Chickami is not working out.  The yarn I got specifically for this project, Elann Coto Canapone, is not knitting up at the advertised gauge for me, 19-20 sts/4 inches on US 5.  Instead I am getting 23 sts/4 inches on US 5 - and it is a good fabric that is not too firm or too loose so I don’t want to mess with that.  I thought I had taken into account my smaller gauge but, noooo… I apparently lied to myself about what 23/4*40=.

I’m spinning my wheels on what to do.  I might be able to scrounge up replacement yarn from my stash but… probably not.  I have a top’s worth of Dalegarn Svale to rip and reuse but that gauge is also probably too small.  The gauge of Classic Elite Flash is a bit too large but I also don’t think I have enough of that (and it’s discontinued).  And around and around my unhappy brain goes!

I’ve also spent an unreasonable amount of time searching for a tank pattern to replace this one and no go.  It’s just not a very popular gauge for patterns despite how nice and lightweight sport/DK yarns are.

Really, what I need to do is take the lovely simplicity of Chickami and rewrite it to fit this yarn.  But I am too mad at my failed project to take this step right now.  So I am going back to work on the Equinox Yoke Pullover and Chickami will have a time out.

Sadly, this means that there will be no new green cotton/hemp tank top for my birthday without a Christmas-in-July miracle.  I’ll survive somehow.  It will probably involve Woodchuck 802 and Season 3 of the Tudors.

Looking on the brighter side, omg, I love the Ultra Alpaca I’m using in the Equinox Pullover.  The color!  The softness!  The strength!  Berroco, you are genius.

Has anyone else been bitch slapped by the technical details lately?

Upon finishing (and yet not finishing) E.B.’s Owlet, I meant to move on to Z’s fall sweater, a simple rollneck pullover from Knitting Pure and Simple (#9730) using a multicolor stash of Mission Falls 1824 Wool that I scored at a Threadbear summer sale a few years ago.

Yet, even this gorgeousness could not hold my attention. For starters, I was stalled in my attempts to acquire the pattern.  But even more damaging perhaps was the failure in correctly sizing E.B.’s sweater.  I believe I started thinking that I should wait a month or two (or four) to be more sure of the size.  Even if it does put me dangerously close to the siren call of holiday knits.

I spent an evening trying to get started on my Spiral Yoke Pullover (famously immortalized in by Jared Flood; see link) but got stuck on tubular v. hem and never made it past the cast on.  I will do that sweater–oh yes, my stash of Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed is promised–but apparently I will not right now.

As I prepared to not knit the Spiral Yoke Pullover, I dug out some old projects to reclaim the needles and was thus reacquainted with my beleaguered Equinox Yoke Pullover.

Now that some YEARS have passed since the beginning and the stalling of this project, I may have gained some knowledge and experience to see my way out of this dark forest.  All fired up with visions of myself swathed in fig-colored wool/alpaca, I sat down to solve the problem.  I had to do considerable pattern revision (comparative to what I usually do) because I am knitting the body and sleeves (especially the sleeves, with all that colorwork!) in the round.  Largely, I have used Elizabeth Zimmermann’s percentage system (EPS) to help me with the math and proportions.  I also consulted my Lopi Aftur pullover, which uses the same in the round, bottom up construction.  The answer to whether or not my revisions are going to work are not far from being answered since the sleeves and the body are all half-knit.  Nonetheless, a fickle desire has briefly turned my eye.

See, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks.  Three years ago, I took to the idea of buying myself yarn for a birthday project.  Whatever the yarn and project, it tends to be an impulsive decision and it’s something I try to cast on for right away–indulgent indeed.  Last week, I casually looked at Elann’s sale flyer and noticed they had a cotton/hemp yarn for sale, by the bag.  Hemp fabric is sooooo nice.  One thing led to another and I realized the gauge would work for a Chickami, which I got the pattern for last year.  Lo, the yarn arrived Saturday (so fast!) and now I’ve knit a gauge swatch!  And washed it!  And altered the pattern a bit to account for my slightly smaller gauge!  And started to cast on!

I hope I can wip this up in the next ten days.  No pun intended.  (Wip?  Get it?)

Needle blocking and lace scarf gifting aside, the needles have not been quiet these past two months.  I also finished my Ribby Cardi, once an Olympic contender but we failed our qualifying round, took our time recouperating and in the end emerged victorious because I still only took two months to finished this adult sized garment and that is a personal best.

