House hunting last year was a real whirlwind.  We looked at houses one night (granted, there were many houses), fell in love with the last one, and put in an offer.  We didn’t really intend to buy a house, but it all fell into place, and we were really lucky.  When we walked into our house for the first time, we both audibly gasped.  It’s not the style I thought I’d go for (I love a boxy, modern ranch with lots of windows or an arts and crafts space with a big porch), but it spoke to both of us.  The previous owners hadn’t really updated the space since they bought it, but we could see that it had a ton of potential.  The place is technically a split level, but not your typical 1970s variety.  Instead, you walk into a large living room with high ceilings, with the kitchen to the right and stairs right in front of you.  Those four stairs go into the hallway, but it’s actually open on one end, so it’s more of a landing.  Tough to explain and picture, but it’s a really unique layout, and we love the openness.

The house’s woodwork and trim was all taupe when we moved in.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Observe the before pictures of the living room and master bedroom.  As you can see, lots of potential, but lots of work.

Over the summer after moving in, we spent a few weeks time prepping, sanding, patching holes, and painting.  Afterward, the living room looked thusly (the angle is from the hallway landing, if that helps you picture it better):

We’ve since rearranged the living room furniture and added some bright yellow chevron-patterned curtains I sewed.  The tables and rug are all either thrifted or from Craigslist, and the chairs and couch are hand-me-downs from my Mom.  They’re so so comfy.  The walls are Olympic’s Thin Ice, and I forget the color of the fireplace.  Womp womp.

And here’s the painted master bedroom:

The walls in here are Bermuda by Olympic.  The bed frame and reversible duvet cover (it’s now on the white side) are from Overstock.com.    We also bought some vintage, awesome dressers from Craigslist and put a pretty gold ombre rug on the floors to keep my toes warm in the morning.

The spaces are nowhere near finished, but we’re both amazed at what a little paint can do.  Coming soon, we’re moving on to the kitchen!

Pattern:  Ribbed for your Warmth by Sonia Ruyts

Yarn:  My own BFL handspun (the very last of this batch)

Needles: ?  I really need to start keeping better records.

Began:  October 10th, 2011; Completed:  October 17th, 2011 (Raveled here.)

Notes:  A few years ago, I designed and knitted some flip-top mitts for my mom’s birthday.  Last year, I knitted her a cute little cloche for Christmas.  This year, I wanted to complete the set, so I thought a cowl was in order.

There’s really not much to say about this project, which illustrates how smoothly it went.  It was easy as pie, and I just blocked it out gently (you can see the unblocked version around Angus’s neck in the Christmas photo on my previous post).  It was really fun to knit in that mindless, zen sort of way, and I think the simple broken ribbing pattern keeps you interested but is simple enough to display and not compete with the yarn.  

The  yarn bloomed nicely as it did with my other projects, but it’s even more noticeable because the gauge is a bit looser.  It has solidified my love of BFL; it is such fantastic fiber to spin, and it knits up just as well.  I used up every last bit of this yarn to the point that I had to sub in a different yarn for half of the bind-off.  Mom seems to love it, as you can see above.  She looks lovely in it, doesn’t she?

 

Happy Holidays to you and yours.  I hope this holiday is filled with love, light, and wrinkly faced dogs wearing handknits.  Thanks for reading, as always.

Pattern:  Elefante by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn:  KnitPicks Swish Worsted in peapod, canary, carnation, orange, and serrano (KnitPicks, why does orange get the shaft in the name department?  Uncool.)

Needles:  US 3 dpns

Began: October 29, 2011; Completed:  November 12, 2011 (Raveled here.)

Pattern:  Bunny Beanie by Noe Knit

Yarn:  KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Silver and some leftovers of the aforementioned carnation for the ear detail

Needle:  ?

Began: November 17, 2011; Completed:  November 20, 2011 (Raveled here.)

