Sweatergirl and the mentholated sweater

Boy, I can't believe how badly this cold has kicked my butt. I just want to put a sign on my car (and my person) that says "Sick and Cranky Pregnant Woman - Approach With Caution - Contents Under Pressure".

I don't know what menthol actually DOES - perhaps it is just a "comfort smell" - but hanging out with the vaporizer and the menthol evaporative stuff seems to help.

I have been working quite a bit on Aberlemno - the pattern seems to be easier now (20 inches into the design?), and Yarns International is kindly sending me further directions for setting the steek. I haven't done a neck steek before, so wanted a bit more handholding.

So here it is - too bad you don't have a scratch-and-sniff monitor, or you would be able to smell the mentholated sweater! Maybe it will acquire healing properties, or maybe it will just make people swing wide when I wear it.

My overstock.com order arrived yesterday, and I had a chance to look through the Green Mountain Spinnery book. I am quite happy with it - lovely photographs and patterns. I have always loved the cover sweater, but think it might be unbearably warm, as a worsted-weight mohair fair isle sweater. There are several other simple sweaters that I would like to make. One of the most helpful features of the book is the table in the back that lists all the sweaters, the gauge, the yarn requiremnets, and the page# for the pattern and alternate colorways. Very useful for the times when you want to make a child's sweater at X gauge, or if you just want to order the right yarn easily.

I had previously made the Rosemary's Middle-Sized Sweater for myself and love it. The pattern is included in the book, but I had bought it as a leaflet. Would anyone like my leaflet pattern? I only have one, and it has been used (corners bent, I know), but it is up for grabs (Leave a note in the comments).

Tomorrow is the MMKG Retreat, and I am looking forward to going for the morning portion. I am going off the no-yarn-pact (which, I realize is totally unofficial) to buy yarn for the Oat Couture Edwardian Carrying Cape. I want to make a little red riding hood, and I don't have any red washable DK-weight yarn. Hopefully, Clever Ewe does!

Shock and Awe!

From an article titled "The 'fur' is flying -- and it's great fun":

Holly Wilson, 30, of Hudsonville, orders yarn for the Jenison Hobby Lobby as manager of the needleworks department. She estimated the store regularly sells 3,000 skeins of Fun Fur in less than a week, a phenomenon that's been going strong for months.

Guys - this is at ONE Hobby Lobby. Am I really missing something? How can it be THAT much fun? Or are people just feathering their nests? I almost feel like running out and buying one (suggestible, I am).

Sweatergirl's survival kit

I spent most of the weekend hunched over a vaporizor reading statistics articles in my overalls. Thank goodness for Breathe Right strips - just discovered today. I can breathe! (Ok - I look horrendously silly, but, hey - I'm already waddling and wearing overalls. I have no pride left to protect.)

I did not, however, let my inability to breathe delay progress on Aberlemno - I made it up to the armhole steeks. Of course, I had to back away from the steam, lest this touchy Shetland yarn decide to felt. Could this pattern be any less useful? Its directions say to put one stitch on a holder and "set steek". I decided this meant to cast on 10 stitches and make them into a steek. But really. Thanks for all the help, Ron Schweitzer. At least I am still thinking the sweater is beautiful! Six more inches until the similarly unhelpful directions for the neck steek.

So - what do I need to get through a weekend cold? French Onion soup, overalls, a box of tissues, a vaporizor, and a very tolerant husband...I made it. But add Breathe Right strips and it might have been a breeze. I hope to be fully functional for next Saturday's MMKG yarn crawl/retreat. It's good to have a goal!

Sweatergirl sees grass!

Could winter be ending? It warmed up enough yesterday to reveal a tiny bit of grass and mud, and the icicles melted off our house. Spring may come - someday!

Last night's knitting project: Aberlemno.

I'm just reposting a photo from before (umm, like last November), since I only got a few more rounds done and it looks substantially the same. I forgot what a fun project this is for me - challenging enough to keep my attention, but not so challenging as to to disrupt Survivor-watching. I was getting a bit bored of stockinette socks and those itty-bitty baby projects where I had to count rows and such. Good thing I have multiple projects in process, even if they are not all progressing toward completion at a fast clip.

Sweatergirl, the know-it-all

Two more months to go. We went on a tour of the hospital last night so that we would know where to check in and such when the time comes. It is also good to know that we are not the only ones who don't really know what we're in for. I mean, even after the tour, I am still not going to be completely comfortable with the whole idea of labor and delivery (LaMaze - 24 hours of screaming like a Ferrari...). At least S knows where they keep the coffeepot now. I slightly feel like it was a big waste of time to tour the place, but hey. And now I know it's only $73/night extra for a private room (if one's available), so even if insurance doesn't cover, I think it's worth it to not have to deal with other people's visiting relatives. Also - they've been doing a lot of remodelling and they don't have a big nursery anymore. Most of the babies stay in the rooms with their moms. They also put an anti-theft-ankle-bracelet on the babe to prevent anyone from leaving the Mother and Baby Center with the kid. Weird. Understandable, but weird. They also have a pantry so you can go grab food throughout the day, instead of just having the three squares. I guess I don't really know what to expect, but I think you can't really know what to expect, so we'll see just how it goes.

