Happy New Year!

New Year's is a time for reflecting on the past and setting new goals for the future, right? Well, I've reflected on one of my recently completed projects and thought, I'm just not going to wear that, so why not rip it out and knit something else with the yarn? I've seen Linda do this several times - she's so brave! So what do you all say to a rip-along?

(I love making buttons!)

Got a completed or partially completed project that simply didn't work out that you need to frog? Want some company and support through the ripping process? How 'bout we start the year off right and make the week after next rip-along week? Let me know what you're ripping and be sure to post a picture (or send me one) if at all possible. The picture is the best part!

Larissa's already agreed to join the fun. Who else is in?

Lots of new projects going on and coming up here at the blue blog! So many that I can't seem to settle down and just knit. Although I have been knitting off and on over the last few days, I probably spent more time organizing the stash and planning my next few projects. Besides thinking about the yarn I'll be claiming from my ribby cardie and getting the yarn together for my Must Have Cardigan, I managed a few more rows on the tiny-gauged, wrist-pain-inducing baby sweater. With 198 stitches across (it's a wrap style-sweater, so that's a back and two fronts in one piece) and babying my wrist all the way, I'm taking this an inch at a time! Also made some progress on my blue phildar sweater, getting up to the raglan decreases on the back. But I got confused on the numbers (must... use... row... counter!) and put it aside. It is impossible to count rows in this crazy bumpy yarn!

How many rows do you see?

In other news, I'm working behind the scenes here on the blog and hope to have a little something new to show by the end of the month. And we've entered a brave new world in child rearing, as we have finally taken the sides of the boys' cribs down. There's no turning back now!

Yes, Virginia, there is blue Dora fabric!

Yup, the ribby is slated for frogging. It makes me sad, but it just doesn't suit me, especially once it grew after blocking. I'm not a gal who needs ribbing wrapped all the way around her butt. So, it will have to go. It's funny to think that many of the ribby knit-alongers are still working on theirs while I'm getting ready to rip mine out. I'm either waaaay ahead or waaaay behind them now!

And what do I want to make? Something more my style. Something like this! Yes, knitty comes through again with a pattern I have to make. A hip, bulky sweater with ribbing around the waist. Yes, that's more like it. I'm learning!

Now that I know what I'll be making with the yarn and I've got a whole support group of rip-alongers, I'm actually getting excited about tearing the cardie apart. I know many of you also have unfortunate projects made with the best of intentions and the most fabulous of yarns. Next week we will reclaim those yarns, ladies! Be sure to take some pictures. This is going to be fun!

Despite the fact that it's getting crowded over in the knit-along sidebar, I'm joining knit-alongs like it's going out of style. I signed up for Kate and Theresa's Must Have Cardigan Knit-along and then Laurin's Vintage Knits-along. And now, since you asked for it (well, Amy did) a Banff knitalong.

PS- While the Phildar knit-along is going strong, some of the other knit-alongs are slowing down. I know of two ponchos, one ribby, and two wannabe sweaters that are still active. Anyone else out there have a knitalong update?

Finally some decreases on the tiny-gauged, wrist-pain inducing baby sweater! I've started the slopes of the front panels and separated for the armholes. Now I've got a cool 130 stitches in three sections on the needle instead of 190 in one big piece. And it's starting to look like a baby sweater and not a blanket!

I really feel like I've got largest chunk of knitting behind me now. Each separate section and each sleeve should be doable in a sitting. And I'll be able to see the progress I've made right away. Now I remember the rewards of knitting baby items. Yeah, baby!

The blue sweater grows and grows. I finished the back, started the front and even fiddled around with a sleeve when the raglan row counting got to be too annoying. And then I remembered...

