A Christmas Dress

The holidays sneaked by me with minimal knitting this year.. but I did manage to finish the Rainbow Dress just in time by Christmas eve. Didn't have time nor energy to sew in the ends though, so the little girl wore it around the house with a bunch of ends trailing around her. It's a tad too big (hence the sexy off-the-shoulder look) but I absolutely love it.

Pattern : Rainbow Dress by Tikki

Yarn : Sublime Soy Cotton in Pomegranate, and RYC CashCotton in Apple

Needles : 3.5mm

Here's a picture of her guzzling down Bucks Fizz to end off the year. Happy Holidays!

A Day at the Beach

Pattern : Children's Cotton Hats by Kim Hamlin (Last Minute Knitted Gifts)
Yarn : Rowan RYC Silk Cotton (Cucumber)
Needle : 4.5mm
Size : Toddler


A cool refreshing drink.

A straw.

A little summer hat knit out of luxurious Rowan Silk Cotton, with a yellow ribbon fluttering in the breeze.

A great way to spend the afternoon.

The Joy of Giving?

My 10 month old (who suddenly has more friends than I do) has a little friend who is turning one.  So I cast on for this halter top, as that little girl will be spending her holiday in a beachside resort and I could just imagine her playing in the sand, looking cute wearing this.  I even chose a machine washable yarn so that her mommy wouldn't have to handwash it. Checked and rechecked the size, debated on whether she would look good in the colour - my usual paranoia when knitting gifts.   Hated the yarn, it hurt my fingers and was uninspiring to work with.  But I had a ton of it in my stash, so I persisted.

Pattern : Katja Halter from Knitty

Yarn : Butterfly Super 10 Cotton

Needles : 3.75mm

Mods : Used a DK weight yarn instead, so cast on for the largest size.  

It was worth it. The final effect of the mercerised cotton was awe-inspiring.  After a good soak, the cotton evened out and the subtle sheen of the cotton and the slightly heavier drape made this a truly special project.  I couldn't resist getting my little one to model it.  And then someone asked me 'why don't you keep it for her instead?'

Why not indeed.. I have had so many mediocre reactions from gifting my knitted items away. Items that I've spent weeks labouring over, endlessly thinking through every little detail, only to receive the same reaction as the next pile of store-bought toys.  I guess that's why it's called 'the joy of giving'.  But (I whine).. I would like a little phone call thanking me for that special special present!!! 

Which brings me to the moral of this little story - I am simply not a 'giving' type of person.  I am pretty sure that this time, the recipient's mommy will appreciate it, but will she ever know how much thought went into this?  Hence my dilemma, do I give this away?  or do I keep it for my own special little girl?

The lone bootee

As many of my friends know, I've not knitted (much) for the past 7 months. Recently, I found myself pondering baby socks - why is it that they can never stay on my baby's foot for more than 5 minutes before she yanks / chews them off?  Then it occurred to me that I can knit bootees that will stay on her feet and still keep her toes warm in air conditioned malls.  So I started looking for patterns - and that's when it hit me.  The pattern sizes indicate '0-3months', '3-6months', 6-9months' and '9-12months'.  Without realising it, my baby had already graduated to the 2nd largest category!  And I have not knitted her ANYTHING at all since she was born. Horrors. And I call myself a knitter! 

So here's a bootee that I knitted for her - it took 2 weeks - 1 week to look for a pattern, 2 days to locate the yarn for it, 1 day to locate the needle, 2 days to locate my knitting bag, and 2 days to cast on (cos she thought it was a new game and kept pulling the yarn).  

And while I'm at it, here are some pics of my baby wearing stuff that I knitted for her, for public record, so that she can't call me a lousy mom in future.

P.S. Thanks my dear knitting buddies for sending me knitting news and yarn, and generally keeping me sane during these months :)

Cables & Lace Update

I've been good and knitting away on the Cables & Lace Kimono Cardy.. it's a really fun knit and now that I've done something like this I don't think I can ever do a stockinette-only sweater/cardigan.

It was kinda scrunched up and tight-looking at first, but after a light steam blocking, the lace opened up and the yarn kinda 'relaxed' - this is pretty typical of Sublime yarn, I think, maybe because of the silk content?

Here is where I am as of today, I have to finish off the belt/tie (which is like 200+ rows of 7 stitches!), and then pick up and do the ribbing around the neck area. Glad that this should be done before baby is due!

Bye Bye Tuscany

I've decided to frog the Tuscany Shawl (pattern from 'No Sheep for You'). Although the yarn is really seductive (Handmaiden Seasilk!), its striping effect and dark color really seems to overshadow the delicate lace pattern of the shawl. Anyways, I think a shawl named 'Tuscany' should be a joyous burst of color - so maybe I will use the red Malabrigo lace yarn instead. Last pic of the unfortunate shawl - bye, bye...

