Vickyd’s Knitty Thing

A couple of weeks ago, I had a small destash over on Ravelry.  During that time, I was contacted by YarnDoc (she of the awesome stash) about a potential swap.  We weren’t able to come to an agreement (I really had my eye on her Smooshy…keep your mind out of the gutter) so I just wrote it off.  About a week later, I saw that she was having a destash to pay her taxes and one of the colorways of Smooshy I had wanted was up for grabs!  I jumped all over it…so the Smooshy is mine!!!

Here is Dream in Color Smooshy in the Blue Lagoon colorway.

450 yards of pure smooshy goodness…

Given the loverly color,

I think this yarn will be used for my first Pomatomus!

My nephew’s fourth birthday is coming up at the beginning of May so I decided to knit him a vest. At first, I wasn’t sure what would be on the vest - I knew it would be an intarsia design, but that’s all I knew. I went to my LYS and asked the owner, Karen, what sort of patterns she had and I just fell in love with this one.

Pattern:  Freddy and Freida Frog Sweater D024 by Jody Snyder

Yarn:  Berroco Comfort

Needles:  US 8 and US 6 Knitpicks Options

Mods:  The pattern is actually for a sweater but I wanted something that my nephew could wear year-round so I modified the arm holes to make it a vest (the original pattern called for the body of the sweater to be a big rectangle).  I also modified the neckline to make it a V-neck because I think it looks better for a vest.

This is my first intarsia project and I am relatively happy with the finished product.  I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do with intarsia and all in all it was a lot of fun.

Hopefully, my nephew will love it, too!

After what seems like a mile of 1×1 rib, I have finally finished!

Pattern:  Printed Silk Cardigan by Connie Chang Cinchio, Interweave Knits, Spring 2008

Yarn:  Rowan Calmer, Blush Colorway

Needles:  US8 & US6 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  February 8th, 2008

Date Finished:  April 2nd, 2008

Mods:  There were a few row adjustments due to the gauge difference with the Rowan Calmer - mainly on the sleeves and sleeve caps.  The only other mod I made was to pick up stitches around the hem and add about 3/4 inch of 1×1 rib because the hem edge was curling like crazy. 

I really love this sweater!  This is the first time I have knit with Calmer and I am hooked!  The finished sweater is soft and comfortable and not too heavy like some cotton sweaters can be.  I think the style is very flattering to most body types and I anticipate getting a lot of wear out of it.

A couple of weeks ago I put up a small-ish destash on Ravelry.  Nothing too drastic but I was beginning to think that my stash was taking over the world and I decided to trim it down a little. 

One of the people who contacted me was goodsoapworks (Ravelry link) who was interested in some Yarn Pirate and offered a swap…but not for yarn, for some of her handmade soaps and body creams.  Well, I’m a sucker for the “smell good stuff” as my son calls it so I checked out her website and was very impressed.  I chose a couple of items and hoped for the best - over the years I have purchased many handmade soaps and some have been good and some have been horrible. 

On Thursday, this arrived…

The package included the soaps I ordered - a Complexion Bar and a Lather and Moisture Gift Set in the Gentle Lavender fragrance.  Gina also included some lip balm and a couple of sample soaps for me to try.  Well, I tried the soap and cream on Friday and I was floored!  This is definately the best handmade soap I have EVER tried.  It lathers well, the scent is not overwhelming and it didn’t leave me feeling like I had a film on my body.  The hand and body cream is very creamy and thick but soaks into your skin quickly and softens it without feeling greasy. 

Needless to say, Gina has a new customer (and a new friend)…I will DEFINATELY be ordering more!  So, check out her website (www.goodsoapworksofathens.com) and take a look.  You won’t be disappointed!

One of the things I have really struggled with over the 5 months I have been blogging is how much of my personal life should I share with my readers.  Most of you know that I am married (to my high school sweetheart) with 2 boys and that my FIL lives with us.  Some of you (who were active on the knittyboard about 6 months ago) know a little more regarding my FIL’s condition (dementia) and some of the issues we have faced with becoming his caregivers.  But, pretty much on a daily basis, I am dealing with some very heavy issues that I really don’t know if I should talk about in this forum (they might be better left to a psychiatrist’s couch). 

I know some bloggers who have chosen to share almost every aspect of their lives with their readers.  It is a bit voyaristic but I really enjoy reading about their lives and problems…it makes me feel like I’m not the only person in the world who is struggling.

So the big question is…should I keep things here knitting-related or do you want to hear about all of the other crap going on (good and bad)?  If you are a blogger, how much do you share?  Where do you draw the line?

