My “cure” lasted all of two days.

Back when I first mentioned Skipping Stones Across a Winter Lake, I commented as an aside:

(The funny part is that I didn’t even order Skipping Stones…but that’s another story–one that will involve Jeffrey finally getting a cardigan from Mom.)

This is that story.

When the September colorways for the Three Irish Girls Stash Menagerie club were previewed, I decided that bulky weight yarn would make a perfect cardigan for one of my children…and most of my knitting plans recently revolved around Lexie so it was clearly Jeffrey’s turn.  I thought the grays with the tints of blue in Skipping Stones were quite pretty, but while they’d have gone great with Lexie’s blue eyes, they really wouldn’t have done as much for Jeffrey.  But the browns and tans of Seacoast, the variegated option, would really bring out Jeffrey’s blond hair and green eyes.  So, I ordered 7 skeins (700 yards) of Seacoast.

But when the box arrived, I opened it to discover approximately 750 yards of this:

Clearly, that wasn’t Seacoast.  But Skipping Stones turned out to be even prettier in person–sending it back was never a consideration.  Ever.

Instead, I wound the larger 3 skeins (some of the put-ups were twice the size of normal, while others were a bit short, so Sharon had given me a combination that more than covered the 700 yds I’d ordered) immediately and cast on for Jeffrey’s cardigan.

Then it occurred to me:  I didn’t want to send the Skipping Stones back…but maybe Sharon had some more of the Springvale Bulky base (which was so amazingly soft it has to be touched to be believed)…and maybe, since I had ordered the Seacoast originally…she’d be willing to let me place another order before the September colorways were released to club members.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

So, I emailed Sharon, explained what happened, and asked if I could place an order for Seacoast.  Sharon’s response was immediate and apologetic, offering to immediately dye up some Seacoast and send it with an postage paid label so I wouldn’t have to pay to return the Skipping Stones.

No, I said, I really wanted to keep the Skipping Stones.  Besides, I’d already started knitting it!  It wasn’t returnable (and boy, was I glad to be able to trot out that excuse).

Was I sure? Sharon asked.  Really, really sure?  She was willing to take it back even if I’d wound and started knitting it.  I got the sense she was concerned I was only keeping the yarn out of a sense of obligation…but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  I really loved the color, and ever since I’d first laid eyes on it I’d been kicking myself for not ordering both colorways from the start so I’d have Skipping Stones for Lexie.

To my delight, I was able to convince Sharon that I really, really, really wanted to keep the Skipping Stones and order more yarn in Seacoast.  She quickly sent me an invoice and promised to dye the yarn right up and send it as soon as it was dry–just more of the outstanding customer service from Three Irish Girls.  At that point, I ripped out the knitting I’d already done for Jeffrey, cast on for Lexie, and the rest was history.

Only 2 days after finishing the zipper on Lexie’s cardigan, I found a box on my front porch.  Inside, was this:

As with the Skipping Stones, the Seacoast is even prettier in person. I know my pictures didn’t capture the variations in shading and speckled look of the colors that invokes the feel of icy winter waves rising and falling on the sun-dappled sands. As with Skipping Stones, I had to wind the yarn right away–and if you’ll excuse me, I have a sweater for my son to cast on.

Two days ago, I mentioned my newest obsession.

Today, I’m cured…

…for now.

It didn’t take long to knit up the front band.  Sewing in the zipper took a bit more time than I expected, but I decided to whip stitch the zipper in by hand so that I didn’t have a visible seam in front on those front bands.  I’m quite pleased with the placement–the bands lie just over the zipper enough to make it invisible without bunching up.  The fit is precisely what I was hoping for, and even Lexie likes it.  Once I got it on her to take some pictures tonight, I had hard time chasing her down to get it back off!

When Sharon of Three Irish Girls released the previews for the September Stash Menagerie club, it took me a while to figure out what I was going to do with a bulky weight yarn. I’d recently been trying to help a fellow 3IGer find a hooded cardigan pattern for a child that went with another pattern, and we’d both stumbled across the Knit Child’s Raglan Cardigan from Lion Brand. I suggested some ways she could modify the pattern to get what she wanted, but it occurred to me that I really wanted to knit a hoodie for Jeffrey–I could use this pattern too.

I rejected that idea sometime between winding the yarn and casting on. I just wasn’t a big fan of the look of that pattern, and I was dismayed to find the patter was written to knit in pieces from the bottom up and then seam. I’d wanted a raglan pattern because they’re often written to be either seamless or minimize seams. And, if possible, I preferred a top-down raglan because I like being able to try it on as I go–and with children above the average height for their ages, it’s easier to knit a top-down sweater to the proper length.

