Failed Knitting Attempts

Hope that everyone had a wonderful New Year’s celebration. We had people over and made a really nice roast pork and chocolate souffle, it was very fun. I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions, but based on my bad-luck knitting for Siggi, I think I may take one up and that is READ THE PATTERN CAREFULLY BEFORE BEGINNING.

Failure#1: Baby mittens from Hlýjar Hendur

I do this mistake all the time with recipes and patterns, where I skim something and assume that I understand it without reading carefully. In this case, the gauge is not a 10cm square gauge swatch, it is a little tube knit in the round. So when I measured my gauge swatch (I actually did one), since I didn’t have Kambgarn that the pattern called for, I thought I had the right gauge. Then it occured to me that these were REALLY HUGE baby mittens. I re-read the gauge section of the book and realized my mistake. I will be frogging these, using the yarn for a lambhúshetta, and trying again with Dale Baby Ull.

Failure #2: Snowflake Baby Sweater from Farmhouse Yarns

Siggi is wearing 70-80 cm or 12 months size clothes. I figured making the sweater that said 2T-3T for size would be good, because he would be able to wear it later. I didn’t bother to check the finished measurements in the pattern to see what size they corresponded to; I figured the pattern was relatively accurate. (I have noticed that knitting pattern sizes for baby clothes often run small, so a 12 months size is good for a 6 month old baby, but I wasn’t expecting this level of wrongness). I finished the neck and thought I would try it on Siggi before weaving in ends to make sure I made the neck big enough. The opening (without the neckband) wasn’t big enough for his head. I plotted all kinds of ways (like stitching and cutting the neck open) to make the neck bigger. Then I held it up against one of his current sweaters. The sleeves were shorter, the body was shorter, and the body was narrower. It was clearly a sweater for a 6 month old baby, not a 10.5 month old baby and CERTAINLY not a 2 or 3 year old. So I guess I will weave in the ends and put this sweater away for someone who has a baby some time. It’s really sad, because we bought the yarn and pattern together when I was pregnant (but I decided not to make this sweater back then because the smallest size on the pattern was so large).

Next time I will confirm with one of these size charts:
Craft Yarn Council
Fiber Gypsy
Bev’s Country Cottage

When I have some time, I am going to measure some of his ready-to-wear sweaters and see how the sizes measure up on these size charts. Certainly, a finished garment of 23 inches chest size and 6 1/2 inches sleeve length does not correspond to 2T. I think the Fiber Gypsy link seems most accurate; it would put him at 24-26 inches finished garment chest size and 7 1/2 inches sleeve length.

At least Kristín frænka made him a really nice lopapeysa, so he still got a handmade sweater for Christmas.

Gleðileg Jól

There hasn’t been a lot of successful knitting around here, so there hasn’t been much to post, although I will post about a few derailed projects and another one that is coming along successfully soon.

Happy holidays everyone!

Fun shopping in Iceland

I haven’t had much knitting time. Siggi likes to be held a lot, so between work and housework, I get little time with my hands. I have been working on a sweater for him and I’ll try to post the progress photos soon.

We just got back from a too-short trip to Iceland visiting friends and relatives. I wanted to go to the knitting night there but we had just arrived, so after dinner and visiting it was too late to go out.

One of the stops we always make is to the bookstore, so I got two great books on sale:

Hlýjar hendur, a book of 53 mitten patterns in all sizes. There are some cute ones I want to make for Siggi, and some skull fingerless gloves to make for one of the teens for Christmas. Really, I think I’d be happy making all of the mittens in this book at some point, so it’s a perfect book for me. I love mittens. I wanted to get some kambgarn for the mittens while I was there, but the only day we really had to go wandering around was Sunday and nothing is open, and the yarn store near Ingi’s parents doesn’t carry it.

The other great find was Einföld barnaföt fyrir 1-4. This is a translation of a Danish sewing book (Sådan syr du-Børnetøj 1-4 år) that I had been thinking of getting, because it is a collection of basic patterns for children from ages 1-4. It was exactly perfectly what I was looking for. It has patterns for jeans, pyjamas, a button-down shirt, some really nice jackets, and even patterns for making small clothes out of big ones (sweaters and ties).

