Love, Actually

Marissa, you were totally right! What a sweet movie. I definitely recommend Love, Actually. My mom objected to the nudity and some of the language, but I didn't really mind. And I'm quite fond of just about everyone in the movie.

And I actually love Icarus. I'm halfway through the last chart (yay!) and hope to be blocking this baby by the weekend. It is a great pattern. And working it reinforced my idea that lace isn't as hard as some people fear, especially if you concentrate on the row at hand. I know I was kvetching about the knit stitches in the purl-back rows (evens), but they really ensure that you've done everything properly on the knit side. If you have a copy of Interweave Knits, be sure to check out the errata on Miriam's blog - it's not on IK's site, as Miriam says it's optional. I have a few rows to get to the errata, so I can't say how it makes a difference, but I'm sure it does.

And love plays a prominent role in the last Harry Potter book, which I bought on Saturday and finished on Monday. I enjoyed it immensely.

Love you all, actually!

WWYD?

What would you do the day you got out of rehab? Would you call your daughter? Would you apologize to your soon-but-not-soon-enough to be ex-wife? You might. I'd like to think I would. But not that person.

I know this is a knitting blog, but I'm at this point where I can knit but I'm having trouble thinking about anything much. I go to sleep and wake up thinking about ... crap. (Sorry, I like to keep the blog clean, so insert the euphemism of your choice.)

The day I spent paying bills for the house that this man hadn't taken care of, I see on the online bank account that he has just ordered $150 worth of flowers from one of the nicest florists in town (Winston's, for Bostonians). Isobel didn't receive any flowers. Neither did I or his mother. So, that leaves that woman. Or as his mother calls her "his friend". Ugh. Double ugh.

And the realtor we should go with came in with the lowest estimate. I am so sick of all this. I can't wait for it all to be over.

In happier knitting news, I'm almost finished with the raglan rollneck sweater. Just a couple of inches to go on the second sleeve. And I'm so bored!!! All I want to do is knit something else. And the problem with top-down sweaters is that you have to do the sleeves attached to the body, which makes things a little awkward.

So, I started a Little Arrowhead Shawl by Pam Allen from the Summer '06 IK ("Sweet Somethings" towards the bottom of the page) with a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck in the Water "colorway". I'm using US6s, having swatched with US7s and felt it was too open with the sock yarn. The yarn is a treat (my third time knitting a shawl with it), and someday I'll have to make some socks with it!

I also ordered myself some pity yarn from Laughing Rat's etsy shop: some mohair for something and some merino lace for Icarus in a scrumptious Robin's Egg blue color, and sock yarn in lovely Pacific for something else. Her colors are very pretty, and she offers a number of yarn options and roving. I'll let you know what it's like when I have it in hand, probably tomorrow or Friday.

So, stash growth continues. As does the book stash! The woman who used to own my house dropped some knitting books off, and my MIL sent them on to me. I'll have to take a picture. The one that I am very keen on is Cheryl Potter's Handpaint Country. I wouldn't have bought it on my own. I think I have some issues with XRX book design. But there are a few designs in there I will knit, and I'm looking forward to learning more about dying.

Fishtail (with pictures!!!)

Ooh! I cast on for the sleeve of my severely modified Hourglass Sweater this weekend, after a bunch of swatching, and I've done something quite lovely, if I do say so myself. I found a ten-stitch lace pattern called Fishtail II in Mon Tricot. Since the sleeves in my size start out with 60 stitches, I did six repeats of the pattern, twice. (Sorry for the blurry photo - I'm using the old camera, since it can travel safely in my knitting bag.)

At that point I decided I'd need to deal with the upcoming decreases, so switched to stockinette for every other repeat. This allowed me to do the decreases in the stockinette portions, so I wouldn't mess up the lace. I did two more repeats of the lace in those panels and then switched to all stockinette. I can't wait to see how this blocks out but at this point am happy with some mindless stockinette in front of the telly. I think I will wash and block this sleeve before I start the body just to make sure this is working.

My friend Tanya in New Zealand is also planning an Hourglass Sweater variation, according to her comment last week. So, the question is: At what point is a variation different enough to be its own thing? I've heard 30% bandied about, but how do you calculate 30%? I've changed the yarn, needle size, cuffs, hem, and probably neckline, though not the gauge, which means I think I'll be able to use all the same numbers as the original pattern, except for knitting longer at the neckline. So, I don't really know. I wouldn't be comfortable (at this point) publishing this variation as my own without an OK from Joelle. But I may find I have to change things more as I get further into the sweater. I would be happy (obviously, or I wouldn't be blogging about it) to share my alteration adventures. What do you think? Interesting comments here from the girl from auntie, which confirms my gut feeling that this will be my variation on the pattern but nothing I could claim as my own.

