The Desultory Knitter

2007-04-16T18:59:00.000-05:00

I am no longer updating this blog. Please visit me at 3Birds!

Arrrrrgh, Shiver me timbers!

2006-08-22T12:07:00.000-05:00

Pirate tee is all but finished -- I just have the sewing up to do. Robin has almost outgrown it already, and I might frog a few inches and redo the neckline a bit larger. I'm not entirely happy with the shape. The sleeves are too narrow and because the sleeves were different colors I had to sew it back and forth from the underarms up, which means I have to sew up the back or stick a button on or something. Yep. I really think I'd better frog this down to the sleeves and rethink the whole thing. Bummer. I love the colors though, and I think my skull and crossbones turned out well.

So, I'm going to frog this thing....

2006-08-04T17:18:00.000-05:00

I started this months and months ago, took a break to birth Finch, and now that I've dug it out of the knitting basket, I don't want to finish it. In fact, I want to rip it out and start anew. This time, instead of doing EZ's circular seamless with random cables, I might do a top-down raglan (also seamless) with a center cable or a celtic knot. Or I might do a cardigan. Or perhaps a hat and scarf set or two. I bought the yarn when it was on clearance at gotyarn because Robin looks so handsome in that color, but none of my swatches so far have inspired me. I'm going to take my time on this one, which means I'll have to buy new yarn for his Fall '06/Winter '07 sweater. Poor me. Another project headed for the frog-pond is the rompers I was knitting out of mercerized cotton for Finch. If I have enough yarn, I'll start again in a bigger size for next year. Otherwise, I'll use it to make some t-shirts for the babe. Look for more frequent, and (I hope) more interesting posts to come. Now that Finch is nicely settled (at 3 mos. old) I'm starting to have more time to do things other than nurse him, rock him, bathe him, and change him. He's a dear baby though, and the happiest little human I've ever known. A joy, to be sure, even if he is squawking at the moment because I didn't JUMP right up when first he gave cry.

More Redwork

2006-06-01T09:57:00.000-05:00

I'm in a knitting slump and will be at least until I get 3.25 mm circulars and 2.5 mm dps for, respectively, Wren's lacey cardigan and Finch's striped hat. Progress on crafts (as well as writing, housekeeping, and anything else) is more or less nil these days. Finch keeps me on the hop and I squander any odd bits of freedom on laundry and food prep. Besides, it's damn hot! I don't have ac in the house or the car, and young Finch likes to be constantly on the boob, so I long for the day when he will realize that he is a separate and unique individual, so that I can resume being separate and unique. In the meantime, I suffer. I did manage to snap a picture of my redwork squares. I think I've done all of 3 stitches since Himself came along, but they were a most enjoyable 3 stitches.

dinner tonight: cornmeal crusted tilapia filets, spicy black beans, salad

Finch is here!

2006-05-10T10:48:00.000-05:00

William Finch Cooke, my 4th (and final!) baby was born on April 29th, at 12:14 pm. He's a beauty!

Rejection!

2006-04-27T19:30:00.000-05:00

I got an email from Glimmertrain this evening --- my short story didn't win (this time!) but reading it "was a pleasure" and they "look forward to reading more of my fiction". Now that the hurdle of submitting my first story and receiving my first rejection is over, I'm ready to devote more time and effort to fiction writing. The story I submitted had some merit (the opening paragraph was quite lovely, if I do say so myself) but altogether was definitely an also ran. It sort of fizzled at the end. I think I can do better, and I do enjoy making up stories even if I don't so much enjoy actually recording them. But Glimmertrain was not alone in rejecting my creative efforts tonight! The male minions were diplomatic, but they very clearly did not like my chicken fricassee. This was a new recipe and, incidentally, one that Wren and I quite liked, so theboys'll have to have it again whether they like it or not. How anyone could fail to appreciate chicken thighs sauteed in butter and olive oil, then poached in broth and white wine until falling-off-the-bone-tender, then finished with light cream, lemon juice, thyme, and parsley is beyond me but I felt a little morose after dinner tonight. Happily, the children were especially charming as they got ready for bed, I have a small amount of chocolate, and the yarn for Wren's cardigan came today, and it is a pleasure to knit. I'll post a picture of my swatch tomorrow --- today's picture didn't come out very well.

dinner tonight: chicken fricassee served with egg noodles

Freezer Paper Stencil

2006-04-24T15:12:00.000-05:00

I got the tutorial from craftster, via angry chicken blog, for using freezer paper to make stencils for fabric painting. The rooster is just some clip art I found online. I used a maternity shirt for my test project (I'll be finished with all my maternity clothes for good in just a few weeks!!!) and I'm pretty pleased. It was pretty easy to do (of course, a more complex design would be harder to execute) and I've got some ideas for future projects. I'll have lots of time for crafting in the next two weeks, as Finch has shown a few little signs of wanting to get himself out into the world a bit early. Since I'm just over 35 weeks along, my midwife wants me to take it easy for the next two weeks at least to discourage him. It's kind of nice to be obliged to rest! Reading, crafting, and writing are even more fun without the guilt and "I shoulds" (do the laundry, vacuum the floors, walk the kids to the library, etc).

Finished Object

2006-04-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

I finished the knitting and the little bit of sewing up on this some time ago, but I didn't get around to sewing on the buttons and threading the little ribbon until yesterday. I'm fairly well pleased, although I'd change the buttonhole spacing if I could. Also, something about the shaping seems off to me but I don't have a good eye for line and drape so I can't put my finger on what the problem is. Finally, I wanted a more subdued blue for the buttons and ribbon, and I may well change them if I come across something I like better. The selection at JoAnne's was limited. I think it'll look swell on young Finch this autumn nonetheless. Now I've got to get back to the rompers I started several months ago and stopped work on because I couldn't get the neckline bind-off neat and tidy. If only Finch were a girly, I could crochet or knit a decorative border onto the bind-off edge, but as things are, I'm obliged to improve my technique which has been, after all, my goal since I started this blog. In the pipeline is a lacey cardigan for Wren (a repeat of a sweater I made a few years ago that she's grown out of), Robin's random cable pullover, a baby surprise sweater for Finch, and my first ever real lace (and first ever shawl) with some lovely Helen's Lace that I've been intimidated by for years. I'll have plenty of knitting and sewing time on my hands in the next few weeks since Finch has shown signs of impatience and my midwife has told me to lay off the housework and any long walks or strenuous exercise. Oh the sacrifices I make for my child!

