Ah! How weary is this workaday world...

Ok, three weeks since I posted and all I can think of is I have no finished objects to show and I have not followed through on plan A: to complete the projects on the list of UFOs and to do a sleeve for Kerry's sweater. I have, however, purchased some (eek pricey) yarn for a sweater for me, and some more Orsetto to make another white baby sweater - this time with trim in blues. I feel exactly how the Yarn Harlot must feel when she eyes her basket of overflowing projects and cannot remain true to any one of them... the very flimsy excuse of returning to school occurs to me, but it is not worthy of me to plead working full time. I made a committment to follow through, now let's see were I got to... Devan sweater, check. Lucy sweater, check. Pomatomus socks? Oh, look, second sock 3/4 of the way done! Yay!

Crazy scarf, check!! Wow, three out of four, so far. Purple multi-directional scarf? Hey, was that lightening? Did you hear that thunder? No? Hm, I could have sworn... Where were we? Oh yes, sleeve for sister's sweater. I'm sure that was lightening. It was hailing in Surrey, today, did you know?

Ahem. Did you ever see anything so cute as duck booties? How could I resist? I just received Zoë Mellor's Fifty Baby Booties to knit and it is full of too cute to resist booties.





And look, the back of the dark purple sweater is complete - only the front and two sleeves to go!





Now to quit messing about on the computer and get back to the needles, and maybe I'll have something to post about!

A room of one's own

Sneak peak at the completed Lucy!


During the 70's, in my idealistic youth, I subscribed to the feminist literary publication, A room of one's own. The title, I believe, came from Virginia Woolf's assertion that in order to write successfully, a woman needed a room of her own (and money - critical!). The review featured unknown authors - it gave women a venue for their writing which did not previously exist. I was reminded this morning of what I read during that era, and why I read it, during an interview I was listening to on CBC. Connie Watson, of The Current, was interviewing Katie Roiphe, Cathi Hanauer, and Leanne Delap on the topic of "mommy lit", which has evolved from the genre "chick lit". Roiphe is scathing in her assessment of this genre; she believes that the romanticization of the 'stay-at-home-mum' harbours a political agenda of a return to the values of the 50s, wherein women would be financially dependent, once again, upon their husbands. Hanauer was critical more of the quality of the writing than of the content of the genre, and Delap felt that the portrayals of the difficulties of parenthood were not overdrawn. Bear in mind, while reading my thoughts, that I have not actually read a novel of this genre.

I must say that my initial reaction to Roiphe's comments was anger and indignation. This was not due to the suggested political agenda, but because of the subtext of her arguments; that is, that for a woman to be of value, she must be employed outside the home. Recently, I have been reflecting on our society's values, and what the measure of success is. Most equate success with financial success, or fame. There is little room in this schema for a woman who chooses to stay at home with her children and participate fully in their childhood. One can argue, of course, that a life lived vicariously through one's children is the reflection of the children's success, rather than the parent's own success. However, I don't believe that. I believe that our children are a very precious resource, and we value far too little the caregivers that are raising them, be they mothers, fathers, or childcare workers. That being said, I have never had the financial independence to allow me to stay at home with my own child. I don't feel guilty for that; it was a financial neccessity. I also would have stayed home with him if it had been possible. But here's the rub. Those women who do have the financial independence to make the choice to stay home with their children almost all experience that financial independence at a cost, being financially dependent on a spouse. And yes, here we are, back at Roiphe's concern over the political agenda.

Once I had done my oh, so circular reasoning and concluded that Roiphe is right on target, I began to think about that romanticized vision, the Cinderella story, the Pretty Woman story. I have become increasingly concerned over the last few years about the number of young female colleagues who continue to embrace that vision in both subtle and blatant ways. Did the 70s actually happen? I sometimes find myself wondering. Maybe it's time to start raising a few consciousnesses again. Maybe it's time to start reading 'A Room of one's own' again.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled blog...