So the search was on for another pattern, but I was rather dismayed to find that top-down raglan hooded cardigans for children knit in bulky weight yarn were hard to find. Eventually, I found the Incredible Custom-Fit Raglan Sweater pattern. It sounded promising…it looked intimidating. It was much more recipe than pattern, with a fair amount of math (easy math, at least) thrown in. But it would allow me to knit a top-down raglan cardigan to my child’s exact measurements with any yarn I chose.

After a bit of uncertainty, I reminded myself once again that it’s only yarn, I can’t hurt it by knitting with it, and if my version turns out to be a disaster, I can frog it and try again. And what the heck–while I was at, why not wing adding a hood?

As I mentioned previously, I was only a couple rows in before Jeffrey’s cardigan became Lexie’s cardigan, but that little bit of knitting was enough to make me comfortable with my version of the pattern. I opted for seed stitch edging rather than ribbing at the wrists and bottom edge–it tends to be more of a pain for me to knit, but I infinitely prefer the look where I can get away with it. I think it really works beautifully with this yarn–it gives a pebbled look at the edges.

The body and sleeves knit up quickly, and then it was time for the hood. I checked a couple patterns that had hoods added, and decided to pick up one stitch in every collar stitch, and then added a stitch on either end for the first several rows. I wanted to be sure to have a nice deep hood (that was one of the things I didn’t like about the Lion Brand pattern–although it’s hard to tell due to the hairstyle of the child model, the hood looks fairly shallow) that would stay in place, since hood cords are out. I used a hooded sweatshirt I recently bought Lexie to make sure the height was right, and then–in the move I’m probably proudest off–I Kitchnered the top of the hood instead of binding off and seaming.

Chances are you can see in the picture above where I did it, but I doubt someone who didn’t know would see it–and it only shows because I accidentally pulled some of the grafting stitches a bit too tight. I expect some of that will come out once I block the sweater, as well, but even if it does, I consider that a very successful first attempt at the Kitchner stitch.

The last knitting step was the front band, which was picked up all along both fronts and the hood edge. In retrospect, I probably should have picked up in 2 out of every 3 stitches instead of 3 out of every 4–I think the front band might be a bit on the wavy side. Again, it’s probably a sin that blocking will help hide, as well as the stability of the zipper I sewed in. I decided I wanted the cardigans to zip up because that makes them easier to put on and take off…and then I bought the wrong kind of zipper, that doesn’t disconnect at the bottom. So the very bottom opening is permanently sewed shut.

I can live with that. And as soon as the Seacoast yarn shows up, I’m ready to cast on for Jeffrey.

It would appear I have my very own Hippomenes, only she goes by Sharon. And instead of golden apples, she throws soft, beautiful yarn in my path.

In mid-September, I started a cardigan for Jeffrey, Jack in the Box. It’s been a while since I’ve knit anything–or planned to knit anything–for him, and I was feeling a bit guilty for neglecting him. I’ve been enjoying the project and making good progress, the pattern (Drive-Thru) is straight-forward, and the yarn is just a lot of fun:

I hadn’t been sure about the orange and yellow in there at first–I fell in love with the greens and brown–but the yarn wouldn’t be what it is without those unexpected colors.  In other words , I liked the project, the recipient, the yarn, and the pattern…so can someone tell me why my recent knitting progress can be documented thusly?

September 29:

October 2:

October 3:

Clearly, that’s not Jack in the Box. That’s also not Jeffrey.

And it’s all the fault of Hipp–er, Sharon, and her “golden apple”…

…also known as Springvale Bulky in Skipping Stones, the September semisolid option for the Stash Menagerie club.

(The funny part is that I didn’t even order Skipping Stones…but that’s another story–one that will involve Jeffrey finally getting a cardigan from Mom.)

All that’s left to do on Lexie’s Skipping Stones Across a Winter Lake is to knit the band along the front of the cardigan and hood. I’ve already picked up all 157 stitches and done 2 of the 5 rows of moss stitch, so I’ll be ready to buy and sew on the zipper tomorrow. Then it’s back to the neglected Jack…until the next apple rolls my way, that is.

Rumors of my demise…well, you know the rest.

Where have I been this time? Well, a month ago, I blogged about wanting to design a capelet to wear at Rhinebeck. So…I’ve actually been knitting!