dinner tonight: spaghetti carbonara

winding lace

2006-04-13T16:08:00.002-05:00

After a long hiatus from knitting and blogging I'm inspired to finally try my hand at lace knitting. It was very satisfying to put my nearly-finished random cable sweater in a drawer where it will languish all summer long, to cast-off the EZ gull-pattern sweater for the Finch and to fold it lovingly into his little dresser drawer, and to admit to myself that my charcoal cardigan will be on-hold indefinitely. Now I'm all clear to cast-on for my first ever lace project. Except that first I have to wind the yarn (Lorna's Laces' Helen's Lace) and I don't have a swift or a ball-winder. I really should, given how much yarn I buy online instead of in my lys, but whenever I have money to spend on crafting, I go for yarn, fabric, embroidery thread or knitting needles. This yarn is incredibly frustrating to wind though -- it tangles easily and simply goes on and on and on. I'm winding it in 30 minute increments while listening to public radio. Meanwhile, the children have completely dropped knitting and weaving in favor of playing outside from dawn til dusk, which is their usual pattern for spring and fall. We all of us are fresh air fiends, and none of us likes extreme cold or heat, so we try to take full advantage of the mellow days. Yesterday, in anticipation of Earth Day, Arbor Day, and Finch's birth, we planted a little Serviceberry Tree (A. laevis) which will provide delicious berries for the birds (and for us if we can get any!) by next summer. Our fig tree, planted last year, is leafing out beautifully, the rosemary overwintered just fine and is thriving, and the lovage is just now poking out of the ground. Plans are in the works for a front hedge of Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina) which will provide hips, mostly for the birds but also for rose-hip jelly (so old-fashioned!) and possibly some brambles out back. We have to go slowly as our budget is tight, but this forced discipline has it's advantages. I've had to put a lot more thought into what to plant where, and have had ample time to observe the sun and shade and to read about native species that will do well in the space I have. My plans are a far cry from the herbs and vegetables I'd planned when we first got the house, but I'm very excited about my 'wildscaping' plans. A few years hence I will sit and knit on my back porch, surrounded by native trees, flowers, and shrubs abuzz with life.

dinner tonight: broiled salmon with hollandaise, jasmine rice, steamed asparagus

2006-03-21T19:08:00.000-05:00

Our seasonal table is spare these days, as early spring is spare, but with just a hint of green and growing things. We'll soon have pretty little glass bottles with buds and blossoms, and some pastel eggs dangling from the dogwood, but for now it's just my baby Bay Laurel, eager to go back outside, and some dogwood blossoms we forced (thereby triggering poor J's allergies, but what can you do?) brightening the living room corner. It looks quite nice in with the afternoon sun pouring in, but today was cloudy with the threat of snow, so the picture looks a little forlorn. We escaped the snow (my deepest sympathies to Ohio) but I fear for my fig tree that I uncovered last week, and Justin has threatened to bring the snow shovel back from the shed to the front porch 'in case'. I refuse to consider the possibility of more snow, and expect winter to retreat quietly into a corner by next weekend at the latest.

Dinner tonight: Beef Stew, quite possibly the last of the season!

pestilence and contagion!

2006-03-16T23:24:00.001-05:00

I picked up my needles for the first time in over a week today. The children and I have had miserable colds and I've been frightfully busy with a million other things (which is probably why I also got sick --- very low stamina!!) I've also neglected my spinning during this recent plague, and I'm reluctant to go back to it because my first attempt was pretty pathetic. I fear a fiber-arts slump may be settling in, but I'm determined to finish all my current projects before it happens. Possibly I'm just feeling run-down after the past week's sore throats, sniffles, coughs, congestion, and general snottiness. Neither of the children is a malingerer, mercifully, and Mr. Desultory didn't get sick this time, so that helped. So too did the gorgeous weather we had for much of the time -- a taste of Spring with the promise of better days to come did much to relieve the misery. So did tonight's dinner -- barbequed chicken thighs, roasted garlic potatoes, and green beans, followed by vanilla ice-cream topped with homemade applesauce and caramel leftover from a recent butterscotch cake. The barbeque sauce was perfectly balanced -- sweet, salty, sour, spicy, piquant -- delicious. The potatoes were sheer bliss, and dessert heavenly. The children love my apple peeler/corer/slicer, and I must say I do as well -- such a simple machine, but so handy. I used a mix of Fuji and Granny Smith apples, and kept the sugar and cinnamon low since it was destined for ice-cream, but I have to say that even by itself it was quite good applesauce. I also love the magic of sugar + heat + cream that is caramel sauce. Amazing that a flavor that delightful should be so simple to create. Subtract the heat, add some air, and you've got soft clouds of billowing whipped cream. Add some agitation and freezing temps, and you've got ice-cream -- I can almost see where the Intelligent Design folks are coming from. Okay, not really. But still -- I'm awfully glad humans have to eat and that preparing and eating food is such a pleasure.

handmade knitting needles

2006-03-07T21:09:00.000-05:00

Handmade knitting needles are a fun craft and an economical source for knitting needles. This is an especially suitable project for children just learning to knit since they begin with a healthy respect for and enjoyment of the tools of the trade. Instructions abound for these, online and in books, and they're fairly intuitive, so I won't post a step-by-step, but basically you just cut wooden dowels of desired width (gauge) to desired length. 8"-10" is good for kids, and 6" is by no means too small -- longer needles can be unweildy in small hands. Sharpen to a point (we used an electric pencil sharpener, then refined the point with sandpaper). Sand the dowels, first with medium coarse, then with fine sandpaper, and finally rub all over with wax paper or a soft cloth to clean the dust. Finally, rub with oil or beeswax to make them a bit slippy. Use polymer clay to make small beads (not more than 1/2" or the needles will be heavy), 'drill' a hole in them using the blunt end of the needle about halfway through the bead. Bake the beads with the needles still in them, resting them on the rim of the cookie sheet to avoid flattening one side. I turned ours every 12 minutes to avoid scorching. My 5 and 8 year old easily managed all steps except the baking. Wren cast on and knitted the first 3 rows of garter stitch for her first 'real' project (a scarf), and Robin can, with minimal help, do a knit stitch.

Besides making knitting needles, we did a lot of cooking that day, and the house smelled delightful: cinnamon and apples from the applesauce, molasses and ham from the Boston baked beans, and walnuts from the soda bread. Yesterday was equally scrumptious with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, wine, and spices served over pasta and sauteed chicken breasts. Today I used the remaining chicken breasts (I'd been too lazy to separate the supersale megapack of boneless skinless chicken breasts back when I bought it) to make lemony chicken tenders and served them with egg noodles tossed in butter, salt and pepper, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. This was my first attempt at hollandaise, and I look on past meals with asparagus as altogether wasted, so delicious was this sauce. Tomorrow I think we'll settle for a baked macaroni and cheese, a bit of ham, and some green beans. Soon I'll be spending my afternoons soaking up the sun or working in the garden, rather than cooking and baking. We'll be eating more salads, quick sautees, and simple grilled veggies and meats, and young Finch will make his appearance (and wreak havoc no doubt). I'm ready for Spring.

felted swatch missing in action! bus knitting! and more!

