In which we discuss baby knits

Here's the thing: I mostly knit stuff for myself. And by that I don't mean that I knit to satisfy my intellect or creative process or entertainment (although knitting certainly fills those shoes too), but mostly I mean that the end result, the FO, that which I am working on... is usually for me. It all boils down to this (apologies if I offend you charity knitters out there):

My Money (yarn) + My Time = My Knitwear

That's not to say that I haven't dished out my fair share of woolly love over the years. I totally have. I have many a friend/loved one who has been found worthy and been blessed with the gift of my time my yarn my skill my yarn my dedication to my craft MY YARN!!! knitwear. But I'm not one of those knitters, you know? You know the ones who whip up a pair of mittens for a casual work acquaintance because they mentioned they had cold hands once? Heck no. Screw that, they can get their own damn mittens!

Take baby knits. Some knitters are All. About. the baby knits. Brother-in-law's cousin's daughter's hairdresser is expecting her ninth? That woman needs a baby knit! And, you know... that's totally cool, more power to them.

I, however, am not that knitter. Are baby knits cute? Satisfying to knit? Satisfying to give? Fun? You're darn tootin'. But they're only worn for about, oh, 9 minutes before the bundle of joy outgrows them, and that's a clear affront to my "selfish" knitter tendencies.

So friends, if you've received a baby knit from me, know that it's because you're loved here at Casa de Dear, and tap yourselves on the back for being one of the lucky few.

The most recent baby knit to come off the needles was completed sometime in... um... November of last year? I think? I know, I'm a terrible blogger and you should shun me. Moving on.

I knit this one for a knitter friend's Miracle Baby. Really. This baby girl, this little gem, came unexpectedly into their lives, and her ecstatic reaction compelled me to knit something for her. I think it was her joy at being pregnant that drew me in. She was just SO happy, you couldn't help but gravitate towards her.


I chose the Korrigan pattern, because it was simple and elegant and had those gorgeous cables that just screamed Knit Me!!! Knit it up in a gorgeous golden yellow silk/merino blend from No Two Snowflakes I had left over from another project.

(What IS it about yellow anyway? Have you ever noticed how it can "upgrade" any old project from ho-hum to fabulous because, hey, wow, IT'S YELLOW!!!)


All in all, a successful project, I think. I hope it will keep my friend's Miracle Baby warm for many minutes to come :)

And yes... it had buttons when I gave it to her. Bad blogger, remember?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Edited to add: speaking of baby knits, Tanis is having a giveaway for one of her awesome Shane Baby Blanket kits! Check it out here!

Bad Juju

Last night was one of those "Bad Knitting Juju" evenings that befalls us all from time to time. You know, when absolutely nothing goes according to plan and you feel like you couldn't knit a garter stitch square to save your life???

It started when I sat down to write a blog post. I had edited and loaded my pictures, but the, you know... writing part of writing the post just wasn't happening. I would write something, decide it was stupid/boring/irrelevant and delete it, only to re-write the exact same thing 5 minutes later. What made it all the more frustrating was that I felt that I was "wasting valuable knitting time!!!" (pretty sure that didn't help get the creative juices flowing...).

After being, shall we say, less than amiable (hah!) on the phone with my father, I decided the sensible, grownup thing would be to retire, regroup, and take a whack at the post tomorrow. I made a cup of tea, put on a Buffy episode (Season 6, Seeing Red, in case anyone cares), and sat down with my current WIP, Galileo , the Solid Socks Mystery KAL for February/March. I'm knitting both socks concurrently, one clue at a time, and I was pretty sure I could wrap up the first sock before going to bed.

So there I sat, with my tea and my Buffy, knitting away contentedly. I noticed that there seemed to be more yarn in the cake than I remembered, but didn't pay it much mind. After a few rows, I also noticed that I seemed to be consistently off in my stitch count for the sole. For some reason, I couldn't seem to count properly, because I knew for a fact there were only 35 stitches on the sole, and yet I was always getting more than that. Like... way more.

Did I stop knitting and just count the f*$*ing sole stitches??? Of course not! I kept soldiering on, thinking I must "just not be counting right", because how else could I consistently be arriving at a stitch count of 49 stitches when THERE WERE ONLY 35 STITCHES ON THE SOLE???

By knitting on the second "standby" sock, the one that hadn't completed it's gusset decreases, that's how.

My frustration level, which apparently had just been lying in wait, shot WAY up at that point, because that was even MORE valuable knitting time WASTED!!!

I grabbed the correct sock and yanked yarn out of the flaccid, almost empty cake. This seems to have offended the cake considerably, because it responded by barfing up a tangled mess of yarn vomit that it took me the better part of an hour to sort through.

*Sigh*

Those Knitting Fates, man. Sometimes they just like to pull the wool out from under you and kick you in the crotch for good measure, am I right?

All's well that ends well, though. Pig-headed obstinate Determined as I was to salvage the evening, I stuck to my guns and finished the sock.

No word on whether it fits, however. I didn't want to risk it.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

It went well

When I first started blogging, I promised myself that I would be a "good" blogger. My posts would be funny/witty/quirky/charming/thought-provoking, feature beautiful photography, and - this totally goes without saying - be published on a regular basis. Chalk it up to the crazy idealism of a newbie, but I didn't want to be one of those bloggers who's posts could be summarized by: I knit a sock. It went well.

That being said... it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post, and as merino is my witness, I can't seem to come up with something witty, charming, quirky, funny or thought provoking to save my LIFE. So... um... yeah.


I knit a sock.

Two of them, in fact. As one does, you know. With socks.

It went fairly well.

{Head Desk}

pattern: It's Tea Time, by Stephanie van der Linden
Source: Around the World in Knitted Socks: 26 Inspired Designs
Yarn: Sincere Sheep Keen, in the Milpa colourway
Needles: 2.25 mm
Modifications: none

According to my Ravelry projects, this is the 35th pair I've knit. Fascinating, non?

Happy Knitting, Everyone!