There's a reason why this blog isn't called Crocheting with a Purpose.

Because apparently I *suck* at crocheting.

Back story - I saw a woman crocheting a star shaped baby blanket at the beach, and immediately became obsessed with making it. As I am wont to do.

I got onto Ravelry and Google and found two different free patterns: The Diva Crochets Starghan and Beth's Little Star Afghan. I cannot do either of them. I have started this thing a good 15 times (did I mention the obsession thing?) and I just can't do it. I think I'm doing it right through round 3, and then round 4 (doesn't matter which pattern), it turns out that I have done SOMETHING wrong and it's not coming together.

I just cast on for Beth's Little Star Afghan AGAIN, and I'm going to give it another try. *sigh* My poor BYOB is languishing, calling to me.

FO: Pinwheel Blanket

It's DONE! It took me a good 2+ hours just to bind off this bad boy, but it's done! Okay, I admit it, I was lazy and didn't do a great job of weaving in ends. When I say "didn't do a good job", what I really mean is "I didn't do it, I just tied knots and snipped them close." Don't tell, okay? I love this blanket! As you can see from the pictures, I haven't blocked it (yet), and I'm not decided if I'm going to, as I think it's going into rotation immediately. I realized that I can't find the other blanket I knit for DD (which is going to make me crazy until I do find it), and we're having weird, cool rainy weather. Besides, when I was taking pictures of her on it, she urped a bit on it, so I *think* that means she wants it. :)

Details

Pattern: Genia Plank's Pinwheel or Round Blanket (ravelry link here, you should check out some of the projects people have done, they're GORGEOUS!).
Needles: KnitPicks Options, size 8 for the blanket. size 10.5 for the bind-off. Various cord lengths.
Yarn: Bernat CottonTots. I really liked this yarn, actually. It wasn't too rough on the hands, and makes a nice, drapey fabric. I'll have to see how it washes and dries before I commit fully to it. I used .7 skein of the light pink, 1.6 skein of the lilac, 1.04 skein of the variegated, and .95 skein of the dark pink.

The pattern is either confusing or has a typo at the very beginning, where it jumps from Round 2 to Round 5. I chose to interpret that as you knit around for Rows 3 & 4, but I don't think it matters *all* that much. For the edging, I switched and did one round of knit with the dark pink. The next round I kfb every stitch to double my number of stitches, then did seed stitch, which makes a non-curling ruffle. I definitely made some mistakes, mainly I have a few spots where I forgot my YOs and then didn't notice on the knit round, but that's okay. I'm not thrilled with how the variegated pooled overall, but that's the fun of working with variegated yarns, right? And now some pictures!!

K1, P1

All increases are done. I finished with approximately 470 stitches. Ruffle color is attached, increases are done, and seed stitch is commenced. I figure I've got another 4-5 hours of work to do the 4-5 rows plus bind-off for the ruffle.

Since it's all squinched up on the needles, I also have no idea how it's really going to look. I hope it's cute!!

Pinwheel Progress

We're getting there! I did some knitting while we were in the Berkshires this weekend, and knit pretty much the whole way home (and it didn't make me want to vomit, hooray!). I've got just over 4 rows left of the body. I've decided to do a seed stitch ruffle (in for a penny, in for a pound, you know?) for the edging. From the comments I've gotten, I won't do the increases on the ruffle. It's going to be a heck of a lot of stitches, but I think it's going to look really cute, and since I sort doubt I'll make another one of these, I want to do it right!

Okay, WHAT was I thinking??

So, on my way to the grocery store, I just happened to stop in at my lovely local yarn shop. What's that you say? It's not actually on the way to the grocery store? In fact, it's a couple miles in an entirely different direction? Huh.

Anyway, so we stopped in, me and my many children. I needed some yarn to redo the ruffly hat since it's just too short. Probably by about 1/2 to 1 inch, which makes a difference in a baby hat. This shop carries the Tahki Cotton Classic that I so love for baby hats, so I got some. This ruffly version will be a pale pink with a deep purple ruffle. I eyed some other colors to make my non-traditional friend a non-traditional ruffly hat as well. Then the boys became enamored with some buttons, so I ended up getting yarn to make each one of them a hat and buttons to put their names on them. DS1 chose a pink hat with his name, plus train buttons; DS2 chose a green hat (of course), with a tractor button and his name. So yes, I just signed on to knit more hats. :) I also got some to redo the peapod hat.

