I’m just going to say it. I know that I’m probably supposed to say something really beautiful here about Thanksgiving, and how lovely it was and how much I love my family and all of that, but stuff it. It’s almost Rhinebeck, and I think it might be my favourite holiday. I know, I know, I’m supposed to gush about the sanctity of family, and how nothing is more important than being with them, and that’s true, but dudes. RHINEBECK. That most glorious of fall weekends, full of friends, and wool, and chips on a stick and sheep and sweaters and by day I will walk among our people, and by night – well. That will be my people too. I love my family, but they don’t know this part of me, and there’s only so enthusiastic they can pretend to be about an amazing skein of rare breed yarn, and they are yet to meet any conversation about knitting needle types with any authentic zeal. I appreciate that they fake it (when they do) but …. Rhinebeck. I’m totally on track this year too, I think. The detour to make my little niece a sweater went beautifully. I think I broke a land speed record on this one, going from yarn to sweater in just over 48 hours.
(I did sew the buttons on in the car on the way there. It took a while to dry after blocking.)
Pattern: Demoiselle Arc-en-ciel (Little Miss Rainbow) Yarn: Galway worsted #435, exactly two balls, and assorted scraps of Cascade 220.
The gauge for this pattern was 17 stitches to 10cm/4″ and Galway is pretty sleazy* at that gauge, so I knit it where it wanted to be, at 20sts, and adjusted the pattern accordingly, working the size 4/5 for my petite little Myrie, but with the appropriate lengths. I had a minor setback when it turned out that Myrie’s arms are longer when she’s awake when asleep, and after her mum re-measured I ripped back and added some length.
It fits perfectly, and the buttons are just the thing, and the little Miss liked it quite well. (She’s pretty easy to please, considering that the gifts she requested for her birthday was “flowers and leaves.” A sweater was over the top.)
It did put me a little behind on my Rhinebeck sweater, but I still think I’m going to make it. I’ll be blocking it at the last minute, I see that, but I’m one row of the buttonband/collar away from done, and then there’s the i-cord bind-off that I’m really not married to at all. This yarn is a little heftier than the suggested yarn, and I think it might make it too robust. We’ll see. After that, there’s just the pockets, and the buttons (note to self: pack buttons) and I’m home free,
If you call blocking a sweater in a car speeding towards a sheep and wool festival home free… and I do. I’m off to pack. See you tomorrow.
*Here’s your fibre trivia for the day, “sleazy” is actually a textile word, referring to fabric that is particularly loose and open. You can see how it got borrowed for its other use.
I love the buttons. Very appealing, and a worthwhile detour.
What a perfect little girl sweater! And only you would have lengthened the sleeves to make sure it fit right!
I wish I could see you, and the other fiber lovers, at Rhinebeck, but I will not be there. 🙁
I think your priorities are right on! 😀
Rhinebeck is also my favorite holiday of the year. I’m fortunate that I live within a 75 minute drive. The yarns, the animals, the food, the foliage…its just perfection! Enjoy yourself (I know you will).
Myrie’s sweater is adorable. I’ve already added it to my “favorites”.
What an adorable little sweater! I think the gray is perfect with the brights!
At last… I’ve been popping back and forth for days to see if you did it.
Beautiful cardigan for I bet a very pretty little girl. Here’s hoping that you didn’t kick too much sand in those God’s faces and your sweater is finished, dry enough to wear and complete with buttons. My fingers are still crossed… which is making kinda hard to do my own knitting. 😉
Shall we start betting on whether Stephanie would wear it still damp?
Or without buttons? I sure would!
What sort of odds do reckon we should get? Can we find out how powerful the hotel room hairdryer is first?
I will be at Rhinebeck this weekend after a 4 year absence, and I absolutely can’t wait! I’m only going to be there on Saturday, but I’m happy to have even one day of unbridled yarn and fiber shopping, not to mention sheep petting. Hope to see you!
Wow. 48 hours. You knit like the wind!
Beautiful sweater. 🙂
Have fun at Rhinebeck
The sweater is adorable & the buttons are just the finishing touch. I’m disappointed with your Rhinebeck sweater, though: there wasn’t nearly enough drama with it this year!
Oh, there’s still time for drama ……………/\……………..
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😀
Without sweater drama a wool festival can be many things, but it couldn’t be Rhinebeck.
GO Harlot!!!!
I love the little sweater! And a child who wants leaves and flowers for her birthday is just the child to appreciate your gift. Enjoy the fiber festival!
I thought the sweater was charming… until I saw it modeled. Then it was elevated to whole new heights! A perfect fit for a beautiful child.