It is finished–not counting the fact that it needs the zipper installed and some grosgrain ribbon facing to tidy up the inside.  Sadly the zippers I ordered did not match at all and, given the hot weather, I’ve just chucked the whole thing into a basket.  I’ll be motivated to do the finishing work as soon as it gets cool.

I also made an Owlet for E.B.  What a wonderfully quick knit and the wool I got for it was more marvelous than I realized at the check out counter: Shepherd’s Wool by Stonehenge Fiber Mill (local for me, to boot!).  It is squishy, non-splitty, has good stitch definition, and feels great in the hand.  One word sums it up: delicious.  At $10 for a 250 yard skein of aran-weight deliciousness–well, I am looking forward to making a sweater for me!

Sadly, E.B.’s Owlet is in time out next to the Ribby Cardi.  I made the 18-24 month size with additional body length of 1 to 1.5 inches because this is normally what would fit my daughter this winter given the size she’s wearing now.  But no.  This pattern either runs small or my gauge is off (or both!) because the pullover fits her perfectly NOW.  Le sigh.  Thus I have not sewn up the underarms or put eyes on owls. We’ll see how it fits in September at which point I can rip and reknit this in a week.  For now, I need some emotional distance from this disappointing result.

The silver lining: the size I did knit, which was at the larger end of the baby sizing, took just over one skein of Shepherd’s Wool - and remember, I added length to the body.  You could totally make a delicious baby sweater for $10, just sayin’.  No acrylic trees will be harmed in the knitting of that sweater, either.

Sorry to myself for not writing more.  I actually think about the blog every day but am usually up to my elbows in small children and mundane household needs.  I think the real kicker was Elinor started walking in December and now I am like a circus conductor with the 1 year old, 5 year old, 2 year old GSD, and 2 cranky cats.

In the past two months I have knit myself a pair of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s mitered mittens, finished my Jaywalkers, finished the entrelac scarf (today!), and ripped out the green socks for Elinor, who is growing faster than I can knit.  And walking, so she needs non-skid socks.

(I’ve screwed up my camera card and so pics of the scarf will have to wait.)

I also took part in the Knitting Olympics (Yarn Harlot and Ravlery).  I wanted to make my Ribby Cardi finally.  I cruised along for the first 14 days or so. I wasn’t going to earn the gold because work was jerk again and a project overran (and is still overrunning) its schedule, eating up a lot of my personal time.  But I was having loads of fun watching winter sports, rooting for various people, kvetching about NBC’s broadcast, and knitting when possible.  I knit the back of my sweater and half of one of the front pieces.

Then disaster struck.  And I do mean disaster.  As in airlifted off the ski-run.

Two of my adult sweaters - the Must Have Cardi (my first adult sweater) and the Urban Aran Cardi (Matt’s birthday sweater) - were felted in a tragic dryer accident.  I discovered what happened right before I went to bed and so cried myself to sleep, I am not ashamed to say.  There was a lot of work and love in those sweaters.  For three-quarters of the next day, I was just flattened, numb, mourning.  It felt weird to hurt so much because ultimately these things are replaceable; they’re not living creatures.  As deeply as I sank in sadness, I did bounce back quickly.  The kids got me laughing late in the day and we played a silly game (omigod, watching Elinor try to do the same things her brother was doing so that she could play too!  Priceless!) and after that it wasn’t so bad anymore.

Unfortunately, I could not find solace in my Ribby Cardi in progress because I had some doubts about the fit but kept telling myself, “It’s not your only handknit cardigan so it’s okay.”  Oops.  I went for a smaller size so that all of my sweaters would not be huge and swimmy on me.  But the gauge swatch lied to me and the sweater came out even smaller.  I am going to rip it all out and restart.  It’s a relaxing knit so I don’t mind redoing but I always need some distance before a big frogging.  I spent the remainder of the Olympics tinkering away on the scarf and a (another!) birthday gift.

I did get a beautiful Smartwool henley sweater from Matt in condolence for my loss.  And the weather is warming. The bulbs are beginning to peek out of the mud.  There is so much to look forward to.

IT IS FINISHED!

After swearing up and down and back and forth that last night was the night that I was going to go to bed early (ie, on time), I sat down for an hour to sew some more on the zipper of Matt’s Urban Aran Cardigan.

Wait, back up.

On Thanksgiving, Matt drove us to my parents’ house and I started sewing down the zipper.  My hand sewing is not the best but I am capable.  I decided back stitch was the way to go.  Strong, uses twice as much thread, and even I can’t screw it up.  Or can I?

