Fun in the Cold - Scarf Edition

One kind word can warm three winter months.
-Japanese Proverb

As I mentioned, I'm away from the interwebs this weekend, hopefully enjoying slightly chillier weather than is usual in San Diego. As I tried to pack, I was stuck with all sorts of difficult decisions about what to take. Which sweaters? Hats? Scarves? Mittens? And . . . it's only a 4 day trip.

So let's admire the rubbermaid-of-winter. It lives under the bed.

The scarves are difficult to see all piled up, but you do notice my Yardley's of London lavendar soap. Keeps everything smelling nice, and keeps the moths away.

While going through, I realize a blogging omission from a few months ago. My lovely sister-in-law made me a scarf for my birthday. The full details are on her blog here. It's a lovely lace pattern in cotton, perfect for most of the weather in San Diego.

In the meantime, which of the scarves to choose? Gosh, life is tough!

Time Machine Tuesday: My Most Used Project

If you can organize your kitchen, you can organize your life.
-Louis Parrish

Welcome back to this installment of Time Machine Tuesday! Here I'm going to share one of my oldest and best projects. I say best because it's my most used project. Not a single pair of socks, everyday sweater, or even dishcloth is used as often as this kitchen rug that I made on a whim a while back.

Mitered Square Rug, circa 2003
Pattern: from IK a few summers back
Yarn: kitchen cotton in various solid shades, used double
Needles: US 10s?
Mods: Just changed the colors to use stash.
Best Thing About This Project: The nubbly texture under my feet while washing dishes. Even better? My husband usually does the dishes.
The Test of Time: Definitely. It's getting a nice faded, vintage-y feel from getting washed frequently.

Eye Candy Friday, Time Machine Tuesday, Er, Something

For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.

- William Ross Wallace

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on the wedding photos. There will be more to come as I get them. In the meantime, here's my Time Machine Tuesday/Eye Candy Friday post for the week.

You all surely remember the rash of baby knits last year in preparation for this little one. Well, his parents are the kind of people with good taste and good sense who believe in putting their child in handknits as often as possible, even if they're still a little big. Recall, the bear used to be as big as the baby!

Now he's growing into many of his gifts (great reason to make all kind of different sizes). And here's where I'll make a plug for this Debbie Bliss pattern Baby Hooded Jacket from Simply Baby. (Original post here.) According to the parents, it's a great go-anywhere throw-on-top-of-anything kind of sweater, it looks adorable too big, and will likely fit for a while because of its cape-like structure. They apparently get lots of compliments. From the knitter's perspective, it's a stockinette raglan cape with self-rolling edgings and a single button hole, and a big hood. Win-win.

I also have a photo of this self-same delightful baby wearing this handknit sweater vest to my wedding reception. Could have sworn I uploaded it . . . but you'll just have to wait. Life is busy. As my college roommate (the mother of this baby) said, "When I show up at your wedding with my baby, I guess that makes us grown-ups."

Time Machine Tuesday: Wedding Edition

Hail wedded love,
mysterious law,
true source
Of human offspring.
-John Milton

It's a week of wedding celebration around here, so I thought we could have an extra special edition of Time Machine Tuesday. The wedding knit of the century in action, so to speak. You recall the chuppah I made for my best friend's wedding last summer. Turns out it's seeing lots of action of the resting at the foot of the bed kind. She was kind enough to tell me that it gets carefully placed aside at night. Isn't it great to see it out and about? The first chuppah I made, which the blog has still never seen, was also used recently for the bris of that couple's first son. And rumor has it that that son, otherwise known as my favorite baby, has grown into some of his handknits and is wearing his favorite sweater vest to some of the festivities! Get ready for next Time Machine Tuesday!

The Last Tuesday of Winter

If there comes a little thaw,

Still the air is chill and raw,

Here and there a patch of snow,

Dirtier than the ground below,

Dribbles down a marshy flood;

Ankle-deep you stick in mud

In the meadows while you sing, "This is Spring."