To make up for my disappointment (and also as a break from the tedious chart reading of the Cables & Lace Cardy), I cast on for this Entrelac Scarf. The pattern is free from Freckles & Purls, and I had the yarn ready bought for this - Paton's Soy Wool Stripes in 'Natural Earth' colorway. I had wanted to learn Entrelac for a long time now, but if A hadn't shown me hers, I don't think I would have the courage to start. Once I cast-on though, I was addicted and spent the whole of last night going 'just 1 more square'. See what you done, A?

I chose the yarn specially with a friend in mind, she's a real browns/naturals kinda gal and I thought this colorway is just so 'her'. But as I knit, I see more indigos / purples popping up in the yarn.. what's up with that? Argh.

Cables & Lace Kimono Cardigan

There's no other way to say it - I'm a masochist.

My little one is due in about 5 weeks, and when that happens, I don't know if I will even have time to breathe, let alone knit. So the most practical thing to do (knitting-wise that is), would be to knit baby items, or small quick projects like hats, scarves, dishcloths.. you get the idea.

Instead, I cast on for this.

It's my biggest and most ambitious project to date - I've only ever done 1 cable project, and about 3 lace projects in my entire knitting life. Not to mention that this pattern is 10 pages (!) long, is for the 'Intermediate' knitter (I consider myself newbie-ish with a phobia for anything tough) and requires more than 1000m of yarn. All I know is, I saw the pattern, I have the yarn for it, and I cast-on. And after the first 10 rows (at which point the pattern says 'following pattern as established above), I spent another 2 hours trying to figure out which charts to follow and when.

Thankfully, the knitting itself is not tough, it was the actual interpretation of the pattern that got me freaked. So I went to the stationary shop and bought post-it flags and pasted them all over my pattern, and would painstakingly move the flags down each row whenever I worked it. If the flags should drop or anyone should move them by mistake, I will kill them.

In other less stressful knitting news, I found stray balls of yarn in my stash.. they were about 10 years old. Took 2 hours to crochet this little summer hat in a nubbly cotton yarn. It finished up so quickly and turned out so cute that I wanted to go out and buy more of that yarn (go figure).

Feeling high from my superfast hat, I started another bobble hat of my own design. As I was crocheting the third row of bobbles, I noticed that it was an entirely different shade of green from the top of the hat. Knitting 101 - pls make sure that dyelots are the same? Yeah - try telling that to stray little balls of yarn whose labels have disintegrated.

So the bobble hat sits unfinished as I try to convince myself that the yellow-ish tinge in the third row of the bobbles is actually a "design element".

How difficult is it to knit a scarf - conclusion

OK, we've decided to go with Option 2 - very smooshy, very fast, very red. I had my doubts when I first started, but as I knit along, I began to fall in love with the different tones of red.

As a side note, we may also exercise Option 1 .... we shall see.....

How difficult is it to knit a scarf?

Mission : Knit a masculine scarf in a rich color by mid-Jan for DH, yarn must be comfortable and luxurious (and preferably has some color variegation or interesting stitch pattern so that I don't get bored).

Sounds easy, you say?

Option 1 : Buy a luxury yarn like cashmere, or qiviut, or (as suggested by some evil knitting buddies...) Buffalo Yarn (yum!) *image from buffalogold weblink*

Pros : It's unique, it's uber soft, it's warm without being chunky, it's certainly luxurious.. and definitely very manly (how can anything called 'buffalo gold' not be manly?)

Cons : What cons? It's Buffalo Yarn! Aside from the small problem of it costing USD70 a skein, of course. Oh, and I probably won't get the yarn ordered and shipped in time. Hmm.

So as I float down from la-la land... I begin to consider other more practical options.

Option 2 : 3 strands of yarn held together for a chunky modern scarf, in a simple 2x2 rib stitch. 1 strand of fingering weight Merino wool in a deep blue-red, 1 strand of Rowan Wool Cotton in a warmer tomato red, and 1 strand of some kidsilk mohair in a brown-red.

Pros : Yarns are from my Japan stash (yes, I have lots of red colored yarn in my stash). Although using up my precious Japan stash takes a lot of courage, I console myself that I can buy more yarn to replenish the stock. More pros : it's a fast knit, the rib pattern is masculine and simple enough, and the subtle color toning of the various shades of red definitely makes a statement without being too fussy.

Cons : Wonder if the chunky homespun look is too funky for DH?

