoulders and try those babies on. Great fits all around! I also taught the beaded scarf class and had a blast. Unfortunately, everyone had to listen to me sniffling and coughing with this yucky little cold I caught a few days ago. The December class schedule went out via email yesterday. I love all the little December projects, and it looks like we're already getting quite a few sign-ups. Of course, I love coming to the shop and seeing the new yarns and models that have popped up since my last visit. This time I noticed the cozy Autumno top-down cardigan Nancy knit. I'm also crazy about the Koolhaas Hat Gerda knit out of Mission Falls. Oh! And waiting on the guest bed when I arrived was an adorable pumpkin hat my mom made for the little one on the way (I think soon we'll come up with a nickname). It's another adorable design from Itty Bitty Hats. Photos will follow once I get back to my computer at home.

On the pregnancy front, I had a memorable pregnancy food moment last night. I had been eating really bland food since my stomach was funny, and I was having trouble choking down any more. But last night after we went to a movie (Michael Clayton), I had a flash. "Do you think Gordy's is still open? Dumplings are the answer!" Sure enough, Gordy's was still open, though just about to close. We placed an order and picked them up on the way to the house. And I tell you, I gobbled up all those delicious dumplings and felt a thousand times better. I would eat another order for dinner tonight, but I'm leaving for home before dinnertime. Alas. My other new thing is that I'm entering the maternity pants zone. And elastic waistbands are making me feel like a completely new woman.

Photos At Last!

2007-11-12T16:05:00.000-06:00

A few minutes ago I settled myself in the computer chair for what I expected would be an afternoon of getting to the bottom of the camera/computer communication problem. But lo and behold...when I plugged in the camera, it was back to normal. So what that means, of course, is new photos!

First we have the flower sweater and hat set from Itty Bitty Nursery. I knit it out of the new Berroco Comfort. To my great surprise, it took only two pinks for the set (and then one each of white, lime, and orange). Andrew's reaction was, "Looks like the baby has a huge head." Actually, I believe the hat is the 12 months size and the sweater is 6-12 months, so that explains the discrepancy. I have to say that I am quite surprised by the look and the softness of the Berroco Comfort, which is 50% nylon and 50% acrylic. Also, I'm in love with many of the patterns from Itty Bitty Nursery, including the mobile with little dangling mice knit out of Blue Sky Organic Cotton. I just might have to knit that.

Next is the "Pastel Marley" from Itty Bitty Hats. (Yes, there seems to be an Itty Bitty them here, but it's just a coincidence. These are models for A Grand Yarn, not garments for the itty bitty one on the way.) This hat is out of six colors of Tahki Cotton Classic. It's just good old stripes with a little garter and seed stitch thrown in, but I think it's cute.

Wednesday it's off to Spokane again. This time I'm teaching the scallop beaded scarf and the final installment of the Back to School Vest class. It should be a lot of fun. We're also just about to send out our email announcement of December classes, so I'm putting the finishing touches on that. I think the December lineup is great, featuring lots of quickie gift projects.

Uncooperative Hair and Waist Size

2007-11-06T13:12:00.000-06:00

Before I go into my stories for today, I will give a knitting update. The baby sweater is steamed, and I made the bobble buttons last night. Today I should finish the flower and get the whole thing completed. Hooray! I swear my pregnancy brain is making me a slower knitter, but maybe it's my imagination (or the fact that I get practically catatonic in the evenings when I usually knit).

Anyway, I just returned from a long overdue haircut. I'm always nervous about venturing into the waters of a new hair stylist after a move. I guess it's sort of like a blind date, but in this case if the date doesn't go well, you have to walk around with the bad conversation on top of your head for weeks. The good new is that I really liked my new stylist, and I'm sure I'll go back. The style is shorter than I anticipated, but not disturbingly so. In any case, my hair is growing like crazy with these prenatal vitamins, so it will probably be an inch longer by next week. But here's the rub. Whenever I have my hair done, I always have my hair styled straight since I can never get it that straight and I can really see the cut. Today Aimee straightened my new do, and I walked out with the haircut afterglow. The problem was that Andrew dropped me off at the salon on his way to work, and then I was going to walk home afterwards (it's about a mile--a nice little walk). Well, even though it's not raining today, there was still a little fog hanging around. So when I walked in the door, what had been a darling straight hairdo had turning into a frizzy, semi-wavy thing. Alas. Next time maybe I should go with a shower cap to wear on the walk home. Because a shower cap looks so much better than a little frizz.

My other tidbit today is my size anticipation dilemma. My dear friend Kelly is getting married in August, and I'm just thrilled for her. I'm in the wedding, and she just ordered the bridesmaids' dresses. So all of us bridesmaids were supposed to call and give our bust, waist, and hip measurements. Now, I've already changed sizes, and maybe three months after the baby's born I'll be around where I am now. But who knows? I told the lady at the shop to add to my measurements. I was thinking an inch or so, but she suggested three. I guess it can always be taken in. But how strange it felt to make this guess about my waistline 9 months from now. And how about that runner who won the New York Marathon 10 months after giving birth? My more realistic vision is that I'll be happy, if a little thicker in the middle, and I'll have a nice supply of Spanx.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T11:03:00.000-06:00

I bought a way-too-big bag of candy at Costco yesterday, but according to one of Andrew's colleagues who lives in the area, this neighborhood gets a lot of trick-or-treaters. I'm very excited to see them all. On Saturday I had the great good fortune of coming across a retail area in Greenlake that was having a trick-or-treating extravaganza. So the street was packed with little kids in costumes (many of them very little who probably won't be going out tonight). Melt my heart. Anyway, I'm trying to stay away from the candy, but I think I'm also starting to figure out that my bad pregnancy headaches might have a blood sugar connection because yesterday after I ate a peanut butter cup, my throbbing headache got much better. Or at least I like to convince myself that the candy helps me. :)

Knitting-wise, I am just about to start the sleeves on the baby sweater from Itty Bitty Nursery. One way or another I will definitely post a picture when I have the set done. Oh so cute.

That's Not Crocheted!

