Zoomin'

I just can't get over how quickly you can knit up a garment if it's sized for someone, say...3-6 months in age. This baby cardi is literally flying off the needles. I just started it 10 days ago, and I've already finished the back and left front, while the right front is 4.25 inches along (that's a little less than 11 cm for those of you progressive enough to be on the metric system). Here's a picture of the completed pieces, and one of the front piece in progress.

























































I consider myself a relatively intelligent woman, so it's frankly shocking how I can be so surprised by this speedy knitting of baby garments. I mean, quickly measuring across my shoulders from top of joint to top of joint, I get about 15 inches. This baby cardi measures approximately 10.5 inches from edge to edge. When you consider that this cardi is unseamed and it has a drop shoulder, it's safe to say that the baby cardi is knit for someone with shoulders less than half as wide as mine. That seems too big for a wee tot, but I'm closely matching the pattern gauge of 5 stitches per inch.

Hmm...after mentioning gauge, I suddenly seem to have an idea about the speediness of this baby knitting. I'm like that: sometimes I reason through things by talking out loud (in this case typing out loud) rather than internalizing the progression of thoughts. I'm knitting 5 stitches per inch on size US 7 needles. The equivalent gauge for an adult garment would be about 2+ stitches per inch on size US 13 or 15 needles. Thinking back, I did make one shrug that was about this gauge, and it did go quickly: the Bold and Bulky Mini Cardi from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits.

So I guess the lesson is that as long as I want a really bulky adult garment, I can turn out a sweater in a relatively short time. Maybe I'd better just stick to baby garments right now.

Baby Time

For any of you reading my posts who know me (shout out to Kerry & Sarah), don't freak out by the title of this post - I'm not pregnant. My biological clock is still MIA, and I don't have any plans to go looking for it.

This post is titled "Baby Time" because one of my co-workers recently announced that she is pregnant with her first. When I asked how far along, she replied, "Fifteen weeks." I just looked at her, because for the life of me I couldn't see that she'd put on any weight. She's very thin to start with, and not having children myself, I don't automatically know when you're supposed to start showing. I suspect she'll carry all her weight up front - the kind of person who doesn't look pregnant from the back, then turns sideways to reveal this big(ish) baby bump.

I've knitted blankets for the past several baby arrivals, and my immediate thought was to knit another. But her mother-in-law makes beautiful quilts, and I knew she'd be getting at least one baby quilt. Maybe this time I'd make something else. I checked out several books from the library that looked promising: Wacky Baby Knits by Alison Jenkins, Knitting a Kiss in Every Stitch by Nicky Epstein, and Pretty Knits - 30 Designs from Loop in London by Susan Cropper. OK, that last one was just for me. :) Paging through these books, I saw many interesting designs that just didn't connect for me. I even looked through the latest Debbie Bliss magazine, but nothing really yelled, "Knit me!"

I needed something that was not gender specific, since I have no idea if she's having a boy or girl. I also didn't want something too involved, because I often underestimate the time involved with a project, and I've already had the pleasure of finishing a baby blanket right before leaving for the shower, thank you very much. I think I'll pass this time.

We're having a sustainability challenge at work, so I decided maybe I could use up some stash yarn rather than buying new yarn. Perusing the tub-o-stash, I found a bunch of leftover Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn from this baby blanket I made for Sarah. I didn't have any brilliant ideas for how to use up this yarn, so I decided to troll through the LBY website's free patterns. After considering the Twin Lakes Blankie I nixed the idea because I had partial balls of five different colors, and didn't like the idea of a striped basket weave blanket. I also pushed away from the Tumbling Blocks Blankie, because I've never tried entrelac before and again, didn't want to be pushing deadlines. Finally I saw this pattern for a cute little cardigan sweater and decided it was the one.

I tried to pick out the best color combination from what I already had (again...think sustainable), and finally decided upon a purple, yellow and lime green combo. Never having knit up baby clothes before, I was amazed at how quickly it started coming together (I know...I'm slow sometimes). Starting with the back, here's a picture of the ribbing:

Even though the light is not perfect for this picture, I chose it because it best shows the purple hue. And here are a couple of photos showing my progress over the weekend:

































At this rate, I may end up making her some coordinating baby socks and maybe a cute little baby hat, too. I could really get into this baby knitting thing, just not enough to have my own.

