Sassy Does It

The bold red in-your-face knee-highs for Maizy are off the needles, finally.

Official FO post will come once I’ve got proof that they actually fit on the 3-year-old recipient’s feet.  After I’ve sent them off and Sissy B can send me back some glamour shots, I’ll include those with the post, along with my adapted pattern and comments.

I did a Eucalan wash last night and then set these little guys to block.  I didn’t need to pin as it was easy enough to shape to the dimensions to which I’d knit.

After a wash, a few rinses and another wash, the pink water told me that the rinse water might need a smidgen of vinegar to help set the dye.

Did a little research and found nothing terribly convincing one way or the other as to whether this was the right way to go, so I went ahead and tossed about a teaspoon into my (small) bathroom sink full of lukewarm rinse water.

One more rinse and then no color bleed at all in the water.  This fiber (Huntington, from Valley Yarns) is meant to be machine washable and dryable, so I think as long as Sissy B sticks with cold water she’ll be fine.  There’s nothing like a bright red sock in the hot water of that load of whites to ruin your day.

Anyhoo, these puppies are looking and feeling soft and lovely.  I’ll have some closer-up views of the pattern with the FO post.  Right now I’m trying not to fondle them until they’re completely dry.

I’m deep in Cowl Country with my Sheer Poncho.  I really am very near completion.

See?

The cowl neck is a little constrained by the circular needle in this photo, but you get the picture.  I think I need another 2 inches or so on the cowl, at least that’s when I’ll weave through a length of yarn to hold it and do a final fit.

Another 3 inches or so of length in the body I think will do it as well. 

Maybe tonight will be the night I get this done.  OK, maybe not.

In other news…

The yarn fairy made a visit this week.  Hurrah!  Fortunately it was not a random splurge, but the other kind of splurge:  premeditated (it still sounds naughty, doesn’t it?).

It had occurred to me that another baby-induced deadline was creeping up on me and I hadn’t gotten it together to plan my project.  Upon realizing this, it was a minor miracle that it didn’t take me forever to narrow the shortlist of queued patterns in my head and pounce on the yarn.  I’m getting quicker at these sort of not-as-serious-and-lengthy-as-I-try-to-make-them decisions.

My love affair with Blue Sky Alpacas continues, but at least I’m spreading the torrid affection around in that family.

The pattern I’ve landed on - which I will attempt to keep a secret from the receiver of the gift for now - called for a finer gauge than the organically-grown dyed cotton (4-5 st/in) I’d used for my last baby item, so I was looking for something lighter-weight (5-6 st/in).

I didn’t start out considering Blue Sky, thinking I should try to find something entirely new to me.  I liked the organic approach though, for all things baby, and I wanted to stick with cotton for the summer months.

A Ravelry yarn search for “organic cotton” showed me plenty of choices, but I got distracted by someone’s glowing review of Skinny Organic and it put me right back into bed with Blue Sky Alpacas.

Oh, well - until I’ve tried the whole line, I don’t see the harm in checking out all the different variations of wonderful that they offer, right?  I mean each yarn is unique, right?

So I went for it, although I decided that I’d go for more color than going solely with the 100% naturally-occurring hues of Birch or Clay offered in the Skinny Organic line.  I did pick out a skein of Birch (colorway 30) to use as a trim and selected Pear (colorway 312, a new addition) from the Skinny Dyed collection (organically grown fibers with colors created by low-impact dyes) as my main color.

It arrived this week, and as we all are when the postie drops the care package at our door, I was over the moon.  I love these shades together, and this fiber will make a beautiful baby item.

Here’s a little swatch to tease you.

More deets on on this project as it gets closer to the date I’m ready to gift it.

Over and out.  Starting to get that Sunday-night ick feeling, so I better go eat something to make it all better.

Yippity ding dong, my WEBS yarn arrived!

Isn’t it glorious?

Here, let me get you acquainted.

Jade Sapphire
Mongolian Cashmere
Colorway 50, Driftwood

On the left we have the amazing Mongolian Cashmere, made by Jade Sapphire, in colorway 50, Driftwood. 

