Saturday was washday for a couple FO's from the past few weeks. Naturally the California rainy season started on Saturday night & nothing is actually dry yet. Silly weather. Anyway, here are photos of the drying party:
Icelandic Beauty Crocus cardigan
 
Mystery Kit #1 is also in the drying party.. Don't click if you don't want to know! Finished Mystery Object #1
Designing.. and near disaster
Design: I am working on a small project which I am inventing from scratch. The idea came from a friend, but the yarn choice, gauge, size, etc are all coming from me. I've made two prototypes already and I'm thinking, thinking, thinking about how to make it better. I've been totally pumped about it since I started work on Saturday evening. I'll share photos and a pattern as soon as I've got a satisfactory model. Disaster: I lost the entire Crocus cardigan last week, and didn't even miss it. Apparently on Tuesday last week I somehow dropped the Crocus cardigan in my parking garage at work. Maybe it was the over-full knitting bag on my way to Noontime Knitting at work. Maybe I knocked it out of the car on the way home. Who knows? But I was completely clueless, had no idea Crocus was gone. The rest of the week, I worked on modifying the Fogchaser to be long enough & wide enough to cover me up and made some progress on Meadow Flowers (though there was also some ripping. And you really can't reuse that mohair. Had to clip out the knit part & toss it.) So I really didn't miss Crocus. On Thursday, one of my colleagues told me that Rosalinda had run into the janitor in the parking garage in the morning and he'd handed her the Crocus cardigan. By sheer luck, Rosalinda has been stopping by the knitting group for the last couple weeks and recognized my project. She brought it safely to my office Friday and I now have it back in my hands. I'm totally embarrassed that I lost an entire nearly-F-O and didn't even notice. And I can't believe the one person the janitor talked to about this found object in the parking garage turned out to be someone who knew all about it. So Boo for me, Hurray for the janitor and Double Extra Special Hurray for Rosalinda for re-uniting me with my project. In pennance, I washed Crocus, the finished Icelandinc Beauty dog sweater, and Mystery Object #1 (cool colorway) on Saturday. 4 buttons to sew on and Crocus can be safely delivered to Baby Clara, whose arrival is eagerly awaited this week. The quicker we get this thing out of my house, the better it will be for everyone!
Adapting the Fog Chaser
At Sunday's S-n-B at Orchard Valley, I brought the back of my new project, Fog Chaser, for feedback from the group. The jacket back: 
is almost exactly the same shape as the back of another jacket I own. The other jacket fits great in the back but "rides up" in the front. I am trying to figure out how to make the Fog Chaser fit well, front and back. The S-n-B group thought that the more flexible nature of knitting might be enough. After all, it's not off by that much! Later in the evening, Wendy and I decided that maybe a few more rows in the armhole area both front and back, plus a light slope to the shoulder bind off might help make this garment a success. I'm going to try adding the extra length to the back and see if I like it. The back so far has taken about 240 g. of the 800 g. of yarn in the kit, so I'm more or less on track to Not Run Out of Yarn, even if I add 4 more rows to the back. I think it's worth the gamble, since I already know I won't wear the jacket if the front pulls up to show off my belly. Other progress.. Meadow Flowers - I completed the 10th row of patterning on the Meadow Flowers shawl (no photo. Imagine a slightly bigger triangle than last time I posted). Last night I discovered a boo-boo about 8 rows back and attempted to ladder down to the mistake & fix it. This did not go well. I don't advise trying to correct stitches in this Lorna's Laces Heaven. I haven't managed to hook all the stitches back in yet. Crocus - All knitting and sewing is complete. Just needs a quick blocking and some buttons and this one is ready for the impending birth of baby Clara, whose due date is this week. Leggero Stripe - I was all set Saturday to start on another Leggero Stripe cardigan for Siobhan's baby, due December 7th, when I remembered I lent the pattern out last week. I had to distract myself with Fog Chaser until the pattern comes back, probably Wednesday. Plenty to keep me busy, though.