Love/Hate

I've had a real love/hate relationship with this dragon scarf yarn so far. It's Jamieson's Double Knitting (DK), which is 100% shetland wool, and here's a picture of the various yarn colors that I'm using in the scarf:

They are (in no particular order): 236 Rosewood (MC), 587 Madder, 147 Moss, 1160 Scotch Broom, 230 Yellow Ochre, 259 Leprechaun, 478 Amber, 1190 Burnt Umber and 1200 Nutmeg. The solid colors are rich and true, while the "heathered" colors have very interesting color play and knit up to form beautiful sections. And the yarn so far has been very even in weight with no knots (I hate that).

If you work with this yarn you'll find that it's a little scratchy, which may be typical of Shetland wool, don't know as this is my first time working with it. During the color work of the dragon, the yarn had a tendency to stick together, which was painfully annoying when I had 16 color strands sticking out from my work and trying to cross them without getting a knot. I was constantly stopping to sort out the colors, and could only work at my kitchen table due to the very slippery surface.

But looking back, that stickyness is probably is why the color section holds together with no gaps between color changes. Working with the solid main color, it's been fine to work with and I haven't had any issues. Hopefully you can see from the second photo what I mean about the varigated heather color!

I also have a love/hate (well, hate is much too strong a word - more like love/pull my hair out in exasperation) relationship with my cat at times. This morning I woke up to find that he had been keeping himself occupied during the night. This is the bag that holds the unused Jamieson's DK yarn:














Do you see it? Those white flecks around the top and the odd crinkly texture to the handles are tooth marks. Last night that bag was untouched; this morning, it looks like he tried to needle felt the yarn through the bag with his teeth. This is the same bag that's been sitting unscathed on a desk in the office for weeks. Overnight it becomes kitty kibble. I just don't get it...

One of These Things...

...is not like the other, one of these things is not the same."

Do you ever have the sudden realization that you're a little "different" from everyone else, that you're knitting to the beat of your own, individual drum? You're working away, happy as a clam, thinking everything's good, and then...whammo! You are reminded that not everyone thinks the same way you do. Maybe it's just me and I'm the weird one. It wouldn't be the first time I had this realization, but I had my first such knitting moment a few months ago.

The big "ah-ha" moment came after reading the February 8, 2010 post from Yarn Harlot about her Wild Apples Bohus sweater (from the link, click on Bohus Knitting, then scroll down). YH posted some really beautiful photos of her progress on the sweater yoke, but I was surprised to see how she held her circular knitting. The next day at work, I commented to Tia, "Hey, did you notice the reverse way that YH knits circularly?" Tia replied that she didn't notice, and I open my web browser to show her. She looks at the pictures, looks at me, and says, "Uh...that's how I knit. How do you knit in the round?"

Now, seeing the puzzled, almost worried, look on her face, this really funny feeling comes over me. It's like the feeling you get when you show up for a party and your level of dress (up or down) is completely off from everyone else's. Come to find out, I am the dufus who uses the "backwards circular knitting method" if there is such a thing. Should have known; YH has been knitting for how many years??? Of course she doesn't knit weirdly - that should have been my first clue!

When I go to make the join in my knitting to start the circular part, I bend the circular needle away from me so that my join is in the back and my project ends up being inside out (picture how you would hold two straight needles, and imagine the circular cord connecting both ends). Then I continue knitting away, making the project inside out. Here's a picture of my sweater-in-progress to show you what I mean.



The big section of right-side stockinette you see is actually on the inside of my work. I'm also adding a photo of my cat Cinnebar, who had to come over and check out my crazy knitting method.

See the look on his face? It says, "Wow, my mistress is really nuts. First she works with string for hours on end, but never chews on it. Then she doesn't even work with it right, and finally, she takes photos of her mistakes and posts them for the entire world to see. She's really hopeless. Now give me some more cat treats."

Anyway, to me this way of knitting in the round feels natural because the circular needles are in the "normal" knitting position, forming a "V" that points away from you. It also feels natural because the position of the crossed needles generally follows the shape of the work. Nevermind that you end up knitting into a tunnel of sorts, because to properly view what you've accomplished you have to stop and turn your work right side out.

So yes, I am the oddball who knits backwards. If anyone needs me, I'll be sitting over in the corner knitting a dunce cap.