A quick project or two

I've been dying to try Madelinetosh yarns for, well, pretty much ever. So when we went to a little yarn shop in the bay area, I asked my husband to pick out a color he likes for a hat. I picked Tosh DK, and the colorway he picked was called "Pecan Hull." We perused patterns together and he chose Antler, a free pattern by tincanknits.

This pattern was very easy to knit, fun but not too complex, good and portable, and I think it came out really nicely. I did, however, skip the very last repeat when I tried it on his head and it seemed like it was going to be too long. I also doubled up the brim.
The yarn... I have to say I was expecting more from this company. I've just heard SOOOO many good amazing things about it, and I don't feel like it really performed as nicely as it could have. For instance, I crossed a cable incorrectly and I had to drop the stitches to fix that section and the yarn just looked shaggier afterwards. It tried to fray a little bit, and I'm just like, seriously? You're expensive yarn! How can you not endure one simple little frogging of less than 5 rows? But it feels nice and smooshy and it smells good, so... I won't NOT knit with it ever again, but it just wasn't exactly the amazing yarn I was hoping for.

So after I finished my husband's hat (I still don't have a picture of him wearing it unfortunately) I was deciding what WIP to finish next when my son suddenly dropped a request on me. Now, my son loves the fact that I can knit for the sole reason that it means I can create toys for him on a whim in less than a day. He has never asked me for a garment, a hat, a scarf, anything wearable: only toys. So imagine my shock when he says that he wants mittens to wear in the morning at school because his hands get cold. I cast on immediately. (Sorry Penelope- I WANT to finish your coat, but what's the point when you're still hanging out in my tummy anyways and Vyvyan has cold hands!?)

He was thrilled with them. He wore them to school (and didn't lose them, I might add- an amazing feat considering he's 5) and even asked for a matching hat! The pattern is a basic kids mitten pattern, available for free. It was an easy pattern to follow, and they are really a great fit. I used the 4-6 size. I shared this picture on Facebook and my cousin asked if he could have a pair too. He sells handcrafted candles at Apple Hill-basically a big Christmas craft fair- and it gets very cold out there. I'll have to make him a pair asap, because I'm sure he will trade me for a homemade candle and his candles smell GREAT! The yarn is wool-ease, just acrylic and wool. Soft and easy care, perfect for a little one's hands. Now I'm working on his hat- just a basic stockinette beanie out of the matching yarn. After that, I should really get to finishing Penelope's coat. I just don't have any buttons yet, and for some reason rather than finishing knitting the second sleeve and then dealing with the fact that I don't have buttons I just stuffed the whole thing in a bag. I mean, ok we also moved into a new apartment and maybe I don't exactly know where it is. And not to mention I'm 38 weeks pregnant and I just don't feel like digging around tight spaces looking for it. But after the hat, I'll look for the coat and finish it!

A baby coat

I've had this pattern, Baby Tiered Coat and Jacket in my queue forever, yet after 7 new nieces I still never bought the pattern. Now that I'm 33 weeks pregnant and finally purchased the pattern and started working on it. The pattern is simple, the design is adorable, and I am almost mad at myself for not buying it earlier and making one for each of those nieces. The only thing keeping me from feeling mad is the fact that 100% of those nieces were born in summer.
So I bought the yarn at an adorable LYS in San Mateo, CA on October 10th. 3 skeins Cascade 128 superwash, knowing that since I'm making the smallest size (0-3 months) I will very likely only need 2, but getting that extra ball as insurance. Wound the wool on October 11th and then finally cast on for the neck on October 12th. I knit the collar through separating for the underarms in one go as my husband napped nearby.

I got tired of sitting, and took a 30 minute walk. When I got back my husband had woken and we decided to watch a movie.
During the movie (Tremors 5, which has a 99 minute run-time and was totally worth it) I almost completed the body.

At which point I put it aside and went to sleep.
Today was busy- on the go for most of the day and when I finally was able to sit down and would have had ample time to knit, my hands and feet were swollen and it was all I could do to just sit on the couch with my legs elevated. I did manage to knit one sleeve and after that I weaved in all of the loose ends that had added up, which means I'll only have two ends to weave in later.

