Let Us Start as We Mean to Go On (NYR)

Today is the day we collectively resolve to be better: to be fitter and stronger, more organised and thriftier, to spend time doing things that will please us years for years instead of the things that will please us from moments. These and so many other resolutions surround us and, while I think it's good to feel renewed vim and vigor, optimism all too often covers delusion and flows to disillusion and disappointment. Thus I remind myself that life is about striving, about trying and failing and trying again, and not just deciding things will be different and expecting them to change magically. Seanan McGuire suggested a resolution to wake up each morning (always a good place to start) and think "I will be kind today", to everyone friends and strangers alike and especially ourselves.

For myself, I have started the year as I mean to go on, with laundry being washed, folded and put away* and the upstairs picked up and hoovered**. Normally I'd want to begin the year with a clean house but I think the act of cleaning is, for me, a more suitable "start the way you mean to go one" than sitting around enjoying the fruits of one's labours: at that, I am adept. So my goal is, not to have a clean house, a goal which can be achieved fleetingly if at all, but rather to clean my house, to put in effort at least weekly that entropy be kept at bay, chaos not overwhelm.

With my crafts I resolve to adopt a "project in, project out" policy. If I complete a project I may acquire yarn for a new one, though obviously picking something from my stash would be best. This does leave room for me to knit a bunch of little toys and reward myself for each with a sweater-quantity of yarn but I think I know myself well enough that that won't happen***. This also goes for sewing/fabric and cross-stitching****.  I am going to winnow my queue to projects for which I already have yarn - if another project is meant to be I will be able to find the pattern again - though queuing multiple project ideas for the same yarn is allowed if I've not yet settled on one. I will try not to buy patterns until I am ready to knit them.

Most importantly, I seek to spend more of my time "actively present" with Little Djinn, to offer my attention unstintingly when she needs it. There are things I need to accomplish but keeping up with social media isn't one of them. She'll need me like this so briefly.

For these things, towards these ideals, I strive.

*in progress

**the two are connected, laundry and hoovering; I did the downstairs on Monday

***more than once. Or twice, you know, whatever.

****progress was made but neither project completed

New Year's Resolutions

Last year, I set for myself two goals: acquire more sock construction techniques and knit two (adult) sweaters. Then, as is often the case, life got in the way. I did fairly well on the socks, trying out several different heel and toe techniques, of which the most recent was short-row heel and toe for a pair of baby socks that will sadly be frogged as I ran out of yarn. Oops. My favourite techniques are most likely the Dutch or square heel and Kitchener stitching a wedge toe. That said, I like toe-up socks best.

I did less well on the sweater front, at least as far as adult sweaters go. My husband's sweater is maybe 70% finished - I've knit the body up to the arms and am working on the sleeves. I bought my husband a pullover for Christmas. My own jumper got exactly nowhere for obvious reasons. I'll take measurements again some point in the future, at least three months post-partum. As far as baby sweaters go I knit 4.5 sweaters, one of which was a pattern I'd done before (teal). Most were knit top down in one piece, one was knit flat in one piece and then seamed up the sides and under the arms (green). As baby sweaters, especially for a theoretical baby, aren't expected to fit the same way adult sweaters need to, I don't count them for my NYR.

I have 22 finished projects for 2012, 4 still in progress, 1 frogged, and 2 hibernating. Oddly, both of the hibernating ones use the same yarn. Most types of projects goes to cowls of which I knit 9 (three using the same pattern) thanks almost entirely to the Great Cowl KAL last February and March. Second most projects was socks, with 5 finished in 2012 (two started in 2011) and another two on the needles. One pair is maybe an hour's work from being finished so I may make it to 6 finished pairs of socks yet.

I am not setting any resolutions for next year although I suppose "finish the things I currently have on needles plus the nursing cardigan" count as goals. That would be 5 projects: husband sweater (70% finished), socks for my mother (almost done with first one), baby blanket/shawl for Little Djinn and the Wishbone socks for me that I mentioned were close to finished, and the just mentioned cardigan for nursing. They're all also things I'd like to have before Little Djinn arrives in 3 maybe three weeks which no doubt explains why I started a new cross-stitch project today.