2007-10-26T18:16:00.000-06:00

This week I was looking through the New York Times. I must have been in a style section because there were many of the huge fashion ads. I nearly choked on my orange juice when I saw a Bloomingdale's ad featuring a knitted coat. It was made out of a chunky cream yarn, so it was very easy to see the stitches. Anyway, the heading of the ad said something like "Knit Wit" and then the description underneath referred to the "crocheted sweater coat." I think not! The coat was so clearly knitted, I was at once a little irked at Bloomingdale's and a little embarrassed for them. That just seems like something they should get right. Shame on them. Cute coat, though. I've been hunting for a photo online, but I haven't found one yet.

Knitting Away

2007-10-24T16:31:00.000-06:00

I returned from Spokane on Sunday and had such a great time at the store. The students in my classes--Felted Penguin and Back to School Vests--were delightful, and of course it was great to see all the new yarn and models I hadn't yet seen. I left Spokane with a couple more models to knit. The first is a baby hat and sweater set from Itty Bitty Nursery. My goodness, it's darling. There is an appliqued daisy on the hat and sweater with an i-cord stem that swirls up and around. I'm knitting it out of the new Berroco Comfort and loving it. The hat is complete, and tonight I'll start the sweater. The hat's so cute I want to eat it (and I mean that in a deliciously cute eating way, not in a pregnancy pica way--though today I had the fleeting thought of tasting my lip balm, which smells a bit like rosemary). When I finish the sweater, I'll post a picture of both. I'm still trying to get to the bottom of my camera/computer communication problem. My next strategy is to uninstall the photo software and re-install it. Fingers crossed.

Nausea is subsiding a bit. The funny thing was that I felt quite a lot better in Spokane, but then as soon as I got back home, I started to feel sicker. I don't know if it's a weird pregnancy Pavlovian response or what, but the sight of our pantry and the thought of having to go to the grocery store again made me feel really yucky. Yesterday I had a bad headache, which was a great excuse to be still and knit for a lot of the day (hence, completed hat).

Off to Spokane Tomorrow

2007-10-16T16:10:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow morning I head for Spokane again for a few days of teaching classes, brainstorming with Mom, etc. It should be lots of fun. I'm trying to finish the Rowan vest model so it can go out when I get there, and I just have to weave in the ends on a scarf model. And I have about six inches done on a different version of the same scarf. What else...My nausea symptoms are much, much better now that I'm taking my prenatal vitamin right before I go to bed. But the nausea seems to have been replaced by unexpected bouts of crying. Alas.

Knitting TV Character Alert

2007-10-11T15:26:00.000-06:00

Last night while laying as still as possible on the couch and trying to tough out a pregnancy headache, I watched the new show called Pushing Daisies. It's a show very much inspired by the style of the movie Amelie, with a voice-over, lots of saturated colors, and very quirky characters. The premise is very strange but strangely charming. A young boy discovers he has the ability to bring people (or animals) who are dead back to life by touching them, but then if he touches them again, they go back to being dead. If he doesn't touch them again within a minute, then someone else in close proximity will die. Anyway, a detective by chance witnesses him do this, so he recruits him to help solve murder cases (and collect rewards). Sounds strange, I know, but it's cute. My whole point here is that last night's episode revealed that the detective likes to knit for relaxation. I was so tickled. In one scene the narrator talks about how the detective had been so stressed, he knit himself a vest and two gun cozies. And let's just say that a knitting needle played a critical part of the episode (I won't reveal in case you have a chance to see the episode sometime). I don't know how much knitting will enter into future episodes, but I at least had to put out this alert. The show takes a little getting used to, but I think it's adorable. Actually, I think you can watch the episode online if you really want to see it. Go to
http://abc.go.com/fallpreview/pushingdaisies/ .

Gummy Bears and Big Wool

2007-10-08T18:08:00.000-06:00

I have just had a revelation and have discovered one food that tastes wonderful: gummy bears. Perhaps "food" is a little too generous, but the package does say "Made with real fruit juice." So there must be some value there. I purchased a small bag of the bears today during the dreaded trip to the grocery store. (I try not to look at anything except that which is on my list, in case of a wave of nausea, but today when putting something in the bottom of my cart I accidentally spotted a can of sausage gravy. Yikes!). Anyway, trying a couple of bears at lunchtime turned into eating the entire bag, and the satisfaction of eating something that actually tasted wonderful to me almost made me cry (though that's not saying much, given my pregnancy propensity for crying). So now one question remains: Where can I find a bigger bag of gummy bears?

On the knitting side of things, I am immersed in Rowan Big Wool right now. I just completed a quickie cabled scarf from the Iknitiative pattern line, and now I'm working on a Big Wool vest from one of the newer Rowan books. Both will be models in the shop. Boy, does Big Wool knit up quickly. The projects are reminding me to get out a purple Big Wool sweater I knit a couple of years ago and wear it before it becomes sadly too small.

Isn't It Time to Be Knitting Itty Bitty Baby Things?

2007-10-05T10:36:00.000-06:00

I received some very nice, congratulatory responses to my last post, and I'm very grateful. One certainty about this baby is that he or she will have lots of hand-knitted things from me and from friends and family. The question is: Why haven't I started yet? I guess the short answer is that I have a few things to finish up first. Yesterday I received yarn to knit two chunky cabled scarves and a chunky vest for my mom's shop. So I must complete those first. And then maybe I'll turn my attention to baby things and maternity-appropriate projects. Of course, one funny thing is that this unborn baby is already the lucky recipient of lots of A Grand Yarn baby models knit out of discontinued yarns (I'm thrilled that Mom has held onto those items just in case). I'm thinking of going for having this baby wear at least one knit item all the time. Why not?

I'm discovering that immediately upon hearing the news, people tend to ask first "When's the due date?" and then second "Are you going to find out the sex?"* The answer to the second question is, yes, we are going to find out the sex for quite a variety of reasons that I won't detail here. But we're going to keep the name a secret. Anyway, I will in fact be able to make some yarn color choices based on the sex, which I think will be fun.

*The exception is the lovely owner of Yorkshire Yarns in Lakewood, where I will soon start working some, whose first question was "How many are you having?" (She has twins.) The answer to that question is one, unless a second one was hiding.

The Source of My Flakiness Revealed

2007-10-03T14:42:00.000-06:00

I guess I should say "The Source of My Greater Than Normal Flakiness Revealed." When I torment myself with questions like "Why aren't you finishing more knitting projects?" and "Why aren't all the boxes unpacked yet?" and "Why can't you get the stupid camera straightened out so you can post more knitting photos?", I have to remind myself of the obvious answer, which is that I'm pregnant. Due May 11. I couldn't be more excited. Or more tired. Or more nauseous.