Yes, as tends to happen when I’m involved, there was a bit of “mission creep,” as we called it in the Navy–where you start with one job (a capelet) and end up with several (plus hat, plus wristers).  Even if I weren’t from the northeastern U.S. originally, I’d read enough threads in the Rhinebeck group on Ravelry to know there was a chance of temperatures anywhere from the 30s to the 80s…and for the lower temps, just a capelet wasn’t going to be enough.

What also wasn’t going to be enough was the amount of yarn I had on hand. I’d started with 3 skeins, and it was clear that wasn’t going to get a capelet as long as I wanted, let another any additional pieces. I posted a plea for help (and yarn) in the Three Irish Girls Stash Menagerie group. Fortunately, a fellow group member had 2 skeins they were willing to part with, and I was back in business. Back to keeping warm in an uncertain northeastern October…

The best way to keep in body heat, of course, is a hat, but I didn’t want something that would look at home in a January snowstorm–more something that was for fall and spring with the same lacy look as the capelet, and maybe even a little slouchy. I was quite pleased when the hat came together on my first try.

But, with my penchant for overdoing it, I wasn’t done there. After all, Rhinebeck is about the tactile as much as the visual…and I’m not going to be able to tell how wonderfully soft the yarns are if my fingers are too numb, right? For the same reason, gloves are out. Fortunately, I’m one of those won over to the fingerless gloves crowd; I’ve experienced for myself how covering my wrist and the palm of my hand can keep my fingertips nice and warm. So I whipped up a pair–the hardest part was figuring out how to keep a consistent look the pattern without having holes all over the back of the gloves, which would defeat the purpose–and my set was complete!

If you’d like your own Rhinebeck or Bust set, you can find the pattern here (the PDF includes patterns for all three items)…or, you can download just the hat or the wristers if you prefer. Enjoy, and I’ll see you at Rhinebeck! I’ll be the one in the capelet…

Although I’m not a member of the Sock Yarnista club from Three Irish Girls, I am a member of the group on Ravelry. Those ladies tend to be a bit chattier, and I enjoy hanging out with them. Several months ago, one member of the group came up with a great idea to do a sample co-op. She ordered several skeins of yarn and split them into quarters, then shipped our selections off to us. I really loved my mini skeins (which someone dubbed “yarn spawn”) so I immediately signed up for round 2.

This time, our co-op mastermind decided to run a contest. Last time, she and her husband had put together funny pictures and a movie to show off the box of skeins, and this time it was our turn. We were all supposed to take a funny picture with our spawn and then post it–the winner would be selected by the members.

The minute I heard of the contest, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but it was going to take more than one picture. It was going to take several…and a 4-year-old bribed with popcorn. But it all came together, and I give you:

Jen & Jeffrey Productions presents…

Attack of the Yarn Spawn!

It was a bright and sunny day. Jeffrey had no inkling of the horror hiding inside the innocuous looking mailbox sitting peacefully in the summer sunshine.

“Hmmm…what’s this?”

“I wonder what’s inside. It almost feels like…it’s moving? Nah–must be my imagination.”

Unwisely, Jeffrey dismissed his concerns and took the envelope inside. He opened it, peered inside…

“GASP!”

“It’s…it’s…”

“YARN SPAWN!”

Desperately, Jeffrey tried to make his escape. For four years, he’d been eating his vegetables to ensure he had fast running power.

But the Yarn Spawn was fast too…

And their first victim has been claimed.

Who will they claim next…?

No children or yarn spawn were injured in the recording of this adventure.

It really should have been obvious.  But in my world, there’s a reason there’s only a 2 letter difference between “obvious” and “oblivious.”

It wasn’t until I saw the thread regarding Rhinebeck knitting that it occured to me that, naturally, knitters were probably going to be knitting up something special to show off at a festival that celebrates wool.  My only excuse is that this is my first fiber festival (WOOHOO!) and I was too busy being excited about going to think about actually knitting something for it.

Of course, now that my error had been pointed out to me, what was I going to do about it?  I first saw the thread 2 months ago, when I was about a month into knitting my February Lady Sweater. I was pretty sure I could get it done it time, but at the time I wasn’t going to get cocky and start lining up projects for mid-October.  For once, I was going to take it one project at a time.

