Spring has Sprung?

Mother Nature is ignoring my (not so) silent pleas to end the cold dreariness and bring on the sun, already. Damn her. I am so very ready to don some fresh spring togs and enjoy the sunshine. At least today we have not had any of that lovely slushy mush that greeted us yesterday morning.

It has occurred to me that Mother Nature is perhaps withholding my spring until I perform a Spring Cleaning of some sort. Little does she know who she's playing chicken with... Bring it on Mommy Nature!

In lieu of any real spring I have been trying to manufacture one instead, or at least some springy items.

Cherry Garcia by Adrian Bizilia
Malabrigo Chunky Merino in Brisa
Size 10.5 - 16" Addi Turbo Circular

This was a super quick knit: one day, cast-on to bind off. In the Malabrigo Chunky the cowl is super soft and squishy. It will definitely keep the winter (or spring) chill away.

Zune Cozy by Michelle Mooney
Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Vetiver (green) & Paris Nights (navy)
Size 5 & 7 dpns

So admittedly not as springy as the cowl but it does house my happy pink Zune so that counts right? Another quickie knit (I am clearly in instant gratification mode), I think this took me a couple hours at knit night so under non-distracted circumstances I'm sure it could be cranked out lickety-split.

Now here is something genuinely springy:

Flowers! I adore fresh flowers and wish I could afford to have arrangements in my house all the time but alas... perhaps when I win the lottery. I made the above arrangement yesterday at my MOPS meeting (Mothers of Preschoolers). I had such fun. Normally I indulge in a riot of color when I put together a floral arrangemnet but yesterday green was speaking to me and I decided to try the monochromatic/tone-on-tone look. Pretty darn good if I'm allowed to toot my own horn.

That's Beezer the Cranky One in the background. She is a floweraholic. I have to make sure to put any and all flowers out of her range or they become a kitty snack. And I do mean Any and All. She has been known to consume silk flower arrangements in their entirety. Yup. Silk flowers. Not quite the brightest bulb, our Beezer.

Seeing Double

I feel like maybe I've used this post title before but a quick perusal of my old posts says I haven't... hmmm. Still feels too familiar. Oh well, I'll get over it.

I know there are knitters out there who bristle at the thought of making the same pattern twice and, for the most part, I am in agreement with this school of thought. But there are a couple patterns that are just so tremendous I have no problems knitting them more than once.

Case in point: Foliage from Knitty. I knit my first one about a year ago and I loved knitting it. The pattern was interesting but not difficult to follow, quick to finish and the hat itself always garners a compliment or two when I wear it.

So when I needed to make a hat as a donation for a fundraising auction this February I pulled out the pattern again and whipped this up:


The yarn for Foliage #2 is also Malabrigo Chunky, this time is Verde Adriana.

The auction raised money for Jerboa Dance, a modern company here in Seattle that is run by one of my very good friends, Jaime. Jaime always admires my knitting so back in the late fall I made this for her:


Dean Street Hat by Nina Dayton. The yarn is, you guessed it, Malabrigo, this time the worsted weight merino in Holly Hock. This is a fantastic pattern. It is also a quick knit and while it looks cabled, it doesn't require a cable needle as it employs a twist stitch instead. I was lucky enough to be a test knitter for this pattern so I was one of the first kids to get to play with it.

I like the pattern so much in fact, that I made another one for the auction:

No, you're not seeing double and I didn't make a mistake and link to the same project twice. I made a second hat in the very same colorway. And, surprisingly, still fun to knit and not boring at all the second time around.

I wanted to offer a "set" for the auction so to go along with the hat I made a pair of Fetching in the Holly Hock Worsted to match.


And, in case you're wondering if the theme would continue, yes, this was the second time around for this pattern as well. Here is my original set, made for me last year:


Yes, they are incomplete at the time of the photograph, but you get the idea. The yarn is... wait for it... Malabrigo Worsted in Dusty (yes, I do occasionally use other yarns... just not very often). I am much happier with the more recent set. I learned the first time that I don't like the picot bind off (floppy and loose, just not neat looking) so the second time I opted for a decrease bind off instead.


Much better!

