I was a knitting fiend

Whew! I felt like December flew by. It was also the first Christmas in a while where I was "in the spirit." I chalk it up to my cancer trial this year and moving to a new home which has better ju-ju than our old one. There was much to be grateful for this season. Tonight we've been invited to celebrate the new year with my son's best friend's parents, who've happened to turn into good friends of ours. The father is German and loves good beer, so I'm hoping some kind of beer tasting is in the cards. ;-)

I didn't come anywhere near knitting the amount of stuff I wanted to for the month: O's teachers were left in the cold, as was my own mother, who cheerfully gave me permission to put her gift at the end of the queue. Aw, moms! (All this knitting reminds me of the Germaine Greer piece in The Guardian from a few years back about the hell of receiving handcrafted gifts -- I found it hilarious, but many took great offense with it.) Here's what I managed to foist upon my friends and family this year:

O's sweater, which I blogged about here.

Three owl hats, one for O, two for his classmates

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A hurricane hat, meant for a teacher, but too small even for my son.

A simple knit hat to use up the leftover Malabrigo Rios from O's fingerless mitts.

And a little something for me -- Anne Hanson's Fartlek hat pattern, knit out of Zara Extra Fine Merino I found on sale for $1/per ball at Hub Mills in Billerica. Not only was the hat cheap, it was fun to knit and it's incredibly warm. Score!

I won't bore you with the other stuff I knit this month, including a test knit of felted mittens for myself. The loden-colored felted hands actually turned out wonderfully, but the knit cuffs of seafoam green baby acrylic? Ewww. All I can say, the color combo looked good under bad lighting. I'll still be wearing them; no one will see the cuffs tucked up into my new winter jacket, a gift from my mother.

Anyway, I hope you've all had a wonderful year and are looking forward to an even better 2012. First up on my plate in the new year is to see The Iron Lady. I also want to see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. And while I loathed the book (see here; I still kick myself for wasting even an hour on this execrable piece of "literature"), I liked the Swedish movie adaptation very much and Daniel Craig in the English version? Mmmm.

Happy Christmas!

I was able to finish O's sweater in plenty of time for his Winterfest program at school. He didn't complain too much about wearing it -- except to say that it was hot -- but within seconds of the program's end, he'd pulled it off and stuffed it into one of my tote bags. Harumph.

Anyway, it was a mostly enjoyable knit, nothing too strenuous/mindboggling for tv watching. My Ravelry details are here; closeup photos are forthcoming. Now I'm thinking about knitting a version of this sweater for myself.

Can you believe that Christmas is under a week away? I've been listening to Christmas carols in the evening as I work on the couch and it's really getting me in the holiday spirit. My favorite is a CD my husband brought into our marriage:

It contains my favorite "carol" of all, Bach's "Jauchzet, Frohlocket" from his Christmas Oratorio, but "Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen" has grown on me, and now I love to listen to its soothing harmonies as I knit on the couch or read. I've found as I've gotten older, I have less tolerance for the silly Christmas music playing in stores although yesterday I couldn't help smiling listening to Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting sing "Baby It's Cold Outside":

What's your favorite holiday music?

O is off from school this week, as well as next, so today we're going to work on decorating the Christmas tree. And then I need to focus on finishing up my knitted gifts.

Settling in

Has it been nearly a month since I posted? Unpacking has taken much longer than I suspected it would. We've moved to a house with less square footage, and although we have a large storage container on our 2 acres to hold our overflow of "stuff," we're stuck doing a lot of sorting and deciding. It seems that every day I'm dropping flattened cardboard off at the recycling center or donating household items to shelters. It never ends.

Some random photos:



My cookbook collection, about 80 percent of it. There are a couple more boxes of books out in the storage container. Sadly, this is my collection after culling -- I donated roughly 100 books before our move.



The livingroom is looking a wee bit more settled, but still there's a lot of work to do. This is the scene that greeted me this a.m. after my son's raucous playdate from yesterday and some furious knitting (mine) from last night. The sofa has been stripped of its slipcover for a washing, thus contributing to the disarray. The rattan chest a/k/a coffee table is going to be replaced shortly, and our tv stand, which is not in the photo, is awaiting a coat of paint. I can't wait to do the big reveal on this project!