Oh yes, we’re feeling very posh with this splurge for a friend’s b-day gift - it’s a big birthday, so she’s going to get 100% cashmere.  And at a 25% discount for me, thank you very much, Kathy and Co! 

The project of my desire, about which I will blog once I’ve cast on, is the Sheer Poncho. This is a design that I initially drooled over here after having found it on Ravelry here.

Cascade Fixation
Color 3919, Maroon

Next we move into the Cascade Fixation portion of my stash-building order.  There was a closeout on Maroon (color 3919) so I decided to dive in.  I’ve not knitted before with Fixation, but I hear it’s quite unique in its springiness.  I’d like to try some socks with it, so I ordered just a bit…OK, in a second color, too - Yankee Red (color 3628).  Yankers was not on sale - but what the hey - in for a penny, in for a pound.

Cascade Fixation
Color 3628, Yankee Red

The Yankee Red is a bit on the Fire Engine side for me, but I’m thinking it might be really nice for Maizy, who is a Fire Engine Red kind of girl.  The Maroon I really like, because I like…things that are maroon.

Maroon.  Marooooon.  Another word that gets funny if you say or spell it a lot.  Maroooooon. 

It’s been a long day.

On the right you’ll see the nice pile o’ yarn that will be known in the future as Little K’s baby blanket à la Curlicue.  The to-die-for Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton is organically grown and truly luscious, certainly in the vibrance of its color (617, Lotus) but also in the feels-like-your-fingers-are-sinking-into-it plushness.  It’s uber-fabulous, all of it.

I swatched a bit in preparation for Curlicue cast-on; not that a swatch is absolutely necessary for a baby blanket, but I’m a little picky about baby blanket dimensions (I like ‘em intentionally generously-sized and not accidentally teddy-bear sized).

Top third stitched with US 5,
Middle third with US 6,
Bottom third with US 7

The yarn label says US 7-9 will yield 4-5 stitches/inch.  I’m wanting to stitches a bit on the tighter side so that my lace pattern is sure to pop.  I started with a 7 and came in at about 4.5 st/in.  Decided to tighten it up and gave it a shot with a 6, then with a 5.  Although the tension looks more pleasing to my eye with the smaller needle, the fabric didn’t change much in actual gauge; it’s still in the 4.5-4.75 st/in range.

So, I’ll probably go with the US 5.  I’ll run a few inches of the pattern on my swatch and then stick a fork in that decision (I dilly-dally around a lot, don’t I?).

The design calls for a repeating 11+1 pattern, so rather than the 100 stitches called for, I’ll up it to 122 and yield a blanket right around 26-27 inches wide.  Then block it heavily if it’s not big enough in the end to feed my fatty blanket beast.

One more set of yarn introductions will round out my lot this time, all from Valley Yarns.  It’s the sock-weight Huntington, in three hues.  Red (4150), grey (0605), and chocolate (B118): these were the short-sock color possibilities suggested by Squeezer, if I were to knit, say, a gift or three for her. 

Valley Yarns Huntington
Color 4150, Red

I have to say I’m in love with this red.  Really in love with it.  I’d call it a deep red, but not an earthy one.  I’m no color expert, but to my eye it’s got less of the orangey undertone and more of the blue. 

Sidenote:  I probably wouldn’t have said anything about blue undertones if I hadn’t had accidentally and briefly met someone who apparently knows more about undertones that I do, which thereby empowered me with an “eye for color” I don’t really have.  Backstory:  I have an Ann Taylor sweater in this shade that has been a staple in my winter wardrobe for a couple of seasons, and once in an elevator in Boston a woman randomly complimented the color and said, “Oh, honey, the blue undertones in that red really suit your complexion.”  Which was a really nice thing to say.  And this shade of red reminds me of that sweater.

Anyloo-hoo - this is my last planned yarn purchase this year.  I’ve really gotta cool it until next year as I’ve got a nice stash to bust between here and there.

[sigh]

I guess I better get knitting so I don’t get distracted by another yarn sale.

She hasn’t made her entrance yet, but she’ll be here very soon.

Kymber is going to have a girl baby to go with her boy baby, Little J.  Well, he’s a toddler, now, really.  Little J is two years old already, how can that be?