Here is the completed view of the Lucy sweater. The colours on this one are so vibrant! I chose some little iridescent buttons that pick up the pink beautifully. The finishing took longer than planned. I had some repairs to do once I discovered I had put the buttonhole band on the wrong side - see! I am prejudging that this should definitely be a girl sweater!!! I had also picked up too many stitches and the band went all wobbly. This was because though the tension on the machine was almost spot on, I had not actually knitted enough rows in the body of the sweater. It's all right, though, as I simply made the button bands a little smaller and it looks fine.



And here's a peek at what is on the needles right now. I am knitting an old pattern I have done before in cotton. The first time I did it, though, I used navy blue, hot pink, bright jade green and purple. This one, though the purple is very dark, seems somewhat bland in comparison. I don't think there is enough contrast in the colours to make it jump out at you. However, it is an easy knit and the colours work well enough together to make a nice looking sweater.

On the needles: Lucy

OK. Here's the thing. I love these two kits from Bees Knees Knits. I showed you the completed Devan sweater last post, and I really love the way it turned out. But here's me with this completion stress and there is that other sweater in sock gauge yarn and I have to go back to work in a week and... Besides, I have been wanted to try out my knitting machine. Well, it has been fun, but I have made tons of mistakes, and the machine has screwed up a few times too. There seems to be a disproportionate amount of time dedicated to correcting mistakes as opposed to the amount of time it takes to knit 60 rows. I suppose that is the price you have to pay.


In any case, each mistake I made has been a learning experience and I now understand my machine a lot better. I would still like to take some lessons to learn all the ins and outs of machine knitting, but I'm happy with the progress I have made so far. Increasing, decreasing, casting off. All are now under my belt. I was going to try to figure out how to do intarsia knitting for the back (there are two different colour blocks on the back), but when I saw how invisible a seam mattress stitch makes, I decided to knit the two back pieces separately and then stitch them together. I will put them back on the machine at the end to do the roll up hem in pink. Finishing by hand will take the same amount of time, but that's ok.



Completed so far: two fronts, one half of the back, and the other half mostly done still on the machine. The sleeves will be a bit trickier as I have to increase every four rows, but it is amazing that, even with all the mistakes, I should have completed all the pieces for this sweater in about 3 days!

Best mistake: After carefully removing a piece of knitting from the machine, pulling back a couple of rows to the mistake, and then painstakingly replacing each stitch on its needle, I realized I had the carriage on the wrong side of the knitting. Well, that's ok, I thought, there's no yarn in the carriage yet, so I will just slide the carriage to the other side and then add the yarn and carry on knitting. I moved the carriage over - and - all the knitting fell off the needles on to the floor!

Off the needles: Devan!

I don't know why, even when I have seen a sample of a sweater made up, or photos of the completed object, but I can never get the "finished picture" in my brain from looking at the different pieces. The finishing completely changes the look of any individual piece for me, moving it from two dimensions into three. I always experience a wonderment when the garment is complete, assembled and all the ends are worked in. (Even if I hide the ends from view, I get a different feeling from the garment - weird, I know). So, Saturday, I used the three needle bindoff to join the shoulders, then worked on the button band. I don't like picking up stitches, not because it is difficult or challenging, but because I don't feel I do a good job of it. This garment was a bit challenging on the first edge, because I couldn't get the number of stitches right. Next time I do this, I think I will do as I saw suggested somewhere; divide the edge up into even sections with strands of yarn, and calculate how many stitches need to go in each section. That way the distribution of stitches is even. I started to sew the seams, and though I used my usual backstitch for the sleeve to shoulder assembly, for the underarm and side seam I used mattress stitch as specified by the pattern. I had never tried it before, because I couldn't conceive of holding the two pieces together and stitching at the same time. (I have always used pins to hold the seams together.) In any case, I am very impressed with the way the seam turned out! Today I found some little abalone buttons that set off the colour really well, and attached them and the label Holli included in the kit. Voilà!

I include the back view because I really like the little contrast detail on the back. It is now blocking again, very slightly, to take the shape of the shoulders.