2006-03-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

Last night my knitted and felted swatch disappeared in the dryer. I was very, very vexed. So much so that Mr. Desultory offered to take apart the dryer, but I declined with a martyred air, declaring that it'd be quicker just to knit and felt another swatch. Which it was. This time I'm using my little mesh laundry bag. I'm just about to toss it from the washer to the dryer, but the heat has been off for several hours now, which means the basement will be unbearably cold. However, I'll brave the arctic chill because I'm a slave to my craft and, anyway, I need to know how much it shrunk so I'll know how many stitches to cast on for my bag so I'll have some knitting for tomorrow during Park Pals/Junior Rangers. Because otherwise I'd feel obligated to help chaperone the Park Pals and that truly is some martyrdom. So. My plan is to knit a sort of skinny rhombus or ellipse for the bottom, then pick up stitches all around and knit in the round up to the top. Maybe a rectangle would work just as well, now I think on it -- no need to complicate a bag for mercy's sake. I'm using Lamb's Pride Worsted in 'winter blue' and I think I'll add a narrow red border at the top and at the top of any pockets I might add. If the fabric's not too thick to sew through comfortably, I'll embroider a cat or a jolly roger or something on the front. Maybe. Desultory indeed. I knitted today on the bus, and was gratified by the response of the passengers -- the daily horde of middle-schoolers was released from school abour the time I needed a ride home. Normally I simply do not take the bus between 3pm and 4:30pm, but the kids each checked out their limit of 30 books, and I got nearly as many myself, so what else could I do? I took my knitting out in self-defense but the normally rowdy (and who can blame them, cooped up as they have been for 6 hours) kids crowded around, asking questions and talking about various relatives who also knit. In my more socially responsible (pre-child) days, I would have resolved to contact the school about volunteering to teach knitting to kids. Today I contented myself with thinking about for the distant future. The mister and I had Spaghetti Puttanesca today, but I once again forgot to set aside most of the red pepper flakes for adding at the table, the kids couldn't eat it and had to have their spaghetti with parmesan and olive oil. Entirely to blame is Jincy Willet -- I was reading her "Winner of the National Book Award" while I made the sauce. Tomorrow they get turkey burgers, cake, and family game night, so I don't feel too guilty. I suspect they prefer plain pasta with cheese anyway.

A first attempt at embroidery

2006-03-01T17:04:00.000-05:00

Several years ago, inspired I suppose by the popularity of toile prints on everything from wrapping paper to lampshades to upholstery fabric, I spent a lazy afternoon browsing the internet for decorative arts and design. Along the way I was sidetracked into redwork embroidery, which enchanted me at once. I checked my credit card balance, and promptly ordered this book from Amazon, which further enchanted me, but, alas, not to the point of actually doing any redwork embroidery. I bought a transfer pencil and some tracing paper, and some bleached muslin. I laundered the muslin, straightened the grain, and even cut out a large square before I decided this was well beyond my scope. A few weeks ago I decided to give it a try, and found the process quite enjoyable. I'm not entirely satisfied with the end result, but I'm as enchanted as before with redwork, and am planning to do more. This piece, my first, is fraught with mistakes. The stitches are uneven in places, some of the threads have untwisted (would beeswax help?), and the back of the work should be much tidier. Still, I'm pleased. It helps that my children, as well as a neighbor over to borrow a cup of sugar, were very generous with their praise.

dinner tonight: red-snapper with lemon-thyme sauce, lemony jasmine rice, peas

felting fun

2006-02-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

I wrote about this in my homeschooling blog, but since it's fiber-related I thought I'd put a few pix here as well.

I got mail!

2006-02-23T14:55:00.000-05:00

I get mail every day actually, but it usually runs to 65% junk, 30% bills, and 5% knitting, craft, toy, and book catalogs. But now and again I splurge on some mail order (usually books or fiber) and then I can look forward to packages. Yesterday (while I was out all day, worst luck) two packages came. Most importantly, I got my wool roving from Leighton Farms. These folks are absolutely fabulous! It turns out that the shipping error I blogged about earlier was partly my fault and partly ebay's -- I'd changed my address 3 years ago when I moved, but ebay still had the old one on file listed as my 'shipping address' with my new one listed as my 'billing address'. Not only did Tom and Kathy notify me as soon as they discovered what had happened, they also resent the package and declined to charge me the extra shipping. So, excellent customer service, very nice folks, and the fiber, as you can see, is gorgeous:

The other package I got was from another great company called knitwerx. I emailed immediately after placing my order to ask a question and the owner emailed me within the hour with the answer I wanted to hear! The yarn shipped quickly and was beautifully packaged:

Also, knitwerx was the only place that had any DB Aran Tweed in that color, and I need it to finish my random cables olympics sweater (cables eat up a lot of yarn) which will almost certainly not be finished on time. What can I say -- I've never been very diligent or disciplined and, at 33, it's unlikely I'm ever going to be. Anyway, I love, love, love getting packages in the mail!

A 'good enough' knitter (no more!)

2006-02-18T17:05:00.000-05:00

I learned to knit over a decade ago, but for most of that time I was a 'good enough' knitter. I followed patterns blindly, rarely bothered to fix mistakes, and used the quickest, easiest finishing technique I could find. Five years ago, I took a class with Beth Brown-Reinsel on knitting traditional ganseys. The class was beyond my skills, and I barely managed to keep up, but Beth was a wonderfully supportive instructor and by the end of the class I had an authentically constructed miniature gansey, informative notes and charts, a signed book, and a new sense that the scope for excellence and creativity in knitting was far greater than I'd realized. I wish I could say that this was the beginning of a new era for me, but Robin came along shortly after the class and between 9 months of colic and several years of financial distress, I lost interest in knitting altogether. Happily for me, a new yarn shop opened nearby, rekindling that interest. I ended up taking Beth's class again, and learned even more the second time around. A chance comment from another patron that my knitting motion was 'very economical' (I knit English-style, but move my needles rather than throwing my yarn) alerted me that there was such a thing as individual style and technique. I began paying more attention to how I knit, the motions I made, the path of the yarn, and the appearance of the finished stitch. I read Mary Thomas' Knitting book and browsed through Principles of Knitting. I discovered Elizabeth Zimmeran (and have never looked back). I learned how to repair mistakes, how and why to choose particular cast on and bind off methods, and how to alter patterns for better fit, easier construction, and more professional results. More than anything, I learned that there is a wide world of knitting techniques out there for me to explore, and unlimited scope for improving my skills. Recently, I've knitted a lot of nearly seamless sweaters in the round, both top-down and bottom-up, altering them with cables and other stitch patterns, but keeping them very simple. These sweaters have allowed me to concentrate on perfecting the basics, and I'll always use them when I want a quick and relatively easy sweater for the children. I'm ready to go further though, and have been thinking of new techniques I'd like to try. Among them are socks (I've knit one pair already as a blind follower), fair-isle (I've got to learn to purl European-style), and lace. I'd also like to revisit Beth's Gansey book, and design my own Gansey sweater, using traditional yarn and techniques.

dinner tonight: broiled salmon with teriyaki glaze, gingered basmati rice, sugar snap peas

An inauspicious beginning to the Knitting Olympics

2006-02-14T13:45:00.001-05:00

As knitters everywhere cast on for the Olympics, I nursed two children through the flu, contended with two (mercifully short) power outages, and then suffered through a bout of the flu myself. Despite these setbacks, and despite having to change my project at the last moment, I think I'm in a fair way to finish on time. I'm using Elizabeth Zimmerman's seamless raglan formula from Knitting Without Tears, with the random cable idea from Chaos, the pattern I originally intended to knit. I think I'm keeping the level of challenge roughly the same. I've got a good deal more knitting to do, since this sweater is for my 5yr. old instead of my future 6 month old, but I'm familiar with the pattern and there is NO SEWING UP, save for weaving the underarms. Chaos would've been much quicker to knit, but the sewing up would have been difficult for me. I'm no seamstress. EZ's seamless sweater involves grafting, which scares me, but it's high time I learned to it properly. This, more than the knitting, will be my Olympic Challenge. Pictured is the body of the sweater, which wants just about another inch before I do the sleeves. The penultimate step is to put the underarm stitches from sleeves and body on a holder, unite the rest of the stitches on a circular needle, and knit the yoke (with raglan decreases) in one piece. Finally, graft the underarms and you've got a practically seamless sweater. Ingenious, and open to lots of adaptation!

