Last minute crafting

Right, this is going to be a quick drive by posting to show you that the wee walrus for my wee nephew is proceeding well.

I've finished all the brown pieces, and now need to dig out some white sport weight for the tusks. I might just use the white I used for the potholders/baby blanket now that I think about it...next step after the tusks is to sew the whole thing together. It should be done by the beginning of next week. Hooray!

However, the tusks will not be done tonight. Because tonight is all about digging out my sewing machine and the cutest dog fabric ever, and making Boo a birthday pillowcase.

Oy. As if Halloween weren't bad enough, now I've moved on to last minute birthday gift crafting? Someone shoot me now.

Easy sweater gratification

Sweaters are so satisfying to knit and wear, but at some point in the process, things definitely start to drag, and it seems like you're a) not making any progress, and therefore b) never going to finish and get to wear the beautiful creation you've been slaving over. In the last two weeks I have discovered two solutions to the problem of sweater doldrums.

Solution #1: Use bulky yarn.

Pattern: Top-down raglan, a la Barbara Walker
Yarn: Handspun Porpoise Fur Shetland/silk in "Magpie", approximately 500 yds/1 lb of bulky, squishy 2-ply.
Needles: US 11/8.0 mm and US 10.5/6.5 mm
Start/finish: I started spinning on 10th Feb, finished the singles on the 11th, finished the plying on the 12th, and started knitting on the 13th I think? Stalled out on the 19th by running out of yarn, but finished up yesterday and blocked it last night. It's still drying...

This is my barter sweater, and it was started and finished (spinning and knitting) in less then two weeks. It would have been done in about 9 days, but I ran out of yarn and had to spin up a bit more, so that stretched it out a bit longer. Still, 9 days for the whole project, and about a week to actually knit the sweater, is pretty hard to beat for almost-instant sweater gratification.

I wanted to get it blogged today, so the pictures are somewhat less then stellar. I'll try for some better ones tomorrow if the weather cooperates...

Solution #2: Knit baby sweaters.

Pattern: Henry's Sweater by Sara Elizabeth Kellner
Yarn: Adriafil Duo Comfort Classic, 131 yds/50 gr, the 3-6 month size used less then two balls.
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm
Start/finish: 15th Feb - 18th Feb 2013
Comments/mods: talk about instant gratification! My new nephew arrived on Valentine's Day, I started on Friday after some frenzied stash diving, and the knitting was done on Tuesday. Boo and I bought some buttons yesterday and I sewed on the snaps and buttons today.

I did a few mods. First, I did fewer short rows on the shawl collar because I didn't want it too get too long and floppy. I like this mini-shawl alot.

I worked the garter stitch edging on the sleeves back and forth instead of in the round. It was only 5 rows or something, so sewing up that tiny bit on the end of the sleeves wasn't a big deal.


I also skipped the buttonholes, choosing instead to sew on the buttons on the outside as a decorative element, and using snaps to hold it closed. I think this will work better for getting the sweater on quickly and for keeping it closed.

I'm sorely tempted to put leather elbow patches on, since the baby's Dad is a professor. I think in the interests of getting it sent off to the States quickly, I'll forgo that, but wouldn't it be adorable?

Post-release bliss

I've spent the last week or so working on other people's projects. Which is to say, working on patterns that I didn't write/am not currently writing/am not planning on writing up and publishing. It's been very enjoyable!

I've been doing some spinning...

I ran out of yarn with one row and ten stitches left in the third chart of Jane's Ubiquitous Shawl, so over the weekend I spun up 8 more ounces, and last night I plied it all (in less then 2 hours - love the miniSpinner for plying!). It's now having a bit of a soak, and it should be dry by tomorrow, so I can motor on with that project.

I've been working on Ruth's Mystery KAL, a pair of gloves in Botany Lace.

I'm almost done with last week's clue on glove #2, which is good because the last clue was released this morning. I think these are going to end up as a Christmas present.

And I've been cranking along on Boo's Christmas sweater.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, she is not colorblind. She simply wants to look like a green and purple bumblebee. We had a mini-P3 reunion lunch last week, and the general consensus was "Did you talk to her about the color wheel at all??!!!"* and "You should probably do some kind of slip stitch when you change colors..."

The end result is a slip stitch color change row of which I am becoming increasingly enamoured. If I hadn't put a mental moratorium on designing projects** until after the new year, I would be starting a steeked fingering weight cardigan using this switch over. But in some more appealing colors, to be fair...maybe I can just do a bit of swatching?

* The girl is not yet six, but she has pretty definite ideas of what she wants. Color wheel, shmolor wheel. Green and purple it is.
** Note: this does not mean I'm not going to buy yarn for it. Knitpicks doesn't deliver to the UK, but they do deliver to my parents' house! Hello Christmas present to myself.

Deadline projects

Sorry about the lack of post on Monday - I spent a large part of the day lying on the couch in a stupor, fighting my way through a bout of flu, courtesy of Eldest Child, and with my brains full of stupified rage at the gall of some American politicians. But I managed to find some time to pattern surf and find the perfect new deadline project.

I found out on Sunday that someone quite dear to me is lined up for some heavy duty surgery in a couple of weeks. I think a pretty lace shawl knit in some cashmere-blend yarn might be just the thing to help with the hospital stay. If I get it in the mail by the middle of next week, I should be in good shape. Oy.

The center panel is 25 15 (!) repeats of a 6 row lace pattern. The edging pattern is 20 rows. There's a few rows in between the two. I'm currently working on repeat #8. I'm feeling pretty optimistic at this stage of the game. Stay tuned for the (inevitable) change in outlook.

End of school = OMG panic!

Yet again, I have been surprised by the end of the school year. You'd think that, as a relatively intelligent, clearly overeducated, almost 40-year old, I would realize that if it's getting warmer out and the sun is up at 4:30 am and sets sometime after 9:00 pm, I would clue in to the fact that my kids are going to be on summer holidays soon. The panic results not from the imminent prospect of spending loads of time with my kids, but from the fact that yet again, I have neglected to plan ahead on teacher gifts, and I am looking at trying to knit six shawls in three weeks again.

Actually, this year I am bowing to inevitability, a bit of laziness and the need to keep some sort of grasp on my sanity over the next few months, and only making presents for the girls' main teachers (each has a main teacher and 1-2 assistants). And I'm not knitting.

Now that you've recovered from that last breathtaking statement, rest assured that there are wooly presents in the offing. I spent the weekend spinning up some Porpoise Fur.


These are two practice dyelots from last summer, Xylene Cyanole and Coomassie Blue, both on Targhee. I spun the singles at a much thicker wpi then my usual default; I want to take advantage of Targhee's tendency to expand dramatically after washing, so I aimed for a worsted weight 2-ply.

I haven't spun Targhee in a while, and I really enjoyed it - so springy and soft!  Singles were spun at 9.25:1 and plied at 6.5:1. Today, when I get home, I'm going to skein up the Coomassie Blue (XC is already off the bobbin), figure out the yardage, skipping the yarn finishing step (! - I love this about weaving!) and start warping.

This is the CB scarf I did for Carroll a couple of months ago, using BFL. I'm going to use the same weft yarn (some pale blue light fingering wool recycled from a Goodwill sweater and dyed with same dyes as the fiber), so that picture is probably fairly representative of what the finished project will look. For the turquoise, I'll use the same weft as well, although in the undyed state. I'm thinking about dyeing that as well, but I will probably try it without first to see how it looks.

So...four days to the start of the Tour de Fleece, and I need to weave two scarves, post a shop update and finish washing my fleece. Good thing Himself is away this week - I can take over the entire ground floor of the house with wool!