bring on the holidays...

I'll be ready! I saw the first snowflake of the season on Sunday night. OK, it was more like the dreaded "wintry mix" (talk about a euphemism) than snow, but I'm still glad I got a head start on my holiday knitting a couple months ago.

Since I apparently can't bear not having Malabrigo on the needles, I cast on for another cabled scarf right away:

It's the "Inner Truth Cashmere Scarf" from the old Magknits. I managed to find the pattern via the Wayback Machine here. The pattern's fun to knit -- row 5 is a tiny bit counterintuitive, but you get used to it after 2 repeats or so. Malabrigo's as thin as I would want to go on the yarn -- otherwise the scarf would be too narrow for my taste.

On Sunday I headed over to Arcadia for Franklin's book release party! It was great -- he even read a couple passages from the book. BTW, It Itches is downright hilarious, and would make a great holiday gift. Doesn't Franklin have lovely penmanship?

I also managed to meet up with Bobbi (AKA Krafty 1), who was friendly, chatty, and wonderful.

Speaking of books with marvelous illustrations...

Long-time readers of Caffeinated Yarn are aware of my Edward Gorey fixation by now, I'm sure. I picked up Amphigorey Too at a charming and well-stocked used bookshop (Bookworks) right near my apt. Paul and I were on the way home from drinks, and I saw it in the window and just had to stop.

I ordered Lucky Jim through Paperback Swap, and I didn't even really look at the cover when it arrived. Paul, on the other hand, immediately noticed and asked if it had an Edward Gorey cover. Yes, indeed! What a treasure.

Today it's Capricha who's trying to keep me from getting work done. Case in point:

Oh well, at least she seems to like the hat.

Pattern: Unoriginal Hat, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Leticia --
unmarked colorway (sugarplums maybe?)
Needles: Clover US 10.5 bamboo DPNs

Notes: This yarn is super bulky! It seems more like pin-drafted roving (not sure if that's the right term) rather than "yarn." It's super soft and nice to work with. This produced a much larger hat than my first version. In fact, following the Yarn Harlot's decrease instructions resulted in a hat fit for a Conehead. I ripped back a few rows (to the end of the repeated section), k2tog-ed all the way around, and ran the yarn through. It looks just fine on.

Next time I'd cut a row or two out of the repeat section so that I could do the pretty decreases as written.

baby knits extravaganza

Lois Daykin's Baby Knits arrived on my doorstep the other week.
It features a wide array of projects, from a sweet, lace-edged wrap cardi to intarsia baby blankets, to textured rompers. Daykin most definitely likes pockets, adding them to the rear ends of baby dresses and the chest of a cute little baby vest.

You know what though? I'm not really into intarsia, rompers, or pockets. Baby knits designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann, Debbie Bliss, and Louisa Harding are more my style, and my baby knitting queue is pretty full right now. It's a good, solid baby knits book, but just not the one for me.

Leave me a comment if you're interested in my copy of the book, and I'll send it to you along with some wool-blend, machine-washable baby yarn!

Not into baby knitting, but like contests? How about some bright-colored hand-dyed sock yarn? Leave me a comment saying that you're a sock knitter.

Deadline for contest entries: Saturday, Oct. 13.

Here are a few links to beautiful free patterns for baby knits that have captured my eye recently:

- Chronicles of Narnia Cardigan at Looking Glass Knits (what a wonderful blog! Her little sheep sweater is heart-meltingly cute)
- Eyelet Baby Cardigan Pattern, also at Looking Glass Knits
- Clementine's Baby Kimono, at Clementine's Shoes
- High Energy Baby Socks (that rock) at Jodi Green's blog
- Drops Wrap Baby Jacket
- Organic Guernsey baby sweater, at F. Pea's blog
- Seed Stitch Baby Jacket, at Exercise Before Knitting

a decaffeinated afternoon

What a lovely Friday! The heat has been relentless here in Chicago, but it has eased up a bit today. Nevertheless I've switched to iced tea as I settle in with the new issue of Interweave Knits.
This iced tea is fabulously refreshing, and the color is quite eye-catching. It's made by Rishi Tea, a little company up in Milwaukee. It's not all that peachy, despite the name -- I mainly notice the rooibos and the hibiscus!

Ah... the new Interweave. I really like a couple designs:

- Tangled Yoke Cardigan, by Eunny Jang. Beautiful shaping, great garter rib elements. I already have enough Rowan Felted Tweed for it.

- Tilted Duster, by Norah Gaughan. Very cute and swing-y, in quite an unusual shape. It might look horrible on me, though.

- Tyrolean Stockings, by Ann Budd. Love all the cables! They have a very retro look, and they would be super cute in the winter with a short skirt. Or peeking out between jeans and clogs.

The staff sock projects are appealing, and the Minimalist Cardigan and Counterpane Pullover are OK. The rest wasn't of much interest to me. Some things (like the elfin scarf/hat and the luna knitted dress) are downright hideous. I was surprised to realize that Brooklyn Tweed/Jared's Cobblestone pullover didn't do anything for me. Usually I love his knitted projects.

Breeze ankle socks are on the needles:

I'm using Rowan 4 ply soft, and they aren't kidding -- it's wonderfully soft. It reminds me of baby cashmerino without the accompanying vaguely acrylic-y feel. Also, I love Pony pearl DPNs! They have a good amount of bend and give, they're not too long, and they're nice and smooth. I want to pick up more sets of these.

I finally looked through my new knitting books from the big KnitPicks sale. I love these two titles, even more than Knitter's Almanac and Knitting without tears. EZ is so charming, and they're a joy to read.
A while ago I cast on for a Baby Hat with Leaf Edging using DB Baby Cashmerino. So far I've just done the edging, which was a ton of fun and incredibly adorable. I'm not going to work on the rest of the hat, though, until I finish my overdue Sockapalooza socks.

Speaking of Sockapalooza, my pal, Helga, just sent me a sweet e-card telling me that there's a parcel on the way. YAY! I can't wait to try them on. Many thanks in advance.

orangey goodness

Despite my supposed dislike, the color orange's siren song is luring me in.

Exhibit A:
The Cable and Rib Sweater from the new Debbie Bliss book, Family Knits. Interesting neck and sleeve construction on this one. I really like this book. Check out a review here. The patterns are lovely, even though some are very similar to other Debbie Bliss patterns. The photography is gorgeous. The real upshot of this book is that DB has included schematics (yay!) and larger sizes (also yay!).

Exhibit B:
The Aran Bag from the same book. The pattern calls for DB alpaca silk aran. I've heard that this yarn pills a lot. Any yarn substitution suggestions?

Exhibit C:
A butterfly in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Not too many knitting developments, except for sock progress. I'm working on a 4-patch lap quilt. The colored 4-square blocks alternate with solid blue blocks.

Here's excellent news for those with small kitchens who like to find multiple uses for kitchen contraptions. A friend tipped me off to a fabulous use for the George Foreman Grill -- grilled sandwiches. Works like a charm.