2/12 sweaters are finished already! And they are both for me! It is a pretty good strategy to start with items that are nearly finished. The details about Cross My Heart are on my project page, and I listed as many of the modifications as I could remember. I'm still working on Amira, and I have a baby beanie going to test the various sizes for a friend, the crocheted shawl is on hold as there was an error in the pattern, and I'm winding yarn to start a sweater that (I hope) will fit Jerome, as he is the only child who hasn't had a sweater/vest/jacket/shawl made especially for him. He's had hats and blankets and toys and such, but not a garment. I have to size up the sweater pattern, and hope it will fit right, otherwise, it will go to Mariam, which is fine, but I'd like him to have something made for him, too.


My last Magnolia Society shipment for a long time: MadelineTosh Merino/Cashmere/Nylon Fingering in Prairie Fire, Deep, Ultramarine Violet.

I have a plan for the Prairie Fire, and I have a design in mind for the Ultramarine Violet, but I'm still deciding what to make with the Deep. Prairie Fire is a touch more on the purple side of this color, like an orchid crayon, and Deep is a touch more blue-green, almost to the blue-black end. It looks like the depths of the ocean and is gorgeous. I love all of these colors.

Please, please, please, if you can knit a 29"/30" or a 49"/50" bust Amira with us as we do our preview KAL, let me know! I'm waiting on those two sizes. I have two knitters for almost every other size, so even if I can get just one more knitter for each of those sizes, that would be grand. Thank you so much for considering it!


Swatch for Amira.
This is a woman's, sleeveless shell that requires seaming, but only two seams, one on each side (if you are uncomfortable with a three needle bind off, then the shoulders will need seaming as well). As you can see from the swatch, it involves texture and simple lace. The pattern requires standard chart reading skills, ability to increase and decrease, make yos, knit in the round, and pick up stitches. Participants in the preview will get my working copy of the pattern, initially, upon completion and editing, they will receive the finished pattern. There are no specific brand requirements for the yarn, simply a DK weight yarn that knits up at 5.5 stitches per in in stockinette (the gauge for the top will be about 5.25 spi, but I want a yarn that will drape well at that gauge). I'd like to have at least two knitters per size: 29", 34", 39", 44", 49" finished bust. Yardage requirements are calculated for each size, respectively, as: 790, 900, 1000, 1100, 1225 yds. This is still an estimate, however, so I recommend getting an extra skein of whatever you buy, or if you are using stash, making sure that you have an extra ball's worth of the yarn. I'll want you to join a Facebook or Ravelry group for preview knitters and make a Ravelry entry, tagging me in it, and a link up when the pattern is released. The specific details will be given if you take this on for me. I will give the finished copy of the pattern to knitters when the pattern is released, a percentage/amount off coupon to my Ravelry Store for those who complete the item, and a coupon for a free pattern for those who complete the KAL, provide photos and link up to the pattern page. There isn't much besides that to share right now, so here's the weekly reminder to like Arabian Knits Designs on Facebook, if you haven't already. That's where I put updates and preview knitting opportunities and other design news. Thank you!

Our reading is basically the same as it has been lately, and I have nothing new that I've finished.



Also posting to Keep Calm and Craft On, and The Philosopher's Wife.

Labels: 12Sweaters, Books, Family, FOs, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Knitting, Yarn, Yarn Along

So, finally, there was some sunshine after our dreary, miserable weather. It's still cold as the dickens, but at least it looks nicer. That meant I could get some photos of me in my Driftwood in the sunlight. (Those are my least flattering pants I own, but they are lined with flannel, which is a bonus in the cold weather.) This week, though, my knitting has largely been on Cross My Heart, and I've done a little knitting on some baby beanies from a pattern a friend is revising. I also picked up a crochet hook to work on my Paradise Fibers Yarn Club selection.


MadelineTosh A.S.A.P. in Peace of Paradise. I wound the yarn and started a crochet project before I got a photo of the yarn in the skein.



Since Monday was a holiday from college for Alexander, we took some time to knit together. Rich took this photo that night. The mess in the background is part remodel relocation of stuff, part putting in the new bookcases and having things all over as we sort, part small house chaos, part homeschool clutter, and part large family with lots of children untidiness. I'm sorry. Amira is working on a hat, I'm working on the neck of my Cross Your Heart, Alexander is working on gloves, and Jerome and Yasmina are working on scarves. I love that two are working in the round along with me. Mariam wants to learn and I told her that she needed the same skills to knit as she needs to write, so I've been getting her to work on her writing skills that way. She is much more motivated to learn to write now that she sees it as a ticket to knitting. I don't think that Elijah wants to learn and Dominic decidedly doesn't want to learn. Rich started to learn from me many years ago, in an effort to learn what I liked so he could get me to learn to fly. Even though he didn't get that far, technically, he does know how to knit. That means that eight out of ten people in our family either know how to knit or want to learn. That's not too shabby.

