Sunnyside Sunset

I have now knit one final Sunnyside Baby Cardigan but it wasn't exactly planned at the outset. My new mantra is if you buy it you have to use it. So when I purchased a beautiful white pearlized Plymouth cotton yarn from SteveBe's a couple of weeks ago I wanted to be sure to make the baby sweater pattern that came with it.

I started it while I was still away, but after following the pattern as it was written, I found the knit to be too loose for my taste. Apparently I am developing a sort of attitude about how I want a knit fabric to look. The fabric that lets a great deal of sunlight through it is not the type of fabric I enjoy for a sweater. So before I got very far with the Plymouth pattern it was frogged. That left me with yarn, a desire to use it and a need to locate a pattern. Since the Sunnyside pattern was with me, I just started it using the much thicker Plymouth yarn and needles that were several sizes smaller than what was recommended for the yarn. To my amazement the change in needle size worked and I actually liked the way the fabric looked.

Additionally, I had this idea of adding embroidered "flowers" to the finished fabric, in the way Stephanie Pearl-McPhee did in her Daisy hooded sweater. As I moved through the project there was only one setback; there was just so much yarn on that single ball of Plymouth yarn, and I knew when it was purchased it was enough to make a small baby sweater in a simple garter stitch. I was now knitting in stockinette stitch and cables so the yarn was going to run short because of the new design. This was anticipated, so I completed the first sleeve as if everything was going to work out, knowing the odds were very good that it would need to be tniked. And just as I thought the 300 yards was a wee bit short. So, I decided to add an accent colour to the sleeves' hems and see if I could find buttons to match.

As for the daisies, they are relatively easy embroidery, but I did have to make a few practice runs before they were right. I like their simple hint of a flower and the peachy colour makes this sweater, at least in my mind, more suited to a girl than a boy.

The need to find that perfect peachy coloured button explains the trip to Button Button. It was there among the estimated 1 million buttons I found my perfect buttons for this sweater. (Tena had recommended a shiny white pearl-like button to pick up the pearlized thread in the yarn and that would also have worked; but in the end I didn't need to find them.)

So here it is the last Sunnyside I'll be making for some time. Now that I've conquered this pattern its mystery and excitement has worn off. Time to move on to something else that is new. So it is time for Sunnyside to head off into the sunset.

Yet to be blocked but still picture perfect

A close-up of those embroidered daisies

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms...

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned ou...

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or h...

Flagel Knitting Files

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