A Bluestocking Knits

Jaywalking

Kids' socks! you gotta love 'em!  This is how far you can get with just one sleepless night and an early morning!

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the pattern is the fabulously simple yet brilliant Jaywalker socks by Grumperina.  I'm late to the party -- again! -- I know, but I'm hooked now.

And yes, this is more Shepherd Sock "Lakeview" knitted up.  Since I'm resizing the pattern to a child's size, the color bands are wider than they might ordinarily be.  If you want to be entered in the drawing for two skeins, please post a comment below!

Thoughts on Some Araucania Mittens

We've been talking about going up to the mountains to play in the snow -- the girls have never seen snow -- and so we've been getting ready clothing-wise.  I had to search high and low for a suitable jacket for Laura, since here in southern California, the summer wear comes out after the Christmas sales, and there was not a jacket to be found in her size, not even for ready money.  I had to buy one that is bigger than even I usually buy for a fast-growing first-grader, but my consolation is that it was on sale, and she'll grow into it.  But no-one who calls herself a knitter would let her children go out into the snow for the first time in their lives in store-bought mittens! and so I dug around in my stash of Araucania Nature Wool and borrowed Ann Budd's Handy Book of Knitting Patterns from the library again, and now they each have a pair of custom-fitted, made-with-love mittens of their very own.

My gauge on the US2 needles is a smidge under 6 sts per 1 inch -- firm but still pliable and comfy.  It's a very simple pattern -- I extended the rib at the wrists about a half-inch each, and wasn't very happy with the little "point" at the ends of the fingers on Julia's (where all of the decreases come together at once), and so on the second pair, I chose the "8 sts rem" option instead of 4, and might even do 12 next time -- but this is a minor quibble compared to the ease of knitting (two days! felt like I was flying), and the girls' delight in wearing them, even on fairly warm days.

This gives you an idea of how much wool it took for the child's medium-sized mittens -- the ball on the left is a full skein, and the one on the right is after making the pair for Julia.  (I was going to make Laura's pair in the purple, which has been her favorite color for some time now, but after seeing the red, she chose that!  Admittedly, it is not a very purple purple, and the red is beautifully intense.)

Thoughts on the Fancy Socks

Some time ago, I promised Laura a pair of knitted socks, and when I saw this purple Supersock from Cherry Tree Hill, it was Fate.

I originally wanted to make socks with a ruffle around the cuff, and set my heart on the one from a Jaeger book a few years ago, which in small doses in the Supersock looked lovely, but in a long-enough length to fit around even Laura's slender ankle drooped most unbecomingly.  I fiddled, tried a few other edgings, and then thought of this one from an old Debbie Bliss sailor jacket, turning it sideways.  Picking up the stitches in the middle of the edging is in fact an dodge to head off that droopiness that comes with an unsupported edging, but after a while I got interested in the sideways-ness as a design element in itself.

Afterwards, Laura confessed that she actually liked this sock better than the ruffled one, anyway.

The pattern, which is available in the Original Patterns album in the sidebar, is sized to fit girl's small, medium, and large, or approximately 5 1/2 in. /14 cm (6 1/2 in. /16.5 cm, 7 1/2 in. /19 cm) foot circumference.  If you use Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, I would recommend not drying these socks by machine, as the slight haze that will result would obscure the lace of the cuff.

We-ell....

Now, I knew when I chose Shepherd Sock for the Nether Garments that things would happen, that with the shaping of the piece the color shifts would go in different, even unexpected directions.  It's the nature of hand-painted wool, of course.  I figured that I would just be kind of zen about it, and let the colors go where they would.

Along the ankle and calf, I like this.  It's pleasing and fairly regular.

This, at the knee, I can live with -- it has a little jolt where the calf shaping begins, but it sorts itself out.

This is getting weird --

And this, above the thigh shaping, is just bizarre.

I'd been thinking that I'd use the tights for yoga, being warm and close-fitting, you know, but I don't find anything about these flashes the least bit meditative.  Want to see the full effect? --

The moral is, you never know.

Now, that said, the garment itself is very comfortable so far.  It looks a bit bulgy at the top, but that's from the circular needles pulling it in; the above picture is a view of the front, with the thigh shaping at the inseam.  It fits my leg perfectly, of course, being made to measure, and with Elizabeth's careful planning and simple formulas it all went together without a hitch.

Here is a photo of the shaping, the back of the knee at the right and the beginning of the inseam at the left.

