Barefoot Shepherdess

Striped Gloves

Or I prefer to think of them as dawn/dusk gloves.  Because that's what they remind me of: peering through the blinds first thing in the morning when light begins to illuminate all the myriad colors of the daytime and then towards evening, when those same colors slowly fade away to darkness.  Though they don't match exactly due to the long color repeat of the variegated yarn, I don't mind it one bit.  I rather like it like this, as a companion pair.

These actually have been done for a little while now, but as soon as the gloves were off the needles, they were in constant use.  So much so, in fact, that they had to be washed before this photoshoot.  That turned out to be a good thing though-- the yarns softened up nicely and the gloves, especially the fingers, seem to conform to the hands better now.

And I must really like stripes on Alex's knits.  Or maybe I think it makes things boyish.  In looking back, I realized that I made mittens for him two years ago and the year before with stripes too.  Oh, and did you notice?  He's gone from having no fingers to two (thumbs) to all ten fingers now.  How quickly they grow!

I'm hoping these will last a couple of years... but if not, I still have plenty of both yarns to make a larger, identical pair.  For details on these gloves, please visit my Ravelry page here.

False Start

I whipped up the first glove in no time at all...  But no sooner had I finished than I realized that the fit was all wrong.  In my rush to get it done quickly, I misread the directions and increased the thumb gusset incorrectly so that it became unnaturally long.  And this, despite checking the fit on the intended hand multiple times.

Carelessness?  Fatigue?  Probably both.

So now, this is all that's left of it--

For a few crazy moments, I considered grafting these fingers onto a new hand-- how skilled I would feel!-- but when I weighed the possible complications of the process and the frustrations of an imperfect join against the dull repetitiveness of re-knitting them, the latter won out.

I started again--very cautiously, this time-- and finally have two hands with a couple of fingers each.  By the time I'm done, I will have knit 16 fingers (because I made another mistake and had to re-knit one again)... yikes!  I think I've had my fill of them for a season.

Happy Stripes

Ever since the weather started to cool, I've been working on a series of handknit wristwarmers for my shop.  These are the second pair of grey beaded ones, finished just last week.  Meanwhile, it got colder and colder here...  When I finally looked up, I realized that a pair of cold little hands were patiently waiting for something to keep them warm.

Feeling a bit sheepish, I set aside the shop work and began on a pair of gloves for Alex.  Simple, but playful-- that was the look I wanted.  In my stash, I found this solid blue yarn (the first sock yarn I ever purchased, actually!) and a colorful, variegated one that combined, looked nice together.  As you know, I'm generally not a fan of variegated yarns-- but sandwiched between a solid color in stripes like this, I think its effect is softened and subdued so that it serves as a good accent instead.

Whatever the case, it's gotten an enthusiastic approval already... accompanied too, by a constant "Is it done yet??"  Maybe tomorrow...?

Little Wristwarmers

After watching me make all those wristwarmers, Alex decided he needed one too.  With beads.  So I made him a pair from leftover yarn and beads I had from the ones I made for myself several years ago.  It turned out rather cute, I think!

For wrists as tiny as his and with so few beads besides, the wristwarmers were super-fast to knit.  It made good use of the leftovers too-- I ended up with barely a meter of yarn and a few spare beads.  And can you tell?  Alex was really very pleased.

It was a happy project all around... and now we have coordinating mother-son wristwarmers!

Striped Sweater

There was enough yarn to finish after all--

But it was suspenseful right up to the end; after all the seams were sewn and the neck edge completed, there was a scant 5 grams of the darker yarn left over.  Just enough to save for making repairs, if and when there is the need.  Hooray, for efficient use of yarn!

Though the design is simple, it took me a number of tries to get the sleeves right.  Somehow, I failed to pick up during all my years of knitting that raglan sleeves require a certain amount of width to accommodate the sleeve decreases.  I had designed the sleeves to be relatively slim, which made the sleeve stitches disappear before I had the correct length on the raglan section.  Several calculations and re-knits later, I had it just right.

Despite the trouble, I love everything about this sweater.  The look, the size, the feel-- the Drops Alpaca I used for it made it lightweight and soft; so soft, in fact, that Alex is not at all bothered even when he wears it directly over a short-sleeve t-shirt.  And did you notice?  All the stripes align.  That makes me happy.

