It seems that the British summer is over before it’s even begun.  Since June we’ve had only a couple of weeks to bask in warmth and sunshine.  July was a complete washout and even though August has been very promising I can already feel the crisp air of autumn around the corner.  No matter.  Summer (not that it exists in this country anymore) is overrated.  I say bring on the apples, bonfires, blackberries, falling leaves and wooly knits.

The cooler air has given us an early opportunity to photograph the modeled Pebble vest.  It is a bit long in the body, giving a bit of room to grow.  And grow he certainly will.  My little model is now 9 months old and I almost want to shed a tear when I see his tiny newborn clothes.

Every day I get to know this boy a little better and am so excited to see who he becomes in another 9 months.  I know he’ll continue to give us a bit of joy every day and I hope he’ll still give me a bit of time to do some knitting.

It’s funny how when you become a mother time really does just fly by.  For example, one day I went to sleep with a tiny baby and woke up to this.

A big, beautiful, happily cruising 8 month old boy who looks more and more like his daddy every day.  I don’t know what he’s done to my tiny gurgling baby (perhaps he ate him) but this upgraded model actually lets me knit from time to time.  As his reward I made him a very big boy sort of vest.

Thrifty Knitter’s Pebble baby vest knit up in lovely Rowan Summer Tweed.  This was my first project since my mother’s scarf and it was a wonderful knit.  Made in one piece the garter stitch was a nice reintroduction to knitting and it seemed to fly off the needles.  I loved everything about this; the yarn, the colour, and the pattern.  Finding and sewing on the colourful buttons felt like a moment of triumph.  When you take such a long hiatus from a hobby like this you almost forget how much you loved it in the first place.

When I started out knitting this I decided not to concern myself with the sizing.  This was not the time for pressure and deadlines, I only wanted the relaxing, unwinding, therapy that knitting can provide.  As it turns out it fits my little man perfectly and as soon as cooler weather hits we will do a modeled photo shoot (if he hasn’t outgrown it by then).

He seems to approve.

I don’t dare check when the last time I updated was. It seems like years ago, particularly now that my time is completely monopolised by a very beautiful and very demanding little man. 2008 was a very poor year for knitting for me, but I don’t mind since I have the best finished project anyone could hope for.

2009 is a year of new beginnings, new baby, new president and new knitting. I am very slowly getting back to my feet with my hobbies. I’m enjoying knitting more than ever now, perhaps because I only have little pockets of time that I really have to relish when I get them. These days just getting out of my pajamas before noon seems like an accomplishment, and going grocery shopping is a downright adventure. I have managed to finish a hat for my bub to wear in this particularly chilly winter.

It is the Thorpe hat from Through the Loops modified for a baby’s head. Basically I just increased until it looked like it’d fit and then winged the earflaps. The yarn is a some leftover Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and Jaeger Shetland Aran. I loved knitting this and it was so quick that I finished it a day of on and off knitting. If only cardigans could be so easy to finish.

I’m trying to keep to one project at a time now as that’s probably my only hope of finishing anything.  Currently it’s something rather special for someone’s birthday, which is nearly finished and hopefully can be sent off this week if I don’t slack off.  A new knitting group has been started in my little village and that will at least give me a couple hours of knitting a week.

I everyone had a wonderful holiday and new year and here’s hoping 2009 is as exciting as 2008.

Back before I went to Cornwall I gave you a sneak peek at a project that I had just finished but hadn’t modeled.  I now can present the Tilted Duster.

I love this cardigan probably more than any of my other knits.  It is warm and fashionable and I have the satisfaction of reusing a great yarn.  I frogged my second sweater, Rogue, made out of Rowan Magpie Aran to make this.  I never really wore Rogue, it was a challenging knit and I learned a lot and did wear it a bit, but it was baggy and heavy and got tossed to the side.  The yarn is a really sturdy yarn and I had just enough to finish this project.  It probably took me a couple of months altogether but it did go in hibernation for a while.  The sleeves and top half went very quickly but man, that skirt took ages.  I finally took it out of hibernation and finished it over a few bad movies and episodes of Voyager.  I’ve not blocked it because I was so keen to wear it, so I think it’ll look a bit smoother and flatter once I do.  I don’t know when that’ll be because I never take it off.

The only thing I maybe don’t like about it is the collar, it is just a bit too big, but seems to roll over pretty well.  I did knit the smallest size and everyone was complaining about the sleeves being so tight so I knit them the next size up and a bit longer and I’d say they’re pretty perfect.

Now for the surprise.  Did you  happen to notice anything different about me in those photos?  No?  I’ll give you a little hint.

