More knitted stuff

Although I wanted to strangle myself with this yarn at one point, the Biased Eyelet Stole by Eunny Jang is finished! It wasn't a hard knit by any means, but the knitting went on forever and ever. Or it felt like it did.









Now I just have to decide what to knit next. Or do I tackle an unfinished object? Decisions, decisions...

Little Majolica

Little Majolica by Kristin Nichols from Interweave Knits, Fall 2006

This was the first project I've knitted quickly since Sigourney was born. I knitted it up in about a week and a half. It's an easy, pleasing fair isle pattern and I will definitely knit another one. This particular sweater was a gift for my niece. I'm happy with how it turned out, although my seaming skills need more practice.


A close up.


Is it time for five month old pic-spam? Yes...


At five months, my daughter is wonderful and so much fun. If she had her way, she would stand up all day long.


At the moment, I am a single mom and always looking for things Sigourney and I can do together. Montreal has the most beautiful Botanical Gardens. I bought an annual pass so that we could go every week. As this is my first summer in the city in over a decade, I find that I need to be outside as much as possible. The Gardens are terrific because I can pass an entire day there. Even better, there's artistic inspiration to be found in the plants and flowers.

This one reminded me of a fishtail braid.

Strange pods.

Here is the Bonsai greenhouse.


And flowers!



These last plants I photographed because the name cracked me up. Bloody Begonias. They belong in a Harry Potter book or herbology class.

Early May

Just a little experiment.

It was a gift for a former teacher's retirement party. Students past and present contributed to a box of 'samples'. It's my first official piece since the wee one was born.

Yet another woven scarf.

This one was a gift for my friend T. Note to self: black on black doesn't photograph very well.

I'm intending to redesign around here and make a new banner but I a)suck at banner making, b)forget, and c)remember, but only at inopportune moments. Bah!

Anouk

Anouk by Kate Gilbert.

I think every new mom or mom-to-be (or auntie-to-be, godmother-to-be, grandmother-to-be) finds Anouk hard to resist. This pattern is fun because it’s so easy to personalize it. I made the six month size Anouk. My Estelle Cloud Cotton yarn required size 5.0 mm needles, so I used the same number of stitches as the 3 month size but used the six month measurements. I decided to go with a single pocket, only two tabs, and I wrapped my buttons in yarn.

I haven’t blocked it yet and I’d like to sew a simple shift to be worn under it. It won't fit Sigourney until the summer so I have plenty of time.

Thank you....

I can't believe the fluffy blob of knitted yarn in my previous post came out looking like this.


Blocking really fixes everything.

This was a very slow knit for me. Partly because of the wee one - some days I only knit two rows - and partly because I found knitting with lace-weight yarn on large bamboo needles awkward. I kept expecting the awkwardness to ease up as I progressed with the pattern but it never did. In the end, it was all worth it. This pattern is fabulous and I would/will knit another one.

Here is a glimpse of it in the gift box.


My husband made the box out of black cherry wood.


The gift was for someone very special... specifically, our wonderful, wonderful midwife.


I have a few thank yous and oodles of good karma to send out too!

First, thank you to Gannet! This will fit the little one in the fall and it is exactly her colours.


Thank you to Sarah! This will fit her any day now. I can't wait! (And I will post photos for you).



Thank you to Donni! The print is beautiful. The yarn is inviting my creativity.


And thank you to the many people who have sent me e-mails, ravelry messages and comments.

This post makes me look more productive than I am....

What can I say? She's cute, feisty, always hungry, has some sort of internal radar that goes off if I am more than twenty feet away from her. Every day she is bigger, stronger, more alert, and more interested in the world around her. We're having fun getting to know her.

The week before she was born, I knit her a few hats (pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts). Let me go on record as stating that this pattern is both simple and adorable and if you are ever in need of a last minute baby gift, this can be whipped up in two hours.


In December, I also knit a Ribbed Soaker. It's still in need of buttons. It will probably need buttons until she's five.



My husband hopped on the handmade bandwagon too. We needed a changing table, but I didn't want to buy a freestanding one - it seemed like such a waste of space. So he built one that fit over an old dresser we intend to give to her. I am very happy with it. He even built a custom shelf for the wall above it where we store all her cloth diapers.


New project underway...

A scarf for Ally

Knitting a lace scarf is perhaps not the wisest breastfeeding project. For one, the needles are too long and that means holding them in an awkward position so as to avoid poking your infant. Two, babies don't understand the time old knitter's expression, 'wait until I finish my row.' Which means I'm always counting religiously. And being sleep-deprived means I've done my fair share of tinking. I hate tinking. I hate tinking lace more than anything in the knitted world except for tinking fisherman's rib with lace-weight yarn. However, this scarf is a very important gift and I'm determined to continue. I am holding out hope that once it is blocked it will look like the one in the photo. I also hope those are not famous last words...

My loom arrived at the end of December. I thought I would give it a name (as everyone seems so fond of naming their spinning wheels and looms) but due to the sheer size of it, it has been dubbed 'the Beast'.

The first thing I wove on it was an alpaca scarf.

Valerie's Scarf.

I meant to 'full' it more than I 'felted' it and I am annoyed with myself about that but getting over it.

Finally, I finished the cowl (also from Last Minute Knitted Gifts).

It's wonderfully soft, but (alas, alas), my one complaint with the pattern would be that it's too big. I knew better. Beforehand, I browsed the project photos at Ravelry and noticed that everyone's cowl drooped a little too low around their neck. Did I listen to my gut instinct and reduce the number of stitches??? Noooooo. I may find a way to fix the problem, or give it someone with a head and neck begger than myself.

Finally!

'Sigourney'.

Born Jan 22nd at 9:37 am, at home, with the help of my wonderful midwife and my anxious husband (who was equally wonderful). Labour started on Sunday night, but slowed and sped up over the next few days so that I had no idea when she would arrive. I tried to stay patient and wait it out (beautifully distracted when I could be by events like Obama's Inauguration). Active labour finally kicked in late Wednesday night and lasted until the next morning. I feel so lucky and blessed that I was able to have her at home with such amazing support. It was an incredibly transformative and sacred experience (now blissfully fuzzy) that I will always treasure.

We now have lots of parenting confidence to build up, as we are complete newbies to all of this.