Notes:  When we first begin knitting, we knitters tend to dole out the handknits to everyone we know and love, regardless of whether or not they want, need, or will appreciate said handknits.  It’s not their fault when they don’t, of course; some people would prefer a different gift, and afterall, gifts are for the receiver, not the giver.  On occasion, though, we realize that some people in our lives not only use, but truly appreciate the time, effort, and thought that goes into, a handcrafted gift.  My friends R and J are those kinds of people, and they have thus received their fair share of gifts from me.  They received my Baby Blue Belle before they were even ttc (these are two people who are destined to be the most incredible parents, so I knew this sweater would get lots of use and love some day); I planned my Modern(ist) Log Cabin around the colors in their new home for their wedding gift; I spent months knitting thoughts of comfort, healing, and hope into the Bridgewater Comfort Shawl last year when they were in pain.  These gifts are appreciated and loved; I often see photos of them with the blanket in their living room or the shawl keeping one of their necks warm.  These glimpses bring me such joy, and so, when I found out they were expecting what will undoubtedly be the luckiest of little boys, I knew I had to plan a handmade gift for him that would be personal and would make his mamas smile.

The elephant is so named because my friend R is a silly silly person.  She is the biggest elephant joke enthusiast I’ve ever encountered, and she has brightened many of my darker moods with a perfectly timed, superbly cheesy elephant joke.  This little guy was fun to knit if a little fiddly, but seeing the shape emerge was worth the effort.  He kills me with his cuteness, and I can’t wait to see the wee babe cuddling him.  I’m pretty sure I messed up the crocheted ears, but meh, I bet the baby won’t notice.

R and J have been referring to their lucky new boy simply as Rabbit River, as they’ve chosen to keep his name private until after his birth.  How could I knit him anything other than a rabbit hat?  I followed the instructions for the hat, but then changed the ears completely, opting to keep them solid and simply chain stitch a little highlight pink on the inside edges.  I’ll put details on my Ravelry page shortly.

These gifts were, as always, knitted with love, and I have since received the sweetest thank you note from my dear friends, telling me what a part of their lives my handmade gifts have become.  Could a knitter hope for anything more?  I think not.

AKA Angus McGillicuddy, AKA The Piggle, AKA Pugopalypse

We’ve been wanting to add a dog to our family for quite some time, and we attempted to adopt a dog this summer, but it unfortunately didn’t work out.  (Toby has since been adopted by a family much better equipped to make him feel safe in a world that scares him, and they don’t have kitties for him to chase, so it all worked out for the best.)  We wanted to start looking again for the perfect pup for us, but we weren’t necessarily ready yet, when I saw a crosspost by an awesome pitbull rescue that I occasionally do some volunteering for.  They were making a desperate plea to place a six-year-old Puggle (pug/beagle mix), and they wanted to know if anyone could help.

We asked for more info, and everything sounded perfect.  Older dog?  Check.  Perfect for us: we don’t have the time to train a puppy with our current work schedules, and a more settled dog might make the kitties more at ease.  Good with other dogs?  Check.  Good with kitties?  Check.  In fact, he’d lived his whole life with two cats, so he was very used to feline housemates. Good with kids?  Check.  The photos they sent us actually showed little kids playing in the background.  This is perfect for when our nephew visits.

We heard about him on a Thursday, and by Saturday, we were picking him up.  We named him Angus; it just suits him.  We agreed to foster him to adopt just in case it didn’t work out, but within 24 hours we knew he was here to stay.

So here he is, in all his snorty, stinky, wrinkly-faced glory.  He’s rather overweight but getting healthier each day.  His coat is improving on his new food, which means he smells a bit better, and he’s been losing weight with his twice-daily walks.  This dog is an absolute joy to be around.  He’s silly and playful, but also great at cuddling, and he hasn’t met a dog, kitty, or human (adult and child alike) that he didn’t love.  Everyone falls in love with him wherever we take him, so you can imagine how much we love him, too.

Now to just get him to model some knits.

Pattern: my own, loosely based on Yvaine by Liz Abinante

Yarn:  My own handspun two ply fingering weight fractal striped SW Merino/Tencel 50/50 blend.

Needles:  Addi Lace US 5

Began:  August 30, 2011; Completed:  September 23, 2011 (Raveled here.)

Notes:  I finished this yarn when we were in the process of buying our house and preparing for the move, and I’m suprised that it came out as well as it did.  Maybe all the stress helped me feed the fiber evenly?  It’s definitely the most evenly spun yarn I’ve created, so I wanted it to be something special.  I knew that such soft yarn would feel great around my neck, and so I set out looking for a shawl pattern.