The first few rows go really fast
This week I started the Meadow Flowers shawl from the The Knitter's Stash. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Heaven, a wispy thin hand-dyed mohair. I got psyched about the pattern when I saw these photos on Elka Knits. It looks from her photos like the finished shawl has about 21 rows of motifs. I've got 9 so far, though they are quite hard to see in this photo: 
Working with the yarn has been very easy. I worried that yarn this delicate-looking would drift apart, but it has been completely solid so far (touch wood). Ripping is less than fun, as the mohair tends to bond quite firmly as you make each stitch. So long as I don't make any mistakes, this stuff is great. The first 9 rows of pattern motifs went very quickly, but obviously each row is geting longer and progress is slowing. Still, I think it is quite likely that this will meet my December deadlines. [Edited 12:39 pm]Forgot to note the color name & number - Desert Flower (100). I originally bought this yarn a year ago thinking I would make a shawl for my mom, but the color turned out all wrong. In the ball, this yarn looked more purple, more cream. Knitted up, it was obviously too pink and too teal for mom. Reminds me of those 1980's colors. Miami Vice, anyone? But the $60 skein had already been wound and there was no going back. I'm glad I've found another use for this yarn.
Jake's sweater
Oooooh, really really good day. Jake's mom, An, sent me this picture of six-month-old Jake wearing the Leggero Stripe hooded cardigan I knit last February. *Please*, click the photo for a larger version, so you can bask in Jake's cuteness: 
I am just planning to make another of these, so I was incredibly thrilled to get An's feedback on the fit & cuteness of this sweater. She loves the hood.. "The hood is perfect too. It fits, and doesn't go too far into his face. That is one of the reasons that I usually grab your sweater, because he can really use the hood.".. but this sweater would last longer for Jake if it were a little wider - like maybe 1.5 inches might take him up to 1 year. Won't this sweater look great in the orange and green? Thank you, An, for the fabulous photo!
Planning for Xmas knitting
I'm looking ahead to the upcoming gift-giving season and assessing what Must Be Done by then. First, what's in the works that truly ought to be done by December? - Narcisse - ugh, the embroidery!
- Crocus cardigan - pieces are finished, some assembly required
- Meadow Flowers shawl for Louise's - just barely started
- OXO gansey - only 60 cm of back completed
- .... countless other Works Not In Progress which shall remain nameless
OK, so that's sort of a lot.. what else can/must I take on. I've got my eye on four recipients and even have patterns picked out for a couple of them. I'd better refrain from naming the recipients in case by some fluke they read this. I'll tell you about the Future Xmas Works in Progress instead: - #1 - Thanks to Abigail, I took a closer look at the Patternworks catalog that arrived this week. I love this Toggle Cardigan in Lite Lopi. Haven't picked a color yet, but this sweater must be made
- #2 - Siobhan's baby is coming in early December. I'm thinking of repeating the "washcloth" hooded cardi, this time in orange and green
- #3 - A tie. A knitted tie. I have high hopes for the winter issue of Interweave Knits
- #4 - a Toddler item of some sort for an 18 month - 2 year old. I've thought about making Narcisse again, but I just can't bring myself to do it. (Ugh, the embroidery.) Jeni had a lovely baby-sized pullover called Opptuna in Noro Silk Garden at Sunday's S-n-B. I have tons of Silk Garden which I thought was going to be a mosaic squares jacket. I think the Silk Garden will definitely be the yarn, but what pattern? Suggestions, anyone?
Hmm.. If I'm going to get 4 more prezzies done by the end of the year, I'd better move my thang on Crocus and Narcisse. Nevermind that knitting Meadow Flowers is way more fun than seaming or dreaded embroidery. We have deadlines to meet!
