There's been knitting...

First, I created a button for a knitting project over at knitting diva - won't you take a second and cast your vote? (My button is the first one).



Second - I finished all the gifts for our friends in Colombia and mailed them off. The mail is not very reliable there, so I'm hoping they get their okay. Since then I've finished a few more things:

Saartje's Booties

Yarn: Wildflower DK in yellow -a fraction of a skein

Notes: Perfect, adorable and quick to knit. A gift for a co-worker.

Nordic Ear Flap Hat

Yarn: Bernat softee chunky in green and blue - part of leftover skeins I had.

Notes: This is a tad big for seamonkey, but it's thick and warm, and as you can see he doesn't mind wearing it. It was the first time I did intarsia in my life - it wasn't too bad. I actually was able to carry each color in each hand, which was a little fiddly at first. Tension is key, and I need some practice, especially where I was switching needles (I used the magic loop method).

Currently on the needles I have the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted gifts. You take two skeins of luxury sock yarn in complimentary colors, and switch off every two rows. One row is worked in the "feather and fan" pattern. I did a double repeat to make this wider. I had alot of fun choosing which colors to use - I was in the yarn shop for almost an hour digging through all the wonderful sock yarn. I settled on Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, both are in colors "Earth" - and I found out later that these are "potluck" skeins - they only dyed six of each color at a time. This scarf is a gift for my Billy Joel loving friend for her 40th birthday - obviously I'm late with it - and it's taking longer than I thought. But the colors are totally her - rusty, brown, coppery, peachy...it will look great with her skin tone. I'm not even half way done - but this scarf is over 6 feet long. I want to make myself one eventually, it's a great excuse to splurge on sock yarn.

Knit Along

Knitting (and crocheting) is a form of therapy for me. My life is crazy and my brain is always going a hundred miles an hour. Clicking away on my needles helps me funnel my energy - having my hands do the moving enables my brain to slow down a bit so I can think. Something about the repetitiveness of the motions puts me into a zone of concentration (or oblivion, I've missed many train stops because of it). Not to mention it is a productive use of my commuting time. That's why I knit now.

But why I knitted "then" was slightly different. The energy I had then was a nervous anxious energy as a result of all the waiting. Waiting for appointments, waiting for test results, waiting to start the next cycle after another BFN. The knitting was the ultimate distraction - I sought out soft pretty yarns - having somewhat of an artists' eye, beautiful color combinations made me feel better just to look at them. I also attempted new and more complicated techniques. It was during my darkest days when I taught myself to knit both a pair of socks and a lace shawl. It was an alchemy of sorts...all the negativity, worry and anxiety were magically transformed into a useful and beautiful thing. It made me feel like a little bit less of a total failure.

I've been reading more about the Red Scarf Project, and while knitting for charity is a great thing, especially when it's for orphans, they seem like they are already up to their armpits in red scarves, and because they need to be gender neutral, they can be limited in design. So I'm going to make the executive decision to nix the charity knitting (you can still donate your scarf if you wish, but it's not the main focus of this knitalong).

I would like this to be more focused on us as individuals - taking the time to sit and look inward and create. It would be ideal if you can find yourself some quiet time for this purpose, but as the mom of a toddler myself, I realize this is not always possible. But if you could somehow get that alchemy going it would be awesome.

So on to choosing a pattern. I wanted to ensure that the yarn required was obtainable from any mega craft store. The options below are all for any worsted weight yarn (like Wool Ease or Simply Soft) which are widely available, and would look great in any color. I also tried to choose things that contained an element that might be new to most people and therefore a bit of a challenge. I hate knitting boring scarves...I fall out of love quickly and the project then sits unfinished. Please remember that one of the purposes of a knitalong is to help each other through the pattern, so please don't be turned off by things that look too hard. Trust me, these are all do-able. And you will be glad you rose to the challenge.

My so called Scarf - an interesting stitch pattern


Irish Hiking Scarf - cables


Column of Leaves Scarf - lace type pattern

Danica - Entrelac (this one looks harder than it is - if you can learn to pick up stitches, you can do this - the effect is stunning - check this one out, and this one and this one) It's like magic - hey magic, alchemy...hmmm.....

I'm open to any other suggestions as well. If you think these are way too challenging, let me know too.

I will accept votes until Monday the 8th. Then everyone will have one week to get yarn. I am proposing to kickoff this knitalong on October 15th, which also happens to be Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

I hope you will join along! You can follow our progress on the "Infertility Sucks Scarf Along" Blog.

KAL anyone?

So I've been thrilled to see that we have some knitters out there in adoption/inferitlity bloggy land! As you may know, I do have a knitting blog, but I haven't posted there in quite some time - it's been a challenge to post with any semblance of regularity on this blog, so maintaining two is OUT. So guess what? I will be consolidating - and now you get to look at knitterly things in various stages of completion from now on. Doesn't that sounds fabulous?


Okay ready? Go!

This is what I'm working on now - A blue baby kimono sweater. It's a gift for a friend. Now I just need to seam it and do the neck band. I also need to make a girly baby sweater for a friend, I was going to do this in a feminine color, but perhaps I'll just crochet something...that goes quicker for me.
Now for the items that I haven't picked up since before we got seamonkey:

A wrap (basically a big rectangle) made from worsted wieght wool, using a lace pattern I found in a magazine which I can't locate right now. Perfect for fall, but I doubt I'll finish it - I'm like a third done with it.

Entrelac baby blanket. This is just too feminine for seamonkey. When I finish it I'll probably gift or sell it on etsy. It's 100% wool and super soft, once it's blocked I'm sure it will be gorgeous and snuggly.

Bell Sleeve Pullover for myself. Thick yarn with big needles, this should go fairly fast. This is one sleeve done - it's the first sweater I've ever attempted just for me.

I wish I could plow through these projects and be done with them. I am definitely a product knitter - I like finishing and having something to show for my efforts, as opposed to some who are process knitters; enjoying the journey as much as the end product. That's SO not me.

I'm not sure if I'm going to pick up any of these UFOs any time soon (unfinished objects for all you civilians). After the baby sweaters I want to make seamonkey a stripey winter hat and scarf. And I maybe want to knit something to send to our friends in Colombia. And then I was thinking that maybe we could do a KAL?

What's a KAL you ask? Why a Knit A Long of course!

Where we all pick a pattern, knit it at the same time, help each other along and (of course) post our progress on the blog. I had this crazy idea that maybe some of you who dabble in knitting would like to try something new and exciting....maybe even learn something new? Howz about lace? Or cables? I was thinking scarf to keep things fairly quick to knit. AND, if you don't have your heart set on giving your scarf to your great Aunt Tilly for Christmas, we could even tie this in to the whole adoption thing and participate in the Red Scarf Project!

What do you think??