Ethan's Sweater

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. I've been a bit absent in blog land as of late. Horrifically busy, you know. It's almost been worse since school ended with a week of intensive rehearsals and traveling leading up to Midwest, which went very well, thanks. It's always nice to see a room full of band directors leap to their feet in applause. And this past week has been a sea of doctor's appointments and family obligations, plus practicing (festival audition tapes must go out SOON) and studying for an entrance exam (yes, I'm already entered. No, it's not my fault I have to take this exam. And, no, I've not really been studying, but I need to.)

Anyway, remember in my last post when I mentioned a surprise baby? Now, you might say to yourself, "Meg, how can a baby be a surprise? There's generally an incubation period for these types of things." To which I would reply, "Yes, of course there is. But a baby can be a surprise if, for instance, it's adopted." Which this little bundle of baby goodness happens to be. I knew that some friends of the family were waiting to adopt a baby. They were this close to adopting one in May, and I promised to knit them something, but I wanted to wait until I knew whether it was a boy or a girl, and while I was deciding on what to knit, the adoption fell through. I couldn't help feeling at the time that my indecision on what to knit had something to do with an unconscious niggling feeling that this was not going to happen. Fast forward to early December. My mom called and said that she had gotten a card with a picture of our friend holding a tiny baby boy, which was a surprise to all of us. They didn't want to announce anything until they knew that he would be theirs because of the heartbreaking situation earlier. Well, the second I knew, I jumped online, ordered some yarn, and cast on. The result: one perfect sweater for a perfect baby boy.

Trellis by Britta Stolfus Rueschhoff

Yarn: 1.5 balls Plymouth Encore in #1232

Needles: US 6 circs

Size: 6 months

Mods: Accidentally on purpose knit one extra buttonhole only to decide when sewing on the buttons that maybe the designer really did know what she was doing when instructing 5, so there's an extra buttonhole, which hopefully the parents will never notice.

It's been gloomy around here lately with a storm expected tonight, so the pics are a bit dark.

I wanted green for Ethan because I like green and his parents are green-type people, but I didn't want a "baby" green. I wanted a grown-up person green, so I decided on this sage-y, medium green. I didn't even know when I picked it that he has a beautiful head of dark hair which will look smashing with this green. I knit most of this on the bus to and from Chicago. I've never knit a baby sweater before, and I've decided that I really need to get to know more babies. Not only are the cute and fun and smell good (unless they've loaded a diaper) but their sweaters are so quick to knit! I really couldn't be happier with this. Now all Ethan needs is a bubble pipe and an armchair and he's ready for the Ive Leagues!

Aran Accent

You know how when you're about to leave town, suddenly there are a thousand little things to do, like organize your receipts and buy granola bars and charge your ipod and decide what to pack to be: 1) compact. 2) warm. 3) appropriately dressed for situations ranging from long bus rides to dinner cruises including shoes (which may be the million dollar question at this point considering the storm we got this weekend.)

Well, at least one thing got done. May I present Aran Accent?

Pattern: Aran Accent from Patons Cables
Yarn: 3 1/2 balls Patons Classic Wool in Deep Olive
Needles: US 5 and 7
Mods: Well, more in the planning stage than the actual garment. I decided after a few inches in the large size to move down to the medium even though I was purposely getting a smaller gauge. This was a crucial (and very good) decision. This sweater is very stretchy due to the nature of the stitch patterns, and though the unblocked sweater was around 36" in the bust, it easily blocked out to 38" and continued to grow as I wore it yesterday. I kind of misread the pattern and ended up knitting the neck edge and sleeve edges in the round. Also, I cast off the neck in rib as the pattern said, but it was very loose and gappy, so I went back and ribbed 5, k2tog, which helped a lot, but if I were to to it again, I would maybe to rib 4, k2tog, since it's not as neat as I would like.

I'm off to Chicago tomorrow for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. Why, yes, this is a week out of my precious, precious winter break, which is contributing significantly to both my level of packing stress, and my lack of enthusiasm for the whole thing, especially considering the miniscule amount of time to devote to H&M. I am, however looking forward to the bus ride. I have a tiny, perfect baby sweater on the needles (and also on a bit of a deadline since the baby was a surprise. More on that later.) as well as a by-the-seat-of-my-pants creation of my own. Oh, and Meg Cabot's Jinx downloaded onto my ipod.

I hope you all enjoy this last week leading up to Christmas!

P.S. Yes, those are otters on my pants. With all the snow, my pants are constantly soaked from the knees down, so I generally keep a dry pair of pj pants near the door so I can drop trou the second I get in. Dear Santa, I would like a pair of snow boots that will keep my pants dry. Thanks, Meg

It's that time of year

Yeah, the time of year to curl up with a book full of handwritten notes (only partially decipherable) a study guide and a pile of blank paper (with which to rewrite said notes in a decipherable manner) and ignore all the holiday cheer in favor of passing exams.

Well, at least there are leftover gum drops from the gingerbread decorating party I had on Friday. And leftover gingerbread, come to that. Not to mention another little pair of instant gratification cuties. Want to see them up close? Ok.
Pattern: Jacob's Ladder Miniature Mittens from Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in...um....Red (burgundy?) and blue/green (woodland sage?)
Needles: US 1
Mods: Just as before. Tied together cast on strings instead of the finger knitted cord.

They make me ridiculous happy. I love the pattern a lot more than I thought I would. It's just so smooth and even and the bit of silk in the yarn gives it a nice sheen. Check out brainylady's Manly Mittens for a quasi full-scale version. I love those mittens too. Now if only I knew a guy who would actually wear them...

Speaking of mittens, guess what my finals week treat to myself is? I'm swatching and casting on for Bird in Hand tonight with the yarn from Taos. That's after I block Aran Accent, because, dudes, the front and back are done!

Thanks

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I truly appreciated them. Thanks especially to those who delurked to say happy birthday. I write this blog for me, not for the comments, but it is always nice to know that someone is out there appreciating. It has been one of the most stressful weeks on record, with four performances in four days along with extra rehearsals and school work as we approach then end of the semester. I haven't had the energy to knit much.

Also, I am sad to report that my computer has a serious problem, one involving my hard drive. This kind of thing only happens at the end of a semester with a term paper deadline looming. Anyway, it means that nothing but absolutely essential things can go on my hard drive and that means no picture of pretty knits in progress for a bit until I can get this thing sorted out. So, my best wishes to you on your holiday crafting adventures. When my computer is fixed, I may have some pretties to show you!