Brown Paper Packages

Receiving mail is so fun. It would be better if packages still came in brown paper tied up with string, but still. And packages with yarn? The best.

Way back in December, I had convinced Mum that a share in the sheep from Grand View farm in Vermont was a good graduation gift. Doubts about my sanity were aired, explanations of Community Supported Agriculture were given (Twist Collective's article does it best), and I ended up with the very last share in their Cormo sheep. I waited, and waited, and gasp! last week, my package arrived.

Stella inspected it thoroughly for me, just in case:



I knew that I'd get four skeins of yarn, 16 ounces total, but I didn't expect it to come so beautifully packaged: the box was lined with tissue, topped with a thank-you note bearing a picture of the sheep and a "knit local" sticker.



As I unpacked the softly spun, chubby skeins, I uncovered a little sachet of herbs to keep out the bugs and--



Is that just not the coolest thing ever? Kim, the woman who runs Grand View, knows how to do things right.

What about you guys? What was the best package (fibery or not) that you've ever received in the mail?

What the Dickens!

(I'm not sure why, but Stella finds this a comfortable style of repose)

The new season of Masterpiece Theatre is in full swing, and it's the perfect opportunity to get working on my Top-Down Shoulder Warmer. The "Classic" portion of the season--Tales of Charles Dickens--has just ended, and although I knit my way through both the end of Little Dorrit and The Old Curiosity Shop, frankly, I'm looking forward to a good, wholesome murder or two on the "Mystery" leg. It's not that I don't love Dickens--David Copperfield is one of my favorite books and has an awesome Masterpiece adaptation--but these two did not end on the note I was expecting.

I saw the way The Old Curiosity Shop was going when I realized they were cramming the whole thing into one and a half hours. A Christmas Carol fits into one and a half hours. Anything else, forget it.

But Little Dorrit... We pretty much sat there staring at the screen after that one ended, all thinking, did that really just happen? I will not go into detail, for those who have not yet been floored by this one in print or picture form. Suffice to say I didn't know that sort of thing flew in Victorian England.

In the same vein, I am a little puzzled with my Shoulder Warmer. The first thing I realized when I was trying to figure out which size to knit was that my back size (16" or L) had no correspondence to my bust size (34, between S & M). A review of the pattern and a modicum of common sense told me that in a sweater without a front, the back size is probably the way to go. So I went that way.

I think part of my dissatisfaction at the end of The Old Curiosity Shop was that at that point, I discovered that my trim, snug little shoulder-warmer-in-progress was neither trim nor snug about the shoulders. The sleeves, and the shoulder region they grew out of, were too big. Apparently my back size has no correspondence to my arm size, either. I tried the nascent shoulder warmer on three times, deliberated, went through the notes on all the Top Down Shoulder Warmers on Ravelry, deliberated some more, and decided there was nothing to be done but rip the whole thing back to the beginning and fudge it.

The back size had to stay, but none of the sizes written give a a sleeve with a 10-11" circumference, which is what I wanted. Careful perusal of the pattern revealed that the different sizes were achieved in part by working more or less increase rows. Another trying on of my sweater revealed that the armholes were a little deep, so I decided to attempt a custom fit by combining strategies.

First, I cast on more back stitches and fewer sleeve stitches, and now, I will work fewer increase rows. This will produce the right stitch counts and hopefully will *not* throw the design out of whack. I was quite pleased to have figured something out for this conundrum, but all the same it makes me wonder if I'm shaped like an effigy jar.

*Sigh* Nothing to do but continue knitting and keep our fingers crossed for a nice murder this Sunday night.

Changing Gears

We in the desert have lucked out with an exceptionally mild spring. Only now is it beginning the transition from gloriously pleasant to hotter than the dickens, which means it's time to transition into a new phase of knitting projects.

My hands were getting sore from all the projects I'd be doing on tiny needles, so I took a break from that branch of crafting and zipped up a recycled materials tote bag.



