After finishing the blue stripes on my cardi raye without the sparkle shit and starting the purple color that comes next, I got worried that the purple stripes were going to be too dull without the sparkles and that the purple didn't coordinate with the blue or the next color (pink) so well on its own. So I ripped out the plain purple stripes, got out the purple sparkle shit and reknit the purple stripe sequence.

Okay, I absolutely love how the sparkles change the purple into a sort of pink color! Wanna see a close-up? It's really amazing how colors can transform right before your eyes like that. The stripes look much better now.

(Wait for it...)

In the picture. Unfortunately, I still hate that sparkle shit in person. Out it goes. Nope, definitely not a sparkle girl. This time I'm convinced. No foolin'!

And it's brought more flowsies. Well, buds at least.

And she saw what she had made, and it was good.

I get to make a day trip to NYC for a little mommy rest and relaxation. Hubby's treating me to a day of babysitting (it's only my second overnight trip ever away from the boys and the first was over a year ago) and mom is treating me to a Broadway play! If I catch an early train, I should even have enough time to visit a yarn store (or two if they're near each other). Okay folks, I need the 411 on the best place to go! I'll be arriving in Manhattan, but Brooklyn is also doable. Most important is that I'd prefer to be able to do a little shopping, so no ultra-exclusive, high-priced, luxury-fiber only stores, thanks. Just lead me to the NYC source for anything Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Karabella, GGH, Brown Sheep, Berroco, Noro, Manos, Vittadini, or Dale, give me a little NY atmosphere and I'll be a happy knitter on vacation!

The first sleeve of my cardi raye is on the needles. Seems like a lot of us in the litte cardi raye along have been sleeving it recently. Ladies, show us your sleeves: Angela, Kimberly, Jenn. I know the rest of you want to knit this sweater now! (Check out the comments to this post if you need pattern and/or yarn info.)

In other knitalong news, you've got to see Karen's spring fling dresses, Leigh's spring fling top, Eklectika's spring fling fringe top, Julia's spring fling star sweater, Froggy's sweatpants, and Jen's sweatpants!

And did you see that Erica has started a "Kate-along" for a Phildar top? Now you can be Kate or Audrey. Which Hepburn-along are you?

I love knitalongs!

After frogging flowsies last week, Daisy is back on track. The two front panels are all done, with buttonholes correctly spaced this time!

Now, don't go thinking these pieces come off my needles looking this good. Before blocking, the purl stitches in the flowers caused each piece to pucker like mad making it look pretty much like a wadded up washcloth. See?

The moral: blocking is good.

I didn't really press them though. I like to wet block. A little wash, a little laying out to dry in the sun, and they flatten out just fine (so maybe they're more like dried flowers?). And I'm not a pin person either. Two toddlers and dozens of straight pins in the same house is not a good idea!

I'm wearing my sweatpants. Right now!

So here's an update on how they're wearing. They are super comfy: soft, soft, soft and warm, warm, warm! They do slip down my waist a bit from their own weight when I'm walking around, but they don't feel heavy and cinching up the drawstring a bit does the trick. They haven't stretched so far. After I had heard from a few Homespun-pros that the fabric will grow, I decided to leave the legs a little on the short side, so they could stretch without becoming something that I'll be treading on all the time. All I have to do is tug on the legs to bring them down to the right length and yet they don't seem to be stretching on their own. I even slept in them last night. Thought I was gonna expire from heat stroke the first few minutes under the covers! But I usually get real cold at night and the sweatpants kept me nice and toasty. Finally, fashion-wise I think I look pretty bad most of the time I've got these pants on. They simply are not terribly flattering. But for knocking around the house and keeping warm on a cold night, I love 'em.

Ooooh, the pink. Love the pink. My favorite part of the cardi raye.

Rowan Calmer. My new favorite yarn. Not that I've really made anything with it yet except a lace cap. Just got this Calmer (in the color Calmer) in exchange for the Linen Drape I posted about a while back. Thanks Lynn!