Lovely sweater!
I like the Icelandic Bind-off, especially in garter stitch. It is stretchy and creates a nice finish!
Have a wonderful Rhinebeck!
Your niece looks fabulous in her new sweater! You just may have found yourself a new World’s Greatest Knits Model (Sam and Millie will be soooo jealous!)!
Have fun a Rhinebeck. If anyone sees a car with a dripping-wet sweater being held out the sunroof, it will be the Harlot!
Crazy best…er….west coast lady here–what the heck are chips on a stick? We used to call cow poo chips but I’m thinking that’s not what is going on here. lol
My first Rhinebeck and I couldn’t be more excited! I finished seaming up my sweater on Monday evening and I’m so thrilled with it!! I’ll likely see you there – expect a hug! 🙂
Thank you for the fibre trivia!
Arc-en-Ciel, Little Waves, Under the Wire, there is a bit of found poetry there. 🙂
Myrie and her sweater are adorable.
I’m itching to know how Demoiselle Arc-en-Ciel might size up for a small- framed adult, perhaps knitted in Lett Lopi. Hmmm . . .
Aww it’s so cute! xx
And let me just say how the veterans here appreciate your attempt to give us the traditional Rhinebeck drama even in the face of perfect gauge, enough yarn and plenty of time. We’d have been distraught. It would have been like Thanksgiving without the tur…. Oh. Wait.
Anyway, thanks.
I call cheating. She says she’s “not really married to” the i-cord bind-off.
Steph managed a perfectly solid godless heathen union with Joe for many years before getting married.
It ain’t done till there’s i-cord.
I just came here for this. Thank you. Carry on.
I agree!
I’m still sipping on my Margarita, snacking on chips-n-salsa and watching.
And out of Black Water Abbey yarn too. Gorgeous!! That color is going to look great on you.
Love them both! Great job.
And also?
I believe those buttons may pose a choking hazard.
To Stephanie, the cat, or both? (Steph wouldn’t care if the dust buffaloes under the davenport choke.)
Good job keeping us aware with the safety warnings. Although Stephanie never listens. She probably sews those buttons on really well.
Wait a minute! Myrie is a baby! Who’s the little blonde in the cute sweater?
Please tell me my newborn granddaughter isn’t going to get that big, that fast.
Oh I wish I were going this year. I have been several times. But each time I swear it’s the last time because of the traffic. But… I wonder if there’s a hotel room in Albany? I could stay Saturday night, drive and hour and a half on Sunday…. drive directly home (5.5 hours)…. Hmmm
Second note to self: Pack matching thread for sewing on the buttons.
I love it when scraps fit so perfectly into another project!!
Rhinebeck,, oh Rhinebeck, how I miss you so! What a year to miss-Kay Gardiner (Mason Dixon Knitting) will be wearing her Kaffe Fassett Big Flower Jacket. I’d go (if were close enough) just to see that. Take a picture if you see it-she will be in the book barn.
Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Because this is how you give me a heart attack.
Signed,
Will be scanning every sweater on Saturday looking for a slightly damp (but button-ed!!), perfectly green, just right, also mostly below my eye level, Rhinebeck Sweater.
Sleazy, a knitting term? Learn something new every day. I love it.
Love Galway. And Rhinebeck, only unfortunately I won’t be going this year since I’m between a home sale and purchase and things are crazy here. Have some chips on a stick for me and bring back photos of the sheep.
I’m with you on the last minute sweater thing this year… I waited until a few days ago to decide that I’d finish one in progress, and the sleeves (all I had left besides seaming and button bands) are taking far longer than I expected. Here’s hoping I can manage as well!
I’m sorry, but: chips on a stick??!? What the heck–??!
Oh, how I wish you really would “see (me) tomorrow!” Sadly, Rhinebeck is still languishing on my bucket list. Maybe next year. I’m afraid if I go once it will become an annual must-do for me, too, and I’m all the way over here on the left coast.
Lovely little sweater…
I wouldn’t be married to the i-cord bind-off, either. Especially since you might be sewing buttons on in the car…
Enjoy!
Whoo hoo! You’ve got this!
I’ve successfully blocked and dried several sweaters on the dash of a car. They get really crisp and nice that way. Go for it!
I was thinking pinned out on a roof-rack, so it could blow-dry on the way there.
Oh, the buttons! Delicious.
Who is that GIANT child pretending to be little, teeny-baby Myrie? I blink, and look what happens.
