This Moment: The Princess & the Pistol

{this moment} – A Friday ritual… photo – no words – capturing a moment… A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  Courtesy of Soulemama, here.

Yarn Along – Spring Already!

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

The weather was so nice today that I completely abandoned my work and went outside with Lil One, Big Bro, and my three dachsies to play.  I even got to take pictures outside for the first time in a long time.  So, above, we have one “Back in Black” Button-top Leg Warmer for me (new design in progress), which is what I am knitting right now, and my latest read, The Knitter’s Book Of Socks, by Clara Parkes, nestled in a very appropriate Ash Wednesday location, the “Lenten Rose” (Helleborus Orientalis) plants in my garden.  All of these things make me happy, but the Spring-inspired energy and sheer joy of the day I think is best expressed by this photo:

Clara Parkes’ Book is wonderful and appealed to the textile science side of my creativity.  It was really nice to read about the “yarn behind the socks”, as it were.  I did take a full college course in textile science, but a specific refresher like this is always welcome, and she made it readable and applicable for sock knitting, which can be tricky to do.  The patterns were also gorgeous.  I am particularly intrigued by Stephen Houghton’s ”Salted Caramels” use of “faux cable” or ”flat cable” textures.  It may go in the queue for use with my leftover ginger sock yarn from hubby’s scarf.  I borrowed the book at the library, but I’ll be purchasing my own copy soon I think.  It is right up there on my list with the Sock Knitting Master Class, which is also wonderful.

An aside:  Speaking of dachsies- I have to wish my “Old Man” a quick Happy Birthday.  Hansi, my oldest little wiener dog, turned 15 this month.  He’s almost all grey on the muzzle now, and as handsome and spirited as ever!

Wishing everyone a great day, week and Spring!

Alaskan Salmon

When I got back from a lovely little get away with my hubby this past weekend, this lovely package was waiting for me:

This is Three Irish Girls “McClellan Fingering” in an exclusive colorway called “Salmon” carried by a lovely, helpful shop in Cordova, Alaska called The Net Loft.  I love the color, and the yarn (merino-bamboo blend) has a gorgeous sheen in person.  I have had to be careful about purchasing yarn for both budget and space reasons, but I’m on a new “yarn diet” which is helping to organize things.  I decided to knit at least 6 projects from my stash before purchasing anything new.  Well, this is my first “reward” purchase.  I still have a couple of stash things to finish, but who wants to wait for yarn to arrive, right?  I was very happy with this addition to my stash, and caressed and examined it and left it out to be photographed for my ravelry stash records.  Well, someone else it seems, is equally inclined to swoon over new yarn.

First she admired it,

Then weighed it for quality,

Then it got the cheek and sniff test,

And was declared “Goood!”

She then promptly decided to cradle it in her arms and take it back to her crib. 

“Mommy needs it back?”  And I quote: “But I want to knit!  Go get me needles so I can knit it!”

Another yarn lover is created.  Nature or Nurture?

My Valentine

Meet My Valentine:

I finally finished my Hubby’s scarf, and even got some pictures!  No one deserves it more.  He has waited patiently for over a year for his “simple” scarf, and I was thrilled to finally be able to give it to him just in time for Valentine’s Day.  He’s the love of my life, and the sweetest, best friend and husband I could ever have dreamed of.  I know it’s a little sappy, but it has to be said.  Oh, and he’s a super Daddy too!

Lil One saw the scarf blocking in my studio and pronounced “It’s beautiful!  Daddy will look like a prince, and be happily married.”  Well, yes actually, that does seem to be the case.

The scarf seemed to take forever to complete – from failed attempts to blend impossibly mis-matched dye lots, to waiting 6 months for matching replacements, to the stop and go progress as I kept setting it aside for more “pressing” knits, every step of the way it was anything but quick.   He really does love it though, and I love him, so all that time and fuss was totally worth it.  I designed the Sweet Ginger Scarf for him one year and three months ago along with the Scarlet Sparkler Scarf as a “His and Hers” set of reversible sock yarn scarves using the soft and elegant Madelinetosh Sock Yarn I had come to love for next-to-neck knitting.  We both like flexible thinner fabric that we can toss, tuck and layer at will, so a sock yarn that was worked in a completely reversible pattern suits our style perfectly.  For him, I didn’t want to get too ornate, but I didn’t want to fall asleep at the needles either.  The happy medium was a simple masculine checker pattern, with a section of reversible 2 over 2 cable to give it just a little interest.  The yarn worked up beautifully with a soft feel, lovely drape, and I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Knitting is one of the ways I say “I love you”, and this is no exception.  Every stitch is a hug and kiss for my amber-eyed, sweet Valentine, always and forever. 

Hope you had a very Happy Valentine’s day everyone!

Knitting Memories and Longevity

This time of year at some, usually triggered by my income tax deadline’s approach, I start to archive the past year’s documents and photos.  Somehow in the midst of clicking and dragging all those folders around to tidy my virtual file cabinet, I wander off and take a peak at past years’ pictures and memories.  Now that Lil One is no longer a “baby” but a “big girl” (by her own definition), it made me smile to look back at her baby pics and remember the pre-talking, pre-walking times.  I really didn’t realize how good I had it then – plunk and plug and we’re good!  Of course I swell with Mommy pride when I see how much she’s grown, and how quickly she’s learning new things.  That’s why I take so many pictures  – nearly every day there’s something new!

