Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Kids? What Kids?

Time for a knitting update. I don't know why it is time, but it is. I even took pictures. Although, now that I look at them, I think I'll have to find a background less glaringly red than the slipcover on my beloved Ektorp ottoman (with removable top, so you can shove all sorts of junk in there before company comes).

I've been working on this top-down baby raglan sweater. If there is anything I hate, it is knitting something in separate pieces and then having to sew them together. If I wanted to sew, I wouldn't be knitting. Duh. This sweater is knitted in one piece from the top, leaving the sleeve stitches on holders to come back to at the end (like knitting a mitten with 2 thumbs) (sort of).

I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled with the pattern; although I don't understand why I can never knit small enough for gauge. The pattern already calls for small needles (sizes 2 and 4), and I wanted to weep at the thought of knitting a sweater on needles even tinier than that. So I decided to use sock yarn instead of sport weight for the sweater. We'll see how that works out. Probably not very well...

I know it is hard to believe for the uninitiated among you, but the info in the above paragraph interests knitters. You non-knitting readers out there, just be glad I didn't start discussing the buttonholes. (Oh, but those are exciting, too! I've never done them before!)

I am almost done with the first sock of a pair (if I would ever get off this computer) (darn you, Facebook and Twitter!). I was surprised to find that the yarn I chose for the socks is self-striping (I am easily surprised, okay?). I am finding it to be a lot of fun, waiting for a new color stripe to come around again (also, easily amused).

I actually managed to finish (shocking, I know) a pink Cascades superwash wool hat for my friend's baby. I don't know if my friend really liked it, but she at least pretended she did; and that's good enough for me (thanks!). I forgot to take a picture of it, though.

There are other assorted projects lying around here, but I am trying not to think about them right now. Most of them are stalled out because I made some mistake (alas, my first lace project!) and am dreading the work it will take to fix it. Or because I was almost finished with something and realized I didn't like the way it was turning out. So I am ignoring them.

You can do that with knitting. Not with kids, though. So maybe I should go see who is screaming upstairs and why my teen daughter is sulking in the kitchen...

29 comments:

  1. Oh, I love this post and I love your projects in the works. I once knit a sweater that took me two years to finish and I'm still not completely done. I may be one of the weird ones, but I'd rather work on small needles---my hands don't get tired as fast.

    The self-striping socks are awesome!!

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  2. I'm amused by self-striping yarn, too, and that faux fair-isle stuff is most amusing. Perfect when you don't feel like making a sock with a stitch pattern. When we went to parent-child gym classes and music classes I'd be wearing my beautiful handknit socks and I was always disappointed that nobody ever said, "Wow, those are GREAT socks!" I noticed everybody's socks. But I think nobody else was a knitter. Somehow I don't think non-knitters are eying the socks during music class.

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  3. Self-striping yarn -- that is really cool! I guess it only works on socks of the right size, right?

    You are one of four bloggers I'm folloing who just took up knitting and are compelled to keep doing it. I'm beginning to wonder what I'm missing!

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  4. I'm a novice, amateur type knitter, but I thought that was fascinating. And yes, you can totally blow things off in the world of knitting. No other hobbies work by the same strange rules.

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  5. Yay, knitting! (I love knit content.)

    That baby sweater is adorable...I don't mind seams in adult sweaters (keeps the pieces smaller and more portable) but it's always seemed silly to me to knit baby sweaters in pieces.

    And those are great socks- such cheerful colors! I always enjoy self-striping yarn but have to overcome my inner control freak to sit back and let the pattern happen.

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  6. Pretty, pretty! Think I'm destined to remain merely a crochet-er...the yarn betwixt my needles when knitting seems to mysteriously elongate every time I try!

    (facebook and blogging are quite the distraction; cannot imagine if I had twitter in the mix...you're a better woman than I!)

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  7. Hey, maybe Anna's upstairs moping because she misses washing dishes? ;)

    Glad to hear someone else abandons knitting projects gone wrong. I have sewing projects like this, too.

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  8. Ok, you've officially achieved genius crafter status in my book. Grandmother tried to teach me how to knit once and it ended badly. Knitting needles HURT when they're shoved up your nose - who knew?

