green hoodie

I finally have actual knitting content to show you! Remember the green hoodie I started for Daniel? And how I asked for opinions on the sleeves: stripes vs. no stripes? Of the folks who commented, more wanted stripes on the sleeves than not. In fact, the vote was 3-2. But my vote counts for more since I'm the one knitting the thing and I decided that Katie and Ann were right: no stripes is better. Less fussy, simpler, you know. Plus, I was halfway through the first sleeve before I even thought about it, so I left them off.

The sweater is finished now and I am really quite pleased with it. So is Anya:



It's Daniel's sweater, but when I announced it was time for a photo shoot, he wanted to take pictures with his own camera (he's kind of obsessed with it) rather than try the sweater on. Fortunately, little sis was a willing model.



Pattern: Child's hooded tunic #232 by Knitting Pure and Simple
Yarn: Cascade 220, color "spring", about 2.5 skeins, and "cream", a bit of one skein
Needles/gauge: size 8 for what I assume was 4.5spi, but I think my gauge was a little tight
Comments: Like I said, I think my gauge was tight because the sizing was way WAY off. I had to cast on twice for the sweater when the first attempt was coming out much too small. I'm still not convinced the sleeves are right. They turned out fine for this, but they seem a little skinny compared to the body. In the end, I increased enough for the biggest size, which is supposedly for 6-8 year-olds. Daniel just turned 3 this February! The sweater is a bit long and roomy for him, but just enough so that it will fit him through the winter.



What is there more to say? Nice pattern, lovely yarn.





The best part? It's such a beautiful color on Anya, she can wear it when Daniel grows out of it. Talk about good planning!

squeeeeee!

I won! I won!

Caffeine Girl just tagged me for a blog award (my first ever)! Sweet. Thanks, Caffeine Girl! Most of the time I feel utterly unremarkable, but it's nice to have someone think otherwise every once in a while. CG and I live in the same city, but we've not met - yet. I bet it will happen someday, though. I'll be at Lakeside sipping a hideously expensive latté, trying to keep the kids from destroying the nifty telescope/bird-watching thing they have at the window with a view, stealing glances at the yarn on the wall and trying to convince Daniel he needs a new hat so I have an excuse to buy something, and she'll come up to me and say, "Hey, are you Suze of Mad Knitting?" And I'll say "Yes! Are you Caffeine Girl, of the lovely socks and traveling scarves?" and then I bet we'll find out we have more in common than just knitting. Because that's how it goes with knitters. Yarn and needles are just the beginning, you know.

Now it's time for me to follow all the rules that come with this nifty tag. There are links and things I have to figure out. Here we go:

1. Link the person who tagged you. (Done. See above.)
2. Copy the image above, the rules and the questionnaire in this post. (Will do. See below. ETA: Crap. Having trouble with the image part. Advice?)
3. Post this in one or all of your blogs. (I'll get this onto Madtown Mama maybe tomorrow. Didja know I double-blog? Well, I do, just in case the people who read about my regular life aren't as obsessed with knitting as I am.)
4. Answer the four questions following these Rules. (How is this different from the questionaire? Ack!!! I hope I don't screw up!!)
5. Recruit at least seven (7) friends on your Blog Roll by sharing this with them. (That's the fun part.)
6. Come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR (PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS LINK) at http://bloggistame.blogspot.com and leave the URL of your Post in order for you/your Blog to be added to the Master List. (Working on it...)
7. Have Fun! (Duh.)

Questions & Your Answers:
1. The person who tagged you: Caffeine Girl (I don't know her real name!)
2. His/her site's title and url: Caffeine Girl
3. Date when you were tagged: July 23rd, 2009
4. People you tagged:

1) Glenna of Knitting to Stay Sane. She's a fellow academic knitter who does some serious fair isle. The woman can steek, people! This is something I have yet to muster the cajones for. You've probably heard of her because she's done some very nice designs, including the Viper Pilots socks, which I started and just may finish by 2012.

2. Whitney of Whitknits. Another academic knitter and a musician to boot! (Though she did not choose music as a field of study.) She takes beautiful pictures and does some cool designing of her own.