All this reminiscing did bring me around to thinking about how hand-made knits for babies are wonderful, but sometimes outgrown very quickly.  Already there’s a growing box of “heirloom knits” for the things she’s outgrown.  I know as a knitter one of the things you hope for is that things will be worn, and worn a lot!  After all, that’s the biggest compliment we can get.  Well, I just wanted to pass on one little discovery I made along the way, knitting for Lil One.  Apparently one of the knits that can really grow with a little one is the sleeveless dress.  Back in 2010 I made the Plymouth Yarn Toddler Dress, by JoAnne Turcotte, for Lil One’s Easter Dress when she wasn’t even a year old.  I found these pictures in the archive from this time in February two years ago.

Later I modified it to have a little built-in “faux camisole” so she could wear it modestly all summer with nothing underneath.  Then in the fall, it layered up perfectly with t-necks and jeans for a trendy little look.  On through the winter and into the next spring she continued to pick it out and wear it over tees and tights, and just never seemed to grow tired of it.  It’s had everything from pink frosting to marinara spilled on it, and came clean again each time.  The Berroco Touche has really performed well, I must say.  Then, just as I was thinking it might be time to move on, she pulled it out again just last week, almost exactly two years after those first pictures were taken, and paired it with a purple long sleeve tee and her favorite purple princess shoes – her new “big girl” style.

So, I can only conclude, that the sleeveless dress might be one of the most forgiving things to make if your goal is to stretch the wearability window for a little girl.  I guess it’s because you can make it a little long and loose to begin with, and as they grow there aren’t any sleeves to be too short, and apparently they just don’t expand around like they grow upward.  Pretty cool.  If she keeps wanting to wear it I might have to crochet an extension on the skirt and take out the camisole so she can keep wearing it!  So, my fellow knitter-Moms, what knitting nuggets have you found that were both durable and stretched well over the years?

My new dog walker

We’ve had a run of quite reasonable weather days now, and Lil One has started a new “routine”, which I am thrilled with – walking the dogs!

Of course, despite her petite stature, it does seem that my little lady, Tasha, is actually walking Lil One.  I think it is wonderful that my Lil One is finally getting comfortable with the wiggley, noisy little doggies.  I love my dogs, and I love that Lil One is falling for them too!  She’s asked me every day for several days now to walk them, or play with them, or even watch TV with them.  She even knows how to feed them herself – at only two and a half, that’s pretty cool. 

So, as I mentioned last post, I felt some new mittens were in order, especially since I had plenty of yarn leftover from the hat and leg warmers!  I knit these up in about two days and they are basically a worsted weight version of the Heart Strings Mittens  free pattern I published this time last year.  She tried on the first mitten so I could see if it fit, and for the very first time got it on her little hand all by herself.  Well, that was a huge, big deal to her.  She seemed to think it was the particular mitten that gave her this new skill, and that led to constant questions for the next 24 hours as to when the second one would be done.  “I need to wear them to go visiting tomorrow!”  I can just see those teenage years coming!  Anyway, I just adjusted for the bigger yarn (I think the cuff/palm was about 32 sts.)  to get the same approximate size as the original, and made them a little longer in all parts because she’s grown quite a bit since last year.  She is thrilled.  “I don’t need your help!  I did it myself!” 

Yeah!  One less thing for Momma to do.  Now if we could just master the Potty, we’d be all set!

FO: Lil Leg Warmers

A few days back we had a lovely warm day and this is how ridiculously happy Lil One was to be able to play outside:

I wish I had a recording of her little girl laughing and squealing, it was just so funny to see all that energy come out at once.  She got to chase the dogs, and play on her swing set all afternoon.  That’s Hans, who will be 15 years old this month.  He does really well keeping up with her for a little old man !

She plays with enthusiasm, and she’s all girl when it comes to her wardrobe.  She loves her dresses, and I am pleasantly surprised, she loves her little knitted accessories.  This past week I added one more to the list of “must-haves” for playing outside in a dress -Lil Button Top Leg Warmers.

I designed them to match her favorite hat, which is currently the Brattleboro Hat I made for myself, but she adopted from day one as her own.  They worked up quickly in worsted weight Inca Gold from Berroco on US 4 and 6 needles, and the button top rib section makes them just a little playful and vintage, IMHO.  Of course anything on a chubby little toddler leg seems adorable, don’t you think?

So, it was a great day, and I was very happy that she liked her new little accessory as much as I did.  I was so happy with them in fact, that now I’m going to make myself some just like them in black.  Stay tuned – if the sizing works out this may become another new pattern!    Here’s her whole ensemble – Brattleboro Hat, Purple Sweater, her favorite flowered dress, and her new Leg Warmers:

Now of course, it is getting cold again, so we’ll have to bundle up a little more.  Mittens up next!  Oh well, only a couple of months to go before spring!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Yarn Along – Ginger Glow

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

Fate has been against me lately in some ways.  Calamity befell my computer causing a big gap in productivity, including my blogging.  Apologies all around, and it’s good to back joining in for another Yarn Along!