I didn't want to make this pattern. I've been planning and replanning what to do with this yarn so long that I'd forgotten my last decision. In my excitement, I cast on for this sweater (yes, the same one Kerrie was working on) and now that I'm done with about half of it, it occurs to me that I initially wanted to make this sweater. I think that's the one Kim knit that made me want the yarn so much. The image of Kim's sweater popped into my head while I was working on holiday gifts and I decided that once I was done knit-gifting I was going to pull the yarn out and get started right away. But I'd slipped a copy of the other pattern in with the yarn at some point, toying with the idea of changing the sleeves from set-in to raglan. So I got out the yarn and finding the pattern in there was impressed by my organization, and knit happily away. Now I have blue sweater with raglan sleeves and a stockinette edging, which is rolling a little too much for my tastes.

See the shadow from the roll?!

Still, I like the sweater as it is, but don't have enough yarn to complete it according to the pattern (those bell sleeves!!). What should I do?

A. Simple, buy more yarn. That solves everything, doesn't it?
B. C'mon, be creative: alter the sleeve design, uh, somehow.
C. Use the same solution you always do, Alison: cut off the edging and redo it. But this time follow the right pattern - the one you have enough yarn for!
D. I hear someone's doing a rip-along going on next week. Hint. Hint.

PS - Did you read Kerrie's sad story about her Giboulees sweater? This pattern must be cursed.

Yes, folks, it's that time of year again - the Winter Clearance Sale at one of my favorite yarn stores, Wild & Wooly in Lexington, MA. Love this store. Love this sale. Last year, I picked up the all seasons cotton for my first summer tank. That started my love affair with all seasons cotton and tanks. So this time I went in with hopes high for another great find. And I was not disappointed.

I arrived when they opened at 7am and scored some of the few available skeins of Rowan Felted Tweed. I've had a little crush on this yarn for a while and had been scoping out eBay hoping to find 5 skeins each in two different colors to knit aran sweaters for the boys. And there it was at the sale, waiting for me, in lovely shades of green and blue. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I started teaching another beginning knitting class this week and thought that would be the perfect occassion to start a new little project. In order to demonstrate, you gotta be knitting something, right? And I couldn't really bring my big projects in to carry around, so...

I love to start new projects!

This will be a neck warmer for me. After finishing the neck warmer for my aunt, my neck started feeling suspiciously cold. Hmmm... why not make a neck warmer for myself? I gotta be knitting something. Plus it'll make a nice follow-up pattern for my beginners for their leftover yarn.

Speaking of beginning knitters, look who picked up the needles for the first time this week!

If you recall, I put my mother's fandango vest aside when the first panel came out too short. I needed to rip back to the armholes and add several inches. I got discouraged and then along came the holiday crunch and sent the fandango to the back burner. Rip-a-long to the rescue! I pulled it out again yesterday, so I could rip it back to kick off the rip-along.

Before.

During.

After.

That felt good.

Alright, rip-alongers, the rip-along is ON! Ivete has already ripped out her ribby (mine's up tomorrow!). Carol ripped out her felted bag (yes, felted!). And Knitsmith Carrie has enough projects to rip one every day this week. Oh yeah, it's a week long frog-a-thon. Try to have fun and be sure to share some pictures!

On to the ribby! Got the boys set up with some morning cartoons, got out the seam ripper and went to work on that zipper.

note oblivious Dora fans in background

Then the front bands. And by the end of the Dora/Blue's Clues hour, I'm 3/4 of the way done removing all that zippery stuff. Woo hoo!

Can you hear the frogs? I believe Leigh's been doing some ripping. Knitsmith Carrie undid at least half her projects Friday night! And another Carrie reports having ripped 5 (FIVE!) projects in the most fabulous yarns (can you say Colinette....mmmmm). Leya sent this pic of her Rowan Polar sweater which has now been ripped TWICE. And speaking of double whammies: Jen will be joining us, ripping out her poncho from the ponch-o-long. Two knitalongs at once. Coooool!

Thanks for joining in everyone. I'm loving the stories and pictures and am having an absolute blast!

Step two, remove elastic in the collar and start ripping!