-Christopher Pearce Cranch

Now that we're getting all excited about spring around here (and let me assure you - this week has done San Diego proud with beautiful weather), I thought Time Machine Tuesday could revist a last bit of winter. You know, for those of you freezing in snowdrifts elsewhere. Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Hi to my inlaws!

Anyway, I did live in Rhode Island for the first 4 or 5 years I knit, so I had my fair share of knitting for cold weather. And mittens were my first-ever non-scarf project. (Gosh, I love a good hyphen!) The entire first year I knit I made nothing but garter stitch scarves. Literally. They were all made of Lion Brand Homespun on US10 needles. And then I looked around, and everyone I knew had a garter stitch scarf. (This problem was exacerbated when I taught my college roommate to knit, and she did the same thing.) So I hit a make-or-break point.

Lopi Mittens, circa 2001
Pattern: Basic Mittens from Folk Mittens
Yarn: Reynolds Lopi
Needles: US 4 dpnsNotes: great first mitten pattern
Best Thing About This Project: The snowball fights.

And I picked up the book Folk Mittens from the local library. The mittens on the left are the second pair of mittens I ever made. The first pair is not still in my posession. In my infinite early-knitting wisdom, I made them out of kitchen cotton. Oh, and they are radically different sizes. Gauge issues with my first dpn experience. But it was fun. It had a shape. And a thumb. I was hooked. So I looked around and found some Lopi yarn that I had originally thought would make a good scarf (it wouldn't), and cast on. These mittens are the same size, and mine, and I've been wearing them solidly for a good 6 years. The Lopi is perfect for mittens - a nice halo, nearly waterproof, and warm.

But not always quite warm enough. So after a little contemplation and a spring break trip to PEI in the middle of a blizzard, I had my roving and I thought some thrummed mittens would be in order.

Thrummed Mittens, circa 2002
Pattern: don't quite remember, but probably a free online pattern
Yarn: a 3-ply aran weight wool and colored roving from McAusland's Woolen Mill on our PEI trip
Needles: US 6?
Notes: Thrums are fun. I can see why people are hooked. These are so bulky though that I never really wore them enough to get them all nice and matted on the inside
Best Thing About This Project: Well, we are planning a trip to Calgary next winter. I think that may be the place cold enough to really appreciate them.

Bonus Time

It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he as seen Mardi-Gras in New Orleans.
- Mark Twain

I had a great weekend. That I'm just getting around to blogging about it on Thursday should tell you something about my working week. But let's dwell instead on my Bonus Time weekend with my husband. He flew out for the long weekend - I got a whole 1 1/2 consecutive days off - and we went to Disneyland. It was truely the happiest place on earth on Sunday. A weekend like that goes far to boost a mood during a busy work week.

Early on when J and I first started dating, we developed a term "Bonus Day" and "Bonus Time." We both had difficult schedules, each working 6 days a week and rarely having that same day off. Everytime we both had that same day off, we called it a bonus day. And a half day, or an unexpected evening, bonus time. Now that we're geo bachelors (a military term for "geographical bachelors," service members separated from their spouses by geography), it's all Bonus Time. We still use the term, and it struck me recently as a little odd that it's remarkable, rather than routine, when I get to see my husband. Even before he had to go to Florida, a weeknight together was a bonus time. There's no doubt that we're jealous of all the couples who get to see each other every night, have dinner together, and even get a whole, regular weekend off. But it's struck me recently that it is not a terrible thing that time spent with my husband is a bonus. That we value it. And never take it for granted. In fact, I think that's actually a pretty good thing, in fact. (Plus, he'll be coming home pretty soon!)

On that note, the photos from Disneyland are still locked inside his camera in Pensacola. So, instead, we'll move onto the Time Machine Tuesday Thursday component of our blog. Several weeks ago, I promised to show photos of The Scarf That Took On New Orleans. On a prior Bonus Weekend, we went over to New Orleans for a great weekend away. It was cold, but I was packing light. Ene's Scarf was just the thing.

