February No-Longer-Pregnant Lady

Pattern: February Lady by Pamela Wynne
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Cavern

When I first started this sweater, I chose it with my big pregnant belly in mind, but as you can see, the sweater's finally done, and the belly is now a laughing, crawling, mischievous, six-month-old.

My Ravelry notes tell me that this poor little sweater sat dormant for nearly eight months waiting for its second sleeve to be bound off and its ends sewn in. And it's finally been done.

I am so happy with how it turned out. It fits just beautifully, although I'm a little worried about stretching, what with the cotton content in the yarn. Hopefully the fact that the yarn has already been washed (it's frogged and salvaged yarn from another project) will minimize that.



I knit the smallest size on size 7 needles for an even slightly smaller size, and I'm glad I did. I prefer a snug, cropped look for this sweater.

I've been saving these pewter-looking buttons for this sweater, and I think they suit it perfectly.



Overall, a perfect, versatile little fall coverup.

Blackberry Ice Cream Socks

I thought I'd start off the month of October, and my goal to blog every`day, with my first finished object in months. Meet the Blackberry Ice Cream Socks.

Pattern: Spring Forward by Linda Welch, Knitty Summer 2008
Yarn: Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn in Lilac

True to form, I've had these socks finished for quite a while, right up to the toe grafting, which I hate (and which is why the toes look so lumpy and messy). They've been traveling around in my purse, with their sad little toes still attached to double pointed needles. I've even tried them on for people, the needles sticking out of my toe tips like some sort of weird curtain rods for socks. It took my new Blogtoberfest resolution, and the need for a motivating first post to finish the darn things. And voila!

I love them. They fit perfectly, they were fun to knit, and the pattern was super easy to memorize. They are named because their color so closely resembles my favorite end-of-summer treat: homemade blackberry ice cream. In fact,I had it all planned out in my head how I would do the finished object photos with a bowl of blackberry ice cream, just to be, you know, cute. But alas, there was no blackberry ice cream for me this summer. I went out picking blackberries with my sister and nephew, got a whole delicious tub of them, and then forgot to put them in the freezer before I went out of town that weekend, and they were spoiled in the fridge by the time I got back. So these socks will have to satisfy me until I can try again next summer.

I'm going to try to add some more detailed photos tomorrow, but this was all I could get before the sun went down and my husband went to work.

Finished Object: Blackrose Socks

Pattern: Blackrose Socks by Suzi Anvin, Knitty Winter 2008
Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL)
Started: January 13, 2009
Finished: January 19,2009

I finished these quite a while ago, but due to the unwieldy nature of my physique lately, making it nearly impossible to get a good camera angle of my own feet, I have been unable to get any photos up of the finished object. Overall, I love how these turned out. the pattern was fun, interesting to knit, and pretty quick. Because I'm a tight knitter, I went up a needle size (I used 3 instead of 2) to get the appropriate gauge, but I probably could have knit them with the 2s and had them fit better---I have pretty narrow feet and ankles. They stay up for the most part, and look nice, but they're not as snug as I would like, and they stretch when they're worn or washed. I loved the yarn; the colors are gorgeous and it's wonderfully soft and warm, if a bit prone to the fuzzies. I'd definitely use it again.

January Socks

The Pfeiffer Falls hooded scarf has been put on hold until I can get more yarn--yes, I committed the cardinal sin of starting the scarf without the requisite amount of yarn, thinking that something like Lion Brand Solid Wool would be easy to come by...even if the dye lot ended up slightly different. Imagine my surprise when I went back to Michael's last week and found the entire yarn aisle completely decimated with no wool of any sort to be found. Apparently they had a huge after holiday sale that I missed. The lady there was very vague about when they might be getting more. I've been checking back and so far, no luck. Looks like I may have to order it online.