*sigh* I really have a problem. I gotta reconnect with the pinwheel blanket to get that done.

FO: Top Down Ruffly Baby Hat

Okay, forgive the diaper background, I just wanted something less distracting than the random swirly of my ironing board. I'd love to be one of those people who takes really beautiful, artsy shots of my knitting, but (a) I really don't have the time and (b) I'm not that detail-oriented, really.

So, I finished something! This is a prototype for a pattern I'm writing (yikes, that sounds so official!), and I can see what I need to do differently next time.

This is a top-down baby hat with contrasting ruffle. I'll take a picture tomorrow of DD wearing it, but I wanted to at least post that WOW, I finished something! So, details.

Pattern: My Own
Needles: KnitPick Options, size 6, 40" cable for Magic Loop
Yarn: Takhi Cotton Classic, leftovers in my stash

Notes: The main thing I'd do differently next time is make the body longer. This is barely 5" (because I ran out of yarn!), and it needs to be about 1/4 to 1/2" longer. I would also make the ruffle a tad longer, just one or two rounds maybe, but a bit more. I did the last two rounds (pre-bind off) in seed stitch, and I might do the whole ruffle in seed stitch, or I might not do it in seed stitch at all, and block it. The picture above is post-blocking, and here's a shot pre-blocking.
This may actually be the very first thing I have blocked (not including the acrylic baby sweater before I knew that you can't actually block acrylic). I did a steam block by soaking a pillow case and wringing it out, and then putting the hat the way I wanted (I didn't actually pin it) and steaming the ruffle so it'll lay flat. I am hoping I didn't do TOO much, and hopefully it'll look cute on her.

Yes, I started yet another project.

Just a little one, this time. DD needs a hat. NEEDS. Well, maybe she doesn't need it, but I suddenly wanted to try and knit a baby hat top-down (no, I can't explain myself). So I threw aside the blanket (which is not going to the original recipient because her niece told me that she's "totally not into pink"), and thought I'd do a hat. I had some really pretty yarn that I thought would be great - nice and vibrant but pretty too. Except it turns out I only had enough to knit about 3 inches of the hat, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure babies' heads are longer than that. Even newborns. So I frogged that, but started on a hat (in PINK) for my little girl. I don't actually have enough to do the whole hat, so the bottom part will be lavender. Considering I dress her pretty much entirely in pink and purple, it should work. Can I still be considered a good feminist if I dress her in pink? :)

And I haven't forgotten poor BYOB to be finished as well.

This blog needs more pictures.

Sometimes I am not so smart.

So, yesterday, I was all like "Dude! I feel so much better! I'm gonna take the boys to the beach! And go grocery shopping! And eat a bunch because I'm hungry!" Then last night I was all "duuuuude....error." So today I took it really easy.

We had massive thunderstorms all day, so swimming lessons were canceled. The boys were so sad, we ended up playing for a bit at the beach until it started to storm again and then we left to go buy local, raw honey. I think DS1 is getting allergies and I want to try it on him (and me). So, there are these twins boys that DS1 has connected really nicely with, and as far as I can tell, their parents think I'm the Antichrist for some reason. I tried to suggest a play date to which I got some really weird response, and now they won't even really acknowledge my existence. Oh well, their loss, right? I'm wondering if the nose ring or tattoos put them off. Which would be amusing because I am so not threatening and so vanilla. Suburban mom! Minivan!

Anywhere, where was I? Oh yes, trying not to barf. I ended up getting more done on the Pinwheel Blanket, and I'm really rethinking the recipient because it's pretty...girly, and I'm not sure how much she'd appreciate the amount of work a handmade baby blanket actually is. Maybe I'll whip out a fruit hat for Saturday and find some cute outfit. I'm also at the point where the knitting is getting a tad tedious. Each row takes 10+ minutes now, and I've got quite a bit more to do. I just ordered some longer cords for my KnitPicks Options set, which can't come soon enough because it's really all bunched up on the 40".

