New dress for the girl:
Grrr… A bit too big around the top, a bit too short overall… I may rip out the bottom and knit a few more rows, or just leave it as is and call it a tunic for summertime.
You may also notice that she has the standing down pat–it’s her favorite thing to do. She’s also picking up more signs and can now sign “dog” and most importantly, “brother.”
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Not sure exactly which colors to pick, though…
My best friend from med school came out for a visit last week with her family. I was so excited for our kids to meet–she has a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. The older kids met almost 3 years ago but obviously had no recollection of each other. When thinking of presents for the kids, B told me that her daughter was really into fairies, and her son into balls. What’s a knitter to do? Enter Sally the Eco Fairy and a set of knitted balls.
Not quite finished here–she needed a set of wings, hair, and eyes. In my usual fashion I was sewing these on in the car to Vail. While I managed to finish in time, my camera ran out of batteries so I don’t have a picture of the finished product, but will try to get my friend to send me one. Really, she is so cute–even my boy looked at it and told me, “Mommy, that doll is really beautiful.” Honestly, I don’t know if the girl will really love it–it seems that so many kids these days are more enchanted with plastic versions of toys that look like the movie characters they see.
The knitted balls are adorable too, and of course suffer from the same lack-of-camera syndrome. I almost put little jingle balls in them, but then took pity on the parents and decided against it.
I’m of course going to make a fairy for my girl–darker yarn, darker hair. I’ve realized that there are very few representations in children’s media that involve non white children or voices. Some I find frankly racist (the Latino car in the movie “Cars,” for example, complete with hydraulics and flame paint job). Sesame Street is going off the air, and Dora/Diego are so unpalatable that I can’t bear to watch. But Bob the Builder, Thomas, Curious George don’t really have any. Any thoughts on others?
I did say I was going to blog about the knitting, right? Somewhere in between all of the other things I’ve managed to finish a couple things.
First, the Clapotis:
I had some issues with this. When it was first done, I thought it was a bit frumpy and wasn’t too happy. After blocking it and ironing it (yes, it’s suggested by the manufacturer) it was pretty but a bit flat. I re-blocked it and scrunched up the drop stitch ladders and voila, a bouncy gorgeous scarf that is not frumpy. Make sure you compliment me if you see me wearing it–it will make me happy and I will get to say with false modesty, “Oh, this little thing? It was nothing!”
I’ve decided I quite like this pattern and may want to make another one someday.
The other recently finished piece is another scarf made from a gorgeous thick and thin yarn from ArtFibers in San Francisco. I was lucky enough to visit recently and make a pilgrimage trip to the store. It’s warm and yummy.
close up of texture
I’ve also learned that it is difficult to get a picture of yourself wearing a knitted piece if you are the one holding the camera, which is why there are no pictures of me actually wearing said objects. I’ve seen other pictures where people put them on stuffed animals, but I think that looks dumb. My son wouldn’t stand still enough for a picture, and my daughter would eat the scarves. I may be able to wrangle my husband into taking some pictures for the next one.
Next project: Lace Ribbon Scarf for my sister, which is coming along nicely.
My sister can actually be credited with getting me started on my obsession with knitting. Actually, perhaps I should credit my mother’s inability to produce any knitted object other than a scarf.
When I was preggers with Atticus, my sister had bought my mother a knitting kit and yarn to make a hat for the baby. My mother, unused to circular needles found it too challenging and asked if I wanted it. I had taught myself how to crochet a few months back to make a baby blanket for a dear friend’s baby, and thought I could figure it out. I got the “Stitch n’ Bitch” book and pored over knitting tutorials on the net and eventually produced a perfect little striped hat. Of course, having no idea how big a baby’s head really was, the hat swallowed my newborn whole and it took a small rescue team to find him.
Since then I’ve branched out into new projects, trying to learn something new with each one. I still make a ton of those little hats, though, just more appropriately sized.
The latest piece, as any knitter will recognize, is the oft-knitted, sometimes maligned Clapotis. I bought this beautiful silk yarn while in San Fran in October, and it’s turning out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. I find it very gratifying to drop the stitches and watch the form take place.
fretzes on the loose 