One would like to think that even when battling pregnancy symptoms one could still maintain the same productivity levels, but it turns out it's a losing battle. Still, every day I convince myself that I have more energy, that I feel less sick, that I'll get much more accomplished. And then by afternoon I'm all washed up. I guess hope springs eternal (or maybe just delusions). The good news is that I'm not actually physically getting sick. The bad news is that the extreme nausea lasts all day. I'm constantly wishing that I would have some sort of craving because then I could at least eat that thing and feel good, but it's pretty much all about food aversions and just figuring out what's tolerable. The one exception is ice cream, which is appealing all the time, but you can't survive on ice cream alone.

As for knitting, my brain is not operating on all cylinders. For instance, last night at dinnertime I referred to the "college cheese." So I have to keep the knitting projects very simple. My Manos vest/shrug, which is simple for all intents and purposes, has a couple of missing yarn-overs quite a few rounds back, and it just makes me want to cry. I had to switch to a scarf. Oh, but I did finish the Simply Grand Ruffled Wrist Cozies pattern and sent one completed off to Spokane. I have a photo, but the camera/computer communication is still on the fritz. Anyway, Mom's going to send me some fun and simple models to work on for the shop, so that will be good.

Okay, I've gone on and on. Obviously I have lots of material to write about now, so I'll keep up with both the pregnancy and the knitting updates.

Refinishing and Unfinishing

2007-09-24T16:26:00.000-06:00

I just arrived back home to Tacoma to see our newly refinished hardwood floors. What a delight! Now we can actually get down to the business of finishing up the last few things and really settling in.

As for knitting, I seem to be in one of those unfinished business streaks. There's the Manos vest, which has a little mistake a long ways back (certainly the product of sleepy knitting) and might need to be ripped out almost completely. There's the Mission Falls baby sweater that I knit on our drive out west. I have the front and back complete and just need to knit the little sleeves, which won't take long at all. There's the Simply Grand October pattern, the Wrist Cozies, knit out of Louisa Harding Grace. Much like our house, there are a lot of projects nearly done, but the very presence of all the unfinished projects is starting to grate on me. Maybe "starting to grate on me" isn't quite as appropriate as "driving me insane." But before long I'll have one of those finished business streaks, both in house projects and knitting projects. And then I'll be able to return to my somewhat normal self. Or so I hope.

Spokane Days

2007-09-22T13:07:00.000-06:00

Here I am in Spokane, and I'm having a great time. Yesterday I taught the Back to School vest from Fitted Knits. Thursday night we had the Luxury Night, with yummy to eat food and yummy to touch yarn. Today I'm teaching a private lesson about a double-knitted scarf and then a class on the Fiber Trends Ribbons Blanket. It should be a lot of fun. As always, I get here to the shop and see so many beautiful new yarns and models, and my head feels like it's going to explode from all the things I want to knit. I really love the new little Tulips sweater from Dream in Color. It's a simple but darling design using a fantastic hand-dyed superwash wool. I'm also loving seeing a lot more vests around, including a Bunny vest and a cabled Donegal Tweed vest that just arrived from Tahki. Let's see...what else? Apparently our floors are now refinished, and I'm anxious to see those. Dad is coming over this week to help with Phase II of the home improvements, so in about a week we'll actually be able to start really moving in. I think it will feel surprisingly like finally assembling a sweater that's been sitting around in pieces for a while. Only bigger. And not quite so soft.

Getting Ready for Spokane

2007-09-17T14:32:00.000-06:00

I leave for Spokane Wednesday night, and I'm very excited. I'm most looking forward to seeing everyone and spending some time in the shop, but I'm also happy to go stay in a house that is not in disarray as ours is. And then by the time I return, the hardwood floors will be done and we can actually start settling in. What a relief that will be.

On the knitting front, I've knit one skein's worth of the Manos circle vest, and I'm having a lot of fun with that. Of course, that's one of those projects that seems to be going really quickly, but since every other row has a bunch of increases, the progress gets slower and slower. At least I've completed enough now that you can really see the pattern, and I just passed the arm holes. So now it's just a whole lot of knitting in the round with some yo's and some texturing. I can't wait to wear it!

Photos

2007-09-15T11:27:00.000-06:00

So here, finally, are photos of things that have been occupying my time lately--the new house and my knitting. I thought about cropping out the very bad looking front yard, but, hey, I'm trying to be open here. The yard has to be at the bottom of the list of priorities.

Home Improvement vs Knitting

2007-09-10T15:48:00.000-06:00

Let's take a moment to compare and contrast home improvement and knitting. First, how are they similar?

Projects always take longer than you expect.
Sometimes things don't look quite the way you imagined, so you have to start over.
Working out the kinks can haunt your dreams at night.
Your zeal starts to run out as you approach the finishing details.
You can have a lot of fun with colors.
There's sometimes a point of massive frustration (and maybe a little swearing).
You can live inside your finished projects. (Well, sort of. You do have to remove and wash the knitted things, but you might as well call it "living" in them.)
You eventually feel a great deal of satisfaction and pride.

Now, how are they different?

Home improvement is a lot harder on your fingernails.
Knitting is definitely more relaxing.
Knitting supplies are a lot prettier and more fun to touch than home improvement supplies (think merino wool versus steel wool).
You can knit on your own terms and aren't at the mercy of a contractor.

It looks like there are more similarities than differences. And if you think about it, if you're knitting a throw or a pillow or something like that, knitting is home improvement. Funny how knitting is related to everything (or at least in my wooly brain).

Still a Dearth of Photos

2007-09-07T11:00:00.000-06:00

Shortly I will be off to Walgreens to print some photos and get some new batteries for my camera (I still haven't found that box...). So hopefully this weekend I'll have some up. The whimple now resides in Spokane, and I have to say I miss knitting with that softy soft yarn. (Dare I say I whimpled a bit when I mailed it off? :) ) But I don't miss it so much that I'm not chomping at the bit to get going on my next project. I swatched yesterday for the Manos circle shrug/vest thing from the new Metropolitan Diary collection. It's worked in the round from the center out and has a great spiral effect. Go to the distributor's web site to see a photo. I have to say, though, the photo doesn't do it justice at all. Mom and I saw it at market, and it was much more appealing in person. I tried it on and knew instantly it would be one of those things I would wear all the time with jeans and a black top. I'm knitting mine out of a mustard color, which is a departure for me, but I love it.

