teamkaty

My Most Favorite FO

Well, as usual the blogging isn't keeping up with production around here, but let's put all such lapses down to sleep deprivation for a while, shall we?  Because I'm happy to announce--the happiest I've ever been in my life, actually--that our baby boy Peter joined us on February the 13th, after 17 hours of labor and a big fat crappy C-section.  It wasn't the birth that we were aiming for, but I can't argue with the result:

8 pounds, 3 ounces of pure deliciousness. And not the dark-haired Monkeybaby we expected; it looks like my genes won out, as far as we can tell at this point.  (I couldn't understand why the nurses kept saying, "Where did he get that fair hair?" until I remembered to confess, "this isn't my natural color!")  Note the early introduction of handknits--very useful for covering the unsightly hospital Lo-jack.  Wool allergies, bah!
Here's a shot from after we were sprung from the clink hospital:

I'm wearing another FO, if you count iron-on letters--a t-shirt I made that reads, "Some of my best friends are reproductive endocrinologists."  (For those who missed the previews--Pete is the result of IVF cycle #3, after 2 years of infertility treatments.) In case you were wondering how many packs of letters it takes to get enough vowels for that: four.  I have a lot of w's and v's left over, if anyone wants to make shirts for a radio station's softball team or the like.

What else can I tell you about this booger?  Let's see: SWM, enjoys eating, sleeping, and long walks in the stroller.  Already I'm sad that he's lost his cord stump, and that the frosted effect of the hair over his left ear has started to fade.  Maternal nostalgia begins so soon!  I'm both eager to see the changes each day will bring, and desperate for him to stay just the way he is--utterly perfect.

Flora and fauna FOs

Here are two projects that definitely came from the "long-term" files, aka, "hey, you ever going to finish that?"  First, fauna: Kathy's adorable Sheldon reminded me that I finally gifted mine to my father-in-law, packed in a cardboard box punched with air holes.  For versimilitude, y'know.  Amazingly, he seemed genuinely delighted to be the recipient of a knitted stuffed animal.  But then, the man really, really likes turtles--he has two or three enormous, ancient creatures in his basement who he tends as lovingly as one would...well, something snugglier, with fur and/or opinions.  Turtles probably do have opinions, but I don't think they care to share them.

Anyway, here's my Sheldon!  Originally this was going to be a birthday present, back in July, but I got bogged down somewhere around assembly time. I just don't like to stuff things, for some reason.  Which is unfortunate, as I now have an enormous bag of Polyfil taking up some primo storage space.  And in my distaste for stuffing--or perhaps in bid to use it up faster--I overfilled the critter, so his Shel doesn't don very easily.  It's OK.  My father in law can live without the dress-up aspect.

The flora project has an even longer track record.  I bought some Amy Butler fabric from Purl Patchwork to make curtains...eh, over a year ago?  Then I got bogged down by the challenge of buying the appropriate hardware--I kept telling myself that this is New York, there's probably some funky little store that sells nothing but drapery hooks, but said emporium never materialized and it took me months to get off my dreaming arse and just order off the internet.  Oh, and there was a trip to Lowes involved--you see how these things can get ugly. Once I finally got everything assembled, though, they came together in just a day of vacation.  I used some instructions from an old issue of Living, which I realized midway throght involved several more steps than strictly necessary--oddly, sometimes the simplest way to explain something is not always the simplest way to do it.   

What else can I tell you about these?  Using my walking foot attachment was a must.  They block an awful lot of light--more than I would like now, but it will doubtless be a good thing come summer.  Hank and Minny like to screw with the cords.  Should have seen that one coming!

And finally, neither flora nor fauna, just plain cute: behold, young Master B. in his Pushover Pullover!  What did I tell you about those eyes? They're even bluer in real life.  His dad tells me that this sweater makes him irresistible cafe chick bait, but I doubt he needs any props.

Choosing the NOW

binding off
Originally uploaded by teamkaty

Thanks for the quick feedback on my dilemma! So much more than I deserve after letting this blog lie moribund for months on end. I agree that a contrast binding could look really rad--I'm thinking red, as usual--but in the end impatience won out. I wanted to finish this sucker, y'know? Coldn't even wait long enough to stop by a yarn store or dig through my stash. So I chose a variation of option A: frogged back one repeat and bound off from there. The "variation" was that I was too impatient to put all those freakin' stitches back on my two circulars, so I left them live and picked up with two dpns as I went along.

