Hatless in San Diego

My wife has been knitting for over 4 years and I still do not have a knit hat. This strikes me as an absurd contradiction. The two most basic knitted items have to be scarves and hats (I am assuming, I don't knit), and I haven't been knitted either. I have been given a pair of socks that don't quite fit and a sweater that chokes me when I sit down (a story for another post), both of which were prototypes for other projects for other people (most of which I don't know).

To be fair, I have also been given knit cozies for all the miscellaneous electronic flotsam floating around my work bag (Andrea calls it my purse) and a great pair of knit gloves for Christmas (or The Holidays, Solstice, Kwanza or whatever floats your boat). But that is not the point.

The point is, Andrea has knitted more hats for more babies than I thought possible. I think she is now directly competing with China's knit baby hat import industry (and she is probably working for a lower hourly wage, maybe they will start outsourcing work to her).

But the number of knit hats (or scarves) she has knitted for her husband remains steady at zero.

What is up with this? I am a contributing member of society who pays his taxes and, in the words of the great George W. Bush, "puts food on my family". Babies, on the other hand, don't contribute anything but drool and poo, and they get all the knit hats they want. Can you believe this is happening in America?

I am writing this in the hope that the knitting masses who read this will rise up in their righteous fury and force my wife to knit me a hat.

Or maybe not.






It has now been 1521 days since Andrea started knitting and her Husband still does not have a hat.

February Baby Sweater, Part 2

The first sleeve is about 1/3 done.



It should be done this weekend. I may even use the left overs to knit some booties...

February Baby Sweater, Part 1

I recently acquired Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac for the sole purpose of obtaining the 'Baby Sweater on Two Needles' pattern. Aside from the fact that I love EZ for her non-conformist ways, my knit library is woefully lacking in the EZ department. (KA brings my EZ total to 2.)

Upon receipt of the Almanac, I immediately dropped all other knitting (Sorry, Knitting Gods, But I am using stash...) to cast on the baby sweater. I started with worsted weight wool and US8 needles, not realizing that "Shetland" is a much finer yarn. A quick stash diving expedition produced a lovely sock yarn dyed from Zen Yarn Garden that I received as part of the No Sheep for You Swap last summer from my lovely partner Chrissy Gardiner. The yarn is called 'Peachy Mint' and is a lovely melange of white, mint green and deep peach, perfect for a baby sweater.

Thus far, I have finish the main body of the sweater and only have to knit the sleeves and search for buttons. The intended recipient has claimed ultimate button choice, which should result in an interesting shopping excursion.

Baby Sweater #47

I have completed baby sweater #47 (for a co-worker). It is another variation of my favorite baby sweater pattern (Child's Placket-Neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts), in my favorite variation (baseball tee). I think I have finally perfected the variation and can now do it with my eyes closed. And I have done this just in time because the next wave of babies that are coming my way are girls and are going to be girly girls. (Sigh.) Back to the baby sweater drawing board...

Atonement, Part 2

The FO parade continues:


Basic Baby Hat
Inspired by Grumperina
I was fascinated by Grumperina's post about helix stripes in the round and wanted to add a hat to the Blue Baby Sweater. It was amazing to watch the spirals form.

See?


I have also completed 1/5 of my Christmas Knitting. Everyone is getting the same thing this year.


FiberTrends Felted Clogs

(They haven't been felted yet. I may wait until they are gifted and turn Christmas into a felting party. Yes?)

I hope this effort appeases the knitting gods. Mostly because I want to knit this.

Atonement, Part 1

In order to atone for my recent bad knitter behavior, I have taken the following steps:

Finished:

Blue Baby Sweater
Pattern: Child's Placket Neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Recipient: Work Friend # 37
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted in Wedgewood
This is the seventh baby sweater I have knit in the last 6 months. And I have at least two more on deck. One for a baby that was born a few weeks ago and one for a baby that is still in the oven.


Oatmeal Knucks

from Knitty, Summer 2006
for: Older Sister

I ran out of yarn to finish part of the second hand and cuff, so I frogged the first cuff, used that yarn to finish the other hand and dug through my stash to find pretty colors to knit both cuffs. They are done in 2x2 ribbing and thanks to a great post by TECHKnitter, there are no pesky blips of color in the purl ridges, making them look even better.

There are more FO's the share, but I will save those for another day. Tomorrow, probably.

There's something in the air...

The yarn bug bit me big time today. Like Helena, I was completely enamored with KnitPicks new spring yarns. Especially Comfy. I usually have bad luck with buying yarns online, but the colors, pictures and fiber content of this yarn made me lose my head a little.

I bought multiple skeins of these colors:



















I can't wait until they get here!