The thing I was doing didn’t look like back stitch but I could not fathom what I was doing wrong.  So I stuffed the sweater back into its tote and talked to my husband for the rest of the car ride.  Maybe, just maybe, I saw a tear in his eye?  He’s been waiting a long time.

That evening, back at home and kids abed, I did some research online.  Looks like I had the right method but was, um, going backwards.  Sigh.  I was sewing back stitch left to right rather than right to left.  I don’t know how it could make that much difference but, oh, it did.

Sunday was another trip, this time to Matt’s dad’s house.  In half an hour (before the edges of car sickness snuck up on me; a legacy of my pregnancies that sometimes haunts me) I managed to sew down about half of one side of the zipper.  Yey!  Measurable progress!

So last night, with an hour to go until my 10pm bedtime, I figured I would get the other side sewn down.  That plan went so peachy and my back stitch was going much faster so I started in on the other side and willfully ignored the clock.  I was also listening to Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Master Classes on the Knitting Workshop DVDs.  In the end, I stayed up until midnight with Matt who, when he realized sweater was about to be finished, decided to stay up and keep my company.

At about 11:30pm last night we pranced around singing “Happy Birthday” and snapping pictures.  The strange glow in the photo above is my Ott light, which was necessary to see the dark brown thread against the dark brown zipper and dark brown wool.

So that’s the good news.  Ten months later, the birthday cardigan is done and I am free to start my own new sweater: Ribby Cardi.  Of course my mom mentioned to me on the phone last night that she needs a wool sweater for her office.  Was she fishing?  If so, I didn’t bite; not yet.  She knows how to knit and I need a cardigan!

The bad news is that our dog, about an hour ago, jumped up on a window and broke it.  After cleaning up the glass, I was able to wrangle the storm into place (our windows are old) so that I am no longer heating my front yard.  I am awash with ugly emotions.  Luckily both children are asleep and I can hunch over some knitting and distract myself for a bit.  This post is part of that distraction so let’s just move on.

Ribby Cardi calls me like a siren but I am going to put her off for a few days or weeks.  I’d like to wrap some of my other projects.  Nevertheless, I did cast on something entirely new this afternoon.  Zander’s winter gear was next most important on my list because he is playing on the playground at preschool three days a week, at the very least.  I started a Toasty Topper today with Cascade 220 Heathers in a blue color.  Hopefully there will be enough leftover that I can also make him some mittens.  If not, I know where to get more.

There is more to tell you my pretties, but I’ll save it for another day.  I need to go do some knitting.

Urban Aran Cardi is DONE.  Okay, it needs a zipper and I need to bite the bullet and buy one online because it turns out that repeated visits to the big box craft store do not generate enough kismet to make the zipper style/color/length I need magically appear.  Fooey.  But when I sit down to knit, there’s no sweater to work on anymore which makes it done for all intents and purposes.  Besides, if Matt was into nice shawl pins, he COULD be wearing it now.  Mwah.

Jaywalkers are on hold while I knit up this pretty thing as a birthday gift for a person who is otherwise impossible to buy something for.  Despite the fact that I am once again NOT making myself the hat and mittens and scarf I so desperately need, I am having a wildly good time.  The Lace Ribbon Scarf is simple but not too simple (I love the double yarn overs!).  It’s also only a few inches wide so I can finish a row lickety split.  This picture was taken after one evening of knitting.  It’s now about a foot long.  What you might not realize about this pattern (I didn’t) if you have looked at it before (I have) is that there are two mods–one uses 100g of fingering weight yarn and the other uses 200g.  I don’t know about you but I rarely have 200g of fingering weight yarn in the same color/dye lot because 100g is what one needs to make socks, generally speaking.  So yey for flexibility!

In other, but not entirely unrelated, news, last week in my fevered delirium as I read books to escape my unpleasant reality when not even unconsciousness would have me, I decided to give up television for the rest of the year.  It was a simple choice once I realized two things: 1) I could not do it halfway.  I could not pick certain shows or certain days when TV watching was okay; and 2) I could not get the boys to join me but I could probably still make an impression on them with my own actions.

The last show I watched (although I didn’t realize it would be my last at the time): The Office.  The show I will miss the most: The Office.  I can’t quite put my finger on what it is I like so much about that show but there it is.  Luckily I don’t have to worry about missing LOST because that could be grounds for marital estrangement since LOST always leads to long discussions, debates, and theorizing, and no one would thank me for having to avoid spoilers.