That small ball of yarn in the corner is all that is left of the second skein so rather than deal with an extra set of ends to weave in I just wound up the third ball and will knit the second sleeve with that. I plan on using the leftovers to make a little matching hat and maybe little booties too if I can find a good pattern for it. I swear that if I wasn't pregnant, I would have had this done already! But then again if I wasn't pregnant, I wouldn't be knitting this to begin with...
In other news, I have an ultrasound on Thursday, during which I really hope they don't tell me they were wrong about the gender. Because this little coat is too freaking cute for me to find out I'm having another boy after all!
Oh well. I still need to find some buttons, too.

Finished Object: Etude In Stripes Cardigan

I finally finished my sweater, 5 days too late to enter it into the KAL I was thinking of entering it in. (Knitting Expat's September KAL)

Oh well.

It is loose but still cute, slouchy but not too slobby, big enough to wrap around my entire baby belly (I'm thinking once I have the baby it will look cute belted), and most importantly incredibly amazingly excruciatingly warm.

I am the first one in my house to feel the cold- my husband likes sleeping with the fan on year-round, and I like snuggling under the covers even in the summer. During the winter I try not to stray too far from the fireplace, and will often wear MANY layers- a cami, a fitted tee, a long sleeve shirt, a larger shirt, a light sweater, and a jacket on top sounds great to me and that's in my backyard in California. Let's not even entertain the possibility of going to the snow! This sweater will probably cut out the need for like at least half of my layers, it is so warm.

The alpaca does shed a little, and the contrasting color is actually a mohair blend as it turns out so that sheds a little bit too, and it's not itchy which is a relief. In the photos I'm wearing only a spaghetti strap under it and it feels surprisingly comfortable.

My favorite thing about this sweater is that it was made with 100% stash yarn! That is a great feeling, for sure. I can't wait to pick out my next project. Something about my life now (probably how busy I am!) has transformed me into a mostly monogamous knitter, which is very different for me but also really cool because it seems like things get finished faster. I'm sort of torn between something else for the baby (I have some beautiful purple Simply Soft that I could use), a Plum Blossom Tee for which I have the pattern and yarn already but which simply won't fit until far into next year and why even work on a tee when it's going to be winter!?, or something using my giant pile of Cascade Ecological Wool, or maybe using up the thick black cotton that I bought ages ago which is the softest thing on the planet and wants to be a sweater which would be boring to knit but great to wear. I'm just not sure what project will jump out at me, but either way I have to weave in the ends to my sweater first!

Cardigan Progress

I thought I'd share my failure so far.

1) Knitted a sleeve for about seven inches, tried it on and was shocked to find it was far, far too wide.

I fought with myself for a little while, but ultimately decided it was time to frog.

2) Started the sleeve again this time completely ignoring the instructions and decreasing much sooner and much more frequently.

It looked a lot better upon trying it on so I decided to keep going and worked all the way down to the color change before putting it away for the day.

3) Finished the first sleeve and tried it on yet again, only to find that it was actually STILL pretty freaking huge, and the fact that it seemed so much improved probably reflected more upon the fact that the first attempt was ginormous than that the second was actually decent. I stared at myself in the mirror thinking, "I could deal with it... no I can't. Yes I can. No I can't."

I told myself, "It's supposed to be an oversize sweater! I imagine myself wearing it in Apple Hill, with leggings and boots- oversized is good!" and I responded with, "IT IS SAGGING AT THE PITS! THIS IS NOT OVERSIZE- THIS IS JUST NOT COOL!" And I replied with, "Well, I'm sewing up the sleeve seams, and I'm going to tuck in the excess fabric and we'll see. If it's still terrible we can frog it, and if it's decent, it's decent and I can start the second sleeve."

and

4) I'm starting the second sleeve- I managed to tuck in the excess fabric quite nicely and you can no longer tell that it once sagged at the pits and was not cool at all. Of course, with my luck I will knit the second sleeve, sew it up, finish the body, work the border, try on the completed garment and then... decide to reknit the sleeves again! Fingers crossed that it won't happen, but we shall see.

As a side note I rather like the Filatura Di Crossa multicolored alpaca blend that I'm using as the contrasting color. I think it will be rather nice once it's all tied in together with a border at both sleeves, on the body, and the border band. More pictures upon more progress.

Little Lion

Well I finished crocheting the lion my son requested.
It's adorable and all, but he said that it's fat, like me. I'm getting more hugely pregnant day by day so I guess he's right.

