The problem w/ kids and knitting. . .

Is that both take a lot of time and attention, but the kids grow and knit sweaters don't.

I started this sweater last fall and with only the sleeves left to finish it fell, neglected, to the bottom of my knitting basket. I had a lot of "adoption" knitting to do, then Christmas knitting, more adoption knitting, not to mention taking care of Little Sir, traveling, ect. ect. . . you all know what I mean.



So, when I pulled it from my basket to finish it, it was pretty clear that it wasn't going to fit Little Sir anymore. He just had a pretty significant grown spurt and is now wearing 3T clothing. (He may not be doomed to be short, after all!)



But, I love the color and the simple design. So I finished it up, and mailed it off to Princess P. for ET to wear next fall. It will make me happy to see it on him. (The only thing I ask in return. . . . PICTURES!!!)



The pattern was improvised from The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns raglan recipe.
The yarn is one is a DIY yarn I had made at Yarnia is Portland. (if you haven't been there, GO! So much fun!)
I knit it on a US size 7 needle.
The cable is just two 2x2 cables next to one another, each twisting in toward the center.

I love my nieces and nephews. I'm so glad that there are several knitters in our family, though. I would make myself crazy trying to knit cute things for all of them by myself. Can't wait to see this little guy sporting his new sweater next fall!

I HAVE been knitting

I just haven't been blogging about it.

I want to revive my knitting blog. Adoption has occupied my free time for a year now. I am ready to have it move to the back burner for a while. Knitting is so much less emotional. :)

So, here is what I have been knitting on (which is adoption related- it will be a gift for the birth mother of our son.)



I'm kind of loving it.



It's a super simple pattern. I made it up, but I was sure that someone else must have all ready "published" it somewhere. It's so easy and so pretty.

Well, I went through 20 pages on Ravelry and couldn't find it, so I guess I will have to write it up when I am finished.

In the mean time, let me tell you about the yarn. . . OH THE YARN!

It is Shepherd's Wool by Stonehedge Fibers. I think it may be the perfect yarn. It is the softest Merino I have ever felt. It comes in a very generous hank.



(One hank has stretched into 47 inches (abt 120cm) of scarf!)

And the Colors, oh, these photos do not do this subtle heather justice. It has just tiny hints or royal blue mixed with with that amazing turquoise.

It's been a while since I enjoyed a project this much. I don't know if it is the yarn, or the pattern, or the love I feel for the woman I am knitting it for. I imagine it is a combination of all of those things.

I am dubbing it Stork.

Recovery is Slow

Well, I am beginning to recover from the massive amounts of stress from finals, graduation, company, brother's custody battle, a wedding, travel, a family reunion, two VERY involved adoption scams. . . let's just say it didn't surprise me much when I saw that I hadn't posted here in a month. Well, let's fix that.

I haven't really had a chance to do much knitting, but there has been a little, and at least I am thinking about it.

See


Knitting


Knitting


Oh- and SPINNING


- on my new (to me) Schacht Matchless spinning wheel (SQUEEEEE!!!) We were up in a little town north or here to have Logan's (dog) teeth cleaned and while we were waiting we went in this little yarn shop and one of their regulars was selling hers, as she had developed arthritis and couldn't use it much anymore.

Well, financially, this wasn't the best time for us to splurge on something like this, but I have NEVER seen a used Matchless for sale before and so we talked it over, figured it out, and the Duke (the amazing husband that he is) decided it could be a (very) early Christmas present. That was Tuesday, and can you believe that today is the first day I've been able to spin on it. I can tell you it instantly increased the Zen in the house. I should remember to spin more, not less when I am tying myself in knots. . . it does wonders to untie them. Oh, and it spins like a dream. . .

Now, off to bed to dream about spinning (or maybe a little more spinning to get me in the right mind set for dreaming ;)

Don't Laugh

So there are probably several mothers out there who will laugh at this statement, but I will make it none-the-less.

Lace knitting and parenting are not natural bedfellows.

This is not the first time I have knit this lace stitch. It is the first time since Little Sir arrived in Yarnnation. Little did I know the two are not terribly compatible.