3. Steph of Sweet Water Journal. Steph is my cousin and she knits, though she doesn't write about knitting much. She writes extremely well about everything: her cats, LGBT issues in the Mennonite church, encounters with the supernatural...that's just in the last couple weeks!

4. Another Susan: Susan Wittig Albert and her blog Lifescapes. Susan is a prolific writer, mostly mystery series (did you ever read Nancy Drew? she was even Carolyn Keene for a while), but I understand she's written other books, too. For the last year or so I was totally hooked on her China Bayles mystery series. I use the past tense there because last week I finished Wormwood, the latest one, but not the last (I hope!) By the by, recently Susan was kind enough to write this very interesting post on the use of pseudonyms to answer some questions I had for her. It was pure curiosity on my part. Since I found Susan's blog, I've discovered that she grows tons of her own food in Texas Hill Country and lives with a true environmental conscience. She knits, too.

5. Renee of RevKnits. I'm a big fan of progressive church leaders, and she's one. Her knitting is beautiful, and a lot of it goes to charities like Afghans for Afghans.

6. Rosemary of (mis)adventures of spindlerose. I have never met Rosemary, but I have seen some of her beautifully knitted items in person. How could this be? Well, as it happens, her brother and his family live across the street and are really good friends of ours. Their son has been Daniel's best buddy since the night I went into labor with Anya and called in a panic because it was 17 days before my due date, my in-laws were not yet in town, and we didn't have anyone Daniel could spend the night with, so he went to their house. Two weeks after that, on my birthday, Stuart accidentally flushed a cloth diaper down our only toilet, rendering it completely nonfunctional, and my MIL and I came knocking on their door at 11pm, desperate for a place to pee (it was like 4 degrees outside). Anyway, Rosemary has made some gorgeous things for her nephew and baby niece, and I have had the privilege of seeing them worn and used, just as they should be!

7. Jenn-Jenn of Stinkbumps the Wonder Boy. Jenn and I went to high school together. We lost touch, as people do when they leave high school and move away, but we met again at a wedding 3 years ago, discovered that we both blog, and we've been cyber-pals again ever since. Jenn and her son Jamie are new knitters, but I hope it's something they stick with, even in the heat of San Antonio, TX!

So that's it. I've done my part! I know that some of the blogs I tagged are not knitting blogs, but that was on purpose. I'm all about being well-rounded, you know? (Plus, if I have to re-post this on Madtown Mama, I don't want to come up with a whole new list.)

just enough?

What you see before you is a nearly complete "Just Enough Ruffles" scarf. I needed some instant gratification knitting, and I wanted to do a project quickly for someone in particular for a special reason, but I'm keeping those details to myself until the scarf is done and in the hands of its intended recipient. In any case, the pattern calls for 400 yards of yarn. I'm using two skeins of Manos Silk Blend (sssssssoooooo luciousssss), which comes to 300 yards total, but I started anyway and hoped for the best. I have exactly two rows left to do: the last knit row, and the bind off, and that little ball of yarn is all I've got left. Will it be just enough, or will I run short? With 600 stitches per row (the scarf is worked longways, with the ruffle done last), I'm thinking it will be the latter. Last night I debated binding off one row early, but I feel compelled to do the pattern exactly as written, so this morning I dove in the stash and found a ball of yarn in nearly the same weight and color that will work in a pinch for the bind-off.

In other news, the detashing on craigslist is going well. It feels really good to downsize. I'll probably put up some more yarn for sale in the next few days.

PSA - yarn sale!

I'm in serious downsizing mode, folks. If you live in the Madison area, check out the "arts and crafts" section of craigslist for a bunch of yarn I'm trying to sell off for reallllllly good prices. Someone came by this morning and alleviated me of about 3 bags' worth.

I like craigslist because I don't have to ship and I can deal with cash only, but if you're one of my regular readers and are interested in something I've got for sale, let me know in comments and we'll try and work something out.

That's all for now.

to stripe, or not to stripe?

