Outgrowing Manava

Unlike his brother Adrian, Edward is a very large baby.

I made the mistake of making my Manava Cardigan [blog post here] [Ravelry] in a 6-12 month size. Well, Edward (b. 4/18/11), who is only 8.5 months old, has thoroughly outgrown the garment.

And it's only now cold enough to wear it.



I squeezed it on him anyway, for one last photo shoot. It looks a little silly. (By the way, the 100% wool giraffe rug is courtesy of Overstock.com. Everyone always asks. That's what's on the floor in the boys' room.)



Yes, that's pureed carrots on his face. Yum. (Yes he's a complete tow-head. NO idea where that comes from. No, he's not wearing pants. I know EXACTLY where that comes from.)

Good-bye, Manava. We will miss you.

A Holiday WIP

I thought I'd share a few photos of my latest project, which is going to be either a wrap cardigan or more of a short-sleeved vest type thing, although I have a few store-bought items like that and find them awkward to wear, for some reason.




























Who would wear a sweater like this with summer whites and flip flops?

At any rate, here's a nice wintery tableau featuring my project.





























I'm actually making the same one in beige. I think the waffle stitch works better in this ivory wool than this ill-fated sweater (soon to be frogged so I can finish this one). If it works out, this may be my first original pattern in a while.

Fiber Facts (sort of): The Scrimshaw Swift

I was watching Antiques Roadshow with my parents yesterday, and a woman brought in an object she had inherited from her family, who were whalers somewhere in the Northeast. She had no idea that her object, made of whalebone, was an antique swift valued at $15,000-20,000.

























Here's another one (which is for sale at Christies for $8,750). I like how this one has a carved hand at the bottom "holding" the swift:
















On the show, they explained that whalers would pass their time making swifts and other items out of whale bone. This art form was called scrimshaw, and its practitioners were called scrimshanders (love that word)! In addition to swifts, they would make objects ranging from "simple clothespins and rolling pins to yarn baskets, walking sticks, dolls, rings, bracelets, and spool rack" (according to this article).

Apparently, scrimshaw swifts are highly collectible, and can be found on various auctions websites:


































Apparently, these were made by whalers primarily for their loved ones at home, although they may have sold some of their scrimshaw items.

Can we say "monotonous"?

Here's a screenshot of my current Ravelry project page.

Can we just say that I need to stopping knitting blue things?

It's just my favorite color, and I have so much blue-ish yarn. The rest of my projects are more of the same, it seems. Monotonous and predictable shades of blue.

Sigh.

Some Christmas Knitting

These sweaters have been finished for a while, but North Carolina has been so warm that I haven't had much chance to wear them. So I took them home to Canada where they could get some use--although it has not been a white Christmas here, either.

The first one is based on a Verana pattern, Kate (Verena website)--it's here on Ravelry.

The Verena version included lace and bobbles surrounding the cable, but I was frankly too lazy to bother with those. The original is also quite oversized:

So my version just has a basic cable:

I think this one is a keeper--I like the fit. I used worsted weight yarn instead of bulky, so I had to kind of fudge the numbers. But it turned out. Actually, it doesn't look much like Kate at all, does it!

The second one is based on my Tenley pattern, without the cables. I wanted a basic off-white turtleneck sweater. Unfortunately, though, this one will go the way of the frog:

It's okay, but I wish I would have used some sort of pattern stitch, not stockinette. And the sleeves are just too big--blocking didn't fix it.

But I thought I'd post something about it to document my hard work:

Merry Christmas!

Funny Sign and a Question for Folks

Here's the funniest sign I've ever seen, and it was at my local Hancock Fabrics:



I just wish the fest was for the OTHER kind of fleece. Not the kind made of petrochemicals.

And now here's my question for you guys.

My father-in-law has a tree that drops fruit that looks an awful lot like tennis balls with warts. Here's a picture of one:



Does anyone know what this fruit is? Is it edible? We have a bazillion of them every summer. Please tell me they're "the super-delicious avocados of the South."

Anyone?

I Stand Corrected: Crocheted Olek

I recently received this comment on an earlier post on this blog:

Strickbombe said...

it's all the work of one ARTIST called crocheted olek. don't let her hear that you called her a yarn-bomber though!
November 22, 2011 4:34 AM

I do apologize for the misnomer! The crocheter is indeed an artist.

My sister sees C. Olek's work as she walks to work and snaps pictures of it for me using her phone. I post the pictures here because the cozied items are completely cool.

Here are some of the pictures:



[a cozy stepladder in the snow]

and this one:



[cozied ten-speed]

Crochet on.