I did get work done on the sweater, as well but it's not really enough to share a picture of. I knitted half the sleeve, realized it was too wide, and frogged and reknit with fewer stitches. I'm almost done with the first sleeve and after both sleeves are done I'll share a picture again. I have ascertained that I will not run out of yarn. So that's a plus!!

a bit of diversion...

Yesterday I felt like working on something new. The sweater had been progressing pretty steadily (I've started one of the arms and it's perfect for working on while doing homework) but I felt like doing something that requires a bit more concentration.
My son, meanwhile, has been asking me at night to "read" to him from a crochet pattern book called "Easy Crochet Critters". Of course we don't really read anything, we just look at the pictures while he tells me which ones he wants the most, and we decide what color each critter would ideally be. I've been telling him nightly that the reason I can't make any critters is that I don't have any fiberfill, but today I realized I DO have fiberfill that has been hiding in a closet. So, the sweater sat in its bag while the two of us watched The Hobbit trilogy and I worked on some animals for him.

The yarn varies. The alligator is made of Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton, the monkey is made of Red Heart Super Saver, and the hippo is made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease. If I had to guess I would say each one took 2 to 3 hours total to complete. This morning when I woke up, he had found me some yellow and orange yarn and said that the monkey, alligator, and hippo were "waiting for their friend, the lion." So he's probably next in line.
One thing I really like about being able to crochet as well as knit is that I get the satisfaction of casting on new projects without really feeling like I'm "cheating" on my knitting.
Either way, I still fully expect my sweater to be done within the next few weeks.

Is there a nice way to say "boring"?

I separated for the sleeves the day after I last updated here on the blog. Now it's just that boring back and forth of cardigans. It will be about 38" around, so it's got more ease for me than a usual sweater would. I would usually have gone for a 34" or a 36" if I wanted it roomy. However, with pregnancy comes a larger bustline as well as a larger waistline, so 38" it is. It sure won't close over my belly, in a few weeks' time, but I'm hoping it will get more wear at 38" around.

It's just so boring though, seriously. No cables, no color, no fun. All I can do is keep plugging along until I get to the point where I can add the second color of yarn. I have this, like, weird multi color alpaca blend that is very similar in texture and washability so I will use that for the border. I'll have to upload a picture soon. The only thing is I'm really not sure I'm going to have enough yarn to get it to the length I want before the border. THAT is concerning. Very much yarn chicken. I don't like yarn chicken. I had 5 skeins of this yarn to begin with, back in the day. That's 1075 yards, which definitely isn't enough for a whole cardigan. But is it enough for a whole cardigan minus 5.5 inches per sleeve and bottom border plus button band? Maybe.... I hope so, anyway. I already decided I'm going to knit this whole puppy out of stash yarn, so I don't know what solution I'll come up with if it turns out a bit short. Probably just add yet another funky color in there. I do have a dark blue alpaca, but I don't think it will mesh well. We shall see.

All I know is this is one of those projects where you just.... really want it to be a finished object, but you really don't want to put in the effort to make it into one. Like, provided the yarn issues work out, this will be a very wearable cardigan! But it sure isn't a very fun one to create. It does fit so far, though, so that makes me happy!

Hopefully my readers are having more fun with their own knitting and I don't expect to update you any more with this one until it's done or at least nearly done. Or at least NOT just a brown blob.

Fall Knitting

I love summer so much. Really, I do. I live in California, so I love the hot, 106 degree days. I love swimming at the river, I love going to the beach, I love wearing spaghetti strap dresses with sandals, I love eating watermelon and ice creams, I love barbecues and mosquitoes, and roasted marshmallows and camping. Most of all, I love how the days last so long it doesn't ever seem to get dark because I love love love love love the sunshine. But every year when the summer is beginning to wane, I begin to get the call of .... "make something warm."

Right now is perfect fall knitting time. Right now is when all the project possibilities are beginning to ripen. Before I remember how much I hate the cold, when I can picture myself on long walks on the crunchy leaves, holding a latte and wearing a slouchy beanie and cute boots, with my hair longer than its ever been and for some reason I'm walking a white fluffy dog that I don't own. And the wind is blowing the leaves around in an artistic fashion yet for some reason has not messed up my hair one bit. I look like a picture in a magazine. Right now, before the sweater I'm bound to knit ends up having fatal flaws- gauge is off, lost a stitch, counted wrong, wrong size, wrong color, baggy puckering- right now it is perfect. It flatters me. It looks amazing. It doesn't itch. It's the sweater that people stop me on the street and ask, "Where did you get that beautiful sweater!?" to which I amaze them when I reply, "I made it last month." It inspires people to learn to knit. It comes along with me to the pumpkin patch, to Apple Hill, it looks good with my outfit on Thanksgiving or with my work clothes. By the time summer comes, it still hasn't lost it's luster and I love this sweater so much I'll wear it again next winter. It's all a beautiful lie that I begin to taste in the air right around September every year.

