I cheated

Note: this post was written on Monday. Sorry I've been so lax in posting -- last week was a crazy knitting rush and this week I'm having computer problems so don't have a lot of time to post. I'll do better next week, I promise.

No, not on Blogger Bingo, silly! On my Rhinebeck sweater. Frankly, it was the blocking that did me in (and allowed me to get some sleep Saturday night, which was good because Becky actually pretty much slept through the night for once and how pissed would I have been to have stayed up knitting the one night she slept?). But more on that later.

Sorry about the lack of updates last week -- I had a crazy work week and then spent every spare moment knitting on the sweater for Rhinebeck. Even though I didn't really finish it properly (see below), it was wearable and I'm feeling better about deadline knitting now. If I'd missed that deadline and made it three in a row, I'm not sure what I'd've done.

Also, some people in my life are going through some hard stuff right now, so if you could all send out mental hugs to my mom, Larry, Erica, and Avy, that'd be nice. They can use all the hugs they can get right now.

First, the Becky Fix:


Check out my cool new exersaucer! Thanks, Auntie Fun!


Look how big I smile when I play in it!


Bad Bosox! I eat your head and maybe next year you'll do better so my daddy can enjoy the World Series!

She's a silly, happy, googlymoogly girl. She gets mostly formula now -- one bottle of frozen milk (yes, we thaw it first) at night. And she's eating a little bit of solid food. So far she doesn't like any of it, but she loves eating with a spoon. She's getting a little separation anxiety in the mornings and doesn't want to be put down, but hopefully she'll get over it. If not, college is going to be pretty tough for her. Heh. She always has smiles for the ladies at daycare, so I'm sure it's just that she wants mommy, not that anything's wrong there.

And now the big huge Knitting section:

Okay, here's how it went down with the sweater. I was done with all of the knitting but the collar around 9:30pm Saturday night, and I started on the making up (because you make the thing up and then knit the collar on last). By 10:30 I had the shoulder seams and arm seams done. That left three ginormous seams that had yet to be done (two sides and then the front gets sewn up the middle, pluss sewing the sleeves on). And this thing had to had to had to be blocked. Believe me, I'm the first one to skip blocking if I can get away with it. But this guy seriously needed to be both wider and shorter (convenient, since making something wider usually results in noticeable shortening). So if I continued seaming, I'd probably get done around 4am, and then still have to block and knit the collar. I decided, I think wisely, to give it a dunk and block it with just the shoulder seams sewn together, hoping that 8 hours would be long enough for it to dry.

Fast forward 9 hours. I have a Very Very Wet Sweater. That still needs to be sewn up. That still needs six inches worth of collar knitted on. Crap. Wait! I have hair dryer! Wool is hair, right? Right! A few passes with the hair dryer and I have a moderately damp sweater. Dry enough to sew. It's 9am (did I mention I slept in?). Thoughts that ran through my head: I do want to go to Rhinbeck before all the vendors leave. Can I possibly get away with the nefarious plan that is forming in my little noggin? I'm gonna try.

Yes, I wore a basted together sweater to Rhinebeck. And I felt shame. Warm shame, because the sweater dried pretty well while I was knitting the collar in the car -- again with the much faster than expected driving! I only got four inches of collar done -- the sweater totally needs at least six inches. So, this week at-home knitting will be consisting of ripping out the basting and putting in real seams (the front seam is done properly -- I was afraid it would gap) and undoing the bindoff and knitting (at least) 2 more inches of 2x2 ribbing. Oh, and there will be another good blocking, because apparently actually wearing a damp sweater makes gravity think you're giving it free rein with your knitting.

Other knitting consists of...socks! I have 8 more days of Socktoberfest, and I am determined to knit Sock2. I will also be continuing Socktoberfest into November, as I am planning on 3 pairs of socks for Christmas presents. My current walking project is the rest of the manly muffler (yes, I finally got the right color), which will be followed by yet another scarf (Christmas presents, people, they're not all for me). I'll also be doing a couple of sets of gauntlets for presents. Next year, nobody gets anything that requires me to make two of them. I don't know what I was thinking.

Finally, Rhinebeck:

Yes, Rhinebeck gets its own section. Rhinebeck is huge. I have to admit, though, I was a little disappointed. Not because there wasn't a lot of stuff, mostly really nice and very well priced (I got 8oz of Tussah silk for 8.95!), but the vendors just weren't as friendly as the vendors at Stitches, which is my usual Fall event. Stitches moved to Baltimore this year (from AC, which was wonderfully husband friendly -- I'm so disappointed they moved, I can't even tell you), so I knew I wasn't going to make it down for that. I figured Rhinebeck would be comparable and thus a good replacement. Not so much.

First, it seemed more fiber oriented than yarn oriented. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised about this, since, you know, they had actual sheep and llamas and bunnies (oh my!). But I was a little disappointed at the yarn selection. In fact, I only bought yarn for one pair of socks. I bought plenty of fiber, though...Merino/Alpaca in a gorgeous mossy green to make the Wanderlust sweater with; the aforementioned Tussah silk; some pretty teal cotton; a lovely merino/silk blend in purples and reds and oranges; and the piece de resistance...a blend of 50% Buffalo, 25% cashmere, and 25% silk. It was by far my most expensive purchase (but very reasonably priced, considering what it is), but after I touched it I had to have it.

Here's all the swag:


Speaking of cashmere, that was another disappointment. I was able to touch several samples of cashmere from several different vendors, in both raw and spun form, and it just didn't feel all that great. I mean, it was nice, but not drool-worthy. I prefer my alpaca/angora blends for softness. Qiviut, on the other hand...wow. You know how when you're a little kid, you imagined clouds were these big incredibly soft fluffy things, and how nothing is ever as soft as you imagined clouds would be? Qiviut is softer. Someday, I will treat myself to some qiviut, but the time has to be right. It will be prespun, because I don't want to wait that long, and I have to have the right pattern, and I have to not have anything to keep me from it (like Christmas knitting, or crazy things at work, or babies).

Chris was absolutely fabulous the whole day. He was bored out of his skull, and I knew it and felt awful. But he wouldn't let me give in to the guilt and leave early -- he insisted that I wander through every barn and see all the goodies. Plus, he took care of the Beckmonster all day. I'm a very lucky wife, and I probably don't tell him so often enough. But he just keeps on being Mr. Wonderful. Sigh. My husband is ever so dreamy.

posted by Laura Y. @ 5:52 AM