If all goes well, by this time next week, my yarn and knitting supplies will finally have a home in the basement. Right now everything is squeezed in big plastic tubs, and I feel like I'm suffocating those poor little skeins. They might even be whimpling at me.

Where Are the Photos?!

2007-09-02T17:07:00.000-06:00

Wouldn't you know that as soon as I unpack my camera cord and go to import some house and knitting photos onto the computer, my camera batteries are too low to do it (and whatever box holds the batteries has not yet been unpacked). Ugh. So this means another delay in posting photos. I guess tomorrow or Tuesday will be more likely. I have a good new shot of the house and of the Mountain Colors lace whimple, which is nearly complete and ready to be sent to Spokane. Our re-wiring is done, which is a relief, so now we turn our attention to floor refinishing and drywall. Plus, soon and very soon I must turn my attention to visiting the Tacoma yarn shops. This is certainly the longest I've been without going to check out shops in a new area. My goal is that by mid October the major house projects will be done and I won't be so addlebrained. Well, at least the house projects will be done.

Back in the 21st Century!

2007-08-27T16:46:00.000-06:00

Our internet was hooked up just moments ago, which is small step toward feeling normal again. I returned from Spokane on Friday, but while I was there a number of people asked for new pictures up on the blog. Well, I will certainly have some up in the next day or two. First I must find my cable...

I'm still working away on the Mountain Colors cashmere whimple, and I'll be sure to post pictures of that soon. Next in store is a Manos vest/shrug thing from their newest book. It's a big circled worked from the center out. Then it's on to the Felted Tweed cabled yoke sweater from the new Interweave. Right now home improvement and knitting are vying for my attention (but certainly not for my affection--we all know who would win that one).

Newsletter to Press

2007-08-23T13:21:00.000-06:00

I have actually just sent the newsletter and mailing list files off to be printed and mailed next week. They should start arriving in mailboxes on the 30th or so. Every time I complete a newsletter, we feel like celebrating. Each quarter we say that we should get some sort of bell we can ring, but we haven't done that yet. Instead I am hearing customers out front and the price gun pricing the new merchandise, and, frankly, that sounds just as jubilant to me as a bell ringing.

Today I will be attaching the eyes to the felted penguin and stuffing him. I've decided that he looks just like a character from an Aardman Animations people of Wallace and Gromit fame. Anyway, I am also getting going on my next model, a Mountain Colors Cashmere whimple. I'm not sure if I have ever felt something quite so soft. What a delight.

It's back to Tacoma tomorrow to a house full of unpacked boxes. Alas.

A Grand Yarn Days

2007-08-22T12:49:00.000-06:00

I am here at A Grand Yarn until Friday morning, partly to be away while our house is being rewired, partly to be here in person to complete our fall newsletter. Anyway, my timing is nice in the sense that it is my great good fortune to be present as many new fall yarns are arriving. Yesterday we unloaded a big shipment of Rowan and Plymouth, which was full of fun new yarns and colors. And I'm having so much fun scoping out the other new yarns that have arrived, like Tahki Taos, Shubui Knits, and Mission Fall 1824 Wool Marled. Plus, the fall class models are rolling in, and they are all just beautiful. Gerda has just completed a Tahki Taos cardigan that just looks like a blast to knit, with stripes of different stitch patterns. Mom just complete the Leigh Radford felted circle tote, and I definitely want to make one of those. Oh, and Mary Perry's Aran felted mittens are beautiful, too. And there's more to come! Anyway, I am having such a great time absorbing it all.

Felted Penguin Saves the Day

2007-08-21T13:57:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I am reminded just how important knitting is to me and how it keeps me somewhat levelheaded. I have those reminders every time I fly, when knitting away seems to prevent me from whimpering like a little dog and breathing into a paper bag. Such is the case also when I am trying to avoid snacking too much or biting my nails. But last week I experienced a stellar example of knitting as rescuer. I won't go into details, but I'll just say that the stress of being in transition for over a month and a half now, of bouncing from house to house, of moving into our new house but not really settling in because of the work that has to be done--they all caught up with me. How do such things catch up with me? In the form of weeping, or what Oprah call ugly crying. Normally (and by "normally" I mean once in a great while--honestly) this sort of meltdown happens late at night when I'm really tired. But this time it happened in the late morning, in our unsettled new house, with Andrew away on errands without a phone...and in front of our electrician. When this magnitude of meltdown occurs, the main problem is that I can't stop crying, and if anyone tries to reassure me (which the poor electrician did), the crying gets worse. Enter knitting. In my crazy state, I turned to the closest knitting project, which was the Fiber Trends felted penguin (I'm teaching it as a class this fall at A Grand Yarn). I knitted so furiously on that little penguin, and lo and behold, my crying actually subsided. So, thank you, felted penguin. He has now been felted and is drying, and he is just a crack-up. I'll have to post photos later when our computer is finally set up.

I am now in Spokane at A Grand Yarn working away on the fall newsletter, which will be going out next week. I have to say that this fall schedule may be the best one yet. I am so excited about it, not least of all because with our new Washington location I'll be able to come over once a month to teach and visit.

That's all for today. Hopefully I will be able to get back into more of a regular posting routine. Back to the newsletter!

Home-Buyer Nutcase

2007-07-29T13:42:00.000-06:00

The short story is this: we found a house very, very quickly and made an offer almost immediately. Dad zipped over to check out that everything looked sound before we made an offer, and Mom followed after it was accepted so she could give some tips on interior matters. We are scheduled to close on Friday (!), and the whole process has made me feel completely nutty.

I am happy to report that the house does indeed have ample yarn storage potential. In fact, the basement has a very large finished bedroom that will serve as guest room/Ingrid's knitting haven. There's a really big closet with shelves that just look like they want yarn stored on them. I mean, if you were a shelf, wouldn't a basket of yarn beat foodstuffs or laundry detergent or back issues of Cooking Light anyday? Honestly.