Anyway, Little K (as I’ll call her for now) is due in mid-December, so I better get cracking on her Curlicue blanket.  Yes, in celebration of the giddy girliness of a girl baby, I’ve decided to go with a daintier spin, and I really liked the Curlicue Blanket as given the “yay” by Allison on my Blanket Vote post.

The pic of the Curlicue I’d posted at that time as my inspiration was crafted in real life by Stashquisition (here on Ravelry) in a lovely baby blue.  The blanket design was shared on Ravelry by Skruddevutt, who posted the pattern on her site so that people like me can access it…for free!  Thank you to Skruddevutt, who makes furniture by day and blogs in Swedish about this and more here.  The photos of her blanket in a lovely red hue are shown below.

No, I’m not fluent in Swedish, but my good friend Google translates into English for me and brings the words to life.  Isn’t it cool that a mouse click can do that?

As for yarn, I was inspired by SouleMama’s adoration for Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton as documented in her “blanket for baby” post a couple weeks ago. 

SouleMama is coolio, yo - Sissy B turned me on to her a few months back, and then made sure I didn’t miss this cuter-than-cute post on SouleMama’s blog, in which she presents the yarn of my current desire.  She also describes recently taking the Ravelry plunge, waxing sweet newbie wonder at the “vast expanse that is Ravelry” and expressing the initial trepidation all Ravelers have felt at first dipping the toe into the sheer abundance of it: ”so much goodness!”

I digress for a moment because I just read Amanda’s bio on her blog:  she’s from Portland, Maine (I think Sissy B told me this, but clearly it didn’t stick).  I was just there a few weeks ago.  Maybe I ran into SouleMama in a parking lot or something!  Hmmm.

But I’m not a weird stalker or anything; I just think it’s funny.  Funny ha-ha.  And funny strange.

Kinda like me.

Anyway.

One more thing and then I’ll continue about my yarn selection.

SouleMama, in her fabulousness, has a book out called The Creative Family.  You can tell by the Amazon ratings and reviews that it’s pretty darn cool. 

Sissy B had this book on her coffee table the last time I visited and I couldn’t stop raving about it.  It’s not just the craft ideas that make this book cool; really it’s the concept she’s getting across, as highlighted in the subtitle, “How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections.”

I mean, come on.  Too cute.  And I don’t even have any little ones. 

I do have a knitting obsession, though, and Amanda had me at hello with her comments in the introduction of her book.  She described a compulsion to knit that became rampant during her first pregnancy - and since then, she admitted, she has been known to knit at long stoplights.

I love it.

Right.  For my Curlicue, I’m going to go with bright pink (not neon, no thank you - but still bright).  Kymber is like a big sister - she’s a lot like me, which is a polite way of saying that she’s spicy, if you will - assertive and independent, with a penchant for überwoman exuberance (some people would call this being loud and opinionated, others - the cooler ones - would call it being hilarious and all-around awesome). 

Not that either of us are short on sugar in the sugar-and-spice equation; let’s just say we’re heavy on the spice.  Any girl of hers needs a shade of pink that can keep up with her.

So I can’t go with the undyed organic line that Blue Sky Alpacas carries, but I can go with the next-best alternative to au naturel, which is the 100% organically grown cotton that is dyed “in a fun array of colors.”  I’ll say.  Click on this link and check out the happy hues.

My shade is Lotus, number 617.  Haven’t ordered the yarn yet, but I’ve shopped.  I have a hard time committing sometimes, for no good reason - especially since I’ve already decided to buy the yarn. 

Blogging about this should help.  JUST BUY THE YARN, Amy. 

Yet, I do not, preferring instead to hem and haw, and tell you more about my shopping. 

It seems Fabulous Yarn may have the best deal once you figure in their discounts, but over at WEBS they have a whole lotta delicious sale yarns listed, of which they could throw in a few skeins while they’re packing up my Lotus. 

That’s the real reason I’m stalling on the purchase - because I want to be able to justify buying more than just the blanket yarn.  OK, I said it.  I’m not going to lie to you.

Time’s a-wastin’, though (*wink* doggone it, says Sarah Palin), so I better get movin’.