It’s so nice to post and say that I have a big ole sweater to share with you all, and not a big ole failure like the last time I blogged. This is the February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne. I started it right when the pattern came out and the ladysweater CRAZE hit ravelry. I like to call mine my grown-ass woman sweater. I can’t wait for a freezing cold Chicago winter so I can wear this thing! Taking these pictures on a hot summer afternoon = not fun. But basking in the glow of my new orange sweater? Super fun.



Here’s the specs:
The yarn is Alia Lend Inca Wool, which I got on the cheap from a destash a while back. It’s a DKish weight 100% wool yarn, and I can’t tell you a whole lot about it because the ball band is in Russian. Anyway, it’s wooly and warm and I like it. Actually, I used some green Inca Wool on a Rusted Root that I finished a little over a year ago (but it didn’t make it to the blog for a while). The Rusted Root has held up well, with only some minor wear in the sweaty-pit region, so I have high hopes for the grown-ass woman sweater. So I held the yarn double-stranded for the grown-ass woman sweater on US 8s, which resulted in a nice smooshy fabric.



Buttons from our local humungoid JoAnn’s on Elston Ave.

What else is there to say about this? A super fun, fast knit that I can’t wait to wear over and over again.

So I just got done with a project that has been languishing for quite some time – my tree jacket sweater! I originally started this one back in … ohhhhh …… October of last year. We took some time off, so to speak.



(not the prettiest picture ever, and I am vain, so I made it small)

I’m completely in love with it. I’ve already decided I’m wearing it for the next several weeks.



pattern: Tree Jacket by Zephyr Style (I’m not sure why all the images on their site seem to not be working, but whatever, there’s the link)
size: S
yarn: Knit Picks Andean Silk in barn red
needles: US8 Denises

I have a couple comments about the pattern. For one, I made it a little longer because those Zephyr patterns run a little short on me. Also, I followed the altered lace pattern for the body that I found here. The lace pattern, as it is written in the pattern, will bias. I saw a lot of pictures of Tree Jackets with biased lace, and although some people liked it, I did not. I don’t think a curving lace pattern would have looked even remotely flattering on my body. I’m a little confused though, because I did knit the collar in the biasing lace pattern and although it was mighty twisty, it came right out with some wet blocking. So now I’m wondering if I could have knit the whole sweater with that lace and just blocked the bias out… Oh well, I’m fine with the lace as it is so whatever. All I’m wondering is, am I just seeing tons and tons of unblocked Tree Jackets or does the bias not block out for everyone like it did for me?

So the photo shoot for this sweater was a fun one. I was blocking it on a mat on the floor of our office, and although Yoshi avoided the sweater when it was wet, the minute it became dry she just treated it like her own personal hand-knit dog bed. Case in point:


exhibit A


exhibit B


exhibit C: diggin those claws right in

Oh sigh. Why do I even bother trying to keep the dog hair off things.

And finally, any Arrested Development fans out there? Because this is one of our favorite moments in the show:


(yes, that picture is not mine. but at least I’m not stealing bandwidth.)

Oh, but is that one ever mine. Ha ha haaaa!!! Peto suggested that I stuff my sweater, but I didn’t want to stretch it out.

Perhaps this is why everything I knit has dog hair wound around every single stitch:



This is what happens when knitting is left unattended on the couch. It becomes a dogpillow. Incidentally, I’ve never known a dog that insists on having a pillow before. Very strange.

Here’s what’s currently on my knitting docket:

finish that pink thing (almost there – probably this can get done within 48 hours, depending on how much time I spend procrastinating on this last paper)
knit the other felted clog for my dad (I’m giving this one a period of three days)
finish up that dish cloth you see the yarn for above. (yes, I do eat off dishes that have been washed in dog hair.)

Besides these items of immediate necessity, I need to get back to the following things:
raspy:


tree jacket


And Peto would apparently like some mittens.
I would like some more hand-knit socks. I’d say the sidewinders are next up, followed by the over-the-knee socks from Handknit Holidays.

WARNING: PHOTO-HEAVY POST!

This is a confession. I’m much better than I used to be about starting things and not finishing them. But I’ve been letting things pile up lately, and I’ve started to feel really guilty about it because, well, there are BABIES coming, people!!! Three of my friends are having babies in the pretty-near future and those babies need BOOTIES and SWEATERS and all kinds of cute things. And frankly, who doesn’t love knitting for babies, because they’re so little they wear very. little. clothes. And there is a child who is TWO YEARS OLD that I have yet to knit for. I know, I know. I’m a terrible person. So I figure, by letting everyone on the internet know how many projects I’ve let pile up maybe I’ll be motivated to finish them.

Also, I say I’m a lot better than I used to be because I no longer feel the need to finish things that I hate. I tear them out now, and I get a sickly gleeful about it because I can figure out a way to put that yarn to better use. It’s really creepy. I giggle psychotically the whole time.

