Through the wonders of technology, I’m sharing my progress on Little Copernicus with you from an airplane flying somewhere over the east coast of the United States.
It’s a sweet little pattern. I’ve just taken the stitches for the sleeves off of the needles and put them onto holders. I’ve got about four more inches in stockinette and then I’ll switch to smaller needles for ribbing.
I like how this yarn is working out in stockinette and hoping I’ll have some leftovers for a pair of mittens.
I'm so excited! I get to be a test knitter for Julie Kieliszewski, who has written a new child's sweater pattern called Little Copernicus. It's a sweet cardigan with a picked up and knitted 2×2 rib trim to finish it off. It's very cute and I'm hoping the little wooden buttons I have in my stash from Peace Fleece will be the perfect accent.
I'm using Elliebelly Pixie (superwash merino), in the Stained Glass Paintbrush Colorway, for the sweater.
I did my Paintbrush Colorways with linen stitch (for instance, these gorgeous baby longies by Siobahn) in mind, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to see how it performs in a mostly stockinette project. If I don't like it as well, it will be easy to convert the body of this pattern over to linen stitch, so I think it's a low risk proposition.
Although I rarely swatch for a baby sweater — they're going to fit at some point, right? — I decided I need to do that here, to insure that as a good tester, I provided necessary input. And, I hit gauge, spot on, at my first try on size 7 needles, getting five stitches at inch.
Many thanks to my assistant, Harry the Maine Coon Cat, who helped to hold the swatch out flat so I could measure it. He had no ulterior motive and did not proceed to pounce on it or try to chew my needles into two pieces immediately after the photo was taken. Really.
I did a very small swatch, really just barely enough to get the gauge, so I'm not sure yet about this yarn in stockinette. I'm tempted to say it's going to be very pleasing, but I don't want to jinx it. I'm hoping it will be the perfect gender neutral color, with enough variation to coordinate perfectly with just about anything else a baby could want to wear.
I'm just about halfway through with the cabled afghan, at least based upon the amount of yarn I dyed for this project. The lighting did some funny things — there are no horizontal stripes, that must be from the bad nighttime living room light.
This project has been too bulky to be portable for quite some time now, which puts it on a slower track for completion than I would like. It is already incredibly perfect for snuggling under on the couch while watching TV. But, given that I can only work on it at home, I'm hoping to work on it a couple of nights a week and finish up by the end of February. At this point, I've crossed the cables seven times (it's a 14 row repeat). I'm hoping to be able to get in at least another seven to insure the finished afghan is long enough to cover toes.
Cold, snowy days make for good knitting progress! Tomorrow it’s back to work, but thanks to mother nature, my cabled afghan is halfway done.
Snow — or perhaps more appropriately, ice — day. We've had a morning of exploring and sledding. Now, some time for hot chocolate with peppermint marshmallows and knitting.
I really need to do some blocking. But the reality is, I'm not going to get it done anytime this week, so I'll share some knitting with you, nonetheless.
I finished the uber-colorful Far Away So Close. It's incredibly warm and very cheeful to put around my shoulders on our cold mornings. I stopped somewhere between the scarf version and the full size shawl, which seems to have gotten in just right.
I think I'll have to knit a pair of fingerless mitts to go along with this.
As you can tell, it's going to be a struggle to stop loving on it for long enough to block it!
I've also finished another square on Ellie's Barn Raising Quilt, which is similarly in need of blocking. The colors are fabulous and this reminds me I need to get back on this and knit a few more squares so I can stay on target for my planned finish, some time before she graduates from high school. Really.
Happy New Year!
New Years Day wouldn't be complete without a little bit of bubbly — the Judge likes to make Mimosas. I thought I would share a few of our holiday traditions today. Most of ours involve food. Please share some of your family's traditions in the comments!
It wouldn't be New Years without a little bit of knitting time. I set aside my Far Away So Close shawl to work on Christmas presents several months ago. I picked it back up today. It's warm and soft and oh so very comforting to knit on a rainy day.
One of our favorite holiday traditions, new in the last several years, is this delicious Kringle cake from a bakery in Racine, Wisconsin. Our neighborhood grocery store is owned by a guy who relocated from Wisconsin to Birmingham about a decade ago. He brought this delicious coffee cake along with him, and every year they have a stack in the bakery every morning during the holidays. You have to be early to snag one!
We are delighted to have farm fresh eggs from our friend Joyce Darby's farm. They are delicious with one of the kids' favorites — the rest of the Honey Baked Ham they had for dinner last night.
We'll have the traditional southern supper. Collard greens, cooked with a ham hock.
Black-eyed peas go along with the collards. Instead of eating them solo, this year I'm mixing them into an Osso Bucco. Hopefully this will increase the chance the kids will eat them. This meal is definitely not a favorite of theirs, but eating this traditional meal insures good health and financial success in the new year, so it can't be skipped.
However you celebrate, here's wishing you the happiest of new years. Welcome 2011!