Behold, Rowan kid classic leftovers from the hotties (hot water bottle covers) that I made for my great aunts. I love this yarn and these two colors together and have been waiting for a reason to make myself a beautiful something-or-other with them. A new beginner's knitting class seemed like a perfect opportunity. Since the beginner's class is a hat class, every new class means a new hat for me, but I'm getting tired of making the same old hat every time. So while my students make my beginner's hat, I'll be knitting this "foxy beret" pattern (Rowan's name) I found free online to Rowan members. I'll be doing the beret in narrow stripes like the scarf (I'm actually planning on making that scarf for my mom with some Manos Stria that I bought on my last NYC trip - soon....).

The name "hotties" brought my blog so many interesting hits (see this post) that you know I gotta keep the "foxy" name for this project. It is the same yarn, after all. These four balls of kid classic sure are causing a commotion!

Check out the reads section. Yup, I've gone to the other side. You should join me!

Much fun with boys = very little knitting = weak blog weekend. But now the blog is back on!

First, the only knitting I have to show from the last few days - the start to my foxy beret. (Knitting up these leftovers has reminded me how much I love this rowan kid classic yarn. Why do I not have more of this in my stash? Must remedy that....) It's actually almost done now, but I haven't had a moment to snap a pic of it since I took this one a few days ago.

My camera, usually full of knitting pics, is instead full of a week's worth of fundays with the boys. Some sample pics:

my first krispy kremes

at Davis' Mega Maze

boys a-blur at the arboretum

Here's one half of the peek-a-boo front panel of the pop sweater. This pattern is so fun to make! These little panels are short rowed so they can have such lovely curves. I did have both panels done, but after finishing the second one I realized that they didn't match. I'd actually read the directions for the short-rowing incorrectly the first time - which is strange since the directions for the second part were to knit as for first part only in reverse. Heh, heh. I suppose that the "reverse" thing had me paying more attention and that got me to finally follow the directions. Oh well, no matter, it's only about 30 rows. I've already ripped and restarted, so you should be seeing a whole peek-a-boo this week!

No weasley sweater starters so far, but Katie just got her kit from Yarn Warehouse! Most everyone is still waiting for either yarn or pattern, and in one case even needles. Of course there are some of us who are just waiting, like me! While surfing around not starting my weasley sweaters, I found the Hatmione-Along (pattern here), another cool HP knitting project to possibly add to our list.

The pooling scarf seems to be lying around on most blogs either frogged, frustrated, MIA or DOA. Exceptions: Heather, who shares some thoughts on the project and shows off her incredible progress; Brynne, who has a "baby sized" scarf so far; and Kate who has just gotten started on hers again and says she is having great success this time around.

Tea party season is almost over! Since our last update, Gina's made some best friend dolls. And I noticed a finished tea set on Christina's site. Who else is still partying?

Julia's linen drape is finished! It's gorgeous. Lynn has completed the knitting on her Salsa cardigan and is starting the lace edging. So pretty! You know I never got a chance to wear my linen drape top this summer. It always seemed either too hot or too cool. And now it's really too cool. Did anyone finish one of the table runners? Nora? If anyone needs some inspiration to finish their projects, check out Teresa's Moonbeam tank. Amazing!

Hey, sweatpant and Banff knitalogers, it's almost cold enough to start working on these winter projects. Anyone have plans to pick theirs up again?

Ooh la la! It's my stripey kid classic foxy beret. I love it, although the colors don't really go with any of my winter outerwear. But, hey, let's not think about that. Let's look at how cool it looks from the top.

Next up, another aura lace cap, this time in the calmer yarn called for in the original pattern. Yum....

The two front panels that form the peek-a-boo moment in my pop sweater. This pattern is too cool! I still gotta find a big, pink 60's-style button to hold them together though. I just may have to hit the Columbus Day sale at Windsor Button.

First I was all about making the little foxy beret and now my calmer aura cap is well underway.

This time I'm doing the aura cap in the round. The pattern calls for it to be knitted flat and seamed up the back and the first two I made were done that way. But this time, I went ahead and bought myself the proper sized needle and set about attempting the little lace pattern in the round. I'm not convinced that I'm getting the first and last stitches correct, but it sure doesn't look any worse than a big seam in the middle of lace!