A few of my Spiders found all those hundreds of loose loops a little disconcerting, but the Morehouse is pretty sticky and I only had to reach for my crochet hook once or twice. Though I will admit that this:

was a disaster waiting to happen--I quickly put down the camera and shooed him away!

I finished the edge last Friday, and now it needs blocking. Brooklyn Tweed promises that it blocks beautifully, and I sure hope he's right, because at the moment this circular afhgan is still distinctly conical. But since it's going to require a LOT of pins, and the cats have already expressed an interest in the yarn, my only potential blocking site is the sofabed in the "nursery" which is currently, ah, shall we say, inaccessible.

Ahem.  It's like Where's Waldo, only with large furnishings!

The Monkeybaby is kicking the bejeezus out of me today; I think he's getting bored.  That or he's a true New Yorker already--"Would you believe, there's only ONE closet in this cruddy little apartment, and I can't get the damn door open!"  Stay in just a little while longer, dude, we're busy out here.

Reality check

OK, after binding off about an eighth of the binky and seeing how much yarn that consumes--it's really more like three rows worth, because you make stitches, knit them, and then bind off--I forced myself to unwind my little clementine of yarn and get a rough measurement.  14 yards, give or take.  To work more than 400 stitches.  NOT HAPPENING.  So please, wise knitters, tell me what you would do:

A) Frog back one pattern repeat (5 rows), put the 480-ish stitches back on the circs, and bind off as the pattern dictates.

B) Frog back what I've bound off so far, bind off plain, and pray.

C) Frog back what's been bound off thus far and bind off as pattern dictates, in a contrast color.

D) Try to guess what kind of Morehouse this is, order another skein, hope it matches, and hope I still have the gumption to finish once it arrives.

Got my Mojo workin'

obsession
Originally uploaded by teamkaty

Finally! So much for jumpstarting this blog back in November, eh? You'd think I'm distracted by a newborn or some such--but no, not yet. As usual, there has actually been a fair amount of knitting and sewing going on, but a lousy slog with some alpaca was quashing any desire to write. I'll tell you about it someday, I'm sure, but let's get back in the groove with happier news, shall we? Because my mojo has returned, and its name is the Hemlock Ring Blanket. Or as we like to call it around here, "the binky."
I cast on for this sucker the Friday before last, and just started the castoff this morning. Barring disaster, I'll have it done in just two weeks. I've made single socks that took longer than that--a lot of 'em, actually. No ripping. No gauge issues. Just pure knitting delight. And most of the work has been done on the subway, although as this picture from last weekend proves, the project has long since mushroomed past proper subway proportions.

It explodes from my bag. It's getting grubby. It conceals my belly and earns me dirty looks. I don't care!
If my battery hadn't died this morning, I'd show you all a picture of how a 37 weeks pregnant person lives on the edge--by knitting down to the very last nub of yarn. I have a ball about the size of a clementine left, and the whole castoff (which I'd say is equal to at least 2 rows) left to do. Fingers crossed for me, 'kay?

Week of FOs: Spoiler quandry

Let me ask you: is there anything better than the day after a holiday, particularly when you have neither plans nor relatives to entertain obligations? Show of hands: how many people ate leftovers for lunch--in their pajamas?  Well, I don't like leftovers (yeah yeah, I know, let's not get into it right now) but I did sleep late today and then mush around in my jammies for several hours.  I was going to use this afternoon to try and set the apartment straight--the place looks like a bomb site--but hey, I have the whole weekend, right?  The only truly problematic thing I didn't get to today was photographing some of my FOs.  And that's a problem because this is the last day of this program, and I'd like to finish in style, but the only thing I already have pictures of is a gift that hasn't been shipped yet. Drat.  What to do?

How about this: if you have any reason to expect that I might have knit a baby sweater for you, avert your eyes, 'kay?  We'll wait.