Another place where the house and the knitting converge is the paint color. We are going to paint the living room, dining room, and entryway the same gold that is at A Grand Yarn. What does that say? Is it just that it is a really good color? Or do I want our house to feel like the yarn shop? Does it matter?

When my brain isn't muddied by the house stuff, I am working on the fall newsletter. I think the fall class lineup is so exciting, I can hardly stand it. I just love getting ready for fall.

Back in Washington

2007-07-19T09:31:00.000-06:00

Well, we are officially back in Washington. Andrew and I left last Thursday driving a huge Penske truck with our car towing behind. We managed to make it to Washington without ever having to back out, which was great. There is a surprising amount of room to spread out in the cab of a big Penske truck. Translation: I could have my knitting stuff all over the place. I completed the front and back of a Mission Falls 1824 Cotton striped sweater, and I love it. (I can't post a photo now because my camera cord is packed away in a box.) Andrew lamented at one of our truck stop breaks that there probably wasn't any knitting going on in any of the other big rig cabs (we were starting to develop a kinship, if only imagined, with the truckers). I said you never ever know. After all, we did see a big trucker guy with a tiny little Yorkie.

In any case, I will probably have to put the baby sweater on hold, since it is time to start working on class models for the fall season at A Grand Yarn. One of the best things about moving back to Washington, of course, is that it will be a lot easier for me to Spokane for classes or just for a visit. The plan is that I will travel over about once a month. In the meantime, we will be staying with west side family and friends while we are house hunting. One of my priorities, of course, is finding a house with good yarn storage potential. I mean, that amenity is way higher on the list than stainless steel appliances, I can tell you that.

Wagons West

2007-07-09T13:05:00.000-06:00

I have neglected my blog for nearly a month now, but with good reason: we're moving. Not even two weeks ago, my husband was offered a visiting professor position at Pacific Lutheran University, our alma mater. We decided it was best to pack up and move as quickly as possible in order to maximize our time out West this summer. So we are picking up the moving truck on Wednesday and driving out Thursday. Needless to say, we have been desperately packing and preparing. My knitting has really taken a back seat. Actually, the actual act of knitting has taken a back seat, but thinking about knitting has taken a front seat. The bulk of our stuff is likely to be in storage for over a month, so I have had to take special care not to put any knitting item that I might need into a sealed-up box. I have stuffed my giant A Grand Yarn project bag with several projects for the road and for the duration of the summer. We have my Fitted Knits vest (pictured here with a bubble wrap backdrop), which is almost complete. There's a beaded scarf I started a while back, a second sock out of Sockotta, and a colorful Mission Falls 1824 Cotton baby sweater. Of course, my needles are staying close, too, just in case I need to start something else. You never know.

As for the move, we are quite thrilled to be heading back to Washington. We will be able to see our families a lot more easily, and I can visit A Grand Yarn much more regularly. Hooray! On the down side, we have to say goodbye to our dear friends, the Skillens. I have already shed a number of tears over that. I will move on, since I get too sad if I think about it...Andrew and I will have three days driving in the big Penske truck to Spokane, where we will stay a couple of nights. Andrew is going to be doing pretty much all of the driving because we are towing our car on a trailer, and the thought of driving the whole kit and kaboodle freaks me out (whereas I think Andrew is kind of excited). That could mean a whole lot of on-the-road knitting. The only hitch is the fact that there is a chance our truck won't have a CD player. If that's the case, our plan is to have me read the sixth Harry Potter book aloud as review prior to the release of the final book. But I certainly can't read aloud the entire time. Maybe those socks will get finished for summertime wear after all...

Apologies for the very long post, but it will probably be a while before I can post again.

Goodness

2007-06-13T11:56:00.000-06:00

I am finally getting the photos up I mentioned in the last post. You can imagine my surprise at encountering this example of knitting as we were walking the streets of Chicago. Too bad the cupcake shop was closed, or it would have been a momentous coming together of some of my favorite things. Come to think of it, Andrew and I had just come from the wonderful movie Once, we were sharing a cup of delicious Intelligentsia coffee, and we were on our way to get burritos. If we had added cupcakes to the goodness equation, it just might have been too much to handle. Speaking of good things, I have just started a new project: the u-neck vest from Fitted Knits. Perhaps for the first time ever, I am knitting the pattern out of the exact yarn and color that is shown in the book. I guess I loved it that much. I am about 7 or 8 inches up from the bottom, and it is a lot of fun. Mom and I are wondering if it might be a good class for the fall. Anyway, I'll post some photos when I'm a little further along. Right now it just looks like a ribby tube.

Market Roundup, Act III: Trends and the Return

2007-06-06T13:13:00.000-06:00

So I wanted to include a few words about the trends we saw at market. I was quite delighted to see so many vests in so many styles: cardigans, pullovers, textured, plain, fitted, big and comfy. Warm woolly shawls were also all over the place, as were many cabled sweaters. Socks and felted bags also had a big presence. As for fibers, good old wools, fine merinos, and silks seemed to reign. And in the way of colors, brown and gray seemed popular, but there were also a lot of examples of bringing in all sorts of colors with stripes.

Mom and I flew out of Columbus early Monday morning, which also happened to be Mom's birthday. I felt bad that she had to fly for a big chunk of the day. In my case, I had one of those weird deals where I departed at the same time I arrived, due to the time difference (left Columbus at 7:30am and arrived in Chicago at 7:30am). Andrew picked me up, and we had a lovely morning and afternoon in the city. First off was breakfast at Bongo Room (fabulous). Then we parked ourselves at a coffee shop to read and knit until the earliest movie time for Once, which received a rave review in the paper. And I can attest that the rave review was deserved. It's a very sweet, simple movie about two young people in Dublin meeting and making music together. We both loved it and immediately wanted the soundtrack. Well, we must not have been the only ones because when we went to the Borders across the street, the music guy kind of laughed and said he sold out quickly over the weekend when the movie opened. Anyway, I bought it today and am actually listening to it as I type.

The main reason, though, that I bring up our day in Chicago is that we had a knitting moment. When we were on our way back to the car to drive back to Indiana, we happened upon a couple of trees with knitted trunk cozies. I think I had heard or read about such things, but it was quite a delight to see them in person. It was kind of like stumbling upon an animal out of its natural habitat (like the time at my office in Cambridge when I looked up from my desk to see baby elephants from the circus walking down the street). The trees stood right in front of a cupcake shop, and I imagine they were done to add to the look of the cute shop. The baker was closed, though, so no cupcakes for us, unfortunately. I am going to have to post the photos next time, unfortunately, because I'm having trouble getting them up right now. Until next time!