Actual Knitting Content

I was finally feeling well and inspired enough following my 20 week scan (ironically the worst day of my cold which continues to linger) to knit again, casting on and finishing a little baby sweater in a week. I say "finishing" but it is still waiting for the perfect buttons and an I-cord button-hole band to be attached once they're procured. I have my eye on some adorable ones but need to wait until I get paid later this week to acquire them. Decent pictures will have to wait until there's a nice sunny day: as you can see, my current attempts are all dark.

The pattern is Garter Yoke Baby Cardi by Jennifer Hoel and I knit it with one skein of Ripples Crafts Sportweight in "Red, Red Wine". Not the most gender-neutral colour in the world, but I love that maroony-purple. Chris wants me to knit baby sweaters in mustard and moss but they're not colours I enjoy looking at. I highly recommend both the pattern and the yarn as they were a delight to work with.

Having started and finished an entirely new project, I decided I should really finish some of my languishing projects, if for no other reason than it shouldn't take long and I was out of project bags. First up were my Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus (daffodil) socks from The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinate by Hunter Hammersen, knit in Old Maiden Aunt's Superwashed BFL colourway Emerald City. Again, a delightful pattern and a lovely yarn which together created a fairly eye-popping pair of socks. They were supposed to be a pair of spring/early summer socks as I started them back in March as soon as the e-book came out and I acquired appropriately coloured yarn but I am enamoured of them enough to wear them as often as they're clean even though I'm otherwise feeling very autumnal.

My current project resurrected from the bottom of the of the UnFinished Object (UFO) pile was Royal Blue Zum Dirndle socks I cast on a year ago. They're a Yarnissima pattern being knit with Wollmeise Twin 80/20 (no link as the page is all flash and in German). I ran into problems when my yarn cakes, wound without the assistance of a swift or ball-winder, started getting tangled and then I realized I didn't have nearly enough yarn and wouldn't be able to find more from the same dye-lot and I couldn't bring myself to work on them. I've since made my peace with having crew socks, not knee-highs and they're growing again.

I went to the knitting night* at Eden Court, my local performing arts center (Tuesdays, in the cafe) last week as it was also Chris' monthly Web Developers group meeting (Normally somewhere in the Bishops Palace but that night in the Green Room). It was a small gathering, only five other people while I was there, which was actually really nice because we were all able to participate in the same discussion and I felt very welcome and included. My enjoyment of previous knitting nights I've attended has largely depended upon whom I found myself sat next to and the accessability and inclusiveness of their conversations. There have been nights when I've been sat between two conversational groups, part of neither, and those aren't much fun. For mindless, conversational knitting I chose Husband Pullover from Interweave Knits Holiday 2009 issue, knit in Jamieson & Smith Shetland Aran in a mossy green. We're starting to have temperatures where Chris could actually use such a warm jumper. I'm not overly enamoured of all the garter stitch but I'm almost ready to split for the front and back, at which point it should be interesting again.

Chris' sweater is one of my New Year's Resolution knits (knit a sweater) and that my resolution to do so for myself is postponed owing to my rapidly expanding waistline. But I've got my eye on some interestingly constructed socks to continue the other half of my resolution. Speaking of my rapidly increasing waistline, because there's been interest expressed else-net, here's me at 23 weeks:

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* I say knitting but only two of us were: one woman was using a sock "machine" and I use the term loosely, and another two were cross-stitching

FO: Knotty Honeymoon Socks

Back in December I announced that my New Year's Resolutions would include learning new sock techniques. Yarn Harlot keeps pointing out that socks are a small canvas on which to practice (or show off) knitting techniques. Don't have time to commit to a fair isle sweater? Knit a pair of stranded socks! Want to play around with cables? We have sock patterns for that, too! But I specifically wanted to concentrate on the different ways of constructing socks: casting on, turning the heel, binding off. For my first socks I selected Nancy Bush's Knot Socks from Ann Budd's Sock Knitting Master Class and took them with me as my Honeymoon Knitting Project*.