Think it's safe now?  Here goes (click on it for full texture-y goodness):

Voila, my Pushover Pullover, aka the Aran Pullover from Melanie Falick's Knitting for Baby, aka You Know, The One That's Modeled By the Most Adorable Baby Ever. I used (washable!  dryable!) Gems Topaz, and since that didn't quite give me gauge (surprise!) I used the stitch counts for the 12 months size, but knit to the 6 month length, and this actually, shockingly worked to give me the size I wanted.   This is a great pattern, with a nice n' easy cable pattern that requires no chart-watching.  I made exactly one cabling mistake...in the very first row, natch.  Luckily that's on the back.  I still hate seed stitch, but the sleeves were small enough to be painless.  Not entirely pleased with the way they have you pick up the neck, and I think I may have set the sleeves and shoulders in a bit oddly, but here again is where babies conveniently have not much shape and even less ability to issue verbal protest.  (It may be telling that in my dreams, babies can always talk.  Wishful thinking, or nightmare?  I can't tell.)

Anyway: it's done, I like it, I might even make it again.  I could in fact make an exact duplicate, since the good people Seaport told me to buy twice as much yarn as I actually needed (why yes, I am adding that to my list of grievances).  Now for cryin' out loud, if I could just get it in the mail...

Week of FOs: Of the tent-y, floral variety

  large, floral 
  Originally uploaded by teamkaty

OK, let's see if I can get this up in 17 minutes and still hit Thursday... 

So I have made one maternity top.  This is some Japanese cotton gauze that I couldn't resist at Purl Patchwork this summer, using Simplicity pattern 4022.  Mods: I added a couple of inches to the bottom half and left a longer hem to accommodate the belly, and kind of created my own sleeve option. 

Making this was the weirdest experience, because after 20 years of sewing for myself I have a pretty good eye for what kind of piece is going to fit...but that's the pre-pregnant me.  Basically, I always, always have to heavily adjust the bust--even on small sizes they will be ludicrously too full for me.  For this top, I made the size 12, because that gave a finished bust of 37" and--I had to check this three times before I'd believe it--that's the measurement at my fullest point right now.  As I pieced the upper bodice together, I kept looking at it and thinking, "Crap, no way, that's enormous, that curve is too full, this isn't going to work."  And then I'd try it on, and...whaddya know, it pretty much fit.  Huh.  I mean, granted this is no Octoberfest rack.  We're still talking sub-B.  But at least I'm making a creditable showing, in a style of top I would NEVER wear normally.

The pattern on this fabric has a bit of a direction, almost a border print, and like many Japanese prints it runs perpendicular to the selvage.  So I cut the whole thing against the grain, which always feels wildly transgressive to me.  I also did some semi-fancy cutting to try and get the floral clumps balanced, which was only semi-successful.  But here's the big boner, which I didn't notice until I was seaming these pieces:

Ooops.  Maybe it's like leaving a designer label out on purpose?

Bonus FOs: my contribution to the Thanksgiving dinner--

I threw tradition to the winds this year and made what I thought people might actually like.  Ditched the pumpkin pie, as no one in Alex's family seems to eat it (but what am I supposed to have for breakfast tomorrow???) and just made apple, the perennial favorite.  The chocolate pound cake was a gamble to see if I could please the kids.  Per Jacob K, age 8: "You made a good cake."  Score!

Week of FOs: Late-Night Needle Case

  Folded shut 
  Originally uploaded by teamkaty

A couple of months ago, I had some lofty ideas about making maternity clothes.  That didn't pan out quite as I envisioned--basically, the options are stretchy or tenty, and I don't do knits well.  But I did have my machine out for about a month, hogging space and getting dusty.  When Alex was working an overnight last week, I actually took the cover off and zipped something up--a pillowcase for my other husband, that is, the ridiculous "body pillow" that I finally caved in and bought (yeah, worth every penny).

And then, because it was 10 pm--that's often when I'm just tired enough to think starting a new project is a good idea--I decided it was finally time to get to the needle case I'd been meaning to make for months.  I had some fabric, I had some batting, I had a vague idea of what I wanted from some Etsy browsing way back when--what more does a girl need?  I cut some strips, turned some hems, whap-whap-whap, by midnight or so it was done.  I couldn't wait to take a picture and load it up the next morning.

