A Very Special Message

by Melissa // January 9, 2008 // 5 Comments

This one’s for you, Linda. The Scarlet Macaw Hand Puppet is in testing as of this morning.

I realize that’s a giant picture, but I love the colors of that thing so much. As soon as a few people go over the pattern and make sure it won’t explode on you, it’ll be available to buy over at Inner Child Crochet. That’s this morning’s big announcement. In other news, I finally decided what to make with that Misti Alpaca Chunky I bought at Yarnivore –

It’s a cowl! I can’t get a good picture of this color, either. This one is better, but it’s this deep, midnight blue shot with subtle streaks of iridescent purple. (The colorway is peacock and it shows.) I used the Quickie Cowl pattern by Fawn Pea, on 15s instead of 10 1/2s because that’s what I had on hand. It only took me a few hours from start to finish and it is fabulous. Very warm, too – I was sewing it up on my knees with one hand inside and started to get warm. Of course, that could be because it was unreasonably warm yesterday – the shot of it here with the jacket is totally staged. It was 70 degrees outside…when we woke up…before dawn. I’m not trying to deny that it was gorgeous outside and everything, but I resent being forced to contemplate the use of my air conditioner in January. It’s indecent. (We went without it, purely on moral grounds.) It’s all right, though, because I have been promised that when we get to Japan next month (!) there will be snow.

Anyway, I made the cowl to take a break from Max’s Vestee –

which is really going very well indeed. I just need to sew up the arms (they look sort of seamed in this picture, but they just rolled up) and add the collar. I even tried it on him yesterday, and it’s a little large but in a proportional way, which is exactly what I was shooting for. I’m really excited about this sweater because it looks so darn gorgeous. Now if I can just finish it nicely, we’ll be set!

And now, some knitting

by Melissa // January 3, 2008 // 1 Comment

It’s been cold here this week (and I mean actually cold, thankyouverymuch. 19 degree windchills are nothing to sneeze at). We’ve been bizarrely excited about the freezing temperatures, pulling out hats and sweaters and talking to the boys about Japan where there will be snow and not just cold, and trying to prepare for the climactic change we’re going to experience. We’ve still got a lot of things we need – I have no boots, for instance; problematic, as our new home gets about 38 inches of snow in an average January.

Anyway, as I was poking around for a new project to work on, I came across the Swish that I bought a few months ago to make sweaters for Max and Charlie. Since I’ve already made a sweater for Charlie, I decided to start on Max’s. I bought green for him, intending to make Sherwood, but that is just too complicated for me to handle right now. Fortunately, there are lots of great patterns on Knitty, and I decided to make a Vestee. Since the biggest size in the pattern is for 18 months, it did require a little swatching, but it’s really not that bad! The 18 month size was made with sport weight yarn on size 7 needles, and I had worsted weight for his sweater anyway – I’m working it up on 9s and so far I’ve been able to use the directions as written while still getting a large enough sweater (of course, I made it longer between hem and underarm). Well, I also modified it to work it up to the armpits in the round –

but that’s it, really. I’ve never made a raglan before, so hopefully I’ll be able to use the directions without (too many) more mods and I hope I’ll have enough yarn…but I love the garter rib pattern and the yarn is so smooshy and the pattern is so easy – I just love it.

(PS, the yarn is a much nicer green than it looks in that photo – I’d direct you to the Knit Picks site to get a better idea of the color, but their photo of it looks rather washed out, too. I suppose it’s just a difficult color to capture?)

Happy Birthday!

by Melissa // January 1, 2008 // 5 Comments

Not to me, though – to my site! That’s right, Inner Child Crochet has been up and running for one year, and we’ll be celebrating its birthday for the entire month. One year is an exciting milestone – to get the party started, I’m offering a new free pattern:

For birthday cake. This pattern will be available free through the month of January only, so get your copy now, and be sure to check back often for sales, specials, and releases all month long!

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