I am thrilled to death with it--this is exactly how I envisioned it turning out. Big deal, you say, it's just a square of jersey fabric sewn on a bag. Scoff not:the last time I tangled with the Funstyler, it won.

The knit-free day lasted just that long--a day--and then it was back to the needles. I finished up my Pinwheel Shawl, and am similarly pleased with the result:



The pattern is incredibly simple, and as promised in Knitalong, shows off fancy yarns to great advantage. The two I used were Malabrigo (left over from Hermanita's Firebird) and Parisienne (purchased during my post-semester meltdown). For being so little, it's incredibly warm, and will serve me well during the months of freezing A/C.

Now I'm ready for something on bigger needles, with bigger yarn, so the Top-Down Shoulder Warmer may finally get its turn!

Leaf Cardigan Reveal

Here it is, at long last. It's been over a month since Hermanita's birthday, but first she had to block it, then I needed to remember to ask her to model when there was still some light left.



Pattern: Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties, by Stephanie Japel (32" size)
Yarn: Cascade Dolce in Lavender Pearl (938?), not quite 6 skeins

This was a very nice pattern--simple and straightforward. Because I had to knit away from prying eyes, this got to be a bit boring, but it would be a great project for knit nights/TV knitting. To make things even simpler, I did the sleeves in the round. My row gauge changed slightly, but this didn't matter because the sleeves only need to be a certain length, not a certain number of rows.



As to the color: generally I eschew pastels (repressed memories c. 1990) in favor of earthy or bold colors. But see how the walls are almost exactly the same color as the sweater? That's Hermanita's room. Need I say more?

Next up, some current knits as they relate to that omnipresent force, my Stash.

Happy Easter!

With love from the stuffies, all finished. Ok--all finished as of 8 this morning, when I did eyes for the Mousie on the left.

Patterns:
Loch Ness Monster, by hansigurumi
and
Mousie, by Ysolda Teague
Nessie used some discontinued acrylics from the depths of my stash, and Mousie is Crystal Palace Panda Wool leftover from Mum's Christmas socks and a modicum of my endless stash of Dalegarn.

Both are fabulous patterns, and happily received. We always got little stuffed creatures in our baskets when we were little, and there are just too many adorable stuffie patterns out there *not* to continue the tradition.

Here's hoping everyone's having a restful Sunday, complete with jellybeans and knitting!

Guess What's Here

My O-Wool.

I had ordered it several weeks ago, back when I was searching for the project. The weather was changing, and I hit upon the plan of making myself Laura's Top-Down Shoulder Warmer (apologies for the Ravelers-only link; this pattern has disappeared off her blog's shop). I was utterly enthused at the idea of having something light to keep me warm in the deep freeze that is my workplace in summer. Then I learned that my LYS (good on stocking standards, bad on color) had to special order the gray, and my excitement was shot down like the Flying Ace over enemy territory. On to socks!

Well, now it's here, I'm up to my ears in churning out little giftlets, and a shrug couldn't be farther from my mind. Doesn't it so figure?

Update!

I hate falling behind on blogging. I always feel like then I have to write something sparkling with interest to make up. Unfortunately, nothing that happened over the past three weeks strikes me as sparkling. The closest I can get is offering photos labeled in exclamations points.

The Palo Verdes bloomed!



My Pinwheel Blanket, aka the Fireball Shawl, is speeding along!


I should be committed to Easter giftlets! That's the latest in the long list of distractions-that-have-been-keeping-me-from-blogging. I thought that I'd whip out a few little stashbusters to tuck among the paper grass and jellybeans, something quick and fun. Ha. I've Ravelled giftlet the first, but not giftlet the second because giftlet the second is two partial skeins in the depths of my stash. Giftlet the first is a monster in more ways than one, a little monster that has sucked up hours of my knitting time over the past two days. Today alone I have worked on it for over two hours, and my progress can be measured in under an inch.

Don't get me wrong--the pattern is great, and it will look cute as a button tucked among brightly wrapped candies. But ye gods, this project epitomizes the warning: little ≠ quick to knit!