In non-knitting news, Matt continues to grow so that I get more and more questions from strangers asking if the kiddos are twins. (See, brought it back to the theme- clutch writing I tell you.) I started getting this question from people a year ago and thought t was completely ridiculous at the time. Now? Not so much. Poor little Gwen "towers" over her baby brother by a mere inch and I think he now has an ounce or two on her in the weight department. And there is no denying that they are very similar looks-wise:

Um, yes, this last little section is to indulge the grandparents... ;)

Happy First Day of Spring!

Pooh. What Happened to the Sun?

Looking outside today it is hard to believe that just a little while ago it looked like this:

Glorious!

This was a couple Fridays ago and I took advantage of a babysitter to steal a little time for myself during the day. I grabbed my lunch and headed down to Golden Gardens to enjoy the sunshine. It was still pretty cool temperature-wise but I could feel Spring waiting in the wings.

I think Spring got stage fright because it is nowhere to be seen now. Oh well. At least I got to indulge for a couple hours...

And what did I do with those hours? I worked on this:

This is Thermis by Kristen Patay.

And here it is completed:

I used Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Natural (unbelievably soft!!!) and my trusty Addi Turbos in size 6. The buttons came from The Fiber Gallery.

I love it! And really, if it isn't going to be Spring- could it be just a little colder so I can use this? I hate to think I'm going to have to put it away until the fall :(

And just to spite me for maligning it, the sun has come out as I put the final touches on this post. Go figure.

New Year, New FO

I thought I'd start the year with some knitting content.

I'll pause while you all stand back up from the floor...

OK, here it is:

This was a Christmas gift for Todd and I am inordinately pleased with it. The pattern is VERY loosely based on an Irish Hiking Hat (Ravelry link). Loosely as in, "I cast on the 96 stitches the pattern called for and did a cable and rib patterned hat." Everything else I changed: order of the ribs and cables, width of the cables, height of the cables, the decreases... you get the idea.

The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl Ten and I knit the hat on a size 8 Addi Turbo 16" circular and dpns.

I like the hat a lot but mostly I am pleased as punch with the way I worked out the decreases:

They make a fun, swirly pattern!

Should anyone be interested in the alterations I made, let me know- I actually took copious notes (shocking) so I know what I did.

It cannot possibly be the end of the year!

Hi all!

I am madly trying to finish up what feels like a billion things so no real post tonight, just a quick one to say:

Happy New Year! Wishing you all love and happiness in 2009!

They'll Turn on You So Fast...

As I mentioned in my last post, it has been quite snowy. Gwen has enthusiastically embraced all the frozen goodness, happily romping in yard and sledding down the street.

Until now. I'm thinking a case of housitosis is setting in:

G: Mommy, is it still cold?

Me: Yup. Still cold and snowy.

G: Mommy... is spring almost here?

Winter Wonderland

There is much knitting here at Chez Sheep: a beep for [censored] for example, but I'm afraid I will have to wait to share those projects with you until the items arrive at their intended destinations.

It has been cold enough here this past week that I have actually had opportunity to wear some of my hand knits- very exciting! And cozy :)

Now I admit that my decade here in Seattle has made me a skeptic, winter weather-wise. I hear the little weather dude earnestly predict snow for our area and I see the local news reporters go through their song & dance, touting the latest "Snowpocalypse" but my brain? It says, "Meh. Not happening. Not a snowball's chance in hell." (If you'll pardon the awful pun.) 99.7% of the time the predictions are wrong. No snow. Or at least not enough to alter my plans in any serious way. At most, we get something like this:

My backyard, earlier in the week.

And, the forecasts were wrong again this weekend. But... this time they were wrong in the opposite direction. Our snowfall was supposed to taper off late last night or earlier today changing to snow showers or freezing rain.

Um..... Not snow much:

This was my back porch almost three hours ago. Our most recent snowfall (the third this week!) is still going strong more than 24 hours after it started. Now some of you who live in hardier climes may scoff that a mere 7"-10" can be a serious Snow Event. But let me remind you that I live in Seattle. A city of many BIG hills, drivers with little to no experience driving in snow (heck, they can't even drive in the rain and it rains all the time) and woefully little snow removal equipment.

Snowpocalypse indeed.

