FO: The One-Day Hat and other wasted knitting

So. With at least three things on my Christmas gift to-knit list to go, I have spent the entire week making no forward progress.

Remember this beanie? (basic stockinette hemmed hat, no pattern, just done based on gauge calculations)
Despite the fact that it was both too big (loose around the ears) and too small (not long enough to even cover the ears), Little Buddha did enjoy wearing it around the house for a few days.

Then he suddenly and thoroughly abandoned it for this:

Isn't that totally adorable? And not remotely mama-made. In fact, I'm not even sure it's handmade. This was a baby gift when the boys were born (there's another one, red with black and white stripes, with basketball, baseball, football, and soccer ball buttons sewn on it, equally cute). Last year, Tiny Dancer wore this one a little bit but mostly the boys refused to keep anything on their heads. Now Little Buddha has fallen completely in love with this one. Wears it around the house. Takes it to bed with him. Demands to know where his hat is if someone dares to put it away. It looks so cute on him. And it fits. And I have to admit I'm a smidgeon jealous.

Still, I pressed on, in the vain hope that I could create a hat that was both stylish and warm, that the boys would love, and that would fit. Enter the London beanie. It has a ribbed brim instead of hemmed, which is easier and quicker than hemmed but not quite the look I had originally had in mind. I did it any way. The good news: it only took a day to knit. Oh, and it fits. The bad news: no one will wear it. Both boys completely and utterly refuse.

A rare moment - Tiny Dancer agrees to wear the thing for one minute while I snap an out-of-focus shot. See the hand creeping up the neck? He's on the verge of ripping it off.

I'm done with making hats this season. At least for the boys. Tiny Dancer doesn't love hats the way Little Buddha does; he prefers the hood of his coat. And I don't think anything I could make could merit Little Buddha's affections as much as the cute little traffic hat. So. Done.

Next up in the parade of useless knitting: toddler socks. Not just any ol' socks, either. Lorna's Laces. This was the chocolate semi-solid left over from the two pairs of adult socks I recently made. There looked like just enough for a small pair of child's socks, and Tiny Dancer had asked for some. So, here's the first sock.

Pretty cute, eh? Will either of my boys deign to even try it on? Absolutely not. No idea why. It is soft, warm, and it fits. I LOVE it. But not them. *sniff* There's plenty of yarn left for the mate, but I won't bother, at least till after Christmas.

So, that's two beanies and a sock that will join the two pairs of felted clogs they also won't wear, and the mateless ugly orange sock (which I have a sneaking suspicion Little Buddha would wear, even without a mate, if I would rip out the toe and knit it long enough for his foot). Bah.

You'd think that would be enough wasted knitting for one week, but no. Nevermind that I have actual Christmas gifts to finish knitting. Nevermind I could buy the boys stockings at the store, or even quite quickly whip some up with the sewing machine. I decided I really must knit them.

The yarn came last week (KP Shamrock for the body, KP Twirl for the cuff), and I downloaded the free Twirl Top Stocking pattern from KnitPicks. Only when I got ready to cast on a couple of nights ago, my size 9 dpns were nowhere to be found. So did I move on to my Christmas gift WIPs? Of course not. I decided to learn Magic Loop. I like it, and it seems pretty intuitive, but I still miss the dpns. I know some people hate dpns, but I dig 'em.

At any rate, I learned Magic Loop (I bought the little Magic Loop booklet a couple of years ago, long before I had a true knitting obsession, when there was much I still didn't "get" about the craft; one look at the book and I was thoroughly daunted). Things have gone smoothly, except I've made three major mistakes that may cause me to rip the whole thing back:
1) I thought I dropped a stitch, tried to pick it up where I thought it dropped, and eight rounds later realized how completely wonky the pick-up looked; I kept going, but the wonky area still looks awful to me [and I don't know if I had actually dropped a stitch anywhere; perhaps I merely miscounted when I cast on]
2) when it came time for the heel flap, I was completely absorbed in a Sopranos DVD and I misread the directions; round 3 I did sl1, K1 again (just like round 1), instead of K1, sl1; I didn't rip back but did correct myself for the next 5 repeats of those 4 rounds; to me the mistake is glaring and awful, and enough in itself to make me want to frog
3) I failed to place any markers for the instep gusset rounds and am now completely disoriented about where to do what (since I'm not really following a pattern at this point, but rather trying to adapt Magic Loop principles to my general sock-making knowledge).