I can't decide what sort of edge to do. To ruffle or not? Pros: it's adorable. Cons: It'll be somewhere around 900-1000 stitches for ONE ROW. Seed stitch? Ruffly seed stitch? If I don't ruffle but do a seed stitch, I can't figure out if I do the increases or not. I assume not, as that'd screw up the seed stitch but I don't know! Does leaving out the YO increases screw up the flatness? WHO CAN TELL ME THESE THINGS???

I also have two friends due in October. Since I was ordering cables from KnitPicks anyway, I ordered this pattern and the yarn (if memory serves, I ordered the yarn in Asparagus). I think that'll be for L's baby girl. I almost ordered this pattern but then realized it was knit on size TWO needles and came to my senses. I just don't have that kind of time. Damn but it's cute though. Now I need to figure out something for P's baby boy. Maybe some longies? To match this? Or maybe this? (Must. Stop. Cafe-Pressing. Must. Go. To. Bed.) These are cute, but $12.00 for the pattern is a lot. Oh and a blogger I read made this top and now I have to make it for DD.

Anyway, I also ordered some of this in Lost Lake (though I'm now doubting that choice) to do this pattern. I have this book out of the library right now. Yes, I have become someone who reads a book of lace patterns for fun. When I'll actually do this? I don't know, I really don't have the brain cells/time right now but I want to do a big lace project, just to prove to myself that I *can*. After I swore that I wasn't a lace knitter. Hah! I like the idea of a challenge, and I really don't enjoy colorwork, so lace it is! And then maybe I'll take the plunge and knit myself a sweater, eh? I am scared of projects where gague matters.

And then I had to order a new tapestry needle simply to get the free shipping.

Stomach Flu 1: Pinwheel Blanket 0

Well, not quite zero, but it's not going to get done for the party on Saturday. I had a baby shower to attend on Sunday, which took up most of the day, but got some knitting done. I woke up Monday feeling...off, shall we say, and that was *it* until about 4 this afternoon, when I started feeling better and my poor husband succumbed.

I'm at the point where each row is now taking quite a bit of time (300 stitches and increasing), so I just really don't think it's going to happen. Ah well, I'll keep going with my efforts and see how far I get!

Countdown to Baby Party - Day 7

Pattern: Pinwheel Blanket
Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 8 (I think)
Yarn: Bernat Cottontots (I'm doing/planning stripes in Very Berry, Pretty in Pink, and Lovely Lilac, and a Strawberry seed stitch ruffle).

The way I interpreted the pattern, I cast-on 5, knit 1 round, kfb in all sts on round 2, knit 3 rounds, then started the YOs on round 5. I've clearly screwed up a few times, but hey, it's handmade, right?

I don't particularly like the way the variegated yarn pooled at the center, so I'll be intersted to see what it does with much longer rows.

Geek that I am, I'm trying to remember different formulas related to circles (diameter, circumference, area).

I think there's really a snowball's chance in hell that I can finish in time, but I'm enjoying it. I really like the yarn.

It's funny, I feel like my struggles in life paralell my struggles in crafting. I get excited about a project, I love the planning and starting, but I do get bored (curse that ADD) and just want it to be done already. I'm working on just being present in the process, and enjoying where I am with it. That's why larger projects are a real struggle for me, a struggle not to just bag it. I used to think of myself as someone who never finished what I started, and knitting is one of the things I do that proves me wrong on that, and helps change how I think and feel about myself. (Finishing a Ph.D. went a long way to dispelling those thoughts and feelings too.)

You may say that I'm a dreamer...

and in this particular dream, I probably am the only one.

I am seeing an old friend next weekend, who's visiting from CA to show off her new baby. I just got it into my head to knit something. I also have a baby shower on Sunday and was toying with the idea of whipping out a little hat or something.

I am also the full-time caretaker for three small children, including one who insists on being strapped onto my body 90% of the time and when she's not on me, she's well, nursing.

Do I have time to do this? No. No, I don't. But I BY GOD am going to give it a try!!

Still here!

I'm still alive, just swamped by summer fun! The boys have been doing swim lessons at our local beach (less than a 1/2 mile from our house) and loving it! Well, DS2 took some bribing positive reinforcement to get into the water but once he was in, he did great! It definitely takes a lot of time though. It's good to get out of the house. I'm a better parent when I'm not at home. I worry a bit about having DD out in the hot morning so much, but I think she's fine. We've also been spending time with family, and yesterday we went blueberry picking! Today I need to bake something (after DH goes to the store for flour).