Anyway, I liked the challenge of trying to knit an adult sweater in a month, even though I failed on that one, so this year I am going to try to knit 12 sweaters in the year. The good news is that they don't have to be one a month, finishing one that was started before counts, and they can be any size, from infant to giant. If I finish Cross My Heart this month, that's two already. The challenge is either to do 12 or to do 16 for 2016. I don't think 16 is a reasonable goal for me, even counting baby and children's items. So, 12 it is, and I already have those mapped out. We'll see if I succeed, or come close. Amira, which I might have finished in the next month, though, will count, too.


Swatch for Amira.
If you are interested in being part of a Preview KAL of this design, please contact me, though, I need knitters for the finished bust sizes of 29" and 49". I'll send you a reminder when we're get the ball rolling. This is a woman's, sleeveless shell that requires seaming, but only two seams, one on each side (if you are uncomfortable with a three needle bind off, then the shoulders will need seaming as well). As you can see from the swatch, it involves texture and simple lace. The pattern requires standard chart reading skills, ability to increase and decrease, make yos, knit in the round, and pick up stitches. Participants in the preview will get my working copy of the pattern, initially, upon completion and editing, they will receive the finished pattern. There are no specific brand requirements for the yarn, simply a DK weight yarn that knits up at 5.5 stitches per in in stockinette (the gauge for the top will be about 5.25 spi, but I want a yarn that will drape well at that gauge). I'd like to have at least two knitters per size: 29", 34", 39", 44", 49" finished bust. Yardage requirements are calculated for each size, respectively, as: 790, 900, 1000, 1100, 1225 yds. This is still an estimate, however, so I recommend getting an extra skein of whatever you buy, or if you are using stash, making sure that you have an extra ball's worth of the yarn. I'll want you to join a Facebook or Ravelry group for preview knitters and make a Ravelry entry, tagging me in it, and a link up when the pattern is released. The specific details will be given if you take this on for me. I will give the finished copy of the pattern to knitters when the pattern is released, a percentage/amount off coupon to my Ravelry Store for those who complete the item, and a coupon for a free pattern for those who complete the KAL, provide photos and link up to the pattern page. There isn't much besides that to share right now, so here's the weekly reminder to like Arabian Knits Designs on Facebook, if you haven't already. That's where I put updates and preview knitting opportunities and other design news. Thank you!

My reading for the week has been Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe and How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare. I first got this book from the library after seeing it on the yarn along last year, but I never really peeked into it. I picked it up again to give me a boost and some ideas in teaching a Shakespeare on a Shingle class at our co-op, and it is better than a supplement to what I was doing before. The author is excellent at conveying the hows and whys while still expressing his joy in the writing. I'm not following the exact format he suggests, and I'm making sure we cover a sonnet each week as well as a play, but I'm enjoying what he has to say on the topic (ETA: I meant to include his helpful website as well). I also read Thin Crust Killers: Pizza Mystery, as a little fluff book when my brain was too tired to think.

Amira and I are still reading The Swallow's Song, and are almost finished. There is one other book after this, and then we'll be finished with Norma Johnston for a while. The family is still enjoying Life, the Universe, and Everything as we continue in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 25th Anniversary Edition and we're still reading Alice in Wonderland along with our other school work.



Also posting to Keep Calm and Craft On, and The Philosopher's Wife.

Labels: 12Sweaters, Books, Crochet, Family, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Knitting, Yarn, Yarn Along

55,718 stitches of unfiltered, un-made up, unblocked me.

I have finally finished knitting Driftwood! It isn't blocked in the picture, the button isn't sewn on, and the ends aren't even woven in, because I was so excited just to have the knitting complete. Even though I did much more aggressive waist shaping, it's still quite roomy. I'm glad I read the comments on other projects and decreased so much more than the pattern stated. I kind of wish I did more. One change I didn't mention before was that I put a bound off button hole in the edging, right at the smallest point of the waist, and knit an extra row before binding off. If I were to make this again, I think I'd do much more decreasing at the waist (the pattern had you do 2 decreases, 14 rows apart, I did 10 decreases, six rows apart, and I'd probably do 13 decreases, four rows apart), but instead of reducing the number of rows before beginning the decreases, I'd keep it the same as the pattern, so I could raise the waist line just a little, I'd either shorten the sleeves by about an inch or lengthen them by a couple inches, as I felt like the ribbing was too close to my elbow and bunched up more than I like, and I'd do all the ribbing with a size smaller needle than the rest of the sweater. I might even knit the rolled edge one needle size smaller. However, the chances of me knitting this again are pretty low, since I hate knitting the same design more than once. I might make the child sized version, though, so I'll keep that in mind if I do.