The Knot Socks called for three techniques I'd not tried before: Double Start CO, Dutch or Square Heel, and Three Point Toe. I really like the Double Start CO. It creates a slightly decorative edge and the stitches cast on in pairs making it really easy to count and make sure one has the correct number of stitches before joining in the round. I absolutely love the Square Heel. The slip stitch "ribbing" extends through the short rows for turning the heel and offers a little extra padding and extra reinforcement to the heels. Cute and practical! I am less enamoured of the Three Point Toe. I knit a little long in the pattern so, rather than rip back, I increased the rate of decrease stitches and the three points come together under my toes. It's not uncomfortable, but I'm not aesthetically pleased. I'll try it again, starting the decreases when I'm supposed to, and see if I feel any more warmly toward it, but I predict in the future, should a pattern call for a Three Point Toe that I will be substituting a different one.

As for the cabled "knot" pattern, I'm not 100% satisfied. I felt like the cables were "cheating" and that a double-sided cable would have created the same effect but more in keeping with the illusion of plaiting four individual strands together. I'm sorry I can't explain it better than that. I didn't want to play around with the cables in the middle of knitting a pair of socks, but should I make these again, or knit something similar, I'll sort it out to my satisfaction.

I was also less than completely enthusiastic about the pattern being isolated on the front with the ribbing on the back of the leg. In a perfect work the knots could have been worked all the way around and then flown smoothly into the slip-stitch heel. I don't know how that would actually work with the heel, but my inner perfectionist wanted it. At the very least, I would've preferred that the extant ribbing flowed into the slip stitch heel.

These are not intended as criticisms of the designer or the pattern. I enjoyed knitting my socks and I enjoy wearing them (they're lilac btw, not the blue pictured though I like the blue more than the actual colour). I'm sorting my feelings out so that I know what I like, what does or doesn't feel "right" about a given design or construction. I prefer all-over designs; I prefer heels that flow from the pattern. I prefer a more complicated cable that follows rules I invented in my head to an easier to describe one that gives identical results. That leads me to my only deliberate modification: I mirrored the cables on the second sock to create a symmetrical pair.

~ * ~ * My husband talked me down to packing three pairs of socks to take on our honeymoon. I got through one Knot Sock and started the second. I consistently over-pack knitting projects.

Sweaters Intimidate Me

My miss-givings about knitting a sweater are less about the technical construction (though the idea of having to do the maths and worry about fit do intimidate me) than the fear that after all that time and effort* it won't fit or, whether it fits or not, it won't be flattering. Add to that a lifetime's desire to be thinner and fear of getting rotund-er and knitting a sweater seems destine to be a source of regret.

One of my goals in life, not a New Year's Resolution, is to love myself for who I am rather than holding out for a better version of me, one more worthy of love. Assuming there is a static goal-line one can cross and believe that now, finally, now one is worthy of love and happiness and acceptance (both observational and personal experience inclines me to think there is not), even if such a prize were achievable, I personally respond very badly to such negative incentives. I get very stubborn when told I can't or shouldn't do things. I'm sure you're all shocked to hear I can be so contrary, but I really dig my heels in and become "[as biddable] as any mule in Christian-dome".

My weight has, without particular effort on my part, been stable these past six weeks. That's not a considerable length of time, but it does seem to indicate that this is a weight my body is comfortable with and thus a shape I'm willing to throw time and effort at. I always prefer to wear quality clothing and shapes that flatter, but it's hard to justify investing in a wardrobe rather when one doesn't know if one will continue to lose or start to regain**.

But even if my shape changes, I can't keep waiting for tomorrow. This is the year I start knitting sweaters and if they don't fit in a year or five years, well I'll knit more sweaters. And I'll be a better sweater knitter in a year and I'll keep this sweater for when I pass through this weight again***.