In the meantime I've been knitting the Blackrose Lace Socks from this winter's Knitty. I want to knit more socks this year--hopefully a pair per month, though with all that's going to be on my plate, I'm quite flexible on that goal. I started the first of this pair night before last and I've already finished and casted on the second.



Isn't the colorway beauteous?



It's the Zitron Trekking (XXL) in an unnamed gorgeous purpley variegation. I love the yarn. No pooling, and the color changes are subtle , which I like. I can't wait until they're finished.

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On another note, I want to thank all of you for the comments on my last post. I can't believe the kind words from such virtual strangers. I'm feeling better this week, and being able to share some of that in words, and have such thoughtful responses definitely paid a part in that. I really look forward to reading more of your blogs and getting to know you better.

Odds and Ends

The Pfeiffer Falls aka New Mama Scarf is coming along nicely, although I think I'm going to have to add at least two or three more repeats on each side of the scarf body to get it to the length I want. I'm working on the second half of the scarf part, so I'll probably have to go back and add more length to the other half before I graft them together. I feel like I should have more done since I've been sick with a terrible cold all weekend, stayed home from work and had plenty of time to knit, but pretty much just slept on the couch and watched bad TV. Today, I felt much better, but I spent most of the day tidying up the house which had somehow degenerated into a wreck over the three days I was couch-bound and finally taking down my Christmas tree, which was a huge relief.

The bigger news today is that we got a new pellet stove for our living room. It's a beautiful restored stove that looks like a woodstove, except no chimney. I'm so excited because we don't have central heat, so we had to use very ineffective and expensive space heaters to try to heat the house, but mostly we were just freezing because we didn't ant a ginormous electric bill. However, I really wanted to find an effective heating solution before the baby's born. The hearth we built is still only plywood; we're going to tile it after the wood we used to build it completely dries, so I didn't take any pictures. But it is certainly nice to have a warm place to curl up and knit.

Project Knit-Myself-A-Scarf-Since-I-Can't-Knit-A-Sweater-Until-I-Have-This-Baby

So as my New Thing To Do This Year I decided to start knitting again. Which is not so new, since I actually knit a fair amount this past year. But I haven't been knitting since last summer, and since we moved my yarn is a hopeless disorganized mess. And i was reading one of my favorite blogs, Green Apples and she posted a collage of all the lovely things she made this year. And it inspired me, specifically to knit more beautiful things for myself, because I know I will love and appreciate them and my life has been so overwhelming and full and stressful, and I wanted to give myself a gift. So Sunday, I picked up a new knitting magazine, a new pattern to work on and some new blue yarn. It's the Pfeiffer Falls Hooded Scarf from this Winter's interweave knits and it shall be my new mama scarf in which I will take long walks on the beach with my new babe snuggled up to me in a sling. Because new motherhood is so picturesque, right? Right? Anyway...I wanted blue because it is a hood, and it's a present to myself, and it will be worn when the baby is small, and so it reminded me a little bit of paintings of the Madonna and how she always is wearing a beautiful blue head covering. So far I've gotten the pocket and three repeats of the main scarf done. Today, my birthday, I spent the whole morning knitting at my parents house while Rico was at work. My dad made me pancakes and my sister came over with my little one year old nephew, and I sat with my mom in front of the fire and the Christmas tree knitting away and drinking decaf coffee. Which was almost as good as the real thing. It was the nicest morning I've had in a long time.

29

Today...well, technically yesterday...I turned 29. This past year has not been an easy one, and I am not sad to leave it behind. But I will always remember it as the year that brought me my most precious gift: those two beautiful pink lines, the feeling of a tiny feet dancing underneath my skin, and the knowledge that my little baby was a spirit baby no longer but truly here on this earth with me. I look forward to the last year of my twenties with a clean and open heart. Sometimes when I wake up with bad anxiety, which I am unfortunately prone to, I say a mantra in my head "Good things will happen today." I say it over and over until I am ready to get up and face the day. That is my motto for this year: Good things will happen. How can they not? This is the year I will become a mother.