The Pomatomus sock is advancing slowly; I have about two inches done. I am in a conundrum, though. I realized, as I was doing this sock, that I had not knit two together through the back of loops for the first sock when I was decreasing. I like the way the sock looks, but I like the way it looks done correctly even more. What do I do? I am damn well not going to take the first sock apart and redo it. I ahave tried to do the second sock with the incorrect stitch, but it looks so much better the right way! I am tempted to do it correctly and see if anyone notices!!! However, I have put it down for the moment while I mull it over. I have purchased some new cotton to make another little baby sweater, and am tempted to cast that on while noone is looking...

Halcyon days

Cousins, aunts, and uncles came together on this unique Gulf island to reconnect and relax for the day. Oh, yes, and to eat. Food by the bushel was available - I know, as we were still eating leftovers for days! Some chatted on the porch, some beachcombed, others picked blackberries and wandered across the fields. Overall, though, it was a relaxing and fun-filled day.
Checking out old family photos in the album.
Serving liquid refreshment...
Waiting by the dock for the water taxi to take them home. Saying goodbye.
Dabbling feet in the water - what a great way to spend an August afternoon!

Once the majority of the guests had left via water taxi for Sidney or Ganges, sister Kerry, son Stewart and I stayed on for a few days. There's a beautiful little log cabin overlooking the bay where the dock is; cold running water, propane stove (coffee and tea in the morning!) and a kitchen fully stocked with dishes, pots, utensils, etc., were the luxuries of our visit. The outhouse - not so much - but we spent the majority of our time at the main house or helping on the farm, so that was a minor inconvenience!
And look! You can knit looking out over the incredibly beautiful view!

What is there to do on an island farm? Fill and transfer feed bags for the sheep. Check the water supply for the animals. Load lumber for transfer. Build a rope swing in the barn (should have taken a picture of that one!) Weed the vegetable garden. Feed the animals. Bring in the hay (a huge job that was completed before we arrived!). Actually, the work is never ending and our small contribution was but a drop in a vast bucket. Feeding the animals was Stewart's favourite thing. This is Bobby, one of two calves being hand fed.

My father's older sister, aunt Jean, is the reason my sister and I felt like this island was a home away from home when we were younger. We spent many a day visiting and helping on the farm during spring breaks and summer holidays.

Sheep! Yes, this island is a sheep farm! (OK, they raise cattle, too, but how many knitters are interested in cattle??) Apparently, there are two years worth of fleece in the barn because they have missed the shipment date to the Wool co-op back in Ontario. I am tempted to try my hand at spinning... Except there is already no room in my house - where would I possibly put a spinning wheel? I also tried to convince my cousins that they should try distributing their own hand spun wool - but that was met with subtle resistance. Could it possibly be that they already have enough to do on the farm? Could it have anything to do with the fact that washing and preparing the fleeces for spinning is such a labour intensive job? The saddest part of this story for me is that, even though hand dyed and hand spun wool demands such a lovely price in the wool shop, the sheep farmers see very little of that money. Understandably, the labour involved in prepping, dying and spinning is what drives the cost, but it seems a shame that the raw material is of so little value that two years' worth sitting in the barn makes no difference to the economy of the farm.

Finally, in knitting news: I have completed all the pieces for the little green sweater Devan. The final piece is now drying and I will piece it together and do the finishing once it is dry. I have started work on the second Pomatomus sock, but there is less than an inch on the needles. However! I have completed the crazy, mad katerpillar scarf. I have discovered that the extremely loose cast on, that I thought was not loose enough, was in fact too loose! I also had some difficulty with ensuring that each row had at least 10" left for the fringe when I got to the end of the row. This may have had something to do with the varying tension of the different weights of yarn. In any case, I have completed it and have given it to cousin Barbara. I am now waiting for a photo of her wearing this elegant scarf while out feeding the sheep...
Kerry and Barbara modeling the creation.

A treasure or two

©Betty Ruth Emmons

What a joy when your passions bring you into contact with new people who have similar interests! I met Y at Wool and Wicker, my LYS, where she works a couple of days a week. She is always so excited to see new projects and encouraging to knitters. When I joined the West Coast Knitters' Guild, I found she was also a member, and this week she showed us these stunningly beautiful dolls she had crafted. I love the knitted garments they are clothed in - in fact Mitocho Girl is knitting her own outfit as she sits! Ah, yes, Mitocho. Short for Mitochondria. Very small parts of our cell structure - have their own DNA. Meg battled for Charles Wallace's Mitchondria in Madeleine L'Engle's A wind in the door. Isn't that a fabulous reference for this whimsical pair? Y told me the materials these two are made of, but I forget the name of the substance. However, it will harden and they will be as strong as garden statues, able to withstand the weather. Thanks to Y for sharing her art.

