Good news, bad news.

OK, both parts of this little project are complete, the yellow lemon stain is out of the body of the sweater and the whole thing looks very sweet. What could go wrong? Well, I didn't follow the advice of several very intelligent friends - I left the buttons on the sweater while I was soaking it in Amaze to clear off the yellow tinge. Of course, the lovely pink highlighter colour washed completely off the pink buttons, and I am left with white. I am debating whether to take the buttons off, recolour them, and then spray them with a plastic coating, or to leave them on the sweater in white. They don't look bad as white, but I just like the way the pink buttons looked on it.

I struggled with the bonnet. The pattern had a square-type back to the crown - you knit like a upside down T shape, then seam the two edges to the sides of the bonnet. That's fine, but when I put the four rows of garter stitch around the bottom, the neck edge looked too big to me. I decided to try the crown as many of the old style patterns are written - with a series of decreases across the back of the head to end with a few stitches that are drawn together. I am very happy with the result, and I love the brainstorm I had to place a ribbon rose on top of the ribbon I used for the bonnet ties. It covers up the stitching and looks very nice as an accent. I love finished objects! It gives such a sense of accomplishment.

White sweaters are a headache

I love white sweaters. I hate white sweaters. I love white sweaters. I hate white sweaters... Little baby sweaters in white are so lovely. They are so clean and fresh for a new baby - except when they get dirty!!! Yikes. This sweater was going along swimmingly and at last post, I showed it wet and blocking on my ironing board. Unfortunately, I must have blocked one too many times on my ironing board, because when I got up the following morning to check the sweater, it was very definitely dry - and covered with rust stains. I think the rust is seeping up through the iron pad and into the wet fabric. I went on to the internet to try and find a cure for rust stains, and it was very easy - use lemon juice to soak the stain and then launder. I did so, and the sweater came up beautifully clean and fresh - until I finished the sleeves and put them against the sweater. The body of the sweater has turned a yellowish tinge from the lemon juice. What a headache. So now the options are to lemon juice stain the sleeves and border or to try to soak it in a mild bleach solution. But I've already got the pink flowers on - so it would have to be a bleach for unbleachables. Any suggestions are welcome.



Once I got the sweater assembled, I went to choose buttons. There were three possibilities - none of them exactly right. There were some little pink ones that were too shiny, some round ball-shaped pearl white ones, and some little translucent, matte finished white ones. I liked the matte finish of the translucent ones, but I wanted pale pink. So, I bought them, brought them home and coloured them with a pink highlighter. I am really pleased with the effect - and hope that the pink doesn't run in the wash!!! Actually, I don't think it will, because I tested them by running them through some water. I've got some pink ribbon for the bonnet - but the bonnet has yet to be cast on.



Stewart's ribbed sweater is making slow progress. The back is done, and the sleeves are half done. This sweater is really oversized, however I should have read the instructions more carefully, as the yarn used in the pattern has a shrinkage factor - which was built into the measurements. I am thinking I will cut the sleeves down a bit, so that he can actually wear the sweater this year - but not too much because it will be great to have a sweater to last him for a while.

Baby sweaters are so fast

that I didn't even see this one coming! How could I have three projects started and then cast on this one, I don't know. Anyway, I cast on this lovely little white sweater Monday night, and since the back and fronts are knit together, it is more than halfway done. I has little pink ribbon roses to be attached in the centre of the 'v's, and the finished effect will be very delicate and sweet. Two sleeves and a bonnet to go - should be finished soon as I am on Spring Break.

I haven't neglected the other projects, though. Well, one other project shows progress anyway. Stewart's green ribbed sweater now has a VERY large back. This is an oversized pattern, but I think this sweater will fit him when he is 16! I love the way it feels and hangs. He is liking it, too.



We have just come home from a trip to Victoria to visit Grandma, and I managed to convince her that she was knitting too many socks. She was coerced into knitting the lovely little bumble bee bootees that I had purchased the yarn for. These are for her great grandson, Sweet Baby James. I knitted the edge around the ankle, but that is all I can lay claim to in this project. The colour of the yellow in these bootees is much brighter than shown in the image. It is almost an orange - very vibrant with the black. Mom found it very hard to see the stitches in the black yarn, much as Holli mentioned in a recent post...