Market Roundup, Act II: The Products

2007-06-05T14:09:00.001-06:00

I have now seen how long my previous post is, and I'm a little embarrassed. So I'm going to try to keep this one short and sweet. I am so excited about the yarn and other products we ordered, which will start shipping to the shop toward the end of the summer. Among them are three yarns from ShibuiKnits, a new yarn company out of Portland, Oregon. We will be getting their sock yarn, a mohair/silk blend called Silk Cloud, and a fluttery 100% silk yarn called Silk Puff. I am also in love, love, love with some of the new Tahki designs and yarns for the fall. There is a simple but darling cardigan out of the new Tahki Taos that I absolutely must make. They also brilliantly have done a pattern booklet featuring their various tweed yarns, and it has several garments and accessories I would be thrilled to make. What else...we ordered some dreamy cashmere from Mountain Colors. Oh, and Manos has this new pattern for a vest/shrug thing that's a big circle worked from the center out. My plan is to teach is as a guest teacher at the shop this fall. In my post from a few days ago, I mentioned the new Knit One, Crochet Too sock yarn called Sox Appeal, which we did in fact order. Oh, there was also the new Mission Falls 1824 Tricolor Wool. They selected some of their best colors (which would be hard to do--they're all good) and plied them together in four new marled versions. On the pattern and accessories front, we'll have some new designs from Leigh Radford, Chris Bylsma, and Fiber Trends, including some really fun felted bags. We also ordered some adorable totes from Della Q and Timeless Totes. Oh, and I almost forgot that we'll be getting in the Lantern Moon Sox Stix.

I must keep myself from going on and on. In Act III, I'll look at trends and a curious knitting project we happened upon on the streets of Chicago after Andrew picked me up at the airport.

Market Roundup, Act I: Classes and Events

2007-06-05T12:54:00.000-06:00

We'll, we're back from market, full of ideas and excitement. But where do I begin? Act I begins with the various classes and events that we attended prior to the actual market opening. Before I move on to that, notice how great Mom looked in her stripes, including the Rowan Summer Tweed Kasbah sweater knit by Nancy Brown and her Rowan Cotton Glace sweater knit by me. (In the blue and white sweater photo she is wearing her trusty TNNA badge and holding our drink tickets for one of the cocktail parties.) She also wore the fabulous new sweater she just completed from Fitted Knits. You wouldn't believe how many compliments she received throughout the weekend.

Okay, now moving from how Mom looked to what we did...On Thursday Mom took a six-hour class called Color for Knitters. It was all about color theory and how to evaluate colors of different "weights" and incorporate them into one project. She loved it. That day I took Crochet for Knitters with Rick Mondragan from Knitter's Magazine and Teaching Fun Classes with Barry Klein of Trendsetter Yarns. I am a little phobic about crocheting (as in my hands start to sweat and I get very nervous), and as it turned out, both classes had a lot of crocheting. In Crochet for Knitters, I learned a variety of ways to use crochet in knitting, including various crocheted cast-ons and crocheted trims. In Teaching Fun Classes, I learned a few fun projects that have class potential. The best was a crocheted scarf with curlicues running up the side. I was a little freaked out about all the crocheting, but I picked up on it well enough and actually liked the results.

On Friday, Mom took Basic Pattern Drafting with Melissa Leapman and Stripes, and Stripes That Aren't with Sally Melville (which apparently was quite fabulous). That day I took a web site class and a marketing class, so I didn't do any knitting.

As for events, Friday night was the fashion show, which is always a lot of fun. As for trends, we saw a lot of cables, entrelac, vests, Fair Isle, stripes, felting, cardigans, and shawls. Aside from all the spectacular garments, the interesting part of the show was the fact that one of the models from the show two years ago (last year was in Indianapolis, so she wasn't there) was back again. How could everyone remember? Well, she is a beautiful girl who looks absolutely miserable, almost pained. All the other models were smiling, even joking around, but this one girl looked like she was trying to put the unhappiest expression she could muster on her face. At one point someone in the front row must have shouted out for her to smile because she smiled for a spit second. I imagine she must have just been very nervous (it was a huge crowd, after all), so I felt sorry for her.

On Saturday morning we had the Tahki Stacy Charles breakfast, which we love. You get a preview of the designs, and representatives from the company speak. Also, the editors of Vogue Knitting, Interweave, and Yarn Market News gives speeches on styles and trends in upcoming issues. That night we attended a cocktail party hosted by Dream in Color, that great superwash, hand-dyed wool we carry. As it turned out, when we left the party in search for dinner, there was some big monthly event going on outside on High Street, which has a lot of restaurants and galleries. The streets were packed, and we shimmied our way through the crowds only to find that there were long, long waits everywhere we went. We lucked out and scored a bar seat at a restaurant right across from the convention center (thanks to Mom's eagle eyes and cat-like reflexes).

Finally, Sunday night we attended the Potter Craft cocktail party. They publish a lot of knitting books we carry, and this is a little thank-you party they have at market. But I certainly shouldn't call it "little" this time. This was one of the coolest cocktail parties I have been to. Potter hosted it at a lounge called Latitude 41, and the appetizers were some of the most beautiful and delicious I have seen. Everything was already plated on these darling square white plates. We had roast beef over mashed potatoes, chickpea cakes, gazpacho, tuna, spring rolls, and fancified corn dogs (think a bite of delicious sausage surrounded by polenta). Plus, there was a lovely bar, and the whole place was oh so stylish. Now, I should mention that my assessment of the evening could be slightly influenced by the fact that I won the first drawing, which was for an I-Pod Shuffle! I have never won a drawing, and I almost missed this one since the speakers were bad and I could hardly hear my number. Anyway, I am now the very tickled owner of an I-Pod Shuffle.

