tenacious |təˈnā sh əs|
adjective
not readily letting go of, giving up, or separated from an object that one holds, a position, or a principle
• not easily dispelled or discouraged; persisting in existence or in a course of action

Well, I guess I'm not a total slacker, I must have some degree of tenacity, because I am embarking on a new leg in my sweater journey. Let me tell you, I have fought going down this next road to reach sweater completion. I even set it aside for a whole nights worth of knitting, and abandoned another night of knitting to go to The Yarnery and seek counsel about how to proceed. If you have a keen eye you will see from my picture what the problem is. Hand dyed yarn can vary quite a bit, even in the same dye lot. I have two skeins each of yarns that match themselves, but not each other. In the light of day the difference is remarkable. So how did you proceed? Well, the answer is that you rip out the sweater that is half way done and start over again knitting two rows of one then two rows of the other, alternating back and forth for the whole sweater. Yup, that is the only acceptable solution. The other possibility was to use the darker color on the back and have a sweater that was light in front and dark in back. I never would have been happy with that solution. So after I took this picture last night I undid the entire sweater and tonight I will begin Elysium 4.0. Like I said in an earlier post, it is a good thing this yarn isn't prone to pilling or fuzzing. This is a lot of re-working for any yarn! And this just reinforces the importance of loving the yarn enough that you are willing to go to such lengths to have something made with it! I may have to revise my dream of wearing this by April...

Elysium

Yes, that is the name of the sweater that I began a few weeks ago. And yes, this is a picture of said sweater. The sun was shining so brightly this day and reflecting off of all that snow out my front windows. It seemed like a good time to try and get a picture. It gives a fairly accurate representation of the color. I am still really loving this yarn. It is Malabrigo Rios in Playa. I love, love, love, this yarn. I already loved Malabrigo, but this is by far my favorite. It is heavy and soft, but it is clean. I am not a fan of really pilly yarns. I am hard on my yarn, but I don't want it to look like it! I think this will hold up well with wear. And I actually have good reason to think so. You see, in usual V form, I have already started this sweater three times. And even with two restarts the yarn is not fuzzing or really looking any different than the untouched skeins. That is a good sign that it will wear well. There were restarts because I was working out a few kinks. I added five stitches too many to the length the first time around. Yes, it did make a difference. So the first rip out was all the way to the cast on row. I had only knit about half of the front left side though. Not too bad. The second was because I realized that I was doing my W&T (wrap and turn) stitch wrong. I had done a pattern with this stitch before, but watched a really good video on youtube just as a refresher. Well, I was interrupted before I got to the last crucial part of the stitch. So version number two was ripped once I got to the left sleeve because I realized that I had done the stitch wrong! So here I am sporting the left front and left sleeve of Elysium 3.0. The length is good and the stitches are right. I have since finished about half of the back. This project is just what I wanted and needed for a project right now. Just enough detail that I have to pay a little attention, but not so much that I can't watch tv at night while knitting!

Life Imitates Art

Slacker |ˈslakər|
noun informal
a person who avoids work or effort.

I would say I am lacking effort. I don't like to blog when I don't have a picture and I don't take the pictures because I like to make them pretty, and I don't have any inclination to make a pretty picture beyond just the notion of, "hey wouldn't that be pretty", passing through my head, only to be shot down the next moment by "eh". So, no pictures, no blogs. This however, does not mean that I am not busy with things.
The other day I was at Treadle and one of the ladies behind the counter was knitting a toddler sweater from a pattern she found at The Yarnery. (Aside: these are my top two "happy places" so any story containing a reference to both must be significant!) So she was knitting away and I was, of course, chatting and asking about this cute pattern. Then she tells me that there is also an adult pattern for this sweater and I instantly resolved that I must have one. Here comes the significant part. You see I have been a knitter for about 13 years and have only attempted two sweaters in all of that time. Neither was very successful. This produced an aversion and, might I say, fear, of knitting a sweater. Then suddenly, here I am, with a new baby at home, deciding that this is the time. I will make a sweater.
For a long time now I have been mulling over this theory that, for me, it is not that "Art Imitates Life", but rather that "Life Imitates Art". I find that as I work out my issues with projects I see all these parallels in life. Project problems are like a microcosm of how we deal with larger issues. It is enlightening because it is simplified. All the gray of relationships and situations are stripped away and you are faced with something that only has the gray of creativity, but it also has the absolute of math. Where there is a right or wrong answer. How you go about struggling through to find a solution can be really revealing about how you operate as a person. If you can overcome a fear with needles and yarn, then maybe those bigger things aren't so scary.
So anyway, there I was, a few days later, with my hands full of yarn, and my new found resolve to conquer a fear. And while I was there I also decided what the next sweater will be, with every confidence that there will be a next.
Check back sometime when there might be a picture of this sweater in progress. Because it is in progress and coming along quite nicely. But I can't promise that the pictures will be pretty.

Baby Things

I spent years making baby things before I ever had a baby. I mean years. When you learn to knit baby things are just a natural fit. They are small, usually simple and easy to finish. Not to mention stinking cute. I was a pro at baby things, so of course I had to make as much as possible when I was finally going to get the baby. This is the little hat I made just before my daughter was born. That was of course before anything like a blog was know to me, so I feel like I should do a post now. Ok, and it is also a cute picture that I just wanted to post. It is a great neutral newborn hat that is modeled here by my new little son.

Warm and floppy

I finished this a couple of weeks ago, and have been wearing it so much I only just took it's picture. It is a great hat. Really warm, really soft, a little too big though. I'm going to try washing it in warm water to see if I can shrink it a little. I might do this pattern again and tweak it a bit so it will fit better. I also think I probably go off with the pattern, but it is a little random, so it is hard to tell. So much the better. I have decided that with a new baby in the house, a girl just can't have enough good hats, so expect to see more! Along with the practicality, there is also the added benefit of having small attainable projects.

Memoir inspiration

My husband picked this book up for me at the book store just before our baby was born. Based on the cover he assumed it would be something I would like. Of course he was right. Light reading is a life saver when you are exhausted & nursing every two hours. This book, "Sweater Quest", is about the journey of a mom knitting an amazingly intricate Fair Isle sweater in one year. When I started this book I had just finished knitting my baby's blanket and had nothing in the wings. You can't read a memoir about knitting and not having a knitting project in the works. It was only a matter of moments before I decide to make a slouchy tam to go with a new jacket. I of course had no pattern, but just a general idea of what I wanted. Something chunky that I could hopefully make with a Malabrigo yarn. I am totally infatuated with this brand of yarn, because not only are the colors beautiful, but it is just so darn soft! A quick scan of Ravelry and I found exactly what I was looking for! It is slouchy, chunky, cabled and worked in Malabrigo which means I wouldn't need to worry about futsing with conversion. It is a love fest, the book, the yarn, the pattern, the baby, and just the act of knitting in the fall. The only things that could make this better would be a fireplace and a breve...

Baby & blankie

Here is my new baby enjoying his newly finished blankie. I'm very happy with the result of both endeavors. :) Since this is my crafty blog I will talk about the blanket and let you deduce from the picture how great the baby turned out. The blanket turned out to be a great size for him. It is about 26x32" and is heavy, warm, but also very breathable. It is great for a little guy to cuddle in. It is also remarkably soft and luxurious for a cotton. I fell in love when I saw a whole shelf lined with the stuff and determined something must be made from it. Then, as any good yarn store has, there was a sample knit in it. The sample that happened to be this blanket. I took creative liberty and did my own color combination, which I think if very "little manly".