Stash Enhancement: Mom and Dad bought me a copy of Vogue Stitchionary 1: Knit & Purl this weekend at Yarns in the Farms. The possibilities of what to do with "simple" knit and purl stitches are endless! When you click over to my LYS, be sure to check out the new blog, In the Loop.

P.S. I still owe "you" an IMOnday for Yarns in the Farms. I'll see if I can get my act together (maybe Wednesday, when we're supposed to get whalloped with snow) this week.

So close!

Just a few more rows for Grandma's shawl, and then I'll have to send it out to Illinois. Three skeins of Kidsilk Haze on your lap is so amazing. And I have another three in a taupey colorway that are waiting for the right pattern, perhaps Wing o' the Moth.

Confession: I ordered some yarn in my first group buy from 100purewool. Very exciting! I chose some bulky Corriedale for a hat project (Undyed, Springtime, Ocean, Rosado, and mmmmmmm Celeste - that last one might be for me), a skein of the merino laceweight in blue knots (now that Handpaintedyarn no longer seems to offer their laceweight merino) for some sort of shawl, some of the worsted merino in Sky for a sweater for me (top-down raglan, I think, with ribs, perhaps), and a couple of skeins of the worsted in Pasionaria for a Minisweater.

Luckily, all that will take a while to get here so I can work on some stash busting: Fetchings for me, a ribbed hat for Peter, and a sweater for Isobel, I think. Then there is that Hourglass Sweater in Schaeffer yarn to think about. And the Slouchy Cardigan from Greetings from Knit Cafe in ??? What yarn? They used Twisted Sisters Alpaca, I think. Maybe Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk? I heart that yarn.

Oy, I still have all that boucle calling out to be a sweater, but I'm going to have to write up a pattern and do schematics and measure for that one. I should figure it out though and get started.

Did you catch that? My knitting book diet was blown. I bought Greetings from Knit Cafe after talking about the Slouchy Cardi with a friend. And there are a couple of other things in there worth making: the Alpaca & Silk Beret, that lacy mohair shawl, and a few others I'm spacing on. It's a nice book

Who, me, a teacher?

At yesterday's Knit Night, my friends who own the LYS asked if I would be interested in teaching a class this winter, since another woman who recently joined the group said I was so nice and patient explaining what I was working on (haiku sweater and clapotis). Who, me, patient? Noooo.

I come from a teaching family: Mom taught middle-school English before I was born, then was my Girl Scout troop leader when I was a sprout, and now serves as a docent at the Art Institute of Chicago; my brother was an assistant teacher at a private school after graduating college; then my little sister took the same position when she graduated; and my father is the soul of patience. But I always thought I was not the teacher type. I didn't really think I had the patience. Perhaps my little lady has made me more temperate. Or knitting.

Anyway, what would I teach? Classes should go three sessions. Since it will be winter perhaps something wintry like handwarmers or hats or holiday stocking ornaments. Ooh, that could be fun. There are stocking and sweater ornaments in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. And those little egg warmer sweaters in Weekend Knitting.

My other thought was a one-day class - Fearless Knitting, in which we have pattern or yarn but not both and venture forth boldly into the land of knitting in search of the other. Or Surfing the Web for Knitters - the art of finding patterns online (free and for sale) as well as the art of getting all obsessive about knitting-related items to the point of googling them all night long. Just more of a seminar deal to get people going.

...

I'm almost ready to start the straight section of Clapotis! It's about 24" wide at this point, and I think I will make it about 60" long, which makes it overall just a little larger than the original pattern dimensions of 21 x 55". The intended recipient is on the small side, so I don't want to make it overwhelmingly large. The neat thing about it is I can already see ridges where the stitches are twisted, and the edges are a little scallopy due to that and the yarn overs. It's going to be really lovely.

FO - Cable Baby Sweater

Well, it's almost a finished object. Just have to get some thread to sew the buttons on, since the Blue Sky Organic Cotton is too bulky to fit through the holes in the button. But that yarn sure is soft! And you can wash it in the machine (lay flat to dry). This sweater is just in time, too, since the baby was born on Friday night. She is a beautiful baby and everyone is well.

The cables were more challenging in cotton (not as much give), and I'll do my next cabled item in wool, but it sure was a fun item to make. Except, of course, the finishing. It took me two knit nights to finish, though the puppy and kitten tearing around the house probably has something to do with not knitting at home as much.

I really liked using the Brittany Birch Cable Needle. [N.B. I haven't purchased from worldknit.com - they were at the top of the Google results list.] I started out using a Clover plastic one, but the plastic was just too slippery with the cotton yarn. And the shape of the Brittany is just so pleasing, don't you think?

The pattern is from Knitting for Baby, which is a great book for beginners who have baby items to make. Good illustrations and explanations of techniques. And I know a number of knitters who don't have little babies around who have made the felted "diaper bag", so there is something for the non-baby crowd.