waiting for fiber (will it ever get here?) an nfo (nearly finished object)

2006-02-09T17:21:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago I ordered a rainbow of wool roving from the Leighton Farm ebay store. After several emails, all I know is that the package has not been checked in at the post office. I'm not concerned -- the seller has 100% positive feedback -- but I am a little annoyed that she hasn't given me any further information or offered to send a replacement. I understand that the package was never checked in, but I'd like to know what the seller intends to do about it if the post office never finds it, or if it never shows up. I wanna make felted beads! I'm also waiting for my Lamb's Pride Worsted from Patternworks, but don't expect it to arrive until next week. I did receive my drop spindle and roving from the Spinning Bunny, delightfully packaged with colored tissue paper and a pretty gift bag. The spindle and roving were lovely, and definitely deserved the beautiful packaging. I'm enchanted with my new tool already, even though I can't use it very well.

Below is one of my current projects. I'm frogging back down to the neckline because it looks very ragged and I want to research a better bind off for open edges. I'll probably have to hunt up my crochet hook for this. I also followed the directions too assiduously, thereby placing the buttonhole at the top, rather than the middle, of a stripe. Eventually this will be a very cute outfit:

tonight's dinner: apricot glazed pork chops, thyme-roasted potatoes, green beans

Vocation

2006-02-07T17:38:00.000-05:00

My current project for the almanacalong

Mmmm. The scent of gently simmering Italian lentil soup, redolent of onion, celery, pancetta and olive oil, drifts upstairs, sharpening my appetite as I write this entry. Soups and roasts are my favorite dinners; while the food cooks, I have time to play with words or yarn, and the fragrance permeating the house gives me a cozy, safe feeling. The world outside is grim indeed, but I've made a comfortable home for my family, a place into which the world cannot intrude. This is my vocation; I am a homemaker. The world puts little value on my work -- feminists and patriarchs alike disdain what both consider to be traditionally women's work -- but my family appreciates me, and I am happy and fulfilled. I homeschool my children, I love fibercrafts, cooking, and even some aspects of housekeeping. A tidy house gives me real pleasure and I can only truly relax when I know that the dishes are done, the beds made, and the floors clean.

I've never felt a disconnect between my leftist/feminist philosophy and my vocation, but I know that the perception that the two are at odds is quite common. Homemakers, particularly homeschooling mothers, are generally thought to be politically conservative, fundamentalist Christians who value 'God-given' gender roles and a putatively happier time when all good people honored the traditional. When people see me knitting at the bus-stop, they do not think 'hip, young, urban knitter' even though I am relatively young and certainly urban, because I look far too motherly to be at all hip. Knitters, it seems, must fit into a particular pigeonhole so that journalists can write lazy, shallow articles about how 'it's not just for grandma anymore.' The 'grandma' knitters are, in these articles, dismissed and disrespected, and the focus is on stylish 20somethings, particularly any male knitters who happen to frequent the local stitch and bitch (kiss my ass, SFSE!) to which the intrepid journalist has ventured for yet another story about how knitting is cool.

The knitters themselves are reduced to props, and the craft of knitting is ignored in favor of it's trendiness (which, one would think, should be over about now!) Knitters, of course, know that the articles are pretty much rubbish and that the knitting world is wonderfully diverse. The hip 20somethings aren't knitting just because it's trendy (though some may have started for this reason) but because knitting is a delightfully fulfilling craft, because there is something magical and elemental about making things for ourselves, and because it's fun. That's pretty much why all knitters knit, and it's also why weavers weave, potters make pots, or spinners spin -- the creative act is intensely personal, but it is also social; creativity is an essential part of humanity.

I've gone from lentil soup to essential aspects of humanity, so I must be in need of a cup of tea, some chocolate, a good book, and some knitting!

2006-02-05T10:27:00.000-05:00

(This is actually from Feb 3rd, but I'm republishing because the original post disappeared into the ether.)Our power went off for a few hours this evening, just after I'd finished all the dinner prep, though, happily for me, just before I started the actual cooking. As a parent, I know I'm supposed to make the most of a power outage with ghost stories or tales of the pioneers, or some such, but I was really just not in the mood. I wanted to get on with dinner, so we could get on with the games (friday night is family game night) so I could get on with the knitting. Besides which, the children and I were awfully hungry, because we'd forgotten to have lunch before walking to the grocery store and by the time we got back it was (I thought) too close to suppertime to eat more than a snack. Also, BGE has gotten mighty snarky lately, sending out turn-off notices whenever we're more than a few seconds (okay, days, but still) late with our payment. Which we are each month because they're gouging us frightfully this Winter, and praise be it's been a mild one. So naturally I was more annoyed with them than I would otherwise have been. But I think I've whined about all that before, haven't I? Anyway, I did get a few points in the marriage game out of the ordeal, because Mr. Desultory had neglected to buy lamp oil as requested, and had carelessly left the flashlight in the basement instead of on the designated bookshelf. Most inconvenient. We did end up chatting and playing 20 questions until the power came back on at half past 7, at which time we cheered lustily. We even squeezed in a few games after dinner, despite that it was quite late and way past the children's bedtime. I'm tired, but eager to try out the jogless stripes technique on Finch's romper, now that it's all joined up on one circular. I also want to swatch for the Chaos sweater I'm knitting for the knitting olympics, a pattern that is beginning to seem rather daunting now. I'm using some hitherto forgotten Aran tweed, the only wool that survived the carpet beetle infestation that beset me a few months ago and led to a large trash-bag full of unsalvagable wool. I found this little giftie while cleaning out my closet (why can't I be as suitably rewarded every time I clean?) and agonized over whether to use it for Finch since I originally bought it for Robin (who looks gorgeous in burnt orange) until I remembered that Robin has very firmly requested a blue or green sweater next fall. Problem solved.

dinner tonight: turkey burgers with sweet onion jam on toasted whole-wheat rolls, chili-spiced sweet potato fries

a grand awakening

2006-01-31T21:54:00.000-05:00

Perhaps it's the baby hormones, but in the past few months I've been inspired, almost compelled, to put a lot more thought and effort into my creative pursuits than I have in many years. I feel more confident in my abilities and, paradoxically, more aware of my limitations. In the past I've been easily discouraged by failed projects, easily daunted by complicated sounding instructions, and easily frustrated by small setbacks. Without conscious effort, I'm now able to focus on and enjoy the process. Errors and difficulties are less frustrating now because I can see the opportunity inherent in all setbacks. I've always had a great appreciation for things made by hand, but I've never felt as capable of producing them as I do now. I've been branching out a great deal in the kitchen, have completed my first-ever story submission to a literary journal, and have several crafting projects in the pipeline. Among these latter are:

felted beads with the kids
drop-spindle spinning
redwork embroidery
sewing diapers for Finch