Lastly, I've discovered our Victorian-style wall sconces are excellent tools for sock blocking! This sock is one half of a pair destined for my step-mother down in Connecticut, a pair of Elizabeth Zimmermann Woodsman's socks.

I've been doing a fair bit of knitting but unfortunately most of it is holiday related so no pictures. I cast on Thea Coleman's Irish Coffee a couple weeks ago, but had to put it aside to focus on gift knitting. However as a reward for knitting three four hats over the last week, I purchased Anne Hanson's Fartlek hat pattern a couple nights ago and will be knitting myself a nice warm cap for the holidays. Ok, yes, I find the name "fartlek" amusing (and so does my son), but I really like the design and have the perfect yarn for it:



It looks a bit more colorful in the photo than it really is. The lighting today is quite poor.

In other Anglophile news:

• My hopes for the coming season of Downton Abbey on PBS next month have been dashed by this review in the Telegraph. SPOILER WARNING: Read at your own peril.


• Speaking of Downton Abbey, this Daily Mail article about Julian Fellowes' decidedly unaristo ancestors is a fun read and shows us the class divide in England is still alive and well.


• Did you know that November was Wovember, a time to wear and celebrate wool? (I know I dug out my woolies!) Here's a fascinating expose of retailers who erroneously label clothing or fabric as "wool." I think this mostly happens in England; in America, wool means fabric made from the fleece of sheep or other fleecy animals or it refers to yarns spun from animal fleece. Will double-check on this!


• Lastly, I've been enjoying -- nay, loving! -- the CraftLit podcast, which I listen to when I'm slogging though stockinette hell or walking our local bike path. Why it rocks? Half the podcast is taken up with craft talk, mostly knitting, and the other half is a recorded book from the public domain ... and yes, my Anglophile friends, the books are mostly British! Host Heather Ordover has the most evocative voice and spot-on delivery. I'd listen to her read the ingredient list on a spray bottle of Roundup. And the lady knows her literature. I love that she prepares a little introduction to each chapter, offering tidbits on the social history of the time, explaining political history and etymology of words. (Who knew that Bram Stoker got off on the word "voluptuous"? I didn't.) Anyway, it's definitely worth a listen, and I heartily recommend Dracula, even if you're not a fan of horror fiction. The readers are excellent and it's truly a scary book.

Moving in

This was our livingroom in the new house a couple days ago. I wish I could say that six days later it looks a lot better ... but oh my goodness, what a load of work unpacking is, especially when you're moving to a smaller home. I have made (what feels like) dozens of trips to charity boxes, recycling dumpsters, and book exchanges to get rid of yet more stuff. My husband says the house is looking more settled each day, but it still looks like a wreck to me. I think we're going to be very happy here, though ... I never was "in love" with our old house. Our new house has character; now whether it's good character or bad character remains to be seen. ;-)

We had quite the adventure on our moving days. The packers were to come on Wednesday last week and move us on Thursday. However, we were without power from Saturday night thanks to the freak Halloween Nor'easter, so when the packers arrived, we'd been days without electricity. They were down in our dark basement until after 8, packing by flashlight. Incredible! (Of course, around 11 p.m. the power came back on.) Let me tell you, those guys deserved every penny they were paid, and more. Our basement in the old house was frightening when the lights were on.

So there's not been much knitting except for when I find a few spare minutes at night on the couch. By 9:30ish I'm so ready for bed that I manage only a couple rounds on the woodsman socks I'm knitting for my stepmother. Pictures TK.