I believe it is now safe to move on:

Now, I adore my February Lady Sweater…but I’d like to have something else there.  Maybe a few something elses.  Obviously, they couldn’t be huge projects–I’ve got less than 2 months left–but I could knock out a few small, quick things…

…Which, of course, is why I’m about to cast on for a capelet.  As soon as I finish designing it.

Go big or go home, right?

I’m not sure why I suddenly decided I wanted a capelet, but suffice to say I did.  It was going to have to be something that was a relatively quick knit, which eliminated a number of the available patterns; knit with thin yarn in complicated lace patterns, they weren’t going to be quick.  There were a number of bulky yarn patterns, but I did want something a little lacy…and I didn’t have any bulky yarn I wanted to use.

What I did have was 3 skeins of Three Irish Girls yarn, the Carys BFL in Lady Slipper:

This was one of my first 3IG yarns, and when I got it I didn’t have any plans for it.  It sat, waiting patiently, as new yarns arrived every month and were assigned to a project.  Well, now was its time to shine…if only I could find a pattern for it.

I couldn’t.  There really weren’t a lot of patterns for capelets using worsted weight yarns, and the ones I found weren’t what I was looking for.  I was going to have to come up with my own.

My first inspiration–after the yarn–actually was my February Lady Sweater.  It was the first top down raglan sweater I’d ever knit, and a great first lesson in raglan shaping.  So I could knit the first part of the capelet in the same manner, until I had it as wide as wanted to cover the top part of my arms.

The last piece of the puzzle was the actual stitch pattern, and as I’ve been doing a lot recently, I turned to Barbara Walker.  Well, to her Treasuries.  My qualifications were pretty narrow–I was looking for a pattern that was open but not too open, and it had to have a small repeat.  I was going to be adding stitches every other row for awhile, and then maybe more slowly, and I didn’t want large “blank” spots at the corners or a stair step look on the sides.  I found 4 possibilities, 1 in the 3rd Treasury and 3 in the 1st.  I swatched the pattern in the 3rd Treasury first, which was my favorite, but I really didn’t like the look of it.  I was knitting worsted weight yarn on US9 needles, and I wasn’t going to change that, but the lace pattern I’d chosen needed to be more open to show properly.

So I frogged and cast on to knit the first of the patterns from the 1st Treasury, the Open Honeycomb Stitch.  It had the benefit of the smallest repeat (any odd number of stitches), but I liked the look of it the least.

But…this is why you swatch.

This was precisely the look I wanted, open but not too open, with interesting stitch definition.  And it really worked well with the color repeats in the yarn.  I also realized that I could pick another lace pattern, one that was more intricate with a longer stitch repeat, to work in a stripe across the capelet once the number of stitches stabilizes.  I haven’t picked one out yet, but I’ll need to do that and swatch it up first.  I want to make sure the pattern works well with my yarn weight / needle size combination (unlike my first choice pattern) before I start knitting it across hundreds of stitches on the capelet…and then have to frog back!

I’ve never been one to knit one project at a time.  I like variety, switching it up.  It keeps me from getting bored with a project, especially one that’s nothing but stockinette, or knit with solid colored yarn, or sized for me (’cause that’s a lot of knitting for little obvious gain sometimes).

So I was a bit bemused recently when I discovered that I’d been knitting on a Sweet Pea cardigan for Lexie for almost 2 full weeks without touching another project.  Bemused, but not surprised.

It was love at first sight with this cardigan…although I almost didn’t see it.  I’d put my copy of Knitting off to the side after getting it, and didn’t rediscover it until several months later.  When I unwrapped it, I found a bonus insert of patterns from Sirdar.   I love Sirdar patterns, because they’re usually sized from 0-6 months until about 7 years, so they’re good for years of my children’s growth.  The pattern on the front was the Sweet Pea cardigan.  And there was no question what I was going to knit it with; I had just selected the Sweet Pea colorway for that month’s Three Irish Girls Stash Menagerie choice, on the Elenya Alpaca/Merino:

I’ve been having a lot of fun knitting this cardigan, mostly because the yarn is so beautiful to knit with and I’m having fun watching what the variegated yarn is doing.  The back, for example, has a skirt and then armhole shaping, so the yarn has done 3 different things:

The argyle rocks.

So I really wasn’t feeling the need to move to something else to keep myself interested.  But then I got a PM from someone on Ravelry.  She was working on a pair of “suede” booties that I’d made once (actually, three times) for my niece, she’d seen I had some of the yarn left, and she was wondering if I was willing to part with it.  I’d ended up with more of the yarn than I expected left over, and I was more than willing to send it on to someone who would put it to use.  I actually had quite a bit, since I’d purchased more that I’d never done anything with.

