eleven hundred days

Eleven hundred days. That's how long it took for me to get from this

to this.



There were two moves, a pregnancy, work-related nonsense, birth-related goodness (seriously: neither of my sister's children were even born when I cast on this thing!) and three entire years in between. That is madness! That is inexcusable. But it was worth the wait. Totally, absolutely, worth the wait.


The details ('cause once upon a time this was actually a knitting blog)

Pattern: The Katharine Hepburn Cardigan from IK's Lace Style
Yarn: Louet Gems, which happens to be the yarn suggested
Needles: cheapo Aero circulars in 3.5 and 3.75, the suggested sizes
Adaptations: not a one
Findings: mother-of-pearl buttons


Now let's have some more badly framed selfies, shall we?











It's perfect. Ok, it's almost too short. Almost. I might be able to block it out a little bit longer and eke out another half inch in the body, but I'm not complaining. No-sirree-bob. What became the running joke in the home-stretch of knitting this cardi was whether it would even fit. "Are you even the same size you were when you started? Hyuk hyuk hyuk!" I knew that I am, but still I started to worry that the negative ease I opted for when I chose the size I did would prove a little too negative. But it was not to worry: the size is just right.

I finished this two weeks ago, and since then it has been almost non-stop 25C+ days. Not precisely wool cardi weather. Today is grey and rainy and cool. I'm a very happy knitter, cuddled in my lovely acid yellow sweater. This cardigan is made of spring. Spring and unicorn hair and awesomeness.

Glynis's "Pl'mpy" Toque

"Ooh!" she exclaimed, "It's very nice. I like the pl'mps."

A "pl'mp", you must understand, is a bobble or a nupp, and this hat is fairly covered in them. They're rather ridiculous, but I thought they might help to highlight and even exaggerate the thick-and-thin nature of this beautiful handspun we were gifted two years ago. One of my Knittyboard confederates, feeling particularly badly for us that we were displaced from our condo for several weeks during advent while we were expecting Bubby, sent us some Christmas baking as well as a skein of the gorgeous yarn she spins. Soft and fluffy and springy, and variegated in shades of yellow, orange and fuchsia, it waited in my stash until the proper inspiration struck.

And struck it did. Over a period of a few days, taking best advantage of Bubby's naps, I knit up this little number for her and she adores it. It's a slightly ludicrous hat, with its gnomish shape and bobbles from ribbing to tip, but I'm still absolutely thrilled with it. Cute and silly, just like the girl it sits atop.

2 years

Well, it happened. April 24 came...and it went. And not once - not once - in the course of yesterday did I pick up my knitting needles.

Why is that in any way notable, you ask? Because yesterday marked the second - yes, the second - anniversary of casting on the Hepburn Cardigan from Lace Style.

Some of you may remember the days when I posted about my knitting. Heck, this started off purely as a knitting blog. And now? Now it takes me over two years to knit a size small cropped cardigan. Seriously.

Ah, well. It'll be lovely, whenever it gets finished. The pattern is beautiful and the yarn is a dream. Someday, little sweater...someday....

What a few days sickness brings

A rather unpleasant - but not really serious - cold made its way through our home over the past week. First Peanut had it, leaving her nose raw and sore and a week later, she still has a bit of a cough. Then I got it. On Friday night, after Peanut was in bed, I looked at The Recruiter and said, "My throat feels funny. I think I might be getting sick." The next morning I woke up and I was positively miserable. Exhausted, congested, coughing and feeling entirely run down and wrung out. So The Recruiter hung out with Peanut all day while I stayed in bed. He brought me food, made an emergency bagel run for me, made me my iced tea just the way I like it (4 decaf Earl Grey tea bags to 3 qts water, 4 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp lemon juice) and was generally awesome. I napped, I read some Ina May, and I knit while watching an inordinate amount of Buffy. Because that's what I do when I'm sick. Sue me. :)

Sunday wasn't much better. Initially, I actually felt worse, though things improved as the day went on. Another day in bed, another day of knitting. And this is what I have to show for it:





Yes, that's the same Katharine Hepburn cardi that I cast on waaaaay back in April of last year. I hadn't even finished the first piece - the back piece - before this weekend. Yeesh. But it's done now and it looks good! Then I did this:





At first I despaired: I have no idea where the size of needles I need for the ribbing is, and my crafting room is an utter disaster and I'm just too sick to find them! But I poked through one box for about 30 seconds and found them. Serendipity, I tell you. So I've cast on the front right section and I'm already into the armscye. Nice.

Every time I come back to this knit I remember why I'm enjoying it so much. I really look forward to wearing it - and I'm hoping that it will fit fairly soon post-partum, at least hanging open - but I'm quite enjoying the process, too. The pattern is interesting and challenging enough that I'm not bored, but also predictable enough that when I can concentrate on it, it sails along. And knitting with Louet Gems is just...ah! It's blissful. That is some great yarn.

And what does an almost 8 months pregnant woman with a bad cold look like, you might ask? She looks like this:





Not exactly my best, but tolerable. My dreads are looking pretty dready these days, which is nice, and as round as I am, I'm not actually wearing any maternity clothes in that picture at all. Size M t-shirt, size S sweatpants and a size XS cardi that hasn't zipped up in many, many weeks. I love stretchy clothes!

And lest my darling husband post some snark in the comments about neglecting to include Peanut in a post - since it's all about her, ya know, as any almost-three-year-old will tell you with surety - I offer you a picture of her "plane". It's an airplane. And it flies. Or so I was told many times as it zoomed around our apartment. Then she insisted that I take a picture of her plane. Now I share the plane with you.





34 weeks this week: it could be as few as three weeks before we meet this person and I see my toes again!

shroom

It's sunny! And I'm dressed before noon! Of course, sunshine in this neck of the woods generally corresponds with pretty intense cold, and today is no exception. It's -25C with the windchill. Brr. And as you are about to see - but will pretend not to see - our apartment is a mess, so we'll make good use of this cold day, hang out inside and make things a little more liveable around here.

I've been talking about my recent knitting project for a while now, haven't I? As my dreads have finally started growing and getting longer and are no longer just shrinking shrinking shrinking (yes, dreads shrink before they grow. It makes sense if you think about it, but who thinks about that until they actually have them on their own head?) I was finding it harder and harder to fit them into my hat. And the hat that I have been wearing, Urchin, while adorable is not really intended to cover the ears or endure the deep freeze of an Ottawa winter. Enter Shroom.







I love it! I LOVE IT!! It contains the dreads perfectly with room to spare (since they're only going to get longer!), covers my ears entirely as well as the nape of my neck which was an unexpected benefit and, best of all, it's super soft and looks great.

Details:

Pattern: Shroom (and aRav link to my Shroom)
Yarn: Cascade Magnum in light green/celery
Needles: 5.5mm and 8mm, 40cm and 80cm circs respectively (magic looped it at the end)
Mods: I added an extra inch of ribbing. I thought I would add an extra repeat of the puff rib, but when I ran out of yarn I tried it on, discovered that it made it a little too big so I ripped back and did the number of repeats in the pattern. And it's perfect.
Changes I'd make if I did it again: I might omit that extra inch of ribbing. But as I noted above, it does cover my ears and neck really nicely, and it might not do so without that extra inch, so it's debatable. Ultimately, I'm really really happy with it.

And as promised, our work in progress. Feel free to ignore the mess in the background. Scratch that, you MUST ignore it: just don't see it, ok? I promise to clean up today, I do!




With a little bit of Peanut silliness in there for added fun.