National Infertility Awareness Week & Crocus Cardigan
Last Thursday, while I was up in San Francisco with an out-of-town friend, we went to trivia night at the Mad Dog in the Fog pub. I cast on my Oat Couture Crocus cardigan that night and did some good knitting on it over the weekend. By Wednesday night, I was ready to split for the armholes. Yesterday I worked on the seed-rib Yoke portion, which brings us to this photo: 
I was working on the fronts last night at an infertility support group at the Stanford REI clinic. Which turned out to be a bad idea, because I forgot to do the button holes in the right front. So I ripped out 24 rows of the right front and reknit it with the button holes while watching the Presidential debates on Tivo last night. And *that* turned out to be a bad idea, because I'd forgotten the decreases required right before the yoke begins. This photo is pre-frog... I took out both fronts this morning & actually did the decreases. Moral of the story: Do not mix "thinking knitting" with politics or infertility. That's the end of today's knitting content.. and now... on to a lengthy, non-edited soapbox discussion of infertility. Stop here if you don't care to participate. <begin soapbox> Sept 26 - October 2 is National Infertility Awareness Week - something I learned at last night's group. I picked up some NIAW pins from the support group. I had been telling the group members how I had snapped about 3 months ago and started telling everyone about my infertility issues. I've decided to be a poster-child for why we need to talk about infertility instead of hiding it behind embarrassed silence. No one else at the support group seemed comfortable about being "out" about infertility, which I have to respect even though I regret it. I'm still a little uncertain whether I'm strong enough to keep talking about infertility issues in public, but it feels more right than sneaking around like I was before. I really wish other infertile women had talked to me before I got to the ripe old age of 38 about age-related infertility, endometriosis, and getting on with your child-bearing, already. Especially endometriosis. It's been pretty hard to realize, retroactively, that I've probably been full of endometriosis for 25 years and blew my chance at having my own biological children long, long ago. There's no way to tell, of course, what Might Have Been, but I keep feeling like I would have had a better shot if I'd known about endometriosis before and gotten it treated surgically. But who talks about this stuff? In my life, no one did until I was 35. So here's where I am now: 2 surgeries for endometriosis in the past year have really improved my quality of life (no more painful menstrual cramps...) but left me with no hope that my trashed ovaries will produce viable eggs. One round of IVF stimulation produced a single egg follicle in March... which I honestly could probably have done without all the injections. On the advice of our IVF physician and the endometriosis surgeon, we are now exploring ovum donation and hoping to try that in the next 6 months. If it doesn't work, I don't think we will adopt, but who knows. I know I can live a happy and fulfilled life without children, since that's what I've been doing til now. But I will pursue the options I have available to bear a child in the next two years. If you are someone I know who suspects you might be infertile - I am open to sharing what I've learned so far in one full year of treatment. If you are someone dealing with infertility and you are strong enough to talk to your friends, I urge you to be brave and talk about it. You can help make others aware of the issues, treatments and pain associated with infertility. Just like breast cancer, prostate cancer, mental illness and other formerly-hidden medical conditions, the world needs more awareness of infertility. And a hidden grief like infertility is just not healthy. If you can share it and get some support, it just might help you as well as your friends. Oh. One last thing. If you know someone who is suffering from infertility, please please please avoid asking them "Have you considered adoption?" When someone is committed to treating infertility, they need your support in that treatment path, not the implied criticism of their desires hidden in this question. Infertile couples are generally well aware of adoption. Infertility is not just about the inability to get a kid. Even if an infertile woman bears a child, she is often still infertile and that grief stays with her for a long time. Asking "Have you considered adoption" denies the fertility patient's desires to attempt to have a biological child, something we assume everyone can do, something tied up with our definitions of self and gender roles. When we seek treatment for infertility, we are coping with those issues every day and we aren't yet ready to give up on those dreams of having a child "of our own". If you don't want to talk about the weird, scientific, emotional world of infertility treatment, just offer your best wishes for their successful treatment and keep quiet about adoption until they bring it up. Thank you! <end soapbox> Have a great weekend, everybody! [Edited 19-Oct-2004 to spell endometriosis correctly and add link to endometriosis info - spinnity]
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