In Case You're Keeping Score...

I was looking for something else entirely when I ran across this bit of knitting in a ziploc bag tucked inside a larger totebag. It's the start of the second half of my Candle Flame scarf, and I'd been wondering where it'd gotten off to. I started that sucker before Christmas! Anyway, that got me to thinking what else was lurking around my many project bags and various totes I take to meetings...

There's this, one of my "official" projects:



It's the BSJ I started when the Anais got too complicated to carry out of the house with me, and that then became too complicated itself. I'm in the I-cord trim phase...boring, boring, boring. Why does it take so long? I know I'm almost done, but sheesh.

Then there's the Anais itself:



I'm almost to the exciting webby insert part, but I have to finish the back shoulders first. The poor thing has been stuffed into a bag, and, I'm not sure if you can tell, but I had some help on it from Snoopy. That snarly pile of yarn to the right used to be a beautiful alpaca yarncake. I don't know why those cakes offend him so.

Then there's the Clementine shawl, which I assure you is not so fluorescent in person:



It's actually a beautiful shade of pink with a touch of orange. I like it, but I decided to do the center decreases with a S1 K2tog PSSO instead of the S2 K1 P2SSO (sorry, non-knitters, but no - you can't tell what the hell that is without knowing how to knit!) and now I'm trying to figure out if I have to rip it back and start over, or if I like it this way. I just don't like having to pass those 2 slipped stitches, and you know I'm lazy.

Here's the gold Tomten I cast on to make up for the BSJ being complicated:



Rows and rows and rows of garter stitch, perfect for portable pleasure. I'm up to the first short row, which I'll do at home before heading out - after that it's 10 ridges of uninterrupted knitting with no reprieve.

Here is a Woodland Shawl:



I love that Koigu, but I'm not crazy about the gauge. I was going to frog it, but that's the kind of thing I have to sleep on for a week or two. I placed it in the purgatory drawer with the pink Clarence scarf that's 90% done and holding, and a large wrap made of Knitpicks Sierra that's 75% done and most likely to be frogged soon. The Clarence may turn out too short, and the Sierra wrap is from my early knitting days and I'm pretty sure there are some crazy-ass stitches in there I wouldn't put up with now.

Here's an enablement knit:



You know how Anna doesn't like to use a pattern? She finally broke down when she saw a Huggable Hedgehog at my LYS. She can knit like a fiend but she can't read the abbreviations - so I cast one on with her to keep her company row by row. Hers is blue.

Last but not least, I got a wild hair yesterday afternoon and cast on this:



It is, of course, the famous Clapotis. The knit I never thought I'd jump on the bandwagon of. It's Koigu KPPPM, on the very same needle size I'm using for the Woodland Shawl - except I like the gauge here. Weird, huh? Anyway, usually bandwagons make me itch (I still haven't seen Schindler's List OR The English Patient, and I've managed thus far to avoid reading The Kite Runner.) but there was the Koigu, and there was the pattern, and I guess it was just meant to be. I actually like it. Don't tell anyone.

Tada!

Finally, the rows upon rows of garter stitch are complete! It felt like a very long haul...but it was worth it. I managed to get the button tabs figured out, knit and sewn on late last night so that Mary could wear her new jacket to school today, and I even took pictures at midnight (and again this morning - don't worry! I didn't make Mary model in the middle of the night!) knowing that there's a pretty good likelihood that it will never look quite as, um, clean as it does right now!



So this is the Tomten in all its cheery goodness. The body is Malabrigo merino worsted, which, if you haven't used before, is a cloud of soft beauty to knit with. The color is Bergamota. The contrasting bits are Zitron Unikat merino in Peach & Purple. And even Mary's new glasses fit right in with the color scheme.



The buttons are so perfect - they manage to incorporate many of the colors in the Unikat.



If you decide to make a tomten of your own, you will see that there are several versions floating around out there, depending on which Elizabeth Zimmerman book you consult. This one used the techniques from the Opinionated Knitter (i.e. picking up stitches from the underarm when you knit the sleeves; short rows added) and I also sized it up for Mary by going to 128 sts at the cast-on and then sizing everything else proportionately (32 rows instead of 24, etc.).



And now, despite the long haul of garter, I would definitely make another one. In fact, I have yarn in my stash calling me...a gold tomten with a collar, this time, and applied i-cord. Just as soon as I get through the Anais!

New Year, Old Project

The tomten is all over but the buttons, baby! Above you see it blocking a little, to get the waviness out of the button band. I'm going to be adding tabbed button rings in the near future, and then Mary will be able to brave the elements - ha! - of our frigid La Jolla winter.



In anticipation of the FO-ness of the tomten, I shopped for buttons on Friday at Jane's Fabrique, and got some cute buttons for as-yet-unplanned projects in the half-price bin - score another sale for me. "Saving money by spending more!" is becoming my new motto. I'm not using any of these for the tomten, so you'll have to wait to see what I chose.



In other knitterly news, I am getting ready to frog the one repetition I completed on my Woodland Shawl because I didn't like the gauge - gotta go down at least one needle size, I think. And I started on a new Anais sweater by Norah Gaughan (photo above); I cast on last night, watched the season opener of Law & Order, and was done with the ribbing by the time the jury returned a verdict. I'm knitting it in the round and adding a little length, and hopefully Fiona will have a beautiful new sweater in a few days!

Sunflower Tam

My needles are on fire. I'm furiously trying to knit as much as I can before the Christmas deadline, laying away as many little items as possible so I can pull gifts out. I've given up the idea of giving everyone a handmade gift, but some people might just luck out.

Right now, I've got the tomten still on the needles - one sleeve finished (well, if you, like I, generously call knitted but not seamed "finished") and the other sleeve ready to start.