Sassymetrical still needs a shawl pin, and that little purple cardi still needs buttons and a good blocking of the new collar, but I tell ya, the house has been in such an upheaval the last week or so, I haven't had the time or presence of mind for anything but the easiest knitting. Things like finding a shawl pin and blocking a collar require me to be organized, and organized I am NOT at the moment! See, we got new beds for everyone this week, including new a new mattress and box spring for us, and bunk beds for the kids. This required assembly and major re-shuffling of everything in the house, plus waiting for takers for the old beds and mattresses on craigslist and freecycle. We're still waiting for that bozo who found us on freecycle to pick up the old double mattress, but the kids' old beds are sold and gone, thank goodness. I had about three days' worth of clean laundry all piled up and unfolded because I couldn't get to any dressers or closets to put anything away. This sort of thing makes me crazy. I can't imagine what it's like to do any major project like remodeling a kitchen or finishing a basement; that would be seriously traumatic.

As the unwanted things move out of the house and everything else finds its place, I'm moving back to a sense of normalcy, and some easy knitting has helped with that. I was contemplating my next project (another sweater? baby blanket for one of my expectant friends? something with - gasp! - fair isle?) Daniel asked me to make him a sweater. Of course I said yes. How can you resist this child?



Together we chose some yarn (the green was his choice) and I found a pattern for a top-down hooded sweater (Knitting Pure and Simple). I've only been working on this for a few days, and I've already gotten this far:



I actually ripped back once and started over because it seemed too small. This surprised me. I've made several children's items with KPS patterns, and I have found that if anything they tend to run big, but not this time. Either that or my gauge is off somehow. I think the circumference is fine but the sleeves concern me. I'm afraid they'll be too skinny. In fact, since I took this picture I put the main body on hold and started a sleeve to see what it looks like. So far it's okay, but here's my other dilemma: do I put white stripes on the sleeves to match the body? Or do I make the sleeves plain green? I can't decide, and I can't go any further until I do. What would you do?

I guess until I've made up my mind (or y'all have made it up for me) I'll have to cast on for something else!

collar issues

Stuart has spent the whole afternoon on kid duty so I could paint one of the bedrooms in our house. That room has needed new paint since we moved in five years ago, but this, that and the other kept us from getting around to it. Having two kids and living in a small house makes for constant shuffling around of beds and furniture, and even though we won't be living in this house for too much longer (economy willing, we'd like to move closer to family), I still want to invest a bit in making things look a little nicer. New paint and some curtains will go a long way, so I'm starting with the room the kids are currently sharing. I wrote that whole long post on style the other day, and the color I chose for the walls is just SO indicative of the way I do things. I was toying with bold, daring colors like deep turquoise or navajo orange, but thought better of it and ended up settling on something called "Mountain Getaway," which is really just a nice neutral sandy beige, like toasted almonds. I'd like to put up white curtains and get some pictures framed for the walls.

-----

Remember the Classic 150 cardigan? It would be done by now except for two things: 1) I need 8 buttons for it. That's easily done, as soon as I get my paint-spattered toosh to the craft store. 2) The collar is a disaster:



See that? It just rolls inside out. I haven't blocked it yet (though I blocked the rest of the sweater, and I have to say I can't recommend this yarn - Classic Elite 150 - enough. It's wonderful.), but I don't think blocking will work because it's st st with a teeny bit of garter at the edge and st st will roll no matter what. I can't decide whether to take it out and try again with some kind of ribbing or just tack it down. Thoughts? I have to make the collar work because the rest of the sweater is lovely and it even fits me.

I'll have to think about that later, though. We are off to the pool! I hope you, my dear readers, are enjoying a sunshine-y weekend as well.

style

It's cool and rainy today, which is nice for the garden and much-needed by area farmers, but it sure fouled up our plans to go to fimming lessons this morning. I actually went so far as to get us all changed into suits and put a little sunscreen on our cheeks and noses, but once we got to the pool and saw all the kids climbing out blue-lipped and shivering, I decided that hypothermia would not be on the agenda for today, so we turned around and went home. I'm pretty sure we weren't the only ones; all the instructors were standing in the water, waiting for their no-shows, while one said through chattering teeth "The water in the pool is warm. Really!" She wasn't very convincing.