Knitalongs. Speaking of Linen Drape, I still have some waiting to become this Vintage Knits lacy top. Apparently one knitalong (the Vintage Knits Along) hasn't been enough to get this on my needles. Also in need of some motivation, Eklectika suggested a Linen Drape Along and made this fabulous button. How can I turn that down? Anyone else out there with Linen Drape (it's just been discontinued, so check sale bins and eBay for remaining stocks!), join us. Kickoff is May 1st.

A new project. My travel knitting for the NYC trip TOMORROW! Rowan Summer Tweed. Gonna keep you in suspense about the pattern until I get back. Can you stand it??

Is that a new project in your pocket or are you just happy to be free?

Rowan Summer Tweed, knitting chart and a reserve seat on the Acela bound for NYC - what more could I ask for? My little daytrip to New York for a tiny knitting adventure was the perfect excuse to pick out a new project. As soon as I saw this sweater from the spring Verena magazine, I knew it had to be next on my list. The front, back and sleeves are each knit in three separate strips that fit together like a puzzle. They are sewn together with a crochet seam (alternating chain stitches and single crochets). So it makes a solid sweater with just a touch of openness across those seams. The way that it's constructed seemed so ingenious that I decided I had to put my newly learned crochet skills to use to do this sweater. I was already swatching the summer tweed yarn looking for the perfect springy project for it, so the hardest thing was waiting until the trip to get started! Check out this crazy first piece.

This is the middle piece of the front, going from the lower left side to the top right shoulder. It's so cool I can barely stand it! The chart is really neat with all its little decreases and increases and the back is done the same way but BACKWARDS. I am going to have so much fun on this sweater.

Speaking of fun, I had a wonderful time at the knit shops in town. Pics coming tomorrow! And all that fun has caused me to fall pathetically behind with all my emails and knit-alongs. So fill me in on what I missed!

What'cha knittin?

Hey, check out what Cathy's been knittin' - a spring fling tank. I love it!

Pop quiz. You're a certifiable yarn junkie and you've got five hours in New York City. Where do you go?

Well, I started at Knitting Hands in Brooklyn (website - info here). This is a great yarn store! Brooklyn knitters sure are lucky to have such an awesome LYS. The place was packed with customers (lots of new knitters looking for help with new projects) and the staff was very friendly. There's every yarn you could possibly want here - GGH, Colinette, Manos, Blue Sky Alpacas, Mission Falls, Plymouth Yarns, andandand.... There's even a large selection of the less expensive acrylic yarns (making up for the lack of strip mall craft stores in NYC I guess). And lots and lots of pattern support too - books, older pattern magazines and tons of individual patterns. Wowie! I got caught up in the patterns for a while and then almost got some Mission Falls cotton (such pretty colors!), but then I decided to contain my excitement. Didn't want to get carried away at the first store. So I left empty-handed. Of course my hands were quickly filled after stopping by Urban Monster, a hip baby gear store next door! Had to get something fun for the boys, you know.

Next up, I crossed the river and stopped at the Yarn Connection in midtown (website). What a cute store located up on the second floor with a huge window looking out to the street below. We were buzzed in and found an incredible selection and amount of yarn in a small room full of cubbyholes and baskets and bins. This place is like Rowan central! I could browse Rowan yarns all day long and could no doubt knit my way through all the Rowan mags with the selection they've got here! They also had more crochet stuff than I usually see, which inspired me to pick up a few things for my first real crochet projects.

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky for a fun crochet scarf and Berroco Suede for a crocheted bag. Both in blue. What else?!

I had hoped to make it to Purl Soho (website), but the next store was so great that I never made it. That's right, I spent the final two hours of my knit-trip at Knit NY (website)! Can you imagine anything better than a store with all of this and yummy baked goods too?

They've got one ball of each yarn (in every color) in its own tiny cubbyhole out on the wall for you to admire and touch. It's such a cool way to display the yarns. It's practical and beautiful. And you get to sit right in the middle of everything and knit. Check out the cool transparent stools full of colorful yarnballs. This place rocks! Two hours, a yummy doughnut, 20 balls of yarn, two books and one t-shirt later and I was done. Just enough time to grab a slice of pizza and hit old Broadway.