So here we go:



This is where the UFOs live… This photo (with cold unforgiving light courtesy of amazing Chicagoland weather – looks like things are shaping up for a thunderstorm now – great) looks like some creepy Dutch still-life or something. (Sorry for exhibiting my horrible understanding of art, Jenny!)

Let’s take a look inside…

First up, and I won’t bore you with more photographs and babbling, is that Rusted Root sweater of my last post.



This guy has an interesting story. The yarn is Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick-and-Quick in Wheat, 86% acrylic, 10% wool, 4% rayon. I originally bought this to make the poncho in Deb Stoller’s first book (gee, I would put the title here, but I don’t want to get sued by that asshole company that will remain nameless that made everyone stop using that name). Anyway, I just didn’t like the poncho and was never wearing it and I thought it was taking up a whole lot of room in my closet for something I never wore, so I frogged it. Then I tried to knit the Bulky Cabled Sweater of Glampyre Knits, and it just wasn’t working out. Gague was fine and all, but the more I struggled through it, the more I realized I just didn’t like knitting it. That sweater should take two seconds it’s so bulky, and I’m not sure if it was the bulky yarn, bulky needles, or having to pay attention to the cable pattern or what, but I HATED it. So I frogged that, too. It’s too bad, because the pattern is cute, but it just wasn’t going to work on me (it was clearly going to add 20 lbs).

Also, somewhere along the line I noticed that the yarn kind of looks like off-white yarn that has tons and tons of pubes stuck to it. Seriously. And I can’t wear something that looks like it’s covered in pubes. But I figured I HAVE to use this yarn for SOMETHING, so I started making a really simple garter stitch rug out of it, and that’s what you see here. When this is done I think it’ll be really nice. Super washable, I won’t be bothered by the quasi-pube factor since it’ll be on the floor and not near my face, and it’ll feel so nice and squishy under my feet. Great for the bedroom, I think.



And here we have a knit that is a true pain in the ass to photograph! That shiny black thread (yarn? or thread. who knows.) with super-shiny beads. There’s NO. WAY. to distinguish those stitches!



Yeah, it just always looks like it’s glowing. It just loves the camera, I guess.

This is MaryElla from Knitty. My mom knit me one of these (I think it was for my birthday?) a few years ago and I think it’s just the coolest thing! I never would have picked that pattern out on my own, just because it never occurs to me to knit jewelry, but it is just so cute, and it turns out knitting with beads is fun as all get out! I love it. That’s DMC Perle cotton there, folks, on US0000 needles. Yikes! This one would get done faster, but it really puts a lot of pressure on my joints to knit on those tiny needles, so I can only do a little bit at a time. Also, there’s no way I’m taking those terrifying needles on an airplane. Ever. They’d get taken away in two seconds they look so scary.



And here we have something I’d really like to get done soon, but it’s just not going to happen immediately. I mean, it’s a sweater on size US3 needles for Christ’s sake. This is the Union Square Market Pullover (if you follow that link, it’s the one on the cover) by the fabulous Kate Gilbert in Misti Alpaca Worsted. This sweater is going to be so nice and cozy, yet pretty, when I finally finish it. I loved working the hemmed bottom – really smart design there!



Yes, we’ve all seen these. These are Grumperina’s Jaywalkers for Ali in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Candy.

This yarn is so squishy and wonderful, I seriously MUST go out and buy more immediately after I send these socks away. And the name is hilarious: Sock Candy? Disgusting and adorable in a very special way. The pattern is so fun and easy! I’m planning on making a tiny pair for my favorite 2 year old after I’m done with these, which will be very soon.



But Lauren, you say, that isn’t even a project – that’s just a pile of blue yarn!

And that it is. But it’s my biggest guilty confession of them all. When my grandmother died last year the family encouraged my mother and I to take as much of her crafting materials as we could fit into our suitcases (they even shipped me some, so I have boxes of yarn AT MY PARENTS’ HOUSE – how sad is that). This is some German wool that looks like it originally was for one of her knitting machines (I think they’ve found 3 so far while cleaning out her house, but God only knows how many more there might be). It’s nice stuff, and it feels like it could be superwash, but I need to figure out the German word for that, because the label doesn’t have any English on it. At any rate, I have this stuff sitting in my UFO basket in the living room because I keep thinking I’ll start this project. What I want to do is knit a lap blanket for my dad. He likes lap blankets a lot, and having one made with his mom’s yarn by his daughter is the kind of thing that would really make him tear up. My dad is the kind of guy that appreciates objects of everyday use that carry deep personal (particularly familial) meaning. He’s a good guy. Very Yankee. He wants precious objects, but he wants them to have some kind of use. And thus, a lap blanket is perfect for him. I’m planning on using some big, fat Addis that I borrowed from my mom – she had them to make me a blanket a while back. I’m also going to copy the pattern mom used – it’s just a simple basket-weave. I think it’s the best way to make a blanket in only one color and have it be interesting.

So, I guess that’s that. At least one of these – the Jaywalker socks – will be done very, very soon… I suppose that’s six projects total. If you count the blue blanket…