I bought some wool roving in rainbow colors off ebay, and the children and I will be felting these into small beads suitable for necklaces as soon as they come. I also ordered an inexpensive spinning kit which should arrive this week. I have a marvelous redwork book, as well as all the materials save bleached muslin that I need to make a crib quilt, so I'll get that project going very soon. I'm hoping to sew the diapers very soon, but I'm a little bit nervous since my previous sewing projects are fair to middling at best. I need to be especially calm and mindful whenever I sew because it doesn't come naturally to me at all and I end up feeling frustrated and embarassed that I can't master this simple skill that most of my female ancestors must have. I'm going to go slowly with this project, and maybe even find a friend who sews to help out. I've also contemplated, but not definitely planned, soap-making and candle-making projects, as well as jam-making. I've mentioned the possibility of a small, outdoor tandoori oven to Mr. Desultory (I'd have to be the apprentice on any of those putatively male pursuits) and he seems willing if not keen. Excelsior!

dinner tonight: spinach salad with turkey bacon and blue cheese, herbed toast

craftsmanship and knitting repair

2006-01-30T22:24:00.000-05:00

In the past I've blithely assured myself that 'nobody will notice' various small mistakes in my knitting. Any mistake that I failed to notice after a row or two of knitting was destined to stay because I couldn't bear the thought of ripping back very far, and I had no idea how to fix things any other way. Last night, when I discovered an inadvertent split-stitch increase, a good 8 rows down, in Finch's romper leg, I almost let it slide. It wouldn't be at all noticeable once he was wearing them, I reasoned, and besides, I'm tired and I want to get it done. Mr DK, a private pilot, has spoken about a similar stubborness on the part of fellow-pilots known as get-there-itis. Fortunately for me, get-it-done-itis is unlikely to ever be deadly, but it does lead to amateurish finished objects.

I've (belatedly) come to the realization that it's foolish to balk at spending a little extra time fixing a mistake in a garment that takes many hours to finish. Besides, people will notice, particularly if they are also knitters, and they may judge you, or your craft, accordingly. A few years ago, while perusing the woefully tiny knitting section at my state fair, I heard a fellow fair-goer remark that she would never spend so much time making something you could get at the store 'for cheap'. Now, few of the objects on display were of the sort you could easily find at a retail chain, much less 'for cheap', but leaving aside the woman's ignorance and obvious lack of discernment, her point is well taken --- why, indeed, would anyone knit something that can be had 'for cheap' at the local Target? I don't want to produce the kind of knitwear one can find on a clearance rack at any old store, nor do I want to produce the kind of knitwear that languishes at the thrift store season after season.

I thought of these things while I stared at the ugly (and extremely visible in mercerized cotton!) mistake and was struck with the realization that I needn't rip out those 8 rows after all. I knit up to the first of the 3 stitches involved, and pulled gently to produce a run down to where they were the two stitches they were meant to be. Then I simply knitted them up again. I haven't the technical skill to explain how to do this, but Mary Thomas' knitting book explains the process quite clearly, which is where I got the idea several years ago. It's quite easy to do in stockinette stitch, and I did it once before to repair a 3-stitch cable that twisted the wrong way without undue agony. A crochet hook would have been helpful, but my double pointed needle was within arms-reach, so I used that instead. I discovered that this type of repair is a bit harder in mercerized cotton than in wool. The cotton is so slippy that the running strand loosens up, making your repairs obvious. My first response was to start again, tugging on the stitches as I made them, but this made little difference. I would've had to do this anyway, as I accidentally twisted one of the stitches the first time around, but I admit I was quite frustrated when the second time looked almost as loose and ugly as the first. The solution was simply to gently tug the running strand to the end of the row, for each row of repair -- the fabric will eventually absorb the slack.

I had to do this several times over before I was satisfied that the repair was invisible, but I finally had Mr. DK (precise to the point of fussiness) examine it, and he was unable to correctly locate the repair. He was, however, kind enough to point out that I should expect a mistake or two when I insist on knitting in a dark car. He believes that each and every task should command one's full attention, and that knitting in the dark, or while reading, watching television, talking, or driving is just plain foolish. I'm kidding! I never knit and drive! I have to admit though, that I'm sorely tempted at certain redlights. Tonight I took up the needles again so as to get the two legs united on one needle for tomorrow's errand running. I'll be watching my daughter's beautiful and incredibly long hair get hacked off for locks of love and then, if I survive the trauma, sitting in a waiting room with my bladder full for an ultrasound of the Finch. Finally, I'll be visiting my parents. Even Mr. DK admits the need to have something to distract while talking with my mother.

Dinner tonight: cream of roasted tomato soup, grilled havarti sandwiches

Future Fiber Artists of America!

2006-01-27T16:36:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite fiber crafting resources for kids is Harrisville Designs. Children as young as 4 0r 5 can begin with the potholder loom using either cotton or wool loops specially made to fit. (Unlike the cheapies we found in big-box craft stores, all of the loops fit perfectly). Wren made a few potholders in her day, but has since progressed to the peg-loom, which came with a rainbow of wool as well as some strong cotton warping, sufficient to make a small pouch. We also have the 'Easy Weaver,' a rigid-heddle loom, which comes with enough wool for two small scarves. All the kits come with very clear instructions, and the materials are of good quality and reasonably priced. No affiliation -- just a very pleased customer!!

I've cast on for Finch's romper using the 4mm needles. I've decided to knit the smallest size after calculating the dimensions using my actual gauge. He won't need the extra ease for warm things underneath since he'll only be wearing it in the summer, and I have small babies anyway. I dug out my twisted-rib sock and my fingerless mitts, and stashed them in my glovebox. Hopefully I'll remember them next time I'm in the passenger seat, and not bury myself in a book instead. Speaking of books, virtue came with a literary reward today: I cleaned out under my bed today and found Cloud Atlas. Now I have something new to read while I'm knitting the easy bits, which, for the romper, is pretty much the entire thing as it's entirely in stockinette except for the ribbing. I've selected several potential yarns for my knitting olympics project:

Cascade Eco +
Malabrigo
Classic elite Beatrice
Filatura di Crosa Luna (available only in yellow)
Valley Yarns lambswool (available only in white)

February is almost here, so I really need to make a selection and order the yarn, but I'm having a tough time deciding. When I knit from a pattern, I usually use the indicated yarn, but this pattern calls for a wool/acrylic blend, and I prefer natural fibers. I've substituted before, but only with my lyso's help. Unfortunately, my lys didn't really have anything suitable for this pattern last time I was there, so I'm stuck figuring it out for myself. Hope I don't make a hash of it!