Overall, I am happy with the sweater and the pattern, but if I had been a beginning knitter, some of the changes I had to make to the design to be better for a non-model figure would have been hard to determine, and I wouldn't have liked it as much if I knit it exactly as written. Also, though there was only one real error in the pattern, I still think that since it was photographed with a closure, some mention of options for adding one should have been listed or discussed. Although American designs tend to hold the knitter's hand, it didn't even have to be spelled out explicitly. Not listing anything about it was sloppy, in my opinion. It didn't even say, "Add closure at neck as desired." Which, of course, is not where I put the closure. I didn't want to have it closed at the neck and opening wider as it headed south toward my waist and hips. Even when I was young and thin, that wouldn't have been flattering for my figure. So, I put the closure at the waist to emphasize the decreases at the smallest point of the sweater. Also, the way I knit to the waist shaping and the number of decreases I made, it put the welt closer to my natural waist. The pattern would have had 51 rows, the way I did it resulted in 69 rows, which not only means that the welt was closer to being at my actual waist (it probably could have been four rows shorter), but it also meant that the ruffle wasn't quite so voluminous on the skirt. Doing more decreases means that it would be even smaller, but I think that is not a bad thing. It still gives the visual interest of a peplum, without as much bulk.

I'll post blocked pictures when I can get good outdoor shots. I have done no work on anything else in the past week. Obviously, this was not completed in time for NaKniSweMo, but I did get 70% of it finished in the month of November. Had it not been for my health and the holiday busy-ness, I think I could have finished it in that time. I will try again next year.


MadelineTosh Quarter Round in Coffee Grounds and Winter White, and seven DK Tiny Twists.
My last holiday club shipment from the Magnolia Society arrived this weekend, and I love it! Not shown is a picture of the cute, little muslin bag that came with it, but it's holding my twists now. I ordered an extra skein of the Quarter Round in Coffee Grounds, and I plan on using the two together in a shawl. The Tiny Twists are destined to become a striped, tubular cowl, either plain or chevron stripes, starting with the charcoal, and traveling through the rainbow, finishing with the brown. I wish the greens weren't quite so close, but I want to use each of the twists, so they will meet in the middle, with less contrast than I would like for the striping pattern.


Swatch for Amira.
If you are interested in being part of a Preview KAL of this design, please contact me, though, with a size you'd like to try. I'll send you a reminder when we're get the ball rolling. This is a woman's, sleeveless shell that requires seaming, but only two seams, one on each side. As you can see from the swatch, it involves texture and simple lace. The pattern requires standard chart reading skills, ability to increase and decrease, make yos, knit in the round, and pick up stitches. Participants in the preview will get my working copy of the pattern, initially, upon completion and editing, they will receive the finished pattern. There are no specific brand requirements for the yarn, simply a DK weight yarn that knits up at 5.5 stitches per in in stockinette (the gauge for the top will be about 5.25 spi, but I want a yarn that will drape well at that gauge). I'd like to have at least two knitters per size: 29", 34", 39", 44", 49" finished bust. Yardage requirements are calculated for each size, respectively, as: 790, 900, 1000, 1100, 1225 yds. This is still an estimate, however, so I recommend getting an extra skein of whatever you buy, or if you are using stash, making sure that you have an extra ball's worth of the yarn. I'll want you to join a Facebook or Ravelry group for preview knitters and make a Ravelry entry, tagging me in it, and a link up when the pattern is released. The specific details will be given if you take this on for me. I will give the finished copy of the pattern to knitters when the pattern is released, a percentage/amount off coupon to my Ravelry Store for those who complete the item, and a coupon for a free pattern for those who complete the KAL, provide photos and link up to the pattern page. There isn't much besides that to share right now, so here's the weekly reminder to like Arabian Knits Designs on Facebook, if you haven't already. That's where I put updates and preview knitting opportunities and other design news. Thank you!

Amira and I have finished Myself and I. It is the end of the series, but we've been enjoying our reading time together, so I pulled out another set of books by Norma Johnston, and we've begun The Swallow's Song. Our family reading has been Life, the Universe, and Everything as we continue in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 25th Anniversary Edition. The girls are dancing in Alice in Wonderland this spring, so we began the book as part of our school reading.