I had about 420 yards of fingering weight, which meant a shawlette would work, but I wanted something simple that would show off the fractal stripes rather than distract from them.  I really liked the Yvain shawlette, but I changed a lot, so I’m calling this Laudine (Yvain’s long-suffering wife for my medievalist readers).

Here’s what I did:  Stockinette sections separated by seed stitch, but I allowed the seed stitch to get smaller and the stockinette larger with each repeat.  So basically: 22 rows st and 8 seed; 30 st and 6 seed; 38 st and 4 seed; then one last really big section of stockinette (I didn’t count).  I finished with a seed stitch border and did a nice, stretchy bind off so I could use every last bit of my yarn.

The finished shawl is really tiny, so I’ll wear it as a scarf.   It is so so soft, but I’ve noticed that it doesn’t stay put on my neck like my other shawls, probably due to the tencel making it so smooth.  I need to get a nice, wooden shawl pin, stat.  The shawl was really lightly blocked, so I could probably make it bigger if I wanted to stretch it on some wires, but for now, I love it.

Pattern:  Summer Solstice by Heidi Kirrmaier

Yarn:  Classic Elite Classic Silk, a little under 10 skeins

Needles:  No clue.  I really need to take note of my needle sizes.

Began:  May 18, 2011; Completed: August 28, 2011 (Raveled here.)

Notes:  I’ve been admiring Ms. Kirrmaier’s patterns for a very long time now; their simplicity, clean details, and interesting construction really call to me.  I was stressed about moving, I was going to teach two summer classes in a very cold building, and I’d wanted to knit this pattern for over a year.  I bit the bullet, bought the pattern, and made the swatch back in May.

Then the sweater sat dormant for two months; moving and life happened, and I didn’t really get to work on this until after my summer classes were over in mid-July.  Oh well.  Once I began knitting this in earnest, it flew off the needles.  I was done in about a month of real knitting time, and I love the finished sweater.  The process was really fun, too!  I’d never knitted a sweater built like this: you begin in the middle of the shoulder blades, work out and shape the neck/sleeve cap, then combine everything, pick up lots of stitches, do lots of counting, and somehow you end up with a whole sweater.  Knitting magic!

If I had it to do over again, I’d probably keep decreasing the sleeves a bit after the pattern tells me to stop.  This yarn tends to grow, so now the sleeves are stretched and don’t really stay up.  I’m a sleeve pusher-upper, so some ribbing or narrower sleeves would be in the cards next time.  I really love the fit, though, and the yarn was lovely to knit with.  This was one of my earliest stash-enhancements (I bought it during a fall sale during my first year in MI!), and I’m glad I waited for the right pattern.  It really works well here, and the silk/cotton/nylon blend was much easier on my hands than other cotton-based yarns.  The slubbiness and soft hand really make the cardigan baby soft and oh so comfy.

So there you have it.  I’m showing you a summer cardigan when it’s 55 degrees out.  (Note: I’m wearing my ND de G as I type this.  I still love that sweater, four years later.)  On to the next FO!

Pattern:  Aestlight by Gudrun Johnston

Yarn:  Mismarked (and thus heavily discounted, score!) yarn from Shadyside Farm, one skein

Needles:  US whatevers.  I forget.

Began:  May 19th, 2011; Completed:  July 18th, 2011 (Raveled here.)

Notes:  A little over a year ago, I finished some handspun that I thought would make a perfect Aestlight, but I wasn’t working yet after our move and money was tight.  A lovely friend surprised me with the pattern via the gift feature on Ravelry, and I got to work.  First, I tried the largest size, but it was clear I’d run out of yarn once I was done the birds eye lace.  Rip.  Then, I tried it with the birds eye in a contrasting natural yarn to conserve my green, but the result was too pastel and old ladyish.  Rip.  Then, I tried the smallest size, got almost to the end of the knitted on lace edging, and ran out of yarn.  Curse a lot, can’t bear to rip it, shove the whole thing in a drawer.  (Note: These mistakes were all entirely my fault.  I didn’t have enough yarn, but somehow I became convinced that my handspun was magic and self-regenerating.  It happens.)