After the party, even though we were all stuffed with great food, we went for a light dinner with Paula, Debbie, and Heidi from Sheep's Clothing. We decided to eat at the restaurant at their hotel, but before we had left, a monsoon-like rainstorm started outside. Their hotel was only two blocks away, but we would have been absolutely soaked through. It happened that a minivan cab was waiting outside, and he was happy to take us. The lovely, cheerful cab driver is still working on his English. When Debbie thanked him for taking us such a short distance through the storm, he happily replied, "Yes, it is the cats and the dogs." I loved that.

So that's it for our classes and social events from Columbus. Later: products galore on the market floor.

First Day on the Market Floor

2007-06-02T14:17:00.000-06:00

Here we are at TNNA! They have provided a lounge with a couple computers, which is great. But I have to be quick. We are having loads of fun looking at new yarns and designs, and we are making long lists of ideas for this fall. Some of the highlights include a new sock yarn from Knit One, Crochet Too and a circular wrap/vest from Manos. I will have a lot more in-depth descriptions once I get back to Indiana.

Also, we enjoyed a couple of days of excellent classes from the likes of Sally Melville, Melissa Leapman, and Rick Mondragan. Now it's time to keep browsing! Tonight we have cocktails with Dream in Color. Tomorrow is more shopping, cocktails with Clarkson Potter, and dinner with the ladies from Sheep's Clothing.

Mom has a very stiff neck, so browsing is much more difficult than normal (but much funnier for me to watch).

To Market, To Market

2007-05-28T14:00:00.000-06:00

How in the world have I fallen off and not posted anything new in a while? I'll tell you how. I've been trying to finish my various projects so I can wear them at the National NeedleArts Association conference in Columbus, Ohio. Mom and I will travel to Ohio on Wednesday, and then we embark on several days of classes, fashion shows, cocktail parties, and walking the floor of the trade show. I just love the June market, since all the new fall and winter yarns and designs make their debut. I am simply bubbling over in anticipation.

I don't know yet whether I will have access to a computer at the hotel during our stay so that I could post a few things while we're there. If not, I'll catch up on posts and load some photos when I return.

Okay, today's photo is of my Classic Elite Potpourri shrug. I started this baby last July, completing the pieces relatively quickly. But then with our move and all, the pieces sat in a drawer and didn't finally come together until about two weeks ago. The pattern called for a long stockinette piece to be sewn to the perimeter. I wasn't about to take on that much additional assembly, so I opted for applied i-cord instead. I'm showing it with the dress I had in mind when I picked out the yarn.

Currently I am working on a pair of socks out of Plymouth Sockotta. I tried one on (sans toe) and considered taking a photo to post here, but the sight of my peeling nail polish and sorry sole made me think otherwise. I will post a photo as soon as the socks can completely cover my feet. We will all be better off.

The Finishing of Things (or Cleaning out the Fridge)

2007-05-14T10:54:00.000-06:00

I am having one of those good weeks in which I am finishing things. I completed my Patagonia cotton tank from last year's Knit Simple. It is, as the magazine suggests, simple, but it is a Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton design and I think it is lovely. Our internet is acting up here in the land of Valparaiso, so I'm having trouble uploading an image of it. I will post one later. I also should be finishing a drop-stitch shrug for myself in the next day or two. Hooray! Then I must assemble a Classic Elite shrug I started last spring. My goal is to have all these garments ready to wear at TNNA market in Columbus in a few weeks. As for finishing on the non-knitting front, yesterday I finished reading Open House by Elizabeth Berg. I haven't read any of her books before, but I enjoyed it. It was a lot like the Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton tanks: simple and lovely.

All of this has made me think about the finishing waves that seem to happen periodically. I won't complete anything for months, and then suddenly I am able to finish a whole pile of projects, knitting and otherwise. I guess this comes under the heading of the "when it rains, it pours" adage, but in a good way. Maybe this doesn't happen to everyone else. Maybe there are knitters out there adept at assembly-line-like finishing, evenly distributed throughout the year. I bet their fridges are never over-crowded either, with nothing going bad and everything out by its experation date. My knitting seems to operate under more of the model of a periodical major cleaning out of the fridge. I wait until the fridge is about to burst out the seams, and then everything gets cleaned and thrown out in one fell swoop. That's not to say I am not ashamed of the old eggs or the forgotten cucumber in the bottom of the crisper drawer. I wish I had an always-tidy fridge sans forgotten cucumber. But it's simply not happening.

At least the neglected knitting project in need of finishing doesn't leak mysterious green ooze into the bottom of my crisper drawer.

You Can't Rip Out a Haircut

2007-05-02T16:29:00.000-06:00

As if I needed another reason to love knitting or some other illustrative analogy, but today I am thinking about how much better knitting is than getting a haircut. I'm in the adjustment phase of a haircut yesterday that started out as a two-inch trim and morphed into something that felt quite short and had more of a dramatic wedge shape than I had expected (think a shorter and not quite as stylish version of Victoria Beckham's hair). Now, if I had knit my new hairstyle, I would be able to rip it out and make some slight improvements, ending up with a little different shape and size. It might cost me extra time, but it would make me happier. As it stands, I have to wait for this baby to grow out. Now, I could knit myself a hat...

Stick a Fork in It

2007-04-26T16:04:00.000-06:00

It's done! The Rowan Cotton Glace sweater model is finally complete and will begin its journey to Spokane tomorrow. Despite all the little details that I wish were a little better, I have to say a really like this one. I would definitely feel good wearing it out and about. And, I don't know, maybe I would whistle "Popeye the Sailor Man" to go with the whole nautical theme. Or maybe "Yankee Doodle Dandy" with the red-white-and-blue thing.

I made a couple of tiny modifications, the first being eliminating the eyelet row in the first white stripe. There is supposed to be a navy ribbon going through that stripe and tying in the front. But I figured that would limit the wearing-it-open option. I also made the sleeves about an inch longer. I think my cuffs on the size 3 were extra tight, and I discovered that they were a really tight squeeze around my arm. So I ripped and made slightly longer sleeves so that the cuff falls on a skinnier part of the forearm. I wouldn't mind the whole sweater being couple of inches longer, but I think the idea is to have a cami or tee coming out from underneath. All in all, though, I am happy with the finished result.

