More Perlemor ...

I was having so much fun with this pattern, I just kept on knitting and came up with a romper and a matching bonnet to complete the set.

The bonnet has a pinwheel design at the back of the head that is both elegant and whimsical at the same time. I didn't have a baby on which to model it so it's hard to see in the photo, but trust me - it's very cute. (Please excuse the water stain on the top of my bureau.)

The romper fastens with pewter heart buttons to match the sweater.

Et voila, the whole layette is ready to be shipped to the expectant parents. (Oops, except for the booties which haven't yet been made.)

Projects: Past, Present, and Future

Past: Perlemor in Red and White

Here she is! I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this sweet little sweater and in the process came to appreciate the genius of the design team at Dale of Norway. Or, maybe it's just the genius of the Norwegians - especially when it comes to knitting. At any rate, the pattern was extremely well-written and all the pieces came together into a satisfying whole.




One of the design features I liked a lot was the knit1, purl1 rows that separated the neckline from the body. It makes a nice flexible collar area. I also liked the fact that most of the neck stitches were kept live and knit after picking up stitches at the front edges of the collar.



Finally, the "private side" of this little sweater is nearly as neat and tidy as the "public side." I like that a lot. It's much more satisfying than having lots of ends and ugly pick-ups and decrease stitches, etc. to hide on the inside.

Design: Perlemor, Baby Knits from Dale of Norway,
"Soft Treasures for Little Ones"
Yarn: Dalegarn Baby Ull in cherry red (4227) and cream (0020)
March 22 - April 13, 2009

Present: Marion Foale's Neat Knit cardigan - THE SLEEVES

Why, oh why do sleeves seem to be so interminable to knit? Why do I resent knitting them so much? Why are they less pleasurable to knit than the body? These are the questions that plague me as I work my way stitch by stitch up the sleeves. Perhaps I should do as the French do and make the sleeves first. Somehow my excitement about a new project never allows me to do this.



And, speaking of a new project ...

Future: Veronika Avery's Military Cardigan

I've chosen the yarn (Khroma WW in plum) and I've been swatching. I haven't gotten gauge yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to knit this up on US7's. Sevens! Hoorah!

My assistant agrees that this will be a nice change from US1's and zeros!

I'm Knitting as Fast as I can ...

... and it doesn't seem to be fast enough. It is difficult for me to match the pace of my knitting (slow) with the rate of my interest in starting new projects (rapid). This discrepancy is further aggravated by my propensity to choose projects that require tiny needle sizes (US0, US1,US2). I just like the look of finished knitted fabric with fine stitches. This means that while other knitters are knocking out finished objects in just a couple of weeks, I'm plugging along for months. So, although I know pictures of works in progress tend to be boring, here is my version of Marion Foale's "Neat Knit" as she currently stands.



There have been some minor tragedies associated with this project which will be blogged all in good time.



And, here are the sleeves. Sleeves are particularly difficult to tackle when one is ready to follow the siren's call of the next anticipated project, but I am determined to knit away on them until they are done.



And lastly, here is the body of Perlemor 1. This is an incredibly fun knit. I absolutely love the houndstooth check pattern.

A Poem for Baby S or Baby J

The Poetry in Stitches baby sweater for one of the two anticipated grandchildren has been completed. It was a labor intensive project but seems to have been worth the effort.

The sleeves are done in "elm stitch" which is a pretty stitch but very, very slow. The front side is simply knit, but on the back side one has to do a yarn over, purl two stitches and then pull the yarn over. It's a lot of stopping and starting, but adds a lacey look to the sweater.

The motifs are done in double-stitching which is a lot of fun. However, I was surprised to find that the spots on which the sweater is embroidered become hard and inflexible, altering the pliability of the knitted fabric. I guess I should have anticipated that this would be the case, but I didn't. I don't think it will make that much difference in comfort for an outer garment.

On the back is this cute little butterfly.

Specs:

Pattern: Baby layette from Poetry in Stitches, p. 22-23, by Solveig Hisdal.

Yarn: Dalegarn Baby Ull, 100% wool, machine washable, approx. 3 balls (165 meters each) using doubled yarn throughout.

