Progress
Knitting, spinning, and otherwise.
Knitting first.
The astute among you will remember the Baby Surprise Jacket I was knitting. For the baby born in January. Um, right. Well, I couldn't have given him anything but the flu in February. And I didn't do much work on it anyway... Early this week, like when I couldn't sleep at night over the construction of our new mantel (pics to follow), I decided something. With which many of you will likely disagree. I think the BSJ is kind of knitterly. As in knitters like it and like the idea of it and like the genius of it. Knitters like how it shows off yarn. We like the little decrease lines. We like folding it and sewing it together. Non-knitters? Not so much. They see a garter stitch jacket without much shaping. Period. Plus -- my stitch count is off somehow and I can't figure it out! So, I'll work on that and wait for a knitter to have a wee one.
Plan B. Begun at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
It's the King Cole cabled baby jacket I made for my nephew a year and a half ago. The yarn is Dream in Color Classy Worsted in the Strange Forest colorway. Weird color for a baby? I guess -- but this jacket is a size 2 (which is apparently the next size up from a 2T... whatever). Perfect color for a little boy digging in the rocks at the playground, I think. And it's superwash. Cha ching! Hopefully he'll be able to get a few season's wear out of it too. Roll it up when you're one and perfect when you're two. I'm crossing my fingers.
Spinning?
I plied singles spun from roving from Hello Yarn's Roving of the Month club (January, I think) with singles from roving from Sakeena via The Loopy Ewe. About 4 oz. each I think. I got heavy worsted yarn that shades through light and dark greens, yellow green, salmon, and pink. As you can see, when the yellow green and the salmon get plied together, the yarn reads orange. Kinda crazy, kinda fun. I love it. Of course, the scarf is the ubiquitous Irish Hiking Scarf -- Hello Yarn again. And it is soft and heavy and warm. Yum.
Otherwise?
The construction continues. We are in the home stretch... begun January 14th, supposed to end by the 30th of March. I'll be surprised if they make that deadline, but we can all hope, can't we? What kept me up? The mantle that you see bears only passing resemblance to the carpenter's first try at it... which I thought looked more like a prop. Here, you look:
Hmm. Well, here in the pictures there isn't a ton of difference. In person? The legs on the first one (on the right) were spindly and it didn't sit far enough off of the wall. So I had them re build it. Which was a hard thing for me -- I'm not big on confrontation.
But I'm much happier now.
My favorite things about this project so far?
The slate in the fireplace and at the front door, the new wood floors, and the fact that we closed up an opening leading to our room (much quieter back there now).
Good work on the knitting, spinning and 'getting what you want' front!
Do you think it's this time of year. I see 4:00am everyday and it's getting old.
Posted by: margene | March 20, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Hey! Hi! Your handspun is way more orderly than mine, and the sweater is charming. I think you're right that that color is extremely practical.
I have to say I don't see a whole lot of difference in the mantels. The new one is very nice, though, and I love the slate and all the storage space on either side.
Posted by: Lucia | March 20, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Isn't home improvement fun!
Posted by: Carole | March 20, 2008 at 01:08 PM
Lovely scarf...looks warm!
Posted by: sonrie | March 20, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Aren't you having the busiest Holy Week?
Happy Easter.
Posted by: trek | March 20, 2008 at 02:37 PM
new wood floor....drool
Posted by: Mindy | March 20, 2008 at 03:04 PM
I totally agree about the BSJ. I love the idea of it, even bought the pattern. I just am not crazy about the finished product, so I haven't made it.
Posted by: deborah | March 20, 2008 at 06:09 PM
Your handspun scarf is absolutely stunning!
Posted by: Jennifer | March 22, 2008 at 09:07 PM
I completely agree about BSJ. When WB wore the one my friend made her at Rhinebeck, it was like a knitter's secret handshake ... everyone who saw her in the hotel knew that she was the baby of a knitter or loved by a knitter. For non-knitters, though, I think there are many cuter patterns out there.
Your living room will be lovely when done, but I don't envy you the process.
Posted by: Ruth | March 25, 2008 at 07:03 AM