Knitting...ah yes, knitting. I'm still plugging away on BYOB. I'm in the openwork section, and it's going fine. I've managed not to screw it up (yet). My green stripy sock is languishing, which is terrible, because I'm only about 10 rounds away from turning the heel, and then it's just KNITTING. Oh well, I'm not wearing socks much right now, so maybe I'll be more motivated in the Fall.

I'm hoping to go to knitting at the library next Tuesday, but I'm getting my HAIR CUT (YAY!!!!) at 6:30, so I need to figure out the logistics of it. Maybe I can pump and DH can give DD a bottle, how cool would that be??

And, just because I can't resist, here's my baby!!

I am so weak.

(And not just because I just ate a large number of Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy mini-Chocolate Chip Cookies. I think they might have crack in them. Think of the appropriate number of cookies that one might eat before 10 am on a beautiful Friday morning, and then add, oh, 25 or so to that number, and you'll have the amount I just ate. And they were delicious, thanks.)

No, I am weak because yesterday I took the boys KIDS (I don't just have boys anymore, I have KIDS) to Michael's to get beads to make DH necklaces for Father's Day (which DS1 got so excited about, he had to give DH his "valentine's present" as soon as he got home last night). Our New Local Michael's (NLM) is HUGE, much bigger than our Old Local Michael's (OLM), and has, among other things, a very large jewelry making section. I somehow ended up with some things for making stitch markers, not that I need more, but whatever. And then we *somehow* managed to make our way into the yarn section. *innocent look* Somehow 4 balls of this managed to leap into my sleeping daughter's car seat (2 lime, 1 charcoal, 1 berry) and come home with us. What's a woman to do, but cast-on this? I'm actually envisioning it as a travel knitting bag, we'll see what happens though.

I gotta say, I really like the Cotton Ease. It's very soft, not splitty, and nice to work with. It reminds me of the GGH Samoa that I did the pea pod hat out of, but not quite as thick (I think, I may not be remembering correctly). I really liked that yarn too. As I've said before, I am not a yarn snob, and have no problem working with non-natural fibers, as long as they *feel* nice, you know? And this is machine washable and dryable. I'll probably be ordering some so I can get the colors I want.

I can't believe I'm knitting. That makes me very happy. I did find that I'm not (yet) able to knit and nurse DD at the same time (though I did manage to get a diaper on DS2 while nursing DD the other day, which was a multitasking high point for me).

Inspiration is percolating.

So, there's that sweater that I want to knit.

And then I was roaming around on elann.com and getting some inspiration.

Then I heard that the Summer Knitty was up. And that led me back to Blue Moon Fiber Arts, where I go periodically to drool, though I've yet to actually order anything from them. I will though. Rest assured.

And I always enjoy my romps through KnitPicks. I'm still trying to find THE right lace shawl pattern. There are just so many considerations and things to learn!

It's not like I really have the time (or brain power) right now to do anything complicated. I *must* finish the socks I've got going before I can start anything new. When those are done, I'll have NO projects on needles (a state that cannot continue) and then I'll pick something new.

Uh oh, crying baby, so much for thinking about knitting! And I really should get some sleep.

I want to knit this sweater!

Link here.
Isn't it pretty?
I've never done a sweater for myself because most of them involve things like actually doing a gauge swatch and seaming and whatnot, things I'm not that into. But I *love* this sweater!! It's going on my list.

Whoops! Sorry about the last post!

Well, I'm not sorry about the post, I just didn't mean to post such a downer and then disappear for a while.

Things are actually going pretty well. DD is not so yellow anymore. We'll see on Thursday how she's doing on the gaining weight thing. I know she's getting lots of food because she's nursing a lot and we had Poop-A-Thon 2008 this afternoon (good times!!). She also has a cold, poor bub. She's quite possibly the most wonderful baby ever, and she has this truly amazing characteristic that neither of the boys had: she lets you PUT HER DOWN. Now I just have to, well, do that. I love holding her, but man, my back is aching.

