A little help from my friends

I'm calling out to the blogosphere for their wisdom!

What would you do with a knitted garment that has become too big? Would you keep it or give it away? Or would you rip it out?

This is my dilemma. Last spring I finished the In Full Bloom cardigan and while I love the color and the design, the sweater no longer fits me as well. I put it on this morning to wear to church and had about 4" of extra fabric everywhere. In an act of desperation I snipped off the buttons, overlapped the fronts by quite a bit and used a sweater stick to keep it closed in front.

Let me know what you think! Were this a sweater that was sitting in your closet, what would you do?

In search of the perfect wrap

This week has been the week of the wrap. On Monday I finished the white Encore soaker only to cast on for another soaker style called the wrap. Rather than being more shorts-like, the wrap is, well more wrap-like. These have velcro sewn on, with the softer loop side sewn all the way across the front and a short 1" hook on each side of the back that allows you to customize the fit. These are so quick and easy to make that I finished the wrap on Saturday.

Since I loved the fit of the wrap soaker so much, I cast on for another one! This wrap also is using green Manos Cotton Stria like the white one, but I'm pairing it with another strand of wool yarn and I'm using up some small leftovers that I had lying around. The rust color of the ribbing is leftover from a hat I made for Owen. The small green stripe right above the rust is what remains from Ailish's cardigan. The blue that makes up the main accent color is from a wrap that I made about a year and a half ago.
I pulled the leftover yarn from the aptly named Leftover Yarn Bag in my knitting closet and eyed it closely. I wasn't sure I was going to like the color combinations but I figured, "Whatever. It's going over a diaper so who cares?" As soon as I started knitting I fell in love with how the colors worked together. I pulled Bryan over to admire it and he didn't even have to fake interest! I don't think that it would have worked half as well without the green manos pulling it all together.If you've read my blog for a while you'll remember that I've mentioned a lone skein of Cascade 220 Quatro as being that one skein that represents all hasty yarn purchases. It has sat in my stash for almost 2 years and I've had no idea what to do with it. I have finally wound the Quatro!!! It is going to be another soaker or a wrap, depending on how the mood strikes me. It has the perfect yardage for the project and will be a much used item so it will fulfill it's destiny as a desired knitted object.
Also wound up and sitting in the bull pen are two skeins of hand dyed Cascade 220 that I purchased off of eBay two summers ago. These will become another pair of Baby Bell Bottoms for Miss A. I love how the cotton denim and khaki pairs look on her and she's going to need another size up for the winter. The wool will help keep her nice and warm.

I've really found myself enjoying knitting from my stash. There's something about finding a pattern for a yarn that had been sitting neglected and tucked away that makes me happy. I'm hoping that I can whittle down the stash a little more so that when I get some Christmas money that I can make some wisely thought out and planned additions to it. Or at least something more versatile than a single skein of Quatro.

(Michelle asked me where I found the pattern for the soaker. I found the pattern for the soaker and the wrap on this great website that has about 100 different pattern links, both for free and for sale.)

California Blues

I started these socks while driving up the San Diego coast to visit our home church. I worked on them while lounging next to two dear friends and watching a lazy Sunday afternoon movie. It is the blue of the ocean and of the cool coastal colors. But its also the blues that I feel being separated from long time friends.

Pattern: Generic sock pattern using 64 sts
Yarn: Trekking XXL, color 77
Needles: Size 1 US Addi Turbo circs, magic loop
Date started: June 4, 2006
Date completed: June 28, 2006

Tonight I wound up some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock and some KnitPicks Shadow for some upcoming projects. Stay tuned to see what I do with them!

I just want to give a big hug and an even bigger thank you for all of the kind words about In Full Bloom! I loved sharing it with you and am so glad that none of you thought I was insane for modeling it in 92 degree weather. As excited as I was to wear it, I was just as excited to take a picture to show all of you.

In Full Bloom

With friends Lana, Saran and Mom cheering me on, I worked on seaming the sweater at Simply Fibers on Saturday. I finished it while I was there and then picked up stitches for the button band at home. Bryan asked for a fashion show after I finished binding off all 302 stitches, but I had to wait until the buttons were on and I truly had a Finished Project!

At 10:30pm I sewed on the last of the buttons and put on my first sweater. I had made Owen a sweater back in November but that felt more like the practice leading up to the Olympics. After all, his sweater was a raglan sleeved pull-over with just a plain straight neck. This, my friends, is a real sweater. Set in sleeves, v-neck, button band and everything.


I'm proud of this sweater. So proud that I decided that I had to wear it to church today. Heat Stroke? Meh, whatever. I have handknits!!!

Project Details:
Pattern: In Full Bloom, Creative Knitting March 2006
Yarn: Cotton Fleece
Needles: Size 4 and 6US 40" circulars, Addi Turbo
Date Started: April 6, 2006
Date Completed: June 24, 2006

Right now, as we speak I type...

the In Full Bloom sweater is blocking. I had been debating whether or not I should put it together and knit the button band before blocking as the instructions said. Then I remembered how much easier it was to seam Owen's sweater once it was blocked and the decision was made!

I picked buttons for the sweater when I visited Simply Fibers on Thursday. They are small, silver, oval buttons that have what looks like a little filigree on the top that is old and almost worn off. I love them and was so glad to see that Carol had gotten in a bunch of new buttons. The best thing was that they were only $.75 each!

Lana and I have made plans to meet eachother at 11:00 this Saturday at Simply Fibers. Sarah is hoping to make it at around 12:00. My Mom might be joining us, which I would love, so we'd have a nice little group!

Melissa and Laura, I'll be mailing your prizes out to you tomorrow and so you should be receiving them soon!

For now, I continue to resist casting on for another project until the sweater is completely finished. May God give me the strength!!!

Just a little razzle dazzle

Learning to divert your child's attention away from something you don't want them to touch/lick/eat/play with/see/hear/do is one of the first things you must learn in order to survive parenthood. I learned this lesson well with my younger brothers and it came in handy with babysitting and, later, my own little munchkin.

I'm going to use this today in the hopes that you won't notice that I don't have any knitting pictures to show you. Why don't I have anything interesting to show you? Because I have hit the proverbial wall with the In Full Bloom sweater. I just finished the sleeve increases and only have two more inches before I do sleeve cap shaping, but I swear this is the longest two inches I've ever encountered. I'm in that black hole of knitting where I knit several rows and measure and yet haven't gained any length. I'm sure this problem is only exacerbated by the fact that I'm knitting both sleeves at the same time. Perhaps hiding the sweater in a bag and making faces at it before I zipped it shut wasn't the most adult way of handling the situation.

Just to spite the sweater, I decided to make a little felted bag to keep some of my knitting supplies in. Mom and I found a yarn store just down the street from where my in-laws live, so when they picked us up to go to the airport we had to make a stop just to "see what's inside". We came out with a pattern, two skeins of Cascade EcoWool, three skeins of some hand-dyed wool blend and two skeins of Noro Silk Garden. We loved the Silk Garden colorway so much that we each had to buy a skein to make something little with it. I knitted and felted my bag last night and it should be ready for it's photo shoot tonight. That'll show you, sweater.

Tomorrow's post shall be a sad tale of a battle won and and then lost.

Oh look! A starfish!

This is actually part of a bigger display of artwork that is located in a women's' restroom in the San Diego airport.