"What!" you say in shock and disbelief, "lace is not easily knit with constant interruption and lack of sleep?"

Despite the slow progress and the multiple rip backs, and the dozens of picked up yarn overs, it is coming along beautifully.



The yarn is Jojoland Harmony purchased at Little Knits (the link will take you there.) I have lost the ball band, but despite the widely varied color differences between the photos and my yarn, I believe it is color HC03. I just love the colors and the color changes keep me interested.



The pattern is from Evelyn Clark's Knitted Lace Triangles.

Spinning and Swimming

It's too hot to knit. I made a major mistake in the lace shawl I am working on.



It's too hot to spin. I plied an entire bobbin in the same direction that I spun the singles


This is the lovely BFL I am spinning- this bobbin plied in the appropriate direction.

Thank goodness it is going to cool down tomorrow.

Little Sir thought water was a better medium than wool.


The next Michael Phelps, perhaps?








He was so happy that he could kick and swim around the pool to his heart content.

Sleep is Over-rated. . . No, Not Really.

I have been knitting baby hats any time that I am sitting still. Soon I will tell you why, it is just taking longer than I thought.

What me overestimate my ability to get things done in a timely manner??? Never!!! You mean I DO need to sleep? When did that happen?

Anyway, here is some knitting to admire while I try to capture the headless chicken running through my life.

Swamped

It's mainly of my own doing, so I won't complain. Here is a little preview of one of the many things I have up my sleeve.

It's Not All Baby and No Fiber

Just mostly. . .

Here is what has been happening on the fiber end of things.


It started with three different colors of roving. - Merino. I separated it into varying lengths and started to spin one at a time, alternating colors.


I Navajo plyed it to maintain the separation of colors. The ending three ply yarn was a heavy sock weight.


Wound into a cake and you can see the color changes.


Last but not least, knit into a sock. It's my first sock knit from handspun and I love love love it! It's mostly finished now, I just have to graft the toe together.

I'm fairly certain I have enough all ready spun to knit up the next one, but it may have to wait for a bit.. . I seem to be having a bout of SSS (that's "second sock syndrome" for you non-knitters out there.) Besides the handspun sock I have two others more or less finished and I am seriously considering casting on for another first sock before starting any of the second socks. Maybe I will just start wearing mismatched socks like my friend Miles!

An Epoch Begins?

The Genesis. . . (because a project like this should have its cast on called something grand.)
-CO 250 stitches with a size US 2 (2.25mm) needle.



Exodus- will this sweater take 40 years of wandering in the wilderness to finish? Or perhaps a miracle akin to the parting of the Red Sea will be required.



Numbers: (yes, I know I skipped Leviticus- you try to relate the Levitical Law to knitting)
Now I have to increase to 264 stitches and knit a trillion little tiny stitches before I get to more color work. I do get to switch to a size 3 needles, though. Yep, I must be nuts!

Here we GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. . . .

Proof

These are the needles- (size US 3)


That met this yarn-


That knit this swatch-


That proves the Duchess is INSANE!

Yes the time has come at last. It has been over a year since I bought the kit. The thing must be knit (on size US 2 and 3 needles.)

Really I am looking forward to the challenge. I'll let you know how I feel after 8 zillion stockinette stitches before I even get to any significant color work. Yep- I do love my Duke.


Mama, you are crazy!

Baby vs. Fiber

In this corner we have the Ultra Feather Weight Champion Time Snatcher: Little Sir.

In this corner we have the Ultra Fiber Weight Champion Time Snatcher: Knitting and Spinning.

I will give you .37 seconds to determine who is going to win the title of All Time Ultimate Time Snatcher!



Here is a sweater that I started sometime during my pregnancy.
The bottom is my hand spun, the top is Cascade 220.

When these photos were taken I had run out of yarn with about two inches of the sweater to go (it was knit bottom-up so two inches of small neck rounds.)



It took me about 3 days to make it to the yarn store to get the yarn needed to finish the sweater.
It took me another 4 days to get it wound into a cake.
It took me about 20 minutes to finish the silly thing.