So here's the stocking. On the one hand, it seems ridiculous to frog and restart when a) I have another one to do after this one's done, and b) I have three Christmas knits still ahead of me (on top of all other Christmas preparations, including hand-sewing two sock monkeys and getting ready for a visit from my MIL). On the other hand, if I do this right the first time, it could be something the boys enjoy for many years to come. Plus, I hate to give one child the good stocking and the other the wonky one. Of course, I could just wonk up the other one. And knowing me, I probably will.

FO revisited: My First Adult Hat

For the last several days, My Old Man's older son, C, has been visiting us from England, where he is working on a PhD at Exeter in Social Psychology. We have all had a great time with him.

This time last year, I made my very first adult hat, a simple roll brim stockinette cap (from LMKG), as a Christmas present for C. Last year, I failed to get a pic of him in it. So, here it is:

(I made him do that J. Crew pose).

The boys have especially enjoyed having C here.
It is great fun to watch the three of them play together.
Plus, he thoroughly wears them out.

FO: Voodoo Wrist Warmers

Oh my, I seriously love these little things.

Saturday was writing day, which meant I was shut in my icebox of a study all day. My little hands were freezing! But gloves were not an option, because I had to write. As I sat at my keyboard, I was suddenly overcome with the urge to knit wrist warmers right now. I managed to wait till I was through with my writing work to start the project in earnest (i.e., I did cast on, and knit a couple of inches, between writing spurts, but I ended up frogging when I realized the first wrist warmer was turning out too loose, then I waited till I was done writing before casting on again). By the next afternoon, I had a wrist warmer! Other things kept me from banging out the second one quite as quickly, but by last night, I was done with the pair.

a cup of coffee, a cuddly cat, and a couple of happy hands

It makes me ridiculously happy to cradle my favorite mug in my toasty mitts.

yarn: Malabrigo, Polar Morn, less than 1 skein
needles: size 4 dpns, Clover
pattern: Voodoo Wrist Warmers, size small
modifications: after the thumb hole, I knit a little more than the inch indicated, b/c I wanted the top of the mitt to come over my knuckles a bit
started: November 25
finished: November 29
[if I hadn't been simultaneously working on other knit projects, these could've easily been done in two nights]
verdict: one of the simplest things I've ever knit. I love, love, love them. And I love, love, love the yarn (of course!). I especially love, love, love this colorway. I see some thick ribbed house socks in this colorway in my future.
I know some people don't see the point of fingerless mitts. But I feel certain I will be using these a *lot* at my keyboard.

FO: The Too Big, Too Little Hat

Little Buddha has this new habit of running around in circles, calling out, "I'm getting busy, Mama!" By "busy" what he really means is "dizzy" (I know this because it all started with me asking him if he was getting dizzy). But it has certainly made me think of the things that "busy" and "dizzy" and running around in circles have in common. I feel a little the same way lately.

In the midst of busyness, it's nice to have some little projects to do - they go so quickly! It's not so nice when they don't turn out right.

I knit this little beanie for LB (with plans to make Tiny Dancer one next). I wanted to make beanies like the ones that seem so popular lately - all stockinette, tight over the ears. After studying multiple hem options and several beanie patterns, and doing some gauge-based calculations, I cast on for my very first hemmed project.

Who knew that something could be both too big and too small at the same time?

from the side, it looks all right
sort of

from this angle, though, you can see it's too big
see the gap at the ear?
I cast on too many stitches

and from this angle, you can see that it's also too small
see how it only covers the left ear if it's not remotely covering the right ear?
I decreased too early. I think the hat needed at least another inch.

