Nordic Surprise?

Over the summer, I went yarn shopping with my indulgent husband. He wanted me to knit him up a pair of socks. I hadn’t knit socks at the time, but I was going to learn. I had him pick out the yarn. He picked out this blue self-striping, variegated yarn that formed an almost Nordic design. I wasn’t thrilled with the yarn, but my husband wears the socks at least once a week. So, I guess he loves them. (That’s all that matters, right?)

 

 

Ps. I’m sorry I’ve been a lack luster blogger. I have just been super busy.

Christmas Knitting

I am (as I believe I have mentioned) an ambitious knitter. I decided about a month into my knitting that I was going to knit everyone* something for Christmas. I made my mom a wonderful lace scarf. I made my grandmother in law a wonderful scarf. I made my most of my other family (mother in law [who I feel I need to add is getting something else as well], close cousins and aunts/uncles, married friends) all a set of dishcloths with a nice thing of dish soap. I made my cousin Natasha who is having a baby a bib. I also learned most of my new knitterly skills by doing so. I would test new stitch patterns on dishcloths. So, during these past 10 months I have been learning and gifting.

So, I have left a few people out and I wanted to share those two with you now!

My cousin Courtney has a beautiful little girl. She is barely 18 months old, but she is precious and sweet. I had decided I wanted to make her mittens. Then, Courtney hinted that she would love a grey scarf for her daughter. I made the scarf (Ruffle Fluff pattern on rav). During the process of this scarf I learned how to do a 3 needle bind off. Awesome. Then, over the holiday weekend I decided to try my hand at mittens. So, I cast on from the Knit Simple Workshops magazine the basic mitten pattern. It worked up relatively fast and I was able to do them in a weekend. I decided to hand stitch on them a “K” and a snowflake. Then I added a creamy white ribbon bow to the scarf and then tied the two mittens together with the same ribbon. They are not perfect, but the little girl in question is growing so fast that by next winter they will be lost or not fit. I understood that when I made them, but enjoyed learning the new techniques.

Knitting for children is really fun and fast I have found. I don’t have children, but I like knitting for other kids for the time being. Eventually, I will probably have babies to knit for, but at the present I am content to knit for other children.

 

The other present that I knitted up was for my sister in law. I know these self striping socks look pretty boring. However, I am extremely proud of them as they are my first pair of socks.  I was super proud of how they turned out. They are pretty much fabulous. The yarn got much softer when I hand washed them in Kokobura wash. They were a simple knit 2, purl 2 rib cuff/leg and then simple knit stitch the rest of the way. They are super pretty with no holes in the gusset! I tried them on and they fit like a glove. They are lovely. (Her favorite color is green in case you wondered. The yarn is from Knit picks.)

With all that said (!!) I have finished up all of my Christmas knitting! It’s not even mid-December yet and all my Christmas knitting is done. However, next year… I think I won’t knit so many gifts. It was fun and helped me learn a ton about knitting, but you know… it’s time to knit for me!

 

*Not literally everyone, but the people that we buy gifts for instead. I exempted the teenage boys, I would knit couple’s gifts, current knitters (this means you, Jen), and I would not knit for anyone I deemed unworthy. (Read people who I knew would not appreciate the gift, the thought, time or effort expended that made this gift worth more than a gift card.)

Knitting Bad A**

I have project stories I could share. I need to tell you about the socks I knit my sister in law or the mittens I knit my baby cousin. However, I really want to tell you about something else. I want to tell you about how knitting makes me feel.

When I started knitting I wasn’t sure I could do it or that I would like. However, it became clear that I loved knitting. It wasn’t just that I loved it or that I was good at it (I really feel like I am doing pretty good!). It made me feel like a competent human being. Sure, I can whip up 3 meals before 9 am. Yes, I am good at being a wife. But I feel I would be a terrible mother. I am not good with kids at all. I can cook and bake like a champ, but I am terrible at laundry and cleaning. (Not to mention I hate doing it.) I know I have talents and things I can do. I wish I were a better writer. I wish I was smarter. I wish I could sing. When I think of all the things I am terrible at, I get a bit down.