We've been on our own for about a week now, and it's actually going well. I can manage the kids, but not so much the house/cleaning/cooking part of it. Though, to be honest, that's never actually been my strength. I sort of wish I were really wealthy because then we'd hire someone to come and clean, and that would be really cool. Except that I'd still have to pick up all the crap that's lying around so someone COULD come and clean, wouldn't I?

Oh, did I mention that I'm now truly, 100% a suburban housewife? We now have (a) the house in the 'burbs, (b) the many, many children, (c) the minivan and as of today, (d) the stand-alone freezer in the basement! Can I just say that I lay awake last night thinking of what I'm going to fill it with, and it's not even ice cream! Whoa.

There was a neighborhood association party on Sunday and I saw two of the women from my knitting group there. :) It was really cool to actually have people that I sort of know to run in to, you know? And one of then gave me nine tomato plants, so that was even cooler. AND, my MIL found the green sock (it was tucked in with some sewing stuff), so that's a happy thing. So, at this point, I have the green stripy sock to do, and Falling Leaves #2 to start. I have so much great sock yarn, which I reacquainted myself with when I reorg'd my stash, but I fear that all I am capable off right now is stockinette. At least I'd have some pretty socks at the end, right?

The other day I had DD in her hat that I knit her, tucked into her carseat with her blanket that I knit her around her so all you could see was her (completely adorable) face, and my husband looked at her and said "Someone who knits loves this baby." So true.

AGAIN with the no knitting content.

DD is 9 days old. She is jaundiced, not gaining weight appropriately (she actually lost weight from two days ago), and had to be readmitted for a couple of days of baking under the lights. Our ped is making noises of concern - he's not freaking out, but we'll be in every day this weekend for weight checks, and rechecking her bilirubin, and I am just hoping to avoid rehospitalization (again).

She's an incredibly sweet baby, but I have to say, the transition to three kids (OH MY GOD, I HAVE THREE CHILDREN) has been a tad...rocky. DS2 is having a particularly hard time. He's incredibly sweet with her, but man oh man is he fragile. We're supposed to go to a birthday party tomorrow, I have yet to purchase the gifts (a double party), and I'm now running a fever too.

I don't think I'm drowning, yet, but I do think I need to just have a big fat cry, but I've got guests and no space in which to do it. I am well aware that a lot of this is just the post-partum hormone crash, and this too shall pass, but dude. I'd sort of forgotten how hard these first few weeks are.

And I can't find one of my sock projects and I'm freaking out that I lost it because I thought I took it to the hospital but it's not in that bag. I haven't actually been able to get it together to, you know, LOOK for it, which might help, so all I'm doing is feeling anxious.

Blah. Sorry for the downer post, it's really all okay.

FO: The Fruits of My Labors

Baby #3, hereafter to be known as DD. Born May 14 at 4:01 pm, 7 lbs 13 ozs., 21" long.

My heart is full.

Not knitting, but progress!!

My yarn/tools/knitting stuff organization (or lack thereof) has been making me crazy for, oh ages, and even after moving, it hadn't improved. I have many different bins, overflowing with random printouts of patterns, yarn, plastic baggies with stuff or leftover yarn in it...I've been looking for different things lately. I'd get a thought of "wait, didn't I have THAT yarn?" and my OCD wouldn't allow me to let it go, I *had* to search through everything and find whatever it was that had crossed my mind. My knitting needles were all over the place, and it was just annoying!

So, today, I pulled out all the various boxes and bins of stuff, and dumped them out and reorg'd! Now I have one big bin of kitchen cloth yarn and kid-related yarn, one big bin of other misc. yarn and left over yarn, two smaller bins of sock yarn (I had to admit that I'd gone beyond the one), a bin of tools, and a bin of random papers/books/patterns. My energy didn't extend to actually sorting those, but at least now they're all in one place. All my needles are together. I ripped out some lingering projects (the damn Berroco Boho scarf which had FALLEN OFF the needles because the yarn is so slick; the Jaywalkers (whoa, looks like it's no longer available on the web, that link is to the Ravelry pattern) that were just never gonna fit). I also have a basket of current stuff, and another bin of "next on the list" projects: a dishcloth (because I have such a ridiculous amount of kitchen cotton), a cable hat for DH, and a hat for the Froggie.