I am pregnant!  Big cookies for those who may have guessed it!  I am about 6 weeks along and am so pleased, we have wanted children for a while now and was a bit surprised myself when my test came out positive while we were in Cornwall (in a cafe, of all places to pee on a stick).   I am due about December 1st which means I have seven months to knit a whole arsenal of baby clothes.  I have even started on a tiny guernsey and I can’t believe that there’ll be someone small enough to wear it.  I’m sure I’ll be a baby bore over the next months (and years) but I promise there’ll still be some knitting.  Thank goodness the Tilted Duster is the perfect cardigan for my future bump.

I hope everyone’s had a nice Easter break, I know we have.  As far as actual Easter celebrations go all I did was make a batch of hot crossed buns.  It’s a bit hard to get in the Easter spirit when it’s still cold enough to snow.  Most of our time was spent at a pottery exhibition David was showing at.  He was able to go down and do some throwing as a bit of a demonstration to visitors.  Both of the items he had for sale sold so it was a good start for him.  I stuck around to watch him get messy with clay and watch a rather scary bit of inferno known as a raku firing.  The rest of the time was spent relaxing and getting down to the needles.

I spent one of my evenings going through all of my handknits and frogging those poor neglected knits.  One was a blue and cream striped scarf of Rowan Polar that I had made David about 5 years ago when I started knitting.  I don’t think he wore it once.  No matter, they make lovely loafers.  The pattern calls for two strands of Malabrigo worsted held together, and I can only imagine how lovely they must be, but one strand of Polar feels beautifully soft and cushy.

I finished them in two sittings over two evenings.  They are easy, quick and wonderfully warm.  He even wears them as “welly warmers”, keeping his toes warm as we splash through the spring mud.  I am so knitting myself a pair out of some purple Lamb’s Pride Bulky I’ve had in the stash forever.

As if knitting loafers wasn’t enough excitement, Karen came over yesterday for a fantastic  day of fiber chat and hanging out at the beach.  She has been dyeing like crazy recently and have made some absolutely lovely colourways based on photos.  I am always stunned by the richness and accuracy of her colours and can’t wait for her online store to open officially.  I doubt she will need much publicity since I am very willing to make myself poor with rovings such as this.

This is a beautiful roving based on a photo of hay (can you imagine?  Hay!), and I love the subtle colours and mix of greens, purples, oranges, and creams.  It is blue faced leicester so we know it will spin up nicely but I just feel  my spinning isn’t even worthy of such loveliness.  But how yummy would navajo plied sock yarn be in this?  And if that is not enough to be madly jealous about I also got a lovely set of stitch markers.

They are even nicer in person, believe me.  I had been using flimsy little markers I had gotten for free and was even resorting to tying rings of yarn so something had to be done.  These rose quartz stitch markers are beautifully made and have a great weight to them, you just know they will last for years.  I am only too lucky to have such a generous and talented friend, but don’t worry, I’ll be paying her back with plenty of dyeing (and cake making) labour quite soon.

I’ll give you a sneak peak at something big that I have finished but still need to model.  It’s been on the needles for a long time and I am glad that it’s finally over with.  The end result is fabulous though, and I hope I’ll get a chance to take photos before we go on holiday to Cornwall next week.  And for the record, I actually don’t have anything on the needles at the moment!  This is definitely a moment to remember, and no, I have no idea what to make next.

What does a knitter do when faced with freezing cold hands?  Knits some mitts of course.

I am loving these quick knits I’ve been doing lately, they break up the monotony of larger projects and are so satisfying.  These are a free pattern from “Last Minuted Knitted Gifts” and are so ridiculously quick to make that you could finish them in one sitting.  I think the traveling ribs add such a pleasant texture, and make what would be very plain mitts into something just a bit more interesting.

They are knit with my own handspun shetland, my first real attempt at spinning anything thicker than fingering weight.  They are very soft and warm, but I’m always disappointed with the stitch definition with my handspun, it’s all just a bit too fuzzy.  I’m also very tempted to overdye them.  The earth mother in me says to embrace the lovely natural grey, but the fashionista in me says that grey does nothing for me.  If I do it’ll be in a rich green which will maybe turn out a muted, foresty colour.  For now, I am just enjoying the feeling of having nice warm hands to wrap around my favourite mug of tea.  I don’t think I’ll be taking these off anytime soon.

So I promised that there’d be an exciting update. Something is different about the Wife, can you see what it is?

If you said “The hair!” you get a cookie, I got my haircut the other day and decided to go for it and get it really short. My hair is pretty fine and looks so flat and lifeless when I have it longer. This way it looks thicker and has a bit of texture, I’m really pleased with it. I also got in cut hoping that the weather might improve, so far no luck with that.But wait, what am I wearing in that photo? That beautiful bright blue bit of lace?

