FOs: Flourish Nightingale

Liqueur Flourish Scarf
Pattern: Flourish by Kim Hargreaves

Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Liqueur, 5 skeins
Hook Size: M (9.0 mm)
Extras: Lots of beads from Toho Shoji NYC

What can I say...I love this scarf. I am passionately in love with it. Not so passionate about the last part of making it, though. I do plan on making this again one day (maybe for a friend, maybe for me) but I have learned my lesson: The beading ain't worth it. It looks lovely on the finished scarf, but the beading took about as long as it took to crochet the entire scarf. Finishing the beading was anti-climactic since the scarf looked wonderful even without the little sparkles. Scarf: A+. Beading: C.

It counts for the first wave of Project Spectrum, which is Fire: Reds, Oranges and Pinks.

Here's another photo head-on to get a better look at its texture and flounce:

I'm surprised I'm not more flexible after trying to take photos of knitted objects on my own person.

I also finished up the weaving in of ends on Caroline's Nightingale.

Caro's Nightingale
Pattern: Nightingale from Rowan Story Book of Little Knits
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Dolce Amore
Needles: US 2
Size: 3-4 years

The pattern says to turn up the hems and insert a drawstring-like ribbon for the sleeves and body. After the nightmare of stripe ends haunting me like spaghetti demons, I decided I had had enough of finishing. Besides, it's cute enough without adding ribbons and frills. My cousin can fold up the sleeves if they're too long. It'll still be a wonderfully casual little pullover for playdates and playground frolicking. Maybe not so great for keeping sleeves out of food or finger paint. This book is so adorable, I want to make Caroline the entire wardrobe. I justify it by telling myself they can save the clothes for her sister Beth to wear a couple years down the line.

And since I finished two (count 'em, two) WIPs, I started my fiery li'l Asymmetrical Cardi. Man, this one is going fast:

Mayhap it is because Malabrigo is like a heady, psychotropic drug that affects me in surprising ways. For instance, it makes me forget that there are responsibilities that I must attend to other than knitting this sweater. It also makes me forget that I am hungry, I have to pee, and I have to go meet friends. I want a gazillion more sweaters in Malabrigo. Yes, I've heard all the warnings. It pills, I hear. But that's okay. Because when my sweater pills badly and can no longer be worn in public, I can make another one! Yup, that's using my noodle.

Look at that soft, squooshy goodness.

Birthday Presents are Gooooood

I went home on my mom's birthday to have a joint mommy-and-me celebration. We had strawberry ice cream cake and lots o' sushi.

My family just isn't big on huge birthday celebrations or present-giving, but I can always count on old-fashioned pocket money from my parents. I remember when I was a kid and they'd hand me about twenty bucks at the end of the month for the chores I'd done. I could make that twenty-dollar bill stretch pretty far on candy, a paperback book, maybe a scented body lotion. Given the inflation rates these days, my parents like to offer a little more than a twenty for my birthday pocket money. But instead of spending it on a momentary splurge (e.g., shoes), I decided to invest in a more time-consuming alternative.

Annie's just got in a ton (I honestly think it might be a metric ton) of Malabrigo yumminess. There are so many colors in the laceweight, the silk blend, and the regular ol' worsted that I wanted to stuff a swimming pool with it all and sink into it. Maybe I should join Yarnaholics Anonymous. I really, really, really wanted a big cushy sweater made out of the worsted, so I bought seven skeins in the Pagoda colorway.

This is what Pagoda shall be:

Honestly, I overlooked this cardigan for a long time because the model's eyes are kind of freaky. They're a lovely color, but she's frowning and staring at the camera so intensely that I half expect her to burn a hole through all the pages of Knitting Nature. But I saw several beautiful renditions of this cardi on Ravelry and the knit-lust consumed me. As soon as I brought the Malabrigo home, I swatched:

First on US 10s, then on US 9s. The 10 is recommended, but I like the 9s better. There shall be other adjustments as well, since I am not that fond of asymmetry when it comes to the fronts of cardis. But one thing stands between me and Symmetrical Cardi:

Caroline's Nightingale is pretty much all knit, but I'm still finishing. There is a lot of finishing required of this li'l sweater. The seaming is just the beginning of it.

I'm a little afraid of this:

Stripes are lovely. Sewing in all the ends...not so much.

On top of that, I went through a long process of inventory. There are some WIPs in my stash that are just not going to happen. I cry uncle. Woven Trellis Scarf? There's no way I'm finishing that in the near future. I seriously do not have the patience. Mindless knitting is one thing, but 500+ inches of tiny tubes = crazy making. My Clapotis made of Colinette Lasso? Blech. The colors are pretty, but it won't be that warm and it's not draping the way I had hoped. Argh. Also, my Lady Eleanor is not to be. The yarn is beautiful and the pattern is fantastic, but I realized that I simply won't get much wear out of it. Nope. The Noro is so lovely that it deserves to be seen. So that will be ripped out and turned into a sweater of some sort. This is a bit sad, but really it's refreshing. I don't feel so obligated to these dead-end projects anymore.

But on a happy note, my BFF gave me a curious little bird:

His name is George. He is an owl. George tells me that I am a cool cat and he likes hanging around. George tells me that next year, he will protect me when every last one of my friends wants to buy me a drink for my birthday. He promises he will ward them off so that I will not wake up with the kind of headache I suffered this year. I've learned my lesson and I've learned it well, George.

Birthdays Galore

The gals in my family apparently like to get pregnant during a specific two-week period. There's an overabundance of Pisces in our family and I'm one of them. My cousin (mother of Caroline) has her birthday this Saturday. My mom's is on Monday. Mine and my cousin Joseph's birthday is on Wednesday. My brother's was two weeks ago, but he was two weeks premature, so you do the math. This makes for a happy and celebratory Sway with no money at the end of February.

This striped pullover I've been working on went into overdrive because I realized my parents will be seeing Caroline this weekend. This is a present for her and her mom. The pattern is from Rowan's Story Book of Little Knits, which is a beautifully presented pattern book with lots of gorgeous, wearable children's clothes. No Rowan 4-ply cotton anywhere close by, so I settled for the very very similar Dolce Amore from Filatura di Crosa.

One sleeve left to go and then seaming. I think I've become addicted to stripes. Stripes are fun! They're easy! Perfect combo for my poor overworked brain.

Also, Annie's has a wonderful relationship with Iris Schreier at Artyarns and she keeps sending us lovely colors of yarn. I don't know if this is available at other places, but it's the first time I've seen this color:

It's Ultramerino 4 and the color is a bit off here. The grays are right, but the "red" stripe is actually a deep hot pink/fuchsia. It makes me want to rock out.

Also, it is not a good thing to be in the vicinity of people who do other crafts. It makes you want to do them, too.

Instead of jumping into any crazy needlepoint and getting confoozled, I opted for this small makeup bag to stitch for my mom. She likes ladybugs. I don't think I'm very good at this (you can sort of see the canvas through my uneven stitches), but it's fun trying.