I got this calmer on sale at Downtown Yarns last time I was in NY. At the time, I'd wished that there was more stock left, but now I'm glad that I only got one ball. I am finding it so fun to make these quick projects. So far I'm at a hat a week. Next up is possibly my Cat scarf, my crochet scarf, one of the two scarves I'm making for my mom, or gloves for the boys. It's getting cold fast up here in these parts. Time for the accessories!

[I'm late posting today, cause I was out early having fun with the boys this morning. Pictures tomorrow!]

We are having beautiful fall weather up here in New England. If it doesn't get cold soon, we may end up visiting every farm in the area! This week we went to the agricultural fair at Topsfield, Mass. First thing we found were the alpacas. That's what happens when you let mommy lead the way!

I love their little fluffy heads

There were even yarns on display. Here's best in show. I almost snatched up some beautiful skeins of locally spun and dyed alpaca, but the boys couldn't wait that long. They dragged me out of the sale area and onward to see sheep, cows, tractors, flowers, rabbits - they even got to try milking a goat!

My favorite part was seeing the pumpkins at the fruits and vegetables house. They had NE's largest pumpkin - 1253 pounds! - and adorably funny decorated pumpkin displays done by local school and scout groups. This one of famous presidents was a riot!

pumpkin kerry for president!

Then we rode rides. Lots of rides.

At $1.75 per ride, per twin, it's a good thing I didn't buy any yarn!

Now that we've tackled the Topsfield fair, I'd say we're more than ready for Rhinebeck next weekend. See you there!

before I became a knitter, I used to read books

I finished my calmer lace cap! This is such a great pattern. I've made three of these so far and with some calmer still in my stash, I don't think it'll be my last. This one matches my red fall coat perfectly. Now I'm all set for fall, except for some gloves, which I will have to buy. I'm not up for making matching gloves right now. Too many fingers.

That's what I love about hats - no fingers.

extreme closeup

PS - I did finally get the lace to work out correctly in the round. I know it's probably just me being a bit daft not getting it at first, but in case it will help any others out there who might be thinking of converting this pattern, here's what I did. I cast on two fewer stitches (those that would have been seamed together), and started the hat off with garter stitch in the round. Then when the lace begins, just do the parts in the **'s. But do the whole thing in **'s, don't forget the yo at the beginning or the yo at the end, otherwise you'll mess up your stitch count and start to lose the lovely lace pattern above the join.

PPS - For anyone else thinking about making this cap, I should mention that I think the size as written is rather large, especially since calmer, being cotton, will stretch. I used US7's and 86 stitches and it fits my head nice and snug.

The weasley along is on!

Stella says she's spotted the Rowan pattern on sale at Sophie's Yarns in Philadelphia. If anyone's searching you might see if they will send it to you! Check out Mattie's blog for a glimpse of the Yarn Warehouse pattern. And lookie, lookie, Jenn, Katie, and Tami have actual progress to show. Woohoo! Poor MA is off to the frog pond already with the beginnings of her weasley sweater. Boohoo.

And I can't get gauge. I'd have to use US3's to even come close to gauge. Yeah, I'll be knitting this one continental again, and I'm a muuuuuch looser knitter when I use my left hand. I might try using the US4's and making a smaller size. It's a simple drop shoulder style, so there shouldn't be any huge problems with letting the gauge size-up the sweater.

By the way, will you ladies be doing the letter intarsia style or is anyone else thinking duplicate stitch, like me?

Next accessory on the needles, my Cat scarf. I couldn't resist my fabulous and fluffy Cat yarn anymore.

you have to touch this yarn!

I used this basic buttonhole scarf pattern from Phildar's fall 2004 mag, so I need a big, giant fun button to finish off the scarf. I've got plans to hit Windsor Button this week to hunt down the perfect one.

This scarf is so soft and wonderful that it mades me smile just to be knitting it. I have to credit one of my sons for convincing me to go ahead and start it. While we were trying to cheer the boys up at Friendly's after a rough day, S told me that once his milk arrives, "then I happy". Who knew it was so simple! Later, when I was packing my knitting bag, I thought "I make this scarf, then I happy".