Slow and Steady

2007-04-24T14:59:00.000-06:00

My in-laws were here visiting last week, and we had a lovely time. My mother-in-law, Kappy, is also a knitter (in fact, she has knit several models for A Grand Yarn), so we spent a fair amount of time knitting together. One such time was at a new coffee shop in downtown Valparaiso. I am always interested in what sort of looks or comments public knitting will provoke. My experience is that they are almost entirely ones of fascination and praise, except for people on airplanes who express their shock and dismay that I was able to carry on my needles. Do I really look that threatening? In any case, while Kappy and I took out our knitting, a couple sitting near us became very interested. They were lovely people, probably in their early sixties. Anyway, they were having a lot of fun asking us what we were making and admiring the yarn. Then, the woman said, "You know, I do all different crafts, and I am creative. But I never could get into knitting. It's just too slow for me." Kappy and I smiled and nodded.

Now, let me reiterate that these were lovely people, and I am sure that the woman is in fact creative and has crafted some beautiful things. But I don't think she realized that she made her comment with a tone that suggested, "Knitting is too slow for my fast, sharp mind. But if your mind operates at that pace, well, bless your little heart--and your little, slow brain." Of course, my simple smiling and nodding may very well have looked smug and suggested, "You just don't get it, lady." I hope not.

The truth was I probably did feel a little smug. But I also wanted genuinely to explain knitting's merits and win this woman over. Knitting is too slow? Well, that's kind of the point. Aren't our lives filled with enough speed?

Don't get me wrong. Many times I have scowled at my fingers and wished that they would work faster. And as recently as yesterday I cursed the slowness of assembling a sweater when I wanted to be knitting on another project. But I do relish the fact that amidst all the speediness of everyday life, knitting slows me down and calms me. And when a long-term project does come to a close, it is a satisfying culmination of many hours and many stitches.

The Knitting Circle

2007-04-05T11:00:00.000-06:00

I just completed The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood, and I have to say I was sad to see it end. It was one of those books that sort of crept up on me. In the beginning, I liked it fine but wasn't all that impressed, but by the end I felt very invested in the characters. Ann Hood has such an easy and unadorned voice that makes reading her prose quite relaxing and even comforting. Knowing that the book is somewhat inspired by her own life made the main character's perspective that much more believable--and that much more heartbreaking. It was also nice to see a knitting group portrayed in a pretty realistic way and not dripping with too much caricature and sentimentality. So let's say out of 5 double-point needles, I give it 3 1/2 needles.

Stash Chick

2007-04-02T13:58:00.000-06:00

A couple of mornings ago I was walking briskly on the treadmill when Martha Stewart had a segment about making pom pom bunnies for Easter. The woman doing the demonstration has a teddy bear business. I can't recall her name, but I'm sure she is on the Martha Stewart web site. Anyway, they were demonstrating the pom pom bunny, but they also showed a display with some pom pom chicks, which were adorable. And I thought, "Hey, those are cute." Then, "Hey, that's the perfect use for some of my stash bits." Then, "Hey, this is the perfect excuse to cut my workout short and run off to Michael's to buy some pipe cleaners and wiggly eyes." Actually, I figured they would be a nice addition to the little goody bags I'm making for our friends' kids for Easter.

Of course, I should have been working on my Rowan sweater...or the laundry...or the spring cleaning. But who could do any of those things when there are little chicks to be made?! I finished one, and I do have to say he looks an awful lot like the fluffy new chicks that hatch at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, where we went a couple of weeks ago. Of course, I still prefer regular knitting to making pom pom, but the chick-making is a nice little addition to this week leading up to Easter.

Stripes on the Brain

2007-03-30T10:27:00.000-06:00

So I am working away on a stripes sweater from the new Rowan Magazine. It is a model for my mom's shop, and I am just loving working on it. The yarn is Rowan Cotton Glace. We changed the ribbing colors a bit, since we thought the magazine version looked a little washed out. I am using red and light blue in the ribbing instead of pink and light blue. We learned at market in January that the nautical look very in this season (and isn't nautical a classic anyway that always kind of in for spring?), so I'm jumping on that ship, so to speak. I will finish the back today. Now my brain is fixated on the number 8, what with the sweater stripes being 8 rows. I imagine 8 more rows, 8 more minutes of sleep, 8 more pages of The Knitting Circle, 8 more of those delicious Easter candy-coated sunflower seeds beckoning me from the candy dish. Strange what stripes can do to a girl.

I went to Chicago yesterday after dropping my husband off at the airport and finally did a bit of a Chicago yarn shop exploration. I went to Knitting Workshop, Knit 1, Arcadia Knitting, and Close Knit (which, as it turned out, was closed). All of them had a very nice selection, and I had a great time wandering Chicago on my own. Knit 1 was right next to a Trader Joe's, which was an added bonus. Come to think of it, I bought 8 items. No joke.

Housework is calling...but then so is my Rowan sweater. We all know who will win.

Target You (and Your Knitting Needles)

2007-03-28T16:07:00.000-06:00

So last night my husband and I were watching some clips from a DVD of mid-20th-century Cold War safety films (My husband is a history professor, by the way. We do not usually entertain ourselves with short films on hydrogen bombs.) I think I had seen part of one before, called "Duck and Cover," featuring demonstrations of children ducking and covering under their school desks and an animation of Burt the turtle saving himself inside his shell. A particular laughable one was called "What Is Communism?" and focused on a government man going through a list of adjectives describing Communists (e.g. lying, dirty, shrewd, godless), just in case you would run into one on the street. Come to think of it, the DVD was entertaining after all.

In any case, you might be wondering how this relates to knitting. I'm getting to that. One of the short films was called "Target You" and was all about how the enemies want to kill you and what you should do to protect yourself. The whole thing was done with a kind of modern, graphic style without any photos or actual film footage. Think paper doll cutouts and silhouettes with crosshairs over them and alarming music playing. Anyway, the deep voice over was warning of what would happen if war was beginning and bombs were on the way. He said something like, "You may need to help people, like children and the aged." And lo and behold, when he said "the aged," the graphic was the silhouette of a woman in a rocking chair with knitting needles and yarn sticking up from her lap. As if the image of a hunched-over woman in a rocking chair next to a fireplace wasn't enough to suggest "aged." She just had to be knitting. Had to be.

I feigned being offended, but I really thought it was funny. First off, that image falls way far down on the list of things to be appalled by in some of those films. Second, I kind of liked the idea of this lady calmly knitting away while everyone else is freaking out. Nice move, knitter lady.

Time to run.