We also got to watch a fun video, Män som hatar kvinnor. We wanted to go see the sequel in the theatre (I’ve read the first two books), but the timing didn’t work. We were about to go out to the movie rental when we found out my mother-in-law had already bought the movie, so we just watched that. It’s a good thing because it hasn’t come out here yet, so who knows when we’d be able to see it.

R.I.P.

2 December 1992 – 10 August 2009

I found him in the snow when he was about 10 months old and my daughter was 10 months old, and so he acquired my daughter’s birthday. He was mewing pitifully and the white on his fur was completely black. He was so starved for affection that he happily allowed me to give him a bath. At the time, we lived in an apartment complex that was mostly students, and we asked around and put up signs if anyone was missing a cat. It was pretty obvious that he hadn’t had company in a while, though. We figured that someone moved out and left him behind. For the first few years of his life, he followed me around like he was a dog, because he couldn’t bear to be left alone. When we moved out of that apartment, he got really stressed out, and didn’t calm down until we got to the new house that we were renting.

At the new house, he started sneaking outside to hang out with the neighbour’s dog. The two of them would play inthe driveway (the houses were really close together). He never got along with other cats, however.

The last two places we lived were old houses with plenty of woods nearby, and both had mouse problems. He was an excellent mouser, and never actually shared his mice with me (thank goodness!). He usually ate them, or if he didn’t want them, he would put them in his litterbox for me to dispose of. One time, he chased a mouse into a trap, and was very upset that now his treat was stuck. Sadly, he also liked to go after birds. My sister and I rescued an injured finch in my garden that may have been his victim.

He would usually sleep with us and watch TV with us, except when he was mad. If we went away, he would sulk and sometimes pee on the duvet to show his dissatisfaction, and then he wouldn’t sleep with us for a month or so in protest.

When Siggi was born, he jumped up on the bed and sat right between my legs to protect me, and he would lay next to Siggi when he was very small.

About 3 months ago, he started living under our bed and didn’t really come out, except to the edge of the bed to drink or eat. We had to move the litter box under the bed (ick!). He was walking with a bad limp. We took him to the vet and she remarked that he couldn’t really see out of one eye, and ran a battery of expensive tests, none of which resulted in anything useful. Maybe a month and a half ago, he started coming downstairs again. He dragged his back right foot and had no feeling in his tail (Ingi accidentally stepped on it and the cat didn’t feel it at all), so it was obvious he had some kind of nerve damage. He was managing to get around OK though, so we thought he was improving.

Then he stopped being able to use the litter box… he would try to urinate but nothing would come out. He was making pitiful yowl noises. We took him to the vet, and whatever nerve problem he had was making him unable to pee or poop. His bladder was completely full, but he couldn’t do anything about it. The vet could show me how to squeeze his bladder to make him urinate, but there was nothing we could do to help him poop, and squeezing his bladder was uncomfortable for him (he cried and tried to bite me), as well as possibly dangerous for him (squeezing too hard can rupture it). We decided to put him to sleep. It was the most difficult decision I have made in my life. I have had pets as a child, but they were never “mine”, so my parents would have that decision to make. The kids hadn’t wanted to go to the vet (knowing what was likely to happen), so Ingi, Siggi, and I sat there with him when she injected him with a sedative to make him go to sleep, and then another medicine to stop his heart. They took him away to put him in a box for us to bury him, and Siggi started to cry. (We wondered if he somehow understood).

We buried him in the back yard next to a maple tree, where he used to chase birds and mice. We miss him very much.

Keeping Warm

It seems like my knitting time is now all about necessities. After Siggi could not keep a pair of socks on (except the ones that left ugly red welts on his leg), I decided to knit a pair that were called “Stay On Baby Booties” from Knitting for Baby: 30 Heirloom Projects with Complete How-to-Knit Instructions, a book I found at a discount book shop near me.

Sure enough, they work. I knit them in Koigu, but I don’t like this yarn. They looked worn after he wore them for one day! I knit them in the 0-3 months size from the book, but his feet are so big that they are too small, really, so I’ve started a new pair with different yarn and more stitches.

I also wanted to make him some “longies”, wool tights he can wear over a cloth diaper. These are by Elizabeth Zimmerman, from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac.