In other news, I've had the joy of (attempting) to teach a couple of folks to knit. One is the 6 year old daughter of a friend (my older son has the world's biggest crush on this wonderful little girl). I got some advice and gave it a try - she did great! She actually sat with me for a good 45 minutes, and seemed to get the knit stitch. We'll see if she sticks with it. Apparently at her school, once a week during recess there is a knitting club, and she's been wanting to go, but since she didn't know at all how to knit, she was too shy.

The other was even more fun, one of my dearest friends in the world (J) was on bedrest for a couple of weeks (knock wood that she stays pregnant a few more weeks), so I forced her to learn offered to teach her to knit. She seemed to really enjoy it, and has been knitting some wonderful swatches. When DS2 and I went to visit her yesterday, I showed up with a small bin of kitchen cotton (even though cotton is harder to work with, I think dishcloths are some good first projects), and she commented "That's a lot of yarn!" I started laughing and thought "You should see the rest of my stash" (which really isn't that big, compared to some!). I'm hoping she'll get addicted and then we can be knitting buddies as well as friends!

And in other OTHER news...we had an ultrasound on Thursday, and everything looks good (still no penis in evidence). I'm starting to dilate and efface, for whatever that's worth (something? nothing? who the hell knows). And, this came to live with us today:

Stepping into New Territory

In more ways than one.

In non-knitting life news, many good things have happened. We sold our condo, so we're now down to one mortgage and one HELOC, and hopefully by tomorrow the condo check will have cleared, so we'll only have one mortgage! Hooray! It's amazing, this has been one of those situations that I didn't even realize how stressful it was, until that stress was lifted. We've had both the euphoria and the post-euphoria crabbiness, so hopefully we'll head into more calm waters now. I also have filled (signed contracts and deposits) my son's coop nursery school classes for next year, which has also been a BIG THING hanging over me. Phew! He's got about 5 more weeks of school and then we're done with all the commuting into Cambridge. We also have about a month before #3 shows up, and we bought a minivan. Yikes.

In knitting news...I finished the Double Braided Cable Scarf. I want to write up the pattern and post it somewhere, in case anyone ever wants to do one! Okay, perhaps finished is the wrong term. I've completed the knitting. I have to weave in the end (not too many) and then...BLOCK IT. I have to confess, I have never blocked anything in my life. I've only knit kid's sweaters, and most of them out of acrylic (I know, the shame of it), which can't be blocked. This scarf, even with the garter stitch edge, is still really pulling in, and I think(?) blocking it would help. The issue is, because it's a new skill set for me, I'm scared to start. I need to do some reading and figure out what I need to do, and how to do it. More on that as I have information.

I told DH that the scarf was really for him, and he got very very happy about it. I'm planning some sort of hat to go with. I can't decide if I want to do a cable hat, even though the cables won't match, or just do a plain watch cap type thing for him. I could just ask him what he'd like, I suppose. (Note: he said "Cable that's different.") I had a nice pattern for the Irish Hiking Hat somewhere (still owe my BIL a remake of that too), so I could do that fairly quickly.

The exciting thing is that this gets me down to TWO projects on needles (plus the "coming home from the hospital" hat that I want to churn out for the Froggie). Both are socks. One is a very vanilla stockinette sock, toe up. I'm almost ready to turn the heel, which is very exciting. The other is Falling Leaves #2, which my son pulled the needle out of, so I need to just start it over.

I also think that nesting may be kicking in because I came very, very close to pulling ALL of my knitting stuff (which is waaaay disorganized) out of the closet and organizing it today. I'd love to do it, maybe next weekend, I won't have time until then.

All sorts of great stuff coming up. DS2 turns 3 (THREE! How did this happen??) on Wednesday. This weekend we're having our 2nd annual Mother's Day Brunch with some friends, out here at the house, so I assume Saturday will be spent cleaning. OH and picking up our new car!! The following weekend is DS2's party, with family and some friends, yay! Since I'll be 38 weeks pg (which happens to be when I actually delivered DS2), we're doing way simple: cake and ice cream cups. It looks like we'll be having either my mom or MIL with us from DS2's party until the birth. Given how much driving I have to do for DS1 right now (150 miles a week), I'm a tad nervous about being alone in the car with the kids, so I think we may call upon our support system to help us out. (I will admit that I'm hoping the Froggie shows up early.) So, all this means, probably not much time for knitting!