In which I nupp

For the most part, I don't mind acronyms. They can be overwhelming, as when my sister joined the Air Force and suddenly, in her zeal, spoke a language only she could comprehend, peppered with three- and four-letter it-stands-for-something-but-you-won't-care-what phrases. Sometimes acronyms are unnecessary; saying VW for Volkswagen actually has more syllables than the full name. But, most acronyms are helpful to simplify the bureaucracy of everyday life.

So as I've navigated this new knitters' world over the past year, I've learned about the KAL, my LYS, EZ, and the like.

But some knitters' lingo doesn't seem to be an acronym for anything except confusion and pain. Take "nupp," for instance, which I think might possibly mean "Repetitive Stress Injury" in Gaelic.

I've been learning about nupps this week as I've progressed on my Swallowtail Shawl. Make five stitches out of one on the front, then purl five together on the back side. These little bastards will make the bobbly little lily of the valley blossoms in the borders. Pretty! And pretty tough. (That's them in the blurry photo, the globby parts in the middle above the YOs; I need to work on my macro skills.)

The shawl is coming along--still difficult to photograph well, so I'll wait until it's blocking--and I am proud to say that, after all the swearing and the poking and the feeling desperate, I discovered a method for nupping that is less painful and more efficient, for me at least. Each time I come to the p5tog, I carefully slip the five stitches onto a metal tapestry needle and hold it to the front, sort of like using a cable needle. I then purl the stitches together from the tapestry needle rather than the left knitting needle. The smaller diameter of the tapestry needle gives me the wiggle room I need to clear all five stitches, wrap the working yarn, and purl it through. It's still really fiddly, but the nupps look great. There are a couple I could have done better, but even my perfectionism balks at ripping back to my lifeline--six loooong rows back--unless I really have to.

Nupp said.

Kimono Reflections

236 yards Lion Cotton, on sale at Tuesday Morning: $1.99

One stripe Sugar & Creme Swimming Pool: pennies

One butterfly button: $1.50

Onesie and overalls from the Target clearance rack: $4.00

The cutest damn baby gift of all time? Priceless.

When you're expecting a baby, everyone tells you that having a child will change your life. When Mr. D was born, I experienced the rollercoaster-speed identity shift of becoming a mother. I wondered, then, what baby #2 would bring. Would I become Mother 2.0?

Not exactly...I became a knitter.

Last spring, I ordered--on a complete whim, since I had vowed Never To Knit Again after some Hat Catastrophes in college--Mason-Dixon Knitting, the book. The idea of small loops and yarn seemed attractive to my hugely pregnant self. This book ignited a renaissance of interest in knitting and I have hardly gone a day without knitting since.

As Baby E nears her seven-month birthday (wow!), we have two sets of friends who are expecting babies. This used to mean I would make a baby quilt. Now that I'm a Knitter, this means knitted gifts. So I dusted off the Mason-Dixon Knitting book and cast on for a baby Kimono.

This was, not so incidentally, the very first objet d'knit I attempted when picking up the needles last spring, attempting to put my insomnia to good use. And what amazing things I learned by revisiting the pattern!
First, I learned that needles and technique matter. Notice the larger size of the pink kimono underneath Baby E's. I was knitting so tightly that my hands would hurt; I also was throwing the yarn clockwise rather than counter-clockwise, which I think makes a smaller loop. Kimono 2.0 is soft, pliable, stretchy where Baby E's was thicker and less flexible.

I started 2.0 with the same (cheap, plastic) size 6 Lion Brand straights. They flexed so much with the cotton yarn that I was knitting at a snail's pace. I switched to knitting flat using my 24" size 6 Addi Turbo circular and suddenly I was off to the races. The moral: Don't buy cheap needles.

I've also learned to pay attention to small details, like when to join a ball of yarn (i.e. NOT in the middle of a row!).

No matter what I think of the technique now, I love this sweater, because it was the first garment (of many, I hope) I made for my sweet Baby E. And now her friend Cecilia Jane, born Saturday, February 17, can share in the kimono love.

Siamese Twins

Reunited and it feels so good...

These baby cable socks from Sensational Knitted Socks (have I mentioned how much I LOVE THIS BOOK???) are my latest foray into Try-something-new-and-a-new-technique-too Land. Well, I suppose technically they are my third pair of socks...since November...but they are officially the first pair to fit me. The Thujas, of course, were for M. so they weren't meant to fit me. The alligator feet, though a great learning experience in terms of technique, were mismeasured and fit a woman with size 10 W feet, not me with my 8.5 narrow.

(Anyone out there need a pair of green wool socks, slightly used?)

The stats: KnitPicks Essential Solid in Dusk, US size 2 KnitPicks Classic Circulars (one 24", one 32"), 6.5 st/inch.

I was so excited about the new technique--two socks at once!--that I did not document well in photographs--I'll do better next time. In words:

I cast on for two at once (this was truly the hardest part, followed by keeping your yarn untangled since you're working with two balls), then knit the legs down. At this point, Thing One and Thing Two were separated, one onto each needle, as I knit the heel flaps and turned the heel on each, trying to keep the "two at once" vibe going. (The heel stitches stayed on the needle, the instep stitches went onto waste yarn.)

After finishing both flaps/turns, I stole Thing Two's needle, leaving it completely on waste yarn, and did Thing One's gusset, finishing at the end of a pattern repeat (so actually about 3 rows into the foot). Removed the needles and did Thing Two's gusset, ending in the same place. Slipped Thing One back onto the needles and motored down the feet, finishing the toes last night at about 8:00.

Total time: 2 1/2 weeks of semi-sporadic work. Loved it!

I used KnitPicks' free downloadable pattern for "Boot Socks" to learn the cast on. After that, it was SKS all the way...