Not much knitting - between the tour and S's British Motoring Club meeting, I was relatively beat when I got home. I did try to pick something up, but it involved counting and I gave up. If I'm this tired now, how am I supposed to do any knitting later? My hat's off to you knitting moms.

I read about an interesting guild project that Valerie was involved in - members were given some white wool yarn and were told to make mittens using only that yarn (see Feb. 17 entry). Hers are gorgeous twined mittens, but others dyed the yarn and such. I hope she posts a picture of the group's mittens! I wonder if the MMKG-ers would be interested?

Sweatergirl gets back to work

So after quite the spate of finished projects (for me), I was afflicted with startitis. Fortunately, I was able to channel that into a project that actually needs to be done! MMKG is doing a sock exchange at the May meeting, after a program on fitting socks way back in November(?). We measured our feet and got the measurements of a random, secret sock buddy. So I cast on for my sock buddy's socks. I had, in my stash, a great combo of yarns from Wool in the Woods, purchased, um, a long time ago at The Mannings (vacation yarn shopping). So long that I think my colorways are discontinued (or are they collectors' items?). One yarn is a relatively solid color alpaca, and the other is a variegated mohair blend. But how to combine? They are pretty thick for socks, and warm fibers anyway, so color stranding was out. I thought about some sort of slip-stitch pattern or something, but I ended up with - wait for it - stripes. Wow. How boring is that? At least I snuck a fibbonacci sequence in there. They are looking really nice. And moving quickly, at only 48 stitches around (vs. my usual sock-weight 72 stitches). I am almost to the heel - time to make some real decisions. I don't think I want to carry the stripes into the foot because of the seam line issue, so I am trying to decide on the right heel to use to make the transition.

Anyhow - I never really hear any buzz on Wool in the Woods, but the yarns are quite nice, and I love the colors I am using - the repeat in the variegated is just right - not too long, not too short.

The guild program last night was on knitting software - put together by Lynn and Sharon (great job, guys!). A few people had requested such a program, and we aim to please. I hadn't ever thought seriously about using software for sock/sweater design, having a nice set of basic shape patterns, but might look into it - lots more options in these programs than in my "blanks", and all in one place instead of in many books.

I'm lovin' it

I found the buttons for Anjuli, and I'm lovin' it.

It is not a very slimming garment (horizontal stripes are what all the pregnant women are wearing these days, no?), but it is way comfy. I love the Jo Sharp DK yarn (older vintage) - it was a joy to knit with and it is lovely to wear. It is way hot in my office (we are having a semi-annual thermostat battle), but I refuse to take this sweater off. I think in the future, it might serve more as a jacket because it is really long and really wide, but it is perfect for now.

In my continuing lace expedition, here are some "lacy" baby booties from 50 Baby Booties to Knit. The leaf pattern is a lace pattern where you increase with yarnovers for a few rows, then do a double decrease over the center of the leaf to close it back up.

And in unrelated news - check out this neat zebra-striped sheep! Genetics. Cool.

A great knitting weekend - except...

Good news: ALL of the ends of Anjuli are woven in!

Bad news: I lost ALL of the buttons! The perfect pewter oak leaf buttons. At least they are (hopefully) all together in the same safe place....

Strangely, I had been carrying around this little white paper bag in my little knitting tools pouch so that I would have the buttons handy for the moment I finished all the ends. But alas! When I actually looked, it was just a bunch of other buttons. I put out a call to St. Anthony. But I think he's just saying to head to JoAnn's and find something else lovely. It's soooo close!

To make up for my disappointment, I splurged on some great knitting books at Overstock.com - Knitted Embellishments, Knitting in the Old Way (much expanded from the earlier version), and the Green Mountain Spinnery book. They've got some good deals if you have been thinking about purchasing any of these books.

Saturday, I went to the Starbucks Knit-In and started a somewhat lacy afghan block for MMKG charity projects. I've lately realized that I don't "get" lace. I can't read it like other patterns. If I read a pattern, I can't predict what it will look like, and if I see a chart, I can't figure out how it works. So, I have been trying to work on some simple lace projects - hence the border on the little blue sweater (from Thursday's entry) and this block. It's one area of knitting that I feel very unconfident in. Then Sunday, I went to a spinning get together for a few hours and continued work on my yarn for the Echo Lake cardigan. Much fibery goodness!

Sweatergirl and the busy knitweek

I know - I never call, I never write. Thanks for checking in anyway. Work is just really busy, even though we call this our "off-season". So - what's news?

