Works in Progress

Hello blog!

Again with the long time no see. Instagram has been the center of my gravity these last few years, so the blog is neglected. For a few weeks now I have been reconnecting, both intentionally and by happenstance, with friends I made back in the golden era of blogging, the so-called aughts, and I am feeling a bit nostalgic for the longer form posts of yore. I could film and edit a reel about all the ditties I have on my needles, or I could simple take a handful of photos and upload them, no trending music required.

So here we go . . .

First up is a baby blanket that I finally presented to the mom and dad to be: my own darling daughter and her new husband. They got married last year in the backyard here, flew off to France a few months later for a two week honeymoon, bought a house in Vermont, and let us know in the late winter that they were expecting in August! Of course it took me about three seconds to start plotting the knits. I don’t want to overwhelm them so I am managing a steady pace. The first salvo is a perfectly washable and dryer safe cotton blanket out of Appalachian Baby Design Yarn Company 100% cotton. The best part of this is that it came as a kit that I picked up at the newish yarn shop that opened in Lexington, Knit Tuck and Purl. I let the kit do the driving, so thanks to Linda Gavaldon of Little Piggy Designs for the included pattern. It was very pleasant TV knitting and completely suits the requested minimalist aesthetic.

I presented the blanket when we visited the ever-more-expectant parents last weekend in Brooklyn. One last hurrah before the couple becomes a family. There was a French restaurant and casual Williamsburg shop hopping, leisurely snacking, and coffee shop sitting. CBC was delighted with the blanket and treated it like no one had ever thought of how useful a perfectly sized cotton baby blanket could be. I was tickled and immediately thought they might need a back up!

But instead and for now I am working on an oatmeal colored Welcome to the Flock for the baby boy. Oh, yes, it’s a boy. And no we don’t have a name yet. They are waiting to meet him before making the very final decision. I have been assured I will like what they choose as if that were important. But still: it’s sweet they are thinking of MY feelings. But I do love a little mystery. Again, yarn came from Knit Tuck and Purl. This time it’s an old friend: Berroco Vintage Baby. The sheep will be white, and the faces grey, and the whole thing will be very elegant I think, until it gets spit up on the first time. Such are babies. I do hope there will be be at least one photograph for the family gallery.

Meanwhile, I have been working on writing up this pattern, a top down chevron yoke sweater with the working name of Wren or Wren Feathers or something like that (wrenny mcwrenface?). Anyway. I’m into the fletching/feather associations of the chevrons stripes around the yoke. The sample is in Sincere Sheep Coastal in the color Bud Break. This is such a lovely year round sport weight yarn in a linen and wool blend that I had worked in another design but decided wasn’t grabbing me. This sweater, however, is perfect for it, and to drive home the summery-ness (or the southernlyness of it), I knit it with short sleeves. But I also want to knit it in something even woolier for our cooler New England months, so I’ve cast on a second one that will have more ease and longer sleeves in Juniper Moon Patagonia Organic Merino in their color Indigo. There are a couple of knitters in my knitting group who seem interested in preview knitting, so I am feeling responsible to getting the pattern finished and sent off for tech editing . . . imminently. Okay, that’s now on the record, I’ve said it out loud so now I need to make it happen!

There are a number of other projects going on this week: I’m writing an article to accompany a sweater about to be published, the “Prada Vest” above – which I keep promising myself – needs the neckline written out, and a class I will be teaching locally needs a description sent to the shop owner. And there’s a knit in public event happening next month in Lexington that I am helping to organize. I’m coming out of my shell more and more, so who knows? I may finally make it back to Rhinebeck this year.