The Mighty Steek

So Justin wanted a sweater. Well, really, he wanted a sweater two Christmases ago and nobody would buy it for him because it was $130. (I swear it was $230. I would have paid $130 for it.) He sidled up to me at the end of October and told me that he still wanted the sweater. Could I make it for him? Could I make it for him cheaper than if he bought it?

Well, okay.

I've never knit Justin a sweater, and I felt bad about it. But hell, I haven't knit myself a sweater in years. So while part of me was glad to be able to do the wifely thing and crank out a nice cardigan for my nice cardigan-loving mate, the other part of me was all, "Yeah, I'll get right on that after I finish RAISING THIS CHILD."

But I was somewhat smart and chose a yarn that would work up quickly. I didn't finish by Christmas (I was buried in deadlines of all sorts and wrote a kids' book about the influenza pandemic of 1918 - no joke), but I spent much of that holiday week knitting knitting knitting. And when we came home, I ripped, ripped, ripped, because I didn't like the way the decreases messed with the pattern. Now we're all better.

Time to steek.

Sing the Jaws theme with me!

This was my first time actually machine-sewing twice on either side of the steek. It was much, much easier than I anticipated. I'm glad I didn't dilly-dally and put it off until spring.

And the cutting? I fear no scissors.

Snip.

Now all that's left is button bands, a fancy shawl collar, and sewing the underarm seam. I also need some leather buttons. Have any good button sources?

Every grad school student needs an awesome beret.

August was the month that Henry did this:

There goes the neighborhood....and we had to do some really fast baby-proofing. It was also a month of non-stop work, which is great but also tough. It's hard to explain to people why working from home with a small child is not always the best idea. I am, at all times, Mommy. Even when someone else is taking care of him, I can hear him. I see him when I go to the kitchen or the bathroom. And I want to snuggle him when he's been sweet (not when he's crying. That's when I hide). If I left the house to work, I would get to be Kristin for a change. I only get to be her for a few hours a month, and I could do with a little more of that.

Anyway, when I wasn't wrangling that kid or working, I was finishing a hat for Jaime:

Models do not come any cuter than this. And yes, she made that shirt.

It's Laurel by Jared Flood. I love the way it turned out, but the pattern was a disaster. Incorrect charts, missing symbols, wrong directions--even with the errata, I had a tough time. So I finally just went with what looked right while I was knitting and everything turned out fine in the end.

Except the brim.

That is one big brim.The brim of a beret is what truly makes it a beret. It needs to be smaller than the body of the hat, and even though I (supposedly) went down a few needle sizes for it, it was still huge. Gargantuan. I blame it partly on the yarn -- I used Dream in Color Classy, which really grew during blocking. So I cut off the brim, picked up the stitches from the body of the hat, and knit the brim down. It was a little tricky since this particular beret is knit from the brim up, but it worked out pretty well. I ended up knitting the ribbing on a US 1.5, mostly because I was mad and wanted to make sure it would be small enough. (The body of the hat was knit on a US 7.) It was.

Building a better brim.It fits Jaime perfectly now, and I was able to get it to her right before her MFA classes started. Because every grad school student needs an awesome beret.

Actually, EVERYONE needs an awesome beret.

I made a baby faster than this quilt.

I've been waiting for 15 months to talk about this quilt. In that span of time, I went to four weddings, got pregnant, gestated the baby for 37 weeks, gave birth, and spent 3.6 months raising the resulting baby. Stay with me - all of these things are tied together.

We went to seven weddings in 2010. The last wedding was probably the most romantic wedding I've ever attended, including my own. It was outside of Austin on a family farm. The bride and groom (one of our dearest friends) were married under an enormous oak tree, and we played lawn games, ate delicious food, and danced the night away under the stars. I can't remember a better night. The wedding was so romantic, in fact, that we came home and immediately got pregnant.

I don't make quilts for everyone, but Paul is, well, Paul -- a wonderfully smart, kind, hilarious, and stylish guy. Justin, Paul and I all met on the first day in our dorm freshman year, and Paul and I were close friends before Justin would even hold my hand. The boys were inseperable throughout college. I've never seen Paul as happy as he is with Allison, and I wanted to give them a really special wedding gift.

So I bought 16 colors of Kona Cotton and got down to business in August 2010. Their wedding was going to be in November - no sweat! I'd mail it off before we left town! But then life got in the way, and it takes a really long time to cut 560 rectangles and then sew them together (not to mention all the pressing - oh, the pressing!). So August turned into December and all of a sudden I was pregnant. Then I lost my mind.