I've made many sweaters. My Ravelry project page tells me I've made at least 30 and I know there are a few that were never documented on Ravelry. So more than thirty sweaters, and not one of them has been that perfect sweater. One has bulging underarms, one is the wrong color, one pills, one has mitered corners that I have always regretted making, more than a few have unflattering seams, some are too short, one is too long, some are itchy, and one has a very saggy button band. The one I cast on yesterday will also not be that perfect sweater. I know I think alpaca is itchy, and the color isn't very pretty- it's just a plain, no-nonsense brown. It won't button, which will annoy me after this season is over and I no longer have a giant belly to accommodate. When I run out of the brown yarn I will avoid buying a nice contrasting color and find something in the stash which will clash with other things I wear. I will problem solve. But by winter I will have already started something new to be the "perfect sweater", which will have issues of its own, and before you know it I will have distracted myself with gauge, maths, and knitting until it's blossoming into Spring again. A clever trick my brain has devised, to fool me into not noticing how cold it is, how dark and drab, and how utterly depressed it makes me.

This year my sweater that won't be perfect is going to be based on Etude in Stripes by Diana Rozenshteyn. (I say based on because I'm getting a different gauge, not doing stripes, and probably changing the border stitch pattern.) The yarn is Berocco Ultra Alpaca in an unknown colorway.

It is knit top-down, which means I'm getting all of the interesting knitting out of the way first and after I separate the sleeves and body it will become a marathon. A behemoth of knitting to work on.

In the end, even though it is not perfect it will be exactly what I needed. It's funny how that happens. I am never unsatisfied with my sweaters, and I wear most of them even though they have their quirks. They do their job: Keep me warm, and remind me of the beautiful things in life like wool and needles clicking away. Stitch by stitch, I knit into them seconds of my life where everything is ok. And in the wintertime, I really really need that.

Fish Lips Kiss Heel "Review"

Well, now that I have finally finished my sock, (Note: Sock, not socks) I am ready to talk a little bit about the Fish Lips Kiss Heel. Like I mentioned, I had a lot to say about it, and I decided in the end that making a short video would probably be easier as well as less difficult to organize than a blog post. Unfortunately it came out longer than I'd hoped, mostly because I apparently don't shut up.

So that's that.

And I'll show you some pictures:
The completed sock.

This is the reverse side of the heel, demonstrating the bumpy bit.

And also completely unrelated, but I also made a cute little baby hat out of this yarn and never posted a picture on the blog.

And I guess since now I have turned the subject to hats, I'll share a couple of chunky hats I worked on recently.

Other than the green one that is on the needles, I'm not really sure what yarn I used for these. I know it is chunky, and I know it is acrylic. No pattern for these three hats. The green is actually Red Heart's "Reflective" style yarn. It's a little itchier than I expected, because the reflective threads feel sort of like tinsel, but my son picked the yarn and requested a hat. I believe the other two are Bernat Softee Chunky, the new kind which has 11 stitches per 4 inches. The old Bernat Softee Chunky was not as heavy and I actually used it to make my very first sweater. I liked the old stuff better. But I made one other hat as well out of the Bernat, which I actually did use a pattern for.

This pattern came off of the ball-band and is available for free. But I don't really recommend knitting it as directed: I converted the flat pattern to work in the round.

I have been finding myself missing having a complex project to work on. Even with school, work, pregnancy and parenting- or perhaps BECAUSE of all that together- I feel like I need something to work on that might challenge and interest me. The baby blanket I was working on was a great project, and I really miss working on it. I think I might take up a sweater, and so I frogged my old Vine Yoke Cardigan (which may have been under the bed for 4 years now in its unfrogged state) and washed and hung the yarn up to get the kinks out. I'm not sure what it will become yet, but it wasn't doing anybody any good sitting under my bed.