I hope today was a sign that things will improve.  Winter in New England is always full of crazy days of weather, and today was no exception.  It was positively balmy today, not a bit like winter.  The sun this afternoon reached deep into my house with a lovely warm glow.  How appropriate then, my Sweet Ginger Scarf is on the needles, and it seemed even more luxurious in that warm, sunny spot on may favorite antique chair today.  It is a gift for my equally warm and sweet amber-eyed hubby, and it’s coming along slowly but surely.  It got bumped forward for some knitting for submission deadlines, and some quick little toddler things that I just had to get out of my head, but now I’m going to dedicate my knitting time to this.  I’m using one of my favorite yarns again, Tosh Sock, in the ginger colorway, which is masculine but not dull or drab.  Hubby is not exactly into “home spun” when it comes to his wardrobe, so I went with a fine weight merino, and a subtle, textured, reversible stitch pattern to give him a scarf that will look equally smart with a fine wool dress overcoat, or a more casual pea-coat.  I’ll be publishing the pattern as a sort of “his” to match the “hers” Scarlet Sparkler Scarf that I published last year around this time.  I actually designed both at the same time to kind of go together, but toddlers and other time sucks delayed the second half of the project.   Good thing my hubby is very patient.  Since so much of what I’ve been doing is design related, I thought I’d share my original sketch for this design, where the idea in my head finally begins to take form on paper.

That’s not my hubby, btw.  He’s much cuter !   You’ll see.  So this is what I’ve been doing most intensely lately: taking more of my post-it sized cartoon ideas, and making them into fully formed sketches and garments.

On to the reading.  I just cracked open a new book, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl .  I chose it purely on the merits of the title – as the daughter of two physicists, I couldn’t resist.  Fortunately, I did not suffer from mis-judging the book by its cover.  From the first pages I am smitten!  What clever turn-of-phrase, and spot on descriptions – although I still have no idea what it’s about.  I hope it continues to be a fun read, but so far I’m impressed.

See you all back here Friday – those toddler tidbits are ready for their FO debut!

Yarn Along: I wish…

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

Knitting: Super secret design in progress.

Reading: Ummm… not much!

I have literally been dedicating every spare moment lately to working on my latest batch of designs.  When my hands ache from hours of knitting (or my head aches from yet another 2 year old cry for independence), I take a break and peruse my usual collection of knitting literature, dreaming of future knitting.  I know, how obsessed.  But things are not always as they seem.  Take the latest issue of Vogue Knitting.  When I first got the issue, I turned to the page pictured above and absolutely fell in love with it.  It’s a poncho designed by the earthy, yet always modern, Norah Gaughan.  As I kept coming back to that page over several days, I began to realize it had nothing to do with knitting. 

It was the scene, the styling.  She is calm, confident, lounging in delicious, charmeuse, palazzo pants, a cozy, cabled, luxurious poncho, and barefoot!  I wished, just for a moment, to be in her shoes – or lack there of.  I wished I had pristine floors where I could pad about shoe-less without fear of impaling myself on a plastic toy, or squishing into a stealth cheerio.  I wished I moved in an uncluttered environment where silky pants and billowing knits would not be immediately assailed by tugging toddlers and jumping dachsies.  I wished I even sat still long enough on a beautiful, sunny winter morning to need a thick cabled sweater indoors!  I know that in about 2 or 3 days of this elegant, organized existence I would miss the chaos and love of my toddler, teen, three dog and one sturdy fish life.  I do love my whole crazy life, but now and then, it does seem like a lovely thing. 

What I realized is, like most consumers, what I liked really had nothing to do with the product at all.  It was what I was wishing for in these slow, closed in days of winter – a lovely long vacation with my husband ! 

I am totally adding this sweater to my favs. though !

So what are you dreaming of while knitting and reading this winter?

Adaptive Reuse

There’s this term, used mostly in architecture circles, called “Adaptive Reuse” where the buildings are basically re-assigned a new use, and some minor alterations are made, in order to make the best of an existing building.  Sometimes the results are incredibly fun and creative, and I’ve always admired this form of “recycling”.  I’ve decided this principle can apply to knitted creations too.  You see, I have this old “design original” which I had decided didn’t really make the cut as the elegant cowl it was meant to be.  I loved the Malabrigo Angora, and it is indeed warm, but on the whole it just never really hit me as “successful”.  As a cowl, it was awkward to wear, not my best color, and a little fuzzy for the lip gloss.  Well, sometimes a new use can bring new life to an old knit.  Check out Lil One in her “Cape”. 

Some thing about the fuzzy angora and the way the knit work spreads so nicely across her little shoulders to show off the pattern beautifully, makes it now totally successful… as a toddler cape!  I am happy it’s found a new use.  I actually think I might even work it up as an official toddler pattern.  Hmmm.  It does hit just right on her, don’t you think?

She’s pretty happy about it too, or maybe it was just the blessing of a warm day in January.

So, have you had any “adaptive reuse” sucess stories lately?