busy needles
I received word that baby J’s sweater indeed arrived at it’s destination and it fit her last week! It’s nice to know that I send things to mark seasonal change; just not the right garment for the right change. ;) This little sweater really did make me a better knitter and I’m happy she got to wear it at least once. I’d love to shower this little one with knits but there are so many babies I want to give hugs to…
I finished Anouk and tomorrow I hope to send it off to another little girl. I’m not thrilled with my embroidery but it is what it is. E wasn’t keen on the pockets so I tried something else. I hope she, her parents and big brother like it.
Surprise! I made a Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ)!! This is the famous origami-ish sweater from the iconic Elizabeth Zimmermann. It has thwarted me since September 2006 and no I have no lasting records of the many mis-attempts. The key for my success was finding some really nice spreadsheets where I could check off my progress and check my stitch/row counts. I’ll try to write up my thoughts for next week. If I ever finish weaving in ends and seaming, this will be sent to another baby who better not outgrow it first. I still need to choose buttons, and I’m leaning toward my first idea and agreeing with my mum and going for the pretty contrasting blue. I know the photograph isn’t very good, but I’d love to hear any opinions. I *hope* to send this out on Friday but it would mean that I must write a course paper really really quickly tonight and in order to have time to weave and seam. We’ll see what happens. Finishing this sweater really does make me feel like a rock star. I’ve seriously contemplated not sending it but framing it and hanging it on the wall instead. The stripes were pure luck. I had emailed with a few people about them, but knit this in class and had no access to their advice when I made my colour choices and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It’s knit in cotton-ease which may have EZ spinning in her grave, but I think it’s a smarter choice for the baby. I love the machine-washableness of my cotton sweaters…
What else? I turned the heels of the Bellatrix socks and am knitting until I run out of yarn, which I expect to happen soon. I think they’re great and look forward to them. They make me really happy.
My other surprise is that by putting in a few minutes here and there I suddenly have an almost completed veste! All that remains is the neck and armhole ribbing. Quite perfect for these 90+ temperatures we’re experiencing in Brooklyn (which is why there are no photos of it on me, or any new photos, I want to wait at this point until it’s done). I think what helped was that I seamed it once I got to the armhole decreases on the front and that seems to be the magic incentive which kicked my arse and kept me going. Sure, this thing isn’t perfect, but it’s the largest thing I’ve knit myself to date. The front is a bit longer than the back, but I’m lumpier in front so I think it works out well.
I have quite a bit else on or off the needles and hooks. Summer of socks starts soon and I need to figure out what I’m doing for that beyond trying to knit up all the sock stash. There are more babies to knit for so it’s good the new knitty is out with an adorable girlie sweater.
We’ll see what happens in the coming week. I have a ton of Work and School to catch up on so I’m not sure how that will impact the knitting. My goal is to knit and spin (both cotton and wool) a bit each day in addition to the commute knitting.. stitch by stitch I’ll get it all done.