Dinner tonight: spaghetti and meatballs, followed by a salad with pomegranate vinaigrette, followed by cream scones served with lemon curd

minor roadblock

2006-01-24T21:51:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to measuring my gauge swatch for the striped romper, and discovered that my gauge is too fine at 22 stitches per 4", rather than the 20 called for in the pattern. I went up a needle size and got 21 stitches per 4", but the stitches looked out of proportion to the yarn so I didn't even try the next needle size. I checked the ball-band and sure enough, the yarn I'm using is meant for the finer gauge. All yarns have an ideal gauge, or range of gauges, but fine cotton is evidently very particular. I've tweaked the gauge a bit with worsted weight and heavy worsted weight, with good results, but even a small adjustment in the dk weight looked wrong. I'm keen to use this yarn though, and for this particular pattern, so I'm going to knit the pattern one size up in the finer gauge.I think I'll end up with something the Finch will be able to wear this summer. I've been catching up on the housekeeping these past few days, and my knitting has suffered: no progress on the mitts, Wren's hat still isn't cast-on, and swatch cap is definitely abandoned for the nonce. I resolve to wind the second hank of blue wool so that Wren can begin her scarf, and to cast on for her hat myself tomorrow afternoon. We usually craft or bake in the late afternoon, listening to audio books or podcasts, so I'll look forward to a cozy afternoon's knitting and listening.

Onions, red bell peppers, garlic, anchovies, black pepper, and rosemary sauteed in olive oil, then simmered in balsamic vinegar and finished with a swirl of butter and a handful of chopped fresh parsley make a delicious sauce for pork chops. I served these accompanied by smashed red potatoes and a fresh salad. The chops were bone in rib loin chops, brined for about 30 minutes before cooking. Another winner from Cook's Illustrated!

It's all about the process, right?

2006-01-22T20:06:00.000-05:00

The forlorn object in the picture is my aran swatch-cap. I knitted the ribbed cables according to pattern, but reworked the 'fishtraps' after row 14 to make them taper to a point. I also simplified the pattern somewhat, making the travelling stitches within each section twist the same way. My mistake was in thinking that I could figure out the shaping on the fly, by intuition, late last night while watching Harry Potter (PoA) with Mr. DK , the kids, and the cats. Robin, poor dear, needed to hide his face in my lap whenever the dementors appeared, and Maisie, the very fat and rather stupid tabby, kept kneading my yarn, so my concentration would have been off even if I hadn't been exhausted. Then I dropped a few stitches, then I noticed a mistake which meant dropping several stitches several rows. Knitting repair is tedious in any stitch pattern, but with cables and travelling stitches every which where, it's a nightmare. I'm beyond the beginner stage, but not very far, and this sort of thing discourages me. I'm not altogether certain that I won't finish this hat, but it doesn't look good. I do like the ribbed cable however, so much so that I plan to use it in something else very soon. I also learned a bit about various ways to work the right and left twist, and noticed how similar they are to the k2tog and ssk, respectively. I've swatched some mercerized cotton for a MinnowKnits romper that I'm going to knit for Finch. I had to go up a needle size to get the gauge, which means I'll have to use my bamboos (too slow!) or buy another set of Addi Turbos (I'll always associate these with the lightsaber sound, thanks to Brenda Dayne). The fingerless mitts still stagnate, Wren's hat remains but a good intention, and February and the knitting olympics are sneaking up on me, but I'm glad I took these two small detours. I learned a lot from the swatch cap, and since I never managed to knit anything from Minnowknits for the other two, I'm pleased that I remembered it in time to do so for this last little creature. On the domestic front, Mr. DK got busy with weatherstripping and foam insulation and I don't know what else, with the result that the house is noticeably less draughty. Wren knows all about 1066, and very firmly sides with William Godwinson; Robin can write his name and knows 5 letter sounds; and I made a very nice lemon curd. On the othe hand, I still haven't made cream puffs this year. Baking season will be over before I know it, so cream puffs (or 'green pups' as Wren used to call them) are going on my to-do list for February: bakery cream puffs simply can't compare to homemade ones, freshly filled with pastry cream and chocolate chantilly, and drizzled with caramel. Yum!!

Dinner tonight: Papa John's disgusting pizza for the mister and the kids, leftover chili for me

In which I cast-on for the January Almanac-Along

2006-01-19T15:52:00.001-05:00

I hadn't intended to 'do' January for the alamacalong, but I really wanted to see what the fishtrap pattern would look like knitted up, so I've cast on for a baby/toddler hat. This picture betrays my ineptitude with the camera (there's got to be a way to force it to focus on, say, the knitting instead of the curtains), but it's the best I could do:

I'm doing 2 fishtraps and 2 ribbed cables, separated by one purl stitch. I'm a little concerned that the 28 rows required for the fishtrap pattern will make the hat too long, but in that case I'll simply buy more yarn and turn it into a scarf. Or something.

I'm not sure I understand EZ's method for making a right twist (rt) -- she writes to knit two stitches together, w/o taking them off the needle, then re-knit the second stitch. I use Barbara Walker's baby cable pattern, which calls for knitting two together, then re-knitting the first stitch. Could EZ, by 'second stitch' really mean the first one on the needle? It could be, since the first stitch on the left needle is actually the second stitch your right needle passes through when you knit the two together. Otherwise, try as I might, I can't make the EZ method work for me. It resembles a rt, except that the crossing stitch is very prominent. I'm going to knit up a swatch with both methods done side by side so I can compare, as soon as I'm finished with the hat/scarf. I have another hank of the same yarn, but that is reserved for the gull-pattern baby sweater, to be done next month.

I haven't ridden in the car for several weeks, so my car-knitting is languishing in the glove box. (n.b. I picked a much nicer color for my pair!!) Before the current hiatus, I had to stop work on them for about a month, because I lost the other needle, and I don't have any more 3.25mm needles anywhere. Lorraine, the very kind owner of my lys, gave me a pr when I went in to buy the wool for the knitalong. I'm on the 2nd mitt, and the sewing-up is minimal, so I could be finished these in a day or two, but I'm too absorbed in the swatch cap to think of anything else, including poor Wren's hat. I think I'll cast on for her hat in the next day or two, and make that my car knitting or the child will never get her hat.

The house smells of chile, which I'm going to serve tonight with minced red onion, sour cream, and grated cheddar. Justin will put obscene amounts of cayenne in his bowl and the children will put in obscene amounts of cheese in theirs and not one of them will detect that I happened to be out of bay leaves when I made it, or that I switched to ancho chilis this time around. But they'll eat lots of it and proclaim it delicious and ask why we don't have it more often (because beef is unhealthy and expensive my dears) and I'll feel gratified.

Dinner tonight: Chili con carne

Reason to knit!