And I like the Shepherd Sock, too.  It's a bit splitty on the fine needles, but it feels nice in my hands.  I was thinking, even as late as when I turned on the computer this morning, that I might keep up with it, finish it anyway, not wanting to give up on my Almanac project for this month (and I have eight skeins of the wool!).  But the colors are just not working for me this way -- lightning bolts on the thighs! I don't think so -- and I don't see how I could reknit it -- maybe working with alternate balls, it could work! -- and still finish by the end of the month.  These Nether Garments didn't have much appeal to me at first, but now after actually trying on at least a part of it, it is not uninteresting.  (This may seem a little like Westley's remark in the Fire Swamp, something along the lines of "It's not too bad, really," but I'll leave it there.)  Mary at The Knitting Zone very kindly calculated the yardage for the Shepherd Sock for me, and it looks like eight would be plenty, as I've only just added the third one -- I was going to acknowledge her help in the final post on this project, but I think that for now this is it.  For those who might pass this pattern over, it's worth another look.  In a lighter wool like Shepherd Sock, they would make excellent yoga wear or ballet leg warmers, for those in less Wisconsin-like climates, or something warm and cozy in a thicker wool for those long winters in the North.  Like with the Chainmail Sweater in the March Chapter, yarn selection can make the world of difference!  I would only suggest a solid color....

Eva, thanks for the link to Zimmermania, a new knitalong dedicated to Elizabeth's patterns and wisdom.  I'll join when I feel a little less incompetent!

I needed a bit of a confidence-booster last night, and this came off the needles only an hour or so past my bedtime -- another Odessa, with beads this time.  The blue is the color Julia chose for her hat, and Laura's will be the lilac-pink.

"Knit on"!

Thoughts on the February Baby Sweater

Thanks to a few well-scheduled TV programs, I finished the knitting for the Baby Sweater on Saturday -- watched "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" that night, and a few days earlier an episode of "Secrets of the Dead" called "Titanic's Ghosts".  Despite the lurid title and opening sequences, this was actually a serious documentary about using DNA testing to identify survivors of the Titanic disaster.  I've always been fascinated by archaeology, which manages to be both romantic and scientific at the same time -- recreating past lives, researching history, and using analytical techniques to gather and record information.  This one was fascinating for its use of genealogical research techniques to identify and locate surviving relatives, the still-amazing way that DNA evidence can be used to identify blood relationships between the living and the long-dead, and the photographs and personal stories that made us identify sometimes nearly unbearably closely with the people on the Titanic  and their families.  (Imagine having one seat on a lifeboat available, and looking at your five children there on the deck.)

Anyway, this was an easy-peasy knit.  I used less than two and a half balls of the Merinogold, so it takes almost as little wool as it does time.

I also loved that the Gull pattern fit perfectly into the shaping that Elizabeth devised, with the repeats ending just at the places where you divide for the sleeves (and adding on 7 fits another repeat in just as perfectly).  I actually added eight stitches, instead of seven, on the sleeves, because the lace pattern made a rather wonky edge and I wanted to firm that up to make seaming easier; I just knitted the first and last stitch of every row.

The sleeve shaping gave me a bit of pause, and I had to think about it for some minutes until it made sense.  It is essentially a T, with the crossbar to be seamed along the underarm and the downward stroke becoming the sleeve seam.  This is how it goes together --

That extra K stitch on each side of the sleeve seam came in very handy, as the seam turned out almost invisible.  I am, I confess, rather lazy when it comes to finishing (Reason #47 to Love Shawls: There are no seams), so I faithfully followed a little tutorial on seaming by Theresa Stenersen -- good practice for the Swing Jacket coming up.

These white pearly buttons were the only shanked ones I had in the button jar, so they are merely prodded into place for the photo.  Obviously I am starting to get into swing-jacket mode -- I thought this jacket would look as pretty with three buttons as with the six of the original, and it does.

"Result: a beguiling baby sweater with only two seams to sew"!

Rosewood

I stopped for a moment last night just before dividing for the Baby Jacket sleeves, to admire the way that the knitting curves on the circular needles.  It's like a little magic trick -- I'm knitting straight rows, but it turns into a circle, voilà!

I'd started it on straight needles, then decided that the gauge was just a little tight after all, and moved to these lovely rosewood circulars.  Are they not beautiful? so light, so smooth, so rich in their browns and golds, so warm like the grain of a fine violin.

Excuse me, I feel a little "Citizen Kane" moment coming on ...

"Rosewood!"

Bunny Belle

Grandma made this for Laura a few years ago, and Julia is wearing it now.  I had one just like it when I was little, and it was a big favorite.

Birthday Party

We had Laura's birthday party last week.  Laura picked out a star-shaped piñata, and I went a little crazy at Cost Plus World Market, and got a ton of wrapped sweets like Toblerone, Lindt truffles, and pretty little Japanese things called "Flower's Kiss" -- as well as little wooden tops, funky bumpy rubber balls, mini-Slinkies (the good kind, metal not plastic!) -- and we also put in half-sized gel pens, some Hot Wheels cars I got for a dollar for five, and jumbo packs of stamps from Michael's.

The kids had a good time.  I set up a craft table so that the kids could decorate their treat bags with stickers and markers, then we went outside for the piñata, which was a great success.

 

I made a butter cake with one of my favorite recipes from Susan Purdy's The Perfect Cake, with chocolate buttercream -- I had wanted a dark chocolate frosting, to contrast a bit better with the M&M decorations, but things didn't quite work the way I'd planned!  It tasted good anyway.

