it was on the way to the coffee shop and a destination more interesting to South Loop Chicago knitters: Loopy Yarns.

I hadn't visited Loopy since their move to Dearborn Station (I am lucky to have two other yarn stores within relatively easy walking distance of my house so I don't need to go too far from home very often for fibery things) so I was pleasantly surprised by their new space -- as well as the 20% off sale they had running.  I had forgotten what a nice selection of Lorna's Laces yarns they carry.  Many places carry the sock yarn, but fewer carry the Shepherd Sport and Shepherd Worsted. 

What's particularly notable about the Shepherd yarns is that they are superwash.  And they are very soft.  And the Worsted is a perfect weight for a quick sweater for a certain toddler that lives in my house.  Lately in the mornings when she sees me... "Sweater, Mommy!  Pretty!"  and then she reaches up to pet my sweater.  I've been working on the Zebra Striper, but that one is a long way off.  Even though my better judgement kept trying to tell me that starting another project right now would lead to no good, my heart reminded me that I had no suitable yarn for a sweater for the baby, and that I had better not miss out on an opportunity to make her a sweater while she actually wants one, as opposed to when she is 14 and wants nothing to do with anything her mother can make by hand.

And what could be nicer than buying just two or three skeins of yarn for a sweater?  Especially when that yarn is 20% off?  The colorway I picked (which is not quite so bold as it looks in the image -- the bright fuschia in the sock yarn really blows the whole picture out) is called Irving Park and it seemed like a lovely colorway that would do well both this winter and in the fall (assuming I make the sweater large enough).  I loved the pops of purple and pink, the hand is lovely, and the yardage is good (225 yards/hank).  I figured 2 skeins would be enough, but bought a third "to be safe".  (The fuschia sock yarn is for a sock project for Z.  If anyone can wear bright pink socks, its a toddler girl). 

When I got it home, I was surprised by how fast my knitting malaise disappeared.  I cast on for the project after dinner -- by the end of the day on Sunday, I had the body of the sweater complete and was working on the neck and button bands (the photo is lacking because I got some stomach bug Sunday afternoon that forced me into some unscheduled down time).  The sleeves will get started as soon as I can get a hold of some size 8 double points.  Every time I do a top down raglan project I just love love love how it progresses. 

It is amazing to me how one small project can change my attitude completely.  As I watch this little sweater grow, I also spend time thinking about what I am going to do next.  Maybe it's time to get started on that scarf I planned for my aunt 3 Christmases ago?  Or maybe I'll finally get to working on my pattern for mini-dragon socks for mini-feet?  The possibilities seem endless

Now, if you'll forgive me, I've got to run.  That neck band and button band are calling!

*Ciocha (pronounced like cho-cha) is "Aunt" in Polish.  I'm "Ciocia Theresa" to my nieces and as I've heard it more and more I've come to like it more an more. 

I like starting new sock projects with a very specific person with very specific wants.  For John, these wants include: 1 ) dark or subtly colored yarn and 2) simple unobtrusive patterns.  He really liked the last pair of socks that I made with the X and O cables up the side, so I thought for this pair I would stick with the cable theme, since that went so well.  But for this pair, I decided that I wanted a little more all over patterning, so I got out an old Harmony stitch dictionary and found a lovely, simple cable pattern that created a wide ribbing that I thought would be perfect.  With the cable stitch selected (and charted), the starting notes entered in my knitting journal (all the project I design myself get recorded here for further reference), some new podcasts loaded up on my iPhone and my lovely yarn converted to center pull ball, I sat near the best light in the house (admittedly not very good) and used the rest of Z's nap time to get the socks started.

By Sunday afternoon (before naptime) this is what I had accomplished -- and I was very happy with both the cable stitch pattern (made so much easier by being able to cable without a cable needle) and the way it worked with the dark yarn.  It knit up so quickly (I worked on a few other knitting projects on Saturday besides this one) that I decided it might be time to issue myself a little challenge: to knit John a new pair of socks in time for that wicked cold weather on Thursday.  By the end of naptime on Sunday, I had turned the heel and knit a pattern repeat past the heel, so I'm optimistic that John could have a new pair of socks by the end of the week.

This isn't really much of a sweater shot, but it's one of those photos that makes me smile -- she's smiling and reaching for the camera and her crazy fine hair is all over the place (she has her father's hair and hairline in spades).  It's so very Ms Z, so it seemed like a good way to wrap up this post and head into the weekend.

* She's actually not that bad so far, behavior-wise.  She's definitely trying to test her limits, but she's still a lot of fun to be with.

Several Christmases ago (I cringe to think how many it actually is, so I will leave it at "several")  I had been unable to think of a good present for my aunt.  My solution to the problem was to take her to yarn store and have her select some yarn that she really liked and I would turn it into a scarf for her.  This, I thought, would be easy.  There were so many great yarns, so many potential patterns, I would have a gift knit up in no time.   It would still be a little late for Christmas, but it would be handmade, and I knew my aunt appreciated handmade gifts. 