Retrograde

I cannot believe that there are only two and half weeks until Christmas- where has the time gone? I think the late Thanksgiving and the resulting shorter pre-Christmas run up really has my brain flummoxed (love that word- I think we should bring back into regular use, it so precised describes that sort of baffled "what the heck?" feeling I experience so frequently these days).

I think I'm making progress. Gifts have been purchased. Gifts have been made, not all are done but I'm getting there. I am slowly getting the house decorated...

And... my children are slowly un-decorating it for me. My main accomplishment thus far was decorating the tree. Gwen's big accomplishment?

Removing the ornaments.

"But Mama, I liiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiike holding them."

well. Who can argue with that kind of logic?

sigh

I'm an Auntie!!

Yesterday my sister in law (hubby's brother's wife) gave birth to a beautiful little boy making me an aunt for the first time (I'm not posting a photo because I don't know how they'd feel about it).

Guess I'd better buckle down and finish up the knitted gifts... I'm working on the trio from the original Mason-Dixon Knitting




Baby Bib o' Love, still needs a button...



Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono. I'm now considerably further along than this, the back & left sleeve are completed and I have about ten more rows to go on the left side.



The Baby Genius Burp Cloth - done. Thank goodness something is done.

If you are wondering about the massive quantities of yellow for a baby boy I'd like to point out that the sex of the little one was a surprise until yesterday. This is actually why I am still knitting at this late date (no, it was just my natural tendency to procrastinate this time). I was all excited to knit cute little boy or girl things- had lists of them in my mind- but then my brother-in-law told us they weren't going to find out what they were having.

Plbbbbbbbbbbt.

All the air left my balloon of baby knitting happiness. I just couldn't get excited to knit unisex baby things. No idea why. It was terribly irrational. But then a week ago I realized that the due date was RAPIDLY approaching and some knitting must be done, so here you have it. Hopefully I'll have it all finished it the next couple days...

PS. I know. Two posts in a week. Try not to faint.

December?

Um, what happened to November? I swear I was just dressing the kiddos up in Halloween costumes yesterday.

I hope you all had scrumptious Thanksgiving dinners and survived the madness that was our retail establishments this past weekend. For our part we had a quiet turkey dinner at home with all the fixins'...



...and pie of course!



And we limited our post-Thanksgiving shopping to getting a Christmas tree so we have nary a stubbed toe to show for the Black Friday craziness.

I have been knitting up a storm recently but many of the items will be winging their way to rest beneath Christmas trees so I cannot share them here yet.

So instead I'll share one of my favorite projects from this past year that I haven't shown you here yet.

Pattern: Faberge Cowl by Nina Machlin Dayton (pattern available on Ravelry)

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Vetiver

Needles: Size 7 Addi Turbos (20" I think, maybe 16")

Beads: Size 6/0 Japanese Seed Beads

I knit this as a test knit for Nina and I love it. The beads add just the right touch (they are place with a crochet hook instead of pre-stringing the beads). This is a fantastic pattern: clear instructions, a fun, interesting knit, and beautiful result.

A Little Math

So looking over things I discovered some disturbing math. I've only posted here 11 time in 2008. That's 1.1 posts per month but that isn't what disturbed me (although maybe it should).


You might think that no posts on a knitting blog might mean no knitting:

0 p = 0 FO

But that isn't the case. In fact, the opposite is true. Since the beginning of the year I've completed 23 knitted items.

11 p = 23 FO

Even if I had managed to put a finished object in each of my paltry posts (I didn't) I still would be 12 FO's behind when it comes to sharing. In reality, I think I have 18 or so FO's to share.


That's a lot. Daunting almost.

But I shall not be defeated.


As I have nothing clever or profound to add I'll just get straight to it. I was going to do this chronologically but I am missing some pictures so it'll have to be haphazard.


Last week I decided the kiddos needed Pumpkin Hats and so, voila!




