holy knit what the hell is this?!

It's the first knitting project I have picked up in months - seven months to be precise. My knitting mojo up and left me, and I haven't thought about (or cared about) knitting in all this time. Of course, the project that broke the camel's back might have had something to do with said mojo's sudden disappearance. All the Rhinebeck talk spurred a spontaneous decision to go and join in the Fall festivities with friends. And all the talk of Rhinebeck sweaters led me to cast on for a Wallaby for the kiddo yesterday. I just finished the first sleeve and hope to have the second finished and joined later tonight at some point during my Parks & Rec marathon. We'll see how it goes....

hatta boy!

pattern: Giacomo's Baby Hat
designer: Whitney at the Purl Bee
yarn: Madeline Tosh worsted merino for the main color, scraps of handspun Pigeonroof Fiber & Hello Yarn for the colorwork
needles: Addi Turbo 16 inch circs, US size 2 for ribbing, US size 4 for the rest

This wee hat has been on my to-knit list for too long. All it took was a bunch of scraps of handspun and some MadTosh I had lying around. Two hours later, I was done. I can't believe it took me so long to get around to it! It was such a quick and satisfying knit. Granted, I wish I had chosen colors that had greater contrast, but overall I'm pleased with it. As is Finn.

See you guys at Rhinebeck!

cowling at the moon

I am thrilled to say that Megan loves the cowls I knit for her. I have to say, I prefer knitting for knitters than for non-knitters. Knitters "get it" when they are presented with a handknit. They know how much care was taken in the construction. They appreciate good fiber. They coo over the details. They "get it." Sometimes non-knitters when presented with a handknit don't really appreciate it as much. They know that a certain amount of work went into creating the item, but having never knit themselves, they don't really understand - that even though lace is a breeze when you're actually knitting it the charts themselves can be a little maddening and that a mistake is hard to fix and that if you're a combination knitter you have to do things differently, or that cables can be complex, or that certain fibers are much nicer than others. It's all the same to them. Anyhoo, onto the cowl details:

pattern: based on the Monkey sock pattern
designer: modification of Cookie A.'s work
yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in the old 325 yards put-up in Turquoise
needles: Clover size US#3 16 inch circs
modifications: I cast on 144 stitches, k1p1 for 6 rounds, worked the pattern 9 times over the stitches, knit 9 pattern repeats total, k1p1 for 6 more rows, then bound off in k1p1.

pattern: slightly modified Lace Rib Cowl
designer: Joelle at the purl bee
yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Ankara Green
needles: Crystal Palace size US#7 16 inch circs
modifications: I cast on 108 stitches and knit 20 pattern repeats total, so the final result is not as loose-fitting as the purl bee's cowl. It's slouchy without being flappy.

Soooooo, I thought I had taken photos of the cowls once I finished them, but apparently, all I can find on my iPhoto of the lace rib cowl are detail shots, so that's all I've got for you. And my lighting made it look much greener than it does in natural light, as it looks pretty turquoise on Megan. Doesn't she look happy wearing it?