Pregnancy brain is a strange thing. I was fine with math, but hell if I could remember where I put things, or how big I had originally intended this quilt to be. I just kept counting my pieces and recalculating every time I sat down to work on it (which wasn't often, thanks to the little Bean growing inside of me). Sizes ranged from a small throw (those were dark days) to almost King. In February, I had almost all of my pieces together when I discovered five missing colors. I cut more rectangles, recalculated, and promptly lost my notes. We were working on the house all spring, and my studio moved to the basement in June. I had the baby three weeks early in July. At that point, I hadn't even pieced all the strips together yet.

This quilt was finally finished on October 12, 2011. I took it to Guild the next night for show and tell, and then spent three weeks trying to a) find a box big enough for it and b) figure out how to get this enormous box and a baby and his stroller to the UPS store. Last Monday, I managed to get there five minutes before they closed and waved a relieved goodbye.

So without further adieu, I present to you: The Babymaker.

(For the record: It turned out just shy of Queen-sized, 20 blocks x 14 blocks. The pattern is "Plain Spoken" from Modern Quilt Workshop.)

I love this quilt. It was a pain to put together (I love Kona Cotton, but man, does it ever fray), and I wish it hadn't taken me so long. But it's a lot like a marriage. You have all of these pieces that don't seem to go together, and the only thing that gets you through the dark times (small throw? Really?) is blind faith that everything will turn out right in the end. And boy howdy, did it ever.

Brainwave, and a finished shawl.

I just had a brainwave - I have 2200 yards of Madeline Tosh Merino Light in a lovely purple in my stash. I think it would be perfect for the Dockside Cardigan. I was planning on making something else with it, a pullover, I think...ah, yes, Olive. Hmm. Decisions, decisions. The Madeline Tosh is a singles yarn, while the Heritage is plied, and if I'm going to wear the cardigan a lot, I may want to go with the plied so it doesn't pill and show as much wear... I'm also thinking that the Heritage would lend a little more structure, which a curved piece like this needs. So yes, Heritage it is, I think. In one of the purples. Your comments were so helpful - thank you so much!

On to a finished knit. I finished this one a few months ago and never got around to blocking it. Really, it just looked like a wadded up piece of ick. But then it hit the water and BAM, did it grow.

This is Flamboyan, by Stephen West. I had hoped it would be a more interesting knit, but once you get to row kabillion and knit knit knit and then switch colors and purl purl purl, it's a little much. The ribbing at the bottom was particularly painful, especially when I had to rip back a few rows because I was going to run out of yarn for binding off. All that said, I think it turned out very nicely, and my mom seems to love it.

I wasn't quite sure how to block it - there weren't any instructions on that - so I went with a Farasoe shape (so it would rest nicely on the shoulders). This way, I was able to use my blocking board so that the point was at the short side, and then the shoulder pieces were able to go the entire length of the board. She can wear it as a shawl or as a scarf, which is great. I do love making shawls, but I'm not much for wearing them, so I'm glad my mom likes them.

By the way, I used Sundara superwash sock in Brambleberry (the brown) and Roasted Persimmon over Green Apple (the red). I have 1/5 of the red left, and used all the brown. I really like Sundara's colors (I got these through the Seasons club a few years ago), and they didn't bleed at all during the soaking. The price tag is a little too much for me - it's not the be-all, end-all yarn for me - so I probably won't be buying any more unless I see a great deal in someone's stash. I do, however, have enough Aran Silky Merino to make a Lady February...

Sock Stash Knitdown 2011

I'm in two stash-busting groups on Ravelry - Stashdown and Stash and Burn. This year, I'm going to focus on burning up all of this sock yarn. It's small in weight but mighty in yardage, and when it comes to yarn shopping, it's my biggest temptation.

I did, however, make a tiny dent in the sock yarn stash with my last socks of 2010.

They're delightful socks for my dad. The pattern is Conwy by Nancy Bush, and the yarn is some of my very old handdyed. I named this colorway Taper, since I knew it would be perfect for my dad and he used to be fond of tapered jeans. (I'm pleased to say that's no longer the case, but one must always be on high alert when it comes to tapered jeans.)

I would definitely use this pattern again, but with similar modifications. You start with 72 stitches and then decrease down to something like 60, but I decreased to just 66. I like my ribbed socks to maintain the ribbed look and not get all stretched out. Also, I'd probably try a different toe - the star toe is a little pointy.

He's becoming quite the foot model, isn't he?