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* the cost of the yarn, aside from the initial investment, doesn't bother me as a bad sweater could always be frogged and the yarn repurposed.

** for the curious I am neither at my lowest nor my heaviest, but after gaining 2lbs/1kilo for the last five months this six week platform seems significant.

*** I tend not to follow trends, preferring a 1940s aesthetic, so I'm not worried about styles becoming unfashionable.

NYR: Pattern Selection

Having resolved to knit two sweaters (one for me, one for DH) and add to my sock repertoire, I have spent a fair amount of time reading my sock and sweater books, flipping through magazines, and, most of all, creating filter after filter in Ravelry. Patterns were matched to yarns, measurements and meterages were determined, yarns were selected and discarded based on price, reviews, colours and finally availability. This brings me to a tangent:

On the whole, having an online store reject attempts to add quantities of yarn not actually in possession of the shop is a good thing. It would, however, be better if stock quantities could be determined prior to trying to add them to my "basket". As opposed to manually adding each colour I like only to determine, time and again, they don't have the requisite quantities. In half a dozen colours, plus a few I didn't really like that much anyway. Had that effort resulted in purchasing yarn my irritation would have been tempered by the joyful anticipation of nice, affordable yarn. As it is, I'm just irritated.

But I have selected my patterns and my yarns: for my sweater I'm trying February Fitted Pullover by Amy Herzog. Even as a non-knitter of sweaters, her name had been increasingly familiar with very positive associations. She has a few designs that don't interest me, but when I read the descriptions I found they weren't knit with me in mind (sweaters for the bottom-heavy, rather than my very full hour-glass). It's a nice that she and I agree on styles both for and not for my figure. I ultimately decided against a sweater from Little Red in the City as they are none of them quite what I want for my first sweater. Ysolda's day will come.

For my DH I picked Terry's Pullover by Carol Fuller from Interweave Knit's Holiday Gifts 2009. I found it in my Ravelry filtering, recognized it as the one Socktopus just knit for her husband, and it was already high in my Ravelry queue - despite going through yesterday and significantly reducing the number of items in said queue. My husband has a generously sized nose and the shawl collar should allow easy clearance for pulling it on and off.

For both sweaters I ordered Jamieson & Smith's Shetland Aran, in a tealy-blue for me and a dark sage green for DH. I used their Shetland Supreme for my Sheep Heid Tam so it's a brand with which I am familiar and I like the idea of knitting with affordable wool from local(ish) sheep (given that my efforts for even more affordably priced Knit Picks yarn from the mothership were for naught). Now it's just the joyous anticipation of wool and the finishing the projects in progress so I can start my sweaters.

Except it's the Thursday night between Christmas and the New Year so there's a very real chance that J&S are closed for the holidays. Even if they are open, I don't think they can get my order put together, packed up, and ready to go out in time for Friday's last collection given that the Shetland Islands aren't exactly a renowned transportation hub. Saturday is Hogmanay, New Year's Eve, traditionally a bigger deal than Christmas*, and New Year's day falls on a Sunday which means the British bank holiday is observed on Tuesday - 2 January, Monday, is a Scottish bank holiday. So, assuming J&S is open tomorrow and they can process my order before final collection, the absolute earliest I can expect my happy parcel is Thursday the 5th. Did I mention we're leaving for our honeymoon on the 8th?

Fortunately, I have the yarn for my next sock project: Knot Socks by Nancy Bush from Sock Knitting Master Class (see, a pattern from one of my new books!) using some purple Araucania Ranco that I purchased for myself when getting the replacement yarn for to knit replacement Brainless socks for my DH who accidentally felted the first pair. The pattern is cuff-down with a cast-on (double start), heel turn (square), and toe (star) I've not tried before.

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* Christmas was actually banned in Scotland for almost 400 years, until the 1950s, because it was considered a "papist" holiday. Presbyterians really don't like papists.