FO, for a reason

I'm on the 13th repeat of Backyard Leaves, but left off to finish the Tigger sweater for my son (knit and attach ears--that's all that was left).

The occasion? He finally lost his first tooth! He was so proud. Unfortunately, his belief in the tooth fairy has already fled, so he asked me to put something under his pillow. "Or if it's a toy or something, Mom, put it right here by my bed, OK?"

He has a Sacagawea dollar under his pillow and a finished Tigger sweater next to it.

(The ears turned out cute. I cast on 5 stitches, kfb at each RS row end for 2 rows, then started short-row shaping on the next WS row: I purled across 5 [of 9] stitches, wrapped the next stitch and turned, repeating for maybe 4 rows. k2tog at each end of RS rows twice, then bound off all. They're nicely cupped.)

Pretty-much FO and (you're not surprised) new UFO

Keeping G home yesterday enabled me to finish his Tigger sweater, all ends woven in, except for the ears. Turns out he doesn't want very big ears (held his fingers 1" apart), so that won't take long. He didn't like my idea of attaching them with buttons so they could be easily removed. Still wants to wear the sweater for Halloween. Not fixated with the matching pants (phew). Photo up soon now.


My pouty model.










And... because I have two skeins of Cascade 220 in a gorgeous green, I just had to start Backyard Leaves, which I've wanted to make forever. IK put the pattern in their Holiday 2006 issue so I didn't have to buy the back issue it first appeared in. The pattern calls for Malabrigo, about 400 yds, so the 220 should be fine. I think I started it 5 times, though. It is confusing that the startup row is a wrongside row, and the pattern is on every row, so you don't just purl back on the wrong side. The directions have you do two halves, then sew them together. I've changed that to casting-on with a provisional crochet chain, which I hope to do a 3-needle bind-off or some such for a better seam, and I'm doing the two at once on straight needles. I've done 2 of 11 repeats and it really is entrancing the way the leaves leap out at you.









I also felted the next 4 coasters. I only have a smidge of the first ball left and want to do some potholders next. It is so fun!

Update on Tigger; new UFO

Here is the latest on the Tigger sweater! I'm very pleased with the fit. I still have decreases to do on the neck, BUT... I want to put a hood on this. This is not in the Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns! I feel like I want to get closer to his natural neckline, but most hooded sweater patterns use pretty much all of the neck stitches, so I should probably start now. Indecision...!


And, of course, I can't resist starting a new project. I'm obsessed with this pattern--Double Rose Leaf from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. The yarn is a cotton Tahki of which I bought four balls for a scarf for my mother. Turns out, she's good on scarves and would prefer a pullover. So part of this exercise is to see if I want to keep the yarn for myself. It is really lovely and is knitting up beautifully. I think I'll use this pattern for a shawl in some wool laceweight too. Aaaaah. :)

It's all in the 'tude, man

I had to redo several things on the kiddo's Tigger Sweater yesterday. The latest one was that I incorporated one of the sleeves wrong. I had been knitting them 2-on-2-circulars, so one 'end' was the beginning of the tube, and the other 'end' was halfway across. In this pattern, you bind of 6 stitches centered over the beginning and then knit across the remaining stitches when attaching it to the body.

Well, I bound off stitches and then knit across half of the remaining stitches, rather than from the bound-off stitches, so as I continued to knit, I came across a bald patch where stitches, seemingly in the middle of the sleeve, were bound off. OOPS.

Oh, and the error before that? I knit the other sleeve on, backwards. As in, I knit across the backside of the stitches, producing bumps on the K side. Still can't believe I did this.

Normally, there would have been a buttload of cussing, some throwing of the garment, and then an imposed exile period. For whatever reason (very good therapist?), I went and attended to Easter dinner*, then came back and calmly undid my error and continued on my way.

*A ham, because it is traditional and I like ham, and thought the Kid would enjoy it, which he did; plus homemade mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. Guess which one the Kid asked for.

I know. I think it's unusual too. But I'm grateful for this new serenity. Especially as these were pretty egregious errors. Oh, well, I'm knitting around the top (what is that freakin' word? can't think of it) of the sweater now, well into the home stretch. Except for the hood I need to make. With Tigger ears.

Good think the Kid's cute.

The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!

I didn't really like that movie, but the line really sticks with me.

Just noticed Rabbitch added me to her blog list! OMG!

So now I really have to post more often.

Well, not a lot of knitting news to report! I am still working on the Tigger sweater sleeves, and WTF? How can two little sleeves take so much longer than 11" of sweater with a pocket?? I got tired of marking the six rows (inc 2 on the first), 8 times, in my knitting notebook, so I got out two barrel counters and put loops of scrap yarn in them. One is for the rows and the other is for repeats. I'm on the seventh repeat, so that's good.