On my own, I read, Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, which was fun, but not as funny as the first book. I needed to read something light and easy, though. One thing I didn't like about it was how forced some of the political messages seemed in the story. There are certain topics that are so obviously divisive that making a character take an explicit stance on them is making a statement. That is a choice any author can make, but in this book, the two topics that fell into this category were so clunky and didn't seem natural at all. Even had they taken the views I have, the way they were presented was clearly and deliberately a political sermon, and it was done in a way that was jarring, instead of flowing naturally from the characters. Seeing as how every single character in these books comes from a political, social, moral, and religious point of view that differs from mine, it's not like I had an expectation of seeing them agree with me (in fact, spoiler alert, finishing the book, I texted Rich how glad I was that we were together, married, that all of our children were ours together, and nobody had to have visitation. The lives these people lead is supposedly so fulfilling, but read pretty sad and empty at the end of it all.), but it looked like the messages were cut from some sort of rhetoric sheet and pasted into the text. So, overall, funny and light, with moments that made me shake my head, and a takeaway that I was so glad not to have the problems and experiences of these characters.

My serious reading is Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe, which I'm trying to read more regularly. It's accessible and easy to read, but so much of it I want to share with others, so I've been waiting to read it to the kids or to Rich. Instead, I think I'm just going to give it to them to read on their own, and get on with my own reading.

That just about covers what I have worked on, finished, or read over the past week. Now, on to tying up the ends of last year. I was a little disappointed to find that I didn't finish nearly what I thought I would, either in crafting or reading. Our life and our schedule has been fairly challenging, though, and I'm hoping to find a better rhythm this year. Beginning with getting rid of responsibilities and things that are cluttering our homes and lives. I have been doing some things for our homeschool co-op that, while I enjoy them and find them valuable, take time each week and right now it is a hard time for that. So, it was a little sad, but also a blessing to be contacted and asked if I still wanted to do it, and if I would mind if someone else did them this session. There was no complaint, so it wasn't me being "fired," but the other person felt strongly about doing it, and would it bother me. I almost answered that I still wanted to do it, but instead saw it for the blessing it was, and said there were a few times I wanted to do it, but would be happy to let this other person take over. God has offered me a way to make my weeks simpler. Anyway, here is my list of finished objects and books read in 2015. I am going to retire the lists in my sidebar and replace it with my 2016 lists.


2015 Finished Objects

• Bob's Bed in a Bag for Jerome/Bob - knit January 10
• Equinox for Me - knit January 12
• Glamorous Scarf for Mariam - knit January 13
• Ruffled Socklets for Me - knit January 31
• Preemie Bonnet for Emily - knit and crochet January 31
• Baby Vest for Emmett - knit February 1
• Baby Hat for Emmett - knit February 4
• Four Corners Washcloth for Noraima - knit February 6
• Baby Socks for Emmett - knit February 7
• Fur Elise Shawl for Amira - crochet March 8
• Runway Safety Hat for Tabor - knit April 19
• Runway Safety Vest for Tabor - knit April 19
• Teal Feather Cable Headband for Nikki - knit April 21
• Weasley-ish Sweater for Elijah - knit May 3
• Purple Flower Hair Band for Girls - crochet July 18
• Red Flower Hair Band for Girls - crochet July 18
• Turquoise Flower Hair Band for Girls - crochet July 25
• Secret Stripe Shawl for Brenda - knit August 4
• Yellow Flower Hair Band for Girls - crochet August 4
• White Flower Hair Band for Girls - crochet August 5
• Oh, Christmas Tree Hat for Baby Rustin - knit August 16
• Harmattan Prototype for Nejat - knit August 23
• Levantera Prototype for Jerome - knit August 31
• CSM Headband for Yasmina - machine knit September 21
• Rainforest Leaf for friend - knit October 1
• Crank-In Headband for Mariam - machine knit October 4
• Saint Nicholas Prototype for publication - knit October 28
• Movin' On Up for Amira - knit October 30

2015 Books

• February
• Eleanor & Park
• The Lost Art of Dress: The Women Who Once Made America Stylish
• March
• Let Us Keep the Feast: Living the Church Year at Home (Holy Week and Easter)
• A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family
• April
• The Jane Austen Rules: A Classic Guide to Modern Love
• Christ in His Saints
• May
• Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes
• June
• The Terror of the Southlands (Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates)
• Absolutely Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery
• The Devil in the Junior League
• July
• Landline: A Novel
• Maisie Dobbs
• Let Us Keep the Feast: Living the Church Year at Home (Pentecost and Ordinary Time)
• August
• Emma
• Under the Duvet: Shoes, Reviews, Having the Blues, Builders, Babies, Families and Other Calamities
• October
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 25th Anniversary Edition
• The Keeping Days
• Glory in the Flower
• November
• The Sanctuary Tree
• December
• A Mustard Seed of Magic
• Nice Girl Like You
• The Fellowship
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Also posting to Keep Calm and Craft On, and The Philosopher's Wife.

Labels: 12Sweaters, Books, Family, FOs, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Knitting, NaKniSweMo, Yarn, Yarn Along