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knitting: commentary
30 june 2003 almost
sugar sweet is done!
i started seaming sunshine!
i finished sophie's halter!
sorry for the lack of commentary; it's late and i have to get up at an ungodly hour to pick up the parentals at the airport. sophie is going to be so happy they are back from guam/bali. me too.
29 june 2003 detour
i did some of the seaming i needed to do for sugar sweet. both sleeves are set in, and one side/sleeve seam is sewn except for the turned back cuff. i even finished the border on the buttonhole edge; i ended up with a striped reverse stockinette because both single crochet and crabstitch crochet just looked wrong.
then, i decided i didn't want to seam any more. and i decided i was tired of knitting for other people's children. so, i grabbed the skein of yarn that sophie picked out for herself about a year ago, and i whipped out the weekend halter.
there was no pattern, i just measured around her chest and went from there. and someone from on high must have been watching, because if you look closely, you can see all the yarn that is left over -- about 2 feet. couldn't have planned that if i'd tried.
stockinette, with a single crochet border round the whole edge, to stop the curling. it looks particularly nice along the edges with decreases.
i'm not sure how i'll deal with the back. maybe stitch it closed at the top, maybe lace it up with the remaining 2 feet of yarn. but i'm definitely going to use the yellow star buttons, also picked out by sophie, to attach the straps.
now, if the weather will just hold, she'll be able to wear it this week. we've had an unusually nice june, but the weather almost always turns cool and rainy for the 4th of july.
26 june 2003 accessories
the hat and booties for sugar sweet are done. i just need to either i-cord or braid some ties out of the tiny ball of pink i have left over. i was completely sweating the yarn on this project; i think i have exactly enough purple left to put the crabstitch border on the buttonhole edge and not an inch more. i'm going to have to seam with some close but no cigar purple i happen to have.
i tried a different way of seaming garter stitch pieces -- more like mattress stitch than back stitch. i am extremely pleased with how it came out.
this ensemble should be done tomorrow, completely, so then it is one more bootie and more seaming than i care to think about for sunshine. then? back to the baby einstein. there is a slim chance i will have all the layettes done by the end of the month. it's a goal, anyhow.
22 june 2003 pieces pieces pieces
i ignored the baby einstein and instead picked up the sugar sweet. though the new skein of purple is noticably lighter than the old one, having it in stripes makes the difference negligible to the naked eye. that's my story and i'm sticking to it.
if this bloody cold wasn't kicking my ass, i'd start seaming it tonight. instead i cast on for the matching hat, but i don't think i am up for even mindless garter stitch tonight. off to bed, to conquer more stitches tomorrow.
21 june 2003 recent acquisitions
should i be acquiring anything new at all? of course not! does that stop me? of course not!
24 balls of berroco pronto, destined to be a dress for sophie and a sweater for me. we'll be the stripey pair! i am fighting the urge to dive right in, this is great yarn. it must be great, if i am willing to wear non-flattering stripes across my ample bustline.
buttons for the sunshine layette, and the baby einstein. i think i am covered for buttons this go 'round of baby sweaters. i'm seriously thinking of going the pullover route for the next three i have to make.
these i didn't buy, i made. i keep losing my stitch markers, so i figured big pretty ones might stick around longer. or rather, i'd care enough about not losing them to keep better track.
i'm just back from dropping off the asymmetrical layette at joanne's baby shower. i have a wicked cold and fever, so i decided it would be best if i didn't stay and infect the world. makes me a little sad; i wanted not only to see if she liked my gift, but also to see the other knitted things she is bound to get from her other knitting friends. ah well, such is. off to take some cold meds and then knit on the baby einstein.
20 june 2003 ?
bunny? or armadillo? you decide.
19 june 2003 one down
the asymmetrical is done! well, it needs two buttons. i have two metal ones but i'm not quite satisfied with them, so off to the store tomorrow. i'm very pleased with how the whole thing turned out, considering the problems it had at the start. i'd be happier with smaller booties, too, but if that's the biggest complaint i have, we have to consider this a success.
rather than seam something else, i started in on the booties for sunshine. this one is just about done, just needs a little edging and the little strap that will make it mary-jane-ish. the pattern is from one of the bouton d'or books, and is the first of many things i'll be making from its pages.
and the einstein! i have less of the dark green than the light so i'm going to rip back the light until it matches the dark, finish the sleeves in black and then knit little 2"x2" squares in the greens and sew them on the forearms. it looks good as i am imagining it; we'll have to see the practical application.
