A bundle of knitting

I've been knitting lately (and always). Here's a bundle of recently finished projects.

This baby hat was for Jenn, who apologised for losing the first one I knit her. "You USED it?" I said. "I'll knit you another one in that case." It was the hat she dressed her baby in to take home from the hospital: baby's first car ride, a seminal event. I was so touched when I learned that I cried a little. Of course she can have another.

No pattern, except in my head - I've been thinking about writing it up.

The second set is just the same, without the ears, for Jenn's sister, and also to use up that skein of blue - there is a lack of boy-babies in my circle.

Here's the deal with the bread.

I knit a lace shawl in a beautiful fingering weight mink (mink!!) I bought a few years ago.

It has a glorious drape, and a gentle halo.

The pattern is Shore. 

There's no pattern for this next one - it was meant to fit a niece, but. 

Hmm. Whatever.

I finished a sweater!! This is the Peggy Sue. 

It's got a deep cable hem to pull in the waist. 

And I added tiny, vintage mother-of-pearl buttons.

Finally - I ripped out the ribbing of the hat I made Jesse two Christmases ago, and reknit it deeper. It popped off his head before, and while I didn't mind so much in the heat of last Christmas. This Christmas I crocheted his dad a hat which fits perfectly. 

"I like your dad best, that's why his hat fits," I teased. But we were going to the South Island, the boy needed a hat.

He threw out his boughten-hat, which is tremendously gratifying, but looking again at that ribbing, it could have been an inch deeper still. 

Finally! I know I have been absentee recently (an old joke - Q: How do you begin a blog post? A: Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but...), please take me at my word when I say I couldn't help it, and there were reasons. Thank you all for sticking with me, and let's get back on the horse together.

Bread on the inside

I knit a hat. It's squishy and blue and has a pompom. 

Recognise the shape? It's a tardis! I used this pattern, and found it very good. 

Recognise the bread? It's a baby hat. (More on baby-bread here.) 

I gave it to Jenn and Zac. They liked it! 

Jenn told the crowd, "This is actually the second Doctor Who themed item Rachel's knit for us. She also knit this cardigan, with a scarf knit right in."

It was a Doctor Who themed baby shower, of course. 

Baby showers are kind of odd things, aren't they? I always think it's wonderful to gather the community, and help give new parents the things they might need, but they have kind of a staged effect, the pantomime quality which comes from collecting strangers together. "You know," I said to someone I went to high school with, "I don't think I know anyone else here." 

"I was just thinking the same!" She said, "It's so strange - I know Jenn so well, and yet - " she gestured to the crowd. 

And there was a crowd, which was wonderful to see, all the people who care deeply about this child, and are looking forward to welcoming it into this world. 

It was wonderful to see the children at the party as well, and know the child is coming into a community where young ones are valued and loved. 

Need help with your knitting? Ask @YarnBot

@YarnBot is a Twitter bot who just wants to talk about knitting and crochet.

Who Will I Be? - Doctor Who Inspired Baby Knitting

The thing about babies is they're not anything yet. I know - what a ridiculous thing to say, but at the beginning, they're nothing by a clump of cells and their parents' hopes and dreams. 

My friend Jenn is expecting. (You've met Jenn here, and here, and here.) She and her husband are massive Doctor Who fans - they're planning a Doctor Who themed nursery, and even did a Doctor Who baby annoucement!  

Of course I had to knit a jumper. 

Do you get it?

How about now?

Confession time: I've never seen a single episode of Doctor Who, so I asked a couple of self-proclaimed fans if it'd be appropriate and recognisable before I started knitting. 

It's a simple variation of a very simple pattern - Ravelry project is here, for those of you thinking about making your own. The body was knit, and then I picked up stitches to knit the scarf. 

The scarf/collar/button band is shaped with short rows so it sits flat on the shoulder. See that wedge of cream? Those are short rows. I improvised the whole thing until it felt right-ish. All the scarf colours are from my scraps bins. 

Rather then fiddle with buttons, I popped one snap just at the collar. Snaps are better for new mums - and I omitted the scarf's fringe because that just seemed to be asking for trouble. 

It was simple and fun (except for all the ends I had to weave in!!) and is probably the perfect bit of baby knitting for a little Whovian. 

Why is it on bread? That's another story.

Baby Love

Have you seen booties? Booties are tiny little shoesies for tiny little feetsies and they're about the sweetest thing ever. It's a shame that you can't just knit them without some reason - your own child, or the guise of charity.

My boyfriend's sister's expecting, and I am tremendously excited. Not about baby snuggles or a new faux-family member (niece-ish? Niece-to-be? Niecefriend?), but about the knitting.

"Booties!" said an acquaintance. "Oh are you - "
"Knitting them for my boyfriend's sister, yes," I said placidly. I barely know her, but she is a perfect foil to accusing fertility questions.

Finished Project - Clapo-Ktus

This shawl is call the clap-ktus, which in my mind rhymes with "platypus." It was a very simple beginner's shawl. The shaping is on every right-side row, and the details are just dropped stitches. The yarn is called "Paradise." I wore it out for the first time today, and got cat-called twice, so obviously people like my new shawl a lot.

Wrapping and Turning - Short Rows and Continental Knitters

Short rows are a knitting technique which add more fabric to a piece. They're used to make heels of socks and add shaping in cardigans and all sorts of useful things.

To knit a short row, you knit halfway across a row, turn your work, and purl back. This can leave a gap, which is where you'd wrap and turn: the wrap and turn hides the gap. 

I learned short rows before I knew what I was doing and didn't have the sense to be intimidated by them. This is the best way to learn anything.

A friend who is a much better knitter than I am is having trouble because most of the instructions out there are written for English knitters (who hold the yarn in their right hands) rather than Continental knitters (who hold the yarn in their left hands, and scoop it up. Any newbie who wanders into G Unit is taught to knit Continental it's a wee bit more efficient and more importantly makes transitioning between crochet and knitting easier).

Here's a list of short row tutorials for Continental knitters:

• This video is very clear 
• Here are written instructions, if that's what you prefer
• Here is a photo tutorial
• TECHknitting on the subject

My advice for my friend was bugger it - if you can't manage to wrap and turn, you can always darn the finished product.