Inspired

As I've mentioned, my darling Z (Isn't she cute?) does not exactly do wonders for my ability to finish knitting projects. But she did provide the inspiration (Inspiration! Hello, stranger!) for the one thing I finished recently.

My crocheting friend Christie (she of the Babette Blanket) gifted me a skein of Cascade Rustic in blue (color 09). Rustic is a wool plied with linen, aran weight, very soft, very nice. It told me it wanted to be mittens.

"But I don't wear mittens," I told it. "I wear mitts. And don't even talk to me about convertible mittens. I hate those flip-tops." So the yarn was quiet for a bit.

On another day, I was putting Z to bed, and flipped the cuffs of her nightshirt so she wouldn't scratch herself in her sleep.

The design of infant nightshirts is actually quite clever. There is just an extra length of fabric on one side of the sleeve, attached on three sides, which functions as a cuff when it's down and a cover--or a mitten, if you will--when it's up. I'm not describing it very well. Let me show you.



An idea started to form. While Z napped, I picked up my size 5 dpns and cast on with the Rustic. This is what I came up with.

Open:



Closed:



I'm quite pleased with them, and considering writing up the pattern in a couple of sizes. Maybe do a variation that's a little fancier. Is that something people would pay for? I don't know about that, but I do know I can't explain putting in that amount of work for free to my husband when I could potentially be earning a little something extra for the baby. Diapers don't come cheap.

Magic

For my birthday, my scrumptious husband drove me and Z out to Fae Ridge Farm, a fiber farm whose mission, according to their website, is "to leave the world a better place for future generations by growing and selling local organic food as well as providing everything needed for socially responsible knitting, hand-spinning, and other fiber arts." Not too shabby.



We tried to meet the sheep, but they weren't interested. Alas, Z's first experience of wool with legs will have to wait. (She did get to meet the store puppy, Phoebe, who is very fond of babies.)

But I got to choose pressies! Knitterly, socially responsible ones! And that is enough to cheer one up despite the aloofness of any number of sheep.



This is 750 yards of Tatamy Tweed, which is destined to be something springy for Z. The object will depend on how my knitting speed corresponds to her growth rate. If I'm lucky, I may wrangle a jumper in time for it to fit her. If not...well, hats are nice.



This is 600 yards of Mauch Chunky, destined to be felted into something smaller but no less colorful. Slippers, maybe. Or a tote.



And THIS is 8 ounces of roving produced right there on the farm MAGIC.

From the label:

Shetland and Border Leicester lamb's wool (Mookie & Whinney) Hand dyed kid & yearling mohair locks (Hattie & Raphael) fire star, tussah silk & silk noils

You guys. YOU GUYS. I could go on and on about how much I love this. The picture does not begin to do it justice. It's so SOFT and FLUFFY and SHINY. I swear it's octarine. (The label calls the color Enchanted Forest, but we know better, don't we?)

It's so pretty I'm almost afraid to spin it. I hadn't spun anything since I took that class last year. But more on that in another post. Z is calling, and Z outranks wool, even wool with an aura.

Just Checking...

I'm not the only one who was admiring Phyllis's green cardigan on tonight's episode of The Office, right?

Two FOs

I finished the Nursing Shawl some time ago:





but didn't get pictures of it till recently, because I also finished my other project,



who we will call Z on the blog. Here you see her posing with a blanket knitted by our friend Becca.

As you can imagine, Z duty has cut into knitting time rather drastically. Still, I have a thing or two on the needles, and will keep posting when there is time.

Three Things for Baby, and a Question

First, my favorite, which I didn't make but was crocheted by my lovely, talented friend Christie who is not only so sweet that she declared she was making me a baby blanket OF HER OWN FREE WILL, but so awesome that when I showed her the pattern I'd secretly been drooling over became even more enthusiastic about it than I was.

So, this kid gets his or her very own Babette Blanket:



(Colors are truer in the closeup):



Isn't it gorgeous?

Second, I finally finished Flock:



(More pictures on Flickr.)

And third, I started a new project, which is kind of for me and baby both.



This is the October Nursing Shawl by Circé aux belles boucles.

It's really simple--just stockinette and garter and switching colors, mostly--which is about what I need right now. My husband and I attended a childbirth class last weekend, and I have to keep reminding myself to practice my breathing and my Kegels, since I'm shooting for a natural birth.

Now, I'm not the world's fastest knitter, but I am a pretty steady knitter. So as I'm sitting here doing row after expanding row of the same stitch, instead of trying to count seconds in my head, I count stitches. I can get about two fast breaths (he-he) or one slow one (hoo) per stitch, or four stitches to one cleansing breath. Or instead of holding my muscles for ten seconds, I hold them for ten stitches. It's very Zen. I wonder if this would work well as a distraction/focal point when I go into labor. Is that crazy? Have to search the forums at Ravelry. If there's a knitter out there who's done it, she's sure to have mentioned it there.

It's summer here, and the last few days have hit temperatures near 100, so of course our air conditioner gave out. The maintenance guys brought us a portable for one night until they could replace the wall unit. They put it where I normally keep my current knitting project.

When I picked up the shawl today, I realized it smelled just like a giant Band-Aid. I have NO IDEA what Band-Aids and portable air conditioners have in common, but I promise you it's the exact same smell.

I've Febreezed everything in hopes it goes away. Plan B is to pop it in the cedar chest where my stash lives, since everything that goes in there comes out smelling like cedar. I suppose this is opening myself up to the possibility that the nursing shawl will wind up smelling like a giant cedar Band-Aid covered in Febreeze, but at this point, with the thing still on the needles, I'm not sure what else to do.

Any suggestions?