Still, you can see how pleased he is. Little Buddha is a guy who loves accessories. But this will have to be a do-over. He really does need his ears covered for winter. The trick will be getting the hat away from him long enough to frog it and reknit.

yarn: KnitPicks Swish Superwash, in Dark Navy with Fired Brick stripes
needles: Addi Turbos, size 6, 16" (plus dpns for the top)
pattern: a mishmash
goal: a stockinette beanie with hem
verdict: do over! will probably cast on about 20% fewer stitches this time, and may try doing the hem differently

In my comments, yesterday, Meredith mentioned that when she does toe-up socks, she has trouble binding off loosely enough to get the socks on. I had the same problem!! The first sock I only got on through much finagling. The second one, I thought I had learned my lesson, so I bound off with needles one size bigger. It is still tough to get on, though not quite as tight
as the first one. I guess next time I'll try going up another needle size or two. Or does anyone else have suggestions? Is this a common problem with toe-up socks?

FO: Toe-Up Tuscaknit Socks

My first pair of toe-up socks.

yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted,
in Chocolate (for toes, heels, and cuffs) and Tuscany

pattern: universal toe-up sock formula

needles: size 3, Clover dpns

story: I started these on a train out of Siena, Tuscany, November 7.
Knit them in Rome, Subiaco, Spoleto, and Nursia.
And a little bit in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

inspiration and variation: I liked the socks I knit for T so much, I had to have some for myself. I did these toe-up instead of top-down, knit them on one size smaller needles, and did a 2x2 cuff instead of 1x1. I didn't like the variegation of this Tuscany yarn as much as I did the other. T's seemed to have more blue, and these also have weird very light gold flecks here and there that I don't remember the other having.

verdict: I really like toe-up. I still really like Lorna's Laces.
I still really suck at short rows.

Perfect socks for sitting around drinking coffee, remembering Italy,
and watching fall fade away.

My Life. My Blog.

Clearly I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of blogging. Blame it partly on my computer (theoretically fixed - the guy at Apple's Genius Bar decided I had a corrupt OS and reinstalled for me; still, my computer gets sluggish and cranky at times). Or blame it on the fact that I'm trying to deal with work, holidays, company (My Old Man's son arrives for an 8-day visit today), and re-entry. Or blame it on my complete lack of organization and self-discipline. Or, pretend that I actually discovered some self-discipline in Italy, and am now channeling my energies into actual work rather than this here blog.

At any rate, I've not gotten back into my blogging rhythm. Even though I have *actual FOs* to show. Not to mention all those hundreds of pictures from my trip (which I am still sorting).

Maybe a meme will get me back in my groove. And this one (based on those American Express ads) I saw over at Cara's place was just too fun to pass up. Though I have to admit I always feel like such a narcissist when I post a meme (hence the early demise of my participation in Friday Feasts).

self-portrait in the kitchen of the B&B in Florence

can you read it? I know the quality sucks.

(I don't have a scanner, so I had to snap a pic of it.)
click for bigger

Wanna do it too? Here's the form. Don't forget to do the self-portrait.

Now. I really better get back to real life. Company's a-coming and the house is a mess.

I'm back

So I'm home. The trip was amazing. I fell completely in love with Italy - but am also thoroughly happy to be back home, with my three guys. I had intended to blog more than once while away, but slow connections, limited access, and too many sights to see kept me from it. I hope to get back in the swing of blogging now that I'm back (though a sick computer at home may interfere).

I have some pictures to share, some stories to tell, and even some knitting updates to show, but for now I just wanted to say hello. Here's one little picture, from Florence (the only one I have loaded to my computer, because I emailed it to my family from Italy and copied it to my gmail account; my other 700+ photos are not yet accessible to me!).

my last night in Florence, at the church of San Miniato at sunset, overlooking the city

Buona sera! More soon....