    Cool cool socks. And how does the yarn self-stripe? Paint? Gremlins? Magic?

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  9. I so wish i knew how to knit!!! you have inspired me...

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  10. Oh, I want a top down sweater for MYSELF in a pattern that is easy enough for my novice skills. I am soo chicken to start socks even. Of course I have a massive case of ADD and 50 things going on at any given moment too, so concentrating on a pattern is useless to me. I am STILL working on that never ending baby towel I started in June of last year, for the friend's baby that was born at the end of August. I refuse to start another project until that green monster is done.

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  11. Personally, I'd love to hear about the buttonholes. And those socks look like a lot of fun.

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  12. "If I wanted to sew, I wouldn't be knitting. Duh."

    YES. Exactly. I actually rewrite patterns to eliminate the seams, that's how much I hate the stupid mattress stitch. And I like your knitting posts a lot.

    My theory on Anna: she's sulking because she's a teenager. You're welcome.

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  13. That is a sweet pattern. It almost makes me want to knit. Almost. But I might die of excitement. Plus I can never get the gauge right either.

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  14. I wish I could knit, you make it sound fun! My mom tried to teach me years ago, but I messed up the muscle in my pinky finger when I was a kid, and I cannot knit because the tension is always wrong when I try to use that finger. I need someone to teach me left-hand knitting!

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  15. I love knitting content!

    I was once knitting a sock with self-striping yarn, and a friend asked me how I was getting the yarn to do that. I told her I wasn't, but she didn't believe me. I guess I should have said magic, or gnomes!

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  16. You have to watch this!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT5MFdAB7fI

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  17. I don't know a knitting needle from a crochet hook and truthfully, i'm surprised that I even know there's a difference, but I have to admit...

    self-striping socks are COOL!!

    You should knit a pair and have a give-away! I'm just sayin'...

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  18. Just tell Anna to stuff a sock in it. Preferably one that you were planning to frog, anyway...

    You're welcome!

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  19. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I don't know how to knit. However, I *totally* get your statement: "If I wanted to sew, I wouldn't be knitting. Duh."
    And also the seams and arms. Why would anyone want to complicate things?
    I started a cross-stitch project for our tenth wedding anniversary about 8 months in advance. That was 11 years ago. There's not much hope of having it done for the 25th anniversary...although finding it would help! I'm hopeless, I know. Please talk to me anyway. I promise to oooh and ahhh over all of your projects.

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  20. self-striping? Now I'm confused.

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  21. Kids smids, they can take care of themselves, you've got knitting to do.

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  22. Ummmm....if you could start speaking English again, that would be great.

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  23. YOur kids are all old enough to grab something to eat when they get hungry. Even my 28 mo old can open the fridge and get himself some fruit, cheese sticks or sliced ham. But his favorite thing to do is to scramble 18 eggs on the floor if we do not watch him. Thankfully, since it is before 7 am, he is still asleep. :)

    I hate making seams in sweaters, etc. I just modified the pattern of the one that I am trying to make now. I usually work on it nights and weekends at work. It keeps me awake and lets me do something besides vegging on the internet. LOL.

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  24. Yesterday I learned how to knit fish. It was very interesting. You're supposed to make a lot and sew them into a blanket. Although I doubt I could sew enough fish together into a large enough shape to be called a blanket.

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  25. Yay, a knitting post!! I like that baby sweater...was that a KnitPicks label that I spied?

    I'm not much of a sock knitter. They seem to take me waaaayyyy longer to knit than anything else. But, it could be the pattern. So far, I've just used a basic sock pattern. Planning to try the Monkey socks from Knitty soon.

    It is so easy to let other things slide when engrossed in knitting.

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  26. I'm a new follower and love your blog! Knitting is a pastime I have tried and really enjoyed until my then 3 yo son decided to pull apart a cable knit hat I was all set to sew together. Since then every time I pick up my needles I can't seem to get it going right. Maybe I'll be inspired now, while trapped in the warm inside, to pull out my basket!

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  27. It's hard to get past knitting PTSD, but you have to try.

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  28. I do like the knitting posts. I found you through Yarn Harlot! Love her and you. I have several, well many, abandoned projects too. More than I care to think about right now. Thanks for bringing those up...

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