knitting kitchen

It was a quiet weekend. We had family over on Thursday for turkey, but the rest of the weekend we laid low. I love my alone time and after working in the den of humanity that is the pediatricians’ office, I don’t want to see one more person when I leave. ever. really.

Years ago, there was a James Bond marathon on Spike TV over Thanksgiving break. That began a holiday tradition that’s hard to break. We no longer have cable tv, but we have a dvd player and we know how to use it. By Sunday, we’d perfected our lounging technique to where the delicate balance of pajamas, leftovers, movies, and knitting made time stand still.

Alle with the needles

We actually did venture out on Saturday long enough to hit a yarn store, a couple antique stores, and a brew pub. The only thing missing was a book store.

Much of my knitting is holiday-related so I am not showing it here, but some of it isn’t. My friend Liz is having a baby on Olivia’s birthday, 12/10, so I’ve done some baby knitting for what will be her family of three children:

This sweater doesn’t have a printed pattern. I just wanted something simple for a baby of either sex. I used Berroco DK Comfort, a comletely synthetic yarn. I once knit a child’s sweater in Rowan Cork. The child wore it once and it was eaten by their dog. I don’t knit $80 wool sweaters for babies I haven’t spawned any more.  I liked the yarn, so much, in fact, that I went back to A Stitch in Time in Bethel to buy more, plus a book. The yarn is very soft and doesn’t have the weird feeling most synthetic yarns have, you know the feeling that makes your teeth hurt?  I put the buttons on as if it were a boy’s sweater, but I can change this if necessary. Besides, I have to fix the button placement. I was just trying to turn over a new leaf and actually weave in the ends and sew on the buttons of the sweaters I knit. I routinely ignore the sweaters on my projects page of Ravelry. Do I really need to be reminded that I never put buttons on a sweater I knit a year ago?

This is one of those sweaters. I actually wore it to work the last week, without the buttons (notice the button hole?!) because I needed a brown sweater. I wove in the ends before work.  This sweater, The Most Boring Sweater In The World was knit from a pattern that was even boxier and more boring than you can imagine (all that garter!). I ripped out the straight sleeves and reknit them from the armhole down, making them flair kimono style. I also added two-colored gussets under each arm, going down to the hem so the shape would be a little less rectangular and have more “swing”.  Whatever. It’s a bathrobe I can wear to work. That’s the point.

For baby-to-be’s older siblings (they are both under 2 1/2 I think) I made matching hats.  The pattern is Cam by Berroco and they are knit in Comfort DK.

During the weekend of aggressive relaxation, two things routinely made my smile (besides pie). One was my stitch markers from Wool and Sheep. I usually make my own. No need to buy stitch markers, but these just made me smile every time I see them. Is there a better reason to buy stitch markers?  And the row counter?! I have been saying for years, who could ever need that thing when you have a pen and piece of paper in your knitting bag? Now I know the answer: I do. I sat on the couch like the mentally challenged person I can be, with the row counter hanging from my neck. Really. Knit a row, push a button. I think I need to get the label maker out and adhere a sticker to it which reads: Hello my name is Jennifer. If found please return me to…

If I make a neclace for my dvd remote, I may never have to think again.

What I wanted was a headband. So I graphed out some llamas and grabbed some Cascade 220 and knit away. I lined my work with coordinating Tahki Cotton Classic. The only problem is that the piece measures 4.74″ top to bottom. The Nagano headband measures 3″ top to bottom. The extra height transformed my headband into a cowl.  It’s not itchy though.

I’m going to reknit this, omitting the borders and reversing it so the heart is between the llamas heads rather than appearing to hover between their posteriors.

I’ve been listening to The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo and I can’t stop. I listened while I knit. I listened while I shopped for Thanksgiving. I’m only through the first half of the book, but I’m completely immersed in the story. The narrator is Simon Vance who narrated all of the James Bond books by Ian Flemming. Mark and I listened to those last year while sitting in front of the fire in the library at night. Just hearing Simon Vance’s voice puts me in a good mood.

We’re continuing the holiday tradition we started last year. Everything we give as a gift, we make ourselves. I’ve been busy knitting away, but you won’t be seeing most of that for a while. I did have the idea the other day that I’d like a knitted headband. I think there are times when I want my ears to be warm but I don’t want to be burdened by a hat which has to come on and off. Bea Ellis has some beautiful headband kits and I like the idea that they are lined in cotton. I will probably order one of her hat kits soon, but in the meantime, I went shopping in my own home.

I found one of my old Dale Olympic books (1998) and a bunch of Heilo. The Nagano Headband lured me away from my sweater fever for two entire episodes of Brideshead Revisited (how do you kick off the Winter season in your home?).

Nagano is lined in wool and that is an itchy proposition. So traded out the Heilo for Cotton Classic (also in my stash). Olivia gratefully modeled.

I’ve knit 2.5 sweaters in 2 weeks. I am not putting any of the sweaters together yet however. My plan is to knit them all, block them all, and then line up a movie marathon for finishing day. The good news is, my house is so filled with yarn and knitted objects that a few more pieces of knitting can go completely unnoticed.

We’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner here so I’ve got some prep ahead of me (Kids! Stash this basket of yarn in your closet, stat!) I’d better take a break to go buy a turkey and 7 pounds of butter.

My daughter Olivia wondered why I never made felt. I told her I’ve felted things (bags, mittens, the usual). She said she meant felt fabric that you sew without ever having knitted it.

I had some time today so I thought I’d try. Here’s my first attempt.

 u

I’m afraid it looks like some scary sci-fi thing, but I’ll turn it into to something arty, you know I will.

I also made another block print.

The subject matter was chosen as an homage to my daughters’ virutal band, Llamas Go Golfing.

The first project of the day was in celebration of fall.

I copied this tea cozy as best I could from here.  I didn’t have the pattern Christi used for the leaf and vine, so I made it up.  I do think hers is much prettier, but she didn’t use Red Heart Super Saver.  I think knitting this up in anything more spectacular than Red Heart moves it out of kitsch and into Dada. I’m not sure it’s safe to have Dada in the kitchen.

After so much fun on a Saturday, I can’t wait to see what Sunday holds.

So I watched House and finished a sock. I also worked on my Road Not Taken Scarf from A Fine Fleece (Berocco Alpaca fine)

my Joel’s Bison Lace Scarf (which is not for anyone named Joel, nor is it made of Bison. It is lace, however).

cashllama from Rhinebeck

And then I made this.

Years ago, I used to do block prints for a poetry magazine in college, but I haven’t done any since. When Lois, Evan, and I were in Great Barrington, MA last week, I picked up a couple of blocks and some new ink at an art store there. Now that I’ve gotten an easy print out of the way, I think I’d like to do a few others. Only one bandaid and the last 3 episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Season 3, were required for the completion of this block and prints.