Man, unravelling this yoke is a nightmare. Don't know what I did when I knitted this thing, but I've hit several snags. Really, snags. Had to pull all the yarn through a loop and then back through another and then back again. Then I had to take a break! Finally, after a late night session of tedious unlooping, I made some progress and am going to bed. Current rippy stand:

There's more ripping going on in blogland to see. Check out Larissa and Silvia's ripping updates. Carrie sent this pic of her reclaimed yarn (all that yummy Colinette!) and Monica, Ingrid, Chris and Xona have all promised pics on their blogs. Go, girls!

Back to the yoke. And this time I mean business. Rip, pull many feet of kinky yarn all the way through, pull through again and again, rip more. (This is the best exercise I've gotten all year!) Finally, using the last smidgeon of patience that the boys left me with, I got through the yoke. We got parts!

Whew. After a few hours, I was beat. Time to wind up some skeins, give them a bath and call it a day (someone I know could use a real swift!).

Elsewhere in rip-along-dom: Iris is having a ripfest, both Lynette and Monica are passionately ripping, Dava has begun to frog THE Red Sweater, and Cheryl, Laurin, and Peggy are ripping as we speak. Who would have thought that ripping could be this much fun?!

Wrapping up the ribby rippy.

One last before picture.

And after.

Want another view?

Think it'll be enough to make Banff? I can't wait to find out. Seriously, I can't wait. Hey, Banff babes, how's your Banffs coming along?

And finishing off the rip-a-thon, a little cool down exercise. Remember blue, my bumpy giboulees sweater that I knit half of using the wrong pattern? I've decided to stick with this pattern, but since I don't have enough yarn to do the big bell sleeves, I ripped out the sleeve that I'd started so I can reknit it straight. Ready for one last rip?!

Before and after:

Breathe out. Begin to knit again. I was glad to read in the comments yesterday that so many of you were inspired to rip out old dead-end and unloved projects and are excited to start knitting with the old yarn again. I had so much fun, I'm already thinking about other projects that I might want to rip and redo. Might just have to make the rip-along a regular event!

Look ma, crazy ice fishers. What on earth would possess people to get up early on a Saturday morning and go out into the frigid cold that is Maine in January?! Oh yeah, yarn. Our little knitbloggers excursion to Halcyon was a blast! These gals are so much fun.

Booty shot! (Made you click!) I couldn't resist the Peace Fleece wool in beautiful Chickie Masala yellow. And I figured it was about time I picked up Montse Stanley's Knitter's Handbook. After Halcyon, Melissa took us to Grace Robinson & Co. in Freeport (the mecca of Rowan yarns!), where I bought the lovely blue Jaeger Baby Merino to make myself some gloves. I know this yarn wears very well, since I used for one of my boys' baby blankets and it's never pilled. I'd only ever seen it in baby variegated shades though, never in solid colors. In fact, I'd never seen so many Rowan, Jaeger, Vittadini, or Colinette yarns in so many colors in one store before. We only had 15 minutes to shop before closing time. This is my excuse for bringing home so little yarn from this fabulous store. I will be making a pilgrimage back to this place. SOON!

And if that weren't enough excitement, on Sunday the Knit 1, Purl 2 Stash Box made it to Knitsmiths. Becky brought it in and Johanna, Dava and I did a group swap all at once. I picked up a ball each of Cascade Fixation, Rowanspun Chunky, and Debbie Bliss Cotton DK. The last was a great find, as I was exactly one ball short for a sweater I'm hoping to knit for the boys in the spring. My LYS didn't have enough in one color when I bought the yarn last year, but I figured I'd come across another ball sometime. Thanks to the yarn fairy who put it in there! Dava pulled a skein of Gusto out of the box, started knitting, and finished the hat by the end of knitting group.

Yarnheads rule!

Amidst all the ripping last week, I finished my neckwarmer. As usual, I had to add some stripes. But now it matches my winter coat just perfectly. Pattern, anyone??

And I guess we're not done ripping after all. I found another project in my wip basket that needed a good frogging - the cowl that I started knitting as a Christmas gift. I had second thoughts about using up so much of this fabulous alpaca and decided to save the yarn for something else.