Ene's Scarf, circa 2005
Pattern: by Nancy Bush, in Scarf Style
Yarn: School Products hand-dyed cashmere, approx fingering weight
Needles: unsure
Wearing Notes: This very well may be the knit I wear most. It's a triangular shawl, but it's thin and drapey so I often wear it as a scarf. It goes with my fleece (see above), and also my fancy white wool coat. It keeps my shoulders warm in a cold restaurant. And it's held up to it's once or twice a season washings.
Best Thing About This Project: I was knitting it on a trip to Seattle when I found out that I'd matched in San Diego for residency. I had no idea I'd be wearing it on a weekend trip with my husband two years later. Gosh, that was lucky!

Cutest Baby Photos Ever

When the first baby laughed for the first time,
the laugh broke into a thousand pieces
and they all went skipping about,
and that was the beginning of fairies.
-James Matthew Barrie

Welcome back to Time Machine Tuesday, on Tuesday this week, for a change of pace.

This week, I give you the two cutest baby photos ever, courtesy of my college roommate and her adorable boy. You last saw him at the ripe old age of 14 days, when his bear was larger than he was. Now, check out how he's growing into his knitwear! Since these knits are circa 2007, I'll just link to their original posts. Interestingly enough, both are from the same Debbie Bliss book. Find out all about the vest pre-baby drool here. And, for the winning cute picture of the day, see below. The details about the hooded sweater are here. Who knew that the dad's favorite color is orange?

Verdict on these knits? They seem to be holding up to baby laughter, foot grabbing, and drool just great. And as far as cute-ness? That's the winner.

Some Scarves

The thing I miss about Air Force One is they don't lose my luggage.
-George H. W. Bush

Welcome to Time Machine Tuesday, brought to you on Wednesday this week by the fine folks who left me stranded in Houston yesterday after assuring me three times that I would make my connecting flight. I mean, really - wouldn't you rather be stranded with your husband instead of some airport motel? I think so.

At any rate, it's hard to get too upset after a phenomenal weekend on the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Not only was it full of fun new sights and good food and buildings older than 20 years, but it was also cold. Highs in the low 50s meant that most of the day and night it was in the 20s and 30s. And that meant great scarf and mitten weather. So, today, we'll explore some scarves for Time Machine Tuesday. Mostly because these are the photos I already had loaded up and, as stated, I'm stranded in Houston. Hmmm . . .

Scarf #1, circa 2002 Pattern: A sideways garter stitch stripe with self-fringing edges
Yarn: All kinds of leftovers from all the Lionbrand and other craft store yarns I had when I first started knitting
Needles: long circulars
Notes: This is a great concept for a scarf, where-ever I first heard it. It was fun, easy, and a little too addicting when I was making it. Actually, I made two and the second I gave away. I used a worsted weight grey yarn as a base for this and knit with that every 3rd row, for balance.
Wearing Notes: As you can see, this is a little worse for the wear. So much so, that I'm tossing it after the photo shoot. The culprit? The chenille. Worms are ugly.
Best Thing About This Project: It used to look awesome with this leather jacket I wore in med school. Plus, I always love a good "something from nothing" knit.

Scarf #2, circa 2004
Pattern: Old Shale from Mielke's Farm - great free pattern
Yarn: some craft-store mohair blend
Needles: US 8? 9?
Notes: Fun, easy pattern. Lots of bang for the buck. Makes a skinny scarf.
Wearing Notes: This scarf, too, used to look great with that leather jacket. The yarn has lost a lot of its original body over time, and it's soon heading for the Goodwill box. But it got a lot of wear, and for a total yarn cost of around $5, I think I got my money's worth.
Best Thing About This Project: I loved having a whole scarf collection to pick and chose for the day or occasion. This was a rather valued member.

Next up: The scarf that took on New Orleans with great aplomb.

Coming Up Roses

You'll be swell! You'll be great!

Gonna have the whole world on the plate!