Indecisive

Stitches East is this weekend, and I can't make up my mind whether to go or not. My parents live just thirty minutes outside Hartford, making it a relatively easy drive once I'm down in Connecticut. And I know my father and stepmother will be happy to spend the day with Oliver who, in turn, will be happy to spend the day with his "fuzzin" * Carolina, while I'm fondling wool all day. Here's the boy and his "fuzzin":

But then there's the cost: about $10 to get in, plus parking -- which tends to be outrageous in Hartford, and that's saying a lot because I'm used to paying for Boston parking -- and then the temptation of all that yarn. Sigh. I just filed my taxes this weekend and owe a small fortune, plus I'm still paying off medical bills from the summer. On top of this, I can't get my car inspected until I have about $600 worth of repair work done. No need to feel sorry for me, though. In the last month I've gotten enough yarn to knit three sweaters, and I have a nice stockpile of wool for mittens and sock yarn for my beloved handknit socks.

Ok, I've made my decision. No Stitches East for me this year. I will be strong and spend the weekend at my parents' house, happily knitting away and avoiding throngs of people, jostling, overspending ... and All. That. Wool.

Sob.

Anyway, I've been knitting away for Socktoberfest. Here, one half of a finished pair of "plain vanilla socks," knit out of Red Heart sock yarn, which is actually quite nice to knit. (Yeah, so I'm a yarn snob.) The colors kind of remind me of Jamaica thus why I may start calling these my "Rasta Socks." Raveled here.

This next pair I started yesterday, a pair of woodsman's socks from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Around. KA is the only E. Zimmermann knitting book I don't own, thus why you see that barcode at the top of the book. Libraries rule! I love love LOVE knitting these because the worsted weight wool on #4 needles is quick knitting. I'm used to knitting with fingering yarn on #0 or #1 needles. I added a 1" ribbed cuff in red, and I'm going to knit the toes red, too. By the weekend I should have a cozy pair of heavy wool socks for my winter boots.

*fuzzin = furry + cousin (Carolina is my younger brother's dog)

First pair for Socktoberfest

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Oh how I love fall. Fall means I can walk around in warm wooly socks handknit especially for me. What a luxury!

 

Pattern: Almondine socks

Designer: Anne Hanson (from Sock Knitting Master Class)

Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock Yarn in Forest Afternoon (it's really much greener IRL than blue)

Needles: #1 DPNs

Ravelry details here

Much ado about Kate's shrug

Wedding stylist Clare Mukherjee writes in the Huffington Post today that her most oft requested bridal garments lately aren't panties that give brides a Pippa Middleton derrière, but Angora boleros or shrugs like the one the Duchess of Cambridge wore to her wedding reception (above).

Mukherjee writes about her search, "I tentatively Googled 'angora white bolero' with my fingers/legs/arms/toes crossed. I was met with a plethora of links to eBay and other auction sites screaming various self-selling headlines, such as 'Kate Middleton hand knit angora bolero' and 'Be a princess in your own knit wedding shrug-100% ANGRORA' (sic). Clicking on these links led me to photographs of middle aged women proudly sporting their carefully hand knitted 'princess shrugs'. I sighed, I appreciated these women's efforts and they had clearly put a lot of time and love into their creations, but they were undeniably hand-made and did not have a sleek enough appearance for a bride on her big day."

I haven't seen the pictures of these middle-aged women who proudly sport their hand-knitted  "princess shrugs," but I sense a bit of snobbery with the "middle-aged" and  "undeniably hand-made." The author, panicked that her Googling has gone for naught, finally finds what she's looking for: "A dear stylist friend back in London provided me with a web link to a British store called Monsoon that shipped internationally (phew) and had the most perfect, affordable ($100) simple, neat, tidy, polished, slick and sleek little white 100 percent angora bolero that any stylist or bride could possible dream of! I was in bolero heaven and the relief I felt was indescribable."

Now the simple sleek $100 white bolero is very pretty and a stylist probably doesn't have the kind of budget for hand-knit, but really? An angora sweater serged together in a factory Lord-knows-where is the winner? (Last year the Guardian called out Monsoon for its child labor and low-wage practices, despite the company's fair trade claims .) That's kind of amusing since Kate's certainly didn't come from a High Street chain, but was probably hand-knit by a craftsperson on the Alexander McQueen team.

Here, some sleek hand-knit boleros that are Kate -- and young bride -- worthy.

Bolero/Shrug #1

Bolero/Shrug #2 (not angora)

Bolero/Shrug #3 (Vogue Knitting)