I haven’t missed it a bit.  I’ve been reading novels, knitting, writing, listening to podcasts, and reading blogs and everything thing else under the ether online.  I am enjoying my evening adult time even more!  I have noticed that Zander watches almost no TV during the day now and Matt watches less in the evening.  Twice in the past week Matt and Zander have opted to play games instead.  Tonight we decided to have a movie night.  This was a special event and not the kind of thing I am trying to disentangle from so I didn’t count it.  Unfortunately, we ended up choosing Hoodwinked.  Eh.  I was knitting on the Lace Ribbon Scarf.  At the end, Zander told me his favorite part was when Granny showed off her extreme sports.  Of course!  This is the same kid who tried to make a case for me to rent him The Watchmen.  Um, no.  Too scary, I told him.  He told me he liked scary movies.  I’m sure you do.

My goal, after December 31st, is to watch television more carefully and not use it like a pacifier, for me and for my kids.

Resolution #2, also decided upon as I wrapped up my bout with the flu a week ago, is to knit all the socks in this book, Knitting Vintage Socks:

No time limit although I expect it to take me about a year, maybe longer.  I have already knit two of the patterns, one of which I probably will not repeat and the other I will make again, happily.  My one rule is that I must use yarn I have already, although I may make an exception for the silk stockings with clocks (last pattern) because I have no silk and why would I make them in any other fiber?  This long term project is inspired by my love of Nancy Bush as a designer and textile historian.  You rock, N.B.

I had the flu this week.  Hamthrax.  Porcine pox.  THE flu.  H1N1.  AKA swine flu.  (Why does the official name sound like a score to me?  Humans: 1…)

I was struck down less than 24 hours after my last post — I hope I didn’t get any of you sick.  I am not totally healthy today but what a difference it makes to not have a fever constantly.  Scary as it is to say, I think my case was mild, but it still took me out for three days.  The prevailing thought I had while sick was of how uncomfortable I was in my own skin.  I knew I was better this morning when I woke up, put my feet on the floor, and realized I felt like me again instead of some meat puppet with a box-a-day tissue habit.

Anyway.  My advice to you: don’t get the flu.

I did some knitting although mostly on the leg of the second Jaywalker.  I did do some sewing on the Urban Aran Cardi but I didn’t make it very far.  Not enough to comment here.  Mostly I read.  Reading was a better escape for me than TV.  I finished a short story collection, Mothers and Other Monsters by Maureen McHugh.  It was good overall.  Now I am reading Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore.  Very funny.  One of my girlfriends is a Moore fan so this may only be the beginning.

Since I continue to have a lack of finished objects to parade by and that is, of course, one of the big thrills for a knitting blog, I thought I might entertain you in the meantime with some goodies from the vault.

My first handknit socks:

Not only are these my first socks but they are also my first ever finished project.  I was taught to knit in second grade — the teacher allowed us to stay inside and knit with her during recess in winter; my project was a burgundy acrylic scarf which is yet unfinished and I still hope will surface in my parents’ house someday — but I didn’t stick with it.  I tried to pick up crochet a few times in college but my gauge was so tight it made my hands hurt (this is not an issue any longer).  Then comes the corporate job post-college and I expressed to my friend Liz who was totally gone for knitting that I might like to learn.  So one day we skipped lunch and drove to a yarn shop.  She decided I was a smart cookie like herself and that I should knit socks — like herself.

I used Fortissima Colori and Nancy Bush’s Classic Sock pattern from Folk Socks.  Liz helped me cast on, we reviewed knitting and purling, and then she sent me on my way to knit a 2×2 ribbed leg.  It was really really slow going for me for a while, trying to keep track of knits and purls when I could barely tell if I had done a stitch correctly on top of learning a knitter’s dexterity of handling two needles and the working yarn with only two hands.  She made a point of not teaching me either English or Continental style to see what I would do naturally (she had recently discovered Zilboorg’s Knitting for Anarchists).  The answer: Continental . . . and no, I am not left handed.  For the record, Liz knits English style.

After my first weekend alone with the sock leg, we met up so she could check my progress.  I showed her my few inches of leg, very proud.  She stared and stared, her look growing increasingly troubled.  Turns out I had been knitting on the inside of the leg!  She didn’t know how to fix it and was worried I had to rip it all out.  “No biggie,” I said and flipped the leg inside out.  Now the action was on the outside.  At the time I didn’t think much of it but I think this was a significant moment for me as a knitter because I was not taken hostage by my project and its problems.  Also the deceptively simple solution may have only been visible to me at that time because of beginner’s mind.  I love beginner’s mind.

