What I Made Over Summer Vacation

I made this. Yes, it's another sweater. But this one is fun and interesting. It's the first pattern I've written that is for either hand or machine knitting. It's got some tricky bits in it to take advantage of the machine's super-human powers (yes, machines have more up their sleeve than simply doing stockinette faster than my grandma) and even the trim can be done on your most basic machine (as in, mine).

I'm trying to decide if it closes with simple i-cord loops and monkey fists or more ornate frogs.

I started a pair of Widdershins and lost them. They're around here somewhere. I actually just started any old pair of toe-ups but my friend Kim pointed out that with this pattern I could achieve the best of both worlds: I love a toe-up sock because I like the figure 8 cast-on and the speedy increases. and I love that i can make it as long a sock as i like by just knitting until i finish the yarn. I never outgrew my junior high compulsion of wearing my socks scrunched down and the longer the socks the more shin coverage you get in the winter, even while scrunched. But I love the way a heel-flap fits and feels. And it so happens i had cast on these toe-ups in the yarn called for by the Widdershins pattern, Brown Sheep's Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn in Brown Sugar, which I had lying around. not that it really matters which yarn you use. I have to say I found the yarn anything but luxurious. it feels pretty plasticky to me. Which is why i think I lost them, accidentally on purpose. I'm sure they're here somewhere.

Speaking of Knitty, my friend Pam has a pattern in Knitty. It's acually her second pattern, and this one is extremely cool. Pam designed Knucks.

Now allow me my moment of horn tooting. See, all of those cool people who knit samples? I was one of them. Ok, my embroidery wasn't as exciting and wonderful as the samples you see there (an aside, Elizabeth who did those amazing "HARM NONE" Knucks, and is shown in all her gorgeousness modeling them, is a master machine knitter and the one who holds my hand through it all.), but I had great pictures. See, my Knucks are two-sided knucks. So my picture is of my friend the rock star, with her kid one one hip and mine on the other (cause they could be twins, so for photographic license we're pretending they are) and her eyes are rolled to the heavens and we see her Knucks which read: OMG! WTF?

Next photo: rock star is all dolled up, photo taken from front row in a concert. She's wearing like a silver lame miniskirt or something. She's playing her bass and we see her Knucks, reversed to read "ROCK STAR". cause you know, some days you feel like a rock star, but some days you feel like OMG! WTF?

Isn't that clever? Thing is? I never took the photos.

So there goes my 15 minutes.

Oh, AND? I named that cool stitch Pam made up for the cuffs. I called it the "Wandering Jew Stitch" you know, like the plant. Because the start of round wanders as you knit it. And the stitch, combined with the color of yarn I chose looked leafy. And Pam's Jewish. But Knitty cut the stitch name.



I also have a kid-sized pair for my Squid: Pam made them for her and they say ROCK ROLL and I was gonna take a cool photo of The Squid sitting on top of a tire swing or something making the "rock and roll" hands. This is as close as I got.

That's Pam's sister's double stroller she's sulking in. Pam's son is in the front. See? proof that I really do know her.

Oh, I made one more thing this summer:

When Does School Start Again?

The Long Summer

Wow. It's been ages. The Squid's been out of school and MAN. I cannot understand how parents of toddlers survive without preschool. Every second is us going here or there or to the pool or to this friend's house or that friend at our house, or to the children's museum (free on Thursdays) or to the zoo... and by the time I get home I'm to tired to think, must less string words together in an intelligent and/or entertaining fashion.

Oh, and? She's chosen NOW to give up naps.



But I've been knitting anyway. Finally finished the lollipop sweater, gave it a little mandarin collar and buttons from The Celtic Tree new home to Mosaic Moon yarns (the sweater was knit from Full Belly Farm organic wool yarn dyed by Mosaic Moon. The benefit of this yarn is that there is so much stuff clogged in it - twigs, straw, etc. - that it really doesn't matter how dirty my kid plays in it.).

What else?



Made a sweater from Inca Cotton. Love that stuff. It's been sweaterriffic around my house. You'd never believe it's been 225 degrees every single day.

I made this one, too.



and a smattering of toys, like this:



I'm deep into a sock, as well, and deciding that I really hate making socks. I just can't stand it. I do love to WEAR handknitted socks, though, so I plug ever onward. I'm thinking I need to start limiting myself to carrying ONLY a sock with me as my traveling project, so I must progress or sit on a train and not knit, which is a kind of blasphemy worse punishable by worse than sock knitting.

I am working on the design of two women's sweaters (for me, natch) and I'm constantly itching to get some work in on those. I've ripped out the front of one no less than 4 times, looking to get it right. I'm in a Knitting Sweaters Flat phase, which is both alarming and unsettling to me. I'm not sure what that's about. I suppose it has something to do with my desire to someday actually be able to knit something useful on my knitting machine. But also I like the fit of a well-seamed garment.

I must be running a fever.