zippety-doo-da?

It is all a bit of a tangle at the moment but I have completed the knitting on baby b's tomten. This whole jacket is made from Icelandic Lopi that I bought from the op shop (St Vincent de Paul's in Malvern - before they moved) and the thrift store (Crown Hill Value Village).

The body is all in burgundy and blue with random stripes and the sleeves in bright teal, burgundy and light teal. Yes, two shades of teal - one purchased in Melbourne, the other years later in Seattle. Although not evident in this photo, the teal right up there in the first row of the sleeve will hopefully make the most of the tomten's distinctive structure.

My only question now is what to about fastening(s)? In my mind I envisioned a two-way separating zip, plastic moulded in dark blue, burgundy or any shade of teal. Alas, no such thing exists (or at least not at this length) and so thwarted I am left in a bind. Should I just use the dark blue one-way separating plastic moulded zip that I have already bought (which is not the zip that I wanted and this will probably weigh heavily upon me forever)? Or do some more knitting - button band, buttonhole band and buttons to choose to boot?

(These aren't really the only questions that I have about life but I am content right now that these are the most pressing).

cast on|away

I recently became very fed up with all of the yarn in my cupboard. Fed up with all the little bits and bobs of balls that might one day indeed be very useful for something. So I got rid of all the bits and bobs. If I do ever need a few metres of blue cotton dk then I will beg, borrow or buy some; I won't hold on to it for years.

My next cleansing step was to decide on projects for as much of the other yarn as I could. No more sweater's worth of yarn sitting there waiting for a sweater. No, everything was going to be designated. I've done a pretty good job, it's much clearer now what will become of what is left. All the more clearer because of course I've gotten a little carried away with casting on for all of these newly decided projects.

And here is one of them:

Elizabeth Zimmerman's tomten jacket, a pattern that I have actually knit before and have wanted to again ever since. It has taken, indeed, almost three years to get around to it. I have several balls of Lopi, bought at both an op shop in Melbourne and at a thrift store in Seattle. I've made a few accessories with it but decided that I wanted it used up so a new tomten was born.

I have been working in dark blue and burgundy and am part way through the hood and will introduce some teal into the sleeves to highlight the construction. At this stage I am actually hoping that I will have enough yarn! Oh it will be funny if I have to buy another ball to finish it.

42 again

Twelve months ago on the last day of 2007, I was sitting in the office knitting socks in 42 degree heat. That's 42 degrees Celsius, folks which translates as way too hot to do anything other than sit in an air-conditioned office (107.6 degrees F to be precise).

Well, sometime yesterday it probably hit 42 degrees, but this time Fahrenheit (about 6 degrees C). What a huge difference though between one 42 and another, least of all that we are living on the other side of the world.

Now, what were some of the things that I thought I was going to do in 2008?

• "get really productive on the re-use/refashion front" - hooray, yes, I did this. Out of all the things I made last year, a good half were from recycled materials.
• "keep knitting" - yes, managed that too. The great number of finished objects is mostly due to the fact that I finally completed a number of long-standing projects. I have also instituted a three-project-at-a-time knit regime which is working well for me.
• "participate in a swap" - Secret Pal 12 - hi Shannon!
• "keep reading" - oops, fell off the perch here. I did read a few books in 2008, mostly crime fiction which I didn't make any note of here. Of the four books that I had hoped to read in 2008 though, I only managed to read one - The Careful Use of Compliments. I am about halfway through The Poisonwood Bible and I was loving it, it's just that I put it aside for too long and now don't know whether to pick it up again or go back to the beginning. Either way I can't get back into it until I decide and I can't decide.

So, in 2009 I'll have to make it a priority - read more books. The knitting habit is so ingrained now that I can't imagine ever stopping, as is the re-use/refashion commitment. This year I want to make extra effort though to use the things that I already have in my cupboard. I don't want to see my stash grow, I want to see it diminish as I work through what's there. And sewing, there is so much sewing that I want to do and so many fabrics that I have piled up, just waiting for the dressmaking shears.