Pumpkin hats. This is the Little Pumpkin hat (Ravelry link) from Itty-Bitty Hats.
.
I used Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Glazed Carrot, Sapphire Green, and Marron Oscuro and knit them on my trusty size 7 Addi Turbos and dpns. The pattern goes up to a 1-2 year size but my little ones have not so little heads so I opted to use a worsted weight yarn instead of the called for DK weight. The hats are a little big but they'll fit for several years- better big than too small :) This is a quick knit, each hat took me less than two days to knit so I'm sure some of you speedier knitters out there could crank these out in no time. Overall, I am very happy with the results and hope that the weather this fall is cool enough that they get lots of use.


And while we're on the subject of hats, a while back (April!!?) I did a test knit for a friend of mine from Ravelry.



This is the Warwick Hat by Nina Machlin Dayton.


I made the child's small size but Matt has since outgrown it so I guess I need to make another one (in a solid color this time). The yarn is Malabrigo worsted again, the main color is Lime-Blue and the contrast color is Lettuce. And once again I used my Addi Turbos (size 8) and dpns. The hat is knot from the top down and has this cool contrast braid detail at the top and down at the brim. I'm bummed it's too small now...


So that's it for today. I don't want to over-do it. See you soon with more FOs and if I ever get caught up with those maybe I'll show you what I'm working on now... what a concept.

Fully Vested

I finished my gift for Todd just in the nick of time, threw a ribbon around it and handed it over to him minutes before our anniversary ended.

This is the Subtle Stripe Vest by Lara Killian. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash in a Green/Blue/Grey with flecks of gold (#867 I think- it is a great color). I used my trusty Addi Turbos in size 5.

This was my largest garment project to date and I am pretty happy with the results. The vest is exactly what I wanted: simple, but with just enough detail to keep it from being boring. If I make this vest again I will pick up more stitches along the armholes and neck than the instructions indicate because I felt the ribbing was not as “dense” as I would have liked in an ideal world.

I also need to add that I liked the yarn more than I thought I would. While I would never call it soft it never bothered my hands and was quite tolerable. I anticipate using it again in the future. I feel like I am the last one on the Cascade 220 bandwagon but better late than never, right?

I'm just a Jamaican Bobsledder

For so many athletes the joy of the Olympics is in the participation. The accomplishment is merely making it to the Games perhaps setting a new personal best if they are lucky.

And so it is for me in the Ravelympics. I will not be completing my event, the Shawl Relay. Let's just say I am emulating the US track & field relay teams and I fumbled the baton hand-off.

Actually, the hand-off is the problem. Instead of attacking my Clementine Shawlette with single-minded focus and determination a la Michael Phelps, I spread myself too thin, taking on another large project at virtually the same time, the vest for Todd.

That's not to say I haven't tried. I've made a good effort, putting in the time and doing the training. I felt good going in but it just didn't happen for me this time. The Clementine will not be done before the closing ceremonies. Here are my results:

The shawl has passed the halfway point. The first half is complete and looks great. I'm just into Chart B for the second half, a few more rows than shown above. I am only working on the Clementine when Todd is around because I need to dedicate every free moment when he isn't present to this:

The Anniversary Vest. I am half a row away from dividing for the front and back (two more inches than pictured). FINALLY! It is going to be really hard to finish it by the 31st but I am going to go out there, stick to my game plan, and give 110%.

Hopefully I'll be back with a finished vest and fewer sports cliches next week. Have a great weekend!

Ravelry Killed My Blogging Star...

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having lovely summers... I haven't been reading any blogs lately so I'm a bit behind- hopefully everything's groovy.

Groovy? Really? Man, I am out of practice.

Anyway, we're doing well here at Chez Sheep. A quick catch up:

The littles are still cute.

Matt turned one!!!

Gwen now thinks everything is a balance beam (even before the Olympics).

And I am still knitting...

gasp

This is my main Ravelympics project, the Clementine Shawlette from Interweave Knits (that's a Ravelry link, if you aren't signed up, MOM, get over there and do it). The yarn is Malabrigo Silky Merino in Camote and it is just delightful.

I'm not as far along as I'd like to be and I'm starting to think I won't finish before the closing ceremonies because I am also working on this:

The Subtle Stripe Vest by Lara Killian. This is going to be a gift for Todd for our anniversary at the end of the month so it has a definite deadline. (And I really hope that he doesn't read my blog... he says he doesn't so if he lied, well... too bad. No surprise for you.) The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash which I like more than I thought I would. As much as I would have like to use Malabrigo Worsted for this vest Todd would felt it faster than you can say "Handknit."