And spotted elsewhere in rip-city: Carrie (who ripped several projects last week) was knitting away Sunday at Knitsmiths with some beautiful homespun yarn reclaimed from an old project. And several more rippers have joined the list over the weekend. Check out all the projects Stacy is planning on ripping!

Fnished the first Banff sleeve.

Don't you just love raglan decreases? I could do them all day. And can I just tell you how much I am loving this sweater in this yarn. All of you who are afraid of ripping or are stuck staring at your newly ripped yarn, know that it can be good again. I can't believe how happy I am to be reknitting!

Note to Banff-alongers: There were two teeny-tiny corrections made to the instructions for the sleeve shaping. The Knitty pattern has been corrected with the new numbers in pink, so check it out. The pattern is so clear and straight-forward though that I bet you won't even need the corrections. Once you see what it is that's being done, you won't need the numbers anyway. I certainly didn't notice that there was any problem with the numbers and my sleeve came out right.

Been swatching for the must have cardie! I'm so excited about cabling again. I wasn't however so excited about the braided cable or the wrapped stitches in the original pattern, so I'm trying out some other things. I like this better, but I'm still not sure that this is what I'm going to go with. I wanna love this cardigan, so I'm taking my time. I'm also planning on leaving off the ribbing at the bottom, as I prefer the look of a raw cable edge. Of course that leaves me with the question of how to do the button bands. Hmmm.... Must have, but first must tweak!

Kerrie asked what I was going to do with the alpaca I reclaimed from the abandoned cowl (see Tuesday's post). Orginally, I wanted to make a cardigan. Despite the small gauge of the yarn (US3s), I'm still leaning in that direction, since the alpaca is very warm and I fear a sweater would be too hot. I also want to try doing a lace pattern. I like the lace design in Jess from A Yorkshire Fable, and so knit up a little swatch to give it a try.

It was difficult getting the yarn to lie neatly in the decreases (thanks Carrie for warning me about this!) and I made a few mistakes, but I like it. No plans to start this monster of a project anytime soon though!

And now my yellow Peace Fleece (my booty from the Halcyon trip!) is calling to me. It wants to be knit up RIGHT NOW! I'm off to swatch it up today. (Note: Halcyon is amazing! I backordered a few skeins on our trip on Saturday and on Tuesday - the day after the holiday - they arrived at my doorstep. I told you this yarn wants to be knit up right away.)

Tiny-gauged baby sweater body reporting for duty. (Heh, heh, you said doody.)

Now get ready for teeny-tiny-gauged sleeve hell!

What'cha gonna do when your momma won't wear hats? I made my mom a hat and mitten set last Christmas that she's never taken out of the box. But, ma, it's soooo cold! She said she might wear something larger and looser, so I started on a big hat with the Rowanspun Chunky I got out of the stash box. Will she like it? Stay tuned next week...

And what'cha gonna do when your new yarn just keeps calling to you? The chickie masala peace fleece simply won't wait. So I swatched it up and searched through all my patterns to find something to knit now. And we're off!

Speaking of handknits that aren't getting worn... remember the brown butter vest I knit for my husband last year? Yup, it has yet to make it out of the closet. I love this vest and would wear it myself, but it's way too long and baggy. So, it will seed the pile for the next rip-along. If I ever make it through the ten projects I'm currently working on or have waiting in the wings, I'll frog it and make the women's hooded version of this vest for myself with the recycled yarn (and the two balls I had left over and have never used!).

So what have we learned? Hubby is not a vest person and mom is not a hat person. Still not convinced about that second revelation, I finished my mom's new big hat during her weekend visit. She says she'll wear it. We'll see (and, no, she did not remember to bring the first hat and mitten set back).

I ran out of the green Rowanspun Chunky yarn, which didn't match my mother's black gloves anyway, so I added a touch of black on the crown and around the ribbing. I used Rowan's new Yorkshire Tweed, which has the exact same color flecks in it as the Rowanspun and so coordinates very nicely.