Starting here, starting now, honey,

Everything's coming up roses!

-from Gypsy

It's Tuesday again, and we're back for another trip in the time machine!

I love this sweater. I do not love self-portraits, although my sister gave me a little flexible tripod for Christmas, so this may get better if I experiment more with the self-timer. But I digress.

Rosedale
Pattern: Rosedale from Knitty
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, color unknown, 1 more skein than the pattern called for in my size
Needles: don't remember - US 7, maybe?
Notes: I only made one modification, which was to work the intarsia panels on both fronts rather than just on the left front. Call me square, but I like symmetry.
Wearing Notes: The yarn has pilled a bit, but nothing that can't be picked off. The only real signs of wear are around the edges of my first-ever sewn-in zipper, which I really should tack down one of these days. If I were to make it again, I might mess with the collar. It takes some fuss (and steam) to make it lie right. Overall, wears very well.
Best Thing About This Project: Five years old and still going strong . . . and spanning coasts. It was a great sweater for a January trip to Nantucket (brrr . . .) and it's my favorite sweater for a night in Old Town eating Mexican food. This may just be my favorite sweater. (Do I say that about them all? I really mean it this time. Really, I do.)

I made this sweater my first semester of medical school. It's knit in one piece with the two front panels of longer stripes knit intarsia style. The edgings are corrugated ribbing, which - as you all know - looks cool but is not terribly fun to do. Overall, it was a great easy knit that I still wear a lot 5 years later. It probably sees more action than most of my more complicated sweaters, and periodically I toy with the idea of knitting it again, this time in Kureyon Color 40. I already have 3 skeins of it, so I'd only need another 6 or 7 skeins . . .

And here's a better photo of that hat, which I wore to work this morning (it was 39 degrees and my hair was wet). This is a simple garter stitch hat in leftover Lion Brand Homespun. No pattern, just knitting and decreasing. Very versatile. More important - very stretchy to go over my bun and not mess it up.

Coming soon - you guessed it - more mittens!

Resurrecting a Sweater

Creativity is a high-falutin' word for the work I have to do between now and Tuesday.

-Ray Kroc

This is a most unexpected entry for me in the Time Machine Tuesday category. What? You forget what Time Machine Tuesday is? It's a chance to look back at mine, your, our handknits of ages past and see what's come of them. Resounding successes? Complete failures? Hardy yarn or pilling like crazy? How is it wearing (or not wearing)? What would you have done differently? And what are the great knitting acheivements you accomplished pre-blog? Show them off.

Today's entry hardly qualifies as a great knitting acheivement, but it was pre-blog. In fact, until a couple of months ago, this sweater fell into the complete failure category. I never ever wore it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.


Comfy Gray Sweater, circa 2001-02

Pattern: Gatsby, from an old IK
Yarn: Tahki Dakota
Needles: US 9, maybe?
Notes: too many - see below
Best Thing About This Project: Its resurrection.

What are those too many notes, you ask? This sweater, from a knitting perspective, is still a pretty dismal failure. And it's actually the third sweater I knit out of this yarn over several months. So let's talk about a horrible combination of yarn and pattern, shall we? It's a nice fluffy yarn, and the varigations are much more subtle in person than in that flash photo. It's soft, although there's a halo that can be a little itchy. But it's just not a great yarn for this pattern, or any of the other patterns I tried. It's lofty and light, the exact opposite of the heavy, drapey Gatsby called for, and the sweater has a tendency to pull up and out. The pattern calls for waist shaping near the midline, and it looks ridiculous in this yarn. And while the colors don't flash quite as much in real life, there is some unattractive pooling around the waist. Overall, just something I don't really want to wear in public. So I didn't. And I still don't.

The saving grace of this sweater came some time in November when it turned chilly (hey - it gets into the 40s and sometimes even 30s at night!). I was at home, in my pajamas, and all my hooded sweatshirts seemed too bulky. So I reached into my chest of sweaters and pulled out this one. And it is the absolute perfect Gray Comfy Sweater. I now wear it almost daily over my pajamas (see how good it looks with pajamas?), which makes it the single item of knitwear I wear the most. Ironic, isn't it?