Fast forward several months to MDSW, where I met up with another bloggy friend (Seriously, how awesome is our move back east?  I’ve met so many bloggy friends!), and I spotted this gorgeous, gold skein of fingering weight at the Shadyside booth.  I had promised myself I’d only buy something if it were really special, and this was.  It was 50% off, due to what I’m assuming was a labeling issue.  It’s marked 50% merino/50% wool, which not only doesn’t make sense, but is also clearly wrong.  This baby has silk in it; it is oh so shiny and drapey.

Armed with my gorgeous new yarn, I cast-on.  Then we packed, moved, unpacked, and somewhere in there I finished and blocked this shawl.  This pattern is awesome!  It was fun to knit, very interesting, but still chock full of gartery goodness.  This time, I trusted Ms. Johnston’s yardage recs.  She is wise.  I didn’t run out.

I was able to bring this puppy to a trip up north with the lovely Laura who gifted me the pattern, where we met up with one awesome Rooster and a certain wrinkly-faced pup.  The weekend was amazing, filled with good food, lots of swimming in the lake, and so many fantastic conversations that we didn’t even knit.  On the ride home, Laura and I stopped at a scenic overlook, where she graciously offered to not only take the photos you see above (making me laugh so I’d stop making my weird photo-face), but to process them and send them to me so I could blog about the stinking shawl already for Pete’s sake.  And then she did.

It’s good to have friends.

Pattern: my own basic toe-up sock with magic cast-on and short row heel, plus 2×2 ribbing and stretchy bind-off

Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock, almost an entire skein

Needles: KnitPicks US 0

Began:  August 12, 2010; Completed:  May 14, 2011 (Raveled here.)

Notes:  There’s not much to say about these socks.  I cast-on last August after finishing some big projects, and these were my something to knit on between gifts, shawls, etc.  They were fun, and I really love the Kureyon sock.  I’m not sure how well it will wear though; it’s a single, after all.  I’m hoping the nylon in these will make them last, especially since some of my most beloved handknit socks are falling apart.  My sock drawer really needs replenishing, but I’m just not a huge fan of knitting socks.

I split the skein in half by weight, then knitted until I was almost out.  I did some simple, centered increases on the calf when it was time, and these are nearly knee socks.  I tried a new bind-off, and I love it for ribbing; it really bends with the knits and purls.

It was super dark in my apartment when I tried to take photos, but these will have to do until fall.  I simply can’t abide the idea of putting on a pair of wool knee socks right now, but I’m hoping that it’ll be time for them soon enough.

Pattern: Bridgewater Shawl by Jared Flood, published in Made in Brooklyn  

Yarn:  JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool/Silk lace weight in Pewter

Needles: Addi Turbo US 3

Began:  January 20, 2011; Completed: May 11, 2011  (Raveled here.)

Notes:  This shawl is rather difficult for me to write about.  On January 20th, I learned of a terrible, traumatic loss that had fallen on two dear friends.  This is the kind of loss that stops one in one’s tracks; I didn’t know what to do or say to comfort them, I wished I could be in MI to help, and I was angry at the universe that something so horrible could happen to two of the most loving, caring people I know.

So, of course, I took to my needles.  I wanted to knit a comfort shawl, but the pattern had to be something that was both simple and intricate, and I wanted the finished product to be something that they could wrap around themselves at once.  I couldn’t hug them, so this shawl was going in my place.  The finished shawl didn’t disappoint; when blocked, it was the size of a full mattress.  Garter stitch is springy.

I took my time with this knit, and it wasn’t easy going.  The yarn and needles are tiny, and this shawl is enormous.  There is also an error in the pattern (detailed on my Ravelry project page) that gave me hours of headaches and restarts.  Through the months that it took to knit it, though, I thought about my two friends, and the little one they’d lost.  I’m not a praying person, but I put all of my wishes for hope, healing, and love into each stitch.

I wrapped it up, tried poorly to explain these feelings to them, and sent it off to MI, where I hoped it would bring a tiny smidgen of comfort.  It’s been months, and I routinely see photos of one of my friends wearing the shawl looped around her neck.  Knowing that it is loved, and that it shows them how much I care, makes me smile.  They are, without a doubt, some of the best people I know, and I’m glad my needles were able to express what I couldn’t.