Stewart and I are off to the Gulf Islands for a few days. Family reunion and then we will be staying on in the log cabin for a small holiday. No power, so no blogging until we get back...

Works in progress

OK, so technically, I still have five projects (oops, I mean six) here that are incomplete. But I can explain, really, I can. I'm actually only working on two, right now. So why are the others in the Works in Progress category? Well, because they are sort of started or partway done... Here, look. This lovely Devan sweater is by Vancouver designer Holli Yeoh. You should check out her website, www.beeskneesknits.ca. Cool sweaters for little kids. This has been my main project since the Quidditch sweater - actually, it was interrupted to knit the quidditch sweater! In any case, I met Holli at the Saxe Point knitout and fell in love with the little sweaters she had on display, and ordered two kits. They are easy in stockinet stitch, except the yarn used is sock yarn, so the gauge is very fine and takes quite a while to knit. The designs are really enhanced with Holli's wonderful use of colour and the self-patterning sock yarns. Devan is pictured here with one front, one sleeve and the back partially done. I am now working on the last piece before assembly, so I'm in the home stretch. Lucy, the second kit I ordered from Holli, is not technically on the needles yet. I have shown it here with the colours of yarn and the pattern on my knitting machine. As I was working on Devan, I thought this would be a perfect match to work on the machine. So I have swatched a bit and played with it a bit on the machine. I am not happy with it yet, but it is still a possiblity to do on the machine. The main concern I have is for trying to do the two colours on the back. My machine has the possibility to work with two colours at once, but they are all in fair isle-type patterns. I think I have an idea for how to do it, and will try it out when Devan is finished.

Ha! I showed you this before, on the scarf post! Yes, it is the other project that is technically "on the go" at the moment. I haven't worked on it a lot since starting Devan, but it is an easy knit to pick up and do a little bit on now and again. And here is another scarf that I tried to start... but am having a few technical difficulties. Cool kit, isn't it? I bought at Saxe Point knitout, as well, from a woman who runs the knitting shop on Quadra Island. Don't know if the shop is called Fun with Knits, or just the website, but anyway, this scarf kit was kind of funky and looked easy. It's just straight garter stitch, after all! What could be hard about that? Well, the problem is that you cast on lengthwise, v-e-r-y l-o-o-s-e-l-y, leaving about 10" at the beginning for the fringe, and supposedly having about 10" at the other end left over - well, even though I cast on as loosely as I could, I still have more than a yard left over at the end. Well, minor challenge. I am going to ask my mother, the queen of loose knitting, to try the cast on for me, then we'll see how it goes. Should be a one evening deal once the cast on is complete.

Here is a cool sock that I made for my niece, Taryn. It's the Pomatomus sock by Cookie A.; you can find the pattern on the Knitty.com site. I love the way the pattern is pointy and curvy at the same time, and the beautiful Fleece Artist sock wool in Pinata colourway really sets off the pattern well. The only thing I didn't like about this pattern is that it is, again, in twisted rib! Arrrrggghhh! This is a project on hiatus right now - I originally put it to the side because I wanted to make sure the first sock fit, and then I thought it would be better to wait to cast on the next sock until one of the other projects is finished. See? I really do like to work one thing at a time!

Last, but not least, a beautiful Norah Gaughan design from the Fall '91 Vogue Knitting, in Philosopher's Wool yarn. I am making this sweater for my sister's fiftieth birthday, started over a year ago. While the photo shows only the back as complete, I have now finished one sleeve, as well, so it is half done! (And we've still got two years before the 50th birthday!) Another project in hiatus for the moment; however, I was very disciplined and didn't start my knitting rampage earlier this year until I had completed the sleeve. I think once the other projects in this post are complete, I will do another sleeve before I tackle anything else... Wish me luck!