So, sleeves await me. White baby sweater sleeves and green ribbed sweater sleeves. I like sleeves. They go faster than backs. :)

Spring fever

That has to be it. Otherwise, how can I explain three new projects that just happened? And yarn for a fourth? Yikes. Take a look at my backyard leaves scarf. It is almost halfway done. For each half, you knit eleven repeats and I have nine repeats done. Yahoo. the colour in this photo is off. I took the shot without flash so as to be able to see the stitch definition, and the colour came out much too blue. The actual colour is closer to a dark Kelly green. I don't like how heavy this yarn is. I would definitely choose a lighter weight yarn if I were to knit this again. A yarn like, for example... this stunning Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool that I purchased to make a ribbed sweater for Stewart. I love the feel and the drape of this yarn. It is linen-like and yet soft. Stewart chose the colour himself, so I hope he will like the end product.



Then, I had this Goldielocks yarn from Fleece artist. It is a lace weight, and I thought I would try out some lace patterns and make a shawl with it. I found, however, that the locks on the yarn make it difficult to see the pattern in the knitting, so in the end, have decided to simply knit the garter stitch shawl included in the ball band. It is knitted on 6mm needles, so the overall effect will be lacy and light anyway.

Green for spring. Nice, n'est-ce pas? Ok, Ok, so I also purchased some baby Bamboo from Sirdar to make the lovely little baby cardigan in Vogue Knitting (Spring 2007?). Yes, I have my work cut out for me for the spring.

Curious Oliphaunt

Stewart loves his new Oliphaunt. Just finished, we thought he looked like he was asking a question when he has his head tilted to the side a little bit, so Stewart decided he would be "curious Oliphaunt". I am particularly happy with his eyes. I found some of the black Zephyr left over from the Kitri socks, and lo and behold, there were still some beads strung on it! So I decided to try and integrate a bead for each eye, and make his eyes look a bit more interesting. While this was a fairly easy knit, I am still not crazy about knitting stuffed animals. I don't like the finishing, trying to hide ends inside a body and not sure if the ends will stay afixed. I did change the ears for this guy - several people had done knitted ears rather than the crocheted ears called for in the pattern. While I can crochet, I just didn't like the way the ears were turning out when I crocheted. I thought the knitted ears looked better. With his big floppy ears, he is definitely an African elephant!





Moving along to my next project, I decided to cast on Annie Modesitt's Backyard Leaves scarf instead of beginning the grey sweater for me. Numerous reasons for this, but I am not unhappy to put the sweater on hold for a bit. The backyard leaves pattern is beautiful and fairly easy to follow, except you have to be right on top of the pattern all the time. No watching TV and knitting on this one. This will probably become less critical as I knit a few repeats and get the pattern down pat. Anyway, love the pattern and the colour of the yarn. I'm thinking ahead to spring...

St Valentine's Day

I have never been too keen on the idea of knitting stuffed toys, but when Stewart asked me to make him this cute little elephant it was hard to say no. The designer created this elephant in striped colours, but Stewart decided on this bright variegated yarn. It needs ears, a tail and embroidered eyes, but the bulk of the work is done and Stewart likes the way he looks so far. Thanks, Julie, for showing us your Oliphaunt and inspiring me to create one for my boy. A great way to celebrate Valentine's Day - making something that he will love!

This is a good point to mention how much I am enjoying Ravelry. I found Julie and her Oliphaunt on Ravelry and I am spending time (that could probably be better spent knitting - or - perish the thought - doing housework) looking at peoples' projects and oohing and aahing over the beautiful yarns that are available. A great time waster...

Geometry and colour

I always did love geometry. However, I am reminded once again that I don't like colourwork (either Fair Isle or intarsia). I know, I know, you are supposed to turn the needle carefully back and forth as you work, and one row you cross the yarns and the next row you untangle them. That's fine in principle, but I always end up with a tangle to sort out anyway. I hate tangled yarn. So this project kept being put back in the basket while I got on with other things. Result was that I lost my tension control (or switched needles - who knows?) and the front and back tensions don't match. It has reiterated once again for me that I need to be a one project knitter. Well, this little sweater is not my best work. I should probably have taken the thing apart early on and started again, but as it was not a project I was enjoying too much, I couldn't face doing it a second time. The result is not too bad, considering that I was so frustrated a few times. The bonus is that my backlog is now clear (except for the bark pattern sweater), so I can begin a new project. Wish me luck!