17 june 2003 the finish line
the baby einstein is almost done; i'm not going to have enough of the two greens to finish the sleeves, so i am going to make them half black. i'll have enough of the greens and gray to stripe the hat and booties. but that's for another day. today? today was about starting the finishing. so i blocked the asymmetrical cardigan. and seamed one side of it. also wove in more than half the ends. there were many more ends than were warranted by such a tiny garment, by the way. but my mattress stitch, she is impeccable.
also? made the hat. the cutest hat ever. little hunter cap boy is what i have dubbed this poor child, even though he has yet to wear the hat. has yet to be born, in fact.
one matching bootie done, not yet seamed. i have another long meeting tomorrow so i think this whole set will be done by tomorrow night.
then, back to the einstein. and the sunshine. and the sugar sweet for which the extra skein of yarn arrived, and arrived in a lighter color than the existing purple. of course. we'll work around it.
12 june 2003 decisions decisions indecisions
the skein of purple yarn needed to move forward on layette 5 has not yet arrived. this is making me cranky. so rather than finishing up layettes 3 and 4, i started number 6. it is a baby einstein jacket and i chose it primarily because it would look good in color blocks, and i could therefore divest myself further of stash. secondarily, because it is absolutely mindless and therefore great for the interminable meetings i have been sitting in this week.
it is a rather clever design, though i don't expect i'll ever make the adult size. but i have never picked up stitches so easily and perfectly as when popping through the slipstitch edging. i really must remember that for future reference.
so now, i must hurry up and finish so i can decide which sweater, and attendant hat and booties, will have to be rushed to completion for next saturday's shower: the einstein or the asymmetrical cardigan. either will work for the boy joanne is expecting.
a new fabric/craft store just opened up near me. and of course, completely lacking in self-restraint, i went in. i was good, though, just procurring 1 skein of noro kureyon, 1 of a sock yarn and these buttons. the purple are for the sugar sweet layette, some of the stars may go for the sunshine layette, the fish are for sophie [we'll have to decide on a sweater worthy of them later] and the red are good for a multitude of buttoning needs.
06 june 2003 in which we interrupt our knitting, for more knitting
i. finished the 4th of july hat. sophie is pleased. it is terribly cute on her, and big enough she'll be able to wear it for a while.
ii. tried to finish sugar sweet; this is how far i made it before running out of purple. in all the 138 [!] distinct yarns i have, there is not one gray that matches this pink and purple nicely. so, i broke down and ordered just one skein of the purple from patternworks. once it arrives, i'll finish the sleeves, hat and booties and be done with it.
iii. since i couldn't work on layette one, i shifted to two. the pattern called for a crocheted hat, but i didn't like it. so i made one up. i think it is not only cute as a bug, but also matches the spirit of the outfit better than the close-fitting and lacy crocheted version. and i am either getting faster, or i drifted into a space-time continuum rift, as i managed to both start and finish this today.
iv. i dreamt last night i went to a baby shower without a gift. my subconscious must be losing track of all the babies this year. here's the list, just to put my mind at ease:
- tom/stacey : january : boy : done
- jackie/joe : july : girl : in progress
- joanne/chris : july : boy : in progress
- gernot/karin : july : girl : done
- enoch/kerrie : july : girl : in progress
- mike/beth : august : ? :
- florus/susanne : october : girl :
- lorraine/nicholas : october : girl :
- craig : december : girl :
03 june 2003 patriotic break
i needed to get away from baby sweaters for a day. i cast on for this over the weekend, realized i hated the red i was originally using, ripped it, and then recast on this morning. i made it this far today what with meetings at the office and a cd's worth of knitting time tonight.
now, back to the itty-bitty grindstone. i need to finish the sugar sweet so i can have a seaming party. the shower invitations are starting to arrive for the four july babies on their way into the world.
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