2006-01-18T20:21:00.000-05:00

We got our BG&E bill yesterday, and apparently even 60F (54F at night) is too luxurious for the likes of us. Worse than the (2nd) staggering bill was the slick pamphlet advising me to keep my thermostat 'below 74F' to keep costs down. I could weep. We got through a day of no-heat-at-all without tears however, thanks to numerous cups of tea, plenty of knitting, a brisk walk, and soup for dinner. Also it was a mild day and the house stayed around 55F with yesterday's residual heat. I suppose we'll have to take refuge in the library on the really bitter days. I am very clearly not well-adapted for survival, and if civilization crumbles in my lifetime, I'm a goner. Before we got our beloved, drafty, fixer upper in this marginal (or 'up and coming if you listen to the hype) city neighborhood, we lived in a cute little stone apartment in the suburbs. We had windows on 3 sides and wood floors, and heat and hot water were included! We kept the apartment at a balmy 74F every winter and we were happy, let me tell you. Except that we had no need of warm woolies, and so my knitting, lacking the inspiration born of need, was, well, desultory. Not to mention unappreciated. I knit a cute strawberry hat and my daughter lost it between our house and the library. I knit one fluffy purple sock and abandoned it's mate halfway through the ribbing. A scarf got left on a snowman until the snow melted, and by then looked so sodden and dreary that nobody felt like picking it up. I began a seamless raglan and lost interest halfway through the sleeve decreases. Eventually the carpet beetles got that one, as well as lots of beautiful wool yarn that I would actually appreciate now. So, my consolation for blue lips and frozen fingertips is that the children wear their handknits often enough to require the purchase and frequent use of Eucalan and a plastic laundry tub. My son wears his little orange hat everywhere, all the time, and even though he tends to leave it places, he always gets it back because everyone in the neighborhood knows it's his. My daughter, who rarely nags, has been nagging me to cast on for her hat, and has already decided that her next sweater will be red. Robin wants a green one, with cables no less, and a matching hat. But the best reason not to regret the free heat is that I now have very good reason to knit longies from the Knitter's Almanac. The idea of wool leggings for babies charmed me from the moment I read the book, but of course I had no reason to knit them for Wren and Robin. Poor little Finch will have to rough it with the rest of us, and will need a good supply of longies, not to mention a few sweaters and hats for next winter. He'll be the picture of contentment, snuggled in wool from head to toe asleep in his cradle. When he's not shrieking, pooping, nursing, or being toted about like a tyrant.

Dinner tonight: Italian bean and pasta soup

food not yarn

2006-01-17T20:27:00.000-05:00

Le Menu: Pan-roasted chicken breasts with sage-vermouth sauce served over egg noodles accompanied by hot buttered peas

I followed a recipe from the April '03 issue of Cook's Illustrated, my all-time favorite cooking magazine for the chicken. It was quick, easy, and delicious. My only quarrel is with the amount of fresh sage called for -- even doubled it was barely perceptible. I've been thrilled with my new instant-read thermometer, which serves to reassure my paranoid husband that chicken need not be dry and tough to be thoroughly cooked. Pan-searing and then roasting at a high temperature (450F) is an excellent method for bone-in chicken breasts -- not only does it keep the meat tender and moist, but it produces a pan full of those delectable brown bits, perfect for deglazing into a wide variety of sauces. Next time I think I'll try some lemon, rosemary, and white wine.

Brining the chicken

While the chicken brined, I prepped
the sauce ingredients: broth,
vermouth, onions, fresh sage,
pepper, and butter

Browning the chicken in olive oil

Sauteeing the onions in the pan
drippings (I poured off about
half the fat first)

Deglazing the pan with the broth
and vermouth. After that, I
added the fresh sage and reduced
the sauce just a bit, before
finishing with the butter and
adding a pinchof pepper to taste.
I meant to take a better picture
after the steam subsided, but I
forgot!

Time to eat!

Back to knitting tomorrow, with my bid for the knitting olympics, a yarn question, and lace temptation...

Wren's yarn, new design project, double knitting (the technique, not the gauge!)

2006-01-11T15:03:00.000-05:00

First, a picture of my beautiful daughter and the lovely yarn she picked out for her first project:

More yarn, less girl:

We're going to wind both hanks this evening so that I can get started on her hat and she can get started on her scarf. I don't use patterns for hats, but I've always swatched, measured heads, and did the math to get the things to fit. This time, I'm going to start at the top, maybe with a long i-cord, and then increase madly to achieve a shallow watchcap style, stopping when it looks done. I'll finish off with a few rows of twisted rib. I have to wonder why I've never done hats this way before, since it seems easier and I crank out several a year.

I've never formally designed anything, but I have knitted, with some degree of success, 3 items that I made up 'as I went along'. The first, a kerchief (back when all the little girls were wearing them) was a no-brainer, but the other two were a little more complicated, and the neckline and armholes (both were tank-tops) looked amateurish. I'm going to revisit and revise these tops, using some mercerized cotton I got very cheap from elann last summer. If it turns out really well, I'll submit it to knitty. I'm not sure if I'm talented enough, and I know I'm not (yet) knowledgable enough, to be a good designer, but I'm looking on this project as a way to challenge myself. I've been a competent knitter for several years without learning or trying new things. Onward and upward -- let 'alps on alps arise'!

In addition to designing, I think I'll go ahead and try doubleknitting next month. By double knitting I don't mean the gauge, but the technique in which you slip every other stitch, then knit the slipped and slip the knit stitches on the following row, to achieve round knitting on straight needles. Now that we're keeping our house at a cool 58F (old, drafty house + rising gas prices + no money = arctic conditions!!!) I could use some blankets, and the idea of double knitting always intrigued me. Also, I've recently joined the almanac knitalong, based on EZ's Knitter's Almanac, which includes a double-knitted blanket for February (along with the sweater and longies that I'd already planned to knit for Finch.) I'm going to treat myself to some sheepsdown from Schoolhouse Press for the blanket, and imagine EZ herself smiling beatifically down on me as I knit.

Dinner tonight: Black beans and rice, banana empanadas

A trip to my lys!

2006-01-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was unexpectedly free of a particularly unpleasant obligation, so I celebrated by spending part of next week's grocery budget on wool from my local yarn shop. I was eager to start some of the baby's things, especially after reading about the Knitter's Almanac knitalong, and I wanted to let Wren, my 8 yr. old, choose yarn for her first project. She learned to knit recently on some Red Heart acrylic but I couldn't ask her to knit more than a few rows because the texture was so unpleasant. To further indulge myself, I interrupted dh's programming works so that I wouldn't have to drive, and, more importantly, try to park. So, Justin drove us all, and he and the boy parked and sneered at all the Fells Pt. hipsters while Wren and I shopped for yarn. Wren was very proud to be treated as a customer, and politely asked for a worsted-weight wool for her scarf. The saleslady very nicely directed her to a moderately priced wool, and steered her away from a much softer (and far more expensive!!) alpaca, explaining that the wool would be less slippery and therefore easier to work with for a beginner. Wren chose a bright blue that contrasts well with her red coat, and will go nicely with next year's plaid coat as well. It also matches her eyes beautifully, but I try never to comment on the child's hair or eyes, since she gets far too much attention for these as it is. I was proud of her for remembering what she wanted and for not expecting me to mediate for her -- my baby girl, shopping for yarn! She asked me if I would knit her a hat with the same yarn, so we got two 100 gram hanks, which will do us nicely. I chose an undyed homespun, also worsted-weight, wool of course, enough (I hope) for a pr. of longies, the gull-stitch cardigan, and a little hat. Finch is due in May, but I'm knitting them in a gauge to yield about a 6 - 9 mos size for his first fall and winter. I think I'll have to go back for some of that alpaca though -- so soft!

Dinner tonight: teriyaki glazed salmon, gingered rice, green beans tossed with ginger/soy dressing

Can we please discuss something else?