Modifications: took artistic license with the embroidery, changed the placement and did not include the tulip or cherries in an attempt to make it suitable for a girl or boy.

If I ever knit this again, which I tend to think I won't, I wouldn't use doubled yarn as it seems too heavy (or maybe it was just the yarn I chose) for US1 needles.

Now onto an easy, colorful baby blanket on US6's as a hiatus from little tiny needles.

A Blank Slate ...

This is about being a blank slate in several different ways. The first way is that I'm about to become a grandparent ... well, sort of. I am only 48 (about to be 49), which seems pretty young for a first-time grandmother doesn't it? But, the back story is that I will actually be a step-grandmother or, as I think I might prefer, a "bonus grandmother." My DH is 12 years older than I am and his two children, a son and a daughter, were away at college by the time we met and later married. So, I've never actually parented his kids, we rarely see them, and now both of them are married and expecting their own babies in July. So, I'm a blank slate about how to be a grandmother especially when there are already two biological grandmothers and another "bonus grandmother" in the family.

So I turned to what I know: knitting!

And then I turned to my all-time favorite knitting book: Poetry in Stitches by Solveig Hisdal and decided to start by making the baby layette she designed.

Et voila, here is the second blank slate:

The third blank slate is that we won't know if one of the babies will be a boy or a girl. So I modified Solveig Hisdal's embroidery design in an attempt to make the sweater more gender-neutral. Alas, I fear it tends toward the masculine at this point, although with a butterfly on the back and picot edging and textured sleeves, it may yet suit either a boy or a girl.

I do love the sweet motifs taken from a 17th century Norwegian brocade bed tapestry.

More photos to follow as the work progresses.

Introducing "Heidi"

A belated Christmas gift arrived recently ... a body form with my exact dimensions. It's an extravagance about which I feel somewhat guilty given these difficult economic times. I mean does anyone really need a body form? However, she was a gift and you know what "they" say about not looking a gift horse in the mouth ...


So, I'm going to enjoy the fact that I can now measure my knitted creations as I make them without having to take off clothing during these cold winter months and contort my body as I attempt to see if I'm getting it right in the mirror. Now I can see if the waist will fit by fitting the garment on "Heidi" instead of myself. Although I have to say, it's very humbling to see one's widening figure reflected in an inanimate object.

Today Heidi is modeling the almost completed Vine Panel Cardigan. Here you can see a close-up of the lace design and collar. In the previous photo you can see that I modified the waist ribbing to elongate it (I have a long torso) and changed the sleeves from bell-shaped to fitted around the cuffs.
I still have to add the buttons and pockets and hope to get to that today.

A Little Christmas Sparkle

First, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Channukah and I'd like to send out a wish for Peace on Earth in 2009!

Since this is a knitting blog, I will move right to my latest FO, "Agnes & Joy," finished just in time to wear to Christmas dinner tonight.

I modified the pattern to lower the waist to my natural waistline -- the pattern calls for it to be just below the ribcage which seemed odd.

I also made the sleeves full-length as in "Joy" but used the cuff design from "Agnes."

I sewed on grosgrain ribbon to stabilize the buttons and had to add a couple of snaps to ensure the front stays closed.

I knit the sleeves plain (without beads) except for a bracelet row of beads on the sleeves and cuffs and a extra 3 beads above the right cuff.

Finally, the buttons are made of beads that are similar to those knitted into the body. The beads are very subtle and are hard to see except when they catch the light.

I really like this design and enjoyed knitting it. I admit that at first I didn't understand the instructions to cast off at the waist and then pick up the stitches again in the next row, but as you can see it leaves a pretty braid right at the demarcation between the moss and stockinette stithces.

The endless stockinette stitch on number 2 needles did get somewhat tedious by the time I'd started on the sleeves, but created a nice smooth fabric which suits the yarn.

This is a very lightweight sweater, appropriate for wearing over a blouse.

Here are the details:

Pattern: a hybrid of "Agnes" and "Joy" both by Kim Hargreaves

Size: Medium

Yarn: Rowan felted tweed in watery (a little over 8 skeins)

Next up: Vine lace top-down cardigan from http://www.sweaterbabe.com/

Have a Happy Holidays everyone!