Yarn Along

This week I got a surprising amount of knitting done.

One rainy evening when our internet was out, I snatched up this handspun and impulsively cast on a sweater for Lucy.  I only had that one needle, that yarn, and one set of numbers from the pattern within arm's reach, so the odds were pretty dismal that it would work out. And yet!  When I measured Lucy the next day, it was spot on. We watched The Grand Budapest Hotel as I knitted and it all seemed to line up perfectly. I had to lay it aside in the last couple of days, but can't wait to get back to it.

Yarn arrived for Sebastian's baptismal gown.  I've just divided for the sleeves, so I'm hoping it isn't crazy to spend my 40 days frantically knitting a wool sack gown.  One consolation is that it can easily be a simple sweater if I lose steam and only knit halfway.

I'm on the last few pages of Emily of New Moon, and plan to start Emily Climbs straightaway.

Yarn Along: Casting On

Just began reading Emily of New Moon, knitting a simple roll-brimmed hat out of sock yarn, and, best of all, getting to know Sebastian. 

Yarn Along: tying up loose ends

 As my due date fast approaches, I've been trying to simplify things, including my piles of books and projects in progress. 

I polished off this baby hat, Spiritual Midwifery, and The Importance of Being Earnest in the past couple of days.  Now I want to make a slightly smaller and thinner version of the hat, as this seems more 0-3 months than newborn to me. I am determined that the first hat my kid wears should be wool and not one of those stretchy hospital-grade striped hats.  

Yarn Along: finished!

I finally finished this tiny tweedy sweater yesterday. Now the baby is officially allowed to come, though the 80 degree weather we've been having means he probably won't need it right away after all.  I'm reading Ina May's Spiritual Midwifery in preparation. 

As for what to knit next, I'm a little lost. I spent last night swatching some of my handspun, with mixed results.  In the meantime, I'm stitching away on a gauze baby blanket and trying to get up the steam to make a full-blown Alabama Chanin cotton jersey quilt for the baptism. A tall order, indeed. I might have to scale back my plans.

Yarn Along: All Buttoned Up

This week, I powered through both A Dance with Dragons and the problematic part of the little tweedy sweater. In the end it was completely obvious and I have no idea why it took me so long to execute it properly.  

When you have to throw your knitting down constantly, keeping track of exactly where you are in the pattern can be almost impossible.  I've gotten so much better at reading my knitting in general, but sometimes I just have to admit that a certain pattern needs a little more attention.  I started marking each row off with a pen, which I haven't done in a while, and it definitely helped me get out of the rut.  These tiny brass coils pins that I found at ImagiKnit in San Francisco have been great for marking increases and decreases so I can tell at a glance how many I've done.  Now I just have to figure out how to keep track of all my DPNs…

This week I got a chance to pick out buttons for both this sweater and another that I made for this baby.  I'm not completely convinced that these little leather ones will be very practical, but they were the best I could find. I'll take a look through my button jar to be sure before I sew them on. 

Next up...

I've prepped this gorgeous BFL top (Lisa Souza's Sourball) into little nests to make the spinning easier.  It'll be the first fiber I spin on Zuzu.  I got it at Rhinebeck 2013. It's unlikely I'll make it there this year, though I haven't entirely given up hope. So I want to enjoy all of the fiber I've gotten there in the past in the meantime. Maybe if I spin it all up, this baby will come sooner so we can both be fully recovered by October!

Meet Zuzu!

I blogged about why I named her Zuzu over at Weave in the Ends.  Check it out!