2006-01-08T10:07:00.000-05:00

I recently re-subscribed (after a year's hiatus) to the knitU list. It seems a lot more 'managed' now, which may or may not be the case, but it still counts among it's members those who feel compelled to close down discussions not to their liking. I think it's rather silly to try to shut down any but the most offensive discussions. It's so easy to ignore email! So easy to delete without reading! In this case, a seemingly inoffensive rash of posts defending the knitter's right to knit only for herself/himself followed a description of an 'unusual' knitter who never kept a stash and who only knit for herself. I learned that some of my fellow knitters have had people ask them to knit entire sweaters with a cheerful insouicance that absolutely astounds me. Surely even non-knitters have at least a dim awareness that knitting involves more time than, say, fixing someone a turkey sandwich? Or perhaps not. At any rate, I was mildly interested in the aggrieved knitters' stories, and more interested in a few posts that began to touch on the heart of the matter: whether artists/crafters are in any sense obligated to share their gifts with others, and to what extent. I've recently started two projects for myself, but all of my other knitting has been for my children and for a few relatives. I enjoy knitting for the kids more than anything partly because it's more affordable but mostly because it suits my need for more timely gratification. I started a pair of socks today! If I keep them, it'll be three projects all for me -- selfish, selfish! Baby cable ribbing throughout (except for heels and toes) in a grass-green wool/nylon blend. Nothing fancy, but it's only my 2nd pair of socks (and I do hope it turns out to actually be a pair, my history with singletons notwithstanding). As soon as I have a bit of scratch, I'll get some fine, soft wool for the baby's things. In a week or so I have another ultrasound, and they should be able to confirm his boyness. I kinda hope they tell me it's a little girl after all -- the girls are so much more fun to knit and sew for!

Dinner tonight: black beans and rice, banana empanadas

knitting slump

2005-12-31T09:58:00.000-05:00

I've been too busy to knit much since I cast off the first of what I hope will be a pair of fingerless mitts. The only pair of anything I've ever finished knitting was a pair of slip-stitch socks. The incentive was strong -- they were my final gift for a secret santa exchange -- so I had to do them. Even those I finished quite late, so that I mailed them in August. The recipient liked them a great deal, or claimed too, and I'd like to knit a pair for myself, but I know I'd probably knit one and then lose interest. I have a small basket nearly filled with single socks and mittens attesting to my fickleness. I have at least started on the second mitt -- a good 2" -- but the cats got to it and I don't have the time, energy, or inclination to detangle. Nor do I have sufficient yarn to start again. It may be that I don't have sufficient yarn to finish anyway, so I feel justified in abandoning the project for now. What I really want to knit are some baby things for the finch, due in May. I'm planning an EZ suite -- the gull wing sweater and some longies from knitters' almanac, the baby surprise sweater, and a baby bog jacket from, I think, knitting around. We're too poor now to buy yarn (I know, wah, wah -- but our heating bill was unbelievable, and we're keeping the house at a mere 60degrees! It's not fair!!) Anyway, as soon as we're in funds again I'll get some nice wool and knit some stuff for next fall and winter for all the children. I wonder whether I'll still manage a yearly sweater for each once the finch grows a bit? I'll have to cut back on the housekeeping!

fo!!

2005-12-14T10:58:00.000-05:00

Wren's sweater turned out pretty well. I like how the cabled edgings look, but I miscounted rows at the top of the center cable. I actually discovered it a few inches after knitting it incorrectly, but I'm a very reluctant frogger, so it stayed. I think have enough yarn leftover for a hat, but I'm going to finish my fingerless mitts first.

missing dpn, found wip

2005-12-03T10:17:00.000-05:00

I've just bound off the hem of Wren's sweater and I'm not entirely happy with the way the center cable joins with the baby cables. I bound off using larger needles than I used for the ribbing, so it should be easy enough to pick out if I think of something better. I'll give it some thought while I'm knitting the sleeves. Which won't happen until I find the missing dpn. I suspect the children of using it as a clay modeling tool. Or I might have used it myself for making cables -- I'll have to check my basket. One of the places I looked for the missing dpn was an old wooden typewriter box in which I keep oddments of yarn, markers, needles, etc. I didn't find the missing needle, but I did find a nearly finished miniature version of EZ's baby bog jacket. All I have to do is weave the underarm and I've got a baby-doll jacket for the kids! Of course, the reason it's been sitting there for probably two years now is that I loathe (and suck at) kitchener stitch. I resolve to conquer this fear and loathing, and master the kitchener stitch forthwith. Then I'll be able to finish Robin's pirate t-shirt from last Spring! Pictures later...

2005-12-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

wip going well despite lackluster yarn from knitpicks

I've made a lot of progress on Wren's pullover this past week, and I think I'll be finished in another week. I'm using KnitPicks' Wool of the Andes in 'mulled wine' for this one. I can't say that I'm disappointed in the yarn --- it's a good basic wool for a very moderate price --- but it isn't the joy to knit with that other yarns have been. It's not quite as soft as I would like, and lacks springiness. I don't know anything about large scale spinneries (is that what they're even called?) but I wonder if this wool has been processed too harshly. Something for me to research! Despite not enjoying the knitting as much as I usually do, I've been diligent and am just about finished the body. The pattern is for a plain, top-down pullover with rolled hem, cuffs, and neck edge. I've added the central cable and plan baby-cable ribbing for the edges:

2005-11-29T21:48:00.000-05:00

I pursue all my passions in fits and starts, which is one reason I haven't:

1) surpassed Martha's homemaking skills

2) written the Great American Novel

3) or, indeed, ever finished a short story

4) much less had one published

5) started an alternative school

6) made a croquemboche

7) finished more than half of the knitting projects I've started

Besides being naturally scatterbrained, disorganized, and less than diligent, I've always had a hard time narrowing my interests. If I were smarter and more talented (and, I must face facts, not as lazy) I'd be a renaissance woman. Instead, I have a smattering of knowledge about many things, and a lot of rudimentary skills. Until recently, I've never been more than a beginner at much of anything. Recently, a friend referred to me, with wild inaccuracy, as her 'knitting guru'. This random bit of kindness lit a fire under me to improve my knitting skills and to take on more challenging projects. Hence, this blog. My current projects:

A top-down pullover for my daughter in Wool of the Andes 'mulled wine'. The pattern is from Diane Soucy, and I've knitted one before for my son. This time, I added a cable down the center and plan to change the collar, hem and cuffs from a rolled edge to baby cable ribbing.

Fingerless mitts on two needles! Nothing fancy here, but much needed since I get cold easily and my house is drafty.

A top-down cardigan for me, in a lovely charcoal gray wool I got from my lys, A Good Yarn This is another Diane Soucy pattern. Her label is "Knitting Pure and Simple" and her patterns really are quite simple, but well done. I like patterns that involve little, if any sewing! She also includes short rows in the beginning so that the back of the neck is higher than the front. Lots of patterns don't bother, I suppose to keep it easier, but I think beginners deserve well-designed patterns as much as anybody, and if short-rows are well within my scope, they're really not very difficult at all.

These are only the projects I actually intend to finish. I have a few projects on needles or holders that will probably languish until I die. These are two sweaters and one tank top that I 'designed' myself by casting on and knitting by instinct/inspiration. I was too ambitious though, and although these would be wearable, they would look homemade rather than handmade.

Dinner tonight: Honey rubbed pork loin roast with rosemary, mashed potato cake with asiago and fontina crust, and steamed petite peas.