Fall Start-itis

Now that the carpal tunnel symptoms have passed and the weather has gotten cooler, I want to cast on about one million new projects.

Waistband and stockinette body of McDreamy

I've managed to cast one one new one – the McDreamy sweater for the smallest fry.  I wanted desperately to find a project to use the Brooklyn Tweed Loft yarn that didn't work for the shawl.  And I fell a little in love with the baby model for the photo of this sweater.  How darling is this scowl?  I'm knitting this in the Fossil color way, which is the lightest of the three colors that I have on hand.  And I'm envisioning using some pretty red or pink buttons for the raglan and then making a pair of "big butt baby pants" to go with this... maybe even line them with flannel... for maximum cozy-ness?

I had some help with the photo shoot of this work in progress in the form of the small fry and her fairy collection.  This is Spike I believe...

A little help...

I've also restarted my Knit.Sock.Love socks.  This is the beginning of the Twisted Flower sock in a gorgeous kelly green Koigu KPM that I've had in the stash forever.  I scored it on one of those rare Koigu sales and have been saving it for something special.  I'm excited about this pattern and have recently come into possession of my first ever roll of highlighter tape.  Which means I have no worries about marking my place on the beautiful, yet extensive, charts for this pattern.  I love, love, love twisted stitches.  Some day I need to do a retrospective on my Bayerische socks...

Soon I'll write a little about my nearly finished Loki sweater... I've got a few final details to finish and then I'll let you know what I also plan to finish this fall.

Until then, enjoy this fall weather.

Color Craving KAL

In mid-September I signed up for Stephen West's Color Craving knit-a-long (KAL).  It was kind of a crazy idea, since the release of the first clue happened within a week of my due date.  But two lovely friends of mine were signing up too, and I envisioned lots of knitting time made available while feeding the smallest fry. (This may or may not have actually worked out... )

So the knitting commenced.  I started initially with some lovely Brooklyn Tweed Loft.  I love the yarn. But I didn't read the instructions carefully enough on this pattern, and the twist and stitch definition  made it a less than ideal match for this project.  So I ripped out the first weeks clue (ugh...) and started again with some Malabrigo Finito, which was a much better choice for this project.  The only other change I made to the directions was to knit this on US 5 needles.  I did this because my US 6 needles were otherwise occupied and since I'd already purchased two types of yarn for this project... ahem.  I'm glad that I did this though... the finished object is plenty large.

In progress... actually almost complete

Knitting  the clues as they came without knowing what the finished product was a leap of faith for me.  Being a visual person, I often rely on the photos of the nicely finished object to make sure that my interpretation of the directions is correct.  And this wasn't really an option; which is sort of the point... to be surprised.  

Closing in on the seemingly endless i-cord bind off

I must say that it was a pleasure to knit this.  As I got further and further into the second, third and fourth week, I got more comfortable with the directions. Some of the design elements were repeated and I took comfort in knowing that I was at least being consistent (right or wrong).  But this ended up turning out beautifully, and having taken a look at some other finished projects, I think my interpretation was correct - whew!

I'm happy with my yarn choice too. I think this red really pops and the finished result is something that is fun and unexpected... It's a bit more modern-art-ish than I probably would have normally chosen, but not so strange that I won't be able to wear it.  You can find the details on Ravelry here.

Finished length – nearly 4' long!!

... like a folded pennant.

Best modeled with Dora PJs of course.

Three cheers for Stephen West... I can only say three things about Stephen's knitting patterns, interesting, interesting, interesting!  In design (use of simple elements and geometry), use of color and finished object.  And now my eye is on his Batad shawl... how gorgeous is this?

A Brand New Little

...and then this happened.  A new and perfect baby girl has graced our family.

And now we are four.

We are all doing extraordinarily well – a little sleep deprived – but wonderful.