The knitting slump is over!

Fall has arrived and I think that my knitting slump is over. I feel like the kid in school who had bad grades all semester, and has finally turned it all around. I am working on the Clapotis for myself, making a hat as a belated birthday present for my best friend Brooke (tongue twister, anyone?!), and finished a sweater for a little baby boy named, Finn.

The "Clap", or the "Monster Clap" as Lisa referred to hers the other day, is coming along. (I wonder how many discussions about Chlamydia have been sparked from this shawl? That could be a good thing, STD awareness through knitting!)



I'm using Silk Delight in "Chagall" from the Great Adirondack Yarn Company. It's a very bright colorway, but is looking gorgeous now that I am dropping the stitches. I wasn't happy with the way the color was pooling at first, but it looks fine now, as you can see below...



I am thoroughly enjoying dropping the stitches and watching the little rainbows appear in the fabric. It doesn't take that much to make me happy!

My best friend, Brooke, lives in Florida. I'm glad she wants a knitted hat, because I had no idea what to give her this year, and always need at least an extra month to get her a present. (Her birthday was August 21st). So I got extra time while doing something nice for my friends. She's the scary cop from my previous post, so I don't want to get on her bad side...

The colors she wanted for her hat were black, brown and light blue stripes. I spent an entire knitting circle wandering aimlessly around the store looking at yarn to no avail. Brooke and I have different ideas about color, so I made my boyfriend Mike the painter help me pick some out. (He disagrees with me that black and brown look awful together, so would lend a better opinion). I went to Loop on South Street for the first time and found this:

I actually like them! The light blue yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. The brown and black are Bel Air merino wool. They're very soft and won't bother her sensitive skin.

The pattern is my own design. I'm doing simple cables instead of the ribbing that she asked for. Actually, she told me to do whatever I wanted. So I think this is her style. Artistic license!

And last but not least, the little baby sweater. This has been ready for awhile, but the process of mailing it and sending a card counts.

I have not met this baby, but the dad is a friend of mine from college. He's a painter and a really nice and quirky guy. So I think he'll appreciate the painterly light cerulean blue and fantastic buttons.

The pattern is from Minnow Knits Kids and I got it from Rosie's. (Sorry, I can't find it at this time). It was very easy to knit but looks adorable. The size is for a 6-12 month old.
Enjoy the buttons! I got them at Rosie's too.

Andrew's Ugly Camo Hat

This is a picture of my brother, Andrew, and my best friend, Brooke. Who is not my real sister, but my mom's favorite daughter!



I keep a knitting journal. That is one of my hobbies...keeping too many journals for lists, and specific things. It is out of control, but that's for another day.

I started a knitting journal to write about how I started knitting, projects I had done, people I had taught to knit, and a place to reflect on life lessons learned. Yes! All from knitting. It can certainly be a metaphor for life, if you didn't already know.

At knitting circle tonight we were discussing siblings and only children. My friend, Sherry , who is an only child, seemed alarmed how siblings really try to hurt each other. I laughed and told her that hurting each other was part of the fun! By the way, I'm glad that everyone seemed to prefer whatever they were, a sister, or an only child.

So in honor of the brother that I have bitten, pinched, hit with the middle seatbelt, dressed up in a tutu to walk around the block, and embarrassed over the years, I'm going to tell you why he is my favorite recipient of a knitted gift. Oh, and this is a brother who punched me in the eye on Thanksgiving while I was wearing glasses and drew blood.

From my journal:
...my beloved brother died last December 16th, 2005. It has shaken my world and at the same time made me feel closer to him. Besides being one of my all time favorite people, he was the most enthusiastic recipient of any knitted gift I have ever made for someone.

Probably three or four years ago--(it was the Christmas I couldn't go home to Florida and was in Indiana with Mike's family), I wanted to make him something special to show him how much I loved him. So I knit him a beanie in 2x2 ribs with awful Red Heart camouflage acrylic yarn from the Stitch N' Bitch book.

It was knit well, but a little small. When I gave it to him, he loved it and wore it all the time. Until the time when he died. (About three years non-stop). It was smelly and stretched out, reeked of smoke and hair oil, and it was very loved.

He wore it in the summer, winter, spring and fall. In Florida, no less. He wore it while brushing his teeth, walking to the bus stop, and to sleep, so that his unruly hair would be more manageable in the morning. I guess I could have told him that he could have washed it. (We're talking about crunchy Red Heart acrylic yarn here!)

My brother died in December. I found the hat in his room and it still smelled like him. I held it to my face and bawled. My mom asked if I wanted to keep it, but I didn't want to. I wanted to keep the best loved hat with my best loved brother. It was to be mixed with his ashes and they would return to the Earth together.

Somehow the hat was not put in the pile. I think my mom could not bear to part with it either. The smell is now gone, but not the memories and love.

Yes...me too...

I was inspired to blog in May, a time where I was obsessed with reading other people's knitting blogs. Many hours were probably wasted...

I thought, "This could be fun!"

Until I remembered that I am a project starter, not a finisher, have "issues" with procrastination and like to think about knitting, but don't always love to do it. (Mainly because I'm sick of my projects!)

I love to knit, but am generally not inspired in the summer. In fact, I only go to knitting circle to see the people and to fondle the yarn. My secret is out.

However, fall has arrived and I'm feeling inspired again. My knitting circle buddies have referenced me in their blog, so I guess it is time to come out of the closet! I'm going to attempt to blog, and will need to make progress so that I can have pictures to show you! And since I know that photos make blogs more interesting...here's the view from my old apartment on Spring Garden at sunrise.