I've also learnt some stuff these last twelve months:

• moving to a foreign country is hard work.
• it's really hard to do good knitting, and by this I mean knitting that is handmade but appears to be of commercial quality because that is what I like my finished objects to look like. My hands-down favourite project for 2008 though was the tomten jacket which is actually quite rustic. Perhaps it is something to do with the pattern but I really felt like it turned out looking exactly the way that it should and strongly recommend this project to anyone. Baby bear has started wearing it and she gets so many compliments on it, which in turn of course delights me.
• knitters are the best people in the world - thank you to the lovely Seattle stitchers who have welcomed me into their lives.
• I like to knit lace from charts and cables from written instructions.
  

So here's to a well read, handmade, beautifully finished 2009. Yesterday I embarked on a slipcover for one of our couches, so I've made a good start!

tomten

A while ago I mentioned 'the whole EZ thing' which is an illustration of something that I have come to realise about myself - I can be really resistant to new things (or at least, things new to me). I think that part of it is a fear that I won't be able to master said thing so I just don't want to know about it. Elizabeth Zimmerman is, of course and rightly so, a knitting legend and there is a knitiverse of her work and patterns and knowledge out there. Perhaps I just found it all too overwhelming because when I got my first inkling of her work, that resistance swelled on up. Yep, 'the whole EZ thing'.

Slowly but surely, however, I allowed myself to learn a bit more, to look at some of the books, to visit Zimmermania and although I still find her style a little brusque I would count myself among the converts. So it is with great pride that I present my first EZ project.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Modular Tomten Jacket taken from Knitting Without Tears.
Yarn: Noro Kureyon in shade 148; 100% wool; four skeins.
Needles: 5mm
Start to finish: Sunday 14 October 2007 to Monday 14 April 2008 - this was such a quick knit, I was finished on 2 November 2007, about 19 days of knitting. The rest of the six months has been taken up with finishing - seaming, choosing buttons, making loops for fastening. I need to lift my game.
Comments: Such a great pattern. I love the construction and doing it in a variegated wool highlights this. As I didn't want to put in a zip or knit a button band, I knit an extra panel and affixed it just inside one of the fronts so that when the jacket is done up there will be no gaps for the cold to get in. I took EZ's advice (really, how could you not?) and did some short rows across the back to make it just that little bit longer.

As usual, it was the finishing that let me down, timeliness wise. I think that because the size of this is way too big for baby bear at present (no worries, she's growing fast), I didn't feel any urgency to complete it. But then it just sits around, an unfinished object and weighs on my mind.

It did take me a good while to decide on the buttons - ultimately, black wooden toggles. At first I wanted rustic bamboo toggles but had trouble finding appropriate ones and was then talked out of it anyway (good-o). The colour changes in the jacket are already a feature, the toggles didn't need to be. the fastening loops are i-cord (three stitches or four? can't remember).

A couple of disappointments with the Kureyon though - there was a lot of debris in it and quite a few joins. Oh well, I just picked it out and knit over them. Terrific that I was able to join balls though with a quick spit and vigorous rub between my palms.


I would still really like to do a round of double crochet along the front but have run out of yarn. So if you happen to have a good few metres of spare Kureyon 148 that you would be willing to part with - please let me know.

tassie gems

Where to start? Tassie - love Tassie. Many people have travelled much of Australia, much of the world but have never been to Tasmania. I strongly recommend it as a holiday destination. Baby bear has been three times already. And there are great op shops there.