Grin.

We had gorgeous weather yesterday, so you know we had to go out to the button store! I quickly found a button to match the pink in the pop sweater.

But finding a suitable button for my cat scarf proved more difficult. The boys were very patient, entertaining themselves with a huge table full of buttons and little boxes. It was like a sandbox of buttons! Still I had such a hard time finding a button that I liked that I was seriously considering this look for a while. Then I spotted this button and it was good.

click here for big view

Cat scarf complete. Mission accomplished!

*anyone else out there obsessed with watching poker on tv like me. I can't get enough of it!

The lower part of the front of the pop sweater, which just goes up to the end of the armhole shaping. The knitting is short-rowed and stiches are kept live around the neck opening, so you can come right back and knit the ribbed edge. The short rows avoid the stair-step look that comes from binding off and makes that neckline look so much smoother.

It is so much fun having the project with me to knit at the playground. Several people have asked me what I'm knitting. I say, I'm making a sweater and they peer down at one of those crazy peek-a-boo pieces and look at me more than a little confused. And then when I try to show them where the piece would go (just above one breast), I'm sure they were thinking that either I was crazy nudist knitter girl or that knitting a sweater was much more complicated than they'd imagined! Giggle.

Gone festivaling at the New York Sheep & Wool Festival. Best of all, it's sooooo very close to the Morehouse Merino store. Oh yeah!

Details on Monday....

Shannon
Norma
Leigh
Jenn
Jackie
Carolyn
Claudia
Silvia
Cari
Stephanie
Deb
Kim
Cindy
Kerstin

If you haven't already, you've got to read about their Rhinebeck projects, plans, and purchases. Amazing!

Over the river and through the woods to Rhinebeck we go! With hubby, two boys, knitbuddy Shannon and fiancé in tow.

smile for daddy!

After patronizing the fried dough stand about 100 ft from the entrance, we moseyed through the barns to see our fabulous furry and fleecy friends. I tried to restrain myself from snapping a picture of every beautiful animal I saw. I was tempted by the sweetest pair of fluffy-headed alpacas, who made the funniest little whining noise (visit this alpaca farm website to hear the alpaca grunts), but it was these two who forced me to break my animal photo moratorium.

who turned out the lights?

I'm a llama in a hat

Yes, the animals and the visitors were out in their finest woolens this weekend. Of all the incredible knitted sweaters and garments that I saw, my favorite was this kid's sweater. The juxtaposition of fine handknitting and large harvesting equipment just tickled me somehow.

a perfect ensemble with matching hat and camouflage pants

The boys' favorite thing at the festival was by far the big slide, which they did about thirty times.

up, up and "again?"

And the big boys? They drove out again on day two for the big event: punkin' chuckin'! Trebuchets, catapults and pumpkins - how can you not love that?

that little dot at the top is the pumpkin

shopping for yarn in stalls - how novel

Look, there's some yarn! Sure, sure, that's what you were expecting to hear. And it was what I was expecting to see. But apparently some people like to make their own yarn. This festival was like a spinner's fantasy! As we passed by basket after basket, stand after stand overflowing with gorgeous roving, I found myself having to look for yarn. "Oh what beautiful colors - wow - do they have any actual yarn - nope - darn."

...and some more roving...

I did enjoy seeing the needle felted crafts made with roving. Everyone seemed to be selling these incredible silk scarves with sections of free form needle felting. And I particularly liked these needle felted pumpkins. Alas, I could not come up with a reason that I needed to buy one.

what do you do with a felted pumpkin?

There was of course plenty of yarn to be had. The Great Adirondack booth was one of the most memorable, as they had yarns in every crazy color and made of every crazy fiber. Just the wackiest things! And tons of it. In the same barn were two other faves of mine, Green Mountain Spinnery, and the best of all Morehouse Merino. We spent at least a half hour at their stand, then another two in their store nearby. I ended up spending much more time than money, which is probably a good thing, because I could have bought it all!