I love New York!

With the NYC trip and the Easter holiday, it seems like I've been out of the knitalong loop for ages! Here are a few things that I can't miss pointing out...

The spring fling is going strong. Julia has kicked off her own blog with her finished star sweater. Jackie has finished her awesome eyelet skirt from last summer's Knitty. And Melanie has completed her beautiful salsa verde tank. Way to bring the spring, ladies!

Elsewhere in knitalong-land, Loobylou has started up a Tricot-along!

I'm so in! I've got another Tricot in the works myself. How fun to have others to knit along with. And if any of you were thinking about knitting Tricot and would like a larger sized version, stay tuned - I hope to post some (long-overdue) upsized numbers next week.

And Stacy has started up a Rosebud knitalong! Well, actually it's a belly-along for any pattern that celebrates or bares your belly.

While Rosebud wasn't designed as maternity wear (see, I don't look pregnant!), there are several pregnant knitters who are interested in making it to wear over their growing bellies. Such a neat idea and a pleasant surprise! I love the idea of celebrating bellies (covered or uncovered). So for fun, I picked up a small pillow and tried on my Rosebud maternity style. Of course, this is not what I looked like pregnant. I looked more like this, which explains why I didn't get to wear my red maternity top for very long!

The Rosebud maternity try-on gave me an idea for those of you thinking about Rosebud as maternity wear: you might consider doing some short rows on the front edge to make it curved and give yourself more belly coverage. I can try to work out some numbers for you and add them to my Rosebud pattern page if you think that sounds like an interesting idea. You might also do an eyelet row in the middle of the ribbing on the body. Then you could make a crochet chain and thread it through the eyelets for a tie that ties in the back.

But you don't have to be pregnant to join the knitalong or knit Rosebud! I'm not expecting and I love my Rosebud. It's fun, light and swingy and makes me feel light and feminine. I love it so much, I even joined the knitalong to make a tank version for summer. Can I help it if I like my own patterns? (Blush.)

Somehow between catching up on all my daily reads and knitalongers' progress and signing up for more knitalongs than I could ever possibly fit on my knitalong sidebar (hee, hee), I actually managed to get some knitting done. The first cardi raye sleeve is finished.

All caught up yet?

(and we were yesterday, weren't we?) I came down with a little tummyache that knocked me out for a day. So I'll just leave you with this, the finished front pieces to my new Verena sweater. Neato, huh?

Now back to the sofa.

click to sign up!

After a few failed attempts last year, I had to admit that I could not bucket (remember?), but now that Bonne Marie has come up with a one-piece design and Becky has restarted her bucket-along, I'm gonna give it another try. Bottoms up hats coming up! While in NYC, I picked out some Manos Cotton Stria (at KnitNY) for a summer white bottoms up bucket hat for myself.

And if I succeed, there'll be more buckets in the works. My (apparently psychic!) Secret Pal sent me cotton yarns perfect for bucket hats. Thanks, Pal! There's even a white skein that's very similar to my Manos Cotton, so I think I'll make the boys matching bucket hats. Too cute. If that doesn't get me to bucket, then nothing will.

Well, I gave the bottoms up a try and I am utterly frustrated. This bucket pattern does not "fly off my needles" at all. It took me over two hours to do about eight rows on the brim. And I've got calluses on my fingers from working a double strand of the yarn that tight on such small needles. Then when I finally made it to the main section, it's way (and I mean way) too big. Why does this pattern hate me so much? Am I the only one who is miserable making this thing? (Okay, I was miserable before I started knitting, with a brief relapse of my stomach bug and our furnace breaking, but I found no relief in my knitting. Ugh.)

To cheer myself up, I swatched for a project for my mom. KnitNY had a great store pattern for a simple, chic shrug. It seemed like the perfect thing for mom, who's always chilly at work. So we picked out a really cool cotton yarn - in black, so New York - which also has some elastic content. The yarn is more like all seasons cotton than Fixation though. It's like the spin is so tight the yarn almost bounces. It's really a pleasure to knit with. What a switch from the bucket bust! Since the shrug pattern is one of those one-piece-folded-over-on-itself designs, I decided to make my swatch a mini-version to try out how it fits together. Looks pretty cool on Bun-Bun, don't you think?