That's it for now... I don't want to over do it- I might pull something as I work my way back into blogging shape.

Still more crazy weather!

We went out to brunch this morning and as we sat there big fat flakes started pouring from the sky... Insane. Did Mother Nature lose her calendar?

The kids were sick all week:noses running like faucets, huge hacking coughs, ear infections, and yes, throwing up. Good times. I'm a little worn out from all the associated tasks and the increased crankiness so I'll apologize for my incoherent post ahead of time.

Since the little ones were sick, I was stuck in the house most of the week so I am suffering from cabin fever and I am really looking forward to getting out to see the Yarn Harlot tomorrow night at Third Place Books. I haven't picked up her new book yet but I plan on getting it tomorrow as well. I'm excited to reading the book since her books always make me laugh out loud. Unfortunately, I realized tonight that I do not have any socks on the needles... Going to see the Harlot without a sock to work on. Yikes. Possible heresy. I may have to rectify the situation before tomorrow night. Hmmmm.... what to do? What to do?

When last we talked knitting I was stalled on the cardigan I was knitting for Gwen. I'm still stalled. I guess I have Second Sleeve Syndrome. My goal is to get the sleeve cast on this week. We'll see how that goes, I'm not holding out any great hope...

I think I had also just cast on for my Foliage. I am happy to say that that particular piece of knitting is no longer a WIP but a lovely Finished Object! Hooray!

Foliage from Knitty knit in Malabrigo Chunky on Size 9 & 10 Addi Turbo circulars and a set of size 10 dpns.Finally, a hat for me. ::happy dance::

Global Warming??

Ahhhhhh.... April in Seattle.

Really. This was the view from my front porch this evening. Craziness personified. And let me ask, if April showers bring May flowers, what the hell does April snow bring you?

More blogging soon. Have actually been knitting. At least when the littles ones are not spewing snot and spit up on me. Good times.

More later.

And... the return of cupcakes (da-da-daaaaaaaa).

Definition

In the wake out the latest pathetic disaster from the publishing world, allow me a moment to provide a little public service to all you wanna-be memoirists out there:

From the American Heritage Dictionary:

mem·oir (měm'wär', -wôr') n.
1. An account of the personal experiences of an author.
2. An autobiography. Often used in the plural.
3. A biography or biographical sketch.

In other words, if it didn't happen to you (for reals) it's fiction. Sell it as such.

A Knitting Update

I have been plugging along on a project for Gwen but I have yet to share it with you so allow me to rectify the situation.

This is the Lace Edge Cardigan from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby. I am using Baby Cashmerino in Chocolate and I had to go down a needle size (#2) to get gauge. I know the picture doesn't really show you anything but right now the cardigan is pretty much a brown blob of garter stitch so trust me, a picture of it all laid out is even less interesting.

So far I have finished the body (fronts & back are knit as one piece) and the above sleeve is now finished.

I need to cast on for the second sleeve but I am a bit bored with all the brown garter stitch so I did this instead:

Yes, I have finally jumped on the Foliage hat bandwagon. Goodness knows I have enough Malabrigo in my stash, I need to start using some of it. (I uploaded all my Malabrigo to Ravelry last night so now I know exactly how much of the yummy stuff I have been, ahem, collecting.) I am using Malabrigo Chunky in Lettuce and so far I am very happy with the project (I'm a little further along than in than in the photo). The pattern is easy but interesting. I found the beginning of the hat a little fiddly with the dpn's but I have switched to a circular now so that is behind me and really, it wasn't annoying enough to prevent me from making another hat in this pattern. I think part of the problem is also that I have been using small needles so much (see brown garter stitch blob above for example) that I find that the 10.5's feel like tree trunks!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures taken in the next couple days so I can show you everything I have on the needles. I have a shocking number of WIPs right now... Which is not good because I feel I case of cast-on-itis coming on, the downfall of documenting my delicious Malabrigo stash and reminding myself of what I could be making instead of what I am making... because you know, the grass is always greener when it is Lettuce Malabrigo.