The Hemlock is still flying along; it's what I take with me in my bag for on-the-go knitting. It's big, but there's an awful lot of mindless stockinette between the feather-and-fan rounds. I anticipate being finished before Christmas, but I think this is a present for me.



I've finished the Sunflower Tam you see above, and Anna has claimed it. It's from Knitting Nature, which I recommend as a very inspirational book, and I think I may cast on another in some Koigu Kersti I have.



Lastly, if you don't count numerous projects I have in various stages of hibernation, I have a candle flame scarf in progress. I've finished about three of the nine repetitions, so I may have that done in time as well. Look at Snoopy - he's so cold right now. It's a good thing we don't live where it actually, like, snows. I shudder to think what would happen if the outside temp dropped below 55.



If you are knitting for the holidays, I wish you good luck and speedy needles!

Lots on the Needles!

Here's that Squatty Sidekick, all done and ready to wrap up unless I decide to line it (Hey, did I hear laughing? So what if I'm lazy and/or self-indulgent? It's Christmas!). It was quick to knit but took a long time to dry because we had some rain here, so I had to wait on sewing the closure, which is just a large glass bead I bought here.



In other knitting, I'm still working on the tomten. I knit an inch or two onto that sleeve every day, and then I go do something more interesting, like this:



This is the Hemlock Ring lap blanket, in a Cascade 220 Heather (can't remember what they call the particular blue - Denim maybe?). Anyway, I'm almost through one skein and at row 11 of Jared's charted portion, of the 57 rows on the chart. Doesn't seem that far away until you realize there are more and more stitches as you get to the outer part of the wheel! I'm enjoying it, though. Isn't the middle pretty, even before all its lacy goodness is revealed by blocking?



I'm also working on a few other things, including an easy baby hat to share with our National Charity League group this weekend, inspired by the Zeebee but designed for people afraid to face short rows, ribbing, or purling at all (i.e. people who just learned to cast on and are already worried about how it will all end). Hopefully I'll have a prototype to share by tomorrow.

What is It?

No, it's not a red elephant mask. It's a Squatty Sidekick, knitted from almost one skein of Malabrigo in Amoroso and woven in but not yet a FO. Here it is blocking:



And yes, I'm still working on the tomten, not to worry. I just had to give in and cast on something else. And now that this is done, I'm also working on one of these. And some smaller stuff will have to follow in rapid succession, because starting tomorrow, it's 12 Days of Presents, baby.

Sleevage in Progress

Normally I don't show photos of my works in progress. I prefer the big bang of a FO at the end, a fait accompli if you will. But the tomten wasn't built in one day, so a WIP you will witness. I did consider casting on a small project just to have blog fodder but I'm resisting.



So there you see how the Unikat looks next to the Malabrigo on the sleeve - it's really wonderful. I'm using the technique suggested in The Opinionated Knitter, so I didn't bind off the underarm sts; I placed them on scrap yarn and now that it's time to knit the sleeves I've got them on a dpn. As I work the sleeve back and forth in garter, I consume an underarm stitch at the end of each row by k-ing2tog so I won't have to go back and seam that portion. The added bonus? When those sts are gone, I will have knitted the appropriate number of ridges before I have to start the sleeve decreases so hopefully I won't forget.

Coming up: Do I knit the sleeve in the round, necessitating purling? Or do I knit flat, necessitating seaming? Shall I edge with sideways garter ridges, or knitted-on i-cord? Which is the right side, because I actually like the "wrong" side of that sleeve stripe quite a bit? Decisions, decisions.

Glad I Waited

We had a lovely post-Thanksgiving day yesterday. Coffee at Rebecca's, a little browse at the Grove, and an afternoon movie before getting together for leftovers.

Look what I found at the Grove: the most perfect yarn to edge that Tomten! I knew all the holdups that kept me from finishing the hood were for a reason. If I'd finished sooner, I would've used something else.

This is Unikat Merino in the Peach & Purple colorway, and it is scrumptious. I think the Grove has less yarn inventory now than they used to, but what they have is primo. Interesting yarns and textures, and the whole place is full of inspiring objects and books.

Woman on the Edge

Remember how I'm thinking about what I'm going to edge the Tomten in? I'm about halfway through the hoodie portion, so the question of a contrasting yarn is going to come up very soon - probably today - because I'd like to start the sleeves in a few rows of the contrast.

I've already looked at the available Malabrigo in my neighborhood, and I've looked through my stash - nada. So yesterday I took myself over to Knitting in La Jolla and wandered through the yarn with the Tomten-on-Needles held out before me like a divining rod.

I came up with two possibilities: the Manos you see above in a beautiful orange-yellow hue, and the jewel-like colorway here (which I've used before and really like):



Later today, if I get through the hood, I will add a few rows of the jewel-toned Manos to the beginning edge of the sleeves to see how it goes with the body color. If it works, voila. If not, I'll frog and try the yellow-orange.

November in Paradise

This happened last year too - right when I should be in the thick of knitting, we're hit with a heatwave right around Thanksgiving. Not to mention - I ask you...who feels like baking pie and roasting turkey when it's 80 degrees out?

On the other hand, look where Mary and I got to spend the afternoon.

Plus I'm even knitting:



The crummy cellphone photo depicts me working away on a tomten, round about ridge 28. It's taking a loooong time to get through those ridges, too, because my apparent inability to count caused me to cast on 128 sts rather than the recommended 112. What does that matter, you ask? EZ says you can cast on any number divisible by 8....but then, all the proportions have to change, too - so instead of knitting to ridge 40 and starting the sleeve areas, I'm going to have to go to 48 ridges. Oy. I had to get a spreadsheet out and enter formulas and draw diagrams and everything just to figure out my knitting.

Stay tuned to see if it works. Until then, I'm shaking the sand out of my wool and knitting on with confdence.