FO Friday: Little Riding Hood Slippers

These slippers were so fun, easy and quick! They are a free drops pattern and have been in my Ravelry favorites for a sinfully long time, and when my husband picked me up some Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky on a whim (yes, I have an awesome husband who randomly buys me yarn) I thought no better time than today!
They took a very short period of time- I think the cabled portion took me about a movie (Carrie, the new one) and the slipper bits took another hour or two. So maybe a total of four hours per slipper, and eight hours for the pair. I definitely can see myself making more of these for the holidays! They are so cute, and I didn't even add buttons to them. The pattern itself is pretty self-explanatory but if you wanted extra help while knitting them, there is also a youtube video available that goes through how to do each step.

Life not changed

I have a lot to say about this heel.
But not until after I try it on.

Fish Lips

So apparently in July 2013, a new type of sock heel took the knitting world by surprise. I'm referring, of course, to the Fish Lips Kiss Heel. This sock heel has been the topic of much discussion and many people have simply raved about it. Somehow I missed the memo, and have continued along making my heel and gusset socks and then passing them along to my mom when I found that, once again, I don't like the way they fit. I've tried short row heels, I've tried afterthought heels, and I've even made tube socks. But the fact remains: I like me some store-bought socks. I just like the way they fit, and I also don't like socks unless they sit at my ankle. Making ankle socks, I figure, would be a waste of sock yarn and so I just end up making socks for family and friends and that has been fine and dandy for me up until now...
I've been watching the Knitting Expat Podcast and after 24 episodes during which Mina has churned out something like 14 pairs of socks, of which more than half incorporate the Fish Lips Kiss Heel. As a result my curiosity has gotten the best of me. I bought the pattern (even though I feel like selling a HEEL pattern is a little...I don't know. I don't want to say greedy because of course I understand the work that went into developing this heel. But at the same time, every other heel pattern has been passed down for generations and therefore have been free. If it wasn't for the internet this pattern would similarly be passed down. But if it wasn't for the internet I wouldn't have access to it, so I can see it both ways!) and after almost fainting when 16 pages printed out, cast on my newest pair of socks.

I'm using my favorite sock yarn, Knit One Crochet Too's Crock-O-Dye. I plan on doing a contrasting heel and toe with the lighter color. The reason for that is that I don't have enough of the dark blue to do the complete pair because I used some of it to make a wee hat a few weeks ago. And I don't have enough of the light blue to do the complete pair because, well, once upon a time I knitted a sock. It was a beautiful sock, it was a self-designed pattern with a horseshoe cable down the front, and it was completely done and I just had to knit the second one. Then, second sock syndrome kicked in, and before I was able to overcome it I actually LOST the single sock and this light blue ball of yarn has been sitting in the stash depressed for like two years just waiting for its mate to pop up so I could knit it. Since it still hasn't popped up, I'm going to use the dang yarn and be done with it.
Of course, that means that once I finish these socks, that first sock is going to pop up.
Anyways, these socks are going to be for my mom, because well 1) I love my mom as anyone reading this blog can probably tell because so many of my FOs go to her and 2) she loves handknit socks!! She wears them until they have holes, and I truly appreciate that. I don't think I've knit her any socks since shhhh 2012. (I feel ashamed.)
So that's what I'm working on. The vest is still in its bag, but actually those are the only two works' in progress I have at the moment so I'm pretty happy about that.
Happy Knitting!

And another one bites the dust

Every once in a while I get the desire to work on something specific: Cables. Lace. Chunky yarn. So it was when I realized that I desperately wanted to work up a vest, with texture, with color-work, and with acrylic. Well, I guess the "acrylic" part of the decision was influenced more by the fact that I don't know anybody who likes vests as much as my mom and my mom and wool don't get along. Well, I guess they do get along, but only up until she destroys the wool in the wash.

Anyway, that is how this "design" came to be.

From this primitive doodle grew a swatch

And the swatch was just the right size so it became the right front, and then the left front was cast on, and it is nearly done as well.

And then, just as suddenly as the urge to make a textured, slip stitch color-work, acrylic vest appeared, so it disappeared. And now that working on it no longer scratches that itch and no longer makes me happy, I have placed it in a bag. Doomed, along with many of my other works in progress.


...


And I think I want to make a sweater.