I came home with bear paws kits for the boys and one skein of beautiful variegated yarn for a scarf for me. I know, I know, what am I doing buying variegated yarn?! I was so overwhelmed and overjoyed at how awesome everything was at Morehouse Merino that I kind of lost my way as a shopper. I can't really explain why I bought what I bought or why I bought so little. But now that I've seen the store and felt the yarns, I have a feeling I'll be visiting them online quite a bit.

yum.

So that's my Rhinebeck story: I came, I saw, I was tempted. But I figure, you don't have to buy a lot just because you were at a big festival. I enjoyed the festival, I love the few things I bought and that's enough for me. This time.

I worked on the weasley sweater in the car ride to and from Rhinebeck. We drove through torrential rain and impossible fog on the way up and although it was pitch black, I kept knitting in order to keep me from thinking that we were going to be washed off the road at any moment. Anxiety makes for good knitting apparently. I finished the back!

It's so rectangular. It's like I'm making a sweater for Spongebob Squarepants "with love in every stitch."

Other activity in the Ron-along: Jenn has also finished the back of her sweater. Tami has made more progress on the back of her sweater. Erin's got her yarn and is ready to get started.

And I'm about a quarter of the way into Book Four, my favorite!

  
before & after

Sleeve number one underway. Yeah, that's the same sleeve. Notice something different in the two pictures? After knitting several inches into the orange, I had to rip back to the red, lengthen it and reknit the orange. I was nervous about tackling the sleeves, since I'm doing the stripes on my own and have to make sure that they match up with the stripes on the body. I did lots of math before I set off to start this first sleeve to guesstimate how much extra red I needed to knit (sleeves are longer than the body, of course). I followed the numbers I got and realized that although the colors were lining up, the sleeve was turning out too short. Did I mention that I suck at math? Then it occurred to me that I could simply count backward from the armhole shaping to get the length of each stripe correct. Doh! Rip, reknit and I'm back to the orange again.

And I've still got another sleeve to knit!

A.K.A., the pooling scarf.

I've been frustrated in my six or seven attempts to get the pooling started with the Schaefer Anne yarn. In additon to this major sticking point, the gauge is not so enticing, the lace isn't wowing me and the thing is supposed to be about a mile long! These are the reasons that the pooling scarf has become my big fat obnoxious project. I'm saying it here in case any other knitalongers were holding back expressing their lack of faith or genuine hatred of this project. You're not alone!

Although I love the colors of the Anne yarn, even deciding to use it in a different pattern doesn't solve the gauge and length issues. I want something thicker, warmer, shorter. Enter Morehouse Merino's mini-muffler pattern. Very simple rib pattern, short scarf just enough to keep the neck warm, and that wonderfully soft merino yarn. The variegated skein that I bought at Rhinebeck is in similar colors as the Anne yarn I bought for the pooling scarf. This will be a nice replacement for that project. Much more do-able (I've got an accessory a week plan here!) and wearable for me.

mmmm, mmmm, morehouse merino

So how are the rest of you all doing out there? I see that Karen is having great success! And Kate has shared her progress in an admirable attempt to motivate us slackers in the knitalong to get started again. I'm so proud of you girls for getting this to work!!

I, however, will have to hop out of the pool for now. But not without a small reward. Here at potty-training 3-year-olds central, we like to reward all good faith attempts. Pee-pee in the potty gets you one big gummybear letter and a good try will get you one little gummybear. So one little gummybear for me. Also in line for a small gummybear for effort are Jackie and Theresa.

which one do you get?

Hey, those of you not trying to make the pooling scarf, what's your big fat obnoxious project?

A couple of months ago, we lost S's little blankie that I knit for him when he was an infant. The big blankies aren't allowed to leave the house, but the little ones were knit so that the boys could bring them along in the stroller or car when they needed to. And when they were 1, they needed to a lot. Well, little blankie got lost recenly at the mall. S got over the loss very quickly, accepting my explanation that it was now "lost" and he still had his big blankie. He's repeated this camly several times over the last couple of months, but never seemed upset about it. Until this week.

recent blankie activity

The other day, in the car on the way to the playground, he suddenly began insisting that I "get" him a new little blankie, that he had to have another one. He sounded so genuinely sad about it that I told him I could knit him another one, but instead of going to the playground, we'd have to go to the yarn store to buy the yarn. He said "okay, yarn store." Awwww. So off we went. Back to Putting on the Knitz (info here - scroll down) in Newton, the first yarn store I ever visited and the only place I've seen the Plymouth Galway I used for S's blankie. I bought the yarn there over three and a half years ago when I was just learning to knit and the boys were still embryonic. A year and a half later, when I realized that I would have to make smaller versions of the blankies, I was amazed to find the yarn still at Putting on the Knitz. And this week, now two years after my last visit, there it still was. Waiting for us.