I think the legs are a bit big for the waist; if I make a bigger pair, I’ll make the top part bigger and leave the legs the same. The yarn is some Shetland yarn that has been in my yarn stash for ages. They are really handy for chilly mornings, I’d like to have another pair and make several for autumn.

The elf doll in the picture is something my mom made for him. He really likes it; he smiles at the face. He also is starting to hold the frog rattle in the picture.

Ungbarnatreyja

This has been sitting in my knitting bag waiting for buttons and crocheted button loops since Siggi was born. Úps. I figured with all that work, I should finish it up. It’s hard to get hand sewing time, but we took a ride in the car so I was able to get it done.

It fits him perfectly now. He just had his 2 month checkup and is 11 lbs. 7 oz (5.2 kg.) and 23.5 inches long (58.75 cm). It would have been fine on him as a newborn too; we could have just rolled up the sleeves. It’s perfect for the weather we’ve been having to wear outside when it’s kind of warm.

The colour is more of a dark blue-green but the flash photo doesn’t do it justice. The bottom photo is a little closer. I am really pleased with how it came out; it makes me want to make another. Maybe for the next baby gift I have to give.

One issue: in a moment of pregnancy fogginess, I convinced myself that there was an error in the pattern and I should knit the chart the opposite way. It made total sense to me at the time. Then when I finished the front I realised it was just me and the big rose was suppposed to be in the centre, not the way I have it. Oh well, I still like it.

Design Flaw

When I was pregnant, I started a baby sweater of my own design. I used Knitting in the Old Way to get the percentages of when to decrease, and used “standard baby measurements” to get the size figured out.

Now that I have a model (underarms are not seamed and ends not woven in), I discovered that I made the ribbing WAY too small. I think the sweater itself is an OK size. So now my dilemma is how to fix it. I am thinking of cutting it and redoing the bottom and then grafting it onto the existing knitting. I’d hate to rip the whole thing out. Thoughts?

Back To Work

Well, due to the American lack of a decent family leave policy, I start back at work tomorow, but at least I can work from home all week. It’s kind of overwhelming. Siggi has just gotten to the point where he doesn’t nurse constantly, I actually get some time to take a shower or maybe even cook food. Ingi will be working all week too so it will be the first week where I am on my own all day and then I have to work on top of it. At least we don’t have to worry about trying him on bottles yet.

It’s funny that the latest knitting project that I started is getting the most use. Siggi has been wearing this hat almost every day. The other hat that I knit I didn’t secure the ties very well and now I have to figure out how to sew the one that broke back on.

The pattern is Baby Domino Bonnet by Lucy Neatby. It was a really fun knit and you can buy the electronic pattern online. I used this and that leftover sock yarn. I went with gender neutrals, but I had a lot of blues, which I guess came in handy since I have the boy. (I figured blues were safe for a girl but pinks were not really safe for a boy, so I didn’t use the pinks). I didn’t think to knit in the ends as Vivian Hoxbro teaches in Domino Knitting until partway through, or I could have made the whole thing without weaving almost any ends in. I still didn’t have so many to weave in.

My mother bought me a Maya Wrap sling for my birthday, which has been a lifesaver. I am actually able to get things done while holding Siggi now. Plus, it is good for when he is crabby and tired but can’t fall asleep, I walked around with him in the sling tonight and he fell asleep.

Tongue-tied

Siggi has a problem called a tongue tie where his tongue is anchored to the bottom of his mouth. This makes it hard for him to nurse properly, which means he nurses long and frequently. He had it clipped but it needs to be clipped again, that procedure is next week. In the meantime, I don’t get much computer or knitting time. I do get reading time since it’s the only thing I can do while nursing, so I have read:

Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan (started when pregnant)

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Cities of the Red Night: A Novel by William S Burroughs

Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun

A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown: Essays for a Scientific Age

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, No. 1) by Charlaine Harris

Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (P.S.) by Barbara Kingsolver

A Stroke of Midnight (Meredith Gentry, Book 4) by Laurell K. Hamilton

The Dogs of Babel: A Novel by Carolyn Parkhurst

I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley

The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan Leitch

Siggi

With proud big brother