Now I'm smiling again. Calm tummy, warm house, happy knitting.

You know how you can have a bad hair day? Well I'm having a bad knit week! Except for Bun-Bun's swatch shrug (see Saturday's post), I feel like I've done nothing but rip and discover problems the whole week. Since finishing the first sleeve of the cardi raye at the end of my little NYC vacation, it's all been downhill.

I was knitting along happily on the pieces of my piecework sweater until I gave the crochet seam a try. It simply doesn't look very good in the Summer Tweed yarn. Certainly not as nice as in the pattern picture. I've tried about a dozen different ways of doing the seam now and still haven't found anything that I can live with. So that's on hold until I figure that out.

Then there's my spring fling top that I've been working on in the background here. I'm trying to convert my tank pattern into a little cap sleeve top and have ripped, recalculated and reknit the top half about eight times in total. Just can't seem to quite get the exact look that I'm going for. I've even had to start a new ball of yarn, because the fuzz of the original ball has really suffered from all that ripping. I'm hoping the ninth time will be a charm, but then again, that's what I thought about the eighth time.

Then there's my bucket disaster. I'm glad to hear that there are a few others out there also frustrated by buckets gone bad. It's good to know I'm not alone. And yet there are so many amazing buckets out there that I still feel like this is something I should be able to do. I'll try it again, but with all these other frustrations it was a real blow to my confidence. Oh how a fun, fabulous, little cotton hat would have lifted my knitting spirits!

And I can't even keep working on the cardi raye, since I'm waiting on more yarn from the Netherlands to complete it. Two weeks and still waiting. Now I'm getting nervous. My only project not in peril and it's being sabotaged by some sort of international postal conspiracy.

I could have (should have) started something new like mom's shrug, but I've felt like a little success with any of these other projects would get me back on track and like a sucker I keep going back to them. So I'm not feeling the knitting love so much right now. Phooey. Maybe I should just put down the knitting needles and go get my hair done.

[Update: In an effort to cheer myself up, I'm trying out one of those meme things. Here's the book meme that Brainylady Alison started and Melly and Kerrie also recently did.

That was cool.]

Some front and back pieces of my Verena sweater mocking me. Until yesterday.

After a dozen tries at producing an even crochet seam that didn't look like a right knotted mess, I finally got it. I'm not even sure what I did differently this time. Perhaps my tension with the hook was better or my sense of where to make the next stitch had improved. Maybe it was sheer desperation. It doesn't matter. It worked. Something worked!

Presenting Frankenfront.

Encouraged by my relative success with the frankensweater, I decided to pick up my bottoms up bucket hat where I left off and give it another try. It's looking like a pretty fair approximation of a bucket hat now, dont'cha think?

I hadn't frogged what I had already knit, so I took a long hard look at it to see what was keepable. I liked how the brim looked and there was no way I was going to reknit it unless I had to (owie!), so I ripped out the few post-brim rows I'd done and added another couple rows to the brim, including another decrease row. I'm hoping now that it'll be small enough to fit one of the boys, like I had originally planned.

Onward and upward!

Anyone out there thinking about knitting Rosebud, I've got a few new ideas for you.

The Rosebud Tank:

Yarn: I'll be making a tank myself sometime this summer (for the Belly Time Knitalong). I haven't decided what yarn I'll use - not quite sure about wool/cotton for real summerwear. On my list of possible substitutes are Dale Svale, Rowan Cotton Glace, Patons Grace. You all have any other ideas?

Edging: I'm thinking of doing a picot, flower or bobble edge at the bottom to add a little something special to the tank (gotta make up for the loss of those lovely sleeves!).

Waist: And another nice feminine addition would be a drawstring tie slipped through an eyelet round in the ribbing under the bust (see instructions below), that could be tied to make a little bow in front.