HOWEVER, when I knit I feel pretty much like a goddess. I am good at knitting. I like doing it. I find it fun and challenging. I adore the process, the monotony. When I knit I feel like a person who can achieve anything. I can take on the world. I am like Sarah (from Chuck). I can do anything I want! It’s in this moment when I feel like I can be or do anything I want.

It’s nice to find something that make you feel that way.

Knitting in Historical Terms

My husband, who I love dearly, doesn’t wear scarves. So, when I started knitting he declared he wanted socks, mittens (shark mittens), a hat, and a sweater. Nothing easy peasy for him. So, him being a history major I started looking for him a pattern for a hat that he would like. I must have presented him with 40 patterns before I hit upon this historical pattern. Immediately he said yes.

The beanie in question is the WWII Watch Cap. He loved it. It didn’t look too incredibly difficult even if it was my first hat. I did a gauge swatch. Was nowhere close to gauge. I had to go up THREE needle sizes to get gauge. I cast on.

I finished the project in a week with probably only 3 hours of knitting time. He immediately put it on. I took it off him and washed it up. It got softer and floppier (Knit picks wool I have noticed gets noticeably softer when washed.). However, he puts it on all the time. He loves it. He also picked the color.

Mira strikes back

This weekend I was confidently knitting along on my first mitered square for my sock yarn blanket. Well, it was going along well. I felt like it was turning out pretty. I started a bookmark for my sister in law. All was going well both small projects were almost done.

Then I noticed the square wasn’t really square. More bell shaped. I poo-pooed the whole thing off because it was my first one and I was SURE I could block it and it would be perfect. So, I kept knitting, bound off, washed and blocked it. It still looked more bell shaped. I blew it off as my first one. I kept knitting the bookmark.

Now, here’s the catch. I knitted the bookmark on size 2 needles and the square on size 3’s. Or so I thought.

I went to start a Christmas patterned dishcloth for my Gran and I searched desperately for my size 3’s. I was sure I had put them back in their home. I was sure. Except I only had 1 size 3 and a size 2.

*Click* The light came on. I went to the bookmark (which also looked odd, but again I thought blocking would help) and picked up the needles. Look Ma! One of the needles was a size 3 and the other was a size 2! I had knit both projects with different size needles.

And then, I heard the faint laughter of Mira in my head.

So, I ripped back the bookmark. There was no hope for the bell shaped square, but that would be okay. It was still my first one.

Purple and Lace

I made this scarf for my mom for Christmas. I picked up this wonderful Manos silk blend yarn from a local yarn store a few weeks after I had started knitting. It was my first purchase of yarn that cost that much. I bought 2 skeins for the scarf, but only ended up using one. I had the pattern picked out to go with the yarn soon after I bought it. It was the Branching Out pattern from Knitty.
I wasn’t quite advanced enough to do the pattern right away and so it got put on the back burner until recently. I loved the pattern. Knitting it up was challenging and fun. The lace pattern turned out beautiful. The yarn once washed and blocked was even softer than it was while knitting with it.
I also wanted to share a word about knitting with Manos yarn. I love the softness of the yarn. It’s like knitting with clouds. It conforms, waits patiently if you drop a stitch, and looks delicious when knitted. It’s also a fair trade yarn. So, it’s worth the price. Go to your yarn store and pick some up. You won’t regret it.

SAFF

Last weekend I lost my SAFF virginity and it was awesome!! I don’t really want to chronicle the day with a blow by blow. I started this post like that and thought it sounded trite. I just want to say that I learned a few lessons about myself and yarn and knitting during this trip.

1. If you aren’t dressed, make sure your door is locked.

2. If you see $40 cashmere, silk, and baby merino yarn: buy more!

3. If you shop together you will buy yarn in the same colors.

4. Angora bunnies are like petting air.

5. Sheep and my allergies aren’t friends.

6. Miss Babs and the Knit Witch are the shizzle.

7. Sleep is overrated.

 

I bought some Knit Witch Esoterica yarn (the cashmere, silk, merino I mentioned) in the perfect buttery pumpkin. Then, I bought 3 skeins from Miss Babs. I recommend it highly. Especially the Esoterica. Just sayin’.

PS. I also got some swank buttons and soap.