Look Ma, No Sleeves!

So, I can’t seem to get my nose out of the Mason Dixon book. There’s a Jess Hutch bunny I’d like to make for a baby shower this Sunday, and I already had the yarn for that… but I still couldn’t resist a trip to Wally’s to buy more Peaches ‘n Cream, this time for a Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono for said baby shower. I finished the kimono today, and am not sure that I’ll have time to complete the toy before Sunday. Priorities…

I don’t know what possessed me to choose this color, aside from the fact that the color selection at Wal-Mart is mostly variegated, and mostly made by a color blind man not what I wanted (btw, totally a tangent - is it just me, or is it sickening that Microsoft Word’s spell check just corrected my omission of the hyphen in “Wal-Mart”?). There really wasn’t much to choose from for girl colors that would be suitable for a baby. I thought this colorway was pretty – it's called “Orange Sherbert.” In alternating shades of cream and peachy orange, this yarn had me thinking, “cute, reminds me of a 50/50 bar”… implying that baby is sweet enough to eat. Hmmm. I’ll let you be the judge of whether this little number is Peaches ‘n Cream sweetness, or whether I’ve just doomed an innocent babe to mockery on Baby Fug.

So, what happened to the sleeves? Thought you'd never ask (thought I'd never have such a prosaic paragraph transition either, but hey, it's nearly midnight. The witching hour for really bad writing.). My friend’s baby is due in early July, which in Southern California is a really, really, unfortunate time of year to be gifted a SWEATER – even a cotton one. I had seen a comment from one TBCristina attached to a post on the Mason Dixon KAL, which said that she sometimes makes the kimono with no sleeves for summer babies. Seemed like this might be much more appreciated than a full-on sweater, and much quicker to make than a larger-sized kimono for winter, so I decided to give it a go. The pattern itself was really easy, although I wish I’d seen this about the YO increases two stitches in before I decided to go with the M1 increases (my YO increases at the beginnings of rows created holes big enough to put my pinky through). I placed a piece of waste yarn at the beginning of what would have been the first row of casting on stitches for the sleeves, so that I would know how far up the sides to seam – I can’t imagine the insanity had I not thought to do that.

The ribbon was harder to deal with than anything else. I learned mattress stitch for this project, and found that to be enjoyable in comparison to trying to attach ribbon (no, really, I liked seaming! Do you think there's something wrong with me?). I don’t sew and have no business with a sewing needle. I couldn’t figure out how to sew on the ribbon without making a mess of sloppy stitchery – which I realize makes me look completely stupid, because I suspect it’s a very easy thing to do. I ended up cutting two lengths of ribbon 18” long, then threading them through stitches an inch apart, and I managed a couple of tiny stitches on the wrong side of the kimono to keep the ribbons from sliding around or coming out. The ribbon doesn’t want to stay tied, though, and I’m not sure what to do about that since it’s just in its nature. It's a slippery variety, no holding it still for long. I could try adding snaps in case the ribbon comes undone while baby is wearing the kimono, but that’s more sewing and therefore dangerous territory. Maybe I'll just give it to my friend with the warning that her infant daughter might become Spontaneously Nekkid when wearing this item.

Once completed, the sleeveless version seemed like it needed something… some girly bling. I decided to try adding a tiny lacy crocheted ruffle to the arm holes. This would hide the unfinished edge and make the kimono look less like a knitted Chinese take-out box. Right. So, after playing around with it a bit, here’s what I came up with: Sc 24 stitches around the armhole (I didn't go completely around; babies don't need ruffles in their armpits). Ch one, turn. *Sc in the next sc, ch three. Sl st in the next sc. Repeat from * to the end of the row, and bind off [After the initial chain one and turn, I single crocheted into the first sc, not the second from the hook.]. You can do more ruffles if you like; just make sure you do an even number of sc on the first row. Really easy, and I’m happy with the result.

(No animals were hurt in the making of this blog post, but yes, one was humiliated.)

