Cheeky girl

The pattern for the Cheeky pullover is now written up, test knit and available!

This easy rollneck pullover is worked from the bottom up with raglan sleeves. Sizes include 12 months [18 months, 2 years, 4 years, 6 years, 8 years]. Pattern as written is one color in stockinette, but it can easily be done in stripes or with a colorwork pattern.

Pattern calls for approximately 315-850 yds of DK weight yarn. I did mine in Stylecraft Life DK, an acrylic-wool blend, but the testers used Cascade 220, Sidar Click DK, Berroco Comfort DK and Dashing Dachs superwash DK.

Many thanks to FeistyMuse, bellarose4, monatraix and rocksteady from the Ravelry Free Pattern Testers group for their quick test knitting and helpful suggestions. And to Boo for being such a good sport while I shot a ton of pictures!

Cheeky

$5.00
Pattern includes written instructions and schematic. Gauge is 22 sts/30 rows over 4 inches.

Woe is Boo

Crossposted at the other blog

Dear Boo,

Welcome to the life of the middle child. It's now almost 3 weeks after your birthday, and I'm finally getting around to your letter. Poor neglected thing...

It's been quite a year for you. You started off your fourth year by exhibiting a strong tendency towards incandescent and uncontrollable meltdowns, usually without warning. That phase persisted for a while, but things finally took a turn for the better. You've really blossomed over the past few months, and even more so since the wee dog arrived, interestingly enough. About a week after he came home, we had a conference with your teacher, who said "Getting a dog has been so wonderful for her!" We were kind of surprised - how much of a difference could a week make? But apparently my plot to irritate the crap out of all the other parents in the school* by bringing the puppy to pick up and drop off had resulted in a nursery full of kids who only want to talk about puppies. It seems that this trend has given you a whole burst of confidence - you're engaging the other kids, initiating games, joining in with the others. All good things, particularly for someone who has always been happiest playing by herself. It's good to see you branching out kiddo.

On our way to school on your birthday, I asked you if you being four was different from being three. You thought about it for a minute, and said seriously "Oh yes Mumma, I'm much older now." You sure are growing up sweetpea, and I can't imagine how you're going to be grown up enough to start school in the fall. You can't be that old, can you?

I love you Sunny Sunny. Welcome to the world of four.

Love,
Mama

* Wee dog comes to school several days a week, and I've had more then one parent indicate that this is making life difficult for them at home. Sorry! But only a little bit...

Process versus product

I been thinking lately about whether process knitting verus product knitting. I think it's fair to claim that I am largely a product knitter - 11 pairs of socks and 11 sweaters as a yearly goal seems to indicate someone who is concerned with the endpoint more then the process. And some of the evidence holds up that conclusion; for example:

 

Aquaphobia socks and my current book in progress. Luv. Him. To. Death. The socks are pretty good too.

It's barely halfway through the month, and I've got 1.65 socks there. Not too shabby.

But on the other hand, it's T = -4 days to my theoretical River Run deadline, and I've got this:

The ribbing and almost 2 full pattern repeats of the body chart. That's it. There is no way this sweater is going to be done by the end of the month, much less by the deadline. And I'm ok with that. After deciding that I would enjoy this project rather then rushing through it, I'm finding that I actually am really enjoying it. The way the colors are coming together is working much better then I anticipated, and I really like the semi-arrowhead pattern. I find it very difficult sometimes to translate Fair Isle charts into actual knitting in my mind's eye, and it's always a relief to see what the chart looks like knitted up.

So I guess I'm enjoying my foray into process knitting. It's funny - I'm definitely a process spinner, as evidenced by the whopping pile of handspun sitting up in my guest room, but not so much with the knitting. It's nice to be able to sit down and knit a few rows each night (or each night that I don't fall asleep at 8:30, like last night) and see how the pattern is developing, how the colors blend in to each other, and not feel like I have to keep going when I get tired. Which is good, because with the new addition to the family, I've been getting waaaay less then my usual allotment of sleep. Good things he's so cute...

I guess the only two questions now are: when will it get done, and will my Dad like it? I might need to ask him that now before I get too much farther on, I think. If he doesn't like it, he can have something else and this can be IM's 40th birthday present - he's already made approving noises!

11 in 2011 update

I've checked a few things off my list of goals for the year, so I thought I'd give you the progress.

1. Eleven pairs of socks - two months, two pairs of socks from my stash. On track. Yippee!
2. Eleven sweaters, including:
* 3. Pas de Valse
* 4. Handspun Vine Yoke Cardigan
* 5. Rollneck sweater for Devil - done!
* 6. The River Run Pullover, for which I will also spin the yarn - yarn spun, dyed and sweater started.
7. Spin more during the 2011 Tour de Fleece then I did in 2010 (39.4 oz)
8. Get my first full fleece (figuring out what to do with it is 2012's project)
9. Design a shawl
10. Submit a design to Knitty - well, I submitted a design for a kid's top to Knitty for their spring/summer issue, and was very kindly directed elsewhere. So I've done that one, but I probably should have left the target publication a bit more open. In any event, I've also submitted a design to Knitcircus for their fall issue. And I've got another one in the works for a winter coat thing.
11. Design a spinning/knitting project for Ennea Collective.

Strangely enough, there is very little spinning ongoing at the moment - small puppy plus things that spin/dangle string equals frustration all around. So goals 7, 8 and 11 are on hold for a bit. I'm hoping that he figures out that he can't actually chase everything that catches his eye before July though!

There has been spinning

But only a very little bit.

Finished before the half-term holiday:

Mom's All Spun Up Falklands. This little hank (~50 yds) was left over from my failed attempt to get the whole 4 oz on to one bobbin while I was plying. It's nice and squooshy and fluffy. I love how the browns and greens and bit of blue in the fiber blended together in the finished yarn. Now must find some itty bitty project for this.

Last week, I was feeling spin-deprived, so I pulled out this and whipped it up in a couple of nights.

Hello Yarn Fiber Club, superwash merino in "Curiosities". It's been a long time since I spun anything but friggin' Falklands wool, so it took me a little while to get used to the slipperiness of the superwash. It was so slippery! I also noticed this time around that it felt a bit plasticky while I was spinning it - none of that remained in the finished yarn, but it was just an observation.

Spun/plied at 9:1/6.5:1. Finished with a soak in warm water and wool wash, then thwacked and hung to dry.

I ended up with 200 yds from the 4 oz, at ~8 wpi. As you can see, not the most even spin I've ever done. I found it hard to control the superwash slipperiness, and it took a long time to get comfortable with it. I was planning on a baby surprise jacket for a friend, but since the yarn came out pretty bulky, I'm going to have to reconsider that plan. A hat maybe? A cushy cowl? Hmmm....