birth day

It's been a busy weekend filled with birthdays. My sister had her baby early Friday morning and then she and I got to celebrate the gift of her baby girl today for our birthday.

Little Hannah Marie should stay nice and warm in this sweater knit from some of our painted and hand spun top.

This is what it looked like last spring on the bobbin. You may recall a half-knit pair of socks and a sock puppet that I also knit with this particular batch of yarn. The colors just called out for something in miniature . . . something for a baby.

I love the way the structured decreases cause the stripes to turn at a ninety degree angle . . . it negates the fact that the gauge on this yarn wobbles between fingering and baby weight. If you look closely you can definitely tell this garment is hand spun. The pattern is from DROPS Design Studio.

I pretty much followed it word for word, but let my hand spun stripe itself. My favorite part are the buttercup yellow buttons.

getting there

It was quite a shock flying into chilly Minneapolis after spending a few days in sunny Arizona. I was grateful to be home, the flights in to and out of Chicago last Monday were all either postponed our canceled due to the weather - I got through, but the cold was an unhappy reminder how how far north I live on the map.

Then I remembered that a knitter depends on the cold in a way . . . chilly temperatures mean warm, cozy sweaters and socks.

The image above is one I took at Tuzigoot National Monument in Arizona. Tuzigoot is a set of pueblo ruins just outside of Sedona. Garrett and I wandered through it last Sunday afternoon before driving on to Phoenix.

I'd always wanted to visit some pueblo ruins after reading so much about them in books. Garrett and I joked as we walked along that at least we weren't being chased by mummies or demonic archaeologists. (Many of the books we read are melodramatic archaeological-adventure fiction.)

Here's a preview of the sweater I'm knitting for my sister's baby, using some of the same hand spun yarn from the socks that I posted a little over a week ago. Looks like I'm going to have enough yarn for both a baby sweater and socks.

That's good new for someone who lives in Minnesota.

cameron, MO

About a quarter of the way into our road trip to Arizona, Garrett and I pulled off the interstate in Cameron, Missouri to refresh and refuel. Garrett filled up the car and I ran into the gas station. When I walked back out Garrett was standing over the open hood of his car with a frown on his face.

Did the car usually sound like this? Well, I didn't remember the engine rattling quite as loudly as it was currently doing. It sounded like a few screws and a belt were loose. Then and there I knew we wouldn't be driving much further until we saw a mechanic.

We ended up stranded in Cameron, MO last night at a comfy chain hotel (with a tiny kidney shaped swimming pool and a 36" flat screen tv.) I'm still here today, as you can see, keeping myself busy while Garrett waits at the shop with the car.

At least I brought my knitting . . . and some buttons.

knitting all the way

I can't believe I spun this sock yarn last year and I'm just getting around to knitting it now. I started working on this project yesterday afternoon and look how far I am. I have a bit of a stiff neck, but I'm not going to let that stop me.

I only have one full week of vacation left before I have to start up school again for spring semester. Garrett and I have a road trip planned to Arizona in that time. I plan on knitting all the way. (That is when I'm not putting my time in behind the wheel.)

Perhaps I'll have a finished project to show you in a few days. It will probably include a cactus.


I'm using a generic short row pattern to turn the heels on these socks. I see that I have a tiny hole where the new heel meets up with the upper part of the sock. This sometimes happens, I always sew up the hole when I finish the sock as I'm weaving in the loose ends.

a february baby

Today I'm going to a baby shower for my sister. I knit her baby one of my favorite patterns: Elizabeth Zimmerman's February Baby Sweater.

This baby bonnet, based on a Victorian knitting pattern from Larissa Brown and Martin John Brown's book Knitalong, makes the perfect companion to this sweater. (And it was a good way to use up some of the extra yarn.)


I can't wait to see my little niece in this outfit. Too bad I'm going to have to wait a little under a month. My sister is due around the start of February . . . the perfect time for this sweater.

new year knits

This is my first knit of the new year, a generic baby cap knit from some leftover sock yarn. I like the sporty strips of color against the background of black and white flecks. It's amazing how far a few balls of sock yarn can go.

I still have some of this colorway left and I've already used it for a pair of socks (gifted to my mother on Valentine's Day a few years ago) and I intend to use it in a blanket coming up this spring.

something to knit for

I'm going to blame my blogging silence on graduate school and the general craziness of the holidays. But January is here and I'm trying to get my life in order, and that involves picking up the knitting needles and dusting off the old spinning wheel.

I've got a lot of events to knit and spin for this year. My sister is having her first baby in just under a month, my cousin is getting married this summer, and I'm getting married myself next winter. All of these events will require something hand spun and hand knit.

Now I'm wondering where I should begin.

Here's some hand spun CVM romeldale yarn from my mother's sheep. I think this colorway is a good starting place for a blanket or throw. Something for a new baby or perhaps a pair of newlyweds.

I can't give too much away on the blog. But I'll try to give previews along the way.