Time Machine Tuesdays

College isn't the place to go for ideas.
-Helen Keller

Welcome to my first installment of Time Machine Tuesday!

Now that it's "winter" in San Diego, I've actually had a chance to wear several of my favorite winter accessories. One does occasionally need a hat, scarf, and even mittens. It was 42 degrees this morning when I went to work. And even if one does not actually need a different hat, scarf, and mittens for every day of the week, well, a girl can enjoy her handknits, right?

This hat, scarf, and mittens set remains one of my favorite things I've ever knit. Not because it's perfect, but because it was a real stretch of my knitting abilities at the time I knit it, and even with the mistakes I can see, I did a darn good job at the time. I remember sitting in the Starbucks in Wayland Square knitting this - I was writing my senior thesis, and I would reward myself with a chapter read or a page written by knitting a few rows. I wore it everywhere that winter, and for several winters after, including our wonderful "Spring Break" trip to Prince Edward Island. Wearing this set takes me back to college, which really was wonderful. In fact, college gets even better as the time goes and the stress I had then over papers and reading seems so trivial to the stress I have now as a doctor. But I digress.

Celtic Lace Set

Pattern: Amazing Twining Lace from Knitters' Best of Shawls and Scarves

Yarn: Donegal Tweed, more than called for in the pattern, if I recall

Needles: US7, maybe? dpns for the hat and mittens and straights for the scarf. I think these were the first pair of Brittany Birch needles I ever bought

Notes: There's an interesting edging on the scarf to get to lie flat, and in retrospect it may be applied i-cord. My version? Not so much, but it does look interesting.

Best Thing About This Project: The memories. But you guessed that already.

Any one else joining in?

Thinking Ahead

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors,
and let each new year find you a better man.
-Benjamin Franklin

I've always been a bit of a list-maker. I like to be organized. It's adaptive in my professional life, and helps me get the most out of my (little) off time. So lately I've been planning for some of the knitting coming up in 2008. Aided and abetted by Ravelry, I have lists. Lists of stash. Lists of future projects. Lists of needles. Plans for the upcoming year. Knitting resolutions must be the best kind, right? So there are several in the works.

2008: A Year of Yarn
Looking at my lists I've realized something. I have a number of yarns that I (almost) love too much to knit. Many of them I've had for a while. Many of them were gifts. They are all unique and special in some way.

2008 is the year I'm going to knit them. I picked out the 12 shown here, and each month a yarn will get it's turn. (Yes, there's a list of this. Why do you ask?) Some have projects in mind; others are awaiting something perfect. But it's time to knit these yarns.

I imagine this is a common situation among knitters. Any of you notice the same thing? Feel free to join me in my 2008: A Year of Yarn.

Twelve Projects
In addition to the 12 yarns, I've also picked out 12 projects that I've wanted to make for some time. I need, for example, a cabled pullover. Why do I never get around to it? (The Bed and Breakfast Pullover won the nomination, btw.) And there's that Dale sweater my husband wants.

So this is a year when I'm planning to be a little more intentional about my knitting than before. More sweaters. Fewer, uh, whatevers. And why 12? One for each month, of course. A reasonable pace, given that I usually hit 4-5 FOs a month. This way two of my new projects will be spoken for and the rest can be more whimsically chosen. Discipline is freeing.

Time Machine Tuesdays
In addition to the new projects coming up, I want to revisit some old ones. I've been so enjoying the "Flash Our FOs" over at The Purly Gate this month. And while enjoying, it occurred to me just how much of my knitting was pre-blog. And it also occurred to me that it is incredibly useful to other knitters to check back with a project and see how it did. Did it stand the test of time? Did the yarn hold up? Did the button band ever lie flat after all? So on this here blog, starting, um, this Tuesday (no time like the present), I hereby declare a Time Machine Tuesday.