I DID take the yarn quiz, and, in case you were curious, I'm scratchy shetland wool. That works too.

I also came up with this solution to Sam, so now she is finished:

Here's a close-up of the closures. First, I picked up a stitch in the middle of the orange cable and made a bobble. Then I closed it off in the stitch above and tied the ends together (hope a square knot is the right knot for the situation!). Then, on the blue cable, I picked up a stitch and crocheted a chain, joining it back to the sweater in the stitch above. I think it's a pretty cute solution, given all the bobbles on the little sweater, but I don't know if it will hold on a squirmy baby. Oh well - it's still cute! Here's a closeup of the "buttons". I know it's a blurry pic - I will try for better another day perhaps.

I also finished this little sweater (only a week start to finish! Umm, pay no attention to those ends and just imagine the little pearl-bump buttons that I haven't bought yet):

The lace edging makes it a bit looong. Misproportioned. But we will wait to see if the kid is perfectly proportioned before ripping out. Unfortunately, given her parentage, she is more likely to be short, methinks.

I have also been diligently weaving in ends on Anjuli since Tuesday. See, on Tuesday, I realized that the ends were not evenly distributed - one side had more ends to weave in than the other, since most colors/rows started and ended on the same side. And - that I had started with the side with more ends. And - that I was nearly done with that side. Yee-hah! So now the ends are all woven in for the fronts, making it nearly wearable unless someone really wants to see what's up my sleeves. As a challenge to myself - I shall state here that I will wear it to next Tuesday's MMKG meeting....Will Sweatergirl make it? Will anyone actually look up her sleeves? Stay tuned...

Another Monday

Not only do I not know what kind of yarn I am - I can't even get to the quiz. I think I am Acrylic - wash and wear. Low maintenance. But maybe that is just a fantasy. Like in "When Harry Met Sally" - I'm the worst kind - one who thinks she's low maintenance, but is really high maintenance.

Sweatergirl - gasp - buys yarn!

I have been making a lot of stash-knitting progress, and I had to go to the YS to replace a broken Brittany DPN, and I had this filled yarn card (meaning I earned $25 free merchandise), and some yarn followed me home...

Lookit what I am going to make for the Bump's first clothed Christmas:

With the little earflap cap. Gotta dress em funny while you have the chance, right? And I have loved the Fana pattern ever since I saw my first glimpse of Knitting in the Old Way.

Here's what I've been up to knitting-wise in the last week or so:

I finished the 5th repeat on St. Brigid, and stuffed it away for a while.

I finished the front of a messy intarsia project (I am doing the back in horizontal stripes). It is actually so messy that I didn't have time to arrange all the ends to get a good pic! Its finishing is due to the first meeting of the MMKG Intarsia Support Group, and I think we should meet again, even though I don't have any intarsia that I want to start. Maybe it should morph into the Difficult and Distasteful Project Support Group?

I also started this little cutie on Sunday. The one-armed sweater. The other sleeve should be finished tonight, then I am adding a garter stitch lace border to the bottom, ala Debbie Bliss. The color is a pale blue-green, but difficult to photograph on my lap!

I love Debbie Bliss, but always thought a lot of her designs tended to be repeats of other designs. I just got the new IK last night, and it seems she publishes 2 books a year, plus the pattern collections for her yarns. Yowsers. So, no wonder. Well, good for her. I was surprised that she had a hard time making a living as a designer, since she is so prolific and had stable book deals. Thanks to all the designers out there giving it a go anyways!

Sweatergirl GETS handmade gifts!

In an exciting and appreciated turn of events, several relatives made gifts for me this year. I was sort of waiting for a slow news day (anyone see West Wing last night?) to share, but I've had lots of slow news days where I just haven't posted (sorry - if anyone is still out there reading!). Anyway - the yearly Christmas KL gripe about unappreciated gifts has passed, but I wanted to share these much-appreciated gifts...

Cool Gift #1: Stockings! Aren't these great? My tree is decorated with lots of fun buttons. Pretty neat, eh?

Cool Gift #2: A knitted shawl/stole! My MIL made this for meeee! It goes with several of my summer wear-to-a-wedding/graduation dresses, and it was really thoughtful that she remembered (maybe I have worn the dresses too often?). This pic shows a detail of the yarn.

Cool Gift #3: A handmade teddy bear! This is for the Bump. I was so touched by this gift. I can just picture the Babe dragging it around (she said she wanted it to be used and loved, not just kept on a shelf, so use it we will!).

Lots of talent in S's family, no? I was really impressed by how lovely all these things were, and with the time and thought involved in choosing and making them. So, not everyone is unappreciative of handmade gifts - you just have to choose the recipients wisely...

It's Groundhog Day

Six more weeks of winter, guys. Maybe that will give them time to plow my parking lot?