She only needed the light and dark brown scraps, so I set the rest off to the side to put back away.  Before I did, Steve came home and mentioned offhandedly that one of his coworkers was expecting his second child in a month.  Naturally, my first question was, “Boy or girl?”  Naturally, he hadn’t thought to ask.

So, I wouldn’t be casting on for a sweater right away.  Then my eye fell on the pile of suede yarn.

Well, since I didn’t know gender, I didn’t want to go with hot pink or even lavender.  But I did have the black scraps and the new ball of brown, which would let me make a nice neutral pair of booties that would go with everything.  Plus, black “Uggs” would be especially appropriate in this instance.  Steve’s coworker, like Steve, is a Navy Surface Warfare Officer (SWO).  SWO’s are sometimes referred to as “Black Shoes” (or, amongst ourselves, just as a “Shoe”…but that’s usually not complementary), since they wear black shoes and aviators wear brown.

Suddenly, that old wandering feeling was back in my fingers.  I couldn’t even wait long enough to run upstairs and grab my Knitpicks interchangeable circs; I cast on with the only set of bamboo I saved (they’re 17″, smaller than the Knitpicks).  It didn’t take long to realize what a mistake that was, since the yarn was already plenty sticky and the bamboo didn’t help…but I kept plugging away.

Two days later:

They were a hit at knitting group tonight; hopefully the recipient loves them as well!  Now it’s back to the cardigan…

Dear Me,

I know you’re really loving the cardigan you’re knitting for Lexie, using Sirdar’s Sweet Pea Cardigan pattern. Yes, Sirdar patterns rock. They’re attractive, and they’re generally sized from 0-6 months through 7 years or so, so you can actually knit them for your children before they outgrow them.  And that wonderfully soft 100% alpaca Deliciousness yarn from Three Irish Girls‘ Stash Menagerie club (in that gorgeous colorway that just happens to also be named Sweet Pea), is such a dream to knit with.  I know that all of that makes it hard to put the knitting down.

With that said, possibly, just possibly, knitting into the early morning hours is a bad idea. Now, I’m not saying it is…I’m just suggesting you may want to rethink it. I’m sure you really did read those instructions very carefully–several times. And it was just one, tiny, 4 letter word you missed (no, not any of the 4 letter words you’re saying now), I agree. But sometimes–just sometimes, mind you–even small words have big meanings.

You just–maybe–might want to think about the time you could have saved knitting those 8 rows you’re about to frog and reknit…not to mention the time you just spent searching the pattern company’s website, the Ravelry pattern page, and about 50 different project pages for (non-existent) errata. Yes, I understand that you did catch yourself before you actually posted what would have been a massively embarrassing plea for help on the Pattern forum–but you only caught yourself as you were in the process of typing the line in question…and saw that 4 letter word for the first time.

Just remember–there’s a big difference between doing decreases on the end of every row…and doing decreases on EACH end of every row. Small word, big difference.

Oh, and did I mention alpaca’s a pain to frog? Kinda sticky. Have fun, moron.

No love,
Me

P.S. Dear Me, sorry about the snarky tone there towards the end. I get a little testy when it’s almost 1 am and I just wasted an hour. No disrespect intended–it’s not you, it’s me.

And you did a good job on the frogging.  That after-the-fact lifeline you put in just before that screwed up armhole shaping was perfect–you only missed one stitch but that was easily picked up.  Of course, since you were putting in a lifeline and frogging back anyway, you could have always put it back an inch earlier to get rid of that extra inch you knit because you got into a rhythm and forgot to measure until you were past the length you were supposed to stop at.  Then again, considering your tall children, it was probably best to leave it in.

Now get your butt to bed, idiot.

Just a quick note–I am back online as of today (3 weeks without internet–whew!) and will be putting a post up soon! I really am still here!

No, I haven’t disappeared, nor is the blog dying a slow death! We are in the midst of a move from Texas to the DC area–our 7th move in 13 years, courtesy of the US Navy–and it’s taking a bit longer to get settled than we hoped. We’re hoping we’ve found a house and will be moving in within a week or so…and The Sarah Winchester of Fiber Arts will be back!

In the meantime, here’s some yarn pictures for y’all. First, a recent purchase from Twisted Fiber:

And my gorgeous June yarn from Three Irish Girls‘ Stash Menagerie club, which is destined to become an Amelia:

More on them later, I promise!