FO: (Modified) Mitered Mittens

 

I knit up these mittens quickly during the last days of July.  The pattern, a tried and true Elizabeth Zimmerman from The Knitters Almanac, suggests knitting them in May, when the winter is a fading memory and it's getting too warm to have piles of wool on your lap.  It's good advice.  Before you realize it you have something special to tuck away for when the cold winds blow again.

The pattern itself is simply a paragraph, describing the basics (number of sts. to cast on, approx. length to top of mittens, etc.).  No frills, no row-by-row instructions; your only guide being a leap faith that if you just follow her advice the mittens will turn out well.

I modified the thumb gussets using Kathryn Ivy's instructions and love the way they turned out.

The wool for these mittens is one of the skeins I hand painted in late June.  I am pretty excited to see the skein knit up, and even more excited that there wasn't any weird pooling!  I also think these would be great looking in a yarn with really long color repeats.

The mittens fit well, snug with enough give to be comfortable.  I think I could even squeeze in an upcycled cashmere sweater lining.  Sounds divine, no?

FO: EZ's baby surprise jacket v2 - worsted weight

Here is v2 of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. This version is knit in worsted weight yarns and made a much larger jacket than the previous one. I estimate this to be a 2T/3T, as it is just a smidge too small for my 4T-wearing 2.5 y.o. (she sure is taller than her sisters were at her age).

And what a great left-overs project! Much like my zig zag pram blanket, I rounded up misc. balls of worsted weight yarns and cast on for a colorful adventure. I kept my palate in the blue zone, sticking mostly to green, blue and purple yarns. But I took a little hint from my adventures in quilting and threw in one accent color. I used up a bit of a kettle-dyed manos del uruguay yarn - a yarn that was from one of the first hats I ever knit. I am so glad I did - it breaks up the colors just enough to give it some life.

The striping pattern is entirely random - I didn't follow a pattern or sequence. I'm on the hunt for buttons too, but it will have to wait until I have a recipient in mind.

It is quite likely that these balls of yarn would never have seen the light of day again, were it not for my stash challenge. They would have languished in the back of a crate somewhere and unearthed at some point in the distant future. Each ball was too small to do anything with on it's own, each 100% wool, and with new projects (and new yarns) constantly on the horizon I just never would have been interested in being creative with my left-overs. It just wasn't in my knitting nature.

But, designing and knitting this sweater was sort of like what I do when I am faced with a cupboard that is seemingly bare, and there are a mere 30 minutes until dinner. I make do. I get creative. And I fall in love the result. This is a can of tomatoes, with sliced brats, a head of broccoli, garlic, and chickpeas, all poured over pasta, kind of sweater.



















The other thing that is cool about this sweater is the construction. You actually knit the whole thing in one semi-flat piece. Then with some strategic folding and seaming along the arms it magically turns into a sweater. Genius I tell you. Genius.

Spring Reading

The library has been very good to me lately. Just look at this pile of books, begging for hours of reading! And while my time has been divided between gardening, knitting and writing I have managed 20 minutes here and there to browse and dream. I am also one of those people that can't go to sleep without 30 minutes of reading beforehand so that is usually when I crack one of these open. Not in the photo is Wally Lamb's recent book - and that's because I've been reading it every spare moment I get.

With gardening I am trying to channel my energy into urban homesteading, edible landscaping and preserving. The vegetable garden is mostly in, the perennial beds are bursting with blooms and plans are in the works for a poulet chalet (ala The Backyard Homestead, which was a gift from my MIL). The herb garden is lovely, our fruits are flowering, and our CSA share will start arriving soon.

This is the second full summer in our house and we are slowly getting things to a place that we like. This spring we established a raised bed for the vegetable/kitchen garden, created a compost pile for yard waste (the one for food waste is too small for both) and installed a rain barrel. But, we have a huge overgrown bush-like thing growing in our front yard. It completely covers one half the house, so I'm not sure what we'll put in its place. It also hides a severely cracked window well, so we need something that will provide a screen for that, but I want something with more character than the nameless-overgrown-green mess that is currently there. Maybe arbor vitae? Boxwood? Containers with vegetables? This is the puzzle for this summer.