I think I win the “I would love to go to Rhinebeck, but the distance is a problem” game. Melbourne to Rhinebeck would be a once-in-a-lifetime gig. Then again, my hubby has hopes to one day see the New York Nicks play, so maybe we can organise our timing for trip.
Go Steph, you are made of wonderful, and I totally believe that this sweater will be done (just) in time. Very entertaining for the rest of us on the way there, though.
Gosh, the sweater’s adorable. The name is spot on.
Also, I didn’t know the tech meaning of ‘sleazy’. It makes plenty of sense now!
Both Myrie and the sweater are so sweet!
Yes, they are!
Stephanie is a good auntie to drop her sweater and knit the little one, one.
Don’t forget thread for the buttons. I seem to remember an epic thread search a few years back.
You’re killing me here. You know that, right?
I feel like this is a good place to confess that I will have no Rhinebeck sweater. But. But. I am taking my 12 month old son on a 4 1/2 hour plane ride to go to Rhinebeck with my mother and two aunts. And said son has a Rhinebeck sweater (knit by his Nana…not by his fraying at the seams mother). But I have a happy, healthy baby, and I am enough. This is not failure. This is just the phase of life that I am in.
Good for you, Karen! Huge cheer for you, from me. My kids are three-and-a-half and 6, and craft is back on the menu, but it really took a while at the start. Knowing your limits and not beating yourself up for them is, I reckon, one of the absolute winning ways of staying sane in “Mummyland”. Hope Rhinebeck is every bit of fun and joy you need.
Bindy
Beautiful!
The cardigan for your little neice is absolutely beautiful. Well done.
I know what you mean by Galway being sleazy. I tend to knit it with a size (or two) lower needle and adjust the pattern accordingly because I like the feel of the fabric better. That being said, I am currently knitting an Icelandic sweater with Reynold’s Lite-Lopi and I got gauge the first try. Happy dance!!
Looking forward to spying your sweater in the wild! Hope you’ll stop by the booth (building 36) to say hello. On to Rhinebeck!
How can baby Myrie be standing already? She’s a CHILD now! Where is the time going?!!….Beautiful sweater. And it wouldn’t be Rhinebeck time without a down-to-the-wire sweater. Have fun!
Those buttons are perfection. The sweater was cute enough, and I have a special soft spot for bright gradients against stormy gray. But the buttons, oh the buttons. Genius, it is, making the buttons rainbow as well.
I dispair of ever knitting as fast as you. I think I’ve got a respectable speed going, then I look at you and I feel like a clumsy, bumbling idiot.
Enjoy Rhinebeck, and your ever-so-sweet neice who grew way too fast.
There are four Little MISTER Rainbows in my life. They got hand-knit sweaters last Christmas, but are not getting any this year. (I sized them “generously” last year.) Next year, maybe there will be gray or brown pullover sweaters with primary-color-striped yokes beneath a tree in Indiana and one in Oklahoma.
As a word person (retired copy editor, an endangered species), I love that Stephanie schooled us all on “sleazy” in such a humorous way. (Hey — what about a fiber-related “dictionary” of such terms, accurately but amusingly defined, as part of the next book?)
I’ve been a knitter for 18 years and this is my first time going to Rhinebeck. I’M SO EXCITED! Hubby, baby and I will be decked out in our finest hand knits. Eeee can’t wait! I’ll be sure to tag you for a hug and a selfie if I see you around.
She asked for “flowers and leaves”? Am I the only one who wept a little weep over that?
I’ll be at Rhinebeck on Saturday!!!!
Beautiful sweater on a beautiful girl. And rainbow flower buttons for a girl who asked for flowers and leaves. Very good. Have fun at Rhinebeck. In a finished sweater. Take buttons, needle and thread. ( Been there, done that.) I’ll have a margarita and think good thoughts about your sweater.
Julie in San Diego on a lovely fall day.
Skipping all the comments above to say, as I’m sure they all have: I LOVE THAT SWEATER!
I already bought the pattern and now I can’t wait to start.
LOVE. If you had a “love” button I’d be breaking it.
(Adding – touching the airplane while you’re en route to Rhinebeck seems proper. May your luggage arrive with you, unlike mine which generally goes missing. Can’t stop thinking of your relative from Madagascar . . . sorry – never mind – it will be fine.)
Absolutely curious librarian—which book is that in the photo?
Sandra Gulland – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That cardigan is the ACTUAL BEST. Best buttons and stripes combo ever.
Such a gorgeous little sweater! 🙂
I would make that sweater right now in an adult size…for ME!!
bjr
Just an adorable sweater. And what a fast knit!
P.S. I love that she wanted “flowers and leaves”.
Nice buttons on this sweater