Sunny Side Up

Here’s my version of the Ballband Dishcloth that everybody who is anybody is making. I was going for something reminiscent of daisies, something that would do Kathleen Kelly from You’ve Got Mail proud (everyone is entitled to completely love at least one movie that everyone else says sucks, right? Any movie with Tom Hanks in it is a good one as far as I'm concerned - so there.). I should have knit the colors in the reverse, because what I got, for all I keep trying to think daisies or even daffodils, reminds me of… fried eggs. But that's okay, I like it anyway – in fact, I haven’t been able to bring myself to scrub a dish with it yet, but have it on the counter as kitchen jewelry.

Holey Orange Buttonholes, Batman!

(Okay, I know that was lame. I was at a complete loss for a title for this post, so I went for the cheese.)


Lookie where The Scarf Which Must Not Be Named is perched:

Can you tell by the camera angle that it is a precarious addition to an already tall pile? And that it is one step closer to being shoved under the bed alongside a certain Lion Brand crocheted blanket, which is only 1/3 completed (Yes, there is that skeleton in my closet - at one time I thought that Lion Brand was luxe yarn, and so it was going to be an heirloom gift for my husband. Shhh, don't tell anyone. Oh - the fact that there is a 1/3 completed blanket under my bed is a bigger skeleton than the fact that it's Lion Brand?! Well. Who knew?)? I figure, I have all summer to sit in front of the swamp cooler and finish it... so, why not have some fun knitting time, and make things like:

(As seen on the side of my dog, Roxy, which was the closest approximation to white requiring zero effort to set up that I could find as a background at the moment.)

I finished these Warm Braid Cable Wristwarmers in April, intent on making something for myself that I could wear before it got too hot for anything but cotton. The pattern is from Slumberland.org. Instead of the Cascade Pastaza it calls for, I used Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes in Rusty Orange. I had a hankering to try some alpaca, and this seemed like a good project for it. I used the same size needles the pattern calls for - size 9, I think? I was a good girl and even swatched and washed the swatch before beginning, and the substitution worked out perfectly.

I learned plenty from this pattern, as it was my first cabling project, and also my first project requiring a buttonhole. I did the cable cast-on the pattern called for for the top edge of the buttonhole, and am pretty happy with the result, except for a little bit of holey business. If it was for someone else, I would be more upset about it. Since they're just for me, they're "vent holes." I went back on the first one when I was knitting it and tried to fix it, but no matter how tightly I pulled, I still got holes.

Also? These are really, really warm. I have uncommonly cold hands and feet during the winter months, so on the few occasions I got to wear them before the weather warmed up, I was a happy camper. In fact, I had to take them off a couple of times, because they made me too warm.

But wait, there's more delinquency to report! Not only did I make these when I should have been working on... do I even have to say it? ... but I am also working on a Ballband Dishcloth as reprinted in Mason-Dixon Knitting AND a pair of Jaywalkers in Claudia Handpainted Yarn, colorway Just Plum. Which, incidentally, is also just delicious. I saw this yarn on Khris's blog and... well, I lusted. Had to have it. I'll post pictures another time, and then you will understand, and will not blame me one bit.

I gobbled Mason-Dixon Knitting. It came to my door last week, which happened to be a very emotionally hard week for me. A friendship that had been very important to me came to an end, and even though I felt that for the sake of my sanity and health, it had to end, it made it no easier to dispel the feeling that something had died... and so I've been sad. So MDK became my comfort "food" at a time when I really needed some comfort and a distraction. I read it in its entirety pretty dang quickly, and then continued to peruse after that, because it's a great book. I love the warm, conversational style, the attitude of friendship and solidarity amongst knitters, and the patterns, which are right up my alley. It seems crazy to say that a knitting book made me feel better, but it did.

Save the drama for your mama.

1. Happy Mother's Day, everyone! :)

For my Mother's Day gift, my husband decided not to contribute to my stash, but he did, surprisingly, contribute to my wardrobe! MY HUSBAND, buying me clothes, and actually picking something I LIKE??? In the right SIZE??? He even bought matching SHOES. I am so impressed - and lucky!

2. I will save the drama for my mama and not go on about how I've been out of town, then sick, then busy, then sick some more, and so have been on knitting and blogging hiatus. I am back, I have finished a project and am working on another (but have been in no hurry to finish that Disaster Which Must Not Be Named), and will hopefully have pictures to post in the very near future of both.