It’s Ene’s Scarf from Scarf Style, something that’s been hibernating for a rather long time. It feels like I’ve been working on it for over a year, but mainly that’s because it took about 5 goes before I successfully cast on and started the lace. I was originally going to make it in Kidsilk Haze, but casting all the mohair was a nightmare. When I saw four balls of Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4 ply on offer I knew exactly what to make.   It took an evening of watching Predator to finally finish it.  I love love love this shawl, at first I thought ‘when am I going to wear this?’. Answer: all the frickin’ time. It’s about 6 feet long and so versatile, I had a great time figuring out different ways to wear it besides just tying it in the front.

Scarf Style – Just fold it over so it’s about the width of a scarf and wrap it around your neck. It’s super warm, cozy, and makes you feel a bit like a movie star.

Cape – This is so easy, just throw the ends over your shoulders or even bring them back around the front and tie the ends ascot style. This makes it look like a great little cape or capelet, and is how I wear it over my jacket outside.

Shrug – Throw it over your arms and either let it hang or tie it around the back for a shrug look. Great over a sleeveless dress, cami, or just to keep the ends out of your way.

Wrap – This is my favourite! Wrap the ends around your front and tie them in the back. This is very warm and functional and looks a bit like a cropped wrap sweater.

Skirt - Kind of like a sarong, you just wrap the shawl around your waist for a quick lacy skirt. Great over a plain skirt, pair of jeans, leggings or a swimsuit.

Dress – I wrapped one end around my bust and the other around my waist and tied them on the side. I think this would be so cute over a swimsuit on the beach, but if you’re daring then maybe over a minidress or slip.

Who says shawls are for grandmas?

You’re just innocently browsing Ravelry when suddenly it hits you, a gorgeous little pattern, that you just HAVE to make.  Now.  Fortunately I knew exactly what yarn I wanted to use and within a matter of hours I have a new hat.

It is crocheted using Twilleys Freedom Spirit, which is pretty soft, but it’s the colours that draw you in.  My favourite part are the colourful rings in the centre of the hat.

Delicious.  It’s so quick to hook up that I want to make it in a dozen colours, a  hat for every day of the week, for every mood.  You can see why I get so little done when little things like this crop up in the middle of my day.

And out with it comes Cupcake. It really isn’t warm enough to wear this, but at least there was enough light for photos.

In the photo it looks a little short, but it’s really only because I’m standing with good posture. When I slouch there’s no problem. I love the look of it front the back too, the shaping is what really makes it fabulous.

I can already tell this will be my top for most of the summer, I just need to get some more vest tops to wear underneath it, you know, for decency’s sake.

Work on the Curvature Jacket is progressing quite nicely too. I had to sit down for about an hour yesterday converting all of the directions to my gauge. The recommended gauge is 4.5 st/in and mine is 3.75 st/in. Couple that with rather complicated yoke increases and you’ve got a lot of maths to do. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever used math more in my life than when I’ve started knitting/crocheting. So far everything is going according to plan and I should have a very well fitting, tailored cardigan to wear through the spring. Because the colour of the cotton is so blah I have grand plans to use some sort of indigo dye to really transform it. I can picture the lovely texture of the cardigan going really well with deep blue, and hopefully it’ll only improve as the dye fades like my favourite pair of jeans.

After spending a sunny morning reseaming Cupcake (I finally got to grips with the invisible weaving technique) I can present to you this.

She is what I’d consider done.  I’m not going to bother with the shell edging or the ribbons.  I’m just not a ‘frou frou’ sort of girl.  I love everything about it though.  If it wasn’t hailing outside I would run around the village, freezing, but wearing it proudly.  Modeling shots will probably come when it’s warm enough to warrant a short sleeved holey top.  I love the yarn, the colour, the pattern, and most of all, the crochet.  I find it’s almost effortless to do, and purely fun.  I always look at knitting as almost utilitarian, a way to produce something practical to wear, and for warmth.  There’s a lot of fiddling about with knitting that I don’t like (kitchener I’m talking to you!), but with crochet there’s such a relaxed atmosphere.  Only one stitch to worry about at a time, no worry of stitches carelessly falling out and crying over dropped and mangled knitting.  Don’t get me wrong, knitting is my first love, but crochet is now my secret lover.

To prove this I have done a gauge swatch.

For the Curvature Jacket, I knew I had to buy it the moment I set eyes on it.  I love the structure and the construction and it’s probably one of the most elegant crocheted garments I have ever seen.  It’s downright classy and shows knitting a thing or two about crochet.  I swatched with Sirdar’s luxury cotton DK and wonder if it’s the right yarn for the job.  The linked stitch is interesting, a bit fiddly, but creates an appealing dense fabric.  While I’ll probably knit my mom’s socks in the evening while listening to audiobooks but I’m afraid I can’t resist the call of the hooks.