The kids are taking naps after a morning cooped up in the house, and I'm grateful for a little down time. I can't knit when there's nothing else going on. I need to be watching TV or talking with someone or watching the kids. I should be embarking on one of the many cleaning/re-organizing projects I have lined up, but I just can't bear the thought, so here I am blogging instead.

I'm thisclose to finishing a couple things. The Classic 150 cardigan just needs the sleeves sewn in and the short-row collar completed, but I'm having a devil of a time picking up the right number of stitches for that, plus every time I picked it up earlier this afternoon someone stubbed a toe or needed a snack, so I put it down in exasperation. Maybe I can finish that off tonight. And Sassymetrical is done and blocked and it's very cute and just needs a clip or pin to hold it shut before I can actually wear it. I'm not giving it FO status until then, but here's a crappy self-portrait of it to give you an idea:



All this brings me to the title of today's post. I never had much sense of style. I went to high school in the mid-1990s, the era of grunge, and this worked to my favor. Jeans, sloppy t-shirts and over-sized flannel was in, and that's what I wore a lot of the time. I got lucky, I guess, because if I were in high school now I'd be a fashion disaster. Skinny jeans and tunics do not suit me. Now I am a 30yo stay-at-home-mom, and most days my fashion criteria consist of the following questions: 1) Is it clean? and 2) Is it weather appropriate? Matching is optional. Most of my shirts, if clean, are stained. I was hanging up something in my closet this morning and I noticed that most everything in there is black, white, or some other dark/bright color like red or deep fuchsia. Everything is plain, like me.

That's okay except that sometimes I think it would be nice to dress like the models in the Rowan magazines with their flowing skirts and breezy linen trousers and white gathered shirts with ruffles - not too many - in just the right places. (Of course, it would be nice to float about in English gardens and on romantic coastlines all day, too, but that's another fantasy.) There are three problems with this, though. 1) Everything I wear gets stained with food or dirt, 2) I would feel ridiculous dressing nice just to go to the park and grocery store and other mom/kid hangouts, 3) I feel ridiculous in stylish clothes. If it's more elaborate than a black or white v-neck t-shirt with Old Navy jeans (they're cheap and they fit, yo), it feels too daring to me. I think someday when I have a reason to dress up a little more (like if I get a real job sometime in the future), I should find a shopping buddy to help me out. Because the other problem is that as plain as I dress, I hate clothes from places like Land's End and Eddie Bauer; it just feels so...so suburban to me. I might as well drive a minivan and vote Republican. (My apologies to any minivan drivers out there reading this; I know you aren't all Republicans, but I just have this ingrained hate for minivans for some reason.)

Sometimes I wonder why I bother to knit for myself at all if I'm just as happy wearing such boring old stuff. I look like anybody else, and I truly don't care if I stand out. I suppose that's one reason I knit for other people a lot of the time (though lately my knitting has been mostly selfish). I guess one reason I'm even thinking about what I wear this much is that it speaks to some of the identity issues I've been having lately. I finished my doctorate a year and a half ago when Anya was born. I did not look for a job then, and I'm not looking for one now, partly because of the economy, but mostly because I want to stay home with my kids for the time being. They need it, and to be honest, I do too. But it's hard, really hard, to all but give up (or postpone, whichever it may be) a career track that defined so much of me for so long. I still play piano for things that come along locally, but that's not the same as really pursuing a collaborative piano career. I'm not looking for reassurance here; I know I've made the right decision for me and my family right now. I'm not second-guessing that choice.

But sometimes when I look in my closet and see that I have exactly ONE outfit appropriate for the kind of performances I do now, plus a formal dress I last wore six years ago (for one of my degree recitals) and a pile of cheap, stained clothes that are barely fit to wear in public, I feel a tug for that old life when what I did made me feel important.

is it so wrong?

When it's chilly outside (barely 60 degrees) and the kids have been driving me bananas all day whining instead of napping and we're all bored but too tired to go anywhere, and then they both fall asleep at 3:30 (which will make bedtime hell), and I'm in the middle of a slow career crisis, is it so wrong to treat myself to a 4:00 beer, some uninterrupted NPR time, and work on this?



(Sassymetrical, coming right along)

Is it so wrong? I sure hope not, 'cause I'm gonna do it. This mama needs a little down time.