I've finally finished the sweater for the baby next door who is now a rib crushing seven days late.
That's the sweater from the Pea Pod baby set by Kate Gilbert, pattern free from Interweave Knits here. I knit it out of Lambs Pride worsted (I think, the labels were absent). It was a lovely knit, really quick and easy, and I think the way Kate has you do the whole body at once is a good move. Kate emailed me (and I didn't email her back...sorry Kate. I'll get to it.) warning me that there was an error in the earliest pdf on the website, but that Interweave has replaced it with a correct one now. (Mine was certainly fine) and that she has her suspicions about an error in the hat...since the lace is supposed to be between the decreases and Kate saw one knit up that wasn't right. (Hard to know if that's pattern error or user error) I didn't do the hat so I can't say for sure, but it's worth the heads up if you try it.
I know that it's superstitious and silly to believe that this baby won't be born until his knitting is done, but on the off chance that my neighbour is being tortured because I need five wee buttons, I figured I should make a best effort and rode my bike to the button shop this morning. (I also bought cheese, grapes, wine and a baguette. It is impossible for me to tell you how impossibly bohemian and lovely I felt cycling back from the village with that collection of items sprouting from my bike basket. It was one of those moments, you know? )
I have three choices of button.
a) little wooden buttons.
Sort of mundane, but perfectly acceptable.
b) other little wooden buttons
which are actually the back side of the first button, but I like the back better.
c) Small, blue mice.
Am I the only one who has a childhood recollection of some book about a small mouse who lived under a sweetpea vine? I was thinking of that wee mousie when I saw these guys, and what with the name of the sweater (Pea pod) I was charmed entirely. I'm not sure about the blue though.
Thoughts?
In other button news, Karen Alfke's Rock and Weave socks are done.
They're a quick knit, though you wouldn't know it to watch me knit them, and they are neater looking than they appear above, since they are on the wrong size foot. (Although those are Megan's feet, so I don't know why I didn't just wait 15 minutes until her feet had grown another full size. The speed that kid is growing at is just flipping me out.) It's the first time I've use the Socks That Rock "medium weight" and although I think I still prefer the lightweight, I've got to admit that it's soft, nice and faster to knit. Much faster.
The pattern has this linen stitch cuff that's knit around the ankle (like a funky ankle-scarf) and then the foot is picked up and knit down, and the cuff is closed fetchingly with buttons.
These are buttons from my grandmothers button bin, inherited by me when she died more than 20 years ago. I've never added a button, so these are guaranteed vintage. They're perfect.
These socks are going into the LRPD (Long Range Planning Department) box. This Christmas...I'm going to be ready.
(Don't laugh that loudly please. I can hear you.)