Welcome, Rain!

The last couple of days have definitely been rainy and fall-like, which I don't mind one bit, what with being able to start using the cool-weather knitted item. Case in point: yesterday we awoke to pretty cool temperatures so it seemed like the perfect time for Carl's inaugural wearing of a darling blue sweater Gerda knit for the baby shower. That's Carl sporting the sweater while exploring the cardboard playhouse my parents helped me make while they were here for a short visit. As of late last night, it is a white house with a blue door, blue shutters, and a black roof, thanks to some posterboard and several rolls of colored duct tape. Of course, I must add that the door handle is a loop of chunky i-cord, courtesy of my mom's knitting. Anyway, Carl seems to love the house and the sweater. What you can't see in the photo is that the front of the sweater has a stockinette diamond for the child's first initial done in duplicate stitch or embroidery. Since we were keeping the name a secret, Gerda gave a little bit of a contrasting light blue yarn with the sweater so I could apply the initial later. Carl has been so named nearly 17 months now, and there's still no C on the sweater. It fits just perfectly, so I better get that baby on.

The little felted boots are a model for a class I'll be teaching in October (Lace 'Em Up Felted Boot Slippers, October 17). The pattern is Fiber Trends CH-7 (Children's Felt Boot Slippers), and there's also an adult version. I knit these ones out of Cascade 220, and I have to say I just had a blast knitting them. I'm going to have to knit a pair for Carl...and myself...and who knows who else.

When my parents were here on their visit, I saw that Mom was nearly finished with the back of a seed stitch jacket out of Rowan Big Wool. Love it. The pattern is from Mac & Me, and at market the designer said it was just one of those things that you love to wear and end up knitting several times in different colors. I can see why.

Time to go. Later I'll have to post about this Mia sweater I'm working on that I'm totally crazy about. Crazy, I tell you.

Where Have You Been the Last Month?

So it looks like it has been exactly a month since I last posted, which I can't believe. We have been out of town a lot, and I don't always have the easiest access to a computer. Last week was the AGY Annual Summer Sale. I heard it was great fun. Wish I could have been there. I was in Spokane over the 4th, though, and had a lot of fun popping into the shop, if only for a little bit. I saw those new cute little Namaste accessory cases -- The Buddy Case. Love those. I also saw Melanie had just finished the Baktus scarf, a garter stitch triangular scarf that looks like tons of fun to knit. We've talked about that one as a possible fall class. It's hard to believe that the fireworks have barely gone off when it's already time to start working on our fall class list, but that's exactly what we're doing. Actually, the weather has been pretty dismal the last few days here in Tacoma, so thinking about fall doesn't feel all that strange...

At Market!

Here we are at TNNA market in Columbus, Ohio. I'm at the little cyber cafe in the middle of the show floor and thought I'd say a quick hello. We're having a great time, absorbing as much information as possible about trends, new yarns, new patterns, and the like. I'll have to report all about it when we return. Thi s computer is having troubles and continually erasing what I just wrote. So I have to sign off before I go nuts. More later!

Itty Bitties

Right now I'm working on several baby hat models for A Grand Yarn. Baby hats are just right for me at this point: small, quick, fun, cute. Last week I completed the rosebud bouquet hat, pictured here. I have to say I quite adore it. The pattern is from Itty Bitty Hats, one of my favorite pattern books. For this one I used Debbie Bliss Rialto for the black body of the hat and Tahki Cotton Classic for the flowers and leaves. Our plan is to make up little kits for the flowers, since each one takes such little yarn. I'm about halfway finished with another hat from Itty Bitty called vertical stripes. The hat is made up of vertical panels of varying stitch patterns, and is absolutely so much fun to knit. You get just a little taste of one stitch pattern, and then you get to switch to another one. It's nice when you're in a short-attention-span time. I'll post a photo of that soon. The other picture here is of a candy cane hat I knit for a friend who is expecting a baby at Thanksgiving. The red is a little dark, so it doesn't look as candy-cane-ish as I had hoped. But I still really liked it. The yarn is Berroco Comfort, which I am a big fan of for baby things. The pattern is from Handknit Holidays, a book I love but that I hadn't actually knit anything from before. I always get it out at Christmastime and then don't have a chance to make something. I know for certain I will be making more of these hats in time, though. The pattern has baby through adult sizes, and I love some of the versions in the book with sort of tone-on-tone colors.

I'm also happy to report that my February Lady Sweater (or shall I say June Lady Sweater?) is going to get blocked today. Maybe I'll have to do a little jig. It fits perfectly but is a little stiff, so I'm hoping the blocking will take care of that. I'll post a photo when it is completely, totally, entirely, fully finished. What a relief that will be. I look forward to wearing it in the over-air-conditioned convention center when Mom and I go to market.

Sounds like Carl is calling...