Alex is really happy with it too.  It was like Christmas again, the morning he found it finished.  He even made up a little song about 'the sweater mama made for me.'  Already he's excited for me to make another-- nothing better to motivate a knitting mother like a thrilled child.  It's a good thing I kept good notes this time!

Sweater In The Making

From inspiration to sketch...

to swatch...

to knitting.

I'm working on a sweater for Alex.  I wanted something that's light, yet warm; I wanted something simple + basic.  Veera's lovely baby sweater looked just that and helped me visualize my own version.  The back and front pieces are already done, and I'm working on the first sleeve.  Everything is going smoothly... or was, until last night, when I started getting the uneasy feeling that I might not have enough of the darker yarn to finish.  Maybe.  Here's hoping that there's enough!

Already April

I've been away awhile.

There have been changes.

Suffice it to say, I started the new year in a new place in a new town and began anew.  I'm finally finding my way back to those things I love.

Now where was I?  A Blanket.  For Alex.

I finished this one back in early December, but never had a chance to share it here before other aspects of life took over.  If you happened to browse my Ravelry notebook, you may have seen it already as I posted it there not long after it was done.  It's the Bear Claw Blanket by Veronik Avery, but just one square, inspired by Saartje's version for her little daughter.

The construction of the blanket--starting from a single square and building upon it in pieces-- is what intrigued me to knit it.  But while it was cleverly done, I had my fill of it by the time I finished the single square.  I'm glad I didn't choose to do all nine.

I also made Alex a pair of mittens while it was still, well, mitten weather.

This year, he graduated to having mittens with thumbs.  I based these on the Classic Mitten pattern from Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski and adjusted the gauge to fit Alex's hands.  The stripes came as an afterthought; when I placed the thumb stitches on a piece of scrap yarn, the color of the yarn added a nice contrast accent to the orange. Unlikely and unexpected though it was, inspiration came just at the right time.  Really, as if the mittens knew what they wanted.

Not much else on the knitting front.  Nor spinning.  But I've been hard at work on another sort of project... more on that next time.

A Cardigan for Alex

Alex now has a second sweater:

This one has been done since spring and was just awaiting the toggles.  I had a hard time finding ones that I liked in just the right shade, so the sweater languished unfinished all this time.  I finally settled on these, and now that they are sewn on, I think the choice was a good one.

The pattern is A Cardigan for Merry by annypurls and is based on Kate Gilbert's A Cardigan for Arwen.  The latter pattern fascinated me when I first saw it with its clever reversible cables, but I knew I'd never finish one for an adult.  But in a child's size?  That I could manage.  Plus, it was a handsome design suitable for a boy-- a rare find, in my opinion.

The trickiest part of the pattern was in grafting the cables in pattern.  Since the pattern doesn't come with the specifics on how to achieve this, I had to combine the methods for grafting in stockinette and in reverse stockinette as I went.  Somehow, I managed to do it right the first time around, but I hope I'm never called on to do it again.

It was my first time knitting a hood, and I was amazed by just how much knitting it required.  Still, I thought the hood was a cute and useful feature-- though Alex doesn't seem so sure.

 

Next up is a lap blanket for Alex.  Then mittens and socks...

Winter Ready

I had meant to knit Alex several sweaters before the cold weather arrived, but... you know.  So here's the first, in his very favorite color:

I finished this a couple of weeks ago, and it's gotten quite a bit of wear already.  It's the Child's Placket Neck Sweater by Joelle Hoverson, originally from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts but now available for free.  I didn't like the design when I first encountered it because the high button-up neck didn't seem suitable for a little child but changed my mind when I saw it worn with the neck turned down as a collar.  I think it's much more practical this way.

This was a great stash-busting project too.  The yarn, Cascade Lana D'Oro, was another that had been sitting in my stash for 10 years now, waiting for the right project.  It turned out to be a great match for this sweater, I think!  I have a few balls left over, so perhaps Alex will get a matching vest.

While I like the pattern and can easily see myself knitting it again, the next time around, I'll start with a smaller needle size and maybe even fewer stitches for the hem as it has  a tendency to flare out and fold up easily as is.  Still, free pattern + stashed yarn + happy recipient = success! 

Colors of the Season

Happy Autumn!