Speaking of Yorkshire Tweed. Remember the lace pattern that I swatched up last week from the Jess sweater in that book? Fellow Knitsmith Carrie thought the pattern looked similar to one of her rip-along projects, which was a sweater from a vintage Rowan book. Well, compare for yourself. A Yorkshire Fable, circa 2003 and Rowan No. 4, circa 1988. Busted! Glad Carrie brought in the "original", because I really love the cardigan version from the old Rowan book. Don't you?

I got practically no knitting done this Sunday at Knitsmiths. Those girls are just too much fun! We talked, laughed, leafed through pattern books, and shared tips and opinions. What a great group.

I don't think Kerstin (left) knit a stitch either! And isn't that Sandy silly? Hey look, there's new Knitsmith Lisa (on the right) from counry turtle knitting. And since I owe Sandy a good picture, here are the North Shore Knitbloggers, Sandy and Lisa, not knitting. I kid! Sandy was working on her Plaid mittens (that's Rowan Plaid). I must have started coveting her extra skein of Plaid a little too loudly -- "I want Plaid mittens too!" --, because she gave it to me. How sweet! So, once I got home, I started knitting:

Check out the Knitsmiths' page for pics of what other Knitsmiths can do when they actually knit!

First let me say that yes, I realize that I don't need another active project right now. Now let me say this, BUT.... my advanced beginners knitting class started last night and I thought I'd take the opportunity to swatch for a baby sweater along with my students. I do have two other baby sweaters to make for friends who are expecting and I picked up some wonderfully soft Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in the loveliest pink last weekend for the next one. So why not?! I plan to make the Daisy sweater from Pipsqueaks. Intarsia flowers - yes!

I haven't been neglecting the original tiny-gauged baby sweater, though. Here's the body, now with yellow border and one sleeve. Getting closer!

Time to gush some more about how much I love this pattern and this sweater in this yarn. It was so the right decision to rip out my ribby to make this sweater. There's no way I'll have enough yarn to finish it, but I'm having too good a time knitting this to worry about that. I'll think about that tomorrow! For now, I'm moving blissfully along to another sleeve.

And in an effort to move more of my too numerous wips along, I've begun to reknit the sleeve of my bumpy blue phildar sweater. I'll be knitting the sleeves straight, giving up the bell sleeves in the hopes that the yarn will hold out. I'm not feeling too confident though, especially since I'm trying to save my good yarn karma for Banff! Think the yarn gods will look more kindly upon me if I buy more of this yarn in a different color to make another bumpy phildar sweater??

Banff-ers, phildar fillies, how you all doing?

My top secret contribution in Johanna's Men-along....

Wait, are those socks?? Why yes, they are. But aren't you always saying that you hate knitting socks?? Why yes, I am. Let me 'splain. These socks were a surprise anniversary gift for my husband, pretty much the only person I'd be willing to pick up those annoying double-pointed needles for. Luckily, he likes really warm, bulky socks so I got to use US6s and (here's the best part) Rowan Magpie yarn! I knit the socks in secret for a couple of weeks at Knitsmiths (see Dava's post about my socks-in-progress) and the whole way on our recent knitbloggers' trip to Halcyon in Maine.

In another moment of double-pointed madness, I let Sandy talk me into knitting a pair of mittens. Give me a free ball of yarn, and I'll do anything!

I couldn't find a pattern in my books that matched the large gauge of the Rowan Plaid, so I altered the basic mitten pattern from Ann Budd's book to suit my needs. Got some bulky yarn and want to make mittens? Here you go! Got any other gauged yarn and want to make mittens, gloves, hats, socks, a vest, a sweater? Get her book!

Yebie is how my boys say yellow. Well, first B identifies everything yellow as orange so that I will say "noooo, that's not orange." Then he grins and says "yebie" like he was just holding out on me the whole time.

Chickie is knitting up wonderfully. I'm in the middle of the waist shaping on the back. This Peace Fleece yarn is a genuine pleasure to work with. It feels great in my hands and is really beautiful.

And it's yebie.