With all this sweater knitting going on, I’ve kept a sock going for traveling about or when I needed a break from any kind of mental activity.

Last weekend, I woke a bit earlier than my family, which is normal.  I’ve been reading classics online so I grabbed my laptop and my sock knitting, put them in bed, went to the bathroom, came back to bed and–crunch!  Knelt on my sock in progress.  I broke two of five needles and even though I have a spare (thanks, Knit Picks), I am not fond of knitting a circle on three needles. Honestly, I was still so groggy, I just tossed it off the bed and went on with reading.

It took me a day and a half to find another set of US 1 needles.  Hm.  I should have more but where are they?

This makes me feel justified for just a few seconds that I should go order some stuff from Knit Picks.  Then I remind myself that I only have one pair of hands and I can actually only knit one thing at a time, no matter what I dream of at night, so carry on, old girl.  When you’ve run out of sweaters to knit, you can get that Northern Lights Cape kit and throw in some of those stabby Harmony DPNs you love so much.

Or when your Brittany birch DPNs bite it, then really you will have no choice.  The other 284 needles will not do because they are not US 1/2.25 mm.  He won’t understand but he’s learned not to argue in certain arenas.  In fact, I think it was a US 1 DPN that punctured his arm a few years ago when he didn’t look where he was sitting.  Back when I still used aluminum 7 inchers.

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.

My Castonitis has gone critical.

Here’s my latest symptom:

Mitered mittens; pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman; yarn is Malabrigo.  What can I say?  My hands were cold Friday and Saturday.  By Sunday all arguments that I at least finish my scarf first–because I could use the leftover yarn and have matching accessories, a thing unheard of in this house–were broken down by my stronger self and I even took the DPNs away from the entrelac (they are happy on straights so there’s no project abuse going on here).

The project I was going to write about next that was trumped by mittens:

An entrelac scarf for moi using yarn my brother gave me for my birthday.  As Matt said, “It looks like that yarn was made to do that.”  By “that” he means “entrelac,” I’m pretty sure.

But since this is a post about my Castonitis, we’ll move on to the next symptom:

Yes, in fact, that is the same photo from last post.  Because that was probably the last time I touched these. Uh… Out of sight, out of mind?  I have no excuse.  I am weak.

Then there’s this beauty of an excuse to buy yarn for a project that was begun to bust stash:

I do actually pull this out and work on it a bit here and there because, turns out, the only thing more mindless than stockinette is shell stitch.

It breaks down from here because I cannot find all these pictures again….they’re too old…hah… So I direct you to pictures on my Flickr page.  I’m sure I could embed them somehow.  (Resolution #491: learn how to do technical stuff on your blog.)

An overdue gift and socks I started one year ago to this day:

Lace Ribbon and Jaywalkers

And this, my birthday gift:

Hourglass Stole

So that is … seven unfinished projects I am copping to.  And I am dying to start my Ribby Cardi.  Gulp.

The green socks are DONE!  No small thanks to Charlotte who did half the knitting!

It’s hard to catch these socks between feet and laundry and in fact I had to fish them from the top of the basket for this pic.  Zander loves them and immediately requested a new sweater.  I gladly put in the call to grandma who in fact has a wack of the same yarn, Plymouth Jelli Beenz, to make a child’s sweater or two.  Ball’s in your court, G-Terry.

I started some little green socks for Elinor, knit one almost to completion, crammed it on her foot and thought, Self, this sock is running small.  My daughter has big feet.

Riiiiiiiiiiip.  Cast on for the Size 2.  Immediately set aside because recipient has no long term memory and other things seemed more pressing…

Like this!

Elinor’s Christmas stocking, knit in Rauma Strikkegarn, a rough, sticky yarn that was perfect for colorwork.  The color is deliciously saturated without being a distracting eyesore.  I think the Strikkegarn natural is a little brighter than the Heilo used for the other three.  These stockings make me happy.

As for beginnings, I started a project for myself on Christmas Day:

I’ve reached that point of the holiday season when there is so much to do, holiday or otherwise, that I can’t keep track of it all and I know some things are time-sensitive and I end up so turned around that I don’t know what to do first and thus do nothing.  Thankfully, I’ve learned not to stress about it (too much).  Instead, I am bewildered, I suppose.  I called Matt this afternoon after dropping Z off at preschool just in case he knew something I forgot.  He suggested I do some shopping downtown.  I am burned out on shopping, whether it is for gifts or groceries, so I just went home and played with the baby until it was pick up time.

Now for the randomness:

*It’s so windy!  And wet!  I should make myself a cup of tea.  But I forget to before I make it to the kitchen.  Or I don’t hear the electric kettle.  I’ve heated it twice.

*Finished a small Thorpe for Zander last week.  It took me only three days–what a thrill to finish something so quickly.  I knit the small size using Cascade 220 doubled, and this is a good size for a child.  It’s a little loose on my preschooler but not so it will fall off his head.  I skipped the braided ties because I thought that would be safer on the playground–and they’re easy enough to add later if I change my mind.

*Elinor makes kissy noises with her lips.  And gives open-mouth, wet, baby kisses.  You know it’s love when you don’t care!

*Hanukkah starts on Friday.  We are ready with the gifts but not the food.  Someone needs to go to a grocery store with a real produce section so we can get a heaping mound of onions and potatoes for latkes.  And it’s windy, rainy, cold, and gross outside.  So far…I can live without latkes on the first night.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings (I hear it’s going to be very cold).

*I have had a crisis of coat buying for the children.  It has nothing to do with the holidays but has worn me out on shopping.  It involved going to the mall, in December, which I never do.  The best part, though, is that I found a coat for Elinor in her closet this morning, a coat her cousin passed down.  Hallelujah.  Crisis over.