I will have FO pics, oh you know, as soon as I can find time to put the sweater on, try to get the Duke to take more than 2 photos for me to choose from, when it's light outside (it was still light at 5:00 pm today- YAHOO!) and manage to do it all without getting spit-up on.

So what I'm telling you here is, don't hold your breath.


I did get a tiny bit of spinning done as well. This lovely BFL that Sarah brought me while I was frantically searching for ways to keep my sanity that didn't involve my pregnancy disabled hands, has been in single form on bobbins for many a moon now. It was time to ply some of it. It's lovely. I just love the color.



I went to Spinning Night on Friday as well, and got a very small amount of spinning done, but it did feel good to have my right foot being used in yarn production as opposed to sleep production (I often use the same treadle motion on Little Sir's bouncy chair to lull him to sleep.)



Superwash Merino singles, destined to become a two ply sock weight.

And there you go, a full fledged fiber post.

Wait until you see what craziness I am planning next. . .

Distractions

Thank you all again for your comments, emails, phone calls. I really do appreciate it. The Duke and I did make our decision, after one of the worst nights yet, we decided to try the second, more dangerous, drug. Again, it did nothing. Now we wait for Wed. and another Dr.'s appointment.

In the meantime, some of you have asked if there is anything you can do. . . well, the only thing that helps right now is being distracted. So distract me!!! Post to your blogs, they are a great distraction for me.

Here are a few things around here that I have employed in the distraction arena.


My new computer desk (housing my computer of course!)


Chocolate in adorable packaging. A Chinese friend of mine once gave me a package of these mushroom shaped candies, and not only was I hooked on the candy (so yummy!) the packaging makes me smile every time.


The candies really are shaped just like they are depicted (cartoon style) on the package, like little mushrooms.


Cute baby things are always good for a little distraction, and our bedding arrived in the mail a few days ago. The Afircanesk stuffed animals the Princess and I bought go so well with it! I'll show the entire nursery when we get it put together.

Knitting and Spinning have always been a happy distraction for me, but as one of the symptoms of Chorea is weak and or painful hands, that has been difficult. I have been able to do a little knitting.

It's funny, Shazmina asked in her latest blog entry what we tend to cast on for when our knitting desire has stalled. I knit what I call my "therapy sweater." It's a simple bottom up raglan, all stst, in worsted weight yarn. It usually takes me about a week to knit it. I happen to be knitting one now (it's great for all knitting, no thinking which is all I can handle right now.) This is a little over three weeks worth of progress. Oh well, progress is progress I suppose, even when it's so slow.


Spinning is usually good for a little distraction as well, but I had been struggling with it hurting my hands. This is what I had been spinning, and while I love the colors, I realized a few days ago that the reason that it was causing my hands to hurt was that because this particular roving was a tad felted. It was very difficult to draft, no wonder my hands hurt!

So I pulled it off of my wheel and rooted around for something else to spin. I found some dark silver merino/silk I had purchased and promised to spin for Tzarina for her birthday way back in March (Bad friend BAD!)

The singles spun up with such ease it was like the fiber was spinning itself (much better for me hands.) The also turned out so beautifully that Tzarina decided that she wanted them left as singles. I can't wait to see what she knits out of it.

Next I found a combined (not blended, the fibers were still distinct from one another) batt that I purchased several months ago from The Artful Ewe. It was (if I remember right) BFL, alpaca, silk, and mohair. I had been wanting to work on my worsted spinning (long backward draw) and thought this was the perfect fiber for it.

The singles


2 plied


The "waste"- I love it when this is all that is left on the bobbin with more fiber, so satisfying to person obsessed with efficiency.


The finished "fluffy" and supper soft yarn.


And a close-up. It was fun to let some of the mohair locks and other fluffy parts of the batt remain sticking out. I love how it turned out- about 140 yds of a light worsted weight.


And last, but no where near least, good friends and family have been doing their best to distract me. Tzarina came over on Friday and brought these adorable knit pants for the alien. I can't wait (for more than one reason) to see him in them! The Queen,the Princess, and Sarah (who is hopefully having a baby this weekend!) too, have been doing their best to keep me distracted with near daily phone calls and emails. It's so wonderful to have good friends and family. I love you guys!