A Knitting Moment

Yesterday I took Carl to the Point Defiance Zoo after his morning nap. The place was packed with elementary and junior high kids on field trips, and Carl seemed much more interested in the kids than the animals. In any case, at one point I strolled him up to an animal area and saw the sign that it housed two wallabies. Now, it happened that yesterday Carl was wearing a Wonderful Wallaby, one that was a retired shop model knit by Gerda and made out of blue and lime green Cascade 220 Superwash. Of course, this coincidence got me really excited, and I felt like it was some cosmic meeting of wallabies from different universes. What I really wanted to do was turn to someone nearby and say, "Can you believe it? Here's a wallaby, and my son's wearing a wallaby. Wallaby, wallaby, wallaby!" But I'm pretty sure they would quickly escort a crazy woman out of the zoo, so I kept my mouth shut.

On Monday Carl and I returned from Spokane, where I taught three classes at AGY. As usual, it was an absolute delight to be in the shop again. Besides it being lovely to see the staff and customers, it's a lot of fun to see the models and yarns that I have only heard about or seen photos of. I really wanted to take home the Minimalist Cardigan (knit out of Cascade Venezia Worsted) and the Vine Lace Vest (knit out of Summer Set). But alas, I could not.

As for my current knitting, I have made a pact with myself to knit at least four rows of my February Lady Sweater every night. Yesterday it dawned on me, though, that that rate still might not be fast enough to get it finished to wear at market. So I might have to make it eight rows a night. After I complete that one I think I'll treat myself to a glass of wine or some ice cream. (But I guess since I treat myself to a glass of wine or ice cream on a pretty regular basis, it will feel like any other day.) I'm also now going to be working on a few baby hat models for the shop. Baby hats seem to be just the right kind of project for me now. This morning I fastened off a little black hat that will have a bouquet of rosebuds on the top. All I want to do is get cracking on those rosebuds, but the FLS beckons...

Carl's Cap

Next week I'll be teaching an AGY class on the Kyle's Kap pattern from Fiber Trends. My shop model is a girl's version made out Mission Fall 1824. I loved it so much I knew Carl had to have one. I had some great colors of Minnow Merino given to me last summer by a wonderful sales rep upon hearing of Carl's arrival. She gave me the yarn with a darling Minnow Knits pattern for a colorblock sweater. Well, I loved the pattern and had every intention of making the sweater for Carl. The yarn and pattern sat in a drawer with my other yarn and patterns that were waiting to be made (that drawer only seems to get fuller and fuller, even though I'm knitting as fast as I can). Anyway, for one of the first times, I decided to be honest with myself and say, "Ingrid, face it. You're not going to make that sweater. Use the yarn for something else." The fact of the matter was that Carl was in danger of growing out of all sizes of the sweater before I even started. So, the colorful yarn has now become a cap for Carl, which I absolutely love, love, love. And to think that the yarn could have sit unused and sad for years to come. It was a good lesson in rethinking a yarn's purpose. I was so locked in to the sweater (which was just more than I could tackle right now, given other unfinished sweaters) that I almost let the yarn go unused. I'm certainly glad I didn't. On top of it all, I still have enough yarn to do another cap in a different color combo. Even my husband is completely charmed by the cap and suggested I make Carl another one in navy or a more subdued color scheme for more formal wear. He also suggested we get Carl a baby-sized newspaper to carry around to look like a real newsboy. Nice idea. The cap made its public debut at Costco this afternon, and, sure enough, someone gushed over it in line. The cap is incredibly quick and so much fun to knit. I highly recommend it. Fiber Trends CH-1.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I don't need to go into all the details, but my postings have been nonexistent largely due to a long series of events or illnesses, including, but not limited to, Carl's first birthday, ear infections (both Carl and me), sinus infection (me), stomach flu (all three of us, and then, unfortunately, Mom and Dad as well while they were on vacation--yuck!). I am almost 100% now, and while Carl now has a new runny nose, that's small potatoes compared to what we've had the last few weeks. So I'm not really counting it, and I'm officially feeling like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. In any case, I have actually done a bit of knitting. I finished a simple lace scarf that I started when Carl was just weeks old. And the big triumph was finishing the cotton sweater I started before I was even pregnant. I was determined to finish it in time for Carl's birthday. I couldn't have waited any longer because it's almost too small at this point. But it was worth it! Look how cute he is in all those stripes! Pictured here also are the models I made for my spring classes: Kyle's Cap (made out of Mission Falls cotton), Knitted Loafers (made out of Mission Falls wool), and Dream Swatch Head Wrap (made out of Shibui Sock). I really wanted to keep all of them for myself. Next up is trying to finish my February Lady Sweater (which must now be called the May Lady Sweater). I would like to wear it at the TNNA market in June. While it's always sweltering in Columbus when we go, the convention center is freezing, so warm layers are required. I know they don't intentionally over-air-condition for all those knitters who would like to wear their warm knitted things, but we can pretend that they do. Oh, also pictured here is Carl on Easter, wearing the beautiful helix striped sweater made by the talented Mary Perry. It's made out of Berroco Comfort. There's a matching hat, too, and when he wears that, too, along with the coincidentally perfectly matching Hanna Anderson jacket...well, you have to treat him like an eclipse. If you look directly at him, the power of the cuteness burns your retinas. Not that I'm biased or anything.