Pattern Change: Remember to shorten the armholes about half an inch. That should keep the bra line nicely covered.

The Rosebud Maternity Top:

Edging: First, I'd probably change the rolled stockinette edging to garter or seed stitch (6 rows maybe), so that you're not losing any length there. You could do matching garter/seed stitch on the sleeves as well.

Pattern Change: You might also consider knitting the first three inches of the front and back separately, joining to knit in the round afterwards, so that there are side slits giving you even more room to grow. I'd do the edges of those panels (first and last 5 stitches perhaps) in a matching garter/seed stitch as well, so they lay nice and flat.

Pattern Change: Maternity tops often have a curved front panel to compensate for that round belly requiring more fabric in the middle than on the sides. You could accomplish this by doing short rows on the front half. You can do this even if you haven't separated the front and back sections.

I'd recommend knitting your edging and then one more round/row, then beginning the short rows by knitting 3/4 of the stitches of the front (= 76[80, 84, 88, 92] stitches), wrapping the next stitch and turning. (If you've never done short rows before, check out the short row primer in Knitty or the tutorial at Borealis Sweaterscapes). Next row: Purl one half of your stitches for the front (= 50[54, 56, 58, 60] stitches), wrap the next stitch and turn. Next row: Knit to the wrapped stitch, knit stitch and its wrap together, knit another three stitches, wrap the next stitch and turn. Next row: Purl to the wrapped stitch, purl stitch and its wrap together, purl another three stitches, wrap the next stitch and turn. Continue in this manner, knitting or purling four more stitches (the wrapped stitch plus the three following it) each row until you have reincorporated all the front stitches. Then follow pattern normally.

Waist: A drawstring tie would also be a nice touch here, keeping the top of the top sitting nicely over your bust and not stretched out over your belly. Do an eyelet round on the third round of your ribbing (*K2tog, yo* around). Crochet a chain about 12"-18" longer than needed to go around your torso. Slip the tie through the eyelet round and tie with a bow in back.

All these changes are also posted on my free pattern page. Contact me if you have any questions about these suggestions or the pattern in general. Happy knitting!

Crunch time! The baby for whom the Daisy cardigan is destined is due next month, so it's time to get cracking on finishing this one up. Sleeves are finally all done and blocking.

That leaves me a few weeks for all the finishing - seaming, doing the edging for the neck, and weaving in ends. It would be so nice to have this ready to go as soon as we get the birth announcement. When do you all generally send off handmade gifts? Before? Right after the birth? Whenever it's done?

Speaking of bundles of joy, look what arrived last week: a girl and boy...

Calmer! These are from my linen drape yarn trade with Lynn (thanks, Lynn!). So cute, don't you just want to pinch their little ball bands?

And check out what the stork sent me by email. A link to this amazing tank knit by Helle in Denmark. Helle and two other very talented Danish knitbloggers started a little spring fling knitalong, inspired by my spring fling tank. This is a clear case of the offspring surpassing the parent, I think! Check out Elisabeth's beautiful, sexy and BLUE tank here! I'm anxiously awaiting Bettina's. Anyone out there read Danish??
[Update: Bettina's put her spring fling plans on hold. But Lise has just started! I love that there are knitblogs from all over the world in all different languages. Can anyone recommend a good web page translation site? It would be great to be able to visit and understand what some of our colleagues abroad are up to!]

Oh and one more thing, a long-awaited arrival. Deborah, one of the very first Ribby Cardie knitalongers, has just finished her ribby! Isn't it a beauty? I know I was only a knitalong mom, but I'm so proud. Sniff. Sniff. Well done, Deborah!

After a little spring reorganization of the handknits and the stash, it became suddenly clear to me that I'm in a real blue phase right now. So far this year I've completed my blue sweater, blue sweatpants, my beautiful blue Banff, and have just started the frankensweater in blue Summer Tweed. And the future projects line up this way:

Cornflower blue Linen Drape, baby boy blue Calmer, and blue and green Sugar 'n' Cream! The Linen Drape is for the Vintage Knits top I keep talking about by can't seem to start. The Sugar 'n' Cream is destined to become a fun little granny square project. And the blue Calmer? Ooooh, the blue Calmer. Well, I've already started that one.