Have you ever noticed how an op shop's stock can reflect the area it is situated in? For instance, I have bought designer children's clothing from the Uniting Care Southport op shop in Albert Park (115 Bridport St; T+S 11:00-4:00, W-F 11:00-5:00; be sure to go to Woolbaa across the road while you are there!), a blue-chip, baby boom suburb. Well, Tasmanians on the north-west coast, judging from what is stocked in the op shops in Wynyard, Somerset and Burnie, like to make things. Or did twenty years ago. There are knitting patterns, sewing patterns, needlework kits and knitting needles galore in these places. Too many to sort through, too overwhelming. Although I did manage to isolate a few:

Child's Blazer by Robin. They recommend Robin Bambino Freckles, Tricel-Nylon, Bri-Nylon, Columbine Crepe or Vogue double knitting. As I am a woman who cares (don't you love the gender bias here?) I will be choosing some lovely 100% natural fibre 8 ply for this. So much to choose from though - as it will be for baby bear I think that a machine-washable wool (or wool/alpaca, /cashmere, /yak blend) would be best. I naturally think of red, my favourite colour, but how about navy with nautical silver buttons?



Patons Playtime Crochets - do you think that baby bear would ever forgive me?



Favourite Designs for Toddlers from Patons - originally priced 25 cents but I paid the inflationary figure of $3.00. Curious that the price is in metric but all the measurements inside are in inches. This is my favourite knitting find of the trip - the artlessly posed children, the vintage designs (each of which are named - Dennis, Beryl, Pauline ...). As with the Robin pattern, some of the yarns are now defunct - does anyone remember Azalea or Fuzzy Wuzzy? - but there are some tried and tested in there as well - Patonyle and my beloved Bluebell. I love Bluebell, it is such an old-fashioned yarn, 5-ply crepe dyed in old-fashioned colours and a pleasure to knit with.



Without further ado, I have pleasure in introducing:


Jeremy (left) - in Patons Jet (now this is the original Jet, 100% wool, as opposed to the current Jet, 70% wool 30% alpaca). I am considering, however, indeed using Jet - perhaps the steely blue (101) for a proper post-war look with some floral embroidery on the collar to lighten it up.

Noella (centre) - love the puff sleeves and the peter pan collar. This pattern calls for Azalea - pure new wool with a gauge of 8 stitches to the inch. Hmm, 4ply?

Lorel (right) - in Bluebell, hooray! Still available today. I'm thinking in cornflower blue (4103) with white stripes (0051) and red embroidery (3383). Yes, it will be Swiss darning for me, stripes are my furthest adventure in multi-colour.

And the tomten jacket - done! Just waiting for the sleeves to be seamed and we know how long that can take me. I shudder that I have knitted an entire garment while the baby ballerina top languishes for want of seaming. Why is it so much easier to cast on than to finish off?

Huge thanks to Pam and Neal for having us to stay - we had a ball.

top of the class

It is only four days ago that the Elizabeth Zimmerman tomten jacket in Noro graduated from the 'best intentions' list to the 'I'm busy with' list and already it is at the top of the class. I have completed the back and fronts (knit all in one piece) and have the hood and sleeves to go. What is it about the tedious sewing up on the baby ballerina top fronts (yes, they are both finished) that can inspire me to power through this much garter stitch? Generally speaking, I dislike garter stitch and was only prepared to give this garment a go because I liked the construction and was sure that the result would be awfully cute. Now I can't wait to make more.

This is the first time that I have used Noro yarns - the Kureyon is a lovely weight and the colours are wonderful. I am concerned though that this colourway is a bit too dark for a little girl. When the knitting is complete, I'll consider lining it in a fabric that picks out the bright pink or light purple to brighten it up a bit. I'm very happy with the colour spacing in the yarn and I love the way that garter stitch blends the tones even further by virtue of the stitch structure. Perhaps that's partly why it knits up so quickly - there's the intrigue of what colour variation will come next? what will the next row look like?

I have to admit that I was a bit resistant to the whole EZ thing at first. Yes, 'the whole EZ thing'. I'll try to explain that later.

A couple of instances of ubiquidipity before I go. Only Midge, an Australian designer handbags company, is using the ladybird fabric in their current rage - the same fabric that features in my most recent refashion. And, on Spicks and Specks this Wednesday evening past there was a question about the Pogues - what the band's name means in Gaelic. Ah, what an obscure item of musical ephemera. Well, not so ephemeral because the very next day it came up again in the novel I'm reading, The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks. I'm really enjoying it.