Another funny bit that happened in the making of these socks: we were knitting during lunch, in the cafeteria, and there was a nearby table of about six women who were also knitting.  I had never paid attention to them before but of course how could I miss them now — fellow knitters!  As the lunch rush died down and the room emptied out, they came to check us out and were very impressed that we were knitting socks and that our needles were so tiny.  I think they were making baby garments.  One of the women became almost belligerent toward Liz when we explained that I was also learning how to knit.  “That’s too hard!  You can’t have her knit socks as her first project!  She’ll hate knitting!”  Au contraire.

I was amazed, truth be told, because it had not occurred to me that any of this should be difficult.  Not because I have a fat head but because I trusted Liz and because I was working hard but enjoying the process.  Yeah it was frustrating at times but I never once thought if the yarn were bigger it would be easier.  What moved me along was watching the pretty colors emerge and seeing the yarn become a sock.  I’m not suggesting everyone should follow the same path but rather, to each her own.

Life distracted me for a time — getting married, quitting my job, going to graduate school, that kind of thing.  I worked on my beautiful rainbow socks steadily but extremely slowly. It was a year later, in the car  with my brother and my husband that I bound off the first sock and cast on the second.  Or attempted to cast on the second.  I had been a year, after all.  I may have cried horrible tears that made both men cringe while I tried to remember how to cast on from two pamphlets in my lap and my poor, poor memory.  This crying may have gone on for an uncomfortable length of time.  But you know what?  I figured it out and had the second sock started before we reached our campsite.

It wasn’t until I was in grad school later that year and needed something relaxing to fill a few hours with that I took to knitting like a thirsty person loves water.  That’s when I finished these socks and, with a little sniff, tucked them away to give to my sister as a holiday present because I had made them too small for my own feet.  The thought of ripping back the toes to make them longer was horrid to me.  I was still new enough to knitting that every stitch was precious.

The best part?  I saw my first socks, now six years old, yesterday when my mom came over to be my nurse/play with her grandkids.  I’m glad they’re still keeping people warm!

I found my “spaceship” yesterday.  We had a spectacular sunset last night but sadly this photo only captures a fraction of it; the colors were much more intense.  Most of the leaves have fallen.  We put 37 bags on the curb last weekend and we’re not done yet.

There would be more (and more recent) pictures in this post but I have had to hide my camera card reader from my son who thinks it is a spaceship — and now it is so well hidden that I cannot find it.

The Urban Aran Cardigan for my husband’s birthday (January 2009) is now being sewn up.  This photo is a few days old since both sleeves are now on and I just have the sides and underarms to go. I had to bust into my last skein for the sewing so I had just enough yarn.  The local craft store did not have a zipper of the right length and color–mostly because it had been raided by people making Halloween costumes, I suspect–so I will order one from Zipperstop.  Almost there!

I also finished the first Jaywalker from my Flat Feet yarn (again this picture is a few days old)–that was started on January 13, the day before Matt’s birthday.  Progress, ten months later!  Such is life with babies and young children.  I cast on the second sock and knit exactly one row before being interrupted last night by the baby who suddenly, thankfully, recovered from her flu and was tearing around the living room, throwing stuff to the floor.

I think the next order of business will be hats and mitts and scarves for the four of us.  None of us is completely without these items but probably the most needy is Zander for mittens.  I spent an entire day last winter knitting and reknitting mittens for him that never quite worked out and his store-bought insulated ones turn his hands into clubs.

I feel occasional pangs of holiday-knitting-itis but nothing has stuck, which is good because the only time it really works out is when I start in August.  I keep telling myself that I need to knit for birthdays instead of winter holidays.  But then I realize that I would probably spend 12 months of the year knitting for others and never for myself instead of 4 months.  I suppose I could try it for one year to find out for sure… but then I am also sure I cannot be that organized for another couple years.

Zander was healthy for Halloween, by the way, and had a blast.  I have no idea what the fever was fighting off on Wednesday–perhaps a very mild flu because at midnight on Saturday night, just as our last guests trickled out the door, Elinor woke up to nurse and was blazing hot.  She ran a high fever with runny nose and was very droopy for nearly 24 hours.  Then it was over as suddenly as it began.

(The marvelous view outside our living room window a week ago.  Then it all fell down.)

Jenny, Chloe, and I went to the 4th annual Ann Arbor Fiber Expo this past Sunday.  My first time out there despite it being but a short jaunt to the other side of our fair but wee city.  Past attempts have been foiled by family plans and the like but this year I was all selfishness.