*I/Zander inherited a UFO from Charlotte–a pair of half-finished socks–which her children outgrew before they ever got to wear.  I finished the first this afternoon.  Here it is yesterday.  The yarn is Plymouth Jelli Beenz, a fun and colorful acyrlic/wool blend.  Zander, my biggest fan when it comes to knitting, is very excited.  We’ve already had one serious discussion about his socks and the dog.  Ahem.

*My freelance work is ramping up again.  I have two projects right now, although one is in three pieces so it’s really more like four projects.  I must pace myself to avoid stressing out because I can only do one piece at a time and if I get behind it will be a vicious domino effect complete with loss of sleep.

*I am knitting Elinor a stocking to go with our other three.  The pattern is Christmas in Tallinn by Nancy Bush from Knitting on the Road.  I’ve made several patterns from this book.  I had to substitute the yarn because no one locally now carries the Dalegarn Heilo I used for the first three, but I am happy with the substitute, Rauma Strikkegarn.  It comes in lots of colors and is sticky, which is great for colorwork.  I may actually like this yarn better than the Heilo.

*The seed catalogs are starting to arrive.  I am thinking of planting more quantity of fewer types of plants next year in the vegetable garden.  Partly to get better at growing the things we love the most and partly because we really need to focus on the flower beds, get them organized.  They were empty when we moved in.  Now they’re kinda weedy.

Good night!

What is this?

Crochet?!  Not just crochet but a giant granny square.

Not just a giant crocheted granny square but I am watching Elizabeth Zimmermann’s PBS series Knitting Workshop while I work on this!  The granddame of knitting - ha!

Oh and I am breaking my no-TV resolution to boot!  Ha HA!

And what happened to the Lace Ribbon?  Oh yeah, there it is, next to the oft-neglected Jaywalker…

Enough with the sins, now for the graces: I am putting a dent into my basket of Wool-Ease!  In addition to this new project, I have also given away a couple of skeins to a friend.  Abbey is not just any friend but a crocheter whom I have recently brought over to the knit-side.  That was a few weeks ago.  Fast forward to today: Charlotte and I were knitting and chatting and I showed her this pattern (scroll down to see a few examples), deciding on the spot that I would make this blanket per pattern, but I would challenge myself to only get yarn for it by trading or buying inexpensively via Ravelry.  No going to the store, not even for a sale.

Charlotte then left and I was alone with these threads of ideas swimming around in my head.  In a flash, the basket was out and yarn was lining up on the table.  It all happened so fast, almost of its own accord.  I quickly perceived that I had a veritable rainbow of partial skeins.  I made one or two adjustments and then, simply, began.  I won’t lie; it may only be a granny square, which I have made before, but it was slow-going for a few rounds because I had to relearn how to double crochet and how to create a granny square.

Granny square: NOT like a bicycle.  But still not so hard at all.  Just as happened gradually with knitting, I find I am able to “read” my crochet better now that I have been playing with it for a few years (two, I think).  That’s exciting.  It’s progress.  It gives me hope that I may someday have a decent grasp of this.  But I can never be brilliant at crochet because that is my sister’s domain, you understand.

My other grace?  After much hawing and heming, the zipper has been ordered for the Urban Aran Cardi.

And to close with wise words from EZ herself: “This just goes to show you…people will wear anything on their heads!”

(Matthew in his ubiquitous Greek fisherman’s cap and Elinor in a cotton cap knit by grandma with yarn she dyed herself.  This is a much cuter picture than the one I considered of Zander wearing his underwear on his head.)

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.)

I wish I could use a little bit of my superpowers to keep this blog up more regularly.  Just sayin’.  No regrets and no apologies.  And I’m not giving up.  It is what it is for the summer.  In the fall, Zander will go to preschool and I might have five minutes of quiet strung together.  I’ve started writing my journal again (right before submitting to unconsciousness at night) - always a good sign.  After fourteen years of fairly regular journaling, it is a stable point in my universe.

The Zauberball socks are done and lovely although I was too sleep-deprived to take a picture and Daye made them disappear FAST when they were finally presented.  There will be a photo shoot and FO show off here in the near future.  I have the yarn for socks for her husband and my friend, Pete, who has been taking my ill-behaved puppy for runs (he tells me her nickname is “anchor”).

I started a baby knit for Jenny, who is due to have her first baby in just two more weeks.  Well.  I didn’t have enough yarn.  More is on the way except it’s a different color so I have to restart.  Baby Chloe, don’t wait for me!  I can knit fast when I need to.

My sister Sarah wanted to do a knit-a-long with me and so bought me some Malabrigo lace yarn for my birthday from Busy Hands.  I threw together a simple stole pattern using the hourglass lace pattern from Barbara Walker vol. 1.  I am not a frilly girly-girl but I like to knit lace.  It’s like a dance.  (I like dancing too.)  The stole is yummy and is creeping along.  Sarah’s birthday is in a few weeks and she says we should start another knit-a-long… does she think we’ll be done with the lace?  I’m not sure if she is liking knitting lace.  She is impatient with knitting but she is a wicked fast crocheter.  Maybe it will be a crochet-a-long and I will get my just desserts.

From the Dept of Distractions - Elinor started rolling over for real today.  She is a happy baby, adores her big brother who has decided that he is five years old and not four because he wants badly to go to school.  Only a month and a half until preschool!  I am booked on freelance work through at least March next year which is good news for the freelancer but hard on the mother and on the human being who is waiting waiting waiting for her turn, a vacation, a quiet moment.  Not that I’m complaining.  I’m just going to go lay on the couch for a wee moment….