As for knitting, I can only take so much row after row after row of grey yarn (even though it is for my husband). So I've branched out and started two more projects. The fist is a pair of socks from Knitted Socks East and West, recommended to me by Melissa. The second is a colorful stash-busting baby surprise jacket. This one is will be made from worsted weight yarns, a combination or different colors to use odd balls I have hanging around. The pattern for the bsj is so easy to knit and lends itself really well to mixing and matching all sorts of different yarns. I wasn't expecting to knit another one of these again so soon, but it sure is fun.





I also recently accepted a part-time research position on campus that will help ease the final stages of my dissertation research and writing. My days will be more structured this summer, but hopefully that will also mean lots and lots of progress towards my degree.

FO: EZ's baby surprise jacket

I finished my first baby surprise jacket. It lived up to all the hype. It was a great knit - perfect for travelling, easy to accomplish with a bit of help, and the finishing details were easy to complete. It took less than one skein of sock yarn. My only concern is that this jacket seems to run a bit narrow. All my kids were about as round as they were tall during the months when I expect a jacket this size to fit a babe, but oh well. I think this makes a delightful shower or newborn gift. I also wonder about making the arms longer...would that make the body wider? I might try to experiment with this technique the next time I knit it up. I could also try to thicker worsted weight yarn to get a bigger garment.

Not sure which baby or baby-to-be this is destined for, either. Those buttons haven't been attached, I only placed them for the photo. Maybe bright green or purple buttons would look good?

This is my second EZ knit for this year (first one here). Maybe I will try her mitered mittens next? There's a pair here and lots of pairs here to whet your EZ appetite.

WIP's Wednesday

I have three projects on the needles. This is the most projects I've had going at one time in a long time.

First up, the Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket. I started this on our trip out west. It is a fantastic travel project: small, light, short directions and no need to change colors or cut yarn (unless you want to). No hurry to finish this one up. There seems to be a lot of interest in EZ's patterns this year - they seem to be everywhere I look.



Second, an earflap hat. This is my second barter for the marketplace. The earflaps are done and next is connecting, and creating, the main hat. I hope to have this one off in the mail to Mama-pan shortly!



Third, my contribution to the annual silent auction at our daycare/preschool. It is my second milo vest and I love this pattern even more this time around. I'm giving the cable detail a whirl and it's coming along nicely. I hope to have this one done by early next week.



It must be the spring weather that bribed me into all of these new projects: the promise of newness, the belief that anything is possible and all will be a success if given enough water and sunshine. I must have been under the same spell when I started planting the garden last week. As quickly as I put things in the ground my eager and earnest kids took them back out. At least they know not to unravel my knitting by now (a lesson that took 2+ years to teach, no less).

FO: EZ baby sweater on two needles

What a darling sweater. I've been hearing about this Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater for some time. In my mind it resides up on a pedastal with her other popular patterns: the baby surpirse jacket, the tomten and her EPS system for perfectly-fitting swaters.

This was my first attempt at a EZ pattern and I really liked it. The directions are short and spare. The whole sweater pattern is sketched out in just two paragraphs. What I loved is that it let my knitting skills shine. I read the pattern and understood exactly how the whole thing was going to go together. I had all the necessary skills to knit this up. It was sort of like a mini knitting quiz. And I passed.

My only complaint about this little sweater stems from my own (mis-)caluculations and worries about fit. I had read some comments on ravelry that the arms seemed to run a bit narrow, so I decided to compensate for this by going up a needle size for the body and arms of the sweater. This did result in a roomier sweater, but unfortunately the sleeves are bell-shaped. It still looks cute, almost like the sweater was designed that way, but when I knit it again - and I will! - I will stick to one needle size for the whole garment.

The other modification was that I omitted the gull lace pattern that is supposed to be on the body and arms of the sweater. Since I'm not sure if this little one is going to a yet-to-be born boy or girl I thought this would be a nice compromise. I love the look and color and think it will suit either nicely. The buttons are hand-carved coconut and sewn on with matching thread.

The yarn is a warm and cuddly alpaca that I received from a swap last year. And believe it or not I knit up this sweater with about 10 inches of yarn to spare. I have to say that I am loving my stash-busting efforts. It is a bit more work. Ok, it's a lot more work. I used to see a pattern I loved and wander (run) down to my LYS and get what I needed to knit up my project. Now I am resolved to working from what I have. I need to consider my fiber, yardage and color first - then hunt down patterns that will work with what I've got. I've been doing pretty well so far and have another three projects lined up based on yarn I already have. I may just make it through this year without any new yarn purchases afterall!!