What’s a good fiber festival without running into friends? We had the pleasure of seeing Charlotte (girlfriend, why don’t you have a blog yet?) and her husband.  While we chit-chatted, we were standing right next to the most enormous angora bunny I have ever seen.  Full disclosure: I have not seen a lot of angora bunnies.  But this guy was larger than a Jack Russell terrier!  We all commented on the largeness and how it was probably mostly hair but I am hear to tell you - especially you, Charlotte! - Jenny and I saw the bunny on our way out a few hours later and it had been shaved.  It was still a VERY big bunny.  I think more to the Thanksgiving end of the scale rather than the Sunday family dinner end.  Not that I want to eat rabbit.  Anyway.

I got some things.  More than I planned but by no means a crazy splurge.  As is only right and proper, first was a gift for my husband. All I can tell you, since he does lurk here sometimes, is that it came from an animal and will keep him very warm.  Hopefully that isn’t much of a clue at all since I was at a FIBER festival, shah.

Second was a delightful felted pumpkin from Wooly Pett’s Creations (no website, sorry and my picture is total crap but do you like our scaaaary dinosaur-themed mantel decor?  Guess who though of that).  I could go in for a whole army of these pumpkins, seriously.  Roxanne Pett’s fibery goodies were fantastic and by no means limited to needlefelting.  She is very talented and industrious.  I look forward to seeing Wooly Pett’s Creations again at the Spinner’s Flock Fleece Fair in Chelsea every February and September.  (The magenta price labels were a dead giveaway!)

Moving on, there was some awesome licorice twist yarn - how to describe it?  Handpainted in gently shifting hues of blue and purple (some skeins also had green) but the yarn had a dark wrapping strand so it had an overall light-dark spiral going on.  Why was this suddenly so beautiful to me?  I don’t know.  I don’t generally like the mash of strong contrasts like seen in a marl.  This website has an example of what I am talking about in general although it is not the same vendor.  I missed who that was.  Jenny might now because she did not resist, good patron that she is!

Next piece sans resistance was Studio June Yarn (website coming soon, they say).  Their colors were so saturated and delicious. Jenny and I were both taken with the Bamboo La La yarn and bought some.  I was originally thinking Clapotis for this plummy delight but I have another idea for that pattern thanks to the new Webs catalog.  The Studio June ladies, both mad scientists, were fun to talk to.  They also had Fleece Maiden! I have never seen Fleece Maiden in person, so wow!  I know who I am calling when I am ready for that Fleece Maiden fix.

Finally, my moment of crazy was had over a booth that specialized in punch needle embroidery and rug hooking.  The small pieces (not rugs despite the words on the package) were so completely freakin’ cute, it made my fingers itch to not make one or a dozen!  This booth was near the entrance so I had the entire expo to hem and haw.  Jenny not so gently pushed me over the edge as we were readying to leave.  Now I have a NEW HOBBY.  Bwahahaha!

I have yet to start, though.  Sadness!  If you spend time with children under the age of 5, you have probably had a moment or two of terror that their bodies could come to harm by way of your knitting tools.  Imagine that, plus a pencil-sized punch needle.  Oy.

Also, it might not be fair to my long suffering husband if I start an absorbing new project with his birthday sweater, the Urban Aran Cardigan, finally in the sewing up stage.  Sewing is not my strength or interest but I am by no means incapable.  More on this later.

Nevermind that my holiday-themed punch needle piece will likely not be done for Halloween this year.  Because the boy-child is ill and if it is the flu and just starting today, he might not be well enough for Halloween.  Sob!  Cross your fingers and toes for my little dinosaur.

Chloe’s Batita is DONE.  She arrived one week early in late July and days later I got sick, then got better, got a job, quit the job (did I tell you I quit that teaching job?  Yeah.  Sometimes life’s too real), finally did some knitting after two months off and top of my list was this baby jacket, my second batita.  Batita, as I understand it, is Portuguese for “baby jacket” and I have my old old college friend Sandra to thank for this pattern, family heirloom of sorts.

It took 1.5 skeins of sportweight Louet Gems.  Love that yarn.  It is sturdy without being harsh, comes in a lot of colors, has wonderful stitch definition.  LUV!

I foolishly tried to knit this from one skein of Louet Gems sport - and I did not have a second skein, just in case.  Well, “in case” happened.  RIP.  I turned to trading yarn on Ravelry and this beautiful burgundy serendipitously came into my life!  And now Chloe’s.  It’s gender-neutral without being pastel green or yellow which I know is a cause near and dear to her parents.

Welcome, Chloe!