Yesterday, after I finished teaching my sock class, I decided to stop by another LYS on my way home.  This particular store is actually closer to my house but it is rather small and finding what I am looking for there is a bit of “hit or miss” so I don’t stop by very often.  When I got there and walked through the doors, I couldn’t help but notice that they had completely re-arranged the store by color.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it was very pretty to see each color of yarn in a column of cubes all around the room, but when I started looking around I noticed that each cube had multiple types of yarn in it.  I couldn’t find any rhyme or reason for the organization other than color - there was cotton mixed with wool mixed with linen mixed with sock yarn. 

When I commented to the salesperson that they had changed things around she said that she had recently been in a store that was sorted like this and it was so pretty that they decided to give it a try and “after all, most times people come in here with a particular color in mind”.  Ooookay - well I don’t think I am unusual in that I first decide on a fiber (wool, wool blend, etc) and a weight of yarn and then I choose a color.  I can understand organizing it by color and then within each color by fiber (this is a small shop and they don’t have a lot of space) but seeing all different fibers all jumbled in there together just makes my head hurt! 

Needless to say, I didn’t buy anything and I probably won’t be back for a while.  I like walking around petting yarn as much as the next knitter, but the lack of organization made me crazy!  Is it me, or does this just not make any sense?

I wasn’t very prepared for today’s post, so I ended up just going through my Flickr photos and choosing one I haven’t posted yet…and it is soooo purty!!!

Camelspin yarn by Handmaiden in the Nova Scotia colorway…

 This wonderful yarn is 328 yards of 70% Silk and 30% Camel and is incredibly soft. 

I just love this colorway - so much so that I also bought it in Sea Silk!  I haven’t decided what exactly it wants to be, yet, but I think that since I only have one skein it will end up being a shawl (I’m thinking maybe Swallowtail).

I am back to knitting almost nightly, but hubby and I have made an agreement that I will limit the time to about 1 1/2 hours per night depending on when I get home from work. 

Right now, I am working on the sleeves to the Printed Silk Cardigan - to avoid Second Sleeve Syndrome, I am knitting them two at a time and although they are very easy I am getting REALLY tired of 1×1 rib!  At the rate I am going, it will probably be another week or two before I get this baby finished but that’s ok.  I am just enjoying the Calmer and the process.

The other semi-active project I have on the needles is the toe-up socks I am knitting as part of the class I am teaching.  I only have one student right now (they didn’t advertise the class until late and another student had to drop out due to family issues) but it is good for me since this is the first class I have ever taught and I can use my friend Kris to work all of the kinks out of my teaching style.  Last Saturday was the second week and it is so great to see the enjoyment on Kris’ face when she finally gets it!  We turned the heel this past Saturday and should be able to bind off the cuff this Saturday (Kris is a very enthusiastic knitter so I have no doubt she will be finished with the leg portion before this Saturday).

No pictures this week, but hopefully next week I will have something to show you!

I haven’t knitted in 3 days.  That may not sound like anything major to some of you but ever since I learned to knit I have rarely gone more than a day without knitting something, even if it is just a few stitches.  Knitting is my relaxation…the way I escape from the insanity that is my life right now.  So why am I not knitting?  In a nutshell, because my husband asked me not to.

We seem to have settled into a routine where I come home from work (he is a stay at home dad right now), we eat dinner and then relax as a family in front of the tv…upon which time, I immediately pick up whatever project I am working on and, with the exception of baths for the kids or any other household chore that I HAVE to do, I knit until bedtime.  It helps me unwind from a busy day at work and I feel like I am doing something more productive than just watching tv…I am actually making something.

This past Saturday night, when we went to bed, my husband seemed upset about something and when I got him to talk about it he indicated that he was starting to feel “disconnected” from me because of the amount of time I spend knitting.  Well, my first instinct was to get defensive…I can actually knit and have a conversation at the same time so what is the problem?  But then I stepped back and thought about it.  How would I feel if the shoe was on the other foot?  If my husband was so engrossed in a hobby that he did it every single night?  I realized that he does have a point so I set out to do something about it.

I am not going to knit anything until Saturday (one week from our conversation)…I’m not doing this to be dramatic but rather to use that time to reconnect with my husband and family.  I do tend to get obsessive about things I am interested in and that is not always a good thing.  I’m not saying that I am going on a permanent hiatus from knitting (that would never work) but I am going to scale things down a bit.  I haven’t decided exactly how to go about this - should I just set a limit on my daily knitting and then put it up for the night or should I just designate certain nights to be “knit nights”?  Either way, I am going to make more of an effort to be more present in my interractions with my family…that is definately a step in the right direction.

I promised some in progress pics of the Printed Silk Cardigan and since I got out of work early today I finally got around to taking some…

Here is a closeup of the stitch pattern…

I really love it so far - I haven’t knit with Rowan Calmer before and it is definately one of my favorites now…it is so soft and has great stitch definition!  I have already seamed up the shoulders and sides and I think I am going to knit the sleeves in place rather than setting them in.  With my work schedule, it will probably be another week or so before I can get it finished…I can’t wait!!!