Option 3 : A more traditional looking scarf, in leftover Rowan Cashsoft Aran in a dark slate gray, using a double moss stitch pattern for some texture.

Pros : Certainly classic enough. Understated elegance in a very comfortable yarn.

Cons : Don't know if I have enough of this yarn left... only 2.5 balls... thats like 220+ yds or so. Plus this will definitely take longer.

I tried various other combinations but the results of those are simply too ugly to be shown and are a testament to my lack of colour sense.

At this point, I remind myself that I'm overthinking this scarf and should probably just go have a cuppa tea and a soak in the tub.

Last FO of 2007, first WIP of 2008

Though it was not a deliberate attempt, I managed to squeeze in one last FO before the year ends. Here is the baby bolero from One Skein book, done in the same yarn as the pattern called for, a most sumptiously soft Blue Skies Organic Cotton. This is one of those magical yarns that, once cast on, simply glides and floats through one's fingers... and before you know it, the entire skein is gone, and all one can do is give a wistful sigh that such beautiful yarn is used up.

Another WIP that I cast on 2 nights ago (yes while in the midst of trying to finish my Tuscany shawl as well). 'Wisp' published by knitty. Maybe it's the rainy spell we've been having, but I itched to touch silky halo-y mohair yarn, and those who know me know that I literally itch and break out in a rash as soon as I do. But this 'Silkid Fine' by Puppy Yarn (55% mohair, 45% silk) that I found in my Japan stash, defies all previous mohair-itch experiences and I love it so much that I've been knitting non-stop the past few days. Look, Ma, no itch!

Petal Bibs from One Skein book

Petal Bibs done up in pink and green - one of my favourite color combinations. Butterfly Super 10 cotton is fantastic for bibs - it's not rough on skin, yet in a DK to light worsted weight, it works up fast and is hardy enough. Used a slightly smaller needle (3.75mm) so that the bibs wouldn't be too floppy.

Petal Bibs taking a bath to even them out. They were all wrinkly and the edges were all curled up. No idea if it was the yarn, all those short-row shaping, or just me - but they behaved after that.

Posing with a matching 2 color silk changing mat from Blu Lily.

Baby Blossom Dress

Pattern : Blossom, by Melissa Wastney (published by Magknits)
Yarn : Sirdar Pure Cotton 4 Ply in Cream
Needle : 3.5mm

This turned out really cute and it was such a fast & simple knit too. I started it on a Tues evening and probably had it done by Friday. I find that if I just cast on without worrying too much about fit and gauge and wearability, I can actually start and finish a knit pretty quickly. Shows the paralysing effect of overthinking...plus the fact that the recipient's mommy was gonna be induced that very evening of course!

The original pattern had embroidered flowers, but being totally useless with that, I opted to personalise the dress with my latest passion. I had several tatted motifs that were made when emptying the shuttles, and was pretty excited about just sewing those motifs on with 'invisible thread' aka monofilament or beading thread, so that nobody could spot my lousy sewing skills.

Lesson No. 1 - Invisible thread is invisible not only to others, but also to the sewer.
Lesson No. 2 - It's in-VI-sible; not in-VIN-sible - tugging too hard breaks the thread and it takes the patience of a saint to locate the break point and redo.

It took me nearly 2 hours to sew on those motifs. Will take clearer pictures when my eyes stop crossing and my hands stop shaking....

War of the Voices of Baby Items

Pattern : Easy Baby Knits by Claire Richardson

Yarn : Sublime Merino Silk DK (slightly less than 1 skein)

Voice 1 (aka Angel Voice) - "ohhh this is going to be so squishy and cute"

Voice 2 (aka Demon Voice) - "isn't this yarn kinda hot for our weather?"

Voice 1 - "a little, but it's quite light weight so it shouldn't stifle the baby"

Voice 2 - "it's too small, how are the baby's hands gonna stretch in that"

Voice 1 - "most babies curl up their fingers, and anyway the yarn stretches"

Voice 2 - "baby will snag a nail in the loose weave and will probably end up yanking out her entire nail"

Voice 1 - "but look at those cutie matching ribbons I found in my stash that matches the yarn perfectly..."

Voice 2 - "what if baby chokes on the ribbon when it comes undone"

Voice 1 - ".....but, but.."

Voice 2 - "besides which, Mothercare sells those for like $10 for 3 pairs, you're gonna take forever to make them"

Voice 2 - "and your mom will put those in the dryer and shrink them, then they definitely won't fit anymore... /evil snickering

Voice 1 - /concedes defeat and is silenced forever

Game, Set, Match - Demon Voice
And I thought that knitting baby items would be easy...