(1) Deciding to knit a gift within a week and getting it done on time is still doable.

(2) Doing (1) is not such a good idea if your family still expects you to homeschool, do laundry, and cook.

(3) Thumbs don’t really live right on the sides of your hands. Moving the thumbs over a rib or so would be a good idea.

(4) EZ’s sewn bind-off is crazy stretchy. Although fabulous on the top of socks, it’s a little too stretchy for the tops of these fingerless mitts. I bound off the thumb-tops normally. See the difference? I left it anyway (see #1) and decided that it was a selling point, as you can fold your fingers down to be protected inside the mitt this way. Did I mention crazy stretchy?

(5) The backs of fingerless mitts are a fun place to play with cables.

Details:

Started:	27 Feb 2008
Finished:	6 Mar 2008
Pattern:	Stulpen by Petra
Yarn:	Colinette Cadenza (DK weight 100% superwash wool) in Lapis – 93
Needles:	KnitPicks 2.75 mm (US 2) dpns
Notes:	A fun pattern. I modified it by starting the thumb at row 7, doing 7 rows of rib after the end of the chart, and binding off with EZ’s sewn bind-off. If I make it again, I’ll use a regular bind-off, a size larger needle, and move the thumbs one rib over toward the palm of the hand.

“Ooh, a contest! I’ll whip up a quick dishcloth!” Oy.

The first incarnation of the beast lovely dishcloth is seen in the thumbnail here. It’s a mini EZ square baby blanket, inspired by 1870 pearl. Well, here’s the thing. That cloth is full of short rows that go unwrapped, leaving lacy holes from the center to each corner. As previously documented, I am incapable of dainty holes. Click on the thumbnail of the original dishcloth for evidence. So, after knitting about halfway around, I frogged it.

Incarnation the second was the same dishcloth with wrapped short rows. I wrapped them all – even the long rows, which left a nice, big open circle in the middle of the cloth. It was quirky; I approved. Finished it all up, went to weave the start to the finish, and realized I should have used a provisional cast-on. I went back to the EZ book. Yup; she mentions it… at the END of the pattern. Uhm. Oops. I picked out my cast-on and weaved the edges together. Twisted stitches. ARGH. I tossed the cloth aside and went to bed. Frogged it in the morning for its impudence. I didn’t like that gaping hole in the center, anyways.

Incarnation the last is a wrapped short-row cloth with the center worked a bit differently. Now it has a perky little hole in the center, like a cheeky child showing her belly button in the summertime. The weaving looks horrid, but at this point I’ll live with it. It was a learning experience. More importantly, it makes that second mini Jaywalker sock look appealing again. I’ve already cast on.

Note: Today’s the last day to name my first batch of ale. “Ewe Brew” and “Knitter’s Solace” are currently neck-in-neck with three votes each. Yes, you read that right. Three votes. Those of you in the US need to start practicing now for 2008 – vote, vote, VOTE! Ahem. Sorry; I get carried away. The poll is in the sidebar; come on over to the site if you’re reading from a news aggregator. Voting ends at midnight tonight.

This morning, as I was drinking my morning Joe and perusing the blogs, I saw that Carrie over at The Barefoot Cobbler is having a spring contest. Start a dishcloth, and be in the running for some fabulous sock yarn. How could I resist? Okay, I probably could have resisted, except a ball of Sugar ‘n Creme followed me home two days ago. I couldn’t ignore the colors, as they screamed, “SUMMER!” at me from the shelf. I decided I’d bring it home and make a dishcloth. Now, I know I was just being psychic. See? It’s all perfectly reasonable.

I finished up mini Jaywalker 1, so I cast on for a dishcloth as a palate cleanser before slogging through knitting up the second one. This is the Four Corners Dishcloth from 1870 pearl, which is basically an itty-bitty version of the EZ baby blanket. Cute, no?

As so often happens when I drag out the dishcloth cotton and my old needles, I spend a lot of time musing about their tips. See that wear? It’s not all mine. These needles came from my mother, or her mother; they’ve been with me so long I can’t remember. I sit, and knit, and wonder where these needles have been. What have they seen? What have they made?

Today, they’re making fabric that fairly exudes summer. I guess that’s enough to know for now.

Its amazing how having my boys opened up my world. I’m the sort of person that goes through a store with a smile, but doesn’t really talk with anyone. I’m not anti-social; just terribly introverted. Backwards, as my kindergarten teacher used to say.

Some of my shyness has fallen by the wayside as I’ve gotten older; even more has fallen away since having the boys. Tweedledee, in particular, will chat up anyone he meets. And, not surprisingly, they chat right back – he can be rather engaging.

So, it’s no surprise that I’m on a first name basis with many of the pharmacists that we see at our neighborhood Target. What’s a little more surprising is that one of them – we’ll call her Em – calls out to the boys whenever she sees us pass down an aisle, or stops by the cafe if she sees us there having a snack. If the boys spend their allowance on something, they want to go by the pharmacy to show Em. She’s one of those natural kid-people. Happily, Em just gave birth to her first little one. He showed up a bit ahead of schedule, but everyone is doing fine.

For Em, I jumped in and made my first Baby Surprise sweater. I love that this:

folds up and turns into this:

Too cool. I love me some Fun with Geometry. Tweedled’oh and I picked out these buttons:

The little guy has an Irish name, so it works out well.

As for the pattern, I had a smidge of trouble. I’m great with mindless knitting, and difficult knitting. It turns out that mostly-mindless knitting trips me up. It’s not hard enough to keep my attention, so my mind wanders off and the next thing I know, I see that I very visibly messed up an increase six rows down. *sigh* Rip. Do over. Pay attention for a few rows. Repeat ad nauseam.

Details, details:

Started:	31 January 2007
Finished:	Knitting – 26 Mar 2007 Finishing – 2 Mar 2007
Pattern:	Baby Surprise, from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Workshop
Yarn:	Plymouth Yarn Dreambaby DK. 50% acrylic microfiber, 50% nylon. Lovely and soft; I’d use it again. I picked up the buttons at Jo Ann’s. I can’t find the button card to tell you the brand.
Needles:	Circular aluminums, size US 5 (I think.)