When I was in high school, my aunt lived in southern Colorado and had a couple of llamas.  Later on in her life she was married to a guy who worked on an alpaca ranch.  She developed a knowledge and love of our favorite South American fiber-bearing creatures long before the current explosion of interest in both the creatures and alpaca yarn.  So it should have been no surprise to me when she selected a skein of "Baby Twist" (in the jumbo format of 549 yards!) from Alpaca with a Twist in the "Bark" colorway.  Baby Twist is a 100% baby alpaca yarn.  To say that it is soft is damning it with faint praise.  The fondle factor for this yarn is incredibly high.  Certainly, of all the alpaca yarns that I have worked with, it is probably the softest and least "picky" that I have ever encountered.  I could probably wear it against my skin.

I was certain I was going to convert yarn into scarf quickly, so as soon as I got back from Michigan I converted the skein into a ball and set it on my desk, waiting for inspiration to strike me. 

And there it sat.  It has gone with me on a couple of vacations, never to be touched.  It's been cast on and ripped out a few times.  Finally it got stuck into the stash for a few years after I re-organized my stash closet, and I forgot about it until my stash migrated from the closet in Ms. Z's bedroom (which was originally my fiber room) to our basement guestroom, which was recently enlarged and which is on its way to becoming my fiber haven.  When I found it, I decided I couldn't in good conscience let it get buried in the stash again, so it came back up to my desk again.  To wait.

This time, however, the wait was not so bad.  I was sorting through the bookcase in my bedroom when I came across the Rivolo pattern that I had purchased along with a merino/tencel blend yarn that I purchased from Briar Rose Fibers.  I had one of those light bulb moments and ran back to my desk and looked at the weight and estimated gauge of the yarn.  Absolutely perfect.  I did a little dance, and with 15 minutes left in the naptime I was enjoying, I cast on.

You might wonder about the wisdom of working a lace scarf pattern in a slightly fuzzy slightly marled alpaca yarn.  I did.  However, after a few repeats, I stopped wondering and just kept looking forward to knitting.  The experience of knitting with this yarn is incredibly pleasurable.  As far as hand goes, this would have to be one of the nicest yarns I've knit with.  While the picture above hardly shows off the lace,  I think it has a great deal of potential.  This scarf is not going to look at flashy as it does with a handpainted yarn, but I think it's going to block beautifully.  I think it will also work well for my aunt.  The selection of a soft brown yarn fits with her well.  It looks practical but has a hidden quality that only the wearer really knows about.  I think the lace will be like that as well.  It may not be as obvious in this scarf, but it will be a little bit of extra beauty that the wearer willl know about and that will not detract from the warmth of the scarf. 

The pleasure of knitting with this yarn has allowed me to do something that I rarely do: knit from the "process" part of my brain instead of the "product" part.  Normally, my goal is to knit as fast as I can and get to the finish line and enjoy the finished product.  But with this, I'm enjoying the feel of knitting so much that I'm trying to knit just one repeat a day so that I can appreciate the feel of the yarn a little longer.  It gives me a short time to just pause and reflect and bask in the tactile joy of the craft. This means that my aunt will have to wait a bit longer for the scarf, but given my current track record, that extra time will hardly be too significant.   

and must say that I wish I'd been paying attention earlier because buying these needles is not only great for my knitting experience (they are beautiful, have a lovely finish and come in a 5" needle size) but also great for my sense of supporting small craftsmen and women.   They definitely deserve a better picture and I will endeavor to do that with the next sock project that I can photograph in good light!

But even in the waning light, I persevered and before the end of Sunday, John did, in fact, have a new pair of socks.

Because I wanted to add a little extra oomph to these socks, and to keep myself from getting bored knitting the second sock, I had the cable on the second sock twist in the opposite direction.   I also used the heel of the second sock to try my hand at Japanese short rows. I think the assessment that these make for a neater, less gapped short row is probably true, but since my current reflexes are already hardwired to the PGR method, it slowed me down because I had to think about the process more carefully.   The results were good enough to make me want to try it again some time soon.

  These last pictures were all taken in the light of my office with the help of my 50 mm f/1.8 lens.  It's pretty good for eking out the last bit of light and helping you create good pictures of still objects.  The colors in these socks reflect light better than the black, so the green and purple show up much more prominently than they would if you were actually holding the socks in your hand.  If they were really this vibrant, man rejection would have been certain.

But, in fact, they were happily accepted and modeled by the man, who is looking forward to having a new pair of heavyweight STR socks while I repair his Mudslides. 

Fortunately, I have a fair amount of Grawk left over, so should holes appear sooner than expected, repairs will be able to be made.  I'm hoping John will be a little gentler on these, since the patterning would make them somewhat more difficult to repair. 

I didn't quite meet my challenge of getting him a new pair of socks by Thursday, but I definitely finished them in a week, and there's still plenty of cold weather left in the forecast

It is clear that we are watching the emergence of a real little person with likes, dislikes and a whole array of emotions.  I selected the pictures for this post because they show some of the many expressions that are now part of who she is.  She is outgoing and sweet, but in a heartbeat can become shy and coy (she charms the waitstaff in almost every restaurant we go to with her regularly).  She does things intentionally to be a stinker and get my attention.  She has even started to realize that she can get different things from different people if she behaves in certain ways. 

For her first time momma, it's both an amazing and challenging ride.  And as she learns about the world, I have begun to see again some of the many wonderful things that I just took for granted.