S carried it out of the store, hoping, I'm sure, that I'd turn it into a new blankie as soon as we got back into the car. I told him that he'd have to wait until this weekend - mommy needs at least a couple of days! So now everything's on hold while I knit my first project again, this time as the first project one of my boys has ever requested that I make for him.

Sniff, sniff.

About a quarter of the way done. Time for a quality test from S. Looks good enough to cuddle with already. Note thumb moving towards mouth...

S snuck into bed with me this morning and cuddled for about twenty minutes before he remembered... "my little blankie!" He's asked for it first thing the last three mornings, but it was promised for this morning. True to my word, I stayed up late last night finishing it and even managed to lay it out to block a bit before I went to bed. I pointed him in the right direction, he patted it a little and immediately carried it to the sofa to try it out. Looks like it's just right.

I hope he remembers this.

And hey, look what still fits!

Knitting requests, cuddly boys and another season of giraffe jackets - I'm one happy mommy.

I started my morehouse merino variegated mini muffler and guess what happened? (Now remember, this project was meant to substitute for my failed pooling colors scarf.)

IT POOLED! All on its own. I cast on according to pattern (note, this pattern is written for solid color yarns and not for the variegated yarns), did two rows, and damn if it didn't just line up. COOOOL!

First, a finished knitalong project, Amysue's Banff! Woo hoo, the Banffs are coming back.

Now, on to the weasleys... Tami made a mini-weasley, which is so cool you just have to see it! Jenn has progressed to the front and has successfully started her "R". I, however, am in intarsia-avoidance mode, happily working on a sleeve.

And in Book 4, I just got to the part where Ron gives his latest hand-knitted Weasley sweater to Dobby for Christmas. Like Mrs. Weasley, I knit on undeterred.

I give you pop sleeve and body, with matching stripes.

Well, the stripes match when it's lying on the floor at least. I can't be sure that it will exactly line up when I'm wearing it. So I'll be sewing up the pieces I have and trying it on before I get too far with the next sleeve. Better safe than froggy.

First my resurrected pooling scarf....

Morehouse Merino + US5 +34st. = pooling scarf

And now the Red Sox.

curse over

Next up, election day.

visualize winning here

I started the bear paws mitts kit that I got in Rhinebeck. And they are sooooo cute.

no claws yet

These Morehouse Merino patterns are really clever. This one is easy to make and takes advantage of simple techniques to make the mitten efficiently with little sewing. A lot of garter stitch, a little three needle bind off and it's practically done!

It's made me want to make some for myself. So I pulled out Weekend Knitting and some GGH Via Mala I bought on sale for the fingerless mitts and got started. When they're all done, they'll be perfect to wear while knitting at the playground, which is where I've been knitting them anyway.

one done, one to go

Garter stitch mitts and red sox for everyone!

Why am I voting for John Kerry? I can't say it any better than Thomas Jefferson did over 225 years ago:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

- The Declaration of Independence, 1776

This administration is not governing in a manner that "we the people" can abide. By misinforming us, manipulating us with the constant threat of terror, curtailing our rights in the name of security, and eliminating our ability to criticize the government, they are destroying the right to liberty and the principle of consent that form the basis of our democratic system. It may be hard in frightening times such as these to think about changing the current administration, especially when it promises to secure our safety. But if it destroys our rights and our democracy, then we can never be safe. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, it is our right and our duty to throw off this sort of government and vote for a new Guard, who will protect our future security.

 
kids for kerry

This is why I am voting for John Kerry, a man who has throughout his career fought for democracy, for our country, and for the power of the people to demand that our government redirect its policies when they become destructive of our ends.