And Laura's grandma knitted her a shrug for ballet class --

 

This is Pam Allen's Ribbed Shrug from Interweave Knits, modified a bit to fit a six-year-old.  The sleeves usually ruffle a bit more than would appear from this photograph, for some reason.  It's a pretty pale lilac, and just the thing to keep her shoulders warm during lessons.

Life Breaking In

Garter Stitch Jacket so far --

 

This is Attempt Number 3 at the sleeves, Number 1 of which came out when it was obvious that they were at least two inches too long, even after rolling up; Number 2 was ripped back when there was a knot in the cotton that would have entailed a join at the center of the cuff, garter stitch worked sideways, remember, and nowhere to hide woven-in ends.  I was obviously not thinking very clearly when I went from a project knitted on US9s in wool held double, to one in fine-gauge cotton on US3s, either.

What I'm Trying to Get My Head Around Today: the "Dickens v. Domesticity" thing.  I've noticed a number of bloggers mentioning this lately, the gulf between the life of the mind, as it were, and of home and family in women's lives.  (Is is the beginning of the school year?  I seem to feel this same thing welling up in me every September, when I drive past the college and the students with their shining morning faces, on my way to the grocery store.  And should it be "v." and give a legal, even if I may, "courtly," sense of an intellectual argument, propounded over wine and chicken Marsala, or "versus" and sound like a trashy, no-holds-barred wrestling match?)

It always sounds more than a little poignant to me when women say, "My life began when I met X."  I don't mean to disparage this sentiment, which is sweet and nice, which I hope I am myself most of the time.  But what does it imply about the years before this event?  Isn't that a big part of the Dickens side of an intellectual woman? where does it go?  Perhaps my dismay comes from the fact that I met my husband-to-be when I was already in my thirties, and the Domestic side of me had given up hope, and the Dickens part rebelled at the fact that I even labeled it "hope" when I Should Not Need a Man to Make Me Feel Complete.  A part of my life began at this point, certainly, and an extremely vivid and fulfilling part it is, to be sure.  But I was already fairly solidly established intellectually, even allowing for the fact that there is always something new to be learned -- I'm not the brainiest person I know, not by a long chalk, but the Dickens part was how I defined myself for a long time before I met my X.  It's an old argument, of course -- women have been feeling this disparity ever since they started being intellectual.  (And we all know how long that's been.)  How does one reconcile a career and family, scholarship and housekeeping?  Why does it seem that one side must start and the other stop, why does a woman define herself as "before and after," can we possibly have it all?  I'm tempted to add "Dickens v. Domesticity" as a category for this blog, it's such an eternal question.  (And I love the alliteration.)

Sigh (both regretful and amused).  My life is a game of Grandmother's Footsteps these days, with the steps backward beginning to outnumber the steps forward.  I found my stack of "current" reading yesterday, buried under a mountain of artwork schlepped home from the girls' Hong Kong preschool.  I am finding it incredibly frustrating toilet-training a stubborn child, especially when much of what I love so much about her is that she is so strongly and wonderfully her own person.  My cookbook shelf is now bigger than my women's studies shelf.  Instead of pondering and marveling on the relationship of wool skeins to art, I find myself refereeing the battle between two little girls about who has more Thomas engines in her train.

(No kidding!  Look at this --

The skeins have this wonderful organic-ness about them, they seem almost alive, the way that they twist and how the light and variations of color add extra dimensions.  They remind me of Michelangelo's slave studies, the way the arms wrap around their heads, the legs that bend and seem to emerge from the rock surrounding them.)

Well, I will close this rant with a misquote from Virginia Woolf -- "I meant to write about knitting, only life came breaking in as usual"!

Thoughts on the "Big Bad Baby Blanket"

Here is my "Big Bad Baby Blanket" -- project one of two for the Baby Knit-Along over at Emy's vintagefusion.

This is a fast knit, and makes a very handsome blanket.  I didn't think that I really had that much time for knitting, but it worked up in a little over a week of half-hours here and there.  Mine came out bigger than the original, of course -- 37 inches square, after blocking -- as the Nature Wool is heavier than Koigu.  I adjusted the row numbers to fit the larger gauge.  I like the Nature Wool very much.  It is a bit rougher than, say, Jaeger Matchmaker merino, but not unpleasantly so; oddly enough, it seemed softer to knit with when doubled than with a single strand.  I had a half-ball due to the earlier attempt, so in order to keep any variances of color from showing (and I had already seen that they would), I started with one full ball and the half-ball, thus blending the skeins.  This has the added benefit of keeping the splices well-spaced apart.  I love the subtle color changes within the skein.  It has a nice woolly smell when wet too -- I liked the smell of it on my hands after I'd washed and blocked it!

(And note that designer Lisa Shobhana Mason at My Life in Stitches has a Big Bad Baby Blanket gallery....)

This one is for a "northern hemisphere" baby -- the other project is for a "southern hemisphere" baby.  One will need something warm for winter, the other something light for spring and summer!  I have started the garter-stitch jacket from Debbie Bliss' "Quick Baby Knits" in Rowan Cotton Glace....