I also did more work on my friend's Contrasto scarf. Had a little frisson when I thought, "When the heck is her birthday? Is it soon?" and the topic came up and she said August. Phew!

I also cast on a swatch for the Tahki blue cotton and seriously screwed up the decrease I was trying out and just can't get it all to behave again. So one side is fine, all k2p2, and the other side has like k2p4 followed by k2p2. Ugh. This sweater will be the death of me.

As for the shaping, especially for the Lang 'Viva' sweater, I took out the Sublime sweater pattern and started jotting down measurements for the waist shaping. 17 stitches per inch makes for some crazy numbers, especially when you do it in your head. I do think I can transfer them to the pattern, though, so that was worth it.

I also ran off half of the ball of Meilenweit to start a very basic pair of socks that I can finish before I'm 50. That yarn really makes my heart go pit-a-pat, so I think it will be very enjoyable. Unlike the Child's First Socks, which, now that I've turned the ankle, seem too small (ARRRGH!), and I think I hate them. Can't decide whether to frog them or just finish them and give them to someone with small feet. Dharma, when's your birthday again?

A pox on bullies

I'm maybe 6" up the sleeves (two at once) on the Tigger sweater, and say to my boy, "It's too bad I'm not done with it; you could wear it today." Then he informs me that he has no intention of ever wearing it to school, as kids would make fun of him. "It's just a black-and-orange striped sweater!" (with ears on the hood) Nope, there are girls who would say things, and he doesn't know what to do about them.

sigh I wish his school had an EFFECTIVE anti-bullying policy.

Still knitting...

Update with photos!

The latest on the Tigger sweater. It's up to the armpits and I've bound them off and started the 2 sleeves. Since sleeves are so narrow and fiddly, instead of doing them 1 at a time on dpns, I'm doing them 2 at a time on 2 circulars (you're not surprised, now are you?). I think I'll do twice-as-deep ribbing so I can fold it back now, and unfold it when he's bigger (which'll be in like 2 weeks).



Sunrise ripple scarf. This is the one I lost count in and which I'll redo with stitch markers after every repeat. I like that it's knit sideways and is all ripply. What do you think the yarn is? It's mystery yarn from my mom, no label but nice and shiny.





Second Contrasto scarf is coming along well. I love mistake rib. It rocks.







I've turned the heel on the Child's First Socks. Got messed up on the pattern, though; one part is on row 2 when it should be on row 3. Argh!






The Lang sweater, which is truly nice and soft, but must be frogged to be started over without that front V and with waist shaping. I do think it'll rock when I'm done, though.

Progress on Tigger Sweater

I brought it with me to work today, ostensibly to work on during our company meeting. There I was, right in the middle of the group with every speaker looking my way, so I didn't feel I could pull it out. Went for a walk afterwards instead, and knit on it then.

I'm at 7 1/2", so this round, I'll attach the pocket. I knit 6" on it yesterday, put it on stitch holders and cut the yarn. The body is at 5 1/2" so there'll be 1/2" of ease for hands. On this round, I'll knit up to the edge and k2tog across the 30 stitches of pocket. Then I'll have just 3 more inches till I get to the armholes. G is still loving it. The yarn is very soft, if garish.

I have clearly lost my mind

Just got my order in of more Skacel Contrasto for a birthday gift for a friend. And because I can't simply order ONE yarn, like ever, I added in some yarn for a sweater for the little dude. This yarn. In black and orange. As I said, I have completely lost my mind.

Yes, I keep knitting absolutely garish things for my son. Because that is what he asks for and I'm a softie for the little guy. The latest thing he asked for was a head-to-foot T!gger costume, knit or otherwise made by moi. I figure a pullover with kangaroo pocket in this yarn is the closest I'm willing to come, and that's a lot farther than most.

In other news, I finished the tam for my sister, and it is mostly OK. The top is a little, eh, peaky, so I'm going to rip back just a few rows and do k2togs all the way around and see if that makes it flatter. It is really very nice, I think. I still think the cast-on edge is a bit tight. The wool is so soft and warm. And now I have one full ball and part of another left over. Enough for another ribbed hat for me? For someone else? I adore this yarn. Why doesn't everyone stock it?

Oh, and I finished the 3.5" part of the Viva top. Came across a challenge: the pattern has you knit the back & front separately. Now that I'm done with the two "separate" parts of the front, the yarn is at the middle. But in "real life," the yarn would be at the edge. So I think I have to cut it and rejoin it at the right side (not the left, right? Doesn't knitting go from right to left?). Weird, huh? I do still like it, even though the yarn does sometimes catch on the tip of the needles (which are plenty dull, being Clovers).

I've put aside Odessa for the time being. I kept making mistakes.