 

Some of you might note that this sequence does not involve much in the way of, oh, say, planning or measuring.  You might catch a whiff of  "winging it." And you would be correct.  Not a fatal whiff, just a... subtle aroma.  As a result, the pockets are all a little shallow.  If I were to make another one of these babies as a gift, there would be some refinements.  But for me, it works just fine.  And it's a vast improvement over my old "system," which involved tossing all my needles into a large plastic bag--except for the ones that were floating around AWOL.

Now look!  So tidy!  I even contemplated embroidering an assigned size to each pocket, but that was a bourn too far even for post-midnight delirium.

Bonus: Alex and I spent the weekend shifting the furniture and turning the apartment completely on end, and in the process I found not one but TWO dpns, which are now nestled in the case with their brethren.  Whee!

A week of FOs: Pastry-Pickin' Brioche

Matchy-matchy
Originally uploaded by teamkaty

I have a nice husband. When he works nights he frequently stops at one of our favorite bakeries (usually Joyce or Choice) on his way home and buys me croissants and muffins. This kind of behavior should be rewarded, no?

I made him the Brioche Scarf from Weekend Knitting this past winter, and intended to knit up the matching hat as well, but then it got warm. I thought I'd surprise him with the hat this fall, so I did the knitting in secret--a big chunk of it was done in the car to and from Rhinebeck, while Jess selflessly drove both ways! My plan was to then sneakily slide it into our hat n' glove drawer for him to discover on the first toque-worthy day. But access to that drawer was blocked by...oh, I don't even remember what; this is a frequent occurence lately as we babyprep the apartment. So I threw it on the coat rack instead. A few Saturdays past the requisite chill came, and as we were suiting up for the farmer's market I said, "You need a hat!" When he fished one out of his pocket (this one, actually) I insisted, "No, the one that matches your scarf! There, on the post." He donned it nonchalantly and off we went. "Well," I thought, "that went over like a lead balloon."

I brought along the camera, and on our way back from the market (obligatory Ronnybrook pick-up, complemented by cider and cider donuts) I had him pose for some documentation at the new entrance to the BBG. He acquiesced with good grace, but then when he started to feel a little self-conscious he asked, "Didn't you take pictures of this already, last winter?" "That was just the scarf," I protested, "the hat is new!" "Really?" Yes, really.

Hmmmph. Boys.

Brioche Hat, made from Lamb's Pride worsted. The contrast between the colors is subtler on the hat, I guess because of the stretching. I don't think I did the two-color cast-on quite right, but it did the job. And it isn't as reversible as I'd like, because despite being explicitly warned by Eleanor that the decreases are tricky, and making a mental note not to attempt them on the subway, I tackled them instead...during a Spider Friday at BG. Kaitlyn was sitting next to me struggling with some set-up rows; between the two of us we kept the air fairly peppered with curses. So there are some mistakes on the orange-rib side. I tried to point this out to Alex, but I can tell it's going to be a winter of me saying, "You've got it on wrong side out!"

Oh well. As long as he keeps me well-plied with buttery treats...

A week of FOs: Criminal Bootees

for Ali's baby girl
Originally uploaded by teamkaty

The blogging, it has been slack around here, I know. In a valiant attempt to get back on the horse, I am declaring that I will post every damn day this week--a 2.5 day work week and a plethora of unsung FOs should help with that.

To ease into it, I'll start small--very small. I made these bootees for my hair stylist, who is having a baby...any day now! Tall, willowy, and strawberry blonde, Ali is the kind of person you'd love to hate if she weren't so darn nice (and didn't do such a great job on your hair). Of course she was one of those perfectly toned, "Just the belly, ma'am" pregnant chicks. But I like her anyway, so I made her some Saartje's Bootees with leftover Knittery 4-ply from my Cable Twist socks. Why am I calling these Criminal? Because anything this cute and this easy oughta be against the law, I tell you. I think these were done in three hours, and probably almost half of that time was seaming and finishing. The knitting, she is fast. I screwed up and skipped a row on the straps, so they are a little narrow, and yep the buttons are on upsidedown, but since I made both mistakes consistently I don't really care. Nyah-nyah.

One warning: the smaller size comes out really, really tiny. As in, I think these are destined to be purely decorative--they're too small even for a newborn. When I make more (and I will, because you know once you embark on a life of crime, there's no turning back) I'll do the bigger size, and probably use bigger needles as well.