Eleventh Month

How can it be November already? There’s still leaves (very pretty ones!) on the trees and it’s not even very cold yet. I was gardening on Saturday in short sleeves. Today is raining and dreary but it still doesn’t feel as late in the year as the calendar says it is.

We had a Halloween blast last evening! T-Man and I kept switching up who got to wear my spider deely-boppers. (I have several of these for different holidays!) He carved a great scary pumpkin, for the first time using a printed graphic instead of drawing it freehand, and then we roasted the seeds. Yum. We must have had quite a few trick-or-treaters because we gave out nearly all our candy, though it must be said we doubled-up a lot to get rid of it quicker. There are a few left for us! The across-the-street neighbours had fireworks and the last one hit our bedroom window making us both jump as we were watching from the living room window. It left a couple of big ash blotches that will have to be washed off but at least it didn’t break the window. We call that guy “Numbnuts” as it obviously suits! Everyone disappeared into the house after that blooper finale. That left us to try to get to sleep with lots of fireworks still going off around the neighbourhood.

I’m finished another baby sweater, this one for my new great-niece. (If her parents are reading this, sorry you won’t get it until I see you next. It’ll give her time to grow into it a little because it’s way too big right now anyway!)

Emma’s Sweater

Begun: October 11, 2010

Completed: October 28, 2010

Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett, 75% superwash wool/25% polyamide, exotic colour: ember, #4455, dyelot 32636, 50 g = 210 m. 2 balls.

Needles: Addi Lace circulars, 3mm

Pattern: b18-25 Jacket in Garter Stitch from DROPS Design, Ravelry link, DROPS link

Size: 1-3 months

Comments: Not the pants - only the jacket! This turned out quite nicely after a bit of a worry that there wouldn’t be enough yarn. (I had a little bit of purple Sisu from the scraps box just in case. Didn’t need it.) I also didn’t want to go button shopping so was glad to find an excellent choice in the stash. I love the Kaffe Fassett colour combo. So not pastel baby colours.

I admit this looks very similar to EZ’s Baby Surprise Jacket (nearly 13,000 versions on Ravelry!) but there’s a bit more sewing involved in this one. The sweater is knitted in two pieces starting at the cuff of the sleeve. I worked both at the same time, one with each ball of yarn. The plan was to make it easier to keep them the same size. It worked out ok most of the time but I eventually had to use a couple of stitch holders. They worked well for holding the back stitches so I could graft them together instead of binding off and then to hold the neck stitches until time to finish the neckline.

I used a knit-on cast-on to add the stitches over the buttonhole. Not so happy with the results. Must try different combinations for a two-stitch buttonhole in garter. I think so far the ones I did on the Frogimono are my fave: decrease two stitches by k2tog/ yo2/ssk on the first row and then k1/p1 in the double yarn-over on the second row. More experimenting necessary.

So now I’ve begun working on a cardigan for Princess Pink. She loved the sweater I made her when she was 4 but of course it’s too small now. There’s an up-sized version of the pattern so I decided to try it. I got some charcoal tweed yarn (Berroco’s Remix, 100% recycled fibres) but decided not to use it since it’s 30% nylon. PP seems to have a sensitivity or maybe allergy to nylon because she refuses to wear anything I’ve made her with nylon-reinforced sock yarn claiming it’s itchy. She proved it to me for certain one day when the tag on a new t-shirt gave her a horrendous rash. So I’ll save that yarn for me! I went to the new Michael’s store (walking distance. Yay!) and got the recommended Lion Brand Cotton-Ease (cotton/acrylic) which should be ok with the princess. It’s not the sophisticated dark charcoal I wanted though but a periwinkle blue-violet. At least it’s not pink! So far I’ve got one and a half sleeves done and it’s going very nicely. More anon.

Unfortunately I still haven’t taken advantage of my remaining woad plants. Doesn’t really matter – they can just become compost anyway. But do ya wanna see my weld harvest?

All dry and crispy and smells like Stoned Wheat Thins crackers. Truly! Pretty good for a couple of late-planted early-bolted plants, don’t you think? That’s everything but the roots and the thick stalks. I have no idea how much yellow dye there is there but it should be enough for a deep shade on a couple of good-sized skeins of wool anyway. No time right now to test unfortunately. I have other things to occupy myself and this will wait in my storage cupboard.