FO Friday: Revere House Cardigan

This is one of those projects that has been "in the making" for way too long. First I had to save up for the yarn. Then I was honestly too afraid to cast on because I wanted this sweater to be perfect. PERFECT! And I know perfection is a lot to ask, especially when seams, cables, and hand dyed yarn comes along. But I'm glad to say that I finally finished my Revere House Cardigan.

Unfortunately I am 6 months pregnant and can't actually model it for you, so instead I've got a picture of my beautiful mother wearing it. And yes, she wants one too now!!

Knitted with Malabrigo Twist in colorway sealing wax.

There were some mistakes in the pattern...I wish I had written down exactly where they were so I could be more helpful to others, but alas, I just worked through them.

It is warm, snuggly, and will be a perfect fit come winter. I bought a cute little belt buckle from etsy and I might end up knitting a belt to put on the back, but I might not. It's perfect, after all.

The buttons, by the way, don't match. My son picked them out.

 Instead of balking I just sewed them alternatively and it really looks fine.
This is one of those projects that make me so happy to be a knitter! I just can't wait until I have the baby so that I can finally try it on!

A few finished objects and a work in progress....

Baby Cardigan
Ravelry Page Here

Eco Baby Booties
Ravelry Page Here

Baby bonnet
ravelry page here

Baby Jacket
Ravelry Page Here

Baby Blanket
Ravelry Page Here

And.... The work in progress!

Revere House Jacket

On January 15th of last year, I wound the wool for this project. I knit one sleeve, knit half of the second, and set it aside. Never to look at it again... until now!

I finished the back rather quickly, but once I set it down to photograph it I noticed that the second ball of yarn I joined-though the same dye lot- was much lighter than the first. As a result the wasit-shaping area is much much lighter than the rest of the sweater. Luckily, I don't mind at all. A lot of people would rip back, but I'm really just looking forward to wearing this thing.

I shared it with my knitting group to ask if they would rip back, and I got an overwhelming no. Most people thought I meant to do it that way, actually! Either way, I will continue knitting because it is so soft and will be so warm! And when do I ever look at my back anyway? Never. Let it bug people who are behind me at the bank if it must bug someone.

Anywho. The pattern is Revere House the yarn is Malabrigo Twist in Sealing Wax. OH! And this yarn is the WORST yarn I have ever bought in terms of knots. I had one skein that was knotted like 4 times, and two parts were just broken and left like that without the courtesy of a knot. Like, one strand was perhaps one yard long. Seriously???? It was pretty awful. If I had bought this yarn more recently (like, I think I bought it in 2012) and had the receipt I would have complained and sent it back. But then again I'm lazy so maybe not.
Ha.
Happy knitting everyone!

Finished Objects

1) Swatch Cap

Knitted out of Miss Babs Yowza Whatta Skein, I made this in anticipation for a sweater that will soon come to be.

2) Raglan Sweater

Knitted out of Canon Baby Soft Acrylic on size 4 needles.

Finished.

I didn't share that I was pregnant here on the blog. I knew that pregnancy loss early on was a possibility, not from experience but from others. But I did cast on a baby blanket. I did complete the blanket, and I did have a miscarriage. For some reason I had the urge to share the blanket and the bad news with the knitting group I follow on Facebook. This is what I put:

"It is done. Both the blanket, and the pregnancy.
I don't know why, but I couldn't abandon this project even after I knew that we weren't having a baby in September after all. Something compelled me to work on it: its complex cables allowing me to forget myself and its simple wrong side rows giving me comfort. This is, after all, the one and only tangible thing this baby ever had. (Would have had.)
It's actually undoubtedly the most beautiful thing I have made to date. I found this article on miscarriage, and it really helped me.
http://thesnapmom.com/knitting-miscarriage-journey-frogging/

Thank you to everybody who prayed for me the last time I posted. I know that your prayers were answered, because at heart what we were all praying for was a healthy baby. This one wasn't that healthy baby. In the knitting analogy, perhaps I had cast on too few stitches or too many. The stitch repeat was not working, and the design elements did not line up.... Frogging is sometimes a necessity."

The support I received was overwhelming. Over 300 people liked the post, and almost 200 commented. Many words of understanding, of prayer, of experience, and love. I was grateful to have people. These knitters, who understood. And because I now have this beautiful finished object, I would be lying if I kept it secret here on the blog. My ravelry project page link is here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/grandmastatus/baby-tree-of-life-throw

Don't worry about me. Still knitting.