The very first beginnings of Ava from Rowan #34. I'm making the plain, buttoned version (there's a picture of the designer Louisa Harding wearing it in the designer bio section of the magazine). It seems like everyone is knitting a classic era movie star these days. There's Audrey, Kate, and now Marilyn. So, I just had to knit up a movie star of my own, don't you know!

We left our intrepid newbie seamstress last September, hands full of cotton prints and head full of fun summer patterns, but in a crisis over a skirt gone all wrong. Well, 'tis the season again for cotton prints and fun summer patterns! So when Carolyn reminded me that I had once planned to make this fabby little top, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back into it. A dip into the fabric stash and I found the perfect fabric too - cotton dots that I picked up on my trip to Germany last year.

I can't help but think of this project as "pknitty", 'cause that's the name of the blog where I first saw the pattern and it reminds me of the Cleo pattern in last summer's Knitty. I loved those two tops! And Carolyn pointed out that one of the Sew Hip it Hurts gals made a cute little pink verison of this one too. Carolyn's planning on sewing-along with me, which is very good, since after a six month hiatus, I'll need a lot of hand holding.

Oh, and as for that skirt, I'll be calling in some reinforcements (in the form of super-seamstress and fellow Knitsmith, May) on that one!

My bucket has ears!

Second bucket hat underway. I'm magic-looping the crown and should have it done in time for the good weather later this week. The first one was a great success in the end, although neither of the boys will wear it. So what's a mother to do? Make another one, of course. Now both of the boys will have handknitted bucket hats to tear off their heads and toss on the ground. Yay!

Four weeks and I'm still waiting on my yarn from the Netherlands to allow me to finish the cardi raye. I've had word that there was a delay so it should be here soon, but still I'm having a hard time waiting. In a fit of impatience, I sized up the tiny bit of green Plaisance yarn that I had left over from the back and decided to try starting the first front panel (it is a cardigan after all) to see if it might just be enough.

What do you know, it was enough! And now I find myself with absolutely no green yarn left and one front panel short of a sweater. Come on, postman, bring me my green yarn!

Boy buckets are all done. S made his mommy proud by wearing his out for a stroll yesterday. B wasn't doing me any favors though. Look at that devilish little grin. And don't think he doesn't mean it either!

S looks pretty smashing in his bucket hat, don't you think? Of course B's pretty darned cute even while smashing his hat to the ground.

And here B is trying to give his hat to his brother. "You hat?"

A big merci buckets to Bonne Marie for such a super stylish little pattern. I like this Bottoms Up version much better than the original Bucket o' Chic, which was too fiddly for lazy old me. Once I got past my initial frustrations, it only took a day for me to make each bucket hat, so in the end they really did fly off my needles! Thanks also to Becky for coming up with a fun knitalong to get me bucketing. And more thanks to my Secret Pal, who sent the Cotton Tots yarn, which although a little stiff and hard on the hands in those brim garter stitch rounds, was really perfect for these bucket hats. They hold their shape perfectly, are just the right colors and I expect they will wear well.

Mommy bucket coming soon!

Made a start on mom's KnitNY shrug. Despite having made a real swatch for once (BunBun's mini shrug), I realized after knitting one whole ball that mom's shrug was coming out too wide. I think I had trouble recreating the exact gauge of the swatch due to the stretch in the yarn. Must have been knitting a smidge looser this time. Oops. So now, I'm restarting.

false start!

Yup, I'm reknitting directly from the failed first attempt (below). Learned that little trick from Shannon. Sometimes you just don't have the energy to rip, you know? I know I only have to knit a long rectangle of stockinette stitch, but this project's beginning to feel more like a marathon than a sprint. Think I can get it done by Mother's Day??

(By the way, I just noticed that the super snazzy, super stretchy, Schulana Super Cotton that I'm using for the shrug and some of you asked about is now available through Knitpicks.)